Victim of the Week: Week 6, Volcarona

[Halcyon.]

Physically Defensive Celebi stops any Breloom set in it's tracks.

Celebi @ Leftovers

Nature: Bold
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 20 Spe

• Giga Drain
• Psychic
• Recover
• Thunder Wave/Baton Pass

Any Celebi will wall Breloom to hell and back, but this one especially will demolish him. It doesn't have the best coverage with the given moves, but honestly you can change them to whatever you like, Breloom still isn't getting through anytime soon. Celebi is "immune" to sleep, since switching out will heal you, and is also immune to the rare sub/seed Breloom variant's Leech Seed. A specially defensive set can also be used in order to act as a Keldeo counter as well, because even with special bulk, it would take a Swords Dance and 5 Bullet Seed hits to do serious damage to Celebi, and either way, she can OHKO back with Psychic. Being a counter to two of the tier's top threats is nothing to scoff at, and Celebi is easy to fit onto many teams.

Here are some calcs

252+ Atk Breloom Focus Punch vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Celebi: 99-117 (24.5 - 28.96%) -- possible 5HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Celebi: 99-117 (24.5 - 28.96%) -- possible 5HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Celebi: 51-61 (12.62 - 15.09%) -- 9HKO at best

0 SpA Celebi Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Breloom: 294-348 (112.21 - 132.82%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[Prinz]

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Recover
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power Fire
- Thunder Wave / U-Turn

Celebi is the most effective counter of Breloom that I used. With its natural bulkyness, Celebi can tank Breloom's attacks very well and then can destroy it with Hidden Power Fire or paralyze it with Thunder Wave. Also, with Natural Cure Celebi hasn't fear of Spore at all.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Halcyon of Light :|

However, I think that also the Celebi I posted can wall Breloom pretty well.

 

[Lavos]

best wall in the entire game for breloom is xatu, the defensive set basically destroys any breloom you care to offer. psychic is a ohko, breloom can't spore because of magic bounce and both of its stab moves are resisted by xatu, fighting is actually resisted 4x so that makes it even more effective. to kill xatu with loom you're going to have to be jolly to outspeed, +2, life orb, and get some bullet seed crits as it hits 5 times. that's really hard to do. other pretty decent checks to loom include the lati twins, who again resist both of breloom's main stab attacks and can ohko it back. tornadus is another check that isn't often mentioned because it's so frail, but again, resists the stabs and ohkos back. to be honest, pretty much anything that resists breloom's dual stab attacks makes for a decent check. that means celebi, gengar, volcarona, dragonite, salamence, even altaria can be included in this group as well. spore is annoying but the general strategy for dealing with it is have your least useful poke absorb the spore and then switch directly to your check or counter. problem with that is, the subpunch set can kind of run all over said strategy. thankfully, subpunch loom isn't seen much anymore due to techniloom being a better overall set, but it can still tear some holes in teams if given the chance to set up, and it's harder to wall than the tech set imo.

some sets:

xatu @ leftovers
trait: magic bounce
evs: 252 hp / 200 def / 56 spd
bold nature (+def, -atk)
- psychic / heat wave
- u-turn
- roost
- filler

latias @ leftovers
trait: levitate
evs: 252 hp / 58 def / 4 satk / 196 spd
timid nature (+spd, -atk)
- calm mind
- roost
- dragon pulse
- hidden power [fire]

gengar @ black sludge
trait: levitate
evs: 4 def / 252 satk / 252 spd
timid nature (+spd, -atk)
- substitute
- disable
- shadow ball
- focus blast

dragonite @ lum berry
trait: multiscale
evs: 42 hp / 252 atk / 4 def / 212 spd
adamant nature (+atk, -satk)
- dragon dance
- outrage
- fire punch / waterfall
- extremespeed

any of these do a good job

 

[Prinz]

Yes Lavos, all the set you are posted are very good. Another counter of Celebi can be Amoonguss. It blocks hard any set of Breloom and can 2HKO it back with Hidden Power Fire / Ice. I'd also nominate Skarmory which can tank pretty well Breloom's hits and ko it back with Brave Bird. Here are the sets:

Amoonguss (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 28 SAtk / 224 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers / Shed Shell
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird

 

[kd24]

Amoonguss @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 120 Def / 252 HP / 136 SDef
Calm Nature
- Clear Smog
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Jolly 252 atk LO Stone Edge can't even 2HKO after SR with Sandstorm up. Completely shuts down Breloom and Keldeo and can wall plenty of random stuff. grass/poison with regen is a great typing/ability combination believe it or not. with torn-t banned, you might just want to give this a shot again. Clear Smog shuts down any weird set up Brelooms easily.

other than that, volcarona and crobat shut it down but i find crobat subpar and volcarona should be doing other things like sweeping their team easily. if you're desperate for spikes, rest/stalk/spin/spikes rocky helmet forretress uses breloom as set up fodder and literally won't die to it. swords dance loom would beat it but thats easily beat by like anything lol. gimmick yes, but i base all my mons on gimmicks and the unknown.

EDIT: DID SOMEONE SERIOUSLY NINJA MY AMOONGUS

 

[Shurtugal]

SubDisable / SashTaunt Gengar stop every breloom set cold.

 

[ganj4lF]

Yeah, Xatu is the best surefire check for Breloom, being able to reflect Spore and take pittance by both Grass and Fighting attacks (it might be in trouble if Breloom decides to Stone Edge / Rock Tomb, but those sets are rare). However, if one wants a less standard check for Breloom, Heracross still works wonders:

Heracross @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf | Guts
Adamant / Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Sleep Talk

Heracross just happens to be in that category Lavos mentioned (resists both STABs, is not hit SE by Stone Edge, and can OHKO back with both CC and Megahorn). Breloom has to land a LO-boosted Stone Edge + Mach Punch to defeat Heracross, since even Spore will just work in Heracross's favor (every move will 2HKO with Guts active), and that is quite unlikely: Breloom tends to either run Low Sweep or Swords Dance in the last slot. It's kinda shaky as check, since LO Low Sweep can 2HKO (however, Breloom must be VERY careful since it won't outspeed Scarfed versions) and Bullet Seed can take a toll if it gets a high count of hits, but it's still a good check to the mushroom.

 

[Mr. Green]

A Pokemon that can hold off Gliscor Breloom is also, thanks to the good bulkyness and Swords Dance + Taunt + Facade can kill very easily, that poisoning with Toxic Orb, can not be asleep by Spore and Taunt can block hypothetical Swords Dance Breloom.
As for the set of Breloom Toxic Orber you just Swords Dance + Facade to stop him and kill him. The evs are specially made to outrun Adamant Breloom Jolly well.

Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Facade

 

[Seth Vilo]

Why hello there, Breloom. Like Lavos said, Volcarona resisting both of Breloom's STABs makes it a great full counter to every non-Rock-move-carrying set out there. Outside of the standard Bulky set (240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe Timid), here's one I've loved:

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 104 HP / 180 Def / 112 SAtk / 112 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Substitute
- Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz

The old Sub set that's being phazed out of the analysis update in progress makes an appearance as my Breloom stop, with a wonky EV spread. The HP EV's hit 337, a great Leftovers and Sub number, and odd so Volc can minimize SR damage. The Def EV's ensure that LO Breloom - and by extension, LO Scizor - will never break your Sub with Mach/Bullet Punch. The Speed is to outrun max Speed Jolteon at +1, and the rest is dumped into SpA with a Modest nature for power. Sub makes for easier setting up for a sweep, while also blocking Spore. If you keep Rocks off the field, Volc can even switch in to try to fish for Flame Body burns if you see a contact move coming.

 

[Electrolyte]

Here's one that hasn't been said:

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Adamant / 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Swords Dance / Drain Punch / Sucker Punch / Ice Punch

Toxicroak is a solid offensive counter to Loom, using a convenient set of resistances to sponge all attacks and OHKO back with Ice Punch. It can come in on anything bar Spore, and in Rain can come out (almost) without a scratch.

252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Toxicroak: 171-201 (55.51 - 65.25%) -- 95.31% chance to 2HKO after weather
Mach Punch: 29.22 - 34.74%

252+ Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Ice Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Breloom: 244-289 (93.12 - 110.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
Drain Punch: 69.84 - 82.44% Sucker Punch: 25.19 - 29.38%

 

[Nova]

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spd
Bold Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse

Substitute Calm Mind Latias is a great counter to the standard Technician Breloom. She can set up a Sub to block Spore and then proceed to set up Calm Minds. Her great bulk allows her to tank Breloom's attacks while resisting both of its STABs and Roost allows her to regain lost HP from making Substitutes. In essence, this Latias set can just use Breloom as set up fodder and eventually sweep the Breloom user's team if she can get enough Calm Minds under her belt.

 

[Gimmick]

I'm totally on a Chandelure spree here, but the opportunity arises.

Chandelure (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Psychic / Sleep Talk
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice] or [Fighting] / Sleep Talk

This Chandelure can come in and scare just about every Breloom set away. It resists both Bullet Seed and Mach Punch and only worries about the occasional Stone Edge. With Sleep Talk, this thing serves as perfect Breloom sleep fodder and OHKOs the standard 4 HP variants with its whole moveset. Since it's faster and has the nifty ghost typing, Breloom won't ever be able to set up as long as Chandelure is still alive. I'm currently using it on a Hail team that would otherwise get swept flat once Starmie's down. HP Fighting is super useful for all the obvious TTar switch-ins from Breloom, which are often partnered.

 

[Cherub Agent]

Moltres @ Choice Specs
Pressure / Modest
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
- U-Turn
- Sleep Talk

I don't neccessarily use this as my Breloom counter obviously, it's just a side job that Moltres also pulls of beautifully. It should be pretty obvious why Moltres counters Breloom: STAB resistance, Sleep Talk, the fact that any move that's picked will fuck Breloom over. It's also an amazing counter to other top tier threats such as Scizor, Volcarona, Heatran, an can come in on Mamoswine as well. I really recommend you not to bash Moltres before you've tried it: obviously only use it on Rain teams, where it can nigh on single-handedly slaughter opposing Sun and Hail teams, which Rain often has trouble with. Make sure to pair it up with SubToxic Tentacruel for that guaranteed Rapid Spin though. Wish Jirachi is also a cute partner as Moltres cheerfully comes in on Fire and Ground-type moves, especially in Rain. Don't think that Heatran beats this set though, as Hurricane 2HKOs that fucker without Stealth Rock if it's an offensive version, and SpDef versions get battered down by it, confuse haxed, and generally can't do anything back at all except Roar or Toxic, and most carry WoW and Protect anyway. Watch it OHKO stuff like Tank Latias with SR and you'll wonder how you ever made a Rain team without this beast. I've been hyping it on IRC lately and most people were sceptical, but after a battle the vast majority of them changed their minds. Just keep it away from Tyranitar.

 

[yoshinator879]

Arial ace Gliscor. Gg bro. It's immune to spore, takes no damage from Mach punch/low sweep, and takes bullet sees excellently. Aerial ace is a clean OHKO with no investment. This is also excellent because nobody expects aerial ace, and so people think they can win with Breloom vs Gliscor.

 

[LilOu]

Zapdos | Leftovers | Pressure
Bold Nature | 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Discharge | Roost | Hidden Power [Ice or Flying] | Heat Wave or Toxic

Once you sleep fodder something, Zapdos is ready to come into game. He resists both Leech Seed and Mach Punch. His defenses may seem mediocre, but he has a great defensive typing and an ability that can help him with some pokes. He has also access to roost and a capability to wall Breloom while using the Physically Defensive set.

252Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom (+Atk) Bullet Seed vs 252HP/236Def Leftovers Zapdos (+Def): 46% - 54% (180 - 210 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO. 5% chance to 2HKO with Leftovers.

• Breloom got STAB on Bullet Seed
• Breloom's Technician increased Bullet Seed power.
• Breloom's Life Orb increased damage.
• Bullet Seed hit 5 times.

252Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom (+Atk) Mach Punch vs 252HP/236Def Leftovers Zapdos (+Def): 14% - 17% (57 - 68 HP). Guaranteed 7HKO.

As you can see, Zapdos tanks a hit and then kills with HP flying or Heat Wave.

 

[peng]

Heracross @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf | Guts
Adamant / Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Sleep Talk

Yeah theres a reason nobody uses this. Resisting Fighting + Grass isn't everything when it comes to taking on Breloom, you actually need the bulk to back it up, and Heracross just doesn't have it. Breloom OHKOs it on the switch-in if it lands 5 hits with Bullet Seed, but only actually needs 3 hits for it to be lowered into Mach Punch range. Mach Punch does up to 35%, meaning if you switch-in on it you're sitting at like 17% after 2 Mach Punches and Stealth Rock. You have 1 SR switch-in left and Breloom has done its job of crippling your scarfer so some other set-up sweeper can steal the game.

If you are lucky enough to switch-in on the spore, then sure everything looks great, but you're still only looking at a 61% chance to KO the Breloom on the next turn with Close Combat or Megahorn (factoring acc). So basically you rely on switching in on a Spore to be a decent check to Breloom and even then you have the same odds of beating it as you do of hitting Hypnosis.

Besides, we all know 252 HP / 252 Def+ Insomnia Ariados is the best answer to Breloom.

 

[thesynchrohero]

Kyurem-B, while not a counter, can reliably check Breloom because the Bulky Choice set can't OHKO with Mach Punch without an adamant, choice band with rocks up and even then it isin't a 100% chance, while Kyurem can OHKO back with Dragon Claw.

252 Atk Choice Band Technician Breloom (+Atk) Mach Punch vs 252 HP/0 Def Kyurem-B: 71.37% - 84.58%
Entry hazards damage: 113
After entry hazards: 437 - 497 (96.26% - 109.47%)
68.75% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Choice Band Kyurem-B (+Atk) Dragon Claw vs 4 HP/0 Def Breloom: 120.61% - 142.37%
Guaranteed OHKO

You can come in after it kills something, take a hit and OHKO.

Set :

Kyurem-B @ Choice Band

252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Spd

-Dragon Claw
-Fusion Bolt
-Outrage
-Stone Edge

 

[Prinz]

Kyurem-B, while not a counter, can reliably check Breloom because the Bulky Choice set can't OHKO with Mach Punch without an adamant, choice band with rocks up and even then it isin't a 100% chance, while Kyurem can OHKO back with Dragon Claw.

252 Atk Choice Band Technician Breloom (+Atk) Mach Punch vs 252 HP/0 Def Kyurem-B: 71.37% - 84.58%
Entry hazards damage: 113
After entry hazards: 437 - 497 (96.26% - 109.47%)
68.75% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Choice Band Kyurem-B (+Atk) Dragon Claw vs 4 HP/0 Def Breloom: 120.61% - 142.37%
Guaranteed OHKO

You can come in after it kills something, take a hit and OHKO.

Set :

Kyurem-B @ Choice Band

252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Spd

-Dragon Claw
-Fusion Bolt
-Outrage
-Stone Edge

Sorry man but Kyurem-B isn't a counter of Breloom because it can't switch into Breloom without take big damages from Mach Punch and Kyurem-B also fears Spore and Stone Edge and it can only switch into Bullet Seed. Therefore, Kyurem-B can't be appointed as a counter of Breloom, it's simple a bad revenge-killer of it due to Mach Punch which hit hard Kyurem-B and it has also priority +1 so even if Kyurem-B is faster than Breloom, that's useless. If you don't know who is a counter of a pokemon, I'll try to explain that to you.

Alright, a counter of x pokemon, is a pokemon that can switch into any set of x and then can 2HKO or 1HKO it and in general it doesn't fear about any move of x and can block x pokemon with many probability.
For example a counter of Breloom can be Celebi or Amoonguss which can switch into it easily and then hit hard it with Psychic / Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice / whatever.

 

[lordpokemanz]

252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Low Sweep vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Bronzong: 125-148 (36.98 - 43.78%) -- 99.83% chance to 3HKO

HP Ice bronzong will destroy Breloom once something has been used as sleep fodder, if given minimal special attack investment.

32 SpA Bronzong Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Breloom: 132-156 (50.38 - 59.54%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[thesynchrohero]

Sorry man but Kyurem-B isn't a counter of Breloom because it can't switch into Breloom without take big damages from Mach Punch and Kyurem-B also fears Spore and Stone Edge and it can only switch into Bullet Seed. Therefore, Kyurem-B can't be appointed as a counter of Breloom, it's simple a bad revenge-killer of it due to Mach Punch which hit hard Kyurem-B and it has also priority +1 so even if Kyurem-B is faster than Breloom, that's useless. If you don't know who is a counter of a pokemon, I'll try to explain that to you.

Alright, a counter of x pokemon, is a pokemon that can switch into any set of x and then can 2HKO or 1HKO it and in general it doesn't fear about any move of x and can block x pokemon with many probability.
For example a counter of Breloom can be Celebi or Amoonguss which can switch into it easily and then hit hard it with Psychic / Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice / whatever.

You do realise I said Kyurem-B is a check not a counter right ?

 

[Manitary]

A pretty frail check...

252 Life Orb Technician Low Sweep vs 252/0 Kyurem-B: 84.8% - 100.22% (6.25% chance to OHKO)

 

[Katakiri]

Im surprised there's no mention of it's FocusGem set. It essentially OHKOes a lot if the Pokemon listed above after SR and can take down down survivors with his technician Mach punch.
I'm typing from my phone so I can't bring up the exact set but it goes a little something like:
Breloom @ Fighting Gem
Adamant nature
EVs: 252 atk / 252 spe/ 4 Dec
Spore
Focus punch
Mach punch
Bullet seed / stone edge

I'd appreachiate if someone could run this through the mass damage calculator for me and find some counters. (Can't do it from my phone and I have class in a few mins) I know for a fact that it can OHKO all but the bulkiest Lati@s and even has a chance against those with SR up.

A most of the checks still work but aside from what's already listed I'm not sure what else stops both this and SD. There's Landorus and chandy but...yeah. that's all I got.

 

[Onicon]

252+ Atk Fighting Gem Breloom Focus Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 242-285 (80.13 - 94.37%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Sorry, Enter wasn't supposed to activate the quick reply. Anyway, we have tried a bit tuning with Roserade and found that it does a fair job at checking it.

Roserade @ Black Sludge
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 112 Spd / 16 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Spikes
- Rest

While it does mind Spore a bit less than the other counters not Celebi, it can be 2HKOed by 252 LO Stone Edge. At least it survives two Low Sweeps and SR and can OHKO with Sludge Bomb. It also beats the Sub-Puncher for it is faster than it.

 

[Organization Member XIV]

I feel that while Xatu is a great Breloom check-especially to the sub Poison Heal Variant- Dragonite is also a good check as if Breloom lacks SE or Rock Tomb it's going to have a hard time staying in if something has already been put to sleep. It may be situational due to the fact that Breloom can simply Spore DNite on the switch, but if Sleep Clause has activated Breloom is in a lot of trouble. Take your pick of set, they all destroy Breloom.

 

[Neliel]

@katakiri
its pretty difficult to switch on Lo Focus punch loom, considering sr+Lo mach punch, but ghost types like Gengar or Chandelure and x4 resistors like Xatu can do the job pretty well.