Ready Steady: A Zacian Dragapult Team Report
Hi, Yotsumi here, this is a team report that follows my journey after being unable to top cut the Victory Road Winter Qualifiers twice.
With an open-sheet format implemented, I figured I needed a stable team that does not rely on any gimmicks. I also hope that I can have a positive match-up against most architypes, which leads me to choosing Zacian as my restricted mon.
All shall bow before the Behemoth Blade.
Common Zacian teams in the meta usually feature Lapras, Coalossal, Thundurus, Rain, Venukoal, Dragapult, etc. In my opinion, the greatest threat to Zacian is the fastest mon in game, Regieleki, and to counter that, Dragapult, with its ability Clear Body, and electric resistance, makes it a great candidate against Regieleki. Also, with Max Phantasm, you increase Zacian’s damage output by a sizable margin. This, in return, shortens the match time; Because the timing of the tournament is often after midnight, having a shorter match could reduce the chances of me making bad plays due to fatigue.
As such, I decided to go with Dragapult+Zacian as my main core.
For the next mon, I chose Indeedee-F as a support to bond Dragapult and Zacian together. This core has been proven to work many times in different teams. What follows are the crucial points, I need to deal with Calyrex-Shadow, which has an upper hand over both Zacian and Dragapult; and something to counter Trick Room and Sun. I then chose AV Landorus-T as my secondary core, sash Regieleki to ensure speed control, and Umbreon to stall out Trick Room.
Using this team, I reached 1900 rating on Showdown with GXE 81%. This team has lived up to my expectations, with no bad match-up against meta-architypes. But it has disadvantages when facing some not-so-common teams during the VR Circuit: Round 1 I lost to Milotic+Zacian, Milotic being strong against Dragapult, Landorus-T and Zacian; Round 7 I lost against Pado’s Venukoal+Calyrex-Ice team. This team can go up against Calyrex-Ice, but combined with Torkoal, which counters Zacian, it makes the match-up really bad. I also almost lost against a Kyurem-White+Darmanitan team.
The Team
Dragapult
Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Fly
Standard Dragon Dance set. I chose Adamant over Jolly, with Spe EVs just enough to outspeed Cinderace, because I think that there is a grey area in the speed tier between Cinderace and Zacian. Jolly Dragapult cannot guarantee outspeeding Zacian, so I instead went for more raw power.
Comparing to Jolly 252 Atk Dragapult, Adamant Dragapult has great improvement in dealing damage:
252+ Atk Life Orb Dragapult Max Wyrmwind vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Kyogre: 165–195 (93.7–110.7%) — 62.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Dragapult Helping Hand Max Phantasm vs. 76 HP / 0 Def Dynamax Solgaleo: 424–502 (95.4–113%) — 75% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Dragapult Helping Hand Max Wyrmwind vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Dynamax Thundurus: 300–355 (96.7–114.5%) — 81.3% chance to OHKO
Dragapult usually dynamax turn 1 if facing offensive teams like TornOgre. Dragon Dance is a good choice when facing bulky teams leading Grimmsnarl or Lapras, mitigating screens.
Max Wyrmwind is an important move when facing Zacian. Dragapult can use Max Wyrmwind against Zacian’s ally, and in turn survive a Behemoth Blade.
Zacian
Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 236 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Behemoth Blade
- Close Combat
Nearly maxed out attack, with not a lot of speed investment. Being faster than Timid Whimsicott, and also faster than Timid Regieleki after a Max Airstream.
In my opinion, Zacian has to score a KO with each attack, so being Adamant is the only option. As mentioned before, there’s a grey area in the speed tier between Cinderace and Zacian, so the disadvantage of not going Jolly is only that when there’s a Zacian mirror, I know I would move second. It being slower than Dragapult means it could get a boost after Max Phantasm.
Besides Protect and Behemoth Blade, I chose Close Combat for fighting coverage instead of Sacred Sword to use the boost after Max Phantasm. As for Registeel and Ferrothorn, I have other techs to deal with them.
The fourth move I choose Substitute. It’s useful in stalling out Trick Room. Also, it’s useful when facing Whimsicott or Grimmsnarl leads, which cannot break substitute easily.
236+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 36 Def Incineroar: 192–226 (95–111.8%) — 68.8% chance to OHKO
+1 236+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Indeedee-F: 160–189 (90.3–106.7%) — 43.8% chance to OHKO
Indeedee♀
Indeedee-F (F) @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 29 Spe
- Expanding Force
- Follow Me
- Protect
- Helping Hand
Physically defensive Indeedee with Psychic Seed. Follow Me can redirect moves, allowing Dragapult to Dragon Dance with ease. I had 29 Spe IVs, to win the terrain war against Rillabooms with no speed modifications. I didn’t choose 0 Spe because I still want to deal some damage with Expanding Force after a Max Airstream.
Moves are quite standard, and its bulkiness has shown to be practical. Being able to survive a damage roll from a +1 252+ Behemoth Blade, but there’s actually not so many Adamant Zacians. Its special defense is also reliable with the help of Psychic Seed.
Regieleki
Regieleki @ Focus Sash
Ability: Transistor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Electroweb
- Protect
- Screech
Because Regieleki is our only speed control, it must have Focus Sash to make sure that it can use Electroweb against a Tailwind team to get speed advantage. Also because of my slow Dragapult and Zacian, in case when there’s a Zacian mirror, Regieleki has to help Zacian gain speed priority in the late game.
Besides Thunderbolt, Electroweb and Protect, I chose Screech, a tech move as my fourth move. It’s a secret tech of this team, combining with Dragapult or Zacian, it could deal tons of damage. Screech + Close Combat is also a way to deal with Iron Defense Ferrothorn.
Regieleki may Dynamax in some situations.
Landorus Therian
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Fly
- U-turn
AV Landorus-T with lots of bulk. I usually dynamax it when facing Sun or Calyrex-Shadow. Speed investments are enough to outspeed Thundurus after a Max Airstream.
U-turn can be replaced by Superpower or Brutal Swing.
When facing bulky mons like Grimmsnarl or Porygon2 in Sun teams, it is better to not Dynamax on turn 1. It’s much more useful to cycle in and out with U-turn.
Umbreon
Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Snarl
- Foul Play
- Yawn
- Taunt
Mixed defensive Umbreon. This EV spread may not be the best, it might be better to test out different sets.
Umbreon’s a good trick room staller. Being immune to flinching thanks to Inner Focus, this makes Incineroar difficult to deal with Umbreon. Being dark type, it has great advantage against Calyrex-Shadow, and is often brought when facing Trick Room, Sun, and Calyrex-S.
Other possible moves include Helping Hand, Baby-Doll Eyes and Moonlight. But I think Taunt and Yawn are very important to against supports and Trick Room setters, and should not be replaced.
Leads and matchups:
Usually, you would want to lead Dragapult + Indeedee, with Zacian + Regieleki in the back.
This is quite a versatile lead when facing Zacian or Grimmsnarl + Specially oriented restricted mons.
Against Tailwind Kyogre:
Lead Dragapult + Regieleki, Zacian + Indeedee in the back.
Electroweb + Max Airstream Turn 1, +1 Regieleki usually outspeeds the opponent under tailwind. Electroweb also grants Dragapult crutial speed advantage.
If the Tailwind setter is Whimsicott instead of Tornadus, most likely the opponent has something up their sleeves, Whimsicott might also just set Trick Room instead. So Electroweb + Airstream Whimsicott in the first turn.
Against Tailwind Calyrex-Shadow:
Lead Regieleki + Zacian, Landorus + Indeedee/Umbreon in the back.
A Calyrex-Shadow team often has Thundurus as its Dynamax attacker. This lead (Regieleki+Zacian) can pretty much shut down any lead from the opponent. (AV Thundurus will be KOed by Thunderbolt + Behemoth Blade.)
After knocking out the opponent’s Dynamax, or Zacian successfully setting up substitute, Landorus could Dynamax.
Note that it’s better to not let Carylex get a Grim Neigh boost in the process.
Switch Umbreon or Indeedee in if there’s a risk of being KOed.
Against Calyrex-Ice:
The main Trick room setters for Calyrex-Ice are Dusclops or Mimikyu. Dusclops is the easier one to face, as Umbreon could just taunt it to deny Trick Room. Find an opportunity for Zacian to substitute and it should be fine.
It would be much more difficult against Mimikyu, as it often holds Mental Herb, Trick Room is very difficult to deny. It’s crucial to prevent Calyrex from entering the field early, try to stall out Trick Room for a bit, and let Zacian face Calyrex with substitute, conserve Dragapult for the lategame Dynamax.
The opponent will often lead Incineroar + Mimikyu.
I prefer leading with Dragapult + Zacian, with Indeedee + Umbreon in the back.
Try to bait a Fake Out into Zacian, while having Dragapult switch into Indeedee, Zacian will get a free substitute up. Then use Follow Me to deny damage onto Zacian, and stop the self-WP proc. When Trick Room is down, use Dragapult and Zacian to end the game.
Note that Zacian cannot OHKO Calyrex-Ice if intimidated. But in order to set up substitute, I have no choice but to make Zacian lead against Incineroar.
I’m not sure how to win against a Calyrex-Ice Torkoal comp with this team. (I was totally shocked when facing this from Pado in Round 7.)
Against Double Weather :
Lead Regieleki + Zacian, Indeedee + Dragapult in the back.
This architype is usually comprised with mons of mid-speed tiers. Even under Trick Room, it’s difficult for Venusaur and Kyogre to outspeed Regieleki. This makes Regieleki a really good member for this matchup. By leading Regieleki and Zacian, it could easily threat leads from the opponent.
Often the opponent will lead Porygon2 + Venusaur, a safe play would be to Electroweb + Close Combat into Porygon2. I feel that KOing Porygon and denying Trick Room is much more important than KOing Venusaur. The downside is that Porygon might survive a damage roll. (If Electroweb rolls the lowest damage, there’s 7 rolls from Close Combat that will fail to KO Porygon2.) After all, the Sun+Rain architype is mostly based on “rock-paper-scissors”, and I find it acceptable to have a neutral win-rate against it.
Against Sun:
The most common Sun architypes include Groudon + Charizard + Venusaur,
and Torkoal + Venusaur + Zacian.
The rest of the team is usually quite variable depending on playstyle.
Against Porygon2:
Theres no definitive lead, but I would bring Landorus, Zacian, Umbreon, and Indeedee, leading based on what they have.
If the opponent doesn’t have a Trick Room mode, but instead has Grimmsnarl, or any other form of control-support, I would lead Dragapult + Indeedee, with Landorus and Zacian in the back.
But when facing a Groudon/Torkoal lead, it’s difficult to Dragon Dance in fear of Precipice Blade/Burning Jealousy, which makes it difficult to break through screens.
It depends totally on guessing leads, and I can’t suggest a definitive way around it, due to how diverse Sun architypes can be.
Finally
I managed to peak 9th on the ladder but lost a game at the final hour, finishing at 23rd place.
On the last day of the ladder, it’s mostly Zacian teams, and I found that leading Regieleki+Zacian is actually not bad.
Electroweb+Behemoth Blade KOs Zacian
Thunderbolt+Behemoth Blade KOs Thundurus
Screech+Behemoth Blade KOs Landorus
Even when in a bad matchup, Eleki+Zacian usually does well anyways.
So that’s all from me, thanks for reading!
Original Creator:
Yotsumi Lelouch(四海) — — — @JingshuLiVGC
Translators:
Mili(米粒) — — — @mili1247vgc
Setsuku(節栩) — — — @Genrayz
