so did literally everyone forget that this is a Dynamax format or
Pokémon name:
Zamazenta
Role: Anti-Dynamax Wall
Stat Changes: 92 HP / 90 Attack
(-40) / 115 Defense / 80 Special Attack / 115 Special Defense / 108 Speed
(-30) || 600 BST
Ability Changes:
Dauntless Shield - Ignores the stat changes of Pokémon that have Dynamaxed in the same battle.
Movepool Changes:
+ Behemoth Bash - Fighting-type, -3 priority; during the turn of use (works like Beak Blast), halves the power of Max Moves and removes their secondary effects. (Does not double in power against Dynamaxed opponents any more.)
+ Body Press
+ Haze
+ Healing Wish
+ Moonlight
What sets this Pokémon apart from others with similar roles?
Dauntless Shield is like a more limited Unaware that works only for Pokémon that have Dynamaxed or Gigantamaxed
(whether it's already ended or not! Perfect Galar keeps track of that as it is, so this is totally doable - pretty sure I can even code it myself if needed!). This is relevant because one of the main benefits of Dynamaxing is being able to set up stat boosts and snowball easily; confidently walling those Pokémon during or after their setup can be super valuable!
That said, its only recovery in
Moonlight (wolf flavor - it gets Moonblast already, so why not this?) is reliant on the weather being clear or sunny, and there are three types of Max Move that prevent this
(pretty sure at least Max Geyser and Max Rockfall are among the more common ones!), so it needs an efficient way to neutralize a Dynamaxed threat without relying on walling it indefinitely.
Haze (Slumbering Weald flavor, and just look at the Mysterious Being fight!) is an effective solution to this problem - it can pretty easily come in and clear their boosts safely thanks to Dauntless Shield, so it can still undermine a Dynamaxer's setup more reliably than most Pokémon without necessarily having to win the 1v1 itself.
On top of that, the revised
Behemoth Bash, while it's likely worse than Body Press in terms of raw damage and has the drawback of decreased priority as an attacking move, is a totally unique defensive tool that helps it specifically with stalling Dynamax turns. Behemoth Bash helps Zamazenta survive the three turns it needs against Dynamaxed and Gigantamaxed foes and prevent them from setting up stat boosts, terrains or weathers, cementing it as the ultimate anti-Dynamax wall while (importantly) not really helping it against anything else.
I gave it
Body Press because Zamazenta has no regular Fighting STAB that it likes so far and does have Iron Defense, but it's important to have in mind that - with Dauntless Shield being completely changed and Zamazenta not having a free +1 Defense - this is no scarier on Zamazenta than it is on something like Kommo-o (which also gets Iron Defense Body Press and has a higher base Defense), and with the Attack reduction and no Attack boosting, it isn't really getting much out of coverage moves, either. This is not a sweeper or a breaker - it just needs a way not to be completely passive, haha.
Zamazenta's main role is dealing with Dynamax, which only happens a single time in a battle, and I like the idea of emphasizing a more supportive angle for it rather than having it countersweep or anything afterwards. With only four moveslots, Zamazenta can't fit all of the tools it needs to neutralize opposing Dynamax and also all of the tools a Pokémon needs to function as a wall, and it doesn't really have what it needs to be a lasting presence defensively even then. With that in mind,
Healing Wish is probably one of its most valuable options, offering an effective way to offer one last bit of support to its team when its job is done.
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Pokémon name:
Zacian
Role: Anti-Dynamax Revenger / Wallbreaker
Stat Changes: 92 HP / 130 Attack / 95 Defense
(-20) / 80 Special Attack / 95 Special Defense
(-20) / 108 Speed
(-30) || 600 BST
Ability Changes:
Intrepid Sword - When attacking, always lands a critical hit against Pokémon that have Dynamaxed in the same battle.
Movepool Changes:
+ Behemoth Blade - Fairy-type, +1 priority; now a regular 40 BP priority move. (Does not double in power against Dynamaxed opponents any more.)
- Psychic Fangs
- Psycho Cut
What sets this Pokémon apart from others with similar roles?
It's now much tamer as a setup sweeper for lack of a straight damage-boosting Ability, and its loss of coverage leaves it wallable by Poison-types, which resist its STAB and its strongest coverage moves. That said, its high Attack and Speed and its niche as a rare Fairy-type physical sweeper have to count for something - especially now that it has priority of a unique type in
Behemoth Blade.
Intrepid Sword works similarly to the reworked Dauntless Shield: it fully bypasses any way opposing Dynamaxes might mitigate its damage (Attack drops and Defense buffs) and lets it punish and revenge them both during and after their three turns of Dynamax, which is a unique niche like Zamazenta's and plays to Zacian's gimmick of being the anti-Dynamax Pokémon in canon.
There's a bit less to explain here than with Zamazenta, because the changes are less unusual and it doesn't need many new moves like Zamazenta did to accomplish its new role.
Statwise, it vaguely mirrors Terrakion as a Swords Dance breaker, but it comes with the notable drawbacks of being single-typed (offensive Pokémon never really appreciate that) and having worse coverage and somewhat weaker STAB moves. In return, it reaps the benefits of that type being mono Fairy specifically - probably the best one type to have in the game - and having a unique STAB priority move, plus the obvious anti-Dynamax gimmick.
Mine keeps Close Combat, but it doesn't keep Intrepid Sword, so I think it's okay!
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I may be back with a Behemoth Brain later - I definitely think there are more interesting things to do with it than Game Freak did! Just have to figure out what XP
Thaaat said...
Zacian
Stats:
92/130/115/80/68/120 (615)
Ability Changes: Intrepid Sword: Guts Clone
Hi, uh, can I suggest nerfing this a lot?
It may help to look at the stats of any other Pokémon with Guts for comparison - the only one with a Speed stat anywhere close to this is Swellow, whose base Attack is a mere 85, and... actually, everything with more Attack than Swellow is down to 85 Speed or less instead.
I don't know that you need to go
quite as low as the rest of them, but I really don't think it's a good idea to introduce a Guts user with stats like this, let alone with Zacian's entire movepool attached - it's a way stronger Ability than I think you realize, haha.
Stat Changes (If Any): 77 (-15) / 130 / 95 (-20) / 100 (+20) / 85 (-30) / 123 (-15) (610 BST)
Ability Changes (If Any): Intrepid Sword - Is now reworked to be a Moxie clone.
Movepool Changes (If Any): do I look stupid to you?
This does also seem uh
pretty
extreme? to me
That's a very high Speed tier for a Moxie sweeper (I know some of the others have Dragon Dance, so it
might not be a fair comparison, but nothing else goes above base 100), especially, again, with a movepool like Zacian's that has pretty much everything it could want. Something like Spectrier is making waves in OU with what looks like ridiculously bad and easily wallable coverage, and this is almost on its level in raw stats but has a much better attacking type and a movepool with much better coverage as well. Spectrier itself was nerfed and lost its Moxie clone before being added to Perfect Galar - shouldn't this be, like, a lot worse than it if you're not seriously gutting its movepool?
Edit: I left out something important on Zamazenta's list of move additions, oops
and then it had six of them, which felt excessive, so I dropped something that was hopefully slightly less important
Edit 2: also worded my response to War Incarnate more constructively, because I can see why that wouldn't be obvious - sorry about that;;
Manectric
Galarian Rapidash 
Shedinja 
Raichu 
