[OVERVIEW]
Breloom offers more offensively inclined teams a unique blend of roles, including wallbreaking, revenge killing, and cleaning. Its fantastic Attack stat and access to Swords Dance are further complemented by its ability Technician, which boosts all of its common attacking moves such as Bullet Seed, Rock Tomb, and priority Mach Punch. Its STAB Technician-boosted Mach Punch in particular allows Breloom to revenge kill threats such as Mega Sharpedo, Cobalion, and Hydreigon. Spore also lets Breloom potentially neuter one of its checks and apply more pressure as a whole. However, due to its mediocre bulk, Breloom finds few opportunities to come in safely and threaten foes. Additionally, its low Speed stat leads to an overreliance on its STAB Mach Punch against offensive teams, provided that it does not have a Focus Sash intact. Its STAB combination is also unspectacular offensively against much of the UU metagame, leaving it vulnerable to staples like Latias, Amoonguss, and Togekiss.
[SET]
name: Technician Attacker
move 1: Spore
move 2: Bullet Seed
move 3: Mach Punch
move 4: Swords Dance / Rock Tomb
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Technician
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Spore puts foes to sleep, essentially neutralizing a check or counter provided that the opponent does not have something to absorb it. Upon receiving a Technician boost, Bullet Seed becomes Breloom's most effective Grass-type STAB move. Mach Punch offers Breloom a powerful priority STAB move, also being boosted by Technician. Swords Dance increases Breloom's Attack two stages, making it a potent sweeper or wallbreaker in combination with its other moves. Alternatively, Rock Tomb makes for a nice option alongside Focus Sash, notably hitting common checks like Chandelure and Crobat significantly harder while also slowing down faster foes. This allows teammates to more easily revenge kill them.
Set Details
========
252 Attack EVs along with an Adamant nature and a Life Orb allow Breloom to hit as hard as possible. Maximum Speed investment lets Breloom outspeed most of the tier's bulky Pokemon like Suicune. A Jolly nature is another solid option that guarantees that Breloom at least Speed ties with base 70s such as Volcanion and other Breloom as well as outspeeding Jolly Scizor. Focus Sash is an option over Life Orb, significantly improving Breloom’s matchup against offensive teams but lowering damage output.
Usage Tips
========
It is often optimal to use Spore early-game to cripple Breloom's initial answer, but you should watch out for obvious sleep fodder such as useless, low-health foes. Only bring Breloom in when it is safe to do so, as its poor bulk prevents it from coming in otherwise. Use Swords Dance when the opportunity presents itself in order to either break down the opposing team or clean up late-game. Its powerful Mach Punch allows Breloom to act as a solid revenge killer to threats such as Mega Sharpedo, Terrakion, and Hydreigon. If running it, it is beneficial to keep Breloom's Focus Sash intact if it is necessary to take on a specific foe.
Team Options
========
Breloom fits best on more offensively oriented teams that appreciate its wallbreaking and sweeping potential. Latias and Gliscor pair nicely with Breloom by taking advantage of Amoonguss, Breloom's hardest counter. Gliscor also appreciates the free turns presented by Breloom's Spore to activate its Toxic Orb. Pursuit users such as Mega Aerodactyl, Alolan Muk, Choice Band Scizor, and Choice Scarf Krookodile make for fantastic partners by trapping some of Breloom's most prominent answers in Latias, Chandelure, and Gengar. Rock-types like Nihilego and the aforementioned Mega Aerodactyl appreciate Breloom's ability to threaten bulky Water-types while also checking Flying-types such as Togekiss and Moltres that threaten Breloom. Volt Switch and U-turn users such as Mega Manectric and Scizor can bring Breloom in safely, providing it with more opportunities to wallbreak or sweep. Other Steel-types like Mega Aggron and Stakataka work well with Breloom, covering many of its weaknesses and appreciating the removal of bulky Water-types. Fighting-types like Infernape and Cobalion pair nicely with Breloom, as they can wear down each other’s checks.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Toxic Orb set utilizing Poison Heal, Swords Dance, and Facade lets Breloom muscle past some of its common answers like Amoonguss without fearing Scald burns from Pokemon like Empoleon and Swampert, but it is much less effective against offensive teams. Breloom can viably run Superpower with Fightinium Z on the Technician attacker set over Spore, but this leaves it even more vulnerable to Pokemon like Latias, Crobat, and Togekiss. Natural Gift sets with items such as Yache Berry allow Breloom to surprise common answers like Amoonguss, but it has only one use and are generally less useful than other sets. Choice Scarf is a decent option to surprise revenge killers like Starmie, but it makes Breloom easily exploitable once it is revealed.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Amoonguss**: Amoonguss is the hardest counter to the standard Breloom set, fearing little from any of its attacking moves and being immune to Spore.
**Flying-types**: Crobat and Togekiss resist Breloom's STAB moves and threaten it out with their STAB moves, but they must watch out for Rock Tomb.
**Ghost-types**: Gengar, Doublade, and Alolan Marowak can take any one hit from Breloom and KO it.
**Dragon-types**: Latias and Mega Altaria resist Breloom's STAB combination and threaten it with their respective Psychic- and Fairy-type STAB moves.
**Sleep Talk Users**: Chandelure and Moltres can viably run Sleep Talk, taking advantage of Breloom's Spore and hitting it hard in return.
Breloom offers more offensively inclined teams a unique blend of roles, including wallbreaking, revenge killing, and cleaning. Its fantastic Attack stat and access to Swords Dance are further complemented by its ability Technician, which boosts all of its common attacking moves such as Bullet Seed, Rock Tomb, and priority Mach Punch. Its STAB Technician-boosted Mach Punch in particular allows Breloom to revenge kill threats such as Mega Sharpedo, Cobalion, and Hydreigon. Spore also lets Breloom potentially neuter one of its checks and apply more pressure as a whole. However, due to its mediocre bulk, Breloom finds few opportunities to come in safely and threaten foes. Additionally, its low Speed stat leads to an overreliance on its STAB Mach Punch against offensive teams, provided that it does not have a Focus Sash intact. Its STAB combination is also unspectacular offensively against much of the UU metagame, leaving it vulnerable to staples like Latias, Amoonguss, and Togekiss.
[SET]
name: Technician Attacker
move 1: Spore
move 2: Bullet Seed
move 3: Mach Punch
move 4: Swords Dance / Rock Tomb
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Technician
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Spore puts foes to sleep, essentially neutralizing a check or counter provided that the opponent does not have something to absorb it. Upon receiving a Technician boost, Bullet Seed becomes Breloom's most effective Grass-type STAB move. Mach Punch offers Breloom a powerful priority STAB move, also being boosted by Technician. Swords Dance increases Breloom's Attack two stages, making it a potent sweeper or wallbreaker in combination with its other moves. Alternatively, Rock Tomb makes for a nice option alongside Focus Sash, notably hitting common checks like Chandelure and Crobat significantly harder while also slowing down faster foes. This allows teammates to more easily revenge kill them.
Set Details
========
252 Attack EVs along with an Adamant nature and a Life Orb allow Breloom to hit as hard as possible. Maximum Speed investment lets Breloom outspeed most of the tier's bulky Pokemon like Suicune. A Jolly nature is another solid option that guarantees that Breloom at least Speed ties with base 70s such as Volcanion and other Breloom as well as outspeeding Jolly Scizor. Focus Sash is an option over Life Orb, significantly improving Breloom’s matchup against offensive teams but lowering damage output.
Usage Tips
========
It is often optimal to use Spore early-game to cripple Breloom's initial answer, but you should watch out for obvious sleep fodder such as useless, low-health foes. Only bring Breloom in when it is safe to do so, as its poor bulk prevents it from coming in otherwise. Use Swords Dance when the opportunity presents itself in order to either break down the opposing team or clean up late-game. Its powerful Mach Punch allows Breloom to act as a solid revenge killer to threats such as Mega Sharpedo, Terrakion, and Hydreigon. If running it, it is beneficial to keep Breloom's Focus Sash intact if it is necessary to take on a specific foe.
Team Options
========
Breloom fits best on more offensively oriented teams that appreciate its wallbreaking and sweeping potential. Latias and Gliscor pair nicely with Breloom by taking advantage of Amoonguss, Breloom's hardest counter. Gliscor also appreciates the free turns presented by Breloom's Spore to activate its Toxic Orb. Pursuit users such as Mega Aerodactyl, Alolan Muk, Choice Band Scizor, and Choice Scarf Krookodile make for fantastic partners by trapping some of Breloom's most prominent answers in Latias, Chandelure, and Gengar. Rock-types like Nihilego and the aforementioned Mega Aerodactyl appreciate Breloom's ability to threaten bulky Water-types while also checking Flying-types such as Togekiss and Moltres that threaten Breloom. Volt Switch and U-turn users such as Mega Manectric and Scizor can bring Breloom in safely, providing it with more opportunities to wallbreak or sweep. Other Steel-types like Mega Aggron and Stakataka work well with Breloom, covering many of its weaknesses and appreciating the removal of bulky Water-types. Fighting-types like Infernape and Cobalion pair nicely with Breloom, as they can wear down each other’s checks.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Toxic Orb set utilizing Poison Heal, Swords Dance, and Facade lets Breloom muscle past some of its common answers like Amoonguss without fearing Scald burns from Pokemon like Empoleon and Swampert, but it is much less effective against offensive teams. Breloom can viably run Superpower with Fightinium Z on the Technician attacker set over Spore, but this leaves it even more vulnerable to Pokemon like Latias, Crobat, and Togekiss. Natural Gift sets with items such as Yache Berry allow Breloom to surprise common answers like Amoonguss, but it has only one use and are generally less useful than other sets. Choice Scarf is a decent option to surprise revenge killers like Starmie, but it makes Breloom easily exploitable once it is revealed.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Amoonguss**: Amoonguss is the hardest counter to the standard Breloom set, fearing little from any of its attacking moves and being immune to Spore.
**Flying-types**: Crobat and Togekiss resist Breloom's STAB moves and threaten it out with their STAB moves, but they must watch out for Rock Tomb.
**Ghost-types**: Gengar, Doublade, and Alolan Marowak can take any one hit from Breloom and KO it.
**Dragon-types**: Latias and Mega Altaria resist Breloom's STAB combination and threaten it with their respective Psychic- and Fairy-type STAB moves.
**Sleep Talk Users**: Chandelure and Moltres can viably run Sleep Talk, taking advantage of Breloom's Spore and hitting it hard in return.
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