[OVERVIEW]
Zacian-C is arguably VGC 2022's best Restricted Pokemon due to its high Speed, allowing it to outpace the entire metagame outside of Calyrex-S and Regieleki, its sky-high offensive presence, and Behemoth Blade, which allows it to check or outright OHKO many of the metagame's top Dynamax options such as Venusaur and Calyrex-I. Its Speed and immediate power make Zacian-C great at cleaning up weakened teams and pair well offensively with other Restricted Pokemon such as Palkia, Kyogre, Groudon, and Calyrex-S. Zacian-C does struggle against some of the format's common threats such as Groudon, Kyogre, and, most importantly, Incineroar; however, it often takes fairly minimal support for Zacian-C's few checks to be handled. For example, Defiant Thundurus checks Kyogre and benefits from Landorus-T's and Incineroar's Intimidate. Groudon and Kyogre are good restricted partners for Zacian-C, as the former checks Incineroar, Thundurus, and Regieleki and offers additional support against Kyogre with Drought, while the latter checks common Zacian-C answers like Incineroar and Landorus-T.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Behemoth Blade
move 2: Play Rough / Sacred Sword / Close Combat
move 3: Substitute / Sacred Sword / Close Combat
move 4: Protect
item: Rusted Sword
ability: Intrepid Sword
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
* Play Rough allows Zacian-C to slam Palkia hard, 2HKO Kyogre after Intimidate, and 2HKO Seismitoad, Support Thundurus, and Gastrodon.
* Sacred Sword gives Zacian-C a a way to hit Incineroar super effectively, ignore defense boosts from Max Steelspike or Ferrothorn's Iron Defense, and avoid dropping Zacian-C's defenses as Close Combat does, letting it survive attacks like Incineroar's Flare Blitz. Close Combat is a much stronger option that allows Zacian-C to OHKO physically defensive Incineroar+1; this is a good pick on hyper offense teams where Zacian-C's bulk is less important.
* Substitute is great to take advantage of passive Pokemon like Amoonguss and Grimmsnarl by avoiding their status moves and to stall out Dynamax turns of slower Pokemon. Running three attacks with Fighting coverage over Substitute is viable; however, Substitute is generally more valuable.
* Zacian-C can afford to invest in its bulk without compromising its sweeping capabilities too much, and it gains benefits such as living Modest Life Orb Venusaur's Max Quake and -1 Life Orb Calyrex-I's Max Quake. Moreover, bulk investment is especially good alongside common damage mitigation tactics such as dual screens Grimmsnarl and Intimidate Incineroar. 236 HP investment gives Zacian-C an optimal number for Substitute. This being said, Zacian-C's EV spread is extremely flexible, as it can also viably run maximum Speed and Attack investment with a Jolly nature, especially on hyper offense teams where its bulk is less valuable.
[OTHER OPTIONS]
Swords Dance allows Zacian-C to offset Intimidate from the likes of Incineroar and Landorus-T and pose a more immediate sweeping threat. However, this leaves Zacian-C more vulnerable to status, more easily pinned down by Fake Out, and gives up its ability to waste Dynamax turns with Substitute. Imprison with a Jolly nature and max Speed allows Zacian-C to potentially outspeed and disable opposing Zacian-C; however, because of the variance of Zacian-C's attacking moves and the possibility of losing a speed tie to opposing Zacian-C, Imprison is inconsistent at shutting down opposing Zacian-C completely and comes with the significant opportunity cost of dropping Substitute or a third attack.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Yourwelcomethanku, 541847]]
- Quality checked by: [[zee, 501951], [Namuko Pro, 426995]]
- Grammar checked by: [[dex, 277988]]
Zacian-C is arguably VGC 2022's best Restricted Pokemon due to its high Speed, allowing it to outpace the entire metagame outside of Calyrex-S and Regieleki, its sky-high offensive presence, and Behemoth Blade, which allows it to check or outright OHKO many of the metagame's top Dynamax options such as Venusaur and Calyrex-I. Its Speed and immediate power make Zacian-C great at cleaning up weakened teams and pair well offensively with other Restricted Pokemon such as Palkia, Kyogre, Groudon, and Calyrex-S. Zacian-C does struggle against some of the format's common threats such as Groudon, Kyogre, and, most importantly, Incineroar; however, it often takes fairly minimal support for Zacian-C's few checks to be handled. For example, Defiant Thundurus checks Kyogre and benefits from Landorus-T's and Incineroar's Intimidate. Groudon and Kyogre are good restricted partners for Zacian-C, as the former checks Incineroar, Thundurus, and Regieleki and offers additional support against Kyogre with Drought, while the latter checks common Zacian-C answers like Incineroar and Landorus-T.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Behemoth Blade
move 2: Play Rough / Sacred Sword / Close Combat
move 3: Substitute / Sacred Sword / Close Combat
move 4: Protect
item: Rusted Sword
ability: Intrepid Sword
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
* Play Rough allows Zacian-C to slam Palkia hard, 2HKO Kyogre after Intimidate, and 2HKO Seismitoad, Support Thundurus, and Gastrodon.
* Sacred Sword gives Zacian-C a a way to hit Incineroar super effectively, ignore defense boosts from Max Steelspike or Ferrothorn's Iron Defense, and avoid dropping Zacian-C's defenses as Close Combat does, letting it survive attacks like Incineroar's Flare Blitz. Close Combat is a much stronger option that allows Zacian-C to OHKO physically defensive Incineroar+1; this is a good pick on hyper offense teams where Zacian-C's bulk is less important.
* Substitute is great to take advantage of passive Pokemon like Amoonguss and Grimmsnarl by avoiding their status moves and to stall out Dynamax turns of slower Pokemon. Running three attacks with Fighting coverage over Substitute is viable; however, Substitute is generally more valuable.
* Zacian-C can afford to invest in its bulk without compromising its sweeping capabilities too much, and it gains benefits such as living Modest Life Orb Venusaur's Max Quake and -1 Life Orb Calyrex-I's Max Quake. Moreover, bulk investment is especially good alongside common damage mitigation tactics such as dual screens Grimmsnarl and Intimidate Incineroar. 236 HP investment gives Zacian-C an optimal number for Substitute. This being said, Zacian-C's EV spread is extremely flexible, as it can also viably run maximum Speed and Attack investment with a Jolly nature, especially on hyper offense teams where its bulk is less valuable.
[OTHER OPTIONS]
Swords Dance allows Zacian-C to offset Intimidate from the likes of Incineroar and Landorus-T and pose a more immediate sweeping threat. However, this leaves Zacian-C more vulnerable to status, more easily pinned down by Fake Out, and gives up its ability to waste Dynamax turns with Substitute. Imprison with a Jolly nature and max Speed allows Zacian-C to potentially outspeed and disable opposing Zacian-C; however, because of the variance of Zacian-C's attacking moves and the possibility of losing a speed tie to opposing Zacian-C, Imprison is inconsistent at shutting down opposing Zacian-C completely and comes with the significant opportunity cost of dropping Substitute or a third attack.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Yourwelcomethanku, 541847]]
- Quality checked by: [[zee, 501951], [Namuko Pro, 426995]]
- Grammar checked by: [[dex, 277988]]
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