The Next Best Thing v2 - Latios

Alakazam @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Trick

lol! tricking scarfs on stuff that doesn't want them is fantastic, basically any special wall that would otherwise beat zam won't appreciate this at all and you can then go on an attacking spree since the opponent will have had their primary check crippled. also, you don't even have to trick, since scarfed zam makes for a pretty good revenge killer too, taking out common stuff like scarf keldeo, terrakion, and landorus, plus a bunch of setup sweepers including garchomp and dragonite. it can annoy hyper-offensive teams especially well, considering that many of them rely on scarfers to revenge alakazam - when zam outspeeds their precious keldeo, they'll be in a state of shock, guaranteed. all in all it's not the best zam set (that would be sash 4 attacks) but this one's more creative and it has the surprise value that can often mean the difference between a win and a loss. i'd say give it a chance; it's better than it looks.

edit: oh yeah and shoutout to all my fans who voted for my volc set, i appreciate it!

Introducing Psych Up Zam

Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]/Shadow Ball
- Psych Up

This thing is so damn funny if you can pull it off. The goal of the set is to let your opponent set up with a setup sweeper like volcarona, switch in (often meaning sacing a mon) and steal their stat boosts. Your oppponent will being typing in the early "gg" only to be completely caught off gaurd by this guy, they'll be shocked. Stealing a stat boost from your opponent than sweeping there team is hilarious and incredibly satisfying. Although hard to pull off, its incredibly fun and unexpected.

Alakazam is the epitome of a glass cannon. With a pathetic 55 HP and 45 def, it can be crushed by most physical threats. However, it has a few redeeming qualities. With a beautiful 135 SpA and 120 spa allows it to hit fast and hit hard. It also has a nice niche or two for teams besides a powerful sweeping set. A good example of this niche is demonstrated in this set here.
Guard Split Zam
Alakazam @ focus sash
Ability:Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP 252 SpA 4 Spe
Nature:Rash (+SpA, -SpD)
Guard Split
Recover
Psychic
Calm Mind/ signal beam/ Taunt

This set allows Zam to do many things. Some examples are:
A: Cripple pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Foretress by shrinking their amazing defensive stats.
B:If A is done, than it can tank hits from sweepers such as Terrakion and shrug them off with recover.
C: Crush any non-dark type with bad SpD.
D:Either cripple hazard setters, setup sweepers, and baton passers by stopping them from using their respective moves, set up CM to crush foes, or pummel more pokemon with signal beam

This shows how Zam can easily overcome its flaws and crush the opposition. On the EVs, HP allows it to survive more hits, SpA allows it to hit with psychic/ Focus Blast, and the 4 speed allows it to tie with jolly Terrakion. Rash nature lets it pass even worse defensive stats and increase damage output significantly. BrightPowder allows it to evade hits more often and focus sash lets it have a garenteed chance of giving it's horrid defense to an enemy. Overall, this is an unnatural set that can throw foes off guard and defeat your opposition.
Attacking Calcs:
252 SpA alakazam psychic vs 252 SpD Terrakion = 87- 103% damage
252 SpA alakazam psychic vs 252 SpD Keldeo = 87-103% damage
252 SpA Alakazam psychic vs 252 SpD Cobalion = 50-59% damage
252 SpA Alazakam Focus Blast vs 252 SpD Hydrigon = 76-91% damage
These all are garenteed 2hkos
252 SpA Alakazam psychic vs 252 SpD volcarona = 40-48% damage
Garenteed 3hko, but honestly, who runs specially defensive volcarona?
These show that Alakazam can 2hko a nice bit of the metagame.

Alakazam@Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpA/4 Spe
-Protect
-Torment
-Psychic
-HP Fighting
This set allows you to essentially devastate an opposing mon. This allows it to beat Ttar without risking issues of Focus Blast accuracy by Tormenting it so that it can't Pursuit every turn and OHKO with HP Fighting
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Hidden Power Fighting vs. 180 HP / 0 SpD Tyranitar: 411-484 (106.47 - 125.38%) -- guaranteed OHKO
It escapes a pursuit trap by tormenting, protecting and then OHKO
This set also has the ability to Torment other pokemon like Volcarona who can then no longer beat Alakazam thanks to Torment/Protect

@vyomov that is an interesting set, but have you ran defensive Calcs?
LO Ttar with 252 Atk and SpA vs your alakazam
Pursuit: 89-103% damage
Zam will probably faint from LO damage next turn
Giga Impact: 109-128% damage
Garenteed KO

Magic guard prevents LO damage

Oh, however, alakazam is so crippled, almost any hit will KO.

@Hitmonleet: Whilst the idea of the set is interesting, in reality the set does not work in the way you claim it does. Guard Swap does not actually swap your defense stats with your opponent - instead, it simply exchanges defensive stat changes with your opponent. Seeing how Alakazam learns no moves that lower its own stats, it has no function whatsoever (and even if it did, Guard Swap is extremely gimmicky and not viable in competitive play). However, it does learn Guard Split, which averages its Defense and Sp. Defense stats with those of the target. Although this move is not really viable in competitive play either, it at least has an effect closer to that which you're trying for. Honestly I think you're better off simply boosting with Calm Mind though, as even after Guard Split, Alakazam still has average bulk at best.

Oh, I thought it exchanges the def. stats.

The first thing I have to say is this- Shadow ball alakazam is really dumb nobody post any sets with it. Signal beam hits celebi harder and HP ice hits dragons. The analysis really should be changed...


Alakazam @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Signal Beam/ Hidden Power [Fire]
- Knock off

Anyways today I share with you the mighty knock off alakazam. While alakazam is definitely a powerful pokemon, he has defined counters in sableye, jirachi, blissey, and chansey. Other things can sort of deal with him especially because of how frail he is. But all of the defensive pokemon listed have an item very important to them, usually being leftovers. While alakazam can't kill them with no leftovers they are ridiculously susceptible to residual damage and entry hazards. The other moves on my set are standard and require no explanation, just read his onsite analysis. I use life orb because sash alakazam is very weak.

Okay, someone posted a slightly similar set to this but I like this one better:
Alakazam @ Flame Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 92 Def / 164 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball / Hidden Power [Ice]
Say hello to what us quite an annoying set. Flame Orb gives kazam an immunity to status (para being the big one), while it doesnt mind the attack drop and doesnt take damage from burn. But trick lets it do two crucial things: deprive the opponent of their much-needed item; and cripple many of kazam's physical switch-ins by tricking them a flame orb. Ttar comes in? Burned, and now even crunch can't OHKO from anything less than 252+, courtesy of the def EVs. Similarly, max attack adamant scizor can't even OHKO with u-turn once it's burned, and kazam even has a 60% chance to live a pursuit if it switches, making HP [fire] unnecessary. This set also is a great answer to ferrothorn even without hp fire, since it is immune to twave and can burn it--assuming it recieves leftovers, it can live two max power gyro balls the majority of the time, giving you some wiggle room for an fblast miss.

But that's not the end of it. Some of kazam's common defensive checks are crippled by trick as well. Chansey, for example, loses its precious eviolite and much of its bulk with it, letting kazam easily beat it one-on-one. Furthermore, flame orb counteracts natural cure, reactivating each time it comes in, so even with the defense EVs kazam deals ~50% to max def/hp chans on average with burn factored it, so it easily beats it. Similarly, jirachi, another common kazam check, is as crippled by the burn, particularly since it loses leftovers (which kazam now recieves, making it very hard for the now-burned rachi to beat kazam at all). Of course, you can always switch kazam out and use trick to cripple something else; for example, you can always just trick a specstios the Orb and either make use of the specs yourself (which can be super scary) or then cripple something else with the choice item.

why are you all mentionning ttar when alakazam outspeeds it in every possible situation and OHKO it with focus blast??? (doesnt ohko support spdef ttar with sash, but well, sash is there, and it doesnt need much previous damages to take it out)

Alakazam @ Flame Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Focus Blast / Substitute / Disable
- Psyshock
- Encore

This Alakazam has literally only a support role. It sets up opportunities for partners to.. well, set up! Its supposed to be used as a sacrificial lamb in a dual offensive core, similar in a way to a tailwind tornadus/whimsicott.

In a nutshell, trick burns targets enabling substitutes that won't be broken (for partners). Focus blast is there mainly because of Heatran otherwise disable compliments encore for team shuffling and encouraging switches, encore works very nicely with substitute as well because of the plethora of set up opportunities after Alakazam faints. Psyshock is there to maintain offensive relevance. Relevant partners that love Zam include fighting types ie Lucario, Toxicroak, Breloom as well as the twin dragons and pokemon that share common checks/switch ins.

An example:

Alakazam + Lucario - Regardless of whether zam is trapped or not by a tyranitar, sub + encoring it into a dark move will give Lucario a +2 next turn, tricking flame orbs onto the likes of Scizor, Ferrothorn , Forretress and jirachi also come in handy whilst disabling body slams/earthquakes etc from the likes of Jirachi and Hippodown will give good opportunities. Alakazam can also muck around with scarf tar / Terrakion / Kyube / Gengar making crunch on Lucario much more viable and covering offensive and defensive staples. Even coming on a 2hko shadow ball from jellicent is cool if it gives set up turns (encore). Really a team shuffler that can cause havoc if 2 pokemon switch into it :)

edit: Shadow ball is a very viable move over focus blast in order to keep relevance against starmie/latitwins/reuniclus etc, focus blast is really only to ensure heatran can't sit on you forever (and its incredibly common) most other receivers of focus blast absolutely hate a flame orb or can be encored to allow partner set up.

Hitmonleet said:

@vyomov that is an interesting set, but have you ran defensive Calcs?
LO Ttar with 252 Atk and SpA vs your alakazam
Pursuit: 89-103% damage
Zam will probably faint from LO damage next turn
Giga Impact: 109-128% damage
Guaranteed KO

Click to expand...

Firstly, thanks for the feedback:)
Secondly, I do agree with the calcs however, the objective of the set isn't to switch into Ttar. The objective is to have TTar switch into Zam(common considering Focus acc is poor and weakened Ttar can still OHKO). Tormenting it on the switch means you can stall out pursuit and OHKO on the other turn.
Just as so, the objective isn't much to switch in to a mon but rather to punish opponents for switching in Volcarona to Zam.
You are right though, Zam is so frail that it will probably be OHKOed by most stuff in OU.

@ MCM well fblast's accuracy is really unappealing, and idk, ttar always seems to come out of that one on top way too often in my experience (damn chopletar), I think it's just made me paranoid about it lol.

vyomov said:

Firstly, thanks for the feedback:)
Secondly, I do agree with the calcs however, the objective of the set isn't to switch into Ttar. The objective is to have TTar switch into Zam(common considering Focus acc is poor and weakened Ttar can still OHKO). Tormenting it on the switch means you can stall out pursuit and OHKO on the other turn.
Just as so, the objective isn't much to switch in to a mon but rather to punish opponents for switching in Volcarona to Zam.
You are right though, Zam is so frail that it will probably be OHKOed by most stuff in OU.

Click to expand...

That is a good stratagy, however, I think you might want to add some Def EVs as they could try bringing in TTar with Volt Switch, U-Turn, or Baton pass and it gives Tar a turn to attack, and then Alakazam probably gets OHKO'd on the turn.
And if you do that, it might be ok to mess up on prediction as Zam might survive the hit.Also, the fact that Zam is OHKO'd by most of OU means that most gimmicky Zams are very hard to pull off.

vyomov said:

Alakazam@Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpA/4 Spe
-Protect
-Torment
-Psychic
-HP Fighting
This set allows you to essentially devastate an opposing mon. This allows it to beat Ttar without risking issues of Focus Blast accuracy by Tormenting it so that it can't Pursuit every turn and OHKO with HP Fighting
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Hidden Power Fighting vs. 180 HP / 0 SpD Tyranitar: 411-484 (106.47 - 125.38%) -- guaranteed OHKO
It escapes a pursuit trap by tormenting, protecting and then OHKO
This set also has the ability to Torment other pokemon like Volcarona who can then no longer beat Alakazam thanks to Torment/Protect

Click to expand...

I'll be honest and say I strongly dislike this set, for the reason that Alakazam is not suited for Torment stalling whatsoever. It lacks resistances/immunities and has almost no bulk to speak of, even with full HP investment. What made sets like Torment Heatran work was that a large proportion of the metagame at the time only had one move that could deal enough damage to even break its Substitutes, and hence it could be virtually invincible under certain circumstances - and especially potent with Toxic Spikes down.

As Alakazam does not possess any of these qualities, the only chance it has is to stall out choiced 'mons, and even then you still have to predict to use Torment on the switch-in. My main problem with this set is that it's highly situational, and ineffective most of the time. You can't guarantee that the opposing Tyranitar will be choiced, meaning that you're just wasting turns if you use Torment on the switch-in and instead of attacking they use Stealth Rock. At least 90% of players aren't dumb enough to let you stall them out of Pursuit, and will probably switch out as soon as you use Torment in the first place. Also, what's the point of needing to use Torment to beat Tyranitar when you claim that HP Fighting OHKOs it? Why not just attack it as soon as it switches in? (FYI it doesn't, since you didn't take the SDef boost from sandstorm into account - whereas Focus Blast does, which you may as well use as it has a good chance to hit at least one time out of two)

I fail completely to see the reasoning behind this set. It doesn't accomplish anything useful - it just takes away from its coverage. If you're really worried about Tyranitar, just use Dugtrio or something like Terrakion. Also, on a less important note, how the fuck does this Alakazam beat Volcarona? You Torment it, it Quiver Dances every time you use Protect, it kills you with either Bug Buzz or Fiery Dance ._.

EDIT: Apologies if this post seems a little harsh. I'm just trying to be direct with you so that you won't make similar mistakes in future. After all, knowledge is power - "The truth is that everything that can be accomplished by showing a person when he's wrong, ten times as much can be accomplished by showing him where he is right."

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-17355635

This is me sweeping 5 pokemon in a row without even switching Alakazam out. Standard set from the Smogon site: full SpA and Spe; Life Orb; Timid; Psyshock, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball and HP Fire. This thing is a monster, and is more than viable in OU.

I would swap Life Orb for Focus Sash, but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to OHKO stuff like Tyranitar or Heatran then.

Xfing said:

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-17355635

This is me sweeping 5 pokemon in a row without even switching Alakazam out. Standard set from the Smogon site: full SpA and Spe; Life Orb; Timid; Psyshock, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball and HP Fire. This thing is a monster, and is more than viable in OU.

I would swap Life Orb for Focus Sash, but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to OHKO stuff like Tyranitar or Heatran then.

Click to expand...

This is supposed to be the "Next Best Thing" not the standard set off the site. The point of this is to uncover a new gem of a set that functions well in OU. Creativeness and originality is key here.

Alakazam (M) @ Flame Orb Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Taunt
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast

trick to burn up the oppo and to avoid being paralyzed; taunt to contast the stat uppers, annoyers, setters or other stuffs and the 2 moves to have stab plus best coverage.

If only people would come up with sets that DON'T use trick.

Even if it's only for the lols...

Alakazam (M) @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Charge Beam
- Substitute
- Disable

Move over, Gengar! SubDisable Zam works more or less like SubDisable Gar, but faster, and fares generally worse due to the lack of immunities, nerdish frailty and whatnot. You just get in on a safe matchup (good luck there), get a sub up, and start Charging up. If a Krookodile appears, take a dive like the second hand, sellout boxer you are. If a Lati@s appears, pray that you are at +3 for the 2HKO (on a 252HP/0SpDef Latias).

@Hitmonleet: The reason for using Trick is simple, it's better than Fling in almost every respect. Another reason is that Zam is one of those lucky mons that gets all the coverage it needs with only 3 moves, and while it does its job better with a 4th damaging move, sometimes your team gives it the space for running something else. The best choices are usually Thunder Wave or Trick + Flame Orb (EDIT: Or Substitute, or Calm Mind...).
There have been several sets now that don't utilize Trick, and while they help to explore Alakazam from the ground up, the viability of some (including mine, of course) is questionable.

Alakazam @ Focus Sash / Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
Moves: Psyshock | Focus Blast | Hidden Power Ice | Signal Beam
[box]All of these gimmick sets need to move over. In past generations, they might have been viable, as Alakazam was much more able to make rigorous use of its support movepool. However, in BW2 OU, it's way too easy to take advantage of Alakazam using Encore/Trick/etc. The only one I'd say even worth considering is Taunt, but even that can be iffy about giving the opponent a free switch to their revenge killer. So I present to you something simple and completely effective. Signal Beam Alakazam. This set rips apart the disgustingly popular SpDef Celebi, making it a very effective lure for many special attackers such as Keldeo, Landorus, Rotom-W, Thundurus-T, Starmie, etc. And honestly? This set should be the standard in this meta. The only things hit harder by Shadow Ball than by any of the moves Alakazam currently runs are:

2x Weak Psychic-Types: (2SE*5BP) = only 10 Base Power less.

Jellicent: Since SpDef is the current rage, Psyshock might hit harder than Shadow Ball anyway.


Everything else is the same as a standard Alakazam set. You're still not getting past Jirachi. However, that's why you run this set with Keldeo and/or Landorus. Those two can easily get past Jirachi, but have a hard time dealing with Celebitch. And out of all the other lures, I'd say Alakazam forfeits the least, as its 4th move has always been up for grabs.

I end my first Next Best Thing submission with these two calcs:

252SpAtk Alakazam (Neutral) Signal Beam vs 252HP/252SpDef Leftovers Celebi (+SpDef): 60% - 71% (244 - 288 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.
252SpAtk Life Orb Alakazam (Neutral) Signal Beam vs 252HP/252SpDef Leftovers Celebi (+SpDef): 78% - 92% (316 - 372 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.[/box]

Gimmick sets are not useful by themselves. Rather, I see them as starting points from which more experienced battlers can develop viable sets and strategies.

Concerning the Signal Beam Zam, I'd like to refer to the last paragraph of the OP:


Yes, Signal Beam allows Alakazam to beat a significant threat while keeping most of its coverage intact, but, does this tell us anything new about it? It's the same old, same old: with the right moveset, Zam can 2HKO almost anything. Many of the gimmick sets presented here try to give it a support role, because it has the speed (most, if not all sets have the same exact EVs), and because it can't wall the sad tear of a Caterpie.

iamdanielcruces said:

Gimmick sets are not useful by themselves. Rather, I see them as starting points from which more experienced battlers can develop viable sets and strategies.

Concerning the Signal Beam Zam, I'd like to refer to the last paragraph of the OP:


Yes, Signal Beam allows Alakazam to beat a significant threat while keeping most of its coverage intact, but, does this tell us anything new about it? It's the same old, same old: with the right moveset, Zam can 2HKO almost anything. Many of the gimmick sets presented here try to give it a support role, because it has the speed (most, if not all sets have the same exact EVs), and because it can't wall the sad tear of a Caterpie.

Click to expand...

I think you should re-read the paragraph you just sent me.

I am looking for sets that test what we think we know about checks or counters, so-called standards, and what it means to be viable. Maybe a particular option for a Pokemon looks inferior at first glance for that particular Pokemon, but dig deeper and try and find what it might mean in the big picture, for the entire team.

Click to expand...

That exactly describes how Signal Beam is for Alakazam. SpDef Celebi has been touted as a standard counter for Alakazam, and Signal Beam comes into play to turn that on its head. Additionally, Signal Beam gives Alakazam significant teamplay. See that part in the quote you gave me about digging deeper to see the big picture for the entire team? I'm guessing you didn't. Keldeo and Landorus are some of the top sweepers right now so their ability to have a teammate that can fulfill its usual role with minimal sacrifice (which I just proved Alakazam does) while punishing people for using Celebi as their special wall is incredibly helpful. Most teams don't run SpDef Celebi and SpDef Jirachi, so using Alakazam in tandem with those top special sweepers allows you to force significant pressure that most opponents don't teambuild for.