Zamazenta Guide

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Jesus Cruz, Lifelong Pokémon Fan

It all started in 2010 when Jesus was 10 years old. His dad gifted him a Nintendo DS and let him choose a game for it. A weird, enormous, and grey serpent caught my attention on the box art for Pokémon Platinum, and since that moment he's been hooked! He can only thank his 10 years old self for choosing the game that he loves the most in the series

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Zamazenta, the Warrior Pokémon, is a Fighting (in its Hero of Many Battles form) and Fighting/Steel-type (in its Crowned Shield form) Pokémon introduced in Gen 8. 

To talk about Zamazenta, I also have to mention Zacian, as they are brothers. Both represent the shield and sword, respectively. Together, they tell the story of a feisty warrior who saves his nation from the disaster thanks to his braveness. Due to his heroic deed, he manages to become the king of his nation. 

Of course, this story is strongly inspired by the Arthurian Legend. 

Zacian and Zamazenta have two forms. Their most powerful form is the Crowned Sword and Shield form, respectively, in which they seem to have complete armors, hence the Steel-type. To have this form, they must have the Rusty Sword and Shield as their item. 

But when they are disarmed, Zacian and Zamazenta lose their armor, changing into their Hero of Many Battles form. The most noticeable thing about this form is the high amount of scars on their bodies, showing us that, under the shining armor, there’s just a human being that can die at any moment. 

Zamazenta’s name comes from Okamiza, the Japanese name of Lupus, the Wolf Constellation, and The Magenta.  

Zamazenta Summary of Appearances in Pokémon Versions and Media (Games, Anime, Movies)

Games 

In the games, Zamazenta appears in the following places: 

Gen 8: Zamazenta is an exclusive Pokémon from Pokémon Shield. After seeing it several times, you’ll be able to catch it in the Tower Summit, but only once, so be careful and save your game. If you want Zamazenta in Pokémon Sword, you’ll have to transfer it. 

Anime 

Zamazenta is an important Pokémon in the series, appearing for the first time in Slumbering Weald!, where Goh saw it briefly, probably as a vision. However, Zamazenta doesn’t appear again until Sword and Shield: From Here to Eternatus! Where it leads Goh and Sonia towards the altar where the Rusty Sword and Shield lay. 

Lastly, both Zacian and Zamazenta appear in Sword and Shield… The Legends Awaken! Fighting against Eternatus, with Ash and Goh’s help. 

Manga 

Zamazenta, alongside Zacian, debuted in Pokémon Journeys, with the same story as in the anime: saving the world from Eternatus and the Darkest Day. 

Zamazenta has also appeared in Pokémon Adventures, debuting in Oh Shiny! Legendary Equipment! where the protagonists saw them briefly in Slumbering Weald. They tried to fight both legendaries but quickly realized that Zacian and Zamazenta were just some illusions. 

TCG 

Zamazenta has cards in the following expansions: 

• Rebel Clash (Rare)
• Vivid Voltage (A Card)

Also, Zamazenta has V-Cards in the following expansions: 

• Sword and Shield (Ultra-Rare Rare)
• Sword and Shield (Rare Ultra)
• Sword and Shield (Rare Secret)
• Celebrations (Ultra-Rare Rare)
• Brilliant Stars (Ultra-Rare Rare)
• Brilliant Stars (Rare Secret)

In Celebrations and Vivid Voltage, Zamazenta is a Fighting-type Pokémon, while on the rest of the sets, Zamazenta is a Steel-type Pokémon. 

Zamazenta Evolution Line: When does Zamazenta Evolve? 

Zamazenta is a Legendary Pokémon, meaning that it doesn’t evolve and doesn’t have a pre-evolution. 

Zamazenta Stats

Zamazenta is a common threat in Ubers because it’s a legendary Pokémon. Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta has top-notch stats, and it can work as a Sweeper, but with a cool twist, as Zamazenta has an incredible Defense stat, so it can just stay in the field, killing everything. 

Meanwhile, Crowned Shield Zamazenta is even stronger than Hero of Many Battles; it’s tanky and has a great type combination with its Fighting/Steel-type. You can use it as a Wall or as a Sweeper. I’ll cover the most common build for Hero of Many Battles and Crowned Sword Zamazenta, so you have the chance to choose what you want. Let’s get started! 

Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta 

These are Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta’s stats: 

Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta is extremely fast and powerful and has a great Defense stat. Defensively on Ubers, it’s more like an average Pokémon, but looks can be deceiving, considering Zamazenta looks like a Sweeper. 

But Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta’s HP is poor, as well as its Special Attack. At least, Zamazenta can’t learn any useful Special moves, so don’t worry. 

I usually like to build Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta as a Physical Sweeper. It is fast, strong, and can do much on the battlefield before getting defeated. 

Let’s take a look at Crowned Shield Zamazenta.

Crowned Shield Zamazenta (H3)

These are Crowned Shield Zamazenta’s Stats: 

Crowned Shield Zamazenta is a Physical beast with higher stats than its previous form. Nonetheless, it gets the Steel-type, and its shining armor, meaning it’ll be slower. 

In this form, Zamazenta can be used as a Wall, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say I like it because of its limited move pool, but we will talk about that later. If you are thinking, there’s an excellent Steel-type Wall in Ubers named Ferrothorn; you can try it! 

I’ll build more of a Late-game Physical Sweeper with Zamazenta. As it’ll be slower than other Sweepers in this elo, its strongest point will be its capacity to hang a lot on the battlefield thanks to its outstanding Defense and Special Defense. 

Now that we’ve covered Zamazenta’s strategy, it’s time to look at its Nature and Ability. Let’s go! 

Abilities 

Zamazenta, regardless if it is the Hero of Many Battles or Crowned Shield, can only have the following ability: 

Dauntless Shield: This ability raises Zamazenta’s Defense stat by one level as soon as it enters the battle. 

There isn’t any variety here, Dauntless Shield will be our ability. I like it because Zamazenta is a Sweeper, and having lots of Defense without compromising its Attack is a big advantage. 

Natures 

As Hero of Many Battles and Crowned Shield Zamazenta will have the same usage, I recommend the same Nature for both. We need its Attack to be very strong, and we will focus on that. These are the Natures Zamazenta can use: 

• Lonely (Increases Attack, Decreases Defense)
• Brave (Increases Attack, Decreases Speed)
• Adamant (Increases Attack, Decreases Special Attack)
• Naughty (Increases Attack, Decreases Special Defense)

As I always say, it’s pointless to decrease the Defenses of your Sweeper, so Lonely and Naughty are ruled out. Brave isn’t a good option either, as we don’t want Zamazenta to be outsped, leaving Adamant with the only reasonable option, as Zamazenta will not use its Special Attack at all. 

We can also opt for buffing Zamazenta’s Speed, making it the fastest Pokémon alive no matter its form. These are the options we can use: 

• Timid (Increases Speed, Decreases Attack)
• Hasty (Increases Speed, Decreases Defense)
• Jolly (Increases Speed, Decreases Special Attack)
• Naive (Increases Speed, Decreases Special Defense)

Again, it’s pointless to decrease Zamazenta’s Defenses, so Naive and Hasty will not be a choice. Instead, I’ll choose Jolly for the same reason I picked Adamant; decreasing Zamazenta’s Attack is not a good move. 

After deciding on the Ability and the Nature, it’s time to look up the movepool. Let’s go! 

Zamazenta Moves Per Level (Gen 8)

Zamazenta can learn the following moves by leveling up:

Zamazenta Moves Per TM/TR (Gen 8)

Zamazenta can learn the following moves through the usage of a TM or a TR: 

Zamazenta’s movepool is highly disappointing. Of course, it can learn powerful moves, but I pictured Zamazenta more as a Wall Pokémon, and it doesn’t have any interesting defensive moves to use. 

Enough of its movepool; let’s see Zamazenta’s Weaknesses and Strengths, as this is important for battling. 

Zamazenta Strengths

Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta 

Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta is a Fighting-type Pokémon, meaning it can resist attacks from the following types:  It only gets 1/2 of the damage against Bug, Rock, and Dark-type moves. 

Also, its Fighting-type moves are effective against Steel, Ice, Normal, Rock, and Dark-type Pokémon. Zamazenta is a great Pokémon with wonderful stats, being excellent to offer some coverage against many threats like Genesect or Yveltal. Moreover, others like Landorus will have a bad time against Zamazenta, which is great. 

Lastly, Zamazenta can counter almost any Pivot in the Ubers meta thanks to its Speed and Attack.  In short, Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta is the answer to the common problems you’ll have in Uber! 

Crowned Shield Zamazenta 

Crowned Shield Zamazenta is a Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon, meaning it can resist attacks from the following types: 

• It only gets 1/2 of the damage against Steel, Dragon, Ice, Normal, Grass, and Dark-type attacks. 
• It only gets 1/4 of the damage against Bug and Rock-type attacks. 
• It is immune to Poison-type attacks. 

Meanwhile, its attacks will do a lot of damage against the following types: 

• Its Fighting-type attacks are effective against Steel, Ice, Normal, Rock, and Dark-type Pokémon. 
• Its Steel-type attacks are effective against Fairy, Ice, and Rock-type Pokémon. 

Crowned Shield Zamazenta is surely a beast. It can resist a lot of types, and it can work to counter a lot of Pokémon, like Garchomp, Landorus, Groudon, Shedinja, Zygarde, Yveltal, Calyrex-Shadow, and many more!   Basically, Zamazenta is excellent to outplay and counter any sort of Sweeper or Pivot in the game, and also can face Entry Hazard Setters without hesitation. 

Nonetheless, there’s kryptonite for Zamazenta, as it isn’t a flawless Pokémon. 

Zamazenta Weaknesses

Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta

Zamazenta is weak against the following types: 

It takes x2 damage against Fairy, Psychic and Flying-type attacks. Also, its attacks won’t do much against the following types: With Fighting-type attacks, it will only deal 1/2 damage against Bug, Fairy, Psychic, Poison, and Flying-type Pokémon. 

Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta will struggle against Walls. Any Wall that can change Zamazenta’s Status Condition will completely mess up its strategy because Zamazenta doesn’t have any tool to make it out of burning, paralysis, or poisoning. 

Another thing Zamazenta has to watch out for is those Pokémon that can outspeed it, as they usually hit strong, like Marshadow, or Pheromosa, which can learn Psychic or Flying-type moves. 

Crowned Shield Zamazenta

Crowned Shield Zamazenta is a Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon, so it’s vulnerable to the following types: 

It takes x2 damage against Fire, Fighting, and Ground-type attacks.  Also, its attacks won’t be effective against the following types: With Steel-type moves, it’ll only deal 1/2 of the damage against Steel, Water, Electric, and Fire-type Pokémon. 

Crowned Shield Zamazenta will be out of the game when it gets burned. Pokémon like Ho-Oh can disarm Zamazenta as it doesn’t have a proper way to attack it, and only with a single Will-O-Wisp, Crowned Shield Zamazenta is out. 

Zamazenta also has serious problems against the Spikes because it is weak against Ground-type moves. The Spikes will considerably reduce Zamazenta’s HP, forcing it to One-Hit KO its opponents, or else it’ll fall. 

Lastly, Crowned Shield Zamazenta can easily be outsped as its Speed gets considerably reduced in this form. Now that you know Zamazenta’s strengths and weaknesses, it’s time to fully showcase Zamazenta’s possible builds. Let’s go! 

Zamazenta Best Moveset

Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta 

Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta can work with the following build: 

• Close Combat
• Crunch
• Ice Fangs
• Any move you want, depending on your team’s deficiencies. 

With Choice Band as its item, Dauntless Shield as its Ability, and Adamant as its Nature. 

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Moves

As I said before, I picture Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta as an off-road Sweeper which can deal with whatever it crosses its path. Its signature move will be Close Combat, which is useful against most Pivots and Sweepers in Ubers. 

Crunch will work to cover Zamazenta’s Psychic-type weakness, and it’ll be very helpful against all the Ghost-types in Uber. On the other hand, Ice Fangs will be very sound against Flying-type Pokémon. 

Lastly, you can decide on any move you want in the last slot. If you want to cover its Fairy-type weakness, you can go for Iron Head; if you are against a Screen Setter, it’s better to use Psychic Fangs, as they work to break walls. To be honest, it’s up to your team’s needs. 

Item

Zamazenta needs Choice Band for the same reason I mentioned before; If Zamazenta can’t One-Hit KO its rivals, they have the chance to mess around with Zamazenta’s strategy. Choice Band will buff Zamazenta’s Attack but force it to use only one move until it gets changed, so choose wisely before attacking. 

Ability

Dauntless Shield will have some synergy with Close Combat, which is very cool, as we don’t want Zamazenta’s Defense to decrease to a point where it’s dangerous. 

EVs

The EV spread I chose for Zamazenta is a classic Sweeper setup; full points on Attack and Speed and four points in Defense. 

Possible Teammates

Zamazenta will appreciate being around Entry Hazard Setters that pave the way for Zamazenta to enter the field and start demolishing the opposite’s team. 

Crowned Shield Zamazenta 

Crowned Shield Zamazenta can work with the following build: 

• Behemoth Bash
• Close Combat
• Howl
• Any other move to give some coverage to your team. 

With Rusty Shield as its item, Dauntless Shield as its Ability, and Adamant as its Nature. 

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Crowned Shield Zamazenta has the same usage as Hero of Many Battles, but this time, Zamazenta has the chance to get in the field, buff its Attack with Howl, and then start attacking; thanks to its great Defenses. 

Moves

This build is straight to the point; attacking. Behemoth Bash and Close Combat are Zamazenta’s STAB moves, while Howl replaces the classic Swords Dance. Lastly, the last move slot can be used to cover any weakness your team has. 

I recommend using Psychic Fangs as it works to break Light Screens and Reflects.

Item

We don’t have any item option this time; Zamazenta is forced to use the Rusty Shield as it changes Zamazenta into its Crowned Shield form. This is a severe downgrade, as Crowned Shield Zamazenta could appreciate items like Heavy-Duty Boots. 

Possible Teammates

As Crowned Zamazenta can’t use Heavy-Duty Boots, you’ll need a Rapid Spin or Defog user in your team; we don’t want Zamazenta to get hurt by Spikes or Stealth Rocks. 

Zamazenta in Action

Zamazenta doesn’t have many variations; it is designed to be a Sweeper and can’t do anything else, mainly because of its short move pool. That’s why every guide video you’ll find will showcase the same strategy for Zamazenta. 

This video shows a typical build for Crowned Shield Zamazenta in OU when it got downgraded from Uber because of its short move pool and limited usage. I like this video as it shows how Zamazenta can work around its teammates. 

And in this video, we can see Zamazenta in action! These videos are great because they show many teammate variations for Zamazenta! 

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