Physical
Sweeper
BTier
138Speed · Extreme

Zacian Best Moveset

AbilityIntrepid Sword boosts Attack by one stage on entry, and 120 base Attack boosted to 180 effective at 138 Speed on Fairy hits with absurd force. Crowned Sword form adds Steel typing for 170 Attack, 115/115 defenses, and MoveBehemoth Blade. Held ItemChoice Scarf on the Hero form outspeeds everything. The moveset defines the top of the format. S-Tier through sheer stat dominance.

SABCDEFSSSword & Shield / BDSPVIIISS/BDSPPEAKScarlet & Violet / Legends Z-AIXSV/LZACURRENT
★Gen VIII — Sword & Shield / BDSPS

Intrepid Sword boosted Attack on entry in Gen VIII (Sword & Shield). 170 effective Attack before using a move. Behemoth Blade from Steel/Fairy. The strongest Pokemon in the game. Banned from the restricted format.

Gigantamax became availableDynamax became available

Best Moves

SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
TR90
Play Rough
Fairy90COMMONSTAB
Lv 77
Close Combat
Fighting120COMMONCoverage
TR86
Wild Charge
Electric90COMMONCoverage
Lv 55
Crunch
Dark80RARECoverage
Lv 33
Iron Head
Steel80RARECoverage
Lv 1
Sacred Sword
Fighting90RARECoverage
Zacian Sword & Shield MovesZacian BDSP Moves

Best Build

Experimental
Physical Sweeper
Ability
Intrepid Sword
Item
Choice BandPOWER
Best Nature for Zacian
Adamant+ATK

Zacian best EVs are Attack and Speed

EVs

Physical Sweeper Moveset

  • Play RoughSTAB
  • Close Combat
  • Wild Charge
  • CrunchCoverage

Recommended Teammates

Yveltal
YveltalDecent
Ho-Oh
Ho-OhDecent
Calyrex-Shadow
Calyrex-ShadowDecent
→Gen IX — Scarlet & Violet / Legends Z-AS

Dropped to the restricted format in Gen IX (Scarlet & Violet). Intrepid Sword was nerfed to activate once. Still dominant, but the free boost was no longer repeatable on every switch.

Attack lowered from 170 to 120Terastallization became available
SRCMOVETYPECATPWRPOPROLE
TM127
Play Rough
Fairy90COMMONSTAB
TM127
Play Rough
Fairy90COMMONSTAB
Lv 77
Close Combat
Fighting120COMMONCoverage
Lv 77
Close Combat
Fighting120COMMONCoverage
Lv 55
Crunch
Dark80COMMONCoverage
Lv 22
Swords Dance
Normal—RAREUtility
Lv 1
Sacred Sword
Fighting90RARECoverage
TM147
Wild Charge
Electric90COMMONCoverage
TM147
Wild Charge
Electric90RARECoverage
Lv 1
Sacred Sword
Fighting90RARECoverage
Zacian Scarlet & Violet MovesZacian Legends Z-A Moves
Experimental
Physical Revenge Killer
Ability
Intrepid Sword
Item
Choice ScarfSPEED
Best Nature for Zacian
Jolly+SPE
EVs

Physical Revenge Killer Moveset

  • Play RoughSTAB
  • Play RoughSTAB
  • Close Combat
  • Close Combat

Recommended Teammates

Koraidon
KoraidonGood
Flutter Mane
Flutter ManeDecent
Eternatus
EternatusDecent

Zacian Weakness

Zacian is weak to Poison and Steel. On the flip side, it's immune to Dragon-type moves entirely. Zacian's overall bulk (92/115/115) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.

Zacian Weakness and Resistance Chart
DamageTypes
2x (Weak)Poison, Steel
0.5x (Resist)Fighting, Bug, Dark
0x (Immune)Dragon

What is Zacian Weak Against

Good
2Weak
3Resist
1Immune
Score+2
4xCritical
None
2xWeak
PoisonSteel
½xResist
FightingBugDark
¼xResist
None
0xImmune
Dragon

What is Zacian Strong Against

3Strong
3Resisted
0Immune
Score0
2xStrong
FightingDragonDark
½xResisted
FirePoisonSteel
0xImmune
None

Best Pokemon Against Zacian

Scizor's Bullet Punch hits Zacian for 59-70%. Gengar's Sludge Bomb hits Zacian for 81-95%.

Evolution

Zacian is a powerhouse with 660 total stats as a Fairy legendary. Can't breed it, so you're locked to whatever you catch or receive. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

No Evolution
Zacian
#888ZacianDoes not evolve

Breeding

Unavailable
Undiscovered egg group

How to Get Zacian

No wild encounters for Zacian in Scarlet & Violet. It's available in Sword & Shield and can be transferred over. The details below show where to find it.

Zacian is not available as a wild encounter in this game.

Also Obtainable In:

Sword & ShieldSpecial encounter · Tower Summit · Story encounter

Pokemon transfers only go forward through generations, never backward. Direct cross-gen trades aren't supported.

Base Stats

Zacian's spread isn't flashy. Speed leads, Sp. Atk trails, 6 stats clear the bar. Very hard to catch and worth 3 Speed EVs, on a slow 1.25M XP grind.

Base Stats
Legend
HP92
B
Attack120
A
Defense115
B
Sp. Atk80
C
Sp. Def115
B
Speed138
A
Total660
Details
Catch Rate
Difficult10 / 255
Growth Rate
Slow1.25M XP
Height2.8 m
9'02"Tall
Weight110.0 kg
242.5 lbsHeavy
Base XP330
Elite Yield
Abilities
Intrepid Sword
Boosts Attack in battle.
EV Yield
HPAtkDefSpASpDSpe+3
Strong Speed training target
Pokedex Entry

This Pokémon has slumbered for many years. Some say it’s Zamazenta’s elder sister—others say the two Pokémon are rivals.

Pokemon Shield

Zacian Guide

  • Zacian is a Legendary Pokemon rated B-Tier. At 660 BST, it hits hard. It excels as a sweeper. Base 138 Speed is where it shines.

  • Zacian's biggest threats include Gengar (Poison) and Steelix (Steel), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Only 2 weaknesses means fewer dedicated counters to worry about. Zacian has enough bulk to absorb a hit, but don't push the matchup. Pivot to a teammate that resists.

  • Intrepid Sword is the go-to ability for Zacian. It boosts Attack in battle. It's Zacian's only ability.

  • Zacian fills the sweeper role. It's a physical attacker with base 120 Attack. Base 138 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. And it's tanky enough to absorb a few hits.

  • The core moveset is Play Rough, Play Rough, Close Combat, and Close Combat. Play Rough leads at 0% usage. This set covers the sweeper role with a mix of damage and utility.

Game Availability

Zacian has appeared in 2 games since Sword & Shield, spanning 3 generations. As a Legendary, it's typically a one-per-save encounter tied to the story or post-game content.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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