Project OU Next Best Thing: Cycle 87 - Not hosted anymore

[Contrary Servine]

Adrenaline Orb Gapdos

Zapdos-Galar @ Adrenaline Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Close Combat
- Stomping Tantrum
- Substitute

Essentially, when you predict your opponent to go to Lando-T (Or any Intimidate mon, but Lando-T is by far the most relavant), you swap in this thing. Instantly you’re at +1 Attack and Speed thanks to Defiant and Adrenaline Orb, and then you click Sub. Unless Lando has Stone Edge, it can’t break the Sub, and you proceed to sweep, since Sub protects you from priority and stuff like Fini and Corv that could otherwise take a hit and OHKO back. You also outspeed and OHKO Dragapult with Acrobatics, so no Infiltrator shenanigans. You don’t even have to worry about Brave Bird recoil since Adrenaline Orb lets you use Acrobatics instead. CC and Stomping Tantrum are standard coverage. This set works very well if two conditions are fulfilled: 1. Opponent must have an Intimidate mon. 2. You correctly predict Intimidate mon coming in and switch to Gapdos. Outside of that this set is a bit of dead weight, but given how common Lando-T is it works as a great way to punish Lando and get some cool sweeps.

+1 252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 331-391 (104.4 - 123.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[SLDR]

Double dance (agility + bulk up)

Zapdos-Galar @ Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Agility
- Bulk Up
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
​

fairly simple concept: against slower teams, you click bulk up and pressure stuff; against faster teams, you click agility. two high-powered stabs in close combat and brave bird + potentially defiant help you mitigate the poor boosting prowess of bulk up.

the item choice is quite large, I just put leftovers for general utility and trying to offset brave bird recoil. if you have a terrain on your team, you could go for the adequate seed (for example, electric seed on koko HO) and run acrobatics over brave bird. other potential items include damage-reducing berries, lum berry or just no item + acrobatics from the get go

 

[D5405]

Zapdos-Galar @ Figy Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Stomping Tantrum
- Acrobatics
Zapdos-Galarian is a excellent physical attacker who can use its high 125 Attack with high bsp moves like Brave Bird and close combat but the thing is that Zapdos-G cant really last during a game because it takes a lot of dmg from hazards and helmet users like toxapex who will switch into its moves and deal a lot of recidual dmg to zapdos-g also its powerfull brave birds also have a lot of recoil which means zapdos-g is gonna take even more recidual dmg from its own moves and ultimatly dying from its own moves but with the help of pinch berry you can get around that because as i mentioned Zapdos-g will most likely gets itself low with its own brave bird and that will activate is berry which will heal it up so it can have another shot at breaking the team also after the berry has been activated you can use the non recoil move acrobatics which is now a very strong move because its item(the pinch berry) got used.Acro also helps Zap-G because now it can spam its moves more freely and not worry abt killing it self with its own moves.Ty for reading my post have a great day!

 

[JTD783]

Sub + Bulk Up

Zapdos-Galar @ Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Thunderous Kick
- Brave Bird

This works best on offense, especially with Sticky Web support. Sub + Bulk up allows Gapdos to set up on passive switch-ins like Ferrothorn and Corviknight lacking Brave Bird as well as with forced switches against Kyurem, Heatran, and Rillaboom. Thunderous Kick is chosen over Close Combat in order to preserve Defense and beat Unaware mons more easily. Brave Bird needs no explanation.

Max speed and a Jolly nature allow Gapdos to speed tie with fellow positive-natured base 100s and outrun scarfers such as Tapu Lele more easily with webs support. Adamant is nice for extra damage but should not be used without Sticky Web. I’ll update this later after playing around with some EV spreads, since more HP might be helpful situationally.

Why use this over Sub + SD Hawlucha? Better set-up potential in some situations due to stacking defense boosts from Bulk Up, better matchup against Unaware users, can be sent in more than once per game (not reliant on terrain + seed), more surprise factor as most would expect it to be choiced, and can abuse Defiant to help hazard stack strategies.

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 63-75 (15.9 - 19%) -- possible 7HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. -1 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 252-297 (63.9 - 75.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Yeah Thunderous Kick on the switch followed by Brave Bird has a legit chance to kill max defense Clefable.

I think this is okay since avg requested bulk up but not specifically sub + bulk up

 

[Plushietran]

reserving counter

Zapdos-Galar @ Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Counter
- Thunderous Kick
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
This functions like a usual Zapdos-galar except it can get some cheecky KOs with counter, not much more than that

 

[nameless90]

Screech Galarian Zapdos

Zapdos-Galar @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Screech


Screech is not Swords Dance, but it is still useful to overwhelm the opposing check cutting in half its Def. Keep in mind that Screech is perfect to deal with Unaware users.
Screech makes less necessary to run coverage moves.
Close Combat + Brave Bird is the dual STAB combination, whereas U-turn is here to keep the momentum.

Lum Berry is here to get rid of burn that makes Zapdos almost useless.

 

[Deleted User 465389]

Dual Wingcrit Zapdos;

Zapdos-Galar @ Scope Lens
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Focus Energy
- Dual Wingbeat
-Close Combat
- U-Turn​

use focus energy, and hope that along with scope lens, both of your dual wingbeat hits crit

calcs

252+ Atk Zapdos-Galar Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable on a critical hit: 186-218 (47.2 - 55.3%) -- approx. 9.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Zapdos-Galar Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Slowking-Galar on a critical hit: 254-300 (64.4 - 76.1%) -- approx. 2HKO

252+ Atk Zapdos-Galar Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Buzzwole on a critical hit: 528-624 (126.3 - 149.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[Gomi]

Voting Time!

Here are the submissions:
lum stallbreaker by AVG
Agility by SimonBoi
protect pads by ralts_boy
Adren orb by Contrary servine
Double Dance by SLDR
acrobatics by D5405
Sub Bulk Up by JTD783
Counter by Plushietran
Screech by Nameless90
Dual Wingcrit by Xaviere


The voting deadline is Sept. 9th​

 

[SimonBoi]

adrenaline orb.

 

[SLDR]

Protective Pads
Taunt is a cool option, but I would also consider Thunderous Kick or Bulk Up. The former softens up switchins, giving Zapdos a functional choice band boost on the next turn unless the opponent switches out again. This also means that hazard support is very sinergyc to this dynamic. The latter gives Zapdos a new way to capitalise on forced switches: at the beginning you can force chip damage with U-turn + hazards (again, really appreciated) only to later break through the opponent's defenses with a surprise set up on a critical turn.

All three of these moves also help Zapdos break through its defensive counterplay outside of Kanto Zapdos, whom it can easily U-turn out from without fearing Static.

 

[nameless90]

Agility
because it allows Galariwn Zapdos to deal with some frail revenge killers

 

[D5405]

Protective pads

 

[AM]

Xaviere's

 

[Contrary Servine]

Double Dance by SLDR

 

[romanji]

Protective Pads

 

[Plushietran]

Lum stallbreaker

 

[JTD783]

Protective Chads Pads because Kanto Zapdos is the devil

 

[Gomi]

voting has concluded and the winner is protective pads by ralts_boy! Your submission will be added to the hall of fame soon.

Cycle 54 - Zapdos


Our next subject is Zapdos, a useful defensive prescence and known breaking powerhouse under Rain. There really isn't alot to write here beyond that soooo

Banned Sets

The deadline is Monday 13th. Good luck!​

 

[Earthflax]

reserving (and hopefully actually finishing) metal sound

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Throat Spray
Ability: Static
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Metal Sound
-Hurricane
-Thunderbolt / Discharge / Thunder
-Roost / Heat Wave / Weather Ball
​

You click Metal Sound. You do stupid damage. Electric STAB is kinda just what calcs you want to hit and whether or not you're lucky. Roost is preferred in the last slot but if you're using this on HO or weather or some crap then you can slot it out for something else. Overall not the best set but goddamn it's funny when it hits hard. HDB is preferred because we love us some longevity but if you're running this on HO throat spray is pretty epic too. Not much else to say here.

 

[ralts_boy]

Zapdos @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Static
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Thunderbolt
- Agility
- Roost​

If you're feeling lucky, an Agility WP set might just hit the spot. This set is best paired with a screens setter such as Koko or even a random Blissey, along with other sweepers and breakers like DD Dragapult. Furthermore, the set as put forth here is meant to function independently of rain, so although a rain team might prefer Weather Ball over Roost, the recovery on a normal team is appreciated as Zapdos can avoid Sucker Punch while pressuring the opponent, or act as a pinch defensive tank by paralyzing the opponent.

Speed EVs are meant to neutral Dragonite at +0, but a bulkier set could also be ran. Max SpAtk is preferred as well, since you can't always get the WP to activate, and you can at least potentially get an unboosted late-game sweep this way.

Some relevant calcs:

+2 252+ SpA Zapdos Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem: 417-492 (106.6 - 125.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
while
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Ice Beam vs. 56 HP / 4 SpD Zapdos through Light Screen: 262-310 (78.2 - 92.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+2 252+ SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragonite: 313-369 (96.9 - 114.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
(after Multiscale is broken on turn 1, and taking:)
0 SpA Dragonite Ice Beam vs. 56 HP / 4 SpD Zapdos: 142-168 (42.3 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

 

[Contrary Servine]

Choice Specs Zapdos



Zapdos @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt/Thunder
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave/Weather Ball
- Volt Switch

Two variations of this set-run Thunder and Weather Ball with Rain, Thunderbolt and Heat Wave without it. Not really much else to say here, Specs gives Zapdos the raw power to break pretty much anything not named Blissey with the correct prediction. Volt Switch is preferred over U-turn since it gets the power boost from Specs. Other than that, coverage is pretty standard.

 

[nameless90]

Utility Zapdos with Eerie Impulse

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static/Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 Spe
Timid Nature
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- Eerie Impulse


General idea
This is a variation of the standard utility set on many ways.
Discharge + Heat Wave is here to keep some offensive presence while having a nice secondary effect. Discharge is particularly useful because it is paired with the ability Static that allows Zapdos to have some passive speed control.
Heat Wave replaces Hurricane due to the better accuracy.
Roost is here for longevity.
Eerie Impulse is the key of the set. This underrated move cuts in half the SpA of the opponent's special threat and, alongside Roost, it allows Zapdos to hard check/counter some powerful special attackers or weakens some special coverage moves.

• Eerie Impulse is the reason that makes Pressure a viable option here.

EVs (spread) and item
56 Spe+ are enough to reach 275 Spe points, in order to outspeed 252 Spe+ Tapu Bulu.
248 HP EVs are enough to have odd hp points in order to switch into SR one more time if HDB are removes. The remaining EVs are used to cover the physical side of the spectrum.
H-DBoots is perfect here because it lowers the need of hazards removal, but be wary of Knock Off coming out of nowhere.

Some defensive calcs:

Hide

-2 252+ SpA Choice Specs Analytic Magnezone Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 172-204 (44.9 - 53.2%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO
-2 252 SpA Zapdos Thunder vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 96-114 (25 - 29.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
-2 252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 118-140 (30.8 - 36.5%) -- 61.5% chance to 3HKO
-2 148+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 130-154 (33.9 - 40.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

 

[SLDR]

SubRoost Pressure

Zapdos @ Leftovers / No Item
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 196 HP / 72 SpA / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Roost
- Thunderbolt / Discharge / Charge Beam
- Hurricane​

this zapdos variant tries to emulate kyurem in pp stalling the opposing team. despite kyurem being overall better at it, zapdos has a number of advantages over it. its typing allows it to set up on different threats, the most important ones being lando-t and corvi. these happens also to be the more common defoggers and pressure zapdos fits well on hazard stack, which means it can be used to burn defog pp more quickly since it has no issues switching in into either. it also does better against clefable and has a higher speed tier which is especially relevant for urshifu-r. at last, zapdos' stabs have a wide array of utility: discharge can paralyze, charge beam can boost its power and hurricane can confuse the target (if it lands). parafusion, while defeating the purpose of pp stalling, can force a lot of switches which pairs up very well with hazards and allows more chances to set up substitutes.

Speed is for hydreigon, hp is for surviving rillaboom's +2 life orb grassy glide after rocks. while leftovers is arguably the better item, without one lando-t's knock off never breaks the sub.

 

[TailGlowVM]

Curse Zapdos

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Curse
- Wild Charge
- Drill Peck
- Roost

(Definitely didn't play in a mono-Zapdos tournament and use this because I was bored...)

Curse is an interesting move that not only boosts Zapdos's Defense but also its passable base 90 Attack, allowing it to potentially sweep late-game while also being harder to take down. Wild Charge and Drill Peck are the best STAB moves available, and Static is the chosen ability to potentially be able to slow down and cripple checks.

 

[Gomi]

forgot about this entirely lol

metal sound by earthflax
agility by ralts_boy
specs by Contrary Servine
eerie impulse by nameless90
pressure stall by SLDR
curse by TailglowVM

deadline for voting is the 19th.
​