The best moveset for Zacian in Pokémon Go

What attacks should you teach Zacian in Pokémon Go?

Zacian and Zamazenta facing each other in a forest in Pokémon
Image via Niantic

You can catch several Legendary Pokémon throughout your time playing Pokémon Go. Tracking them down is difficult, especially if you plan to use them in battle or against other players. Zacian is one of the stronger Legendary Pokémon, but what moveset should you teach it?

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Zacian can learn several attacks, making it tricky to narrow down the choices. You can only pick a small combination of them, meaning your choices do matter if you want to get the most from this Pokémon. Because of how infrequently it appears in five-star raids, you want to be careful with what attacks you teach them and how you use them in a battle. Here’s what you need to know about the best moveset to teach Zacian in Pokémon Go.

Zacian’s best moveset in Pokémon Go

Zacian pokemon go
Zacian is one of the stronger Fairy-type Pokémon. Image via The Pokémon Company, remix by Dot Epsorts

Surprisingly, as a Fairy-type Pokémon, Zacian has multiple attack options in the fast and charged moves category. These diverse choices make Zacian an excellent choice throughout the Pokémon Go battle league, especially in the Master League. If you want to get the most out of Zacian, teach it the fast move Quick Attack and the charged moves Close Combat and Play Rough.

Zacian’s fast move, Quick Attack, is an interesting choice, as it is a Normal-type move in Pokémon Go. However, Quick Attack does five damage and provides four energy per turn, taking two turns to use. The other choices you can teach it are Fire Fang, Metal Claw, or Snarl. Fire Fang is an excellent choice as it is super effective against Steel-type Pokémon, a large weakness for Zacian. Still, Fire Fang does eight damage and only provides 2.5 energy per turn. It’s not enough damage or energy to justify this attack. Metal Claw has the same problem. Snarl is the only move that could be a worthwhile substitute for Quick Attack, but it takes three turns, meaning it’ll take longer. Quick Attack is your best option every time.

Next, we move on to Zacian’s charged moves. There are several options that you can go with, and thankfully, you can go with two if you want to unlock the second charged move for Zacian. These are all the charged moves Zacian can learn in Pokémon Go.

  • Close Combat (Fighting-type)
  • Iron Head (Steel-type)
  • Play Rough (Fairy-type)
  • Wild Charge (Electric-type)

The best choices for you to teach Zacian between these four are Close Combat and Play Rough. Of the attacks, Play Rough is the most obvious option as it is a Fairy-type move, and we want to make sure Zacian can optimize on this, making it a true bane for any Dragon-type Pokémon.

Although Zacian is not a Fighting-type, Close Combat is a great way to prevent Steel-type Pokémon from overpowering it. Unfortunately, Iron Head and Wild Charge are not the best choices. Wild Charge gives Zacian too significant of a debuff between fights, and Iron Head doesn’t hold the measure of a worthwhile attack that can do enough damage compared to Play Rough and Close Combat. If you feel that Steel-type Pokémon are not a worry for you and your team, you can swap Close Combat for Wild Charge, but we don’t recommend it in Pokémon Go.

Is Zacian good in Pokémon Go?

Zacian is one of the best Legendary Pokémon you can get in Pokémon Go. You can use it in five-star raids, bring it out when battling against Team Rocket, or prepare to use it on a Master League team where it can counter Dark, Dragon, Fighting, Ice, Normal, or Steel-type Pokémon. You need to be careful when battling against any Pokémon that can use Poison-type moves, as these attacks are one of its two weaknesses, and it cannot counter these Pokémon. You have to rely on another party choice to protect Zacian from Poison types.

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Image of Zack Palm
Zack Palm
Zack Palm has been writing about video games for the past five years. He spends his free time trying to learn about a new board, reading high-fantasy series, or working on his latest DnD character.