MEGA SCIZOR and friends

[Sc1zor]

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal (Technician)
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 116 Def / 100 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off

The star of the Team! Scizor is the win clause of this team, with the rest based around helping with his weaknesses and clearing away the walls that stop him. In mega form Scizor has a lot of bulk, meaning it is easy to set up Multiple Swords Dances and then roosting off the damage. Once you've done this theres no stopping him. Best pokes to set up on are physical attackers who have little to hurt him e.g. Terrakion, Azumarill etc. or even physical walls, which again cant do much e.g. Gliscor. Scizor can also come in Early to Mid game to deal with easy targets such as sylveon, but no point setting up untill all fire types have been cleared. 248 HP EV investment makes Scizor as bulky as possible while reducing Stealth Rock damage, and 116 Defense EVs and 100 Special Defense EVs prevent Scizor from being 2HKO'd by anything weaker than Adamant Excadrill's Earthquake and Aegislash's Shadow Ball, respectively. The rest invested in attack for increased power!

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Roost
Kyurem B has great defensive synergy with Scizor, as well as being able to deal with most of its common threats, such as Skarm, Zapdos, Mandibuzz, Rotom-W and to a lesser extend heatran. Has huge power on both sides of the spectrum and being a mixed attacker makes him very hard to switch into, and can put huge chunks in any team. Standard use is to switch in to a resisting move and proceed to dish out huge attacks, he becomes very hard to predict due to his large movepool, so is bound to leave dents all over the team, which scizor appreciates. Also grabs a few KOs for the team and great at breaking walls. Ice Beam/ Fusion Bolt for coverage. Earth Power for fire types. Roost is there to allow a longer reign of terror for this guy, as well as healing off LO damage, also helps better handle revenge killers that can come in on him. The EVs provide enough Speed to outrun Adamant Excadrill and maximize Special Attack as it is the focus of this set, with the remaining EVs dumped into Attack for a powered-up Fusion Bolt.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 68 SAtk / 252 HP / 168 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave

My new addition to the team Zapdos! This was a fantastic addition as he fits into the team perfectly providing many important roles. First off he acts as the defogger to prevent SR damage particularly on Kyurem-B and Azumarill. Second he works as a fantastic Physical wall, somewhat mirroring Azumarills role on the Defensive Spectrum. Switches into most physical attackers with ease, before forcing the switch; also helps deal with lots of physical wall such as Skarm and Ferrothorn by threatening them out with SE moves. The final role is to tank flyspam from the likes of Mega-Pinsir and Talonflame, who would otherwise run riot on my team, he can then threaten out with SE heat wave or TBolt. With Mega-Pinsir unable to 2HKO after a SD after leftovers recovery. Thunderbolt is there for STAB and coverage particularly for the flying types it tanks. Roost is absolutely essential for longevity and keeping Zapdos on high health so he is able to tank attacks reliably. Finally Heat Wave is the last option as it handles Aigeslash perfectly, preventing it from setting up on me, as well as other Steels which quite frequently don't see it coming (???) Particularly helpful for Mega-Mawile as well. The EVs and Bold nature are designed to maximize Zapdos's physical bulk while still allowing it to outspeed maximum Speed Aegislash. Although Zapdos takes one more point of damage from Stealth Rock with 252 HP EVs, it also gets one extra point of Leftovers recovery, making up for it. The 68 Special Attack EVs guarantee the OHKO on Mega Pinsir with Thunderbolt, while the rest go into Defense to improve Zapdos's physical bulk.

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

Ah the new and impoved Azumarill. He has 2 important roles in this team. The first is to deal with Fire types which scare away Scizor, fairly self explanatory. The second is as a specially defensive pivot. He can stop many special sweepers in their tracks with AV and his large SDef Azumarill already has very solid defensive stats, but with an Assault Vest and the given bulk investment, its Special Defense stat reaches a whopping 399, allowing it to sponge special attacks with ease. Can then turn the tables and act as an offensive threat to many pokemon with his fully invested attack and huge power. Handles pokemon such as Greninja, Kingdra, Landorus, and Keldeo. Can even take on Thunderus, taking 79% from LO thunderbolt before KOing with Play Rough and Aqua Jet. Aqua Jet is essential for Azu to kill weakened pokes who are faster than him, with Waterfall there to deal stronger STAB damage. Knock off is great to mess around with common switch ins, getting rid of there items, as well as threatening Aegislash and Celebi switches. Play Rough is a powerful stab attack which can deal with opposing bulky waters, as well as hitting Dragon-, Dark-, and Fighting-types hard. However Azu lacks reliable recovery which can really be a downer, meaning conservative play is essential. Also another pokemon which needs to field clear as SR damage can really rack up, preventing sponging of some special hits, like the previously mentioned Thunderus.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 212 Spd / 156 Atk / 140 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Knock Off

attaching a Choice Scarf to Landorus-T enables it to play the role of a fearsome revenge killer as well as a powerful cleaner. Threatens a huge array of pokemon with his coverage. Intimidate allows him to switch into many physical threats without taking too much damage, as well as free switch ins on Electric and ground attacks. Best way of dealing with Mega Manetric, Mega Charizard Y and many fire types. Earthquake is the move of choice, with huge power with STAB and good coverage, however must be used carefully to prevent locking in against a flying/levitate user. Stone Edge compliments Earthquake very well, hitting opposing Flying-types that are immune to Landorus-T's STAB move of choice, forming the well-known EdgeQuake combo. U-Turn maintains switch initiative and covers grass types. With knock off present for ghosts, mainly Aigeslash and Gourgeist, allows messes with common defensive switch ins. 212 EVs in Speed allow it to outpace Mega Manectric, an important target. 140 EVs in HP help Landorus-T take hits upon switching in. The rest of the EVs are placed into Attack in order to maximize Landorus-T's damage output.

Deoxys-Speed @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 244 SAtk / 12 Atk
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psycho Boost
- Low Kick
- Ice Beam

The other new addition to me team. Due to the addition of Zapdos, another slow bulky wall was unnecessary and slowed the Speed of the team down. So I traded in Deoxys-D for his more nimble brother. Deoxys-S works great on this team as it allows easy setting up of SR at pretty much any occasion due to its ability to threaten many switches. This is useful in a match when I or they are defogging lots. He also fills the role I lost when I took out Latios, which is as a hit and run attacker, dealing particularly with mega venusaur- guaranteeing a 2HKO. Can also work as a false lead, with the opponent predicting a Hazard set up, before being hit hard with any of his moves. Another function is to act as a second revenge killer of sorts, and even a late game sweeper once his threats have been cleared, frequently acting as a secondary win condition. Psycho Boost is obviously for powerful STAB, however need to be careful with the SAtk drop and many pokes can use that as set up fodder. Ice Beam nails Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Hippowdon, and is vital to revenge kill threats such as Latios, Dragonite, and Latias; which Landorus cannot revenge kill well. Finally Low Kick is there to deal with mostly TTar, coming in to Pursuit trap it, also hits Chansey, Mega Gyarados and Greninja hard. The Attack EVs enable Deoxys-S to KO max HP Tyranitar with Low Kick. The Speed EVs let it tie with opposing Deoxys-S while the rest into SpAtk to maximise the power.

Threats:

Heatran: Sp Def Heatran can be a problem if Kyurem B is taken out. He can outstall Landorus with Toxic and protect. Azumarill can also help. Still a bit of a problem, bu can usually get around it
Mega Pinsir: No reliable switch ins, as deoxys take SE damage from bug. Usually results in Sacrificing a poke and revenge killing with Kyurem or Landorus. Zapdos
Mega Herracross: Similar reasons to Pinsir, no reliable switch in, so have to sacrifice at least one poke. Zapdos
Mega Venusaur: His Bulk really gets on my nerves. With Leech Seed and protect he can stall out lots of my team. Usually rely on Latios Psyshock, but this is still a 3HKO after leech seed recovery. Can also deal large damage with Kyurems Ice Beam Deoxys S
Talonflame: Arguably the biggest threat, Nothing to resist Priority BB except Scizor, who dies to Flare Blitz. SR helps massively. Azumarill only way to deal with it, but BB gets priority over Aqua Jet, which Azu can only take while on full health. Zapdos
Mega Mawile: If Zapdos is down or weakened this thing becomes a real pain with Swords Dance and Sucker Punch. Does~80% to Zap, so can usually predict them and roost then 2HKO with Heat Wave, but still a pain.

Things I'd Ideally need:
A Flying type Absorber- For Talonflame and less so Pinsir Zapdos
A Status absorber
More reliable Fire attack- Only got Latios HP Fire atm. To deal with Steels. (Zapdos to an extent)

Thanks for reading and feedback would be appreciated. Anything people can suggest to include the above requirements will be gratefully accepted. Willing to make pokemon as well as set changes.
Changes in Bold

New Importable:

Hide

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 104 SDef / 20 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Roost

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 68 SAtk / 252 HP / 168 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave

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

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Deoxys-Speed @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 244 SAtk / 12 Atk
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psycho Boost
- Low Kick
- Ice Beam

 

[Timpsu]

Hey, came by your request to rate the team. First of all, as a technicality, I would maybe bulk up those descriptions, just to avoid a mod coming to lock the thread. Now, to the actual rate. Your EV spread on Scizor is quite specified, you could expand a bit on why you've chosen this spread. First of all, I wouldn't bother with Speed. Speed investment is mainly recommended for 0 Speed Heatran, but seeing as most Heatran run Speed for M-Mawile, it's a bit redundant to try and outspeed Heatran. Those EVs are better invested in Defense, Special Defense or Attack. I would also like to ask why you've chosen to run Outrage, as practically all Dragons are hit hard by Ice Beam(not to mention Kyu-B is quite slow, and is easily outsped by all relevant Dragons). I would think Roost is the better move, as it lets you neuter Life Orb damage. I think Life Orb is the better item on Latios, as he really needs the extra power. Also, I think there are better options to use than HP Fire. Thunderbolt gives you coverage against Azumarill, Mandibuzz and Skarmory and Togekiss, Earthquake is good for Heatran and Aegislash, while HP Fighting lets you hit hard against Tyranitar and Bisharp and Ferrothorn.

If you want an additional way to deal with Heatran, equipping Earthquake and a Hasty nature on Latios is a good choice. I don't think M-Pinsir is such a huge problem, as all of your Pokemon can hit it hard, and Deo-D can use Taunt as to not let Pinsir boost its Attack. M-Heracross might be a big bigger problem, but it's easy to revenge kill him. It's true that M-Venusaur can be annoying, but with smart switching you can take care of him. As you said yourself, Latios can 2HKO him with Psyshock, but what you might've failed to realize is that Kyu-B's ability, Teravolt, neutralizes Thick Fat, thus Kyu-B's Life Orb boosted Ice beam hits for supereffective damage, and is your strongest move against M-Venusaur. Just make sure you don't switch your offensive checks to Leech Seed. Talonflame can be a bit difficult, but Talonflame is generally easy to wear out, and you have good moves to revenge-kill Talonflame with. I think those are the most relevant points, good luck battling!

 

[Sc1zor]

Thanks for the prompt reply and feedback :) Upped the description to provide EV info and a bit more about the reason for each move. I really like your suggestion for earthquake on Latios as it also provides another threat against the fires I need to get rid of. Those speed EVs on Scizor were for Heatran, but I take your point about Heatran running Speed as well, and Scizor has no place to be in against him anyway, so decided to invest them in attack. I did not know that about Teravolt, very helpful information! Anyway thanks again for the useful feedback.

 

[Kazuma Yato]

Very. Nice. Team. Oh my lord
First of all amazing spread on scizor, you calced for this i'm guessing?
nice. anyway i see deoxys d as really meh on this team also a scaarfed kyurem-b would switch in kill something and switch back out and repeat even with deoxys-d
why not use stealth rock chansey? provides much more utility to your team, it also get rocks and could weaken kyurem easily.
also could i have an importable? so i could test it further?

 

[Sc1zor]

Thank You :) I've actually found Deoxys-D very helpful in dealing with Many physical threats, which I would otherwise have a hard time stopping, but will definitely test out Chansey, I see what you mean about Kyurem-B being a big threat actually, somewhat overlooked that, will think on it.

Importable:

Hide

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 104 SDef / 20 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off

Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Outrage

Latios (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Fire]

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

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Deoxys-Defense @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spd
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Taunt
- Seismic Toss

 

[Aragorn the King]

Wow, the team looks really good atm. There are no obvious unviable Pokemon or sets, and the team seems to go together really well. I just have a couple random suggestions:

- Naive is a better nature than Hasty on Latios. Latios should be able to take Ice Shards and weak Sucker Punches from full health, and a Hasty nature hurts its chances of doing so. A Naive nature provides mixed defenses without losing any attack power.

- The moveset on Kyurem-Black is not standard, but if it's working it's all good. Outrage is most commonly on that set with Iron Head in second place. Roost is a bit questionable; Kyu-B usually likes smashing things more than it likes healing. Kyurem-Normal is an alternative; it combines its ability Pressure, plus the moves Substitute and Roost to offensively stall Pokemon out. It's useful because it hits harder and has better defenses, but loses out on Fusion Bolt. It seems like if you're using a Kyurem-Black without Outrage, CB, CS, or Sub + Lefties, Kyurem may be better. But again, see what works for you.

- Okay, I just saw the major flaw of your team; FlySpam. Pinsir, Staraptor, and Talonflame, when give the change, will absolutely wreck you. There are two good solutions to this; Zapdos and Skarmory. Both are good physically defensive Defoggers that could take Latios' spot. You will lose out on Latios' power, but you'll gain the ability to crush the birds. Zapdos may be better, as it provides powerful special attacks.

- In removing Latios, you'd only have one way to beat Venusaur - KyuB. If you change KyuB to Kyurem, again if, you'd have 0 fast ways to kill it. Additionally, in adding a physical wall to your team in Zapdos or Skarmory, the necessity of Deoxys-D is starting to get lost. I think if you could replace it with maybe Deoxys-S. This would be a large change, but I think it would help. You lose out on the ability to wall things, but you gain the ability to set up screens and hit with hard Psychic moves, all while retaining the ability to set rocks. You already have Azumarill, (Zapdos), and Scizor, who are all very sturdy, and Landorus-T and Kyurem-Black (or Kyurem), who are pretty damn sturdy as well. Having one frail Pokemon on your team can't hurt. If you don't like Deo-S, you'd have to find a tanky Flying or Psychic type, with hazards, and is not weak to Poison. Also, now that I think about it, Kyurem-Normal stalls out Venusaur well.

Try out these suggestions; see what works. Right now I think your ideal team would be Deoxys-S, Zapdos, Kyurem, Azumarill, Landorus-T, and Scizor (of course), but you may conclude differently.

Good luck with testing!

 

[IngrownTonail]

Gliscor would be able to sponge the hits of pinsir and talonflame quite easily and retaliate with a Stone Miss or Rock Slide

 

[daftmau5]

Your Mega Scizor spread is a bit inefficient. I came up with a similar spread sometime ago to take on Adamant Landorus-T (which has a higher base Atk than Excadrill) and Quiet Aegislash and managed to avoid a 2hko with less investment for my Mega Scizor team.

Either way, if Adamant Excadrill is your benchmark:

• 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Excadrill Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 100 Def Mega Scizor: 127-151 (37 - 44%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
• 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Excadrill Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 100 Def Mega Scizor: 127-151 (37 - 44%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

If you're pedantic about the 0.4%:

• 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Excadrill Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 112 Def Mega Scizor: 127-150 (37 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

Quiet Aegislash:

• 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 100 SpD Mega Scizor: 144-171 (41.9 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

If you're interested my spread is 248 HP / 44 Atk / 116 Def / 100 SpD.

 

[Sc1zor]

finncent1 Zapdos works amazingly thank you! Deals with all the previously mentioned threats as well as providing another way to deal with Steels! Also agree about that making Deoxys-D redundant, so have been playing around with Deoxys S, both offensive and lead variants, found the offensive one more effective as fills the previous role of Latios, while also still having SR set up easily. But hes still not being quite as effective as I would like, with it being hard sometimes to find places where I can bring him in. Usually use as an anti-lead. As with Kyurem-B, I find Fusion Bolt too useful to let up. As for Outrage, I did have it on before, but as Timpsu pointed out, its kind of pointless when I can hit Dragons with Ice Beam. Then again, I havent found Roost to be particularly useful with few opportunities to use it, so may play around with that last spot.

daftmau5 Thanks, must have calc'd wrong or something, corrections have been made :)

 

[Hulg Bears]

Your team lacks status. For this reason I would go with Discharge>T-Bolt on Zapdos to cripple sweepers.

Also there are too many Life Orbs. One is the max I allow for my teams. Even with Roost your health on your mons will go down quickly. For this reason I would put 200 EVs in HP on Kyurem instead of speed.

Also, run a Naive nature on Deo-S with 240 Speed EVs be able to out-speed ScarfChomp and KO it with Ice Beam. I would run only 160 Sp. Atk EVs so I could put 108 Atk EVs in so you can OHKO Excadrill with Super Power. Max needed to kill Tyranitar is 16 IIRC so that's a good option too.

Also... TOO MUCH KNOCK OFF! Three Knock Off users is way too much. You'll run out of items to Knock Off. Knock Off+Swords Dance is a sketchy combo on Scizor, so I recommend replacing it with something else. What move? I don't really know. Maybe Super Power or Brick Break.

 

[daftmau5]

Your team lacks status. For this reason I would go with Discharge>T-Bolt on Zapdos to cripple sweepers.

Also there are too many Life Orbs. One is the max I allow for my teams. Even with Roost your health on your mons will go down quickly. For this reason I would put 200 EVs in HP on Kyurem instead of speed.

Also, run a Naive nature on Deo-S with 240 Speed EVs be able to out-speed ScarfChomp and KO it with Ice Beam. I would run only 160 Sp. Atk EVs so I could put 108 Atk EVs in so you can OHKO Excadrill with Super Power. Max needed to kill Tyranitar is 16 IIRC so that's a good option too.

Also... TOO MUCH KNOCK OFF! Three Knock Off users is way too much. You'll run out of items to Knock Off. Knock Off+Swords Dance is a sketchy combo on Scizor, so I recommend replacing it with something else. What move? I don't really know. Maybe Super Power or Brick Break.

Two of his mons have life orbs and they are the best items for the sets he has selected. Deo-S needs a life orb to revenge kill given its low base SpA and KyuB needs a life orb to help in wallbreaking. As for the EVs, i would actually run 224 spe to outrun max speed Adamant Landorus-T but that's up to you OP.

A positive speed nature and 236 Speed EVs on Deoxys-S outruns Jolly ScarfChomp. 240 Speed EVs are only necessary if you run HP Fire (since you're forced to run a 30 IV Speed). Also replace low kick with Superpower. Superpower always has 120 base power which is the same as a max base power Low kick. Calcs:

• 20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-S Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 333-393 (91.9 - 108.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
  
• 20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-S Low Kick (60 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 166-198 (45.8 - 54.6%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO

• 20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-S Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 406-478 (100.4 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  
• 20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-S Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 406-478 (100.4 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

• 20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-S Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 291-343 (41.3 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  
• 20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-S Low Kick (60 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 146-174 (20.7 - 24.7%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

• 20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-S Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 304-359 (106.2 - 125.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  
• 20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-S Low Kick (60 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 153-182 (53.4 - 63.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

As for Mega Scizor, Knock off + Bullet Punch is a very good combination and is very common on bulky SD sets going around. It has pretty good neutral coverage with Bullet Punch and excellent utility value overall. Superpower is a nice option if you want to pop Heatran at +2 but in that case you should run a lot of speed to outpace it but it's also good to nail Tyranitar.

 

[Hulg Bears]

I'm not trying to spam post but...

You have an Aegislash problem. For this reason I recommend running Knock Off>SR on Deoxys. Change Azumarill's Knock Off to Ice Punch to un-mega'd Veunsaur on the switch if you decide to make the change I suggested.

Also, I've taken this team for a spin and I've lost because of one minor detail that you overlooked. Run 28 Speed EVs on Scizor to out-speed 4 EV speed Mandibuzz. Foul play hurts man.

 

[Stardust Dragon]

Unless you NEED Stealth Rocks, replacing Deoxys - S for Life Orb Magic Guard Alakazam could serve the same role but absorb WoW and Toxic while Zapdos absorbs Thunder Waves.