Alakazam and Friends

[Zac73806]

Originally, I decided I wanted to try Alakazam. After it's dream world ability, Magic Guard, was released I wanted to try it out and see if it really deserved to be considered OU. Looking at it, I saw the flaw in Alakazam that I always worried about, it's completely pitiful defenses. Realizing that, I found out the best way to compliment its raw power, a strong sand team to help him out.

The Team Building Process

So I started with this Alakazam. I wanted something that could take all of the priority hits that would break Alakazam's Focus Sash. Gliscor seemed a great choice although he wouldn't like taking an Ice Shard very much.

With Gliscor I felt it fitting just to have sand in the picture to help cancel out leftovers or deal residual damage to the other team. So I had the choice between Hippowdon and Tyranitar. The brute power of Tyranitar made it a very easy choice.

Now having a strong physical wall, a tank and a powerful special sweeper, I felt like I needed a little more coverage. Landorus seemed like a very good choice, especially in sand. I didn't want to use physical Landorus because I felt like the special attacking variant would help me get the job done more efficiently.

I needed another wall. When in doubt, I would recommend just going with Ferrothorn. I already had a stealth rocker, but I thought it would be a solid spiker. The only thing that takes a lot of damage from rocks is Landorus, so I really saw no need for a spinner. All I needed was something that could take hits, and take them well.

Now, I only needed one more poke. Preferably one that didn't take sandstorm damage, and that could clean teams up. I could have used Garchomp or Genesect. Garchomp seems like a good choice but it didn't have very good fire coverage. So I decided to go with a Genesect. You may say that the team in its entirety would get walled completely by Blissey, Chansey, or Snorlax, when actually that isn't the case.


The Team in Depth

Alakazam (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
The team "mascot" if you will. He comes in on a safe switch preferably and hits hard with one of its moves. The sheer power of Alakazam is insane. You could replace the Sash with a Life Orb for more power, but I prefer the livability rather than the extra power.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
Usually my lead, he facade of this Tyranitar being the special wall variant makes teams shiver as he hits with a max attack Crunch or Stone Edge. The HP ev's are so that you can still easily take those special moves that TTar is known for taking.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 Def / 252 HP / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic/Stone Edge
- Ice Fang
- Protect
Probably my favorite wall in the game, Gliscor. Obvious Toxic Heal with Toxic Orb is obvious because of the crazy hp gain back from every turn. It says "Toxic/Stone Edge" because I have two Gliscors and they both work equally well and it is more of an opinion to which one to use.

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Naive Nature
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Extrasensory
Looking at this Landorus the first thing you probably notice is the Extrasensory thinking what the heck is that guy doing with an extrasensory Landorus. Well you should try it before you hate it. Gengar likes to switch in on specially oriented Landorus because to be honest, it can't really touch it, but with Extrasensory, it demolishes Gengar and will make them regret trying to get a free switch. HP Ice is just for other Landorus and Gliscors that like to switch in as well.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Spikes
- Protect
Ahh, Ferrothorn. What a defensive monster. This poke is definitely the most expendable one on the team. Very good for scouting and killing Blissey/Chansey. Scout for fire moves and if they don't have them, just Leech Seed and Power Whip away. That'll be one dead Blissey.

Genesect @ Expert Belt
Trait: Download
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
And last but not least, Genesect. Being a crazy good sweeper due to its decent speed, great special attack and AMAZING ability, Download, Genesect makes a great late game sweeper. The set is fairly simplistic and isn't too hard to use.





Thanks ahead of time for people who read and rate this team. If you can think of anything to make this team better please do not hesitate to share


Importable

Hide

Genesect @ Expert Belt
Trait: Download
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- U-turn

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock

Alakazam (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 Def / 252 HP / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Ice Fang
- Protect

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Naive Nature
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Extrasensory

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Spikes
- Protect

 

[Dr Ciel]

Hey there. Decent team and way cool use of Alakazam! Alakazam isn't really seen in OU, due to its low usage. Although it is very solid, this team needs some help, and that's exactly what I'm here to do, provide some suggestions for this team to help it improve and reach its full potential and whatnot. But anyways, I'm done rambling, let's move onto the rate now, shall we? Okay, to kick off this rate, there are no real glaring weaknesses that this team has, seeing as it is standard. So, I shall just go ahead and suggest some EV spread and moveset changes, so please take them into consideration, okay? Alright, time for the real rate after my useless rambling, it's time for the rate. First things first, I would definitely suggest using Psyshock over Psychic on Alakazam. One of the biggest reasons of using Psyshock is that you don't get walled by the pink blobs, (Chansey and Blissey), as Psyshock uses their Defense stat instead of their Special Defense stat to deal damage. Moving forward, you should run Substitute over Ice Fang and Toxic over Stone Edge on your Gliscor. This is Gliscors flagship set and the one that propelled it to the top. Sub helps prevent status, while you can use Toxic, then rack up some huge damage by using Protect, and repeating this process. Moving on to Landorus, I suggest using a Choice Scarf over your current Life Orb. Choice Scarf Landorus makes for an amazing revenge killer and a solid late-game sweeper. Lastly, you should use a Rock Polish set over your current one. Rock Polish Genesect makes for a great special sweeper along with Alakazam, as both provide brilliant coverage against most threats. Well, that's all I have to say for now. I really hope that my advice helped you. Have fun and good luck with your team!

Sets

Landorus @ Choice Scarf Lv. 100 -- Sand Force


Nature: Naive - EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd

- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Genesect @ Life Orb Lv. 100 -- Download

Nature: Timid - EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rock Polish

~Dr Ciel~ (The doctor is OUT)

 

[Neliel]

Hi, cool team.
Just a few suggestion to make your team better. First of all, i dont really see the point of Substitute+Focus sash, once you do a sub then you cant abuse anymore or your item. For this reason i think that Counter can be a really nice move to troll any phisical attacker that wants to sweep you. Lets say they U-turn out with genesect, then you have a free kill if you do counter. If you dont like it, you can simply replace the Focus sash with Life orb, to increase your power. Also, i would recommend you to use Choice scarf landorus instead of your current one. The reason is simple, you need something to outspeed Dragonite, Salamence, Volcarona, and so on, otherwhise your opponent can easily sweep your team. Gl with the team :x

Set:

Hide

Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]

 

[Bryce]

hey there,this is a pretty nice team.But first of all,Why are you running Extrasensory when you can have Psychic??I guess you probably didn't know.

Now on to the rate,Substitute seems sort of pointless on SashAlakazam.I recommend changing it to HP Ice/Calm Mind..HP Ice lets you revenge kill rampaging dragons who can easily do a lot of damage to this team,especially DDMoxie Mence.However I also think Scarf Landorus is a better fit on your team so if you go with it,Calm Mind is a better option on Alakazam.With Sash you can reliably set up and sweep.I would also keep Psychic on Zam as even with Psyshock ,the pink Blobs still wall you(Chansey is just as bulky as Swampert physically).

Next I recommend changing TTar's EV spread.Your current set is not efficient in Tanking Special hits.Try something like 252HP/120 Atk/136 Sp Def with Adamant Nature.

Lastly,I suggest you change Genesect to a RP variant for late game cleaning.Speed is crucial for a cleaner otherwise you'll just end up revenge killed.You can run Modest Nature with 252 Spatk/252 Spd and the a moveset of Rock Polish/Bug Buzz or Flamethrower/Thunderbolt/Ice Beam.

Hope I helped and good luck.

 

[Harlot]

Hey, Zac. Pretty cool team here, if a little standard. It's nice to see someone giving Alakazam some love, though, it's really underrated. Anyway, on to the rate. The first problem I see is a weakness to Genesect. Any time Genesect comes in, you're risking losing a mon if you predict wrong [or your opponent predicts right...] While I do think that you'd be able to work around it with prediction and entry hazard damage, you'd have a much easier time if you used Terrakon over Landorus. Terrakion provides an excellent switch to almost all Genesects thanks to the Special Defense boost it receives when sand is up, as well as its natural resistance to most of Genesect's moves. A Choice Scarf set seems like it would work best in this situation, as you are somewhat weak to Quiver Dance Volcarona should your Tyranitar get trapped by Dugtrio, and Dragon Dance Dragonite as if it sets up and you mispredict, there's a strong chance that you'll lose the game.

Another change I would suggest making is using a Shed Shell over Leftovers on Tyranitar. Teams with U-turners + Dugtrio are becoming increasingly common [specifically genesect + torn + dug / gene + victini + dug], so I feel that a Shed Shell would be a good choice on Tyranitar so you aren't forced into a 50 / 50 prediction that could potentially lose you the game [opponent sends in victini, is it going to uturn or v-create??].

A few of your movesets are less than optimal. Firstly, Alakazam has a Focus Sash and Substitute. As you should be able to tell, this is somewhat counterproductive. I think you should either replace Substitute with Hidden Power Fire or replace the Focus Sash with a Life Orb. This is mostly a matter of personal preference so I'll leave it up to you I guess. About your Gliscor set, I think you should replace Ice Fang with Substitute and completely remove the mention of Stone Edge. Stone Edge has rather redundant coverage on Gliscor, as it hits mons that Gliscor doesn't really need to be hitting.

tl;dr
scarf terrakion over landorus
shed shell ttar over leftovers ttar
change zam's set [last paragraph]
substitute over ice fang and toxic over stone edge on gliscor

sets

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf | Justified
Jolly | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide

hope i helped, gl

 

[BulbaSword]

Hi, this team looks pretty well put together, but rain and water types seem to be able to cause problems for you because you have three water weak pokes and only 1 resist. Specially defensive rotom-w looks like it can do some serious damage to your team by itself. To alleviate this problem I suggest replacing landorus with gastrodon this would replace one of your water weaknesses with a water immunity who is a rain and water type counter.
Here's the set.

Hide

Gastrodon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm/Sassy Nature
- Toxic
- Recover
- Earth Power/Earthquake
- Scald/Ice Beam

I would also recommend you switch your genesect's item to choice scarf so you have a revenge killer.

 

[thespike323]

Hey hey. One thing I notice about your team is you only have 1 resist to each water and fire (Ferrothorn and T-tar, respectively) and with rain and sun being so popular, you could be in major trouble if either of those two go down. To remedy this, I recommend replacing Gliscor with a rain dance hydration Vaporeon. Rain dance can save your ass if a sun team manages to best your T-tar in a weather war (I find sun more dangerous to lose the weather war to, because chlorophyll), and hydration means Vaporeon can absorb status like Gliscor would've. Here's the set:

Vaporeon @ lefties
Hydration
248 Hp, 252 def, 8 spe (Bold nature)
- rain dance
- rest
- scald
- roar/toxic

I recommend roar over toxic, as Vaporeon can use scald and rest to burn stall an opponent, but if you really want toxic, go for it.

Good luck with the team, and good battling!