Rockin dat Stache
[Overview]
<p>Alakazam is an extremely overlooked Pokemon in the VGC 2012 metagame. It boasts an excellent supporting movepool along with a great base 135 Special Attack and base 120 Speed, letting it outspeed the likes of Choice Scarf Abomasnow. However, Alakazam lacks physical bulk and requires support from its teammates to stay alive and be effective in battle. Alakazam was given a gift this generation in the form of Magic Guard, which allows it to utilize Life Orb for extra power without worrying about recoil damage, as well as avoid indirect damage. Unfortunately, Alakazam lacks a usable spread move that most other special attackers possess. Nonetheless, Alakazam is still a strong offensive force that can wreck the opponent one Pokemon at a time.</p>
[SET]
name: Standard Attacking
move 1: Psychic / Psyshock
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Protect / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Psychic is Alakazam's STAB move of choice, which hits Fighting- and Poison-types for a huge amount of damage. Psyshock is equally notable for being only slightly weaker, but it is able to nail specially defensive Pokemon Blissey and Virizion for greater damage. Shadow Ball allows Alakazam to hit other Psychic- and Ghost-types, such as Latios and Jellicent, both of whom it outspeeds and can KO after some previous damage. Focus Blast gives Alakazam excellent neutral coverage by hitting Dark- and Steel-types, such as Tyranitar and Scizor, who would otherwise wall Alakazam and easily OHKO with Crunch and Bug Bite, respectively. Hidden Power Fire can be used to gain super effective coverage on Steel- and Grass-types, such as Scizor, Escavalier, and Metagross, at the cost of super effective coverage on Tyranitar. Protect insures Alakazam for one turn, allowing its teammates to rid the field of possible threats. Substitute is equally viable thanks to Alakazam’s excellent Speed; it can often put up a Substitute before the opposing Pokemon can attack. With Substitute, Alakazam can also set up on Sucker Punch, survive a subsequent hit, and KO the Sucker Punch user.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb is an excellent item for Alakazam as it does not have to worry about recoil. Focus Sash is a viable option too, as it allows Alakazam to survive a hit and retaliate. A Timid nature allows Alakazam to outspeed many common threats in the metagame, such as Choice Scarf Jellicent and Abomasnow. Magic Guard is an excellent ability as it prevents residual damage; such as weather recoil, Life Orb recoil, and status ailments.</p>
<p>Alakazam is quite the glass cannon, so it should simply aim to hit as hard and fast as possible. Therefore, an EV spread of 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe is optimum. When running Hidden Power Fire, use an EV spread of 8 HP / 252 SpA / 248 Spe to avoid wasting EVs. If you just want to outspeed base 60 Speed Choice Scarf users, such as Abomasnow and Jellicent, an EV spread of 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe puts Alakazam ahead of them by one point. Hidden Power Fighting can be used over Focus Blast for a more reliable way to hit Dark- and Steel-types, though the drop in power is extremely noticeable. Encore and Disable are usable options as well. The former can force Fake Out users out to switch and Trick Room setters to undo their own Trick Room, while the latter gives Alakazam another way of beating Sucker Punch users. Additionally, it allows Alakazam to Disable spread moves used the turn before.</p>
<p>Thanks to Magic Guard, Alakazam finds itself on most teams as a fast, strong late-game cleaner. Especially notable is the fact that it takes no recoil from hail or sand, making it an excellent choice for a weather team. Follow Me and Rage Powder users give Alakazam tons of support by letting it attack without worrying about being KOed by threats such as Tyranitar and Scizor. Most notably, they remove the threat of priority moves KOing Alakazam before it can move. Pokemon with access to Quick Guard, such as Terrakion and Virizion, make good partners by being able to block priority moves and provide Fighting-type coverage if Alakazam lacks Focus Blast or Hidden Power Fighting. Wide Guard users can block strong spread moves such as Rock Slide and Earthquake, and are appreciated as well. A great user of Wide Guard and Quick Guard is Hitmontop, who can not only provide Wide Guard protection, but also support from Fake Out, Intimidate, and strong priority moves such as Mach Punch and Sucker Punch. Priority attackers of your own pair well with Alakazam to finish off Pokemon that it barely misses KOs on, such as Latios and Jellicent. Helping Hand users also enable Alakazam to OHKO Latios and Choice Scarf Jellicent with Shadow Ball. Tailwind support can allow Alakazam to outspeed almost everything, including all common Choice Scarf users.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Alakazam has a vast movepool and several decent abilities, giving it plenty of possible options to run. A Choice Scarf allows even Modest Alakazam to reach a staggering Speed of 258, which outpaces Choice Scarf users with base 102 Speed or less. If running Choice Scarf, Trick should be used over Protect. Trick can also be used on a Flame Orb set to cripple the physical attackers that Alakazam hates. In terms of other attacking options, Hidden Power Ice secures super effective coverage on Dragon-types such as Garchomp and Salamence, and also hits Thundurus and Zapdos hard. Energy Ball and Grass Knot are other offensive options to hit Water- and Ground-types, along with the likes of Jellicent and Tyranitar. Telekinesis Alakazam pairs well with users of Zap Cannon, Inferno, and DynamicPunch, such as Porygon-Z, Chandelure, and Metagross. Gravity has a similar effect, except that it affects the whole field and renders all opponents vulnerable to Ground-types moves. Thunder Wave and Swagger are good status-inducing moves that allow slower teammates to outspeed and possibly KO the opponent. Alakazam can also run support moves such as Light Screen, Reflect, Safeguard, and Taunt; however, this can be better done by many other Pokemon, such as Cresselia and Sableye. Ally Switch is a neat move that can allow Alakazam to switch out its partner and absorb Will-O-Wisp or a resisted hit. Skill Swap may uses with Pokemon such as Slaking and Regigigas, but it is highly situational in order for it to work properly.</p>
<p>Inner Focus can prevent Fake Out from leaving Alakazam vulnerable for one turn. With Inner Focus, Alakazam also regains access to Move Tutor moves from previous generations, such as Counter, Signal Beam, and Role Play. However, these moves are not very significant, making Magic Guard a better overall choice.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Physical priority moves such as Bullet Punch and Sucker Punch are the bane of Alakazam’s existence, as they hit it on its weaker Defense stat and potentially break its Focus Sash. Pokemon such as Scizor, Tyranitar, and Escavalier can be very problematic if Alakazam lacks Focus Blast. The blisteringly fast Alakazam absolutely hates Trick Room, where the vast majority of the metagame outspeeds it. Thunder Wave users also cripple Alakazam's sweeping abilities by cutting its tremendous Speed stat to nothing and potentially leaving it fully paralyzed. Weavile is a good check that can easily outspeed Alakazam and OHKO with Night Slash.</p>
