Richard's Reasoning - Alakazam

Welcome to the third installment of Richard's Reasoning where I discuss Pokemon in Crystal Clear's unique tournament metagame. This time we'll be covering a Pokemon that has won more tournaments than any other Pokemon in our metagame to date. We're talking about Alakazam.

Base Stats: 55 HP / 50 Attack / 45 Defense / 135 Sp. Attack / 85 Sp. Defense / 120 Speed

Alakazam is a dominant Pokemon in Crystal Clear's unique metagame, and a look at its stats seems to paint a pretty straightforward picture why. However, when you come to understand more about gen 2's mechanics and how the metagame has responded to Alakazam, things get much more interesting. Let's get into it.

-5,000 IQ Play-

Alakazam@ Leftovers / MiracleBerry / PrzCureBerry / Scope Lens / King's Rock / Focus Band
Psychic
ThunderPunch / DynamicPunch
Fire Punch / DynamicPunch / Encore / Thunder Wave
Substitute

Alakazam is a powerful Pokemon with an incredible Speed tier. It's outsped only by Crobat, Aerodactyl, Jolteon, and Electrode in our metagame, and it's a better Pokemon overall than any of them. Pure Psychic typing with 135 base Sp. Attack makes Psychic a difficult task to switch into, and it has the coverage it needs to outmaneuver would-be checks and counters.

Psychic really needs no breakdown here, but I will say that it should always be a part of Alakazam's moveset. It can be tempting to drop it since it's so obvious and it can be played around, but the power it brings to the table cannot be understated. The ability to drop the Sp. Defense of targets can mean that Pokemon switching in to tank the Psychic can lose their ability to even do that.

The second slot is a more difficult choice. ThunderPunch gives the best neutral and Super-Effective coverage for Alakazam. More specifically, it allows it to break through Slowbro and Slowking over time, which is important. It also deals up to 87% to Gyarados which has recently become a major threat to watch out for. DynamicPunch can be used here, however, to punish Dark types and Chansey that may switch directly into an Alakazam's predicted Psychic to punish its existence. The problems here are obvious though: 50% chance to hit and it's not even a guaranteed 2HKO on Tyranitar, and it can't 2HKO Chansey at all without a crit. The benefits of landing it can be huge though - guaranteed Confusion if it lands means that even if TTar comes in to trap you with Pursuit, you might be able to switch out for free while it hits itself. Similarly, Chansey will probably be forced to Softboiled if hit by DynamicPunch which can give you time to switch to something that's better suited to fighting it.

The third slot has Fire Punch as the priority choice, and this is to ensure that you have a reliable way to deal with Steel types. Scizor and Steelix don't love taking hits from Alakazam regardless, but they can if Zam lacks Fire Punch. This also increases both your coverage and has a chance to Burn opponents, which can be devastating against Pokemon like Tyranitar. It's also your best option against Exeggutor, which otherwise walls this set. DynamicPunch can be used here alongside ThunderPunch in slot 2 if you want both of the benefits described earlier. Encore is an option here that Alakazam can make great use of, punishing any slower Pokemon that dares to lock into an ineffective or purely setup move on it. This pairs especially well with Substitute, putting the momentum in the Alakazam player's favor tremendously. Finally, Thunder Wave is an option here, and it's a powerful tool for aiding both Alakazam and its teammates in handling problematic Pokemon by both slowing them down and giving a 1/4 chance of them not attacking.

Substitute is, in my opinion, non-negotiable. Alakazam enjoys the benefits of Substitute more than most Pokemon, given its Speed tier and the number of Pokemon that it forces to switch out. It acts as a buffer to prevent status and a scouting tool to help remove the necessity of prediction. Substitute isn't free, though. If the opponent attacks into your Substitute on the turn you use it and they break the Sub, you haven't really gained anything besides insight into their intentions. Smart use of this move still requires prediction and timing to make the most of it, and now more than ever, it can be punished by so many Pokemon having multi-hit attacks like Twineedle and Bonemerang. Keep all of this in mind when using Substitute.

When bringing Alakazam, the opponent's team needs to be carefully considered and your team needs to also have Pokemon that work to help Alakazam. A strong Fighting type like Heracross, Machamp, or Primeape can be very helpful in deterring Dark types and Chansey, so I'd say that's almost a necessity. But also, other powerful special attackers that can weaken the opposing team's special walls for Alakazam to finish off can be very valuable as well. Alakazam appreciates status support as much as any other Pokemon, and Spikes support can help it edge out some KO's it'd fall just short of otherwise. Really consider all of your options when using Alakazam on a team. It can shine bright, but not by itself.

Alakazam is a very versatile Pokemon, so while I would say this is the most effective set for the metagame, this list is by no means comprehensive or the only thing that can be done with it. Other options include Ice Punch, which mainly serves to target Dragonite and increase neutral coverage alongside ThunderPunch, Recover which can help keep Alakazam healthy especially if it's behind a Substitute, Hidden Power Water as a means of targetting both Steelix and Houndoom switch-ins at the same time for role compression, and, of course, Swagger, if you're ballsy enough to rely on something like that.

The choice of item is difficult because Alakazam makes great use of all of them. Leftovers helps not only with survivability, but in passively healing off the chip damage from Substitute. MiracleBerry and PrzCureBerry allow Alakazam to fire off a powerful attack on an expected status move to really gain momentum in a scrap. Scope Lens means that it will land Critical Hits more often, effectively making it nearly impossible to switch into. King's Rock has a similar effect, providing a Flinch chance on top of already huge power which can be devastating. Finally, Focus Band can allow it to survive hits that it otherwise wouldn't, which can be very valuable on a frail Pokemon like Alakazam. It can also protect a Sub from breaking, which despite kind of "inventing" Substitute Alakazam in our tournaments, only Vance has ever pulled off in tournament to my knowledge.

-My opinion-

Alakazam is an icon of Pokemon. Easily recognizable, very powerful, and often difficult to obtain, due to Abra's penchant for Teleporting away. Truth be told, while I've always liked Alakazam, I've never really considered it among my most favorite Pokemon. My August 2018 tournament winning Alakazam, SubTeacher, was a last-minute inclusion when I realized that one of my favorite Pokemon, Blissey, was banned from our tournaments. This would end up being a blessing in disguise, though, as it quickly stole the show. Psychic, Substitute, Swagger and Thunder Wave showed just how unprepared people were for an Alakazam that wasn't just rocking Psychic + Elemental Punches, and without it I might not have even won the tournament. Since then I've grown very fond of Alakazam, and my legacy on Crystal Clear is often tied directly to the Pokemon.