Signal Beam or Shadow Ball (Alakazam)

OneGlance

Since the release of Platinum, there has been an extra option of attacking for Alakazam - Signal Beam. And according to Smogon, Signal Beam is the superior option of attacking, but I'm not so sure about that...Why?

Signal Beam
Attack: 75
Accuarcy: 100
Effect: 10% confusion
Type: Bug
Effective against: Psychic, Dark, Grass

Shadow Ball
Attack: 80
Accuarcy: 100
Effect: 20% lower Sp.Def 1 stage
Effective against: Psychic, Ghost

Most people went "Yipee, we got a more accuarate method of countering Darks, but Focus Blast is always used in a set for the extra power, thus Signal Beam is neglected, so why are we wasting a moveslot, instead of adding a more powerful attack? But I might have missed something so I'm asking you guys, which is better?
 
Signal Beam has 10% Confusion? I never knew O.O

Signal Beam has the bonus of hitting Celebi x4 SE instead of Shadow Ball only hitting it x2 SE
 
I would use shadow ball as i dont see any reason for signal beam other then celebii.
 
Shadow Ball's better IMO. I suggest you test using both and see which works better for you/your team. You can't just simply ask people to tell you what to do.
 
Signal Beam also hits Dark types, it's not only for Psychics. Psychic already hits Ghosts for very good damage (2HKOs all but spiritomb and sableye) so really Signal Beam and Shadow Ball are for enemy Psychics only.

Choice Specs Signal Beam can OHKO or 2HKO most Dark Type switch-ins while also covering Cresselia and Celebi switch-ins, making it a far safer move IMO.
 
Shadow ball is a much better option than Signal beam. It offers better coverage, and like you stated, Focus blast already covers darks.

With that said, why did you start this?

EDIT: I guess it also depends on what set you're running. If you're running a Scarf set, then you can stop gengar with Shadow ball, otherwise he'll stop you. If you're running the specs set like Skiddle suggested, then run Signal beam. Like I said, it all depends on the team.
 
i suggest signal beam since most dark trypes will never expect it. also its not a common move on a Alakazam so that will become a huge surprise to your oppoent. =D but why dont you run both?
 
Signal Beam + Shadow Ball is redundant coverage.

The advantage of Signal Beam is that it hits Celebi *4 and it hits Darks SE instead of NVE. Yes, Focus Blast hits them even harder, but Focus Blast only has 70% accuracy. If they have a weakened Dark type that you can take out in one hit with Signal Beam (or are in a situation like that), you don't want to have to rely on 70% with frail Alakazam.

Moreover, if they have something like Celebi and Tyranitar on their team, normally you'd have to predict between Shadow Ball and Focus Blast, but with Signal Beam, you can be guaranteed to damage both for a decent amount (although you have to watch out for Tyranitar's Pursuit, still).
 
Signal Beam, because Psychic hurts ghosts already and having a move that hits both dark and psychic types is pretty handy. And the OHKO on Celebi alone is worth it.
 
darkartisan said:
Shadow ball is a much better option than Signal beam. It offers better coverage, and like you stated, Focus blast already covers darks.

With that said, why did you start this?

EDIT: I guess it also depends on what set you're running. If you're running a Scarf set, then you can stop gengar with Shadow ball, otherwise he'll stop you. If you're running the specs set like Skiddle suggested, then run Signal beam. Like I said, it all depends on the team.
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Psychic hits Gengar a lot harder than Shadow Ball does.
 
Shadowball allows you to hit the rotoms harder which i think is more important then hiting celebii for 4x imo.You already have focus blast to hit dark types and i dont mind the acc diffrence.
 
But you don't switch Zam in on Rotom, and vice versa.

While Zam gets perfect coverage with Fighting/Ghost,for me I'd rather hit Grassers like Celebi for more.
 
What about on Jolteon, if you're running Boltbeam and want a third option to go with Baton Pass? Signal Beam or Shadow Ball then?
 
Thorns said:
But you don't switch Zam in on Rotom, and vice versa.

While Zam gets perfect coverage with Fighting/Ghost,for me I'd rather hit Grassers like Celebi for more.
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I wouldnt switch celebii in either.
 
Signal beam is better being that it hits darks for super effective and has 100% acc (vs focus blast's 70) and also hits Celebi for 4x effective.
 
Since both Shadow Ball and Psychic from Alakazam 2HKO Rotom, its not like Shadow Ball is needed to hit ghosts. It's essentially the same story with Dusknoir. Psychic + Fighting + Bug is perfect coverage just like Psychic + Fighting + Ghost is, so you can't really argue that Shadow Ball gives better coverage. Overall, I think being able to OHKO Celebi and the ability to finish off weakened Dark types without risking 30% death makes Signal Beam the superior choice.
 
This is a bit of a silly question as it obviously depends on what set you are using and the rest of your team.

If we are talking about the Specs set, I have to say Signal Beam, and my reasoning has already been alluded to by Obi and LR to some degree. Given that Psychic is by far the most powerful attack Zam has, you want your other moves to cover the types that resist Psychic most thoroughly. These are: Dark, Steel and Psychic, with Darks being the most important because they have a Psychic immunity and therefore you cannot power through with Psychics no matter what health they have left. In this regard, Shadow Ball hits Psychics effectively but is ineffective against Steel and Dark, which is obviously bad. On the other hand, Signal Beam also covers Dark types in addition to Psychics, which is especially important with Specs as you cannot rely on perfect prediction all the time.

Steel types are slightly less important as you are less likely to be punished for mispredicting against them, so one move to threaten them with generally suffices. Scizor is one possible exception but neither move helps much there anyway. You'll be wanting HP Fire if you're worried about that thing.
 
signal beam > shadow ball. as legacy raider said they offer the same perfect coverage AND no types are immune to signal beam like they are to shadow ball. ohkoing celebi is important as well because celebi is a top used pokemon.
the base power difference is negligible.
 
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