As my last send off to this gen, i wanna talk about a pokemon that didnt catch on until the last weeks of OM spotlight trios:
This guy?
Its pretty good
Farfetchd (Zapdos-Galar) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Swords Dance
As it turns out, Gzap is a fantastic wall breaker despite not having access to the really good abilities, like Tough Claws and Regen, without dropping Brave Bird and using itemless acrobatics as flying stab. With just its high attack and broken stab combo gzap can go through walls like Celesteela and Fini after a Swords Dance boost. The often overlooked ability Defiant gives it its X-factor, punishing the use of the extremely common intimidate, bypassing the only way to boost the bulk of defensive pokemons and further reducing its checks. To illustrate my point:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 341-403 (81.1 - 95.9%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 355-419 (103.1 - 121.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Celesteela: 383-452 (96.4 - 113.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Silvally-Fairy: 406-477 (103 - 121%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Zapdos: 155-183 (48.2 - 57%) -- 90.6% chance to 2HKO
The more naturally bulkier mons of the meta have already a somewhat shaky matchup too, most zyg sets only run earthquake as its only attack, so you can somewhat afford to not ohko it out right, and Buzzwole is x4 weak to flying.
Of course, its not absolutely the best mon. Its biggest issue is longevity. You are pressing ohko inducing brave birds with a life orb; you take a bit under 50% of your health after killing something with it. Even thought it has Roost you have to waste a turn doing that, which you might not be able to afford. All these numbers need an Adamant nature, as other wise you lose the guaranteed ohko on fini at +2, so unlike other breakers its not that fast either. On top of that, Doublade is a pokemon that can be run effectively, which completely stone walls it.
Unless of course:
Sirfetch’d (Zapdos-Galar) @ Life Orb
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Swords Dance
- Dual Wingbeat/First Impression/Knock Off
Thank you Duck line for giving gzap dual stabs + sd. Unlike the regular farfetchd, sirfetchd finds the idea of roosting a bit far fetched, so you have to replace that move with something else. Dual wing beat gives you a flying stab move that doesnt end you instantly, First impression is a priority move, which always come useful, and Knock is Knock. Roost is not the only thing you give up with this. Scrappy doesnt punish as hard the use of intimidate, which gives your opponent more options to check you, on top of the other stuff such as punishing defog.
Theres also the first Gzap set I used in tournament
Rufflet (Zapdos-Galar) @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
While Gzap can easily access the good abilities, it does get access to damage amp thanks to rufflet. This set is for the gamers only, for the skilled enough to simply not miss when the times come. It is, of course, more prediction reliant, but if youre a good player i think you can manage.
Farfetch’d (Zapdos-Galar) @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- First Impression/Knock Off
Lastly, a more reliable Band set would look like this. You still two shot Fini, Celes, and have a good roll on Zyg after rocks:
252+ Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 205-243 (59.5 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Celesteela: 220-261 (55.2 - 65.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 198-234 (47.1 - 55.7%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
And you do all the cool defiant stuff. First impression is better in this than in the LO sets as you do much more with it and you dont aim to stay in as much, but its still a Bug type move, so its resisted by everything and it might be weaker than what its 90 bp might suggest.
Overall, a sleeper mon for the lifetime of the metagame, and a testament to what good stabs+good typing can do to a pokemon. Thus,
it will be moved to A+ rank in the VR, as the last resource change for this meta. A lil goodbye.
Thank you funny little meta for allowing me to live the dream of having everything be a rocks from being 2hkod by band vcreate, and for having pult freed. Its been a pleasure.