Offensive or Support Zarude for Sword and Shield Competitive Battles?

Question

My friends and I like to play Pokemon against each other for fun. One of my "friends" (He turned out to be a bully) made fun of me for purchasing the tickets to get the event Pokemon. Now I want to beat him using a Zarude on my team (proving it's worth). Which set would be better for Doubles Battle Tower Rules.

Zarude @ Figy Berry
Ability: Leaf Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature/Naive Nature
- Power Whip/Seed Bomb
- Snarl
- Jungle Healing
- Protect

OR

Zarude @ Choice Band/Choice Scarf
Ability: Leaf Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature/Adamant Nature
- Power Whip/Seed Bomb
- Lash Out/Crunch/Darkest Lariat
- Acrobatics/Rock Slide
- U-turn

EDIT: EV's may not be final. I went with Showdown recommendations.

Comments

Pretty sure offensive Zarude is better, from what I've seen.

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I prefer the Snarl one, myself. Seed Bomb, Snarl, Jungle Healing, Protect is what I'd go for. Also, try Jolly over Naive. I wouldnt sacrifice bulk for speed, especially when Snarl isn't meant to do damage.

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~MegaCharizardY~ I just went with what showdown recommended because I didn't want to spend a lot of time on Zarude as it is banned in most formats. I only wanted to get the point of the set across. Thanks for your advice though.

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Oh, ok.

Answer 1

Personally, I would opt for the Support variant.

Having Snarl support is pretty essential on a Doubles team, since switching is so uncommon and the lowering of offensive stats beefs up seemingly frail Pokemon. Anything that is held back by its Special Defense will appreciate Snarl support, for sure.

While the Offensive set isn't bad by any means, I simply think Zarude works very well as a support Pokemon. Out of the options you provided, I would go for Seed Bomb for accuracy and Jolly so you don't have to cut into your bulk. While the Special Defense drop will be patched by Snarl, I would still not take that risk. Snarl isn't meant to do a lot of damage, there's really no point in using a nature for mixed attackers.

If you want to know what I'd choose for the Offensive set, I'd do a Scarf with Power Whip, Lash Out (for Intimidate), and Rock Slide.

Hope this helps! :)

Comments

Thanks! I was leaning to the support set to begin with but wanted to wait for other opinions because the support set would be bad in singles which my friends and I also play sometimes (albeit very rarely.)

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No problem!

Also, try this set in singles, I think it'll work pretty well:


Zarude @ Leftovers
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Atk / 140 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Jungle Healing
- Bulk Up
- Darkest Lariat