Since we seem to have run out of discussion a slight bit, I would like to make a proposal moving
Zygarde to B+
People are gonna immediately say: "oh wow its just an inferior garchomp noob it has espeed and dd thats it."
What often goes ignored is his best trait,
Coil. DD zygarde sucks unless it's in UU, and you need extremespeed is just trash. Examine:
+2 252+ Atk Zygarde Extreme Speed vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 221-261 (77.2 - 91.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
That's just pitiful. If somehow you even get to +2 with dd, you still can't even take out something frail like greninja. Don't waste your time with espeed on this guy.
Instead, use coil. Along with outstanding bulk, great STABs, good speed, and a factor of surpise, a sub-coil set is what really makes this guy shine.
He can set up a sub on several things thanks to his great 95 base speed, allowing him to outspeed practically anything defensive, and from there he can coil up to become an even greater threat. Now, that probably sounds really unimpressive, but there are two main reasons to really even consider him:
1)
He lures in and sets up on rotom-w
Let's be honest, if you have a defensive rotom-w at a good amount of health and you see a zygarde, chances are that's your switch-in. But alas, the sub-coil set naturally outspeeds and sets up a sub on rotom-w.
"Well, it has hydro pump to break the sub, duh. Zygarde can't set up on it >_>"
But feast your eyes on this:
4 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Zygarde: 93-109 (22.1 - 25.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
That's right! Rotom-w's hydro pump can't usually even break the sub! You need to get super high rolls, add to that 80 acc, the fact that they almost always try to WoW first, and you have yourself a great oppurtunity to do big damage. Keep in mind that rotom-w is the most used pokemon atm and the defensive sets are the most common.
"Well the common mandibuzz can just come in, not give a shit about anything and just whirlwind it out, duh >_>"
Which leads me to my next point
2)
A fast dragon tail prevents phazing.
That's right! Since zygarde is faster than most phazers, and dragon tail/storm throw/roar/whirlwind are all in the same priority bracket, speed comes in to play on who gets phazed first, meaning that mandibuzz, hippowdon, and skarmory can't get rid of your boosts!
Honestly, this set almost has an unfair advantage against defensive teams; you can come in on chansey, you threaten heatran out, you beat rotom-w, and you can just set up on those guys and go to goddamn town. Taunt is really the only thing defensive teams can do to this guy, and he outspeeds a lot of taunt users too.
For reference/stealing, here's the set. Not too complicated really.
Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Coil
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
I'll throw in some replays too
The definition of a B rank pokemon:
B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche. Support Pokemon in this category have flaws that prevent them from doing their job or are setup bait for dangerous sweepers. Pokemon who are partially outperformed by a Pokemon in A or S Rank, but are otherwise very dangerous, may also fall into this category.
Zygarde can sweep through significant portions if you let it set up enough, and you can usually grab 2 boosts + a sub if you get to set up on rotom-w, and trust me, you will. He has flaws that prevent him from doing so, however, the presence of fairies like sylveon that can 2hko through the sub and togekiss who completely walls this set are both big problems.
However, I don't think any other pokemon can boast to set up on rotom-w and destroy teams afterwards quite well like he does. He isn't really outperformed by any other pokemon in the luring and taking advantage of rotom-w, which is his dangerous niche. Kyu-b comes close, but it can easily be forced out afterwards by tyranitar, scizor, and such, but zygarde is not easy to force out. Even IF he's taunted, it won't do you much good if he's at +2/+3 smacking your team with eq's and forcing switches with dtail.
Other than his fairy flaws and general uselessness against all out offense, he's very dangerous, and he definitely doesn't belong in B for his potential.
I would go as far as to suggest A-, but he's not good enough to be A and A- isn't a thing yet, so for now,
Zygarde for B+
