5 years after falling flat in its own game, Pokemon Sword and Shield's worst legendary is back from the dead, and it's running rampant in the competitive scene

They say every dog has its day, and that's exactly what's happened for the previously underwhelming Legendary Pokemon, Zamazenta. The mascot for Pokemon Shield has long been overshadowed by its stabby counterpart, Sword version's Zacian, but a buff to the Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet is now seeing it wreak havoc on the competitive scene, perhaps ascending to the 'goodest boy' status. 

Back when Sword and Shield launched, competitive Pokemon players everywhere were baffled as to why Zamazenta couldn't learn the Fighting-type move Body Press, which calculates damage based on the user's Defense stat rather than their Attack, giving bulky Pokemon an almighty move to thrash their opponents with. As a Defense-focused Fighting type, Zamazenta seemed like a perfect fit for the move, especially when transformed into the even greater fortified Fighting/Steel-type Crowned Shield form, but alas, it wasn't to be. 

With a lackluster move pool, Zamazenta never took off in popularity like the powerful Zacian, but its luck began to turn around in Scarlet and Violet when it was finally awarded the sought-after move it always deserved. Combined with the use of the status move Iron Defense to raise its Defense even further, and not forgetting the fact that its Ability, Dauntless Shield, boosts its Defense when sent out into battle, Scarlet and Violet's Zamazenta is an unstoppable force, which can and will use Body Press on anything that gets in its way. 

Although it's been almost a year since players were able to transfer Zamazenta over into Scarlet and Violet from Sword and Shield, it's only now become possible for it to test out its strength in the official Video Game Championship (VGC) thanks to a new ruleset. Right now in Scarlet and Violet, the VGC is following the 'Regulation Set G' ruleset, which began at the end of April and is set to run until the end of August. Thanks to these new rules, a large number of previously banned Pokemon, including Legendaries like Zacian and Zamazenta, are now classified as 'Restricted Special Pokemon.' This allows trainers to choose just one of these powerful Pokemon for their teams, which is certainly better than none at all.

Well, it's been less than two weeks since these rules were rolled out, and Zamazenta is already making waves. Over the weekend, the 2024 Pokemon Stockholm Regional Championships took place, which saw player Michael Kelsh prevail as the Masters Champion with a Zamazenta on his team. He was far from the only one using it, however, as it was the most popular Restricted Pokemon in day two of the tournament, towering over Zacian, which was the ninth most popular. Oh, how the tables have turned. 

Even the biggest names in the Pokemon competitive scene are amazed at Zamazenta's comeback: "There were a lot of surprising things about Scarlet and Violet but Zamazenta not only surpassing Zacian but becoming the number one restricted mon after being one of the worst legendaries in Sword and Shield is something I never would have considered possible," Pokemon's 2016 VGC World Champion Wolfe Glick writes on Twitter. 

So, will Zamazenta's big comeback continue? For now, it definitely seems as though that'll be the case for the foreseeable future, although further changes to the VGC rules may see the old dog sat on the bench again. Almost five years on from its debut though, it's just nice to see the Shield mascot get thrown a bone.

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