As the head of the VR and a member of the VR Council which votes on each slate, I feel some obligation to discuss Zygarde and why it is A+ (or, rather, why it is not S) given the outcry after the last few slates when it remained A+. Before I go on, I wish to say that this is just my opinion and only mine; we never had many members of VR Council voting for Zygarde to move up to S before, but that does not mean everyone else on VR Council has the same exact reasoning as myself even if their vote is the same. In addition, I expect no further discussion on Zygarde to S until I give the ok as this topic has been beaten to death. That does not mean that my opinion is the rule of the land and it does not mean we will not vote on it again if we feel it is appropriate, but it does mean that we will no longer be discussing Zygarde to S for the time being for the sake of the thread's quality. You are still more than welcome to personally disagree with my opinion as a whole or parts of it and of course you can personally believe Zygarde belongs in S rank, but please keep those sentiments and arguments backing them outside of the thread for the time being (that does not mean to bombard my PMs with them either as I will more likely than not ignore these PMs if you do this). Regardless of all of this, here is my stance on Zygarde; I hope readers on both sides keep an open mind while reading it.
Zygarde is obviously a great addition to the metagame and has been one throughout the course of the generation. While the metagame (both tournament and ladder) has changed countless times with a number of archetypes, cores, and even individual Pokemon surging, plateauing, and seemingly disappearing throughout, Zygarde has been as close to a constant as you can get in terms of overall viability. Zygarde was highly touted from day 1 with the introduction of signature move Thousand Arrows, giving it a seemingly spammable STAB move that did not have many drawbacks. With natural bulk superior to Hippowdon on both sides of the spectrum, respectable base 95 Speed, and access to a number of boosting and utility moves, Zygarde was destined to be one of the better Pokemon in the metagame. I am not arguing that Zygarde is not good and I am not arguing that it did not live up to this hype as it most definitely did. However, I am arguing that despite all of these positive characteristics, Zygarde is not on par with the two most viable Pokemon in the metagame, but rather much closer to or on par with the "second tier" of Pokemon that all reside in A+ currently.
To break this down, we need to see what the Pokemon in current S rank have that Zygarde does not. Heatran and Landorus-Therian both reside in S rank and for good reason.
Heatran provides noteworthy defensive utility to a team while also taking the role of a top-notch offensive threat if given the appropriate Z crystal. The fact of the matter is that Heatran is a Pokemon that the metagame has limited switch-ins to, but it also is a Pokemon that functions as a switch-in to other threats, thus making it more multi-purposed than just about anything else in the metagame. Rarely do you ever see a Pokemon with such an established defensive presence also have a lack of defensive counterplay while not actually being banworthy. While it is true that the defensive prowess of Heatran is maximized on the specially defensive Leftovers variants and the offensive prowess of Heatran is maximized on the offensive Z variants, Heatran is still capable of playing a part on both sides of the spectrum no matter what variant it is. This is largely thanks to a fantastic typing, devastating moves such as Magma Storm, a certain degree of versatility, and other metagame trends revolving around Pokemon that provoke increased Heatran usage (Heatran is a top-notch Clefable answer dating back to ORAS, Heatran can trap Toxapex with the classic Taunt + Magma Storm set, Heatran can take advantage of Ferrothorn coming in and Spiking up, Heatran can be an actual offensive check to Mega Mawile, Heatran can sponge Kartana's STABs to situationally check choice variants or start a sequence against SD variants, Heatran can make quick work of Celesteela, Heatran can check specific variants of Magearna, Heatran can handle most Mega Scizor with ease, Heatran can sponge STAB attacks and HP Fire from Tapu Lele, Heatran can nuke or cripple Tangrowth depending on the set and situation, Heatran can pivot into most Tornadus-Therian, and Heatran can threaten out Tapu Bulu). The fact that the list I just made has over half of the Pokemon in A+ and A rank right now should be pretty alarming, even if Heatran clearly is not a direct counter to all of these things. Hell, to add onto that, metagame trends of the past number of months include Mega Alakazam, Mega Latios, and Gliscor, which are all now seen as significant pieces to the puzzle of fully countering offensive Heatran that every good bulky-offensive and balanced team right now must solve in order to actually be viable. If it is not clear by this point, Heatran is a Pokemon that oftentimes sets the tempo for the metagame around it; the metagame has adapted to it through a number of means, including the Pokemon I just mentioned moving up in usage, but each time that happens, another Heatran set surges in usage (Z-Steel starting in the middle of WCOP this year is a perfect example as it catches Mega Alakazam and Mega Latios) or there still is easily enough appeal to use Heatran quite often. Heatran does not require support and Heatran does not have crippling vulnerabilities that only make it have a limited scope of viability on standard archetypes at all. Heatran is the epitome of a well-rounded S rank Pokemon.
Landorus-Therian is a vastly different case than Heatran, but it also belongs in S rank and is more viable than something like Zygarde (although I must admit it has seen better days and I can see some arguments for A+ in the future if trends continue). Landorus-Therian has a great Choice Scarf set that has been the most common thing to use on it dating back to much earlier in this generation and although Tornadus-T surging has eaten into some of its usage on that front, it is still easily a supportive reason as to why it is ranked where it is. Nothing else provides Speed control with the ability to check as many things as Scarf Landorus-T does and this will hold true for the remainder of the generation without a doubt. Landorus-Therian also is a fine Stealth Rock setter, but the bulky Stealth Rock pivot set is nowhere near as good as it once was and honestly if it was just this set, Landorus-Therian would undoubtedly be ranked much lower. Honestly, both of these variants are nice and show that Landorus-T is a valuable addition to the metagame with significant viability, but what really distinguishes Landorus-T in the metagame is the fact that there is literally near no hard counterplay to the Swords Dance Z variants that sees consistent usage. Sure, you have to pick between Z-Fly and Z-Rock, both of which are great and hit a number of different things, but the fact of the matter is that outside of like random Mega Slowbro, faster Ice Beam Mew with PDef investment, PDef Celesteela that can stay near full and keep rocks off, and the rare PDef Skarmory with Toxic or Counter, there really aren't viable things that I would consider counters to Swords Dance Landorus-T in the metagame. While it is true that this set has never seen as much usage as the Choice Scarf set (which is stupid, but a product of closed-minded building and clinging to trendy sets/structures in teambuilding), that does not take away with how effective it is. There is nothing that remotely as convenient as SR SD Z-Landorus-T to use that can essentially assure getting Stealth Rocks up safely at least once and getting a kill and this is insanely valuable given the state of the metagame (balance oriented with stall seeing more and more usage as each day passes). Landorus-T's Z sets are really unmatched in the metagame and they do not really require much support themselves so much as they provide offensive support for other things and open up games, which oftentimes takes a dedicated breaker or lure. Landorus-T does not run the metagame as much as it once did when it saw ~70% usage, but it is still an S rank Pokemon and it has a ridiculous offensive presence that is oftentimes forgotten or simply underestimated.
Now, how does Zygarde stack up when compared to these two? Well, in my opinion, it is significantly less viable overall. Zygarde does have the versatility to match any other offensive threat or win condition in the metagame, but that in itself does not put it over the top. First and foremost, unlike Heatran and Landorus-T, Zygarde actually has universal counterplay. Standard AV and physically defensive Tangrowth is a hard counter to every Zygarde set you see nowadays (and don't try to argue that Z Dragon can hit the former as it has not been used for over a year now and for good reason). Clefable and Tapu Bulu are also counters to a vast majority of Zygarde sets you currently see, with each falling susceptible to Iron Tail variants and the former losing to DD Soft Sand if it comes in on a DD. These are three Pokemon that are all A or A+ tier that stop Zygarde in its tracks almost always and I'm not even counting Mega-Scizor, Mew, or a few other things that basically fit the bill, too, as they're not as common as the aforementioned universal counters. Therefore, no matter how versatile Zygarde may be, it will still have some match-ups where it's only good for switching into a couple Magma Storms or cockblocking a HP Iceless Tapu Koko only to get hard-stopped on its own if it remains in.
It is true that there is much more than Zygarde than what I allude to above and I want to cover this now. Zygarde's main set on balanced teams is the Choice Band set and sadly that falls into the trap of being hard checked by the Pokemon above, but it is true that it at least forces switches and recovers from Clefable, thus making it of some use. This set in itself is far from S still, in my opinion, so you really have to look beyond that. Honestly, the most potent and perhaps "best" application of Zygarde is on these "cheese" Hyper Offense archetypes, most notably Screens. On these teams, Zygarde is given Reflect + Light Screen to set-up on things it has no business doing so against normally and it also often has a pinch berry, pretty much letting it live for an ungodly amount of time, abusing its ridiculous bulk and need for only Thousand Arrows as an attack. It is amazing on these builds because you pair it with Screens as I said before and then also something like Hawlucha or Gyarados (regular or mega) and those two will at very least weaken normal counterplay, if not take it out, and then Zygarde will have a vulnerable team to essentially feast on with the support of screens and a foolproof "second life" with the berry. A great example is when Screens faces a Clefable balance, it is often the case that the Clefable is used to check Hawlucha or Zygarde, leaving the other to sweep afterwards. You can interchange Clefable with a Grass like Tangrowth or Tapu Bulu and Hawlucha with Gyarados/Mega Gyarados, too, and the same dynamic works -- one goes in early and makes progress, thus letting the latter clean through when timed well with screens. This type of team (and various similar ones with Lead Excadrill or Aurora Veil) have been ridiculously successful on the ladder and also somewhat successful in tournaments; I do not disagree with them being a major plus for Zygarde's viability at all. However, these teams all provide Zygarde ridiculous amounts of support to the point where it is in literally as ideal as possible conditions. You have to support it with hazards, potentially screens/veil to give it more set-up opportunities, complimentary sweepers to cripple normal counterplay, and potentially fodder before letting it get in safely to begin with. Would a Pokemon that is top tier need all of these things in order to function at its best? I don't think so. Some of the things that I tried to emphasize when discussing Heatran and Landorus-T is the fact that they do not need support as standalone they do not only serve their purpose and make progress, but they also force the opponent to have specific counterplay that is beyond one standalone Pokemon to check every set. You have to go well out of your way to check them and that's when they lack much support at all. Zygarde is nowhere near that and the best standalone set is the CB variant, which I touched on before and while it's fine, is nothing near S rank. Zygarde's a great abuser of the right team environment and the support of other things if played properly and therefore it is clearly a great pick on those type of teams, but that does not make it S caliber. The combination of common universal counterplay, support needed to function anywhere near its peak in terms of potency, and the lack of a standalone threatening nature (or top tier defensive capabilities that a defensive Pokemon in S may have if we happened to have one that was solely defensive) simply make it so that Zygarde is not close to Heatran and Landorus-T in overall viability in my eyes. It is still A+ rank for sure as plenty of those Pokemon provide situationally effective support or can be threats under the right environment or with the right set, but they all have drawbacks or require things to function as well as the S rank Pokemon and this cannot be ignored as it is a part of teambuilding and the game we play to integrate these things.
tl;dr: Zygarde does not fit the mold of an S rank Pokemon, especially when compared to Heatran and Landorus-T, and that is why I continue vote for it to stay in A+.
