I decided to take a look at an awesome pokemon looks wise, and see if the Mega it received made it perform any better than before.
Regular Zoroark, while not often used, always provided you with a fairly difficult to predict, mind-game playing offensive threat. Mega Zoroark loses the mindgames (don’t mind this, this is false), but gains even more when it comes to versitility, gaining additional bulk and offensive presense, whilst losing a bit of speed.
Zoroark
- Hp: 60
- Atk: 105
- Def: 60
- SpAtk: 120
- SpDef: 60
- Spe: 105
M-Zoroark:
- Hp: 60
- Atk: 130
- Def:100
- SpAtk: 140
- SpDef: 80
- Spe: 95
Sets I’d recommend for M-Zoroark are the following.
To utilize its additional bulk it will be a little easier to use this set compared to regular zoroark, minus the small loss in attack.
Physical Setup: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Low Kick/Return
You’ll still need to watch out for fighting types, as they can definetely knock the socks off of you. Sylveon can screw you over pretty bad, so prepare to bring a check/counter for that. You also need to prepare for base 100 pokemon that are now faster than you and will knock you out. M-Beedrill is also something to watch out for, but that’s why you have sucker punch. Conkeldurr will mess you up, however.
This set is better for mid to late game, where the faster pokemon are already taken care of, or those that are left can be dealt with by using Sucker Punch.
Special Attack: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Bomb / Flamethrower / Grass Knot
Same concept as with the physical Zoroark, but with a bit more punch to it. Blissey is a nightmare, take care of any Blissey you may find before you send this thing out, or it will get crippled immediately. Celebi is also a threat now, because it can force you out with Dazzling Gleam, for those that carry it.
Same counts for this set as for the Physical one, cleaning up mid to late game once things that can kill it are gone.
For both sets I recommend using the turn of Illusion to bait attacks that don’t damage you so you can safely M-Evolve and set up your boost.
Mixed: 196 Atk / 96 SpA / 216 Spe Naive/Naughty
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off / U-Turn
- Low Kick
- Sludge Bomb / Flamethrower / Grass Knot
This set lacks power, especially now that you do less damage without a life-orb, but has the ability to take out pokes that would wall either set, like Blissey, Hydreigon, Snorlax. The boost in both attack and special attack really shows here, I’d say this is the most versitile set amongst the 3.
I don’t really recommend doubles. New moon teams would be possible, but Zoroark doesn’t have a doubles moveset, nor moves that it can take advantage of with Hone Claws. It has a decent movepool, so I’d recommend a special set if you really wanted to fit this on your doubles team.
Overall I think Mega Zoroark is less useful than its base form. The loss in speed means that common threats early game can easilly kill it (even with the boost in defense). The boost in offense is minimal, with things like Hydreigon and Houndoom being better options, with the former now also outspeeding it, and the latter tying with it in base form. Another downside that comes from the lower speed is that it has a much more difficult time to get going. It can sweep nearly as well because more things outspeed it and its bulk isn’t nearly enough to survive strong, faster attackers. It’s much more difficult to fit on a team and you don’t really gain anything from choosing this thing over Hydreigon.
EDIT: Apparantly when you Mega Evolve Zoroark, it will Mega Evolve into the Mega version of the pokemon it is disguised as (if it has a mega, otherwise it will remain as the regular pokemon). This could prove useful, for sure, and allows for way more setup possibilities.
Anything I missed, something you’d like to add? Feel free to discuss it below.
