Pokémon Zapdos-Galar

What tier will Zapdos-Galar end up in?

  • OU

    Votes: 146 63.5%
  • UUBL

    Votes: 51 22.2%
  • UU

    Votes: 28 12.2%
  • UBERS

    Votes: 5 2.2%

  • Total voters
    230
Zapdos-Galar (cant do pic without my device crashing)

Fighting/Flying

Base Stats - 90 HP / 125 Atk / 90 Def / 85 SpA / 90 SpD / 100 Spe

Defiant

Moveset -

Level Up: Peck, Focus Energy, Rock Smash, Light Screen, Pluck, Agility, Ancient Power, Brick Break, Drill Peck, Quick Guard, Thunderous Kick, Bulk Up, Counter, Detect, Close Combat, Reversal
TM: Mega Kick, Fly, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, Screech, Light Screen, Rest, Snore, Protect, Scary Face, Steel Wing, Facade, Swift, Brick Break, Bounce, U-Turn, Payback, Assurance, Low Sweep, Round, Acrobatics, Retaliate, Stomping Tantrum
TR: Low Kick, Agility, Focus Energy, Substitute, Reversal, Endure, Sleep Talk, Taunt, Superpower, Blaze Kick, Bulk Up, Close Combat, Brave Bird, Hurricane, Throat Chop.
Move Tutor: Dual Wingbeat, Coaching
Notable Moves: Bulk Up, Brave Bird, Close Combat, Low Kick, Thunderous Kick, Drill Peck, Throat Chop, Stomping Tantrum, Steel Wing, U-Turn, Acrobatics, Substitute, Tuant


Pros:
-Great STAB Combination
-Decent Coverage in fire, ground, steel and dark
-With a scarf, it outspeeds the whole metagame except lieki edit: And +speed pheromosa
-Utility in taunt and u-turn
-Multiple viable sets
-Defiant

Cons:
-Fairy Weakness
-Electric Weakness
-Outsped and KO'd by other scarfers
-No roost+bulk up
-Mediocre Defenses



Potential Sets:

Banded:
Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- U-Turn
- Stomping Tantrum

You can swap out the stabs for thunderous kick and drill peck, but it isnt recommended. U-Turn is a must have on any choiced mon, and stomping tantrum helps against aegislash, electrics and bulky poisons.

Scarf:
Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 142 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- U-Turn
- Stomping Tantru.

Again, You can change the stabs to thunderous kick/drill peck, but cc and bb are usually better. U-Turn is a must have on any choice mon, and stomping tantrum helps against aegislash, electrics and bulky poisons. 132 speed outspeeds max pheromosa with a scarf

Sub+Bulk Up:
Zapdos-Galar @ Leftovers/Heavy Duty Boots/Expert Belt
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Thunderous Kick
- Drill Peck

Thunderous Kick is chosen over CC to keep subs against physical attackers. Drill peck is chosen to give it more longevity than brave bird while still having lefties recovery

For all sets, EV's are not optimal as the metagame is new at the time of this post

Edit: Heres some more sets to experiment with. They dont have optimal ivs, so some could be improved. Im not a guy who calcs unless its a defensive mon https://pokepast.es/bbc82f4340bf699b
 
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I have a neat set I made ( may not be good but it's a neat idea)


Zapdos-Galar @ Salac Berry / Adrenaline orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird / Acrobatics
- Stomping Tantrum
- Endure / Taunt
- Reversal / Thunderous Kick
The gimmick behind this set is to abuse Defog / intimidate ( Completely up to you to decide with the item of choice)

+1 252 Atk Zapdos Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Landorus-Therian: 231-273 (60.4 - 71.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252 Atk Zapdos Reversal (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 160+ Def Mandibuzz: 477-562 (112.7 - 132.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

( Im a noob at pokemon, but it's a neat idea, just don't take it for granted also the calc sets are outdated i think)
I hope my idea is okay
 
Replace all mentions of Steel Wing with Blaze Kick, Throat Chop or Stomping Tantrum. Steel Wing is useless because Fairy types will take more damage from Brave Bird. Either of those works for taking down Aegislash which is otherwise one of the most reliable Zapdos counters. Blaze Kick is stronger but Throat Chop is 100% accurate and Stomping Tantrum also hits niche Electric types that think they can switch on Zapdos like Tapu Koko and Toxtricity. Defiant means Zapdos can take advantage of King's Shield.
 
Replace all mentions of Steel Wing with Blaze Kick, Throat Chop or Stomping Tantrum. Steel Wing is useless because Fairy types will take more damage from Brave Bird. Either of those works for taking down Aegislash which is otherwise one of the most reliable Zapdos counters. Blaze Kick is stronger but Throat Chop is 100% accurate and Stomping Tantrum also hits niche Electric types that think they can switch on Zapdos like Tapu Koko and Toxtricity. Defiant means Zapdos can take advantage of King's Shield.
Tantrum might be best in terms of sheer coverage and it's only 5 BP lower than Throat Chop.
 
Should probably just combine Band/Scarf into a composite "Choiced" set and slash Throat Chop, Blaze Kick, and Stomping Tantrum together over Steel Wing as the fourth moveslot. Thunderous Kick is also pretty spammable and should be slashed alongside CC IMO.
 
Zapdos-Galar @ Metronome
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Agility
- U-Turn
- Thunderous Kick

What do you think about this set ?
It can be very good if the opponent doesn't have ghost type.
 
shouldn't you want 4 def instead of spdef for download?
This might be oddly-specific, but I think it depends heavily on which Genesect set you want to survive hits from.

+1 Banded ESpeed always 2HKOs G-Zap and +0 Banded ESpeed 2HKOs after Rocks, but never 2HKOs without Rocks. Meanwhile +1 itemless (think 252 SpA Scarf, which is a thing) Ice Beam almost always OHKOs outright and always OHKOs after Rocks while it can't OHKO whatsoever at +0.

There's a legitimate argument in favor of either IMO.
 
I got a set for you.
Zapdos-Galar
Defiant
Jolly Nature
Life Orb
Max IVs in every stat.
252 into Atk
252 into Spe
4 into HP
-Thunderous Kick
-Brave Bird
-Throut Chop
-U-Turn
 
"As Arceus is my witness... I thought Galarian Zapdos could fly."
Sorry, I just needed an excuse to say that considering what day it is.

Anyway, I've been trying this set out and thought I'd share it:

Zapdos-Galar @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Agility
- Close Combat
- Drill Peck

Bulk Up + Agility + Defiant + Fighting/Flying STAB combo makes for a nasty lategame sweeper. Once this thing gets set up, there isn't much that's capable of stopping it. Toxapex, Regieleki (pre-Agility), Tapu Koko, and Landorus-Therian are just about the only major things to worry about. I usually use this with a Lando-T of my own (which in turn checks nearly every other answer to Galarian Zapdos) and an Alolan Ninetales to set up Aurora Veil to provide an extra cushion while Galarian Zapdos is setting up its attacks (and also whack opposing Lando-Ts).
 

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