ORAS OU Mega-Alakazam BP team

alakazam-mega.gif
Mega-Alakazam BP
alakazam-mega.gif

Introduction
I'm new to the forum and I decided to post my OU team that I've been working on the past two days. I wanted to build a team around Mega-Alakazam and his awesome speed and spa stats. I added Togekiss as a BP user for Nasty Plot so we can turn Alakazam into a powerhouse. I just need some comments because I recently joined the metagame and I must be missing more than a couple of things. I've been playing it for two days and the results have not been bad at all, but I know it can be improved in many ways so that's why I'm asking for your advice and suggestions.

Teambuilding process
My aim was to build a team around Alakazam that could be balanced, that is, to have access to stealth rocks, a defog user, two defensive mons and physical attackers. Ideally, I would have the team weakened before I can set up a Nasty Plot Alakazam and proceed to sweep with his amazing coverage, so I end up winning with Alakazam in most games.

Description

alakazam.gif

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball

So this is the star of the team. The reason I chose this pokemon is due to his powerful STAB and his amazing speed, the highest or one of the highest in the meta if I'm not mistaken. His role is that of a late sweeper although sometimes he can be a good midgame sweeper thanks to his coverage and psychic being a good type that hits neutral to many other types. I think the first three attacks are a must but I'm not completly sure about Energy Ball, what do you think?

togekiss.gif

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Defog
- Air Slash

I chose Togekiss as my BP+Nasty Plot user to turn Alakazam into a beast. He is also helpful in order to Defog hazards, has a nice investment in SpD and a nice bulk overall. He can also Air Slash like a boss thanks to Serene Grace so it shouldn't be underestimated and be used solely as a Baton Passer. He's a well-rounded mon overall and Fairy type defense comes handy!

garchomp.gif

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Claw

What can I say about this standard Garchomp set? I chose it because I like to have at least a Defensive wall and a SpD wall (that being Togekiss). He has immunity to electric types, he can set rocks and he eats birds as well.

arcanine.gif

Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp

So far, I found I needed a fire type and a physical attacker. Arcanine offers that and he also offers a priority attack, WoW, Life Orb Close Combat and a nice passive ability to switch into other physical threats. As you can see the set is also balanced as it offers versatility and some bulk as well.

magnezone.gif

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Magnezone is my electric type and scarfer. Shadow Tag is no longer allowed but what about Magnet Pull? I love it. I also chose it to beat other Fairy types with his fast and hard hitting Flash Cannon and he is also another mon to consider when using Nasty Plot+BP, depending on the situation. I'm not sure about the EV spread for this one, that's something I want to discuss.

weavile.gif

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard

Finally, I chose Weavile as another fast hitting mon that can shut down other Dark types that come in the way of our lovely Alakazam due to his Low Kick. He's also my response to Dragon types and has access to a priority attack. Would you include Pursue?

Conclusion
Thanks if you read this far, that means you have many ideas that can improve this team. Feel free to spot the weaknesses against the main threats you face in the upper levels of the ladder and I hope to learn new things from your comments. Thank you!

Best regards,
Cramer

PS. Thank you for the tips to follow the thread rules as this is my first post on the forum. I decided to delete the other one and open a fresh new one. :heart:
 
Last edited:
Hey Cramer! This is a really good first team, and I like your thought process behind it. As you mentioned, there are a couple minor tweaks that can be done to this team, but before I go into that, let's look at the threatlist..
Bisharp is a huge threat to your team. The best way you counter it is through your Garchomp, and if the other team has Bird Spam, Fast hitting Megas, (i.e. Medicham, Lopunny) that is a lot of pressure all for your Garchomp to handle!
Not to get off track, but I will have to explain my thought process by saying that your current Arcanine set is sort of counter-intuitive. I say this because it has Max Hp, but then it has Max Atk, and it has Life Orb, but then it has Will-O-Wisp. In my opinion, there are much better options than Arcanine(I know he's a favorite of everyone's) so in this case I recommend Keldeo.
647.png
>
059.png

My Reasoning behind this is how terribly weak your team is to Bisharp.
I know that it is just one pokemon, but it is very popular and for a good reason - if the other team is not prepared they will be swept.
When it comes to Keldeo there are a couple sets that are currently viable in the OU metagame, most commonly scarf or specs! Your team is already relatively fast, so you can get away with Specs; however, if setting up with Togekiss and nasty-passing a +2 boost into a Scarfed Keldeo sounds enticing to you, than go right ahead! I think the potential synergy between nasty pass Togekiss and Keldeo could be really cool! It definitely gives you more fire power offensively than Arcanine as well.

Scarf
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Specs
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Power
- Icy Wind

I think that would be a really nice upgrade for your team.
Now for a few tweaks, I understand you are new and it is not that what you have here is bad; there are just simply better options.
First thing, Alakazam.
You are correct in saying that energy ball is not the proper move to run on a Mega-Alakazam but there really is not a "superior" fourth move when it comes to Mega-Alakazam.
These three moves are MUSTS on a normal Alakazam:
Psychic
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast

And for your fourth move, if you like Dazzling Gleam, you may use that. Alternatively, you may use a wide variety of moves ranging from HP [Fire], HP [Ice], Dazzling Gleam, Encore, Disable, Substitute, Calm Mind, and Thunder Wave.
There is a less common Alakazam set that is sometimes ran, and if you seem to prefer it you may use it.. though i like the first one more.
Psychic
Shadow Ball
Dazzling Gleam
HP [Fire]

Just experiment a bit and figure out what you really like!
Secondly, your Rocky Helmet Garchomp. It is extremely recommended to run some sort of Spe on it, personally i run 100 EV's in Spe to outrun Jolly Bisharp, Jolly Breloom, and Adamant Gyarados to name a few. Similar to Alakazam, it has a three move MUST format, and there is no superior fourth move.
MUSTS:
Stealth Rock
Dragon Tail
Earthquake
Fourth Move: Stone Edge, Endure, Fire Blast, Rest, Toxic

I will give you my Defensive Garchomp if you wanna play around with it:

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake

I think other than that, you are good to go! Pokemon takes time to truly master and not even I am anywhere near being #1.. About 1650 on ladder currently. So be patient, watch videos(if you are looking to get into competitive pokemon rather than casual pokemon, I recommend Youtube users Pokeaimmd, Thunderblunder777, and MrJamvad..or even me :] ) and overtime you will get better!
I hope you consider my suggestions! Thanks for reading!
YT me :]
-ErcaPerca
If you ever want to contact me, message me here, on YT, or even Showdown if you ever see me on!
 
Last edited:
Hello Cramer and great team you have there :) The idea of nastypassing to Mega Alakazam is definitely an interesting one and will definitely net a lot of wins ^_^

To further help with the Mega Alakazam sweep, there are quite a few threats such as Scarfed Landorus-T, Bisharp, Scizor, and Talonflame that need to be eliminated; your team does quite a good job doing so, but there are a few set changes to further aid the Alakazam sweep.

Firstly, I recommend running defensive Arcanine. As Garchomp can get worn down from having to switch in repetitively to take on physical attacks, it would help if his role was shared with another team member—Arcanine. Defensive arcanine checks breloom, Landorus-T, and other huge threats by burning them with Will-O-Wisp, yet still possesses sheer firepower in flare blitz, still taking out ferrothorn in one hit. Another huge threat to your team is weavile, who outspeeds both magnezone and Alakazam before its mega evolution and wipes out a huge chunk of the team. Defensive Arcanine perfectly remedies for this, shrugging off all of weavile's attacks and recovering with Morning Sun.

0 Atk Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 376-448 (106.8 - 127.2%)

-1 252 Atk Technician Breloom Rock Tomb vs. 248 HP / 112+ Def Arcanine: 126-150 (32.8 - 39.1%)

-1 252 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 112+ Def Arcanine: 228-270 (59.5 - 70.4%)
Arcanine just needs to wisp Landorus-T so that its Earthquake will not KO Alakazam later in the game.

-1 252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 112+ Def Arcanine: 125-148 (32.6 - 38.6%)

Secondly, there are a few minor changes to your Pokemon's sets that would allow them to perform their role more effectively. Mega alakazam can definitely sweep more consistently with Focus Blast instead of Energy Ball. At +2 SpA, all of the pokemon which Energy Ball would hit would be KO'd by psychic anyway, so having a move which hits a well-preserved heatran would be preferable. Also, running Dragon Tail instead of Dragon Claw on Garchomp would allow it to whisk away setup sweepers such as Nasty Plot or Swords Dance + Baton Pass Celebi, Calm Mind Keldeo, and Sand Rush Air Balloon Excadrill. I suggest keeping Stone Edge on Garchomp on your team specifically as it acts as a beautiful Talonflame lure, KO'ing the Smogon Burd so that it does not disrupt the Mega Alakazam sweep. I'd also keep Low Kick on weavile as it is your only way to deal damage to Kyurem-Black, a huge threat to your team.

The EV's on Arcanine maximizes physical bulk while outspeeding max speed Breloom, letting you burn it before it puts your arcanine to sleep; this is your team's best answer to breloom :)

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Defog
- Air Slash

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Tail

Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 Spe
Impish Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Morning Sun
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard

Hope this helped and Best Wishes on all your battles :)

Replay demonstrating changes:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-320522895
 
Last edited:
What I think About Your Team First Glance

This is definitely new and innovative.. Doesn't really have many switch ins to certain attacks. Would struggle vs many well built teams.

How You Can Improve Your Team


alakazam.gif

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute

Energy ball isn't very viable and doesn't really have any need in the meta.
I would change this to sub so you can possibly win 50'50's vs mons
like bisharp and take certain attacks after cm boosts and subing.

weavile.gif

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard

Your team is weak to cm zam, lati, and starmie(to name a few things).
One way to change that is to remove them from the picture.
Pursuit will be able to not be so dependent on togekiss being your lati switch in.

Replace A Mon

arcanine.gif
arrow.gif
starmie.gif


I feel you would benefit from spinning away rocks and breaking walls for torn
then spamming blitz with arcanine in this bulky chomp ridden meta.

Conclusion

This team needs work. Can be fixed and has a nice concept.
I have seen bp toge and zam pulled off before and successfully done.
Consider thinking of another recipient of the bp then just zam.
I wish you massive success buddy and hope you take my changes into consideration.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top