Zygarde Movesets & Competitive Sets

Thousand Arrows removes Ground immunities from Pokemon like Celesteela, Rotom-W, Skarmory, and Mandibuzz, making them easier to deal with. Outrage dents Pokemon like Pelipper, Appletun, Araquanid, and Celebi that are neutral or resistant to Thousand Arrows while providing valuable STAB coverage and helping greatly in the Dragon matchup. However, being locked into Outrage makes Zygarde-10% even more vulnerable to powerful attackers like Dragapult and bulky walls like Amoonguss, since it becomes unable to switch out for a few turns. Extreme Speed allows Zygarde-10% to revenge kill faster weakened threats such as Alolan Raichu and Barraskewda. It can use Toxic to lure in and cripple bulky Pokemon such as Slowbro, Hippowdon, Mandibuzz, and Galarian Corsola attempting to wall it in the long run. Maximum Speed investment allows it to outspeed Hydreigon, Urshifu-R, Keldeo, and Choice Specs Latios, while Choice Band is recommended to maximize its damage output and power. Zygarde-10% should be brought in through predicted switches or once a teammate has fainted, since it will likely take a lot of damage from powerful attacks such as Tapu Lele's Psychic, Nidoking's Earth Power, and Keldeo's Scald. Teammates such as Excadrill and Mamoswine appreciate Zygarde-10%'s ability to make their Ground-type moves more spammable by removing the Ground immunity from Flying-types such as Celesteela and Skarmory. In return, Excadrill can KO Fairy- and Ice-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Alolan Ninetales, and Galarian Darmanitan, especially under Hippowdon's sand. Excadrill can also remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin to increase Zygarde-10%'s longevity and use Sand Rush to handle faster threats Zygarde-10% cannot take care of. Mamoswine is also useful for defeating problematic foes such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu, outspeeding and picking off faster foes like Dragapult with Ice Shard and removing items like Heavy-Duty Boots and Eviolite from prominent Pokemon such as Blissey, Mandibuzz, Porygon2, and Galarian Corsola with Knock Off. Hippowdon can deal chip damage on foes by setting Stealth Rock and sand, and it can preserve Zygarde-10%'s poor bulk by switching into most powerful attackers such as Dragonite, Terrakion, and Bisharp. Gastrodon and Seismitoad both provide a valuable Water immunity against Urshifu-R and Barraskewda. Nidoking is good for absorbing Toxic Spikes, setting its own, and using Flamethrower to KO Grass-types such as Ferrothorn and Tapu Bulu. The pair takes on Steel teams well because Nidoking has excellent coverage in Earth Power and Flamethrower, while Zygarde-10% can force switches with Thousand Arrows.

Zygarde-10% is a strong wallbreaker that takes advantage of its naturally high Speed tier and the completely fair and balanced move that is Thousand Arrows. Thousand Arrows is Zygarde-10%'s primary attack, and with no immunities and few common resistances, it can safely fire off Choice Band-boosted attacks with little need for prediction. Toxic can chip down switch-ins to Zygarde-10%, like physically defensive Tangrowth and Buzzwole, while Glare is another option to potentially gain free turns while also helping out slower teammates. Extreme Speed is used to pick off weakened, faster targets like Zeraora, Weavile, and Speed receivers faster than Zygarde-10%. Outrage is Zygarde-10%'s single strongest move and useful for overpowering Giratina and Tangrowth but leaves it exceedingly vulnerable to being revenge killed. A god with a high Attack stat, like Kyurem-B, Rayquaza, or Necrozma-DM, is a necessity to pair with Zygarde-10%. Its ability to eliminate Electric- and Steel-type foes like Rotom-W and Heatran is a great asset on offense and bulky offense teams. Zygarde-10% cannot break through physically bulky Pokemon like Buzzwole or Ferrothorn on its own and appreciates having powerful special attackers like Tapu Koko and Volcanion that are capable of eliminating these checks. It is able to break through Skarmory and Corviknight, opening the way for teammates like Urshifu-R , Necrozma-DM, and Kartana. Pokemon like Kartana and Zeraora are able to take advantage of the holes Zygarde-10% opens up to finish off weakened teams. Due to Zygarde-10%'s poor bulk, it benefits from the presence of bulky walls like Rotom-W and Ferrothorn, which can provide entry hazard removal and offensive hazard support. Rotom-W, Slowking, and Landorus-T can act as pivots for it, allowing for safe entry onto the field.

With Power Construct, Zygarde-10% becomes a very dangerous bulky setup sweeper, becoming its Complete forme to gain massive all-around bulk. Coil is the preferred setup move to leverage Zygarde-C's bulk. Thousand Arrows has fantastic neutral coverage and no immunities, allowing Zygarde to forgo coverage options. Rest lets Zygarde-C stay healthy and repeatedly switch into Heatran, and thanks to its monstrous bulk, it can often survive through the Rest turns. Glare ensures faster checks like Zarude cannot revenge kill it, as well as generating free turns to set up. Toxic debilitates common answers such as Dauntless Shield Mew and Mandibuzz. Thousand Waves may seem outclassed by Thousand Arrows, but it lets Zygarde trap and remove some troublesome Pokemon like Mew running Volt Switch and Ferrothorn, which could otherwise scout a move and pivot out; it also provides extra attacking PP, stopping foes from stalling Thousand Arrows out in longer matchups. Maximizing special bulk helps it switch into Fire- and Electric-types like Heatran and Xurkitree, as well as letting Thousand Waves sets trap most Mew. Since Power Construct Zygarde-10% heavily relies on Rest, a cleric like Vaporeon or Chansey is useful to bypass sleep turns. Both can also pass Wish onto Zygarde to keep it even healthier. Fairy-types such as Tapu Fini and Tapu Lele force out Zygarde with strong STAB moves and, in Tapu Fini's case, disrupting its setup by giving it a Choice Scarf, so switch-ins to them such as Toxapex and RegenVest Jirachi are highly recommended; in return, Zygarde-10% can switch into annoying Electric- and Ground-types for them, like Primordial Sea Zapdos and defensive Garchomp. Zygarde struggles to break past Dauntless Shield users like Mew and Mandibuzz without using Toxic, so wallbreakers like Terrakion, Pixilate Tapu Koko, and Hydreigon are useful to either help break through shared checks or force these walls out.

Zygarde-10% is a fast and powerful wallbreaker thanks to Adaptability amplifying the damage of Thousand Arrows in conjunction with Choice Band, boosting a previously low Attack stat. Thousand Arrows hits Flying-types such as Corviknight and Skarmory, easing predictions significantly. It can make progress in most cases by using Thousand Arrows, which hits a significant amount of the metagame for neutral damage and has no immunities. Toxic is used to cripple common switch-ins to Zygarde-10%, such as Dauntless Shield Mew and Hippowdon, wearing them down throughout the game. Glare can be used to spread paralysis to help slower teammates beat their checks and to thwart recovery chance from its own checks. Outrage hits most Ground-resistant Pokemon for strong damage, but it is unreliable, as it locks you into it. Extreme Speed is useful priority to finish off weakened Pokemon that are faster than Zygarde-10%, such as Tapu Koko and Barraskewda. This EV spread maximizes Zygarde-10%'s offensive prowess while utilizing its high Speed tier to pressure threats like Terrakion. Zygarde-10% is a good addition to teams that want to remove Steel- and Fire-type foes for its teammates. Its ability to hit common defensive Pokemon such as Corviknight is greatly appreciated by offensive partners such as Zarude. It is also able to beat Fire-types like Heatran that would give common offensive Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Koko trouble. Zygarde-10% has poor bulk and is easy to revenge kill with common priority moves from Pokemon such as Zarude and Triage Tapu Lele, so it needs a strong defensive backbone that can switch into these threats, such as Corviknight, Blissey, and Jirachi. Pokemon that can pivot to bring Zygarde-10% onto the field safely, such as Corviknight, Tapu Koko, and Mew, also make strong teammates. Pokemon such as Tapu Lele can assist in breaking down common switch-ins to Zygarde-10% such as Dauntless Shield Mew and Tapu Fini. Stealth Rock users such as Mold Breaker Heatran also help Zygarde-10% by chipping down its common switch-ins over the course of the game. Zygarde-10% also enjoys having reliable entry hazard removal from Pokemon such as Corviknight or and Tapu Fini to prevent it from accumulating chip damage throughout the game.

Moves Thousand Arrows is very difficult to switch into when backed by Choice Band. No Pokemon being immune to it and few resisting it means that Zygarde-10% can simply use this attack and do serious damage. Outrage is Zygarde-10%'s secondary STAB move, being much more powerful and 2HKOing Pokemon such as Swampert and Jellicent on the switch after Stealth Rock damage. It also complements Toxic nicely, since it allows Zygarde-10% to defeat defensive Pokemon such as Hippowdon, Alomomola, and Slowbro if they have been poisoned. Extreme Speed has decent power behind a Choice Band, allowing Zygarde to pick off weakened threats such as Mega Beedrill and +1 Mega Sharpedo. While Toxic is the preferred option in the final slot, since it improves Zygarde-10%'s matchup against bulkier teams, Earthquake can be used to OHKO Primarina and Cobalion after Stealth Rock, as Thousand Arrows either is a roll or fails to KO them. It also lets Zygarde-10% 2HKO Sylveon on the switch, which can avoid the 2HKO from Thousand Arrows and shrug off a Toxic with Heal Bell. Set Details Zygarde-10% sits at a solid Speed tier, so it should maximize its Speed with 252 EVs and a Jolly nature to Speed tie with Raikou, Starmie, and Azelf and outpace Pokemon such as Infernape and Latias. The remaining EVs are invested into Attack with a Choice Band so Zygarde-10% can hit as hard as possible, boosting its mediocre base 100 Attack stat. Sadly, Zygarde-10% is stuck with a useless ability in Aura Break. Usage Tips Zygarde-10% should take advantage of Pokemon such as Empoleon and Klefki to spam Thousand Arrows. However, there are a few instances where Zygarde-10% will use its other moves. Outrage is used to pick up OHKOs and 2HKOs on Pokemon such as Heracross and Swampert. It also forces defensive Suicune to use Rest. Extreme Speed can force out or wear down the many fast Mega Evolutions in the tier such as Mega Manectric, Mega Beedrill, and Mega Sceptile. If the opponent has a Pokemon that walls Zygarde-10%, such as Hippowdon or Alomomola, Toxic should be used to cripple it. Zygarde-10% should be played very aggressively in such matchups because it cannot get any leverage otherwise. Against more offensive teams, spamming Thousand Arrows is not a bad idea due to their lack of good Pokemon that resist it and reliance on defensive pivots that lack recovery or simply cannot switch in such as Swampert and Amoonguss, respectively. Team Options Spikes support from Klefki is greatly appreciated because it allows Zygarde-10% to secure the OHKO on Cobalion and lets Zygarde-10% play safer against more defensive teams because it does not have to risk overpredicting with a Steel-type staying in expecting a Toxic. This set fits best on more offensive teams, as they complement Klefki the best. Toxic Spikes support is still an option, however, so Zygarde-10% does not have to rely on using Toxic too much or using Earthquake at all. Nihilego and Tentacruel are viable options for this. Zygarde-10% often has trouble getting in because most Pokemon it takes advantage of threaten it back too: Empoleon can use Scald, Klefki can use Dazzling Gleam, and Latias can use Draco Meteor. Because of this, VoltTurn support makes it much easier for Zygarde-10% to get in. Mega Beedrill is solid, since it can also set up Toxic Spikes and get Zygarde-10% in on Pokemon that Mega Beedrill usually lures in such as Cobalion and Doublade. Rotom-C is a solid teammate as well, spreading burns and chipping at Pokemon such as Latias and Mega Altaria for Zygarde-10%. Mega Manectric is similarly a good teammate, but both Pokemon have trouble dealing with Hippowdon and Swampert. Finally, while Toxic is a way for Zygarde-10% to deal with its defensive answers, it is not always practical. Wallbreakers such as Swords Dance Cobalion, Infernape, and Heracross can pressure physical walls.