Porygon-Z | Virtual Pokemon | #474
Base Stast: 85 / 80 / 70 / 135 / 75 / 90
Overview
Porygon-Z is a very underrated pokemon that currently resides in the Borderline tier. What makes it so useful (in my opinion) is his signature move conversion in which Porygon-Z changes his type to the type of the move in the first slot (ex. shadow ball being the first move slot so Porygon-Z would turn into a ghost type). What makes the move actually useful is using it with normalium-Z. Z-Conversion not only changes its type but increases all of its stats by one stage or 1.5x. This not only lets it take hits, but dish out insane amount outspeeding pheromosa with the right nature. The downside is you have to waste a turn activating the z move and also porygon is rather slow and frail before conversion so getting an open window is tough. Overall though, Porygon-Z is very usable in OU and very underrated.
Counters
* Pheromosa (before z-conversion
* Tyranitar
* Priority fighting moves (before z-conversion
* ferrothorn (Specially defensive)
* kartana (before conversion)
* Chansey
* Mimikyu
* Haze (and moves like it)
Sets
1. Z-Conversion (Ghost)
Move 1: Shadow ball
Move 2: Thunderbolt / Psychic
Move 3: Nasty Plot / Ice Beam
Move 4: Conversion
Item: Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Nature: Timid
Set Comments
This the preferred Porygon-Z set. You can use Ice Beam for more coverage or Nasty Plot for more power, I use Nasty Plot. I like to bring him in on a slow fighting type expecting to kill me with a close combat but then I Z-Convert into a ghost type and get a free stat boost. If I think they'll switch out I'll Nasty Plot and get up to +3 on my Special attack. If I think they'll stay in I'll use an adaptability boosted +1 shadow ball and guarantee something dies. Mimikyu and its disguise cause big problems for this set however.
2. Z-Conversion (Electric)
Move 1: Thunderbolt
Move 2: Ice Beam / Psychic
Move 3: Nasty Plot / Shadow Ball / Dark Pulse
Move 4: Conversion
Item: Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Nature: Timid
Set Comments
This set is meant to take advantage of the extra 10 damage you get from thunderbolt plus the adaptability multiplier. Ice Beam is there for ground types that are trying to kill you super effectively. You can run Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse for coverage but I use Nasty Plot for this set because after one Nasty Plot I can pretty much kill anything neutrally with Thunderbolt or Ice Beam.
3. Choice Scarf Set
Move 1: Tri Attack
Move 2: Thunderbolt
Move 3: Ice Beam
Move 4: Psychic
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Nature: Modest
Set Comments
This set sticks with Porygon-Z's high base 135 Special attack stat. Choice Scarf turns Porygon into a sweeper that outspeeds Pheromosas and Kartanas that dont have choice scarf. I recommend running Psychic in the 4th slot for fighting types and only switching in if its safe. Tri-Attack is STAB and Adaptability boosted so if you have to hit neutrally then Tri-Attack is your best bet. However you are locked into one move and you can reach the same speed stat wit Z-Conversion. This is a great set overall that challenges many strong threats in the meta.
4. Choice Specs Set
Move 1: Tri-Attack
Move 2: Thunderbolt
Move 3: Ice Beam
Move 4: Psychic
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Nature: Timid
Set Comments
With this set Porygon-Z can hit very hard with using a turn to convert. Tri Attack with adaptability hits about as hard as Tapu lele's Psychic in Psychic terrain. The downside is your stuck at a kind of sluggish 90 base speed with no defense stats to back it up, your better off using Tapu lele than running this set. Another drawback is you can get the same Special attack stat with Z-Conversion plus with Z-Conversion you get the speed and defenses. Overall this is probably the weakest of the sets tied with the choice scarf sets but can be used to throw off your opponent when you blast them off without even converting.
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Team Options
- Tapu Lele's Psychic Surge ability can protect Porygon-Z from priority fighting moves when trying to Z-Convert
- Ferrothorn (or any reliable stealth rocker), Ferrothorn can set up stealth rocks to break focus sashes so mothing survives your extremely hard hitting attacks.
- Pelipper (or any pokemon that can set up tailwind), this isn't neccesary but if you can't find an opportunity to Z-Convert because everything outspeeds you then tailwind can get you some more opportunities.
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