Hisuian Sun 
Hello, all. It's been a hot minute (years, in fact) since I touched OU, and with Hisuian Zoroark now being available, I figured now was as good a time as any to end my OU retirement (at least until HZ becomes legal in VGC; we'll see how long that takes). I have been hyped about this Pokemon ever since it was announced for PLA; The coveted Normal/Ghost typing is finally here, and on Zoroark of all Pokemon? This is going to be good!
Anyway, now that it's here, I drafted up a quick team of six to give it a spin and I can confidently say Hisuian Zoroark is ten times the Pokemon Unovan Zoroark ever was. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but three immunities (including being the first ever Pokemon to resist the Ghost/Fighting combination) and marginally better Sp. Atk and Speed is pretty nice to have on a glass cannon. Anyway, let's get into it.
Obviously, I was going to use Hisuian Zoroark. If I dedicated my entire BW OU career to making OG Zoroark work, of course I was going to come out of retirement to use this. Walking Wake got on due to being a decent Zoroark disguise (both having Flamethrower and the same Special Attack stat at least makes it easier to keep Illusion intact) and also just to give it a spin before it gets kicked upstairs.
Amoonguss and Torkoal got in to have a little bit of a defensive backbone and to have Sun support for Walking Wake. Torkoal helps against Kingambit for HZ and Amoonguss with Tera Water plus a specific EV spread got on to at least have something that could help with opposing Wakes at least a little (but even then, better hope they're not Specs + SpA Protosynthesis...)
Finally, I thought: What else looks annoying? I concluded Volcarona would be a pain if Walking Wake were weakened or taken out, so Dragonite made the cut. Plus, I couldn't have HZ be stuck dealing with Hatterene by itself; sure, Specs Bitter Malice OHKOes it, but what if Hatterene already has a Calm Mind or two? So that's where Kingambit came in. Did some more fine tuning, like switching Walking Wake to Tera Fairy to resist opposing Kingambit's Sucker Punch and making Torkoal's EVs all-out physically defensive plus giving it Heavy-Duty Boots to keep hazards from wearing it down, and here we are.
The Team
Zoroark-Hisui @ Choice Specs
Ability: Illusion
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Bitter Malice
- Flamethrower
- Grass Knot
Let's just start right off with the reason I'm here. I'll readily admit that the OG Zoroark was never that great competitively; mono-Dark isn't a very solid typing and it was entirely dependent on Illusion to do anything. Plus, 105 base Speed wasn't a great place to be when Gengar could just outspeed and Focus Blast you.
Hisuian Zoroark, however, is just built different. Normal/Ghost is one of the best typings in the game, if not the best. Three immunities is better than one immunity when you have the same defenses as a wet paper towel. Hitting that 110 base Speed tier (and thus outspeeding the newly introduced Walking Wake) is a big deal and having a slightly higher Special Attack stat is nice too. What did it cost? 5 base Attack and 5 base HP? Whatever.
Anyway, STAB Hyper Voice is really neat and I run a Choice Specs set to get it dishing out damage right off the gate, and a late game Tera Normal can boost that even more. Bitter Malice is only marginally weaker than Shadow Ball, but it has the nice effect of dropping Attack on a switch-in. Great Tusk came in on your "Kingambit"? Bitter Malice will make it regret that. Flamethrower gets on to cover things like Kingambit and Corviknight while Grass Knot takes care of those pesky Garganacl.
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Sludge Bomb
I simultaneously love and hate this Pokemon. Anyway, I think everyone knows what Amoonguss does. I have it here so I can put threatening Pokemon like Walking Wake to sleep (note: this will require Tera Water, especially in Sun) and also deal with Pokemon like Quaquaval, Breloom, and Meowscarada. Clear Smog gets on the set to keep Pokemon like Dragonite and Volcarona from simply setting up on it while Giga Drain and Regenerator are crucial to help it stay healthy. The EV spread guarantees survival of Choice Specs + SpAtk Protosynthesis Walking Wake's Draco Meteor, though against that, you will have to use Tera Water to avoid being taken out by Flamethrower.
Torkoal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Body Press
Despite the title of this thread, Torkoal is primarily here to set up Stealth Rock and to keep Kingambit from walking all over this team. Activating Walking Wake's Protosynthesis and boosting Zoroark's and Wake's Flamethrower is just gravy, really. Anyway, as mentioned in the team building process, Heavy-Duty Boots keeps it from being worn down by hazards so it can stay checking Kingambit for as long as possible, while a fully physically defensive spread also minimizes damage taken from moves like Kowtow Cleave. Lava Plume is nice STAB to have that can burn threats like Corviknight and Kingambit. Rapid Spin is honestly the move I use the least here; nothing really needs spin support as everything weak to Rocks has Heavy-Duty Boots, but I also figure Spike stacking might be a problem without it.
Walking Wake @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Steam
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Pulse
inb4 ban
Anyway, Walking Wake is pretty annoying. I don't think anything can switch in to this in the sun, especially with Hydro Steam being boosted by sun instead of weakened by it. I run a Choice Scarf set so I can have revenge killing potential, especially against other Walking Wake. Special Attack boost from Protosynthesis because a Speed boost from Proto is a little redundant with Scarf. Tera Fairy is used to gain a resistance to Kingambit's Sucker Punch, which can be useful if Torkoal has gone down.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
Dragonite is perhaps one of the biggest beneficiaries of Terastallization on this team. Without it, running a STABless Dragonite set seems weird, except when you consider it can Tera Normal to gain STAB on Extreme Speed. Plus, if Multiscale is intact, a Dragon Dance is all but guaranteed. Earthquake is used as an additional move so it doesn't just get outright walled by Pokemon like Gholdengo and Kingambit (also, wouldn't losing to Ceruledge be really embarrassing?). Roost gives it additional longevity and helps to keep Multiscale intact.
Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Kowtow Cleave
- Swords Dance
I'll just say it; Bisharp is the absolute last Pokemon that needed an evolution. Not that I'm complaining; with Swords Dance and Supreme Overlord, this thing hits like a truck. I'd say this is tied with Dragonite as being one of the most frequent win conditions. Anyway, the EV spread is straight from the analysis and is used to outspeed Corviknight, while Tera Flying is used to give it a resistance to Fighting (as opposed to a double weakness) and an immunity to Ground, which is nice for Great Tusk.
Threats
Kingambit: Torkoal is doing some heavy lifting against this thing. Basically, as soon as I see Kingambit in Team Preview, I have to play Torkoal as conservatively as possible; if I lose it, it's going to cause problems.
Walking Wake: Is there a team Walking Wake doesn't threaten, honestly? Anyway, if they're SpA Proto and not Scarfed, I just play my own Wake conservatively. If they're Scarfed or Speed Proto, this matchup comes down to a speed tie.
Slowking: Not so much threatening as it is annoying. Chilly Reception disrupts this team's Sun, which isn't a great position to be in if your name is Walking Wake. Doubly annoying if a Slush Rush user is on the team.
Conclusion
Hisuian Zoroark is pretty fun; I don't think it's going to be an S-tier meta threat or anything, but it's definitely a massive improvement over the OG. Overall, I had high hopes for it and I'm glad that it's lived up to those high hopes.
Importable
Code:
Zoroark-Hisui @ Choice Specs
Ability: Illusion
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Bitter Malice
- Flamethrower
- Grass Knot
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Sludge Bomb
Torkoal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Body Press
Walking Wake @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Steam
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Pulse
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Kowtow Cleave
- Swords Dance
