Porygon-Z [QC 1/3]

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MANNAT

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Taken over from TURBODERP who took it over from X5Dragon then edited a lot after.

[OVERVIEW]

* Porygon-Z's high Special Attack along decent speed coupled with Adaptability allow it be a solid late game sweeper with its new boosting move in Z-Conversion.
* The boost to its defenses and speed makes Porygon-Z relatively difficult to revenge kill after setting up.
* However, Z Conversion is a one-time use move, so Porygon-Z can only set up once per match.
* Porygon-Z requires significant team support to have an opportunity to sweep late game vs most teams.
* Many Choice Scarf users such as Garrchomp and Tapu Lele still outspeed Porygon-Z even after boosting its speed.


[SET]
name: Z-Conversion (Ghost)
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Hidden Power Fighting
move 3: Nasty Plot
move 4: Conversion
item: Normalium Z
ability: Adaptability
nature: Timid
evs: 44 Def / 224 SpA / 240 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Shadow Ball allows Porgyon-Z to convert into Ghost type. Ghost typing provides an immunity to Mach Punch, Fake Out and Extreme Speed, a resistance to U-turn from scarfed Landorus-T and Pheromosa, and a very spammable STAB move.
* Hidden Power Fighting allows Porygon-Z to get past Tyranitar, Weavile, Greninja and Bisharp.
* Nasty Plot is the ideal choice for the filler moveslot on this set as it allows you to break past normal defensive answers.
* Conversion is a must in order to use this set, as it is used to boost all of Porygon-Z's stats by one and change its typing to Ghost.

Set Details
========

* The provided Speed EVs outspeeds everything up to Jolly Excadrill.
* 44 EVs are placed into Defense to have download boost Genesect's Special Attack.
* The remaining EVs are dumped into Special Attack to maximize power.
* Normalium Z allows Porygon-Z to use Z-Conversion.
* Adaptability is used to maximize the power of Shadow Ball, which is the most used move on this moveset.

Usage Tips
========

* Given its one time opportunity to set up Z-conversion, it is better to used as a late game sweeper after opposition team have been weakened.
* Set up on slower, more passive Pokemon that don't threaten to do much damage to you.
* Eliminate opposing Sucker Punch users before attempting to sweep with Porygon-Z as they can easily revenge kill Ghost-Z.
* You should Shadow Ball continuously against neutral threats given its great coverage most of the time after setting up, resorting to the appropriate coverage move when the relevant Pokemon appear.
* If possible, try and set Stealth Rock and/or Spikes prior to setting up as they weaken the opposing team and make it significantly easier to sweep.

Team Options
========

* Dual Screen Support provides opportunities for Porygon-Z to set up and sweep the opposing team.
* Alolan Ninetales with Aurora Veil is a useful partner because itsets up Aurora Veil in one turn and can summon Hail to stop Swift Swim and Sand Rush users.
* Tapu Fini can use Taunt and Nature's Madness to break down bulky Pokemon and provides Defog support while dealing with Dark-types that Ghost-Z hates
* Dugtrio can trap Chansey as well as providing Stealth Rock and Memento Support.
* Tapu Lele can is also a great team option to nullify priority moves that can revenge kill you, and it helps by getting rid of Mega Venusaur.
* Rapid Spin and Defog support make Porygon-Z more difficult to revenge kill as it sets up at a higher range of HP.
* Entry hazard support allows Porygon-Z to make most of its sweeping capabilities by weakening the opposing team.

[SET]
name: Z-Conversion (Electric)
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Conversion
item: Normalium Z
ability: Adaptability
nature: Timid
evs: 44 Def / 224 SpA / 240 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Thunderbolt is Porgyon-Z primary STAB after conversion to Electric and benefits from Adaptability boost and makes it immune to paralysis.
* Ice Beam is necessary to hit Ground- and Dragon-types that resist your Electric-type STAB moves.
* Hidden Power Ground at +1 OHKOs Heatran, Alola Marowak and Magnezone after Stealth Rock.
* Hidden Power Fighting hits pokemon such as Tyranitar and Magnezone that otherwise would stop your sweep.
* Conversion is a must in order to benefit fully from this set and Z-conversion can only be used once

Set Details
========

* The provided Speed EVs outspeed everything up to Choice Scarf Excadrill.
* 44 EVs are placed into Defense to have download boost Genesect's Special Attack.
* The remaining EVs are dumped into Special Attack to maximize power.
* Normalium Z allows Porygon-Z to use Z-Conversion.
* Adaptability is used to maximize the power of Thunderbolt, which is the STAB move on this moveset.

Usage Tips
========

* Given its one time opportunity to set up Z-conversion, it is better to used as a late game sweeper after opposition team have been weakened.
* It is best to try to set up on pokemon Porgyon-Z outspeeds to lessen the damage he may take during the boost or/and do not have a super effective ground type attack, and you can use this to bait the opponent team into bringing out such pokemon or their reluctance to do so
* Electric-Z appreciates having his team mates taking care of sure sweep stoppers, for example SpD Excadrill, SpD ferrothorn, Chansey, Scarfed Ground attackers like Garchomp and Lando-T
* Thunderbolt is your main go to move against electric neutral and weak pokemon, and can hit incoming switches very heavily as long as they are not immune to it, while you can also opt to use Ice beam if you suspect a switch into a bulky grass type or ground pokemon, whereas HP Ground/Fight are best reserved until the specific answers it handles are infront of you
* Although not mandatory, hazards such as SR turn many possible OHKOs and 2HKOs into guaranteed and makes sure enemy does not rely on volt-turning to wear down Porgyon-Z

Team Options
========

* Most of the partners for the Z-Conversion Ghost set also make really good partners for this set as they have similar roles.
* Tapu Koko can set up Electric Terrain to add an additional boost to Thunderbolt
* Tapu Bulu offers passive recovery with Grassy Terrain and halving the damage from Earthquake, most notably from Choice Scarf Garchomp and Landorus-T.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Z Conversion to Psychic type can be used along with Tapu Lele to get past Chansey and Special walls in general as well as being immune to Priority in Psychic Terrain. However, it will also make it more vulnerable to being revenge killed by U-turn users and is an inferior offensive typing to Ghost.
* Charge Beam may sound tempting on the Electric-Z set due to 50% chance to boost your Special Attack, it is generally not recommended due to base power difference vs Thunderbolt right off the bat.
* Recover could be used to mitigate residual damage and make Porygon-Z more difficult to revenge kill, but the ability to set up further and break through counters as well as a coverage moveslot are both too valuable too pass up.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Chansey can take on virtually any Porygon-Z moveset with its obscene special bulk coupled with its access to reliable recovery.

**Specially Defensive Unaware Clefable**: Porygon-Z fails to 2HKO it, and Clefable can wear away at Porygon-Z with Moonblast and has acess to reliable recovery in Wish+Protect that allows it to beat Porygon-Z very handily

**Appropriate Defensive Pokemon**: As each set relies on a completely different STAB move to sweep, they both can be checked by different defensive Pokemon. Electric-Z struggles with bulky Grass-types that are neutral to Ice Beam such as Ferrothorn and Mega Venusaur as they paltry damage from Thunderbolt while avoiding a 3HKO from all of Porygon-Z's coverage moves.

**Strong, Bulky Pokemon**: Generally strong, bulky Pokemon such as Magearna and Heatran can take a hit from Porygon-Z if not weakened and either put it into range of being revenge killed or outright KO it with their strong STAB moves.

**Revenge Killers** Choice Scarf users such as Tapu Lele, Pheromosa, and Garchomp as well as Swift Swim users can threaten to outspeed and KO Porygon-Z. Additionally, Porygon-Z can be revenge killed by priority if it is weakened enough by the opposing team.
 
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If Genesect gets banned, would it be best to just go 252 Sp.Atk/252 Speed/4HP or Def?
Probably, but that change can be done after the ban (similar to all the edits to entries with Lando-I in them).

Analysis so far looking good. Glad to see GhostDuck over ZapDuck, I think that Adaptability +1 Shadow Ball, an immunity to Mach Punch and Extreme Speed, and a resistance to the omnipresent U-Turn, are concrete reasons for choosing GhostDuck over ZapDuck.

Also, while Magnezone is a great partner because of a slow Volt-Switch and general trapping, note that Celesteela doesn't actually do great if you've already set up. Same goes for Ferrothorn, so they're checks as opposed to counters (you haven't listed them as counters, but a looooot of people think they are).

+1 224 SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 190-224 (47.7 - 56.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

+1 224 SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 202-238 (57.3 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
 
Very good analysis. Maybe note that Timid is a must-have on this set. Not only to outspeed Excadrill (who you've noted...), but "Modest" fails to outspeed Pheremosa even at +1.

Maybe also mention that Electric-Duck resists Bullet Punch?

252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. +1 0 HP / 0 Def (Electric) Porygon-Z: 72-85 (23.1 - 27.3%) -- 65.5% chance to 4HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. +1 0 HP / 0 Def (Ghost) Porygon-Z: 144-171 (46.3 - 54.9%) -- 62.9% chance to 2HKO

So Fake-out, Mach Punch, and Extreme Speed are resisted by Ghost. Electric does take on Scizor's bullet punch however. Ghost-Z is immune to brick break, which should mitigate any attempt at ruining dual-screens if you've set it up.

* Tapu Fini can use Taunt and Nature's Madness to break down bulky Pokemon that normally can take on Ghost-Z like Mega Venusaur and provides Defog support while dealing with Dark-types that Ghost-Z hates
+1 224 SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Venusaur-Mega: 170-200 (46.7 - 54.9%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO

0 SpA Venusaur-Mega Giga Drain vs. +1 0 HP / 0 SpD Porygon-Z: 82-97 (26.3 - 31.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

Is Venusaur really taking this thing on? Ghost Porygon-Z resists Sludge Bomb and Giga-drain is meh at +1 Sp. Def. If Mega-Venu is switching into the Z-Conversion, Porygon-Z KOs it within 3 turns. Mega-Venu might get a Leech seed off, but that's probably the best

----------------

You're missing the "Slow U-Turn" and "Slow Volt Switch" strategy for safely getting a set-up sweeper in. I guess Explosion is another way to guarantee a safe switch in, but that's more common on Stealth Rocks users in the early game. Volt Switch from a Fortress is the typical "slow-switch", but so can Rotom or Magnezone. Volt/Turners like Pheremosa or Tapu Koko are "too fast", because Porygon will take the hit.

In my experience, setting up a Slow U-Turn or Slow Volt Switch is much easier than dual-screens. I haven't tried Alolan-Ninetails yet however.
 
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Your replacement line is awkward, although a bit better.

* Tapu Fini can use Taunt and Nature's Madness to break down bulky Pokemon that normally can take on Ghost-Z like Clefable and provides Defog support while dealing with Dark-types that Ghost-Z hates
I don't really see good opponents leaving in a full HP Clefable vs Tapu Fini's Nature's Madness and/or Taunt + Misty Field / immunity to Toxic for 5 turns. I think I see what you're trying to say, but the more straightforward approach is to use Dugtrio as a trapper (ideally from a slow UTurn that really should be on your team anyway). CB Dugtrio reliably 2HKOs Clefable and deals with it permanently. Your statement is still half-correct in that Tapu Fini provides Defog support and works well against Dark Types.

Unaware Clefable definitely looks like it stops Porygon-Z, so figuring out a good plan against it is a good thing. I'm just not seeing how Tapu Fini really "deals" with Clefable in the early and/or midgame... at least while the opponent has plenty of switch-out opportunities. Even if Clefable stays in for the lol 5HKO through Moonblast... Tapu Fini doesn't have reliable recovery in any form, and Tapu Fini isn't doing anything better than a 3HKO vs Clefable.

The sentence still needs to be rewritten somehow. I don't got any suggestions however. I do think you've made progress... its just not quite "completely correct" yet. Its mostly right, but awkward.
 
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name: Z-Conversion (Ghost)
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Hidden Power Fighting
move 3: Nasty Plot
move 4: Conversion
item: Normalium Z
ability: Adaptability
nature: Timid
evs: 44 Def / 224 SpA / 240 Spe
Can't signal beam be used instead of Hidden Power Fighting to hit dark types harder?
 
* Hidden Power Fighting allows Porygon-Z to get past Tyranitar, Weavile, Greninja and Bisharp.
Doesn't HP fighting fail to get past mixed defenses and CB Tyranitar? Also Scarf Ttar weakens Ghost PZ down to being revenge kill bait, and Bisharp's Sucker Punch OHKO's +1 Def Ghost PZ after rocks and still either OHKOs or leaves PZ as revenge kill bait without rocks up. If you try to play mind games against Sucker Punch with Recover then you're relying on getting lucky and 65 BP Knock Off still does at least 85%. I'm not really convinced that Ghost-type Z-Conversion is better than Electric :S The main STAB and coverage move(hp fight) of Ghost PZ is just much weaker in general than BoltBeam Electric PZ.
 
Every real relevant dark type not named Greninja gets smcked 4x by HP Fighting. Plus, Ghost+Fighting is unresisted to my knowledge.
I'm being nitpicky but Hoopa-U can eat a Shadow Ball and OHKO back. That's still not enough of a reason to justify running Signal Beam though.

Doesn't HP fighting fail to get past mixed defenses and CB Tyranitar? Also Scarf Ttar weakens Ghost PZ down to being revenge kill bait, and Bisharp's Sucker Punch OHKO's +1 Def Ghost PZ after rocks and still either OHKOs or leaves PZ as revenge kill bait without rocks up. If you try to play mind games against Sucker Punch with Recover then you're relying on getting lucky and 65 BP Knock Off still does at least 85%. I'm not really convinced that Ghost-type Z-Conversion is better than Electric :S The main STAB and coverage move(hp fight) of Ghost PZ is just much weaker in general than BoltBeam Electric PZ.
The common scarfers are generally better at revenging the Electric set. Every relevant Scarfed Ground type except Excadrill outspeeds Porygon-Z and can OHKO it with no fuss, which is big considering Scarf Lando-T is basically the most common Scarfer ever. The only thing that really revenges Ghost but not Electric is, like Scarf Gengar (not a very good or common set tbh) and most notably has an excellent matchup against Scarf Pheromosa who can't really do shit to it. Basically the most common Scarfers have a much better matchup against the Electric set giving the Ghost set better mileage.
 
You might add to the c&c section that phazers can cause you to have a completely wasted porygon-z . For example, a 100% skarmory can switch into Porygon-z as it uses z conversion and survive the followup attack and whirlwind it out. Toxapex, gastridon, Suicune, swampert and hippowdon also commonly carry haze, roar and whirlwind. Defensive Zygarde can tank attacks from the Ghost conversion set and phaze out with dragon tail.
 
Now that Genesect is banned, both EV spreads should probably be changed to 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe, that is, unless there's a reason to keep it as it is or to shift those 44 EVs (or some of them) elsewhere like in HP.
 
Now that Genesect is banned, both EV spreads should probably be changed to 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe, that is, unless there's a reason to keep it as it is or to shift those 44 EVs (or some of them) elsewhere like in HP.
It still doesn't have anything relevant faster than 88 base speed to beat, really. 12 HP / 252 SpA / 240+ Spe is probably best, although it could go max speed to beat other things that creep Excadrill, although that has no place in an analysis. Being able to always beat opposing +1 Porygon-Z is pretty irrelevant except in unboosted 1v1 situations
 
Adaptability, Life Orb boosted Tri-Attack is still a whammy these days. Sure we have new moves, but is new better than the tested move combinations from the previous generation? As stated, Z-Moves can only be used once; it would be better to boost the Special Attack of Porygon-Z instead of giving it something that takes a bit of time and can possibly get OHKOed by Infernape or Salamence.

I've tested this thorughly, and it works much better than a one use move:

Porygon-Z @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Tri Attack

or

Porygon-Z @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tri Attack
- Nasty Plot
- Discharge
- Recover
 
Adaptability, Life Orb boosted Tri-Attack is still a whammy these days. Sure we have new moves, but is new better than the tested move combinations from the previous generation? As stated, Z-Moves can only be used once; it would be better to boost the Special Attack of Porygon-Z instead of giving it something that takes a bit of time and can possibly get OHKOed by Infernape or Salamence.

I've tested this thorughly, and it works much better than a one use move:

Porygon-Z @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Tri Attack

or

Porygon-Z @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tri Attack
- Nasty Plot
- Discharge
- Recover
Replays?

You're outsped by so many things since you're only base 90 Speed and RK'd/OHKO'd by a lot since you don't have +1 defenses. This is not better than Z-Conversion Porygon-Z at all.
 
Z-Conversion does require the Z-move button to be pressed though. If you bluff with Porygon-Z and then maybe later (or earlier) do a surprise Z-Bounce with Gyarados or something, maybe it would work. A good player seeing a Porygon-Z would assume that the Porygon had the Z-Item.

That's about all I got. Seems like a weak bluff. 90 Speed is very meh in this meta. If you're slower than 95 (Tapu Lele), you gotta have hit harder than Life Orb Tri Attack.
 

Ash Borer

I've heard they're short of room in hell
Yeah I could see agility PZ + an unexpected Z move working OK. Agility PZ isnt a terrible cleaner, adtapbility + Life Orb + Modest is strong, and it can be concealed till lategame, but this is too specific and situational to warrant a full set in analysis. Maybe an OO mention
 
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