Ubers Zygarde

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[OVERVIEW]

* Zygarde-C gains colossal bulk upon activation of Power Construct, turning it into the bulkiest physical wall in the tier. Due to its sheer bulk and good defensive typing of Dragon / Ground, which leaves Zygarde-C resistant to Stealth Rock, it can serve as a check to threats such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, Mega Salamence, Marshadow lacking Hidden Power Ice, Ho-Oh, and Mega Lucario.
* Zygarde-C also differentiates itself from most other physical walls in the metagame thanks to access to useful utility moves in Glare, Toxic, and Dragon Tail.
* Zygarde-C's strengths let it fit into balance teams and defensive teams with relative ease thanks to the number of threats it is able to check.
* Thanks to its signature move Thousand Arrows, Zygarde-C easily hits most of the tier for at least neutral damage, meaning it only needs a single attacking move to be an offensive threat with Dragon Dance.
* However, prior to its transformation, Zygarde is obliged to manage its health carefully, and failure to transform Zygarde safely will leave it overpowered by threats it would normally check, such as Swords Dance Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario.
* Zygarde-C's Dragon / Ground typing leaves it with a common weakness in to Ice-type coverage moves and a susceptibility to Fairy-type threats.
* Zygarde-C is forced to use Rest, since it lacks any other form of recovery outsides Leftovers. This forces Zygarde-C to either forgo one of its utility moves for Sleep Talk to function while asleep or be left passive for two turns.
* Despite Thousand Arrows's fantastic coverage, offensive variants of Zygarde-C will need multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to surmount common walls in the tier, such as support Arceus formes, and have to preserve its Z-Move for KOs if the mentioned conditions are not met.

[SET]
name: Physical Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Dragon Tail
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Thousand Arrows / Glare / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Rest is the only form of recovery Zygarde-C has access to. The move makes Zygarde-C resilient to common Toxic users such as Primal Groudon, Celesteela, and Chansey and gives it more opportunities to activate Power Construct safely.
* Dragon Tail lets Zygarde-C phaze setup sweepers like Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence, and Swords Dance Arceus formes and helps alleviate Zygarde-C's passivity. More importantly, it also prevents Zygarde-C from being trapped and neutralized by Gothitelle, a trapper that is normally paired with most physical setup sweepers that Zygarde is able to handle.
* Sleep Talk allows Zygarde-C to function while it is asleep, preventing it from being completely passive.
* Thousand Arrows allows Zygarde-C to have an acceptable degree of offensive presence against the likes of Mega Gengar and Magearna, wear down Primal Groudon, and remove the Ground immunity from the likes of Celesteela and Giratina-O. This is Zygarde-C's most spammable move.
* Glare lets Zygarde-C shut down the most dangerous sweepers such as Rock Polish variants of Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Salamence. It also harshly punishes Zygarde-C's offensive counters should they try switching in and attempting to force it out.
* Toxic is an alternative status move that punishes Arceus formes switching in to take Thousand Arrows or Glare by putting them on a timer. Toxic can fit in Zygarde-C's moveset if its team is sufficiently prepared for the aforementioned setup sweepers.
* Glare or Toxic can be run over Dragon Tail or Sleep Talk, but this comes at the cost of Zygarde-C being vulnerable to Gothitelle's trapping or completely immobilized for two turns after it uses Rest.
* Coil is an interesting option that has good synergy with Rest and Glare. It has the downside of replacing one of Zygarde-C's utility moves, but it lets Zygarde-C prevail better against Primal Groudon and certain Swords Dance Arceus forms, which would otherwise use Zygarde-C as setup fodder while it is asleep.

Set Details
========

* The EV spread maximizes Zygarde-C's physical bulk for it to take on threats it is tasked to check. The EV spread also lets Zygarde-C survive two Precipice Blades from Adamant Primal Groudon and two Close Combats from Mega Lucario prior to its transformation and after Leftovers recovery.
* Leftovers provides Zygarde-C with a passive form of recovery and postpones the use of Rest.
* Power Construct lets Zygarde transform into Zygarde-C when its HP is less than 50% at the end of the turn, gaining massive bulk.

Usage Tips
========

* Despite Zygarde-C's good natural bulk even before transformation, one should switch Zygarde only into weak or resisted attacks that aren't going to overwhelm it.
* One must scout for lure sets, such as Hidden Power Ice Primal Groudon and Marshadow, before switching Zygarde into them, unless there are no sufficient switch-ins for them. Similarly, Ice Beam from Arceus formes and Draco Meteor from Rayquaza are able to either dangerously weaken or outright eliminate Zygarde before it gets an opportunity to transform.
* It is vitally important to keep track of the amount of damage Zygarde takes from an attack so it can be switched into appropriate attacks and transform safely.
* If Sleep Talk is opted for, Zygarde-C can be used as an emergency check to sleep inducers such as Lunala and Darkrai and potentially shut them down with Glare.
* Even after transformation, Zygarde-C should remain as healthy as possible in order to survive +2 Precipice Blades from Primal Groudon, +2 Searing Sunraze Smash from Necrozma-DM, or +2 Close Combat from Mega Lucario.

Team Options
========

* Primal Groudon appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to remove the Ground immunities from Ho-Oh, Celesteela, and Giratina-O so it can hit them with Precipice Blades. It also appreciates the speed control from Glare, which gives it room to breathe against faster threats and set up reliably. In return, Primal Groudon checks Fairy-types and Primal Kyogre and provides Stealth Rock support to make Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail more useful.
* Arceus-Fairy is another partner that is able to set up Stealth Rock, and it handles Yveltal and Marshadow carrying Hidden Power Ice. It also naturally draws in Defog Arceus formes and sets them on a timer with Toxic to give them much more difficulty switching into Zygarde-C.
* Necrozma-DM is another answer to Fairy-types that provides Stealth Rock support and hinders Arceus formes with Toxic.
* On more offensive teams, Xerneas is a great answer to Dark-types like Yveltal that simultaneously provides cleric support. It appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to wear down the opposing team with Dragon Tail with entry hazards up and potentially lure Mega Gengar and remove it with Thousand Arrows from Sleep Talk.
* Mega Gengar vastly appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to spread status and draw in Arceus-Fairy. Glare lets Mega Gengar feast on trapped foe with Hex while letting it potentially buy a free turn to use Substitute. Mega Gengar is also able to remove Arceus-Fairy and Xerneas, the latter which otherwise can cure its teammates of paralysis induced by Zygarde-C.
* An alternative answer to Fairy-types is Magearna, which is able to handle Yveltal, switch into Toxic, and use Heal Bell to cure Zygarde-C without being overly relant on Sleep Talk.
* Ferrothorn sets up Spikes to make Dragon Tail even more effective and uses Leech Seed on threats like Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Blaziken that it naturally draws in to let Zygarde-C handle them more easily and potentially allow it to transform safely. It also switches into Arceus formes lacking Ice Beam. In return, Zygarde-C is able to take on Fire-types and Fighting-types.
* Toxapex is able to check Primal Kyogre lacking Thunder, check Marshadow with Hidden Power Ice, and switch into Toxic. It also can induce burns with Scald to make physical attackers do next to no damage to Zygarde-C and provides Toxic Spikes support, which can be exploited with Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail. It also takes on any viable Arceus forme barring Arceus-Ground.


[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Thousand Arrows
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Dragon Tail / Glare
item: Groundium Z / Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
ivs: 30 HP

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Dragon Dance increases Zygarde-C's Attack and Speed to immediately make it an offensive threat. Thanks to its colossal bulk, Zygarde-C will find an opportunity to set up more than once against the majority of the metagame.
* Thousand Arrows, whether Zygade-C is boosted or not, is a very spammable move that barely any viable Pokemon in the metagame resists. The move progressively becomes harder to handle with boosts from Dragon Dance. With Groundium Z, the move turns into Tectonic Rage, which lets Zygarde-C bypass its potential checks with additional power.
* Substitute prevents harmful status moves such as Toxic and Leech Seed from hindering Zygarde-C's ability to set up reliably. Thanks to its great bulk, most passive Pokemon cannot break Substitute without letting Zygarde-C boost multiple times or switching out into a counter. Notably, it takes two Dragon Tails from Giratina to break Zygarde-C's Substitute.
* Dragon Tail may seem like a bizarre option on a Dragon Dance set, but it notably phazes Lugia and Skarmory before they phaze Zygarde-C behind Substitute with Whirlwind. Dragon Tail can also let Zygarde provide support to its team by checking threats such as Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Swords Dance Arceus formes in an event where it cannot find an opportunity to set up.
* Glare is still a justifiable move. Especially with Substitute, it allows Zygarde-C to safely paralyze checks that switch in, and the move also may occasionally buy free turns to set up Dragon Dance.
* Extreme Speed can be used to let Zygarde-C pick on weakened threats such as Geomancy Xerneas and Deoxys-A, but the low power makes revenge killing difficult in general.

Set Details
========

* Maximum Attack investment along with an Adamant nature maximizes Zygarde-C's damage output to benefit as much as possible from Dragon Dance boosts. It also lets Zygarde-C immediately take out standard Geomancy Xerneas with +1 Tectonic Rage.
* 252 Speed EVs allow Zygarde-C to outspeed everything up to Rash Deoxys-A after a Dragon Dance in its complete forme. This spread is also effective against Marshadow, which may otherwise outspeed Zygarde-C and steal boosts with Spectral Thief.
* 30 HP IVs allow Zygarde to activate Power Construct after it uses Substitute twice.
* An alternative EV spread of 252 Atk / 100 Def / 156 Spe with an Adamant nature lets Zygarde-C outspeed Choice Scarf Xerneas and Yveltal after two Dragon Dances in Complete forme.
* Groundium Z lets Zygarde use a powerful Tectonic Rage to hit bulky checks like Arceus formes and Xerneas. The Z-Move benefits from Thousand Arrows's removal of Ground immunities.
* Leftovers is another option to provide Zygarde-C with passive recovery and let it set Dragon Dance more reliably against defensive teams, but this forces Zygarde-C to rely on excessive prior damage and entry hazards to bypass its checks.

Usage Tips
========

* This set lacks defensive investment and shouldn't be switched in recklessly, but it is able to act as an offensive check to Primal Groudon and other threats.
* Due to Zygarde-C's low initial power without boosts, it is best to set up on passive threats that rely on status moves to do meaningful damage, such as Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, Chansey, and Blissey. It is always ideal to use Substitute to block status moves or on a forced switch.
* Frequent use of Substitute allow Zygarde to transform safely while avoiding heavy damage from the likes of offensive Primal Groudon and Arceus formes.
* When behind Substitute, Dragon Tail should be used against potential users of phazing moves such as Lugia, Skarmory, and Primal Groudon to phaze them first.
* While Zygarde-C is a huge threat to offensive teams due to its bulk, which allows it to accumulate boosts with ease, it has trouble breaking defensive roadblocks on its own and should be preserved until conditions for its sweep are met. Entry hazards must be set in order to put Zygarde-C's checks into KO range of a boosted Z-Move, or it simply has to wait until they have been eliminated.
* Especially with a bulkier spread, Zygarde-C fails to outspeed important threats, such as Deoxys-A and Marshadow, with a Dragon Dance boost. This leaves one with an obligation to decide carefully about when to fire Thousand Arrows and when to set up. Although the aforementioned threats realistically can't switch into Thousand Arrows reliably, switching on predicted setup will simply make Zygarde-C's attempt to get boosts go to waste, as it is forced out.
* Zygarde is faster prior to transformation, outspeeding additional threats like Timid Mega Mewtwo Y after a Dragon Dance. Therefore, it is sometimes better to postpone Power Construct's activation to take advantage of regular Zygarde's better Speed tier.
* Zygarde-C will need to preserve its Z-Move to KO its defensive checks, such as support Arceus formes, that would otherwise require multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to be KOed.

Team Options
========

* Zygarde-C will need multiple layers of entry hazards set in order to KO its checks with its boosted Z-Move, and therefore, Stealth Rock users and Spikes setters are mandatory. Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM are able to set Stealth Rock and check Fairy-types, while Ferrothorn switches into special attacks from Arceus formes, sets Spikes, and uses Leech Seed to let Zygarde-C set up more easily.
* Toxic Spikes from Cloyster allows Zygarde to pressure Arceus formes more and stall with damage from poison and Substitute to put them into KO range of its boosted Z-Move. Zygarde-C normally discourages Steel- and Poison-types from switching in and therefore forces its checks to switch into Toxic Spikes.
* Sweepers such as Geomancy Xerneas and Rock Polish Primal Groudon appreciate Zygarde-C's ability to pressure their defensive checks with its powerful Thousand Arrows. The former appreciates Zygarde threatening Primal Groudon, Magearna, Chansey, and Blissey and can easily clean up weakened teams late-game, while the latter appreciates the removal of Ground immunities from foes and is able to freely use Precipice Blades or set up while it forces out a foe.
* If a Z-Crystal is not opted for, Gothitelle is able to trap and dispose of Arceus formes, which Zygarde-C will have a hard time surmounting. Gothitelle also neutralizes most passive foes for Zygarde-C to set up Dragon Dance reliably.
* Mega Gengar is an alternative trapper that is able to remove Arceus-Fairy and Arceus-Water for Zygarde and appreciates Zygarde spreading paralysis va Glare.
* Pivots such as Mega Scizor and Magearna can act as reliable checks to Fairy-types while bringing in Zygarde-C safely with U-turn and Volt Switch.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Haze on a physically defensive set is an alternative way to shut down setup sweepers and to lure in Xerneas and make it waste its Power Herb with Geomancy, but this is usually inferior to Dragon Tail due to it leaving Zygarde-C vulnerable to Gothitelle.
* Thousand Waves can be employed on a Dragon Dance set to trap passive foes to gain setup opportunities. Depending on the passivity of a foe, Zygarde-C may set up fully and proceed to outright sweep the opposing team.
* Outrage with Dragonium Z allows Zygarde-C to quickly eliminate Mega Salamence and both formes of Giratina and do heavier damage to support Arceus formes.
* Coil on a Dragon Dance set is a viable option to set up better against passive foes. 28 Defense EVs along with a boost from Coil let Zygarde-C make a Substitute that cannot be broken by a Precipice Blades from defensive Primal Groudon, Sunsteel Strike from defensive Necrozma-DM, Brave Bird from defensive Ho-Oh, and Earthquake from Excadrill. However, this means that Zygarde-C is forgoing Glare, and its effectiveness as an offensive check to threats like Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Swords Dance Arceus formes will diminish.
* A set of Dragon Dance / Thousand Arrows / Substitute / Protect with Leftovers along with Toxic Spikes support can greatly bother Zygarde-C's checks. Repeated use Substitute and Protect can end up putting the likes of Arceus formes into KO range of a boosted Thousand Arrows and lets Zygarde scout moves better. However, this comes at the cost of being susceptible to phazers and forgoing Glare.
* Mago Berry may fit on Dragon Dance set to provide Zygarde-C immediate recovery and let it sets up more reliably against offensive teams, but forgoing Leftovers or a Z-Crystal isn't always ideal.


Checks and Counters
===================

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy massively threaten Zygarde-C with their super effective STAB attacks. Although none of them like switching into Glare or Toxic, they are still good offensive checks. The former is especially dangerous, since it cannot be phazed by Dragon Tail and is able to set up Geomany as Zygarde-C is forced out. However, if Zygarde-C is boosted, the former falls to Tectonic Rage, and the latter faces the same situation after some prior damage.

**Ice-type Attacks**: Ice Beam is one of the most popular coverage moves in the metagame and is commonly employed by support Arceus formes, Primal Kyogre, Deoxys-A, Mewtwo, and others, and they massively threaten Zygarde-C by exploiting its extreme weakness to Ice-type moves. Hidden Power Ice from Primal Groudon and Marshadow easily 2HKOes Zygarde-C and takes out Zygarde prior to transformation after some prior damage has been dealt.

**Special Attackers**: Due to the fact that Zygarde-C resists very few special attacks and cannot afford to invest into Special Defense, threats such as Yveltal, Lunala, and Deoxys-A can threaten Zygarde-C with their powerful STAB attacks. However, they are left crippled if they carelessly switch into Glare. Dragon-type moves from Rayquaza, Dialga, and Palkia are even more threatening to Zygarde-C.

**Taunt**: Due to Zygarde-C's reliance on Rest to recover, Taunt users like Mega Gengar, Yveltal, and Mewtwo can mess up Zygarde-C's HP management prior to its transformation and hinder its overall longevity. Yveltal in particular is troublesome, since it recovers damage taken from Thousand Arrows with Oblivion Wing. However, Mega Gengar might be KOed by a timely executed Thousand Arrows from Sleep Talk if it switches in recklessly, and Mewtwo takes sizable damage from Thousand Arrows and loses its effectiveness if switched into Glare.

**Offensive Pressure Prior to Power Construct**: Zygarde needs Power Construct to activate to gain enough bulk to take boosted hits, and opponents are able to take advantage of this fact to KO Zygarde with brute force before it transforms. This entices most physical attackers, such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario, to set up prior to using any attacks on Zygarde. Swords Dance-boosted attacks from these threats have a chance to OHKO Zygarde if it has taken sufficient prior damage. Necrozma-DM in particular is troublesome in this regard, since Zygarde needs to have transformed to its Complete forme and be at near-full HP to survive a boosted Searing Sunraze Smash. Zygarde also suffers from offensive pressure from a multitude of special wallbreakers, and the majority of them have a way to threaten it. Other than using Glare on switch-ins, Zygarde will be unable to do much in its base forme and will have a much harder time checking physical attackers paired with special wallbreakers.
 
Last edited:

Ropalme1914

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Hey, I'm not QC so you don't have to follow this, but I would suggest changing those things about the DD set (which is the only one that I use):
-4 HP EVs on Zygarde does not makes its HP divisible by 4, so it does not activate Power Construct after 2 Subs, just leaves you at 51% HP. To do that, you either put 12 HP EVs or do not use any at all and put 30 IVs on it (I preffer the second option since removing from Speed would just make you slower than other Zygarde and Rayquaza for no reason and I like as much firepower as possible, but 8 EVs on Attack probably won't make much difference to my knowledge, unless it changes some boosted calc).
-Idk if it is that important since not many Pokémon fit that, but I think it would be cool to note that transforming into Complete makes you slower, so you could be vulnerable to things like 252 Speed base 90s if you lack any boosts or other things like max Speed Mega Mewtwo Y if you're at +1, all of which you could outspeed at base forme.
-I think that Cloyster deserves mention on the Toxic Spikes part also, Toxapex is not used on offensive teams, and Cloyster did make a appearance with DD Zygarde back on SM on that Arceus-Flying team that Lacus used on Snake and TTG also used on other SM tours recently (I did not see yet any replays on USUM tours that they both appeared, but they are just as viable as before).
 
First of all I'd like to thank you for the time you spent to leave advice. I will try implementing most of the things you said (especially regarding the fact that a QC memeber has approved of your post) but please allow me to clarify some of my decisions:
-4 HP EVs on Zygarde does not makes its HP divisible by 4, so it does not activate Power Construct after 2 Subs, just leaves you at 51% HP. To do that, you either put 12 HP EVs or do not use any at all and put 30 IVs on it (I preffer the second option since removing from Speed would just make you slower than other Zygarde and Rayquaza for no reason and I like as much firepower as possible, but 8 EVs on Attack probably won't make much difference to my knowledge, unless it changes some boosted calc).
I have experimented this and you are right. I would rather use 30 IV's since sacrificing more than 8 EV's will result in Zygarde-C being outsped by Rash Deoxys-A even at +1. Taking out 8 EV's on boosted attack will be a minimal change for Zygarde-C's main raw power, but since it already has average attack stat of 100, I believe it would be the most ideal to preserve its raw power as much as possible. Especially when facing against Geomancy Xerneas that runs more than 72 HP of bulk and runs some EV's on Defense, +1 Tectonic Rage is a roll and I think it would be sweet to maximize the chance you can blow up the deer.

-Idk if it is that important since not many Pokémon fit that, but I think it would be cool to note that transforming into Complete makes you slower, so you could be vulnerable to things like 252 Speed base 90s if you lack any boosts or other things like max Speed Mega Mewtwo Y if you're at +1, all of which you could outspeed at base forme.
You are correct. Zygarde loses 10 base Speed upon transformation, but all Speed EV creeps on my Dragon Dance is benchmarked to ouspeed threats I have mentioned in Complete forme, as I have specified in my analysis. But I will mention Zygarde is able to outspeed more threats (aka Timid MMY and others) prior to transformation somewhere.

-I think that Cloyster deserves mention on the Toxic Spikes part also, Toxapex is not used on offensive teams, and Cloyster did make a appearance with DD Zygarde back on SM on that Arceus-Flying team that Lacus used on Snake and TTG also used on other SM tours recently (I did not see yet any replays on USUM tours that they both appeared, but they are just as viable as before).
I appreciate this catch the most. I was just thinking about "tspikes tspikes" and completely forgot Toxapex is not the most ideal teammate especially when DD Zygarde is mostly employed in offensive teams. I will make sure to include that.

Thanks again and feel free to give me a shout again if you have more to say.
 
I think sub+glare could be mentioned in OO as it lets zygarde fish for para on its switchins to set up.

Speed creep on the phys def set could also be run with Haze to remove SD boosts from Dusk Mane before it can get nuked by +2 Z-move
 
I think sub+glare could be mentioned in OO as it lets zygarde fish for para on its switchins to set up.
[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Thousand Arrows
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Dragon Tail / Glare
item: Groundium Z / Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
ivs: 30 HP
Speed creep on the phys def set could also be run with Haze to remove SD boosts from Dusk Mane before it can get nuked by +2 Z-move
Speed creeping results in Zygarde being OHKOed by +2 Precipice Blades from Primal Groudon prior to transformation. But I will consider adding it to OO if QC deems this significant enough.
 

ckw

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* Zygarde-C gains colossal bulk upon activation of Power Construct, and this turns it into the bulkiest physical wall in the tier. Due to its sheer bulk and good defensive typing of Dragon / Ground that leaves Zygarde-C resilient to Stealth Rock, it can serve as a check to Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, Mega Salamence, Marshadow lacking Hidden Power Ice, Ho-oh, Mega Lucario, Swords Dance Arceus formes, Mega Gyarados, Mega Blaziken, or essentially most physical attackers that lack a dedicated way to hit it.
The overview is massive. Adding this many examples is unneccessary. Remove all mentions after Mega Lucario. There are more than enough examples here.
* Zygarde-C also differentiates itself with most other physical walls in the metagame thanks to access to useful utility moves in Thousand Arrows, Glare, and Dragon Tail.
Remove Thousand Arrows mention from here. It's only useful for Zygarde itself. You won't see much use of Thousand Arrows' secondary effect in practice. Toxic is a good here as a mention.

In its base forme, Zygarde is also threatened by strong special attackers such as Yveltal, Primal Kyogre, and Deoxys-A.
This makes it sound like you can Yveltal, Primal Kyogre, and Deoxys-A if you were Zygarde-C which is definitely not true. Remove please.

* Dragon / Ground typing leaves Zygarde-C with common weakness in Ice and Fairy-type moves. Thus, it is easily forced out by Ice Beam users such as Arceus-Water and Arceus-Ground, overwhelmed by Primal Groudon and Marshadow with Hidden Power Ice, and heavily threatened by Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy.
Remove the parts in bold and reword the first sentence. Write Ice-type coverage and Fairy-type Pokemon instead. There's a big difference here because many stuff in Ubers runs Ice-type coverage while Fairy-type coverage isn't run at all, usually Fairy-type Pokemon. Do not write any examples here. Fairy-types are covered beautifully in Checks and Counters already.

* This mandates scouting before Zygarde can safely switch in when it would need to take damage in order to transform to its complete forme, making Power Construct activation even trickier to utilize.
This makes a good point for Usage Tips. Scouting for coverage moves.


[SET]
name: Physical Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Dragon Tail
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Thousand Arrows / Glare / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

QC team has agreed to slash the moves for defensive zygarde like the format above. Dragon Tail hits everything apart from Fairy-types and makes up for zygarde's passivity by phazing setup sweepers and other threats (Prevents Gothitelle from trapping you as well). Rest is mandatory for obvious reasons and Sleep Talk allows Zygarde to be go for a move while sleeping. This is important as it stops zygarde from being a complete sitting duck for the two turns it's sleeping. Thousand Arrows here seems like the least important move on Zygarde but it's the most spammable move, so it's slashed with Glare and Toxic. This is the best way to run defensive Zygarde atm since it allows you to run spammable moves and isn't a sitting duck like non-sleeptalk set. Do include the additional point that Glare or Toxic can be ran over dtail or sleep talk but do mention the drawbacks of running such a moveset (trapped by goth / sittin duck ). The order of Moves should be changed accordingly.


* Thousand Arrows is an indispensable move on Zygarde-C. The move allows Zygarde-C to have acceptable degree of offensive presence against the likes of Mega Gengar and Magearna while wearing down Primal Groudon, and said signature move allows Zygarde-C to remove Ground-immunity from Ho-oh, Celesteela, Giratina-O, Skarmory, and Bronzong, and this is appreciated by threats like Primal Groudon and Arceus-Ground that would otherwise may have trouble against them. The move is also offensively only resisted by Bug and Grass-types, and the few viable Pokemon with said types, such as Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor take neutral damage from it.
As I previously already mentioned, that kind of support from Tarrows is quite rare in practice. The next sentence is pretty much fluff. You can just mention that it's one of Zygarde's most spammable move.

Add Coil in Moves for defensive Zygarde. Pairs well with Rest and Glare. Has its draw backs but lets you setup on the other hand so you can one 1v1 stuff like sub sd arc formes and other physical threats that may have been able to use a sleeping zygarde as setup fodder.

* An alternative EV spread of 188 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Def with Adamant nature lets Zygarde set up a 101 HP Substitute prior to transformation while ouspeeding almost the entirety of the metagame after two Dragon Dance in its complete forme. This makes HP management much easier against Chansey and Blissey with Seismic Toss.
Remove this, it's not worth losing so much speed; you can always keep subbing until you reach complete forme then setup.


* Dragonium Z with Outrage allows Zygarde-C to use Devastating Drake that is able to outright remove Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence and both formes on Giratina after a boost.
* Leftovers is another option to provide Zygarde-C passive recovery and let it set Dragon Dance more reliably against defensive teams, but this forces Zygarde-C to rely on excessive prior damage and entry hazards to bypass its checks.
This contradicts the main set. Leftovers bullet point should be above Dragonium Z. Mention that running Leftovers makes it easier to setup with Zygarde in exchange of not being able to use a hard hitting Z-Move to break through walls.

* Due to Zygarde-C's low initial power without boosts, it is best to set up on passive threats that rely on status moves to do meaningful damage such as Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, Chansey, and Blissey. It is always ideal to set Substitute to block status moves or on forced switch. Substitute also allows Zygarde-C to scout unexpected move such as Hidden Power Ice.
This set has absolutely no use of scouting for HP Ice, everythin that carries hp ice outspeed zygarde anyways. Remove this mention

* If Zygarde-C is used early game as a breaker, wallbreakers like Primal Kyogre, Mega Lucario, and Kyurem-W can massively benefit from an array of threats that Zygarde-C can weaken or KO.
.
NO!!


Checks & Counters

CM Arceus-Fairy being compared with Geomancy Xerneas as being dangerous is a bit of a stretch, I'd remove that mention

Supereffective moves: Split the point into two; Ice-type attacks and Supereffective Moves (in that order)

Add Primal Kyogre in Ice-type coverage. Remove Blaziken mention, you have mentioned enough examples here already. Remove Outrage Mega Mence as well; that set is too rare and it can't afford to run it unless you are trying no Roost Mega Mence.

Remove the 2nd sentence in special attackers. You can add Mewtwo in the newly formed Ice-type coverage bullet point. Dialga can go to Supereffective moves. Do not mention Kyurem-W please.




Implement these first and I'll edit in the check once you are done. Highlight me in the #analysis channel if you face any issues.
Edit: QC 1/3
 
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* However, the source of Zygarde-C's strength as a wall also leaves it with notable drawbacks.
* While Power Construct is Zygarde-C's greatest strength, it is also a weakness. Prior to its transformation to its complete forme, Zygarde-C is obliged to make careful management of its health, and failure to transform Zygarde-C safely will leave it overpowered by threats it would normally check such as Swords Dance Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario.
You can delete the bold and merge the two points and it works fine... reduces the overview more.
* Despite these downsides, Zygarde-C stands as one of the best walls in the tier with utility options that one's team would otherwise will not be able to afford or is able to be a formidable offensive threat if sufficient team support is provided.
This line could be removed at no cost to the overview's content. I think a line regarding its ability to be offensive and defensive should actually be noted in the Overview, because the offensive variations of Zygarde are just as used as the defensive ones. As big as the overview is, it focuses overly from the point of view of the defensive set.

* Thousand Waves can be employed into Dragon Dance set to trap passive foes to gain setup opportunities. Depending on the passivity of a foe, Zygarde-C may set up fully and proceed to outright sweep the opposing team. This set is best used with Outrage with Dragonium Z to hit Flying-type threats and easily KO Mega Salamence and both formes of Giratina. However, this comes at a cost of Zygarde-C unable to effectively break past some Ground-immune foes such as Celesteela and Ho-oh without relying its Z-move and letting Arceus-Fairy easily shut it down.
This has the wrong idea. Thousand Waves is its own idea, not so much a combination with anything. Outrage + Dragonium Z is simply an option to deal with the Giratinas and Mega Salamence quickly. Running both of these ideas would make for a very bad set. They are both "slot 3 or 4" ideas on Dragon Dance sets, basically.
**Special Attackers**: Due to Zygarde's mediocre special bulk
216 / 95 is far from mediocre special bulk. 216 / 121 is what it offers as physical defense... the gap isn't that large. This mon can live a Deoxys-A Psycho Boost as Zygarde-C... without resisting it or having any investment at all. If Zygarde's typing actually offered a decent matchup against common special attacks (Fire is the only notable one it has), it would actually be very formidable on the special side as well. The problem is that it has little resistances (big weaknesses in some cases) to work with when facing special hitters, and no investment on that side either, not that its actual bulk is mediocre. Reword the sentence for better accuracy.

#analyses for any questions.

QC 2/3
 

Cynara

Banned deucer.
Usage Tips
========

* Despite Zygarde-C has a good natural bulk even before transformation, one should prefer switching in Zygarde into residual damage that isn't going to overwhelm it. Switching into defensive Primal Groudon or resisted attacks are promising ideas in this regard.
* Due to Zygarde-C's lackluster bulk before Power Construct, one must scout for lure sets such as Hidden Power Ice Primal Groudon and Marshadow unless there are no sufficient switch-ins for them. Ice Beam from Arceus and Draco Meteor from Rayquaza is able to either dangerously weaken or outright eliminate Zygarde before it gets an opportunity to transform.
Reword this so the previous point doesn't conflict with the following one, but keep the mention of scouting for moves.

Zygarde-C will need to preserve its Z-move to KO its offensive checks that would otherwise require multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to be KOed.
Defensive checks - mention some

QC: 3/3
 
Implemented, sending this to GP.
* Despite Zygarde-C has a good natural bulk even before transformation, one should prefer switching in Zygarde into residual damage that isn't going to overwhelm it. Switching into weak or resisted attacks are promising ideas in this regard.
* One must scout for lure sets such as Hidden Power Ice Primal Groudon and Marshadow unless there are no sufficient switch-ins for them. Ice Beam from Arceus and Draco Meteor from Rayquaza is able to either dangerously weaken or outright eliminate Zygarde before it gets an opportunity to transform.
* Zygarde-C will need to preserve its Z-move to KO its defensive checks such as support Arceus formes that would otherwise require multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to be KOed.
 
amcheck addition (AC)=add commaremovalcomment
View attachment 98252 View attachment 98251
[OVERVIEW]

* Zygarde-C gains colossal bulk upon activation of Power Construct, and this turns it into the bulkiest physical wall in the tier. Due to its sheer bulk and good defensive typing of Dragon / Ground that leaves Zygarde-C resilient to Stealth Rock, it can serve as a check to threats such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, Mega Salamence, Marshadow lacking Hidden Power Ice, Ho-oh, and Mega Lucario.
* Zygarde-C also differentiates itself withfrom most other physical walls in the metagame thanks to access to useful utility moves in Glare, Toxic, and Dragon Tail.
* The aforemMentioned strengths of Zygarde-C lets it fit into balance teams and defensive teams with relative ease thanks to the size of an array of threats it is able to check.
* Thanks to access to its signature move, Thousand Arrows, Zygarde-C easily hits most of the tier for at least neutral damage, meaning it needs a single attacking move to be an offensive threat with Dragon Dance.
* However, the source of Zygarde-C's strength as a wall also leaves it with notable drawbacks. Prior to its transformation to its complete forme via Power Construct, Zygarde-C is obliged to make careful management of its health, and failure to transform Zygarde-C safely will leave it overpowered by threats it would normally check(AC), such as Swords Dance Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario.
* Dragon / Ground typing leaves Zygarde-C with acommon weakness in Ice-type coverage moves and susceptibility to Fairy-type threats.
* Zygarde-C is forced to use Rest since it lacks any other form of recovery outsides Leftovers. This either forces Zygarde-C to eitherforgo one of its utility moves for Sleep Talk to function while asleep or be left passive for two turns.
* Despite Thousand Arrows' fantastic coverage, offensive variants of Zygarde-C will need multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to surmount common walls in the tier(AC), such as support Arceus formes(AC), and preserve its Z-move for KOes if mentioned conditions were not met.

[SET]
name: Physical Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Dragon Tail
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Thousand Arrows / Glare / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Rest is the only reliable form of recovery Zygarde-C has access to. The move lets Zygarde-C be resilient to common Toxic users such as Primal Groudon, Celesteela, and Chansey while letting it have more opportunities to activate Power Construct safely.
* Dragon Tail lets Zygarde-C phaze out setup sweepers like Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence, and Swords Dance Arceus formes and helps alleivatingalleviate Zygarde-C's passivity. More importantly, Dragon Tail prevents Zygarde-C from being trapped and neutralized by Gothitelle, a trapper that is normally paired with most physical setup sweepers that Zygarde is able to handle.
* Sleep Talk allows Zygarde-C to function while it is asleep, preventing it from being completely passive.
* Thousand Arrows allows Zygarde-C to have anacceptable degree of offensive presence against the likes of Mega Gengar and Magearna while wearing down Primal Groudon and removing Ground-immunities from the likes of Celesteela and Giratina-O. This is one of Zygarde'cZygarde-C's most spammable moves (if you meant it's the most spammable move, ignore the s and drop "one of").
* Glare lets Zygarde-C shut down the most dangerous sweepers(AC), such as Rock Polish variants of Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM(AC), and Mega Salamence. It also harshly punishes Zygarde-C's offensive counters, should they try switching in and attempting to force it out.
* Toxic is an alternative status move that punishes Arceus formes which are switched into Zygarde-C very often to take Thousand Arrows or undesirable Glare, by putting them on atimer. This move can justify to fit in Zygarde-C's moveset if its team is sufficiently prepared for aforementioned setup sweepers.
* Glare or Toxic can be run over Dragon Tail or Sleep Talk, but it comes at a cost of being Zygarde-C beingvulnerable to Gothitelle's trapping or completely immobilized for two turns after it uses Rest.
* Coil is an interesting option that has good synergy with Rest and Glare. It has a downside of replacing one of Zygarde-C's utility moves(AC), but it lets Zygarde-C prevail stronger against (or did you mean "longer against"?) Primal Groudon or Swords Dance Arceus formes that would otherwise use Zygarde-C as a setup fodder while it is asleep.

Set Details
========

* The EV spread maximizes Zygarde-C's physical bulk for it to take on threats it is tasked to check. The spread also lets Zygarde-C survive two Precipice Blades from Adamant Primal Groudon and two Close Combats from Mega Lucario prior to its transformation with Leftovers recovery.
* Leftovers provides Zygarde-C with apassive form of recovery and postpones the use of Rest.
* Power Construct lets Zygarde transform into Zygarde-C when it's HP is less than 50% at the end of the turn, gaining massive bulk.

Usage Tips
========

* Despite Zygarde-C's has a (or "Zygarde-C having good natural bulk")good natural bulk even before transformation, one should prefer switching in Zygarde into residual damage that isn't going to overwhelm it. Switching into weak or resisted attacks are promising ideas in this regard.
* One must scout for lure sets(AC), such as Hidden Power Ice Primal Groudon and Marshadow(AC), unless there are no sufficient switch-ins for them. Ice Beam from Arceus and Draco Meteor from Rayquaza is are able to either dangerously weaken or outright eliminate Zygarde before it gets an opportunity to transform.
* It is vitally important to keep track of the amount of damage Zygarde takes from an attack so it can be switched into appropriate attacks and transform under safety.
* If Sleep Talk is opted for, Zygarde-C can be used as an emergency check to sleep inducers such as Lunala and Darkrai and potentially shut them down with Glare.
* Even after transformation, Zygarde-C should remain as healthy as possible in order to survive +2 Precipice Blades from Primal Groudon, +2 Searing Sunraze Smash from Necrozma-DM, and or +2 Close Combat from Mega Lucario.

Team Options
========

* Primal Groudon appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to remove Ground-immunities from Ho-oh, Celesteela, and Giratina-O so that it can hit them with Precipice Blades. It also appreciates speed control from Glare(AC), which gives it a room to breathe against faster threats or set up reliably. In return, Primal Groudon checks Fairy-types and Primal Kyogre while providing Stealth Rock support to make Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail more useful.
* Arceus-Fairy is another partner that is able to set up Stealth Rock(AC), and it handles Yveltal and Marshadow carrying Hidden Power Ice. It also naturally draws in Defog Arceus formes and sets them on atimer with Toxic to give them much more difficulty switching into Zygarde-C.
* Necrozma-DM is another answer to Fairy-types that provides Stealth Rock support and hinders Arceus formes with Toxic.
* In more offensive teams, Xerneas is a great answer to Dark-types like Yveltal that simultaneously acts as a cleric support. It appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to wear down theopposing team with Dragon Tail with entry hazards up, or potentially lure Mega Gengar and remove it with Thousand Arrows from Sleep Talk.
* Mega Gengar vastly appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to spread status and draw in Arceus-Fairy. Glare lets Mega Gengar feast on trapped opponents with Hex while letting it potentially buy a free turn with Substitute. Mega Gengar is able to remove Arceus-Fairy and Xerneas, a cleric that removes paralysis from Zygarde-C with Aromatheraphy (what is the importance of saying Xerneas' role as a cleric here?).
* An alternate answer to Fairy-types is Magearna(AC), thatwhich is able to handle Yveltal, switch into Toxic, and use Heal Bell to alleviatecure Zygarde-C lacking Sleep Talk.
* Ferrothorn sets up Spikes to make Dragon Tail even more effective and uses Leech Seed on threats like Primal Groudon, Ho-oh, and Blaziken that it naturally draws in to let Zygarde-C handle them much easier and potentially allow it to transform safely. It also switches into Arceus formes lacking Ice Beam. Zygarde-C in return is able to take on Fire-types and Fighting-types.
* Toxapex is able to check Primal Kyogre lacking Thunder, Marshadow with Hidden Power Ice, and canswitch into Toxic. It also can induces burn with Scald to make physical attackers do next to no damage to Zygarde-C and provides Toxic Spikes support that can be utilized with Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail. It also takes on any Arceus formes barring Arceus-Ground.


[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Thousand Arrows
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Dragon Tail / Glare
item: Groundium Z / Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
ivs: 30 HP

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Dragon Dance increases Zygarde-C's Attack and Speed stat to immediately become an offensive threat. Thanks to the colossal bulk, Zygarde-C will find an opportunity to set more than once against majority of the metagame.
* Thousand Arrows, whether Zygade-C is boosted or not, is a very spammable move that barely any viable Pokemon in the metagame resists. The move progressively becomes harder to handle with boosts from Dragon Dance. Along wWith Groundium Z, the move turns into Tectonic Rage which lets Zygarde-C bypass its potential checks with additional power.
* Substitute prevents harmful status moves such as Toxic and Leech Seed to aidfrom hindering Zygarde-C's ability to set up reliably. Thanks to its great bulk, most passive Pokemon cannot break Substitute without letting Zygarde-C boost multiple times or switching out into a counter. It also notably takes two Dragon Tails from Giratina to be broken.
* Dragon Tail may seem like a bizarre option in Dragon Dance set, but it notably phazes out Lugia and Skarmory before they phaze Zygarde-C behind Substitute with Whirlwind. This move can also let Zygarde provide support to its team by checking threats such as Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Extreme Killer Arceus in an event where it cannot find an opportunity to set up.
* Glare is still a justifiable move to that can fit in this set. Especially with Substitute, it allows Zygarde-C to safely paralyze checks that switch in(AC), and the move also may occasionally buy free turns to set up Dragon Dance.
* Extreme Speed can be used to let Zygarde-C pick on weakened threats such as Geomancy Xerneas and Deoxys-A, but the low power makes revenge killing difficult in general.

Set Details
========

* Maximum Attack EV investment along with Adamant nature maximizes Zygarde-C's damage output and benefit as much as possible from Dragon Dance boosts. It also lets Zygarde-C to immediately take out standard Geomancy Xerneas with +1 Tectonic Rage.
* 252 Speed EV's allow Zygarde-C to outspeed everything up to Rash Deoxys-A after a Dragon Dance in its complete forme. This spread is also effective against Marshadow which may otherwise outspeed Zygarde-C and steal boosts with Spectral Thief.
* 30 IV's on HP allows Zygarde to activate Power Construct after it uses Substitute twice.
* An alternative EV spread of 252 Atk / 100 Def / 156 Spe with anAdamant nature lets Zygarde-C outspeed Choice Scarf Xerneas and Yveltal after two Dragon Dances in its cComplete forme.
* Groundium Z lets Zygarde use a powerful Tectonic Rage to hit bulky checks in Arceus formes and Xerneas. The Z-move benefits from Thousand Arrow's removal of Ground immunity.
* Leftovers is another option to provide Zygarde-C with passive recovery and let it set Dragon Dance more reliably against defensive teams, but this forces Zygarde-C to rely on excessive prior damage and entry hazards to bypass its checks.

Usage Tips
========

* This set lacks defensive investment and shouldn't be switched in recklseelyrecklessly, but it is able to act as an offensive check to Primal Groudon and other threats.
* Due to Zygarde-C's low initial power without boosts, it is best to set up on passive threats that rely on status moves to do meaningful damage(AC), such as Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, Chansey, and Blissey. It is always ideal to set Substitute to block status moves or on aforced switch.
* Frequent use of Substitute allow Zygarde to transform safely while avoiding heavy damage from the likes of offensive Primal Groudon and Arceus formes.
* When behind Substitute, Dragon Tail should be used against potential phazing move users such as Lugia, Skarmory and Primal Groudon to phaze them first.
* While Zygarde-C is a huge threat to offensive teams due to its bulk that allows it to accumulate boosts with ease, it has trouble breaking defensive roadblocks on its own and should be preserved until conditions for its sweep isare met. Entry hazards must be set in order to put Zygarde-C's checks into a range of boosted Z-move, or it simply has to wait until they have been eliminated.
* Especially with bulkier investment, Zygarde-C fails to outspeed important threats(AC), such as Deoxys-A and Marshadow(AC), with a Dragon Dance boost. This leaves one with an obligation to decide carefully about when to fire Thousand Arrows and when to set up. Although said threats realistically can't switch into Thousand Arrows reliably, switching on predicted set upsetup will simply make Zygarde-C's attempt to get boosts go to a waste as it is forced out.
* Zygarde is faster prior to tranformation, and unlike its cComplete forme, Zygarde outspeeds additional threats like Timid Mega Mewtwo Y after a Dragon Dance. Therefore, it is seldomsometimes better to postpone Power Construct's activation to take advantage of a better Speed tier.
* Zygarde-C will need to preserve its Z-move to KO its defensive checks(AC), such as support Arceus formes(AC), that would otherwise require multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to be KOed.


Team Options
========

* Zygarde-C will need multiple layers of hazards set in order to KO its checks with its boosted Z-move(AC), and therefore Stealth Rock users and Spikes setters are mandatory. Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM are able to set Stealth Rock and checking Fairy-types(AC), while Ferrothorn switches into special attacking moves from Arceus formes, sets Spikes, and uses Leech Seed to let Zygarde-C set up easier.
* Toxic Spikes from Cloyster allows Zygarde to pressure Arceus formes more and stall with damage from Ppoison with Substitute to put them into the damage range of itsboosted Z-move. Zygarde-C normally discourages Steel-and Poison-types and Poison-types from switching in and therefore forces its checks to switch into Toxic Spikes.
* Sweepers such as Geomancy Xerneas and Rock Polish Primal Groudon appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to pressure their defensive checks with itspowerful Thousand Arrows. The former appreciates Zygarde threatening Primal Groudon, Magearna, Chansey, and Blissey and can easily clean up weakened teams late game(AC), while the latter appreciates removal of Ground-immunity and is able to freely use Precipice Blades or set up while it forces out a foe.
* If Z-crystal is not opted for, Gothitelle is able to trap and dispose of Arceus formes which are defensive roadblocks that Zygarde-C will have hard time surmounting. It also neutralizes most passive foes for Zygarde-C to set up Dragon Dance reliably.
* Mega Gengar is an alternative trapper that is able to remove Arceus-Fairy and Arceus-Water for Zygarde and it appreciates spread of paralysis from Glare.
* Pivots such as Mega Scizor and Magearna can act as reliable check to Fairy-types while bringing in Zygarde-C safely with U-turn and Volt Switch, respectively.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Haze on physically defensive sets is an alternative way to shut down setup sweepers and to lure inXerneas and make it waste its Power Herb with Geomancy, but this is usually inferior to Dragon Tail due to it leaving Zygarde-C vulnerable to Gothitelle.
* Thousand Waves can be employed intoa Dragon Dance set to trap passive foes to gain setup opportunities. Depending on the passivity of a foe, Zygarde-C may set up fully and proceed to outright sweep the opposing team.
* Outrage with Dragonium Z allows Zygarde-C quickly eliminate Mega Salamence and both formes of Giratina and do heavier damage to support Arceus formes.
* Coil on aDragon Dance set is a viable option to set up better against passive foes. Investing 28 Defense EV's along with a boost from Coil lets Zygarde-C to make a Substitute that cannot be broken by a hit of Precipice Blades from defensive Primal Groudon, Sunsteel Strike from defensive Necrozma-DM, Brave Bird from defensive Ho-oh, andor Earthquake from Excadrill. However, this means Zygarde-C is forgoing Glare(AC), and its effectiveness as an offensive check to threats like Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Swords Dance Arceus formes will diminish.
* A set of Dragon Dance / Thousand Arrows / Substitute / Protect with Leftovers along with Toxic Spikes support can greatly bother Zygarde-C's checks. Repeated use of the two latter moves end up putting the likes of Arceus formes into range of boosted Thousand Arrows and it lets Zygarde scout moves better. However, this comes at a cost of being susceptible to phaze move usersphazers and forgoing Glare.
* A pinch berry may fit on Dragon Dance set to provide Zygarde-C immediate recovery and lets it set up more reliably against offensive teams, but forgoing Leftovers while lacking an access to Z-crystal isn't always ideal.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy massively threaten Zygarde-C with their supereffective STAB attacks. Although none of them likes switching into Glare or Toxic, they are still good offensive checks. The former is especially dangerous since it cannot be phazed by Dragon Tail and is able to set up Geomany as Zygarde-C is forced out. However, if Zygarde-C is boosted, the former falls to Tectonic Rage while the latter faces the same situation after some prior damage.

**Ice-type Attacks**: Ice Beam is one of the most popular coverage moves in the metagame and is commonly employed by support Arceus formes, Primal Kyogre, Deoxys-A, Mewtwo and others, and they massively threaten Zygarde-C by exploiting its extreme weakness to Ice-type moves. Hidden Power Ice from Primal Groudon and Marshadow easily 2HKOes Zygarde-C and takes out Zygarde prior to transformation after some prior damage has been dealt.

**Special Attackers**: Due to the fact that Zygarde-C resists very few special attacks and cannot afford to invest into Special Defense, threats such as Yveltal, Lunala, and Deoxys-A can take advantage of this to threaten to dent Zygarde-C with their powerful STAB attacks. However, they are left crippled if they carelessly switch into Glare. Dragon-type moves from Rayquaza, Dialga, and Palkia are even more threatening to Zygarde-C.

**Taunt**: Due to Zygarde-C's reliance on Rest to recover, Taunt users like Mega Gengar, Yveltal, and Mewtwo end up messing up Zygarde-C's HP management prior to its transformation and hindering its overall longevity. Yveltal in particular is troublesome since it recovers damage taken from Thousand Arrows with Oblivion Wing. However, the former Mega Gengar might be KOed by atimely executed Thousand Arrows from Sleep Talk if it switches in recklessly(AC), and the latterMewtwo (or Yveltal? "The latter two" could also work if you mean both) takes sizable damage from Thousand Arrows and loses its effectiveness if switched into Glare.

**Offensive Pressure Prior to Power Construct**: Zygarde needs Power Construct to activate to gain enough bulk to take boosted hits, and opponents are able to take advantage of this fact to KO Zygarde with brute force before it transforms. This makes most physical attackers, such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario(AC), to inclined ontowards setting up prior to using any attacks on Zygarde. Swords Dance-boosted attacks from mentionedthese threats have some chance to OHKO Zygarde if it has taken sufficient prior damage. Necrozma-DM in particular is troublesome in this regard(AC), since Zygarde needs to have transformed to its cComplete forme and be at near full HP to survive boosted Sunraze Searing Sunraze Smash. Zygarde also suffers from offensive pressure from a multitude of special wallbreakers amongof which themajority of them havehas a way to threaten it. Other than using Glare on switch-ins, Zygarde will be unable to do much in its base forme and will have amuch harder time checking physical attackers paired with special wallbreakers.
 
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Fireflame

Silksong when
is a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnus
I have to say you write extremely well for someone whose first language isn't English, so great job!

Remove Add Comments (AC)= add comma (RC)= remove comma (AH)= add hyphen (RH)= remove hyphen
[OVERVIEW]

* Zygarde-C gains colossal bulk upon activation of Power Construct, and this turns turning it into the bulkiest physical wall in the tier. Due to its sheer bulk and good defensive typing of Dragon / Ground,(AC) which that leaves Zygarde-C resistent resistant to Stealth Rock, it can serve as a check to threats such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, Mega Salamence, Marshadow lacking Hidden Power IceHo-Oh Ice,(AC) Ho-Oh, and Mega Lucario.
* Zygarde-C also differentiates itself from most other physical walls in the metagame thanks to access to useful utility moves in Glare, Toxic, and Dragon Tail.
* The aforementioned strengths of Zygarde-C lets Zygarde-C's strengths let (more concise) it fit into balance teams and defensive teams with relative ease thanks to the size of an array amount (same here) of threats it is able to check.
* Thanks to its signature move,(RC) Thousand Arrows, Zygarde-C easily hits most of the tier for at least neutral damage, meaning it only needs a single attacking move to be an offensive threat with Dragon Dance.
* However, the source of Zygarde-C's strength as a wall also leaves it with notable drawbacks. (it's best to avoid these types of sentences in analyses) prior to its transformation to its Complete forme via Power Construct, Zygarde-C Zygarde is obliged to make careful management of its health, and failure to transform Zygarde-C Zygarde safely will leave it overpowered by threats it would normally check, such as Swords Dance Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario.
* Zygarde-C's Dragon / Ground typing leaves Zygarde-C it with a common weakness in to Ice-type coverage moves and a susceptibility to Fairy-type threats.
* Zygarde-C is forced to use Rest,(AC) (if "as" and "since" are being used to mean "because", a comma must precede them) since it lacks any other form of recovery outsides Leftovers. This forces Zygarde-C to either forgo one of its utility moves for Sleep Talk to function while asleep or be left passive for two turns.
* Despite Thousand Arrows's fantastic coverage, offensive variants of Zygarde-C will need multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to surmount common walls in the tier, such as support Arceus formes, and have to preserve its Z-Move for KOs if the mentioned conditions were not met.

[SET]
name: Physical Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Dragon Tail
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Thousand Arrows / Glare / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Rest is the only reliable form of recovery Zygarde-C has access to. The move lets Zygarde-C be resilient to common Toxic users such as Primal Groudon, Celesteela, and Chansey while letting it and ("xyz lets... while letting..." is redundant due to the use of the same verb and can be fixed by making the sentence parallel like so) have more opportunities to activate Power Construct safely.
* Dragon Tail lets Zygarde-C phaze out setup sweepers like Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence, and Swords Dance Arceus formes and helps alleviate Zygarde-C's passivity. More importantly, Dragon Tail prevents Zygarde-C from being trapped and neutralized by Gothitelle, a trapper that is normally paired with most physical setup sweepers that Zygarde is able to handle.
* Sleep Talk allows Zygarde-C to function while it is asleep, preventing it from being completely passive.
* Thousand Arrows allows Zygarde-C to have an acceptable degree of offensive presence against the likes of Mega Gengar and Magearna,(AC) wear while wearing down Primal Groudon,(AC) and removing remove the (I also made this sentence parallel by saying "Thousand Arrows allows Zygarde-C to have, wear down, and remove", and doing this made the sentence flow better and sound less run-on-ish) Ground-(RH)immunities from the likes of Celesteela and Giratina-O. This is Zygarde-C's the most spammable move.
* Glare lets Zygarde-C shut down the most dangerous sweepers such as Rock Polish variants of Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Salamence. It also harshly punishes Zygarde-C's offensive counters,(RC) should they try switching in and attempting to force it out.
* Toxic is an alternative status move that punishes Arceus formes which that ("which" implies that all Arceus formes are switched into Zygarde. "That" implies specific Arceus formes. Not every single Arceus forme is switched into Zygarde, so the use of "that" is correct) are switched into Zygarde-C very often to take Thousand Arrows or undesirable Glare by putting them on a timer. This move Toxic can fit in Zygarde-C's moveset if its team is sufficiently prepared for the aforementioned setup sweepers.
* Glare or Toxic can be run over Dragon Tail or Sleep Talk, but it this comes at a the cost of Zygarde-C being vulnerable to Gothitelle's trapping or completely immobilized for two turns after it uses Rest.
* Coil is an interesting option that has good synergy with Rest and Glare. It has a the downside of replacing one of Zygarde-C's utility moves, but it lets Zygarde-C prevail better against Primal Groudon or and certain Swords Dance Arceus formes,(AC) which that would otherwise use Zygarde-C as setup fodder while it is asleep.

Set Details
========

* The EV spread maximizes Zygarde-C's physical bulk for it to take on threats it is tasked to check. The EV spread also lets Zygarde-C survive two Precipice Blades from Adamant Primal Groudon and two Close Combats from Mega Lucario prior to its transformation with and after Leftovers recovery.
* Leftovers provides Zygarde-C with a passive form of recovery and postpones the use of Rest.
* Power Construct lets Zygarde transform into Zygarde-C when it's its HP is less than 50% at the end of the turn, gaining massive bulk.

Usage Tips
========

* Despite Zygarde-C's good natural bulk even before transformation, one should prefer switching in switch Zygarde into residual damage that isn't going to overwhelm it. Switching into weak or resisted attacks are promising ideas in this regard.
* One must scout for lure sets, such as Hidden Power Ice Primal Groudon and Marshadow, before switching Zygarde into them (clarification) unless there are no sufficient switch-ins for them. Ice Beam from Arceus formes and Draco Meteor from Rayquaza are able to either dangerously weaken or outright eliminate Zygarde before it gets an opportunity to transform.
* It is vitally important to keep track of the amount of damage Zygarde takes from an attack so it can be switched into appropriate attacks and transform under safety safely.
* If Sleep Talk is opted for, Zygarde-C can be used as an emergency check to sleep-(AH)inducers such as Lunala and Darkrai and potentially shut them down with Glare.
* Even after transformation, Zygarde-C should remain as healthy as possible in order to survive +2 Precipice Blades from Primal Groudon, +2 Searing Sunraze Smash from Necrozma-DM, or +2 Close Combat from Mega Lucario.

Team Options
========

* Primal Groudon appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to remove the Ground-(RH)immunities from Ho-Oh, Celesteela, and Giratina-O so that it can hit them with Precipice Blades. It also appreciates the speed control from Glare, which gives it a room to breathe against faster threats or and (it allows Primal Groudon to do both of those things regardless of the circumstances and if they do come up or not) set up reliably. In return, Primal Groudon checks Fairy-types and Primal Kyogre while providing and provides Stealth Rock support to make Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail more useful.
* Arceus-Fairy is another partner that is able to set up Stealth Rock, and it handles Yveltal and Marshadow carrying Hidden Power Ice. It also naturally draws in Defog Arceus formes and sets them on a timer with Toxic to give them much more difficulty switching into Zygarde-C.
* Necrozma-DM is another answer to Fairy-types that provides Stealth Rock support and hinders Arceus formes with Toxic.
* In On more offensive teams, Xerneas is a great answer to Dark-types like Yveltal that simultaneously acts as a provides cleric support. It appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to wear down the opposing team with Dragon Tail with entry hazards up,(RC) or and (same reasoning as other change) potentially lure Mega Gengar and remove it with Thousand Arrows from Sleep Talk.
* Mega Gengar vastly appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to spread status and draw in Arceus-Fairy. Glare lets Mega Gengar feast on trapped opponents foes (foe = opposing Pokemon; opponent = opposing battler) with Hex while letting it potentially buy a free turn with to use Substitute. Mega Gengar is also able to remove Arceus-Fairy and Xerneas, the latter which otherwise remains and cures can cure its teammates of paralysis status induced by Zygarde-C.
* An alternate alternative answer to Fairy-types is Magearna,(AC) which that (which vs that. You can read more about it here) is able to handle Yveltal, switch into Toxic, and use Heal Bell to cure Zygarde-C lacking Sleep Talk.
* Ferrothorn sets up Spikes to make Dragon Tail even more effective and uses Leech Seed on threats like Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Blaziken that it naturally draws in to let Zygarde-C handle them much easier more easily ("easier" is an adjective and modifies a noun. "Easily" is an adverb and modifies a verb. Here, the word that is being modified is "handle", which is a berb, so "easily" is the correct word to use) and potentially allow it to transform safely. It also switches into Arceus formes lacking Ice Beam. In return,(AC) Zygarde-C in return is able to take on Fire-types and Fighting-types.
* Toxapex is able to check Primal Kyogre lacking Thunder, check (makes sentence parallel: "Toxapex is able to... "check Kyogre, check Marshadow, and can switch". Otherwise, this sentence reads "Toxapex is able to check can switch into...", which doesn't make sense. Based on what you've written so far, it seems that you have a decent grasp to where you make most of your sentences parallel when they need to.) Marshadow with Hidden Power Ice, and can switch into Toxic. It also can induce burns with Scald to make physical attackers do next to no damage to Zygarde-C and provides Toxic Spikes support,(AC) which that can be utilized with Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail. It also takes on any viable Arceus formes forme barring Arceus-Ground.

[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Thousand Arrows
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Dragon Tail / Glare
item: Groundium Z / Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
ivs: 30 HP

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Dragon Dance increases Zygarde-C's Attack and Speed stat to immediately become make it (this "become" refers to Dragon Dance in this sentence because right now, Dragon Dance is the subject (noun performing the verb), "increases" is the verb, and "Zygarde's Attack and Speed" is the object (the noun being affected by the verb). Therefore, this sentence says that Dragon Dance increases Zygarde's stats in order for IT [Dragon Dance] to become an offensive threat. Clearly, Zygarde is supposed to be the offensive threat, not Dragon Dance. "Make it" allows the increases in stats to be attributed to Zygarde as intended) an offensive threat. Thanks to the its colossal bulk, Zygarde-C will find an opportunity to set up more than once against the majority of the metagame.
* Thousand Arrows, whether Zygade-C is boosted or not, is a very spammable move that barely any viable Pokemon in the metagame resists. The move progressively becomes harder to handle with boosts from Dragon Dance. With Groundium Z, the move turns into Tectonic Rage,(AC) (comma should always be before "which") which lets Zygarde-C bypass its potential checks with additional power.
* Substitute prevents harmful status moves such as Toxic and Leech Seed from hindering Zygarde-C's ability to set up reliably. Thanks to its great bulk, most passive Pokemon cannot break Substitute without letting Zygarde-C boost multiple times or switching out into a counter. It also Notably,(AC) it takes two Dragon Tails from Giratina to be broken break Zygarde-C's Substitute. (makes the sentence more clear)
* Dragon Tail may seem like a bizarre option in on a Dragon Dance set, but it notably phazes out (this is in the standards, but the term is just "phaze") Lugia and Skarmory before they phaze Zygarde-C behind Substitute with Whirlwind. This move Dragon Tail ("this move" sounds like it's referring to Whirlwind) can also let Zygarde provide support to its team by checking threats such as Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Swords Dance Arceus formes in an event where it cannot find an opportunity to set up.
* Glare is still a justifiable move to that the point where it can fit in this set. Especially with Substitute, it allows Zygarde-C to safely paralyze checks that switch in, and the move also may occasionally buy free turns to set up Dragon Dance.
* Extreme Speed can be used to let Zygarde-C pick on weakened threats such as Geomancy Xerneas and Deoxys-A, but the low power makes revenge killing difficult in general.

Set Details
========

* Maximum Attack EV investment along with an Adamant nature maximizes Zygarde-C's damage output and to benefit as much as possible from Dragon Dance boosts. It also lets Zygarde-C to (when you use "lets", you don't need to put the infinitive form of the verb (to [verb]). In other words, you don't need to put the word "to" before the verb. You would do this with "allow", though. So it's either "...lets Zygarde take out" or "...allows Zygarde to take out") immediately take out standard Geomancy Xerneas with +1 Tectonic Rage.
* 252 Speed EV's EVs allow Zygarde-C to outspeed everything up to Rash Deoxys-A after a Dragon Dance in its Complete forme. This EV spread is also effective against Marshadow,(AC) which may otherwise outspeed Zygarde-C and steal boosts with Spectral Thief.
* 30 IV's on HP allows IVs allow Zygarde to activate Power Construct after it uses Substitute twice.
* An alternative EV spread of 252 Atk / 100 Def / 156 Spe with an Adamant nature lets Zygarde-C outspeed Choice Scarf Xerneas and Yveltal after two Dragon Dances in Complete forme.
* Groundium Z lets Zygarde use a powerful Tectonic Rage to hit bulky checks in like (you're talking about examples of bulky checks, so "like" or "such as" is better. Using "in" in this way more or less equates to "as seen in/present in". The second sentence of your overview does this correctly) Arceus formes and Xerneas. The Z-Move benefits from Thousand Arrow's Arrows's removal of Ground immunity immunities.
* Leftovers is another option to provide Zygarde-C with passive recovery and let it set Dragon Dance more reliably against defensive teams, but this forces Zygarde-C to rely on excessive prior damage and entry hazards to bypass its checks.

Usage Tips
========

* This set lacks defensive investment and shouldn't be switched in recklessly, but it is able to act as an offensive check to Primal Groudon and other threats.
* Due to Zygarde-C's low initial power without boosts, it is best to set up on passive threats that rely on status moves to do meaningful damage, such as Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, Chansey, and Blissey. It is always ideal to set use Substitute to block status moves or on a forced switch.
* Frequent use of Substitute allows Zygarde to transform safely while avoiding heavy damage from the likes of offensive Primal Groudon and Arceus formes.
* When behind Substitute, Dragon Tail should be used against potential phazing move users of phazing moves such as Lugia, Skarmory,(AC) and Primal Groudon to phaze them first.
* While Zygarde-C is a huge threat to offensive teams due to its bulk,(AC) which that allows it to accumulate boosts with ease, it has trouble breaking defensive roadblocks on its own and should be preserved until conditions for its sweep are met. Entry hazards must be set in order to put Zygarde-C's checks into a KO range of a boosted Z-Move, or it simply has to wait until they have been eliminated.
* Especially with bulkier investment, Zygarde-C fails to outspeed important threats, such as Deoxys-A and Marshadow,(AC) (Ok so the "such as Deoxys-A and Marshadow" is a nonessential clause, which means that it is a part of the sentence that if removed would not change the original meaning. You can either isolate it with commas or not. If you put a comma before the "such as", then the comma needs to be at the end of the clause as well. You can also remove the first comma instead) with a Dragon Dance boost. This leaves one with an obligation to decide carefully about when to fire Thousand Arrows and when to set up. Although said the aforementioned threats realistically can't switch into Thousand Arrows reliably, switching on predicted setup will simply make Zygarde-C's attempt to get boosts go to waste,(AC) as it is forced out.
* Zygarde is faster prior to transformation, and unlike its Complete forme, Zygarde outspeeds additional threats like Timid Mega Mewtwo Y after a Dragon Dance. Therefore, it is sometimes better to postpone Power Construct's activation to take advantage of a regular Zygarde's (added the word "regular" for increased clarification) better Speed tier.
* Zygarde-C will need to preserve its Z-Move to KO its defensive checks, such as support Arceus formes, (notice how it is isolated here) that would otherwise require multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to be KOed.


Team Options
========

* Zygarde-C will need multiple layers of entry hazards set in order to KO its checks with its boosted Z-Move, and therefore,(AC) (transition words (furthermore, therefore, moreover, however, Despite [xyz]) should have a comma after them if they are the beginning of an independent clause) Stealth Rock users and Spikes setters are mandatory. Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM are able to set Stealth Rock and check Fairy-types,(AC) while ("while" without a comma in front means essentially "at the same time". While with a comma before it means "whereas") Ferrothorn switches into special attacks from Arceus formes, sets Spikes, and uses Leech Seed to let Zygarde-C set up easier.
* Toxic Spikes from Cloyster allows Zygarde to pressure Arceus formes more and stall with damage from poison with and Substitute to put them into the damage KO range of its boosted Z-Move. Zygarde-C normally discourages Steel- and Poison-types from switching in and therefore (this "therefore" is the beginning of a dependent clause, so putting a comma would create a comma error. If you have any questions about that ask me on Discord because I'm kinda running out of time) forces its checks to switch into Toxic Spikes.
* Sweepers such as Geomancy Xerneas and Rock Polish Primal Groudon appreciates appreciate (subject-verb agreement) Zygarde-C's ability to pressure their defensive checks with its powerful Thousand Arrows. The former appreciates Zygarde threatening Primal Groudon, Magearna, Chansey, and Blissey and can easily clean up weakened teams late-(AH)game, while the latter appreciates the removal of Ground-immunity Ground immunities from foes and is able to freely use Precipice Blades or set up while it forces out a foe.
* If a Z-Crystal is not opted for, Gothitelle is able to trap and dispose of Arceus formes,(AC) which are defensive roadblocks that Zygarde-C will have a hard time surmounting. It Gothitelle also neutralizes most passive foes for Zygarde-C to set up Dragon Dance reliably.
* Mega Gengar is an alternative trapper that is able to remove Arceus-Fairy and Arceus-Water for Zygarde,(AC) (independent clause) and it appreciates the spread of paralysis from Glare.
* Pivots such as Mega Scizor and Magearna can act as reliable checks to Fairy-types while bringing in Zygarde-C safely with U-turn and Volt Switch.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Haze on a physically defensive set is an alternative way to shut down setup sweepers and to lure in Xerneas and make it waste its Power Herb with Geomancy, but this is usually inferior to Dragon Tail due to it leaving Zygarde-C vulnerable to Gothitelle.
* Thousand Waves can be employed in on a Dragon Dance set to trap passive foes to gain setup opportunities. Depending on the passivity of a foe, Zygarde-C may set up fully and proceed to outright sweep the opposing team.
* Outrage with Dragonium Z allows Zygarde-C to quickly eliminate Mega Salamence and both formes of Giratina and do heavier damage to support Arceus formes.
* Coil on a Dragon Dance set is a viable option to set up better against passive foes. Investing 28 Defense EV's EVs along with a boost from Coil lets let Zygarde-C to (remember the let/allow rule I told you about!) make a Substitute that cannot be broken by a Precipice Blades from defensive Primal Groudon, Sunsteel Strike from defensive Necrozma-DM, Brave Bird from defensive Ho-Oh, or and Earthquake from Excadrill. However, this means that Zygarde-C is forgoing Glare,(AC) and its effectiveness as an offensive check to threats like Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Swords Dance Arceus formes will diminish.
* A set of Dragon Dance / Thousand Arrows / Substitute / Protect with Leftovers along with Toxic Spikes support can greatly bother Zygarde-C's checks. Repeated use of the two latter moves Substitute and Protect can end up putting the likes of Arceus formes into KO range of a boosted Thousand Arrows and it lets Zygarde scout moves better. However, this comes at a the cost of being susceptible to phazers and forgoing Glare.
* A pinch berry (give an example, new readers may not really know what this means) may fit on Dragon Dance sets to provide Zygarde-C immediate recovery and lets let it set up more reliably against offensive teams, but forgoing Leftovers while lacking an access to or a Z-Crystal isn't always ideal.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy massively threaten Zygarde-C with their supereffective super effective STAB attacks. Although none of them likes like switching into Glare or Toxic, they are still good offensive checks. The former is especially dangerous,(AC) since it cannot be phazed by Dragon Tail and is able to set up Geomany as Zygarde-C is forced out. However, if Zygarde-C is boosted, the former falls to Tectonic Rage,(AC) while the latter faces the same situation after some prior damage.

**Ice-type Attacks**: Ice Beam is one of the most popular coverage moves in the metagame and is commonly employed by support Arceus formes, Primal Kyogre, Deoxys-A, Mewtwo,(AC) and others, and they massively threaten Zygarde-C by exploiting its extreme weakness to Ice-type moves. Hidden Power Ice from Primal Groudon and Marshadow easily 2HKOes Zygarde-C and takes out Zygarde prior to transformation after some prior damage has been dealt.

**Special Attackers**: Due to the fact that Zygarde-C resists very few special attacks and cannot afford to invest into Special Defense, threats such as Yveltal, Lunala, and Deoxys-A can take advantage of this to threaten to dent Zygarde-C with their powerful STAB attacks. However, they are left crippled if they carelessly switch into Glare. Dragon-type moves from Rayquaza, Dialga, and Palkia are even more threatening to Zygarde-C.

**Taunt**: Due to Zygarde-C's reliance on Rest to recover, Taunt users like Mega Gengar, Yveltal, and Mewtwo end up messing can mess up Zygarde-C's HP management prior to its transformation and hindering hinder its overall longevity. Yveltal in particular is troublesome,(AC) since it recovers damage taken from Thousand Arrows with Oblivion Wing. However, Mega Gengar might be KOed by a timely executed Thousand Arrows from Sleep Talk if it switches in recklessly, and the Mewtwo takes sizable damage from Thousand Arrows and loses its effectiveness if switched into Glare.

**Offensive Pressure Prior to Power Construct**: Zygarde needs Power Construct to activate to gain enough bulk to take boosted hits, and opponents are able to take advantage of this fact to KO Zygarde with brute force before it transforms. This makes entices most physical attackers, such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario, inclined towards setting to set up prior to using any attacks on Zygarde. Swords Dance-boosted attacks from these threats have some a chance to OHKO Zygarde if it has taken sufficient prior damage. Necrozma-DM in particular is troublesome in this regard, since Zygarde needs to have transformed to its Complete forme and be at near full HP to survive a boosted Searing Sunraze Smash. Zygarde also suffers from offensive pressure from a multitude of special wallbreakers,(AC) and of which the majority of them has have a way to threaten it. Other than using Glare on switch-ins, Zygarde will be unable to do much in its base forme and will have a much harder time checking physical attackers paired with special wallbreakers.
GP 1/2
 
Last edited:
Had a wonderful opportunity to be educated about the most common grammar errors I make in SAT's and other things. Thanks for massive input on feedback and this is ready for second check!
 

Lumari

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GP 2/2
[OVERVIEW]

* Zygarde-C gains colossal bulk upon activation of Power Construct, turning it into the bulkiest physical wall in the tier. Due to its sheer bulk and good defensive typing of Dragon / Ground, which leaves Zygarde-C resistant to Stealth Rock, it can serve as a check to threats such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, Mega Salamence, Marshadow lacking Hidden Power Ice, Ho-Oh, and Mega Lucario.
* Zygarde-C also differentiates itself from most other physical walls in the metagame thanks to access to useful utility moves in Glare, Toxic, and Dragon Tail.
* Zygarde-C's strengths let it fit into balance teams and defensive teams with relative ease thanks to the amount number of threats it is able to check.
* Thanks to its signature move Thousand Arrows, Zygarde-C easily hits most of the tier for at least neutral damage, meaning it only needs a single attacking move to be an offensive threat with Dragon Dance.
* However, prior to its transformation to its Complete forme via Power Construct, Zygarde is obliged to make careful management of manage its health carefully, and failure to transform Zygarde safely will leave it overpowered by threats it would normally check, such as Swords Dance Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario.
* Zygarde-C's Dragon / Ground typing leaves it with a common weakness in to Ice-type coverage moves and a susceptibility to Fairy-type threats.
* Zygarde-C is forced to use Rest, since it lacks any other form of recovery outsides Leftovers. This forces Zygarde-C to either forgo one of its utility moves for Sleep Talk to function while asleep or be left passive for two turns.
* Despite Thousand Arrows's fantastic coverage, offensive variants of Zygarde-C will need multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to surmount common walls in the tier, such as support Arceus formes, and have to preserve its Z-Move for KOs if the mentioned conditions were are not met.

[SET]
name: Physical Wall
move 1: Rest
move 2: Dragon Tail
move 3: Sleep Talk
move 4: Thousand Arrows / Glare / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Rest is the only reliable form of recovery Zygarde-C has access to. The move lets makes Zygarde-C be resilient to common Toxic users such as Primal Groudon, Celesteela, and Chansey and have gives it more opportunities to activate Power Construct safely.
* Dragon Tail lets Zygarde-C phase phaze setup sweepers like Primal Groudon, Mega Salamence, and Swords Dance Arceus formes and helps alleviate Zygarde-C's passivity. More importantly, Dragon Tail it also prevents Zygarde-C from being trapped and neutralized by Gothitelle, a trapper that is normally paired with most physical setup sweepers that Zygarde is able to handle.
* Sleep Talk allows Zygarde-C to function while it is asleep, preventing it from being completely passive.
* Thousand Arrows allows Zygarde-C to have an acceptable degree of offensive presence against the likes of Mega Gengar and Magearna, wear down Primal Groudon, and remove the Ground immunity from the likes of Celesteela and Giratina-O. This is Zygarde-C's the most spammable move.
* Glare lets Zygarde-C shut down the most dangerous sweepers such as Rock Polish variants of Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Salamence. It also harshly punishes Zygarde-C's offensive counters should they try switching in and attempting to force it out.
* Toxic is an alternative status move that punishes Arceus formes that are switched into Zygarde-C very often switching in to take Thousand Arrows or Glare by putting them on a timer. Toxic can fit in Zygarde-C's moveset if its team is sufficiently prepared for the aforementioned setup sweepers.
* Glare or Toxic can be run over Dragon Tail or Sleep Talk, but this comes at the cost of Zygarde-C being vulnerable to Gothitelle's trapping or completely immobilized for two turns after it uses Rest.
* Coil is an interesting option that has good synergy with Rest and Glare. It has the downside of replacing one of Zygarde-C's utility moves, but it lets Zygarde-C prevail better against Primal Groudon and certain Swords Dance Arceus forms, which would otherwise use Zygarde-C as setup fodder while it is asleep.

Set Details
========

* The EV spread maximizes Zygarde-C's physical bulk for it to take on threats it is tasked to check. The EV spread also lets Zygarde-C survive two Precipice Blades from Adamant Primal Groudon and two Close Combats from Mega Lucario prior to its transformation and after Leftovers recovery.
* Leftovers provides Zygarde-C with a passive form of recovery and postpones the use of Rest.
* Power Construct lets Zygarde transform into Zygarde-C when its HP is less than 50% at the end of the turn, gaining massive bulk.

Usage Tips
========

* Despite Zygarde-C's good natural bulk even before transformation, one should switch Zygarde into residual damage that isn't going to overwhelm it. Switching only into weak or resisted attacks are promising in this regard that aren't going to overwhelm it.
* One must scout for lure sets, such as Hidden Power Ice Primal Groudon and Marshadow, (AC) before switching Zygarde into them, unless there are no sufficient switch-ins for them. Similarly, Ice Beam from Arceus formes and Draco Meteor from Rayquaza are able to either dangerously weaken or outright eliminate Zygarde before it gets an opportunity to transform.
* It is vitally important to keep track of the amount of damage Zygarde takes from an attack so it can be switched into appropriate attacks and transform safely.
* If Sleep Talk is opted for, Zygarde-C can be used as an emergency check to sleep inducers (RH) such as Lunala and Darkrai and potentially shut them down with Glare.
* Even after transformation, Zygarde-C should remain as healthy as possible in order to survive +2 Precipice Blades from Primal Groudon, +2 Searing Sunraze Smash from Necrozma-DM, or +2 Close Combat from Mega Lucario.

Team Options
========

* Primal Groudon appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to remove the Ground immunities from Ho-Oh, Celesteela, and Giratina-O so it can hit them with Precipice Blades. It also appreciates the speed control from Glare, which gives it room to breathe against faster threats and set up reliably. In return, Primal Groudon checks Fairy-types and Primal Kyogre and provides Stealth Rock support to make Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail more useful.
* Arceus-Fairy is another partner that is able to set up Stealth Rock, and it handles Yveltal and Marshadow carrying Hidden Power Ice. It also naturally draws in Defog Arceus formes and sets them on a timer with Toxic to give them much more difficulty switching into Zygarde-C.
* Necrozma-DM is another answer to Fairy-types that provides Stealth Rock support and hinders Arceus formes with Toxic.
* On more offensive teams, Xerneas is a great answer to Dark-types like Yveltal that simultaneously provides cleric support. It appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to wear down the opposing team with Dragon Tail with entry hazards up and potentially lure Mega Gengar and remove it with Thousand Arrows from Sleep Talk.
* Mega Gengar vastly appreciates Zygarde-C's ability to spread status and draw in Arceus-Fairy. Glare lets Mega Gengar feast on trapped foe with Hex while letting it potentially buy a free turn to use Substitute. Mega Gengar is also able to remove Arceus-Fairy and Xerneas, the latter which otherwise can cure its teammates of paralysis induced by Zygarde-C.
* An alternative answer to Fairy-types is Magearna, which is able to handle Yveltal, switch into Toxic, and use Heal Bell to cure Zygarde-C lacking without making it rely on (I think? Sleep Talk isn't a slashed option) Sleep Talk.
* Ferrothorn sets up Spikes to make Dragon Tail even more effective and uses Leech Seed on threats like Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Blaziken that it naturally draws in to let Zygarde-C handle them more easily and potentially allow it to transform safely. It also switches into Arceus formes lacking Ice Beam. In return, Zygarde-C is able to take on Fire-types and Fighting-types.
* Toxapex is able to check Primal Kyogre lacking Thunder, check Marshadow with Hidden Power Ice, and can switch into Toxic. It also can induce burns with Scald to make physical attackers do next to no damage to Zygarde-C and provides Toxic Spikes support, which can be utilized exploited with Zygarde-C's Dragon Tail. It also takes on any viable Arceus forme barring Arceus-Ground.


[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Thousand Arrows
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Dragon Tail / Glare
item: Groundium Z / Leftovers
ability: Power Construct
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
ivs: 30 HP

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Dragon Dance increases Zygarde-C's Attack and Speed to immediately make it an offensive threat. Thanks to its colossal bulk, Zygarde-C will find an opportunity to set up more than once against the majority of the metagame.
* Thousand Arrows, whether Zygade-C is boosted or not, is a very spammable move that barely any viable Pokemon in the metagame resists. The move progressively becomes harder to handle with boosts from Dragon Dance. With Groundium Z, the move turns into Tectonic Rage, which lets Zygarde-C bypass its potential checks with additional power.
* Substitute prevents harmful status moves such as Toxic and Leech Seed from hindering Zygarde-C's ability to set up reliably. Thanks to its great bulk, most passive Pokemon cannot break Substitute without letting Zygarde-C boost multiple times or switching out into a counter. Notably, it takes two Dragon Tails from Giratina to break Zygarde-C's Substitute.
* Dragon Tail may seem like a bizarre option on a Dragon Dance set, but it notably phazes Lugia and Skarmory before they phaze Zygarde-C behind Substitute with Whirlwind. Dragon Tail can also let Zygarde provide support to its team by checking threats such as Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Swords Dance Arceus formes in an event where it cannot find an opportunity to set up.
* Glare is still a justifiable move to the point where it can fit in this set. Especially with Substitute, it allows Zygarde-C to safely paralyze checks that switch in, and the move also may occasionally buy free turns to set up Dragon Dance.
* Extreme Speed can be used to let Zygarde-C pick on weakened threats such as Geomancy Xerneas and Deoxys-A, but the low power makes revenge killing difficult in general.

Set Details
========

* Maximum Attack investment along with an Adamant nature maximizes Zygarde-C's damage output to benefit as much as possible from Dragon Dance boosts. It also lets Zygarde-C immediately take out standard Geomancy Xerneas with +1 Tectonic Rage.
* 252 Speed EVs allow Zygarde-C to outspeed everything up to Rash Deoxys-A after a Dragon Dance in its complete forme. This spread is also effective against Marshadow, which may otherwise outspeed Zygarde-C and steal boosts with Spectral Thief.
* 30 HP IVs allow Zygarde to activate Power Construct after it uses Substitute twice.
* An alternative EV spread of 252 Atk / 100 Def / 156 Spe with an Adamant nature lets Zygarde-C outspeed Choice Scarf Xerneas and Yveltal after two Dragon Dances in Complete forme.
* Groundium Z lets Zygarde use a powerful Tectonic Rage to hit bulky checks like Arceus formes and Xerneas. The Z-Move benefits from Thousand Arrows's removal of Ground immunities.
* Leftovers is another option to provide Zygarde-C with passive recovery and let it set Dragon Dance more reliably against defensive teams, but this forces Zygarde-C to rely on excessive prior damage and entry hazards to bypass its checks.

Usage Tips
========

* This set lacks defensive investment and shouldn't be switched in recklessly, but it is able to act as an offensive check to Primal Groudon and other threats.
* Due to Zygarde-C's low initial power without boosts, it is best to set up on passive threats that rely on status moves to do meaningful damage, such as Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Toxapex, Chansey, and Blissey. It is always ideal to use Substitute to block status moves or on a forced switch.
* Frequent use of Substitute allow Zygarde to transform safely while avoiding heavy damage from the likes of offensive Primal Groudon and Arceus formes.
* When behind Substitute, Dragon Tail should be used against potential users of phazing moves such as Lugia, Skarmory, and Primal Groudon to phaze them first.
* While Zygarde-C is a huge threat to offensive teams due to its bulk, which allows it to accumulate boosts with ease, it has trouble breaking defensive roadblocks on its own and should be preserved until conditions for its sweep are met. Entry hazards must be set in order to put Zygarde-C's checks into KO range of a boosted Z-Move, or it simply has to wait until they have been eliminated.
* Especially with a bulkier investment spread, Zygarde-C fails to outspeed important threats, such as Deoxys-A and Marshadow, with a Dragon Dance boost. This leaves one with an obligation to decide carefully about when to fire Thousand Arrows and when to set up. Although the aforementioned threats realistically can't switch into Thousand Arrows reliably, switching on predicted setup will simply make Zygarde-C's attempt to get boosts go to waste, as it is forced out.
* Zygarde is faster prior to transformation, and unlike its Complete forme, Zygarde outspeeds outspeeding additional threats like Timid Mega Mewtwo Y after a Dragon Dance. Therefore, it is sometimes better to postpone Power Construct's activation to take advantage of regular Zygarde's better Speed tier.
* Zygarde-C will need to preserve its Z-Move to KO its defensive checks, such as support Arceus formes, that would otherwise require multiple boosts or excessive prior damage to be KOed.


Team Options
========

* Zygarde-C will need multiple layers of entry hazards set in order to KO its checks with its boosted Z-Move, and therefore, Stealth Rock users and Spikes setters are mandatory. Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM are able to set Stealth Rock and check Fairy-types, while Ferrothorn switches into special attacks from Arceus formes, sets Spikes, and uses Leech Seed to let Zygarde-C set up easier more easily.
* Toxic Spikes from Cloyster allows Zygarde to pressure Arceus formes more and stall with damage from poison and Substitute to put them into KO range of its boosted Z-Move. Zygarde-C normally discourages Steel- and Poison-types from switching in and therefore forces its checks to switch into Toxic Spikes.
* Sweepers such as Geomancy Xerneas and Rock Polish Primal Groudon appreciate Zygarde-C's ability to pressure their defensive checks with its powerful Thousand Arrows. The former appreciates Zygarde threatening Primal Groudon, Magearna, Chansey, and Blissey and can easily clean up weakened teams late-game, while the latter appreciates the removal of Ground immunities from foes and is able to freely use Precipice Blades or set up while it forces out a foe.
* If a Z-Crystal is not opted for, Gothitelle is able to trap and dispose of Arceus forms formes, which are defensive roadblocks that Zygarde-C will have a hard time surmounting. Gothitelle also neutralizes most passive foes for Zygarde-C to set up Dragon Dance reliably.
* Mega Gengar is an alternative trapper that is able to remove Arceus-Fairy and Arceus-Water for Zygarde (RC) and it appreciates the spread of Zygarde spreading paralysis from via Glare.
* Pivots such as Mega Scizor and Magearna can act as reliable checks to Fairy-types while bringing in Zygarde-C safely with U-turn and Volt Switch.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Haze on a physically defensive set is an alternative way to shut down setup sweepers and to lure in Xerneas and make it waste its Power Herb with Geomancy, but this is usually inferior to Dragon Tail due to it leaving Zygarde-C vulnerable to Gothitelle.
* Thousand Waves can be employed on a Dragon Dance set to trap passive foes to gain setup opportunities. Depending on the passivity of a foe, Zygarde-C may set up fully and proceed to outright sweep the opposing team.
* Outrage with Dragonium Z allows Zygarde-C to quickly eliminate Mega Salamence and both formes of Giratina and do heavier damage to support Arceus formes.
* Coil on a Dragon Dance set is a viable option to set up better against passive foes. 28 Defense EVs along with a boost from Coil let Zygarde-C make a Substitute that cannot be broken by a Precipice Blades from defensive Primal Groudon, Sunsteel Strike from defensive Necrozma-DM, Brave Bird from defensive Ho-Oh, and Earthquake from Excadrill. However, this means that Zygarde-C is forgoing Glare, and its effectiveness as an offensive check to threats like Rock Polish Primal Groudon and Swords Dance Arceus formes will diminish.
* A set of Dragon Dance / Thousand Arrows / Substitute / Protect with Leftovers along with Toxic Spikes support can greatly bother Zygarde-C's checks. Repeated use Substitute and Protect can end up putting the likes of Arceus formes into KO range of a boosted Thousand Arrows and lets Zygarde scout moves better. However, this comes at the cost of being susceptible to phazers and forgoing Glare.
* Mago Berry may fit on Dragon Dance set to provide Zygarde-C immediate recovery and let it sets up more reliably against offensive teams, but forgoing Leftovers or a Z-Crystal isn't always ideal.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy massively threaten Zygarde-C with their super effective STAB attacks. Although none of them like switching into Glare or Toxic, they are still good offensive checks. The former is especially dangerous, since it cannot be phazed by Dragon Tail and is able to set up Geomany as Zygarde-C is forced out. However, if Zygarde-C is boosted, the former falls to Tectonic Rage, while and the latter faces the same situation after some prior damage.

**Ice-type Attacks**: Ice Beam is one of the most popular coverage moves in the metagame and is commonly employed by support Arceus formes, Primal Kyogre, Deoxys-A, Mewtwo, and others, and they massively threaten Zygarde-C by exploiting its extreme weakness to Ice-type moves. Hidden Power Ice from Primal Groudon and Marshadow easily 2HKOes Zygarde-C and takes out Zygarde prior to transformation after some prior damage has been dealt.

**Special Attackers**: Due to the fact that Zygarde-C resists very few special attacks and cannot afford to invest into Special Defense, threats such as Yveltal, Lunala, and Deoxys-A can take advantage of this to threaten Zygarde-C with their powerful STAB attacks. However, they are left crippled if they carelessly switch into Glare. Dragon-type moves from Rayquaza, Dialga, and Palkia are even more threatening to Zygarde-C.

**Taunt**: Due to Zygarde-C's reliance on Rest to recover, Taunt users like Mega Gengar, Yveltal, and Mewtwo can mess up Zygarde-C's HP management prior to its transformation and hinder its overall longevity. Yveltal in particular is troublesome, since it recovers damage taken from Thousand Arrows with Oblivion Wing. However, Mega Gengar might be KOed by a timely executed Thousand Arrows from Sleep Talk if it switches in recklessly, and Mewtwo takes sizable damage from Thousand Arrows and loses its effectiveness if switched into Glare.

**Offensive Pressure Prior to Power Construct**: Zygarde needs Power Construct to activate to gain enough bulk to take boosted hits, and opponents are able to take advantage of this fact to KO Zygarde with brute force before it transforms. This entices most physical attackers, such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario, to set up prior to using any attacks on Zygarde. Swords Dance-boosted attacks from these threats have a chance to OHKO Zygarde if it has taken sufficient prior damage. Necrozma-DM in particular is troublesome in this regard, since Zygarde needs to have transformed to its Complete forme and be at near-full (AH) HP to survive a boosted Searing Sunraze Smash. Zygarde also suffers from offensive pressure from a multitude of special wallbreakers, and the majority of them have a way to threaten it. Other than using Glare on switch-ins, Zygarde will be unable to do much in its base forme and will have a much harder time checking physical attackers paired with special wallbreakers.
 
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