Almost Any Ability

Analysis written by Funbot28.
« back to home
Zygarde

Overview

With great bulk and a superb Dragon / Ground defensive typing that gives it a resistance to common offensive types such as Fire and Rock alongside an immunity to Electric-type attacks, Zygarde is the prime example of a solid bulky setup attacker in Almost Any Ability. Having access to two great setup moves in Coil and Dragon Dance, Zygarde is a versatile sweeper due to it having multiple ways in boosting its stats. It is also able to utilize an amazing STAB move in Thousand Arrows, which has no Pokemon immune to it, hits Pokemon with Levitate, and has very few relevant Pokemon resistant to it, allowing Zygarde to dedicate more moveslots to support options instead of coverage. Poison Heal gives Zygarde recovery and an immunity to status moves, allowing it to sustain itself more consistently throughout the entire match, which aids the bulky setup boosting sets. Zygarde can also run offensive sets with Magic Bounce and Aerilate, which apply more offensive pressure and sap less momentum, making them a better fit on faster teams.

However, Zygarde has a detrimental 4x weakness to Ice, meaning that offensive threats such as Weavile, Ice Beam Manaphy, and Mamoswine all threaten Zygarde immensely. It is also weak to other common types such as Fairy and Dragon, giving it a harder time setting up against more offensive teams. Zygarde is also quite weak without any boosts, meaning it can be passive at times, letting the opposing Pokemon use it as setup fodder.

Coil

Set Comments

Moves

Coil is the main setup move of this set, turning Zygarde into a powerful and bulky threat that can become difficult to wall and take down, even allowing Zygarde to sustain Ice-type attacks after enough boosts. Protect is a great move to use alongside Poison Heal, as it allows Zygarde to safely recover more health while scouting for the opponent's move. Thousand Arrows is Zygarde's main reliable STAB move, allowing it to hit almost every relevant threat in the metagame. Dragon Tail is another STAB option that allows Zygarde to shuffle out threats that can potentially phaze it such as Skarmory, Hippowdon, and Suicune. It also works well alongside Coil, since the accuracy boosts mean that Zygarde will never miss it. Toxic is another option that enables Zygarde to cripple defensive threats that can potentially wall it such as Unaware Chansey, Buzzwole, and Chesnaught. Glare can allow Zygarde to beat Unaware walls such as Skarmory and Chansey by gaining free turns. Extreme Speed is a great utility option that allows Zygarde to potentially KO faster offensive threats such as Tapu Koko, Noivern, and Greninja that wish to revenge kill it after setting up.

Set Details

Poison Heal is an amazing ability, since it gives Zygarde much more setup opportunities thanks to its increased sustainability. Toxic Orb is equipped to ensure that Zygarde attains the poison status condition, allowing it to take full advantage of Poison Heal. It also prevents Zygarde from being crippled by status conditions such as burns. EVs are invested in HP and Special Defense with a Careful nature in order to turn Zygarde into a bulky behemoth alongside the Defense boosts from Coil.

Usage Tips

Once Zygarde becomes poisoned from its Toxic Orb, it can proceed to set up against numerous threats that would otherwise threaten to inflict it with status, such as Mew and Zapdos. It can also act as a sponge to Knock Off users, since it does not care if its item is taken away after it already has been poisoned. Zygarde is quite weak without any boosts, meaning that the main goal for Zygarde when using this set is to set up as much as possible, allowing it to actually pose a threat versus defensive walls. Protect should not be used too freely, as the foe can capitalize on this free turn given and proceed to potentially set up or switch to a Pokemon that can threaten Zygarde out. Once Toxic Orb activates, Zygarde can be used as a great status absorber to block certain threats such as Will-O-Wisp Mew and Scald Suicune from crippling other teammates. Dragon Tail should only be used against defensive walls that threaten to phaze it. It can also be useful to damage Pokemon that can 2HKO Zygarde such as Hoopa-U and Noivern, which can allow Zygarde to recover health and be able to beat them next time they switch in.

Team Options

Teammates that can cover Zygarde's weaknesses are extremely important. Bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Tapu Fini can help check Ice-type Pokemon alongside Dragon-type physical attackers such as Garchomp and Mega Charizard X, while Zygarde can check Electric-type Pokemon in return. Magearna on the other hand can check Ice-, Fairy-, and Dragon-type attacks alongside special attackers such as Mega Alakazam and Hoopa-U, while Zygarde can cover its Fire-type weakness in return. Entry hazard setters are also beneficial to help Zygarde break down some of its checks with the most prominent examples being Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Greninja. Toxic Spikes setters such as Toxapex and Nihilego are worthy of being mentioned due to Toxic Spikes helping Zygarde defeat some of its checks by stalling out Toxic damage with Protect and Poison Heal. Zygarde can also shuffle around foes with Dragon Tail, meaning that it can take advantage of entry hazard residual damage even further. Wallbreakers that can bait out and weaken or KO Zygarde's checks are appreciated, such as physical Hoopa-U and Mamoswine for Buzzwole or Hippowdon and Tinted Lens Victini for bulky Water-types such as Tapu Fini. Other bulky setup sweepers such as Calm Mind Tapu Fini, Bulk Up Conkeldurr, and Calm Mind Suicune are all good teammates, as they can pressure the opposing team immensely alongside Zygarde while being able to handle Zygarde's checks such as Weavile and Refrigerate Lucario. Pokemon that appreciate its Electric-type immunity and Fire-type resistance such as Skarmory and Celesteela can be paired with Zygarde, especially since the aforementioned examples can help check Dragon- and Fairy-types in return.

Dragon Dance

Set Comments

Moves

Dragon Dance is the main focus of this set, allowing Zygarde to become a fast and powerful threat. Thousand Arrows is Zygarde's best STAB move, enabling it to hit every relevant threat regardless of immunities. Extreme Speed is a great utility move, allowing Zygarde to hit priority users such as Entei and Mamoswine. It can also let Zygarde act as a revenge killer, targeting faster threats such as Tapu Koko, Greninja, and Noivern when unboosted. It also turns into a Flying-type move when used in conjunction with Aerilate, allowing Zygarde to hit Ground-resistant Pokemon such as Buzzwole and Chesnaught for super effective damage. Outrage is another STAB option that allows Zygarde to deal more damage versus targets that resist Ground-type attacks such as Buzzwole and Chesnaught. However, it risks locking itself into the move, meaning that Fairy- and Steel-types such as Tapu Fini and Bisharp can proceed to start setting up versus it, though this can be avoided by using Dragonium Z, which allows Zygarde to use a one-time powerful Dragon-type STAB move without risking locking itself. Return can be used as a stronger Flying-type move through Aerilate, although STAB Outrage is generally preferred to allow Zygarde to wallbreak better.

Set Details

Magic Bounce is great to prevent Zygarde from being shuffled by phazing moves such as Roar and Whirlwind on top of blocking status conditions that can cripple it. Aerilate can be used to give Zygarde perfect coverage alongside Thousand Arrows by hitting both types that resist Ground-type attacks for super effective damage, allowing it to defeat offensive Pokemon much easier and break through Grass- and Bug-types such as Golisopod, Buzzhole, and Chesnaught. Leftovers is used to give Zygarde passive recovery each turn, increasing its sustainability. A Life Orb can be equipped alternatively, increasing Zygarde's damage output for the cost of durability. Lum Berry is another option for non-Magic Bounce sets that allows Zygarde to be immune to status affects such as burns and poison for one use, giving it more setup opportunities. Lastly, Dragonium Z can be used to let Zygarde fire off a powerful 190-Base Power Devastating Drake when equipped with Outrage, enabling it to potentially KO defensive threats such as Zapdos and Mandibuzz at +1 after Stealth Rock damage. EVs have been maxed out in Attack and Speed with an Adamant nature in order to augment Zygarde's sweeping potential. A Jolly nature can be used alternatively allowing Zygarde to outspeed threats such as Mega Alakazam, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Chlorophyll Heatran at +1; however, the power decrease is noticeable.

Usage Tips

Zygarde strives on setting up versus passive threats that do not harm it immensely such as Mew, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory. Although Zygarde is able to boost its Speed, priority users can still prevent it from sweeping, with the most notable examples being Refrigerate users such as Weavile, Entei, and Lucario. Therefore, it should retain from setting up until the aforementioned threats have been neutralized or weakened enough to be in range of Extreme Speed. Magic Bounce prevents status conditions from crippling Zygarde, but it is still prone to be affected by moves such as Lava Plume and Scald, as they possess the ability to inflict status on the target, meaning that it should be wary from switching in on targets such as Suicune and Heatran too liberally unless it is holding a Lum Berry. Due to Zygarde being quite weak without any Attack boosts, it should be focusing on setting up whenever it can to help it turn into a formidable threat. Aerilate is also a great way to lure conventional counters such as Buzzwole and Chesnaught. If Zygarde chooses to run Dragonium Z, it should be used to hit defensive walls that it struggles to break even at +1, such as Suicune and Chansey. It can also be worth preserving Zygarde rather than sacrificing it even if it gets to low health, since it can still be valuable as a revenge killer to check fast threats with Extreme Speed.

Team Options

Pokemon that can take on Ice-type priority moves coming off of threats such as Weavile, Entei, and Genesect are essential in order to allow Zygarde to sweep easily. Examples include Delta Stream Zapdos, Suicune, and Manaphy. Fairy-type answers such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Excadrill can also be beneficial due to threats such as Tapu Koko and Mega Mawile threatening out unboosted Zygarde. Entry hazard setters such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Skarmory are all beneficial, as the residual damage helps Zygarde break through defensive walls such as Tapu Fini, Zapdos, and Landorus-T much more easily. Other setup sweepers such as Tail Glow Manaphy, Calm Mind Suicune, and Belly Drum Chesnaught can also be useful in order to help Zygarde apply offensive pressure against the opposing team. Since the Aerilate set can lure in bulky Grass-, Fighting-, and Bug-types, physically offensive threats such as Garchomp and Mega Gyarados are beneficial partners that appreciate Zygarde being able to lure in their checks.

Strategy Comments

Other Options

Zygarde can run a Choice Band Adaptability set with Thousand Arrows, which allows it become a powerful attacker immediately and lets it spam the move freely. Support moves such as Thousand Waves, Core Enforcer, and Haze can be used on a fully defensive set to allow Zygarde to check attackers such as Terrakion, Buzzwole, and Snorlax. It can also trap and stall out Poison Heal users such as Chesnaught, Suicune, and other Zygarde. However, its offensive sets generally offer more support. Refrigerate and Pixilate can also be run on Dragon Dance sets, allowing Zygarde to threaten offensive Pokemon such as Garchomp, Weavile, and Landorus-T, which can be preferred depending on the needs of the team. A Mold Breaker Dragon Dance set with either Groundium or Dragonium Z can also be used to break through common Unaware walls such as Chansey and Mandibuzz.

Checks and Counters

« back to home