It really depends on what you have trouble with. HP Fire is a guaranteed way past Scizor (assuming you still have your Sash), while Dazzling Gleam helps with Dragons.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Pokémon Alakazam
- Thread starter Gary
- Start date
- Status
Hidden power ice only drops attack and defense. Fire on the other hand does indeed drop speed
I have a set for mega zam:
Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
this set is the anti skarmory, and forrtress. Come in when they set up hazards, mega evolve to gain sturdy, and use hidden power. sturdy acts as a focus sash, and any hazards already set up won't damage him on the switch in. The other moves are for sweeping.
PS. I use this cause almost everyone I know uses one of those 2. Also is foul play good on zam?
Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
this set is the anti skarmory, and forrtress. Come in when they set up hazards, mega evolve to gain sturdy, and use hidden power. sturdy acts as a focus sash, and any hazards already set up won't damage him on the switch in. The other moves are for sweeping.
PS. I use this cause almost everyone I know uses one of those 2. Also is foul play good on zam?
Last edited:
If Skarm stay in, HP Fire does 85% while it will either BB you down to 30% or set up another layer of hazards. Forretress is brought down to 1 HP but like Skarm, it will get another layer of hazards. Most of the time tho, they will switch out to a counter. So I don't think it's anti anything. Also, that set leaves you helpless again Chansey, Blissey and Tyranitar. Switch to Psyshock and change Dazzing Gleam to Focus Blast. Foul Play is used when sth has no offense potential and Alakazam is not one of those Poke, don't waste a moveslot on it.
Not really. A good player would probably just shadowball to eat yours in shield form and then finish you off with shadow sneak.
252+ SpA Mega Alakazam Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 170-200 (64.8 - 76.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Mega evolving Alakazam. You have to time the mega evolution just right and, if you get a good ability, It's hard to stop. It also bluffs the Focus sash really well.
I don"t think. Dazzling gleam is viable as the only coverage it really gives you is dragon types and hitting dark types weaker than Focus blast. It could be used over Focus blast on a Calm mind set (which isn't that good) or a Substititute attacking set though.
I don"t think. Dazzling gleam is viable as the only coverage it really gives you is dragon types and hitting dark types weaker than Focus blast. It could be used over Focus blast on a Calm mind set (which isn't that good) or a Substititute attacking set though.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogondoubles-103847033 this is how i run my alakazam any thoughts or opinions on how i could make this better
Just thought I'd mention that based on in-game experience(less than ideal, but it's mostly what I have), my Cresselia(non-EV trained(some EV's but not in any strategic way), modest nature, average IVs; I'm fairly new to competitive battlinig, so I didn't know what EV training was when I captured her) completely walled my friend's Mega-Alakazam(EV trained in Sp.Atk and Speed, Timid nature, average IVs). Cresselia would have been barely 3HKO'd by supereffective shadow ball, and had moonlight and dual screens to further increase its walling ability. Cresselia's 4th move was Ice Beam, which hit decently hard on MegaZam, so I think that it is safe to say that Cresselia could sort of serve as a check to this Mega. Granted, Cresselia walls virtually everything not named Mega Mewtwo or Arceus(there's probably a couple more, but idk right now), but I believe that this needed a mention. Cresselia could also Toxic the Mega once it loses Magic Guard and watch it slowly die to residual damage.
Zam is a revenge killer. It is often walled by a lot Pokemon. Cress isn't that great in OU for anything other than dual screens because of its psychic typing. Believe me when I say that cress gets obliterated by a lot of Pokemon outside of the two you mentioned, and rarely needs to be revenge killed, so cress has to switch in on megazam. Megazam is also well known as an underwhelming Mega, so like cress being koed by a lot of Pokemon, alakazam is also walled by a lot of Pokemon.
so ive been thinking about prevalent OU threats and what not and I was thinking that bisharp likes to sucker punch things...alot. So if you could switch alakazam with focus sash in on a bisharp sucker punch then encore him into that and eitehr set up a sub or start setting up calm minds, I think that could be an interesting tactic. I mean you could easily stall bisharp out of sucker punch and OHKO with hp fire or hell even dazzling gleam if you boosted enough. But the overall point is I am thinking a very good way to use alakazam is for him to utilize encore. Im working on a set, but its movepool is limited so im thinking something like this
Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Encore
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
It does suck that he loses alot of coverage but I just think there are plenty of times he could switch in on a status or sucker punch and get a free turn to set up with, the moves could be different maybe hp fire or something, but Ive rambled on enough let me know what you guys think
Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Encore
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
It does suck that he loses alot of coverage but I just think there are plenty of times he could switch in on a status or sucker punch and get a free turn to set up with, the moves could be different maybe hp fire or something, but Ive rambled on enough let me know what you guys think
If you are going to utilize sub, I recommend a life orb intead of focus sash. It allows alakzam to hit even harder with no recoil and you already intend to break the focus sash anyway.
HypnoEmpire
Yokatta...
Mega Gengar and Mega Lucario are banned from Overused. This should be updated. Also, I think Calm Mind at least deserves a slash on the Mega Alakazam set, as it is faster than most pokemon and can absorb a special attack or two at +1. As you said, Alakazam after a boost is VERY scary. Just my opinion.
HypnoEmpire
Yokatta...
Dazzling Gleam is a good alternative to Focus Blast of you don't want to risk a miss, and due to it having 70 accuracy, it's a viable choice.
I run this MegaAlakazam:
Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Disable
- Psychic
- Recover / Substitute / Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
Im actually running Recover, but I think Substitute will complete the Disable combo for the opponent`s attack that would OHKO you.
And gives you that turn where the mega-stats work perfectly (Because the stats upgrade the next turn you megaevolved, right??)
Shadow ball it would be for Ghost coverage (but Psychic is great for Gengar and MGengar, the 2 most popular ghost types)
Psychic for smashing and Dazzling Gleam gives you Dark and Dragon coverage (that populars Garchomp, Weaknite, Sableye)
Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Disable
- Psychic
- Recover / Substitute / Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
Im actually running Recover, but I think Substitute will complete the Disable combo for the opponent`s attack that would OHKO you.
And gives you that turn where the mega-stats work perfectly (Because the stats upgrade the next turn you megaevolved, right??)
Shadow ball it would be for Ghost coverage (but Psychic is great for Gengar and MGengar, the 2 most popular ghost types)
Psychic for smashing and Dazzling Gleam gives you Dark and Dragon coverage (that populars Garchomp, Weaknite, Sableye)
I like the idea lot and its definitely different, however i feel like Gengar runs the sub disable set better on paper. M-Alakazam has better special attack and speed, but Gengar has the superior typing for a sub/disable set. The immunity to fighting, normal and ground moves is what makes this set on Gengar so dangerous. I don't want to say Disable M-Alakazam is unviable bc Ive never tried it myself, but do you have any replays on PS of it doing well?
Edit:I could see Trace being an advantage for disable sets for tracing abilities like water absorb/flash fire/levitate etc however. Didn't think of that at first, BUT i'd still run Taunt over Disable any day, specifically Taunt +3 attacks
Last edited:
Hmmm... I think it deserves a comment this far into the meta. Alakazam barely gets used at all, let alone its Mega form. This is all due to Aegislash and its Shadow Sneak which destroys any Zam bar a Focus Sasher. The bulk is not changed with the mega evo so it stands to reason it's not used. Focus Sash Zam could still provice a nice counter to Aegislash if it used HP Fire, but then it would be dropped next turn by another priority user, that's likely why people don't use it. I remember it being a very hard unboosted hitter back in BW2, but the current environment is more saturated with priority attacks than ever, so Zam doesn't really have an easy time existing here. Plus, Greninja has pretty much replaced it in its former role, and it arguably does it better thanks to Protean.
I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM
formerly Smog Frog
fren
4 Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Alakazam: 176-210 (69.8 - 83.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
also only 3 priorities KO zam:LO shadow sneak from aegis, sucker punch, and brave bird. not bad imo, for something made out to be a wet paper bag.
Well, I'll admit Alakasam can sometimes surprise with its resilience, like when we fully expect it to die and it survives with quite a bit of health left. I remember using it to really good success in the 5th gen, be it with Life Orb or with Focus Sash. Come to think that many people were so stupid they didn't use Bullet Punch right off the bat with Scizor, which meant instant doom due to HP Fire. With Focus Sash Scizor is doomed anyway, so Alakazam is by all means a good Scizor removal tool, hehe.
So is this thing good at emulating Deoxy-S' revenge killing set?
I've seen Alakazam-Mega with the Protect-Disable Moveset , which is initially used to take out Scarfed Pokes.
Such a set is pretty risky all-round and will probably need a great deal of prediction.
However, I thought of adding it here in this thread as it has not be done so already. Comments is appreciated.
(I don't use it anyway, but i can see some potential)
Such a set is pretty risky all-round and will probably need a great deal of prediction.
However, I thought of adding it here in this thread as it has not be done so already. Comments is appreciated.
(I don't use it anyway, but i can see some potential)
I use Alakazam with the life orb and magic guard,without recoil!I never use the focus sash because Alakazam can kill Ferrothorn with Focusblast 0ko(if focus blast don't miss)!
I hate Ferrothorn!Now I remember the hp Fire for it and Scizor!
That base 175 Sp. Atk tho.......
TheLazySnorlax ikr I always wanna carry some kind of Fire or Fighting type move SPECIFICALLY for Ferrothorn.
Give MegaKazam Modest Nature, and I guess it's even better or tied with the LO set. Both die to Priority moves since both don't carry FS. MegaKazam hits stronger as well, but it does take your Mega Slot. LO Kazam on the other hand, doesn't take damage from hazards and Burns and Posion and such, but it is still outsped by Mega Gengar, and still dies to priority. The Sash also has it's ups and downs. I'd say all three sets are "balanced" in a way.
- Status