Zoroark

[SJCrew]

Zoroark has to be my favorite Pokemon of the new generation. Gamefreak has this penchant for making these cool humanoid pseudo-legendaries and showing them immense favoritism in the way of stats, movepools, and general promotion. First we get Lucario, now this guy. I think he might just make it to my trio of favorite Pokemon, sharing first with Lucario and Weavile.

While he does have cool special attack, the set I postulate to be the most effective once the metagame develops would be his SD set (just like Lucario!).

Zoroark @ Life Orb
252 Att/56 Sp. Att/200 Speed
Naughty/Naive nature

Swords Dance
Sucker Punch
Flamethrower
Ankle Sweep (here's for hoping Low Kick is a tutor somewhere down the line)

This is just an example of what we're probably going to see a lot of once I start abusing the hell out of it. The idea here is to have your last Pokemon be something that commonly uses SD so you can force something out you shouldn't, set up, and no one would be the wiser. Let's say it's Lucario or something and they bring in Scarf Jirachi to block your ass.

+2 Sucker Punch: 94.4% - 110.9%

Guranteed OHKO with rocks, bitch.

"Oh shit, it's Zoroark! And he's using SD! Better send in Skarm to wall him!"

Flamethrower on Standard Spiker: 87.4% - 103%

lol

I'd post more calcs, but no time. The only thing I'm really worried about at this point is all the Fighting types with priority that'll try to stop him. Especially Roopushin, who's probably going to be on every other team because of that fucking mole. 140 base Attack with Mach Punch is just scary (Machamp, eat your heart out).

Since there's no way to trap and kill Fighting types like there is for Ghosts and Steels, except for maybe Shanderaa, you're going to have to scout the team with U-turn and the like, force them to send out their Fighting types/other counters early, then bring out the big guns. Not a seamless strategy, but as a primarily offensive player, I can definitely make this work.

(And hey, once you've turned an SD Celebi set into a high-powered offensive monster, you can basically do anything lol)

 

[UnholyCrab1]

I can't believe no one has posted this yet.

Shanderaa appears to be the perfect bro for Zoroark. Not because of the typing, but the ability. Most people (when in the rush of battle) see Shanderaa (which is actually Zoroark) come in on their(insert Pokémon name here), it's possible they may not try switching out, and automatically assume it's Shadow Tag. Of course, this is only gonna work once, but it's an interesting idea. And for that matter, this strategy could work with anything with Shadow Tag/Arena Trap, like Dugtrio.

And don't "HERPA DERP STEALTH ROCK DAMAGE DERPA HERP" me. If Stealth Rock was that game-changing, Ho-Oh wouldn't be uber.

EDIT: I just realized you could have your Shanderaa Flash Fire. That way, after they find out you have a Zoroark, every time they see that chandelier, they try switching out to see if it works. When they find out that they can successfully switch out, they assume it's Zoroark, and send in. . . Say. . . Infernape. Then you laugh as Close Combat does nothing. THE MIND GAMES NEVER END!

 

[Max_LKC]

I can't believe no one has posted this yet.

Shanderaa appears to be the perfect bro for Zoroark. Not because of the typing, but the ability. Most people (when in the rush of battle) see Shanderaa (which is actually Zoroark) come in on their(insert Pokémon name here), it's possible they may not try switching out, and automatically assume it's Shadow Tag. Of course, this is only gonna work once, but it's an interesting idea. And for that matter, this strategy could work with anything with Shadow Tag/Arena Trap, like Dugtrio.

And don't "HERPA DERP STEALTH ROCK DAMAGE DERPA HERP" me. If Stealth Rock was that game-changing, Ho-Oh wouldn't be uber.

Stealth rock actually ruins your strategy, because illusion dosen't change its typing so if its zoroark switching in disguise of shanderaa it will take less damage from stealth rock making it seem obvious its not the real one.

 

[UnholyCrab1]

Stealth rock actually ruins your strategy, because illusion dosen't change its typing so if its zoroark switching in disguise of shanderaa it will take less damage from stealth rock making it seem obvious its not the real one.

Once again, this is just a gimmick idea that I probably had from staying up too late. I personally don't view SR as being anywhere near as common as it was last gen. But even if it is, you can always use Gochiruzeru instead.

 

[Reikai]

The mind games this pokemon can play are huge. I've been messing with him in Random Matches alot, and Illusion is really *really* powerful. Sure, its a gimmick, but if you're good with it, it can totally wreck the opponent.

One trick that was actually used against me was Zoroark illusioned as Shedinja. If you bring this in at the right time, it will definitely force some pokemon to switch out.

Sure, this may only work in B/W Random Matches due to not too many entry-hazards, but still, its something to think about.

 

[ungulateman]

Plus, Shedinja has access to SD as well, so they won't switch out again because "Shedinja" did something they weren't expecting. Cool.

 

[Legacy Raider]

Zoroark has to be my favorite Pokemon of the new generation. Gamefreak has this penchant for making these cool humanoid pseudo-legendaries and showing them immense favoritism in the way of stats, movepools, and general promotion. First we get Lucario, now this guy. I think he might just make it to my trio of favorite Pokemon, sharing first with Lucario and Weavile.

While he does have cool special attack, the set I postulate to be the most effective once the metagame develops would be his SD set (just like Lucario!).

Zoroark @ Life Orb
252 Att/56 Sp. Att/200 Speed
Naughty/Naive nature

Swords Dance
Sucker Punch
Flamethrower
Ankle Sweep (here's for hoping Low Kick is a tutor somewhere down the line)

This is just an example of what we're probably going to see a lot of once I start abusing the hell out of it. The idea here is to have your last Pokemon be something that commonly uses SD so you can force something out you shouldn't, set up, and no one would be the wiser. Let's say it's Lucario or something and they bring in Scarf Jirachi to block your ass.

+2 Sucker Punch: 94.4% - 110.9%

Guranteed OHKO with rocks, bitch.

"Oh shit, it's Zoroark! And he's using SD! Better send in Skarm to wall him!"

Flamethrower on Standard Spiker: 87.4% - 103%

lol

I'd post more calcs, but no time. The only thing I'm really worried about at this point is all the Fighting types with priority that'll try to stop him. Especially Roopushin, who's probably going to be on every other team because of that fucking mole. 140 base Attack with Mach Punch is just scary (Machamp, eat your heart out).

Since there's no way to trap and kill Fighting types like there is for Ghosts and Steels, except for maybe Shanderaa, you're going to have to scout the team with U-turn and the like, force them to send out their Fighting types/other counters early, then bring out the big guns. Not a seamless strategy, but as a primarily offensive player, I can definitely make this work.

(And hey, once you've turned an SD Celebi set into a high-powered offensive monster, you can basically do anything lol)

That'd be so cool...

... if it got sucker punch :(

 

[M BLADE]

That'd be so cool...

... if it got sucker punch :(

I'm... confused.

Serebii says it gets Sucker Punch as a egg move.

This makes me think... that's right?

 

[Legacy Raider]

Oh then it probably does - it just wasn't mentioned as a learnable move in this thread's OP :(.

 

[Unholy]

I'm not sure if everyone here is fully aware of the mechanics of Illusion and switching Pokemon, but I'm 99% sure it works like this:

Illusion copies the species, name, gender, Poke ball, etc. of the Pokemon positioned last in your party. So say you had this setup:

#1: Zoroark
#2: Bulbasaur
#6: Magikarp

Zoroark will appear to be Magikarp. Switch in Bulbasaur.

#1: Bulbasaur
#2: Zoroark
#6: Magikarp

Switch in Magikarp.

#1: Magikarp
#2: Zoroark
#6: Bulbasaur

Switch in Zoroark.

#1: Zoroark
#2: Magikarp
#6: Bulbasaur

Zoroark will appear to be Bulbasaur.

This could be problematic, because many users in this thread are assuming that Zoroark can reliably take the form of a certain Pokemon. This is not guaranteed, especially if you switch in your #6 Pokemon before you switch in Zoroark and then switch it out to a different Pokemon than before. Additionally:

#1: Magikarp
#2: Bulbasaur
#6: Zoroark

Switch in Zoroark. Zoroark will not appear to be anyone else.

 

[Verloren the Lost]

From what I get from Serebii, I'm personally in love with two main sets of Zoroark -

Life Orb'd Nasty Plot/Flamethrower/Extrasensory/Night Burst (Have Zoroark come in disguised as something that forces the opponent out, set up with nasty plot and lol as most fighting types are tossed aside by Extrasensory, all steel types are OHKOed with Flamethrower, and anything else gets a base 85 STAB +2 attack to the face)

Or for overuse of the ability,

Swordsdance/U-Turn/Sucker Punch/Utility to have the last move be something useful against what you usually face, U turn to get out fast when your disguise is uncovered, and Sucker Punch for delicious +2 Prioristab.

 

[Enygma]

Bumping this thread because I found out this tidbit of info:

My Zoroark always happens to change into the last Pokemon of my party. I heard for others it was their second Pokemon, but for me, it's my last Pokemon. Of course, I still haven't tested this out on Wifi yet since I'm still playing through story mode. Any confirmations?

And I've come up with several theorymon sets for Zoroark. The sets on the OP don't utilize him to his full potential. I actually see Zoro being very broken due to his ability. I have yet to prove this, however, but the theories I've compiled, they look very deadly on paper, possibly even making him Uber under Support.

 

[AOTKorby]

From what I get from Serebii, I'm personally in love with two main sets of Zoroark -

Life Orb'd Nasty Plot/Flamethrower/Extrasensory/Night Burst (Have Zoroark come in disguised as something that forces the opponent out, set up with nasty plot and lol as most fighting types are tossed aside by Extrasensory, all steel types are OHKOed with Flamethrower, and anything else gets a base 85 STAB +2 attack to the face)

Or for overuse of the ability,

Swordsdance/U-Turn/Sucker Punch/Utility to have the last move be something useful against what you usually face, U turn to get out fast when your disguise is uncovered, and Sucker Punch for delicious +2 Prioristab.

Two very severe problems with the first set:

Lucario

Scizor

All that really needs to be said. Both have priority, both laugh in the face of Dark moves, and both can easily OHKO Zoroark. They can also easily set up on you provided that you switch your Zoroark out.

 

[Verloren the Lost]

Two very severe problems with the first set:

Lucario

Scizor

All that really needs to be said. Both have priority, both laugh in the face of Dark moves, and both can easily OHKO Zoroark. They can also easily set up on you provided that you switch your Zoroark out.

Hm... well, I'd probably try and Flamethrower them while they set up, expecting a switch.

 

[Squid Ninja]

How about a lead Zoroark? You can put a common lead Pokemon in your 6th slot and use it to counter common leads.

Metagross works well with this. People expect a slow SR, but are taunted before they can do anything, thanks to his good Speed. Plus, being a lead means that SR won't reveal that you're using a Zoroark.

 

[ShinyAzelf]

The NP set and the SD set seems decent. I thought it would get Sucker Punch. Really seems like a Pokemon who would give you an unexpected blow ;)

 

[Squid Ninja]

The NP set and the SD set seems decent. I thought it would get Sucker Punch. Really seems like a Pokemon who would give you an unexpected blow ;)

It gets it as an Egg Move. =0

 

[Xcallion x]

the issue with zoroark as i see it is that it can only take a little damage before illusion is ruined. so if you have a zoroark and a machamp and the champ and the zoroark are at different damage percentages then it will be obvious who is who after that.

 

[SJCrew]

The player is likely to be very observant in tournament matches, but I can see this being a real problem in a regular round of Shoddy. As long as the HP difference isn't too huge, your opponent can just as easily make a mistake anyway. Either way, once they know you have a Zoroark, they're already going to be on their toes and liable to fuck up at some point anyway.

 

[THE ENEMY]

How about this:

Zoroark - Illusion @ Choice Band
252 AT/252 SPE/4 DEF - Adamant/Jolly
~U-Turn
~Sucker Punch
~Pursuit
~Night Slash/Trickery/Punishment

Talk about the ultimate trapper. also a great scout. and with illusion uturn will drive the opponents crazy. i plan on abusing this....

 

[Bugbot]

Not sure if this was suggested before, but Shandera isn't the best partner for Zoroark... the honor goes to our dear old friend GENGAR!

1- He is immuned to Fighting-types and Resists x4 Bug... people won't try those attacks unless they are SURE it isn't really a Gengar (ie: you just Sword Danced).
2- Gengar's weaknesses are Ghost/Psychic/Dark. Zoroark resists all of them like a boss.
3- Both have great speed (near the same actually) and take the same amount of damage from Stealth Rock.

 

[DDRMaster]

Both Gengar and Zoroark get destroyed by Scizor's Bullet Punch. Also, Gengar is immune to Spikes because of Levitate and Zoroark isn't and since they're pretty popular right now, that would give it away. You should probably just go with Infernape since everyone is going to switch their Burunkeru into it and you can easily get a Nasty Plot up as they switch in and fire off a Dark Pulse for the KO.

Since Infernape can still learn Nasty Plot, Flamethrower, and Focus Blast, you should be able to keep the disguise up until you actually take out something with Dark Pulse. By that point, you've probably weakened or severely weakened their main Infernape counter.

Copying something that normally wouldn't be too threatening to some Pokemon, like Burunkeru itself, could be useful since Zoroark can just hit any Nattorei or Erufuun that switches in with a Flamethrower.

@The Enemy: Why are you running 3 STAB moves? Sucker Punch and Pursuit should be enough to take any Pokemon out and you just get walled by Steels even easier.

 

[WarriorPrince]

The player is likely to be very observant in tournament matches, but I can see this being a real problem in a regular round of Shoddy. As long as the HP difference isn't too huge, your opponent can just as easily make a mistake anyway. Either way, once they know you have a Zoroark, they're already going to be on their toes and liable to fuck up at some point anyway.

I couldn't agree more. This pretty much sums up the surprise factor of Zoroark. When you get it to work, it's a nice payoff. When you don't, he's still a decent pokemon.

 

[TheGuyWhoIsSitting]

I'm... confused.

Serebii says it gets Sucker Punch as a egg move.

This makes me think... that's right?

Yes, I can confirm it because I just bred a Zorua with a Smeargle that knows sucker punch and got a baby Zorua with Sucker Punch.

 

[Tacho]

How about this:

Zoroark - Illusion @ Choice Band
252 AT/252 SPE/4 DEF - Adamant/Jolly
~U-Turn
~Sucker Punch
~Pursuit
~Night Slash/Trickery/Punishment

Talk about the ultimate trapper. also a great scout. and with illusion uturn will drive the opponents crazy. i plan on abusing this....

Very good. I like that you are thinking outside the box and using CB rather than an obvious special set.

I have been using this at the moment:

Zoroark - Illusion @ Life Orb
252 SPATK/252 SPEED/6 ATK - Hasty
~Focus Blast
~Hidden Power Ice
~Pursuit
~Flamethrower

The idea is to have Zoroark transform into Doryuzuu. Only switch Zoroark in on a free turn and when it would come in on something slower than Doryuzuu which would run away. Pursuit them for kill #1. Now, in comes the Doryuzuu counter, which could be anything from Skarmory, Gliscor, Randorosu etc.

If your opponent has not caught on to the fact that you are Zoroark, You can kill their Doryuzuu counter with either Flamethrower or Hidden Power Ice. The nice part is that Hidden Power Ice is still unexpected, even if they know you are Zoroark. I have netted 2 for 1's with this guy on many occasions. Zoroark is a great way to kill off counters to certain pokemon, paving the way for a sweep.