PsySpam (pairing Lele with another psychic type, usually mega Medicham or mega Alakazam) is a great strategy, but Sash Alakazam is kind of the weak point. I’d highly suggest using Mega Alakazam but if you insist on using its base forme, I’d advise using Life Orb with three attacks and Recover. Focus Sash doesn’t help Alakazam all that much and it’s better off using Recover to take on the likes of Toxapex and Heatran.
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Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread (read the op before posting a thread)
- Thread starter Celticpride
- Start date
Thanks :) What makes Sash Alakazam so weak? Lacking crucial KOs on specific threats that the Mega and LO version can hit?
LO and Mega Alakazam are generally better as they have a higher damage output and don't have to rely on a surprise factor to thrive, unlike SashCounter Alakazam.
yep pretty much
Yeah it’s mostly the lack of power as opposed to LO and Mega. For instance, without Life Orb it can’t 2HKO Clefable allowing it to Calm Mind up on it, same thing with other physical walls like Zapdos, that avoid a 2HKO without Life Orb. Sash is mostly used alongside Counter as Jordy mentioned, but that’s a bit gimmicky of a set in all fairness.
hey guys, I don't know if this is the proper place to ask but where can I get my hands on some hot teams used in the WCOP?
it isnt the right place, but heres the replays from wcop https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-world-cup-of-pokémon-xiii-logs-replays.3634230/
Adamant or Careful on AV Alolan Muk?
Adamant to get those juicy rolls with Pursuit
Will there ever be sets listed for Avalugg, Staraptor, and Golem-Alola ins smogon? Just asking, Im not thinking of using them but I am interested to see the sets that allow them to be ranked at all
There already is
Staraptor and Avalugg already have one. Alolan Golem’s is in progress atm (you can check that in Contributions and Corrections). Finch will probably add their link to VR when he can or next time he updates tbh.
E: Sniped again
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Hey hey, I hope this is the correct thread for this question:
I was wondering about how MANDATORY the traditional offense-roles are in modern Balance teams? Do you need a Wallbreaker, a setup Sweeper and a Revenge Killer/Scarfer on that archetype? And if not, do you need to make up for those in other ways? Idk, out of the blue, I guess hazard stacking could replace breakers? TWave on one or multiple mons or priority could replace Scarfers, etc. etc. etc.
Am I completely wrong about this idea? ^^
I was wondering about how MANDATORY the traditional offense-roles are in modern Balance teams? Do you need a Wallbreaker, a setup Sweeper and a Revenge Killer/Scarfer on that archetype? And if not, do you need to make up for those in other ways? Idk, out of the blue, I guess hazard stacking could replace breakers? TWave on one or multiple mons or priority could replace Scarfers, etc. etc. etc.
Am I completely wrong about this idea? ^^
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usum-playstyle-analysis.3621912/post-7636163
My post here is a nice overall guide that fully explores the depth of your question. Its a bit old, but it still applies to the context you brought forth.
that's a good post, no doubt, but it's about BO, I was looking for one for Balance ^^ Thanks anyway!
The way the metagame has evolved it's not super beneficial to think about roles in this way anymore. On a surface level, yes, every team should have a breaker, a wincon and probably multiple forms of speed control. But power creep, speed creep, and centralizing pokemon have made it so that this isn't the best way to view things, and you really must know the meta to build properly for it. Not just like, oh i know that zygarde was garbage last gen and is really good this one, but like which zygarde sets are in circulation right now, and how can I build a team that doesn't lose to them?
The way to build teams these days isn't by fulfilling roles necessarily; it's by covering metagame threats. There are too many, and they are too easy to lose to (or win with), so if you say 'landorus is my scarfer i've got speed control,' prepare to lose to ash gren. Or if you say 'hoopa is my breaker it's stupidly strong i'll break everything,' prepare to lose to magearna. These are contrived exagerations to some degree, but they are fairly accurate pictures of how you need to think now.
But like something you mention, hazard stack, for example, is a fine way of thinking still. The builds that are focused on a specific strategy that becomes a wincon are still good. It's just the traditional roles are less meaningful on a team level. That's not to say wallbreakers, sweepers, and scarfers, etc, aren't relevant; on the contrary these individual pokemon roles are just the same as always, but on a team level, you can't say 'i've got a breaker sweeper and scarfer, i'm good,' just because the number and diversity of threats don't care about your roles, they only care if you have an answer to them.
I hope this is helpful in some way. The easiest way to find out what you need to be preparing for is to hit the ladder, cause it's full of all kinds of stupid threats right now.
As a direct answer to the last part, twave is quite a bad move now (lost 10% acc and speed reduction is only 50% instead of 75%, meaning those threats likely still outspeed your walls), but yes multiple priority users can be a replacement for scarfers depending on team composition.
what is the best set for buzzwole on stall? sub/roost/drain punch/fire punch?
There has been a stall team running around with Buzzwole, I believe it runs sub/roost/drain punch/ice punch-eq
Please provide a replay so we can see the full situation.
If it's speed gets above a certain point, it will go before others under trick room. For Tapu Koko, it needs to be at +5 with a Choice Scarf
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-762041979
It runs Bulk Up / Drain Punch / Ice Punch / Roost unless there's another Buzzwole stall team I don't know about. I've used this set a lot and it's actually pretty darn good.
Can someone explain to me why the Mega-Latias CM Stored Power set's smogon page was updated from having 'tbolt/surf' as the final move to 'sub/reflect type'. I can understand sub stopping status, but does Latias not miss the coverage? Reflect type also seems a bit unreliable to me, but what do I know!
You don’t miss the coverage a ton as it is often paired with Toxic Spikes to let you 1v1 Greninja and eventually outlast Tyranitar, especially with the assistance of either Substitute for stalling (and status absorption) or Reflect Type to temporarily wall (also lets you set up on just about anything at the right moment, which is scary good considering that with 2-3 boosts it’s borderline unstoppable with Stored Power and it’s bulk).
Basically, that makes it the most effective win condition when paired with proper support (can be a lure or other means, too, but Tspikes is most commonly used).
Thanks. So iff you're not running toxic spikes, are t-bold or surf better options than sub/reflect type? And how can Latias ever outlast Tyranitar, even if the latter is poisoned?