SLAY QUEEN!
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Behemoth Blade
move 2: Play Rough / Tera Blast
move 3: Tera Blast / Quick Attack / Close Combat
move 4: Swords Dance / Quick Attack / Close Combat
item: Rusted Sword
ability: Intrepid Sword
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
tera type: Ground / Water / Electric
* **Zacian-C's stratospheric Attack stat and resistance to Extreme Speed make it a great choice for sweeping late-game.
* **Behemoth Blade**: Behemoth Blade's reliability is worth it, even if the coverage isn't that useful.
* **Play Rough**: Play Rough is an excellent secondary STAB attack for stabbing Dragon-types like Miraidon and Koraidon, as well as dealing huge damage to Ting-Lu.
* **Quick Attack**: Quick Attack may seem weak, but picking off weakened foes, especially Focus Sash users like Chien-Pao and Ursaluna-B, is extremely valuable.
* **Close Combat**: Close Combat helps with revenge killing Arceus, having an 87.5% shot of OHKOing it after Stealth Rock damage.
* **Swords Dance**: While Zacian-C must sacrifice some coverage to set up, it becomes nearly impossible for opposing teams to wall outside of using Dondozo or Skeledirge, and doing this lessens the risk of wasting the one-time Attack boost from Intrepid Sword.
Other Options
========
* **Wild Charge**: Wild Charge does decent chip damage to Dondozo, Zacian-C's archnemesis, especially with Tera Electric. The recoil can be worrying, (AC) though.
Tera Types
========
* **Tera Dependency - Medium**: Zacian-C has an amazing typing offensively and defensively, but it is vulnerable to Choice Scarf revenge killers such as Koraidon, Chi-Yu, and Miraidon, making Terastallization a good chance to flip the situation on its head.
* **Water**: Tera Water is a good shield against revenge killers that use Fire-type attacks, and it allows Tera Blast to do good damage to defensive foes that Zacian-C dislikes, such as Skeledirge and Hippowdon.
* **Ground**: Tera Ground protects Zacian-C from Choice Scarf Miraidon's Electro Drift, as well as providing an awesome Tera Blast against Archaludon and Skeledirge.
* **Electric**: Tera Electric gives Zacian-C the best chance of dealing serious damage to Dondozo. It won't usually 2HKO Dondozo with Tera Blast or Wild Charge, but the Tera type can be invaluable later in the game when it's cleaning up.
* **Stellar**: If Zacian-C is using four attacks, Tera Stellar's one-time boost to any attack can come in handy, though it doesn't help much against revenge killers.
* **Normal**: Tera Normal makes sense with Quick Attack, letting Zacian-C not only pick off weakened foes more easily but also block Calyrex-S's Astral Barrage.
[SET]
name: Speed Booster
move 1: Trailblaze
move 2: Behemoth Blade
move 3: Play Rough / Tera Blast
move 4: Swords Dance / Tera Blast / Close Combat
item: Rusted Sword
ability: Intrepid Sword
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe or 220 HP / 252 Atk / 36 Spe
tera type: Water / Ground / Electric
[SET COMMENTS]
* Zacian-C's blistering Speed makes it royalty among late-game sweepers, as it's especially difficult to revenge kill if it gets a Speed boost.
* **Behemoth Blade**: Behemoth Blade is Zacian-C's most reliable STAB attack, making it the best choice for cleaning.
* **Play Rough**: Play Rough is perfect for slicing through Dragon-types like Koraidon and Miraidon.
* * **Swords Dance**: Swords Dance lessens the punishment of wasting the Attack boost from Intrepid Sword by switching out, though the coverage loss can be irritating.
* **Close Combat**: Close Combat scores an OHKO most of the time on maximum HP Arceus after Stealth Rock damage when Zacian-C is using a Jolly nature.
Other Options
========
* **Wild Charge**: If Zacian-C is using Tera Electric, Wild Charge can deal over 50% to Dondozo, making the move Zacian-C's best shot at cutting through it. This will likely cause a lot of recoil damage, though, so Tera Blast Electric is still an option to consider.
Tera Types
========
* **Tera Dependency - Medium**: Zacian-C has a fantastic typing, but it's a common target of bulky threats that can use Terastallization to win, such as Koraidon and Miraidon, so counter-Terastallization is still useful.
* **Water**: Tera Water saves Zacian-C from getting roasted by Koraidon's Flare Blitz and lets it deal good damage to Skeledirge and Hippowdon with Tera Blast.
* **Ground**: Tera Ground is an effective response to Miraidon's Electro Drift and offers great coverage against foes like Archaludon and Tera Fire Koraidon with Tera Blast.
* **Electric**: Tera Electric's defensive benefit against Miraidon is useful, but its main purpose is letting Zacian-C do huge damage to Dondozo, which otherwise is extremely difficult to break through.
Alternate EV Spreads
========
* **220 HP / 252 Atk / 36 Spe with Adamant**: This bulkier spread enables Zacian-C to take advantage of its excellent typing while still outspeeding Adamant Arceus and Sneasler. The extra power also ensures Close Combat OHKOes maximum HP Arceus after Stealth Rock damage.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Speed EV Benchmarks
========
* **36 Spe**: This outspeeds Adamant Arceus and Sneasler.
* **84 Spe**: This outspeeds Jolly Ogerpon formes.
* **172 Spe or 36+ Spe**: This outspeeds Jolly Arceus and Sneasler.
* **164+ Spe**: This outspeeds Timid Iron Bundle.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theorymon.29010/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/derpysux.528485/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/adorluigi.528364/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
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