OU Zapdos [QC 2/2][GP 2/2]

[Abhi]

[OVERVIEW]
Zapdos's unique defensive typing and ability in Static let it check and punish common offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T as well as common U-turn users like Urshifu-R and Landorus-T. It also makes use of rain with its STAB moves in Thunder and Hurricane, which become 100% accurate in rain, as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran much harder. This set faces competition from other rain users like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their access to Nasty Plot. However, Zapdos can check Rillaboom and Kartana better with its solid defenses and reliable recovery, which rain teams often struggle with. Unfortunately , Zapdos is incredibly prone to having its item removed by Knock Off from Pokemon it's supposed to check, like Rillaboom and Kartana, making it a much less reliable check after being chipped by Stealth Rock. Because Knock Off hampers its ability to check these Pokemon long-term, it often relies on Static to cripple offensive threats. Zapdos is also rather weak to Toxic, which is why some Pokemon like Excadrill and Melmetal opt to run it. Zapdos also faces competition from other defensive walls like Corviknight and Skarmory, which have a better defensive typing. Their neutrality to Stealth Rock also allows them to absorb Knock Off more easily.


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Hurricane / Heat Wave
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge spreads paralysis, making it hard for common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking to switch in safely. Volt Switch can be used over Discharge, as it lets Zapdos pivot out against the aforementioned checks and Blissey. It should be used alongside Hurricane to punish Ground-types harder as they attempt to block Volt Switch. Heat Wave can be used over Hurricane, targeting Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Scizor, Excadrill, and Magnezone at the cost of much less damage against Ground-types. Defog adds to Zapdos's utility by letting it remove entry hazards, although it's often forced to do so on free turns like forced switches, as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users like Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable that are able to cripple Zapdos with either Knock Off or Toxic. Some Stealth Rock users like Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Tyranitar can also carry Rock-type coverage to pressure Zapdos. Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos to punish defensive Ground-types like Garchomp, Hippowdon, and specially defensive Landorus-T that otherwise don't take much from its attacks, as well as crippling other situational switch-ins like Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Kyurem. However, it should only be used if the team has another form of entry hazard control. Static can punish U-turn users like Landorus-T, Urshifu-R, and Dragapult. 40 Speed EVs let Zapdos outspeed Rillaboom and the rest are invested into HP and Defense to maximize Zapdos's physical bulk.

Scizor makes a great defensive partner, as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom and check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile. Zapdos can also pivot on some of Scizor's checks, like Galarian Slowking and Blissey, to bring it in to threaten them with Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner, as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora, while Zapdos is able to switch into offensive Grass-types that trouble Landorus-T, like Rillaboom and Kartana. Dragapult can make use of Zapdos's ability to force out some of its checks, like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, while Zapdos benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem and offensive Ground-types like Garchomp and Landorus-T. Rillaboom pressures Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp, which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight and do huge damage to Ferrothorn, letting Rillaboom spam its Grass-type STAB moves much more freely. Melmetal also makes a great partner, as Zapdos can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against Pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Melmetal also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into Fighting-types and Pokemon with Fighting-type coverage, like Urshifu-R and Kartana.


[SET]
name: Offensive Rain Sweeper
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's STAB Thunder and Hurricane become 100% accurate in rain, letting it spam them with no drawbacks and assume a wallbreaking role while providing needed defensive utility against Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T that rain teams lack otherwise. Weather Ball makes it an even better user of rain, OHKOing both Heatran and Landorus-T that would otherwise be able to land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off. This unresisted coverage lets Zapdos become a potent offensive threat, especially against offensive teams lacking solid specially defensive walls like Tyranitar, Hippowdon, and Blissey. Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R, as it can paralyze Pokemon like Kartana, making them much easier to deal with. A Timid nature is preferred, as it allows Zapdos to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

Other Pokemon that can make use of rain, like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos for a wallbreaking opportunity. In addition to setting rain and pivoting, Pelipper can also use Defog to remove entry hazards, which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it can switch into opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko and provide Spikes support to help Zapdos and its teammates break through teams more easily. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp makes a good partner for its Electric immunity and access to Stealth Rock, and in return Zapdos checks the offensive Grass-types it struggles with.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
A set with Substitute and Pressure can be used to overwhelm common defensive cores and PP stall common checks like Heatran and Blissey. However, this set is outclassed by Pressure Kyurem and Moltres. An offensive variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt, and Hurricane can be a good choice, as it fits on archetypes other than rain and brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking Pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom, and Kartana, which not many other offensive Pokemon are able to do. This coverage also allows Zapdos to annoy and hit a plethora of Pokemon. However, this set faces competition from Pokemon like Tornadus-T, which also offers utility like Knock Off and has Nasty Plot.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, it is an easy target for Knock Off users like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T, making it much easier to overwhelm offensively.

**Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STAB attacks. However, Weavile cannot switch in very easily, as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralyzed by a stray Discharge or KOed by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently or Protective Pads to ignore Static.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar is a very good check to Zapdos, as it takes minimal damage from its moves and threatens it out with Rock Blast or Stone Edge. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos, as they would be walled by it otherwise.

**Galarian Slowking**: Galarian Slowking's great bulk with Assault Vest makes it a solid Zapdos check and allows it to take multiple hits from it with ease while pressuring its Substitute set with Future Sight and repeated attacks. Zapdos is also unable to use Roost against it, since it risks the chance of being poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

**Toxic**: Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check them and other threats consistently.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy, 415305], [airfare, 513717]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Bandkrook, 301217], [deetah, 297659]]

 

[Katy]

[Overview]

• Zapdos's good defensive and offensive utility makes it stand out in a sea of Flying-types. (mention, as to why it stands out)
• It's good typing allows it to check a plethora of Offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, Excadrill and Tornadus-T.
• It's access to Static allows it to punish Uturn spam as well as physical attackers like Urshifu-R and Melmetal.
• Pressure let's it act as a good PP staller as well, stalling common switch ins like specially defensive Heatran and utility Clefable. (you can probably mention 1 more Pokemon here)
• It can act as a great abuser of Rain as well with access to STAB Thunder and Hurricane, and Weather Ball.
• However, it dislikes getting its Heavy-Duty Boots removed, which can happen often as it checks common Knock Off users like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T. (you can mention briefly why it dislikes its HDB getting removed)
• It can also often get overwhelmed while trying to check threats since pokemon like Rillaboom and Kartana are often paired together.
• Its weakness to Toxic is also detrimental as it is able to check Toxic carrying pokemon like Excadrill and defensive Melmetal.

[SET]
name: Sub
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Discharge
move 3: Hurricane
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Substitute Zapdos works very well at pressure stalling. Its ability to do so also makes it fit well on Semi Stall structures as well as more Balanced structures. (talk about that in the teampartner section) However, this set faces competition from Kyurem, which although it lacks a strong STAB Hurricane, it makes up for it with it's good coverage and natural bulk. (it makes up for it with its great typing, longevity in Roost, and great PP stalling due to Sub + Roost + Pressure) I feel good coverage and natural bulk descripes it a little bit too unclear.
• It can set up a substitute on forced switches against pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight by threatening them with a STAB Discharge. Substitute also allows it to use Hurricane more freely as it doesnt need to worry about a possible miss. (I think a miss can still be crucial. I would mention how Sub allows to keep Zapdos save from 1 round of an attack dished out by the opponent and that you can better spam Discharge behind it, to annoy more switch-ins / Pokemon, which aim to check Zapdos)
• Pressure combined with the combination of Substitute and Roost is what let's it PP stall effectively. It allows it to cripple common defensive switch ins like Heatran and Clefable by depleting the pp of moves like Magma Storm or Moonblast. (you can mention Blissey here too, if it tries to break Zapdos' Substitute with Seismic Toss)
• These EVs let it 2HKO an offensive Garchomp, the remaining has been put into Speed and HP to give it a little bulk as well as speed tie with fellow base 100s. (this sentences is a bit awkward: I would first talk about what the Special Attack does, and after it what the Speed does.)
• Zapdos's lackluster bulk can force it to use Roost more often making it rather passive, since even resisted hits like a Rillabooms Grassy Glide can break through its Substitute. (you can mention its downside in the teampartner section, but in the Set Comments, only explain what the Substitue is for)

Comment: In general I would rather explain on which teams the particular Pokemon fits onto, as a sentence to 'draw in' the reader and to let the reader know what the above mentioned set fits on which team archetypes the best. Make it the Bullet Point 1 in the teampartner section.)

• Zapdos's ability to force out pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight can be very beneficial for Choice Scarf Landorus-T and Scizor. (why is it beneficial?)These pokemon can pivot out of them with U-turn into Zapdos, so it can use them to set up a free Substitute.
• Pokemon like Choice Specs Dragapult make for good partners since they appreciate pokemon like Clefable and Heatran pp stalled (mention here, as to WHY they like them to be stalled out of their PP) and crippled. They can also offer to break through some of Zapdos's checks like Hippowdon and Slowking-Galar. (Hippowdown runs more spdef these days, so even when Dragapult drops a Draco on it, Hippowdon can Slack that damage Off afterwards)
• Defensive Landorus-T is also a great partner since its able to check Swords Dance Garchomp and can help with Electric types like Zeraora and Tapu Koko which Zapdos can struggle with.
• Scizor is also a good defensive partner as it can check offensive Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos, as well as help with threats like Rillaboom and Kartana which can overwhelm Zapdos easily with the lack of Static to punish it.
• (mention Clefable as a teampartner as it can check Dragapult, as Zapdos finds itself behind a Sub and loses HP naturally due to that and Dragapult can just dish out a Draco in its direction, Clefable can make Dragapult shy back from just dropping out a Draco + Zapdos has it easier to Roost off the damage it took due to the use of Substitute than when it is weakened by an attack as well from Dragapult)

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Hurricane
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Utility Zapdos is a very unique Defog user being able to punish U-turn spam and physical moves with Static. (belongs more into the Overview instead of the Set Detail)
• Discharge allows it it spread more paralysis making it hard to switch into safely, if the opposing team lacks a electric immunity. Volt Switch is also a good option over Discharge as it lets Zapdos pivot out of it's some checks like Heatran and Utility Clefable. (you can mention Slowking-Galar here too)
• Heat Wave is a great coverage option allowing it to hit Grass-types like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth which dont mind switching into a Discharge. (Mention the opportunity costs between Hurricane and Heat Wave here)
• It can also be used to spread Burns to Ground-types like Landorus-T, and Garchomp which can freely switch into it otherwise and then threaten Zapdos out with a Toxic, Knock Off or a strong Stone Edge.
• Defog ads to its utility and enables it to remove hazards efficiently, although it is only able to do so on free turns like forced switches as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users, since a lot carry either Knock Off or Toxic.
• Toxic can also be a good alternative to punish it's common switch ins like Kyurem, and Garchomp who otherwise don't take much from its attacks, however, this should only be used if the team has a pre existing way to remove hazards.
• Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static. Due to its ability to check so many pokemon it can often end up overwhelmed as it's natural defenses are rather lackluster as well.(doesnt belong in set details, only descripe what the moves are for, this can be talked in teammates section)
• The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to outspeed Rillaboom as it can get 2HKO'd by its Choice Banded Wood Hammer otherwise. The rest has been invested into HP and Defence to maximize bulk.

• Scizor makes a great defensive partner as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. (mention what Zapdos can do in return for Scizor; Zapdos can Volt Switch on Clefable and bring Scizor in)
• Landorus-T also makes a good partner as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing LandorusT, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in for offensive Grass-types (mention Kartana, Rillaboom here, as their choice band-boosted STABs can deal massive damage to Landorus-T) which can trouble Landorus-T.
• Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's to ability to force out some of its checks like Mandibuzz and Corviknight. Zapdos also benefits from Dragapults ability to force out Kyurem, however since neither can switch into it Dragapult can only successfully do so with the help of an additional pivot like Scizor or Volt Switch Zapdos. (Zapdos isn't an additional Pivot here, as you have it already. an additional Pivot would be Clefable or Blissey, also Blissey is a safer call vs Nidoking)
• Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressure Ground-types like Nidoking and Garchomp which can wall Zapdos. (mention Hippowdon instead of Nidoking) Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight. It can also benefit from its ability to KO Ferrothorn making it easier to spam Grassy Glide.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Zapdos's access to STAB Hurricane and Thunder makes it a great abuser on rain.(mention briefly why (100% accuracy = no drawbacks in using these two moves))
• Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKO both Heatran and Landorus-T which although get 2HKOd by its other moves can land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off while Zapdos KOs them.
• Roost gives it ample longevity which not many wallbreakers have access to. This also let's it check Rillaboom (kartana) which many Rain teams struggle with.
• (You can mention that Static helps Urshifu-R against the likes of Kartana, as a paralysed Kartana gets outsped by Urshifu-R so Shifu can pick it up later, which is an immense help for the team)
• (mention why timid >modest)
• This set faces competition in other common rain abusers like Tornadus-T and Thundurus-T, who are both faster and have access to Nasty Plot, however these two lack reliable recovery and access to both Thunder and Hurricane at the same time.

Comment: I dont think you are supposed to talk about the downsides of Zapdos in the Set Comments, you can talk about it in the Overview that it faces competition with Torn-T. I wouldnt talk about Thundy here as it is way too niche and finds itself on even less rains teams than Zapdos does, so Thundy mention isnt important here.

• This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams, and should only be used in rain teams as it is quite useless in other teams.
• This is why other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks to bring out Zapdos so it can abuse them and force them out. (mention here on what they can pivot to bring in Zapdos; most notably Pokemon such as Tangrowth and Rillaboom, the former especially, as it can tank any one hit which Barraskewda and Urshifu dish out on it, so pivoting on it bringin in Zapdos safely helps Barra and Urshifu)
• Pelipper is a great teammate as well since it can set the rain for Zapdos to abuse.(and it can pivot into Zapdos with U-turn, and it offers the support with Defog, to take off pressure due to Stealth Rocks for Zapdos)
• Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in for opposing Electric-types attacks, (mention Tapu Koko here) as well as provide Spikes support helping it break through teams easier. (knock off and spikes also help against opposing ferrothorn and also tangrowth trying to combat your own pkmn in barraskewda and urshifu)

Comment: make another Bullet Point in the rain section with teampartner such as tornadus-t and what it can do for you.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

• An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can also be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, although it misses out on some power as it loses Thunder and misses out on the fully accurate Hurricane. However, this allows it to run Heat Wave which can make breaking through Ferrothorn much easier.
• On the Substitute set, Toxic can be utilised over Hurricane to break through sturdier Ground-types like Hippowdon who dont take much from Hurricane. This however makes Zapdos very passive against Ground-types, making it very reliant on Toxic.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos is an easy target for Knock Off. Pokemon like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T which Zapdos can otherwise check with relative ease become hard to check since they commonly run Knock Off.

**Offensive Ice-types**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs, however Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd by Heat Wave.

**Toxic**: Toxic can heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats. Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos easier as it is often the the only available switch in to the two.

**Rock-types and Rock-type covrage**: mention Tyranitar here, also say that common Pokemon in the metagame such as Lando-T and Garchomp can easily run Rock-type coverage in Stone Edge to dent through the Flying-types in the tier and Zapdos is one of their targets.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]

LMK when implemented :)

 

[Katy]

Hide

• Zapdos stands out in a sea of Flying-types due to its good offensive and defensive utility.
• It's good typing allows it to check a plethora of Offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, Excadrill and Tornadus-T.
• It's access to Static allows it to punish Uturn spam as well as physical attackers like Urshifu-R and Melmetal.
• Pressure let's it act as a good PP staller as well, stalling common switch ins like specially defensive Heatran and utility Clefable, however it can be rather passive since its lackluster bulk forces it to use Substitute and Protect more often.
• It can act as a great abuser of Rain as well with access to STAB Thunder and Hurricane, and Weather Ball, although this set faces competition from fellow Rain abusers like Tornadus-T and Thundurus-T.
• However, it dislikes getting its Heavy-Duty Boots removed as its weak to Stealth Rocks. This can happen often as it checks common Knock Off users like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T.
• It can also often get overwhelmed while trying to check threats since pokemon like Rillaboom and Kartana are often paired together.
• Its weakness to Toxic is also detrimental as it is able to check Toxic carrying pokemon like Excadrill and defensive Melmetal. Word it better, say smth like: (Although it is able to check Excadrill and Melmetal, it can be whittled down byToxic variants)

[SET]
name: Sub
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Discharge
move 3: Hurricane
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Zapdos can set up a substitute on forced switches against pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight by threatening them with a STAB Discharge.
• Substitute also allows it to spam Discharge more freely annoying more switch ins that aim to check it.
• Pressure combined with the combination of Substitute and Roost is what let's it PP stall effectively. It allows it to cripple common defensive switch ins like Heatran and Clefable by depleting the pp of moves like Magma Storm or Moonblast. Pressure also lets it stall Blissey's Seismic Toss.
• These EVs let it 2HKO an offensive Garchomp, the remaining has been put into Speed and HP to give it a little bulk as well as speed tie with fellow base 100s

• This Zapdos set acts as a great pressure staller. Its ability to do so makes it fit well in balanced team structures.
• Zapdos's ability to force out or weaken pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight can be very beneficial for Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Scizor. These pokemon can pivot out of them with U-turn to Zapdos, so it can use them to set up a free substitute.
• Pokemon like Choice Specs Dragapult and Kyurem make for good partners since they appreciate pokemon like Clefable and Heatran pp stalled and crippled as they become a lot less threatening to Dragapult or Kyurem without those moves. They can also offer to break through some of Zapdos's checks like Hippowdon and Slowking-Galar. (mention how Clefable, Toxapex or smth like Tornt can lure these Pokemon in with Knock Off)
• Defensive Landorus-T is also a great partner since its able to check Swords Dance Garchomp and can help with electric types like Zeraora and Tapu Koko which Zapdos can struggle with. (you can also mention Tankchomp here, as it can also lay out Stealth Rocks and it annoys Zeraora heavily)
• Scizor is also a good defensive partner as it can check offensive Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos, as well as help with threats like Rillaboom and Kartana which can overwhelm Zapdos easily with the lack of Static to punish it.
• Utility Clefable is also a great partner as it can deal with pokemon like Dragapult and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos as well as heal any Status that has been inflicted onto Zapdos with Aromatherapy.

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Hurricane
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Discharge allows it it spread more paralysis making it hard to switch into safely, if the opposing team lacks a electric immunity. Volt Switch is also a good option over Discharge as it lets Zapdos pivot out of it's some checks like Heatran, Slowking-Galar and Utility Clefable.
• Heat Wave is a great coverage option allowing it to hit Grass-types like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth which dont mind switching into a Discharge. It can also be used to spread Burns to Ground-types like Landorus-T, and Garchomp which can freely switch into it otherwise and then threaten Zapdos out with a Toxic, Knock Off or a strong Stone Edge. Hurricane can also be a good choice hitting targets like Landorus-T harder while also threatening a confusion, however Heat Wave can be more beneficial since it allows it to break Ferrothorn which can wall Zapdos otherwise with almost no drawback as it can set up Spikes a lot more easily.
• Defog ads to its utility and enables it to remove hazards efficiently, although it is only able to do so on free turns like forced switches as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users, since a lot carry either Knock Off or Toxic. Toxic can also be a good alternative to punish it's common switch ins like Kyurem, and Garchomp who otherwise don't take much from its attacks, however, this should only be used if the team has a pre existing way to remove hazards.
• Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static.
• The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to outspeed Rillaboom as it can get 2HKO'd by its Choice Banded Wood Hammer otherwise. The rest has been invested into HP and Defence to maximize bulk.

• Scizor makes a great defensive partner as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of its checks like Slowking-Galar or Blissey to bring in Scizor to threaten them with a debilitating Knock Off.
• Landorus-T also makes a good partner as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing LandorusT, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in for offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can trouble Landorus-T.
• Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's to ability to force out some of its checks like Mandibuzz and Corviknight. Zapdos also benefits from Dragapults ability to force out Kyurem, however since neither can switch into it Dragapult can only successfully do so with the help of an additional pivot like Scizor or Blissey.
• Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressure Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight. It can also benefit from its ability to KO Ferrothorn making it easier to spam Grassy Glide.
• (make another bullet point of how Zapdos and Melmetal benefit from each other)

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Zapdos's access to STAB Hurricane and Thunder makes it a great abuser on rain as they become fully accurate letting Zapdos spam them with no drawbacks.
• Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKO both Heatran and Landorus-T which although get 2HKOd by its other moves can land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off while Zapdos KOs them.
• Roost gives it ample longevity which not many wallbreakers have access to. This also let's it check Rillaboom and Kartana which many Rain teams struggle with.
• Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R out as it can help paralyse pokemon like Kartana making them much easier to deal with.
• A Timid Nature is preferred as it allows it to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

• This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams, and should only be used in rain teams as it is quite useless in other teams.
• This is why other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos so it can abuse them and force them out.(mention how barraskewda can flip turn on toxapex and tangrowth to bring in Zapdos to pressure them reliably with Thunder / Hurricane respectively, the same mention goes to Urshifu, both are capable of doing this with Flip Turn / U-turn. Explain that a little bit better)
• Pelipper is a great teammate as well since it can set the rain for Zapdos to abuse and then pivot out with U-turn. (Pelipper can do more than just pivoting and bringing the rain; it can also help with Defogging away entry hazards which is beneficial for the rest of the team)
• Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in for opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko, as well as provide Spikes support helping it break through teams easier. (mention how Zapdos and Ferrothorn are also great at checking Kartana together)

Pretty sure rain teams have more teampartners, think of them, Garchomp can be mentioned as an Electric-immunity and Stealth Rock setter if the team otherwise lacks one. I would personally think of 1 more teampartner after Garchomp.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

• An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can also be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, although it misses out on some power as it loses Thunder and misses out on the fully accurate Hurricane. However, this allows it to run Heat Wave which can make breaking through Ferrothorn much easier.
• On the Substitute set, Toxic can be utilised over Hurricane to break through sturdier Ground-types like Hippowdon who dont take much from Hurricane. This however makes Zapdos very passive against Ground-types, making it very reliant on Toxic.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos is an easy target for Knock Off. Pokemon like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T which Zapdos can otherwise check with relative ease become hard to check since they commonly run Knock Off.

**Offensive Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs, however Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd by Heat Wave. (you can mention Nidoking here, as it runs Ice Beam commonly enough. However, it has to be wary about a Heat Wave burn)

**Toxic**: Toxic can heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats. Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos easier as it is often the the only available switch in to the two.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar can be a very good check to Zapdos as it can either wall it with its utility set or threaten it out with its STAB Stone Edge. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Garchomp can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos and Flying-types in general. Move it to the 2nd place, as they are very common too.

**Zeraora**: Zeraora has Volt Absorb and therefore is able to use Zapdos as fodder to gain HP back. However, it needs to be wary about a Heat Wave burn, as it dislikes getting burned. Move that to the 3rd place of C&C.

1/2 great job ^.^ take this cute boi as stamp

 

[airfare]

[Overview]

Zapdos stands out in a sea of Flying-types "sea of flying-types" reads weirdly, id reword this :( due to its good offensive and defensive utility. all of the other defensive birds have good defensive value too. you're saying that zapdos stands out, but you don't mention what makes it stand out here. be more specific here by introducing the factors you talk about in these next couple sentences It's good typing allows it to check a plethora of Offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, Excadrill and Tornadus-T. It's access to Static allows it to punish Uturn spam from what? it's worth mentioning that zapdos typically doesn't mind switching into rilla, lando, torn, or watershifu's uturns specifically as well as physical attackers like Urshifu-R and Melmetal. Pressure let's it act as a good PP staller as well, stalling common switch ins like specially defensive Heatran and utility Clefable, however it can be rather passive since its lackluster bulk forces it to use Substitute and Protect more often. this isn't true at all. zapdos' bulk and defensive typing give it great defensive utility while its offensive typing and high special attack let it exert offensive pressure as well... also, protect isn't mentioned anywhere else in the analysis, so don't mention it here It can act as a great abuser of Rain as well with access to STAB Thunder and Hurricane, and Weather Ball, although this set faces competition from fellow Rain abusers like Tornadus-T and Thundurus-T. why does zapdos face competition from these two? what are the benefits of using zapdos, and the benefits of using torn and thundy? However, it dislikes getting its Heavy-Duty Boots removed, which as its weak to Stealth Rocks. This can happen often as it checks common Knock Off users like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T. combined these two previous sentences to help it read better It can also often get overwhelmed while trying to check threats since pokemon like Rillaboom and Kartana are often paired together. Although it is able to check pokemon like Excadrill and Melmetal, their Toxic variants can whittle it down.

because sub pressure is the first set in the analysis, i would focus this overview on sub pressure rather than static defensive. also mention its ability to defog on static defensive sets somewhere here

[SET]
name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Discharge
move 3: Hurricane
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos can set up a substitute on forced switches against pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, allowing by threatening them with a STAB Discharge. Substitute also allows it to spam Discharge more freely annoying more switch ins that aim to check it with paralysis. Pressure combined with the combination of Substitute and Roost is what let's it PP stall effectively. It allows it to cripple common defensive switch ins like Heatran and Clefable by depleting the pp of moves like Magma Storm or Moonblast. mention how sub also blocks toxic from common switchins like lando, blissey, hippo, gastro Pressure also lets it stall Blissey's Seismic Toss. These EVs let it 2HKO an offensive Garchomp, the remaining has been put into Speed and HP to give it a little bulk as well as speed tie with fellow base 100s notably outspeed offensive threats including Urshifu-R, Kyurem, and Tapu Lele. the only other base 100 speed mon in ou is volcarona, which often doesn't even run max spe

there's no mention here of zapdos' amazing offensive typing with discharge + hurricane aided by its good special attack, making this set extremely hard to play against. it's unique from other common pp stallers because sub zapdos exerts a lot of offensive pressure and is tough to deal with for both offensive and defensive teams, instead of just defensive teams like other typical pp stalling mons like cune, corv, or block pex typically are

This Zapdos set acts as a great pressure staller, making . Its ability to do so makes it fit well in balanced team structures. reads better Zapdos's ability to force out or weaken pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight can be very beneficial for Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Scizor. knock off from either of these mons also helps in whittling them down and forcing them to roost, giving zapdos a free switchin or sub These pokemon can pivot out of them with U-turn to Zapdos, so it can use them to set up a free substitute. Pokemon like Choice Specs Dragapult and Kyurem make for good partners since they appreciate pokemon like Clefable and Heatran pp stalled and crippled as they become a lot less threatening to Dragapult or Kyurem without those moves. They can also offer to break through some of Zapdos's checks like Hippowdon and Slowking-Galar. Tornadus-T and Clefable also make good partners since they can bait in Galarian Slowking and Knock Off its Assault Vest making it a lot easier to deal with for Zapdos. Defensive Landorus-T is also a great partner since its able to check Swords Dance Garchomp and can help with electric types like Zeraora and Tapu Koko which Zapdos can struggle with. Defensive Garchomp also makes for a good partner since it can also check Zeraora very well while laying up Stealth Rocks. Scizor is also a good defensive partner as it can check offensive Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos, as well as help with threats like Rillaboom and Kartana which can overwhelm Zapdos easily with the lack of Static to punish it. Utility Clefable is also a great partner as it can deal with pokemon like Dragapult and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos as well as heal any Status that has been inflicted onto Zapdos with Aromatherapy.

i stopped reading after the sentence i striked above. zapdos never really performs the role you describe here ingame because opponents can always play around the pressure stall by double switching or trying to pp stall in return. unlike other offensive threats, zapdos doesn't function as a wallbreaker to pp stall things for another threat in the back as you've said here, it's mainly used for its defensive utility and ability to annoy defensive cores. its objective is more to force progress than it is to enable other wallbreakers (as opposed to trapper pex, trapper urshifu, or other common pp stallers/trappers). if you had to label it, i would call it a standalone win condition by itself but it doesn't even really fit that role. its offensive utility and means of pp stalling makes it different from other mons of this type. change this paragraph to reflect this, with emphasis on defensive partners (as this set doesn't really have/need offensive partners) that can help beat sub zapdos' common counters.


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Hurricane
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge allows it it spread more paralysis making it hard to switch into safely. , if the opposing team lacks a electric immunity. irrelevant as every team should have an electric immunity Volt Switch is also a good option over Discharge as it lets Zapdos pivot out of it's some checks like Heatran, Slowking-Galar and Utility Clefable. Heat Wave is a great coverage option allowing it to hit Grass-types like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth which dont mind switching into a Discharge, as well as Steel-types including Scizor, Excadrill, and Magnezone. It can also be used to spread Burns to Ground-types like Landorus-T, and Garchomp which can freely switch into it otherwise and then threaten Zapdos out with a Toxic, Knock Off or a strong Stone Edge. don't think 10% unreliable burn chance is worth mentioning here. i wouldn't mention ice beam's freeze chance on something like gking or dnite, for example Hurricane can also be a good choice hitting targets like Landorus-T harder while also threatening a confusion, hurricane also ohkos rillaboom and can threaten volcarona however Heat Wave can be more beneficial since it allows it to break Ferrothorn which can wall Zapdos otherwise with almost no drawback as it can set up Spikes a lot more easily. heat wave is used for much more than just ferrothorn Defog ads to its utility and enables it to remove hazards efficiently, although it is only able to do so on free turns like forced switches as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users including Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable, since they often a lot carry either Knock Off or Toxic. Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos to punish it's common switch ins like Kyurem, and defensive Garchomp who otherwise don't take much from its attacks, however, this should only be used if the team has a pre existing way to remove hazards. Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static. The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to outspeed Rillaboom as it can get 2HKO'd by its Choice Banded Wood Hammer otherwise. The rest has been invested into HP and Defence to maximize bulk.

Scizor makes a great defensive partner as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of its checks like Slowking-Galar or Blissey to bring in Scizor to threaten them with a debilitating Knock Off. Landorus-T also makes a good partner as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing LandorusT, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in for offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can trouble Landorus-T. Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's to ability to force out some of its checks like Mandibuzz and Corviknight. Zapdos also benefits from Dragapults ability to force out Kyurem, however since neither can switch into it Dragapult can only successfully do so with the help of an additional pivot like Scizor or Blissey. Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressure Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight. It can also benefit from its ability to KO Ferrothorn making it easier to spam Grassy Glide. Melmetal also makes a great partner as Zapdos, can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against pokemon like Clefable and Slowking-Galar, both of which get forced out by Melmetal. Zapdos also benefits Melmetal by offering it a switch in to common Fighting-type and coverage users like Kartana, Tornadus-T and Urshifu-R.


[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's access to STAB Hurricane and Thunder makes it a great abuser on rain as they become fully accurate letting Zapdos spam them with no drawbacks. Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKO both Heatran and Landorus-T which although get 2HKOd by its other moves can land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off while Zapdos KOs them. Roost gives it ample longevity which not many wallbreakers have access to. This also let's it check Rillaboom and Kartana which many Rain teams struggle with. Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R out as it can help paralyse pokemon like Kartana making them much easier to deal with. A Timid Nature is preferred as it allows it to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele and Swords Dance Landorus-T. This is why other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos so it can abuse them and force them out. how is it different from the other electric rain abusers in koko and thundy?

This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams. , and should only be used in rain teams as it is quite useless in other teams. Other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners since they can pivot out on some of their checks like Toxapex or Tangrowth to Zapdos so it can abuse them and force them out with its STABs. Pelipper is a great teammate as well since it can set the rain for Zapdos to abuse and then pivot out with U-turn. Pelipper can also use Defog to remove hazards of any sorts which can greatly benefit the team. Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in for opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko, as well as provide Spikes support helping it break through teams easier. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp can also make for a good partner in rain teams since it is a Electric immunity that can also provide Stealth Rocks to a team if needed. Garchomp also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into offensive grasses since it struggles against them.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can also be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, although it misses out on some power as it loses Thunder and misses out on the fully accurate Hurricane. don't really think this point is worth making. i would emphasize why use offensive zap instead of other offensive mons, and what its coverage and defensive utility can bring to a team However, this allows it to run Heat Wave which can make breaking through Ferrothorn much easier. On the Substitute set, Toxic can be utilised over Hurricane to break through sturdier Ground-types like Hippowdon who dont take much from Hurricane. This however makes Zapdos very passive against Ground-types, making it very reliant on Toxic.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos is an easy target for Knock Off. Pokemon like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T which Zapdos can otherwise check with relative ease become hard to check since they commonly run Knock Off.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar can be a very good check to Zapdos as it can either wall it with its utility set or threaten it out with its STAB Stone Edge. mention that sub zapdos can pp stall stone edge, making it not much of a problem. there's no mention here of rock blast either. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Garchomp can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos and Flying-types in general the biggest mention here, which is currently missing, is hawlucha. +2 stone edge ohkos zapdos and makes it an unreliable check when it would otherwise wall it easily.

**Zeraora**: Zeraora can be a good check to Zapdos too since its immune to its Discharge and Volt Switch and can Knock Off its boots or use Toxic on Zapdos, hurting its longevity. However Zeraora can regret switching in as Zapdos can potentially burn it with Heat Wave or confuse it with Hurricane. i don't think this is relevant enough for checks and counters. zera can't really switch in well to any of these zapdos variants and doesn't have the tools to really force zapdos out without toxic. if you want to make a whole section for electric mons including tapu koko you can do that but idt zera is good enough of a check to mention alone

**Offensive Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs, however Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently.

**Toxic**: Toxic can heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats. Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos easier as it is often the the only available switch in to the two.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]] update this
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]

additions, removals, comments
this needs a lot of work before i feel comfortable stamping. feel free to pm if you have any questions or have implemented. take your time also - we might have to slightly change some things because of the suspect

 

[airfare]

Abhisdn417, post: 8803388, member: 526987

[Overview]

Zapdos stands out among between other pressure stallers like Kyurem and Suicune due to its great offensive stats, threatening STAB combination, and solid speed tier, and its ability to put pressure on teams of all kinds good pun but not descriptive enough. you weren't really mentioning what actually made it stand out here while also bringing its unique defensive utility with it. It is able to annoy and PP stall common defensive switch-ins (AH) as well, (AC) like Heatran and Clefable. mention its ability to sit on most bo/balance defensive cores featuring slowking lando corv etc that don't really have a way to force it out without eating a hit, thanks to zapdos' typing Its access to Static also makes it a unique Defog user which is able to punish common U-turn users like Urshifu-R, Tornadus-T and Landorus-T Landorus-T also punishing physically offensive pokemon like Rillaboom and Kartana with debilitating paralysis. what does access to static have to do with being a defog user? also, mention defensive zapdos' utility in checking grasses and torn before static para - zapdos is used more bc of the defensive utility it gains from its defensive typing and stats than the ability static itself It can also act as a good abuser of rain as well with access to dual STABs in Thunder and Hurricane which become 100% accurate in rain as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran more reliably. you didn't mention why weather ball was important This ; this set faces competition from other rain abusers like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, (AC) which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their have access to Nasty Plots. after all, you're primarily using thundy and torn to have better fat matchups while zapdos helps more vs offensive threats and can even wallbreak vs offensive teams sometimes However, , however Zapdos can check Rillaboom better, (AC) which is very useful to Rain teams since they often struggle with it. Zapdos' dependency dependancy on Heavy-Duty Boots can backfire since it checks common Knock Off users like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T. It can also get overwhelmed while checking threats like Rillaboom and Kartana since they're often paired together. It also dislikes the Toxic variants of Excadrill and Melmetal since Toxic can hinder Zapdos by ruining its longevity.

[SET]
name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Discharge
move 3: Hurricane
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

This set acts as a very unique Pressure staller since, (AC) unlike other Pressure stallers like Kyurem and Suicune, (AC) it can pressure both offensive and defensive cores instead of just defensive ones like the others, while exerting offensive pressure as well, courtesy of its good offensive typing along with good SpA stat. split up this sentence somehow Zapdos can set up a Substitute substitute on forced switches against pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight by threatening them, allowing it to spam Discharge and spread paralysis much easier. annoying more switch ins that aim to check it with paralysis. This combination of Discharge and Hurricane can be very annoying to deal with defensively since it can spread paralysis along with confusion. unnecessary - you've already stated this Substitute, Pressure, and along with Roost is what lets it pp stall more effectively, (AC) allowing it to cripple defensive switch-ins (AH) like Heatran, Blissey and Clefable by depleting the PP pp of Magma Storm, Seismic Toss and Moonblast respectively. Substitute also allows it to block Toxic from the likes of Landorus-T, Hippowdon, (AC) and Blissey. These EVs let it 2HKO an offensive Garchomp with Hurricane; the rest has been invested into HP and Spe for some bulk and to outspeed notable threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, (AC) and Urshifu-R.


This Zapdos acts as a great Pressure pressure staller along with a good progress maker, reword this which makes it fit well on defensive team Balanced structures. why do defensive teams appreciate these attributes? Pokemon like Corviknight and Skarmory act as good partners since they offer Zapdos a switch in against pokemon like Swords Dance Garchomp and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos very well, as well as take pressure off of Zapdos to check offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana. Skarmory can also set up Spikes which can annoy some checks of Zapdos like Galarian Slowking and Hippowdon and punish switches, the most common form of counterplay to Zapdos' PP stall. Scizor can also fill a similar role by helping check Rillaboom better as well as check Kyurem and Tapu Lele while also using U-turn against pokemon like Corviknight and Skarmory to help Zaodos get a Substitute up easier. correct in theory, but scizor is almost always a bo mon so you will rarely see this ingame Utility Clefable and Blissey are is also a fit partners since they it can help with threats like Dragapult and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos, while also offering Aromatherapy support incase Zapdos gets poisoned. Clefable also benefits from Zapdos' ability to check threats like Rillaboom and Tornadus-T which can trouble Clefable.

cba to deal w the grammar stuff anymore, will leave it to gp lol

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Hurricane
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge allows it it spread more paralysis making it hard to switch into safely by common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking. Volt Switch is also a good option over Discharge as it lets Zapdos pivot out of these aforementioned checks and Blissey. it's some checks like Heatran, Slowking-Galar and Utility Clefable. reads better and accomplishes more by saying the specific targets you wouldn't hit otherwise with para and reiterating benefits of volt Heat Wave is a great coverage option allowing it to hit Grass-types like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth which dont mind switching into a Discharge as well as Steel-types like Scizor, Excadrill and Magnezone. Hurricane can also be a good choice hitting targets like Garchomp, Landorus-T, Rillaboom and Volcarona harder while also threatening a confusion, you're missing probably the most important mon to mention in hurricane targets however Heat Wave can be more beneficial since it allows it to break defensive Grass- and Steel-types which can wall Zapdos otherwise, such as Ferrothorn, Melmetal, and Excadrill. the only relevant grass that isn't weak to flying is ferrothorn, tmk Defog adds to its utility and lets enables it to remove hazards efficiently, although it is only able to often does so on free turns like forced switches as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users including Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable, since they often carry either Knock Off or Toxic. mention rock-type supereffective coverage from rockers like garchomp lando Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos, to punish it's common switch ins like Kyurem, and defensive Garchomp who otherwise don't take much from its attacks. , h However, this should only be used if the team has a pre existing way to remove hazards. Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static. The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to outspeed Rillaboom as it can get 2HKO'd by its Choice Banded Wood Hammer otherwise. this is inaccurate. slower, defensive bold sets are not 2hkod by cb wood hammer from full. zapdos runs speed to outspeed rilla because slower sets die to rocks + 2 wood hammers. (effectively, so does this set. assuming you've been knocked off already, you switch into a rillaboom's wood hammer and take ~50% and you're left at 25%. you have the 50-50 to click hurricane or roost. if you hurricane into their switchin and are forced to sac or switch, zapdos dies and if you roost while it clicks wood hammer again you also die because you've lost your flying type.) zapdos runs speed to gain the opportunity to win this 50-50 instead of just dying to two hammers, even though both sets lose to it. The rest has been invested into HP and Defence to maximize physical bulk.

Scizor makes a great defensive partner as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of its checks like Galarian Slowking Slowking-Galar or Blissey to bring in Scizor to threaten them with a debilitating Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in for offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can trouble Landorus-T. Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's to ability to force out some of its checks like Mandibuzz and Corviknight. Zapdos also benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem, however since neither can switch into it Dragapult can only successfully do so with the help of an additional pivot like Scizor or Blissey. idt this is really necessary - you can still take advantage of kyurem through volt switch/double switching to get rocks damage on specs sets or force it out with darts/draco or gain momentum on a predicted switch with u-turn w pult. the reader knows both of these mons are weak to ice and a pivot is not required at all to make use of this synergy Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressure Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight. It can also benefit from its ability to KO Ferrothorn making it easier to spam Grassy Glide. Melmetal also makes a great partner as Zapdos, can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Slowking-Galar, both of which get forced out by Melmetal. unnecessary Zapdos also benefits Melmetal by offering it a switch in to common Fighting-type and coverage users like Kartana, Tornadus-T and Urshifu-R. reword this sentence


[SET]
name: Rain Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's access to STAB Hurricane and Thunder makes it a great abuser on rain as they become fully accurate letting Zapdos spam them with no drawbacks. Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKO both Heatran and Landorus-T which although get 2HKOd by its other moves can land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off while Zapdos KOs them. mention how this unresisted coverage lets zapdos become a potent offensive threat by dismantling most defensive cores that lack ttar/hippo/bliss Roost gives it ample longevity, which not many wallbreakers have access to. This also let's letting it check Rillaboom and Kartana which many Rain teams struggle with. i view zapdos as less of a wallbreaker than other rain staples like thundy. it can wallbreak vs offensive teams sometimes... i would just call it a cleaner or even just glue for rain, checking grasses while remaining its own offensive threat Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R out as it can help paralyse pokemon like Kartana making them much easier to deal with. A Timid Nature is preferred as it allows it to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, opposing Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T. This is why other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos so it can abuse them and force them out. Zapdos sets it apparent from other Electric-type abusers of Rain like Tapu Koko and Thundurus-T with its defensive utility allowing it to check offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can often trouble Rain teams. move this to teammates paragraph

This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams. Other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners since they can pivot out on some of their checks like Toxapex or Tangrowth to Zapdos so it can abuse them and force them out with its STABs. Pelipper is a great teammate as well since it can set the rain for Zapdos to abuse and then pivot out with U-turn. Pelipper can also use Defog to remove hazards of any sorts which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. this point wouldn't be relevant to this analysis without mentioning why this is useful for zapdos Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in for opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko, as well as providing provide Spikes support to helping it Zapdos and its teammates break through teams easier. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp can also make for a good partner in rain teams since it is an Electric immunity that can also provide Stealth Rocks to a team if needed. Garchomp also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into offensive Grass-types grasses since it struggles against them.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can also be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, since it brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom and Kartana which not many other offensive pokemon are able to do, it also offers its impressive coverage which allows it to annoy and break a plethora of pokemon. split this sentence up On the Substitute set, Toxic can be utilised over Hurricane to break through sturdier Ground-types like Hippowdon who dont take much from Hurricane. This however makes Zapdos very passive against Ground-types, making it very reliant on Toxic. how does this make zapdos reliant on toxic? you won't be clicking it super often per game on grounds or grasses

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos is an easy target for Knock Off. Pokemon like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T which Zapdos can otherwise check with relative ease become hard to check since they commonly run Knock Off.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar can be a very good check to Zapdos as it can either wall it with its utility set while threatening it out with Rock Blast, or with a Choice Band boosted Stone Edge, however with its Substitute set Zapdos can pressure stall its Stone Edge to make it a less of a problem. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos and Flying-types in general as they would be walled by them otherwise. restructure this with pressure mentioned first, as it's the first set in the analysis

make a point for gking on its own imo, which separates itself from different spdef walls because it can't be pp stalled thanks to future sight, which lets it sneak in hits behind a substitute and eventually force zapdos out or kill it outright. the poison chance from sludge bomb also helps out if zapdos tries to roost on it for free.

**Offensive Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs, however Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently.

**Toxic**: Toxic can heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats. Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos easier as it is often the the only available switch in to the two.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy ,415305], [username2, userid2]] update this
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]

additions, removals, comments
lmk when this is implemented

 

[Gomi]

first attempt at an am check ig removals additions comments uk the drill

Abhisdn417, post: 8803388, member: 526987

[Overview]
Zapdos's access to Static makes it a unique defensive pokemon which is able to punish common U-turn users like Urshifu-R, Tornadus-T and Landorus-T also punishing physically offensive pokemon like Rillaboom and Kartana with debilitating paralysis. It can also check offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T due to its defensive typing. Zapdos stands out among pressure stallers like Kyurem and Suicune due to its great offensive stats, threatening STAB combination, and solid speed tier, while also bringing its unique defensive utility with it. It is able to annoy and PP stall common defensive switch-ins as well, like Heatran and Clefable. Zapdos can also threaten defensive cores in Balance and Bulky Offensive teams, since they cant force it out without eating a hit from its obnoxious stab combo thanks to Zapdos' typing. It feels a tad odd to essentially just say it's fat as the reasoning for why it threatens balance-y builds It can also act as a good abuser of rain as well with access to dual STABs in Thunder and Hurricane which become 100% accurate in rain as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran more reliably. much harder. just another odd choice of wording, it can already smack both Lando and Tran with 100% accuracy stabs under rain, weather ball is just noticably more powerful vs em This set faces competition from other rain abusers like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their access to Nasty Plot. However, Zapdos can check Rillaboom better, which is very useful to Rain teams since they often struggle with it. Zapdos' dependency on Heavy-Duty Boots can backfire since it checks common Knock Off users like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T. It can also get overwhelmed while checking threats like Rillaboom and Kartana since they're often paired together. It also dislikes the Toxic variants of Excadrill and Melmetal since Toxic can hinder Zapdos by ruining its longevity. these last three sentences kinda come out of nowhere and have pretty much no flow to them, might be worth fusing them a bit more and transitioning with something like "however, it can get overwhelmed by offensive grasses and the like due to its reliance on HBD, and its susceptibility to being worn down by toxic can leave it in a tough spot vs pokemon like Excadrill and Melm" obviously doesnt have to be word for word its just an example


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Hurricane
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge allows it it spread more paralysis making it hard to switch into safely by common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking. Volt Switch is also a good option over Discharge as it lets Zapdos pivot out of these aforementioned checks and Blissey. Could be woth mentioning Volt Switch pretty much has to have Hurricane or else its momentum is practically impossible to attain Heat Wave is a great coverage option allowing it to hit Grass-types like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth not a zapdos switch regardless of the coverage used which dont mind switching into a Discharge as well as Steel-types like Scizor, Excadrill and Magnezone. Hurricane can also be a good choice hitting targets like Garchomp, Landorus-T, Rillaboom and Volcarona harder while also threatening a confusion, however Heat Wave can be more beneficial since it allows it to break defensive Steel-types which can wall Zapdos otherwise, such as Ferrothorn, Melmetal, and Excadrill. Defog adds to its utility and lets it remove hazards efficiently, although it often does so on free turns like forced switches as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users including Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable, since they often carry either Knock Off or Toxic. Some Stealth Rock users like Garchomp, Landorus-T and Tyranitar can also carry Rock-type coverage to pressure Zapdos. I don't understand segragating these two groups into seperate sentences when it doesn't defog on either of them regardless of what they use to diswade Zap Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos, to punish it's common switch ins like Kyurem, and defensive Garchomp who otherwise don't take much from its attacks. could just say specially defensive grounds in general or list Spdef Hippo and/or Spdef Lando as well However, this should only be used if the team has a pre existing way to remove hazards. Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static. The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to outspeed Rillaboom. The rest has been invested into HP and Defence to maximize physical bulk. could combine these two, pretty short statements about the ev spread

Scizor makes a great defensive partner as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of its checks like Galarian Slowking or Blissey to bring in Scizor to threaten them with a debilitating Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in for offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can trouble Landorus-T. Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's ability to force out some of its checks like Mandibuzz and Corviknight.,while Zapdos also benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem and offensive grounds. Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressure Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight, as well as its capability to do huge damage to Ferrothorn, which in turn frees up Rillaboom to spam Grass stab much more freely.. It can also benefit from its ability to KO Ferrothorn making it easier to spam Grassy Glide. Melmetal also makes a great partner as Zapdos, can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Melmetal also benefits from Zapdos' ability to switch into Fighting-type and coverage users, like Urshifu-R, Galarian Zapdos and Kartana.
I corrected a few but this thing is honestly kind of loaded with one liner-y sentences that could easily be fused together for a much more cohesive and natural flow, so I figured I'd just give a decent example w/ the zapdos section and leave this here

[SET]
name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Discharge
move 3: Hurricane
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

This set acts as a very unique Pressure staller since, unlike other Pressure stallers like Kyurem and Suicune, it can pressure both offensive and defensive cores instead of just defensive ones like the others, while exerting offensive pressure as well. This is courtesy of its good offensive typing, debilitating stab combo, and good SpA stat. Zapdos can set up a Substitute on forced switches against pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, allowing it to spam Discharge and spread paralysis much easier. Substitute, Pressure, and Roost let it pp stall more effectively, allowing it to cripple defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Blissey and Clefable by depleting the PP of Magma Storm, Seismic Toss and Moonblast respectively. Substitute also allows it to block Toxic from the likes of Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Blissey. These EVs let it 2HKO an offensive Garchomp with Hurricane; the rest has been invested into HP and Spe for some bulk and to outspeed notable threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, and Urshifu-R.
In general I don't feel like this paragraph focuses enough on the sheer annoyance factor of sub Zapdos, which is largely why its so obnoxious to face with the weaker defensive structures found on most offensive builds. Discharge paras and Hurricane's huge damage+confusion chance are v substantial when your best switchins are things that can't even touch this set, like Fat Lando and Spdef Clef

This Zapdos acts as a great Pressure staller while also forcing progress in a match, which makes it fit well on defensive team structures. These team structures appreciate this since they struggle with forcing any progress and lack offensive pressure. Pokemon like Corviknight and Skarmory act as good partners since they offer Zapdos a switch in against pokemon like Swords Dance Garchomp and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos, as well as take pressure off of Zapdos to check offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana. Skarmory can also set up Spikes which can annoy some checks of Zapdos like Galarian Slowking and Hippowdon and punish switches, the most common form of counterplay to Zapdos' PP stall. Utility Clefable and Blissey are also a fit partners since they can help with threats like Dragapult and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos, while also offering Aromatherapy support incase Zapdos gets poisoned. Clefable also benefits from Zapdos' ability to check threats like Rillaboom and Tornadus-T which can trouble Clefable.


[SET]
name: Rain Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's access to STAB Hurricane and Thunder makes it a great abuser on rain as they become fully accurate letting Zapdos spam them with no drawbacks. Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKO both Heatran and Landorus-T which although get 2HKOd by its other moves can land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off while Zapdos KOs them. This unresisted coverage lets Zapdos become a potent offensive threat if there is a lack of Tyranitar, Hippowdon or Blissey. Roost gives it ample longevity, letting it check Rillaboom and Kartana which many Rain teams struggle with. Zapdos is a very good rain staple as well, since it checks offensive grasses that Rain often struggles with while also being an offensive threat.These two sentences are incredibly redundant, both basically just say "Zapdos is good at staying alive so offensive grasses dont own" Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R out as it can help paralyse pokemon like Kartana making them much easier to deal with. A Timid Nature is preferred as it allows it to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, opposing Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams. Other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos so it can abuse them and force them out. Zapdos sets it apparent from other Electric-type abusers of Rain like Tapu Koko and Thundurus-T with its defensive utility allowing it to check offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can often trouble Rain teams. Pelipper is a great teammate as well since it can set the rain for Zapdos to abuse and then pivot out with U-turn. Pelipper can also use Defog to remove hazards of any sorts which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in for opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko, as well as providing Spikes support to help Zapdos and its teammates break through teams easier. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp can also make for a good partner in rain teams since it is an Electric immunity that can also provide Stealth Rock to a team. Garchomp also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into offensive Grass-types since it struggles against them.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can also be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, since it brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom and Kartana which not many other offensive pokemon are able to do. It also offers its impressive coverage which allows it to annoy and break a plethora of pokemon. On the Substitute set, Toxic can be utilised over Hurricane to break through sturdier Ground-types like Hippowdon who dont take much from Hurricane.

Checks and Counters
====

**Galarian Slowking**: Galarian Slowking is the best check to Zapdos, since its great bulk with Assault Vest allows it to take multiple hits from it with ease, while also pressuring its Substitute set with Future Sight and repeated attacks. Zapdos is also unable to use Roost on it since it risks the chance of being poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos is an easy target for Knock Off. Pokemon like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T which Zapdos can otherwise check with relative ease become hard to check since they commonly run Knock Off.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar can be a very good check to Zapdos as it can either wall it with its utility set while threatening it out Substitute with Rock Blast, or with a Choice Band boosted Stone Edge, however with its Substitute set Zapdos can pressure stall its Stone Edge to make it a less of a problem. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos and Flying-types in general as they would be walled by them otherwise.

**Offensive Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs, however Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently.

**Toxic**: Toxic can heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats consistently. Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos easier as it is often the the only available switch in to the two.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy ,415305], [airfare, 513717]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]

probably missed some stuff im v tired

 

[airfare]

Gomi, post: 8854621, member: 516245

[Overview]
Zapdos's access to Static makes it a unique defensive pokemon which is able to punish common U-turn users like Urshifu-R, Tornadus-T and Landorus-T also punishing physically offensive pokemon like Rillaboom and Kartana with debilitating paralysis. It can also check offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T due to its defensive typing. its defensive typing is more important than static to its role as a defensive grass / torn check. id restructure this to mention its typing before static instead of what u have now Zapdos stands out among pressure PP stallers like Kyurem and Suicune due to its great offensive stats, threatening STAB combination, and solid speed tier, while also bringing its unique defensive utility with it. It is able to annoy and PP stall common defensive switch-ins as well, like Heatran and Clefable, letting it easily annoy common Zapdos can also threaten defensive cores in Balance and Bulky Offensive teams, since they cant force it out without eating a hit from its obnoxious stab combo thanks to Zapdos' typing. It feels a tad odd to essentially just say it's fat as the reasoning for why it threatens balance-y builds by "zapdos' typing" i think he means the stab combo you mention, gomi. i would keep what gomi added and remove what you had before, as this helps clarify the point here more and prevent future readers from getting confused. i connected the two ideas of pp stalling things + annoying defensive cores as well It can also act as a good abuser of rain as well with access to dual STABs in Thunder and Hurricane which become 100% accurate in rain as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran more reliably. much harder. just another odd choice of wording, it can already smack both Lando and Tran with 100% accuracy stabs under rain, weather ball is just noticably more powerful vs em yea this is fine This set faces competition from other rain abusers like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their access to Nasty Plot. However, Zapdos can check Rillaboom better, which is very useful to Rain teams since they often struggle with it. Zapdos' dependency on Heavy-Duty Boots can backfire since it checks common Knock Off users like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T. It can also get overwhelmed while checking threats like Rillaboom and Kartana since they're often paired together. It also dislikes the Toxic variants of Excadrill and Melmetal since Toxic can hinder Zapdos by ruining its longevity. these last three sentences kinda come out of nowhere and have pretty much no flow to them, might be worth fusing them a bit more and transitioning with something like "however, it can get overwhelmed by offensive grasses and the like due to its reliance on HBD, and its susceptibility to being worn down by toxic can leave it in a tough spot vs pokemon like Excadrill and Melm" obviously doesnt have to be word for word its just an example yup this reads choppy & abrupt without any transition. there should also be some sort of comparison to other physical walls that it competes with (corv especially)


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Hurricane
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge allows it it spread more paralysis making it hard to switch into safely by common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking. Volt Switch is also a good option over Discharge as it lets Zapdos pivot out of these aforementioned checks and Blissey. Could be woth mentioning Volt Switch pretty much has to have Hurricane or else its momentum is practically impossible to attain good point, yep Heat Wave is a great coverage option allowing it to hit Grass-types like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth not a zapdos switch regardless of the coverage used yea which dont mind switching into a Discharge as well as Steel-types like Scizor, Excadrill and Magnezone. Hurricane can also be a good choice hitting targets like Garchomp, Landorus-T, Rillaboom and Volcarona harder while also threatening a confusion, however Heat Wave can be more beneficial since it allows it to break defensive Steel-types which can wall Zapdos otherwise, such as Ferrothorn, Melmetal, and Excadrill. you... just said this. reword Defog adds to its utility and lets it remove hazards efficiently, although it often does so on free turns like forced switches as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users including Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable, since they often carry either Knock Off or Toxic. Some Stealth Rock users like Garchomp, Landorus-T and Tyranitar can also carry Rock-type coverage to pressure Zapdos. I don't understand segragating these two groups into seperate sentences when it doesn't defog on either of them regardless of what they use to diswade Zap idrc about this. u can combine if u want to make it read more fluidly or keep it separate to emphasis each individual idea more Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos, to punish it's common switch ins like Kyurem, and defensive Garchomp who otherwise don't take much from its attacks. could just say specially defensive grounds in general or list Spdef Hippo and/or Spdef Lando as well yea this is very important However, this should only be used if the team has a pre existing way to remove hazards another form of entry hazard control. made no sense Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static. 1000% mention punishing cheeky uturns here from things like rilla lando or even things like watershifu / pult if predicting correctly The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to outspeed Rillaboom. The rest has been invested into HP and Defence to maximize physical bulk. could combine these two, pretty short statements about the ev spread yea this would make it read better

Scizor makes a great defensive partner as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of its checks like Galarian Slowking or Blissey to bring in Scizor to threaten them with a debilitating Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in for offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can trouble Landorus-T. Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's ability to force out some of its checks like Mandibuzz and Corviknight.,while Zapdos also benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem and offensive grounds. "Ground-types" is proper syntax but yea this is good. u can mention specific things like garchomp/lando if you like Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressure Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight, as well as its capability to do huge damage to Ferrothorn, which in turn frees up Rillaboom to spam Grass stab much more freely.. It can also benefit from its ability to KO Ferrothorn making it easier to spam Grassy Glide. yup this is great. the "spamming glide" section didn't focus on the birds at all Melmetal also makes a great partner as Zapdos, can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Melmetal also benefits from Zapdos' ability to switch into Fighting-type and coverage users, like Urshifu-R, Galarian Zapdos and Kartana.
I corrected a few but this thing is honestly kind of loaded with one liner-y sentences that could easily be fused together for a much more cohesive and natural flow, so I figured I'd just give a decent example w/ the zapdos section and leave this here totally agree. add more transitions and connections to make it flow better

[SET]
name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Discharge
move 3: Hurricane
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

This set acts as a very unique Pressure staller since, unlike other Pressure stallers like Kyurem and Suicune, it can pressure both offensive and defensive cores instead of just defensive ones like the others, while exerting offensive pressure as well. reword this. redundant and unclear what you're actually trying to say This is courtesy of its good offensive typing, debilitating stab combo, and good SpA stat. good offensive typing = debilitating stab combo tbh Gomi. u can keep the latter tho because it's more specific Zapdos can set up a Substitute on forced switches against pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, allowing it to spam Discharge and spread paralysis much easier. Substitute, Pressure, and Roost let it pp stall more effectively, allowing it to cripple defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Blissey and Clefable by depleting the PP of Magma Storm, Seismic Toss and Moonblast respectively. Substitute also allows it to block Toxic from the likes of Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Blissey. These EVs let it 2HKO an offensive Garchomp with Hurricane; the rest has been invested into HP and Spe for some bulk and to outspeed notable threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, and Urshifu-R.
In general I don't feel like this paragraph focuses enough on the sheer annoyance factor of sub Zapdos, which is largely why its so obnoxious to face with the weaker defensive structures found on most offensive builds. Discharge paras and Hurricane's huge damage+confusion chance are v substantial when your best switchins are things that can't even touch this set, like Fat Lando and Spdef Clef 100% agree. there is really no elaboration here on how this set actually forces pressure on an opposing team by forcing switches while nothing really wants to risk eating para or taking a hit to break sub, forcing the opponent to either dance around it by double switching or getting pp stalled when trying to counterplay it w a spdef mon. i would strongly recommend actually using sub pressure zap more so you understand its niche and the unique tension it forces on most teams.

This Zapdos acts as a great Pressure staller while also forcing progress in a match, which makes it fit well on defensive team structures. These team structures appreciate this since they struggle with forcing any progress and lack offensive pressure. because Zapdos can help whittle down opposing defensive teams' PP or ensure guaranteed damage on offensive teams with Substitute. what you said isn't really true at all, and doesn't identify why zapdos is actually used on these teams. zapdos doesn't exert offensive pressure like your typical wallbreaker - most of its presence vs offense teams comes from its ability to spam its stabs behind the switches it forces Pokemon like Corviknight and Skarmory act as good partners since they offer Zapdos a switch in against pokemon like Swords Dance Garchomp and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos, as well as take pressure off of Zapdos to check offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana. corv also fogs since zapdos can't Skarmory can also set up Spikes which can annoy some checks of Zapdos like Galarian Slowking and Hippowdon and punish switches, the most common form of counterplay to Zapdos' PP stall. Utility Specially defensive Clefable and Blissey are also a fit partners since they can help with threats like Dragapult and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos, while also offering Aromatherapy support incase Zapdos gets poisoned. poisoned by what? you have a sub... optionally mention how dragapult is really obnoxious because infiltrator + specs draco forces u out every time, especially when pivoted in by something else, and how bliss/clef can help out vs it Clefable also benefits from Zapdos' ability to check threats like Rillaboom and Tornadus-T which can trouble Clefable.


[SET]
name: Rain Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's access to STAB Hurricane and Thunder makes it a great abuser on rain as they STAB Thunder and Hurricane become fully accurate in rain, letting Zapdos spam them with no drawbacks and assume a wallbreaking role while providing needed defensive utility against Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T that rain teams lack otherwise. you didn't mention why zapdos is actually used on rain Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKO both Heatran and Landorus-T which although get 2HKOd by its other moves can that would otherwise be able to land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off. while Zapdos KOs them. This unresisted coverage lets Zapdos become a potent offensive threat, especially against offensive teams lacking solid specially defensive walls like if there is a lack of Tyranitar, Hippowdon or Blissey. reads a lot better Roost gives it ample longevity, letting it check Rillaboom and Kartana which many Rain teams struggle with. Zapdos is a very good rain staple as well, since it checks offensive grasses that Rain often struggles with while also being an offensive threat.These two sentences are incredibly redundant, both basically just say "Zapdos is good at staying alive so offensive grasses dont own" yea 100% agree w this. i consolidated most of what was said here above as well Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R out as it can help paralyse pokemon like Kartana making them much easier to deal with. A Timid Nature is preferred as it allows it to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, opposing Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams. Other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos so it can abuse them and force them out. for a wallbreaking opportunity. Zapdos sets it apparent from other Electric-type abusers of Rain like Tapu Koko and Thundurus-T with its defensive utility allowing it to check offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can often trouble Rain teams. if you aren't extending this to the context of teammates, why is it in this paragraph? it's mentioned in the paragraph above, which is sufficient Pelipper is a great teammate as well since it can set the rain for Zapdos to abuse and then pivot out with U-turn. In addition to setting rain and pivoting, Pelipper can also use Defog to remove hazards of any sorts which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. reads better Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in for opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko, as well as providing Spikes support to help Zapdos and its teammates break through teams easier. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp can also make for a good partner in rain teams since it is an Electric immunity that can also provide Stealth Rock to a team. Garchomp also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into offensive Grass-types since it struggles against them.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can also be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, since it brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom and Kartana which not many other offensive pokemon are able to do. It also offers its impressive coverage which allows it to annoy and break a plethora of pokemon. who does it face competition from? why is it not an ideal offensive mon? On the Substitute set, Toxic can be utilised over Hurricane to break through sturdier Ground-types like Hippowdon who dont take much from Hurricane. at the cost of what??

u should really be emphasizing the drawbacks of each OO set here. they aren't included in the main sets because they aren't as viable, after all

Checks and Counters
====

**Galarian Slowking**: Galarian Slowking is the best a solid check to Zapdos, since its great bulk with Assault Vest allows it to take multiple hits from it with ease, while also pressuring its Substitute set with Future Sight and repeated attacks. ttar or spd hippo are prob the best checks overall honestly. calling gking the best is a stretch Zapdos is also unable to use Roost on it since it risks the chance of being poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos is an easy target for Knock Off from Pokemon it checks like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T. which Zapdos can otherwise check with relative ease become hard to check since they commonly run Knock Off. this was really convoluted and confusing for a pretty simple idea

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar can be is a very good check to Zapdos as it can either wall it with its utility set while threatening it out Substitute with Rock Blast, or with a Choice Band boosted Stone Edge, however with its Substitute set Zapdos can pressure stall its Stone Edge to make it a less of a problem. reword this. no idea what ur trying to say Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos and Flying-types in general as they would be walled by them otherwise. the part i striked is unnecessary for the zapdos analysis

**Offensive Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs, however Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently. pads sets blocking static is also huge

**Toxic**: Toxic can heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats consistently. yup, good clarification Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos easier more easily as it is often the the only available switch in to the two. no clue what this means. there are a shitton of melm and exca checks

please reorder this by relevance. should be knock --> offensive ices --> rock types/rock coverage --> gking (focus on sub sets especially) --> toxic imo

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy ,415305], [airfare, 513717]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]

please try to fix some of the gp errors yourself, they made it extremely tiring and confusing to check and there are a shitton of them

gomi stole my colors so i will use different ones
gomis additions, gomis comments, gomis removals
my additions, my comments, my removals
lmk when this is implemented

Gomi : no complaints honestly, all of your suggestions here demonstrated a really strong understanding of the metagame and great general knowledge of analysis writing. you have a great eye for sentence structure and overall flow of paragraphs. small tip - check the gp grammar standards so u can get a better hang of the typical terms and accepted slang that we can use in analyses. great job.

 

[airfare]

additions, removals, comments
lmk when this is implemented on discord, will look thru 1 more time before stamp

Abhisdn417, post: 8803388, member: 526987

[Overview]
Zapdos's unique defensive typing and access to Static makes lets it able to check common offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus while punishing punish common U-turn users like Urshifu-R, and Landorus-T and also punishing physically offensive pokemon physical attackers like the afforementioned Rillaboom and Kartana with debilitating paralysis. Zapdos also stands out among PP stallers like Kyurem and Suicune due to its great offensive stats, threatening STAB combination, and solid speed tier, while also bringing its unique defensive utility with it. It is able to annoy and PP stall common defensive switch-ins like Heatran and Clefable, letting it easily annoy common defensive cores in Balance and Bulky Offensive teams, since they cant force it out without eating a hit from its obnoxious stab combo. (period) It can also act as a good abuser of rain as well with access to dual STABs in Thunder and Hurricane which become 100% accurate in rain as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran much harder. This set faces competition from other rain abusers like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their access to Nasty Plot. However, Zapdos can check Rillaboom and Kartana better with its solid defenses and reliable recovery, which is very useful to Rain teams since they often struggle with it to check these threats. However, Zapdos's dependency on Heavy-Duty Boots can backfire since it checks common Knock Off users like Rillaboom, and Kartana which often get paired together. However, Zapdos is incredibly prone to being Knocked Off by some of the Pokemon it checks, like Rillaboom and Kartana, making it a much less reliable check after being chipped by entry hazards. Because of Knock Off hampering its ability to check these Pokemon long-term, it often relies on Static to cripple offensive threats. i didn't like how this was worded before. felt like u were trying to say too much in the sentence and ended up not rly accomplishing much. didn't mention its over-reliance on static before either Zapdos is also rather weak to Toxic which is why some Pokemon like Excadrill and Melmetal opt to run it to deal with Zapdos. Zapdos also faces competition from other defensive walls like Corviknight and Skarmory who have access to a better defensive typing allowing them to check more threats. they also aren't weak to rocks so they can absorb knock off pretty comfortably


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Hurricane / Heat Wave
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge allows it it to spread more paralysis, (comma) making it hard to switch into safely by common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking. Volt Switch is also a good option over Discharge as it lets Zapdos pivot out of these aforementioned checks and Blissey and should be used with Hurricane because otherwise its rather hard to gain said momentum to hit Ground-types harder as they attempt to block Volt Switch. Hurricane is a good choice hitting targets like Garchomp, Landorus-T, Rillaboom and Volcarona harder while also threatening a confusion, however, Heat Wave is a great coverage option allowing it to hit Grass-types like Ferrothorn which dont mind switching into a Discharge as well as can be used over Hurricane, targetting Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Scizor, Excadrill and Magnezone at the cost of much less damage against Ground-types. basic stab isn't necessary in an analysis. changed the wording of heat wave part here to emphasize the opportunity cost between the two Defog adds to its utility and lets by letting it remove entry hazards efficiently, although it often does so on free turns like forced switches as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users including Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable, since they often carry that are able to cripple Zapdos with either Knock Off or Toxic. Some Stealth Rock users like Garchomp, Landorus-T and Tyranitar can also carry Rock-type coverage to pressure Zapdos. Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos, to punish it's common switch ins like Kyurem, and defensive Ground-types like Garchomp, Hippowdon, and Specially Defensive Landorus-T, (comma) who otherwise don't take much from its attacks, (comma) as well as other situational switch-ins like Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Kyurem. moved focus to the grounds that are toxic's primary target and added some more examples afterward However, this should only be used if the team has another form of entry hazard control. Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static. Static can also punish U-turns from the likes of Landorus-T, Urshifu-R and Dragapult with the correct prediction. The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to outspeed Rillaboom and the rest has been invested into HP and Defence to maximize physical bulk.

Scizor makes a great defensive partner as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of its checks like Galarian Slowking or Blissey to bring in Scizor to threaten them with a debilitating Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in for offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana which can trouble Landorus-T. Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's ability to force out some of its checks like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, while Zapdos also benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem and offensive Ground-types like Garchomp and Landorus-T. Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressure Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight, as well as its capability to do huge damage to Ferrothorn, which in turn frees both free up Rillaboom to spam Grass stab much more freely. Melmetal also makes a great partner as Zapdos, can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Melmetal also benefits from Zapdos' ability to switch into Fighting-type and coverage users, like Urshifu-R, Galarian Zapdos and Kartana.


[SET]
name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Discharge
move 3: Hurricane
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos stands out as a PP staller since it poses a good offensive threat while offering defensive utility as well unlike others like Kyurem or Suicune. This set is extremely annoying to foes too since not a lot of pokemon want to either risk being paralysed or be take a hit while trying to break its Substitute. Most Specially Defensive Pokemon also get PP stalled while trying to effectively deal with Zapdos; all this makes Zapdos rather difficult to deal with, aided further by. This is courtesy of its debilitating stab combo, and good SpA stat. Zapdos can set up a Substitute on forced switches against pokemon like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, allowing it to spam Discharge and spread paralysis much easier. Substitute, Pressure, and Roost let it pp stall more effectively, allowing it to cripple defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Blissey and Clefable by depleting the PP of Magma Storm, Seismic Toss and Moonblast respectively. Substitute also allows it to block Toxic from the likes of Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Blissey. These EVs let it 2HKO an offensive Garchomp with Hurricane; the rest has been invested into HP and Spe for some bulk and to outspeed notable threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, and Urshifu-R. think lefties are honestly worth mentioning here without slashing them into the set

yup this is a looooot better

This Zapdos acts as a great Pressure staller while also forcing progress in a match, which makes it fit well on defensive team structures. These team structures appreciate this because Zapdos can help whittle down opposing defensive teams's PP or ensure guaranteed damage on offensive teams with Substitute. Pokemon like Corviknight and Skarmory act as good partners since they offer Zapdos a switch in against pokemon like Swords Dance Garchomp and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos, as well as take pressure off of Zapdos to check offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana. Corviknight can also Defog since Zapdos cannot. Skarmory can also set up Spikes which can annoy some checks of Zapdos like Galarian Slowking and Hippowdon and punish switches, the most common form of counterplay to Zapdos' PP stall. Specially defensive Clefable and Blissey are also a fit partners since they can help with threats like Dragapult and Kyurem which can threaten Zapdos. They also help against Dragapult since the combination of Infiltrator and strong STAB attacks can easily force out Zapdos. Clefable also benefits from Zapdos' ability to check threats like Rillaboom and Tornadus-T which can trouble Clefable.


[SET]
name: Rain Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's STAB Thunder and Hurricane become fully accurate in rain, letting Zapdos spam them with no drawbacks and assume a wallbreaking role while providing needed defensive utility against Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T that rain teams lack otherwise. Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKO both Heatran and Landorus-T that would otherwise be able to land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off. This unresisted coverage lets Zapdos become a potent offensive threat, especially against offensive teams lacking solid specially defensive walls like Tyranitar, Hippowdon or Blissey. Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R out as it can help paralyse pokemon like Kartana making them much easier to deal with. A Timid Nature is preferred as it allows it to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, opposing Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams. Other Rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos for a wallbreaking opportunity. In addition to setting rain and pivoting, Pelipper can also use Defog to remove hazards of any sorts which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in for opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko, as well as providing Spikes support to help Zapdos and its teammates break through teams easier. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp can also make for a good partner in rain teams since it is an Electric immunity that can also provide Stealth Rock to a team. Garchomp also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into offensive Grass-types since it struggles against them.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, and it brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom and Kartana which not many other offensive pokemon are able to do. It also offers its impressive coverage which allows it to annoy and break a plethora of pokemon. However, this set faces competition from Pokemon like Tornadus-T which also offers utility like Knock Off, while also having access to Nasty Plot. On the Substitute set, Toxic can be utilised over Hurricane to break through sturdier Ground-types like Hippowdon who dont take much from Hurricane; this however makes it unable to utilise its good offensive typing fully and becomes reliant on Toxic to deal damage onto Electric-immune foes.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos is an easy target for Knock Off from Pokemon it checks like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T, making it much easier to overwhelm offensively.

**Offensive Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs, however Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently or run Protective Pads to ignore Static.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar is a very good check to Zapdos as it takes minimal damage from its move options and can threaten it out with Rock Blast or Stone Edge. However Zapdos's Substitute set can potentially PP stall its Stone Edge. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos as they would be walled by them otherwise.

**Galarian Slowking**: Galarian Slowking is a solid check to Zapdos, since its great bulk with Assault Vest allows it to take multiple hits from it with ease, while pressuring its Substitute set with Future Sight and repeated attacks. Zapdos is also unable to use Roost on it since it risks the chance of being poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

**Toxic**: Toxic can heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats consistently. Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos more easily.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy ,415305], [airfare, 513717]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]

 

[Band]

add (AC): add comma (AP): add period
remove (RC): remove comma
comments

pointy birb

[Overview]
Zapdos's unique defensive typing and access to Static lets it check and punish with paralysis common offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus don't you mean tornadus-t? while punishing punish and common U-turn users like Urshifu-R,(RC) and Landorus-T.(AP) and physical attackers like the afforementioned aforementioned Rillaboom and Kartana with debilitating paralysis. It can also act as a good abuser of rain as well with access to dual with its STABs in Thunder and Hurricane,(AC) which become 100% accurate in rain,(AC) as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran much harder. This set faces competition from other rain abusers like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their access to Nasty Plot. However, Zapdos can check Rillaboom and Kartana better with its solid defenses and reliable recovery, which is very useful to Rain teams since they often struggle to check these threats rain teams often struggle with. However, Zapdos is incredibly prone to being Knocked Off by some of the Pokemon it checks having its item removed by Knock Off by Pokemon it's supposed to check, like Rillaboom and Kartana, making it a much less reliable check after being chipped by entry hazards Stealth Rock. Because of Knock Off hampering Knock Off hampers its ability to check these Pokemon long-term, it often relies on Static to cripple offensive threats. Zapdos is also rather weak to Toxic,(AC) which is why some Pokemon like Excadrill and Melmetal opt to run it to deal with Zapdos. Zapdos also faces competition from other defensive walls like Corviknight and Skarmory who,(AC) which have access to a better defensive typing allowing them to check more threats. Their neutrality to Stealth Rocks also allows them to absorb Knock Off easier too. more easily.


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Hurricane / Heat Wave
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge allows it to spreads more paralysis more than what? if you meant something like "discharge spreads paralysis more reliably than static" then mention that, making it hard to switch into safely by common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking. Volt Switch is also a good option can be used over Discharge,(AC) as it lets Zapdos pivot out of these the aforementioned checks and Blissey.(AP) and should be used with It should be used alongside Hurricane to hit i think "punish" instead of "hit" would work very well here since you're punishing them from trying to block volt switch Ground-types harder,(AC) as they attempt to block Volt Switch. Heat Wave can be used over Hurricane, targetting Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Scizor, Excadrill and Magnezone at the cost of much less damage against Ground-types. Defog adds to its utilityby Zapdos's utility by letting it remove entry hazards efficiently, although it often does it's often forced to do so on free turns like forced switches,(AC) as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users including like Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable that are able to cripple Zapdos with either Knock Off or Toxic. Some Stealth Rock users like Garchomp, Landorus-T and Tyranitar can also carry Rock-type coverage to pressure Zapdos. Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos,(RC) to punish defensive Ground-types like Garchomp, Hippowdon, and Specially Defensive specially defensive Landorus-T,(RC) who that otherwise don't take much from its attacks,(RC) as well as and other situational switch-ins like Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Kyurem. However, this it should only be used if the team has another form of entry hazard control. Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static. Static can also punish U-turns from the likes of users like Landorus-T, Urshifu-R,(AC) and Dragapult with the correct prediction. The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to 40 Speed EVs let Zapdos outspeed Rillaboom and the rest has been invested into HP and Defence Defense to maximize physical bulk.

Scizor makes a great defensive partner,(AC) as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as and check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of its Scizor's checks,(AC) like Galarian Slowking or and Blissey,(AC) to bring in Scizor it in to threaten them with a debilitating Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner,(AC) as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora,(AC) all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in switch-in for offensive Grass-types that trouble it,(AC) like Rillaboom and Kartana which can trouble Landorus-T. Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's ability to force out some of its checks,(AC) like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, while Zapdos also benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem and offensive Ground-types like Garchomp and Landorus-T. Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressures Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp,(AC) which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight,(RC) as well as and its capability to do huge damage to Ferrothorn, which both free up let Rillaboom to spam its Grass stab STAB much more freely. Melmetal also makes a great partner,(AC) as Zapdos,(RC) can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against pokemon Pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Melmetal also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into Fighting-types and Fighting-type coverage users, like Urshifu-R and Kartana.


[SET]
name: Rain Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's STAB Thunder and Hurricane become fully 100% accurate in rain, letting Zapdos it spam them with no drawbacks and assume a wallbreaking role while providing needed defensive utility against Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T that rain teams lack otherwise. Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKOing both Heatran and Landorus-T that would otherwise be able to land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off. This unresisted coverage lets Zapdos become a potent offensive threat, especially against offensive teams lacking solid specially defensive walls like Tyranitar, Hippowdon or and Blissey. Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R out,(AC) as it can help paralyse pokemon paralyze Pokemon like Kartana,(AC) making them much easier to deal with. A Timid Nature is preferred,(AC) as it allows it to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, opposing Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams. Other Rain rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos for a wallbreaking opportunity. In addition to setting rain and pivoting, Pelipper can also use Defog to remove hazards of any sorts,(AC) which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in switch-in for opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko, as well as providing and provides Spikes support to help Zapdos and its teammates break through teams easier. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp can also make for a good partner in rain teams since it is an Electric immunity that can also provide Stealth Rock to a team. Garchomp also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into offensive Grass-types since it struggles against them. Garchomp makes a good partner for its Electric immunity and access to Stealth Rock, and in return Zapdos checks the offensive Grass-types it struggles with.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
A set with Substitute and Pressure can be used to overwhelm common defensive cores and PP stall common checks like Heatran and Blissey,(RC) however However, this set is outclassed by other PP stallers like Kyurem and Moltres. An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, and it brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking pokemon Pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom,(AC) and Kartana which not many other offensive pokemon Pokemon are able to do It also offers its impressive coverage which allows it to annoy and break a plethora of pokemon and Zapdos's impressive coverage annoys and hits a plethora of Pokemon. However, this set faces competition from Pokemon like Tornadus-T,(AC) which also offers utility like Knock Off, while also having access to and has Nasty Plot.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos it is an easy target for Knock Off from Pokemon users it checks like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T,(RC) making it much easier to overwhelm offensively.

**Offensive There's no defensive ice-types in OU so ig this is safe to remove Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs,(RC) however However, Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd KOed by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently or run Protective Pads to ignore Static.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar is a very good check to Zapdos,(AC) as it takes minimal damage from its move options moves and can threatens it out with Rock Blast or Stone Edge. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos,(AC) as they would be walled by them it otherwise.

**Galarian Slowking**: Galarian Slowking's is a solid check to Zapdos, since its great bulk with Assault Vest makes it a solid Zapdos check and allows it to take multiple hits from it with ease,(RC) while pressuring its Substitute set with Future Sight and repeated attacks. Zapdos is also unable to use Roost on it since it risks the chance of being poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

**Toxic**: Toxic can Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats them and other threats consistently. Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos more easily.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy ,415305], [airfare, 513717]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Bandkrook, 301217], [username2, userid2]]

GP 1/2

 

[Abhi]

add (AC): add comma (AP): add period
remove (RC): remove comma
comments

pointy birb

[Overview]
Zapdos's unique defensive typing and access to Static lets it check and punish with paralysis common offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus don't you mean tornadus-t? while punishing punish and common U-turn users like Urshifu-R,(RC) and Landorus-T.(AP) and physical attackers like the afforementioned aforementioned Rillaboom and Kartana with debilitating paralysis. It can also act as a good abuser of rain as well with access to dual with its STABs in Thunder and Hurricane,(AC) which become 100% accurate in rain,(AC) as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran much harder. This set faces competition from other rain abusers like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their access to Nasty Plot. However, Zapdos can check Rillaboom and Kartana better with its solid defenses and reliable recovery, which is very useful to Rain teams since they often struggle to check these threats rain teams often struggle with. However, Zapdos is incredibly prone to being Knocked Off by some of the Pokemon it checks having its item removed by Knock Off by Pokemon it's supposed to check, like Rillaboom and Kartana, making it a much less reliable check after being chipped by entry hazards Stealth Rock. Because of Knock Off hampering Knock Off hampers its ability to check these Pokemon long-term, it often relies on Static to cripple offensive threats. Zapdos is also rather weak to Toxic,(AC) which is why some Pokemon like Excadrill and Melmetal opt to run it to deal with Zapdos. Zapdos also faces competition from other defensive walls like Corviknight and Skarmory who,(AC) which have access to a better defensive typing allowing them to check more threats. Their neutrality to Stealth Rocks also allows them to absorb Knock Off easier too. more easily.


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Hurricane / Heat Wave
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge allows it to spreads more paralysis more than what? if you meant something like "discharge spreads paralysis more reliably than static" then mention that, making it hard to switch into safely by common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking. Volt Switch is also a good option can be used over Discharge,(AC) as it lets Zapdos pivot out of these the aforementioned checks and Blissey.(AP) and should be used with It should be used alongside Hurricane to hit i think "punish" instead of "hit" would work very well here since you're punishing them from trying to block volt switch Ground-types harder,(AC) as they attempt to block Volt Switch. Heat Wave can be used over Hurricane, targetting Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Scizor, Excadrill and Magnezone at the cost of much less damage against Ground-types. Defog adds to its utilityby Zapdos's utility by letting it remove entry hazards efficiently, although it often does it's often forced to do so on free turns like forced switches,(AC) as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users including like Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable that are able to cripple Zapdos with either Knock Off or Toxic. Some Stealth Rock users like Garchomp, Landorus-T and Tyranitar can also carry Rock-type coverage to pressure Zapdos. Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos,(RC) to punish defensive Ground-types like Garchomp, Hippowdon, and Specially Defensive specially defensive Landorus-T,(RC) who that otherwise don't take much from its attacks,(RC) as well as and other situational switch-ins like Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Kyurem. However, this it should only be used if the team has another form of entry hazard control. Zapdos although weak to common moves like Knock Off and Toxic, can check a plethora of common threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T all while threatening to cripple them with Static. Static can also punish U-turns from the likes of users like Landorus-T, Urshifu-R,(AC) and Dragapult with the correct prediction. The EVs on this Zapdos set are made to 40 Speed EVs let Zapdos outspeed Rillaboom and the rest has been invested into HP and Defence Defense to maximize physical bulk.

Scizor makes a great defensive partner,(AC) as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom as well as and check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of its Scizor's checks,(AC) like Galarian Slowking or and Blissey,(AC) to bring in Scizor it in to threaten them with a debilitating Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner,(AC) as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora,(AC) all of which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T with a good switch in switch-in for offensive Grass-types that trouble it,(AC) like Rillaboom and Kartana which can trouble Landorus-T. Dragapult is a great partner as well since it can abuse Zapdos's ability to force out some of its checks,(AC) like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, while Zapdos also benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem and offensive Ground-types like Garchomp and Landorus-T. Rillaboom makes for a good offensive partner as well since it can pressures Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp,(AC) which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight,(RC) as well as and its capability to do huge damage to Ferrothorn, which both free up let Rillaboom to spam its Grass stab STAB much more freely. Melmetal also makes a great partner,(AC) as Zapdos,(RC) can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against pokemon Pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Melmetal also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into Fighting-types and Fighting-type coverage users, like Urshifu-R and Kartana.


[SET]
name: Rain Offensive
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's STAB Thunder and Hurricane become fully 100% accurate in rain, letting Zapdos it spam them with no drawbacks and assume a wallbreaking role while providing needed defensive utility against Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T that rain teams lack otherwise. Its access to Weather Ball makes it an even better abuser of rain, allowing to OHKOing both Heatran and Landorus-T that would otherwise be able to land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off. This unresisted coverage lets Zapdos become a potent offensive threat, especially against offensive teams lacking solid specially defensive walls like Tyranitar, Hippowdon or and Blissey. Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R out,(AC) as it can help paralyse pokemon paralyze Pokemon like Kartana,(AC) making them much easier to deal with. A Timid Nature is preferred,(AC) as it allows it to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, opposing Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

This set fits exceptionally well on Rain teams. Other Rain rain abusers like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos for a wallbreaking opportunity. In addition to setting rain and pivoting, Pelipper can also use Defog to remove hazards of any sorts,(AC) which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it benefits rain teams as a whole and also offers Zapdos a switch in switch-in for opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko, as well as providing and provides Spikes support to help Zapdos and its teammates break through teams easier. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp can also make for a good partner in rain teams since it is an Electric immunity that can also provide Stealth Rock to a team. Garchomp also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into offensive Grass-types since it struggles against them. Garchomp makes a good partner for its Electric immunity and access to Stealth Rock, and in return Zapdos checks the offensive Grass-types it struggles with.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
A set with Substitute and Pressure can be used to overwhelm common defensive cores and PP stall common checks like Heatran and Blissey,(RC) however However, this set is outclassed by other PP stallers like Kyurem and Moltres. An offensive Zapdos variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt and Hurricane can be a good choice as it fits on archetypes other than rain, and it brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking pokemon Pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom,(AC) and Kartana which not many other offensive pokemon Pokemon are able to do It also offers its impressive coverage which allows it to annoy and break a plethora of pokemon and Zapdos's impressive coverage annoys and hits a plethora of Pokemon. However, this set faces competition from Pokemon like Tornadus-T,(AC) which also offers utility like Knock Off, while also having access to and has Nasty Plot.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, Zapdos it is an easy target for Knock Off from Pokemon users it checks like Rillaboom, Kartana and Tornadus-T,(RC) making it much easier to overwhelm offensively.

**Offensive There's no defensive ice-types in OU so ig this is safe to remove Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs,(RC) however However, Weavile cannot switch in very easily as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed by a stray Discharge or getting KO'd KOed by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently or run Protective Pads to ignore Static.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar is a very good check to Zapdos,(AC) as it takes minimal damage from its move options moves and can threatens it out with Rock Blast or Stone Edge. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos,(AC) as they would be walled by them it otherwise.

**Galarian Slowking**: Galarian Slowking's is a solid check to Zapdos, since its great bulk with Assault Vest makes it a solid Zapdos check and allows it to take multiple hits from it with ease,(RC) while pressuring its Substitute set with Future Sight and repeated attacks. Zapdos is also unable to use Roost on it since it risks the chance of being poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

**Toxic**: Toxic can Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check threats them and other threats consistently. Users like Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to break through Zapdos more easily.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy ,415305], [airfare, 513717]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Bandkrook, 301217], [username2, userid2]]

GP 1/2
View attachment 343929

Implemented, Thanks!!

 

[deetah]

Add Remove Comments (AC) = Add Comma (RC) = Remove Comma (AP) = Add Period

GP 2/2

Zapdos

[Overview] [OVERVIEW]
Zapdos's unique defensive typing and ability in Static let it check and punish with paralysis common offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T and as well as common U-turn users like Urshifu-R and Landorus-T. It also makes use of rain with its STABs STAB moves in Thunder and Hurricane, which become 100% accurate in rain, as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran much harder. This set faces competition from other rain users like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their access to Nasty Plot. However, Zapdos can check Rillaboom and Kartana better with its solid defenses and reliable recovery, which rain teams often struggle with. However Unfortunately (Variation in transition words), Zapdos is incredibly prone to having its item removed by Knock Off by from Pokemon it's supposed to check, like Rillaboom and Kartana, making it a much less reliable check after being chipped by Stealth Rock. Because Knock Off hampers its ability to check these Pokemon long-term, it often relies on Static to cripple offensive threats. Zapdos is also rather weak to Toxic, which is why some Pokemon like Excadrill and Melmetal opt to run it. Zapdos also faces competition from other defensive walls like Corviknight and Skarmory, which have a better defensive typing. Their neutrality to Stealth Rock also allows them to absorb Knock Off more easily.


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Hurricane / Heat Wave
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge spreads paralysis, making it hard to switch into safely by for common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking to switch in safely. Volt Switch can be used over Discharge, as it lets Zapdos pivot out of against the aforementioned checks and Blissey. It should be used alongside Hurricane to punish Ground-types harder, (RC) as they attempt to block Volt Switch. Heat Wave can be used over Hurricane, targetting targeting Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Scizor, Excadrill, (AC) and Magnezone at the cost of much less damage against Ground-types. Defog adds to Zapdos's utility by letting it remove entry hazards, although it's often forced to do so on free turns like forced switches, as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users like Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable that are able to cripple Zapdos with either Knock Off or Toxic. Some Stealth Rock users like Garchomp, Landorus-T, (AC) and Tyranitar can also carry Rock-type coverage to pressure Zapdos. Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos to punish defensive Ground-types like Garchomp, Hippowdon, and specially defensive Landorus-T that otherwise don't take much from its attacks, (AC) and as well as crippling other situational switch-ins like Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Kyurem. However, it should only be used if the team has another form of entry hazard control. Static can punish U-turn users like Landorus-T, Urshifu-R, and Dragapult. 40 Speed EVs let Zapdos outspeed Rillaboom and the rest has been are invested into HP and Defense to maximize Zapdos's physical bulk.

Scizor makes a great defensive partner, as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom and check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of Scizor's checks, like Galarian Slowking and Blissey, to bring it in to threaten them with Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner, as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora, which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T a good switch-in for is able to switch into offensive Grass-types that trouble it Landorus-T, like Rillaboom and Kartana. Dragapult can make use of Zapdos's ability to force out some of its checks, like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, while Zapdos benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem and offensive Ground-types like Garchomp and Landorus-T. Rillaboom pressures Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp, which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight and its capability to do huge damage to Ferrothorn, which both let letting Rillaboom spam its Grass-type STAB moves much more freely. Melmetal also makes a great partner, as Zapdos can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against Pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Melmetal also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into Fighting-types and Pokemon with Fighting-type coverage, like Urshifu-R and Kartana.


[SET]
name: Rain Offensive Offensive Rain Sweeper (Is this alright?)
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's STAB Thunder and Hurricane become 100% accurate in rain, letting it spam them with no drawbacks and assume a wallbreaking role while providing needed defensive utility against Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T that rain teams lack otherwise. Weather Ball makes it an even better user of rain, OHKOing both Heatran and Landorus-T that would otherwise be able to land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off. This unresisted coverage lets Zapdos become a potent offensive threat, especially against offensive teams lacking solid specially defensive walls like Tyranitar, Hippowdon, (AC) and Blissey. Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R, as it can paralyze Pokemon like Kartana, making them much easier to deal with. A Timid nature (Lowercase) is preferred, as it allows it Zapdos to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

Other Pokemon that can make use of rain, (RC) like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos for a wallbreaking opportunity. In addition to setting rain and pivoting, Pelipper can also use Defog to remove entry hazards, which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it offers Zapdos a switch-in for can switch into opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko and provides provide Spikes support to help Zapdos and its teammates break through teams easier more easily. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp makes a good partner for its Electric immunity and access to Stealth Rock, and in return Zapdos checks the offensive Grass-types it struggles with.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
A set with Substitute and Pressure can be used to overwhelm common defensive cores and PP stall common checks like Heatran and Blissey. (AP) However, this set is outclassed by other PP stallers like Pressure ("PP stallers" isn't an accepted term afaik) Kyurem and Moltres. An offensive variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt, (AC) and Hurricane can be a good choice, (AC) as it fits on archetypes other than rain, (RC) and it brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking Pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom, and Kartana, (AC) which not many other offensive Pokemon are able to do. (AP) and Zapdos's impressive coverage annoys and hits This coverage also allows Zapdos to annoy and hit a plethora of Pokemon. However, this set faces competition from Pokemon like Tornadus-T, which also offers utility like Knock Off and has Nasty Plot.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, it is an easy target for Knock Off users it checks like Rillaboom, Kartana, (AC) and Tornadus-T, (AC) making it much easier to overwhelm offensively.

**Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs STAB attacks. (Period) However, Weavile cannot switch in very easily, (AC) as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed paralyzed by a stray Discharge or getting KOed by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently or run Protective Pads to ignore Static.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar is a very good check to Zapdos, as it takes minimal damage from its moves and threatens it out with Rock Blast or Stone Edge. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos, as they would be walled by it otherwise.

**Galarian Slowking**: Galarian Slowking's great bulk with Assault Vest makes it a solid Zapdos check and allows it to take multiple hits from it with ease while pressuring its Substitute set with Future Sight and repeated attacks. Zapdos is also unable to use Roost on against it, (AC) since it risks the chance of being poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

**Toxic**: Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check them and other threats consistently.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy ,415305] [[Katy, 415305], [airfare, 513717]] (Fixed spacing)
- Grammar checked by: [[Bandkrook, 301217], [username2, userid2]]

 

[Abhi]

Add Remove Comments (AC) = Add Comma (RC) = Remove Comma (AP) = Add Period

GP 2/2

View attachment 344654

Zapdos

[Overview] [OVERVIEW]
Zapdos's unique defensive typing and ability in Static let it check and punish with paralysis common offensive threats like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T and as well as common U-turn users like Urshifu-R and Landorus-T. It also makes use of rain with its STABs STAB moves in Thunder and Hurricane, which become 100% accurate in rain, as well as Weather Ball, which lets it hit Ground-types and Heatran much harder. This set faces competition from other rain users like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T, which are faster and can break defensive teams more easily because of their access to Nasty Plot. However, Zapdos can check Rillaboom and Kartana better with its solid defenses and reliable recovery, which rain teams often struggle with. However Unfortunately (Variation in transition words), Zapdos is incredibly prone to having its item removed by Knock Off by from Pokemon it's supposed to check, like Rillaboom and Kartana, making it a much less reliable check after being chipped by Stealth Rock. Because Knock Off hampers its ability to check these Pokemon long-term, it often relies on Static to cripple offensive threats. Zapdos is also rather weak to Toxic, which is why some Pokemon like Excadrill and Melmetal opt to run it. Zapdos also faces competition from other defensive walls like Corviknight and Skarmory, which have a better defensive typing. Their neutrality to Stealth Rock also allows them to absorb Knock Off more easily.


[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Discharge / Volt Switch
move 2: Roost
move 3: Hurricane / Heat Wave
move 4: Defog / Toxic
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Discharge spreads paralysis, making it hard to switch into safely by for common specially defensive switch-ins like Heatran, Clefable, and Galarian Slowking to switch in safely. Volt Switch can be used over Discharge, as it lets Zapdos pivot out of against the aforementioned checks and Blissey. It should be used alongside Hurricane to punish Ground-types harder, (RC) as they attempt to block Volt Switch. Heat Wave can be used over Hurricane, targetting targeting Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Scizor, Excadrill, (AC) and Magnezone at the cost of much less damage against Ground-types. Defog adds to Zapdos's utility by letting it remove entry hazards, although it's often forced to do so on free turns like forced switches, as it loses to a lot of common Stealth Rock users like Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Clefable that are able to cripple Zapdos with either Knock Off or Toxic. Some Stealth Rock users like Garchomp, Landorus-T, (AC) and Tyranitar can also carry Rock-type coverage to pressure Zapdos. Toxic can also be a good alternative for Zapdos to punish defensive Ground-types like Garchomp, Hippowdon, and specially defensive Landorus-T that otherwise don't take much from its attacks, (AC) and as well as crippling other situational switch-ins like Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Kyurem. However, it should only be used if the team has another form of entry hazard control. Static can punish U-turn users like Landorus-T, Urshifu-R, and Dragapult. 40 Speed EVs let Zapdos outspeed Rillaboom and the rest has been are invested into HP and Defense to maximize Zapdos's physical bulk.

Scizor makes a great defensive partner, as it can take pressure off of Zapdos to check Rillaboom and check Ice-types like Kyurem and Weavile which can threaten Zapdos. Zapdos can also pivot on some of Scizor's checks, like Galarian Slowking and Blissey, to bring it in to threaten them with Knock Off or continue the VoltTurn cycle. Landorus-T also makes a good partner, as it can help out Zapdos by checking opposing Landorus-T, Swords Dance Garchomp, and Zeraora, which can threaten Zapdos, while Zapdos provides Landorus-T a good switch-in for is able to switch into offensive Grass-types that trouble it Landorus-T, like Rillaboom and Kartana. Dragapult can make use of Zapdos's ability to force out some of its checks, like Mandibuzz and Corviknight, while Zapdos benefits from Dragapult's ability to force out Kyurem and offensive Ground-types like Garchomp and Landorus-T. Rillaboom pressures Ground-types like Hippowdon and Garchomp, which can wall Zapdos. Rillaboom also benefits from Zapdos's ability to force out common Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight and its capability to do huge damage to Ferrothorn, which both let letting Rillaboom spam its Grass-type STAB moves much more freely. Melmetal also makes a great partner, as Zapdos can use Volt Switch to bring it in safely against Pokemon like Clefable and Galarian Slowking. Melmetal also benefits from Zapdos's ability to switch into Fighting-types and Pokemon with Fighting-type coverage, like Urshifu-R and Kartana.


[SET]
name: Rain Offensive Offensive Rain Sweeper (Is this alright?)
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Static
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Zapdos's STAB Thunder and Hurricane become 100% accurate in rain, letting it spam them with no drawbacks and assume a wallbreaking role while providing needed defensive utility against Rillaboom, Kartana, and Tornadus-T that rain teams lack otherwise. Weather Ball makes it an even better user of rain, OHKOing both Heatran and Landorus-T that would otherwise be able to land a crippling Toxic or Knock Off. This unresisted coverage lets Zapdos become a potent offensive threat, especially against offensive teams lacking solid specially defensive walls like Tyranitar, Hippowdon, (AC) and Blissey. Static greatly benefits its slower teammates like Urshifu-R, as it can paralyze Pokemon like Kartana, making them much easier to deal with. A Timid nature (Lowercase) is preferred, as it allows it Zapdos to outspeed threats like Kyurem, Tapu Lele, Urshifu-R, and Swords Dance Landorus-T.

Other Pokemon that can make use of rain, (RC) like Barraskewda and Urshifu-R make good partners. They can pivot on their checks like Tangrowth and Rillaboom to bring out Zapdos for a wallbreaking opportunity. In addition to setting rain and pivoting, Pelipper can also use Defog to remove entry hazards, which can greatly benefit the team by freeing up a moveslot for Zapdos. Ferrothorn is also a valuable teammate, since it offers Zapdos a switch-in for can switch into opposing Electric-types like Tapu Koko and provides provide Spikes support to help Zapdos and its teammates break through teams easier more easily. These two can also check offensive Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom together. Garchomp makes a good partner for its Electric immunity and access to Stealth Rock, and in return Zapdos checks the offensive Grass-types it struggles with.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
A set with Substitute and Pressure can be used to overwhelm common defensive cores and PP stall common checks like Heatran and Blissey. (AP) However, this set is outclassed by other PP stallers like Pressure ("PP stallers" isn't an accepted term afaik) Kyurem and Moltres. An offensive variant with Heat Wave, Thunderbolt, (AC) and Hurricane can be a good choice, (AC) as it fits on archetypes other than rain, (RC) and it brings good defensive utility to a team by soft checking Pokemon like Hawlucha, Rillaboom, and Kartana, (AC) which not many other offensive Pokemon are able to do. (AP) and Zapdos's impressive coverage annoys and hits This coverage also allows Zapdos to annoy and hit a plethora of Pokemon. However, this set faces competition from Pokemon like Tornadus-T, which also offers utility like Knock Off and has Nasty Plot.

Checks and Counters
====

**Knock Off**: Due to the abundance of Knock Off users in the tier and Zapdos's reliance on its Heavy-Duty Boots, it is an easy target for Knock Off users it checks like Rillaboom, Kartana, (AC) and Tornadus-T, (AC) making it much easier to overwhelm offensively.

**Ice-types and Ice-type coverage**: Ice-types like Weavile and Kyurem can easily threaten out Zapdos with their strong STABs STAB attacks. (Period) However, Weavile cannot switch in very easily, (AC) as it lacks reliable recovery and runs the risk of getting paralysed paralyzed by a stray Discharge or getting KOed by Heat Wave. Melmetal can also choose to run Ice Punch to deter Zapdos from switching in frequently or run Protective Pads to ignore Static.

**Rock-types and Rock-type coverage**: Tyranitar is a very good check to Zapdos, as it takes minimal damage from its moves and threatens it out with Rock Blast or Stone Edge. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Hawlucha can also easily run Stone Edge to deal with Zapdos, as they would be walled by it otherwise.

**Galarian Slowking**: Galarian Slowking's great bulk with Assault Vest makes it a solid Zapdos check and allows it to take multiple hits from it with ease while pressuring its Substitute set with Future Sight and repeated attacks. Zapdos is also unable to use Roost on against it, (AC) since it risks the chance of being poisoned by Sludge Bomb.

**Toxic**: Excadrill and Melmetal can use Toxic to heavily cripple Zapdos, leaving it unable to check them and other threats consistently.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Abhisdn417, 526987]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy ,415305] [[Katy, 415305], [airfare, 513717]] (Fixed spacing)
- Grammar checked by: [[Bandkrook, 301217], [username2, userid2]]

Implemented, Thanks!!
ausma ready for upload!!

 

[airfare]

https://www.smogon.com/dex/ss/pokemon/zapdos/ up