[Overview]
<p>With every passing generation, the once mighty Alakazam seemed to slip more and more off of its perch, as a result of the various additions to the game that restrained its mighty prowess, forcing its usage down, until it finally was left in UU in the DPP era. It could have slipped even further, had it not recieved one of the best abilities in the game: Magic Guard. Alakazam is one of very few Pokemon who receive this ability, and is possibly one of the best users of it, thanks to its incredible Special Attack and Speed, which allow it to outspeed much of the unboosted metagame and take out a sizeable portion of it in one or two hits. Alakazam also has a decent support movepool to work with, including Encore, Light Screen, Reflect, and even Trick.</p>
<p>However, even though Alakazam is greatly enhanced thanks to Magic Guard, it still falls prey to the weaknesses that have always plagued it. Its Defense and HP stats are a major hindrance, forcing it to switch out of just about any moderately powerful physical attack. As such, users of priority can really mess with Alakazam, bypassing its excellent Speed and taking it out if it's not holding a Focus Sash. However, this is quite possibly Alakazam's only real drawback, so if you can get around it, you can go to town with Alakazam and wreak absolute havoc.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Substitute / Calm Mind / Grass Knot
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With or without a Life Orb, Alakazam has amazing potential as a sweeper thanks to its stellar Speed and incredibly powerful Special Attack, tied for the second highest in UU. Combine this with excellent coverage and the possibility to set up in the opponent's face, and you have yourself a very mighty weapon, with very few equals.</p>
<p>Psychic is Alakazam's STAB move of choice, and while it doesn't have the best coverage, it still can easily take out many Pokemon that aren't too specially defensive in one or two hits. Shadow Ball backs Psychic quite nicely, hitting pesky Ghost-types for super effective damage and nailing other Psychic-types such as Cresselia and Azelf. Focus Blast along with Shadow Ball gives Alakazam neutral coverage on every Pokemon in the game, allowing it to hit Steel- and Dark-types very hard. The last moveslot depends entirely on how you want Alakazam to function. Substitute allows Alakazam to scout for any incoming counters and deal with them accordingly, as well as easing any prediction required with Alakazam and putting more offensive pressure on the opponent. Calm Mind allows Alakazam to attain a monstrous 553 Special Attack after one turn of set up while also boosting its decent Special Defense. After a Calm Mind boost, Alakazam can obtain several nice KOs. For example, with a Calm Mind boost and a Life Orb, Alakazam OHKOes all standard Rhyperior spreads with Focus Blast, which would otherwise usually 2HKO. Lastly, Grass Knot allows Alakazam to soundly smack most bulky Water-types, and also gives a harder hit on Donphan and Rhyperior, among others.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs here are relatively simple - maxing out Special Attack and Speed makes Alakazam as fast and as powerful as possible. Life Orb is perfect for Alakazam, giving it a nice power boost with no recoil at all thanks to Magic Guard. Focus Sash is also an interesting item, letting Alakazam attack or set up in the face of an otherwise very bad situation. It can also abuse Focus Sash without worries about opposing weather or entry hazards, which would break the Focus Sash of most other Pokemon. However, keep in mind that you should probably not be using Substitute in tandem with Focus Sash, as Substitute will just make your item useless.</p>
<p>Regarding any additional changes, Psyshock is an interesting STAB move to use, bypassing many special walls and hitting their weaker side. However, it is also weaker than Psychic, and it gives Alakazam a much tougher time against many Pokemon who are mostly physically defensive. As an additional note, Alakazam still can't even 2HKO Chansey with Life Orb. Considering this is the main reason many other Pokemon such as Azelf run Psyshock, there really isn't a point in using it. However, you can 2HKO it fairly reliably if Alakazam is carrying Choice Specs, making it a fairly interesting option. However, Life Orb is almost always the better option, as it provides nearly the same amount of power with no drawbacks.</p>
<p>Alakazam greatly appreciates any entry hazard support it can recieve, both to get some KOs over the hump and to rack up residual damage thanks to the amount of switching Alakazam often causes. Rhyperior is a neat example, being able to tank just about any super effective hit for Alakazam while also setting up Stealth Rock to help its own offensive endavors, as well as the team as a whole. Alakazam also greatly appreciates teammates who can tank any physical hit for it, as it certainly can't survive most on its own. Finally, Alakazam appreciates incredibly hard hitters to smash through opposing walls, allowing Alakazam to sweep that much easier. Choice Band Darmanitan is a good example, smashing through just about anything in the tier in two hits and allowing Alakazam to clean up in the aftermath.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Alakazam has access to a plethora of support moves which it can use to good effect. It has access to both Reflect and Light Screen, making a support set possible. However, there are both better users of said strategy and better reason to use Alakazam on the whole as opposed to just taking advantage of its Speed. Encore is a legitimate option on the main set, as it gives Alakazam some leeway in prediction, especially if it can come in on something that doesn't threaten it or lock a slower opponent into a move that poses no threat. This way, Alakazam can force a switch, accumulating hazard damage. You can use Trick as well, taking advantage of the fact that Alakazam is not affected by the negative affects of status. Alakazam can run Trick with Flame Orb to both protect itself from more threatening status conditions, notably sleep and paralysis, as well as possibly crippling an incoming physical attacker. Lastly, it may seem like an interesting option to run Counter while holding a Focus Sash, but the key reason why such a thing would be viable, Magic Guard, is illegal with Counter.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Usually the most effective way to take care of Alakazam is to take advantage of its Defense stat, which leaves it very vulnerable to just about any physical attack. With that in mind, if you can get a faster physical attacker in on a revenge kill or on a predicted attack, you can dispatch of Alakazam quite easily. Weavile might be one of the best checks to Alakazam, as it outspeeds it, and can force mindgames with Night Slash and Pursuit. Pokemon that can play mindgames with Alakazam due to the threat of both Sucker Punch and Pursuit, such as Houndoom, are generally good checks to Alakazam. Physical priority is something you don't want to leave Alakazam in on, so Pokemon that can take advantage of that are excellent revenge killers. However, if you cannot fit an offensive check to Alakazam, there are a few things that are capable of surviving several hits from it. Chansey is probably the best example out there, being able to take just about any hit from Alakazam, actually 3HKOing it with Seismic Toss. Cresselia also works, though it usually has to watch out for a boosted Shadow Ball.</p>
