1v1 Suspect Coverage: Power Construct (Zygarde-C)

By Itchy. Released: 2022/02/16.
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Introduction

In the absence of Jirachi and Genesect, Zygarde-C rose to become one of 1v1's top threats. Over time, as players innovated, Zygarde-C became more restrictive, adapting to other top threats with its great bulk, variety of utility moves, and decent offensive presence. Eventually, players began to call for a suspect, claiming that Zygarde-C was too restrictive, which resulted in the 1v1 council holding a tiering survey where 55% of the playerbase responded that Zygarde-C was problematic. With that result in mind, a suspect for Power Construct was announced shortly after. Power Construct was suspected because Zygarde-C was the issue, not Zygarde or Zygarde-10%.

1v1 Suspect: Power Construct artwork

Art by Kolohe.

The Sets

Zygarde-C often aims to set up Defense and Attack boosts with Coil, living successive hits from physical attackers such as Metagross, Landorus-T, and Dracovish and do massive damage with Thousand Arrows. Zygarde-C has two different Coil sets, Weakness Policy + Skitter Smack and Rocky Helmet. With these two variations, Zygarde-C can outlast the vast majority of the metagame.

Weakness Policy Zygarde-C aims to cover both defenses, using Skitter Smack to survive unboosted attacks from Primarina and Tapu Fini while also surviving any attack from Choice Band Metagross. This set had been common on Zygarde-C even before Genesect and Jirachi were banned and has remained relatively steady from then until the suspect test, as it allows Zygarde-C to be a Dragon-type that can beat some common Fairy-types.

Rocky Helmet Zygarde-C is tailored to beat Swords Dance Rillaboom, which is usually a solid check to it, as consistently as possible. Breaking Swipe helps against non-Iron Defense Urshifu-R and Zarude, but it loses to bulkier Pokémon such as Leech Seed + Protect + Substitute Celesteela as a result of not having Rest. Rocky Helmet Zygarde-C with Breaking Swipe was once a very common set that was used to lure Urshifu formes and other physical attackers, but it had dropped off until closer to the suspect when it began to run Rest to outlast physical attackers such as Toxic Entei and non-Swords Dance Tapu Bulu instead of trying to outdamage them.

Assault Vest Zygarde-C gained popularity during the World Cup of 1v1 in July as a lure for common Fairy-types, namely Togekiss and Sylveon. The Special Defense EVs allow Zygarde-C to tank Choice Specs Draco Meteor from Naganadel and defeat Draining Kiss Tapu Fini as reliably as possible, with the Attack EVs for improving damage rolls against Sylveon. With Assault Vest, Zygarde-C blocks Choice Scarf Togekiss, Tapu Fini, and Cresselia from recovering after using Trick. With Skitter Smack, Assault Vest Zygarde-C beats Primarina, Tapu Lele, and even Fake Tears Sylveon. Extreme Speed helps against the many Pokémon that hold Custap Berry, such as the aforementioned Sylveon and Porygon-Z. With Iron Tail, Zygarde beats Roost Togekiss and Fake Tears Sylveon. If beating Sylveon is not a concern, Iron Tail can be dropped for Sludge Wave, which hits Tapu Bulu. The widespread adoption of Assault Vest Zygarde-C is what tipped many people's perception of it from a good setup Pokémon to a bulky demon that is rarely KOed by unboosted attacks.

With Haban Berry, Zygarde-C can surprise a variety of its Dragon-type checks by surviving Choice Specs Draco Meteor from Naganadel, Outrage from Choice Scarf Unnerve Haxorus, and Outrage from non-Unnerve Jolly Haxorus. To hit opposing Dragon-types, Haban Berry Zygarde-C uses Outrage in addition to the typical Thousand Arrows. Zygarde-C adds to this offensive presence with Dragon Dance, allowing it to beat Goodra and Garchomp. Substitute rounds out this set, blocking Acid Spray from Goodra and Leech Seed from Celesteela and removing common counterplay from Chansey and Galarian Corsola. Haban Berry Zygarde-C is tried and true; it has been in common use for most of the year, if not more. Haban Berry Zygarde-C's effectiveness in checking most opposing Dragon-types limits what counts as a “reliable” Zygarde-C check and adds to its unpredictability on team preview and presence in the teambuilder.

The final common Zygarde-C set is a speedy Substitute + Toxic set that survives unboosted Moonblast from Tapu Lele and outspeeds most variants of Urshifu-R and Urshifu-S. With Substitute, Protect, and Toxic, Zygarde-C aims to badly poison the foe, stall out turns with HP recovery from Power Construct + Substitute + Protect, and finish them off with Thousand Arrows. With this combination, Zygarde can force Choice Specs Tapu Fini and Choice Band Galarian Darmanitan to use all of the PP on their Ice-type moves and use Struggle until they faint. To compensate for this matchup, Choice Specs Tapu Fini runs a Speed-boosting nature and Galarian Darmanitan runs Ice Punch. SubTox Zygarde-C also picks up matchups that other sets struggle to break through, such as against setup sweepers like Necrozma and Zarude. SubTox was popular after Jirachi and Genesect were banned and fell off as the meta developed. SubTox Zygarde-C is shut down by Taunt, Trick, sound moves, and most Pokémon that are faster than Zygarde-C, which makes it difficult to use successfully.

The Arguments

Anti-ban Reasoning

With all of these possibilities in its arsenal, Zygarde-C has become increasingly difficult to counter. However, many 1v1 players argue that it is not as overpowered as it seems. To start off, Zygarde-C is not uncounterable. Common counterplay includes Iron Defense + Taunt Tapu Fini and Tapu Lele, Aromatisse, Spectrier, Haban Berry Dragon-types, and Galarian Darmanitan, as well as a few lower ranked threats such as Talonflame. In addition to these counters, many of Zygarde-C's other matchups are entirely reliant on which set it is running. For example, Zygarde-C can only check most opposing Dragon-types when holding Haban Berry, which means it cannot beat Fairy-types due to not having Assault Vest. This tradeoff makes Zygarde-C, in the eyes of some, less broken in practice than it feels in the teambuilder; while Zygarde-C can, in theory, beat Sylveon or Garchomp, it cannot defeat both simultaneously. Furthermore, some players argue that they can guess what variant of Zygarde-C their opponent is using and exploit this knowledge while playing.

Pro-ban Reasoning

Other players are convinced that Zygarde-C is unhealthy for the tier. Citing its unmatched ability to beat its supposed counters, especially with its Assault Vest and Rest sets, a vocal section of the 1v1 community became more and more insistent that Zygarde-C had to go. As mentioned previously, Zygarde-C has very few consistent counters, with many Pokémon only beating select Zygarde-C variants. Additionally, Zygarde-C sets have wildly different matchups due to each set being tailored to limit certain types of counterplay. This makes team preview against Zygarde-C difficult to predict accurately. Eventually, after weeks of back-and-forth discussion, banning Power Construct gained traction, resulting in its eventual ban.

Finishing Thoughts

In the aftermath of Power Construct's ban, several Pokémon will see their viability affected, both positively and negatively. By and far the biggest beneficiary of the suspect's results is Garchomp. Garchomp was almost entirely outclassed by Zygarde-C, only occasionally seeing use over it as a faster, harder-hitting Dragon-type. Post Zygarde-C, Garchomp will likely see much more use, filling some of the same niche Zygarde-C used to. Although Garchomp can beat the occasional Fairy-type with Assault Vest or Dragon-type with Haban Berry, it cannot do so as universally as Zygarde-C could. As for other changes, Electric- and Steel-types such as Zeraora, Celesteela, and Metagross will appreciate having one less Ground-type to worry about, and Fairy-types such as Togekiss and Primarina, which could be beaten by Zygarde-C, will enjoy not having to be paired with a secondary Dragon-type check.

On the other hand, several Pokémon with inflated viability due to their uniquely good matchups against Zygarde-C, such as Glastrier and Alolan Ninetales, will see much less use in its absence. In addition to this, set options such as Choice Specs Tapu Fini will see a drop off, as it was primarily used to check Zygarde-C, although it will likely not disappear completely. On the other hand, Choice Scarf Tapu Fini, which could lose to Assault Vest Zygarde-C, will be able to fit onto more teams going forward.

If you would like to see 1v1's new metagame develop, feel free to hop on the ladder on Pokémon Showdown!, watch matches in the ongoing Global Cup and 1v1 Premier League. Feel free to join the discussion in the 1v1 Discord as well! I swear we don't bite-

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