Underused Pokemon Matchmaking Phase 2 [Week 29 - Nasty Plot Infernape]

This week ended with a tie between Cyndequil. and LLH so I decided to break the tie by voting for the one I thought fit best so...congratulations LLH on winning this week! This week I decided to pick probably the most influential drop as of late and arguably its most popular set as well.

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Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam / Calm Mind / Substitute

That's right I am talking about this monster of a Pokemon. Life Orb Alakazam is an amazing wallbreaker that is able to plow through even its checks thanks to its amazing movepool and great offenses. Sadly, it has no bulk to back it up, leaving it easily revenge killed or Pursuit trapped.

Submissions end on Friday.
 
* Insert Cobalion reservation here *

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I Like It Heavy (Cobalion) @ Leftovers / Shuca Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Iron Head / Taunt

Pivot Cobalion is a pretty decent partner for LO Alakazam because it can set up Stealth Rock, which allows Alakazam to rack up some more kills. In addition to that, Cobalion can make use of Volt Switch to get Alakazam in safely, providing it with multiple opportunities to break through the opposint team. Finally, Cobalion can also take on Mandibuzz, which Alakazam has problems breaking through.
 
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Reserving Mega Swampert

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Picking only one partner is a bit hard for LO alakazam as it is a great mon that threatens most of the metagame. Most of the time, it is checked by pursuit trappers(Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Beedrill, Escavalier, Crobat etc..), priority users (Entei, Doublade,Toxicroak etc..), scarf users(Hydreigon, Meinshao etc..) or special walls (Umbreon, Blissey, Florges). Mega Swampert can deal with most of them thanks to its good coverage, good natural bulk and speed control with Rain.

Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Rain Dance
- Waterfall
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
 
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Blur (Entei) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Stone Edge
- Extreme Speed
- Sleep Talk / Flare Blitz

Entei's a pretty cool partner, as it beats things that wall Alakazam. Florges, Escavalier. Blissey and Mega Aggron all get owned by Banded Entei. the burn-chance that Sacred Fire gives also supports Alakazam in a way that it gives Alakazam free turns (opponents have to Heal Bell, Alakazam gets a free switch, etc.) also pressures Umbreon, one of the hardest Alakazam counters (Focus Blast is really unreliable and Signal Beam is weak) with Sacred Fire, especially since Foul Play will be doing a lot less after you burn them.
 
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Hogg said:
Reserving Gyarados.
Click to expand...

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LO ZAM + CHARTI BERRY GYARADOS

Gyarados @ Charti Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

This is actually a really fun core that I've had a lot of success with. Charti Berry Gyarados is a great way to lure and surprise LO Alakazam's number one counter, Pursuit Mega-Aerodactyl, while also setting up on its number two counter, Escavalier (even 252+ Adamant Esca will never 3HKO with Megahorn while +1 Waterfall is a guaranteed 2HKO, and most Escavaliers forego Knock Off for Pursuit these days). Meanwhile, LO Alakazam utterly demolishes common Gyarados checks such as Chesnaught and physically defensive Tangrowth. I like running an all out offensive set with Waterfall + EdgeQuake, but you can fiddle with the moves depending on what your team needs.

This duo is amazingly good at breaking down teams - just toss on something fast to clean up afterwards and you'll be surprised at how much success it has. I actually built around this for SPL and it was pretty amazing in testing. (Here's the replay of me using it vs dod - didn't get to show off the core in action very much, though, as my complete inability to land moves meant Alakazam didn't really do much work :(.)
 
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Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Icy Wind
- Taunt
- Destiny Bond

Mostly froslass is here because of move #1 - spikes. Spikes wear down most of alakazams regular switchins and help turn a lot of 3hkos into 2hkos as well as reliably wearing down pokemon like umbreon that otherwise wouldn't care too much about what alakazam does. Froslass itself however also has a good matchup against aerodactyl - if they lead a taunt mega-dactyl to stop your spikes you can slow it down with icy wind and hopefully win the mindgames to get either a spike up or a dead aerodactyl with dbond, or leave it slow enough to be taken advantage of by zam.

The sorts of teams froslass tends to live on also appreciate alakazam's ability to break bulkier teams and sturdy physical walls.
 
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