SS Ubers Lugia Weakness Policy Offensive

[LordThemberchaud]

Introduction:

Lugia is an amazing Pokemon. It gets Multiscale, beastly defenses, and decent attacking stats. I thought I could make a team revolving around it. It has been very successful and I want to share it with everyone!

The team:

Marshadow @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Force Palm
- Rock Tomb
- Shadow Sneak
- Spectral Thief

Marshadow is my check for Calyrex-S. With the Choice Band, it can guarantee an OHKO with Shadow Sneak. Force Palm and Rock Tomb take advantage of Technician, while Spectral Thief can be used against Pokemon that have boosts.

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Defog

Ho-Oh is a great tank due to Regenerator, and it serves as a Defogger as well. Sacred Fire can burn, while Earthquake hits Heatran. Roost is there for healing, while it's EVs give it physical bulk and let's it outspeed uninvested Pokemon with base 90 speed.

Genesect-Douse @ Douse Drive
Ability: Download
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Flash Cannon
- Techno Blast
- U-turn

Genesect is a great endgame sweeper in case Lugia faints. Bug Buzz and Flash Cannon are excellent STAB options, and Douse Drive Techno Blast is for coverage. U-Turn is a STAB option that is good if you get an attack boost from Download.

Lugia @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aeroblast
- Roost
- Tailwind
- Psychic

Lugia is the star of the team. Multiscale combined with it's bulk ensures the Weakness Policy will activate, doubling it's attack and special attack. Roost keeps it's HP high, while Tailwind doubles it's speed for 4 turns. Aeroblast and Psychic are great STAB options that can deal good damage even against does that resist both moves, provided the Weakness Policy activates. An odd HP value minimizes Stealth Rock damage.

Palkia @ Lustrous Orb
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Spacial Rend
- Fire Blast

Palkia serves as a check to Rock, Ice, and Steel types with Hydro Pump and Fire Blast. The Lustrous Orb increases STAB move power, while Spacial Rend is STAB. Thunderbolt can threaten Water types and is the sets only move with 100% accuracy.

Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Behemoth Blade
- Close Combat
- Play Rough
- Psychic Fangs

Zacian-Crowned is an amazing physical sweeper which can cover types Marshadow can't cover. Behemoth Blade and Play Rough are great STAB options, while Close Combat is it's highest base power move. Psychic Fangs can get rid of screens, while still dealing great damage.

Importable:

https://pokepast.es/8290b407877ad48b

 

[Caionamax]

Sorry for the one liner, but what's the peak?

 

[Fc]

Hi, looking at this team I think that it has some fairly strong areas, but also quite a few large points of weakness. Dynamax is going to be voted on in a few days so the team might ne a small revamp if it gets banned, but this is what I would change about it so far.

Marshadow is a fairly underrated but good Pokemon imo, but especially in a dynamax meta I'd say that a bulk up set is better. It allows you to keep that +1 while dynamaxing if needed and fire off a lot stronger hits. You're also not choice locked which is usually a benefit against teams with fat walls like Eternatus + Ho-oh + Zygarde. Here's the set I'd recommend, you just have to be careful around knocking off items with a future change I'm going to suggest, but if that becomes a major issue because it sometimes really is, then Spectral Thief > Poltergeist might be an option or just chaning the slash on the other mon I'm going to recommend.

Set

Marshadow @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Poltergeist
- Bulk Up
- Shadow Sneak

Next up is Ho-oh, and the set is pretty solid, just I think 1 or 2 moves and the ev's can be switched around. Earthquake isn't used too much on defensive Ho-oh, but it has alternatives I'll list. It also uses a slightly different spread of either a little more sp.def or max sp.def to better deal with stuff like Xerneas and Calyrex, so I'll leave both spreads here.

Sets

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Toxic
- Whirlwind / Recover / Brave Bird
- Defog

OR Max Sp.Def

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Toxic
- Whirlwind / Recover / Brave Bird
- Defog

With Genesect unfortunately it's fringe viable at best, and any set that isn't scarf only hurts it imo, but there are better options. That's why the first mon change I'd recommend is changing Genesect to Necrozma-DM. It gives the team a much needed Zacian-C check that doesn't lose to wild charge like Ho-oh and Lugia while also covering other things such as Dynamaxed Xerneas which can ignore whirlwind from Ho-oh. It takes most hits that aren't special and Super Effective and even then it can take some, so it's an incredibly versitile Pokemon. I have 4 item recommendations, all with different uses but all very solid. I put them somewhat in order of how I view their usefulness, with helmet and lefties probably being tied, and boots being better than umbrella which is more niche but helps against teams with both Kyogre and Zacian-C. The last 2 moves are also fairly open to choice, so I just put a few useful slashes but personally recommend either knock off and stealth rock or toxic and earthquake but it's up to you still since the mon is really good.

Set

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet / Heavy-Duty-Boots / Utility Umbrella
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Moonlight
- Sunsteel Strike
- Knock Off / Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Earthquake / Stealth Rock

Next up is Lugia, and while I think it's a solid Pokemon, I don't think this set has any reason to be used and probably hinders the team more than it helps. On this kind of team I also don't know if defensive Lugia is needed either since the core is pretty solid, so I'd recommend changing Lugia to Yveltal. Another defensive bird added to strengthen the defensive backbone to compliment Marshadow, Palkia and Zacian-C on the attacking side. It helps the Calyrex MU a lot and even though Ho-oh + Marshadow is good, it isn't as solid at beating it without Yveltal. Ho-oh can pivot in a few times and Yveltal can apply the pressure. This is the Pokemon I was talking about using Knock Off and possibly hurting Marshadow, but you could also go Foul Play and not have to work around the 2 moves being unsynergistic. I'm recommending a spread that is able to OHKO Dynamaxed Calyrex always with Sucker Punch, but this could be changed to max Sp.Def if dynamax is banned. Last 2 moves are fairly open especially the last, where U-turn can pivot, Snarl hits Sub Seed Calyrex and sub in general, Taunt beats status users like Ferrothorn, and Toxic can wear down opposing walls like Yveltal.

Set

Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Atk / 228 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Roost
- Foul Play / Knock Off
- U-turn / Snarl / Taunt / Toxic

Palkia is fine here, Eternatus could work also but at least the ogre check is here and it's a solid offensive one. I'd just recommend changing thunderbolt to thunder for a harder hit on Kyogre and everything else given that it hits, but I think the damage on ogre is mostly worth it. Being that this is an offensive check though, you're overall worse off against it just because in a long game it can throw repeated hits off at Palkia. I'd say leftovers would be another item option to just take it on more convincingly, but a Sp.def set could also work with rest and sleep talk to actually beat it over a long game. There isn't a well known set afaik, so I'm just taking a guess at what the ev's and kind of what the moves would look like, but if you're confident in playing around it regular offensive Palkia works just fine to beat it, and personally I personally prefer offensive Palkia more with just solid play since Pressure removes water spout pp very fast and it's more useful as an attacker.
Edit: I realized that the team doesn’t have an electric resist, and while it isn’t too common with it mostly being zekrom which this mon won’t even check, regieleki spam could become an issue even though I think most mons can live at least 1 hit and the priority can take it down in combination. So as an addition, I’m adding in the standard very sp.def etern set over palkia which is an option too if this is an issue that pops up.

Sets

Palkia @ Lustrous Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Spacial Rend
- Fire Blast

OR Sp.Def

Palkia @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Spacial Rend
- Surf

OR Eternatus

Eternatus @ Black Sludge
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Recover
- Toxic

Finally Zacian-C is just fine, but I'd say Wild Charge over Psychic fangs because it hits much more like Ho-oh and Lugia harder compared to Psychic Fangs which has minimal targets.

So that's all I'd do for changes to this team. The 2 mons I swapped out were pretty unoptimal with sets and in Gensect's case is fairly bad, but the rest just needed small set changes that I think work a bit better in the current meta. Here's the updated team with filler sets and moves but they're mostly what I'd use personally, hope it does well for you! https://pokepast.es/624bd107fd6437c6

 

[LordThemberchaud]

Hi, looking at this team I think that it has some fairly strong areas, but also quite a few large points of weakness. Dynamax is going to be voted on in a few days so the team might ne a small revamp if it gets banned, but this is what I would change about it so far.

Marshadow is a fairly underrated but good Pokemon imo, but especially in a dynamax meta I'd say that a bulk up set is better. It allows you to keep that +1 while dynamaxing if needed and fire off a lot stronger hits. You're also not choice locked which is usually a benefit against teams with fat walls like Eternatus + Ho-oh + Zygarde. Here's the set I'd recommend, you just have to be careful around knocking off items with a future change I'm going to suggest, but if that becomes a major issue because it sometimes really is, then Spectral Thief > Poltergeist might be an option or just chaning the slash on the other mon I'm going to recommend.

Set

Marshadow @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Poltergeist
- Bulk Up
- Shadow Sneak

Next up is Ho-oh, and the set is pretty solid, just I think 1 or 2 moves and the ev's can be switched around. Earthquake isn't used too much on defensive Ho-oh, but it has alternatives I'll list. It also uses a slightly different spread of either a little more sp.def or max sp.def to better deal with stuff like Xerneas and Calyrex, so I'll leave both spreads here.

Sets

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Toxic
- Whirlwind / Recover / Brave Bird
- Defog

OR Max Sp.Def

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Toxic
- Whirlwind / Recover / Brave Bird
- Defog

With Genesect unfortunately it's fringe viable at best, and any set that isn't scarf only hurts it imo, but there are better options. That's why the first mon change I'd recommend is changing Genesect to Necrozma-DM. It gives the team a much needed Zacian-C check that doesn't lose to wild charge like Ho-oh and Lugia while also covering other things such as Dynamaxed Xerneas which can ignore whirlwind from Ho-oh. It takes most hits that aren't special and Super Effective and even then it can take some, so it's an incredibly versitile Pokemon. I have 4 item recommendations, all with different uses but all very solid. I put them somewhat in order of how I view their usefulness, with helmet and lefties probably being tied, and boots being better than umbrella which is more niche but helps against teams with both Kyogre and Zacian-C. The last 2 moves are also fairly open to choice, so I just put a few useful slashes but personally recommend either knock off and stealth rock or toxic and earthquake but it's up to you still since the mon is really good.

Set

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet / Heavy-Duty-Boots / Utility Umbrella
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Moonlight
- Sunsteel Strike
- Knock Off / Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Earthquake / Stealth Rock

Next up is Lugia, and while I think it's a solid Pokemon, I don't think this set has any reason to be used and probably hinders the team more than it helps. On this kind of team I also don't know if defensive Lugia is needed either since the core is pretty solid, so I'd recommend changing Lugia to Yveltal. Another defensive bird added to strengthen the defensive backbone to compliment Marshadow, Palkia and Zacian-C on the attacking side. It helps the Calyrex MU a lot and even though Ho-oh + Marshadow is good, it isn't as solid at beating it without Yveltal. Ho-oh can pivot in a few times and Yveltal can apply the pressure. This is the Pokemon I was talking about using Knock Off and possibly hurting Marshadow, but you could also go Foul Play and not have to work around the 2 moves being unsynergistic. I'm recommending a spread that is able to OHKO Dynamaxed Calyrex always with Sucker Punch, but this could be changed to max Sp.Def if dynamax is banned. Last 2 moves are fairly open especially the last, where U-turn can pivot, Snarl hits Sub Seed Calyrex and sub in general, Taunt beats status users like Ferrothorn, and Toxic can wear down opposing walls like Yveltal.

Set

Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Atk / 228 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Roost
- Foul Play / Knock Off
- U-turn / Snarl / Taunt / Toxic

Palkia is fine here, Eternatus could work also but at least the ogre check is here and it's a solid offensive one. I'd just recommend changing thunderbolt to thunder for a harder hit on Kyogre and everything else given that it hits, but I think the damage on ogre is mostly worth it. Being that this is an offensive check though, you're overall worse off against it just because in a long game it can throw repeated hits off at Palkia. I'd say leftovers would be another item option to just take it on more convincingly, but a Sp.def set could also work with rest and sleep talk to actually beat it over a long game. There isn't a well known set afaik, so I'm just taking a guess at what the ev's and kind of what the moves would look like, but if you're confident in playing around it regular offensive Palkia works just fine to beat it, and personally I personally prefer offensive Palkia more with just solid play since Pressure removes water spout pp very fast and it's more useful as an attacker.
Edit: I realized that the team doesn’t have an electric resist, and while it isn’t too common with it mostly being zekrom which this mon won’t even check, regieleki spam could become an issue even though I think most mons can live at least 1 hit and the priority can take it down in combination. So as an addition, I’m adding in the standard very sp.def etern set over palkia which is an option too if this is an issue that pops up.

Sets

Palkia @ Lustrous Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Spacial Rend
- Fire Blast

OR Sp.Def

Palkia @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Spacial Rend
- Surf

OR Eternatus

Eternatus @ Black Sludge
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Recover
- Toxic

Finally Zacian-C is just fine, but I'd say Wild Charge over Psychic fangs because it hits much more like Ho-oh and Lugia harder compared to Psychic Fangs which has minimal targets.

So that's all I'd do for changes to this team. The 2 mons I swapped out were pretty unoptimal with sets and in Gensect's case is fairly bad, but the rest just needed small set changes that I think work a bit better in the current meta. Here's the updated team with filler sets and moves but they're mostly what I'd use personally, hope it does well for you! https://pokepast.es/624bd107fd6437c6

Thanks for the reply! I wanted to make a team revolving around Lugia holding a Weakness Policy, but I think I will try your suggestions and see how it goes!

 

[LordThemberchaud]

Hi, looking at this team I think that it has some fairly strong areas, but also quite a few large points of weakness. Dynamax is going to be voted on in a few days so the team might ne a small revamp if it gets banned, but this is what I would change about it so far.

Marshadow is a fairly underrated but good Pokemon imo, but especially in a dynamax meta I'd say that a bulk up set is better. It allows you to keep that +1 while dynamaxing if needed and fire off a lot stronger hits. You're also not choice locked which is usually a benefit against teams with fat walls like Eternatus + Ho-oh + Zygarde. Here's the set I'd recommend, you just have to be careful around knocking off items with a future change I'm going to suggest, but if that becomes a major issue because it sometimes really is, then Spectral Thief > Poltergeist might be an option or just chaning the slash on the other mon I'm going to recommend.

Set

Marshadow @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Poltergeist
- Bulk Up
- Shadow Sneak

Next up is Ho-oh, and the set is pretty solid, just I think 1 or 2 moves and the ev's can be switched around. Earthquake isn't used too much on defensive Ho-oh, but it has alternatives I'll list. It also uses a slightly different spread of either a little more sp.def or max sp.def to better deal with stuff like Xerneas and Calyrex, so I'll leave both spreads here.

Sets

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Toxic
- Whirlwind / Recover / Brave Bird
- Defog

OR Max Sp.Def

Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Toxic
- Whirlwind / Recover / Brave Bird
- Defog

With Genesect unfortunately it's fringe viable at best, and any set that isn't scarf only hurts it imo, but there are better options. That's why the first mon change I'd recommend is changing Genesect to Necrozma-DM. It gives the team a much needed Zacian-C check that doesn't lose to wild charge like Ho-oh and Lugia while also covering other things such as Dynamaxed Xerneas which can ignore whirlwind from Ho-oh. It takes most hits that aren't special and Super Effective and even then it can take some, so it's an incredibly versitile Pokemon. I have 4 item recommendations, all with different uses but all very solid. I put them somewhat in order of how I view their usefulness, with helmet and lefties probably being tied, and boots being better than umbrella which is more niche but helps against teams with both Kyogre and Zacian-C. The last 2 moves are also fairly open to choice, so I just put a few useful slashes but personally recommend either knock off and stealth rock or toxic and earthquake but it's up to you still since the mon is really good.

Set

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet / Heavy-Duty-Boots / Utility Umbrella
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Moonlight
- Sunsteel Strike
- Knock Off / Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Earthquake / Stealth Rock

Next up is Lugia, and while I think it's a solid Pokemon, I don't think this set has any reason to be used and probably hinders the team more than it helps. On this kind of team I also don't know if defensive Lugia is needed either since the core is pretty solid, so I'd recommend changing Lugia to Yveltal. Another defensive bird added to strengthen the defensive backbone to compliment Marshadow, Palkia and Zacian-C on the attacking side. It helps the Calyrex MU a lot and even though Ho-oh + Marshadow is good, it isn't as solid at beating it without Yveltal. Ho-oh can pivot in a few times and Yveltal can apply the pressure. This is the Pokemon I was talking about using Knock Off and possibly hurting Marshadow, but you could also go Foul Play and not have to work around the 2 moves being unsynergistic. I'm recommending a spread that is able to OHKO Dynamaxed Calyrex always with Sucker Punch, but this could be changed to max Sp.Def if dynamax is banned. Last 2 moves are fairly open especially the last, where U-turn can pivot, Snarl hits Sub Seed Calyrex and sub in general, Taunt beats status users like Ferrothorn, and Toxic can wear down opposing walls like Yveltal.

Set

Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Atk / 228 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Roost
- Foul Play / Knock Off
- U-turn / Snarl / Taunt / Toxic

Palkia is fine here, Eternatus could work also but at least the ogre check is here and it's a solid offensive one. I'd just recommend changing thunderbolt to thunder for a harder hit on Kyogre and everything else given that it hits, but I think the damage on ogre is mostly worth it. Being that this is an offensive check though, you're overall worse off against it just because in a long game it can throw repeated hits off at Palkia. I'd say leftovers would be another item option to just take it on more convincingly, but a Sp.def set could also work with rest and sleep talk to actually beat it over a long game. There isn't a well known set afaik, so I'm just taking a guess at what the ev's and kind of what the moves would look like, but if you're confident in playing around it regular offensive Palkia works just fine to beat it, and personally I personally prefer offensive Palkia more with just solid play since Pressure removes water spout pp very fast and it's more useful as an attacker.
Edit: I realized that the team doesn’t have an electric resist, and while it isn’t too common with it mostly being zekrom which this mon won’t even check, regieleki spam could become an issue even though I think most mons can live at least 1 hit and the priority can take it down in combination. So as an addition, I’m adding in the standard very sp.def etern set over palkia which is an option too if this is an issue that pops up.

Sets

Palkia @ Lustrous Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Spacial Rend
- Fire Blast

OR Sp.Def

Palkia @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Spacial Rend
- Surf

OR Eternatus

Eternatus @ Black Sludge
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Recover
- Toxic

Finally Zacian-C is just fine, but I'd say Wild Charge over Psychic fangs because it hits much more like Ho-oh and Lugia harder compared to Psychic Fangs which has minimal targets.

So that's all I'd do for changes to this team. The 2 mons I swapped out were pretty unoptimal with sets and in Gensect's case is fairly bad, but the rest just needed small set changes that I think work a bit better in the current meta. Here's the updated team with filler sets and moves but they're mostly what I'd use personally, hope it does well for you! https://pokepast.es/624bd107fd6437c6

I battled with the set for a while, and I really like your suggestions! There are just 3 things that I want to change:

Necrozma-DM:

This set performed poorly in the games I played, so I tried a Weakness Policy set, and it fared pretty well:

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Sunsteel Strike
- Psychic Fangs
- Earthquake

This is a standard Weakness Policy set with Dragon Dance to boost, Sunsteel Strike and Psychic Fangs for STAB, in addition to Earthquake for coverage and Max Quake. Prism Armor gives it a high probability of surviving a super effective attack, which will activate the Weakness Policy.

Ho-Oh:

I chose to swap out Toxic for Earthquake to counter Heatran, which gave me a lot of trouble if Ho-Oh is my last 'Mon. Ho-Oh already has Sacred Fire to burn, so Toxic wasn't doing anything.

Conclusion:

The set you offered was really good, but some problems I had with it were pretty major. Thank you for the suggestions!

Importable:

https://pokepast.es/d6354787b86210ab

 

[Fc]

I battled with the set for a while, and I really like your suggestions! There are just 3 things that I want to change:

Necrozma-DM:

This set performed poorly in the games I played, so I tried a Weakness Policy set, and it fared pretty well:

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Sunsteel Strike
- Psychic Fangs
- Earthquake

This is a standard Weakness Policy set with Dragon Dance to boost, Sunsteel Strike and Psychic Fangs for STAB, in addition to Earthquake for coverage and Max Quake. Prism Armor gives it a high probability of surviving a super effective attack, which will activate the Weakness Policy.

Ho-Oh:

I chose to swap out Toxic for Earthquake to counter Heatran, which gave me a lot of trouble if Ho-Oh is my last 'Mon. Ho-Oh already has Sacred Fire to burn, so Toxic wasn't doing anything.

Conclusion:

The set you offered was really good, but some problems I had with it were pretty major. Thank you for the suggestions!

Importable:

https://pokepast.es/d6354787b86210ab

I really don't think defensive Necrozma should be performing poorly in any games since it basically always does something defensively and can spread status / knock / set hazards, but if you really want to go for an offensive set, I'll recommend 1 thing that could be an option to look at. A defensive Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM set might be better to at least try. Without the defensive backbone of Necrozma, Zacian-C kind of can just win since the best switch in is Sp.Def Ho-oh which loses easily to wild charge.

Set

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy / Leftovers
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 Spe
Impish Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Sunsteel Strike
- Morning Sun
- Photon Geyser

This spread lives 2 adamant Zacian-C hits around 90% of the time without leftovers, and always lives 2 with them. It's a good mix of both defensisve and offensive sets, and if you didn't like the work defensive was doing but find Zacian-C hard with offensive, this mix would work pretty well. The speed allows it to outrun Calyrex-Shadow at +2 which is fine since it never can at +1 anyway even with max speed on offensive. Maybe another move could be used over Photon such as Stone Edge or maybe Earthquake, just this hits both Quagsire and Ho-oh hard enough usually and I haven't found much I want other coverage for that's worth giving up another move for.

Also you can maybe keep eq on Ho-oh, but if anything as a last move I'd probably recommend Brave Bird if you want the attack. Heatran is borderline never used in the tier, and while I think it has potential currently I don't think a last mon 1v1 between Ho-oh and Heatran is worth a support or STAB moveslot for.

 

[LordThemberchaud]

I really don't think defensive Necrozma should be performing poorly in any games since it basically always does something defensively and can spread status / knock / set hazards, but if you really want to go for an offensive set, I'll recommend 1 thing that could be an option to look at. A defensive Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM set might be better to at least try. Without the defensive backbone of Necrozma, Zacian-C kind of can just win since the best switch in is Sp.Def Ho-oh which loses easily to wild charge.

Set

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy / Leftovers
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 Spe
Impish Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Sunsteel Strike
- Morning Sun
- Photon Geyser

This spread lives 2 adamant Zacian-C hits around 90% of the time without leftovers, and always lives 2 with them. It's a good mix of both defensisve and offensive sets, and if you didn't like the work defensive was doing but find Zacian-C hard with offensive, this mix would work pretty well. The speed allows it to outrun Calyrex-Shadow at +2 which is fine since it never can at +1 anyway even with max speed on offensive. Maybe another move could be used over Photon such as Stone Edge or maybe Earthquake, just this hits both Quagsire and Ho-oh hard enough usually and I haven't found much I want other coverage for that's worth giving up another move for.

Also you can maybe keep eq on Ho-oh, but if anything as a last move I'd probably recommend Brave Bird if you want the attack. Heatran is borderline never used in the tier, and while I think it has potential currently I don't think a last mon 1v1 between Ho-oh and Heatran is worth a support or STAB moveslot for.

This is much better than what I came up with. Thank you so much for all your help!