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Original thread found here
#286 - Breloom
"The Mushroom Pokemon"
Base stats
Breloom: 60 HP / 130 Atk / 80 Def / 60 SpAtk / 60 SpDef / 70 Spe [BST: 460]
Abilities
Effect Spore - If the Effect Spore user is hit by a contact move, it has a 30% chance to either poison, paralyze, or induce sleep on the opponent.
Poison Heal - The user does not take damage from poison or badly poisoned conditions and instead heals 1/8th of its maximum HP when poisoned or badly poisoned.
Technician (H) - Increases the power of the user's moves by 1.5x if the base power is 60 or less.
Notable moves
(bold indicates STAB; italicized indicates a status move)
Overview
Breloom has stayed in OU for a long time ever since its debut in ADV. Breloom's base 130 Attack stat is decent for a physical attacker. Its access to Poison Heal allows it to use a Toxic Orb in order to not only recover 1/8th of its HP per turn, but also grants a pseudo-immunity to status, allowing it to stallbreak and also switch in on Scald and status moves such as Will-o-Wisp and Thunder Wave. In BW, Breloom has been granted a privilege - a new ability in the form of Technician, boosting its priority STAB Mach Punch to 60 BP. Not only that, it's the most popular abuser of its STAB Bullet Seed, reaching a maximum of 187.5 BP provided it hits five times. One thing that makes Breloom unique from the other offensive Pokemon is that it has access to Spore, a sleep-inducing move having 100% accuracy able to induce sleep on a wide range of threats and switch-ins bar Grass-types and Pokemon with Overcoat. However, Breloom is not without its flaws. Its bad defensive typing leaves it weak to common attacking moves such as Fairy-, Ice-, Fire-type moves, and also Birdspam. Additionally, its bad defensive typing is tied with its poor bulk, which gives Breloom a hard time to come in. Its speed tier isn't that great either, having a lackluster base 70 speed tier leaves it reliant on Mach Punch to get past offensive threats. Lastly, Breloom suffers from 4MSS, as it either has to forego a boosting move, coverage, or even the utility Spore in some cases.
Relevant Movesets:
Sash Technician + 3 Attacks
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Tomb
- Spore
SashLoom ensures that Breloom can guarantee a Spore up or outright win 1v1 against certain Pokemon such as Talonflame and Volcarona. It also offsets Breloom's terrible defenses somewhat. Mach Punch is your mandatory STAB priority, allowing it to get past offensive Pokemon. Bullet Seed is Breloom's most powerful STAB, and boosted by Technician, it can reach up to 187.5 BP after five hits. Rock Tomb is your means of hitting Flying-types such as Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Staraptor, regular Gyarados, and Dragonite as well as Fire-types who resist Breloom's dual STABs such as Volcarona and Mega Charizard-Y. Rock Tomb can also punish switches by lowering the opponent's speed by one stage. Spore is what makes Breloom a fearsome threat, as it puts the opponent to sleep, therefore incapacitate them for the majority of the match. However, because the effects of sleep is powerful, Sleep Clause was implemented in order to put only one opponent to sleep, so it is required for you to think wisely on which target to incapacitate. Jolly nature is used on this set, as it is highly important to outspeed Adamant Bisharp who otherwise can kill Breloom with a +2 Sucker Punch after prior damage, as well as outspeeding Adamant Gyarados, and neutral-natured based 80s such as Dragonite and Mega Altaria.
SashLoom can be played early-game as an anti-lead, having a decent matchup against some leads and anti-leads such as Heatran, Rotom-W, Terrakion, and Hippowdon and inducing Spore on switch-ins or the opposing lead outright (i.e. Garchomp) if you think that you can't KO it straight. SashLoom can also be played midgame in order to revenge kill opponents with Mach Punch, or put the opponent in a tough situation where they are required to sleep sack one of their Pokemon when they have about 3 to 4 Pokemon left. Do note that the sash is vulnerable to sand, so only send it out during the sandstorm if necessary. Also since you're running Focus Sash, hazard removal and VoltTurn support is appreciated in order to keep your sash intact.
Technician Swords Dance
Breloom @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Spore
Swords Dance Technician differs from the Technician + 3 Attacks set by sacrificing coverage for a set-up move, providing sweeping and wallbreaking power. Mach Punch and Bullet Seed are used for the same reason as the Technician + 3 Attacks set. Spore allows you to incapacitate one of the opponents for the majority of the match, racking up free turns to set up a Swords Dance. Life Orb increases Breloom's damage output, therefore gaining certain OHKOes such as offensive variants of Excadrill at +0 and Mega Diancie after SR at +2. However, Focus Sash can also be opted in order to guarantee a Spore or ensure that you KO a certain threat before Breloom faints. Then again, Jolly should be opted for the same reasons as the above set.
For a few samples, here are a few calcs showing crucial KOs that Life Orb can attain:
Poison Heal + Swords Dance
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch / Superpower
- Seed Bomb
- Facade / Spore
Poison Heal + SD tackles a more stallbreaking approach on Breloom. Poison Heal prevents the user from taking poison damage and instead gain 1/8th of its max HP per turn when poisoned, and also granting a pseudo-immunity to status conditions once Toxic Orb kicks up. As such, it is possible to switch in better on incoming Scald attacks. Drain Punch is your second form of recovery, healing off some of your HP without being too overreliant from Poison Heal. Superpower is an alternative if extra power is desired, though the drop in Attack and Defense as well as the lack of recovery from Drain Punch might be distasteful, however. Seed Bomb is your second STAB, allowing Breloom to muscle past bulky Water-types. Facade rounds up Breloom's neutral coverage, being able to hit targets that resist its dual STABs such as Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria. However, Spore is an alternative over Facade, sacrificing neutral coverage for the ability to put an opponent to sleep, leaving the target set-up fodder for Breloom. 12 HP EVs hit a Poison Heal number, allowing yourself to maximize healing by making your HP an interval of 8. Again, Jolly nature should be used as to outspeed important targets such as neutral-natured Mega Altaria and Gyarados.
Other Options
A Choice Band set with Technician as your ability and Mach Punch / Bullet Seed / Rock Tomb / Force Palm as your moves can be opted, increasing its damage output to fearsome levels, even breaking past 252 HP / 252 Def+ Mega Slowbro.
A Leech Seed / Defensive set with Poison Heal can be opted, though Breloom's bulk is somewhat mediocre and loses out on the offensive pressure it wants.
Substitute eases prediction and shields you from status moves while being able to safely hit targets such as Talonflame, Volcarona, and Mega Altaria behind your Substitute.
A Substitute + Focus Punch set with Poison Heal can be opted as well.
Conclusion
Breloom is a threatening Pokemon offensively, having access to Spore is what makes it unique from many of the offensive threats, putting the opponent in a tight spot on scenarios where they need to sleep sack one of their Pokemon. Also, its Technician set is deadly having access to STAB priority Mach Punch, a coverage move that lowers the foe's speed in the form of Rock Tomb, as well as the most powerful abuser of STAB Bullet Seed. Due to those, it is hard to be able to switch in on Breloom. In fact, even some of Breloom's checks do not wish to switch in on Breloom, as they fear a Spore or Rock Tomb. Also, having Poison Heal allows Breloom to stallbreak with SD when equipped with Toxic Orb, granting pseudo-immunity to other status conditions. Despite numerous flaws, Breloom is a B+ rank threat that shouldn't be taken lightly.
Feel free to discuss other potential sets and anything else regarding this Pokemon.
Topics to discuss:
Original thread found here
#286 - Breloom
"The Mushroom Pokemon"
Base stats
Breloom: 60 HP / 130 Atk / 80 Def / 60 SpAtk / 60 SpDef / 70 Spe [BST: 460]
Abilities
Effect Spore - If the Effect Spore user is hit by a contact move, it has a 30% chance to either poison, paralyze, or induce sleep on the opponent.
Poison Heal - The user does not take damage from poison or badly poisoned conditions and instead heals 1/8th of its maximum HP when poisoned or badly poisoned.
Technician (H) - Increases the power of the user's moves by 1.5x if the base power is 60 or less.
Notable moves
(bold indicates STAB; italicized indicates a status move)
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Spore
- Rock Tomb
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Superpower
- Force Palm
- Facade
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Power-Up Punch
- Focus Punch
- Leech Seed
Breloom has stayed in OU for a long time ever since its debut in ADV. Breloom's base 130 Attack stat is decent for a physical attacker. Its access to Poison Heal allows it to use a Toxic Orb in order to not only recover 1/8th of its HP per turn, but also grants a pseudo-immunity to status, allowing it to stallbreak and also switch in on Scald and status moves such as Will-o-Wisp and Thunder Wave. In BW, Breloom has been granted a privilege - a new ability in the form of Technician, boosting its priority STAB Mach Punch to 60 BP. Not only that, it's the most popular abuser of its STAB Bullet Seed, reaching a maximum of 187.5 BP provided it hits five times. One thing that makes Breloom unique from the other offensive Pokemon is that it has access to Spore, a sleep-inducing move having 100% accuracy able to induce sleep on a wide range of threats and switch-ins bar Grass-types and Pokemon with Overcoat. However, Breloom is not without its flaws. Its bad defensive typing leaves it weak to common attacking moves such as Fairy-, Ice-, Fire-type moves, and also Birdspam. Additionally, its bad defensive typing is tied with its poor bulk, which gives Breloom a hard time to come in. Its speed tier isn't that great either, having a lackluster base 70 speed tier leaves it reliant on Mach Punch to get past offensive threats. Lastly, Breloom suffers from 4MSS, as it either has to forego a boosting move, coverage, or even the utility Spore in some cases.
Relevant Movesets:
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Tomb
- Spore
SashLoom ensures that Breloom can guarantee a Spore up or outright win 1v1 against certain Pokemon such as Talonflame and Volcarona. It also offsets Breloom's terrible defenses somewhat. Mach Punch is your mandatory STAB priority, allowing it to get past offensive Pokemon. Bullet Seed is Breloom's most powerful STAB, and boosted by Technician, it can reach up to 187.5 BP after five hits. Rock Tomb is your means of hitting Flying-types such as Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Staraptor, regular Gyarados, and Dragonite as well as Fire-types who resist Breloom's dual STABs such as Volcarona and Mega Charizard-Y. Rock Tomb can also punish switches by lowering the opponent's speed by one stage. Spore is what makes Breloom a fearsome threat, as it puts the opponent to sleep, therefore incapacitate them for the majority of the match. However, because the effects of sleep is powerful, Sleep Clause was implemented in order to put only one opponent to sleep, so it is required for you to think wisely on which target to incapacitate. Jolly nature is used on this set, as it is highly important to outspeed Adamant Bisharp who otherwise can kill Breloom with a +2 Sucker Punch after prior damage, as well as outspeeding Adamant Gyarados, and neutral-natured based 80s such as Dragonite and Mega Altaria.
SashLoom can be played early-game as an anti-lead, having a decent matchup against some leads and anti-leads such as Heatran, Rotom-W, Terrakion, and Hippowdon and inducing Spore on switch-ins or the opposing lead outright (i.e. Garchomp) if you think that you can't KO it straight. SashLoom can also be played midgame in order to revenge kill opponents with Mach Punch, or put the opponent in a tough situation where they are required to sleep sack one of their Pokemon when they have about 3 to 4 Pokemon left. Do note that the sash is vulnerable to sand, so only send it out during the sandstorm if necessary. Also since you're running Focus Sash, hazard removal and VoltTurn support is appreciated in order to keep your sash intact.
Breloom @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Spore
Swords Dance Technician differs from the Technician + 3 Attacks set by sacrificing coverage for a set-up move, providing sweeping and wallbreaking power. Mach Punch and Bullet Seed are used for the same reason as the Technician + 3 Attacks set. Spore allows you to incapacitate one of the opponents for the majority of the match, racking up free turns to set up a Swords Dance. Life Orb increases Breloom's damage output, therefore gaining certain OHKOes such as offensive variants of Excadrill at +0 and Mega Diancie after SR at +2. However, Focus Sash can also be opted in order to guarantee a Spore or ensure that you KO a certain threat before Breloom faints. Then again, Jolly should be opted for the same reasons as the above set.
For a few samples, here are a few calcs showing crucial KOs that Life Orb can attain:
+0 Attack
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 385-455 (106.6 - 126%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Tyranitar: 348-411 (86.3 - 101.9%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 385-455 (90.8 - 107.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 210-249 (53.2 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 Attack
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 484-572 (125.7 - 148.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Slowbro: 453-537 (114.9 - 136.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Diancie: 235-278 (97.5 - 115.3%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 343-406 (97.4 - 115.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 277-328 (85.7 - 101.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 385-455 (106.6 - 126%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Tyranitar: 348-411 (86.3 - 101.9%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 385-455 (90.8 - 107.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 210-249 (53.2 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 Attack
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 484-572 (125.7 - 148.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Slowbro: 453-537 (114.9 - 136.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Diancie: 235-278 (97.5 - 115.3%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 343-406 (97.4 - 115.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 277-328 (85.7 - 101.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch / Superpower
- Seed Bomb
- Facade / Spore
Poison Heal + SD tackles a more stallbreaking approach on Breloom. Poison Heal prevents the user from taking poison damage and instead gain 1/8th of its max HP per turn when poisoned, and also granting a pseudo-immunity to status conditions once Toxic Orb kicks up. As such, it is possible to switch in better on incoming Scald attacks. Drain Punch is your second form of recovery, healing off some of your HP without being too overreliant from Poison Heal. Superpower is an alternative if extra power is desired, though the drop in Attack and Defense as well as the lack of recovery from Drain Punch might be distasteful, however. Seed Bomb is your second STAB, allowing Breloom to muscle past bulky Water-types. Facade rounds up Breloom's neutral coverage, being able to hit targets that resist its dual STABs such as Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria. However, Spore is an alternative over Facade, sacrificing neutral coverage for the ability to put an opponent to sleep, leaving the target set-up fodder for Breloom. 12 HP EVs hit a Poison Heal number, allowing yourself to maximize healing by making your HP an interval of 8. Again, Jolly nature should be used as to outspeed important targets such as neutral-natured Mega Altaria and Gyarados.
Other Options
A Choice Band set with Technician as your ability and Mach Punch / Bullet Seed / Rock Tomb / Force Palm as your moves can be opted, increasing its damage output to fearsome levels, even breaking past 252 HP / 252 Def+ Mega Slowbro.
A Leech Seed / Defensive set with Poison Heal can be opted, though Breloom's bulk is somewhat mediocre and loses out on the offensive pressure it wants.
Substitute eases prediction and shields you from status moves while being able to safely hit targets such as Talonflame, Volcarona, and Mega Altaria behind your Substitute.
A Substitute + Focus Punch set with Poison Heal can be opted as well.
Conclusion
Breloom is a threatening Pokemon offensively, having access to Spore is what makes it unique from many of the offensive threats, putting the opponent in a tight spot on scenarios where they need to sleep sack one of their Pokemon. Also, its Technician set is deadly having access to STAB priority Mach Punch, a coverage move that lowers the foe's speed in the form of Rock Tomb, as well as the most powerful abuser of STAB Bullet Seed. Due to those, it is hard to be able to switch in on Breloom. In fact, even some of Breloom's checks do not wish to switch in on Breloom, as they fear a Spore or Rock Tomb. Also, having Poison Heal allows Breloom to stallbreak with SD when equipped with Toxic Orb, granting pseudo-immunity to other status conditions. Despite numerous flaws, Breloom is a B+ rank threat that shouldn't be taken lightly.
Feel free to discuss other potential sets and anything else regarding this Pokemon.
Topics to discuss:
- How has the transition from XY to ORAS affected Breloom?
- What is Breloom's best set?
- What are good teammates for Breloom?
- Is the Defensive Leech Seed set still viable?
- What are reliable checks and counters to Breloom?
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