[QC:0/3] * / * / *
[GP:0/2] * / *
[OVERVIEW]
* Zeraora's blazing base 143 Speed, decent offensive stats, and flexible coverage options make it a menace for all playstyles to play around, and very punishing to predict its set incorrectly.
* Access to Grass Knot, Close Combat, and a high-powered physical STAB move in Plasma Fists also allow it to break past most conventional answers to Electric-types, making it uniquely difficult to switch into without one of its few consistent defensive checks or a well-played offensive check.
* That said, Zeraora is indeed very easy to check offensively. Offensive staples such as Mega Aerodactyl and the majority of Choice Scarf users can outspeed and pick Zeraora off, while Zeraora lacks the bulk or resistances to stand up to them.
* Further, despite Zeraora's wide movepool, its offensive stats are only decent at best, meaning that it will fail to get many key OHKOs and 2HKOs without prior chip damage and is heavily reliant on entry hazard support to truly be a threat.
* These flaws put it in an awkward middle ground between a wallbreaker and a fast anti-offense threat, and force it to gear its set toward one role over the other, thereby conceding bad matchups versus certain playstyles.
[SET]
name: All-out Attacker
move 1: Plasma Fists
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Grass Knot
move 4: Knock Off / Volt Switch
item: Life Orb / Expert Belt / Electrium Z
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Plasma Fists' high Base Power makes Zeraora decent at softening walls early-game as well and very effective at cleaning late-game when Ground-, Grass-, and Dragon-types have been eliminated.
* Close Combat and Grass Knot are crucial for Zeraora to stand out from its fellow Electric-types, as they allow it to directly threaten Ground-types, Blissey, and Hydreigon in a way that other Electric-types cannot hope to do.
* Knock Off provides Zeraora with crucial coverage against Latias and the occasional Decidueye, a means of crippling switch-ins by removing their items, as well as a spammable move it can throw out early-game without having to predict.
* Volt Switch is an alternative means for Zeraora to maintain momentum versus switch-ins that allows it to bring in a teammate to support it. This is helpful for teammates such as Choice Band Terrakion, Choice Specs Primarina, Moltres, and Gengar, all of which appreciate being able to come in for free on passive Pokemon such as Amoonguss. It should be noted, though, that Zeraora is not an ideal pivot compared to other Electric-types, as its Volt Switch is very weak and it'd much rather be firing off powerful attacks. It also lacks the bulk to scare out offensive Pokemon or the raw power needed to KO them, so Volt Switch should be considered a luxury for teams that have sufficient offensive presence to capitalize on it.
Set Details
========
* A Naive nature is used over Hasty because, although Zeraora is a mediocre Scizor answer compared to other Electric-types, it nevertheless would rather not take more damage from Bullet Punch than it has to.
* Life Orb provides Zeraora with a much needed boost in power, and grants it the ability to achieve several crucial OHKOs and 2HKOs. This boost in power is necessary to reliably 2HKO Hippowdon and maximum HP Scizor. The cost in longevity is very steep, though, as Zeraora lacks reliable recovery and is quite prone to chip damage to begin with, meaning that it will frequently not get as many hits off as it would like.
* Expert Belt sacrifices the reliable power boost of Life Orb in favor of being able to fire off attacks without drawbacks. However, while Expert Belt Zeraora still gains crucial 2HKOs versus Hippowdon, Blissey, and Latias, its neutral attacks are drastically weaker, compromising its effectiveness as a general use attacker.
* Shuca Berry gives Zeraora an option to stay in on two of its biggest offensive checks in Mega Aerodactyl and Choice Scarf Krookodile, OHKOing the former and heavily damaging the latter. This only works, though, if Zeraora is at high enough health to live an attack, which doesn't mesh well with how easy it is to wear down.
* Magnet provides Zeraora with a small boost to the power of Plasma Fists without cutting into its health like Life Orb does, but this
* If carrying an Expert Belt, an alternative EV spread of 88 Atk / 168 SpA / 252 Spe guarantees that Zeraora 2HKO fully specially defensive Hippowdon with Grass Knot, but this is suboptimal in the majority of scenarios compared to the standard EV spread.
Usage Tips
========
* Due to Zeraora's vulnerability to chip damage via entry hazards and Life Orb recoil, it generally has to choose between doing damage early-game or cleaning up late-game. Designate which role you would like it to serve early on to avoid spreading Zeraora too thin.
* Throw out Knock Off early-game to cripple Zeraora's defensive switch-ins as well as offensive checks attempting to pivot in. Removing a Choice Scarf from Krookodile, for example, can prove incredibly useful for preventing it from cleaning your team late-game.
* This also applies if you carrying Volt Switch over Knock Off, as you will forfeit momentum if you, for example, use Plasma Fists early on while a healthy Amoomguss is waiting in the wings.
* A competent will attempt to pivot around Zeraora's attacks to minimize its damage output and stall it out with Life Orb recoil. Compensate for this by playing aggressively and not always attacking what's in front of you, predicting switch-ins to Pokemon such as Hippowdon, Hydreigon, and Latias.
Team Options
========
* All-out attacking Zeraora fits best on bulky offense and offensive balance teams that can make use of its high Speed, compensate for its middle-of-the-road attacking power, and more reliably handle threats such as Scizor against which Zeraora isn't an ideal response.
* Wallbreakers such as Terrakion, Infernape, Bisharp, and Choice Specs Primarina are all very good at pressuring Zeraora's defensive checks, either eliminating them or putting them into KO range of its attacks. examples examples examples
* Entry hazard support from Pokemon such as Kommo-o, Mamoswine, Nidoking, and Chesnaught are invaluable for further pressuring the bulky Pokemon that'd otherwise consistently stomach Zeraora's attacks. These examples also make for effective checks both offensively and defensively to Zeraora's best answers such as Mega Altaria and Krookodile.
[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Plasma Fists
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Knock Off / Giga Impact / Grass Knot
item: Electrium Z / Normalium Z / Shuca Berry
ability: Volt Absorb
nature: Jolly / Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Set Details
========
* LO
* Z Bounce
Usage Tips
========
Team Options
========
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
* All-out attacking Zeraora with Fire Punch is an option to OHKO Scizor as well as dent Grass-types, but doesn't have very many uses outside of this. Further, Mega Manectric, Rotom-H, and Hidden Power Fire Rotom-C are better offensive checks to Scizor due to their superior defensive utility.
* Calm Mind Zeraora with Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, and Grass Knot can serve as a faster alternative to Calm Mind Raikou
* Choice Band Zeraora is noticeably more powerful than Life Orb or Expert Belt variants, but in exchange is forced to lock itself into a single attack. This is rarely optimal, though, since it often very much needs to switch moves, can boost its Attack anyway with Bulk Up. It also cannot viably run Grass Knot, meaning that it's best chance versus Ground-types is to remove their items with Knock Off and rely on a teammate to eliminate them.
* Hidden Power Ice allows Zeraora to nail Gligar, but beyond this single target, does not hit much of value that isn't handled between Close Combat, Grass Knot, and Knock Off.
* Iapapa Berry helps Zeraora mitigate its susceptibility to chip damage and can foil opposing gameplans based on wearing down Zeraora this way. This can prove especially useful for Volt Switch variants, as the last-ditch recovery provided by Iapapa Berry greatly alleviates its matchup versus Spikes stacking teams and allows it to pivot considerably more easily. However, the lack of a boosting item can prove extremely detrimental, as Zeraora struggles to achieve many OHKOs and 2HKOs even with such an item, meaning it is much more reliant on team support to put foes into KO range.
Checks and Counters
========
**Grass-types**: Chesnaught and Amoonguss wall the majority of Zeraora variants effortlessly, and can use the free turn to fire off Spikes or Spore, respectively. They are annoyed by Knock Off, though, and can be crippled by a boosted Z-Move if played carelessly.
**Faster Pokemon**: Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Beedrill, and the majority of Choice Scarf users all outspeed and threaten out Zeraora due to its frailty and weakness to Ground, though Shuca Berry is a very real possibility these threats must look out for. Mega Aerodactyl and Choice Scarf Krookodile
**Mega Altaria**: Mega Altaria walls all of Zeraora's coverage options, and only has to watch out for Volt Switch or a boosted Z-Move. Even then, defensive Mega Altaria variants take laughable damage even from +1 Breakneck Blitz.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[eht, 237235]]
- Quality checked by: [[*, *], [*, *], [*, *]]
- Grammar checked by: [[*, *], [*, *]]
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