Resource Don't Use That; Use This (ORAS Version)

[Psicodelico]

Don't use this

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 28 Def / 236 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Toxic
- Earthquake

Cancer Gliscor is not as good has was before. Now in the common metagame there are lot of special attackers that can OHKO or damage really hard this bat. Also with sound attacks like hyper voice been able to go through substitute Sylveon, M-Altaria and M-Gardevoir can simply fire off a powerfull stab. And has the tip of the mountain Lando-t been so common has also damage this thing because almost every team has a way of dealing with Ground-Flying deffensive mon.

some calcs

232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 288-339 (81.3 - 95.7%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 355-418 (100.2 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 244 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 237-279 (67.3 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 244 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 351-413 (99.7 - 117.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Surf vs. 244 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 322-382 (91.4 - 108.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 314-372 (88.7 - 105%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Use this

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 192 SpD / 72 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance/Taunt
- Knock Off

Sp Def Gliscor is one of the popular toys of ORAS metagame with the SD set. With the new EV spread can 1v1 special attackers as well as physical ones and can set up on things like Latitwins thanks to been able to take a draco and then restore HP quickly with roost. Thanks to M-Sableye stall is more common and powerfull nowadays and Sp Def SD Gliscor can be an awesome stall breaker thanks to been inmune to status and set up on almost any stall mon. Also it soft counters the uncounterable gengar.

more calcs

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 253-300 (71.8 - 85.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 208-246 (59 - 69.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 156-185 (44.3 - 52.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Poison Heal
0 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 228-270 (64.7 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
252 SpA Raikou Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 224-264 (63.6 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 171-202 (48.5 - 57.3%) -- 4.3% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal

PD: Everywhere i go i see you posting before me DarkNostalgia you f***ing ninja ¬¬

 

[Kurona]

Don't use this

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 28 Def / 236 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Toxic
- Earthquake

Cancer Gliscor is not as good has was before. Now in the common metagame there are lot of special attackers that can OHKO or damage really hard this bat. Also with sound attacks like hyper voice been able to go through substitute Sylveon, M-Altaria and M-Gardevoir can simply fire off a powerfull stab. And has the tip of the mountain Lando-t been so common has also damage this thing because almost every team has a way of dealing with Ground-Flying deffensive mon.

some calcs

232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 288-339 (81.3 - 95.7%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 355-418 (100.2 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 244 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 237-279 (67.3 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 244 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 351-413 (99.7 - 117.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Surf vs. 244 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 322-382 (91.4 - 108.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 314-372 (88.7 - 105%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Use this

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 192 SpD / 72 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance/Taunt
- Knock Off

Sp Def Gliscor is one of the popular toys of ORAS metagame with the SD set. With the new EV spread can 1v1 special attackers as well as physical ones and can set up on things like Latitwins thanks to been able to take a draco and then restore HP quickly with roost. Thanks to M-Sableye stall is more common and powerfull nowadays and Sp Def SD Gliscor can be an awesome stall breaker thanks to been inmune to status and set up on almost any stall mon. Also it soft counters the uncounterable gengar.

more calcs

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 253-300 (71.8 - 85.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
232 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 208-246 (59 - 69.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 156-185 (44.3 - 52.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Poison Heal
0 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 228-270 (64.7 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
252 SpA Raikou Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 224-264 (63.6 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Altaria Hyper Voice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 171-202 (48.5 - 57.3%) -- 4.3% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal

PD: Everywhere i go i see you posting before me DarkNostalgia you f***ing ninja ¬¬

No, Physically defensive Gliscor is still viable and can still work (no idea where you got that set from tho; why does it run so many speed EVs?). It's arguably the worst of it's current sets and not as good as it used to be, but it's in no way bad and definitely not something that should be on this thread.

 

[Psicodelico]

No, Physically defensive Gliscor is still viable and can still work (no idea where you got that set from tho; why does it run so many speed EVs?). It's arguably the worst of it's current sets and not as good as it used to be, but it's in no way bad and definitely not something that should be on this thread.

It is the Subtoxic set of the smogon dex. It can work but Sp Def Gliscor works much better and is less AIDS. Is an upgraded version that fits the ORAS meta. Subtoxic may be useful but there is no reason to use it over SD Gliscor because there are better ground deffensive walls like Lando-T and Hippowdon and Tank Garchomp.

 

[firehusky]

Physically Defensive Gliscor / SubToxic got a bit worse in ORAS because of Mega Sableye, however, it's by no means bad. SD Gliscor is just a more popular choice and is better fitted to the meta being able to destroy lots of common teams and the ever present mega sableye stall teams. SD Gliscor doesn't outclass SubToxic Gliscor in any way. SD Gliscor is more common and popular, and is better fitted to the current meta, but SubToxic Gliscor still has it's uses and is viable. Landorus-T being more common doesn't mean Gliscor got worse. They hardly do the same thing, besides checking physical attackers and being Ground + Flying types. Landorus-T sets up SR and is more of a pivot, whereas Gliscor is just super hard to kill and can be quite hard to wear down. The fact that the SubToxic set was chosen for a main analysis on the SmogDex shows that it is still viable.

Also, how is Gengar uncounterable, lol? Many Pokemon can check it, and lots can counter it such as Specially Defensive Dragalge, Blissey, AV Tornadus-T, the list goes on. Gliscor is also quite shaky because Icy Wind is actually a legitimate option on Gengar, being able to catch mons like Landorus-T and Gliscor.

tl;dr, SubToxic Gliscor got a bit worse, but it's still viable and by no means outclassed by SD Gliscor.

 

[Psicodelico]

Physically Defensive Gliscor / SubToxic got a bit worse in ORAS because of Mega Sableye, however, it's by no means bad. SD Gliscor is just a more popular choice and is better fitted to the meta being able to destroy lots of common teams and the ever present mega sableye stall teams. SD Gliscor doesn't outclass SubToxic Gliscor in any way. SD Gliscor is more common and popular, and is better fitted to the current meta, but SubToxic Gliscor still has it's uses and is viable. Landorus-T being more common doesn't mean Gliscor got worse. They hardly do the same thing, besides checking physical attackers and being Ground + Flying types. Landorus-T sets up SR and is more of a pivot, whereas Gliscor is just super hard to kill and can be quite hard to wear down. The fact that the SubToxic set was chosen for a main analysis on the SmogDex shows that it is still viable.

Also, how is Gengar uncounterable, lol? Many Pokemon can check it, and lots can counter it such as Specially Defensive Dragalge, Blissey, AV Tornadus-T, the list goes on. Gliscor is also quite shaky because Icy Wind is actually a legitimate option on Gengar, being able to catch mons like Landorus-T and Gliscor.

tl;dr, SubToxic Gliscor got a bit worse, but it's still viable and by no means outclassed by SD Gliscor.

I never said gliscor is bad, is worst than in BW. It is outclassed, first because now SD Sp Def is a mixed wall, a set up sweeper and a stall breaker. Then because subtoxic has now more checks and counters (Clefable, M-Sableye, Sylveon, M-Gardevoir and some more) and now is not needed in stall teams.

Subtoxic gliscor was a great mon back in BW butnot now. Yes it has a small niche but that niche can be cover with Sp Def Gliscor or Hippowdon so there are no reasons to use it over Sp Def.

 

[firehusky]

They do different things. SubToxic is more of a purely physical wall, being able to handle stuff like Adamant Mega Beedrill and SD Heracross. It can also spread status. Specially Defensive is a mixed wall and a set up sweeper. They don't do the same thing, so you can't compare them, therefore one does not outclass the other.
The point about have more checks and counters doesn't make any sense either. That's like saying SubCM Keldeo is worse than specs Keldeo because SubCM Keldeo has more checks and counters, which isn't true.

 

[pika pal]

Landorus-T being more common doesn't mean Gliscor got worse. They hardly do the same thing, besides checking physical attackers and being Ground + Flying types. Landorus-T sets up SR and is more of a pivot, whereas Gliscor is just super hard to kill and can be quite hard to wear down.

While I agree that SubToxic is still a viable set, I think there may have been a misinterpretation of his point. He brought up Lando-T since being prepared for a Physical Mon with that typing also prepared people for Gliscor: Lopunny running Ice Punch for the occasional Lando-T also makes it prepared to 2HKO the Physically Defensive Gliscor that could otherwise wall it.

That said, I do agree that SubToxic Gliscor is not "Don't Use that" material. While arguably the least viable set, it is by no means an UNviable set.

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

I agree with everyone subtoxic gliscor should not be on here. It might have gotten worse but it's in no way bad and is not bad enough to be on here with shit like flygon,ambipom,jolteon,and shadow sneak gallade.

 

[Psicodelico]

Okay I get the point. I missunderstood a little bit i thought if something have a better version then go for it. But for my next time I will try to find a good example.

PD: For next time I'm thinking about an Archeops-Aerodactyl comparison i hope that works better but I will like to know before if talking about a mon been 230 in this month usage stats is worth it.

 

[Sanger Zonvolt]

Okay I get the point. I missunderstood a little bit i thought if something have a better version then go for it. But for my next time I will try to find a good example.

PD: For next time I'm thinking about an Archeops-Aerodactyl comparison i hope that works better but I will like to know before if talking about a mon been 230 in this month usage stats is worth it.

I don't think it's worth it when Archeops only has a usage rate of about 0.19% in the 1825 stats. That doesn't strike me as a huge crisis that needs fixing. If we wrote up a don't use that, use this post for everything that shows up on the 1825 usage stats I think we'd flood the thread with comparisons that should be painfully obvious.

 

[michaeloche]

[20:19] <michaeloche> !usage gliscor moves
[20:19] <TIBot> Earthquake 92.694% | Roost 57.332% | Knock Off 50.167% | Toxic 35.935% | Swords Dance 34.177% | Protect 30.010% | Taunt 28.807% | Substitute 19.050% | Stealth Rock 15.858% | Facade 6.556% | U-turn 5.559% | Acrobatics 5.312% | Other 18.545%

Don't use this:

with Acrobatics

Why it's bad: To use Gliscor, you pretty much have to run Toxic Orb. Acrobatics doubles in power when the user is not holding anything. See where this is going? Yes, I know Knock Off is everywhere and Gliscor doesn't have many good options for Flying STAB, but really, how much does it actually need it? And don't give me the Fling+Acrobatics set either. Fling only gives you the chance to poison one opponent, so if you want to poison stuff that badly, just use Toxic.

Instead, use this:

with any of the other moves explicitly listed above

Why it's better: The other moves have viable uses. Even Facade does, due to poison making it 140 BP, but as a second attack, Knock Off is generally the best choice due to its utility.

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

[20:19] <michaeloche> !usage gliscor moves
[20:19] <TIBot> Earthquake 92.694% | Roost 57.332% | Knock Off 50.167% | Toxic 35.935% | Swords Dance 34.177% | Protect 30.010% | Taunt 28.807% | Substitute 19.050% | Stealth Rock 15.858% | Facade 6.556% | U-turn 5.559% | Acrobatics 5.312% | Other 18.545%

Don't use this:

with Acrobatics

Why it's bad: To use Gliscor, you pretty much have to run Toxic Orb. Acrobatics doubles in power when the user is not holding anything. See where this is going? Yes, I know Gliscor doesn't have many good options for Flying STAB, but really, how much does it actually need it? And don't give me the Fling+Acrobatics set either. Fling only gives you the chance to poison one opponent, so if you want to poison stuff that badly, just use Toxic.

Instead, use this:

with any of the other moves explicitly listed above

Why it's better: The other moves have viable uses. Even Facade does, due to poison making it 140 BP, but as a second attack, Knock Off is generally the best choice due to its utility.

To be honest acrobatics has use on gliscor. After poison heal activates it can switch into knock off and get a full powered acrobatics.

 

[michaeloche]

To be honest acrobatics has use on gliscor. After poison heal activates it can switch into knock off and get a full powered acrobatics.

True, but all the other stuff Gliscor can use is just more useful than a Flying STAB that has only 55 BP most of the time. It's just far too situational to be useful.

 

[Toljik]

Haven't seen a post here in a while, well that's about to change...

Mienshao Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator/Reckless
EV's: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd.
Nature: Jolly
-High Jump Kick
-U-Turn
-Knock off
-Fake Out/Poison Jab

Here's the thing with Mienshao. In the X/Y days it was a viable and good choice for a fast physical attacker. Sure it did face some stiff competition from Terrakion, the prevelance of talonflame was a problem, and the new fairy type didn't do it any favors, but Knock off's buff, U-turn, reckless high jump kick, and a decent special attack to use HP ice gave it enough of a niche to have viability in the OU tier. But then everything changed when the Lopunny nation attacked.

Mega Lopunny @Lopunnite
Ability: Scrappy
EV's 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd.
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
-High Jump Kick
-Return
-Fake Out
-Substitute/Power up Punch

Granted, Mienshao still retains it's niche of u-turn, reckless High jump kick hits harder than Lopunny's, and it doesn't take up a mega slot, but all of these niches aren't enough to save mienshao from being outclassed by Mega Lopunny. It also should be noted that Meinshao is completely walled by Mega Sableye who Mega Lopunny is able to get past thanks to scrappy. But overall Lopunny has more going for it than Mienshao. Lopunny has higher attack and speed, Elemental punches, Scrappy, Secondary stab, Better Bulk, and (barring shedninja) perfect coverage in it's STAB moves. Sorry mienshao maybe next gen you can get an awesome mega and get access to power whip (seriously it's arms are whips it should get it).

It is indeed outclassed by Mega Lopunny, but you are overstating how powerful the latter is. Mega Lopunny's High Jump Kick hits exactly as hard as Life Orb Primeape's Close Combat. The damage output between Mega Lopunny vs Mienshao is comparable to Talonflame vs. Staraptor; Mienshao hits 40% harder than Mega Lopunny due to Life Orb and Reckless.

 

[Random Passerby]

True, but all the other stuff Gliscor can use is just more useful than a Flying STAB that has only 55 BP most of the time. It's just far too situational to be useful.

But it's the only thing Gliscor has to KO Mega Heracross who can muscle past it with Swords Dance.

 

[cyberpunkbanana]

^^ Gliscor shouldn't be your heracross answer anyways (which is actually an underrated threat atm).

 

[Albacore]

Sorry, but why exactly should Gliscor "not be your Heracross answer"? Gliscor is one of the best switchins to Heracross there is besides unviable stuff like Doublade and Granbull, and without Acrobatics you're pretty much powerless to stop it from setting up. Acrobatics also does other stuff like beat Breloom (I guess you can argue that Facade does this too but Facade leaves you walled by Gliscor which simply isn't an option for a lot of teams), Toxic Orb Guts Heracross which cazn smack you in the face with Facade deal slightly more damage to Keldeo and Lopunny (it has a chance to 2HKO Lopunny which EQ alone cannot). I understand that Heracross is an obscure threat not a lot of teams feel the need to take into account, but if your team completely loses to it otherwise and you don't need Knock Off or Facade it's definitely a legitimate option on Gliscor.

 

[ThePack]

True, but all the other stuff Gliscor can use is just more useful than a Flying STAB that has only 55 BP most of the time. It's just far too situational to be useful.

Just saying, normally, the Acrobatics set is usually run with Fling, so that Gliscor can get rid of the Toxic Orb, potentially Toxic an opposing mon, and increase the Acrobatics power to 110.

 

[Karxrida]

Fling was never necessary from what I remember. Aerial Ace is only slightly stronger than item-holding Acro and your main targets have a double weakness to it already; it's not like you need the power boost to KO them. Besides, Gliscor is a great Knock Off absorber and not running Fling lets you run Roost, Knock Off, or whatever.

 

[ThePack]

Fling was never necessary from what I remember. Aerial Ace is only slightly stronger than item-holding Acro and your main targets have a double weakness to it already; it's not like you need the power boost to KO them. Besides, Gliscor is a great Knock Off absorber and not running Fling lets you run Roost, Knock Off, or whatever.

From what I remember from the SmogDex, Fling was preferred over another move to provide the utility of Toxic and removing its item in one turn; it isn't essential, and just to clarify, my previous comment was coming from the last time I saw those sets on ladder, which was the XY era, so maybe I'm just living in the past :/

 

[AM]

I mean the whole Lopunny v Meinshao thing you're talking about two pokemon that basically only have one thing in common and that's having Hi Jump Kick. After that there are too many differences to say "oh well don't use this use that". Mienshao isn't a mega, has regenerator, can hold items, different coverages options, Lopunny has dual typing, higher speed tier, different utility options. The comparison isn't really there for the sake of what this thread is designed to convey.

Also if there's anything you shouldn't use on Gliscor it's Fling. After that it's sort of just fair game in the sense you're using moves that make actual sense. Acrobatics is fine albeit rarely needed as Heracross checks aren't exactly difficult to come by.

 

[Toljik]

I'm aware of this but just because it hits harder doesn't change the fact that its outclassed by loppuny. Also talonflame vs staraptor is a bit of a different case than mienshao vs loppuny. Staraptor hits significantly harder than talonflame and can get past rock (and steel though bird spam can too) with close combat. Also please show me your calculations for the damage difference between the two mons

here's the calculations.

252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 183-216 (54.7 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 126-148 (37.7 - 44.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

EDIT: Let's throw in Mega Medicham, for the hell of it.

252 Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 201-237 (60.1 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[havokchomp123]

I mean the whole Lopunny v Meinshao thing you're talking about two pokemon that basically only have one thing in common and that's having Hi Jump Kick. After that there are too many differences to say "oh well don't use this use that". Mienshao isn't a mega, has regenerator, can hold items, different coverages options, Lopunny has dual typing, higher speed tier, different utility options. The comparison isn't really there for the sake of what this thread is designed to convey.

Also if there's anything you shouldn't use on Gliscor it's Fling. After that it's sort of just fair game in the sense you're using moves that make actual sense. Acrobatics is fine albeit rarely needed as Heracross checks aren't exactly difficult to come by.

They are both fighting types, have fake out, and fast physical attackers. Regenerator shouldn't be used on mienshao when it has reckless and is ridiculously frail. Loppuny has perfect coverage in its dual stabs and has plenty of coverage options so mienshaos different coverage options doesnt make much of a difference. Granted, mienshao doesnt take up a mega slot and can hold items, which does give it some merit. But ninetails can hold items and doesnt take up a mega slot, but its outclassed by Zard Y. Mienshao isn't very different. I will state it again, mienshao has merit to it, but it's merits aren't enough to keep it from being overshadowed by loppuny. Forretress has merit, crobat has merit, but they're all overshadowed and aren't the best options. Usable? Yes. Overshadowed? Yes.

 

[Invok3r]

They are both fighting types, have fake out, and fast physical attackers. Regenerator shouldn't be used on mienshao when it has reckless and is ridiculously frail. Loppuny has perfect coverage in its dual stabs and has plenty of coverage options so mienshaos different coverage options doesnt make much of a difference. Granted, mienshao doesnt take up a mega slot and can hold items, which does give it some merit. But ninetails can hold items and doesnt take up a mega slot, but its outclassed by Zard Y. Mienshao isn't very different. I will state it again, mienshao has merit to it, but it's merits aren't enough to keep it from being overshadowed by loppuny. Forretress has merit, crobat has merit, but they're all overshadowed and aren't the best options. Usable? Yes. Overshadowed? Yes.

I just wanted to point out that forretress isn't overshadowed, it is the only suicide lead that can spin away other hazards and it gets explosion.

 

[pika pal]

They are both fighting types, have fake out, and fast physical attackers. Regenerator shouldn't be used on mienshao when it has reckless and is ridiculously frail. Loppuny has perfect coverage in its dual stabs and has plenty of coverage options so mienshaos different coverage options doesnt make much of a difference. Granted, mienshao doesnt take up a mega slot and can hold items, which does give it some merit. But ninetails can hold items and doesnt take up a mega slot, but its outclassed by Zard Y. Mienshao isn't very different. I will state it again, mienshao has merit to it, but it's merits aren't enough to keep it from being overshadowed by loppuny. Forretress has merit, crobat has merit, but they're all overshadowed and aren't the best options. Usable? Yes. Overshadowed? Yes.

Mienshao can use Regenerator to offset LO recoil and hazard damage if it goes with such a set to do wallbreaking. So it' not like it'd never run the ability.

Your Ninetails comparison falls flat. Ninetails was never used because it was a good wallbreaker (which is Zard-Y's main role), but because it was the only Drought user in OU. Ninetails didn't drop because Zard-Y does it's job better (I believe it was technically BL in Gen 5), but because Sun is no longer a particularly viable strategy in OU with the weather nerf. Zard-Y is a special wallbreaker that's afforded good and powerful move options because of Drought, but it is not used as Sun support.