Captain Planet DBZ villain ground dragon thing
[OVERVIEW]
* Zygarde's new ability Power Construct transforms it into its Complete forme, a defensive behemoth only rivaled by Blissey and Chansey in bulk without being vulnerable to Mega Gengar.
* Zygarde-C is a geat defensive check to many physical threats such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, Mega Salamence, Mega Lucario, and Arceus.
* Its bulk allows it to fit on a wide variety of teams as a physical tank.
* Thousand Arrows is an amazing move, essentially letting Zygarde hit almost anything neutrally, making it more threatening than most defensive Pokemon.
* Zygarde-C has no recovery outside of RestTalk, which gives it quite the case of 4MSS.
* It is somewhat passive with only a base 100 Attack stat in both formes, becomes slower upon transforming, and can be set up on if lacking Dragon Tail.
* Zygarde-C is weak to special attackers and mixed wallbreakers, with Xerneas being a particular nuisance.
* Since it needs to be below 50% HP to activate Power Construct, Zygarde isn't at its peak performance initially. However, Zygarde's 50% forme is still somewhat bulky, meaning it can still do its job until Power Construct activates.
[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Rest
move 2: Thousand Arrows
move 3: Dragon Tail / Toxic
move 4: Sleep Talk / Toxic / Glare
item: Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Rest increases Zygarde's longevity and can remove status so Zygarde can last quite a lot longer, allowing it to take Sacred Fire from Ho-Oh admirably.
* Thousand Arrows is crucial to Zygarde's offensive presence, hitting almost the entire tier for neutral damage and removing the Ground immunity of Flying-type Pokemon and Levitate users.
* Dragon Tail is a solid choice for phazing checks immediately rather than wearing them down with Toxic + Thousand Arrows and makes Zygarde a capable shuffler with its phenomenal bulk.
* Toxic can cripple several defensive Pokemon while limiting time for sweepers to set up. This gives Zygarde the opportunity to stall some of them out as well, notwithstanding caveats such as Refresh variants of Mega Salamence and Arceus.
* Sleep Talk prevents Zygarde from being completely inactive from Rest, which gives it opportunities to damage or phaze opposing threats while asleep.
* Glare is a great paralysis tool that can cripple many offensive threats, while making Zygarde the only Ubers-viable Pokemon that can paralyze Primal Groudon.
* Coil is a decent option for Zygarde to increase both its offensive and defensive presence and prevent it from being used as setup fodder for threats it doesn't check consistently such as Swords Dance Primal Groudon.
* If you're using Dragon Tail, Thousand Waves can be used over Thousand Arrows to trap and gain momentum on predicted switch-ins, but Zygarde loses its ability to fully handle Ho-Oh as a result.
Set Details
========
* Usually Pokemon with extremely high base HP values do not run investment in HP, but Zygarde needs maximum HP investment in order to take less damage before activating Power Contruct. Otherwise, the EV spread maximizes Zygarde's physical bulk.
* Leftovers is a standard defensive item and keeps passive damage to Zygarde to a minimum before Power Construct is activated.
* Chesto Berry can also be a viable option to free up a moveslot for something along the lines of Toxic, but this leaves Zygarde vulnerable after the first Rest.
Usage Tips
========
* Before Power Construct is activated, try only to switch Zygarde into opposing Pokemon that either it checks or can get its health below 50% without too much damage.
* Activating Power Construct is a major priority before late game to ensure Zygarde is at its maximum potential against physical threats.
* A major aspect of how Power Construct functions is that it checks for Zygarde's HP at the end of a turn, meaning that recovery from Rest or Leftovers can potentially prevent Zygarde from transforming. This can bring up important decisions when using Zygarde against the threats it checks, with an example being either taking a powerful hit to transform and retaliate at the cost of a large portion of HP or healing as much as possible with Rest or Leftovers to find a better situation to activate Power Construct.
* Some threats that Zygarde checks may have a way to circumvent its defenses, such as Ice Beam Arceus. Attempting to scout for such lures is heavily encouraged.
* Using Zygarde as sleep fodder can help other team members as long as it is carrying Sleep Talk.
Team Options
========
* Primal Groudon soft checks Water-types and Xerneas and gives Zygarde more shuffling pressure with Stealth Rock.
* Other entry hazard setters accomplish the same goal as Primal Groudon but with different roles. Dialga can check Mega Salamence along with providing a strong offensive presence, while Ferrothorn checks both Xerneas and Primal Kyogre as well as providing Spikes.
* Bulky Steel-types are good teammates for Zygarde, since most of them are capable of checking Xerneas and appreciate Zygarde's ability to adequately handle Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh.
* Magearna is an excellent partner for Zygarde, as it checks Xerneas, Yveltal, and most Calm Mind Arceus formes and appreciates Zygarde's ability to handle Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh for the most part.
* Support Arceus formes are useful for patching up Zygarde's defensive flaws and can keep entry hazards off the field so Zygarde can transform without taking too much passive damage.
* Clerics are vital to Zygarde's success if it is not carrying Sleep Talk, so status removers such as Blissey and Xerneas are important teammates in this case.
* Toxapex checks Xerneas and Primal Kyogre if it is carrying Wacan Berry, while better handling special attackers and Scald can potentially make Zygarde's job a lot easier.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* A Substitute + Toxic set allows Zygarde to activate Power Construct more comfortably and acts like the physically defensive set, but it lacks recovery options.
* Dragon Dance is an effective way to increase Zygarde's offensive potency, but it is extremely weak compared to other sweepers without several boosts.
* Specially defensive Zygarde spreads can alleviate some of its vulnerability to special attackers at the large cost of lessening its ability to handle physical threats.
* Haze resets stat boosts against sweepers that Zygarde checks and is the only way Zygarde can take on Swords Dance Primal Groudon without Dragon Tail to phaze it.
* Extreme Speed can pick off low HP Pokemon or weakened sweepers, but Zygarde's low power makes this difficult.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types are incredibly dangerous threats towards Zygarde. Pokemon such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy can severely damage it with Moonblast and Judgment or set up on Zygarde, since they are immune to Dragon Tail.
**Bulky Water-types**: Though they are not resistant to Thousand Arrows, bulky Water-types such as Primal Kyogre and Arceus-Water are able to take hits from Zygarde and severely damage or KO it with Ice Beam.
**Special Attackers**: Despite Zygarde's unrivaled physical bulk, its Special Defense is more exploitable. Because of this, specially oriented Pokemon such as Lunala, Mewtwo, Deoxys-A, Dialga, and some Arceus formes can damage Zygarde quite handily while some can comfortably take Thousand Arrows.
**Mixed Rayquaza**: While Rayquaza does not appreciate switching into Thousand Arrows or Dragon Tail, it can handily OHKO Zygarde with Draco Meteor after Stealth Rock.
**Taunt users**: Zygarde's longevity is directly threatened by Taunt, and thus it can be worn down after being afflicted by it. The most effective users of Taunt against Zygarde include Yveltal and Mega Gengar, though the latter prefers to Taunt Zygarde when it is asleep to prevent Sleep Talk.
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