XY OU MegaZam Team. Currently in 1500s

[0besity]

This is my first RMT. I'd never used Mega Alakazam before, so I decided to create a team based around him to discover his true potential. Apparently, he must have quite a large amount of potential though, because it managed to get someone with as little talent as me into the high 1500s. My team has stopped rising though. So I need some help to improve this team and rise even further.

Teambuilding

This team obviously starts with Mega Alakazam; my primary special sweeper.

Due to Alakazam's frailty, I needed a pokemon which could tank priority. So I decided to use a physically defensive Heatran set. A 4x resistance to bullet punch was too good to pass up.

Water-type Pokemon such as Greninja and Keldeo and many special attackers were still giving my team trouble, so I decided to use Assault Vest Azumarill to tank hits and retaliate back.

To help deal with priority users (primarily Mach Punch users) and aid Alakazam with sweeping, I decided to use Talonflame, which, with its priority Brave Bird, excels in cleaning up weakened teams. Talonflame is usually my win condition.

Ouch; a 4x weakness to Stealth Rock. I had no other Choice, I needed to bring in a Defogger. I chose Latios because it shares good type synergy with my team. I chose it over Latias because I wanted more offensive presence and to pull my team towards the offensive metagame.

Whilst Heatran can tank lots of physical hits, many Pokemon run coverage to defeat it, usually in the form of Earthquake. I wanted another defensive Pokemon to switch into them. I chose Landorus-T. It actually has very good synergy with Heatran. Heatran can tank HP Ices whilst Lando-T can tank Earthquakes and Fighting-Type moves.

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
-Psychic
-Focus Blast
-Shadow Ball
-Substitute

Mega Alakazam's role in my team is to simply switch in safely and attack. Its speed and power makes it very difficult to switch in to. I chose to run Psychic over Psyshock because it hits physically defensive threats such as Gliscor, one of MegaZam's prime targets harder than Psyshock would. It also has the added bonus of a damage increase after tracing Landorus' Sheer Force. Focus Blast has great coverage with Psychic, being able to OHKO threats such as Tyranitar with the added bonus of KOing Ferrothorn after prior damage. Shadow Ball has the benefit of dismantling the Latis as well as providing additional coverage against Psychic-Types. The final moveslot was difficult though. I originally tried Taunt, but the only time I used it was against Thundurus after tracing Prankster. Protect allowed me to Mega Evolve safely without being outsped by Keldeo and Greninja. However, Substitute allowed MegaZam to avoid being instantly revenge killed; it also allowed him to avoid Sucker Punch and create mind games with Bisharp. Alakazam's roles are a Wallbreaker and a Late Game Cleaner.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
-Stealth Rock
-Taunt
-Lava Plume
-Toxic

A physically defensive EV spread allows Heatran to tank many priority moves which could easily OHKO Alakazam; Scizor's Bullet Punch, Talonflame's Brave Bird and Extremespeeds from Dragonite (need to make sure it's choice-locked). Taunt + Toxic destroys common stall pokemon such as Sylveon which can tank Alakazam's moves with ease. He also provides Stealth Rock support which is important for some of Alakazam's KOs, such as the OHKO on physically defensive Ferrothorn with Focus Blast. Lava Plume ensures he doesn't become Taunt bait and has a chance of burning switch-ins such as Azumarill.

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
-Aqua Jet
-Play Rough
-Knock Off
-Waterfall

I needed a check to offensive water Pokemon such as Greninja and Keldeo and Assault Vest Azumarill fills that role surprisingly well. It can tank hits and OHKO back in the process with Play Rough. Switch-Ins can be crippled with Knock Off and weakened targets can be dismantled with Aqua Jet. And with the Knock Offs and Toxics parading around my team, that isn't too difficult. I often lead with Azumarill because it often has good matchups against opposing leads and the ability to cripple switch ins with Knock Off

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
-Bulk Up
-Brave Bird
-Roost
-Taunt

Bulk Up Talonflame can sweep stall with ease. When I send Talonflame out, the person I'm facing sends out their physical wall expecting to tank a Choice Banded Brave Bird; but instead, I use Bulk Up. Then they attempt to stall it out with toxic so I Taunt them. The Other player then attempts to attack Talonflame; doing less and less damage which can be Roosted away easily. Eventually, once enough boosts have been accumulated, Talonflame unleashes its Brave Bird and sweeps the opposition. Talonflame needs to be wary of Tyranitar though, as well as most offense. With this EV spread, Pinsir's Quick Attack outspeeds Talonflame's Brave Bird, so it needs to be wary of it, especially if boosted.

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
-Draco Meteor
-Earthquake
-Thunderbolt
-Defog

Latios is my primary Defogger with a good speed tier and and shares good type synergy with the rest of my team. The reason I didn't run Psyshock is because its primary targets are destroyed by my team anyway Venusaur is handled by Alakazam, Talonflame and Heatran can check it whilst Alakazam, Talonflame and Azumarill can take care of Fighting-Types. Draco Meteor acts as my nuke, OHKOing many threats. Earthquake is for Heatran, who can be quite annoying for my team to face. Thunderbolt is to hit Water types who think they can KO me with Ice Beam and Play Rough.

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Knock Off
-U Turn

Lando-T usually serves as my lead. 0 EVs in speed usually guarantee a slower U Turn against opposing Landorus-Therians. Earthquake is a reliable STAB, Knock Off cripples switch ins and U Turn can help keep momentum and bring Alakazam in safely. Intimidate helps in the process and can aid an upcoming sweep. It has amazing synergy with Heatran, however, both can be defeated by Mamoswine and strong Water-Types. Azumarill can safely dispose of these threats.

Importable

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Substitute
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Lava Plume
- Toxic

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Waterfall

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Thunderbolt
- Defog

I believe this team is solid but it isn't without its flaws. It would really help if people could post suggestions on how to improve this team.

 

[0besity]

Bump?

 

[WideTomato]

Hey there, cool team ^^

The first flaw I see is a great weakness to mvenu, mainly the knock off, EQ, and leech seed veriants, all of which can beat lando, azu, lati and heatran, and talonflame is really your only switchin, as alakazam won't enjoy any unnecessary damage, so ones talon is gone, which is not that hard to kill, venu stumps on your entire team. I would consider psyshock > either eq or thunderbolt, depending on what you would rather hit hard, heatran or skarm. You should also note that psyshock hits keldeo and av azu harder anyways. Also, if you chose to keep EQ, I would run 4 att evs. Finally I would suggest running 29 hp ivs, to hit a life orb number.

You also have a huge weakness to bird spam, as heatran (even defensive) won't take mpinsirs EQ, and talonflame being unable to outspeed him, will give pinsir + banded talonflame a really easy time against your team. Runing stone edge/rock slide > knock off will let you kill these treats much easier, while also helping agains dd zard x.

Finally, investing in azumarills hp will make it take physical hits a lot easier, while still having extremely good special bulk, 240hp/16spd allows it to take less damage from sr, while hitting a av number

Calcs:

Hide

Spdef:

New spread:
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 240 HP / 16 SpD Assault Vest Azumarill: 291-346 (72.5 - 86.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Old spread:
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 16 HP / 240 SpD Assault Vest Azumarill: 229-273 (66.3 - 79.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Def:

Old spread:
244 Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Earthquake vs. 16 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 255-302 (73.9 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

New spread:
244 Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Earthquake vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 255-302 (63.5 - 75.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Basically, you will gain more physical bulk than you'll lose special, and with a already sky high spedeff stat, I think it will help your team out a lot ^^

Anyways hope it helped, cheers ^^

 

[xray]

Hey there.
In my opinion your team sucks against Rotom-W. I would change out the Talonflame and would replace it with a Rotom-W Check because i think talonflame doesnt really help you. Another point is that i don't think double Stealth Rock brings you an opportunity. You can think about letting the rocks on Lando and playing Offensive Balloon Tran or somethin hlike that. If you replace Talonflame i would give Latios Psyshock over Tbolt. You can also think about replacing EQ for recover imo. All in all i think the team is good (looks very similar to mine :D). (And sorry for my bad english)

 

[Puralux]

Hello , nice team bro.

This team seems to have problems with Rotom-W , Dragon Dance users , Suicune (Crocune Set) and Mega Venusaur.
So first of all you need a Sash user that allows you to counter / check the first three and i suggest Breloom instead of Landorus-T.

Hide

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Rock Tomb

252 Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (4 hits) vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-W: 344-416 (113.1 - 136.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 240-288 (59.4 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Technician Breloom Rock Tomb vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard X: 180-212 (60.6 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

To check Mega Venusaur when Alakazam and Talonflame are KO i suggest Psyshock instead of Earthquake or Thunderbolt.

 

[WideTomato]

Hello , nice team bro.

This team seems to have problems with Rotom-W , Dragon Dance users , Suicune (Crocune Set) and Mega Venusaur.
So first of all you need a Sash user that allows you to counter / check the first three and i suggest Breloom instead of Landorus-T.

Hide

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Rock Tomb

252 Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (4 hits) vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-W: 344-416 (113.1 - 136.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 240-288 (59.4 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Technician Breloom Rock Tomb vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard X: 180-212 (60.6 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

To check Mega Venusaur when Alakazam and Talonflame are KO i suggest Psyshock instead of Earthquake or Thunderbolt.

Lando is arguably one of the best dd setup sweeper check (dragonite, zard x, salamence) also your sash is broken by stealth rock, sandstorm or spikes... i think this will open a great flaw to offensive dders, rather than fixing anythin n_n

 

[WideTomato]

as xray pointed out, having two stealth-rockers arent optimal, you could considder adding rotom-w instead, as it actually checks the same thraets that you pointed out, as well as gaing momentum with volt swich. you still have talon for breaking stall too.

ill just leave the set included in the analysis, you can always adjust it if you need to ^^

Hide

Defensive
########
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Pain Split / Rest
ability: Levitate
item: Leftovers / Chesto Berry
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe

 

[Puralux]

Lando is arguably one of the best dd setup sweeper check (dragonite, zard x, salamence) also your sash is broken by stealth rock, sandstorm or spikes... i think this will open a great flaw to offensive dders, rather than fixing anythin n_n

Rock tomb can be useful in these situations and without a scarf Landorus-T cannot ''seriously'' revenge kill.

 

[0besity]

I've taken your advice and decided to switch Talonflame with Rotom-W. It's scarfed so it can check faster threats such as Greninja and most importantly, there's nothing better than tricking a scarf on an unsuspecting Chansey, which walls most of my team. Heatran is also scarfed so it can outspeed and OHKO both Mega Pinsir and Talonflame with Flash Cannon destroying fairies. Since Greninja and Keldeo were being checked more easily, I thought I could do a banded Azumarill set. I may change this back to assault vest though. Also, Psyshock > Earthquake on Latios.