ORAS OU First RMT: Weaville + Alakazam HO (peaked 1744)

Proof of peak


Introduction
I've been battling competitively on and off for the last 4 or so years (the first 2 years I was ass). Started getting really into it due to the ability to play showdown at work. I still have alot to learn though because I'm still relatively new to the smogon community so advice would be greatly appreciated.

Why HO?
Simply because I find it the most fun to play. It takes a ton of skill to keep the offensive pressure on. also in my experience playing balance and semi stall I was awful at it because I get extremely impatient and would miss play alot during the end game. Since I play the majority of my battles at work, its great to have them end within 20 turns. And finally, and most importantly, because alot of my favorite pokemon tend to be great on HO as you will see below.

The Team
I started with the core of Alakazam + Weaville because they are so good together, breaking down each other's checks and counters and just absolutely breaking balance in half. And a bonus! Alakazam is my favorite mon and Weavile is my brother's favorite mon so thats just a plus


Niko Drakis (Alakazam) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Encore

My favorite pokemon since day 1. Alakazam has great special attack, fantastic speed tier, and amazing ability with magic guard. Zam is great for weakening the team for my incoming Keldeo. The combination of Zam + Weaville + Keldeo always provide me with a win condition. I choose Life Orb over Focus Sash because I appreciate the added damage output. Plus encore saved me so many times against balance and stall. Sash + Thunder wave is good on HO but so far I dont think I need it because Scarf Keldeo revenges most setup mons anyway and its hard to set up against this team because of its raw offensive pressure




Luther Drakis (Weavile) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

Seriously imo one of the best mons in the meta. Knock Off and the dark buff was an absolute blessing for Weaville. So many teams get broken by it's sheer power and matchup advantage, and not only that it provides great support to its team by KO'ing threats. Weavile is great because it can destroy psychic types that can pave the way for Keldeo or Zam to sweep. Having ice shard as priority in the back is also HUGE for this team as well. I choose poison jab as the coverage move because this team would be way too weak to Clefable and Azu without it. Low Kick isnt needed because between Zam and Keldeo: Bisharp, Tar, and Heatran aren't a problem. Pursuit is great for a guaranteed Lati kill, but Lati is already greatly pressured by this team, also most players assume pursuit and stay in anyway from my experience.





Michael Burns (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]

The final piece to the Keldeo + Zam + Weaville core. Keldeo acts as the clean up crew. After Zam and Weaville weakens or kills its checks it can come in and spam its respective STAB moves to clean up. Scarf Keldeo is also essential because it is the best way I can deal with Ice Punch Mega Lopunny, which otherwise completely destroys my team. The scarf is also huge because I'm not running the more conventional Sash + Twave Alakazam build that is usually better for offense. The scarf on this Keldeo allows me to revenge +1 Mega Zard and Mega (or normal) Gyarados.


Antony Burns (Azelf) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP / 228 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Explosion
- Skill Swap

Typical HO rocks lead. Azelf fits the role the best because its also my best answer to hazards myself since I have no spinner. My team doesnt mind rocks too much other than Weavile but its great to have them off the field during the first few turns. Skill Swap is real cool to set up hazards against Mega Sableeye and Mega Diance. Alot of times those builds have weak forms of hazard removal, or none at all because they are confident magic guard can save them. Rocks are so huge just to deter Talonflame, Zard, and Volcarona. Which destroys this team if played well.



Lewis Drakis Jr (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I made it this far in team building and realize I didnt have a mega! I decided to use Mega Manectric for a few reasons. First, Volt Switch is amazing for this team, bringing in Weaville and Alakazam safely if the opponent switches. This is huge when I'm facing fat balance because it allows Weaville and Zam to get a huge hit off after the opponent switches to their Man check. Secondly, this gives me another answer to HO killing mons like Weaville, Talonflame, and Tornadus. And finally, this mon stops me from being straight up destroyed by Mega Scizor. Scarf Keldeo isnt a reliable enough mon imo to stop it.



Lewis Drakis (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 220 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

And finally the last addition to the team is a gem, double dance Lando. This mon is great because its role on the team changes greatly depending on the team I'm playing. Stall or balance? SD wallbreaker. Offense or HO? Rock Polish win condition. I'm simply amazed at how this mon can single handily bring games back with a single SD or RP. Against Stall and balance the combination of SD Lando, LO Weaville, and LO Zam is too much to handle. And against Offense RP just cleans end game. Great mon that should be at least considered for all HO teams




Threatlist


Clefable: When facing Clef be offensive with Weaville. Predict the switch and Poison Jab. After that the Clef with be too low to be a threat. You have to play offensively against it because you cannot let it get a free T wave off. SD Lando can kill it as well but it most likely will be weakened or killed off in the process


Specs Keldeo: Switch ins do not exist. Play aggressively to prevent it from getting free switches. When in with Weaville double to Zam if needed to prevent it from getting a kill.


Mega Scizor: If you let this thing SD you will have a bad time. Hard Keldeo or Hard Mega Man is your play every time. Do not let this thing set up. Also dont let your Keldeo and Man get too low if playing against it. Worst case scenario go for Scizor vs Lando, SD and try to weaken and kill it before it kills you


Azumarill: Literally 6-0s if you let it Belly Drum. No switch ins. I always predict this with Weaville and Poison Jab. You have to in order to prevent it from killing your whole team


Ice Punch Mega Loppuny: Counter to this thing is intimidate mega manetric lol. Scarf Keldeo's role is to stop this thing from 6-0. if it doesnt have Ice Punch then Lando is always the play. If Lando is critical to the game make sure you scout for Ice Punch first. Luckily I've been bailed out a few times because people often over predict the lando switch and ice punch and gets killed by Keldeo, Man, or Weaville


Mega Sableeye: Your counter is scald burining with Keldeo or hoping your opponent misplays. Been thinking of changing Shadow Ball on Zam to Dazzling Gleam just because of this mon. Lando can deal with it, if it sets up an SD before hand. But most Sableeye teams have Quag unfortunately


Mega Alakazam: Absolute terror against Offense. Have to rely on Lando getting a RP and sweeping or Weaville Ice shard killing it off. Most people will expect scarf Keldeo if I bring it in.


Scarf Jirachi: Can potentially flinch my whole team down. Your counter to this is to pray it doesnt happen. Mega Manetric can help, but on most team archeotypes this is on you cant have Mega Man get too weakened





Importable
Niko Drakis (Alakazam) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Encore

Luther Drakis (Weavile) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

Michael Burns (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Antony Burns (Azelf) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP / 228 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Explosion
- Skill Swap

Lewis Drakis Jr (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Lewis Drakis (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 220 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge


Conclusion

This team is the most successful HO team I've built. I'm not a great team builder so I would love suggestions to make it even better. Just like with all HO you have to play aggressive to keep rocks up, and make sure the threatlist mons are predicted accurately. In my experience this team is much easier to use higher in the ladder than lower because inexperienced players are so hard to predict.

Side Note: All the nicknames are names of characters for a graphic novel, I'm helping to write. And what makes it so cool is that they match the characters in the stories perfectly. That was 100% coincidence but its still cool and adds a level of bonding I have with this team.
 
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Really like the team, aside from small nitpicks here and there, the only major problem I see in your team is Mega Manectric. On Super HO like your team with a dedicated lead (usually Azelf) Mega Manectric is usually a really bad choice. Not only does it lack decent wallbreaking ability when your team really needs but it also has fast Volt Switch-es, which on stuff like a Heatran or a Clefable (not on the switch) you are forcing one of the other members to take hit or even risk a burn from Heatran's Lava Plume or something.

I usually would recommend something like Mega Pinsir, but since your team does not have hazard removal I'd advise against it, and such, I recommend Mega Lopunny or Mega Diancie > Mega Manectric. Mega Lopunny is just as fast as Mega Manectric, but it annoys both HO and Balanced MUCH more and has access to priority Quick Attack / Fake Out and even potential attack boost in Power-up Punch. On the other hand, Mega Diancie does not have the same speed, but has MUCH better wallbreaking ability than both of them and has the nice ability of Magic Bounce. It also gives you a solid bird spam check.

Also, I think that every super HO team needs at least 1 sash user other than Azelf, and i recommend Focus Sash > Life Orb on Aalakazam. Sash can really help your team just in case something like a Talonflame, a Bisharp, or a Mega Pinsir somehow sets up when ur check is a little bit weakened and you're in a really dire situation. Well Sash Zam helps you have a 1-time emergency backup.

Finally, I really think that Lum Berry / Earth Plate > Leftovers on Lando-T. Tbh Leftovers doesn't do much, it might be nice for a potential late-game sweep on a Bulky Offensive team, but on Azelf HO teams you really want either the maximum power you can get while keeping the most longevity (that's why Earth Plate > Life Orb) or perhaps at least some sort of status absorber on your team just in case your opponent's team is Scald-heavy and you can only break it with lando.

Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate / Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 56 HP / 220 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Encore

Lopunny-Mega @ Lopunnite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out / Quick Attack
- Ice Punch / Power-Up Punch
- High Jump Kick
- Return

OR


Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 32 Atk / 224 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earth Power / Hidden Power Fire
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Protect
 

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