[RATE MY TEAM] VGC15 Mega Alakazam Team

[ChaseInfinity]

So i've always wanted to make a team based on Mega Alakazam, i loved his ability Trace it hads some Randomness (Sometimes Good, sometimes Bad) , but with the help of EvilSabre i've made a pretty decent team, and here it is:

Changes will be displayed in Purple


Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect

So Mega Zam, the star of the team, i went for a good coverage of types with this Moves, Psychic is able to OHKO amoongus (which is amazing i hate that things ) and some fighting type mons such as Blazikin, Energy Ball can 2HKO mons such as Suicune, Milotic and Rotom, and finally Shadow ball allows me to 3HKO cresselia. Finally i know most people are gonna instantly say "remove that move and put on Protect" but ally switch is my little hidden gem of an attack, this move has allow me to win many games, switch to take less damage from an attacks and allow my ally to KO one of the pokemon. As for the Ev spread, since Zam is already a Fragile Pokemon so i just went for the "Hit hard and fast" ev spread, although i may want to add little bulk because of ally switch (but im terrible at choosing EV spreads :P)

Offensive Calculations:

• 252 SpA Mega Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 230-272 (104 - 123%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  
• 252 SpA Mega Alakazam Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mega Blaziken: 230-272 (148.3 - 175.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  
• 252 SpA Mega Alakazam Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Suicune: 110-130 (53.1 - 62.8%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry
  
• 252 SpA Mega Alakazam Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Milotic: 106-126 (52.4 - 62.3%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  
• 252 SpA Mega Alakazam Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 98-116 (62.4 - 73.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  
• 252 SpA Mega Alakazam Shadow Ball vs. 220 HP / 92+ SpD Cresselia: 78-92 (34.9 - 41.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  

Amoonguss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Protect

I choose Amoongus to help deal with Trick Room and also be a redirector

So i wanted a pokemon to help redirect attacks, at first i had clefable as my redirector but then i was suggested Togekiss, he can redirect attacks while also being able to speed up the rest of my pokemon with Tailwind. Air Slash is my basic attack able to deal decent damage and have a chance to flinch. Finally we have good ole' Protect. This Ev spread allows togi to survive an Iron Head from LO Bisharp and Jolly Mega Gross, also under tailwind togi can out speed Rotom-W and Adamant CS Lando.

Defensive Calculations:

• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Togekiss: 151-182 (78.6 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  

[*]252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Togekiss: 158-188 (82.2 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 52 HP / 252 SpA / 204 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Protect

So i chose Heatran to deal with Mega Zam and Togikiss' Aegislash weakness, with the standard Heat Wave, Earth Power and Flash Cannon, Heatran is able to deal desent damage to many mons such as most fairies. The Ev spread is a standard one allowing Heatran to deal alot of damage with (with the Shuca Berry) surived EQ's.


Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Next up i went for Garchomp to deal with Mons such as Charizard, Talonflame, and Heatran. With the standard set of moves he's able to easily KO those mons and many more (unless Heatran is setup to survive one EQ ). With another standard hit fast and hard ev spread to allow garchomp to do some massive damage.


Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Recover

Milotic is an amazing pokemon that works really well with this team, able to take advantage of Salamance and Lando's intimidate and boost his stats, while also being able to KO those pokemon easily, i decided to go the Assault Vest route to allow Milo to take less damage from threats such as Thund and Rotom, since i have Assault vest i cant have protect so i decided to go for Dragon Tail, this is a really good move that helps me remove threats if i cant deal with them at the moments or they are setting up. I also decided to go for Icy wind to help with even more Speed Control. I took this EV spread from a post on the forum (i could be better because it was made a while ago and the metagame has changed), it allows me to survive attack from Rotom and Thund like i said, and also Return from Mega Kang and Mence.


Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Quick Guard
- Protect

Finally i needed a pokemon to deal with Mega Kang, first i tried Terrakion but then i realised besides Mega Zam's Energy ball i really had nothing to deal with Water Types such as Milo and Rotom-W, so i decided to go for Virizion, he's able to KO Kang with CC, and also KO most Water Types. I also decided to go for Quick Guard instead of Stone Edge for those pesky Prankster users or +1 attacking moves.

In Conclusion: Im pretty proud of how this team is going so far my win ratio is porbably 6-7 wins ever 10 battles, i know the ev spreads could be wwwaaayy better (like i said before im terrible at evs :P) but thats why im posting it here so i could get advice from yall to help make it better, basically all the pokemon can be changed besides mega zam obviously, here are a couple battle videos to show you the team so far:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/battle...-251732475 (this one was before i made the change of virizion)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/battle...-251997014

[Pokeventurer]

i have some questions and suggestions regarding your team:

Questions & Suggestions :
.What are your answers against trick room modes beside the virizon + milo lead? i think you should really replaced togekiss with amoongus as you really don't need that much speed control. it auto-checks heatran and gives the team that F/W/G core too, it's pairing with heatran isn't that bad either.

. Alakazam's spread: you said that you weren't that good at EV spreads i wanted to pick off alakazam to start the discussion here: alakazam get's an outrageous speed stat you may want to invest much EV's to outspeed mega salamence or mega loppuny at the most, i suggest you use a bulky spread, like the one's mega gengars mostly nowadays use. this would come with a calm mind set-up sweeper alongside amoonguss making it easier than ever. Ashton cox once used it in a PC, he mayn't mind giving the Actual spread to you if you contact him on Twitter.

. Love the milotic (specially the dragon tail call)

Hope this helps

[ChaseInfinity]

(Jul 22, 2015, 10:16 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: i have some questions and suggestions regarding your team:

Questions & Suggestions :
.What are your answers against trick room modes beside the virizon + milo lead? i think you should really replaced togekiss with amoongus as you really don't need that much  speed control. it auto-checks heatran and gives the team that F/W/G core too, it's pairing with heatran isn't that bad either.

. Alakazam's spread: you said that you weren't that good at EV spreads i wanted to pick off alakazam to start the discussion here: alakazam get's an outrageous speed stat you may want to invest much EV's to outspeed mega salamence or mega loppuny at the most, i suggest you use a bulky spread, like the one's mega gengars mostly nowadays use. this would come with a calm mind set-up sweeper alongside amoonguss making it easier than ever. Ashton cox once used it in a PC, he mayn't mind giving the Actual spread to you if you contact him on Twitter.

. Love the milotic (specially the dragon tail call)

Hope this helps

Good idea, thanks
ill makes some changes soon and edit the Post

[Delta]

(Jul 22, 2015, 10:16 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: . Alakazam's spread: you said that you weren't that good at EV spreads i wanted to pick off alakazam to start the discussion here: alakazam get's an outrageous speed stat you may want to invest much EV's to outspeed mega salamence or mega loppuny at the most, i suggest you use a bulky spread, like the one's mega gengars mostly nowadays use. this would come with a calm mind set-up sweeper alongside amoonguss making it easier than ever. Ashton cox once used it in a PC, he mayn't mind giving the Actual spread to you if you contact him on Twitter.

I'd just like to mention. The Alakazam will outspeed Mega Gengar, but it would need to be Timid to outspeed Mega Lopunny, and it is also outsped by a Scarfed Adamant Landorus T.

[Black117]

Alright I'll go each member of the team since its been a while I haven't gone over it team review.

Mega Alakazam: I'd say you shouldn't run defensive investment on Mega Alakazam considering it's quite impressive speed tier stats (120 and 150) and godly 175 special attack so the 4/252/252 is fine. That said, I think Timid Mega Alakazam is the way to go since you can outspeed Choice Scarf neutral Landorus-T/Krookodile/Rotom-A as well as all base 145 Pokemon and below after Mega Evolving. With that I'd say try getting your hands on an HP Ice Alakazam because it can flat out KO Non-invested Landorus and Mega Salamence which Mega Alakazam still outspeed. Modest is ok to outspeed the base 130s but I'd rather want to surprise my opponent and get a quick ko on their potentially Scarf Landorus-T. While Shadow Ball is a OK option for Mega Zam to beat Aegislash,  I wouldn't risk using coverage move when Aegislash can just easily King's Shield while its partner knocks out Zam. Energy Ball is a great option as well to hit bulky Water type Pokemon so I'd say you should keep Energy Ball as a third moveslot You definitively need Protect so that Mega Zam doesn't go down turn 1 and the fact that any priority move can destroy Zam. I know sometimes I often don't carry Protect when on some Pokemon, the fact that Mega Zam is still frail on the defensive end and cannot take a super effective hit well.

Now here's some options I'm just throwing out there, in case you'd like to try. Mega Alakazam can learn Encore so it can trap opponents into using one attack and forcing them to switch out. Dazzling Gleam is a great coverage move to hit Hydreigon and Scrafty hard but I'd think your other Pokemon can stop them. Skill Swap is a fun move to try out by stealing abilities away from your opponent such as Pixilate, though admitably it is counter productive with Trace and if Alakazam hasn't Mega Evolved yet. Lastly, Taunt can be used on Mega Zam and since Modest at least can outspeed base 130s and you can shut down Pokemon such as Aerodactyl and Mega Gengar from setting up.

Togekiss: Not really much to say here since I've used a similar Togekiss spread and it can speed creep the base 80 Pokemon. Some of them like Mega Venusaur or Suicune usually doesn't run speed investment so I'd wouldn't worry to much. Just remember that Bisharp, Aegislash, and Mega Metagross can give this Togekiss-Mega Zam core problems so be wary about that.

Heatran: Well for Heatran you can do many things with it... I'm serious. You can run Substitute, Taunt, Will-O-Wisp, Hidden Power Ice (though that's difficult to get), and either Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Overheat. Now since this team is a bit Trick Room weak, I'd suggest Taunt as a potential 3rd moveslot since very few Heatran run this option and it can act as a surprise coverage move for to shut down things like Zapdos and Thundurus. The only problem is that Heatran would lose out in a vital coverage move like Flash Cannon or Earth Power. It's a tough call here since this team on paper is weak to Hyper Voice spam so you need Flash Cannon, but Earth Power can help win against the Heatran mirrors and hit Fire and Rock types hard. Heatran's speed investment is great to outspeed things like defensive Mega Venusaur/Suicune but since Bisharp can be an issue to this team, try running 204 Spe to ensure you'll outspeed and faint it. There are multiple items you can run on Heatran other than Shuca Berry such as Leftovers for recovery, Life Orb for damage, Safety Goggles to block Spore, heck even Scarf but Heatran is fine as is for now.

Milotic: I'll say this and Assault Vest isn't the way to go for Milotic currently as it reduces its longevity considerably and you lose out on moves like Recover and Protect. Now you could run this set with Dragon Tail as in case you didn't know, Dragon Tail phazes out the Pokemon going for Trick Room and can always go first to do so in this scenario. This won't stop Fairy type Pokemon with Trick Room like Mega Gardevoir, Aromatiss, Mega Audino, and surpisingly Whimsicott from going for this setup so be careful with them.

If you like a recommendation from me, I'd probably run a defensive Modest 220 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe with Scald, Icy Wind, Recover, and Protect with Leftovers. This allows Milotic to tank an Adamant Double Edge from Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Salamence. Icy Wind with +2 can kill most Landorus-T sets but will need another round to faint Mega Salamence (unless it has Naive). The reasoning for this Milotic spread since she can literally stop the common Japanese Sand Core hard with Virizion. Salamence cannot switch in otherwise it gives Milotic the Competitive boost as well.

Garchomp: I'm gonna be honest with you and say that I've never used Garchomp seriously in this format so I'm not so sure what to advise aside from the standard sets from VGC 2014 honestly. Rocky Helmet + Rough Skin is a strong combination enough so it can deal with physical attackers like Mega Kangaskhan. The only other move to consider is Sword Dance, but again an opposing Togekiss/Cresselia can wall Garchomp without Rock Slide. It does help with Charizard Y matches I'd admit.

Virizion: Probably keep it the same as is since Virizion doesn't have a great movepool to be honest.

Overall: This team is fine but it suffers greatly if you don't have something to stop Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir from breaking this team. Heatran is a great to have but these two have been known to run HP Ground lately so be careful with that. Mega Alakazam can run Skill Swap as a way to make Hyper Voice a normal attack instead of Fairy but that's a soft check considering Zam has Trace. For the Double Genie Combo, make sure Milotic is healthy throughout the match otherwise it cannot stop these two at once aside from a +2 Icy Wind. Now for Dark Void, you team needs a way to counter act against it such as a fast Taunter for Smeargle otherwise this team will get destroyed effortlessly. For sun teams, just pressure Charizard Y with Garchomp and Zam since either with a combination of Rock Slide and Psychic destroy it. For sand teams, just keep Milotic healthy at all cost so it can beat Mega Mence. Repeated Icy Wind drops will cancel out Tyranitar's Choice Scarf and Excadrill's speed.

That's mostly all I have to say about this team so hope this helps.

[evilsabre]

darn it anime your supposed to keep teams hidden till after a tourney appearance then reveal it. XD

Still weird how different out zam teams ended up aside from the zam + heatran my teams fully different.

I think the teams solid its only major tripping point being vs sylveon and gardevoir where we'd knew it would struggle to quickly ko these threats even before keiv point out they have been picking up hp ground ( i didn't know this and it blows a small crack into the team into a bit of a hole sadly ). I agree with keiv on the milotic tho dno bout the spread like i said i'm terrible at that stuff but assault vest really hurts milotic in my opinion as she loses access to recover which makes her a huge pain to remove from the field.

[ChaseInfinity]

(Jul 23, 2015, 02:52 AM)evilsabre Wrote: darn it anime your supposed to keep teams hidden till after a tourney appearance then reveal it. XD

Still weird how different out zam teams ended up aside from the zam + heatran my teams fully different.

I think the teams solid its only major tripping point being vs sylveon and gardevoir where we'd knew it would struggle to quickly ko these threats even before keiv point out they have been picking up hp ground ( i didn't know this and it blows a small crack into the team into a bit of a hole sadly ). I agree with keiv  on the milotic tho dno bout the spread like i said i'm terrible at that stuff but assault vest really hurts milotic in my opinion as she loses access to recover which makes her a huge pain to remove from the field.

sorry evil, im not that very confident in my team building skill :P, i always hit a brick wall in the process where i dont know what to do, dont worry itll still be a surprise to most people


ps: thanks everyone for the advice ive made the nessesary changes so far

[Onihige]

I love Alakazam, I gotta try this team.

[Onihige]

After trying this team (I used a different Garchomp though), I have to say I really like it. But I feel like Alakazam could use a Helping Hand partner to get those 1HKO's with its non-STAB moves, since it often JUST misses out on them.

So far I'm only at 2 losses and 3 wins though so it's a bit early to tell.

[Pokeventurer]

i also love the call on to timid alakazam, yes it could have been used to OHKO even lando-t but HP ice was requirred as you just putted it on the mon. this looks pretty solid of a team, good luck with it!