Battle Stadium Singles blog #17— Zacian-Lapras (S15; Series 8)

While I am not above hot takes, such as considering Regieleki an actual trashmon as a screens setter compared to Tapu Koko in Series 7, I do try to avoid unwarranted histrionics, and did honestly try to keep on open mind about this ruleset. But after 170+ games, it's hard not to conclude that Series 8 is anything other than a raging hellscape.

   Even the developers took the unprecedented step of announcing, a mere two weeks into this, that the rules will, in two more months, be reverted. This is a move that is difficult to see as anything other than damage control, at least from a singles perspective, that is.

   Now, I don't know if I will be playing enough to even warrant reporting in during the next two months, but I was at least able to produce this write-up, representing my first serious effort at hitting a decent rating after starting out trying to get away with, and failing at, what I usually try to get away with when a new ruleset rolls around — absolute garbage.

   So here, then, is a very basic Zacian-Lapras team, arguably one of the two or three strongest archetypes early in the metagame. Crits and 1HKOs galore, enough to dispel any notion that pokemon is not a legitimate competitive video game (he said, tongue firmly in cheek).

   Lazy. Unoptimized. Inefficient. All three are accuracte descriptors for what you will find herein. In spite of this, I managed to finish the season above 1800 Elo, so as to have at least some credibility in what I am about to discuss below.

I Have Flippers for Feet, and I Must Strut.

An out is an out.

A taste of my own medicine.

(Rillaboom-Zacian-Lapras vs Zacian-Landorus-Lapras).

The elation of the tech connecting — vs Ancient Power Lapras-Zacian and up a screens turn in a screens vs screens situation — wears off as Timid Choice Scarf Zapdos lands both 90% accurate Heat Waves while Zacian whiffs on its 90% accurate Play Rough. Sad!

Some games, four turns to try to land a Sheer Cold on Chansey is not enough. Hence, this.

Endure + Court Change. I appreciate a player who brings a plan. I lost this game, too. To paralysis + immediate full paralysis from Thunder, but still.

Crit Close Combat on the Quagsire switching in on turn 1, then freeze Zapdos with Ice Beam on turn 3 as it goes for Dynamax. That's the RNG-carousel the game has been for 20 years now, and I love it.

"This player has Pheromosa, so it's probably not going to be (Focus Sash) Mirror Coat."

Ditto Hurricane tally: hit, hit, hit, miss (hit here would have ended it), hit.

Crit through Lapras screens by Iosif Vissarionovich's Choice Scarf Pyro Ball.

— "Mol-tr'EH?"

— "Arti-WHO-no?"

— "From one of your Chinese cartoons, right?"

+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Max Starfall (130 BP) vs. 92 HP / 4 SpD Zacian-Crowned: 144-170 (80.4 - 94.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock.

Bench Quagsire and Landorus because you just flat out don't think they will bring Zacian, but they do. And despite being a baddy bad, you get bailed out by Endeavor instead of being punished.

Mega-Metagross sends its regards.

(Landorus-Zacian-Zapdos vs Rillaboom-Hippowdon-Zapdos).

Rental code: 0000 0006 61TP 5B

Pokepaste:  https://pokepast.es/dd113fca4dd7ed54

1) Team overview

Zacian-Crowned

Zacian can't Dynamax, so Lapras's Light Clay screens are effectively its Dynamax bulk in this archetype. A slower set, only going above Cinderace's native 188 stat, this Zacian by @fortune_36, acts as a lure set against Quagsire in particular: the 50% crit rate bestowed by Focus Energy lets it Play Rough through most such encounters, especially Leftovers variants. However, various Rocky Helmet and Counter sets on Quagsire can make this approach inconsistent. Nevertheless, having an out in the match up means being able to snap pick Zacian against Quagsire teams no matter what.

   Fire Fang is elected over objectively more dependable options like Close Combat, Wild Charge, Substitute, and even Quick Attack, to have a move to click against Shedinja, which Lapras-Zacian has problems with, although Lapras can elect to run Ancient Power, and Celesteela/Skarmory. Focus Energy + Fire Fang also lets Zacian hit Ferrothron through Iron Defense boosts.

   All this comes at the expense of having something with which to hit things like Arcanine and Rotom-H (doubly bad because it also checks Zapdos), not to mention Cinderace (+1 Behemoth Blade only does 70-80%). Without Wild Charge, Toxapex also becomes completely unbreakable, but fully defensive teams are in Lapras' bailiwick anyway.

Lapras

There are two main takeaways here: first, the moveset is a bit off with both Sheer Cold and Horn Drill, and, second, the EV-spread is completely unoptimized and has massive room for development, especially because Lapras almost invariably Dynamaxes.

   Cutting Thunder/bolt for Horn Drill alongside Sheer Cold is justified by having a form of speed control for Zacian through Max Strike, as well as having a 1HKO move to click against opposing Lapras while outside Dynamax. Still, the Lapras mirror is strictly speaking a losing proposition in a hypothetical 1v1.

   The EVs are completely freestyled and have as their sole defensive benchmark living stallbreaker-wallbreaker +252 Att Choice Band Urshifu's Close Combat from full in Dynamax form, and that's it.

   Some relevant things that could be EV'd for going forward, but aren't on this set, are Substitute Chansey with minimal Speed investment to beat uninvested Lapras, thereby seeking to avoid Sheer Colds (also applicable to things like Assault Vest Brick Break Azumarill, which can elect to Speed creep Lapras), and the aforementioned Lapras mirror.

   Protect is another Max Guard move that can also be elected in the fourth slot to force crash damage from a likely Choice Scarf or Focus Sash High Jump Kick Cinderace, which has a good match up against Zacian-Lapras.

   In the same vein, when cutting Horn Drill for Substitute in order to make beating Toxapex-stall and slow Dynamax users a cinch, as well as bringing the option to Max Guard, the native Speed stat could easily be bumped up to above 90.

Rillaboom

Choice Scarf Kyogre is one of Zacian's worst match ups, so Rillaboom can always opt to lead in that match up order to get Zapdos momentum through U-turn — the best outcome would of course be that the opposing Kyogre is benched altogether, but because Kyogre teams can't normally fit in Ditto to answer Zacian, what's more likely is that Kyogre is brought in the back because of Water Absorb and Grassy Glide.

   In conjunction with Grassy Glide, Focus Sash Endeavor, although having its effectiveness scaled down against Dynamax, acts as a kind of poor man's Metal Burst against truly awful match ups like Cinderace and Zapdos, making getting badly counterled potentially less of a problem.

Zapdos

On paper, Zapdos competes with Lapras for the Dynamax slot. In practice, however, the team select screen game tends to work out in a way that both are seldom brought into the same game, with the prominent exception of the stall match up.

   Overall, I tend to favor bulky defensive sets on Zapdos, but for this team, I went for full offense, and didn't really look back. This despite the fact that the only answer this team has to opposing Zapdos momentum is Zapdos (Dynamax Lapras lives any Zapdos hit from full, which is why this team *wants* the opponent to Dynamax Zapdos over their restricted pokemon).

Quagsire

One of only a handful of defensive tools that survived the transition from USUM to generation 8 with Toxic still as part of its kit (Quagsire, Toxapex, Ferrothorn, Pyukumuku), Quagsire is here to counter standard Zacian, being especially helpful against Zacian-Ditto, and against other opposing Ditto-reliant Zacian-outs in general.

   Rocky Helmet is on the set to immediately punish Zacian for an offensive move, making it easier to give up Earthquake for the nigh-impotent Scald, as well as to Focus Sash break opposing Urshifu — although both Lapras and Rillaboom have playable lead match ups against both bears — and U-turn/High Jump Kick Cinderace.

   In a vacuum, Kee Berry and Sitrus Berry are likely more consistent across a variety of match ups, with Leftovers also pairing exceptionally well with what Quagsire is good at.

   Stockpile is somewhat greedy, but lets Quagsire definitively get out of range of physical threats, and is notable for letting Quagsire potentially Recover off Zapdos' attempts at killing it, essentially forcing it to Dynamax in order to beat it via Max Airstream (offensive sets) if it switches into Stockpile (I categorically refuse to use the term "Quagsire momentum").

Landorus

Another relatively standard and wholly unoptimized set, whose job here is to act as a glue pokemon that claws the team back into contention after losing momentum, the idea being to waste two opposing Dynamax turns thanks to Intimidate, while providing Rock Tomb speed control, and even Stealth Rock when necessary.

   Grass Knot is employed to cripple Swampert, Hippowdon, and Quagsire, putting them into Zacian range. I originally ran the slow pivot U-turn in the Grass Knot slot, but found that bringing Landorus became easier with a move to punish the aforementioned trio, because they tend to show up anyway when Zacian is on the opposing side.

   A further consideration here is that Landorus also wants to sell the idea that Rillaboom is a Choice Band set instead of Focus Sash. This may seem like a minor thing, but because of the number Choice Band Wood Hammer does on opposing Lapras and Hippowdon, opponents may elect to plan their team select screen game around it.

   For anyone seeking to improve upon this team, I could even see Assault Vest working here provided Stealth Rock is not a deal-breaker. This would accomplish surviving Timid Life Orb Zapdos Max Airstream from full without having to invest in SpDef on 252 HP sets, and make even the greedier Modest Max Airstream survivable.

   Slightly more realistically, though, a bulky Swords Dance Lum Berry/Sitrus Berry set from regular old BSS would do the job of wallbreaking more consistently than Lapras with its Sheer Cold, and would still defensively Dynamax (cushion) trade favorably into things like Zapdos by avoiding the 2HKO, not to mention making the stall match ups more consistent.

2) Usage notes

Cutting Zacian's speed tier makes for potentially rough sailing in the Zacian mirror, as well as making it more vulnerable to Dragapult and Choice Scarf Dracovish (should it brave Water Absorb and Rillaboom).

   When playing for Zapdos as the probable win-condition, Zacian can still be brought and suicided in if it means bruising something like Hippowdon into Max Airstream range.

   As mentioned above, not having a guaranteed switch into opposing Dynamax Zapdos (Chansey, Tyranitar, Nihilego etc.) means that it will always get a KO if it wants to, and has to be answered with a healthy Dynamax Zapdos, Landorus, or Dynamax Lapras. Indeed, hopefully some of the screenshots above serve to demonstrate just what a game of margins dealing with opposing Zapdos can be with this team. You get worn down on a check and high-rolled, crit, paralysis proced, Static proced, or confusion proced, and it's over.

   Opposing Lapras is also a problem, not merely because your own Lapras doesn't pack Speed creep accompanied by an Electric-move to positively trade into it (you can still set up screens and exhaust is Dynamax turns without dying), but also because its offensive coverage beats everything except Zacian, should it connect with a super-effective move. This means bringing Zacian-Lapras against opposing Lapras-teams is usually mandatory, and makes Zacian HP-management a key factor in screens vs screens trades.

   Lastly, as a general gameplay note, and this may seem counter-intuitive at first because it wastes Dynamax turns, but because of Lapras' lack of offensive coverage when in Dynamax form, switching out into Zacian immediately after setting screens is more often than not the right play due to the types of things typically switching into Lapras (Ferrothorn, opposing Lapras, Tapu Fini), and in order to get Zacian momentum. Of course, this also means that Lapras can elect to forgo Dynamaxing and hit Sheer Cold/Horn Drill into a predicted switch.

Trying to have fun as Eternatus stall with Salazzle tech for opposing stall. So much for that.

Use an alt -> get called out.

My first game against one of kacr's alts (kacr, Einstein, Black.Dark, and innumerable others) — 3-0'd from the lead by Life Orb Regieleki after it went for Max Strike on turn 1 (Lapras-Zacian-Quagsire). GG, I'll get you...a few times after next time.

You have to be doing something wrong to lose 9 in a row. In my case, I dipped below 4k with this team, and started experimenting with Xerneas and Dusk Mane, which left me having to climb back from 21k.

Final rank.

Top 20 in usage over the month. And yes, Ditto, the guarantor of a fundamentally flawed meta, is still way up there.
                                                                                  

2.1 Usual team compositions

Lapras-Zacian-

Rillaboom-

Landorus-

2.2 VS Team Select Screen

Came up with a cursory accounting of archetypes based around the most viable restricted pokemon. Proceed at your own discretion. I think I only played a handful of Calyrex-Ice during all my 170+ games in Season 15, so it and semi-Trick Room are not covered below.

    For more theoretical takes on good cores and archetypes from a team-building perspective, see marilli's video and 1_TP's post on the forums.

Zacian-offense

- Zapdos and Lapras as far and away the most common partners, providing screens or a potent special attacker in the Dynamax slot.

- Landorus and Cinderace are also universally good partners, as they are for basically everything else on the restricted list.

- Zapdos and Zacian also complement each other defensively, and make up arguably the most threatening offensive pairing currently.

Lapras-Zacian-Quagsire

Zacian/Rillaboom-Zapdos-Quagsire/Landorus

Landorus doesn't beat Zacian, but can check it once, so your own Zacian can take momentum. Quagsire is excellent against opposing Zacian, Landorus, and Cinderace, but is also abusable and risks becoming a massive momentum drain, so doubling out should always be considered, this format being what it is.

Necrozma-Dusk Mane set-up

- Dragon Dance Weakness Policy set by far the most common, followed by Lum Berry, especially when not partnered with Tapu Fini.

- A major niche: heavily Speed-invested Moonlight/Morning Sun sets let bulky Dusk Mane heal through standard Jolly Zacian +1 Behemoth Blades, while being faster after a single Dragon Dance, providing longevity at the cost of limiting offensive coverage.

- Alternatives include screens set-up (Grimmsnarl, Regieleki), or even Trick Room mode (Mimikyu, Cresselia).

Rillaboom-Landorus-Zapdos/Zacian

Lapras-Zacian-Landorus

Sunsteel Strike and Photon Geyser (always special as Max Mindstorm, unlike that other major Psychic-STAB option, Psychic Fangs) make Quagsire a poor answer to Dusk Mane, essentially being reliant on fishing for the Scald burn while being Dragon Danced on.

   Rillaboom and Landorus are both annoying for any kind of Regieleki screens opener, with Rillaboom ideally being read as a Choice Band Grassy Glide 1HKO on turn 1, and Landorus being able to Rock Tomb against Dragon Dance turns to run out the clock on screens to prevent it from outspeeding the eventual Max Flare Zapdos.

Kyogre mode

- Telegraphs Choice Scarf Water Spout, defensively paired with the likes of Ferrothorn and Landorus.

- Tyranitar and Nihilego are good partners to check opposing Zapdos.

- A partnered Zapdos actually hits its Hurricanes thanks to Drizzle, but suffers from role overlap as a another special attacker.

- Swords Dance Landorus is a physical threat that pairs well with Kyogre, and whose set is harder to read from the select screen than Cinderace's.

Lapras-Zacian-Rillaboom/Zapdos.

Rillaboom-Zapdos-

Rillaboom is a devastating lead against Kyogre, and with Focus Sash and U-turn, it can stay alive in the back at 1 HP to threaten it even if severely counterled. Bringing Rillaboom in the back is best when leading Lapras or Zacian.

   Speaking of Zacian, it lives rain-boosted Origin Pulse from full, but Choice Scarf Water Spout is a bridge too far, meaning you have to actually outplay people when bringing Zacian-Lapras. Still, Zacian can lead because it can check for lead Kyogre's item by the order in which Drizzle and the Attack boost go off.

   Because of the assumed Choice Scarf Kyogre's interaction with Water Absorb, this is also one of those rare situations in which bringing both Lapras and Zapdos is viable with opportunistic Dynamaxing, in a manner which saw its zenith in Series 6 offensive goodstuffs compositions.

Yveltal mode

- Classic Max Airstream sweeper plan (Hippowdon, Landorus Stealth Rock).

- Assault Vest Metagross as a potential answer to things like Calyrex-Ice, Tyranitar, and Nihilego, the few things outside Chansey that completely shut Yveltal down without losing to Zapdos (Ferrothorn).

- Sand Rush Excadrill is a viable secondary mode with Yveltal's already good Hippowdon synergy, decisively stomping opposing Zapdos and Nihilego.

Lapras-Zacian-

Rillaboom-

Zacian-Zapdos-Landorus

Zapdos is probably the default go-to, but Lapras trades into things like Cinderace, Metagross, and Yveltal just fine, and doesn't completely fold against Nihilego, either.

Xerneas set-up

- Power Herb Geomancy with limited offensive coverage.

- Screens support is very likely, including Klefki/Dragapult.

- Alternate modes: offensively invested Landorus, no-frills Life Orb Cinderace.

- Ditto likely as a Zacian answer.

Zacian-Zapdos-Landorus

Lapras-Zacian-

Zacian lives a +2 +252 SpAtt Max Starfall from full, and essentially forces Xerneas to bring its alternate offensive mode, especially when it consists of Cinderace or Landorus. Landorus is a safe bet when having to contend with screens.

Eternatus/Zygarde stall

- Stall compositions include Quagsire, Toxapex, Chansey, Tyranitar, and Skarmory. Celesteela is also a possible pairing with less longevity, but brings to fore Leech Seed attrition and can be offensively threatening.

- Eternatus can surprise with potent Choice Specs or even Power Herb Meteor Beam variants.

- Ditto is a frequent partner on stall and on Eternatus teams in general.

Lapras-Zapdos-Zacian

Lapras also tends to be a relatively free lead against most defensive teams. Therefore, it is employed to click its 1HKO moves until it dies, with the idea of removing the opponent's Zapdos (Chansey, Tyranitar) or Zacian (Toxapex, Skarmory/Celesteela) check, at which point the game becomes sweepable.

   Although Landorus' Swords Dance is dearly missed in this match up, Stealth Rock can have some utility, especially when hitting stall variants with Shedinja, which is sometimes found especially on Zygarde stall.

3) In Conclusion

Not much to say here other than I was surprised at the amount of games I ended up putting in despite everything. And it's not like my result have suffered, it's just that this format is so fundamentally broken for singles as to render it unfun and thus barely even recognizable as BSS for me, as I feared in my statement going into this, which is now, sadly, being borne out to an alarming extent.

   Lastly, if you'll permit an aside regarding the recent announcements about future games in the series, my quick take is that the DP-remake probably won't have ranked online match-making, but will instead have more limited online features, not unlike LGPE. As for Legends: Arceus, it's simply too early to tell. But with a 2022 release date, it sure seems to line up with when generation 9 should show up.

   What all this amounts to, then, is that we will have to play Dynamax formats for at least 1-2 more years. At least there's only two more months of our current most unfortunate circumstances left.

   For next month's entry, something about Kyogre?

- Tox

SW-0021-9848-8999