Art by トラ猫 on Pixiv
Base Stats: 73 HP/115 Atk/60 Def/60 SpA/60 SpD/90 Spe
Abilities: Immunity/Toxic Boost (Hidden)
Notable Moves:
Facade
Feint
Quick Attack
Close Combat
Fire/Thunder/Ice Punch
Night Slash
Shadow Claw
Aerial Ace
Zen Headbutt
Seed Bomb
Gunk Shot
X-Scissor
Tera Blast
Final Gambit
Belly Drum
Swords Dance
Hone Claws
Curse
Thunder Wave
Overview:
Zangoose is a glass cannon. It hits fast and hard with +2 Normal Tera Toxic Boosted Facades, but doesn't last long. The main thing that differentiates it from Guts users is its access to Feint. Feint is normally a 30 power move with +2 priority that breaks through Protect. However, when Terastalized to Normal, that power increases to 60, which is then doubled by STAB to 120. That makes it hit as hard as a Tera Normal Extremespeed on any Pokémon but Arceus (80x1.5=120). Its wide movepool gives it a bunch of options for taking down enemy Pokémon of just about any type combination. However, its lack of resistances, low defenses, and necessity to be poisoned mean it can't stay on the battlefield long.
Potential Sets
We Have Lucario At Home
Zangoose @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Toxic Boost
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Feint
- Facade
- Close Combat/Night Slash
This set is simple enough to play with a flowchart. First turn, you Terastalize, Swords Dance, and get poisoned. Then you have a Facade with 280 power and a Feint with 120, which you use according to whether the opposing Pokémon is faster than you/has priority or not. The last move is coverage based on what your team is most scared of. If the rest of your team can get rid of ghosts before your sweep, pick Close Combat. Otherwise, Night Slash is better, but remember that even a resisted Facade deals more damage than an unresisted Night Slash.
Other Options
Zangoose's decent speed means it's possible to run a set with 4 attacks from its wide movepool and a Choice Scarf as a revenge killer, but this is outclassed by other options. A Choice Band is suboptimal, as it gets the same attack bonus from Toxic Boost and isn't going to last long even if it's not poisoned. Despite the fact that it has Belly Drum, it's not recommended, because it has the durability of burning tissue paper.
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