Kadabra
QC: [PK Gaming] [Fried Rhys] [Nails]
GP: [Komodo] [NWO]
[Overview]
<p>With Alakazam banned from RU, Kadabra now fulfills the niche of a fast and powerful special attacker with Magic Guard. Its Speed and Special Attack are substantially lower than said stats of Alakazam; however, Kadabra still possesses an excellent Speed base stat of 105, allowing it to outspeed a majority of the RU metagame. Although it may be less powerful, it still can tear things apart with its excellent base 120 Special Attack, and because of Magic Guard, Life Orb will give Kadabra a free power boost with essentially no drawbacks. In essence, Kadabra is a slightly slower, less powerful version of Alakazam. Defensively, there are virtually no differences, as both have abysmal defensive stats. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage when using Kadabra is that it does not have access to Focus Blast and must rely on the much weaker Hidden Power Fighting. However, these slight disadvantages do not make Kadabra any less dangerous than Alakazam was, thus making Kadabra a viable threat to contend with in RU.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Psychic / Psyshock
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Substitute / Calm Mind
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although Kadabra is not as powerful as Alakazam, it still packs a serious punch thanks to its impressive offensive stat distribution. Magic Guard is one of the best abilities in the game, providing immunity to all forms of passive damage including entry hazard damage, damaging weather, damage from poison or burn, and Life Orb recoil. Magic Guard allows Kadabra to switch in on a predicted Will-O-Wisp or Toxic and act as a pseudo-status absorber. Move-wise, Psychic, Shadow Ball, and Hidden Power Fighting provide the best possible coverage with three attacks. Psychic is a necessary STAB attack and hits anything that doesn't resist it for major damage. Shadow Ball destroys opposing Psychic-types as well as Ghost-types, and Hidden Power Fighting hits the Dark- and Steel-types that otherwise wall Kadabra. Psyshock is an interesting option over Psychic to hit special walls such as Clefable on their weaker Defense, especially since Kadabra doesn't get Focus Blast, but Psyshock's lower Base Power makes it an inferior option in most cases. In the last slot, Substitute works well due to Kadabra's frailty, as it provides protection from priority move users and Choice Scarf users. Calm Mind is another viable option that boosts Kadabra's already great Special Attack to sky high levels as well as raising its Special Defense.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb is absolutely necessary for Kadabra to sweep, especially since its power output is considerably less than that of Alakazam. Thanks to Magic Guard, Kadabra doesn't suffer from Life Orb recoil; however, in the case that Kadabra is needed as a revenge killer, Focus Sash is an excellent option, as it will never break from entry hazards or detrimental weather such as hail. Substitute should obviously be used only with Life Orb, as using it with Focus Sash is counterproductive. The EV spread is fairly straightforward, maximizing Special Attack and Speed, as Kadabra really shouldn't be investing in bulk at all due to its abysmal defenses.</p>
<p>Because Kadabra lacks the raw power that its elder brother Alakazam sports, entry hazard support is absolutely necessary for it to get easier KOs. Kadabra can elect to use the combination of Substitute + Calm Mind to boost while being protected from status and the like, but this means sacrificing one of its coverage moves (most likely Shadow Ball), which makes Kadabra that much less effective. A good physical wall such as Steelix is a great partner due to its ability to tank almost every single physical attack in the game, especially because of Sturdy. Steelix can also set up Stealth Rock and rack up entry hazard damage with either Roar or Dragon Tail, and has handy resistances to Dark-, Bug-, and Ghost-type attacks. Kadabra also appreciates a strong, offensive, physical counterpart such as Honchkrow, Durant, or Choice Band Entei to break through the special walls that Kadabra has trouble with.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>With regards to its movepool, Kadabra has an enormous amount of other options. Encore can cause switches and potentially brings set up opportunities, but Kadabra will rarely find the opportunity to use it outside Encoring support moves such as Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, and the occasional setup move, and the Encored opponent will most likely switch out. Grass Knot or Energy Ball are options to hit bulky Water-types, but have little use otherwise. Hidden Power Fire is an option that hits Ferroseed harder than Hidden Power Fighting can, but Hidden Power Fire has no other uses and the coverage that it provides is inferior to that of Hidden Power Fighting. Hidden Power Ground provides coverage on Drapion and Steel-types, and doesn't force an imperfect Speed IV, allowing Kadabra to Speed tie with the likes of Manectric and Scyther, but again, Hidden Power Fighting usually provides superior coverage.</p>
<p>Taunt is another option over Substitute or Calm Mind to prevent Thunder Wave users from running amok, but most opponents tend to just attack Kadabra outright rather than try to status it. Kadabra also has access to Recover, but its defenses and HP are so terrible it will rarely prove useful. A set with Trick and a Choice item or Flame Orb / Toxic Orb has potential, but Choice Specs is outclassed by the main set, as Life Orb provides nearly the same boost with literally no drawbacks. On that note, a Choice Scarf set is viable, outspeeding some common threats such as Sceptile and Durant, but the relative lack of power, the risks associated with being locked into a Psychic-type attack, and Kadabra's susceptibility to priority make it a rather unappealing option. Kadabra gets Light Screen and Reflect, but there are much better users of the dual screen strategy, such as Uxie or Claydol. Weather support moves such as Rain Dance and Sunny Day are possible, but don't directly benefit Kadabra, take up valuable moveslots, and are better left to dedicated support Pokemon, such as Uxie. Kadabra can easily hold its own with the three moves listed, making Trick Room a viable option in the last moveslot. Trick Room used in conjunction with Focus Sash is an interesting option, as it will always allow Kadabra to get off a Trick Room, which could be potentially game-changing.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The best way to deal with Kadabra is priority, provided that Kadabra doesn't have a Substitute up. For example, Honchkrow and Entei can easily OHKO Kadabra with Sucker Punch and ExtremeSpeed, respectively, before it even has a chance to attack. Additionally, thanks to Kadabra's pitiful defenses, almost every decently powered attack in the game will at least 2HKO, and often OHKO it. Dugtrio can easily trap Kadabra due to Arena Trap, and OHKO it with a STAB Earthquake. Similarly, Pursuit users such as Krookodile and Drapion can easily eliminate Kadabra regardless of whether it switches out or not. Because Kadabra has the ability Magic Guard, it is unaffected by status such as poison or burn. For this reason, don't bother statusing Kadabra when you can just kill it outright. Paralysis completely cripples Kadabra, though it is usually a better choice just to attack it instead. Bulky special walls such as Claydol, Munchlax, Rotom-A, Slowking, and specially defensive Drapion can take multiple super effective hits and strike back. Drapion makes a good counter to Kadabra with its immunity to Psychic, resistance to Shadow Ball, and neutrality to Hidden Power Fighting, although it must watch out for the occasional Hidden Power Ground. Anything faster such as Choice Scarf users, Durant, Accelgor, Archeops, Galvantula, and Sceptile, can easily destroy Kadabra, unless it manages to get a Substitute up as they switch in.</p>
