National Dex AG
Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Power Construct
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 Spe
Impish Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Rest
- Protect
- Glare
Yesterday afternoon, me and PrimordialSea were having a discussion about Zygarde. I was having doubts about it being a super reliable check/counter to common Pokemon in the tier. Primal Groudon sometimes runs Hidden Power Ice, Zacian-Crowned occasionally runs Play Rough, Marshadow can run Ice Punch, and Mega Rayquaza can run Draco Meteor. All of these Pokemon run the move almost solely for Zygarde. And then, I had an epiphany. I was going to use Protect Zygarde. Thousand Arrows is absolutely necessary STAB (even on a defensive Pokemon like this) because it allows Zygarde to deal with Primal Groudon, Zacian-Crowned, and Ho-oh most importantly. Without this move, Zygarde is much easier to switch into, but with it, Zygarde effectively has no switch ins between Arrows and Glare.
Next up is Rest. Rest is used for recovery. While the free turns for the enemy suck for you, there are some ways to circumvent this (more on that in the partners section below). I've already explained Protect Zygarde fairly well enough, but basically, it allows you to scout unfavorable moves on Pokemon Zygarde is supposed to check, and gain free Leftovers recovery for one turn.
Glare is paralysis support that is 100% accurate and can paralyze Ground types (Ground types can't be paralyzed by Thunder Wave but they can be paralyzed by other paralysis causing moves). The best part of this set is that nobody expects Protect Zygarde so it's pretty much riskless scouting. The Speed EVs on this set allow Zygarde-Complete to outspeed a paralyzed Zacian-Crowned.
Partners
Zygarde's Rest can obviously be a massive pain in the ass sometimes, and its proclivity to lost to support Arceus formes (most of which carry Ice Beam and/or Refresh) can be annoying as well. Because of Chansey's colossal Special bulk and access to Heal Bell and Aromatherapy, it can come in on support Arceus formes with ease (not even fearing the occasional Toxic thanks to Natural Cure), tank an Ice Beam, use Aromatherapy to awaken Zygarde and heal other teammates' status conditions, and use Confide against any Calm Mind Arceus.
Mega Rayquaza really loves Zygarde's Glare support derailing Pokemon like Zacian-Crowned and Marshadow, who are faster and can KO it. V-create MRay love being partnered with Zygarde especially, as Thousand Arrows can put Primal Groudon into Dragon Ascent kill range, and Zygarde matches up well against Tyranitar if you ever find yourself facing Stall, and Necrozma-Dusk Mane, which is a common Dragon Ascent switch-in.
(Arceus-Dark) /
Specially Defensive Arceus-Dark and Specially Defensive Yveltal check Calyrex-Shadow most notably, and can Defog for it. In return, Zygarde can check non Play Rough Zacian-Crowned for them.
If you keep being swept by set up users after you Rest, Ditto is a solid partner, since it can use its pretty sus ability to Transform into boosters, copy their boosts, and revenge-kill the sweeper or reverse sweep if the opposing team is weakened.
Sample team