It’s so funny how it took multiple waves of nerfs to zacians passive, sacred sword, agility, and metal claw getting quite a few buffs for it to finally be the better move
Metal Claw was never bad (except at the start). Most of the people were just influenced by seeing big youtubers always going for Sacred Sword. As far as I have experienced Zacian, the cross moveset Metal Claw + Play Rough is more practical in team battles and beneficiary than any other moveset of Zacian.
Before the several nerfs, yeah. Sacred sword used to OHKO attackers and stun everything else long enough to do ⅔ of their HP before they could move (under the slow effect).@@alfathebird6564
@@UnderratedGamer714 okay so this is the first comment of someone saying about metal claw and play rough, I thought I was the only one thinking it's cool xd
For those who are reading this... Play rough is better with metal claw... There is a combo you can do... And which I personally prefer... First use boosted claw then play rough to stun the opponent.. then use the normal claw ... By doing this all your attacks would get the opponent... And this almost one shots every mon without fail ..also metal claw was always good ... I have an 80% wr with metal claw zacian... It never disappointed me... I actually loved the fact that people don't care about how broken metal claw is ... And hence it never faced Nerf.. now I am a bit sad that cris Made this video ...now people would play metal claw more lol... Also please use razor claw... That item alone makes this moveset broken...
Still needs QoL changes But when it works it's glorious: Negated Spirit Shackle 2:47 Briefly shielded Decidueye Unite Move 3:27 Destroyed Mystical Fire 4:13 I believe that the wave should linger until maybe after Zacian slashes through it. Then it would have true deliberate counterplay potential Honorable mentions: 10:31 14:41
Mildy deserved, given how long it took them to nerf his stats. Sword dog literally had higher defense and hp than the majority of defenders. Ah, the war flashbacks~🥲
@@TheTrueHero31708 Yeah a good sableye is awesome and zacian makes more coins when ko enemy mons so excess coins is just good for sableye and scoring. No doubt those supports can be good but they are commonly banned especially if they see you pick zacian
@@ToeTickler-s2l I misread your initial statement as "Sableye is one of the best counters for the best teammate for Zacian." My comment makes sense with or without context though, it's not like I'm speaking gibberish lol.
It's so easy to win with zacian at ray, you either dominate the ray fight and if you dont you agility/eject away and wait to steal with ukt its so easy
It's funny how people forget how bs this build is, because of how buggy it was at launch. Compared to Sacred Sword which has a stun, defense pierce, attack boost, and aoe, Metal Claw is equally bullshit, being able to eat projectiles (including ults like venusaur's!) give an attack speed increase, and gives a nasty slow effect perfect for chasing. That plus it has **262%** attack scaling when boosted, since it never got nerfed, it's a wonder that zacian metal claw was ever considered unplayable. The only reason why it was ever hard to play was cuz sacred sword is unstoppable and metal claw is not. But even then, metal claw is great for jumping in and out of brawls, chasing running enemies, and absolutely destroying objectives. It may not be the ganking assasin ninja it used to be that could half an objective's health and one shot most squishies, but metal claw was never bad (at least once it was fixed).
It's crazy to believe it was never nerfed and it was even slightly buffed, and yet everyone kept saying it was bad just because they loved the invincibility SS gave them.
@@Zirah58 Like I said, it's partly because SS was bugged in a way that broke the game and MC was broken in a way that broke zacian. That plus it's way easier to stop if you have the right defender/support combo (trevenant is literally zacian's worse nightmare), but even then it's just funny how the community's perception was so distorted around it. Also, the Unite community has also a weird hatred of "sticky brawl builds" like double hit scizor or night slash zoroark, whether they think they all suck when it's just they're circumstantial and can be stopped, but thrive in the right environment.
@@Zirah58 well, I think it’s less of a skill issue and more just that nobody bothers to read the data and maths that go into playing unite at times. For example, nobody but pros even bothers to read unitedb which shows the exact numbers or even understands what they mean. If I told the average player that 200% is a lot unboosted, they don’t realize how good that is until I tell them that’s 1500 damage per cooldown without crit, which can 80% a squishy without defensive items. Though tbf, it’s partly due to unite. Having the average player reach “the top rank” at 35-40% winrate is not healthy for any game
The zacian cycle: 1:zacian gets nerfed over and over again and becomes the best pokemon after a few updates 2:zacian doesn't get nerfed at all and remains as broken ever
metal claw isnt the troll build anymore but i feel like you REALLY need that extra stacking burst damage from stacking to make it something spicy, though your coins arent quite *as* important on MC as they were SS and thats a major boon on games where youre playing from behind (aka Every Other solo q game that you arent junjle hyper carrying)
@lloydter yeah its never been absolutely troll, just so outclassed by SS in a fair few ways (with the exception of point dependancy) until fairly recently that seeing it was a dissappointment; i think the bigger thing was that it was the staple move of The Players Who Were Loud About ""Knowing Better"" (yet usually failed to carry games)
It took a whole year for Zacian to actually have this move as viable as Sacred Sword. It is insane. PS: If this was March 2025, 2 years definite, but this is December 2024.
@ except it's being used for only the initial attack only to basic once and MC again for another basic rather than using all basics. The burst is so high and since you can proc it twice with the two basics getting boosted, it is not the same as Cinder
Razor Claw and Scope Lens i do that It is very good, it runs very well and the damage is also very high. It will be very good if you x attack him. I am really a global 17 zacian player I'm Ash ketchup Pokemon by ranking zacian spammer
@@Blaze-jl7pj cris did need t at that point though, because taking a buff again refreshes its duration and taking farm last hits as zacian is good regardless because more points = more boosted moves.
@posobio well the points are valuable that's true, but I still stay firm on my statement that he did not need the buff, he could've gone back to jungle and just take their buff, the Venusaur maybe didn't do the best play ever but the buff was pretty irrelevant at that moment at least
@@Blaze-jl7pj well yeah but anybody could go jungle and take the buff at that point, I'm pretty sure cris doesn't care since he's fed and too far away, but that escavalier was in front of the two and between the two zacian obviously takes the priority because even if he doesn't need it as much, venusaur also doesn't.
@@ReorgeOfTheRungle Did you ever tried out Metal Claw + Play Rough? It's actually much more better than Agility + Metal Claw, even in tournaments some of the players gave more preference to Play Rough.
It’s so funny how it took multiple waves of nerfs to zacians passive, sacred sword, agility, and metal claw getting quite a few buffs for it to finally be the better move
Metal Claw was never bad (except at the start). Most of the people were just influenced by seeing big youtubers always going for Sacred Sword. As far as I have experienced Zacian, the cross moveset Metal Claw + Play Rough is more practical in team battles and beneficiary than any other moveset of Zacian.
Im using this move since a get this pokemon(2months ago)
Its so good.
@@UnderratedGamer714 Its because sacred sword used to be the better moves by any way. So it's not just about them creators stirring player base
Before the several nerfs, yeah. Sacred sword used to OHKO attackers and stun everything else long enough to do ⅔ of their HP before they could move (under the slow effect).@@alfathebird6564
@@UnderratedGamer714 okay so this is the first comment of someone saying about metal claw and play rough, I thought I was the only one thinking it's cool xd
For those who are reading this... Play rough is better with metal claw... There is a combo you can do... And which I personally prefer... First use boosted claw then play rough to stun the opponent.. then use the normal claw ... By doing this all your attacks would get the opponent... And this almost one shots every mon without fail ..also metal claw was always good ... I have an 80% wr with metal claw zacian... It never disappointed me... I actually loved the fact that people don't care about how broken metal claw is ... And hence it never faced Nerf.. now I am a bit sad that cris Made this video ...now people would play metal claw more lol... Also please use razor claw... That item alone makes this moveset broken...
@@viplavsankrityayan6276 You've learned the forbidden combo my guy
For some time, the problem wasn’t that Metal Claw was bad, but Sacred Sword was just that good.
buddy thinks he was some kind of bookkeeper to forbidden arcane knowledges lmfao corny ass.
@@-_-379 Shut up, he's cooking
What second item would you use? Stacking feels a little clunky compared to other mons
6:12
bro that Azumarill was DETERMINED to take cris down, chasing him like he's a wanted criminal lmao
Still needs QoL changes
But when it works it's glorious:
Negated Spirit Shackle 2:47
Briefly shielded Decidueye Unite Move 3:27
Destroyed Mystical Fire 4:13
I believe that the wave should linger until maybe after Zacian slashes through it. Then it would have true deliberate counterplay potential
Honorable mentions:
10:31
14:41
The 2nd game you saw how fragile Zacian is, for an allrounder pmkn.
Mildy deserved, given how long it took them to nerf his stats. Sword dog literally had higher defense and hp than the majority of defenders. Ah, the war flashbacks~🥲
@@V-gv9ob now there's almost far worse pkmn than him
Kinda cool how sableye is one of the best counters and one of the best teammates for zacian
Sableye doesn't counter Comfey, Clefable or safeguard helping hand Blissey, is there another teammate I can't think of?
@YosiahW bro what are you on? Your sentence does not make sense. Please rephrase
@@ToeTickler-s2l maybe he means that those pokemon are better teammates for zacian? Sableye is actually a pretty good pocket support/stun though.
@@TheTrueHero31708 Yeah a good sableye is awesome and zacian makes more coins when ko enemy mons so excess coins is just good for sableye and scoring. No doubt those supports can be good but they are commonly banned especially if they see you pick zacian
@@ToeTickler-s2l I misread your initial statement as "Sableye is one of the best counters for the best teammate for Zacian." My comment makes sense with or without context though, it's not like I'm speaking gibberish lol.
Im sorry but is metal claw / play rough not the go to ?
The few times I've seen other zacians there always sacred sword / agility
who said thats the way to go? you can definitly play play rough too tho
Right now Metal Claw/Agility is the most picked and has a 54% win rate
The worst part of playing zacian is coin anxiety similar to range anxiety on EV'S😅😅😅
It's so easy to win with zacian at ray, you either dominate the ray fight and if you dont you agility/eject away and wait to steal with ukt its so easy
It's funny how people forget how bs this build is, because of how buggy it was at launch. Compared to Sacred Sword which has a stun, defense pierce, attack boost, and aoe, Metal Claw is equally bullshit, being able to eat projectiles (including ults like venusaur's!) give an attack speed increase, and gives a nasty slow effect perfect for chasing. That plus it has **262%** attack scaling when boosted, since it never got nerfed, it's a wonder that zacian metal claw was ever considered unplayable.
The only reason why it was ever hard to play was cuz sacred sword is unstoppable and metal claw is not. But even then, metal claw is great for jumping in and out of brawls, chasing running enemies, and absolutely destroying objectives. It may not be the ganking assasin ninja it used to be that could half an objective's health and one shot most squishies, but metal claw was never bad (at least once it was fixed).
It's crazy to believe it was never nerfed and it was even slightly buffed, and yet everyone kept saying it was bad just because they loved the invincibility SS gave them.
@@Zirah58 Like I said, it's partly because SS was bugged in a way that broke the game and MC was broken in a way that broke zacian. That plus it's way easier to stop if you have the right defender/support combo (trevenant is literally zacian's worse nightmare), but even then it's just funny how the community's perception was so distorted around it.
Also, the Unite community has also a weird hatred of "sticky brawl builds" like double hit scizor or night slash zoroark, whether they think they all suck when it's just they're circumstantial and can be stopped, but thrive in the right environment.
@@elijahpark5344 Yeah, you just got to be more skilled than the rest to trully understand how those moves work and how to win with them
@@Zirah58 well, I think it’s less of a skill issue and more just that nobody bothers to read the data and maths that go into playing unite at times. For example, nobody but pros even bothers to read unitedb which shows the exact numbers or even understands what they mean. If I told the average player that 200% is a lot unboosted, they don’t realize how good that is until I tell them that’s 1500 damage per cooldown without crit, which can 80% a squishy without defensive items.
Though tbf, it’s partly due to unite. Having the average player reach “the top rank” at 35-40% winrate is not healthy for any game
Waited for ages for this video🎉🎉
The zacian cycle:
1:zacian gets nerfed over and over again and becomes the best pokemon after a few updates
2:zacian doesn't get nerfed at all and remains as broken ever
Crazy to see Metal Claw being a decent move now
metal claw isnt the troll build anymore but i feel like you REALLY need that extra stacking burst damage from stacking to make it something spicy, though your coins arent quite *as* important on MC as they were SS and thats a major boon on games where youre playing from behind (aka Every Other solo q game that you arent junjle hyper carrying)
It wasn't a troll build for a long time tbt. It was always the case of sacred sword being better and not Mclaw being bad.
@lloydter yeah its never been absolutely troll, just so outclassed by SS in a fair few ways (with the exception of point dependancy) until fairly recently that seeing it was a dissappointment; i think the bigger thing was that it was the staple move of The Players Who Were Loud About ""Knowing Better"" (yet usually failed to carry games)
I remember CrisHeroes said he'd never play this build now here we are.
Naah not this goofy ahh moveset 💀
You're a goofy
It took a whole year for Zacian to actually have this move as viable as Sacred Sword. It is insane.
PS: If this was March 2025, 2 years definite, but this is December 2024.
5:36 his model is so long when it spins it looks hilarious 😂
Since you keep resetting the Metal Claw after one auto to burst squishies, I feel Razor Claw would greatly benefit this build over Muscle Band
Metal claws entire build is basic attacking tho. That's like swapping muscle for razor on Cinderace.
@ except it's being used for only the initial attack only to basic once and MC again for another basic rather than using all basics. The burst is so high and since you can proc it twice with the two basics getting boosted, it is not the same as Cinder
I love how zacian just goes for aeos coins like they scooby snacks 😭
Finally an att weight Zacian game 😎
Cris why did you use attack weight instead of razor claw?
Greetings from Brazil, Cris! I love watching your videos! 🇧🇷❤
What items are you using? Would X attack be okay instead of Full Heal?
“Run boy”
-crisheroes, 2024
Can’t believe it finally happened.
Razor Claw and Scope Lens i do that It is very good, it runs very well and the damage is also very high. It will be very good if you x attack him. I am really a global 17 zacian player I'm Ash ketchup Pokemon by ranking zacian spammer
It's weird that Sacred Sword has Unstoppable while Metal Claw doesn't
I can’t be the only one watching this video newly learning to be more conscious of Zacian and its Aeos coins 😅😅😅
Their gonna nerf my mom 😢😢😢😢
I’ve been playing Zacian forever, I knew it was something when I started seeing them every where
Dont care what moveset, ill never believe in stacking dog
@@donkeybong4311 Yeah that's an odd build tbh
Razor Claw and Muscle Band are way to go and don't forget the doggo’s rusty sword🦆
I played in lane with cris today😍🥰
Cap
Hi Cris i love You ❤️
METAL CLAW SUPERIORITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The new way of playing Zacian 😮
4:22 why is he asking? He already has both buffs and can collect red one again in his team's jungle, why shouldn't Venusaur take it?
the points/venusaur doesn't need red buff
@@posobio true, but neither did Cris at that point, he still had red buff going and could collect it again on it's jungle
@@Blaze-jl7pj cris did need t at that point though, because taking a buff again refreshes its duration and taking farm last hits as zacian is good regardless because more points = more boosted moves.
@posobio well the points are valuable that's true, but I still stay firm on my statement that he did not need the buff, he could've gone back to jungle and just take their buff, the Venusaur maybe didn't do the best play ever but the buff was pretty irrelevant at that moment at least
@@Blaze-jl7pj well yeah but anybody could go jungle and take the buff at that point, I'm pretty sure cris doesn't care since he's fed and too far away, but that escavalier was in front of the two and between the two zacian obviously takes the priority because even if he doesn't need it as much, venusaur also doesn't.
nerf sacred sword 10 different way to finally make metal claw a meta move for tournament
What killed him at 12:20
Regieleki basic killed him
Chris how did you even see his basic attack getting you??
Is metal claw fun tho?
Ok but absol carried second game kinda
The Psyduck and Blastoise were decent too. It helps the other team was way worse.
I hate zacians gameplay design, not the abilities but this coin passive man, it really makes him not feel fun even though he is hella fun to play
Don't die
Just get kills lol you get so much points
"It's not fun" why you playing it now
@@answer-e1l chil... it's not like it's his main now....
Was about damn time we’ve finally started normalizing stacking on Zacian. Attack Weight has always been secretly one of Zacian’s best items.
Zacian should NOT stacking bro
its totally fine but razor claw probably better yes
First ❤from india.
6:30 thats was probably karma for all the Deci bullying cris has done in the past 😅😅
I always told everyone it was the best, but no one listened.
Keep saying it was trash, all I see are skill issues
That's because you were wrong. It took hundreds of Sacred sword and Agility nerfs for Metal claw to feel like a good move.
yeah it wasn’t the best before, good on them for not listening!
It was in comparison to sacred sword, also this move is not hard to use
@@ReorgeOfTheRungle Did you ever tried out Metal Claw + Play Rough? It's actually much more better than Agility + Metal Claw, even in tournaments some of the players gave more preference to Play Rough.
Compared to sacred sword it sucked so….
Hola ❤❤
kkkkkkkk o w l