Okay so I see people are talking shit about Mega Zam and I'd like to try and end that. For one thing, regular Alakazam is definitely the more subpar of the two by far. Sash lets it revenge kill some things I guess, but compared to last gen it doesn't hit very hard and it's completely boned by Pursuit Aegislash. Priority is also just as bad for Zam as it is for its Mega form, because now it's very difficult to keep its Sash intact and revenge kill as successfully as it could before. It's also outsped by the very common Greninja which completely destroys it, and with bulky Pokemon such as Mega Gyarados, Azumarill, Mandibuzz, Mega Scizor, Aegislash, and much more running rampant through the tier, Alakazam is going to need a lot of residual to revenge kill these things, which is something that it didn't really need as much last generation because a lot of the sweepers were frailer. Last but not least, it's just really hard to justify using over other revenge killers such as Talonflame, Thundurus, and especially
Deoxys-S. Yes, it doesn't take up the Mega slot, but other than the power increase (which doesn't really matter too much because Deo-S has Psycho Boost), Deoxys-S is basically the better choice almost 90% of the time.
Okay now moving onto Mega Alakazam. This thing also has its share of flaws, such as being weak to priority, still hating Aegislash, taking up a Mega slot, and facing competition from revenge killer Deo-S. However, there's one huge thing that Mega Alakazam has over Deoxys-S that makes it a viable choice on some teams, and that's Trace. With Trace, Mega Alakazam becomes an amazing annoyance with the ability to Trace abilities from the likes of Landorus, Greninja, Thundurus, Heatran, Manectric before it mega evolves, Sand Rush Excadrill, Mega Venusaur, Swift swimmers, even Iron Barbs from Ferrothorn can be useful, and the list goes on. These new abilities allow it to be an amazing cleaner and wallbreaker. Its incredible 150 base Speed stat allows it to outpace Mega Gyarados and Mega Tyranitar even after a boost, which is something that not even regular Alakazam can without having to break its Sash. Did I mention it can still do this with a Modest nature? With a Modest nature, it hits incredibly hard on top of outpacing almost the entire unboosted metagame, which again is something that Alakazam wishes it could do. Here's a cool set that I've been using on a team that bests appreciates Mega Alakazam's ability to clean up as well as Trace immunities:
Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard / Trace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Taunt
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Shadow Ball (if not running a Pursuit trapper)
Credit to
Dice for this set. This is probably one of my favorite sets I've ever used with Mega Alakazam, because it uses it takes so much advantage of its ability Trace, which is what you should be using Mega Zam for. Taunt shuts down a lot of Pokemon commonly found on stall teams such as Heatran, Chansey, Quagsire, Skarmory, Clefable, etc. Like for example, Heatran is completely shutdown because you're immune to Lava Plume and it can't Toxic or Roar you out. This allows for a free switch into a set up sweeper or just allows Mega Zam to heavily weaken stall teams to a point where it can either clean up or leave room for a win condition. Psyshock is pretty bad on this set, because it can't hit physically defensive Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Quagsire, Mega Venusaur, and Clefable nearly as hard. It also lets you abuse Sheer Force if you ever manage to trace it off of a Landorus, which is neat as hell. Focus Blast is mainly for Heatran, Tyranitar, Mega Gyarados, Bisharp, basically anything that can shrug off Psychic. Hidden Power Fire is the last move on this set because it keeps Mega Scizor from setting up on it, and guess what? If you manage to trace Technician, you now have a Flamethrower equivalent Fire-type move.
So yeah, pair this thing with Pursuit Bisharp or Tyranitar for Aegislash, and you have a very underrated offensive monster in your hands. Don't treat it only as a revenge killer, use it as a cleaner, stallbreaker, AND a revenge killer. The mega slot is the biggest issue with Mega Zam IMO, which is why I think B- is perfect for it. It can work very well with the right support, but it has its share of flaws and takes up a mega slot. I highly recommend you give this nigga a try. The ability to fuck with both offensive and stall teams makes it a very anti meta Pokemon that can give a lot of teams trouble.
To best honest, I'd drop
regular Alakazam to C+. Yes it doesn't take up a Mega slot like Mega Zam, but it's still pretty inferior to it. It's also very outclassed as a revenge killer for the most part, and just doesn't hit hard enough.
tl;dr use Mega Alakazam drop regular Zam to C+
