Porygon-Z (Full Revamp) +

[Bourbon]

Most recent update: some grammar issues, split specs and scarf

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/porygon-z

[SET]

name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Tri Attack
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Download
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Porygon-Z's defenses aren't exactly great, and due to its lack of resistances, it is best suited to coming in after one of your Pokemon has fainted. The Choice Scarf allows it to be an effective revenge killer, outrunning even Jolly Gyarados and Tyranitar after they have Dragon Danced, and of course, nearly anything without a Choice Scarf.</p>

<p>Thunderbolt and Ice Beam allow you to deal with Gyarados and Salamence respectively, while Hidden Power Fighting hits Tyranitar and Heatran hard. Tri Attack is Porygon-Z's most reliable STAB move.</p>


[SET]

name: Choice Specs
move 1: Tri Attack
move 2: Hidden Power Fighting
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Hyper Beam / Ice Beam
item: Choice Specs
ability: Adaptability
nature: Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With the Choice Specs equipped, Porygon-Z's Special Attack stat goes through the roof, reaching a whopping 607. Coupled with a 160 BP Tri Attack, Porygon-Z can mow down almost anything not named Blissey. Dark Pulse tears into any Ghost Pokemon, OHKOing every one of them except Dusknoir and Spiritomb. Hidden Power Fighting, boosted by Choice Specs, annihilates Tyranitar and other Rock- or Steel-type Pokemon that resist Tri Attack. </p>

<p>What really sets Porygon-Z apart from other high powered special attackers is Hyper Beam. With Adaptability boosting its power to 300, it is sure to maim or outright destroy anything not immune to it. In fact, Hyper Beam deals up to 62% to 0/176 Calm Blissey, so you can take it out if you've weakened it already. There are massive drawbacks to Hyper Beam though. The recharge turn almost ensures that your opponent will be able to kill Porygon-Z the next turn, or, even worse, use the free turn to set up. Refrain from using the attack unless you absolutely need to, and only if you're sure your opponent won't be able to set up for a sweep given that free turn. Ice Beam (or one of Porygon-Z's other special options) is a respectable choice for the last slot instead of the risky Hyper Beam. </p>


[SET]

name: Substitute + Salac
move 1: Subsitute
move 2: Nasty Plot
move 3: Tri Attack
move 4: Hidden Power Water / Dark Pulse
item: Salac Berry
ability: Adaptability
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 128 SpA / 124 SpD / 252 Spe
ivs: 30 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA

[SET COMMENTS]


<p>The more offensive metagame has forced Porygon-Z to adapt its strategy a bit. Using Nasty Plot, it packs fearsome power, but is open to revenge kills from Gengar, Scizor, and Scarfed Heatran. This set attempts to remedy the issue by using Substitute to block revenge killing attempts, and a Salac Berry to ensure you outrun most enemy Pokemon.</p>

<p>Porygon-Z is a fearsome special attacker, and as such, encourages switches to dedicated special walls. Using this free turn, you have two options. If your opponent has a Blissey, you should Nasty Plot first. This will lead your opponent to believe it is the standard Nasty Plot set, and they will likely attempt to Thunder Wave you. This will allow you to set up a Substitute on them. You can Nasty Plot a second time as they break your Substitute. After two Nasty Plots, you should be able to 2HKO all Blissey. Most opponents will not Thunder Wave again, in anticipation of a second Substitute. If you play intelligently, you may walk away with a Substitute or even a Salac boost depending on their reaction to your first Tri Attack. Flamethrower/Toxic Blissey has no chance. With the given Special Defense EVs it will take two hits to break one of Porygon-Z's Substitutes with Blissey's special attack of choice (Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, or Ice Beam). Take advantage of this, and you could very easily sweep the opposing team. </p>

<p>Against a more offensive opponent, you should Substitute first. When they send in a faster Pokemon, you can Substitute as they break your previous Substitute. Repeat once more, and you will be at a quarter of your HP and have a Salac boost. You will more than likely outrun them, so you can either Nasty Plot, or kill them off, leaving you with +1 Speed and +2 Special Attack, or +1 Speed and a Substitute. Since priority moves are very popular, you should strongly consider keeping your Substitute instead of going for the Nasty Plot. Scizor's Bullet Punch, for example, will force you to switch or die if Porygon-Z is caught exposed.</p>

<p>It is difficult to get good type coverage with only two moves. This problem is compounded when your STAB is a Normal-type move. The three most common Normal resists in the game, Tyranitar, Heatran, and Gengar, are all hit by Hidden Power Water fairly hard. It will 2HKO Tyranitar, and OHKO Heatran and Gengar if they take some passive damage first. Dark Pulse is an option if you worry about bulkier Ghosts stopping your sweep. The given IVs allow a full power Hidden Power Water, while retaining maximum Speed.</p>



[SET]

name: Substitute, Three attacks
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Tri Attack
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Leftovers / Salac Berry / Petaya Berry
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]

<p>As previously stated, Porygon-Z is easily revenge killed. Because of this, sometimes it's just simpler to Substitute on an expected switch rather than trying to predict your opponent's response. Porygon-Z has perfect type coverage with these three moves, so he doesn't miss the moveslot much. Tri Attack for STAB, Dark Pulse hits Ghosts, and Hidden Power Fighting hits Steel- and Rock-types.</p>

<p>This is an especially effective set when facing down a highly offensive team. While the other Substitute set, Substitute + Salac (above) is most effective if your opponent has Blissey, this one works much better if they do not have it. Simply Substitute, and attack the switch-in with the correct moves. If they are faster than you, you still get to attack them without fear thanks to your protective Substitute. If they are slower, you can attack them twice before taking damage. Many offensive teams rely on their resistances to take Porygon-Z's beatings, so this set makes that tactic obsolete. You should be able to faint a couple of Pokemon with it if you play your cards right.</p>

<p>The item choice is difficult. Leftovers allows you to make more Substitutes than you normally could. Salac Berry gives you a nice Speed boost, bringing you up to 459 Speed. This outruns all Scarfed base 100s and anything slower. However, with only 369 Special Attack, peanuts compared to other Porygon-Z sets, you might want to try using a Petaya Berry to boost that Special Attack to a more respectable 553. Download is more than usable on this set. Usually the pokemon who run from Porygon-Z have low Special Defense, meaning more often than not, you'll get the Special Attack boost you want. This, coupled with the Substitute will make Porygon-Z a very fearsome threat. Tri Attack is actually more powerful with the Download boost than with the Adaptability boost, so in most cases Download will serve you better. Adaptability powers up Tri Attack only, making it a consistent but lesser option. </p>


[SET]

name: Trick
move 1: Trick
move 2: Tri Attack
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Substitute
move 4: Dark Pulse
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Adaptability
nature: Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With Trick in Porygon-Z's sizable movepool, even special walls should fear it. Blissey isn't terribly threatening if you can Trick a Choice Scarf onto it. Being locked into one move makes Blissey much easier to deal with, as it will no longer be able to use Softboiled effectively, and it will have to choose between attacking you, trying to status you, or recovering. Because of this, Substitute is a viable option. If Blissey uses a non-attacking move, you now have a free Substitute against a completely helpless Blissey. They either have to let Blissey be killed, or let another Pokemon take two powerful hits from Porygon-Z.</p>

<p>Use Hidden Power Fighting and Dark Pulse together to hit all the Pokemon that resist Tri Attack. If you're a little gutsier and are going to go the Substitute route, Hidden Power Fighting can be forgone. However, beware of Tyranitar, Heatran, and other sturdy Rocks and Steels as you won't be hitting them too hard. Modest is recommended because you won't be able to deal with Salamence or Gyarados properly without the respective elemental attacks, making outspeeding either a less-than-desirable pursuit. You'll appreciate the extra punch that Modest provides.</p>



[SET]

name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Tri Attack
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Life Orb / Silk Scarf
ability: Adaptability
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Once the flagship Porygon-Z set, the Nasty Plot sweeper has become slightly less useful thanks to Scizor, Swords Dance Lucario, and sturdier Blissey variants. It still wields fearsome power, and can sweep an unprepared team. It's very simple to use and can 2HKO any Pokemon in the entire game after just one boost. Like on every other set, Tri Attack is Porygon-Z's most reliable STAB attack, while Dark Pulse hits Ghosts, and Hidden Power Fighting hits Rocks and Steels for super effective damage. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam can also be used alongside Tri Attack for the BoltBeam combo, but you'll have problems with Tyranitar and the Rotom formes. Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit Steels like Scizor, but leaves you walled by Tyranitar. Hidden Power Ground does more damage to Pokemon like Heatran and Metagross than Fighting does.</p>

<p>The biggest letdown is Porygon-Z's middling Speed. 306 isn't very high, and it is outrun by many Pokemon. This makes it difficult to sweep some of the faster teams, but it is by no means a useless set. Against a slower team, you will likely rip over half of it to shreds before you succumb to their attacks.</p>


[SET]

name: Agility
move 1: Agility
move 2: Tri Attack
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Life Orb / Silk Scarf
ability: Download
nature: Modest
evs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>An alternate spin on the Nasty Plot set. Using Agility, Porygon-Z can outrun nearyl everything after a single boost from Agility. This aids Porygon-Z greatly when facing an offensive team, as it is much harder to revenge kill. Offensive teams generally don't take hits very well, so even with 405 Special Attack, you'll still be able to do some damage. Because of the reduced power, Download is recommended. If you can get the boost, you'll have 607 Special Attack to work with. Tri Attack is your STAB move, like every other set here. Hidden Power Fighting deals with Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon. Dark Pulse is for Ghost Pokemon.</p>

<p>The EVs give you 247 Speed before the Agility. This outruns all Tyranitar, and after an Agility, Scarfed positive base 100s. Alternatively, you can use a spread of 70 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe. Before the Agility, you have 263 Speed, enough to outrun positive-natured base 70s. After the Agility, Porygon-Z will reach 526 Speed, enough to outrun Timid Choice Scarf Gengar.</p>


[SET]

name: Mixed Sweeper
move 1: Sharpen
move 2: Return
move 3: Ice Beam / Dark Pulse / Thunderbolt
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Life Orb
ability: Adaptability
nature: Mild
evs: 252 Atk / 36 SpA / 220 Spe



[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Porygon-Z's forgettable base 80 Attack is not so shabby when complemented with Sharpen, Adaptability, and one of the most reliable, drawback-free attacks - Return. After one Sharpen boost, Porygon-Z has over 500 Attack. This allows it to guarantee a OHKO on Blissey with Return, as long as it has taken Stealth Rock damage. After you have done this, attempt to sweep your opponent, using your ridiculously powerful Return on Special Defense oriented Pokemon, and using your Special Attacks to destroy physical walls. To put it into perspective, Porygon-Z's Sharpen-Boosted Return hits harder than Scizor's Swords Danced Life Orb Bullet Punch, dealing damage not unlike Adamant Choice Band Heracross' Close Combat. This allows you to 2HKO all but the toughest walls. Even Suicune, Celebi, and Hippowdon are 2HKOed.</p>

<p>Ice Beam smashes those sturdy Ground-types and Grass-types. Dark Pulse can be used to beat on bulky Ghosts. Thunderbolt helps deal with Skarmory. Hidden Power Fighting helps you deal with Steel- or Rock-type pokemon, most importantly Tyranitar. Everything else you should just hit hard with your STAB Return.</p>

<p>The only thing stopping Porygon-Z is something faster, and unfortunately, at 270 Speed, this includes quite a few Pokemon. There are two ways to fix this. The first is to lower your Attack EVs to 192. This still guarantees the OHKO on Blissey, but makes Return a significantly weaker sweeping move. This allows you to maximize speed. Agility can also be used over Sharpen, as you can 2HKO Blissey without the Attack boost, but when your strongest special attack is an unSTABed Ice Beam, sweeping will be difficult, regardless of how fast you are.</p>




[Adaptability or Download?]

<p>Both of Porygon-Z's abilities are very potent and make it a dangerous special sweeper. Adaptability boosts the power of Tri Attack from 120 to 160, giving it a considerable punch even when resisted. Download is recommended on the Choice sets however. This is because Download boosts the power of all your Special Attacks by 1.5x if your target has lower Special Defense than Defense. Since you can only use one move, and it might not be Tri Attack, it is better to have that boost on your other moves as well. It is also interesting to note that a Download boosted Tri Attack is more powerful than an Adaptability boosted Tri Attack by 12%. This advantage is moot after a Nasty Plot, which is when Adaptability Tri Attack becomes stronger by 3%. After two Nasty Plots it is stronger by 11%. After three it is stronger by 15%. On Nasty Plot sets, Adaptability is far superior. On sets where you have no other means of boosting your Special Attack, use Download.</p>


[Other Options]

<p>Porygon-Z has a fairly large special attacking movepool. However, Tri Attack is so powerful, you should only consider moves that complement its type coverage. For the most part, you should be trying to hit Ghost Pokemon, and Rocks or Steels. Tri Attack will deal with everything else. Because of this, ignore moves such as Psychic, Signal Beam, SolarBeam, and Zap Cannon. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam have good coverage together, but are only useful on the Choice sets.</p>

<p>Hyper Beam is a deadly suicide move, one that can even OHKO the occasional Blissey if a Modest Porygon-Z has a Nasty Plot and a Life Orb. However, it is difficult to find a moveslot for this attack. Removing Dark Pulse or Hidden Power Fighting would mean you forfeit coverage on Ghosts or Tyranitar. Removing Tri Attack for Hyper Beam hinders your ability to sweep, as you no longer have a reliable STAB attack to fall back on. It's very risky, but destroying Blissey is well worth the payoff. Just make sure you have a backup plan when your opponent uses that recharge turn to set up a sweep.</p>

<p>Porygon-Z has a interesting support movepool as well, thanks to its more defensive pre-evolution Porygon2. These include Trick Room, Thunder Wave, Magnet Rise, Recycle and more. These are better left to other Pokemon, as Porygon-Z packs so much power that it's better to spend your time destroying your targets instead of attempting to cripple them with status or playing mind games.</p>

<p>Conversion can be used with Dark Pulse and Nasty Plot (and a fourth move like Substitute, Recover, and another attack). Adaptability will make Dark Pulse as powerful as Tri Attack would once Porygon-Z is a Dark-type. The strategy takes two turns to set up though, one to Conversion, making Porygon-Z a Dark-type (with STAB Adaptability Dark Pulse) and another to Nasty Plot, so you can do some damage. Using just Normal- and Dark-type moves will guarantee Conversion's turning you into a Dark-type. However, you can take a gamble and use a second attacking move, as well.</p>

[EVs]

<p>The EVs vary depending on the set. Usually you should just stick with what's listed. The only real decision you should be making is Timid or Modest. While Modest provides a huge boost in power, forgoing a Timid nature means Porygon-Z will be outrun by positive-natured base 80s and neutral-natured base 100s. Weigh the consequences of each nature before making your choice.</p>

[Opinion]

<p>Porygon-Z was vastly overhyped in the early stages of the 4th generation, boasting to be the only Pokemon that could OHKO Blissey with a special attack after just one turn of set-up. However, it soon fell into obscurity, because of its average Speed and lack of resistances. With a couple of new move tutor attacks, and some new standard sets, it is once more worth consideration. Boasting the highest non-uber Special Attack in the game, and a 160 power Tri Attack, Porygon-Z is a potent addition to any team that can be tailored to its needs. Its biggest hitch is its low Speed, but if you can get past this, you'll be very impressed. It can 2HKO every Pokemon in the entire game after one Nasty Plot boost.</p>

[Counters]

<p>Porygon-Z can 2HKO anything in the game after a Nasty Plot, even Blissey. This makes it very difficult to counter. Its lack of resistances as a Normal-type and its average Speed makes it easier to handle. Being weak to both Vacuum Wave and Mach Punch helps, too.</p>

<p>Spiritomb makes a more than decent switch-in to any Porygon-Z set. It is immune to Tri Attack and isn't weak to any other moves. Hidden Power Fighting will 2HKO Porygon-Z easily. Blissey is a decent option, but only if it has Thunder Wave. Porygon-Z deals damage a lot faster with its boosted Tri Attacks than she can do back with Seismic Toss. Sharpen boosted Return OHKOs Blissey too, which is a problem. Probopass, Registeel, and Tyranitar can weather any beating save for Hidden Power Fighting. Metagross can do some damage with Choice Banded Bullet Punch, but boosted Tri Attacks will sting quite a bit.</p>

<p>As far as revenge killing goes, it's much easier. Scizor with Bullet Punch can chase it away quite easily. Lucario can use Vacuum Wave or Extremespeed. Gengar can outrun Porygon-Z and use Focus Blast for a quick kill. Scarfed Heatran is a suitable revenge killer as well, but can actually be set up on by the Sub Salac set. Basically take advantage of its average Speed and hit it with whatever you can. That's about as close to countering Porygon-Z as it gets.</p>

 

[Scofield]

Maybe some explanation of adaptability vs download? I don't see exactly why the first set uses one and the trick set uses the other. I suppose both are viable, but I've always been using adaptability.

To be honest, I think hp water is terrible. Yeah it allows for an unresisted combo...but it's a base 70 unstabbed attack, it's not really going to be doing much to say..skarmory and even the frail gengar, both of which it fails to 2hko, and tri attack isn't much of an option against either. Also, boltbeam should be an option alongside tri attack on the trick set. Also, ice/dark has pretty decent coverage too alongside tri attack.

Pretty good analysis though.

 

[Lee]

Timid needs to be an option on the Scarf set to enable him to revenge kill Adamant DDMence and Jolly DDGyara (assuming the latter actually exists).

 

[Blue Kirby]

I would sooner use Dark Pulse with Tri-Attack over Hidden Power Water. Dark is NVE against Dark, Fighting and Steel. Tri-Attack will be hitting those Fighting and Dark-types with 160 BP, while Dark Pulse will still be neutral against Spiritomb, while smacking Gengar and Mismagius around hard. Keep in mind that an Adaptability Tri Attack will still be hitting Pokemon harder than neutral HP Water (80 BP as opposed to 70), and it also gives you that 20% chance to inflict status too.

 

[jumpluff]

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/porygon-z

[SET]

name: Choice Specs / Scarf
move 1: Tri Attack
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
nature: Modest
trait: Download
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 DEF
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs

[SET COMMENTS]

<p> Because of his mediocre defenses and lack of resistances, Porygon-Z is best suited to coming in after one of your Pokémon has been defeated. The Choice Scarf allows you to be an awesome revenge killer, outrunning Gyarados and Tyranitar after they have Dragon Danced, and of course, other Pokémon, like Shaymin-S, Gengar, Azelf, and more. Hidden Power Fighting deals as much as 89% to Heatran if you get your Download boost, and you outrun even Timid Choice Scarf versions. Choice Specs turns Porygon-Z into a powerhouse, packing 607 SpA, or as much as 911 if you get your Download boost. Use this tremendous power to smash through your opponent's Pokémon until you are walled. Switch out, rinse, and repeat. </p>

<p> Unfortunately, this Porygon-Z is walled terribly by Blissey, like most special sweepers. If you don't like this, then the next Choice set is worth consideration. </p>

[SET]

name: Choice + Trick
move 1: Trick
move 2: Tri Attack
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Substitute
move 4: Dark Pulse / Hidden Power Water
nature: Modest
trait: Adaptability
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 DEF
item: Choice Scarf

<p> Thanks to Platinum's addition of Trick to Porygon-Z's sizable movepool, now even special walls fear him. Blissey isn't terribly threatening anymore with a scarf tucked under her homely face. This makes Blissey much, much easier to deal with, as it will no longer be able to use Softboiled effectively, and it will have to choose between attacking you, or trying to status you. Because of this, Substitute is a viable option over Hidden Power Fighting. If Blissey is stupid enough to try and status you, you got up a free Substitute against a completely helpless Blissey. They either have to let Blissey be killed, or let another Pokémon take two powerful hits from Porygon-Z. The Choice + Trick set is extremely dangerous in the right hands. An interesting bonus is that Porygon-Z will undoubtedly receive Leftovers from Blissey, allowing you to Substitute more often, and recover damage taken from Stealth Rock.</p>

<p> Use Hidden Power Fighting and Dark Pulse together. If you're a little gutsier and are going to go the Substitute route, use Hidden Power Water. It has excellent type coverage with Tri Attack, allowing you to hit everything in OU, barring Shedinja and Empoleon, for neutral damage or better. </p>

[SET]

name: Sub Salac
move 1: Subsitute
move 2: Nasty Plot
move 3: Tri Attack
move 4: Hidden Power Water
nature: Modest
trait: Adaptability
evs: 6 HP / 128 SpA / 124 SpD / 252 Spe


In Platinum, Porygon-Z has had to adapt its strategy a bit. Using Nasty Plot, it packs fearsome power, but is open to revenge kills from Scarfed Heatran, Shaymin-S, and Scizor. This set attempts to remedy these issues by using Substitute to block revenge killing attempts, and a Salac Berry to ensure you outrun most enemy Pokemon.

Porygon-Z is a fearsome special attacker, and as such, encourages switches to dedicated special walls. Using this free turn, you have two options. If your opponent has a Blissey, you should Nasty Plot first. This will lead your opponent to believe it is a regular Nasty Plotter, and they will likely attempt to Thunder Wave you. This will allow you to set up a Substitute on them. You can Nasty Plot a second time as they break your Substitute. After two Nasty Plots, you should be able to 2HKO most Blissey. Most opponents will not Thunder Wave again, thinking you will Substitute. If you Nasty Plot, then Substitute, then Nasty Plot, then Tri Attack, then Substitute, you will beat every Blissey with a Salac Boost. If you play intelligently, you may even walk away with a Substitute depending on their reaction to your first Tri Attack. Flamethrower/Toxic Blissey has no chance. With the given Special Defense EVs it will take two hits to break one of Porygon-Z's Substitutes with Blissey's Special Attack of choice (Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, or Ice Beam). Take advantage of this, and you should very easily win the game.

Against a more offensive opponent, you should Substitute first. When they send in a faster Pokémon, you can Substitute as they break your previous Substitute. Repeat once more, and you will be at one-fourth of your HP, and have a Salac boost. You will more than likely outrun them, so you can either Nasty Plot, or kill them off, leaving you with +1 Speed and +2 Special Attack, or +1 Speed and a Substitute. Since Scizor is very popular, you should strongly consider keeping your Substitute instead of going for the Nasty Plot. Its Bullet Punch will force you to switch or die if Porygon-Z is caught exposed. Even with only 370 Special Attack, Porygon-Z can do considerable damage to the opponent, and makes a good cleaner.

It is difficult to get good type coverage with only two moves. This problem is compounded when your STAB is a Normal-type move. However, Tri Attack and Hidden Power Water, while a strange combination, is only walled by Empoleon and Shedinja, who are very rare. Hidden Power Water deals massive damage to Tyranitar, Heatran, and can even OHKO Gengar after a boost with some prior damage. Another Hidden Power that preys on a weakness that both Tyranitar and Heatran share is Ground. It also hits Jirachi and Metagross, but this leaves you a sitting duck against Gengar and Rotom. This is not a recommended option, but viable nonetheless. Normal and Dark work as well, especially if you fear bulky Ghosts like the new Rotom Appliances ruining your sweep. Being walled by Tyranitar and Heatran isn't a very good idea, as they are very common, so it is strongly recommended that Hidden Power Water be your choice; however, your selection is dependent on team combinations.

[SET]

name: Substitute, Three attacks

[SET]

name: Nasty Plot

[SET]

name: Agility


[OTHER OPTIONS]

<p> Porygon-Z has a fairly large special attacking movepool. However, Tri Attack is so powerful, you should only consider moves that complement its type coverage. For the most part, you should be trying to hit Ghost Pokémon, and Rocks or Steels. Tri Attack will deal with everything else. Because of this, ignore moves such as Psychic, Signal Beam, Solarbeam, and Zap Cannon. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam have good coverage, but are only useful on the Choice sets.</p>

<p>Hyper Beam was a decent choice in Diamond and Pearl, for getting a OHKO on Blissey, but now it runs more Special Defense and will never fall to a Hyper Beam. That, and with all the previously mentioned revenge killers, you would most certainly lose your Porygon-Z afterwards, even if you did kill Blissey. Avoid this move in Platinum. </p>

<p> Porygon-Z has a interesting support movepool as well, thanks to his more defensive pre-evolution Porygon2. These include Trick Room, Thunder Wave, Conversion, Conversion2, Magnet Rise, Recycle, and more. These are better left to other Pokémon, as Porygon-Z packs so much power that it's better to spend your time destroying things instead of attempting to cripple them with status or playing mind games. </p>

[EVs]

<p> EVs vary depending on the set. Usually you should just stick with what's listed. The only real decision you should be making is Timid or Modest. Modest gives huge attack power, but dooms you to be slower than all those 280 speed Pokémon. Timid outruns neutral base 100s. </p>

[OPINION]

<p> Porygon-Z was vastly overhyped in the early stages of Diamond and Pearl, boasting to be the only Pokémon that could OHKO Blissey with a Special Attack. However, it soon fell into obscurity, because of its average speed and lack of resistances. With a couple of new toys in Platinum, and some new, metagame-friendly sets, it is once more worth consideration. Boasting the highest non-uber Special Attack in the game, and a 160 power Tri Attack, Porygon-Z is a potent addition to any team that can be tailored to its needs. It's biggest hitch is its low speed, but if you can get past this, you'll be impressed. It can 2HKO every Pokémon in the entire game. </p>

[COUNTERS]

<p> Porygon-Z can 2HKO anything in the game after a Nasty Plot. This makes it very difficult to counter. Thankfully it is rather frail and has low speed. </p>

<p> Spiritomb makes a more than decent switch in to any Porygon-Z set. It is immune to Tri Attack and isn't weak to any other moves. Hidden Power Fighting will 2HKO the cyber duck easily. Blissey is a decent option, but only if you have Thunder Wave. Porygon-Z will kill you a hell of a lot faster with its boosted Tri Attacks than you will hurt it with Seismic Toss. Probopass, Registeel, and Tyranitar can weather any beating save for Hidden Power Fighting. Metagross can do decently with Choice Banded Bullet Punch, but boosted Tri Attacks will sting quite a bit. </p>

<p> As far as revenge killing goes, it's much, much easier. Scizor with Bullet Punch can chase it away quite easily. Lucario can use Choice Specs Vacuum Wave. Gengar can outrun and use Focus Blast for a quick kill. Scarfed Heatran is a suitable revenge killer as well. </p>

<p> Basically take advantage of its average speed and hit it with whatever you can. That's about as close to countering a Porygon-Z as it gets. </p>

 

[Bourbon]

All right, I was just going for neutrality there. I guess without Nasty Plot backing it, Hidden Power Water isn't terribly fearsome ; )

OK, the reason I chose Download on the Choice set is because you are restricted to one move, and if it's not Tri Attack, you won't get the bonus from Adaptability anyways. I figured it's better to have an ability that works sometimes rather than only when you are using your STAB move.

 

[Stellar]

Could you possibly remove the small P-Z images? It messes up the coding when copying from an edit to the site.

 

[Syberia]

Timid needs to be an option on the Scarf set to enable him to revenge kill Adamant DDMence and Jolly DDGyara (assuming the latter actually exists).

It exists, I've been using it to stop Timid Scarftran from revenge killing me with HP Electric or Explosion. Outspeeding the odd Stone Edge Lucario, Jolly Mamoswine, or 280-speed LOMence before you DD is also a bonus.

 

[Bourbon]

All changes have been made, after I eat lunch I will work on the last three sets, which should be easier due to their simpler nature.

Another idea I am thinking of would be to use Thunderwave, Nasty Plot and two attacks. Instead of attempting to boost Porygon-Z's speed, you lower everyone else's. It'd really mess up people who switch in Gengar and Heatran expecting a Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, hoping to soak up a Tri Attack. A physical sweeper (lol, I know) could be used thanks to Sharpen and a 260 base power Last Resort... after one Sharpen, Last Resort would do 100.84%-118.77% to 252/252 Bold Blissey. Return would do 77.73%-91.46%. HAHAHA

So I'm thinking that Hasty Nature with 252 ATK and a Life Orb, Sharpen, Return, Hidden Power Fighting and Dark Pulse could work, I mean, it'd be pretty hard to wall. Either that, or Sharpen and last Resort only, but basically, you could surprise and kills Blissey, and that's it.

 

[highstakespkmn]

HP Water as the only option in the last set?? I understand using HP Water, but implying that it is the only option, much less most often the best option is seriously overrating it.

The other 3 options are Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse, and Ice Beam, for the aforementioned reason any other HP is simply pitiful. Tri Attack is more powerful than HP Water against non-weak steels and rocks (T-tar/Heatran/Rhyperior). However, Heatran only need 24 HP EV's to have a chance of surviving a Nasty Plotted HP Water. Tri Atack is more powerful than HP Water against steels that are neutral to water. Meanwhile, Heatran needs 204 HP EV's to have a chance of surviving 2 Tri Attacks if it Nasty Plots once (no leftovers assumed). With 252 HP EV's it has a 8.2% chance of surviving 2 Nasty Plotted Tri Attacks. With 252 HP EV's it has a 93.8% chance of surviving 1 HP Water. With 252 HP EV's it has 0 chance of surviving a Thunderbolt. Sure, you can make the argument about residual damage, but Porygon-Z can't be choosy about when its sweeping, so unless you're always getting Stealth Rock/Spikes down, then I wouldn't count on HP Water being a hell of a lot better than Tri Attack vs. Heatran. Better, yes, but perfect, hell no. With a Sandstream up, Salac Berry tends to be terrible anyway, so you aren't going to get much of a sweeping effort going there, and even HP Water is pitifully weak. So with HP Water you're basically semi-preparing yourself for Heatran and making the somewhat rare Rhyperior a non-issue.

Looking at how everything is countered with each option I'd say Ice Beam = Dark Pulse > Thunderbolt > HP Water > HP Ground > HP Fighting, the first 4 all being viable...

 

[Bourbon]

I tested all the options, highstakespkmn. The reason Hidden Power Water is the first option is because it is by far the best option. It is the only attack that can take on Heatran, Tyranitar AND ghost pokemon. After a Nasty Plot it hurts stuff pretty badly, even though it is only 70 power.

And yes, I already know Tri Attack does more to Steels that aren't weak to water. But Tri Attack does nothing to Tyranitar, and you can actually set up on a Scarftran switch-in if you have Hidden Power Water.

So before you start complaining and pulling all this theorymon stuff on me, I tested the Sub Salac Set for about a month in total. Two weeks before I put it up on the "creative movesets" thread and two more weeks when I made a peer edit. I'm still using it right now, and Hidden Power Water is a strange, but highly effective option.

The other options are in Set Comments anyways so what is the problem?

Another idea I am thinking of would be to use Thunderwave, Nasty Plot and two attacks. Instead of attempting to boost Porygon-Z's speed, you lower everyone else's. It'd really mess up people who switch in Gengar and Heatran expecting a Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, hoping to soak up a Tri Attack. A physical sweeper (lol, I know) could be used thanks to Sharpen and a 260 base power Last Resort... after one Sharpen, Last Resort would do 100.84%-118.77% to 252/252 Bold Blissey. Return would do 77.73%-91.46%. HAHAHA

So I'm thinking that Hasty Nature with 252 ATK and a Life Orb, Sharpen, Return, Hidden Power Fighting and Dark Pulse could work, I mean, it'd be pretty hard to wall. Either that, or Sharpen and last Resort only, but basically, you could surprise and kills Blissey, and that's it.

So does anyone have opinions on these?

 

[highstakespkmn]

Tyranitar can't really get killed by HP Water, unless its weakened quite a bit and at that point might as well just say the same thing about Tri Attack ?_?

btw even if you insist on HP Water being better, why not at least list the other options? those 3 moves are more than "other options", usually that part of the analysis is used to say why other moves are terrible and shouldn't be used except in rare circumstances. such as HP Fighting and ground.

 

[Bourbon]

I was just following Caelum's reccomendations. Here is the Peer Edit. Read it, and then tell me why I should use your ideas over both a mod's and mine.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46397

Just playtested it and I must say this is damn effective with HP Water.

Hidden Power Water is a great move for Porygon-Z

verifying how badass Porygon-Z is with Hidden Power Water

Oh looky, three people who actually TRIED THE SET agree with me...?

 

[highstakespkmn]

I'm the best duh thats why

 

[Bourbon]

Excuse me, could someone who knows how to code these things tell me what tags to put this in...

[ADAPTABILITY OR DOWNLOAD?]

<p> Both of Porygon-Z's traits are very potent and make him a dangerous special sweeper. Adaptability boosts the power of Tri Attack from 120 to 160, giving it a considerable punch even when resisted. Download is recommended on the Choice sets however. This is because Download boosts the power of all your Special Attacks by 1.5x if your target has lower Special Defense than Defense. Since you can only use one move, and it might not be Tri Attack, it is better to have that boost on your other moves as well. It is also interesting to note that a Download boosted Tri Attack is more powerful than an Adaptability boosted Tri Attack by 12%. This advantage is moot after a Nasty Plot, which is when the Adaptability Tri Attack becomes stronger by 3%. After two Nasty Plots it is stronger by 11%. After three it is stronger by 15%. On Nasty Plot sets, Adaptability is far superior. On sets where you have no other means of boosting your Special Attack, use Download. </p>

 

[twash]

That's exactly how is should be coded. :)

 

[Bourbon]

haha, no way, it's that simple?

Well, I don't see anything else to do here, except a Sharpen set, but that's probably too gimmicky to work.

 

[Bourbon]

Wow, this is actually looking like it could be a viable set... :D

+1 LO Return to standard Curselax: 73.02%-86.11%
+1 LO Return to standard Calm Blissey: 93.09%-109.52%
+1 LO Return to standard Calm Regice: 66.76%-78.57%


Now, here is the clincher... check these out!

+2 LO Tri Attack to standard Curselax: 63.89%-75.2%
+2 LO Tri Attack to standard Calm Blissey: 43.78%-51.61%
+2 LO Tri Attack to standard Calm Regice: 62.09%-73.35%

So there you go, with neutral nature and 252 Attack EVs, a +1 Sharpen boosted Return does a lot more to every Special Wall in the game than a +2 Tri Attack. Opinions... thoughts on an EV spread, other moves, etc?

 

[dekzeh]

Mixed Pory-Z is viable and it's even on the current analysis so I can't see whats the big find. Pory-Z has, thanks to adaptability, a stronger Return then the likes of Tauros.
Don't use Sharpen. It sucks.
Just 200ish Atk EVs with either Silk Scarf or Life Orb so you can always 2HKO Blissey.

Return, Dark Pulse, Hidden Power Fight, Agility/Tri-Attack/Ice Beam/TBolt etc...

 

[Bourbon]

Aw, haha I kind of liked the idea of Sharpen, but I guess 2HKOing is good enough :/

How's this:

Porygon-Z @ Life Orb
Mild
220 Attack, 72 SpA, 216 Spe

Return
Sharpen / Agility
Thunderbolt
Ice Beam

So basically, Return 2HKOs both Snorlax and Blissey easily. An interesting bonus is that Sharpen boosted Return OHKOs Calm Blissey, which is pretty cool in my opinion. Of course, if you think you can sweep with Return, Thunderbolt and Ice Beam, you can try Agility. Or, you can use that Sharpen boosted Return, and hurt stuff, albeit on a slower, more powerful scale. I put Thunderbolt and Ice Beam so you can hit Skarmory and Hippowdon for huge damage, plus there is that neat Bolt Beam coverage you get.

Before you guys are like, "boo" sharpen sucks, lets compare it to other attacks, on a theoretical pokemon with 200 defense and 400 HP.

Standard Mixape's Life Orb Close Combat: 52.5%-62%
Jolly Mamoswine's Life Orb Earthquake: 62.75%-74%
Adamant Salamence's Life Orb Outrage: 85%-100%
Adamant Lucario's Life Orb Close Combat: 73.25%-86.25%
Adamant Scizor's Swords Danced Life Orb Bullet Punch: 82.25%-97%
Adamant Choice Band Heracross' Close Combat: 92.25%-108.75%

Porygon-Z's unboosted Life Orb Return: 58.25%-68.75%
Porygon-Z's Sharpened Life Orb Return: 87.5%-103%


Hmmm, looks pretty impressive compared to some of these other physical attackers, doesn't it? I am actually considering maybe a bit more Attack EVs to outdamage Choice Band Heracross after the Sharpen Boost.

 

[umbarsc]

Technically [ADAPTABILITY OR DOWNLOAD?] should be

<h2>Adaptability or Download?</h2>

if we're going with proper HTML formatting. Also, it doesn't really look professional with all caps.

 

[Great Sage]

As others have said, Hidden Power Water is a very poor option, even when backed by Nasty Plot. It doesn't really matter that you're hitting almost everything neutrally when you hit hardly anything super effectively and are using a 70 base power attack. It doesn't even hurt Tyranitar and Heatran that much; replace it with another option.

Also, try to combine the latter three sets, which are quite similar, in some way.

 

[Bourbon]

I was just following Caelum's reccomendations. Here is the Peer Edit. Read it, and then tell me why I should use your ideas over both a mod's and mine.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46397

Just playtested it and I must say this is damn effective with HP Water.

Hidden Power Water is a great move for Porygon-Z.

Verifying how badass Porygon-Z is with Hidden Power Water.






Oh looky, three people who actually TRIED THE SET agree with me...?

Again, I'm pulling out this card.

And it doesn't "fail" against Tyranitar and Heatran either, it actually does like 60% to 252 HP Tyranitar and OHKOs Scarftran after the boost. That's right, you can actually set yourself up on a Scarftran switch in.

I know you're a mod, Great Sage, but a lot of people actually tested this, it's not theorymon. So I'm going to stick with Hidden Power Water for now. I'll put Dark Pulse in a slash though. Maybe Thunderbolt too. But Hidden Power Water is the best option, all of them were tested extensively, blah blah blah...

I will combine the Agility and Nasty Plot sets, but I don't know how "Substitute + 3 Attacks" is any way similar to the Nasty Plot set, they play so much differently. And while I'm at it, I'll put my brainstorm up in the front where you all can see it, if you haven't already.

Porygon-Z @ Life Orb
Mild
220 Attack, 72 SpA, 216 Spe

Return
Sharpen / Agility
Thunderbolt
Ice Beam

So basically, Return 2HKOs both Snorlax and Blissey easily. An interesting bonus is that Sharpen boosted Return OHKOs Calm Blissey, which is pretty cool in my opinion. Of course, if you think you can sweep with Return, Thunderbolt and Ice Beam, you can try Agility. Or, you can use that Sharpen boosted Return, and hurt stuff, albeit on a slower, more powerful scale. I put Thunderbolt and Ice Beam so you can hit Skarmory and Hippowdon for huge damage, plus there is that neat Bolt Beam coverage you get.

Before you guys are like, "boo" sharpen sucks, lets compare it to other attacks, on a theoretical pokemon with 200 defense and 400 HP.

Standard Mixape's Life Orb Close Combat: 52.5%-62%
Jolly Mamoswine's Life Orb Earthquake: 62.75%-74%
Adamant Salamence's Life Orb Outrage: 85%-100%
Adamant Lucario's Life Orb Close Combat: 73.25%-86.25%
Adamant Scizor's Swords Danced Life Orb Bullet Punch: 82.25%-97%
Adamant Choice Band Heracross' Close Combat: 92.25%-108.75%

Porygon-Z's unboosted Life Orb Return: 58.25%-68.75%
Porygon-Z's Sharpened Life Orb Return: 87.5%-103%


Hmmm, looks pretty impressive compared to some of these other physical attackers, doesn't it? I am actually considering maybe a bit more Attack EVs to outdamage Choice Band Heracross after the Sharpen Boost.

 

[RaikouLover]

Hidden Power Water is a good option. I've actually used it on my Nasty Plotting Toxicroak (for the Rain team).

Anyway, skiddle... No Mixed agility set? I thought something like:

Return / Tri Attack / Something / Agility @ Life Orb + Download was a potent set (never tested it but it seems like it could work). Any ideas?

 

[Bourbon]

Well, that's kind of what the Agility option on the Sharpen set was for... but to be honest, I might even lower the speed a bit more and bolster that attack... I had no idea that a Sharpen boosted Return outdamaged Salamence's Life Orb Outrage.

I could try a couple of mixed set ideas, seeing as I merged the Agility and Nasty Plot set, now I only have five sets, and Porygon-Z can do so much more.