The Kinda Weird Drops
I'm starting to think Zapdos-G might be a little too much. We've seen Brave Bird's power through Staraptor for the previous 4 gens and we know how that went. This time, higher attack stat, more bulk, more coverage, and STAB Close Combat. Almost everything gets 2hko'd by it's STABS or correct prediction.
252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Victini: 192-226 (56.3 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You can see even 100/100/100 stands no chance. Even if you bring in a wall like Skarmory, you can U-turn into Magnezone, limiting counterplay. Also, it fits on just about every team, ho, balance, and more. It doesn't help if it is on ho because you don't know if its scarf, or agility, potentially losing you the game. It's last move can go to Throat Chop smacking Aegislash which can 2hko 0 hp. Not to mention it has one of the best stallbreaking moves, Thunderous Kick.
252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 128-152 (49 - 58.2%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO
Sets:
Zapdos-Galar @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Bulk Up / Throat Chop
- Drill Peck / Brave Bird
- Close Combat / Thunderous Kick
Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Throat Chop
Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat / Thunderous Kick
- Throat Chop
- U-turn
Now for the chicken. I was originally hyped for this for being able to kill that god damn Leech seeding rocket. Turns out it isn't as broken as I thought. It has severe 4 Move Slot Syndrome. Basically you have Swords Dance / Protect, Flare Blitz, Close Combat, and Thunder Punch which hits waters like Primarina and Gyarados, Knock Off which is for Latias and Victini, or Stone Edge which hits Salamence. All of there are huge targets that you HATE missing the coverage on. Also, bulky Pokemon that it can set up on aren't the most common. The only things it can safely set up on is basically nothing. Tang can Knock it off or sleep it, Bisharp can Knock you off. Celesteela can stall you out, etc. Even mons like Cobalion does so much damage with Close Combat. May I remind you that is 279 attack.
252 Atk Cobalion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 204-240 (67.7 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I think the better sets are Reversal but I haven't tried it out. Last thing is that imo the best pokemon in the tier, Azumarill, destroys it as well as Crawdaunt. Maybe this will be a problem in the future. Nothing is scarier than a +2 Blaziken as you miss your Leech Seed. We will see.