[OVERVIEW]
Alakazam's high speed and access to Thunder Wave make it one of the most prominent leads in the tier. It is able to spread paralysis from the first turn of a battle, generating offensive momentum for its teammates. Although it is completely outclassed by Mewtwo as a lead, many teams do not want to jeopardize Mewtwo early by leading with it, in which case Alakazam is a good replacement. Alakazam is not limited to the lead slot, as in the back it functions as a fantastic staller with Kinesis. Alakazam can directly switch into Mewtwo's Amnesia, paralyze it with Thunder Wave, then stall it out with Kinesis and Recover. Alakazam's access to Thunder Wave also frees up moveslots on Mewtwo and Mew, and accuracy drops make them more effective at setting up Amnesia and Swords Dance.
Alakazam struggles from its frailty and fear of paralysis.
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Thunder Wave
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Recover
move 4: Seismic Toss / Kinesis
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
As a lead, Alakazam excels at forcing paralysis onto foes. Thunder Wave is an effective move against many common opposing leads, such as Mewtwo, Tauros, Zapdos, and Jynx. Against Gengar, Psychic should be used as a critical hit or Hypnosis miss will deny Gengar sleep. A common first-turn switch for the opponent is Exeggutor, as it can absorb Thunder Wave and attempt to land Sleep Powder on Alakazam. Lead Alakazam is a fantastic sleepsack so it can simply use Seismic Toss to chip Exeggutor until it gets slept. In other cases, Mewtwo may be switched into lead Alakazam's Thunder Wave to give the opponent a sleepblocker. This is most commonly seen with Barrier Mewtwo, which appreciates getting paralyzed early. In this case, it is important to switch Alakazam out immediately and threaten Mewtwo with an Explosion user. Exeggutor is effective at this since the opponent will be pressured to stay in with Mewtwo due to the threat of sleep.
When Alakazam is not in the lead slot, it often opts for Kinesis as its fourth move. The main purpose of Kinesis is to counter Amnesia Mewtwo. A healthy Alakazam can comfortably switch into an unboosted Amnesia Mewtwo and paralyze it with Thunder Wave. From there, it can use Kinesis and Recover to stall out Mewtwo's PP. A +4 Thunderbolt or Ice Beam does 58.7-69.3% on Alakazam, which means Mewtwo typically has to land four non-critical hit attacks in a row to KO Alakazam, which is unlikely after the accuracy drop and full paralysis chances. Non-Barrier Mewtwo can try to improve its odds by fishing for a special drop with Psychic, as a +4 Thunderbolt or Ice Beam has a 41% chance to KO Alakazam at -1 special. However, getting a special drop through paralysis and accuracy drops is also quite difficult. If Mewtwo boosts to +5 when stalling, Alakazam can start using Psychic to fish for a special drop and trigger overflow.
It is extremely important to avoid paralysis on Alakazam. If Alakazam is paralyzed, it becomes much less effective at stalling out Mewtwo, as Kinesis accuracy is already shaky and stalling requires Alakazam to be able to use Recover on every turn. More offensive teams forgo Amnesia on Mewtwo in favor of Thunder Wave and Self-Destruct. In these cases, Alakazam is not as effective against Mewtwo and should be used instead to force damage and paralysis on Mewtwo's offensive teammates, such as Tauros.
Lead Alakazam generally fits on offensive teams that appreciate the momentum gained from early paralysis spreading. Since Exeggutor is a common first-turn switch into lead Alakazam, good teammates include slower offensive Pokemon such as Snorlax, Slowbro, and Rhydon, as they appreciate the paralysis and chip damage to Exeggutor. Since Mewtwo is also a common switch-in to Alakazam, Explosion users such as Snorlax, Cloyster, and Exeggutor, and Pokemon that appreciate Mewtwo being removed, such as Barrier Mewtwo, Zapdos, Articuno, and Cloyster are effective teammates for lead Alakazam as well. Kinesis Alakazam fits best on offensive teams that need a defensive backbone to fend off Barrier Mewtwo. These teams typically contain Mewtwo sets lacking Recover, as well as pokemon like Tauros, Snorlax, and Zapdos. Kinesis Alakazam is also much less effective against Mewtwo sets with Thunder Wave, which the aforementioned offensive Pokemon excel at fighting. Setup variants of Mewtwo and Mew are good teammates, since they are more comfortable dropping Thunder Wave thanks to the paralysis support that Alakazam provides. Additionally, they can set up Amnesia and Swords Dance on paralyzed foes that have their accuracy dropped.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Alakazam can run Counter as a surprise option against Tauros and Snorlax. However, a countered Body Slam does not KO Tauros, and Alakazam gets plenty of value out of Thunder Wave anyway. Alakazam can drop its Defense to 154 to ensure a countered Body Slam KOes Tauros, but its already-poor physical bulk is made even worse, as a Hyper Beam or critical hit Body Slam KOes. Alakazam can run Reflect in order to be bulkier on the physical side, but it is still very vulnerable to critical hits and paralysis from Body Slam.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Paralysis**: Alakazam is very reliant on speed due to its frailty, and therefore hates being paralyzed. This generally means it is forced out by Pokemon it would otherwise wall, such as Chansey, Starmie, and Exeggutor. Alakazam is also only effective at stalling out Mewtwo sets lacking Thunder Wave. Once Alakazam is Paralyzed, Kinesis's Accuracy is reduces to an effective 59.8%, and Alakazam is unable to use Recover every turn due to full paralysis.
**Physical Attackers**: Alakazam is extremely frail on the physical side, having a 60.2% and 99.5% chance to be 2HKOed by Tauros's and Snorlax's Body Slam, respectively. A +2 Hyper Beam from Mew also OHKOes Alakazam. Unlike Tauros and Snorlax, which generally need to switch into a predicted Recover Turn, Mew can switch directly into Psychic and set up.
**Recovery users**: Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam all take little from Psychic, threaten paralysis, and can heal off damage with recovery moves. Chansey in particular is troublesome for lead Alakazam, as it can absorb Thunder Wave and try to land sleep wtih Sing. Alakazam's high Special and Psychic's chance for special drops mean that Alakazam will likely break through eventually, though it will likely be paralyzed in the process.
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Alakazam's high speed and access to Thunder Wave make it one of the most prominent leads in the tier. It is able to spread paralysis from the first turn of a battle, generating offensive momentum for its teammates. Although it is completely outclassed by Mewtwo as a lead, many teams do not want to jeopardize Mewtwo early by leading with it, in which case Alakazam is a good replacement. Alakazam is not limited to the lead slot, as in the back it functions as a fantastic staller with Kinesis. Alakazam can directly switch into Mewtwo's Amnesia, paralyze it with Thunder Wave, then stall it out with Kinesis and Recover. Alakazam's access to Thunder Wave also frees up moveslots on Mewtwo and Mew, and accuracy drops make them more effective at setting up Amnesia and Swords Dance.
Alakazam struggles from its frailty and fear of paralysis.
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Thunder Wave
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Recover
move 4: Seismic Toss / Kinesis
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
As a lead, Alakazam excels at forcing paralysis onto foes. Thunder Wave is an effective move against many common opposing leads, such as Mewtwo, Tauros, Zapdos, and Jynx. Against Gengar, Psychic should be used as a critical hit or Hypnosis miss will deny Gengar sleep. A common first-turn switch for the opponent is Exeggutor, as it can absorb Thunder Wave and attempt to land Sleep Powder on Alakazam. Lead Alakazam is a fantastic sleepsack so it can simply use Seismic Toss to chip Exeggutor until it gets slept. In other cases, Mewtwo may be switched into lead Alakazam's Thunder Wave to give the opponent a sleepblocker. This is most commonly seen with Barrier Mewtwo, which appreciates getting paralyzed early. In this case, it is important to switch Alakazam out immediately and threaten Mewtwo with an Explosion user. Exeggutor is effective at this since the opponent will be pressured to stay in with Mewtwo due to the threat of sleep.
When Alakazam is not in the lead slot, it often opts for Kinesis as its fourth move. The main purpose of Kinesis is to counter Amnesia Mewtwo. A healthy Alakazam can comfortably switch into an unboosted Amnesia Mewtwo and paralyze it with Thunder Wave. From there, it can use Kinesis and Recover to stall out Mewtwo's PP. A +4 Thunderbolt or Ice Beam does 58.7-69.3% on Alakazam, which means Mewtwo typically has to land four non-critical hit attacks in a row to KO Alakazam, which is unlikely after the accuracy drop and full paralysis chances. Non-Barrier Mewtwo can try to improve its odds by fishing for a special drop with Psychic, as a +4 Thunderbolt or Ice Beam has a 41% chance to KO Alakazam at -1 special. However, getting a special drop through paralysis and accuracy drops is also quite difficult. If Mewtwo boosts to +5 when stalling, Alakazam can start using Psychic to fish for a special drop and trigger overflow.
It is extremely important to avoid paralysis on Alakazam. If Alakazam is paralyzed, it becomes much less effective at stalling out Mewtwo, as Kinesis accuracy is already shaky and stalling requires Alakazam to be able to use Recover on every turn. More offensive teams forgo Amnesia on Mewtwo in favor of Thunder Wave and Self-Destruct. In these cases, Alakazam is not as effective against Mewtwo and should be used instead to force damage and paralysis on Mewtwo's offensive teammates, such as Tauros.
Lead Alakazam generally fits on offensive teams that appreciate the momentum gained from early paralysis spreading. Since Exeggutor is a common first-turn switch into lead Alakazam, good teammates include slower offensive Pokemon such as Snorlax, Slowbro, and Rhydon, as they appreciate the paralysis and chip damage to Exeggutor. Since Mewtwo is also a common switch-in to Alakazam, Explosion users such as Snorlax, Cloyster, and Exeggutor, and Pokemon that appreciate Mewtwo being removed, such as Barrier Mewtwo, Zapdos, Articuno, and Cloyster are effective teammates for lead Alakazam as well. Kinesis Alakazam fits best on offensive teams that need a defensive backbone to fend off Barrier Mewtwo. These teams typically contain Mewtwo sets lacking Recover, as well as pokemon like Tauros, Snorlax, and Zapdos. Kinesis Alakazam is also much less effective against Mewtwo sets with Thunder Wave, which the aforementioned offensive Pokemon excel at fighting. Setup variants of Mewtwo and Mew are good teammates, since they are more comfortable dropping Thunder Wave thanks to the paralysis support that Alakazam provides. Additionally, they can set up Amnesia and Swords Dance on paralyzed foes that have their accuracy dropped.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Alakazam can run Counter as a surprise option against Tauros and Snorlax. However, a countered Body Slam does not KO Tauros, and Alakazam gets plenty of value out of Thunder Wave anyway. Alakazam can drop its Defense to 154 to ensure a countered Body Slam KOes Tauros, but its already-poor physical bulk is made even worse, as a Hyper Beam or critical hit Body Slam KOes. Alakazam can run Reflect in order to be bulkier on the physical side, but it is still very vulnerable to critical hits and paralysis from Body Slam.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Paralysis**: Alakazam is very reliant on speed due to its frailty, and therefore hates being paralyzed. This generally means it is forced out by Pokemon it would otherwise wall, such as Chansey, Starmie, and Exeggutor. Alakazam is also only effective at stalling out Mewtwo sets lacking Thunder Wave. Once Alakazam is Paralyzed, Kinesis's Accuracy is reduces to an effective 59.8%, and Alakazam is unable to use Recover every turn due to full paralysis.
**Physical Attackers**: Alakazam is extremely frail on the physical side, having a 60.2% and 99.5% chance to be 2HKOed by Tauros's and Snorlax's Body Slam, respectively. A +2 Hyper Beam from Mew also OHKOes Alakazam. Unlike Tauros and Snorlax, which generally need to switch into a predicted Recover Turn, Mew can switch directly into Psychic and set up.
**Recovery users**: Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam all take little from Psychic, threaten paralysis, and can heal off damage with recovery moves. Chansey in particular is troublesome for lead Alakazam, as it can absorb Thunder Wave and try to land sleep wtih Sing. Alakazam's high Special and Psychic's chance for special drops mean that Alakazam will likely break through eventually, though it will likely be paralyzed in the process.
[CREDITS]
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https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.101/
Quality checked by:
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Grammar checked by:
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Last edited: