Z-Moves in OU

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Introduction

Z-Moves are the main new feature SM brought to competitive Pokémon. Whether it be through stat boosts or powerful one-time nukes, Z-Moves have had a profound impact on the viability of Pokémon in the OU tier.

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STAB Nukes

STAB nukes provide a number of important benefits. They are able to muscle past bulkier Pokémon, placing heavy pressure on defensive cores, provide the start to a chain reaction sweep through Moxie, Soul-Heart, or Beast Boost, fill gaps in a Pokémon's learnset by giving two-turn moves such as Fly and Freeze Shock viability, bypass negative secondary effects such as recoil and stat drops, and patch up any accuracy issues with a Pokémon's most powerful STAB attacks.

Supersonic Skystrike

Supersonic Skystrike is arguably the most common STAB Z-Move seen in OU play. Many Pokémon lacked a powerful and drawback-free Flying-type move, making Supersonic Skystrike a welcome addition.

Pokémon like Landorus-T, Gyarados, and Salamence had issues bypassing Grass-type counters like Tangrowth. Their only powerful physical Flying-type STAB attack is Fly, which as a two-turn attack is easy to play around. With Flyinium Z, these Pokémon can blow past their previous checks and easily bypass other defensive would-be checks such as Mew. For Gyarados, Salamence, and Celesteela, this can also be the start of Moxie or Beast Boost sweeps after the use of Dragon Dance or Autotomize to remedy their otherwise lackluster Speed stats. Dragonite also utilizes Supersonic Skystrike to help a Dragon Dance sweep, using it solely to break through defensive Pokémon like Tapu Fini and Mega Venusaur.

Talonflame, though a rarer Pokémon after the nerf to Gale Wings, retains some viability in OU with Supersonic Skystrike. Since Supersonic Skystrike doesn't have recoil, Talonflame can keep its Gale Wings intact, allowing it to function as either a threatening early-game wallbreaker or a late-game revenge killer when paired with proper hazard control.

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Subzero Slammer

• Kyurem-Black @ Icium Z
• Ability: Teravolt
• EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
• Naive Nature
• - Freeze Shock
• - Fusion Bolt
• - Ice Beam
• - Earth Power

Icium Z gives Kyurem-B a one-turn remedy to the issue that's plagued it since its release—the lack of a reliable physical Ice-type STAB attack. Freeze Shock powers up into a 200-Base Power Subzero Slammer, and coming off of Kyurem-B's base 170 Attack stat, it's enough to OHKO or put a serious dent into anything that doesn't resist it. This variant of Kyurem-B can cut through defensive cores like butter, opening holes for its teammates to take advantage of.

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Bloom Doom

• Tapu Bulu @ Grassium Z
• Ability: Grassy Surge
• EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
• Adamant Nature
• - Swords Dance
• - Wood Hammer
• - Horn Leech
• - Superpower

Much like Kyurem-B, Tapu Bulu uses its Z-Move to become an incredible wallbreaker. Thanks to Grassy Terrain's 1.5x boost to Grass-type attacks in conjunction with Tapu Bulu's base 130 Attack stat, there are extremely few Pokémon able to stomach a boosted Bloom Doom. Even physically defensive Pokémon that resist Grass-type attacks, such as Zapdos, are OHKOed by a +2 Bloom Doom from Tapu Bulu. Combined with Superpower for coverage to break down Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Tapu Bulu becomes a Pokémon that punishes defensive plays and playstyles.

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Twinkle Tackle

While Kyurem-B and Tapu Bulu seek to wallbreak with their Z-Moves, Magearna prefers to use its Z-Move to initiate a sweep. Magearna's most powerful STAB attack, Fleur Cannon, has a massive drawback for sweeping sets in that it drops Special Attack by two stages. Fairium Z remedies this by turning Fleur Cannon into a 195-Base Power Twinkle Tackle, allowing Magearna to nab a KO and trigger Soul-Heart. After fixing its lackluster Speed through Trick Room or Shift Gear, this can set off a difficult-to-stop sweep. On the other hand, Tapu Koko uses Twinkle Tackle as a nuke against most Dragon-, Grass-, and Ground-types, allowing it to keep Hidden Power Fire on its moveset to be used against Pokemon like Ferrothorn. Tapu Koko also uses another Fairy-type Z-Move in Guardian of Alola in conjunction with Taunt to operate as a stallbreaker.

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Devastating Drake

Even with the addition of Thousand Arrows, offensive Zygarde sets face a serious problem—Zygarde's only physical, neutral-priority Dragon-type attack is Outrage. In a metagame dominated by Fairy-types, being locked into Outrage can be a death sentence. This is where Dragonium Z comes in, preventing Outrage locks and providing Zygarde with the coverage and power it needs to blow through typical counters like Tangrowth. Garchomp also uses Dragonium Z as a nuke that is able to avoid Outrage locks, using it to break through both Landorus-T and Tangrowth.

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Tectonic Rage

Garchomp uses Tectonic Rage to improve its matchup against common defensive counters, allowing it to OHKO Tapu Fini and Ferrothorn after a Swords Dance and KO Unaware Clefable after damage from Earthquake. Dugtrio uses Tectonic Rage to pick up KOs against threats to stall that Focus Sash Dugtrio can't always handle, including Mega Medicham, Mega Mawile, Clefable, and Toxapex. Groundium Z Dugtrio is also able to OHKO Magearna for scenarios where Chansey has fainted.

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Never-Ending Nightmare

This generation, Choice-locked Gengar has seen a revival in usage. Both Choice Specs and Choice Scarf sets are common, which is great for Z-Move variants of Gengar. It can easily bluff a Choice-locked set with careful play, luring the opponent into a sense of safety before it unleashes a powerful Never-Ending Nightmare. Aside from bluffing Choice locks, Gengar can also simply use its fantastic offenses and access to Taunt to pressure bulky or stall cores, using Never-Ending Nightmare to put an irreparable hole into a wall not named Chansey.

Despite sharing the same item, Mimikyu and Cofagrigus play quite differently from Gengar, functioning primarily as sweepers more than wallbreakers. Mimikyu uses Never-Ending Nightmare to break through checks like Celesteela and even Skarmory after damage from Shadow Claw. Cofagrigus uses its high natural bulk to set up both Nasty Plot and Trick Room before spamming Shadow Ball because of the lack of decent Ghost-resistant Pokémon in OU. Ghostium Z is a welcome addition for Cofagrigus, as it gives Cofagrigus a way to power up an attack against a bulkier threat without having to resort to Life Orb.

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Gigavolt Havoc

Much like Cofagrigus, the addition of Z-Moves gave viability to Zapdos's more offensive sets. Zapdos now has the freedom to run an offensive Agility set. After Zapdos's teammates have spread a bit of chip damage, Zapdos can utilize its fantastic coverage to sweep offensive teams with ease. Gigavolt Havoc allows it to break through bulkier support Pokémon like Mew, which can be otherwise difficult to wear down thanks to their reliable recovery. Tapu Koko uses Electrium Z to power up and conceal Wild Charge, allowing it to break through specially defensive Pokémon such as Chansey, Jirachi, and Assault Vest Magearna.

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Black Hole Eclipse

• Bisharp @ Darkinium Z
• Ability: Defiant
• EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Adamant Nature
• - Knock Off
• - Iron Head
• - Sucker Punch
• - Swords Dance

Darkinium Z makes Bisharp a terror against defensive teams. After a Swords Dance boost, Bisharp can OHKO Pokémon like Mega Sableye and Celesteela with Black Hole Eclipse. With Stealth Rock damage, Bisharp can additionally OHKO the physically defensive juggernauts of Skarmory, Toxapex, and Mega Scizor, clearing the way for other physically offensive partners like Mimikyu.

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Hydro Vortex

• Omastar @ Waterium Z
• Ability: Swift Swim
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Modest Nature
• IVs: 0 Atk
• - Shell Smash
• - Hydro Pump
• - Earth Power
• - Ice Beam

While Omastar is a rare sight in OU, Waterium Z has given it viability on rain teams. After a Shell Smash, a rain-boosted Hydro Vortex obliterates conventional rain checks like Assault Vest Tangrowth, Ferrothorn, Chansey, Tapu Fini, and Mega Venusaur. Breaking through these checks gives common partners like Kingdra a much easier time in cleaning up.

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Inferno Overdrive

• Volcarona @ Firium Z
• Ability: Flame Body
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Timid Nature
• - Quiver Dance
• - Fire Blast
• - Giga Drain
• - Hidden Power Ground

Volcarona is a Pokémon with a lot of possible coverage options, many of which struggle to fit in its three open moveslots. Inferno Overdrive serves as a way to compress the roles of much of this coverage, as it is able to break past a wide variety of defensive checks, including both Garchomp and Gyarados. Along with this compression, Volcarona greatly appreciates Firium Z patching up its most powerful STAB move's accuracy. Outside of Firium Z sets, Volcarona has a lot of choice when it comes to its coverage options and its item, bringing us to our next topic—coverage Z-Moves!

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Coverage

Coverage Z-Moves are used to eliminate typical counters, allowing defensive Pokémon to be lured in and eliminated. This supports both the Z-Move user and its teammates, and they can be very effective when built around properly.

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Shattered Psyche

• Volcarona @ Psychium Z
• Ability: Flame Body
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Timid Nature
• IVs: 0 Atk
• - Quiver Dance
• - Fire Blast
• - Psychic
• - Hidden Power Ground

Volcarona can utilize Shattered Psyche to blow past Toxapex and deal good damage to Zygarde, two Pokémon that can otherwise counter or check it. Luring in and breaking through Toxapex can be great for partners that are usually hard walled by it like Keldeo and a pre-transformation Ash-Greninja.

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All-Out Pummeling

Magearna uses Fightinium Z to bypass the poor accuracy of Focus Blast against dangerous targets like Heatran. Kartana, on the other hand, uses All-Out Pummeling in conjunction with Swords Dance to break through Steel-types such as Celesteela, Mega Scizor, and even Skarmory. All-Out Pummeling also has the benefit of not being a contact move, allowing Kartana to safely OHKO Volcarona without having to risk being burned by Flame Body. All-Out Pummeling acts as a strong nuke for both Pokémon to start Beast Boost or Soul-Heart snowball sweeps. Tapu Lele uses Fightinium Z primarily as a means to patch up the accuracy of Focus Blast, allowing it to reliably take out Heatran while still hitting other Steel-types.

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Gigavolt Havoc

Gigavolt Havoc is most often used to eliminate or surprise Toxapex or Celesteela. Dragonite additionally is able to lure in Skarmory and Tapu Fini. These Pokémon are often used as blanket checks, so eliminating them with Gigavolt Havoc can open up the door for both the Electrium Z user and its teammates to wreak havoc.

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Continental Crush

Rockium Z is used to both patch up the poor accuracy of Stone Edge and break through counters to Landorus-T and Tapu Bulu in Skarmory, Celesteela, and Tangrowth. Rockium Z additionally helps Tapu Bulu against the Fire-type Pokémon that threaten it, like Volcarona and Mega Charizard Y. Continental Crush's ability to pressure Skarmory allows Landorus-T to keep up Stealth Rock against stall teams, making it a welcome addition to many teams.

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Hydro Vortex

• Scolipede @ Waterium Z
• Ability: Speed Boost
• EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Jolly Nature
• - Swords Dance
• - Megahorn
• - Aqua Tail
• - Earthquake

While uncommon, Scolipede can be a threatening Pokémon in the OU tier after a Swords Dance boost. At +2, Hydro Vortex can OHKO defensive Landorus-T, an extremely common Pokémon in OU, and it can additionally help out against other problematic defensive Pokémon like Mega Scizor. This set saw a good bit of usage in SPL, but it has died down as of late.

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Bloom Doom

• Heatran @ Grassium Z
• Ability: Flash Fire
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Timid Nature
• IVs: 0 Atk
• - Magma Storm
• - Earth Power
• - Taunt
• - Solar Beam

Z-Moves have made Heatran's trapper sets very threatening this generation. Heatran can utilize Bloom Doom to lure in and blow through Water-types like Rotom-W, Pelipper, Gyarados, and Tapu Fini. Taking out Pelipper and Tapu Fini in particular helps Heatran keep its teammates' entry hazards up for the remainder of the match.

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Tectonic Rage

• Heatran @ Groundium Z
• Ability: Flash Fire
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Timid Nature
• - Magma Storm
• - Earth Power
• - Taunt
• - Stealth Rock

Alternatively, Heatran can carry Groundium Z to lure in and eliminate Toxapex while still being able to weaken or KO Tapu Fini. Both of Heatran's trapper sets have fallen out of favor recently in place of a Substitute + Toxic set, as this set is more effective against the Pokémon whose popularity is surging in the metagame right now, including Zygarde, Keldeo, and Mew, while maintaining effectiveness against other metagame staples like Magearna.

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Setup Z-Moves

When a status move is powered up into a Z-Move, it provides an additional stat boost or effect. This creates new dimensions for status moves, revitalizing strategies like Belly Drum and giving moves that otherwise had no competitive viability a place in the OU metagame.

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Conversion

Conversion, a generally unused move present in Pokémon since RBY, is now the centerpiece of Porygon-Z's main sets. Z-Conversion boosts all of Porygon-Z's stats by one stage and changes its type to match the first move in its moveset. Porygon-Z can further take advantage of this through its ability, Adaptability, which increases its STAB modifier from 1.5x to 2x. These features allow Porgyon-Z to become a dangerous late-game sweeper, either by taking advantage of the lack of Pokémon in OU that resist Ghost-type attacks or through utilizing excellent coverage options such as BoltBeam.

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Happy Hour

Like Z-Conversion, Z-Happy Hour boosts all stats by one stage, turning its user into a threatening late-game sweeper. The OU-viable Pokémon with access to Z-Happy Hour tend to be versatile, able to fill a number of roles. Z-Happy Hour tends to be a more niche option for these Pokémon, but this niche nature can lead to Happy Hour sets being an excellent and effective way to surprise an opponent late-game.

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Belly Drum

• Azumarill @ Normalium Z
• Ability: Huge Power
• EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Adamant Nature
• - Belly Drum
• - Aqua Jet
• - Play Rough
• - Knock Off

Belly Drum takes away 50% of the user's maximum health in exchange for +6 Attack. Because of this, Belly Drum users like Azumarill commonly ran Sitrus Berry to ensure they had enough health to successfully use the move. However, these Pokémon now have the option to run Normalium Z to utilize Z-Belly Drum, which has the effect of fully restoring the Pokémon's health before taking away 50% health for the Attack boost. This makes Azumarill a more consistent Pokémon overall, as it no longer has to manage its health as carefully to set up for a sweep—as long as it can survive an attack, it can get a Z-Belly Drum off.

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Weather

• Manaphy @ Waterium Z
• Ability: Hydration
• EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
• Timid Nature
• - Tail Glow
• - Rain Dance
• - Surf
• - Psychic

Z-weather moves such as Z-Rain Dance boost their user's Speed by one stage. Waterium Z gives Manaphy a lot of versatility in its set—it can use Z-Rain Dance to boost its Speed and become difficult to revenge kill while simultaneously powering up its STAB attacks and curing itself of status through Hydration. In addition, Waterium Z can be saved to power up Manaphy's Surf into a Hydro Vortex to be used against bulkier teams.

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Closing Thoughts

Z-Moves offer a lot of versatility for teambuilding, whether it be through powerful or unexpected setup, coverage options to create lures, or extremely strong one-time nukes. When playing in OU, keep an eye out for these potential Z-Move users, and try experimenting with new ones of your own!

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