How to use Zoroark

Adamant Zoroark

Adamant Zoroark

catchy catchphrase
is a Contributor Alumnus
is a Contributor Alumnus
NOTE: I am not trying to make a super-duper-awesome laddering team here. I wanted to make a team to use that's fun to use, but I did want to make it at least somewhat good, but I don't care if it's not great for laddering or whatever. (lol run-on sentence)

With that said, lately I've really wanted to use Zoroark. I used it a lot when I first started out and even when I got a little better at BW OU, but lately I've found a lack of opportunities to use it and that makes me sad because Zoroark is my favorite Pokemon. So, that made me think: "How can I build a team that I can put Zoroark on?" This team was born. From the testing of it I've done, I actually really like this team. Heavily reliant on prediction, but I like it.

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Deoxys-D @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Night Shade

If anything really helps out Zoroark, and, well, just about any Pokemon to be exact, it's entry hazards. Lots of 'em. As of now, nothing sets up both SR and Spikes better than Deoxys-D. It's not quite in Deoxys-S territory, but Deoxys-D's 50/160/160 defenses make up for that fact.

I picked the Fast Spiker set because Deoxys-D's Defenses are already good enough anyway, and, well, why not take advantage of that 90 base Speed? Stealth Rock is a given, any team needs it, and then you gotta use Spikes because it helps even further to stop things like Scizor just repeatedly switching in. If Dragonite wants to try to set up Dragon Dances, well, good luck because I have Taunt. Night Shade is there for one simple reason: To prevent Deoxys-D from becoming Taunt bait itself.

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Haxorus (F) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break

Dragon Dancer with 147 base Attack? Yes please! I picked Haxorus over other users of Dragon Dance due to its SR neutrality, which is preferred because I have no user of Rapid Spin. Plus, 147 base Attack, motherfuckers! *Outrage spam* ok that's not actually what happens but man, I wish.

The EVs are simple: 252 Attack with an Adamant nature to maximize power, and adding 220 Speed EVs allows it to beat Jolly Dragonite by just one point. Outrage is a given because with that massive Attack stat, why wouldn't you use it? I use Earthquake alongside Outrage to cover most of the Steel-types, and thanks to Mold Breaker, it will hit those Pokemon using Levitate, especially Rotom-W. Brick Break, despite the redundant coverage alongside Earthquake, helps out against Air Balloon users (especially Heatran)

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Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Jeez, I swear, each time I make a BW OU team that works, it has Scizor on it. Oh well, Scizor is just so good. The only reasons I use it so much are to Pursuit-trap Latios locked into Draco Meteor and to beat Terrakion down into a hole six feet underground. Now, I don't need to write anything on how badass Scizor is because I'm pretty sure everyone knows how good it is.

Anyway, I picked the Choice Band set because I've never been too keen on using Swords Dance or Choice Scarf on Scizor, and Choice Band is the set I know for sure works well. Bullet Punch is for... Well, you have to use Bullet Punch on CB Scizor, same with U-turn, as the former lets you have priority to bypass your terrible Speed and the latter lets you scout and be annoying. Superpower lets me ensure Blissey doesn't have a field day with my team and make sure Heatran and Magnezone don't just switch in for free, and Pursuit is to trap threats such as Latios, Gengar, and Alakazam.

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Zoroark (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Illusion
EVs: 32 Atk / 252 SAtk / 224 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Sucker Punch
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Flamethrower

Out of all of the Zoroark sets I've used (yes, I've even used Swords Dance -_-), this is the best one. I don't really use Zoroark as a sweeper, I use it more to assist the team, although it can cut through a weakened team given the right opportunity (and hoping Focus Miss doesn't miss!). Scizor down, and gotta deal with Latios? Send it out disguised as Infernape and Sucker Punch it to death! The 32 EVs in Attack ensure Latios will be OHKOed by Sucker Punch after Stealth Rock. Latios can't bug you anymore! Really need that Skarmory out of the way and you don't have Jolteon on Infernape to handle it? Oh hey, your Scizor/Haxorus is in the last party spot! Send it in on something either one can beat, and Skarmory should inevitably come in. That's the perfect opportunity to roast it with Flamethrower. If they have Heatran or whatever, Focus Blast will - or maybe I should say, 70% chance to take care of it.

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Jolteon (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

You're probably thinking, "Hold on! Life Orb Jolteon? Are you stupid?". No, I'm not stupid. I already have two Choiced Pokemon, I don't need three. Plus, the Life Orb lets me play stupid when put against Gliscor. I'll send Jolteon in on Gyarados or whatever, and Volt Switch even when I know Gliscor will come in. Since I do no damage, Jolteon will not take LO recoil, so I can bluff Choice Specs in just that case and then roast Gliscor with some good 'ol HP Ice. Gliscor is quite the threat because my other two Pokemon with Special attacks, Zoroark and Infernape, can only manage a 2HKO if I recall correctly, and I'm not going to chance trying to set up all over it with Haxorus.

Jolteon has a pretty shallow movepool, so I don't feel that I really need a long explanation for why I picked each move. Thunderbolt > Thunder is obvious because I do not have rain support, and Volt Switch lets me predict switches/whatever. HP Ice was chosen over HP Grass because Gliscor is so much more of a threat than Swampert, and I use Shadow Ball because it helps me beat Celebi, and also lets me beat Gengar without wasting Thunderbolt PP.

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Infernape (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 108 Atk / 148 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Behold, my anti-Sun Pokemon. Choice Scarf Infernape is possibly the best Infernape set I have ever used, including MixApe. Because it hits 519 Speed with the Choice Scarf boost, it ties with Choice Scarf Terrakion and beats Modest Venusaur under sun.

Fire Blast is a given, as it lets me, well, actually beat Venusaur, and also deals no recoil unlike Flare Blitz. Close Combat is for Blissey, and also lets me have a chance to beat Terrakion should I need to risk the speed tie. U-turn is there because it is a Choiced Pokemon's best friend, and I chose to use Stone Edge over Hidden Power Ice because I need to be able to beat Volcarona.


Well, that's the team. Hope you enjoyed, and any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
Ryuu posting his team like a boss.
ANYWAYS... At a first glance, this team looks pretty neat, but after trying to look into it deep enough, I noticed Sand teams can give you a major headache.
Scarf Landorus can always love switching in to whatever you have, and threaten with a sand boosted Earthquake, and even outspeed a plus 1 Haxorus, and they will have Scizor as their partner too to finish him off. Banded Terrakion can try to switch in to Zoroark if they found out your disguise, or Jolteon then fire off a STAB banded Close Combat if Deoxys-D is down, or Stone Edge just literally wrecks everyone on your team. Sand slowly hitting you down isn't a good thing at all too. Another thing you may need to take note is Rain stall team can toy your team around without having much trouble.

Scarf Infernape isn't the best thing, and rather you have a mix ape, or banded ape. LO Jolteon is good, but sometimes, he needs to have Scarf if needed. To me, Zoroark is just a major flaw to your team just by looking at your team structure. Needs to be replaced to a better scarfer if want to survive the sand stuff shenanigans.

But that is all now, I'm not good with rating teams but this is the best I can think of so, cheers.
 
Thanks for the rate, but as of now Zoroark is the only Pokemon on this team that I'm completely set on using (See title). Still unsure about running a different Infernape set because the set I'm using now has been so good against Sun teams. Right now my best bet on "replace this" is replacing Haxorus. I've found it's been doing much more harm to my team than it's been doing good.
 
Hey mate if you're looking for a scarfer, I'd suggest this one:

Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Calm Mind
- Trick


The purpose of this set is to revenge kill and Trick walls. But after it tricks something, what would it do next? Be a death fodder? I wouldn't waste a perfectly good condition Latios for that. So there's Calm Mind to patch that up. Surf can be replaced by Hidden Power Fire if you like but then Surf has more immediate power and like Bestow 5000 said, Scarf Terrakion can walk past through this team once Deoxys-D is gone so Latios is your answer to it without risking speed tie. But don't just go wasting your Scarf 'cause Latios can still be useful late game. Although I gotta admit, without a Calm Mind boost, Latios is pretty weak.
 
Hey, Nice team! First off, I am seeing quite the weakness to Terrakion, Scarfed Variants Especially as it OHKOs 3 out of your 6 team members, and nothing barring Deoxys-D Can switch into it. You are also quite weak to Dragons in general. Especially Choice Scarf Salamence. For this reason I recommend replacing Stone Edge on Infernape for Hidden Power Ice, and Changing Pursuit on Scizor for Quick Attack. The reason Scizor should have Quick attack is that it 2HKOs Volcarona, and OHKOs after Stealth Rocks. I can see Mamoswine working very well over Jolteon as it can give u much needed priority as well as doing essentially what Jolteon is, but with more power, considering it can take on bulky waters due to its immense attacking stat. If you have any other questions feel free to ask
 
I don't really know about Quick Attack on Scizor. It does land an OHKO on Offensive QD Volcarona after SR, but nowadays I almost always see Bulky QD Volcarona, in which case Scizor will lose, even with Quick Attack. At least for now, I think I'll keep Stone Edge on Infernape.

I'll definitely try Mamoswine, though, but some part of my brain tells me not to replace Jolteon because right now Jolteon is my best way of handling Tornadus.

Thanks for the rate!
 
LucaroarkZ said:
I don't really know about Quick Attack on Scizor. It does land an OHKO on Offensive QD Volcarona after SR, but nowadays I almost always see Bulky QD Volcarona, in which case Scizor will lose, even with Quick Attack. At least for now, I think I'll keep Stone Edge on Infernape.

I'll definitely try Mamoswine, though, but some part of my brain tells me not to replace Jolteon because right now Jolteon is my best way of handling Tornadus.

Thanks for the rate!
Click to expand...

Mamoswine has a 6% chance to OHKO Tornadus with LO Ice Shard with Adamant Nature, so that is not reliable my any means. But If you get the Rocks up with Mamoswine, then you'd have a better time.
 
Okay, after more testing, here's some things I've found:

Stall - I'm horrible against it. My only setup sweeper doesn't do so well against stall teams, and after that I'll struggle to take out important stall members, especially Gliscor. Deoxys-D having no recovery isn't helping, either.
My own Haxorus - Yeah I still don't think it's doing well. It's done great against full offensive teams, but most teams I'm running into on Find Battle right now are not such. Tried Salamence, which was worse.
My own Infernape - Useful against Sun teams, Volcarona, and Skarmbliss (with prediction), and that's about it. Damage output otherwise without super effective damage is pitiful. Even then, I still need a Choice Scarf user that can beat Volcarona.
Gliscor - Jolteon down means I'm completely screwed against it.
I have no Ground resist - Self explanatory. Only Deoxys-D can really switch in on Earthquakes, but with no recovery.... Good luck.

Needless to say, I'm putting this team through a massive overhaul right now.
 
You can always give Deoxys D Recover over Taunt, but Taunt seems much more useful. Stall is annoying it seems, so Toxic can be used over Seismic Toss. Latios seems to take on many problems that you have stated, becoming a ground resist, and I believe a Scarfed Psyshock does 65% min iirc, so with spikes and some passive damage, it can be taken on. Gliscor also can't take a Draco Meteor. I think Haxorus can be replaced with something else as well. Terrakion seemed to work when i tested this team, as it can take on SkarmBliss (If Using a CB Set) And iirc 2HKOs Gliscor with a CB Stone Edge. Also you can use Terrakion as a reliable scarfed to take down Volcarona as it resists both of it STABs, and Latios can be used as a non choice Expert Belt Attacker as a bluff
 
About your Haxorus, this is just my personal view but Haxy is too fragile to be setting up. I might be leaning more on the Salamance side. Also even if Haxy gets up a DD a good scarfer (EG: Terrakion) can easily outrun him and pound him into the ground with a Close Combat. Just some food for thought
 
What do you know, a Zoroark RMT that happens to coincide with the OU CCAT focusing on Zoroark. I think this is a golden opportunity to learn some things about how Zoroark works in practice, and maybe we can help eachother's teams out.

I find it pretty cool that we've selected Haxorus as our first teammate, and that your main illusion partner for Zoroark is indeed Haxorus. However, yours is just a straight DD set, and I think that's partly where your team fails against Stall Teams. What you should do, in my opinion, is ditch Brick Break in favor of Sword Dance. Haxorus dun need no Brick Break for Air balloon when all the common users of the item are 2HKO'd by Outrage at +2! It also gives you a big edge against Stall, as thanks to team preview you can see whether you'll need the speed boost or not. If you need the speed boost, DD. If you don't SD so you can REALLY pwn stuff. Even Pysically defensive Skarmory is 2HKO'd most of the time by Outrage at +2 assuming SR is down. If you really want to pound walls you might want to try Dragon Plate or Life Orb over Lum, but I know that Lum can really aid you in setting up. I suggest trying both and finding out for yourself what is more useful.

As for the others, I have a couple loose suggestions. Life Orb mamoswine is good for against Chlorophyll sweepers and most of sun in general (be careful to know what you can speed though, a fire type attack WILL kill you), and you'll need something else for Volcarona as you can't exactly switch Mamo into it. Air Balloon Heatran also works well in place of Infernape too, and it can actually deal with Volc. Mamo works as an illusion partner too, though Air Balloon Heatran is pretty much a no go. But illusion really is secondary in these cases; revenge killing is first. Both will be more useful than Infernape outside of sun too, with Mamoswine's priority Ice Shard wrecks a TONNE of dangerous threats (and can actually facilitate a sweep surprisingly often) and Heatran is a powerful special attacker with great typing to help you out. Oh, and both can beat Gliscor with a little luck, especially Mamoswine which demolishes it entirely.

And Life Orb mamo just keeps looking better the more I think of it. It gives Stall Trouble with just a couple layers of hazards (which your Deoxys-D thankfuly supplies) it can tear through every wall in the game except Skarmory and Slowbro, and it can beat Skarmory with a little luck from Icicle Crash flinches. Here's the set just in case you decide to give it a whirl.

Mamoswine (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Hail / Stone Edge


Ok this is just the set I use, you can use Adamant if you feel the need for more power (Jolly outspeeds a lot of important things though that resist Ice Shard and can KO back). Hail is on there just to screw with opposing weather (and it can help faciliate later illusions with SS immune pokes on your team like Scizor) since Stone Edge only really covers Gyarados, Volcarona and Rotom-W, and you can't beat Rotom-W 1 on 1 even with it anyway. Gyarados you can if it's not running Jolly and you are and you end up 1 v 1 and... ok that's a lot of ifs, but it can beat unboosted, offensive Gyarados with Stone Edge. Volcarona is much the same deal; switching into it is suicide but if you happen to double switch into it you can beat the slower sets. I prefer hail though since usually it's more useful... and less suicidal.

EDIT: @Dietcoke101

Setting up with Haxorus isn't actually that hard, it has pretty good physical bulk and enough resistances from its dragon typing to do it. Add in the fact that on this team there's always the threat of that Haxorus actually being Zoroark and it gets that much easier to set up, since if the opponent predicts wrong they can get one of their Haxorus checks destroyed. I know when I used Haxorus I never had difficutly finding the time to set up, and Zoroark only makes it easier.
 
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