Hit your opponent with Leech Seed and use Substitute to avoid damage, while recovering your HP and sapping theirs. This can frequently cause your opponent to switch out, giving Breloom the chance to unleash his extremely powerful Focus Punch. To take advantage of the possible switches caused by this set, Stealth Rock support is very helpful, particularly as Flying-types are often switched into Breloom. Spore provides a chance to get the Sub Seeding strategy going. If you wish to have greater type coverage, you can opt for Seed Bomb to take advantage of his secondary STAB. Stone Edge is also an option in the last slot if you want to cover Flying-types. You can also use Stun Spore here, which will make Sub Seeding easier to pull off. 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe allows for optimal recovery from Poison Heal and ensures he is faster than Adamant Tyranitar, thus avoiding the occasional Ice Beam or Fire Blast. You're also a few Speed points ahead Gliscor's minimum.
Breloom can use Swords Dance to raise his huge base 130 Attack even higher, but with less anxiety about his mediocre Speed thanks to Mach Punch's priority. Stone Edge allows better coverage if Breloom only has 2 attacks on the set, but Seed Bomb is the better option with 3 attacks thanks to STAB and better accuracy. Also remember that Swords Dance Breloom is very frail, and he cannot afford to miss, making Seed Bomb a superior choice on this set. It should be noted that Life Orb is the superior option to Toxic Orb if Breloom is using Swords Dance, as his Attack stat reaches a massive 1024 after one Swords Dance with Life Orb, dishing out several swift OHKOs with Mach Punch. Also note that if Breloom comes in on Toxic or Toxic Spikes and attacks with Life Orb, he will still recover 2.5% thanks to Poison Heal's extra recovery. Toxic Orb is still a good option though for the extra healing, and it allows Breloom to run Facade with a guarantee of doubled power, which is the most powerful attack on the set when he's wearing Toxic Orb. If Breloom is running Toxic Orb, Facade is the best option. However, if he is running Life Orb, then Spore is often the better choice since getting poisoned is no longer a guarantee. Even before a Swords Dance, Facade has the ability to 2HKO anything that doesn't cram the majority of its EVs in HP and Defense. After a single Swords Dance, it can OHKO or 2HKO everything that doesn't sport a resistance, and even they come close, so only Ghosts are safe against Facade. Even the most defensive of Ghosts in OU - a 252 HP / 252 Def Dusknoir with a Defense raising nature is 2HKOed after a Swords Dance from Seed Bomb, so even Ghosts are not safe if Breloom has Seed Bomb. Keep in mind that this is only with Toxic Orb, which doesn't give an attack boost. With Life Orb, Mach Punch becomes a lot more deadly. For instance, it is able to OHKO a 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran after only a single Swords Dance. Infernape, which is a normally a huge pest to Breloom, is no longer a problem with Mach Punch and Life Orb, as even he has a possibility of being OHKOed, with a guarantee after Stealth Rock damage. 208 Speed EVs allow Breloom to outspeed a 0 Speed EV Gliscor. This means he can put it to sleep, and 2HKO it with a boosted Seed Bomb or Stone Edge before it kills him with Aerial Ace. After maxing Attack, dumping the rest of the EVs into HP helps to soften the blow from any attacks that Breloom may have to take while setting up.
This set aims to compensate for two vital things about Breloom that may hinder his ability to sweep - his mediocre Speed, and below average Defense. This is achieved by using Mach Punch for priority, and Bulk Up to raise his bad Defense while raising his obscene Attack score as well, thus setting him up to sweep the opponent's team. Stone Edge is there to complement Mach Punch for great coverage, resisted by few. However, it is an option to use Seed Bomb for double STAB. Beware, Grass/Fighting has terrible offensive coverage, but Seed Bomb's 100% accuracy and power after STAB can go some way to compensate for this. Spore, which is a necessity on most Breloom sets, can easily allow him to set up in his opponent's face, making it easy to punish the slower walls that may hinder his sweep. Toxic Orb with Poison Heal gives Breloom a big plus over other Bulk Uppers, as the extra recovery goes some way to help his bad HP stat, allowing him to take better advantage of his Defense boosts. Simple as the EVs are, they are effective in allowing Breloom to set up and sweep. 8 Speed EVs allow Breloom to outspeed the standard Skarmory, which otherwise, would easily kill him before he can land a Spore. The EVs are focused in Attack and HP, to give Breloom plenty of power, and to help the Defense boosts work to their best ability. It may seem odd to have a Bulk Up user that has no EVs in Special Defense to compensate for it not getting a boost. The reason is that Breloom already resists three types that consist of mainly Special Attacks - Water, Grass, and Electric, allowing him to take reduced damage from them. The three attacking types that hit him super-effectively are normally used by Pokemon that Breloom has no business facing anyway, as most of them often deal fatal damage, due to that sad Special Defense stat.
Cripple your opponent with the best sleep move in the game and proceed to batter them with Breloom's impressive attack power. Seed Bomb provides secondary STAB and destroys the likes of Slowbro who attempt to absorb Focus Punches. This is possibly the most simple strategy Breloom can employ, but it doesn't have the potential to frustrate your opponent like the Sub Seed set, or the sweeping potential of the stat boosting sets listed above. Nevertheless, this set is very effective in competitive play and dangerous if used correctly. The final slot provides coverage against the Flying-types that plague Breloom. Gyarados, Salamence and friends won't enjoy a powerful Stone Edge, Intimidate or not. Even a bulky Gyarados is almost 2HKOed after Intimidate and takes a minimum of 41%. Facade works great with Toxic Orb and still causes a great deal of damage to most Flying-types and makes Celebi easier to handle. Mach Punch can go in either of the last two slots to pick off faster, weakened opponents.
With this set Breloom's status inducing ability isn't limited by Sleep Clause. Spore the first switch-in, which will probably cause a switch. Paralyze this next Pokémon with Stun Spore. Although paralyzing opponents makes them unable to be put to sleep later in the game, it's a minor issue as sleep is frequently cured with Aromatherapy or Heal Bell, so the effects of Stun Spore will also disappear.
Protect allows you to scout attacks from Choice users and also gives Toxic Orb time to activate Poison Heal, after which it can be used for HP recovery. As an added bonus it prevents status inducing starters such as Gengar from burning or sleeping Breloom. Enjoy watching that grin fade from Choice Scarf Gengar's face when it's forced to switch out after being locked into Hypnosis. Mach Punch destroys any Weavile starters in one hit and will 2HKO Tyranitar. While Seed Bomb does the same damage as Mach Punch to the big dino you don't have to worry about outspeeding him, but it's unlikely he'll stick around to take on Breloom anyways. Seed Bomb hammers Ground-types like Hippowdon, Donphan and especially Swampert who lead to get in an early Stealth Rock. You can't OHKO the first two and Ice Fang can mess up Breloom quite badly, but you can outspeed them both and hit them with Spore if they're bold enough to stay in. Don't worry too much about Donphan's Ice Shard; it won't even 2HKO with a Choice Band provided Breloom uses Protect judiciously. You will run into problems if facing a Flying-type such as Salamence or Staraptor. However, these two are frequently used with Choice items so you can use Protect to scout what they're using and switch to an appropriate counter. This set isn't as effective overall compared to the others, but a useful option nonetheless. Other OptionsWhile ThunderPunch OHKOs Gyarados, it is illegal to use with Poison Heal, leaving Breloom with the less useful Effect Spore as his ability. Wake-Up Slap can lead to some interesting mind games against Sleep Talkers trying to absorb Spore, but its usefulness is situational at best. Charm can be very effective against incoming physical attackers, helping to soften the blow for Breloom's team mates. Snatch works great to steal a Sub from a faster opponent trying to block Spore or Leech Seed. You can try using Leftovers over Toxic Orb and hope you can get Breloom poisoned, letting him heal 18.75% per turn. Toxic Orb remains the more reliable option though. Choice Band and Choice Scarf are usable options, but better left to the likes of Heracross and Gallade. EVsAs you have no doubt noticed by now, Breloom always wants max Attack to make the best use of that collosal Attack score. Most set benefit from plenty of Speed investment so you can Spore, attack or Sub Seed against some the faster defensive Pokemon. The minimum amount of Speed you want is 178 (8 EVs) to outrun most Skarmory. 207 (124 EVs) Speed outruns most Suicune and Cresselia, and 227 (208 EVs) beats Gliscor usually. Beyond that, you will need a Jolly nature to reach any significant Speed points. Any leftover EVs should go in HP. OpinionWith his awesome Attack stat and reliable sleep inducing move, Breloom can be a huge threat to any team. While his defenses and HP are poor, his resistances to common attack types like Ground, Rock, Water, Dark and Electric go some way to compensating for this. Resisting both STAB moves from Tyranitar and Rhyperior is a nice bonus. Poison Heal and Toxic Orb healing him twice as much as Leftovers is also a huge plus, while also making him immune to other status moves and allowing him to heal even during Sandstorm and Hail. The additions to his physical movepool are excellent, so Breloom now has plenty of options to take advantage his attacking potential. With secondary STAB from Seed Bomb, Stone Edge to make most Flying-types think twice before switching in and a powered up Facade with Toxic Orb, Breloom is a very potent attacking force. The only thing that really lets him down is that sub-par Speed. Otherwise, the Breloom is a force to be reckoned with. CountersHypno's Insomnia ability makes him immune to Spore and his decent HP and resistance to Fighting are a big help. Seed Bomb is a possible 2HKO, so Hypno will need to invest in both HP and Defense to avoid this. STAB Psychic brings down Breloom with ease. Cresselia can handle a few Seed Bombs and Psychic or Ice Beam will both finish off Breloom. Sleep Talk Heracross is a decent option, but will need to invest in HP to avoid a 2HKO (OHKO with a critical hit) from Stone Edge. Toxicroak resists all Breloom's of attacks, barring ThunderPunch and the occasional Facade. However, he can survive despite his average Defense and hit back with Cross Chop or Poison Jab. Weezing just shrugs off both STAB moves and hits back with Sludge Bombs and Fire attacks. Venusaur resists both STAB moves and ThunderPunch, is immune to Leech Seed, and has the HP and Defense to survive three Stone Edges. STAB Sludge Bomb will kill off Breloom. Both Celebi and Exeggutor can bring down Breloom with Psychic. Their good defenses, resistances to Fighting, Grass and Electric and immunity to Leech Seed make them excellent choices. Although neutral to Seed Bomb and Stone Edge, Gliscor's resistance to Fighting and high Defense make him a very good counter, as Aerial Ace will easily destroy Breloom. Ice Fang variants don't work quite as well, as they cannot bring Breloom quickly, so they're at risk from the Sub Seed, Swords Dance and Bulk Up. Although he fears Stone Edge, Salamence is a decent switch-in thanks to Intimidate and his resistance to Fighting and Grass. Fire attacks or either STAB move will put down Breloom. While Stone Edge does some serious damage, a Sleep Talking Zapdos is a decent counter. You will require Drill Peck or Hidden Power Ice to kill off Breloom though. Skarmory is a good choice, but repeated hits from Focus Punch can help wear him down. It can also Roar/Whirlwind away Subs to prevent Sub Seeding. Dugtrio can trap and kill with Aerial Ace, but is OHKOed by a Swords Danced Mach Punch. Most potential counters face the possibility of being put to sleep, so countering Breloom is surprisingly difficult. In the case of slower foes, they're risking being drained by Sub Seeding. While technically countering him is difficult, killing him is not. Many unSTABed super effective attacks can finish Breloom easily. |
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