My first analysis! I hope you all like it!
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/zigzagoon
Status: Edited for new conditions, need approvals/grammar checkers
[Overview]
<p>Game Freak seems to be teasing us by giving us an evolutionary line with the holy trinity of sweeping power—Belly Drum, Gluttony, and a STAB ExtremeSpeed; yet not allowing poor little Zigzagoon to legally have one of the key elements of the ultimate one-turn setup: Gluttony. Tack on its paltry 240 Base Stat Total, the 27th worst of all 493 Pokemon, and you have yourselves an underwhelming tiny raccoon. Yet even with these setbacks, Zigzagoon has found its own little niche in the Little Cup metagame. It wields the power of Belly Drum and the strongest reliable priority in all of the Little Cup, giving it a special little spot in all of our little hearts.</p>
[SET]
name: Belly Drum Sweeper
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: Substitute
move 3: ExtremeSpeed
move 4: Seed Bomb
item: Salac Berry
ability: Pickup
nature: Adamant
evs: 196 Atk / 28 Def / 28 SpD / 196 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With the discovery of the Pomeg Glitch, Zigzagoon can finally run the coveted combination of Belly Drum and ExtremeSpeed. The idea is simple: Substitute on a forced switch, then use Belly Drum to put Zigzagoon into Salac Berry range. This boosts your below-average Speed of 15 to a blazing 22, outrunning every single Pokemon in Little Cup not holding a Choice Scarf. At the same time, Zigzagoon's Attack soars to 52. You are then free to rip anything that doesn't resist your STAB 80 Base Power priority ExtremeSpeed to shreds.</p>
<p>Zigzagoon's physical movepool leaves room for only one coverage option: Seed Bomb. Gastly that neglect to hold a Choice Scarf and Rock Polish Aron have a small chance to be OHKOed by a Belly Drum boosted Seed Bomb, but even then only after Stealth Rock damage.</p>
<p>Dumping all EVs into Speed and Attack, along with an Adamant nature, allows for maximum damage while attempting a sweep. The leftover EVs are included to increase Zigzagoon's bulk. The reason they are not included in its HP is because with no HP EVs it hits 20 HP. Having a HP divisible by four is great for Substitute + Salac Berry sweepers, as it means they will be left with 25% of their HP when their Berry activates.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Zigzagoon isn't one of those Pokemon you can just throw on your team without thought; it requires a lot of support in order to be effective. Its frail 20/11/11 defensive stats, especially with the Normal-type's lack of resistances, rarely allow it to set up a Substitute and not have it broken first. Wynaut can help Zigzagoon out by giving it free turns to set up with its good defenses, Encore, and Shadow Tag.</p>
<p>Bronzor and Scarfed Ghost-types such as Gastly pose the largest threats to Zigzagoon with their ability to take boosted ExtremeSpeeds and OHKO back with their respective attacks. Munchlax is an option to take care of these Pokemon. It can hit Bronzor with Fire Punch and any Ghost-types with Pursuite. Choice Scarf Cranidos also does a good job at removing these threats while still keeping an offensive momentum going thanks to its ability, Mold Breaker, which allows it to hit Bronzor and Gastly with Earthquake for super effective damage. Stunky and Diglett also make great partners, as they can trap and kill the Ghost-, Steel-, and Rock-types that threaten Zigzagoon. Wynaut also does a good job by trapping Bronzor and Choice Scarf Gastly on a Sludge Bomb.</p>
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: ExtremeSpeed
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Substitute / Seed Bomb
item: Life Orb
ability: Pickup
nature: Naughty / Lonely
evs: 196 Atk / 112 SpA / 196 Spe
ivs: 16 HP
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While Zigzagoon normally functions as a Belly Drum sweeper, Life Orb Zigzagoon acts as a great revenge killer in a metagame filled with frail sweepers. Even with a relatively low 13 Attack, Zigzagoon can revenge kill many of the omnipresent threats in Little Cup with the strongest reliable priority in Little Cup after a Life Orb boost. Common threats such as Life Orb Croagunk, Choice Scarf Houndour, Guts Taillow, and Substitute Carvanha are always OHKOed by a Life Orb ExtremeSpeed, provided that Stealth Rock is on the field.</p>
<p>The other moves come from Zigzagoon's extensive special movepool typical of Normal-types. Shadow Ball does a number to most Ghost switch-ins trying to absorb ExtremeSpeeds. After Stealth Rock, it has a chance to OHKO Gastly and do a respectable 46% on average to Drifloon. Ice Beam hits many of the physically defensive Ground-types who like to switch in to sponge ExtremeSpeeds. It OHKOes Gligar and 2HKOes Hippopotas, even through Oran Berry. In the last spot, Substitute can help you scout out switches so it becomes easier to OHKO certain Pokemon with your assorted special moves. Seed Bomb gives you a chance to hit the dual Water/Rock-types such as Omanyte and Kabuto for heavy damage. Surf can also be used to hit Aron if your team requires it.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Pokemon that can take advantage of the absence of frail sweepers benefit greatly from Life Orb Zigzagoon. With its excellent Attack stat and great dual STABs, Carvanha can hurt everything slower than it with Crunch or Waterfall. Misdreavus also can benefit from Life Orb Zigzagoon. With its 19 Speed counterparts such as Gligar and other Misdreavus out of the way, Misdreavus can finish off teams with a selected move. Eevee is another interesting option because its counters are exactly the same as Zigzagoon's. Eevee is stopped cold by Bronzor, Ghost-types, and Rock-types. Zigzagoon can get rid of them or weaken these threats to a point where Eevee can break through and proceed to sweep.</p>
<p>Max Attack, Speed, and an Attack-boosting nature lets ExtremeSpeed hit as hard as possible and net the KOs listed earlier. The extra EVs are dumped into Special Attack so that Shadow Ball and Ice Beam hit harder; it's not like Zigzagoon is taking attacks any time soon. The 16 EVs placed in HP put Zigzagoon at 19 HP which minimizes the damage sustained from Life Orb.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Zigzagoon is one of those Pokemon that does about 90% to most Pokemon with its attacks, meaning Stealth Rock is essential to its success. With this in mind, Bronzor makes a great teammate for Zigzagoon. Bronzor also sets up Reflect and Light Screen, allowing Zigzagoon to set up more easily.</p>
<p>Belly Drum Zigzagoon's requires lots of team support to set up. If you want to use it, be prepared to devote at least two other Pokemon to support it. Firstly, it needs something to take care of Bronzor and Gastly. Munchlax, Carvanha, or a Scarfed Cranidos of your own do a great job of getting rid of those two. Second, you need a way for it to get in and set up safely. Wynaut does its preordained job of using Encore + Shadow Tag to make setting up easy if you can catch someone with an Encore while setting up or using a Ghost-type move. While setting up a Belly Drum sweep is difficult, it will almost assuredly pay off.</p>
<p>The Life Orb set on the other hand is rather easy to stick on a team as it requires minimal team support. You can instead focus on picking Pokemon that take advantage of the holes it leaves in its wake. Most of the frail Pokemon it scores OHKOes on are in the 19 or 20 Speed range, so slower but very powerful sweepers that hit 18 or 19 Speed make great partners. One example is Magby, who is able to 2HKO the whole metagame with its standard mixed set but is stopped cold by the Pokemon faster than it. In addition, Life Orb Zigzagoon can hammer the regular Normal-type counters with Shadow Ball and Ice Beam, paving the way for an Eevee sweep.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>While Zigzagoon's special movepool is massive, its Special Attack is most definitely not. Other than the moves listed in the Life Orb set, using special attacks will do nothing more than hit a select few targets harder than its regular moveset. This could be useful if your team has certain needs, but are usually not enough to warrant a moveslot. Thunder Wave is an interesting option, but more often than not you'll be better off setting up a Substitute or hitting something with ExtremeSpeed. A Choice Band set is viable, but the number of Ghosts in the tier severely hinder its ability to do much. Zigzagoon does get Trick and Switcheroo to ruin any initial switch-ins, though.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Bronzor is the number one counter to Zigzagoon. It walls everything the raccoon can throw at it and then some. It can then proceed to set up Stealth Rock in its face or set up Reflect and Light Screen for an opposing sweeper to take advantage of. Scarfers that can survive a +6 ExtremeSpeed such as Gastly also make good choices, since they can easily outpace Zigzagoon and KO it.</p>
<p>Other than that, you really shouldn't be switching out of Zigzagoon. The best strategy is just to attack it with what you have. Chances are that you will break it's Substitute and render the raccoon useless, except to fire off mediocre ExtremeSpeeds without a Life Orb boost.</p>
<p>Facing a Life Orb set can be somewhat more difficult. The ability to fire off immediately powerful ExtremeSpeeds is threatening to many Pokemon. Again, Bronzor is a great immediate switch-in, as well as Rock-types such as Omanyte and Kabuto. Just be aware of Seed Bomb.</p>
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/zigzagoon
Status: Edited for new conditions, need approvals/grammar checkers
[Overview]
<p>Game Freak seems to be teasing us by giving us an evolutionary line with the holy trinity of sweeping power—Belly Drum, Gluttony, and a STAB ExtremeSpeed; yet not allowing poor little Zigzagoon to legally have one of the key elements of the ultimate one-turn setup: Gluttony. Tack on its paltry 240 Base Stat Total, the 27th worst of all 493 Pokemon, and you have yourselves an underwhelming tiny raccoon. Yet even with these setbacks, Zigzagoon has found its own little niche in the Little Cup metagame. It wields the power of Belly Drum and the strongest reliable priority in all of the Little Cup, giving it a special little spot in all of our little hearts.</p>
[SET]
name: Belly Drum Sweeper
move 1: Belly Drum
move 2: Substitute
move 3: ExtremeSpeed
move 4: Seed Bomb
item: Salac Berry
ability: Pickup
nature: Adamant
evs: 196 Atk / 28 Def / 28 SpD / 196 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With the discovery of the Pomeg Glitch, Zigzagoon can finally run the coveted combination of Belly Drum and ExtremeSpeed. The idea is simple: Substitute on a forced switch, then use Belly Drum to put Zigzagoon into Salac Berry range. This boosts your below-average Speed of 15 to a blazing 22, outrunning every single Pokemon in Little Cup not holding a Choice Scarf. At the same time, Zigzagoon's Attack soars to 52. You are then free to rip anything that doesn't resist your STAB 80 Base Power priority ExtremeSpeed to shreds.</p>
<p>Zigzagoon's physical movepool leaves room for only one coverage option: Seed Bomb. Gastly that neglect to hold a Choice Scarf and Rock Polish Aron have a small chance to be OHKOed by a Belly Drum boosted Seed Bomb, but even then only after Stealth Rock damage.</p>
<p>Dumping all EVs into Speed and Attack, along with an Adamant nature, allows for maximum damage while attempting a sweep. The leftover EVs are included to increase Zigzagoon's bulk. The reason they are not included in its HP is because with no HP EVs it hits 20 HP. Having a HP divisible by four is great for Substitute + Salac Berry sweepers, as it means they will be left with 25% of their HP when their Berry activates.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Zigzagoon isn't one of those Pokemon you can just throw on your team without thought; it requires a lot of support in order to be effective. Its frail 20/11/11 defensive stats, especially with the Normal-type's lack of resistances, rarely allow it to set up a Substitute and not have it broken first. Wynaut can help Zigzagoon out by giving it free turns to set up with its good defenses, Encore, and Shadow Tag.</p>
<p>Bronzor and Scarfed Ghost-types such as Gastly pose the largest threats to Zigzagoon with their ability to take boosted ExtremeSpeeds and OHKO back with their respective attacks. Munchlax is an option to take care of these Pokemon. It can hit Bronzor with Fire Punch and any Ghost-types with Pursuite. Choice Scarf Cranidos also does a good job at removing these threats while still keeping an offensive momentum going thanks to its ability, Mold Breaker, which allows it to hit Bronzor and Gastly with Earthquake for super effective damage. Stunky and Diglett also make great partners, as they can trap and kill the Ghost-, Steel-, and Rock-types that threaten Zigzagoon. Wynaut also does a good job by trapping Bronzor and Choice Scarf Gastly on a Sludge Bomb.</p>
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: ExtremeSpeed
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Substitute / Seed Bomb
item: Life Orb
ability: Pickup
nature: Naughty / Lonely
evs: 196 Atk / 112 SpA / 196 Spe
ivs: 16 HP
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While Zigzagoon normally functions as a Belly Drum sweeper, Life Orb Zigzagoon acts as a great revenge killer in a metagame filled with frail sweepers. Even with a relatively low 13 Attack, Zigzagoon can revenge kill many of the omnipresent threats in Little Cup with the strongest reliable priority in Little Cup after a Life Orb boost. Common threats such as Life Orb Croagunk, Choice Scarf Houndour, Guts Taillow, and Substitute Carvanha are always OHKOed by a Life Orb ExtremeSpeed, provided that Stealth Rock is on the field.</p>
<p>The other moves come from Zigzagoon's extensive special movepool typical of Normal-types. Shadow Ball does a number to most Ghost switch-ins trying to absorb ExtremeSpeeds. After Stealth Rock, it has a chance to OHKO Gastly and do a respectable 46% on average to Drifloon. Ice Beam hits many of the physically defensive Ground-types who like to switch in to sponge ExtremeSpeeds. It OHKOes Gligar and 2HKOes Hippopotas, even through Oran Berry. In the last spot, Substitute can help you scout out switches so it becomes easier to OHKO certain Pokemon with your assorted special moves. Seed Bomb gives you a chance to hit the dual Water/Rock-types such as Omanyte and Kabuto for heavy damage. Surf can also be used to hit Aron if your team requires it.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Pokemon that can take advantage of the absence of frail sweepers benefit greatly from Life Orb Zigzagoon. With its excellent Attack stat and great dual STABs, Carvanha can hurt everything slower than it with Crunch or Waterfall. Misdreavus also can benefit from Life Orb Zigzagoon. With its 19 Speed counterparts such as Gligar and other Misdreavus out of the way, Misdreavus can finish off teams with a selected move. Eevee is another interesting option because its counters are exactly the same as Zigzagoon's. Eevee is stopped cold by Bronzor, Ghost-types, and Rock-types. Zigzagoon can get rid of them or weaken these threats to a point where Eevee can break through and proceed to sweep.</p>
<p>Max Attack, Speed, and an Attack-boosting nature lets ExtremeSpeed hit as hard as possible and net the KOs listed earlier. The extra EVs are dumped into Special Attack so that Shadow Ball and Ice Beam hit harder; it's not like Zigzagoon is taking attacks any time soon. The 16 EVs placed in HP put Zigzagoon at 19 HP which minimizes the damage sustained from Life Orb.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Zigzagoon is one of those Pokemon that does about 90% to most Pokemon with its attacks, meaning Stealth Rock is essential to its success. With this in mind, Bronzor makes a great teammate for Zigzagoon. Bronzor also sets up Reflect and Light Screen, allowing Zigzagoon to set up more easily.</p>
<p>Belly Drum Zigzagoon's requires lots of team support to set up. If you want to use it, be prepared to devote at least two other Pokemon to support it. Firstly, it needs something to take care of Bronzor and Gastly. Munchlax, Carvanha, or a Scarfed Cranidos of your own do a great job of getting rid of those two. Second, you need a way for it to get in and set up safely. Wynaut does its preordained job of using Encore + Shadow Tag to make setting up easy if you can catch someone with an Encore while setting up or using a Ghost-type move. While setting up a Belly Drum sweep is difficult, it will almost assuredly pay off.</p>
<p>The Life Orb set on the other hand is rather easy to stick on a team as it requires minimal team support. You can instead focus on picking Pokemon that take advantage of the holes it leaves in its wake. Most of the frail Pokemon it scores OHKOes on are in the 19 or 20 Speed range, so slower but very powerful sweepers that hit 18 or 19 Speed make great partners. One example is Magby, who is able to 2HKO the whole metagame with its standard mixed set but is stopped cold by the Pokemon faster than it. In addition, Life Orb Zigzagoon can hammer the regular Normal-type counters with Shadow Ball and Ice Beam, paving the way for an Eevee sweep.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>While Zigzagoon's special movepool is massive, its Special Attack is most definitely not. Other than the moves listed in the Life Orb set, using special attacks will do nothing more than hit a select few targets harder than its regular moveset. This could be useful if your team has certain needs, but are usually not enough to warrant a moveslot. Thunder Wave is an interesting option, but more often than not you'll be better off setting up a Substitute or hitting something with ExtremeSpeed. A Choice Band set is viable, but the number of Ghosts in the tier severely hinder its ability to do much. Zigzagoon does get Trick and Switcheroo to ruin any initial switch-ins, though.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Bronzor is the number one counter to Zigzagoon. It walls everything the raccoon can throw at it and then some. It can then proceed to set up Stealth Rock in its face or set up Reflect and Light Screen for an opposing sweeper to take advantage of. Scarfers that can survive a +6 ExtremeSpeed such as Gastly also make good choices, since they can easily outpace Zigzagoon and KO it.</p>
<p>Other than that, you really shouldn't be switching out of Zigzagoon. The best strategy is just to attack it with what you have. Chances are that you will break it's Substitute and render the raccoon useless, except to fire off mediocre ExtremeSpeeds without a Life Orb boost.</p>
<p>Facing a Life Orb set can be somewhat more difficult. The ability to fire off immediately powerful ExtremeSpeeds is threatening to many Pokemon. Again, Bronzor is a great immediate switch-in, as well as Rock-types such as Omanyte and Kabuto. Just be aware of Seed Bomb.</p>
