>>45461892The most noteworthy application of Zygarde is the specially defensive Glare + Coil variant, which has been making waves in the metagame since day 1. This set is menacing as it is challenging to kill, especially without super effective or boosted attacks, which can be limited with the lack of Hidden Power in particular, but also it is able to snowball out of control with just a little bit of timely Glare paralysis luck. While it is true that there are some reliable answers such as Buzzwole, Tangrowth, Quagsire, and Zarude, the fact of the matter is that not many others can consistently handle this Zygarde set despite it being a practical defensive and offensive presence to fit on to teams. This alone can be seen as restrictive, but it is just the tip of the iceberg for Zygarde. On the bulky end, it can also run a boosting set with Toxic as the status move of choice, which is capable of severely crippling some of the aforementioned would-be counterplay.
Offensively, Choice Band Zygarde takes advantage of the spammability of Thousand Arrows especially well by using it as a foolproof way to break through opposition. While a slew of bulky Pokemon are capable of withstanding multiple Choice Band Thousand Arrows such as Tangrowth, Buzzwole, Rillaboom, Slowbro, and Zarude, not many of these Pokemon appreciate the common partners to Zygarde’s Choice Band set like Future Sight + Teleport or Toxic Spikes. In addition, Zygarde still has the option to run strong Dragon STAB to break through some Grass types or more durable walls and Extreme Speed to take out faster threats. If you elect to forgo Choice Band, you can also go with an all-out win condition with Dragon Dance, which works especially well on hyper offense with the support of synergistic win conditions or Screens.
