Yea the main difference between Lando i is that contrary to popular belief it only was guaranteed to run Earth power and it had near perfect coverage on the meta with just Earth Power Hp Ice and Sludge Wave with a free slot since it didnt have a flying stab worth using and ground stab is pretty good coverage. While even with that free slot lando I had "4mss" to a degree , it still had focus blast rock slide and knock off to choose from to threaten the several but not many situational checks that remained and only being walled by 2 mons in OU , one being a mega and one only fitting on stall teams. alongside CM and RP. Gross however is forced into running both of its dual stabs in order to be effective in this current meta, which is walled by steel types. Note that mega altara's dual stab is also walled by steel, but the difference is you never see mega altaria running dragon stab, so its moveslots arent clogged. So gross has two slots to work with which grants it more , although still situational checks that deal with it. Also Realize Lando I was more splashable since it didnt take up a mega slot. IT was more resilience to hazards over all thanks to being neutral to SR while being immune to spikes, it was immune to t wave, couldn't be LO stalled, was a special attacker so it wasn't affected by rocky helmet shenanigans... However it didnt have megagross's bulk, immediate speed ,and steel typing, the ability to provide pursuit support, and priority. Overall Lando I had less counterplay and more free moveslots, so that was enough for its ban to ubers, but considering gross escaped its own suspect test by a hair I'm still not convinced that the differentiation between it and lando I as offensive wallbreakers should be 2 sub levels ( the sub levels being uber, S rank in OU, A+ in OU)by dropping it to A+. Megagross has a bit trouble fitting the S rank currently simply because mega altaria and zard x have slightly less problems overall, but it still fits S.
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Resource ORAS OU Viability Ranking Thread V3 - Read Post 3451 Page 139
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Yea the main difference between Lando i is that contrary to popular belief it only was guaranteed to run Earth power and it had near perfect coverage on the meta with just Earth Power Hp Ice and Sludge Wave with a free slot since it didnt have a flying stab worth using and ground stab is pretty good coverage. While even with that free slot lando I had "4mss" to a degree , it still had focus blast rock slide and knock off to choose from to threaten the several but not many situational checks that remained and only being walled by 2 mons in OU , one being a mega and one only fitting on stall teams. alongside CM and RP. Gross however is forced into running both of its dual stabs in order to be effective in this current meta, which is walled by steel types. Note that mega altara's dual stab is also walled by steel, but the difference is you never see mega altaria running dragon stab, so its moveslots arent clogged. So gross has two slots to work with which grants it more , although still situational checks that deal with it. Also Realize Lando I was more splashable since it didnt take up a mega slot. IT was more resilience to hazards over all thanks to being neutral to SR while being immune to spikes, it was immune to t wave, couldn't be LO stalled, was a special attacker so it wasn't affected by rocky helmet shenanigans... However it didnt have megagross's bulk, immediate speed ,and steel typing, the ability to provide pursuit support, and priority. Overall Lando I had less counterplay and more free moveslots, so that was enough for its ban to ubers, but considering gross escaped its own suspect test by a hair I'm still not convinced that the differentiation between it and lando I as offensive wallbreakers should be 2 sub levels ( the sub levels being uber, S rank in OU, A+ in OU)by dropping it to A+. Megagross has a bit trouble fitting the S rank currently simply because mega altaria and zard x have slightly less problems overall, but it still fits S.
how about Haxorus for C-? to me its placement alongside mons such as espeon, smeargle and the nidos seems really weird. espy is kinda useless after the BP nerf (dual screen is ok i guess but i'd rather use something like azelf), smeragle is a very niche hazard setter, queen has problems due to no reliable recovery and 4MSS and king seems to not hit hard enough. SD haxorus is actually a pretty good stallbreaker, as it has a huge base 147 attack (and can use items unlike zard-x or alt) and mold breaker which allows it to bypass unaware, therefore being able to defeat clef. it also has access to taunt, which means it's able to disable skarm, chansey and even mega sableye due to MB. SD haxorus's main problems are the severe competition it faces, the inability to run both taunt and poison jab (outrage/dual chop and EQ are a given) and it being quite useless against offense as well as struggling against balance, due to its poor 97 spe. DD is really outclassed (although not being weak to rocks and having the bulk to take an ice shard can be helpful), but the SD set is imo good enough to make it worthy of at leas C-.
Haxorus is only breaking through Skarmory if it lacks Counter
Basically, only Specially Defensive Skarmory, which is more seen on balance, since stall has the luxury of being able to fit a number of different Mega Diancie checks on a team
Not necessarily. With Taunt, Haxorus can theoretically boost up to +6 if the Skarmory insists on spamming Counter, and because Mold Breaker ignores Sturdy, +6 LO Outrage will OHKO. Same result with a +4 LO Superpower.
p2
Banned deucer.
Despite the one liners, I kinda agree with teamsnickers about MSceptile. I really don't think it's a great mon at all. First of all, Weavile and Tornadus-T have pretty high usage and they both check and counter it pretty easily, respectively. Then you've got Mega Venusaur rising in usage which just completely stops it plus stuff like Clefable, Mega Altaria, SDef Skarm, SDef Talonflame, the list goes on and on. It shits on offense, but nowhere near to the same extent as Mega Manectric or Mega Lopunny, which is decent and all, but it completely falls against Balance or Stall, the former being a dominant playstyle in OU right now. There's never been a time where I would actually want to use Sceptile over Lopunny or Manectric as an offensive mega or use it over Serperior as an offensive Grass type.
I just think it's a really unimpressive mon and I don't think I've ever seen it do anything amazing and a bunch of offensive teams I've seen actually seem to have a bunch of available answers for it. I'm probably severely underrating this thing, but as I said, I don't think its very effective in OU at all right now.
I just think it's a really unimpressive mon and I don't think I've ever seen it do anything amazing and a bunch of offensive teams I've seen actually seem to have a bunch of available answers for it. I'm probably severely underrating this thing, but as I said, I don't think its very effective in OU at all right now.
yeah I didnt mean to submit that I was still adding onto it lol but as you like there's just no reason to use this thing right now. Every single s rank mon right now just destroys it and serp is just better in every way possible. On paper it looks nice but it just doesn't cut it in battle. And if you want a mega to hit HO then as you said use lop/zam/manectric. You're on point with your post and its 4mss kills it as if cant even have decent coverage.....Why would anyone use their mega slot on this mon, its to valuable.
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If it was worse than Serperior in every possible way it wouldn't be ranked at all. The speed tier only to outspeed Starmie, Tornadus-T and Mega Manectric is a huge advantage over Serperior. While Serperior can boost its SpA with Leaf Storm, its power at +0 is significantly lower than Mega Sceptile and when it comes to revenge killing it missing out on some important things:
252 SpA Mega Sceptile Leaf Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 277-327 (86.8 - 102.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Meadow Plate Serperior Leaf Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 213-252 (66.7 - 78.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Mentioning 4mss when comparing it to Serperior is hilarious as Serperior also can't pick between HP Ground, HP Fire, Glare, Sub, Giga Drain, Taunt, Synthesis and Knock Off.
Anyway I can see MSceptile dropping to B- too but not a really big supporter
252 SpA Mega Sceptile Leaf Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 277-327 (86.8 - 102.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Meadow Plate Serperior Leaf Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 213-252 (66.7 - 78.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Mentioning 4mss when comparing it to Serperior is hilarious as Serperior also can't pick between HP Ground, HP Fire, Glare, Sub, Giga Drain, Taunt, Synthesis and Knock Off.
Anyway I can see MSceptile dropping to B- too but not a really big supporter
Mega Sceptile's potential compared to its tier peer members is perfectly fair. There's no way it is less effective than Chesnaught and Quagsire in general. Mega Sceptile is a natural T-Wave and Volt Change deterrent, being naturally faster than Alakazam, M-Manectric, M-Lopunny, Starmie and Raikou is a huge asset and one of the benefits of choosing Sceptile in the first place. It isn't splashable, you build a team around its unique traits, making B rank perfectly well suited to it. It's also a natural enemy to two of the premier SR setters and mixed walls, Hippo and Tankchomp, able to OHKO even 252 Careful Hippo with Leaf Storm, and Dragon Pulse does the trick to Garchomp with the littlest of prior damage. Meta trends being as they are are why Sceptile dropped to its rank in B in the first place, any lower isn't warranted.
We're waiting about a week before discussing Hoopa's placement. Thanks.
IMO M-Scep deserves its place in B rank and has its great speed stat, dual stab and immediate power that sets is apart from Serperior and other fast offensive megas. I can acknowledge that serperior is better as an offensive grass type in most cases but if a team is built to support M-Scep it will put in work. While it cant just be slapped on lots of offensive teams like Serp can because of its mega limitations that just goes to show why it is 2 ranks below serp. M-Scep is a good mega in its own right and doesnt need to be dropped.
I would like to nominate Mega Alakazam for A+ rank , it is THE fastest Pokemon in the OU metagame(bar scarfers) right now with a blazing 150 speed that outspeeds speed demons such as Mega Lopunny , Mega Manectric , Weavile ,Torna-T ,etc. It has a decent movepool and an amazing amount of power. Easily able to revenge kill weakened threats without having to worry. It also has a very good ability in Trace allowing to wall Spdef Heatran which only carry Lava Plume which is a rather common set in this meta. It has some good support moves to go along with it , such as Calm Mind , Taunt , Encore and even Protect which gives the user a variety of choices.
I would like to post some replays to try and justify all the points I made.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-247716041 - Speed tier and power came in handy
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-247717063 - Saved me from a Clefable sweep
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-247445797 - Mega Alakatroll
I would like to post some replays to try and justify all the points I made.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-247716041 - Speed tier and power came in handy
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-247717063 - Saved me from a Clefable sweep
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-247445797 - Mega Alakatroll
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Yeah M-Alakazam was kind of anti-meta for a little while since it outspeeds most 'mons on offense, can beat sand, and can outspeed +1 M-Alt too while also being a threat to bulkier builds by simply running Calm Mind. My main issue with it is that it needs to rely on 70% Focus Blast to not get stopped cold by Steel-types, but once they are gone M-Zam has some fun. There's also the fact that people ''adapted'' to the meta; you see a lot of priority running around and M-Sab squads becoming more popular, which is like THE hard counter to M-Zam.
at above, Zam's frailty doesn't matter lol, it should only come in once most 'mons are in range or when it can beat the opponent's Pokemon on the field 1v1. Trace is also its savior vs Sand and Rain and Timid ain't bad when you outspeed everything popular nowadays.. You won't miss Modest trust me.
M-Zam is like the best Pokemon in A to me, heck I would have probably agreed with you to rise it to A+ if you nominated it when it was anti-meta as fuck, but now that most builds started adapting to it and other threats, I'm not sure lol
e: but then again M-Gyarados is A+ so M-Zam can probably go there too..
at above, Zam's frailty doesn't matter lol, it should only come in once most 'mons are in range or when it can beat the opponent's Pokemon on the field 1v1. Trace is also its savior vs Sand and Rain and Timid ain't bad when you outspeed everything popular nowadays.. You won't miss Modest trust me.
M-Zam is like the best Pokemon in A to me, heck I would have probably agreed with you to rise it to A+ if you nominated it when it was anti-meta as fuck, but now that most builds started adapting to it and other threats, I'm not sure lol
e: but then again M-Gyarados is A+ so M-Zam can probably go there too..
Yeah. You make good points, but things like Gengar can be A+ and Mega Alakazam can't ? That does not seem right imho.
I am in a similar boat to soulgazer on this because on one hand Zam does toss HO and trace gives it really good situational advantages vs weather but with Lando gone and Torn-T and Balance everywhere it doesn't have the same amount of effectiveness it had a while ago. I could definitely see it going to A+ but its a bit shaky.
I want to mention something about M-Metagross. The 'broken' set that was suspect-worthy and almost banned was Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt, Hammer Arm, Grass knot. This was the M-Metagross that had M-scizor being the only viable switch-in although Garchomp was annoying. This was the M-Metagross where the thought of even considering a drop to A+ would be labelled as a troll post.
The problem now is that the most popular set (in my experience on the ladder) seems to be Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt, Earthquake, Ice Punch. This set is not very good IMO because now Hippowdon, Ferrothorn and more or less any bulky Water Pokemon can switch in and force it out. The crazy surge of bulky Garchomp has made people switch to this much inferior set and a standard M-Metagross with this set is not worthy of S Rank, with A+ being more sensible.
The thing is, the 'broken' set has not suddenly become unviable. It is still a monster and catches the standard Hippowdon and bulky Water switch-in off guard with Grass Knot. In fact, if the opponent doesn't have a M-Scizor, bulky Garchomp or Skarmory, this 'broken' set will still give your opponent lots of problems. It just seems to me that people have gotten somewhat 'lazy' dealing with Garchomp despite it being very easy to wear down.
So the situation is this, M-Metagross is an S rank Pokemon but its standard set is A+. So where does it actually belong? Tbh, I don't actually know myself. This situation is kinda similar to Landorus-I in XY where it was an ubers Pokemon but was ranked A+ due to the over-centralisation of the super glue Lando-T.
TL;DR: M-Metagross is an S rank Pokemon but its standard set is A+, making it hard to decide what rank it should belong in.
My thoughts on other potential rises:
Serperior to A: agree
I think Serperior is still a very under rated threat that many people seem to overlook. I mean, if the opponent doesn't have a Tornadus-T or Heatran, chances are that Serperior will likely have limited switch-ins. It's snowballing ability means that a Pokemon that switchs in and takes 35% from Leaf Storm, will now be KO'd the next turn. The other thing about Serperior is that unlike other setup sweepers that require a turn to setup, Serperior doesn't and because of this, the user doesn't have the 'I feel like staying in because it's already set up' kind of mentality. If the opponent switchs in a check, Serperior can simply switch out and come back in later, which could lead to the opponent sacking another Pokemon in order to get their check back in, in which Serperior can just switch out once again. Coincidently, many of Serperior's safe switch-ins like Charizard, Talonflame, Volcorona and Tornadus are all stealth rock weak, and so Serperior's ability to force these Pokemon in is very problematic for the opponent. Lastly, current metagame trends such as the rise of Hippodon, Manaphy and Azumarill as well as the drop in Celebi greatly benefits Serperior and with Charizard X back on the rise, Serperior makes an excellent FWG core with it.
Tangrowth to B: agree
I made this nomination a few weeks ago and I love that this is now being considered. AV Tangrowth is a very good Pokemon and a great pivot. Leaf Storm hits surprisingly hard and Knock Off is Knock Off. It's movepool allows it to catch it's common switch-ins off guard with Earthquake for Heatran, Sludge Bomb for M-Altaria, HP fire for Scizor/Ferrothorn and Rock Slide for Charizard, Talonflame, Volcorona and Tornadus-T. It is an excellent glue with quite insane bulk (it lives a Gengar's LO sludge wave after rocks) that is easy to maintain with Regenerator. I don't quite think it should be B+ but it is definitely a step above other B- Pokemon like Chesnaught and Amoonguss I feel.
The problem now is that the most popular set (in my experience on the ladder) seems to be Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt, Earthquake, Ice Punch. This set is not very good IMO because now Hippowdon, Ferrothorn and more or less any bulky Water Pokemon can switch in and force it out. The crazy surge of bulky Garchomp has made people switch to this much inferior set and a standard M-Metagross with this set is not worthy of S Rank, with A+ being more sensible.
The thing is, the 'broken' set has not suddenly become unviable. It is still a monster and catches the standard Hippowdon and bulky Water switch-in off guard with Grass Knot. In fact, if the opponent doesn't have a M-Scizor, bulky Garchomp or Skarmory, this 'broken' set will still give your opponent lots of problems. It just seems to me that people have gotten somewhat 'lazy' dealing with Garchomp despite it being very easy to wear down.
So the situation is this, M-Metagross is an S rank Pokemon but its standard set is A+. So where does it actually belong? Tbh, I don't actually know myself. This situation is kinda similar to Landorus-I in XY where it was an ubers Pokemon but was ranked A+ due to the over-centralisation of the super glue Lando-T.
TL;DR: M-Metagross is an S rank Pokemon but its standard set is A+, making it hard to decide what rank it should belong in.
My thoughts on other potential rises:
Serperior to A: agree
I think Serperior is still a very under rated threat that many people seem to overlook. I mean, if the opponent doesn't have a Tornadus-T or Heatran, chances are that Serperior will likely have limited switch-ins. It's snowballing ability means that a Pokemon that switchs in and takes 35% from Leaf Storm, will now be KO'd the next turn. The other thing about Serperior is that unlike other setup sweepers that require a turn to setup, Serperior doesn't and because of this, the user doesn't have the 'I feel like staying in because it's already set up' kind of mentality. If the opponent switchs in a check, Serperior can simply switch out and come back in later, which could lead to the opponent sacking another Pokemon in order to get their check back in, in which Serperior can just switch out once again. Coincidently, many of Serperior's safe switch-ins like Charizard, Talonflame, Volcorona and Tornadus are all stealth rock weak, and so Serperior's ability to force these Pokemon in is very problematic for the opponent. Lastly, current metagame trends such as the rise of Hippodon, Manaphy and Azumarill as well as the drop in Celebi greatly benefits Serperior and with Charizard X back on the rise, Serperior makes an excellent FWG core with it.
Tangrowth to B: agree
I made this nomination a few weeks ago and I love that this is now being considered. AV Tangrowth is a very good Pokemon and a great pivot. Leaf Storm hits surprisingly hard and Knock Off is Knock Off. It's movepool allows it to catch it's common switch-ins off guard with Earthquake for Heatran, Sludge Bomb for M-Altaria, HP fire for Scizor/Ferrothorn and Rock Slide for Charizard, Talonflame, Volcorona and Tornadus-T. It is an excellent glue with quite insane bulk (it lives a Gengar's LO sludge wave after rocks) that is easy to maintain with Regenerator. I don't quite think it should be B+ but it is definitely a step above other B- Pokemon like Chesnaught and Amoonguss I feel.
In a similar boat to soulgazer, frailty doesn't really matter because it just shouldn't be switching in on anything in the first place.
Relying on focus blast also sux, and msab balance is kinda gettin traction, but if you really felt like msab was a bitch you could ditch utility and run dazzling gleam :P
252 SpA Mega Alakazam Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Sableye: 144-170 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO
wow that's kinda depressing lol but if its really a bitch go for it.
Other than that, one of the main things i don't like is how often it comes in. It weakens its own checks for the most part, but the amount its forced out and the amount it requires a skillful double or a free switch-in to start doing work is imo what keeps it in A. It needs some support/skill to get it in safely and put in work and thus offers literally negative defensive synergy, so i could see that as a reason to hold it back.
I really really really love 3 attacks+encore tho so i'm fine with it in A+ too if shit like mdiancie and gengar is gonna stay.
Relying on focus blast also sux, and msab balance is kinda gettin traction, but if you really felt like msab was a bitch you could ditch utility and run dazzling gleam :P
252 SpA Mega Alakazam Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Sableye: 144-170 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO
wow that's kinda depressing lol but if its really a bitch go for it.
Other than that, one of the main things i don't like is how often it comes in. It weakens its own checks for the most part, but the amount its forced out and the amount it requires a skillful double or a free switch-in to start doing work is imo what keeps it in A. It needs some support/skill to get it in safely and put in work and thus offers literally negative defensive synergy, so i could see that as a reason to hold it back.
I really really really love 3 attacks+encore tho so i'm fine with it in A+ too if shit like mdiancie and gengar is gonna stay.
I just wanted to add some extra discussion to the mega Zam to A+ rank, which is substitute. If you can force a switch, or certain that the opposing mon wants to T-wave/toxic/burn you, you can set up a sub, which helps Zam's problems with its fraility, allowing you to hit opposing pokemon twice. Also, it helps with the 50/50s against bisharp, allowing you a free sub if they sucker punch. Just something else to talk about.
Other than that, I agree with Mega Zam to A+. It's a terrifying pokemon, and even if you can't run modest it is still a powerhouse. Timid allows it to outspeed so many things it's not even funny, all the way up to scarf adamant Excadrill. While yes, it's frail, i don't think it's enough to hold it back.
Other than that, I agree with Mega Zam to A+. It's a terrifying pokemon, and even if you can't run modest it is still a powerhouse. Timid allows it to outspeed so many things it's not even funny, all the way up to scarf adamant Excadrill. While yes, it's frail, i don't think it's enough to hold it back.
LO Gengar actually hits harder than even modest mega Zam (sludge wave vs. psychic):
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 203-239 (59.5 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Mega Alakazam Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Shaymin: 202-238 (59.2 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Gengar also has much more switch in opportunities thanks to 3 immunities, a 4x bug resistance, and a 2x fairy resistance. He hits more of the meta for super effective damage with his STABs, and he can beat stall simply by using taunt and his ghost typing (mega Zam can use taunt as well but Chansey will still beat you with seismic toss; Gengar is immune to seismic toss and auto wins as long as he carries taunt).
Once you factor in that Gengar doesn't even take a mega slot, there's no competition. Gengar fits on way more teams than Zam and should always rank higher.
It's not about which one hits harder , its overall what they bring to the table in which in my opinion M-Zam takes the prize. The reason why Gengar's sludge wave does more is because it has 5 more base power than psychic. The power between the two is more or less similar.
Gengar is easier to revenge kill, also the fact that Torna-t and Weavile are soaring is usage is a huge problem for Gengar and definitely warrants for a drop, and the speed tier between the 2 is not even comparable imho. Yes Alakazam fares worse vs Stall than Gengar but that is where the WHOLE team comes in.
Gengar is easier to revenge kill, also the fact that Torna-t and Weavile are soaring is usage is a huge problem for Gengar and definitely warrants for a drop, and the speed tier between the 2 is not even comparable imho. Yes Alakazam fares worse vs Stall than Gengar but that is where the WHOLE team comes in.
Torn-T and Weavile are just as bad for m Zam as Gengar. But that's besides the point: Gengar can be slapped onto many teams to fit many different roles. If you have 5 mons and need a fairy check, add Gengar. If you have 5 mons and need a spin blocker, add Gengar. If you have 5 mons and need a stall/balance breaker, just add Gengar. He's very flexible and deserving of A+
Zam on the other hand needs to be built around. He also takes a mega slot. Using mega Zam is a limiting factor for the rest of your team, and that's why he's only in A
Zam on the other hand needs to be built around. He also takes a mega slot. Using mega Zam is a limiting factor for the rest of your team, and that's why he's only in A
M-Alakazam can beat Weavile even if it does have to rely on focus blast ,it still has a 70% shot according to Game Freak, It can beat Torna-T if it's carrying Psyshock and Psychic after rocks is 2hko cause it outspeeds and kills and besides , U Turn / Knock Off does not even kill lol. So no , Weavile and Torn aren't as big a threat to Zam as much as they are to Gengar.
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Gengar beats Torn-T with rocks up too if he uses icy wind. In practice, that's more likely to lure and net a kill on Torn-T if you absolutely need it than using mega Zam. No Torn-T is switching into mega Zam if rocks are up because he will get 2hko'd. Instead, Torn-T will get in on a double switch or after a kill, tank any hit Zam throws at him, then u-turn Zam down to 30% health and switch into a priority user while regenerating 30% of his health.
Also, Weavile has strong priority to pick off a weakened Zam.
Also, Weavile has strong priority to pick off a weakened Zam.
You say Alakazam fares worse against stall but thats where the whole team comes in, but what about the Whole team coming through to help gengar deal with faster threats? this goes both ways. Either way, both Zam and gengar are glass cannons and pursuit weak but gengar's typing gives it more defensive utility which means a lot more switchin opportunities. Zam is great against all types of offense so the speed tier is definitely a real niche it has over gengar as wallbreakers. Overall gengar is more splash able to the team and doesnt take up a mega slot and so can hold an item. I'm not totally against putting gengar and Zam in the same rank because they each have notable niches over the other that might cancel out.
A fraction of a percent stronger on a move 5 BP stronger than the other isnt anything relevant at all. Regardless, youre comparing two completely different mons in terms of purpose, the only similarities they share are that they are special attackers and both evolve through trading lol. The differences are that one destroys fast offensive teams and weather teams thanks to an insane speed stat and ability while the other destroys balance and stall. I dont think Zam should move up either mainly because of the need for a mega slot and general frailty but deliberately omitting key details doesnt help anybodies case.
Speaking of alakazam though, Ive been experimenting with vanilla zam quite a bit recently and I have to say its way more effective than A-. The main draw to using zam on offensive teams is that it can serve several roles in one, cleaner, speed control and general revenge killer. Thanks to magic guard+focus sash and twave, setup sweepers such as zardx, agiligross and in general faster mons who threaten offensive teams like mega lop, weavile and torn-t become effective neutered, allowing for 'slower' mons such as manaphy to plow through teams without worrying about revenge killers. The best part about this is that zam is still effective even with a broken sash as hazards and status do not effect it. Unfortunately, I havent gathered any replays of zam in action but I feel its general utility puts it a rank above less effective mons such as megabro, rotom wash and reg gyarados and on par with its mega evo bc of mega slot reasons.
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