Hello hello, and welcome to my fourth RMT! This team is built around Alakazam, and I decided to build around it because of its good Speed tier, high Special Attack, and its ability to beat common threats such as Toxapex. With all of this aside, let’s get straight into the team, but before that, I would like to say thank you to Hotters18 on Discord for helping me with the team!
Building Process
It all began with Alakazam. I think it is one of the best special wallbreakers in the tier because of its ability to break through tough to break walls such as Toxapex, and at the same time, it is able to check offensive threats such as such as Urshifu-Rapid-Strike form.
I chose Kommo-o for the second part of my team because Alakazam tends to lure in Dark-types such as Urshifu Single-Strike form, as well as uncommon ones like Bisharp and Hydreigon. Kommo-o also makes up for Alakazam’s really poor physical bulk.
I still lacked a Dark-type that can pressure Ghost-types such as physical Dragapult and Alolan Marowak, so I decided to settle on Mandibuzz. Mandibuzz is also able to safely bring in Alakazam safely via U-turn and can remove hazards via Defog so that Alakazam doesn’t need to worry about it being continuously worn down by hazards.
I needed a way to trap and eliminate annoying Steel-types such as Magearna, Corviknight, and Skarmory, so I decided to pick Magnezone as my fourth teammate in order to trap and eliminate such Steel-types. It also forms a nice VoltTurn core with Mandibuzz, since Magnezone can lure in Ground-types like Excadrill and Hippowdon for Mandibuzz.
Even with all of these team members, I still lacked a Pokémon that can cripple annoying walls such as Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Chansey, so I decided to go for Choice Specs + Trick Magearna. Aside from being a nice stallbreaker, it makes for a very powerful wallbreaker due to the fact that the absurd power of Fleur Cannon, combined with Magearna’s high SpA stat and Soul-Heart spell trouble.
For my last Pokemon, I chose Azumarill in order to function as a late-game cleaner, and it appreciates Alakazam and Magearna’s wallbreaking ability. I thought this team was already fine, but I made one last change.
I still lacked a Hippowdon check, which could prove to be annoying due to the fact that Kommo-o doesn’t have enough power to take on the hippo. I decided to take Slowbro in order to more efficiently check Hippowdon. It also forms a nice Fighting-Dark-Psychic defensive backbone core with Kommo-o and Mandibuzz, and it can join in the pivoting fun with Mandibuzz and Magnezone with Teleport.
The Team In-Depth
Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
The Pokémon that started it all: Alakazam proves to be a devastating Special Attacker by virtue of its high Special Attack, in conjunction with Magic Guard, being able to abuse the extra power of Life Orb without taking any recoil damage. I chose Psychic to better take on Toxapex, Kommo-o, and Urshifu-Rapid-Strike. I chose Shadow Ball in order to nail Dragapult on the switch, as well as hit slower wallbreakers such as Alolan Marowak hard. Finally, I chose Dazzling Gleam over the more hard-hitting Focus Blast because of consistency and so that I can get a chunk of HP out of Mandibuzz.
Kommo-o @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Iron Defense
Kommo-o provides hazard support so that Alakazam can break through more efficiently. For the build, I chose Iron Defense so that I can freely spam Body Press against annoying Pokémon like Chansey, Corviknight, and Ferrothorn. I chose Earthquake so that I could be able to hit Cinderace and Alolan Marowak for a big chunk of damage.
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpD / 96 Spe
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog
Mandibuzz provides a useful Ground-type immunity for the team as well as the ability to remove hazards via Defog. I chose Foul Play in order to annoy those physical cleaners like Work Up Cinderace and Dragon Dance Dragapult. Roost is in the second slot so that Mandibuzz can have reliable recovery for the rest of the match to support its team. Next is U-turn to bring in its teammates safely, and Defog is in the last slot to remove hazards for its teammates to safely switch in.
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Toxic
Magnezone is a vital part of my team, since without it, I have no chances of dealing with Corviknight and Magearna. What proves its might is its ability to trap Steel-types thanks to Magnet Pull. I chose the first two moves because they’re STAB. Volt Switch is the third move so that it is able to pivot out of its checks and form a VoltTurn core with Mandibuzz. Finally, Toxic allows Magnezone to put Pokémon it lures in on a timer such as Volcarona and Cinderace.
Magearna @ Choice Specs
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Trick
Next up is Magearna, AKA the Pokémon everybody wants to get banned, and I can see why. It has a powerful move in Fleur Cannon, an amazing ability in Soul-Heart, and its utility, which gives it an amazing number of viable sets, but for this team, I chose the Choice Specs set for this team, since like I said, I still lacked a way to cripple Chansey, Ferrothorn, and Toxapex. The highlight of this set is Trick, which allows Magearna to cripple walls.
Slowbro
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Teleport
- Thunder Wave
Slowbro is my main answer to Hippowdon as well as my second defensive pivot and third pivot overall. I have Slack Off so that Slowbro can stay healthy all the time, and I have Teleport so that it can act as a slow pivot to bring one of its teammates in. The cool fact about it is that while using Teleport, Slowbro can recover its health thanks to Regenerator. For the last move, I chose Thunder Wave so that Slowbro can’t become setup fodder. I have no item on Slowbro so that I can take a Knock Off or a Poltergeist better.
Hope you enjoyed this team! This is currently my favorite team post-DLC and I hope you’ll get the chance to try this team out!
Importable
This thing basically annoys almost my entire team. First, it can OHKO Alakazam using Sucker Punch. Second, Kommo-o is dealt with using Zen Headbutt. Mandibuzz is nailed with Electro Ball if Cinderace runs the Work Up set. Magnezone and Magearna are OHKOed by Pyro Ball. Finally, Slowbro gets hit by Sucker Punch.
Once Magnezone is taken out, Steel-types can rampage my entire team. I need to be especially careful in preserving Magnezone for Steel-types, and I need to be especially careful for Excadrill, since I don’t have neither Levitate nor Air Balloon.
Without Kommo-o, these two special walls would prove devastating to this team, since my team is full of special attackers. Even with Magearna it may still be hard to handle them.
Zeraora powers through my team, since I lack Ground-types to check it. I’m especially emphasizing Play Rough Zeraora, since the Bulk Up set doesn’t normally have Play Rough, but has the choice of running it.
Once Volcarona gets the chance to set up, its gonna kill my team. Alakazam is the only one that outspeeds this, but gets outsped and OHKOed after one Quiver Dance and by Bug Buzz respectively.
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