Zekrom Duo Guide
Overview
Zekrom, along with its counterpart Reshiram, came out of the Gen 5 Movepool lottery in good shape. Being stuck with Dragon Breath hurts its Dragon-type performance compared to the plethora of Dragon Tail/Outrage Dragons; however, Zekrom received pretty much the best Electric-type moveset it could have hoped for in Charge Beam/Wild Charge. Backed by a massive Base 275 Attack stat, Zekrom is the undisputed #1 Electric-type, with significantly higher DPS than Electivire and bulk higher than Raikou.
On paper, the unboosted Zekrom duo is possible against a specific few movesets with maxed counters and extremely good RNG.
For the rest of the population, Windy Weather will be required for the duo.
For the unboosted Zekrom trio guide, click here.
Zekrom's Movesets
Zekrom
Dragon Breath
Outrage
Zekrom
Charge Beam
Outrage
Zekrom
Dragon Breath
Wild Charge
Zekrom
Charge Beam
Wild Charge
Zekrom
Dragon Breath
Flash Cannon
Zekrom
Charge Beam
Flash Cannon
Zekrom
Dragon Breath
Crunch
Zekrom
Charge Beam
Crunch
- Dragon Breath is boosted by STAB and hits Dragons for super effective damage, making it generally harder than Charge Beam to go against.
- Outrage is boosted by STAB, comes out frequently due to being a 2-Bar move, and hits Dragons for super effective damage.
- In neutral Weather, Outrage cannot be duoed. Even in Wind, Outrage is very hard to duo without dodging.
- Wild Charge is boosted by STAB and comes out frequently; however, it is 6x resisted by Garchomp thanks to its Dragon/Ground typing, making it one of the 'easier' sets to duo in neutral Weather.
- In Wind, duoing against Wild Charge with Garchomp is very lenient.
- Flash Cannon is not boosted by STAB and comes out infrequently. It's also resisted by Palkia, making it probably the 'easiest' set to duo without Wind.
- Crunch has good neutral coverage and comes out frequently, but its Base Power is relatively low and it's not boosted by STAB.
- In Wind, this is the easiest Charge Move to face.
- In neutral Weather, this is the hardest Charge Move to defeat (except Outrage). Without extremely good RNG, Crunch cannot be duoed in neutral Weather.
Weather
- Windy boosts the power of your Dragon-type attacks, and makes the duo drastically easier.
- Sun boosts the power of your Ground-type attacks; however, even under Sun, Excadrill is just a little short of duo-viability, and Garchomp performs better with Dragon Tail/Outrage than a Sunny-boosted Mud Shot/Earthquake due to how bad Earthquake is.
- Cloudy boosts the power of your Fairy attacks. With Cloudy, Level 40 Charm/Dazzling Gleam Gardevoir may be able to duo against Outrage with extremely good RNG.
- Snow boosts the power of your Ice-type attacks. Under Snow, Level 40 Powder Snow/Avalanche Mamoswine is capable of duoing against Wild Charge and Crunch; Level 40 Ice Shard/Avalanche Weavile is capable of duoing against Crunch only.
Viable Counters - No Weather
Minimum viable levels assume Best Friends, no Weather, no Dodging.
Italics indicate a Legacy move.
vs. Flash Cannon
Palkia
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Tail
Draco Meteor
If you're attempting this duo, consider switching to the next Palkia if your current Palkia is going to faint before using its next Draco Meteor.
The reason for this is to minimize energy loss - you want every Dragon Tail to contribute Energy to a Draco Meteor. If your Palkia wastes time using Dragon Tail but faints before it can use Draco Meteor, that's a lot of time lost and can make or break your run.
You will most likely need 12 maxed Palkias for this duo - the DPS check in this fight is not lenient enough for you to spend time Max Reviving. A second team of maxed Rayquazas may suffice for this duo, but Palkia is better.
vs. Wild Charge
Garchomp
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Wild Charge is a fairly straightforward moveset to face. Garchomp doesn't faint enough in this matchup to necessitate a relobby, so the challenge is in fishing for good RNG. If you ever lose any Outrages to bad RNG (ie. dying to a Charge Move right before using Outrage), that run is most likely dead; this fight's DPS check is even stricter than the Flash Cannon duo.
vs. Crunch
Rayquaza
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Salamence
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Two teams of maxed Rayquaza (preferred) or Outrage Salamence and extremely good RNG are both required for this duo.
Charge Beam/Crunch is the easier moveset to go against, as Rayquaza only dies 22 times (11 times per trainer), which allows you to avoid a second relobby.
Dragon Breath/Crunch is harder, as Rayquaza dies an average of 24 times (12 times per trainer); without very good RNG, you will have to relobby a second time, which will most likely kill the run.
Viable Counters - Windy Weather
Minimum viable levels assume Best Friends, Windy Weather, no Dodging.
Italics indicate a Legacy move.
vs. Crunch
Rayquaza
Min. Level: 30
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Salamence
Min. Level: 30
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Garchomp
Min. Level: 30
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Dragonite
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Palkia
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Draco Meteor
Dialga
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Breath
Draco Meteor
Latios
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Breath
Dragon Claw
Duoing Zekrom in Wind is much, much easier than in neutral Weather, although it is still fairly demanding in terms of minimum requirements. Rayquaza is king; the more high-level Rayquazas you have, the better.
vs. Flash Cannon
Rayquaza
Min. Level: 30
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Palkia
Min. Level: 30
Dragon Tail
Draco Meteor
Dialga
Min. Level: 30
Dragon Breath
Draco Meteor
Salamence
Min. Level: 30
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Garchomp
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Dragonite
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Latios
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Breath
Dragon Claw
Flash Cannon isn't very different from Crunch in terms of overall difficulty. The only major notable point is that Flash Cannon is 1-Bar, which means it's easy to predict when it's coming out, and therefore easy to dodge accordingly. If you can consistently dodge Flash Cannons, it will allow you to avoid relobbying entirely while not sacrificing too much overall DPS.
vs. Wild Charge
Garchomp
Min. Level: 30
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Palkia
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Draco Meteor
Dialga
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Breath
Draco Meteor
Dragonite
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Rayquaza
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Salamence
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Latios
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Breath
Dragon Claw
Against Wild Charge, Level 40 Dragon Breath/Dragon Pulse Hydreigon falls a little short of duo-viability on its own, but can be slotted in if you have enough Rayquazas to carry you ahead of the timer.
vs. Outrage - no Dodging
Dialga
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Breath
Draco Meteor
Against Outrage, Dialga is the only Pokemon that can duo without dodging, even in Wind.
vs. Draco Meteor - with Dodging
Rayquaza
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Salamence
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Garchomp
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Dragonite
Min. Level: 35
Dragon Tail
Outrage
Palkia
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Tail
Draco Meteor
Dialga
Min. Level: 40
Dragon Breath
Draco Meteor
Without dodging, Level 40 Rayquaza dies an average of 102 times against Windy Outrage Zekrom. With dodging, Level 40 Rayquaza will die an average of 18 times.