How to counter Zacian in Pokemon Unite (March 2023)

Since its debut in Pokemon Unite on Pokemon Day 2023, Zacian has shaken up the meta substantially. The Galar region Legendary can deal fantastic damage and performs well, particularly as a jungler.

Given this creature's remarkable capabilities and builds that can make it even more dangerous, Pokemon Unite fans have been having trouble taking down Zacian. If this entity is well-built and has the right teammates on its side, it can be a very formidable opponent in the current meta. However, the Pocket Monster still has its weaknesses, and savvy trainers can exploit them, which will hopefully translate into eliminations and wins against Zacian.

While countering the entity doesn't ensure a victory in Pokemon Unite, it certainly beats the alternative of letting the creature build up momentum and take over a Unite Battle.

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Countering Zacian in Pokemon Unite with disables and crowd control

Wigglytuff's ability to apply stuns and slows can give Zacian a hard time in Pokemon Unite (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Though Zacian has a ton of strengths in Pokemon Unite, but it isn't unstoppable and has some exploitable shortcomings. Specifically, this creature's downsides see it equipping two held items — because it must hold the Broken Sword item in each battle — and also, the Pocket Monster has a slow movement speed. This means that though Zacian has high damage output, it has to pick its battles and move carefully. This is because it can't mitigate oncoming damage and effects like most Pokemon can when using three-held items.

Although Zacian's combos are outright deadly in Pokemon Unite, they aren't infallible. Using stuns and other crowd control effects, players can interrupt its combos and slow the creature down to keep it from chasing down allies or escaping a team fight.

If trainers play Pokemon that are capable of inflicting stuns, disables, and slows, Zacian can at least have its damage output minimized. Stunning or disabling the entity in team fights also allows allies to focus their damage on it so they can take this creature down and remove it as an X-Factor.

Pokemon capable of hard-countering Zacian in Pokemon Unite

Wigglytuff

When it comes to stuns and disables, Wigglytuff excels. Sing and Rollout can interrupt Zacian's ability to set up combos, and it can be slowed down if the former uses attacks like Dazzling Gleam. Wigglytuff can also be built quite tanky, giving the Legendary trouble when it comes to securing easy takedowns with burst damage.

Slowbro

Thanks to its bulkiness and ability to control opponents, Slowbro is a thorn in Zacian's side. Access to the move Telekinesis allows this Pokemon to hold Zacian in place and neutralize its ability to move or attack. Moreover, Telekinesis can also pull the Legendary towards Slowbro. Doing so can lead to Zacian over-extending or pulling it into a fight it can't win outright.

Slowbro's Unite Move Slowbeam can bind Zacian and damage it while giving the user a shield, making it incredibly difficult for the Legendary to keep fighting if it doesn't have backup.

Alolan Ninetales

Though it can't counter as hard as Wigglytuff and Slowbro, Alolan Ninetales can keep out of Zacian's attack range and pepper it with crowd control. Dazzling Gleam can be used to interrupt a combo, and Aurora Veil grants it the potential to escape and increased attack speed. This allows it to harass Zacian at range and stay out of its immediate vicinity. If Alolan Ninetales can freeze the Legendary, trainers can also activate their Unite Move Snowglobe to deal plenty of damage.

If a Pokemon Unite team throws in even more Pokemon capable of inflicting slows and disables, then Zacian will have quite a difficult time being able to set up its combos and deal its usual damage. Things don't always go to plan, but the tactical use of crowd control can grind the Legendary's threat to a crawl, if not an outright halt.