I originally just wanted to see if I could get a fresh alt to top 100 using hisuian zoroark because right now a lot of the faster mons have solid defensive answers and mons like corviknight and pecharunt are really easy to lure with waterpon and great tusk and destroy with specs shadow ball, but after doing that I started playing with the team on main and when I got close to hitting 1900 with it I realized it would be really really funny to bring it up to Finch again after two years.
I tried only using mons that are convincing zoroark disguises and would be able to punish hard someone who guesses wrong trying to predict zoroark. I considered dragonite for similar reasons to ogerpon which would give the team a priority move, but I couldn't fit it over any of the defensive mons, doesn't have the immediate damage that oger has, and would make it obvious to tell if it's zoroark by looking at hazard damage.
The team
Zoroark-Hisui @ Choice Specs
Ability: Illusion
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- U-turn
- Grass Knot
- Trick
As mentioned, zoroark likes to open holes for waterpon. Right now a lot of people are using pecharunt as an answer to it and it's easy to disguise as ogerpon with zoroark and catch pecharunt on the switch with specs shadow ball. It also pairs really well with great tusk as it can catch other ghosts like sinistcha, balloon gholdengo, or dragapult trying to block rapid spin or just certain defensive mons trying to wall it like corviknight or alomomola. Grass knot hits hisuian samurott, great tusk, ting lu, tyranitar, and garganacl for big damage, U-turn is great for pivoting and hits the occasional hoopa unbound, and trick is a very useful tool to give specs to defensive mons you can't break through, setup sweepers, or last mon kingambit. Another good option for this team could be flamethrower over U-turn to hit grass types trying to switch into oger even better, as well as corviknight, kingambit, and scizor.
Don't use focus blast.
the obvious downside of zoroark is that it really struggles to switch into anything and loses 1v1 against the vast majority of faster mons, which is why it really needs a good defensive backbone with pivoting options on any team featuring it, with the added benefit of giving slower mons like great tusk or gholdengo a false sense of security when faced with a pecharunt disguise that just switched in.
Ogerpon-Wellspring (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ivy Cudgel
- Horn Leech
- Encore
The real star of the show. Thanks to zoroark, ogerpon is able to run this set without coverage other than its stabs, and I've genuinely won games on turn 3 with this thing. Sd and ivy cudgel are self explanatory, horn leech heals you after tanking a hit on the sd turn, and encore punishes defensive mons for setting up alongside it or healing. Encore is also really good utility that doesn't let the opponent play passive against the pivoting mons on this team and it can also save a game by catching faster mons as they try to set up on it, which is really important because this team has no priority.
Great Tusk @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
Great tusk is by far the best spinner, fixes the kingambit matchup, is a good disguise for zoroark luring in spin blockers and defensive mons and is an effective bluff against mons faster than it but not zoroark. It would honestly be easier to list the things tusk doesn't do. This is mostly a standard offensive utility set but with cc over rocks to OHKO unassuming hisuian samurott and kingambit on a balloon, nail ogerpon switching in on rapid spin, hit ting lu harder, and catch kyurem on the switch. Tera ice allows tusk to stay in on kyurem and kill it with cc as well as take neutral damage from ogerpon and dragonite, and it helps ice spinner get a KO on landorus, gliscor, dragonite, and hydrapple.
Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Protect
Garg is mainly here to switch into dragapult, iron moth, and cinderace, check kyurem and darkrai, and provide stealth rock to free up a move slot for cc on tusk. I originally had tera water on it to check gholdengo and kingambit better, but I changed it to fairy to be a better counter to dragapult and be able to stay in on ogerpon, though I'm still not sure about which tera is best and it probably comes down to personal preference. Garg is also a great switch into pecharunt for when it comes in on ogerpon or great tusk after tera, and protect is amazing at scouting what move mons with choice items lock themselves into.
Pecharunt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Poison Puppeteer
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Malignant Chain
- Foul Play
- Parting Shot
- Recover
Pecharunt is a useful pivot and the primary answer to most physical threats in the tier, particularly ogerpon, rillaoom, and zamazenta, as well as the team's fairy resist in a pinch. Tera dark sheds all weaknesses helping against eq dragonite, non cc great tusk, deoxys speed, and iron treads, and boosts foul play to comfortably beat sd ogerpon, dd dragonite, and terastalized kingambit. Toxic is an option over malignant chain, but it runs the risk of being shut down by substitute and taunt, potentially making the iron defense zamazenta and serperior matchups impossible to win. Pecharunt is particularly great with zoroark for being able to bluff a slower ghost type, potentially letting it nail mons like gholdengo and ceruledge with shadow ball or hisuian samurott with grass knot.
Alomomola @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 20 HP / 236 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flip Turn
- Scald
- Mirror Coat
- Body Slam
Alomomola rounds out the team's defensive core as another great pivot, with regenrator vest allowing it to switch in on mons like gholdengo, darkrai, enamorus, walking wake, and primarina that threaten the rest of the team and nail them with mirror coat or paralyze them with body slam, while still being able to check some physical mons like hisuian samurott, great tusk, landorus therian, and iron treads with scald. Body slam also allows it to not be a sitting duck against ogerpon wellspring. Because of how many mons it is able to check and regenerator letting it try to always match zoroark's hp, it's also a convincing disguise for zoroark as a lead or coming in to revenge kill a slower mon that might not feel immediately threatened. Zoroark is also really useful in helping to remove ogerpon wellspring as it tries to switch in and block flip turn.
Scary matchups
This team has almost no switch-ins to serp, and has to rely on pecharunt not getting unlucky with glare paralysis. Slotting flamethrower on zoroark might help with this. If serp is tera blast ground, ogerpon is able to live one leaf storm from +2 and revenge kill. Alomomola is also potentially able to use mirror coat, but more often than not they will choose to click a utility move against alo like glare or substitute before leaf storm because alo doesn't immediately threaten it, though this might offer opportunities for the previously mentioned flamethrower zoroark.
This team is lacking in ground resists, and ogerpon can't safely switch in. Alomomola can provide a temporary check if hazards aren't up. The best way to play this matchup is just to try and keep offensive momentum.
Specifically nasty plot darkrai. This isn't as bad as the others listed here but still worth mentioning. Alomomola can't mirror coat until it teras, but it can threaten body slam paralysis. Ogerpon can also use its special defense boost from tera if it had its hp preserved and easily win barring crits or flinches. As a last ditch efort, great tusk can also try using tera on an ice beam or bluff the tera and live a dark pulse. It is a very playable matchup, but still one of the scariest late game threats.
Realistically this should be a non issue because it's not a common threat at all, but while laddering I ran into the same guy using belly drum grassy glide chesnaught with terrain extender rillaboom three times and it was very hard to position against. A healthy pecharunt can take chesnaught on, but it's very hard to make it to the endgame with a healthy pecharunt against this kind of structure. The only other option is to carefully outposition in order to just not let it set up while terrain is up. Flamethrower zoroark can help in this instace too, though tricking specs on chesnaught can also be a fine way to neutralize it.
Replays
Stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523650783
Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523631093?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523625596
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523541322
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523642522-m1omf24b34q6b0g7ylt15bf5r3irl7vpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523447978-h2mjqrce8v7mpicyomax33fn72qpc9fpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2522018364-p7emqa17y5y0wuvlw0m4b91vjuouerxpw?p2
Sun
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523620619-fop5iv1o0rp60snm8oftks3hdxfo578pw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2521989051
Hyper Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523600298-oup8my8seay0c1e9s8tgijcbbugb4hupw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523560297-35kp3nce7q1ohly6m3ue7vl362iv28wpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523431349-c91somg2mdxxwddlmnkk78vslj17ihmpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2522062476-suopvb2eq79j1b7eaavsmbdn6plcnispw?p2
Balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523587313-hac4py43pls14e6x2g16p448cyroehppw?p2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This team isn't perfect but it's very fun to use, and I'm honestly just really happy I could get this high with a hisuian zoroark team. I definitely think this mon deserves more consideration in the current meta and I'd love to see it used more and in different ways.
I tried only using mons that are convincing zoroark disguises and would be able to punish hard someone who guesses wrong trying to predict zoroark. I considered dragonite for similar reasons to ogerpon which would give the team a priority move, but I couldn't fit it over any of the defensive mons, doesn't have the immediate damage that oger has, and would make it obvious to tell if it's zoroark by looking at hazard damage.
The team
Zoroark-Hisui @ Choice Specs
Ability: Illusion
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- U-turn
- Grass Knot
- Trick
As mentioned, zoroark likes to open holes for waterpon. Right now a lot of people are using pecharunt as an answer to it and it's easy to disguise as ogerpon with zoroark and catch pecharunt on the switch with specs shadow ball. It also pairs really well with great tusk as it can catch other ghosts like sinistcha, balloon gholdengo, or dragapult trying to block rapid spin or just certain defensive mons trying to wall it like corviknight or alomomola. Grass knot hits hisuian samurott, great tusk, ting lu, tyranitar, and garganacl for big damage, U-turn is great for pivoting and hits the occasional hoopa unbound, and trick is a very useful tool to give specs to defensive mons you can't break through, setup sweepers, or last mon kingambit. Another good option for this team could be flamethrower over U-turn to hit grass types trying to switch into oger even better, as well as corviknight, kingambit, and scizor.
Don't use focus blast.
the obvious downside of zoroark is that it really struggles to switch into anything and loses 1v1 against the vast majority of faster mons, which is why it really needs a good defensive backbone with pivoting options on any team featuring it, with the added benefit of giving slower mons like great tusk or gholdengo a false sense of security when faced with a pecharunt disguise that just switched in.
Ogerpon-Wellspring (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ivy Cudgel
- Horn Leech
- Encore
The real star of the show. Thanks to zoroark, ogerpon is able to run this set without coverage other than its stabs, and I've genuinely won games on turn 3 with this thing. Sd and ivy cudgel are self explanatory, horn leech heals you after tanking a hit on the sd turn, and encore punishes defensive mons for setting up alongside it or healing. Encore is also really good utility that doesn't let the opponent play passive against the pivoting mons on this team and it can also save a game by catching faster mons as they try to set up on it, which is really important because this team has no priority.
Great Tusk @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
Great tusk is by far the best spinner, fixes the kingambit matchup, is a good disguise for zoroark luring in spin blockers and defensive mons and is an effective bluff against mons faster than it but not zoroark. It would honestly be easier to list the things tusk doesn't do. This is mostly a standard offensive utility set but with cc over rocks to OHKO unassuming hisuian samurott and kingambit on a balloon, nail ogerpon switching in on rapid spin, hit ting lu harder, and catch kyurem on the switch. Tera ice allows tusk to stay in on kyurem and kill it with cc as well as take neutral damage from ogerpon and dragonite, and it helps ice spinner get a KO on landorus, gliscor, dragonite, and hydrapple.
Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Protect
Garg is mainly here to switch into dragapult, iron moth, and cinderace, check kyurem and darkrai, and provide stealth rock to free up a move slot for cc on tusk. I originally had tera water on it to check gholdengo and kingambit better, but I changed it to fairy to be a better counter to dragapult and be able to stay in on ogerpon, though I'm still not sure about which tera is best and it probably comes down to personal preference. Garg is also a great switch into pecharunt for when it comes in on ogerpon or great tusk after tera, and protect is amazing at scouting what move mons with choice items lock themselves into.
Pecharunt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Poison Puppeteer
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Malignant Chain
- Foul Play
- Parting Shot
- Recover
Pecharunt is a useful pivot and the primary answer to most physical threats in the tier, particularly ogerpon, rillaoom, and zamazenta, as well as the team's fairy resist in a pinch. Tera dark sheds all weaknesses helping against eq dragonite, non cc great tusk, deoxys speed, and iron treads, and boosts foul play to comfortably beat sd ogerpon, dd dragonite, and terastalized kingambit. Toxic is an option over malignant chain, but it runs the risk of being shut down by substitute and taunt, potentially making the iron defense zamazenta and serperior matchups impossible to win. Pecharunt is particularly great with zoroark for being able to bluff a slower ghost type, potentially letting it nail mons like gholdengo and ceruledge with shadow ball or hisuian samurott with grass knot.
Alomomola @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 20 HP / 236 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flip Turn
- Scald
- Mirror Coat
- Body Slam
Alomomola rounds out the team's defensive core as another great pivot, with regenrator vest allowing it to switch in on mons like gholdengo, darkrai, enamorus, walking wake, and primarina that threaten the rest of the team and nail them with mirror coat or paralyze them with body slam, while still being able to check some physical mons like hisuian samurott, great tusk, landorus therian, and iron treads with scald. Body slam also allows it to not be a sitting duck against ogerpon wellspring. Because of how many mons it is able to check and regenerator letting it try to always match zoroark's hp, it's also a convincing disguise for zoroark as a lead or coming in to revenge kill a slower mon that might not feel immediately threatened. Zoroark is also really useful in helping to remove ogerpon wellspring as it tries to switch in and block flip turn.
Scary matchups
This team has almost no switch-ins to serp, and has to rely on pecharunt not getting unlucky with glare paralysis. Slotting flamethrower on zoroark might help with this. If serp is tera blast ground, ogerpon is able to live one leaf storm from +2 and revenge kill. Alomomola is also potentially able to use mirror coat, but more often than not they will choose to click a utility move against alo like glare or substitute before leaf storm because alo doesn't immediately threaten it, though this might offer opportunities for the previously mentioned flamethrower zoroark.
This team is lacking in ground resists, and ogerpon can't safely switch in. Alomomola can provide a temporary check if hazards aren't up. The best way to play this matchup is just to try and keep offensive momentum.
Specifically nasty plot darkrai. This isn't as bad as the others listed here but still worth mentioning. Alomomola can't mirror coat until it teras, but it can threaten body slam paralysis. Ogerpon can also use its special defense boost from tera if it had its hp preserved and easily win barring crits or flinches. As a last ditch efort, great tusk can also try using tera on an ice beam or bluff the tera and live a dark pulse. It is a very playable matchup, but still one of the scariest late game threats.
Realistically this should be a non issue because it's not a common threat at all, but while laddering I ran into the same guy using belly drum grassy glide chesnaught with terrain extender rillaboom three times and it was very hard to position against. A healthy pecharunt can take chesnaught on, but it's very hard to make it to the endgame with a healthy pecharunt against this kind of structure. The only other option is to carefully outposition in order to just not let it set up while terrain is up. Flamethrower zoroark can help in this instace too, though tricking specs on chesnaught can also be a fine way to neutralize it.
Replays
Stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523650783
Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523631093?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523625596
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523541322
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523642522-m1omf24b34q6b0g7ylt15bf5r3irl7vpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523447978-h2mjqrce8v7mpicyomax33fn72qpc9fpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2522018364-p7emqa17y5y0wuvlw0m4b91vjuouerxpw?p2
Sun
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523620619-fop5iv1o0rp60snm8oftks3hdxfo578pw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2521989051
Hyper Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523600298-oup8my8seay0c1e9s8tgijcbbugb4hupw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523560297-35kp3nce7q1ohly6m3ue7vl362iv28wpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523431349-c91somg2mdxxwddlmnkk78vslj17ihmpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2522062476-suopvb2eq79j1b7eaavsmbdn6plcnispw?p2
Balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2523587313-hac4py43pls14e6x2g16p448cyroehppw?p2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This team isn't perfect but it's very fun to use, and I'm honestly just really happy I could get this high with a hisuian zoroark team. I definitely think this mon deserves more consideration in the current meta and I'd love to see it used more and in different ways.
