Zekrom and Speed

[Nah]

Dunno if this should go in the Q&A thread or not, but if it does then wolf/Zeffy can just move it in there.

So, Zekrom has a base 90 Speed, which is pretty common in Ubers, and also the second lowest speed tier in the tier. The only currently Uber Pokemon with less than base 90 Speed are Aegislash, Mega Mawile, and regular Blaziken (who has Speed Boost so it doesn't give a fuck). Something I noticed is that all common offensive sets for Uber pokes with base 90-100 Speed (including Zekrom) all run max Speed EVs, while the common defensive sets run no Speed EVs.

Does a Pokemon like Zekrom really need to bother with more than 4 Speed EVs in Ubers?

I suppose that you could want to speed tie with all the other neutral natured 252 base 90s, but idk if ya really wanna leave things up to something as fickle as speed ties. You could also run max speed with a +Speed nature, but then you lose out on some much needed power, not to mention that you are still outsped by Palkia, Xerneas, Yveltal and anything with base 100 Speed or more (assuming speed investment).

 

[Detox]

While Zekrom's speed stat might not be up to par with that of other Ubers, that doesn't mean that there isn't a valid reason to invest EVs into its speed stat, especially when you consider that it is an offensive Pokémon and speed is often one of an offensive Pokémon's most important stats. You also have to keep in mind that just because a Pokémon's speed stat is high, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to run max speed. For example, Lugia has a base 110 speed stat, but that's rarely (if ever) used. Zekrom also has the ability to run a Choice Scarved set that out speeds a large portion of the metagame before a boost. There is also Sticky Web, which was a pretty common thing in Ubers as far as I can remember, but the trend may have died down by now.

In short, running max speed on something you may think is slow could have its merits, even if it is as simple as getting the jump on another commonly used set.