Seviper can go suck an eggIn the treacherous war zone known as UU, Zangoose struggles to find a niche among the infamous powerhouses present, such as Metagross, Azelf, and Meinshao.
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Overview
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- Excellent wallbreaking power
- Decent physical movepool
- Good setup options
- Frail
- Relatively low stats for a UU Pokemon
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name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Facade
move 2: Quick Attack
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Close Combat / Swords Dance
ability: Toxic Boost
item: Toxic Orb
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
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- Facade as a main STAB move + power doubled by Toxic Orb
- Quick Attack to damage faster opponents
- Close Combat for coverage
- Knock Off to damage Ghost types immune to Facade and Close Combat
- Swords Dance to make Zangoose more powerful with Quick Attack
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- With Toxic Boost and the Toxic Orb taken into account, Facade reaches an insane base power of 210, doing a hefty number to most of the tier's physical walls, 2HKOing many walls of the tier including Chesnaught, Snorlax, and Donphan.
- Adamant nature can be used instead in conjunction with Swords Dance + Quick Attack to make Zangoose a powerful priority sweeper.
Usage Tips
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- You should try to switch Zangoose in on a Ghost type move to activate the Toxic Orb. However, be wary as most ghosts carry Will-o-Wisp.
- This is done best by pairing Zangoose with a Psychic type like Slowbro that baits people into using Ghost moves.
- Also remember that Zangoose has 60/60 defenses and can be taken out by almost anything that's faster (or using priority).
- Using a slow pokemon with Volt Switch or U-Turn is another great way to activate the Toxic Orb.
Team Options
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- Psychic types like Slowbro that bait in Ghost attacks to provide a free switch for Zangoose to activate the Toxic Orb
- Defensive pokemon like Chesnaught or Donphan to take hits by faster pokemon or priority moves
- Florges to get rid of Spiritomb and Sableye, Zangoose's main counters
- Empoleon, Blastoise, Chandelure, etc are all good options for taking out pokemon that wall Zangoose such as Shuckle and Mega Aggron
- Xatu to discourage ghosts from using Will-o-Wisp and bait in Ghost type moves
- Mega Ampharos for a slow Volt Switch to switch Zangoose in, activating Toxic Orb
- Fast Dark types like Honchcrow and Houndoom to get rid of ghosts
Other Options
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- Protect is a common option for activating the Toxic Orb, but sometimes is not worth losing a move slot.
- While Zangoose has access to the elemental punches, it doesn't really need to use them for coverage because of Toxic Boost Facade's astronomical power.
- Pursuit is also a useful Dark type move since it can trap ghosts.
- You can also try a Choice Band set and try to switch in on a Toxic, but that is unlikely and very difficult.
- Zangoose also possesses a very colorful specially offensive movepool, but is unable to make good use of it thanks to its puny base 60 Special Attack stat.
Checks and Counters
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- Spiritomb and Sableye: usually the best answers to Zangoose, as they are immune to every one of Zangoose's common attacks except Dark type moves, which they take only neutral damage from.
- Scarf Chandelure: Fast ghosts like Scarf Chandelure can get rid of Zangoose, since theyre immune to its only priority move, Quick Attack
- Shuckle, Mega Aggron, and Foretress: are all defensive walls that can wall Zangoose
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