Why don't people use Zacian on a sun team?

Question

I mean it learns solar blade, so...

Comments

What battle format are you referring to? This is important information for questions like this.

---

To my knowledge (I could definitely be wrong), Sun isn't the most popular format in Ubers. Plus, something having a Solar move shouldn't automatically qualify them for use in a Sun team. You could do that with virtually any Grass or Fire type. I know Zacian is neither of those, but my point stands.

---

Ummm like in showdown. So only ubers or ag

Answer 1

You guys are missing something critical... people do use Zacian on sun teams. However, the reason why has nothing to do with Solar Blade, and everything to do with Zacian just being that good of a Pokemon.

If you've played Ubers or AG anywhere above the lower ladder, then you will know that Zacian-C is one of the most prevalent Pokemon in both formats. Sun team or not, the Pokemon is going to get usage because it's simply too good of a wallbreaker and end-game sweeper.

A little bit of extra damage from Fire attacks does not change the fact Zacian-C outspeeds the entire unboosted metagame, has an incredible typing, and goes to +1 upon every switch-in to go with its base 170 Attack. Venusaur, Charizard, etc. are mainstays on sun teams, but they don't get anywhere close to replacing Zacian.

If you won't take it from me, then you can take it from the stats. Zacian-C features on 61% of high-rating Ubers teams (that is all teams, not just sun), and on 52% of high-rating AG teams. The Ubers stats also show that Zacian-C is used 18% more often on teams that also include Torkoal (which itself sits at 9% usage). If you're playing AG, then you're probably not going to see sun teams in the first place, because Pokemon like Torkoal and Venusaur are so off-pace with the others available in that format.

Solar Blade does clock in at 7% usage on non-crowned Zacian, but again, it's not the difference-maker for its viability on sun teams.

Comments

A little thing to add... Solar Blade, despite sounding meme, can deal with Quaqsire, which is a common wall for it due to its ability Unaware. Sand teams are OK in Ubers, but not too good sun-setter in Ubers because Tyranitar has some usability in Ubers compared to Torkoal, which is nigh useless. When coming to Nat Dex AG, weather teams are very bad due to the Primals and M-ray. Sun zacian-C can now be used in both Ubers and non-nat dex AG, plain Gen 8 AG due to the addition of Groudon in DLC2, which allows to use Solar Blade without sticking to a sun team.

Answer 2

Well Ill try to answer this. Basically, I think gmax stellar lucario said it best-just because it has solar blade doesn't make it suddenly a must on a sun team. While it does provide coverage against ground, it still doesn't nessicarily mean that you have to have it. Finally, sun teams are great but a lot of times the weather helps get the Pokemon going and they can sweep or at least do a good amount of damage from there. Zacian on the other hand, can't really use solar blade after the sun goes away, and is forced to use other moves. So basically, the answer would be just because it has solar blade doesn't mean that it should be on a sun team. Also, other Pokemon( like mixed growth gmax venuasaur) can take better advantage than zacian because zacian only benifits from sun with only one move.

Comments

also zacian crowned is weak to fire, and while venusaur is weak to fire, it has a ton of benefits that makes it worth using in sun, unlike zacian

---

Another reason why a mixed Venusaur would be more favorable in Sun than Zacian is coverage against weaknesses.  Venusaur can learn Earthquake, Stomping Tantrum, and Earth Power to cover Fire weakness, which is a hugely important thing for a Grass type to do in Sun.  Zacian shares the weakness to Fire from being Steel type, but the only move it learns that is super effective against Fire is....  Dig.

Further, Chlorophyll is great for Venusaur in Sun, but Zacian doesn't have any further benefits.  Venusaur can further abuse Synthesis in sun if running a tanky set instead of an offense set.