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Community POTW #038

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Serebii

And, as if by magic, the webmaster appeared...
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Time for the next Pokémon of the Week

This week we are going to Unova

571.png


It's Zoroark

https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/zoroark/
 

Mestorn

Wandering Battler
Zoroark was Gen V's answer to Lucario that they did their best to hype up with a movie and locked it behind events. However Zoroark did not become as popular as its predecessor and thus became easier to access in later generations. Zoroark's main claim to fame is its Illusion ability, enabling mind games and causing your opponent to misplay and enabling Zoroark to take out key pieces of your opponents strategy. However Illusion is a paper thin with entry hazards and even moves used can quickly give up the game. Zoroark's frailty does not help matters, so it takes a deft hand to get the most out of Zoroark.

KitSpecs
Zoroark
Ability
: Illusion
Item: Choice Specs
-Dark Pulse
-Flamethrower
-Sludge Bomb
-Focus Blast/Grass Knot/U-Turn
Nature: Modest (+SATK, -ATK) or Timid (+SPE, -ATK)
EVs: 252 SATK/252 SPE/4 HP

Zoroark makes a fantastic revenge killer, with above average base 105 speed and a blistering base 120 SATK. Specs allows Zoroark to smash whatever your opponent brings in and gives Zoroark the oomph to if not KO, at least compromise the opponent's pokémon to the point where its use is greatly hindered. Dark Pulse is STAB and hits brutally hard:

252 SpA Choice Specs Zoroark Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Jellicent: 356-420 (88.1 - 103.9%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Zoroark Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Bronzong: 240-284 (71 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Zoroark Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Xatu: 470-554 (140.7 - 165.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Zoroark Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Espeon: 386-456 (115.5 - 136.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Flamethrower hits dangerous bugs like Vikavolt, Frosmoth and Escalvier (and Klefki) hard while enabling Zoroark to perform a good Salazzle impression. Ditto with Sludge Bomb wrecking Fairies that otherwise resist Zoroark's STAB (Comfey, Aromatisse, Gardevoir)

Final move is up to preference. Focus Blast is unreliable, but hits Umbreon hard.

252 SpA Choice Specs Zoroark Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Umbreon: 222-262 (56.3 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Grass Knot hits Seismitoad, Poliwrath, Rhyperior, Rhydon and others slightly to much harder than any of Zoroark's other moves. U-Turn is an excellent pivot move.

Dynamax
Dynamaxing works well with Zoroark's special sets as it has all the tools it needs. Max Darkness and Max Ooze both make Zoroark's Special attacks hit much harder and Max Flare sets up Sun, further boosting its own power and providing support to Sun oriented teammates.

Other Options
Heavy Duty Boots -Zoroark is often sussed out by entry hazards, so placing Heavy Duty Boots on can keep the illusion up a bit longer
Nasty Plot -not as immediate as Specs and will often tell your opponent that your pokemon is not what they are seeing, but Illusion can provide setup opportunities to have Zoroark muscle through most targets.
Trick/Taunt -Crippling a wall is always fun, though Zoroark still can't take a hit for beans.
Knock Off -Zoroark does have viable physical attack, but its viable Physical movepool consists of Knock Off, U-Turn, Low Kick, and Sucker Punch. Knock Off has good utility and is powerful, even on Special sets.

Preferred Partners
Entry Hazard removal is strongly recommended as mentioned before, Entry Hazards out Zoroark before it can begin and with how frail Zoroark is normally, the power drop from using the boots can be hard to justify. Otherwise, it is best to choose partners that help Zoroark abuse Illusion.

Illusion
Most obvious way to abuse Illusion is to have a Psychic weak teammate to bait Psychic attacks which Zoroark can absorb and often strike down the Psychic with a STAB Dark Pulse (or setup with Nasty Plot). However, Fighting types are not recommended as both they and Zoroark are weak to Fairy moves, so baiting out a Fairy attack will just ruin Zoroark before it can begin.

Another way is to have Zoroark disguise itself as an Entry Hazard setter to bait in Xatu or Espeon with Magic Bounce and then destroy them with a STAB Dark Pulse (be warned that Espeon is naturally faster than Zoroark and can carry Dazzling Gleam, so be careful).

Since Zoroark is often a special attacker, disguising it as a physical attacker can bait in a physical wall only to remove it from play with a powerful special attack. Also Zoroark enjoys having physically offensive teammates to break through the special walls that often trouble it.

Funny note, when I opened up the link for Zoroark, I had a minor glitch where the shiny and the normal variant were overlayed with each other.
 
Last edited:

BillyBobJoe

Well-Known Member
Good Coverage moves:
  • Fighting- Extrasensory; Bounce
  • Bug- Flamethrower, Burning Jealousy (only works with Prankster boosts or faster opponents); Bounce
  • Fairy- Sludge Bomb
Also, entry hazards and weather do not break Illusion.
 

KillerDraco

Well-Known Member
Also, entry hazards and weather do not break Illusion.

They don't, but they can still give away a masquerading Zoroark if the damage it takes from entry hazards/weather/etc doesn't align with the Pokemon it's disguised as. For instance, if it's disguised as Steel/Rock/Ground but takes damage from Sandstorm, if it takes more or less stealth rock damage than it should, or if it's affected by grounded hazards when disguised as a flying type. Things like that.
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Zoroark is a Pokemon I've done a lot of experimenting with over the years, and tried time and time again to make work. Sadly, the nature of Zoroark's gimmick means it only truly shines against inexperienced players and can be very difficult to use effectively against more experienced ones. While its stat spread is by no means bad, it's also not really good enough to justify use in more inclusive formats by itself. Zoroark does admittedly have a fantastic movepool with some colorful coverage and boosting options.

One great partner I've found for Zoroark is Gengar; the two share a similar movepool (I even experimented with carrying Dark Pulse as a 4th move on Gengar to aid in the bluff, although it's not really worth it in my opinion), they take the same damage from Stealth Rock (and as of Gen 7, both are affected by Spikes), and their typing synergizes amazingly. Zoroark's immunity to Psychic and resistance to Dark and Ghost let it easily take many attacks from opponents who bought the bluff and believed they were attacking a Gengar; similarly Gengar's immunity to Fighting and resistance to Bug and Fairy discourages use of those moves when Zoroark is disguised as it. One big difference that can give the bluff away is Toxic Spikes; Zoroark is affected by them while Gengar, as a now-grounded Poison type, absorbs them.

If your opponent is particularly savvy you can play mind games with them by sending out the actual Gengar, potentially leading to missplays on your opponent's part if they believe they are attacking Zoroark when it is in fact really Gengar. This relies heavily on your opponent's (in)ability to read your plays, however, so an element of unpredictability is key to this.

One thing to keep in mind is that, if you have a dedicated Pokemon to disguise Zoroark as, such as Gengar, make sure neither Zoroark nor the Pokemon you are disguising it as are holding an item that will affect their HP, such as a Life Orb, as this can give away the bluff after a few attacks as the two Pokemon will be at different HP percentages.

This is the Zoroark moveset I've found the most success with, especially with the aforementioned Gengar on the team.


zoroark.gif

Zoroark @
Bag_Black_Glasses_Sprite.png
Black Glasses
Timid - Illusion
252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed
-Dark Pulse
-Sludge Wave
-Focus Blast
-Nasty Plot

Pretty simple set. This particular set is designed to have as much moveset overlap with Gengar as possible (technically Gengar learns all four of these moves, but is unlikely to carry Dark Pulse so using that will likely be a giveaway to an experienced opponent that they're actually dealing with Zoroark). However, Dark Pulse is still your main STAB attack. Night Daze might sound tempting but personally I find the chance to Flinch and perfect accuracy of Dark Pulse to be more useful than the slight extra power and accuracy drops from Night Daze. It's ultimately a matter of personal preference, however. Sludge Wave blasts Fairies and can also be used to bluff as Gengar; however as Zoroark lacks STAB on it experienced players may notice the significantly lower damage dealt and that can give Zoroark away as well. Focus Blast is another move he shares with Gengar, and it dispatches bulky Steel types like Ferrothorn and is his strongest weapon against Magearna, although he needs a decent amount of chip damage to actually get the KO. Finally, Nasty Plot turns his decent Sp. Atk into something much more frightening.

As you may have noticed, there are a lot of giveaways that an experienced player can use to identify Zoroark. If you send him out disguised as Gengar against something you usually wouldn't want to send Gengar out against (such as, say, Bisharp), it's a giveaway. If you use a move that Gengar has STAB on (such as Sludge Wave), the difference in damage is a giveaway. Using Dark Pulse, a move that Gengar rarely carries and lacks STAB on, is a giveaway. Being poisoned by Toxic Spikes instead of absorbing them is a giveaway. These principles apply to all Pokemon you might disguise Zoroark as, not just Gengar, and indeed other Pokemon may have even more factors that can give them away, such as taking different amounts of damage from Stealth Rock, or being immune to Spikes/Sticky Web by virtue of levitation or being a Flying type. All of these factors that can potentially give Zoroark away are what ultimately makes it a very difficult Pokemon to use against experienced players, especially when combined with its frailty giving it little room for mistakes.

 
Last edited:

Mestorn

Wandering Battler

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
I don't believe Darkinium Z is available in Sword/Shield.

You're correct; this was the set I primarily used in USUM. The only change I'd make for Gen 8 is to put Blackglasses or an Expert Belt or some similar such item on it instead of the Z-Crystal. I'll edit the post to reflect that.
 
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