Jul 22, 2015, 09:14 PM
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.
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.
