Porygon-Z (Analysis) [QC 1/3]

JellyOs

JellyOs

Why this belongs on-site
Porygon-Z is a powerful Pokemon and is a great choice user. Although it has counters, those can be gotten around by using certain coverage moves. It has viability over similar Pokemon because of its raw power, boosting moves and single weakness.

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Porygon-Z

[Overview]

<p>Will write..</p>

[SET]
name: Agility
move 1: Agility
move 2: Tri-Attack
move 3: Dark Pulse / Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Thunderbolt
ability: Download
item: Life Orb
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

-Speed boost makes him very capable of a sweep with his great SpA and Adaptability
-Tri Attack is a general STAB move
-Agility for more Speed allowing a sweep
-Dark Pulse and HP Fighting for better coverage, hitting most threats
-Use Ice Beam and Thunderbolt together for BoltBeam coverage
-Download's hopeful +1 boost will make Porygon-Z even more strongth allowing a fast and powerful sweep

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

-HAZARD SUPPORT
-Timid is viable for more Speed, although a lot less powerful
-Psychic can hit Terrakion much harder
-Psyshock can hit the physical side of the spectrum
-Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit Scizor and the like
-Leftovers can be used to take off residual damage
-Silk Scarf makes your Tri Attack more powerful
-Expert Belt grants you additional power when hitting things like Dragonite
-Adaptability can be used, although Porygon-Z will miss Download's great power boost
-Gengar is again a good partner
-Wobbuffet can really help against a lot of things that annoy P-Z
-Dual Screeners like Azelf, Deo-D, and Latias can really help P-Z's defenses, letting him boost
-Stuff that slows down VoltTurn like Forretress, Rotom-W and Scizor make its job easier
-The two blobs wall this, and Ferrothorn can give a lot of trouble if Porygon-Z lacks Hidden Power Fighting
-Things that stop priority are heaven-sent (Magnezone stops Scizor, Skarm against Dnite, Gliscor against Conk, etc.)

[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Tri Attack
move 2: Nasty Plot
move 3: Thunderbolt / Dark Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Ice Beam
ability: Adaptability
item: Life Orb / Chople Berry
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

-Nasty Plot not outclassed by Mew and Celebi because of the high SpA and powerful STAB
-More of a wall breaker than Agility
-Tri Attack is great, powerful STAB with Adapability
-HP Fighting + Thunderbolt with Nasty Plot allow all Steel-, Rock-, and Ghost-types to be OHKO's at +2 SpA
-BoltBeam can be used too
-So can Dark Pulse + Hidden Power Fighting
-Life Orb gives great power, Chople Berry is to help against faster Fighting-types

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

-Not many other options are recommended outside of analysis
-Fast Fighting-types can easily stop Nasty Plot, while priority can put a big dent in too
-CB Terrakion is pretty much a hard counter
-Dnite can stop it with Multiscale
-Use hazards for that reason exactly!
-Nothing can really tank a hit from this if it gets to +2 making switching in hard
-Gengar is a good partner because Porygon-Z softens up walls for it

[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Tri Attack
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Trick
ability: Adaptability
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

-Powerful scarfer
-Good for revenging weakened threats
-One of the most powerful Specs users in the game
-Both have a hit-and-run playstyle
-Tri Attack is the main move, 160 BP move with Adapability is no joke
-Ice Beam is good for picking off Dragons, Landorus and Gliscor
-Hidden Powers both have their advantages, Fire hits Bug or Grass/Steel and Ground can hit Heatran hard
-Trick is great for screwing with walls like Blissey and Chansey

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

-EVs are obvious
-Psychic / Psyshock are both viable to hit Fighting-types and Gengar
-Thunder on a rain team
-Don't use Hyper Beam
-Adaptability is recommended for powering up Tri Attack, but Download is usable, getting a much larger boost than Adaptability
-Don't try to take hits, but he can actually survive a CB Scizor Bullet Punch after rocks
-Gengar works well with Porygon-Z, immune to Fighting while Porygon-Z is immune to Ghost. Gengar can also handle Fighting types that plague Porygon-Z.
-Terrakion, Blissey, and Chansey all wall this, although Terrakion can be nailed by Psychic

[Other Options]

-Choice Specs set with Tri-Attack, Adapability and cover is insanely strong
-Scarf set with Download is a decent revenger
-Nasty Plot has power, but is too slow
-Porygon-Z has access to Trick Room, so a minimum Speed set with three attacks and Trick room can be used, although things can easily "outslow" this
-Recover can be used with a set up move or three attacks, but Porygon-Z is frail and wants to focus on attacking
-Don't use Hyper Beam
-Substitute can be used with three attacks, but usually Porygon-Z is better just firing off Tri Attacks
-Shadow Ball and Signal Beam can be used for coverage on any set
-Thunder on rain teams, Blizzard on hail teams

[Checks and Counters]

-Ferrothorn can act as a hard stop when not carrying Hidden Power Fighting or Fire
-Chansey and Blissey can take anything Porygon-Z throws at them
-Jirachi, Heatran, and Magnezone all resist or take very little damage from Porygon-Z that lack HP Fighting
-Although Scizor's Bullet Punch can't OHKO, with residual damage Porygon-Z will perish shortly
-Terrakion can outspeed non-Scarf and a boosting set that lacks Agility and promptly OHKO with Close Combat
-Jellicent can take an unboosted Thunderbolt or Dark Pulse, but has trouble with Nasty Plot and Specs variants
-Conkeldurr has enough bulk to take unboosted attacks and return with a strong Drain Punch



Side notes:
In reference to this post, I'd like to point a few things out.

Porygon-Z can run Nasty Plot, but why would I use it when I could use other / better Nasty Plot users such as:

Thundurus
Has Mischievous Heart, is much faster, is resistant to Mach Punch and Bullet Punch, meaning it isn't revenge killed as easily as Porygon-Z is.

Mew
Also has Nasty Plot and is significantly more bulky than Porygon-Z / has better typing. Unlike Porygon-Z, it has access to Flamethrower, allowing it to torch Steels. Porygon-Z has to rely on HP Fighting to beat Tyranitar, while Mew has Aura Sphere. Lastly, mew gains STAB on Psycho Shock unlike Porygon-Z, making it easier for it bypass Blissey.

Celebi
Has more bulk and resistances, making it easier to set-up. Also has Giga Drain + Recover to keep it healthy (Porygon-Z has Recover, but it's too frail to use it and loses out on coverage).
Click to expand...

The reason Porygon-Z was declared uncompetitive was because it was outclassed by other Pokemon, including Nasty Plot users like those above. Since this was posted over a year ago, Thundurus has been banned. In addition, Mew and Celebi lack some qualities Porygon-Z has. Mew simply lacks the strength to break through walls Porygon-Z can, and lacks the powerful STAB move he has too. Celebi doesn't have the coverage or STAB power Porygon-Z has.

Choice sets are ridiculously easy to counter; tons of things can switch-in on Tri Attack, such as Tyranitar, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, Terakion, Blissey, Chansey, and so on. All of these Pokemon are common and can easily take advatnage of a Porygon-Z locked into a single move.
Click to expand...

This is also true for several choice bearing Pokemon as well. Gliscor can abuse Choice Terrakion, but it is still common. Choice Rotom-W is stopped hard by Ferrothorn and Gastrodon, but it still sees use. Scarf MoxieMence is stopped when locked into and Outrage, as is Choice Band Dragonite. These are just risks of using Choiced Pokemon. Prediction is a key.

Agility sets are too easily revenge killed by Roobushin and Scizor.
Click to expand...

The former is rarely seen in OU, while the latter is easily taken down by a Hidden Power Fire. CB Scizor's Bullet Punch fails to OHKO Porygon-Z, and that stands for weaker priority as well.

I know I'm gonna get hell for this ;-;
 
I don't know about this. Porygon-Z was always underwhelming to me with its frail defenses and lagging speed. With so many Terrakion, Scizor, Tyranitar, etc. running around, Porygon-Z will not make it far. Porygon-Z doesn't have anything that makes him stand out and doesn't have much of a place in BW OU.
 
Possible AC mention in the AC of the boosting set to using both Nasty Plot and Agility? Same as Double Dancer Terrakion really; Agility against offensive teams, and Nasty Plot against the sluggisher, bulkier teams. IMO Download should be the main ability on the boosting set, seeing as it appreciates SpA boosts to all its moves, whereas the choice set will normally be spamming Tri Attack
 
Thundur said:
I don't know about this. Porygon-Z was always underwhelming to me with its frail defenses and lagging speed. With so many Terrakion, Scizor, Tyranitar, etc. running around, Porygon-Z will not make it far. Porygon-Z doesn't have anything that makes him stand out and doesn't have much of a place in BW OU.
Click to expand...

The sheer power Porygon-Z provides should stand out on it's own. The last time he was looked at was a year ago; I strongly think he should have a chance with the high SpA he brings to the table. And using those Pokemon as an example also say that Sun doesn't have a place in OU :P

EDIT: Was writing this as you replied Cherub, I'll add the mentions, and I think I'll take the ability notion out and point out in the set comments that both have their advantages
 
JellyOs said:
The sheer power Porygon-Z provides should stand out on it's own. The last time he was looked at was a year ago; I strongly think he should have a chance with the high SpA he brings to the table. And using those Pokemon as an example also say that Sun doesn't have a place in OU :P
Click to expand...

Sometimes "sheer power" is not enough when Porygon-Z is too slow and frail too attack, especially when Pokemon who easily dispose of him are running ramped in the metagame.

Sun has nothing to do with this. Sun is a play style, this is one Pokemon. One Pokemon can not deal with an entire well-built team.
 
Again, he is not so frail as one might think. Taking a CB Bullet Punch from a Scizor is generally not considered "too frail". Also notice that each set has an option to boost speed. Speed is a well known problem and that's why the boosting options are the primary choices on each set.
 
Talking about how poryZ isn't viable due to having a lot of checks is absolutely ridiculous. It's like saying that skarmory isn't viable because heatran and rotom-w are extremely common. Sure, the thing can't check every single threat in the bw ou metagame, but with HP Fire it takes out scizor with ease, and Hp Fighting lets poryZ take on tyranitar, heatran, and maybe terrakion if it has prior damage on it. PoryZ might not be able to take on everything, but you have to admit that it packs a huge punch, and with something like conkeldurr or another bulky fighter on team support duty, it looks like it could rip through teams (at least on paper). I thought there was a section on teammates somewhere in an analysis, maybe that could go there... Anyway, I haven't used PoryZ, but judging from its stats the agility set at least seems pretty formidable. If you could post some calcs/logs of poryZ doing work somewhere it would probably help people get over skepticism about it and really consider the set lol.
 
-Don't use Hyper Beam
Click to expand...

You sure? The number of idiots misusing Blissey is staggering o_0.

| Blissey @ Leftovers |
| Natural Cure |
| 252 HP / 252 Def |
| Bold |
| - Seismic Toss |
| - Toxic |
| - Softboiled |
| - Aromatherapy |
Click to expand...

+2 LO Adaptability Hyper Beam vs 252 HP / 252 Def Blissey: 103.36% - 121.85%

Uh huh.
 
I really don't think Hyper Beam is a good idea to use. I had a Specs Adaptability PoryZ that had Hyper Beam last gen, and it was kinda cool because it could one-shot a very surprising amount of Pokemon, but it was horribly gimmicky, and there are more Pokemon than enough Pokemon that can cause GG with one turn of set-up that the recharge provides.
 
I see you are missing vital information about Porygon-Z's abilities.

On the choice sets, Download is most of the times the superior option since it boosts the power of all your attacks, and most of the times the opponent won't just let you spam Tri Attack. So please slash Download with Adaptability and make Download the first slash.

On boosting sets with Nasty Plot, Adaptability is the best option since a +2 Adaptability Tri Attack is strongetr than a +3 Tri Attack, and most things that resist Tri Attack will be destroyed by your coverage moves at +2.

Finally on the NP set, HP Fighting and Tbolt should be the main combination of coverage moves with the ability Adaptability, as every single Steel, Rock and Ghost type is ohkoed at +2.
 
You sure? The number of idiots misusing Blissey is staggering o_0.
Click to expand...

-Not sure if serious or not but this

I see you are missing vital information about Porygon-Z's abilities.

On the choice sets, Download is most of the times the superior option since it boosts the power of all your attacks, and most of the times the opponent won't just let you spam Tri Attack. So please slash Download with Adaptability and make Download the first slash.

On boosting sets with Nasty Plot, Adaptability is the best option since a +2 Adaptability Tri Attack is strongetr than a +3 Tri Attack, and most things that resist Tri Attack will be destroyed by your coverage moves at +2.

Finally on the NP set, HP Fighting and Tbolt should be the main combination of coverage moves with the ability Adaptability, as every single Steel, Rock and Ghost type is ohkoed at +2.
Click to expand...

-Abilities are preference, and I'll leave it at that. The lack of boost from Download can be just as disappointing as a boost is exhilarating. That's the only reason why Adaptability is preferred. You coverage also suggests leaving yourself open to every Dragon-type out there as well as losing coverage on important threats as Celebi. BoltBeam is a tried-and-true combo, but I'll AC your coverage
 
JellyOs said:
-Not sure if serious or not but this



-Abilities are preference, and I'll leave it at that. The lack of boost from Download can be just as disappointing as a boost is exhilarating. That's the only reason why Adaptability is preferred. You coverage also suggests leaving yourself open to every Dragon-type out there as well as losing coverage on important threats as Celebi. BoltBeam is a tried-and-true combo, but I'll AC your coverage
Click to expand...
Adabtability is preffered in the NP set, because it is a guaranteed power boost and it also makes your main move stronger than Download does at +2.

Also what do you mean about Dragons and Celebi? Any OU Dragon except Dnite outspeeds you anyway, and Dnite and Celebi are easily ohkoed by a +2 Adaptability Tri Attack, while Celebi gets 2hkoed by both Adaptability Tri Attack and Ice Beam at +0

Of 'course i am talking about the NP set, as Agility is another thing. Also you should definitely make 2 separate sets for Agility and NP.

Finally tbh i don't think any of Porygon Z's sets are viable in OU, except for maybe NP for the sole purpose to break stall and 2hko Blissey at +2, or OHKO with Hyper Beam.
 
Tried out your coverage and realized why you vouched for it lol I'll rearrange the slashes tomorrow, I'm on my phone right now. And I personally feel NP and agility play do similarly that splitting them up seems like a waste of space. And I've already discussed why I think it's viable in the hide tag at the bottom of the analysis
 
Actually, NP and Agility play very differently. NP is a wall breaker, as the 2HKO on Blissey shows. There's way too many faster, powerful Pokemon for it to be a sweeper, and it typically uses Adaptability for the boost to Tri Attack, which dwarfs most attacks in the tier, and then coverage to take care of anything that gets any ideas, like Tyranitar or Jellicent.

Agility is a clean-up sweeper. Switch in on something obviously more physically bulky that you scare away, Agility on the switch, and sweep. Agility also uses Download to get the +1 so it can sweep more easily.

They also use different movesets and EV spreads. Take a look at the DP page for examples.

And you never addressed why NP and Agility shouldn't be split...
 
They play quite similarly actually. They have the same goal, switch in, set up fast and do as much damage as possible before going out. They have different uses, yes, but the same goal in mind. Coverage is pretty much pick what you want, with the three options (BoltBeam, HP Fighting + Dark Pulse, HP Fighting + Thunderbolt). All are viable for either boosting move. And spreads I don't know why you'd move anything. 90 is a decent tier, and unless moving like 40 EVs means you live something well, I don't see the point of different spreads.
 
You should definitely make 2 separate sets.

The 2 sets use different coverage moves, different nature (Timid is best for the NP set, while Modest is better for the Agility set), different abilities ( Download is superior for Agility, while Adaptability is superior for NP), they have different checks and counters, and they generally have different goals in a team.

If you want to break stall use the NP set, but if you want to get a sweep against offensive teams, Agility is the way to go!

According to your logic, any sweeper that can use more than one boosting move, only should have 1 set that contains all the boosting moves in slashes, because it: ''switches in, sets up fast and does as much damage as possible before going out.''

If 2 sets have different purposes, they should have different sets, simple as that.
 
Or you can 2HKO Blissey and not have to run awful Pokemon like Unaware Quagsire and (lol) Whimsicott. And you're completely right, it's not Gen IV anymore. There are even more dangerous threats that set up not like Terrakion, Haxorus and Multiscale Dragonite. I'd rather 2HKO Blissey than give Terrakion a free turn of set up.
 
Glad this is going to get an analysis :)

However I take offense to the insinuation that Unaware Quagsire and Whimsicott are "awful Pokemon" they are great Pokemon when used in the correct niches. You'd be DAMN surprised at how much stuff Unaware Quagsire beats, and Whimsicott can fill an number of support roles better than anything else.

But yeah, Hyper Beam is still kind of a dumb idea. 1 shotting Blissey is cool and all, but too much stuff resists Hyper Beam in OU, including the very common Scizor, Heatran, Jirachi and more who can all use that extra turn to either set up on you or kill you. Even a 300BP move can't get past things that resist it and have a high relevant defensive stat, and unfortunately for Porygon-Z a lot of Pokemon that fit that criteria are really, really damn common in OU and likely to switch into Porygon-Z anyway. And if you do KO something with it, then the opponent gets 1 free turn to do whatever the hell they like... not a good thing with shit like Terrakion, Lucario, Volcarona and Haxorus running around. And while Whimsicott and Quagsire and the like might not be terrible, you usually don't want to be forced to run one of them either.
 
Sorry if I seemed harsh, I didn't mean they were awful, but I meant they were awful to run simply because your main STAB move on your sweeper let things set up. Basically I meant
Jimera0 said:
And while Whimsicott and Quagsire and the like might not be terrible, you usually don't want to be forced to run one of them either.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input though, Jimera.
 
I has no uses, at all. I'd much rather take a Seismic Toss from Blissey, or a Toxic, than "surprise" my opponent and OHKO him, when I could EASILY score the 2HKO.

| 35 | Blissey | 33414 | 5.851% | 27057 | 5.712% |

That doesn't exactly help your cause either.
 
I can't see Pory being successful to be honest. It has almost exactly the same counters as Latios (Jirachi, Scizor, Tyranitar, Blissey), which means there are a lot of things which beat it in the metagame. Its coverage is awful compared to Latios, and its slower, and worse defensively. All it really has over it is a powerful STAB with bad coverage (but which doesn't lower SpAtk like DM), and access to some boosting moves.
 
His main niche is boosting and Choice. It beats Latios boosting wise and the CHoice sets play upon his strengths i.e. having a killer STAB move that doesn't lower SpA
 
Don't really like this in OU, especially with fighting types being pretty common. Its hard enough to get a boost due to the fast pace of the current OU Metagame, and any set that is boosting speed kinda lacks the power and coverage that makes Latios so successful in OU. For example, Latios packs a STAB DM, and has access to HP Fire and Surf to to excellent coverage. Porygon-Z doesn't have that coverage, and is going to struggle no matter what coverage move it picks. This set just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid.

EDIT: Retesting JUST the agility set one final time
 
Z's adaptability Tri-Attack comes off a slightly higher base SpA, hits at 180 BP (effectively more w/ download boost), does not lower SpA on each use, has perfect accuracy+chance of additional effect (hax), and has good neutral coverage; near perfect even w/ darkpulse/shadowball and HP fighting. Downsides: DM has some more initial power, no immunities, isn't resisted by rock, and hits dragons (but only dragons) super effectively.

This post's main purpose was to counter ginganinga's post above: porygon-z' has perfect neutral coverage, and a STAB that is no better or worse than Latios's; although, having STAB DM to revenge boosted dragons is a big advantage, it is one Z can somewhat compete with using scarf+HP ice. I think Z can compete effectively as a choice user, and despite his frailness (not uncommon to many sweepers), has an effective wall breaking tool in Nasty Plot, or Agility to handle Offensive teams. It also, like Latios has access to trick if its Choice sets are looking for a path past enemy special walls.
 
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