XY UU Mega Alakazam Balance (Peaked 1625 #47)

[Grim]

Proof of peak: http://i.imgur.com/sIIKjBD.png

Mega Alakazam Balance

So I was like 'Yay, Alakazam-Mega is getting tested, let's make a team!', and it did suprisingly well.

Teambuilding process is kind of simple: Alakazam-Mega was obvious. I then added Machamp because it covers Alakazam's Dark-type weakness. Swampert followed for Stealth Rocks and a Darmanitan counter. Honchkrow adds some priority, pursuit support, and covers Swampert's Grass-type weakness and Alakazam's Ghost-type one. Gligar was added kind of mindlessly, but it does very well, and became one of the most important members of the team. Last but not least, Double Dance Porygon-Z was added because it's just a cool Pokemon and added a win condition to the team. Even though this team was created kind of without a goal, Porygon-Z usually ends up late game sweeping after the rest of the team made some holes.

A closer look at the team:

no ban plz
Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast Dazzling Gleam
- Future Sight

The Pokemon the team was built around. The EV's are simple; 252 Spe and 252 SpA with a Modest nature to hit as hard as possible while still outspeeding the majority of the meta. Psyshock over Psychic to hit special walls such as Blissey and Florges hard. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast are just general coverage moves. Future Sight is an interesting gimmick that has helped me a lot, especially in combination with Machamp.

I have been considering Dazzling Gleam > Focus Blast, but I'm not sure yet. Changed it because it's more reliable and hits Sableye too.

Surprise motherfucker!
Machamp @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch

Not quite a standard set. Choice Band max Spe Guts Machamp is an awesome Pokemon that puts in a lot of work against all kind of teams. Close Combat hits very hard with a CB, and even harder with a Guts boost. Bullet Punch for some priority, and Knock Off and Ice Punch for obvious coverage.

Y u no recovery?
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Nice and standard physically defensive Swampert keeps Darmanitan at bay, and is my very shaky CroCune check. Scald > Waterfall to burn stuff, and actually does decent damage with a Torrent boost. Also adds a nice Electric-type immunity. I hope that with its mega evolution it doesn't go to OU, because I wouldn't know what to replace it with. (Arcanine ?_?)

Classy as fuck
Honchkrow @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Brave Bird
- Pursuit

Sucker Punch + Pursuit creates a lot of 50/50 situations, which is cool. Superpower over Roost because I never really get the chance to use Roost anyway. It Pursuit-traps Celebi too, which would otherwise be somewhat problematic.

Gliscor a shit
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Roost

Gligar is a mixed Eviolite wall, who is my answer to Mienshao and Hydreigon among others. Hyper Cutter because Immunity is incompatible with Defog ;-;. Earthquake is the STAB, Toxic cripples stuff, and Roost is recovery. The EV's are kind of random lol. It does a good job at switching into Hydreigon and Mienshao.

Jk, who even uses Hyper Beam?
Porygon-Z @ Lum Berry
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tri Attack
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot
- Agility

Double Dance Porygon-Z is a cool sweeper that does a lot to stall too. Tri Attack + Dark Pulse has nice coverage. 176 Spe EV's to outspeed Choice Scarf Mienshao and I believe Choice Scarf Infernape too (not sure about this one), 252 SpA EV's with a Modest nature to hit hard, and the leftovers in HP.


Some threats to the team I noticed are Sub CM Meloetta, Ice attack special attackers like Goodra and Nidoking/Queen (they break through Gligar :C), and Lucario.

I forgot to save replays, but here is one against stall: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-174073094

Please leave a post and tell me if you think I should change something or whatever lol.

 

[manodelrey]

From first glance I would just say chance focus blast to dazzling gleam. It can give you a good attack on dark types that want to switch into you, and you can use your machamp to take on slower steel types which I think would be a better use for the cool set you gave it. Your swampert can take on lucario pretty well i think and roar out meloetta. The nido's need to be hit with alakazam i think otherwise they are a problem, and goodra is always a problem for most teams lol. I like the team though

 

[Grim]

From first glance I would just say chance focus blast to dazzling gleam. It can give you a good attack on dark types that want to switch into you, and you can use your machamp to take on slower steel types which I think would be a better use for the cool set you gave it. Your swampert can take on lucario pretty well i think and roar out meloetta. The nido's need to be hit with alakazam i think otherwise they are a problem, and goodra is always a problem for most teams lol. I like the team though

Changing Focus Blast to Gleam now. Swampert actually almost gets OHKO'd by Close Combat at +2, so after a bit of prior damage it's ded. :c Meloetta hits Swampert pretty hard too.

Thanks for the rate. :)

 

[manodelrey]

Changing Focus Blast to Gleam now. Swampert actually almost gets OHKO'd by Close Combat at +2, so after a bit of prior damage it's ded. :c Meloetta hits Swampert pretty hard too.

Thanks for the rate. :)

np, but i would think if you saw lucario in the team preview you should keep swampert healthy and ready so you can prevent it from setting up. No clue then about meloetta

 

[Bouff]

Hey GrimoireGod, you have a pretty nice team so I only have a few sggestions.

First, I would reccomend replacing Future Sight with Protect; it lets you get the Special Attack and Speed boosts of Mega Evolving safely while scouting out Choiced mons, which is pretty important considering offensive cores like Scarfdreigon + Rachi are so common in the current metagame, and Future Sight can be played around fairly easily against offense / balance. Future Sight seems like it does pretty well against Stall, though, so I think a better option would be to replace it with Calm Mind, as it retains the utility against defensive teams, while giving you a good win condition at the same time, which is good because Megazam generally does a lot of work late game. I don't really agree with replacing Focus Blast, especially if you're using CM, as otherwise you have a lot of trouble with Steel-types, particularly Empoleon and Mega Aggron.

Secondly, I would replace Ice Punch on Machamp for Heavy Slam, as Ice Punch doesn't exactly hit much that Close Combat can't hit harder, barring Gligar and Crobat, who both despise Knock Off (unless Crobat is itemless Acro). Heavy Slam gives you a great attack to use against Aromatisse and Florges, who will commonly try to switch into Machamp's Close Combat (Bullet Punch doesn't really do a whole lot to them if they're at full health, so having two Steel-type moves isn't redundant).

Hope I helped!

Changes

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Protect / Calm Mind

Machamp @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Heavy Slam
- Bullet Punch

 

[Grim]

Hey GrimoireGod, you have a pretty nice team so I only have a few sggestions.

First, I would reccomend replacing Future Sight with Protect; it lets you get the Special Attack and Speed boosts of Mega Evolving safely while scouting out Choiced mons, which is pretty important considering offensive cores like Scarfdreigon + Rachi are so common in the current metagame, and Future Sight can be played around fairly easily against offense / balance. Future Sight seems like it does pretty well against Stall, though, so I think a better option would be to replace it with Calm Mind, as it retains the utility against defensive teams, while giving you a good win condition at the same time, which is good because Megazam generally does a lot of work late game. I don't really agree with replacing Focus Blast, especially if you're using CM, as otherwise you have a lot of trouble with Steel-types, particularly Empoleon and Mega Aggron.

Secondly, I would replace Ice Punch on Machamp for Heavy Slam, as Ice Punch doesn't exactly hit much that Close Combat can't hit harder, barring Gligar and Crobat, who both despise Knock Off (unless Crobat is itemless Acro). Heavy Slam gives you a great attack to use against Aromatisse and Florges, who will commonly try to switch into Machamp's Close Combat (Bullet Punch doesn't really do a whole lot to them if they're at full health, so having two Steel-type moves isn't redundant).

Hope I helped!

Changes

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Protect / Calm Mind

Machamp @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Heavy Slam
- Bullet Punch

Thanks for the rate! I will try out your suggestions.

 

[IronBullet]

Hey there,

This is a cool team but you really struggle against Ice-type and Water-type moves seeing as you have no resistances to either of them. Powerful Dragon Pokemon like Haxorus and Hydreigon will also give you a lot of grief. So I have a couple of suggestions that I feel could help you out. First off I would recommend replacing Porygon-z with a Whimsicott. Whimsicott at once fixes your Water and Dragon problems, and is capable of being a real nuisance to all types of teams. The set I would recommend is a Life Orb Encore version which gives you an excellent check to Crocune and Sub CM Meloetta who you said are really troublesome. Prankster + Encore in fact allows you to check pretty much every set up sweeper in the tier, and is especially useful against last mon stat-uppers. A moveset of Giga Drain / Moonblast / Encore / Psychic with EVs of 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe is ideal. Psychic allows you to hit Crobat on the switch and nail the Nidos who you said also cause you problems.

Now since your team is still quite weak to SD Lucario who can bypass Prankster with Extremespeed, I would suggest replacing Machamp with a Substitute Cobalion. It is a very effective stall-breaker with Swords Dance, good coverage and bulk and makes up for losing a strong win condition in Porygon-Z. It provides you with an Ice resist and another Dragon resist, and is also one of the most effective SD Lucario checks in the tier. Here is the set:

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head

Lastly just want to say that I second Bouff's suggestion of Calm Mind over Future Sight on Zam. This gives you another win condition and is an excellent late-game sweeper to replace Porygon-Z. Gl with the team, and hope I helped!

 

[Kink]

Heyo!

This is a nice looking team. I recommend looking into IronBullet93's suggestions; however, if you believe that Machamp is really the right fit for your team (I mean lets face it... CB Champ is the definition of bop), the I recommend changing bullet punch to Heavy Slam. Heavy Slam Ohkos all fairy types in the UU tier, as well as doing good neutral damage throughout the tier. Other pokemon should be using priority, as machamp is much more of a wall-breaker. This leads me to my second suggestion:

At the moment, your team is extremely weak to to all things named Blastoise (once champ goes it, it beats the other 5 months 1vs1), as well as anything carrying Ice Beam. For this reason, I suggest implementing the following to replace either swampert or gligar:

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Natures
- Scald
- Baton Pass
- Wish
- Protect

The following change will fit much better on your team, and will allow you to utilize the most out of your crushing Machamp. Good luck!

 

[Grim]

Hey there,

This is a cool team but you really struggle against Ice-type and Water-type moves seeing as you have no resistances to either of them. Powerful Dragon Pokemon like Haxorus and Hydreigon will also give you a lot of grief. So I have a couple of suggestions that I feel could help you out. First off I would recommend replacing Porygon-z with a Whimsicott. Whimsicott at once fixes your Water and Dragon problems, and is capable of being a real nuisance to all types of teams. The set I would recommend is a Life Orb Encore version which gives you an excellent check to Crocune and Sub CM Meloetta who you said are really troublesome. Prankster + Encore in fact allows you to check pretty much every set up sweeper in the tier, and is especially useful against last mon stat-uppers. A moveset of Giga Drain / Moonblast / Encore / Psychic with EVs of 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe is ideal. Psychic allows you to hit Crobat on the switch and nail the Nidos who you said also cause you problems.

Now since your team is still quite weak to SD Lucario who can bypass Prankster with Extremespeed, I would suggest replacing Machamp with a Substitute Cobalion. It is a very effective stall-breaker with Swords Dance, good coverage and bulk and makes up for losing a strong win condition in Porygon-Z. It provides you with an Ice resist and another Dragon resist, and is also one of the most effective SD Lucario checks in the tier. Here is the set:

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head

Lastly just want to say that I second Bouff's suggestion of Calm Mind over Future Sight on Zam. This gives you another win condition and is an excellent late-game sweeper to replace Porygon-Z. Gl with the team, and hope I helped!

Tried out both Cobalion and Whimsicott. Cobalion is awesome and is definitely staying. Not really sure about Whimsi though. Thanks. :)

Heyo!

This is a nice looking team. I recommend looking into IronBullet93's suggestions; however, if you believe that Machamp is really the right fit for your team (I mean lets face it... CB Champ is the definition of bop), the I recommend changing bullet punch to Heavy Slam. Heavy Slam Ohkos all fairy types in the UU tier, as well as doing good neutral damage throughout the tier. Other pokemon should be using priority, as machamp is much more of a wall-breaker. This leads me to my second suggestion:

At the moment, your team is extremely weak to to all things named Blastoise (once champ goes it, it beats the other 5 months 1vs1), as well as anything carrying Ice Beam. For this reason, I suggest implementing the following to replace either swampert or gligar:

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Natures
- Scald
- Baton Pass
- Wish
- Protect

The following change will fit much better on your team, and will allow you to utilize the most out of your crushing Machamp. Good luck!

Mega Blastoise is indeed a huge threat to the team, so I'll definitely try Vaporeon out. Thanks! :)