SM OU Next Best Thing Season 2, Week 32: Zapdos

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Submissions for Week 30 are now closed. The voting phase has now begun.

The submissions are:
1. Rock Polish by im_m0rtal
2. Explosion Lead by Proftreez
3. Calm Mind by DIYUSI
4. Dual Screens by Strafepattern

Deadline: 2nd December 2025, 11:30 PM, GMT-5

 

[im_m0rtal.]

3

 

[Uber45]

1

 

[Astoria]

2

 

[Drachenkeule]

1

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

2

 

[Strafepattern]

4

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

4

You can't vote for your own set, Strafepattern

 

[Strafepattern]

You can't vote for your own set, Strafepattern

Worth a shot.

 

[Tenebricite]

4

 

[Eelektrone]

4

 

[TheShowdownHero]

3

 

[Proftreez]

4

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Dual Screens Mega Diancie by Strafepattern has won the week 30 NBT vote.

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Week 31: Breloom

Breloom finds itself a small niche on hyper offense teams thanks to its high Attack stat, access to the irritating Spore, and Technician ability to boost its primary STAB options in Bullet Seed and Mach Punch. These traits let it offensively check Greninja and Mega Tyranitar, threaten defensive Water-types like Seismitoad, Gastrodon, and Rotom-W, and it can even sometimes use Rock Tomb to surprise Fire-types like Volcarona and the Mega Charizard formes. However, it is rarely seen due to its frailty, subpar Speed, the stiff competition it faces from other Fighting-types and priority users like Mega Lopunny and Mega Medicham, and the extensive support it needs to keep its Focus Sash intact.
Your goal this week is to post creative and viable movesets for Breloom that are NOT listed as sample sets in its SmogDex entry. You have 7 days from now to post sets, after which the voting phase will begin.

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Since no posts have been submitted for Breloom so far, I'm extending the deadline to 17th December 2025, 11:30 PM, GMT-5

 

[Strafepattern]

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Drain Punch
Toxic Stall breloom.

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Since only 1 moveset has been posted so far, Strafepattern wins this round by default.

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Week 32: Zapdos

Zapdos is a solid defensive force, owing to its fantastic typing, reliable recovery in Roost, and the ability Static. These traits, alongside Rocky Helmet, let it shut down key physical attackers like Kartana, Mega Lopunny, Gyarados, and Hawlucha. It is also great at generating momentum with Volt Switch for the benefit of offensive threats like Mega Mawile and Weavile, and can sometimes be seen running Defog on bulky offense and deter certain hazard setters like Ferrothorn and defensive Landorus-T.
Your goal this week is to post creative and viable movesets for Zapdos that are NOT listed as sample sets in its SmogDex entry. You have 7 days from now to post sets, after which the voting phase will begin.
Deadline: 30th December 2025, 11:30 PM, GMT-5

 

[Strafepattern]

Week 32: Zapdos

Zapdos is a solid defensive force, owing to its fantastic typing, reliable recovery in Roost, and the ability Static. These traits, alongside Rocky Helmet, let it shut down key physical attackers like Kartana, Mega Lopunny, Gyarados, and Hawlucha. It is also great at generating momentum with Volt Switch for the benefit of offensive threats like Mega Mawile and Weavile, and can sometimes be seen running Defog on bulky offense and deter certain hazard setters like Ferrothorn and defensive Landorus-T.
Your goal this week is to post creative and viable movesets for Zapdos that are NOT listed as sample sets in its SmogDex entry. You have 7 days from now to post sets, after which the voting phase will begin.
Deadline: 30th December 2025, 11:30 PM, GMT-5

Week 32: Zapdos

Zapdos is a solid defensive force, owing to its fantastic typing, reliable recovery in Roost, and the ability Static. These traits, alongside Rocky Helmet, let it shut down key physical attackers like Kartana, Mega Lopunny, Gyarados, and Hawlucha. It is also great at generating momentum with Volt Switch for the benefit of offensive threats like Mega Mawile and Weavile, and can sometimes be seen running Defog on bulky offense and deter certain hazard setters like Ferrothorn and defensive Landorus-T.
Your goal this week is to post creative and viable movesets for Zapdos that are NOT listed as sample sets in its SmogDex entry. You have 7 days from now to post sets, after which the voting phase will begin.
Deadline: 30th December 2025, 11:30 PM, GMT-5

Think its time for you to call this wraps

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Since no posts have been submitted for Zapdos so far, I'm extending the deadline to 4th January 2026, 11:30 PM, GMT-5

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Substitute + Roost

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 76 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Roost
- Discharge
- Hidden Power Ice

Pressure is very underrated on Zapdos for SM OU. With this set, Zapdos can stall out passive Pokemon like Ferrothorn, as well as low PP moves like Serperior's Leaf Storm and Heatran's Magma Storm; consistently threaten targets like Hawlucha, Celesteela, and Landorus-T; and irritate common checks like Heatran and Clefable. 184 Speed EVs are a necessity for outrunning Jolly Landorus-T. Toxapex is a crucial partner for this set, as Toxic Spikes helps pressure foes like Mega Tyranitar and Weavile that will attempt to force Zapdos out.

 

[Proftreez]

Welp I feel bad for this man so uhhhhh here bro.
U-Turn Z-Zapdos:

Zapdos @ Electrium Z
Ability: Static
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- U-Turn​

This is an optimization of the Zapdos featured on Ben Gay and ima's iteration of Bossnite stall (if you've been living under a rock check out this post its great: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/farewell.3775755/), I fell in love with the set after extensively testing the six a few months ago and its efficacy against the likes of rain and offense can not be understated; strong Tbolts combined with the defensive typing and a real speed tier goes crazy against the vast majority of offensive staples, and nailing Mega-Swampert with an HP Grass is akin to doing a line of crack. However, I found Toxic to consistently end up being a deadslot on the six; being blanked by two of the best grounds in the meta in the form of Gliscor and Excadrill is a horrible momentum sink, especially in a metagame where sand is one of the dominant archetypes. Not to mention, the prime targets for Toxics either happened to be fantastic teammates with the aforementioned mons, or tend to be progressively overloaded throughout the game regardless. U-Turn circumvents these issues by transforming these entries into free momentum, accruing valuable chip damage in the process against the likes of Chansey, Mega-Latias and Tyranitar, while maintaining the valuable coverage provided by HP Grass without having to worry about being unable to punish the numerous volt-absorbers neutral to grass coverage.

 

[FavMon=Garchomp]

Submissions for Week 32 are now closed. The voting phase has now begun.

The submissions are:
1. Substitute + Roost by FavMon=Garchomp
2. U-turn + Electrium Z by Proftreez

Deadline: 18th January 2026, 11:30 PM, GMT-5