Base Stats
HP: 108
Attack: 100
Defense: 121
Special Attack: 81
Special Defense: 95
Speed: 95
Abilities
Aura Break: The effects or Aura Abilities are reversed.
Ever since Pokémon Gold and Silver, there have been two legendaries at the opposite ends of a particular spectrum. However, when Ruby and Sapphire were released, a third legendary Pokémon was revealed. This legendary was Rayquaza, and it was its duty to balance out the forces of Groudon and Kyogre. This started a tradition of two opposing forces, vying for control over a particular part of nature, and this third Pokémon would balance them out. In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, this legendary was Giratina, who controlled the area between Time and Space, the Distortion World (i.e. the Underworld). In Black and White, there was Kyurem, who was said to fuse together with Reshiram and Zekrom to create a legendary Dragon Pokémon of old. Now, in X and Y, there is Xerneas, the Pokémon of Life, and Yveltal, the Pokémon of Destruction. What did Nintendo create to balance these two out?
A weird… snake… thing.
Zygarde is, in my opinion, the most disappointing third legendary of them all. All of the previously mentioned Pokemon see Ubers play in some way or another, and many of them have unique niches in it, to boot, allowing them to shape the metagame around them. Zygarde does not, and falls short in every aspect of this norm. Its typing is abysmal, and it has no hope of countering either Xerneas or Yveltal; Yveltal is immune to its Ground-type STAB while Xerneas is immune to its Dragon-type STAB. On top of this, Zygarde has a base stat total that is 100 points less than both of the box art legendary Pokémon.
And, just to add insult to injury, Zygarde’s signature move, Land’s Wrath, is a complete joke. You’d think that something with such an epic-sounding name would be awesome, but no; it is strictly worse than Earthquake in all ways, being 10 base power points less than the staple Ground-type attack. There are no cool side-effects at all, either, making the only reason to use Land’s Wrath be its name. All of this has led Zygarde to be the first legendary in the counter/balance position to be put into the Underused tier (though it is certainly viable in Overused - just don’t expect it to fulfill the same role as its brethren Dragon/Ground type, Garchomp).
Which brings us to its… unique properties. Despite being almost totally outclassed for a sweeper role by Garchomp, with its monstrous Attack and unique Speed tier, Zygarde is able to operate in Overused, albeit a different manner than Garchomp. Zygarde has been blessed with a boosting move that Garchomp can only wish to get - Dragon Dance. Additionally, Zygarde also has unique support options available to it such as Safeguard, and can phaze stronger setup sweepers who would come in on its mediocre attacks with Dragon Tail, or slap them with Haze. It also has access to a unique boosting move- Coil, which remedies Stone Edge’s unreliable accuracy, and Glare, a Normal-type equivalent of Thunder Wave (that can hit Ground types). Add Extremespeed to the mix, and Zygarde might actually be kind of threatening if used properly.
Before I get to the sets, it is important to note a couple things. Pokémon X and Y have not even been out for a full year, and a third installment isn’t out of the question yet. In Generation III, we had Emerald, which centered around Rayquaza. In Generation IV, we had Platinum, following the story of Giratina. So, it’s still a very real possibility that we’ll see what Zygarde has to offer in the near future with a third game centered around it. This gives Zygarde the opportunity to really make a turnaround, especially since its base stat total is conveniently 100 less than its contemporaries. You want to know what adds 100 points to a Pokémon’s base stat total?
Mega evolution.
A mega evolution could be just what Zygarde needs to get back in the Ubers metagame, as without it, it falls too short to be of any real use. Whether Zygarde receives a mega evolution is total speculation, but seeing the convenient stat discrepancies and the fact that X and Y are the first games to create mega evolution, it seems rather plausible.
Double-Boosting Dragon of Doom!
Zygarde
Hold Item: Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Special Defense, 4 Attack
Coil
Dragon Dance
Stone Edge
Earthquake
This set aims to boost its Attack, Defense, Accuracy, and Speed in an attempt to sweep through the enemy’s unsuspecting team. Zygard is fairly bulky and can take a couple of hits while boosting, and the EV spread is made to optimize its ability to take specially-based hits, as Coil boosts Zygarde’s already beefy Defense stat substantially. Leftovers rounds out the bulk, giving Zygarde some much-needed recovery while it gets multiple boosts; something that Zygarde desperately needs in order to sweep.
Coil, in my opinion, is one of the coolest boosting moves that the Pokémon games have given us yet, and I’m surprised to see that this move isn’t used more often (though its distribution is laughable). This move is incredibly underrated despite its excellent capabilities. Not only does it make Zygarde hit harder and resist hits better, but the Accuracy boost is invaluable, especially because Stone Edge’s shaky Accuracy can cost you a lot of games. This little tidbit will actually infuriate opponents as you sweep through their team with a powerhouse move that normally misses every other go. Dragon Dance is to boost its okay, but rather slow Speed, and because there is no Speed investment for this set, Zygarde really needs the boost to get the jump on other dangerous Pokémon in the same speed tier as him (a good example is Arcanine).
The remainder of its movepool forms the fabled Edge-Quake combo, known for its almost perfect coverage. If Earthquake doesn’t hit it super-effectively, there’s a pretty good chance that Stone Edge does. Despite STAB on Earthquake, Stone Edge is the preferred spammable move on this set - despite its low powerpoints and lack of STAB, the perfect accuracy (thanks to Coil) will let you benefit from its great overall super-effective coverage and critical hit rate.
Zygarde is a big fish in a little pond if there ever was one. He is a legendary when it comes down to it, and his base stats are much higher than others in the tier. A great Pokémon to pair Zygarde with is Galvantula. The spider helps Zygarde’s Speed problem by laying down Sticky Web, which goes a long way toward allowing Zygarde to sweep. Main problems for Zygarde are any Ice-type attacks, ever, because its x4 weakness will leave it out in the cold when you need it to come through for you most. Common Ice types in the tier that give Zygarde a run for its money are Cloyster, Weavile, and Kyurem’s base forme. All of these can one shot Zygarde without boosts and can take a few hits from the Order Pokémon, barring Weavile, who has the Attack and Speed to ruin Zygarde regardless.
The following sets are based on Zygarde's unique traits, and are for the sake of using it in Overused. However, these sets themselves are probably perfectly viable in lower tiers as well, though they might be a waste of Zygarde's potential in Underused.
Medusa’s Gaze
Zygarde
Hold Item: Leftovers
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Special Defense, 4 Defense
Glare
Dragon Tail
Rest/Earthquake
Sleep Talk/Stone Edge
Outside of Leftovers, Zygarde has little to no natural recovery moves, so Rest is really the only viable option for it. Thankfully, its Defense is naturally high enough to not need too much investment to make it bulky. The goal of this set is to spread Paralysis to as many opponents as possible, making it much easier for other Pokémon to sweep later in the game. Glare now has perfect accuracy, and can also hit Ground-type sweepers that might give others trouble later on, such as Landorus. Dragon Tail is for phazing, and helps with spreading paralysis (so long as Fairies stay away). Sleep Talk lets you use the two moves while recovering away status, such as Toxic, that might otherwise put a halt to your stalling plans.
This particular set really benefits from entry hazards being on the field, as the damage can rack up very fast when you are using Dragon Tail a lot. Forettress can take any hits aimed at Zygarde and either lay down Spikes or Stealth Rock, or spin away your own entry hazards.
As mentioned before, Fairy types that don’t care about paralysis are the best options for taking out Zygarde. Whimsicott can come in and essentially ignore paralysis due to Prankster, Taunt Zygarde, and force it to switch out. As painful as this is to say, Dedenne (who should never see competitive play, ever) is a perfect counter to this set, being immune to paralysis and Dragon Tail. Electric-type Pokémon can also come in on Glare and avoid the paralysis while hitting back with Hidden Power Ice, but they should be wary of a STAB Earthquake, should Zygarde choose to run it. An exception is Rotom-F, who can avoid Earthquake with Levitate and hit back with STAB Blizzard.
That being said, if Zygarde chooses to run attacking moves on this set, they won’t be extraordinarily powerful. A base 100 Attack stat and STAB can only get you so far in an extremely offensive metagame.
The Dancing Dragon of Niflheim
Zygarde
Hold Item: Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Dragon Dance
Outrage
Earthquake
Extremespeed
That being said, a support moveset wouln’t be putting Zygarde’s great boosting moves to use. The goal of this set is to boost with Dragon Dance and then sweep with your powerful STABs and Extremespeed. Unfortunately, in a predominantly fast metagame like Overused, even after a Dragon Dance there will be things that outspeed and OHKO you regardless. It’s important to know when Zygarde has a shot at sweeping and when it doesn’t.
Earthquake is a STAB of choice, unless the opponent isn’t running a Fairy-type Pokémon. If they are, it’s best to stay away from Outrage in order to prevent Azumarill from getting a Belly Drum in. Extremespeed is for priority against priority (Extremespeed has a +2 priority, while other basic priority attacks like Aqua Jet, Ice Shard, and Talonflame’s Brave Bird have +1), and lets you get the jump on common priority abusers like Talonflame and Azumarill, though you should never keep Zygarde in on threats like Azumarill in the first place.
See the pattern? In Overused, Zygarde is simply too little, too late. Everything it can do, Dragonite can do better. Heck, it can even run a similar moveset to the paralysis spreader set with Thunder Wave, Dragon Tail, Roost, and a filler move, AND it has better overall bulk because of Multiscale. Sorry to say that Zygarde isn’t the epic serpent it was meant to be (or at least not yet - let’s hope for a mega evolution).
All in all, I expect more out of Zygarde in the future, but have accepted where it is now. While it is a little cheap in the Underused tier, it definitely has challengers that give it some trouble. If you don’t mind using legandaries outside of Ubers, which I have noticed is a common thinking pattern among players, then Zygarde isn’t the right Pokémon for you, and using it might almost seem unfair at times. On the other hand, if you don’t mind dominating with legandaries, you may have found a new best friend.
- JaydenSilver
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