It’s nigh time to ask: How GOOD was Zerena ACTUALLY? Zerena is up there on the echelon of monsters like SS Hilda and SS Steven. However, I feel she is a little slow relative to Ash and co. Power creep has advanced enough to where not maximizing offenses in one turn is not it. Zerena’s pace is further compounded by her need to apply Restrain. That’s my only issue with Zerena at high level CS – she deletes on-type just by staring at the stage.
Zerena’s Support Role is quite impactful because she wants to take 1st sync to access her higher stats and Power Hold. The Support Role erases the opportunity cost of an alternate sync effect, which vastly expands the level of archetypes Zerena enables. Zerena massively improves with her EX Role in the current Striker climate.
[0:00] – I still believe in snek supremacy
[0:14] – Deletion
Back when Zerena released I said she felt superfluous with 6*EX Cyrus around, and I still hold that belief. But just look at the funny numbers. I took this opportunity to show some of Zerena’s utilities in Sync Damage Guard and BOGO 9. She has some cute stuff like Status Immunity and Sands of Time 2, but that’s difficult to grid without compromising her nuke. Zerena really wants her nuke to delete sidemons so she can focus her AoE moves just onto center.
Zygarde mechanically behaves as a Mega Evolution, so it activates Entry passives again upon transformation. Gauntlet players have found use for Speedy Entry 2 to turn Zerena into a gauge battery. Zerena’s offensive profile is so complete that the only thing she could really use in CS is Supreme Entry. Generally speaking, though, CS2 is her best Lucky Skill. Zerena’s pacing and method of burst damage relying on her nuke makes CS2 better. CS2 is significant enough to where I wouldn’t even think about scuffing her with Head Start 1 for ramping.
[1:52] – Ground peepee
If you are wondering how good Zerena’s Ground mode is, her DPS hits harder than Maxie or Cynthia in standard circumstances. I remember there was a commenter asking for a Ground Zerena showcase some months ago. Sorry it took this long.
[3:42] – The Ideal Zerena Experience(tm)
This is Zerena’s most consistent team. Zerena and Lucas are self-sufficient so they can afford a defensive pair. Aura Cynthia brings about the most robust backbone you could think of, and Lucas provides a cheeky Sinnoh Flag Bearer boost to go along. Zerena can get away with 2 Crit thanks to Soften Up 1, but that leaves her standard attacks with imperfect Crit.
[5:32] – Dual Strike
It’s easy to combo Zerena in Dual Strike. She prefers self-sufficient Dragon-type teammates for Theme Skills, like Cyrus or Drasna. Costume Diantha is a good regional partner also. Zerena has some gauge tools in BOGO 9 and Rejuvenate 6, but I had Drake supply gauge instead. He also helps Zerena with Team Sharp Entry 1.
[7:46] – Other Partners
Zerena plays well with the chatelaines because they boost Kalos Flag Bearer while adding their own master passives into the mix. Lisia activates Dragon Theme Skills and can play for aggressive options, which minimizes enemy bulk.
[10:24] – Restrain Support
As for /”bang for your buck/” use cases, Zerena’s immediate Restrain makes her a good compliment for Hold Hostage users. She outnukes off-type Selene in Grassy Terrain though, lol.
[12:24] – Kalos Pride
Zerena’s mixed coverage allows her to play for both Pride and Spirit boosts. As for Kalos Pride, there isn’t a proper Dragon or Dark regional teammate, but Calem enables any physical Striker. Team Safe Start Sync Damage Guard allows for sweaty tanking. Here I actually rigged a non-Crit on center because I was killing Caitlin before I could show the Karen peepee.
[14:26] – Kalos Spirit
Similar principle to the previous team, except that Kalos has a very good Water-type Striker in SS Lysandre. Zerena tanks well if you need her to.
[16:22] – Ramping
Ramping with Zerena is quite difficult because she needs a turn to apply Restrain. I wanted to toy with SS May Costume Steven to fulfill her demands, but the release of Champion Blue opens better archetypes. Blue’s unparalleled buffing pace lets Zerena apply Restrain. This lineup was coined by Tosakinto: https://youtu.be/iN7jtubM8nc
[18:00] – SS Dawn Ramping
SS Dawn is a huuuuge cheat code for slow set-up Strikers. To enable a kamikaze SS Dawn ramp you just need -3 CD total, which Zerena happily obliges with her innate Head Start 1.
[19:57] – Turbo Ramping
Another way to boost Zerena is performing ramps between her set-up turns. I don’t like wasting Paulo’s nuke on a side denial when Zerena can delete it with her nuke, but I wanted extra turns to satisfy Power Hold.
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