Zweilous Movesets & Competitive Sets

Hustle is Zweilous' most significant trait, giving a massive power boost to its physical attacks. Crunch is a powerful STAB move that nails common physical walls such as Galarian Corsola and Hattrem. Substitute is set up when Zweilous forces the opponent to switch out, even though it is broken by common Pokemon such as Tangela, Vullaby, and Galarian Corsola. Body Slam hits opponents that resist Dark-type moves such as Clefairy, Vullaby, and Morgrem. Zen Headbutt hits Fighting-types such as Gurrdurr and Machoke and while also hitting Mareanie super effectively. Protect allows Zweilous to scout the opponent's move and get more Leftovers recovery which helps against Night Shade Galarian Corsola. The EV spread outspeeds uninvested walls such as Vullaby, Roselia, and Tangela. Zweilous requires good partners to work properly. First of all, because it has no Eviolite and mediocre Speed, many Pokemon such as Raboot, Piloswine, and Electabuzz can revenge kill it easily. Thus, it needs teammates such as Galarian Corsola that can sponge hits from these aforementioned threats. Clefairy is a notable check, as it avoids the 2HKO from any of Zweilous's moves and can OHKO back with Moonblast; Roselia and Ferroseed can check Clefairy and also provide Spikes support. Ferroseed also has Knock Off, which helps weaken potential Zweilous checks such as Gurdurr and Clefairy. Fighting-types such as Gurdurr and Machoke can remove items from checks such as Galarian Corsola and Clefairy, weakening them and allowing Zweilous to break through them more easily. VoltTurn cores such as Electabuzz and Thwackey can sometimes bring Zweilous against Roselia and allowing Zweilous to set Substitute as they are forced out.

Moves Crunch is Zweilous's most reliable STAB move, making it the spammable attack of choice. Outrage is used as a nuke that can blow defensive cores open, but it prevents Zweilous from switching and leaves Zweilous easily revenge killed, so it should be used with care. Superpower smashes Steel-types not named Bronzor, most notably Probopass and Mawile, that resist Zweilous's Outrage and don't particularly mind Crunch, and hits bulky Pokemon such as Audino and Golem very hard without preventing Zweilous from switching. Head Smash OHKOes physically defensive Pelipper and 2HKOes Clefairy and Avalugg; however, it is extremely inaccurate due to Hustle and deals heavy recoil damage, so it should only be used as a last resort. Set Details Maximum Attack investment is for maximum destruction, and maximum Speed investment allows Zweilous to outrun as many walls as possible and Speed tie with the rare Rampardos. A Jolly nature is an option to outrun Pokemon such as Adamant Pawniard and Jolly Ursaring. Life Orb can be considered over Choice Band, but Choice Band's power and lack of recoil tends to make it the better item choice. Eviolite can be considered to reduce Zweilous's susceptibility to being revenge killed, but Zweilous appreciates the power of Choice Band, which boosts its wallbreaking ability, and Head Smash's recoil would offset Eviolite's bulk increase anyway. Usage Tips Don't expect Zweilous to last too long, as it functions like a glass cannon and is rather easily revenge killed. Zweilous should exploit a team's defensive link, such as Gourgeist, Bronzor, or Audino, and proceed to punch a giant hole in the opponent's team. If the opponent has Fairy- or Steel-types, refrain from using Outrage recklessly to avoid giving them free setup opportunities, and go for the safer Crunch. You can click Outrage and watch Pokemon drop like flies, although this exposes Zweilous to be picked off by faster Pokemon, so be wary of them if you want to keep Zweilous around for longer. Zweilous does have the coverage moves and power necessary to nail Outrage switch-ins for massive damage, so do keep that in mind. Team Options Zweilous has several weaknesses that should be covered if one is to make use of its wallbreaking abilities properly. Steel-types can shield Zweilous from Fairy-, Ice-, Bug-, and Dragon-type moves; Metang responds well to Mr. Mime and Regice, Klang can take advantage of foes that Zweilous has weakened, and Bronzor, Probopass, and Metang can set up Stealth Rock for Zweilous. Poison-types resist Bug-, Fighting-, and Fairy-type moves for Zweilous; Roselia can provide Spikes and Toxic Spikes support for Zweilous, while Curse Muk can be a threat after opposing Steel-types have been removed or weakened. Because Zweilous can punch holes into the opponent's team, fast sweepers such as Zebstrika, Floatzel, and Choice Scarf Leafeon can be used to clean up, while also covering for Zweilous against faster, offensive teams. Sticky Web support can be considered, as with a Jolly nature Zweilous can outspeed up to base 110 Speed Pokemon such as Jumpluff and Raichu under Sticky Web; Leavanny is the best Pokemon for the job. Alternatively, Trick Room can be used instead, with the nature changed accordingly to Brave and the Speed IVs adjusted to 0; Duosion, Beheeyem, Dusknoir, and Gourgeist-XL make for good Trick Room setters.

Moves Crunch hits Psychic- and Ghost-types such as Kadabra and Dusknoir, which Zweilous walls, and is also Zweilous's most reliable STAB move, as it has the highest accuracy. Dragon Tail allows Zweilous to phaze the foe, which is especially useful against setup sweepers, and racks up damage together with entry hazards. Roar can be used over Dragon Tail if Dragon Tail's low accuracy is unappealing to you or if you want to be able to phaze Fairy-types. However, the extra damage Dragon Tail does to the foe is quite significant, as it makes it easier to wear down the opponent's team. Zweilous is affected by all entry hazards and status and has no passive recovery, so Rest is used so that Zweilous is not worn down too quickly. Sleep Talk makes Zweilous not a sitting duck after it has used Rest and also helps against some Sleep Powder users, most notably Roselia and Jumpluff. Thunder Wave is an option over Sleep Talk, as it cripples faster Pokemon such as Floatzel and Monferno. However, Thunder Wave should only be considered if Zweilous has a cleric such as Lickilicky as teammate. Toxic is another option over Sleep Talk, as it cripples Pokemon that tend to switch into Zweilous, such as Avalugg and Tangela. Set Details The given EV spread and Careful nature optimize Zweilous's special bulk. An Adamant nature is an option to get slightly more damage off on Pokemon that switch in. Eviolite grants a boost to both of Zweilous's defenses. Hustle is the only ability Zweilous can use, which makes it somewhat unreliable by making all of Zweilous's attacks inaccurate. However, the boost in power results in Zweilous hitting surprisingly hard for a wall. Usage Tips Zweilous can switch in against various Pokemon, especially Fire-, Psychic-, Ghost-, and Electric-types such as Beheeyem, Floatzel, Kadabra, and Zebstrika, and rack up entry hazard damage by phazing the or simply defeating them with Crunch. Use Dragon Tail together with entry hazards from Pokemon such as Stunfisk and Roselia to slowly wear the opponent's team down. Watch out for moves that remove Zweilous's Eviolite, such as Leafeon's Knock Off, which Zweilous tends to be switched in against. However, Zweilous shouldn't be trying to take on most Pokemon that carry Knock Off and Trick. Do not hesitate to use Rest when Zweilous's health is low, as between the lack of passive recovery and having to take Volt Switches from Zebstrika, Zweilous's health might drop faster than you would like. It's not that hard for the opponent to remove entry hazards when Zweilous is on the field, so use Ghost-types such as Gourgeist to prevent the opponent from using Rapid Spin. Team Options Entry hazard users are great teammates for Zweilous, as they wear down the opponent's team very fast together with Dragon Tail. Audino offers Wish and Heal Bell support for Zweilous so that it doesn't have to rely on Rest too much. If you're using Thunder Wave or Toxic, Heal Bell is also very useful to wake Zweilous up after it has used Rest. Fairy-types such as Clefairy and Mawile easily take Zweilous out with their STAB moves so Pokemon that can take them on, such as Probopass and Bronzor, are good teammates. Ice-types such as Regice and Rotom-F also defeat Zweilous with ease, so Pokemon such as Klang and Grumpig are good teammates to cover that weakness. Ghost-types such as Misdreavus and Dusknoir prevent entry hazard removal via Rapid Spin and have decent type synergy with Zweilous, as they are immune to Fighting and Zweilous covers their Ghost and Dark weaknesses. Other defensive Pokemon such as Beheeyem and Tangela appreciate Zweilous taking on special attackers with its many resistances and special bulk. Zweilous fits best into defensive and balanced teams, as its unique typing allows it to check Pokemon such as Floatzel and Zebstrika, which could otherwise break through their defensive cores.

Hustle gives Zweilous a lot of power, and a STAB Outrage in a metagame where Steel-type Pokemon are uncommon is frightening. With the metagame being more inclined towards offense, Outrage is generally an OHKO on most offensive Pokemon with only a few of them avoiding an OHKO after Stealth Rock. Due to its decent bulk with Eviolite and good typing, Zweilous is capable of setting up a Substitute on a good number of Pokemon, including Alomomola, Misdreavus, Tangela without HP Ice, Roselia, Eelektross, Exeggutor, and Serperior. Most importantly, it allows Zweilous to turn the most popular physical walls in the tier, Alomomola and Misdreavus, into complete setup bait. Toxic, alongside Substitute, allows Zweilous to beat Alomomola and Tangela, crippling them so that Zweilous's partners can break through them. Crunch is a reliable STAB attack that, unlike Outrage, doesn't lock Zweilous into one move. Superpower can be used to hit Probopass, Klang, and Bastiodon, but it doesn't work well with Substitute due to the Defense and Attack drops, forcing you to wear down Alomomola with only Toxic or risk an Outrage confusion. 208 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature allow Zweilous to outspeed max Speed Timid Gorebyss and slower Pokemon such as Misdreavus, Exeggutor, and Alomomola, all of which give Zweilous an opportunity to set up a Substitute. Zweilous also can use a moveset of Thunder Wave, Outrage, Crunch, and Superpower with a 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spe EV spread and an Adamant nature to spread around paralysis, hit harder, and have more coverage options than the main set. 60 Speed EVs allow it to outspeed uninvested Roselia so it can OHKO Roselia before it can set up Spikes, and the HP EVs allow it to take several hits thanks to Eviolite. While that set has more bulk and more coverage, it loses out on the utility brought by Substitute and Toxic, which allows it to do important things like bring down Alomomola and set up on Misdreavus. Thanks to its ability to lure in and defeat Alomomola and Tangela, as well as turning Misdreavus into setup fodder, Pokemon that struggle against any of them, such as Kangaskhan, Primeape, Sawk, Carracosta, Scolipede, and Charizard, make good partners. As Zweilous lacks any form of recovery, entry hazards and constant use of Substitute wear it down quickly. For that reason, Wish support is appreciated to keep Zweilous alive; Alomomola in particular is a great partner as Zweilous can defeat most of the Pokemon that gives it trouble.

Zweilous's Dark / Dragon typing grants it many resistances to common special attacks, and with 72 / 70 / 70 defenses alongside Eviolite, it can take on a huge slew of special attackers in the tier. The list of Pokemon that Zweilous beats is huge; these Pokemon provide it opportunities to phaze teams around with Roar and Dragon Tail to rack up damage from Stealth Rock and Spikes. Pokemon such as Eelektross, Rotom-S, Zebstrika, Serperior, Exeggutor, Ludicolo, Alomomola, Musharna, Charizard, Misdreavus, and Haunter make up a large portion of the metagame and are easily walled and taken advantage of by Zweilous. Zweilous's main draw, other than walling special attackers, is its ability to phaze other Pokemon with both Roar and Dragon Tail. Roar ignores the effects of Hustle and allows for more reliable phazing, while Dragon Tail ignores the effects of Taunt and deals damage but only has a shaky 72% accuracy when putting Hustle into account. Having both Roar and Dragon Tail at once might seem weird, but it maximizes the chances of Sleep Talk picking a phazing move, which is extremely useful to keep a phazing chain going. Crunch is a good option over Dragon Tail for 2HKOing Musharna, Duosion, and Misdreavus, but its use ends there. Crunch gets in the way of Sleep Talk's phazing and only deals decent damage to neutral targets. However, if your team is weak to those targets, Crunch can be a blessing as the combination of good special bulk, phazing, and ability to beat Musharna, Duosion, and Misdreavus is not found on many other Pokemon in the tier. 60 Speed EVs allow Zweilous to outspeed uninvested Alomomola and Tangela while also phazing them through Sleep Talk before they can do anything in return. This is really useful for Zweilous as it prevents Alomomola and Tangela from using Wish or Leech Seed, respectively, which would decrease the damage done on the Pokemon being forced in to take damage from entry hazards. With all the talk about entry hazards, it should come to no surprise that some of the best partners for Zweilous are Stealth Rock and Spikes users. As this set is more tailored to fit on defensive teams, the best Stealth Rock users for the job are Metang, Bastiodon, Torkoal, and Regirock. Each have niches for stall teams and pair well with Zweilous, especially Metang and Torkoal, who have good defensive synergy with it and support it by countering Jynx and providing Rapid Spin support, respectively. Rapid Spin users in general are very good for Zweilous, who doesn't like having to switch into entry hazards while attempting to wall the Pokemon it needs to. Torkoal and Wartortle are the best defensive Rapid Spin users in the tier; Torkoal is a good check to Scolipede, Primeape, and Jynx that bother Zweilous, while Wartortle can guarantee Rapid Spin thanks to Foresight. As Zweilous is constantly using Rest, Heal Bell and Aromatherapy are great support options for it. They allow Zweilous to instantly wake up without having to be out on the field for two turns, which is useful if it desperately needs to be awake to heal with Rest or phaze with Roar. Musharna and Misdreavus are the best users of Heal Bell to partner with Zweilous as they can take the Fighting-type attacks aimed at it. Meganium, Audino, and Lickilicky are also good options to use Aromatherapy or Heal Bell on stall teams, but they compound weaknesses with Zweilous.