I had talked about how great Zacian-C is earlier, and I doubt any informed person would disagree.
That said, I'd like to post what I've done with it and how I think its power can be really capitalized upon.
Pokepaste Link
As for the team:
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Transform
This is a pretty standard Ditto set. Given the prevalence of setup sweepers and honestly just legendaries in general, Ditto really shines. It's in the HP slot because it can't benefit from any of the other stats anyway.
Araquanid @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Poison Jab
This is often my lead. In a tier full of fast mons, Sticky Web does wonders. Hazard removal isn't
super common, so it's often a nice piece of scenery that stays there for the match. Araq is in the Attack slot because, I mean,
look at its ability and imagine that with 170 attack. It's also a soft check to Zacian-C. It absolutely loses to the Wild Charge sets, but it lives through everything pretty safely at least as a 2HKO. The only exception is Play Rough, which still isn't a guarantee.
252+ Atk Water Bubble Araquanid Liquidation vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Zacian-Crowned: 330-388 (101.5 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
There are obviously other calcs to show this, but this is one of my favorites.
Defensively:
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 289-342 (85 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 161-189 (47.3 - 55.5%) -- 77.7% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 128-151 (37.6 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 171-202 (50.2 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Obviously if they decide to stay in, they get deleted by Araq. I don't have it saved unfortunately, but one guy tried to SD on this thing, and his reaction to getting OHKO'd to this mon (which isn't even LO or Band) was not safe for the forums, to say the least.
Hitmontop (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
I don't know if I would say that Hitmontop is underrated, but it's certainly not fully appreciated, to say the least.
By no means is it a check to Zacian-C (nor is it meant to be), but to give a general idea of how much it likes the 20 extra base defense, here's a little sample:
252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Hitmontop: 142-168 (46.8 - 55.4%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
This is with absolutely zero Defense investment and only 248 HP investment.
252+ SpA Mew Psychic vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Hitmontop: 168-198 (55.4 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This is off of a SE STAB max investment hit from a Mew, again, with only 8 SpD EVs.
I think you could probably optimize this a lot further, and I'm honestly not married to maxing out its attack stat. I do like that these kinds of things exist, though:
252+ Atk Hitmontop Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 626-740 (87.6 - 103.6%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
Ultimately, the big reasons I run Hitmontop here are Rapid Spin, Intimidate, and really well-rounded defenses. Giving it the 20 extra base Defense (and Intimidate!) helps it on that end, and the AV helps it on the special side of the story. 329 Def and 387 SpDef on a mon with 303 HP and Intimidate is nothing to sneeze at.
Additional note: I think Body Slam might be nice to run on this for the additional speed control
and the skill of the para hax
Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Crunch
- Close Combat
The king (hehe I'm so clever, can't you tell?) of the show. I've already gone into detail about how great this mon is, and the only thing that really stops it is the infamous Quagsire. Honestly, this team has a bit of trouble with Quag, but the hope is that Araq and the rest of the team can pressure it enough so that it's dead by late game.
It's in the SpAtk slot because it's its worst stat and none of the other mons really want it either.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Teleport
- Stealth Rock / Toxic
Everyone's favorite OU set, but now with 115 SpDef. It does the exact same things, give or take the last move. It's primarily a status absorber/giver, pivot, and cleric. This team really loves that third category, and you're usually just sending this out to WishPort.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Poltergeist
- Flame Charge
- Earthquake
This is one of my favorite sets in this meta. With (effectively) 518 Attack, access to SD, and
145 speed, this thing is a
monster. I run Flame Charge because it
really helps with the snowballing and your opponent can't immediately tell which ability you're running.
+2 252 Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Poltergeist (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def
Shadow Shield Lunala: 1136-1340 (
273.7 - 322.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Don't forget this is off of 145 Speed and not even Adamant.
If you get off just a
single Flame Charge, you now outspeed
Scarf Ninjask by a comfortable margin of
23 points.
This thing is also an RPS
master,
especially if the ability isn't revealed. One of my favorites is when they have an electric pokemon and can't decide whether or not to go for their STAB move. The best part is that no matter what they pick, you almost always get a free SD/Flame Charge. It's RPS but instead of choosing Rock, Paper, or
Scizors Scissors, you just pull out G U N.
The only thing it really has trouble with is hecka strong Sucker Punches and sash sweepers
and Knock Off but shh. Other than those two, with the arguable exception of if you let them get off a free sub, you're essentially just removing 2 or 3 mons for free. The only other thing that really blows (and you'll notice Knock Off is missing from this team intentionally) is if they lose their items. Poltergeist tends to be the
Fishous Rend go-to move, and not being able to click it for free sucks.
I run EQ for coverage, but you have access to some decent alternatives. If your team is more capable of supporting it, you could even run your own sub there and just absolutely go AWOL.
I really like theorymonning this meta, and I really like this team. There is one set that I used to run in Gen 7 that I think should have been very banned, but the mon unfortunately doesn't exist now or in DLC2.
I'm happy to answer any questions!