ZU Spotlight: Alcremie

By Jett. Released: 2022/05/08.
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zu spotlight alcremie

Art by Spook.

Introduction

Appearances can be deceiving; although Alcremie may look sweet, it is ZU's premier defensive setup sweeper and a menace to deal with. While it was initially overlooked for Clefairy, it quickly surpassed its competition once its potential was realized and was even considered to be banworthy by many players at one point. Since then, Alcremie has remained a top tier threat in ZU thanks to its solid typing, wide movepool, amazing Special Attack and Special Defense, and great abilities that perfectly complement its role. This article will analyze Alcremie's main sets, common partners, and counterplay methods.

Main Sets

alcremie

This is Alcremie's bread and butter set, which serves as both a setup sweeper and a physical wall. Its Fairy typing and Recover make it an excellent switch-in to Fighting- and Dark-types such as Sawk and Silvally-Dark. Mystical Fire targets Steel-types, specifically 2HKOing Klinklang and Alolan Dugtrio. With Aromatherapy, Alcremie can break past Toxic-reliant walls like Miltank and help its teammates deal with status inducers. In conjunction with Sweet Veil, this allows Alcremie to act as a team's status absorber. Alternatively, Acid Armor makes it harder for strong physical attackers such as Kangaskhan and Choice Band Lycanroc-N to revenge kill Alcremie. Aroma Veil grants Alcremie immunity against many of the usual means to shut down defensive setup sweepers, while Sweet Veil lets Alcremie reliably set up on Tangela, which usually carries Sleep Powder.

alcremie

Double Dance Alcremie puts all of its eggs into one basket, focusing entirely on winning late-game. Rest with Chesto Berry is the typical source of recovery because it handles status ailments. Dazzling Gleam is preferred over Stored Power to beat Dark-types and present more immediate power in a pinch, but Stored Power is better for sweeping through bulky teams. Stored Power also excels at dealing with opposing Calm Mind Alcremie and the rare Pyukumuku.

Other Options

Alcremie is capable of running several other sets, the most prominent being an offensive set with Psychic to beat Poison-types that usually switch in such as Qwilfish and Silvally-Poison. Calm Mind sets occasionally opt for Draining Kiss over Dazzling Gleam to be less reliant on Recover, and may even forgo Recover for Substitute to set up on status-reliant walls and punish switches; however, the massive loss of power makes Draining Kiss hard to justify.

Prominent Teammates

stunfisk

Stunfisk makes for a great defensive partner, covering Alcremie's weakness to Steel and Poison and benefitting from Alcremie being a solid switch-in to physical attackers such as Sawk and Piloswine. Earth Power deals with Fire-types and Toxic can cripple Dark-types that sit on Stored Power Alcremie. Static can notably paralyze Klinklang and Silvally formes, letting Alcremie outspeed and clean them up.

exeggutor

Cream and eggs are two essential ingredients when baking a cake, so it's no wonder they complement each other so well in ZU. Exeggutor's potent attacks weaken shared checks like Articuno, Skuntank, and Klinklang for Alcremie to clean. Alcremie can switch into troublesome Dark-type attacks with ease.

sawk

Stored Power Alcremie requires the removal of Dark-types and benefits from special walls being gone, making Sawk a great Pokemon to pair it with. Alcremie also appreciates Sawk's Knock Off weakening item-dependent Pokemon like Clefairy, and Inner Focus Sawk can even beat Qwilfish.

Counterplay

Alcremie is a delicious topping that will come out on top against the unprepared. Fortunately, there are multiple ways for teams to deal with Alcremie. Poison-types such as Silvally-Poison, Qwilfish, and Haze Golbat handle the most common Alcremie sets, and Skuntank can also beat out Psychic variants. Klinklang and Alolan Dugtrio can switch into Alcremie's Mystical Fire at least once and threaten to KO it with a little prior chip damage. Fire-types like Rapidash and Ninetales resist Alcremie's attacks and can use certain sets as setup fodder. Pokémon that commonly run Trick or Switcheroo like Rotom, Jynx, and Froslass can disrupt Alcremie's setup attempts. Rhydon, Silvally formes, and other physical attacks with Swords Dance can get the better of Alcremie without Acid Armor. Strong wallbreakers such as Choice Band Thwackey and Choice Specs Exeggutor reliably break past Alcremie so long as it hasn't started setting up yet.

Conclusion

Despite the recent April shifts causing a drastic shakeup, one thing's for certain: Alcremie will remain as one of the defining threats of the metagame. For those with a sweet tooth, be sure to give Alcremie a try in ZU.

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