T.E.A.M. K.A.Z.A.M
Introduction:
This all started one day in #RMT, where i really wanted a new team, mainly because the old one was tremendously Mixape weak, even though it was pretty amazing. I said to myself "Ok, time to test Latias" since i really never used it. Although that was my thinking when making the team, it ended up being a team that revolved around a very particular and uncommon lead: Alakazam.
When you see Alakazam as a lead, the first thing that pops to your mind is "Oh damn, Encore + Dual Screen, better not SR with my bulky lead or i will get encored" and things like that. With this knowledge of the feelings of people, i decided to make a completely new Alakazam set, which's objective is pretty simple, destroy opposing lead. Not stopping them of setting up SR, or playing around them, just beat them and mini-sweep after the lead has fallen. A lot of times the lead of a team is, curiously, the glue of it, and if the leads cant do an appropiate job, the team can have problems vs thing the lead should take care about. I added different pokemons, including ones which sets i _kinda_ made to finish up what Alakazam did at the start, or as a backup plan in case something went wrong. Each Pokemon is here for an important reason, but feel free to criticize it and make changes, i will make sure of testing them and tell you how it goes.
Without anything more to say, i present you Team Kazam!
(If you guys want a type chart, let me know and i will add it.)
First Look!:
In Depth:
Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 36 Def/220 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
Explanation: There we go, the real star of this team, and an amazing lead to play with. This thing is great, it will always beat Azelf, Heatran, Tyranitar, Infernape, Ambipom, Swampert, Scizor, etc.
The moveset is specially made to counter the things that usually like to spoil my Kazam's fun. HP Fire is pretty obvious, OHKO on Scizor, Forry, Abomasnow, and company, while it still does good damage to Metagross, Jirachi and Skarmory. Usually i just use this thing to kill the most i can until i die, and the best part of this thing, is that Swampert is an amazing teammate for it. Alakazam really hates Metagross, this is where the mudfish enters, switch in, while we both set-up rocks, and then Metagross will explode obviously, which is when i bring Alakazam back to sacrifice, since it already did a good job vs Metagross (which was just dying lol). High Speed coupled with tremendous Special Attack make this thing a really good pokemon to use, specially on the lead position, where it will usually bring Scizors and Lucarios to stop my Zam, and then get OHKOd by the respective move. The reason of no Psychic in this set, is mainly because the things i need to destroy, are already covered by this 4 moves, no reason to alter the moveset, since im usually on a win situation with it.
EVs: Since HP Fire drops your speed, theres 0 reason to be running max, since the only thing you are worried to outspeed, are the things with 361 Speed, AKA Azelf, Starmie and Ambipom. Max Sp Attack to, well, cause damage, and the rest of the EVs are dumped into Defense, to have higher chances of Surviving a Hippowdon's EQ and 2HKO. (Thanks for the change of HP to Def to the "Creative Movesets" guys).
Timid is to reach the speed i need to get, while not dropping any power from my Zam.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/228 Def/28 SAtk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
Explanation: Good old reliable Swampert. Since the first time i used it mixed, it has been on a lot of my teams, mainly because of the amazing stat distribution, ability to counter common threats, and great supporting and attacking movepool. Swampert is my way of getting rocks up, which we all know is a very important move in today's metagame, filled of Salamences, Gyarados, and pesky U-turners that love to switch all the time. This is the only "wall" i have on the team, just because it does the job i want it to do. This is my answer to all the stat-uppers, like CMers, DDers, and such things, thanks to Roar. Ice Beam is to OHKO Salamence, while EQ is an amazing STAB to carry. Swampert offers me the ability of coming in, attack/phaze, and then get the f*ck out reliably, which is something this team really appreciates.
EVs: Max HP so i can take hits from both sides, since its good to stop Special and Physical attackers. The defense is enough so i can take damage from Gyarados, Salamence, and other physical things that can give me problems, and last but not least, some Special attack EVs to ensure an OHKO on a normal DD Mence. Pretty simple, yet very effective and positive.
Relaxed is chosen because speed isnt that important really, and it allows me to use Swampert at its full potential.
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Explanation: Yes sir, another war veteran comes into the field to fight for his master another day. Lucario is a very good late-game sweeper, once my Infernape has demolished the things that can cause it problems, namely Gliscor and Salamence. SD + LO + 300+ Attack makes this Pokemon a total machine that exterminates things as fast as... something very fast :D
Extremespeed is a must, to stop Offensive teams that may or may not screw a chance of sweep otherwise. Crunch is because i want to beat Rotom more than Gliscor and Salamence (both run a lot of speed nowadays). CC is, IMO, the most powerful attack a Physical sweeper can ask for, add to it some STAB, and very few things can take one without being tremendously muttered. Lucario also takes care of being a second revenge killer, thanks to Extremespeed. Yes, im a priority psycho xD
EVs: Do i have to explain this? Max/Max is a must for a sweeper!
Adamant for maximum Attacking power, since the speed is covered by Extremespeed.
Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 120 Atk/192 Spd/198 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
Explanation: One of the most overlooked Pokemons ever, even though i really cant find an answer to it.
Extremely good revenge killer, which finishes things like +1 Salamence, Agiligross, ScarfRachi, etc. that could be big threats to the team. Also, it eliminates common counters to my team, like Celebi and Gliscor.
CC is dealing a bucket load of damage, enough to OHKO Heatran, +2 Tyranitar, and company. U-Turn is for plain scouting, since most of the things that switch to Nape really hate bug attacks (Starmie and Latias are good examples).
HP Ice to finish +1 Salamences that think they are oh-so-fast to outspeed my Nape, but BOOM! then they get OHKOd by my special move :D
Overheat is over Fire Blast/Flamethrower because it really dents things like Rotom, with high defenses, but that hate this kind of moves, dont even forget the ability Blaze, if it activates, ooof Overheat is a tremendous force that can OHKO a bucketload of things.
EVs: 192 Speed means i can outspeed every + Natured Base 100 Pokemon with a +1 boost in speed, and i can outspeed Adamant Agiligross too, so tremendously offensive teams really have problems with this babe.
120 Attack means CC will destroy a lot of things, even tankish ones, and having that little boost of Power of U-Turn is very nice in tight situations were Latias/Starmie are weakened to get the KO. Rest of EVs are in Special Attack to abuse Overheat to the maximum and for HP Ice to really hurt things.
I chose Naive over Hasty because Bullet Punch, Mach Punch, and Extremespeed are big big bitches wanting to stop my little cute monkey from attacking, so the damage is a little bit less.
Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 176 HP/80 Atk/108 Def/144 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Explanation: One of the best attacking forces of DPP, Gyarados offers invaluable immunities coupled with good resistances, great stats, moves and power to back it up everything. Adamant is on because i really dont care about Jolteon, mainly because when one comes in, i just go to my Latias and start spamming Calm Mind. Bounce in because Celebi is a real bitch! Though not having EQ to spank Metagross is bad, Bounce is good to beat Breloom, Fighters, and Grassers who could otherwise be problematic. LO is on it since i really love the power it gets, but i have been considering using Leftovers, since i feel Gyara's survability is really limited with a Life Orb on. Stone Edge is to hurt Zapdos, Salamence, Gyarados and any other flier who attempts to stop this beast. DD is well... DD and its a must on the set, you like it or not!
EVs: The EVs are self explanatory. I want to have the most power i can get, which is the reason Adamant is on instead of Jolly, and so is 252 Attack. The speed gives me enough to outspeed things i want to outspeed for the team's good, while the rest is dumped into HP to add survability somewhat.
Latias @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 148 HP/252 Spd/108 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
Explanation: The pokemon that inspired the team. Latias is a pokemon i never used before, and i really regret it. Its a very good team pokemon who helps a lot in such many ways.
This is a custom set i made, though i really dont know if it works. If someone has a better set please let me know.
Latias is a Calm Minder, who takes good things from things like Specs Jolteon, ScarfTran, and company, all of which can let me set-up tremendously easily. Dragon Pulse is the STAB to use thanks to good coverage and good Base Power. Recover is so i can survive longer, although with recover i dont know if Lefties are redundant and should use LO, i need help with this too. Im using Refresh over Psycho Shift because Psycho Shift leaves me prone of getting statused again. Refresh also lets me beat every Togekiss, Celebi, Blissey, Cresselia, and company.
Latias is my main answer to Mixape, slow things or something that may be dangerous, and Physical walls who try to spoil Lucario/Gyarados.
EVs: The EVs are made to have max speed and at least tie with Gengar and other Latias, and outspeed Bases 105 and such. Timid is chosen over Modest for that reason. 200 Sp Attack is, IMO, enough power i need, and 56 HP is for a little bit more survability.
The Cores:
This team, as you may/may not noticed, works in little pairs of things that help each other have an easier time to win.
Swampert + Alakazam: As said before, this pair is usually the one that starts the game for me. Metagross is a pain for Alakazam, so bringing in Swampert to get Rocks is very good to start of the game.
Infernape + Gyarados: This pair is one of my favorites. Infernape annihilates thing like Bronzong, Celebi, Skarmory, Rotom, and Starmie, that may want to stop Gyarados sweep. And Gyarados can weaken a lot of things, making a CC spam very viable (if my opponent doesnt have a ghost).
Latias + Lucario: This is an amazing offensive duo, seeing how Latias completely lures CB Tar and Scizor into using Pursuit, which Lucario takes advantage of by getting a free SD, not forgetting how Blissey loves to Toxic my Latias, which is a perfect switch for my Lucario to CC. Also, i usually see Gengar switching in Latias for some reason, so Latias gets a CM and then finished the Gengar with Dragon Pulse, meaning Lucario has an easier time vs my opponent. In the same topic, Lucario usually attracts Zapdos, Gliscors, Hippowdons, and bulky Waters/Grounds, which means Latias can get in without risks and start the CM spam. This thing are a really good definition of synergy.
Lucario + Gyarados: Almost the same as Latias, Lucario lures in Gliscors and company, which are usually set-up bait for DD Gyarados. Gyarados does basically the same, usually when my opponent's walls are weakened, they restort to bringing a Salamence/Gyarados into my own Gyarados, to get the drop in attack. So Gyarados can easily OHKO them, and make Lucario's life easier at a sweep!
Gyarados + Latias: This is my favorite one. My opponent lets me get a DD, so they bring in their Jolteon to hope my Gyarados is Adamant and outspeed while OHKOing. For their fortune, Gyarados IS Adamant, which means they are at a safe spot. Well, not really. Jolteon will HATE being locked into T-bolt when i bring in my Latias and start getting Calm Minds. They just thought they were safe by killing Gyara, but now they have to beat a tremendously bulky pokemon at the mid of a set-up.
Swampert + Latias: Latias wants to set-up, but for that, it needs to be faster than the opponent, so Swampert can easily phaze any things that like to get DDs and Agilities and cripple my team, and opens Latias for an easier time. In the emantime, while Swampert really hates combating mixape, Latias loves them, so the sight of one its pretty much easy set-up for Latias.
Infernape + Gyarados: Infernape completely revenge kills things like DD Mence, allowing Gyarados to sweep more comfortably.
Threat List:
||| - Means no threat
||| - Means passive threat
||| - Means problematic threat
Defensive Threats
Offensive Threats:
Thanks to the user Macle for the amazing drawings of the pokemons xD
