Zekrom

[MMII]

Name: Zekrom
Type: Dragon / Electric
Abilities: Teravolt
Base Stats: 100 / 150 / 120 / 120 / 100 / 90
Movepool: http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/zekrom/moves
Stats and movepool unconfirmed

General Description:
Smashing things with Bolt Strike is what Zekrom has been good at doing and it can continue to do so. Although there are Fairies around to absorb Outrage, they still won't like a 130 BP electric STAB smacking them in the face when backed by 150 base attack muscle. Choice Zekrom will probably drop out of the limelight all the same, as there are a bunch of Pokemon that have an immunity to at least one of his STABs now.

 

[Fireburn]

Choice Zekrom is still fine IMO because of Volt Switch letting him pivot out of Fairies. Band Zekrom will probably be less popular but Scarf Zekrom is still a great revenge killer. He can still barely outrun M2Y with Adamant which is sweet. If anything, a drop in Ferrothorn usage and the fact Latias is currently MIA to help check Kyogre has made Zekrom a bit more useful IMO.

Unfortunately Bolt Strike is a contact move so he can be trolled by Aegislash...

 

[Manaphy]

I agree with Fireburn, one of the main things going against Zekrom was Ferrothorn and he's definitely going down in usage. Fairies suck but almost all of them can't take two Bolt Strikes, while the main new Steel Aegislash can't switch into a Bolt Strike. Overall he's probably just as good (or better) than last gen.

 

[Haruno]

Considering how awesome lugia/ho oh are and how no legal defog users threaten zekrom in any way, I still see it as an amazing mon just for the ability to beat ygod and the gen 2 bird duo, ogre and other things.

 

[Magicfire]

Both Azumarill and Togekiss are weak to Electric, and the good thing is that permanent sand is also gone. I think Zekrom is in a good position, Bolt Strike being able to smash Fairies and with Ferrothorn dropping most likely.

 

[Haruno]

Both Azumarill and Togekiss are weak to Electric, and the good thing is that permanent sand is also gone. I think Zekrom is in a good position, Bolt Strike being able to smash Fairies and with Ferrothorn dropping most likely.

Azumarill and togekiss are both irrelevant in ubers, and not to mention xerneas and fairyceus threaten it easily with their respective stabs. Ferro going down in usage helps zekrom immensely however.

 

[Magicfire]

Azumarill and togekiss are both irrelevant in ubers, and not to mention xerneas and fairyceus threaten it easily with their respective stabs. Ferro going down in usage helps zekrom immensely however.

Just pointing it out...my point was that it has a strong STAB that is neutral against Fairies. Perma-sand being gone is great as well.

 

[Hack]

Zekrom got some really nice buffs this generation. The metagame has shifted in its favor in comparison to many other Dragons, mainly due to the fact that its strongest attack isn't coming from that Dragon STAB. I would personally don't use scarf, though, since it gets stuck when building momentum with Volt Switch against the infinite amount of Groudon+Xerneas sun teams on the ladder (or any Ground-type+Xerneas for that matter). Outrunning MMY is quite irrelevant, since it's not that much of a threat and BU mmx is a bit of a pain for scarf Zek anyway. I'd personally use a mixed Zekrom to lure in Groudon and pave way for a MMX (is phazed by D tail Groudon as a rare as it is), Mega Lucario or E-killer sweep. Additionally we shouldn't forget that it gets Tailwind and Roost, two great moves to make it able to stand up longer, and coupled with the Thunder Wave immunity it has now it completely runs over Lugia too. Speaking of paralysis, ladder is full of T-wave spam, another reason to justify the usage of Zekrom at least on the ladder. Finally, here is a set I have been tinkering with:

Zekrom @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 80 SAtk / 176 Spd
Naughty Nature
- Bolt Strike
- Draco Meteor
- Tailwind
-(filler slot, can be fit to team's needs)Outrage / Roost / idk Toxic is fucking good as always to screw up Arceus-Ground/Grass etc

The EVs may be changed accordingly, atm I'm running enough speed to be faster than scarf Terrakion in Tailwind, which might be irrelevant but Draco 2HKOs support Groudon at least so there isn't really any need for more special attack I guess.

 

[MagicMissingno]

So I'm thinking of using Zekrom as my answer to Kyogre on my team, but I'm not sure what to run, attack + speed EVs or HP + Sp defense evs. The thing is without investment Kyorge still gets a 2HKO with Assault Vest. So I'm not sure of what to run

252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Water Spout (150) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Zekrom in Rain: 224-264 (65.6 - 77.4%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Zekrom: 240-284 (70.3 - 83.2%)


252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Water Spout (150) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Zekrom in Rain: 162-191 (40 - 47.2%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Zekrom: 172-204 (42.5 - 50.4%)

And even then there's a possibility of a 2HKO with max defensive investment. Is this a good idea, or should I turn to another Poke for Kyorge?

 

[MMII]

Why do people bold their calcs?

 

[Manaphy]

Why do people bold their calcs?

It does it automatically when you copy-paste it from showdown calc.

So I'm thinking of using Zekrom as my answer to Kyogre on my team, but I'm not sure what to run, attack + speed EVs or HP + Sp defense evs. The thing is without investment Kyorge still gets a 2HKO with Assault Vest. So I'm not sure of what to run

252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Water Spout (150) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Zekrom in Rain: 224-264 (65.6 - 77.4%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Zekrom: 240-284 (70.3 - 83.2%)

252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Water Spout (150) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Zekrom in Rain: 162-191 (40 - 47.2%)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Zekrom: 172-204 (42.5 - 50.4%)

And even then there's a possibility of a 2HKO with max defensive investment. Is this a good idea, or should I turn to another Poke for Kyorge?

Definitely turn to another Pokemon to take on Specs Ogre, Zekrom would lose way too much power and speed to work as an Assault Vest-er (it also can't recover so it could essentially come in 3 times at max)

 

[Edgar]

I've been using Zekrom a lot lately and it's one hell of a threat. Not only because as people said, Ferrethorn is less used but also the 2 viable Fairies cannot switch in into Zekrom's Bolt Strike reliably, they take the risk of getting paralysed and potentially 2hko'd in Arceus-Fairy's case, not to mention that pokemon like Lugia and Ho-Oh are getting more used and Zekrom breaks them. Mixed Zekrom is just as good as Scarfed or Banded Zekrom, I like Mixed better but scarfed Zekrom is still something to worry about. One of the best Dragons IF NOT THE BEST in this generation.

252 Atk Zekrom Bolt Strike vs. 148 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 246-291 (57.2 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
148+ Atk Life Orb Zekrom Bolt Strike vs. 148 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 331-390 (76.9 - 90.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

148+ Atk Life Orb Zekrom Bolt Strike vs. 252 HP / 200 Def Arceus-Fairy: 230-270 (51.8 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[nmitchell890]

Liking Zekrom a lot in XY Ubers. Unlike other dragons, its main STAB got buffed with the rise of Ho-Oh and introduction of Yveltal, it still rapes Lugia through Multiscale because of Teravolt, Kyogre is still a massive threat, Ferrothorn and Excadrill usage has plummeted. It can easily threaten to 2HKO both fairies that are viable in Ubers with Bolt Strike. It even has a 68.7% chance of surviving a Life Orb Earthquake from 252+ Ho-Oh after Stealth Rock. I can't think of a better dragon as is now.

 

[FreeButter]

Just wondering, has anyone here have tried the MixKrom set in the new meta? I haven't seen any running around yet nor any posts of it.

 

[Edgar]

Just wondering, has anyone here have tried the MixKrom set in the new meta? I haven't seen any running around yet nor any posts of it.

 

[Double Electric]

Zekrom tends to be very useful in the sense that Ho-oh encourages a lot of Kyogre usage and Xerneas/Kyogre/etc encourages Chansey usage. Being immune to paralysis is a big deal, as Thunder Wave is actually common on all the Kyogre and Chansey it likes to switch into, among others. It's a huge threat--my primary check to it is a defensive Arceus form, and I still get screwed over half the time switching into it because of Bolt Strike's paralysis chance. (It's also a legitimate reason to consider using Arceus Electric over Arceus Rock).

 

[Aquasition]

Despite Fairy-Types, Zekrom is still useful, due to his powerful secondary STAB, and newfound Paralysis immunity. One thing I've noticed a lot of recently is to run 1 Fairy + 1 Ground Type in order to give Zekrom headaches. Especially if it was choiced and it guesses wrong. Good thing No Fairy/Ground Types Exist yet. However, while Aegislash can't switch into a Bolt Strike or Volt switch, If it gets in off in a Dragon-Type move/ Gets in freely, It can abuse King's Shield to make Zekrom switch out. Despite this, Zekrom is still a useful Dragon-Type even with all the fairies, simply due to how hard he hits.

 

[jevon]

Does smogon encourage pokegen? Because it looks like these legendaries need to be flawless

 

[Hack]

Does smogon encourage pokegen? Because it looks like these legendaries need to be flawless

No, we definitely don't encourage pokegen. However, we encourage simulator battling generally, meaning your mons will be set to flawless if you want.

 

[Stormbrigader]

Does smogon encourage pokegen? Because it looks like these legendaries need to be flawless

Not to say pokegenning is NOT the only way you can get flawless pokemon. RNG abuse was the preferred method to have flawless legendary and most people think it's legit, so it's not hard to get most pre gen VI mons on cartridge with flawless stats without resort to hack. Zekrom is a perfect example. Excuse me for the Off topic.

 

[Haruno]

Not to say pokegenning is NOT the only way you can get flawless pokemon. RNG abuse was the preferred method to have flawless legendary and most people think it's legit, so it's not hard to get most pre gen VI mons on cartridge with flawless stats without resort to hack. Zekrom is a perfect example. Excuse me for the Off topic.

To be fair you can't really confirm if any legendary is legitl SR'd for since I can say my pokegen'd mons are RNG'd and no one would be the wiser. Considering the astranominical odds of getting a somewhat decent ivd mons pre 6th gen, it wouldn't surprise me if they were lying their ass off. Oh well.

Anyways back on topic, zekrom is good. Mandating a fairy + ground or ferrothorn is godly in itself and the former combination is forced to rely on a coin flip to bypass krom.

 

[tutterydiglett]

Zekky is pretty threatening in this tier, forcing people to run at least one check for the electric dragon. It's sheer power allows it to 2HKO most mons in the tier. A good Pokemon to run would be Lando-T if you're having trouble with Zekrom. With intimidate, it can usually tank a few hits (though band does give it a few problems), but Draco Meteor would still take out a nasty chunk of health.

 

[zekromrocks333]

leftovers and roost zekrom combo is good because zekrom might be low on health by he fairies and bolt strike CAN kill fairies. maybe HP steel/poison is good and probably subsitute could be great

 

[zekromrocks333]

*the

 

[midend]

What can hidden power do to xerneas and fairyceus anyway that bolt strike cannot do more?