Zoroark (Choice Band)

Speed Boost

Speed Boost

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Zoroark

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Night Slash / Sucker Punch
move 2: Pursuit
move 3: Low Sweep
move 4: U-Turn
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

  • This set combines a Jolly nature for great speed and a Choice Band for respectable attack making it a viable option for any team in need of a speedy physical attacker. Zoroark’s excellent ability Illusion, and access to U-turn make him a stealthy revenge killer in the right hands as well as an excellent scout.
  • Night Slash is preferred over Sucker Punch because it gives a consistent STAB that doesn't require the opponent to be attacking. This protects Zoroark from being setup on, stalled when he is burned or poisoned, and also prevents the opponent from getting a free switch. Sucker Punch can be used if priority is preferred or when using an Adamant nature but it will require a good deal of prediction to be succeesful.
  • Pursuit allows Zoroark to switch in and trap Psychic and Ghost types hitting them hard if they try to switch out. Most Zoroark sets do not carry Pursuit so this will definitely catch some opponents off guard.
  • Low Sweep provides a good Fighting / Dark-type coverage combination, and its average power gets a much needed boost with the Choice Band in hand. It also has the added effect of lowering the opponents speed one level 100% of the time.
  • U-Turn works well with a Choice set by allowing Zoroark to preform his roll as scout. A banded U-Turn can hit the opponent hard on the switch allowing Zoroark to get out of bad match-ups while still dishing out some descent damage.
Additional Comments:
  • Flamethrower could be used in place of Pursuit for more coverage. This would require a Naive nature as well as moving the 4 evs from HP to SpA.
Teammates & Counters:
  • Zoroark works well with Pokemon that take super-effective damage from Psychic, Ghost, or Dark-type attacks and resist Bug and Fighting-type attacks. Zoroark can switch in on an attack he resists or is immune to, or disguise himself as one of his teammates as a way to counter his poor defenses and get a surprise KO.
  • Chandelure is an excellent example of a Zoroark teammate. Its Ghost / Fire typing make it immune to Fighting-type attacks and resistant to Bug-type attacks covering both of Zoroarks weaknesses. It also takes super-effective damage from both Ghost and Dark-type attacks which are both resisted by Zoroark making it a good pokemon for him to disguise himself as. However, when stealth rocks are in play it becomes painfully obvious that it is Zoroark because of the amount of damage he takes is far less than Chandelure.
 
you know, I actually faced this set on the ladder the other day and it netted a surprise kill just because of the surprise factor of it, though once you figure out it's CB, you're pretty limited, considering it also lowers the list of viable Illusion partners. I would think this would depend less on Illusion itself and more on the power Zoroark brings to the table. That said, this thing is frail, and frankly i don't think it's fast enough either. Also, any very physically bulky pokemon is going to tank hits from this - and Adamant is a solid 3HKO on Chansey with Low Sweep!

yeah just my initial thoughts, TL ; DR I don't really think this deserves to go onsite, but if you can prove how it's good, by all means.

yeah and im editing in nitpicks too!

Shadow Claw *might* deserve an AC mention solely because you get perfect coverage with Low Sweep, and possibly a mention of a mixed Choice set too, though in all honesty I think that might just be OO material (or its own set if it's good, never tried it, heh).
 
Pretty much the only thing this has going for it over other Zoroark sets is pursuit, but remember that Pursuit and Illusion pretty much accomplish opposite things. Zoroark wants to bait psychics and ghosts to switch in, not try to force them out. There's really no other reason to use physical Zoroark; night slash does lol damage to Chansey. Because this set is outclassed both by other Zoroark sets and other pursuit users, I'm rejecting this. Better luck next time.

QC REJECTED 1/3
 
Choice Band Zoroark is outclassed by Swords Dance Zoroark, which already sucks, which is why it was eliminated from the analysis. Unfortunately, Zoroark simply doesn't have the movepool for a physical Swords Dance set, let alone a physical Choice set. Also, Sucker Punch is a terrible STAB move to be locked into and can be easily played around. Sorry bro, but this is definitely gonna get rejected.
 
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