Gen 1 [Ubers] Zapdos [QC 2/2] [GP 1/1]

Eledyr

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Translations Leader
[OVERVIEW]

Zapdos is the premier Electric-type Pokemon of RBY Ubers, featuring impressive base stats and a versatile movepool. Its great bulk makes it especially good at spreading paralysis against common leads and threats like Tauros, Mew, and Mewtwo. Its good critical hit rate and good STAB options are also valuable in order to threaten important Pokemon like Mew, Chansey, Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Starmie. However, in a metagame filled with strong attackers, Zapdos find trouble switching in safely, as it is sensitive to Ice-type attacks, which are extremely common, and it lacks recovery. It has little to no chance to beat Ground-types, like Rhydon, Golem, and Sandslash; thus, it absolutely needs its teammates to patch this weakness.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Drill Peck
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Agility / Hyper Beam

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Thunderbolt and Drill Peck are Zapdos's best STAB options, and they are difficult to switch into thanks to Zapdos's high Speed, granting it a good critical hit rate. In particular, Zapdos easily 2HKO Water-types like Slowbro and Starmie, and has a chance to OHKO Cloyster with Thunderbolt. It has a 54.5% chance to 2HKO non-Reflect Chansey with one critical hit Drill Peck and a solid chance to KO Exeggutor with a critical hit after slight chip damage. It also has a possible 3HKO against Mew and Snorlax, which becomes guaranteed if it critically hits one Thunderbolt. Thunder Wave is an excellent tool to hobble most threats, and lets Zapdos spam its STAB moves even more. Paralysis also provides excellent support to teammates such as Mew, Tauros, and Snorlax. Agility suppresses the Speed drop from paralysis and lets Zapdos outrun the entire metagame, including Mewtwo and Alakazam. Against a paralyzed threat like Mew and Mewtwo, Agility also reapplies paralysis's Speed drop, helping slow teammates like paralyzed Snorlax to menace them. Hyper Beam can be used instead to beat Chansey and Jynx that would like to force Zapdos out; Chansey is left in KO range of Hyper Beam after a critical hit Drill Peck, and Zapdos has a 88.89% chance to KO Jynx with Drill Peck followed by Hyper Beam.

Zapdos is usually seen as a mid- to late-game wallbreaker thanks to its ability to spread paralysis against staples like Tauros, Chansey, and Mewtwo. Its high critical hit rate and high offensive stats also make Zapdos very good at pressuring paralyzed foes; for example, spreading paralysis with Thunder Wave on predicted switch-ins is especially useful against Chansey, as it is one of the most common switch-ins to Zapdos, but critical hits, full paralysis chances, and low damage output from Chansey grant Zapdos far more chances to win the duel. Moreover, typical status absorbers like Starmie and Chansey cannot handle Zapdos very well; thanks to its sheer power and STAB moves, it can take advantage of them as well as Rest users such as Slowbro. This is essential because Zapdos has no way to recover its HP, so each hit it takes is permanent. The pressure Zapdos puts on the enemy team thanks to its high damage output and ability to spread paralysis can force fairly predictable switch-ins like Rhydon, Golem, Snorlax, or a paralyzed Pokemon, which can be punished by teammates like Mewtwo, Exeggutor, Mew, and Tauros. Paralyzing Mewtwo with Thunder Wave can also be a strategy to break it when Zapdos is paired with physical wallbreakers like Mew, Rhydon, Snorlax, and Stomp Tauros. Gengar is a notable teammate, as it synergizes well with Zapdos; as a lead, Gengar can switch into Zapdos to scout moves from Tauros. Zapdos can then proceed to threaten it with Thunderbolt or Thunder Wave. As a pair, they can also wall most Reflect + Swords Dance variants of Mew, as Gengar and Zapdos are respectively immune to Normal- and Ground-type attacks. With their respective immunities, Gengar and Zapdos can even play around Earthquake + Body Slam Mew to some degree, forcing it to predict correctly and threatening it with a status, whether it be Zapdos's paralysis or Gengar's sleep. Earthquake + Explosion Mew is hindered to an even more extreme degree, as it forces Mew to switch out or to try to trade with Explosion, allowing more space for powerful sweepers like Mewtwo and Mew.

Zapdos can also be used as lead. Its Speed lets it outrun Jynx, while Thunder Wave and its STAB combination lets it threaten most common leads, including Chansey, Tauros, and Alakazam. It's important to notice that Drill Peck can never OHKO Jynx even with a critical hit, and that Gengar is a faster lead, meaning Zapdos can be put to sleep easily by these two threats via Lovely Kiss and Hypnosis, respectively. Hyper Beam is a good option for this set, as Drill Peck + Hyper Beam has a strong chance to KO Jynx, and a critical hit Drill Peck + Hyper Beam will always KO Chansey,—both Jynx and Chansey are likely to stay in on Zapdos to put it to sleep.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Reflect could be used to better deal with Mew, but Zapdos has no room to use it without sacrificing important moves like Thunder Wave or Agility. Moreover, a paralyzed Mew is put under pressure by Zapdos, and it will want to switch out anyway unless it is already set up at +6. Carving a similar niche, Light Screen can buy time against special attackers like Chansey, Slowbro and a paralyzed Mewtwo. Rest could be a good idea to recover some HP, but similarly to Reflect and Light Screen, it's at the cost of a crucial move, and Zapdos will have little to no room to wake up, as it can't switch in against most attackers. A sleeping Zapdos is also a free opportunity for Mewtwo and Mew to switch in and set up, making it setup fodder for the most important sweepers of the tier. Thunder could be used, because its higher Base Power let Zapdos 2HKO Mewtwo with two consecutive critical hits. However, it's a very unreliable strategy due to Thunder's low accuracy. Flash is an option that annoys a lot of paralyzed threat, such as Mewtwo, Mew, and Chansey, and comes in handy once there's only one remaining Pokemon. However, its low accuracy and the lack of room on Zapdos's moveset makes it an unreliable choice.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Ground-types**: Zapdos has no way to deal with Rhydon and Golem. Both can use Zapdos to either set up a Substitute or use Body Slam on the switch and try to paralyze it. While it's way more uncommon and it does not resist Drill Peck, Sandslash can also be an issue, as it can freely switch in on Zapdos's Electric-type moves and poses a threat if Zapdos is paralyzed.

**Faster Pokemon**: Not only is Zapdos unable to 3HKO Mewtwo even with a critical hit, but Mewtwo can also use Zapdos as setup fodder with Amnesia and threaten it with Psychic and Ice Beam. Zapdos is also very sensitive to Pokemon like Alakazam, Gengar, Jolteon, and Tauros, which can all threaten it severely with either paralysis or sleep. Mewtwo should take care however, as it cannot paralyze Zapdos with Thunderbolt, and once it is itself paralyzed, physical wallbreakers like Mew, Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon can take advantage of its reduced Speed to put it under pressure with Explosion, Self-Destruct, or Stomp. Paralysis also hinders Zapdos severely if it doesn't have Agility, as slower Pokemon like Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Chansey can threaten it far more easily.

**Ice-type Attacks**: While they can't switch in on Zapdos's STAB moves, Jynx and Cloyster both 2HKO Zapdos with STAB Blizzard and prevent it from switching in. However, they are both likely to use Rest once they have been weakened, so Zapdos can use this opportunity to switch in safely. Zapdos also fears Ice Beam from threats it is supposed to deal with, such as Chansey, Mewtwo, and Slowbro, which all deal massive damage to it.

**Chansey**: Chansey can shrug off a lot of Zapdos's attacks thanks to its high Special Defense and Soft-Boiled and can cripple it with paralysis or sleep. However, it cannot infinitely switch into Zapdos's attacks due to Drill Peck's high damage output and critical hit chance.

[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/eledyr.415367/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/volk.530877/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/enigami.233818/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
 
Last edited:

Sabelette

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Initial feedback, I will do QC 1/2 after we discuss some of these things. I also did some early GP work to help get this done sooner. Mainly I just want to make sure the overview covers enough info then I'll officially stamp this!

Addition Removal Comment
(AC) (AH) Add Comma/Add Hyphen, (RC) (RH) Remove Comma/Remove Hyphen


[OVERVIEW]

Zapdos's powerful STABs STAB moves in Thunderbolt and Drill Peck makes it a good mixed attacker in the metagame. Its options are limited, but lets it threatens most of the metagame bar Rhydon and Golem. Its great bulk makes it especially good to take on common threats such as Slowbro, (RC) and Starmie, and its good critical hit rate is valuable in order to take down Chansey and Mew. However, in a metagame filled with strong attackers, Zapdos find trouble switching in safely as it is sensitive to Ice-type attacks, which are extremely common. It has no way to beat Rock-types in Rhydon and Golem, thus it absolutely needs its teammate to patch this weakness.

I think this whole section needs to be longer - Zapdos is one of the most common Pokemon in Ubers and I think we could have more of an overview of its strengths and weaknesses. A brief mention of Thunder Wave and Agility would be good, as would talking about its ability to wallbreak or lead. If you can split this into two paragraphs, one about its strengths and uses and the other about its weaknesses, I think we have a solid section.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Drill Peck
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Agility

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Thunderbolt and Drill Peck are Zapdos's best STAB options, which are difficult to switch into thanks to Zapdos's high Special and Speed, granting it a good critical hit rate. In particular, (I would start each discussion with its non-crit KO chances then follow with the chance to 2HKO/OHKO with crits) Zapdos has approximately a 66.02% chance to 2HKO non-Reflect (AH) Chansey with one assuming one critically hit Drill Peck and a solid chances to critical hit OHKO Exeggutor after slight few chip damage, while and it has a guaranteed 3HKO against Mew and Snorlax if it critically hits one of its Thunderbolt. Thunder Wave is an excellent tool to cripple hobble most threats, (RC) and is particularly useful to let Zapdos spams its STABs moves even more. Agility suppresses the Speed drop from paralysis and lets Zapdos outrun the entire metagame, including Mewtwo and Alakazam.

Zapdos is usually seen as a mid- to late-game wallbreaker. It especially likes to hits paralyzed targets foes, as most threats it targets, including Tauros, Mew, and Starmie, are either in Speed tie or are faster than it. Spreading paralysis with Thunder Wave on predicted switch-ins (AH) is especially useful against Chansey, as it is one of the best switch-ins (AH) to Zapdos, but the combined high critical hit rate, critical hits, full paralysis chances, (AC) and low damage output from Chansey grant Zapdos far more chances to win the duel. Thanks to its sheer power and STABs moves, it can take advantage of Rest user such as Cloyster, Slowbro, and Snorlax and forces them out. It's especially relevant, This is essential because Zapdos has no way to recover its HP, and so each hits it takes is permanent will be HP definitively lost. The switch-ins (AH) it forces are useful for teammates such as Mewtwo, Exeggutor, Mew, and Tauros, which can punish Rhydon and the opposing Mewtwo. Paralyzing Mewtwo with Thunder Wave can also be a backup strategy with Stomp users like Tauros and Rhydon.

Zapdos can also be used as an anti-lead. (IMO, it's just a lead in general. It's very common and the analysis should reflect this. I would also talk about the much more common lead threats before rare ones like Jynx and Chansey - Gengar, Egg, Tauros being by far the most common ones followed by the Twave Psychics) Its Speed tier lets it outrun Jynx, while Thunder Wave and its STAB combination lets it threaten most common leads, including Chansey, Tauros, and Alakazam. It's important to notice that Gengar is faster, however, and Drill Peck can never OHKO Jynx even with a critical hit, and that Gengar is a faster lead, meaning Zapdos can be put to sleep easily against these two both threats can easily put it to sleep. via Lovely Kiss and Hypnosis, respectively.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Reflect could can be used to better deal with Mew, but Zapdos has no room to use it without sacrificing an important move, being either the ability to paralyze a target or to outrun the entire metagame and pull off a potential sweep to sacrifice either Thunder Wave or Agility to fit it, both of which it values highly. Moreover, a paralyzed Mew is already put under pressure by Zapdos, and it will want to switch out anyway unless it is already set up at +6. Rest could be a good idea to shrug off some HP seems like a passable way to restore HP, but similarly to Reflect, (RC) it's at the cost of it costs a crucial moveslot. (add period), and Zapdos will also have little to no room to wake up, as it can't switch in against most attackers without being 3HKOed . A sleeping Zapdos is also and is a free opportunity for Mewtwo and Mew to switch in and set up, making it a setup fodder for the most important sweepers of the tier.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Rock-types**: Zapdos has no way to deal with Rhydon and Golem. Both can use Zapdos to either set up a Subsitute Substitute, (RC) or use Body Slam on the switch and try to catch land a potential paralysis.

**Mewtwo**: Not only that neither Neither Thunderbolt nor Drill Peck can 3HKO Mewtwo without a two or more critical hits, but and it can also use Zapdos as setup fodder with Amnesia, (RC) and then threatens Zapdos for big damages with Psychic and Ice Beam. Mewtwo should take care however, as it cannot paralyze Zapdos with Thunderbolt, and once Mewtwo itself is paralyzed, physical wallbreakers like Mew, Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon can take advantage of its reduced Speed to put it under pressure with Explosion, Self-Destruct, (AC) or Stomp.

**Jolteon**: Jolteon can easily switch in on Zapdos's STAB moves. It doesn't like being paralyzed by Thunder Wave, (AC) though, and thus can be forced to Rest.

**Ice-types**: While they can't switch in on Zapdos's STABs STAB moves, Zapdos is easily 2HKOed and can't either switch in on Jynx and Cloyster's STAB Blizzard. However, they They are both prone to use Rest once they have been weakened though, so Zapdos can use this occasion opportunity to switch in safely.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Eledyr, 415367]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

Keep it up! I'm excited for this one to get done.
 
Zapdos absolutely has room to play with a 4th move in Ubers. Agility is rarely the game ending sweep it can be in OU, so Zapdos can afford to get creative with its other moves. To name a few:

-Hyper Beam in the lead position lets it 2HKO Jynx following a Drill Peck + Lovely Kiss Miss.
-Reflect vastly improves its Snorlax and Mew matchups, giving Zapdos a decent advantage in a 1v1 fight.
-Substitute lets Zapdos fish for full paralysis against a 999 Special Mewtwo that would otherwise OHKO it.
-Rest lets it abuse Earthquake / Body Slam / Substitute / Rest Rhydon by actually walling Rhydon with DP / TBolt / TWave / Rest Zapdos having 32 more PP total.
Rhydon Body Slam vs. Zapdos: 81-96 (21.1 - 25%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO

And on the lower end of usability but possibly still useful:
-Thunder for 26% more damage (will check some calcs for this later)
-Light Screen can buy Zapdos more time to break through Special attackers like IB Chansey, Slowbro and paralyzed Mewtwo
-Flash lets it annoy boosted Pokemon, could be handy with still alive teammates and a opposing lastmon Mew or Mewtwo.
 

Volk

Demonstrably alive.
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
I'll try to stick mostly to content here, but I'll throw in some GP too.

Zapdos's powerful STABs in Thunderbolt and Drill makes it a good mixed attacker in the metagame.
Zapdos's powerful STAB moves in Thunderbolt and Drill Peck make it a good mixed attacker in the metagame.

Its options are limited, but lets it threaten most of the metagame bar Rhydon and Golem.
Honestly, by RBY standards, I wouldn't really call Zapdos all that limited. I think you can just say these moves allow it to threaten the whole metagame aside from Rhydon and Golem.

Its great bulk makes it especially good to take on common threats such as Slowbro, and Starmie, and its good critical hit rate is valuable in order to take down Chansey and Mew. However, in a metagame filled with strong attackers, Zapdos find trouble switching in safely as it is sensitive to Ice-type attacks, which are extremely common. It has no way to beat Rock-types in Rhydon and Golem, thus it absolutely needs its teammate to patch this weakness.
Okay, I have a few things I'd like to cover here, some of which Sabelette already hit.
Thunder Wave should absolutely be mentioned somewhere in the opening. I think paralysis as a status might be at its most potent in the context of Ubers, so any Pokemon that gets it should have that feature noted immediately. Access to Thunder Wave (on top of the good bulk you mention) is what allows Zapdos to pressure, or at least weaken, a lot of really important offensive threats, namely Tauros, Mew, and Mewtwo. The last two are especially important. Between Thunder Wave, Agility, and the critical hit rate you mention, Zapdos has a decent chance to muscle through some really important Pokemon. In brief, make this part a bit more detailed.
You don't necessarily need to mention it here, but this whole section does kind of set up nicely for introducing Zapdos as a lead. While not super common, Zapdos matches up pretty well against several leads and sending it out immediately ameliorates the whole "tough to switch around Ice-type moves" thing you mention.
You should probably elaborate on these teammates. I suppose you could save them for later, but it'd be nice to know out of the gate what kind of concessions I'll need to make if I want to run Zapdos.

Thunder Wave is an excellent tool to cripple most threats, and is particularly useful to let Zapdos spams its STABs even more.
I'm going to stress this again because we're out of the Introduction now. You should mention some specific targets for Thunder Wave and explain how landing Thunder Wave on a key Pokemon (Mew or Mewtwo, mainly) can change a game. Backing this Thunder Wave up with some of the best offenses in the tier make Zapdos one of the harder Pokemon to switch in to if you don't have Rhydon or Golem. This fact pairs nicely with some of the calcs you provide, as traditional "blanket checks" like Chansey and Snorlax aren't exactly the most reliable answers.

Agility suppresses the Speed drop from paralysis and lets Zapdos outrun the entire metagame, including Mewtwo and Alakazam.
I don't think you really need to mention Mewtwo and Alakazam here, it's pretty strongly implied. Anyhow, this can be detailed a bit more. Agility in the early game is quite useful for allowing Zapdos to stay useful after knocking something out. For example, if Zapdos fights a Tauros and comes out with very little health and paralysis, Zapdos can still be very useful if it used Agility first, as it'll probably be able to get a Thunder Wave off before it goes down. In the mid-game, Agility gives Zapdos a useful tool to try to muscle through sturdier Pokemon like Chansey, Mew, and Mewtwo. In the endgame, Agility sometimes lets Zapdos just sweep, though this is a bit less common than in OU (where it is already not super common).

Spreading paralysis with Thunder Wave on predicted switch in is especially useful against Chansey, as it is one of the best switch in to Zapdos, but the combined high critical hit rate, full paralysis chances and low damage output from Chansey grant Zapdos far more chances to win the duel.
I'm a bit confused by this. Are you saying that Zapdos is good at drawing in Chansey? If so, there are probably better Pokemon for doing that. And while Zapdos can face Chansey and win, I don't think it will always want to engage as paralysis can be a little annoying for Zapdos (though not the end of the world). If anything, I think the more interesting Chansey interaction is that Chansey can't really keep switching into Zapdos because of how much Drill Peck can do. I think you have the right ideas here, but they need to be reordered and rephrased.

Thanks to its sheer power and STABs, it can take advantage of Rest user such as Cloyster, Slowbro, and Snorlax and forces them out. It's especially relevant, because Zapdos has no way to recover its HP, and so each hits it takes will be HP definitively lost.
I don't really see how these two sentences are related.

Paralyzing Mewtwo with Thunder Wave can also be a backup strategy with Stomp users like Tauros and Rhydon.
I think for a lot of players, paralyzing Mewtwo is the main gameplan and not the backup strategy. While Freeze Spam is valid, it's definitely not the only way to beat Mewtwo. Also, are we implying Rhydon is using Stomp here? Like, I guess Rhydon could run Stomp but I can't say I've seen that a lot. It might be more clear to say "physical attackers like Stomp Tauros and Rhydon." Mew should also be mentioned here, as paralyzing Mewtwo usually means a healthy Mew can mow through it.

Zapdos can also be used as an anti-lead. Its Speed tier lets it outrun Jynx, while Thunder Wave and its STAB combination lets it threaten most common leads, including Chansey, Tauros, and Alakazam. It's important to notice that Drill Peck can never OHKO Jynx even with a critical hit, and that Gengar is a faster lead, meaning Zapdos can be put to sleep easily against these two threats via Lovely Kiss and Hypnosis, respectively.
Basically what Sabelette said. My other comment is that this section should mention Zapdos's synergy with Gengar. Because of their types, you can usually lead with one and then bring in the other. Most often this manifests as lead Gengar switching out to Zapdos to catch a Tauros Earthquake.

Other Options
I'm not really going to comment here because I think Enigami hit everything already. That being said, I think Agility is going to be the right choice the majority of the time. So while some of these options are neat and probably worth mentioning, I think you should stick with saying Zapdos doesn't really want to part with any of its moves. Setting yourself up to be easily revenge killed just kind of sucks so you should generally keep Agility.

**Rock-types**: Zapdos has no way to deal with Rhydon and Golem. Both can use Zapdos to either set up a Subsitute, or use Body Slam on the switch and try to catch a potential paralysis.
Rock Slide, if they have it, also obviously does a ton of damage. I'd also further stress Substitute, because giving either of these Pokemon a free Substitute can be a real issue, especially in some endgames. Also, I don't know, but maybe you can mention Sandslash here too as a soft check? It's rare though, so you can ignore it.

**Mewtwo**: Not only that neither Thunderbolt nor Drill Peck can 3HKO Mewtwo with a critical hit, but it can also use Zapdos as setup fodder with Amnesia, and threatens Zapdos for big damages with Psychic and Ice Beam. Mewtwo should take care however, as it cannot paralyze Zapdos with Thunderbolt, and once itself paralyzed, physical wallbreakers like Mew, Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon can take advantage of its reduced Speed to put it under pressure with Explosion, Self-Destruct or Stomp.
You could maybe make this "Faster Pokemon." Mewtwo is the big one for sure, but Pokemon like Alakazam, Starmie, Tauros, and Gengar can all revenge kill Zapdos if you aren't careful with it (and/or don't have Agility).

**Ice-types**: While they can't switch in on Zapdos's STABs, Zapdos is easily 2HKOed and can't either switch in on Jynx and Cloyster's STAB Blizzard. They are both prone to use Rest once they have been weakened though, so Zapdos can use this occasion to switch in safely.
I'd make this Ice-type moves to better cover Mewtwo, Starmie, and Chansey as issues. Chansey in particular could maybe get its own entry; it has one on the OU Analysis at least.

I think that's all I have time for now, so I'll leave it there. I'll check back later and consider giving the QC. Cheers!
 
So while some of these options are neat and probably worth mentioning, I think you should stick with saying Zapdos doesn't really want to part with any of its moves. Setting yourself up to be easily revenge killed just kind of sucks so you should generally keep Agility.
STRONGLY disagree. I find an opportunity where Agility matters about as much as I do any other 4th move on Zapdos in Ubers and claiming Zapdos doesn't want to part with Agility to me is nonsense.
 

Eledyr

Le vilain petit Wooloo
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Host
Translations Leader
Okay, it took me a LONG time, but I've implemented a lot of the stuff all of you mentioned. Pinging Enigami Sabelette Volk.
If anything is needed to be changed again, tell me! :psyglad:
 

Volk

Demonstrably alive.
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Okay, so it has been a minute since I last reviewed this, so pardon if I repeat myself or anything like that. I just want to note that this analysis still has some grammar issues. I don't really feel like going through them, but there are a few you may want to double-check (if you can).

Zapdos's powerful STAB moves in Thunderbolt and Drill Peck make it a good mixed attacker in the metagame.
I think a stronger and broader sentence could be used as an opening here. Something assertive like, "Zapdos is the premier Electric-type Pokemon of RBY Ubers, featuring impressive base stats and a versatile movepool," could be a good choice. You'll see that we will retread the details in this sentence later.

They lets it threaten most of the metagame bar Rhydon and Golem.
I'd just cut this sentence, you cover this information is much clearer detail over the next couple of sentences. Remove the repetition.

Its great bulk makes it especially good to take on common threats such as Slowbro and Starmie as well as spreading paralysis against common leads and threats like Tauros, Mew, and Mewtwo, and its good critical hit rate is valuable in order to take down Chansey and Mew.
Okay, this sentence has good information in it, but I'd break it up a bit for clarity. Consider something like this:

"It's impressive bulk allows it to spread paralysis to many key threats like Tauros, Mew, and Mewtwo. Its high critical hit rate paired with its strong mixed STAB moves allow it to threaten important Pokemon like Chansey, Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Starmie."

You don't need to copy that exactly, but I think it'll help you get the idea of how this can maybe be improved.

It has a 66.02% chance to 2HKO non-Reflect Chansey assuming one critically hit Drill Peck and a solid chance to critical hit OHKO Exeggutor after slight chip damage, and it has a guaranteed 3HKO against Mew and Snorlax if it critically hits one Thunderbolt.
Zapdos actually can 3HKO Mew and Snorlax without a critical hit, though it's a fairly unlikely roll. I'd end the sentence after "...Exeggutor after slight chip damage." Then in the next sentence say, "It also has a possible 3HKO on Mew and Snorlax, which becomes guaranteed if at least one Thunderbolt is a critical hit."

Thunder Wave is an excellent tool to hobble most threats, and is particularly useful to let Zapdos spam its STAB moves even more.
Paralysis is also excellent support for teammates, like Mew, Tauros, and Snorlax.

Agility suppresses the Speed drop from paralysis and lets Zapdos outrun the entire metagame, including Mewtwo and Alakazam.
If Hyper Beam is going to be in the main set (which I'm not totally sold it should be), it should at least get a sentence after this one.

Spreading paralysis with Thunder Wave on predicted switch-ins is especially useful against Chansey, as it is one of the best switch-ins (AH) to Zapdos, but critical hits, full paralysis chances, and low damage output from Chansey grant Zapdos far more chances to win the duel.
Rather than "best," I'd say "most common." I'd also add a few other targets for Thunder Wave in a new sentence after this one. Zapdos is happy to paralyze Pokemon like Mew, Tauros, Gengar, opposing Zapdos, etc. and Mewtwo in some situations (though it seems you cover this later).

The switch-ins it forces are useful for teammates such as Mewtwo, Exeggutor, Mew, and Tauros, which can punish Rhydon and the opposing Mewtwo.
I'm a bit confused by this sentence. Maybe for clarity, add a transition sentence. "Zapdos's high damage output and ability to spread paralysis cause it to force fairly predictable switch-ins, like Rhydon, Golem, Sandslash, or an already paralyzed Pokemon." Then say, "Teammates such as Mewtwo, Exeggutor, Tauros, and Slowbro can punish these Pokemon effectively."

Paralyzing Mewtwo with Thunder Wave can also be a backup strategy with Stomp users like Tauros and Rhydon.
I don't think Rhydon uses Stomp much; I think you can say "with Stomp Tauros or Rhydon." Also mention Mew, Mew usually likes to face paralyzed Mewtwo in endgames.

Zapdos can also be used as lead. Its Speed tier lets it outrun Jynx, while Thunder Wave and its STAB combination lets it threaten most common leads, including Chansey, Tauros, and Alakazam. It's important to notice that Drill Peck can never OHKO Jynx even with a critical hit, and that Gengar is a faster lead, meaning Zapdos can be put to sleep easily against these two threats via Lovely Kiss and Hypnosis, respectively.
Something else worth noting in this section is Zapdos's synergy with Gengar. In terms of leads, lead Gengar is well-supported by Zapdos because anything looking to use Earthquake (namely Tauros) can be met with a Turn 1 switch to Zapdos. The two also can work together to either play around or even wall Mew. Any Mew with only a single physical attack, aside from the rare Rock Slide Mew, will be walled by either Zapdos or Gengar. Even Mew sets with both Earthquake and Body Slam can be played around to some degree with this core. If nothing else, something about Zapdos walling mono-Earthquake Mew should be mentioned, as Zapdos, just by existing, can pretty consistently force one of the best Pokemon in the tier to just switch or use Explosion.

**Rock-types**: Zapdos has no way to deal with Rhydon and Golem. Both can use Zapdos to either set up a Subsitute, or use Body Slam on the switch and try to catch a potential paralysis.
It's not a Rock-type, but Sandslash can also be a bit of an issue, particularly if Zapdos is paralyzed.

**Faster Pokemon**: Not only that neither Thunderbolt nor Drill Peck can 3HKO Mewtwo with a critical hit, but it can also use Zapdos as setup fodder with Amnesia, and threatens Zapdos for big damages with Psychic and Ice Beam.
Information is fine here, but consider rewording for clarity.


Call it there for now. I won't QC quite yet, but I probably will after you implement most of this stuff. Cheers!
 
Last edited:

Eledyr

Le vilain petit Wooloo
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Translations Leader
Okay, so it has been a minute since I last reviewed this, so pardon if I repeat myself or anything like that. I just want to note that this analysis still has some grammar issues. I don't really feel like going through them, but there are a few you may want to double-check (if you can).


I think a stronger and broader sentence could be used as an opening here. Something assertive like, "Zapdos is the premier Electric-type Pokemon of RBY Ubers, featuring impressive base stats and a versatile movepool," could be a good choice. You'll see that we will retread the details in this sentence later.


I'd just cut this sentence, you cover this information is much clearer detail over the next couple of sentences. Remove the repetition.


Okay, this sentence has good information in it, but I'd break it up a bit for clarity. Consider something like this:

"It's impressive bulk allows it to spread paralysis to many key threats like Tauros, Mew, and Mewtwo. Its high critical hit rate paired with its strong mixed STAB moves allow it to threaten important Pokemon like Chansey, Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Starmie."

You don't need to copy that exactly, but I think it'll help you get the idea of how this can maybe be improved.


Zapdos actually can 3HKO Mew and Snorlax without a critical hit, though it's a fairly unlikely roll. I'd end the sentence after "...Exeggutor after slight chip damage." Then in the next sentence say, "It also has a possible 3HKO on Mew and Snorlax, which becomes guaranteed if at least one Thunderbolt is a critical hit."


Paralysis is also excellent support for teammates, like Mew, Tauros, and Snorlax.


If Hyper Beam is going to be in the main set (which I'm not totally sold it should be), it should at least get a sentence after this one.


Rather than "best," I'd say "most common." I'd also add a few other targets for Thunder Wave in a new sentence after this one. Zapdos is happy to paralyze Pokemon like Mew, Tauros, Gengar, opposing Zapdos, etc. and Mewtwo in some situations (though it seems you cover this later).


I'm a bit confused by this sentence. Maybe for clarity, add a transition sentence. "Zapdos's high damage output and ability to spread paralysis cause it to force fairly predictable switch-ins, like Rhydon, Golem, Sandslash, or an already paralyzed Pokemon." Then say, "Teammates such as Mewtwo, Exeggutor, Tauros, and Slowbro can punish these Pokemon effectively."


I don't think Rhydon uses Stomp much; I think you can say "with Stomp Tauros or Rhydon." Also mention Mew, Mew usually likes to face paralyzed Mewtwo in endgames.


Something else worth noting in this section is Zapdos's synergy with Gengar. In terms of leads, lead Gengar is well-supported by Zapdos because anything looking to use Earthquake (namely Tauros) can be met with a Turn 1 switch to Zapdos. The two also can work together to either play around or even wall Mew. Any Mew with only a single physical attack, aside from the rare Rock Slide Mew, will be walled by either Zapdos or Gengar. Even Mew sets with both Earthquake and Body Slam can be played around to some degree with this core. If nothing else, something about Zapdos walling mono-Earthquake Mew should be mentioned, as Zapdos, just by existing, can pretty consistently force one of the best Pokemon in the tier to just switch or use Explosion.


It's not a Rock-type, but Sandslash can also be a bit of an issue, particularly if Zapdos is paralyzed.


Information is fine here, but consider rewording for clarity.


Call it there for now. I won't QC quite yet, but I probably will after you implement most of this stuff. Cheers!
Implemented, let me know if there are other things to fix. I'm sorry if I'm giving so much trouble, English is not my native language :regiF:

EDIT: also on a side note,
Something else worth noting in this section is Zapdos's synergy with Gengar. In terms of leads, lead Gengar is well-supported by Zapdos because anything looking to use Earthquake (namely Tauros) can be met with a Turn 1 switch to Zapdos. The two also can work together to either play around or even wall Mew. Any Mew with only a single physical attack, aside from the rare Rock Slide Mew, will be walled by either Zapdos or Gengar. Even Mew sets with both Earthquake and Body Slam can be played around to some degree with this core. If nothing else, something about Zapdos walling mono-Earthquake Mew should be mentioned, as Zapdos, just by existing, can pretty consistently force one of the best Pokemon in the tier to just switch or use Explosion.
I put that part just on the paragraph above, I found it more appropriate.
 

Volk

Demonstrably alive.
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Volk can you check back on this and decide whether to QC or not? Thanks. I'll do my 2/2 after that.
Okay.

Its great bulk makes it especially good at spreading paralysis against common leads and threats like Tauros, Mew, and Mewtwo.
Nitpick, but add the word "other" before "threats" for clarity.

However, in a metagame filled with strong attackers, Zapdos find trouble switching in safely as it is sensitive to Ice-type attacks, which are extremely common.
Make the sentence end like "...common, and it lacks recovery."

Paralysis also excellent to support teammates such as Mew, Tauros, and Snorlax.
Add "provides" after "also."

Zapdos is usually seen as a mid- to late-game wallbreaker. It especially likes paralyzed foes, as most threats it targets, including Tauros, Mew, and Starmie, either Speed tie or are faster than it.
This is a bit confusing. Zapdos definitely appreciates paralysis, but I think saying "most" threats are equal to or greater than it in terms of Speed is a bit of a stretch. Not totally sure how I'd fix this though. I guess you could say it pressures paralyzed foes fairly well, so it is tougher to switch those Pokemon in against it to negate Thunder Wave (i.e., if you have something out that you don't want paralyzed (say Mew), switching out to something paralyzed (say Chansey) to "take" the Thunder Wave is more dangerous against Zapdos than it is against like Chansey, Starmie, or Alakazam).


This analysis still has some structural and prose issues that make it a tough read, but I think it has enough of the key information. In the interest of moving it a long to the next reviewer, I'll call it QC 1/2 for now. Maybe I'll make more comments after it's hashed out further by fresh eyes, but it's probably fine.
 

Sabelette

from the river to the sea
is a Site Content Manageris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnus
QC 2/2, implement Volks last comments above + this and I'm ready to move it to GP
[OVERVIEW]

Zapdos is the premier Electric-type Pokemon of RBY Ubers, featuring impressive base stats and a versatile movepool. Its great bulk makes it especially good at spreading paralysis against common leads and other threats like Tauros, Mew, and Mewtwo. Its good critical hit rate combined with its good STAB options are also valuable in order to threaten important Pokemon like Mew, Chansey, Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Starmie. However, in a metagame filled with strong attackers, Zapdos find trouble switching in safely as it is sensitive to Ice-type attacks, which are extremely common, and it lacks recovery. It has no way to beat Rock-types in Rhydon and Golem, thus it absolutely needs its teammates to patch this weakness. (I think it makes more sense to say Ground-types given the immunity but I suppose it does have a small chance to beat Sandslash... very small)

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Drill Peck
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Agility / Hyper Beam

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Thunderbolt and Drill Peck are Zapdos's best STAB options, which are difficult to switch into thanks to Zapdos's high Special and Speed, granting it a good critical hit rate. In particular, Zapdos easily 2HKO Water-types in Slowbro and Starmie, and has a chance to OHKO Cloyster with Thunderbolt. It has a 66.02% chance to 2HKO non-Reflect Chansey assuming one critically hit Drill Peck and a solid chance to critical hit OHKO Exeggutor after slight chip damage. It has also a possible 3HKO against Mew and Snorlax, which becomes guaranteed if it critically hits one Thunderbolt. Thunder Wave is an excellent tool to hobble most threats, and is particularly useful to let Zapdos spam its STAB moves even more. Paralysis also provides excellent to support teammates such as Mew, Tauros, and Snorlax. Agility suppresses the Speed drop from paralysis and lets Zapdos outrun the entire metagame, including Mewtwo and Alakazam. (Hyper Beam is on the set, so it needs to be discussed here. Its main use is surprising chansey/jynx and so I'd include calcs on those. Also, Agility reapplies paralysis drop, which is incredibly relevant against mewtwo/mew and also helps allied snorlax outspeed even if paralyzed)

Zapdos is usually seen as a mid- to late-game wallbreaker, thanks to its ability to spread paralysis against staples like Tauros, Chansey, and Mewtwo. Its high critical hit rate and high offensive stats also make Zapdos very good at pressuring paralyzed foes; for example, spreading paralysis with Thunder Wave on predicted switch-ins is especially useful against Chansey, as it is one of the most common switch-ins to Zapdos, but critical hits, full paralysis chances, and low damage output from Chansey grant Zapdos far more chances to win the duel. Thanks to its sheer power and STAB moves, it can take advantage of Rest users such as Cloyster, Slowbro, and Snorlax and forces them out. (IMO, only Slowbro really uses rest in Ubers; letting Mewtwo come in and set up free is far too risky for Cloy/Lax, they'll probably boom instead) This is essential because Zapdos has no way to recover its HP, and so each hit it takes is permanent. The pressure Zapdos puts thanks to its high damage output and ability to spread paralysis can force fairly predictable switch-ins like Rhydon, Golem, or an already paralyzed Pokemon, which can be punish by teammates like Mewtwo, Exeggutor, Mew, and Tauros. (snorlax is also a very notable punish here) Paralyzing Mewtwo with Thunder Wave can also be a backup (idk about "backup," i think this is a common way to try to beat it) strategy with physical wallbreakers like Mew, Rhydon, Snorlax, and Stomp Tauros. One specific mention should be made about Gengar as a teammate, as it synergizes well with Zapdos; as a lead, Gengar can switch into Zapdos to scout moves from Tauros. Zapdos can then proceed to threaten it with Thunderbolt or Thunder Wave. As a pair, they can also wall most Reflect + Swords Dance variants of Mew, as Gengar and Zapdos are respectively immune to Normal- and Ground-types attacks. With their respective immunity, Gengar and Zapdos can even play around Earthquake + Body Slam Mew to some degree, forcing it to anticipate correctly and threatening it with a status, let it be Zapdos's paralysis or Gengar's sleep. Earthquake + Explosion Mew is hindered to an even more extreme degree, as it forces Mew to switch out or to try to trade with Explosion, letting more space for powerful sweepers like Mewtwo and your own Mew.

Zapdos can also be used as lead. Its Speed tier lets it outrun Jynx, while Thunder Wave and its STAB combination lets it threaten most common leads, including Chansey, Tauros, and Alakazam. It's important to notice that Drill Peck can never OHKO Jynx even with a critical hit, and that Gengar is a faster lead, meaning Zapdos can be put to sleep easily against these two threats via Lovely Kiss and Hypnosis, respectively. Hyper Beam is a good option for this set, as Drill Peck + Hyper Beam has a strong chance to KO Jynx, and a critically hit Drill Peck + Hyper Beam will always KO Chansey, both of Jynx and Chansey being likely to stay in on Zapdos to put it to sleep.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Reflect could be used to better deal with Mew, but Zapdos has no room to use it without sacrificing an important move, being either the ability to paralyze a target or to outrun the entire metagame and pull off a potential sweep. Moreover, a paralyzed Mew is put under pressure by Zapdos, and it will want to switch out anyway unless it is already set up at +6. Carving a similar niche, Light Screen can buy time against special attackers like Chansey, Slowbro and a paralyzed Mewtwo. Rest could be a good idea to shrug off some HP, but similarly to Reflect and Light Screen, it's at the cost of a crucial move, and Zapdos will have little to no room to wake up, as it can't switch in against most attackers without being 3HKO. A sleeping Zapdos is also a free opportunity for Mewtwo and Mew to switch in and set up, making it a setup fodder for the most important sweepers of the tier. Thunder could be used, because its higher base Power let Zapdos 2HKO Mewtwo with two consecutive critical hits. However, it's a very unreliable strategy due to Thunder's low accuracy. Flash is an option that annoys a lot of paralyzed threat, such as Mewtwo, Mew, and Chansey, and comes in handy once there's only one lasting Pokemon. However, its low accuracy and the lack of room makes it an unreliable choice.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Ground-types**: Zapdos has no way to deal with Rhydon and Golem. Both can use Zapdos to either set up a Substitute, or use Body Slam on the switch and try to catch a potential paralysis. While it's way more uncommon and it does not resist Drill Peck, Sandslash can also be an issue as it can freely switch on Zapdos's Electric-type moves and poses a threat if Zapdos is paralyzed.

**Faster Pokemon**: Not only that Zapdos can never 3HKO Mewtwo even with a critical hit, but Mewtwo can also use Zapdos as setup fodder with Amnesia, and threatens it for big damages with Psychic and Ice Beam. Zapdos is also very sensitive to Pokemon like Alakazam, Gengar, Jolteon, and Tauros, which can all threaten it severely with either a paralysis or a sleep status. Mewtwo should take care however, as it cannot paralyze Zapdos with Thunderbolt, and once it is itself paralyzed, physical wallbreakers like Mew, Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon can take advantage of its reduced Speed to put it under pressure with Explosion, Self-Destruct or Stomp. Paralysis also hinders Zapdos severely if it doesn't have Agility, as slower Pokemon like Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Chansey can threaten it far more easily.

**Ice-types attacks**: While they can't switch in on Zapdos's STAB moves, Zapdos is easily 2HKOed and can't switch in on Jynx and Cloyster's STAB Blizzard. However, they are both prone to use Rest once they have been weakened, so Zapdos can use this opportunity to switch in safely. Zadpos also fear Ice Beam from threats it is supposed to deal with, such as Chansey, Mewtwo, and Slowbro, which all deal massive damage with it.

**Chansey**: Chansey can shrug off a lot of Zapdos's attacks thanks to its high Special Defense and Soft-Boiled, and cripple it with a paralysis or a sleep thanks to Thunder Wave and Sing. However, it cannot infinitely switch on Zapdos's attacks, due to Drill Peck's high damage output and tendencies to critically hit.

[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/eledyr.415367/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/volk.530877/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
 

Sabelette

from the river to the sea
is a Site Content Manageris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnus
GP 1/1 GP Team done. will double check it after you implement :)

Addition Removal Comment
(AC) (AH) Add Comma/Add Hyphen, (RC) (RH) Remove Comma/Remove Hyphen


[OVERVIEW]

Zapdos is the premier Electric-type Pokemon of RBY Ubers, featuring impressive base stats and a versatile movepool. Its great bulk makes it especially good at spreading paralysis against common leads and other threats like Tauros, Mew, and Mewtwo. Its good critical hit rate combined with its and ("combined with" makes it singular so had to change it) good STAB options are also valuable in order to threaten important Pokemon like Mew, Chansey, Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Starmie. However, in a metagame filled with strong attackers, Zapdos find trouble switching in safely, (AC) as it is sensitive to Ice-type attacks, which are extremely common, and it lacks recovery. It has little to no chance to beat Ground-types, (AC) like in Rhydon, Golem, (AC) and Sandslash; (add semicolon) , (RC) thus, (AC) it absolutely needs its teammates to patch this weakness.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Drill Peck
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Agility / Hyper Beam

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Thunderbolt and Drill Peck are Zapdos's best STAB options, which and they are difficult to switch into thanks to Zapdos's high Special and Speed, granting it a good critical hit rate. In particular, Zapdos easily 2HKO Water-types in like Slowbro and Starmie, (RC) and has a chance to OHKO Cloyster with Thunderbolt. It has a 54.50% chance to 2HKO non-Reflect Chansey assuming one critically with one critical hit Drill Peck and a solid chance to critical hit OHKO Exeggutor with a critical hit after slight chip damage. It also has also a possible 3HKO against Mew and Snorlax, which becomes guaranteed if it critically hits one Thunderbolt. Thunder Wave is an excellent tool to hobble most threats, (RC) and is particularly useful to lets Zapdos spam its STAB moves even more. Paralysis also provides excellent to support to teammates such as Mew, Tauros, and Snorlax. Agility suppresses the Speed drop from paralysis and lets Zapdos outrun the entire metagame, including Mewtwo and Alakazam. Against a paralyzed boosting threat like Mew and Mewtwo, Agility also reapplies paralysis's Speed drop, thus helping slow teammates like a paralyzed Snorlax menacing to menace them. Hyper Beam can be used instead to lure in beat (moves don't lure, Pokemon do) Chansey and Jynx that would like to force Zapdos out;: (semicolon instead of colon) Chansey is left in KO range of Hyper Beam if it switches in on a after a critically hit Drill Peck, and Zapdos has a 88.89% chance to KO Jynx with Drill Peck followed by Hyper Beam from full.

Zapdos is usually seen as a mid- to late-game wallbreaker, (RC) thanks to its ability to spread paralysis against staples like Tauros, Chansey, and Mewtwo. Its high critical hit rate and high offensive stats also make Zapdos very good at pressuring paralyzed foes; for example, spreading paralysis with Thunder Wave on predicted switch-ins is especially useful against Chansey, as it is one of the most common switch-ins to Zapdos, but critical hits, full paralysis chances, and low damage output from Chansey grant Zapdos far more chances to win the duel. Moreover, usual typical status absorbers like Starmie and Chansey cannot handle Zapdos very well; thanks to its sheer power and STAB moves, it can take advantage of them as well as Rest users such as Slowbro as well as usual paralysis absorbers like Chansey and Starmie and forces them out. (this is redundant with the first part of the sentence) This is essential because Zapdos has no way to recover its HP, and so each hit it takes is permanent. The pressure Zapdos puts on the enemy team thanks to its high damage output and ability to spread paralysis can force fairly predictable switch-ins like Rhydon, Golem, Snorlax, or an already paralyzed Pokemon, which can be punished by teammates like Mewtwo, Exeggutor, Mew, and Tauros. Paralyzing Mewtwo with Thunder Wave can also be a strategy to break it when Zapdos is paired with physical wallbreakers like Mew, Rhydon, Snorlax, and Stomp Tauros. One specific mention should be made about Gengar as is a notable teammate, as it synergizes well with Zapdos; as a lead, Gengar can switch into Zapdos to scout moves from Tauros. Zapdos can then proceed to threaten it with Thunderbolt or Thunder Wave. As a pair, they can also wall most Reflect + Swords Dance variants of Mew, as Gengar and Zapdos are respectively immune to Normal- and Ground-types attacks. With their respective immunity immunities, Gengar and Zapdos can even play around Earthquake + Body Slam Mew to some degree, forcing it to anticipate predict correctly and threatening it with a status, let whether it be Zapdos's paralysis or Gengar's sleep. Earthquake + Explosion Mew is hindered to an even more extreme degree, as it forces Mew to switch out or to try to trade with Explosion, letting allowing more space for powerful sweepers like Mewtwo and your own Mew.

Zapdos can also be used as lead. Its Speed tier lets it outrun Jynx, while Thunder Wave and its STAB combination lets it threaten most common leads, including Chansey, Tauros, and Alakazam. It's important to notice that Drill Peck can never OHKO Jynx even with a critical hit, and that Gengar is a faster lead, meaning Zapdos can be put to sleep easily against by these two threats via Lovely Kiss and Hypnosis, respectively. Hyper Beam is a good option for this set, as Drill Peck + Hyper Beam has a strong chance to KO Jynx, and a critically hit Drill Peck + Hyper Beam will always KO Chansey,—both of Jynx and Chansey being are likely to stay in on Zapdos to put it to sleep.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Reflect could be used to better deal with Mew, but Zapdos has no room to use it without sacrificing an important moves like Thunder Wave or Agility, being either the ability to paralyze a target or to outrun the entire metagame and pull off a potential sweep. Moreover, a paralyzed Mew is put under pressure by Zapdos, and it will want to switch out anyway unless it is already set up at +6. Carving a similar niche, Light Screen can buy time against special attackers like Chansey, Slowbro and a paralyzed Mewtwo. Rest could be a good idea to shrug off recover some HP, but similarly to Reflect and Light Screen, it's at the cost of a crucial move, and Zapdos will have little to no room to wake up, as it can't switch in against most attackers without being 3HKO. A sleeping Zapdos is also a free opportunity for Mewtwo and Mew to switch in and set up, making it a setup fodder for the most important sweepers of the tier. Thunder could be used, because its higher base Base Power let Zapdos 2HKO Mewtwo with two consecutive critical hits. However, it's a very unreliable strategy due to Thunder's low accuracy. Flash is an option that annoys a lot of paralyzed threat, such as Mewtwo, Mew, and Chansey, and comes in handy once there's only one lasting remaining Pokemon. However, its low accuracy and the lack of room on Zapdos's moveset makes it an unreliable choice.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Ground-types**: Zapdos has no way to deal with Rhydon and Golem. Both can use Zapdos to either set up a Substitute, (RC) or use Body Slam on the switch and try to catch a potential paralysis paralyze it. While it's way more uncommon and it does not resist Drill Peck, Sandslash can also be an issue, (AC) as it can freely switch in on Zapdos's Electric-type moves and poses a threat if Zapdos is paralyzed.

**Faster Pokemon**: Not only that is Zapdos can never unable to 3HKO Mewtwo even with a critical hit, but Mewtwo can also use Zapdos as setup fodder with Amnesia, (RC) and threatens it for big damages with Psychic and Ice Beam. Zapdos is also very sensitive to Pokemon like Alakazam, Gengar, Jolteon, and Tauros, which can all threaten it severely with either a paralysis or a sleep status. Mewtwo should take care however, as it cannot paralyze Zapdos with Thunderbolt, and once it is itself paralyzed, physical wallbreakers like Mew, Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon can take advantage of its reduced Speed to put it under pressure with Explosion, Self-Destruct, (AC) or Stomp. Paralysis also hinders Zapdos severely if it doesn't have Agility, as slower Pokemon like Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Chansey can threaten it far more easily.

**Ice-types attacks Attacks**: While they can't switch in on Zapdos's STAB moves, Jynx and Cloyster both 2HKO Zapdos with STAB Blizzard and prevent it from switching in Zapdos is easily 2HKOed and can't switch in on Jynx and Cloyster's STAB Blizzard. (rephrased because passive voice) However, they are both prone likely to use Rest once they have been weakened, so Zapdos can use this opportunity to switch in safely. Zadpos Zapdos also fears Ice Beam from threats it is supposed to deal with, such as Chansey, Mewtwo, and Slowbro, which all deal massive damage with to it.

**Chansey**: Chansey can shrug off a lot of Zapdos's attacks thanks to its high Special Defense and Soft-Boiled, (RC) and can cripple it with a paralysis or a sleep thanks to Thunder Wave and Sing. However, it cannot infinitely switch on into Zapdos's attacks, (RC) due to Drill Peck's high damage output and tendencies to critically hit critical hit chance.

[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/eledyr.415367/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/volk.530877/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/enigami.233818/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
 

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