[OVERVIEW]
Alakazam is one of the best Pokemon in the metagame. It's the fastest unboosted Pokemon in the entire tier, outspeeding even Latios and Keldeo. Its strength and many coverage options in Focus Blast, Grass Knot, Signal Beam, and Hidden Power Ice let it threaten many common Pokemon, being especially destructive alongside Spikes, which quickly wears down Pokemon that can take these attacks. Encore and Thunder Wave allow it to punish defensive and offensive answers that could otherwise set up on it, like Calm Mind Reuniclus and Volcarona lacking Lum Berry. Lastly, Magic Guard enables an extremely reliable Focus Sash set that can revenge kill or cripple any one threat, beating Tyranitar if it hits Focus Blast twice. It can even run Life Orb without recoil to become a stronger wallbreaker that rips through defensive teams without as much need for prior damage. However, Alakazam can struggle to break through the opposing team without prior damage, especially if running Focus Sash, due to many Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, and Latios taking at least one hit to consume its Focus Sash or OHKO. It can also be properly walled if running the wrong coverage move, like by Reuniclus if lacking Signal Beam or Shadow Ball, Gastrodon if not running Grass Knot, and Gliscor if lacking Hidden Power Ice. It's also quite vulnerable to Pursuit from Chople Berry Tyranitar and Scizor, especially the former if Alakazam lacks or misses Focus Blast.
[SET]
name: Attacker
move 1: Psychic / Psyshock
move 2: Hidden Power Ice / Grass Knot
move 3: Focus Blast / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Encore / Thunder Wave / Shadow Ball / Signal Beam
item: Focus Sash / Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Psyshock can be used over Psychic to better damage Pokemon like specially defensive Politoed, specially defensive Rotom-W, and Volcarona while also OHKOing Terrakion in sand and Tentacruel after Stealth Rock. Hidden Power Ice lets Alakazam threaten Pokemon like Gliscor, Landorus-T, Dragonite, Garchomp, and Latios. Focus Blast hits Tyranitar and Steel-types like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Excadrill. Grass Knot is a good alternative to hit Jellicent and Gastrodon harder, accurately KO Mamoswine, and more reliably wear down Tyranitar, especially Chople Berry sets, on the switch. Hidden Power Fire can be run with Grass Knot to hit Jirachi, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor harder than Focus Blast, maintain coverage for most other Steel-types, and have better accuracy and PP. However, it also makes Heatran a complete wall, does less damage to Excadrill and Magnezone, and makes Alakazam run an imperfect Speed IV, leaving it outsped by opposing Alakazam lacking the move. Encore punishes Pokemon like Reuniclus, Gliscor, and Politoed for using status or setup moves, which can turn the momentum of the game. Thunder Wave is more geared towards punishing offensive threats, crippling Pokemon like Volcarona and Dragonite lacking Lum Berry while also beating other Alakazam. Encore and Thunder Wave should only be used with Focus Sash for reliability. Shadow Ball and Signal Beam hit Psychic-types like Reuniclus, Starmie, and Slowking hard, with Signal Beam hitting Celebi and Tyranitar harder, while Shadow Ball hits Jellicent. Life Orb sets can use Substitute to punish switches and block revenge killers.
Set Details
========
A Timid nature is used to outspeed common Pokemon like Latios, Choice Scarf Tyranitar, Starmie, and Keldeo. Focus Sash is the preferred item to make Alakazam much more consistent, better enable support moves, and beat Chople Berry Tyranitar with a Focus Blast 2HKO. Life Orb can be used on teams that don't need support moves and can handle most revenge killers, giving Alakazam enough power to 2HKO specially defensive Rotom-W, Bold Politoed, and Jellicent after Stealth Rock and KO common Pokemon that pivot into it, like Heatran and Latios, with less prior damage.
Team Options
========
Alakazam fits on sand teams that utilize Spikes, benefitting greatly from them wearing down many of its checks, while these teams appreciate its Speed and Focus Sash safety net. Tyranitar sets sand, sets Stealth Rock with a Chople Berry set, and offers Pursuit to break other Alakazam's Focus Sash and trap Reuniclus and Jellicent. It can also wear down and punish potential checks like Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Skarmory with Fire Blast. Alakazam works very well alongside other Psychic-types like Reuniclus and Latios, since they can overwhelm their shared checks, mainly Tyranitar, Heatran, and Ferrothorn. BoltBeam Reuniclus can easily sweep late-game once Alakazam wears down Tyranitar and Excadrill, while Reuniclus can more reliably counter Pokemon like Gliscor and Ferrothorn and wears down Pokemon like Skarmory and Politoed. Latios switches into Water- and Grass-types like Keldeo, Politoed, and Breloom, with Colbur Berry Latios wearing down shared Psychic-type checks particularly well, forcing entry hazard damage with Roar and hitting Chople Berry Tyranitar into KO range of Focus Blast or Grass Knot. This preserves Alakazam's Focus Sash. Ferrothorn and Skarmory can set up Spikes and provide key defensive utility. Ferrothorn can switch into Dragon-types like Latios and Dragonite lacking Fire Punch and Superpower, as well as Water-types like Starmie and Politoed, and further wear down the opponent's team with Stealth Rock and Knock Off. Skarmory counters Dragonite lacking Fire Punch, Scizor, and Ground-types like Excadrill, Gliscor, and Landorus-T. Fighting-types like Keldeo, Breloom, and Terrakion can take out Steel-types and Tyranitar while also wearing down Pokemon like Gastrodon and Rotom-W so Alakazam can more easily sweep. Alakazam can keep Calm Mind Reuniclus from setting up on them with Encore. Ground-types like Gliscor, Gastrodon, Landorus-T, and Excadrill check Tyranitar and Steel-types like Heatran, Jirachi, and Excadrill and provide various forms of support. Gliscor can provide Stealth Rock and Knock Off to wear down switch-ins and bring Alakazam onto the field safely with U-turn, Gastrodon checks Electric- and Water-types like Thundurus-T and Politoed, Excadrill pressures Reuniclus and checks Electric- and Dragon-types, and Landorus-T can set Stealth Rock and pivot Alakazam in safely with U-turn. Heatran can set up Stealth Rock, spread status, check Dragon- and Steel-types like Latios and Ferrothorn, and wear down Tyranitar. It benefits from Alakazam revenge killing Fighting-types like Terrakion, Breloom, and Keldeo and punishing Pokemon that can set up on it, like Dragonite and Reuniclus.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Knock Off can punish switch-ins like Jirachi, Rotom-W, and Ferrothorn by removing their passive recovery, letting Alakazam and its Psychic-type partners more easily overwhelm them with entry hazards up. However, these Pokemon can usually be worn down regardless. Psych Up in tandem with Psyshock and Focus Sash beats Calm Mind Reuniclus and can sweep hyper offense teams by copying Quiver Dance boosts from Volcarona. However, it's unlikely to be useful, since many hyper offense teams have priority moves to revenge kill Alakazam back. Taunt prevents recovery and support moves from Pokemon like Reuniclus, Skarmory, and Gastrodon, allowing Alakazam to keep them at low health and finish them off itself or let a partner pressure them later. However, most of the Pokemon Alakazam would use Taunt on fear its coverage and can attack it back after being inflicted with Taunt. Encore also already punishes these utility moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Pursuit**: Chople Berry Tyranitar can take any one hit from Alakazam and Pursuit trap it to at least break its Focus Sash. However, it will go down if Focus Sash Alakazam hits Focus Blast twice and is worn down by Grass Knot. It also tends to get weakened by Latios and Reuniclus, making it unable to take Focus Blast. Scizor is able to take a hit and Pursuit trap Alakazam to break its Focus Sash, even outspeeding it with Bullet Punch or if running Choice Scarf. However, Focus Blast can 2HKO it without bulk investment and Hidden Power Fire OHKOes.
**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: Choice Scarf users like Keldeo, Latios, Landorus-T, Rotom-W, and Scizor can break Alakazam's Focus Sash and KO if it's already broken. Garchomp can get around Alakazam's Focus Sash with Dual Chop, while Landorus-T and Rotom-W can break the Focus Sash and switch out with their pivot moves to revenge kill Alakazam later. Priority users like Dragonite and Scizor can also move first and revenge kill it. However, all of these Pokemon can be threatened by coverage and can't KO if Alakazam's Focus Sash is still intact.
**Bulky Pokemon**: Pokemon that can take at least one hit from Alakazam, like Chansey, Cresselia, Rotom-W, Ferrothorn, Heatran, Hippowdon if lacking Grass Knot, and Celebi if lacking Signal Beam, can break its Focus Sash and use it to gain momentum, status it, or set up entry hazards. However, they are easily worn down by entry hazards, sand, and Alakazam's teammates and struggle to come into the Life Orb set consistently.
**Jirachi**: Specially defensive Jirachi can take repeated hits thanks to its bulk, ability to passively recover in sand, and recovery in Wish. However, it can be forced into Wish cycles from entry hazards and Alakazam's common teammates easily wearing it down. Hidden Power Fire and Life Orb variants are especially able to pressure Jirachi.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Ophion, 433215]]
- Quality checked by: [[BlueBirD252, 347088], [Finchinator, 114198]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [CryoGyro, 331519]]
Alakazam is one of the best Pokemon in the metagame. It's the fastest unboosted Pokemon in the entire tier, outspeeding even Latios and Keldeo. Its strength and many coverage options in Focus Blast, Grass Knot, Signal Beam, and Hidden Power Ice let it threaten many common Pokemon, being especially destructive alongside Spikes, which quickly wears down Pokemon that can take these attacks. Encore and Thunder Wave allow it to punish defensive and offensive answers that could otherwise set up on it, like Calm Mind Reuniclus and Volcarona lacking Lum Berry. Lastly, Magic Guard enables an extremely reliable Focus Sash set that can revenge kill or cripple any one threat, beating Tyranitar if it hits Focus Blast twice. It can even run Life Orb without recoil to become a stronger wallbreaker that rips through defensive teams without as much need for prior damage. However, Alakazam can struggle to break through the opposing team without prior damage, especially if running Focus Sash, due to many Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, and Latios taking at least one hit to consume its Focus Sash or OHKO. It can also be properly walled if running the wrong coverage move, like by Reuniclus if lacking Signal Beam or Shadow Ball, Gastrodon if not running Grass Knot, and Gliscor if lacking Hidden Power Ice. It's also quite vulnerable to Pursuit from Chople Berry Tyranitar and Scizor, especially the former if Alakazam lacks or misses Focus Blast.
[SET]
name: Attacker
move 1: Psychic / Psyshock
move 2: Hidden Power Ice / Grass Knot
move 3: Focus Blast / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Encore / Thunder Wave / Shadow Ball / Signal Beam
item: Focus Sash / Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Psyshock can be used over Psychic to better damage Pokemon like specially defensive Politoed, specially defensive Rotom-W, and Volcarona while also OHKOing Terrakion in sand and Tentacruel after Stealth Rock. Hidden Power Ice lets Alakazam threaten Pokemon like Gliscor, Landorus-T, Dragonite, Garchomp, and Latios. Focus Blast hits Tyranitar and Steel-types like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Excadrill. Grass Knot is a good alternative to hit Jellicent and Gastrodon harder, accurately KO Mamoswine, and more reliably wear down Tyranitar, especially Chople Berry sets, on the switch. Hidden Power Fire can be run with Grass Knot to hit Jirachi, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor harder than Focus Blast, maintain coverage for most other Steel-types, and have better accuracy and PP. However, it also makes Heatran a complete wall, does less damage to Excadrill and Magnezone, and makes Alakazam run an imperfect Speed IV, leaving it outsped by opposing Alakazam lacking the move. Encore punishes Pokemon like Reuniclus, Gliscor, and Politoed for using status or setup moves, which can turn the momentum of the game. Thunder Wave is more geared towards punishing offensive threats, crippling Pokemon like Volcarona and Dragonite lacking Lum Berry while also beating other Alakazam. Encore and Thunder Wave should only be used with Focus Sash for reliability. Shadow Ball and Signal Beam hit Psychic-types like Reuniclus, Starmie, and Slowking hard, with Signal Beam hitting Celebi and Tyranitar harder, while Shadow Ball hits Jellicent. Life Orb sets can use Substitute to punish switches and block revenge killers.
Set Details
========
A Timid nature is used to outspeed common Pokemon like Latios, Choice Scarf Tyranitar, Starmie, and Keldeo. Focus Sash is the preferred item to make Alakazam much more consistent, better enable support moves, and beat Chople Berry Tyranitar with a Focus Blast 2HKO. Life Orb can be used on teams that don't need support moves and can handle most revenge killers, giving Alakazam enough power to 2HKO specially defensive Rotom-W, Bold Politoed, and Jellicent after Stealth Rock and KO common Pokemon that pivot into it, like Heatran and Latios, with less prior damage.
Team Options
========
Alakazam fits on sand teams that utilize Spikes, benefitting greatly from them wearing down many of its checks, while these teams appreciate its Speed and Focus Sash safety net. Tyranitar sets sand, sets Stealth Rock with a Chople Berry set, and offers Pursuit to break other Alakazam's Focus Sash and trap Reuniclus and Jellicent. It can also wear down and punish potential checks like Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Skarmory with Fire Blast. Alakazam works very well alongside other Psychic-types like Reuniclus and Latios, since they can overwhelm their shared checks, mainly Tyranitar, Heatran, and Ferrothorn. BoltBeam Reuniclus can easily sweep late-game once Alakazam wears down Tyranitar and Excadrill, while Reuniclus can more reliably counter Pokemon like Gliscor and Ferrothorn and wears down Pokemon like Skarmory and Politoed. Latios switches into Water- and Grass-types like Keldeo, Politoed, and Breloom, with Colbur Berry Latios wearing down shared Psychic-type checks particularly well, forcing entry hazard damage with Roar and hitting Chople Berry Tyranitar into KO range of Focus Blast or Grass Knot. This preserves Alakazam's Focus Sash. Ferrothorn and Skarmory can set up Spikes and provide key defensive utility. Ferrothorn can switch into Dragon-types like Latios and Dragonite lacking Fire Punch and Superpower, as well as Water-types like Starmie and Politoed, and further wear down the opponent's team with Stealth Rock and Knock Off. Skarmory counters Dragonite lacking Fire Punch, Scizor, and Ground-types like Excadrill, Gliscor, and Landorus-T. Fighting-types like Keldeo, Breloom, and Terrakion can take out Steel-types and Tyranitar while also wearing down Pokemon like Gastrodon and Rotom-W so Alakazam can more easily sweep. Alakazam can keep Calm Mind Reuniclus from setting up on them with Encore. Ground-types like Gliscor, Gastrodon, Landorus-T, and Excadrill check Tyranitar and Steel-types like Heatran, Jirachi, and Excadrill and provide various forms of support. Gliscor can provide Stealth Rock and Knock Off to wear down switch-ins and bring Alakazam onto the field safely with U-turn, Gastrodon checks Electric- and Water-types like Thundurus-T and Politoed, Excadrill pressures Reuniclus and checks Electric- and Dragon-types, and Landorus-T can set Stealth Rock and pivot Alakazam in safely with U-turn. Heatran can set up Stealth Rock, spread status, check Dragon- and Steel-types like Latios and Ferrothorn, and wear down Tyranitar. It benefits from Alakazam revenge killing Fighting-types like Terrakion, Breloom, and Keldeo and punishing Pokemon that can set up on it, like Dragonite and Reuniclus.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Knock Off can punish switch-ins like Jirachi, Rotom-W, and Ferrothorn by removing their passive recovery, letting Alakazam and its Psychic-type partners more easily overwhelm them with entry hazards up. However, these Pokemon can usually be worn down regardless. Psych Up in tandem with Psyshock and Focus Sash beats Calm Mind Reuniclus and can sweep hyper offense teams by copying Quiver Dance boosts from Volcarona. However, it's unlikely to be useful, since many hyper offense teams have priority moves to revenge kill Alakazam back. Taunt prevents recovery and support moves from Pokemon like Reuniclus, Skarmory, and Gastrodon, allowing Alakazam to keep them at low health and finish them off itself or let a partner pressure them later. However, most of the Pokemon Alakazam would use Taunt on fear its coverage and can attack it back after being inflicted with Taunt. Encore also already punishes these utility moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Pursuit**: Chople Berry Tyranitar can take any one hit from Alakazam and Pursuit trap it to at least break its Focus Sash. However, it will go down if Focus Sash Alakazam hits Focus Blast twice and is worn down by Grass Knot. It also tends to get weakened by Latios and Reuniclus, making it unable to take Focus Blast. Scizor is able to take a hit and Pursuit trap Alakazam to break its Focus Sash, even outspeeding it with Bullet Punch or if running Choice Scarf. However, Focus Blast can 2HKO it without bulk investment and Hidden Power Fire OHKOes.
**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: Choice Scarf users like Keldeo, Latios, Landorus-T, Rotom-W, and Scizor can break Alakazam's Focus Sash and KO if it's already broken. Garchomp can get around Alakazam's Focus Sash with Dual Chop, while Landorus-T and Rotom-W can break the Focus Sash and switch out with their pivot moves to revenge kill Alakazam later. Priority users like Dragonite and Scizor can also move first and revenge kill it. However, all of these Pokemon can be threatened by coverage and can't KO if Alakazam's Focus Sash is still intact.
**Bulky Pokemon**: Pokemon that can take at least one hit from Alakazam, like Chansey, Cresselia, Rotom-W, Ferrothorn, Heatran, Hippowdon if lacking Grass Knot, and Celebi if lacking Signal Beam, can break its Focus Sash and use it to gain momentum, status it, or set up entry hazards. However, they are easily worn down by entry hazards, sand, and Alakazam's teammates and struggle to come into the Life Orb set consistently.
**Jirachi**: Specially defensive Jirachi can take repeated hits thanks to its bulk, ability to passively recover in sand, and recovery in Wish. However, it can be forced into Wish cycles from entry hazards and Alakazam's common teammates easily wearing it down. Hidden Power Fire and Life Orb variants are especially able to pressure Jirachi.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Ophion, 433215]]
- Quality checked by: [[BlueBirD252, 347088], [Finchinator, 114198]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [CryoGyro, 331519]]
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