Here is my treatise on Dpp Breloom
[OVERVIEW]
Breloom stands as one of the more difficult threats to cover in the tier thanks to its unique blend of survivability and power. Breloom’s access to Spore, Poison Heal ability as well as Toxic Orb's easy activation, and powerful Grass and Fighting-type attacks make it one of the premier stallbreakers in the tier. Spore warps the tier: only a few Pokemon such as defensive Latias, Zapdos, and Celebi can stomach repeated attacks while asleep. Offensive teams are forced to sack a key Pokemon to Spore, run a Sleep Talk user, or never give Breloom a chance to gain momentum with multiple fast Pokemon. Defensive teams must typically carry two strong Breloom checks: one to absorb Spore and the other to beat it. Once Toxic Orb activates, Breloom prominently is immune to both status and Knock Off, making it difficult to wear down despite its poor defensive stats. Breloom's typing grants it key access to strong Grass and Fighting-type attacks such as Seed Bomb, Superpower, and Focus Punch, allowing it to threaten prominent Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Clefable, Blissey, and Swampert.
Breloom’s attributes allows it to feature on a wide variety of teams and different roles: the most offensive teams use Breloom to sleep potential Stealth Rock users for gaining momentum while defensive teams can take advantage of Leech Seed, a strong Clefable answer, and disabling another Pokemon with sleep. Mach Punch allows Breloom to keep most Tyranitar sets in check, crucial for supporting a Choice Scarf Latias or Choice Scarf Rotom-A. Defensive sets are fantastic status absorbers for opposing Breloom, Rotom-A, and Clefable while generally threatening much of the tier with Leech Seed and paralysis with Force Palm. Swords Dance sets with paralysis support can slice through even multiple bulky checks such as Skarmory, Nidoqueen, and Latias. Substitute sets easily punish teams with poor Breloom checks with repeated Focus Punch without having to worry about revenge killing.
Breloom’s flaws lie in its relatively low Speed and defensive stats, making it hard to fulfill all of its niches at once, while also suffering from how the tier has adapted to it. Breloom is often stuck in a conundrum of needing to invest in its bulk to survive strong attacks such as +1 Tyranitar’s Fire Punch, +1 Gyarados’s Ice Fang, utility Tyranitar's Fire Blast, and Swampert’s Ice Beam, while still needing enough speed investment to outpace max speed Swampert, Tyranitar, and slow base 100s if Breloom has a Jolly nature. This makes Breloom vulnerable to offensive pressure from faster Pokemon such as Flygon, Heatran, Latias, Gengar, Dragonite, and Jirachi. Breloom’s survivability comes more from its resilience due to Poison Heal rather than numerical bulk even when invested; it can be overwhelmed by strong neutral attacks such as Life Orb Gengar's Shadow Ball and even resisted hits such as Choice Band Tyranitar’s Stone Edge. Although Breloom can be devastating if underprepared for, common cores are built to limit its impact. Hyper offensive teams often have multiple faster Pokemon with Lum Berry such as Dragonite and Metagross that can OHKO Breloom once set up. Defensive Breloom is deathly afraid of Skarmory; Spikes heavily limit how often Breloom can come in and break common defensive cores, especially since defensive teams often have multiple Breloom counters. Even though Poison Heal heals Breloom in sand, it chips away at its resilience and makes it more difficult to function.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Spore
move 2: Superpower / Focus Punch
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Mach Punch / Protect / Toxic
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 HP / 72 Atk / 184 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Breloom’s Spore is one of its strongest qualities, immediately disabling an opposing Pokemon by putting them to sleep. Superpower is Breloom’s strongest attack bar Focus Punch and heavily threats much of the tier, OHKOing many prominent Fighting-weak Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Clefable, Heatran, and Magnezone while hitting neutral threats such as Scizor, Bronzong, Metagross, and Machamp very hard. Focus Punch can be used after Spore or on a predicted switch, even 2HKOing physically defensive Skarmory. It also does not immediately force Breloom out with the stat drops. Seed Bomb pairs well with both Superpower and Focus Punch, as many prominent walls are Grass-weak such as Hippowdon, Swampert, Milotic, and Suicune. Others are immune or resist Fighting but not Grass such as Nidoqueen, Rotom-A, Uxie, Gliscor, and Gyarados. Seed Bomb is also strong enough to damage Gengar despite resisting it.
Mach Punch provides a failsafe against Tyranitar, potentially OHKOing bulkless version after Stealth Rock, Agility Empoleon, and forcing Lucario to use Extremespeed rather than Close Combat. Protect emphasizes Breloom's survivability, as Breloom will always heal even in sand due to Poison Heal. Against more offensive teams, a common way to deal with Breloom is to switch in a Sleep Talk user such as Choice Specs Latias or Choice Band Dragonite. As Sleep Talk can only be selected once while choice locked, Protect forces these Pokemon out. Should it be paired with Magnezone, Breloom can take advantage of Skarmory's removal and run Toxic to cripple secondary checks such as defensive Latias, defensive Zapdos and Gliscor.
Set Details
========
Due to Breloom not needing much attack to pose a threat, there are many different possible EV spreads. This specific EV spread gives Breloom max HP while also outspeeding neutral nature Tyranitar and Swampert with the rest in attack. With max HP, Breloom can survive many prominent attacks such as utility Tyranitar’s Fire Blast, most Swampert Ice Beam, Gengar's Shadow Ball, and defensive Latias’s Ice Beam. Other possibilities include maximizing attack and speed using an EV spread of 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature. This allows Breloom to reach a Poison Heal number and outspeed Adamant Gyarados. Jolly variants are particularly difficult to deal with for defensive teams, as Breloom’s can outspeed prominent slow base 100s such as Jirachi and Zapdos and use Spore before they can respond. Breloom without investment is very frail, however. Should speed not be important, Breloom can also just run a simple spread of 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def, but beware of offensive pressure from faster variants of Swampert and Tyranitar.
As Breloom's defensive stats are quite low, sparing some EVs in either of its defenses improves survivability greatly. Breloom can run some more physical bulk, such as 248 HP / 116 Atk / 144 Def that survives +1 Tyranitar’s Ice Punch and Gyarados’s +1 Ice Fang after sand damage. With special bulk, such as 108 HP / 176 Atk / 40 SpDef / 184 Spe, Breloom can survive max SpA Swampert's Ice Beam without entry hazards and defensive Latias's Ice Beam after one layer of Spikes. Breloom can also use additional speed, such as around 60 EVs to outspeed minimum speed Heatran, 136 to outspeed Machamp and minimum speed Rotom-A and Suicune, and 176 with a Jolly nature to outspeed Tyranitar. Generally, sets with Mach Punch run more attack to maximize damage.
Usage Tips
========
Breloom often switches in early into prominent Pokemon such as Swampert, Tyranitar, and Clefable to exert pressure. However, these switches could be dangerous; Breloom can be OHKOed by super-effective coverage and is effectively useless should it take Knock Off or Thunder Wave. Once Breloom has activated Toxic Orb, it can freely switch into many status and Knock Off users such as Clefable and RestTalk Rotom-A. Delaying the timing of Breloom’s Spore can often net a more valuable target; opponents will often switch to a sleep absorber or leave their Swampert for example in to absorb the Spore. Delaying additionally avoids using Spore on a Lum Berry target such as Tyranitar, Metagross, Dragonite, and Gyarados. Should Breloom have Focus Punch over Superpower, predicting bulky neutral threats switching in after something absorbs Spore such as Skarmory and Jirachi can maximize damage. Breloom can even stay in on Skarmory as it uses Roost and OHKO it with Focus Punch. Should Breloom have Protect, beware of being too predictable to give opponents free switches due to the amount of offensive pressure Breloom typically exerts.
Team Options
========
Breloom has many viable partners as a stable of DPP OU. One of the best partners for Breloom is Pursuit Tyranitar, as some of the most prominent Breloom checks are Dark-weak, such as Latias, Rotom-A, and Gengar, leaving them open to getting Pursuit trapped. Tyranitar is also helpful in other ways; Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates Breloom’s Spore to help break through bulky checks such as Skarmory, Jirachi, and Nidoqueen. Choice Band Tyranitar can break through Breloom checks with its powerful attacks, while Breloom can absorb Clefable’s Knock Off once the Toxic Orb is activated. Other prominent Breloom partners include Choice Scarf Rotom-A and Choice Scarf Latias, as Mach Punch allows Breloom to check the one boosted threat they cannot handle well: Dragon Dance Tyranitar. As Breloom takes advantage of both Clefable and Tyranitar, it is a great partner to many strong special attackers, such as Heatran, Empoleon, Latias, Zapdos, and Suicune. Heatran is uniquely valuable, as it can potentially trap and KO Latias with Magma Storm while OHKOing Skarmory and Jirachi. Breloom also pressure defensive Water- and Ground-types such as Swampert, Hippowdon, Quagsire, and Suicune, potentially helping offensive Steel-types such as Heatran, Jirachi, Scizor, and Metagross.
Breloom also benefits from Magnezone support, as it removes a prominent check in Skarmory, allowing to use Spore on something else. Breloom also heavily pressures Shed Shell Skarmory, as Skarmory can no longer passively heal out after it takes a Focus Punch or Superpower. Both defensive and offensive partners with Magnezone work well, as Starmie, Clefable, and physically defensive Zapdos appreciate Breloom's offensive pressure while offensive partners such as offensive Trick Room Bronzong, Gengar, and Metagross enjoy Breloom's ability to break open defensive teams should Skarmory be trapped. Starmie greatly improves Breloom's survivability by Rapid Spinning away Spikes, while Breloom takes advantage of Pursuit Tyranitar trying to remove Starmie. Breloom’s ability to absorb Spore from opposing Breloom and its relatively slow speed allow it to fit well with Trick Room Bronzong, as the teams it is featured on typically struggle with opposing Breloom. In a similar vein to Magnezone, Trick + Iron Ball Metagross opens up Skarmory, Rotom-A, and Zapdos by slowing them down and removing their Leftovers.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Force Palm / Superpower / Facade
move 3: Protect
move 4: Spore / Seed Bomb
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Defensive Breloom takes a much different approach and focuses on shoring the team against status and Knock Off while being a strong answer to Tyranitar and Clefable. The primary weapon of defensive Breloom is Leech Seed, damaging all non Grass-types and Clefable while maximizing Breloom’s longevity. Force Palm OHKOs bulkless Tyranitar after Stealth Rock and 2HKOs Clefable. However, the primary advantage of Force Palm is its paralysis chance. Breloom is a fantastic way to paralyze Latias, Gliscor, and Jirachi, targets that are typically difficult to paralyze and lose a lot of efficacy once statused. Superpower provides Breloom with a much stronger option; Force Palm fails to 2HKO Bold Clefable and has rely on paralysis to stop Chople Berry Dragon Dance Tyranitar. A more midground option that doesn't drop Breloom's stats is Sky Uppercut; however, beware of the miss chance. Breloom can also forgo a Fighting-type option to use Facade, hitting much of the tier with a strong neutral hit.
Protect synergizes well with Leech Seed: scouting the opponent, gaining additional recovery easily, and racking up Leech Seed damage. The most prominent last option is Spore, as it instantly neutralizes a threat. It also works well with Leech Seed to gain additional health. However, Seed Bomb is also an excellent option, as it allows Breloom to hit Ghost-types and remain threatening against Swampert and Gastrodon.
Set Details
========
This Breloom generally can go in two directions: physically or specially bulky. Physical bulk is preferred, as Breloom is often one of the primary checks for opposing Breloom, Tyranitar, and Swampert and needs a lot of physical bulk to endure their attacks continuously. Physical bulk also helps Breloom check Hippowdon, Gliscor without a Flying-type attack, and Gyarados. The speed investment allows Breloom to outspeed minimum speed Heatran while also outspeeding slower versions of Skarmory, Tyranitar, Swampert, and Metagross. Due to Breloom’s very low special defense stat, some of this speed investment can be put into SpD to help against defensive Latias's Ice Beam, utility Tyranitar’s Fire Blast, and Swampert’s Ice Beam.
Another route to go is to fully invest in Breloom’s SpD with a Careful nature and full bulk investment with a spread of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD. Specially defensive Breloom is a fantastic answer to Calm Mind Clefable while also takes special coverage much better. Specially defensive Breloom can survive many super-effective special attacks such as +1 Suicune Ice Beam, defensive Zapdos’s Heat Wave, Jirachi’s Psychic, Choice Scarf Rotom-A’s Shadow Ball, and defensive Heatran’s Lava Plume. Breloom loses the ability to switch into opposing Breloom’s Spore while surviving Superpower and is commonly OHKOed by +1 Tyranitar’s Fire Punch by going down this path, however.
Usage Tips
========
Breloom generally wants to activate its Toxic Orb as soon as possible, as it is useless without Poison Heal. Switch into opposing Breloom’s Spore sparingly, as Breloom’s Fighting-type coverage 2HKOs on even physically bulky Breloom. This Breloom is particularly annoying for offensive teams to deal with, as it commonly stalls out any momentum from choiced attackers such as Latias, Rotom-A, Tyranitar, and Gyarados while chipping them with Leech Seed. As such, take advantage of Breloom’s bulk and recovery throughout the game to choke out the opponent. Breloom often can recover from very low health quite easily with Leech Seed, Protect, and Poison Heal, allowing it to tank strong hits and eventually come out healthy.
Keep Breloom away from entry hazard setters, Spikes, and Substitute users, as its offensive options are weak and easy to set up on. Once Breloom uses Spore, it should be trying to use Force Palm to spread paralysis on its checks as much as it can, as for example, Gliscor can’t use Taunt before Breloom uses Leech Seed, Latias can’t use Reflect on a potential Tyranitar switch, and Jirachi can’t Iron Head flinch Breloom.
Team Options
========
Defensive Breloom generally belongs on stall teams that can afford its lack of offensive pressure, absorb the strong hits it can’t take, and benefit from its ability to neutralize Clefable. However, because Breloom is deathly afraid of Skarmory and forced out by mixed Flygon, defensive partners need to account for offensive Spikes teams well. Tyranitar is particularly effective, as choiced sets can take advantage of a paralyzed Latias, while defensive sets easily stomach the strong special attackers that eliminate Breloom, like offensive Heatran and Latias. However, sand can sometimes be detrimental to Breloom’s constant passive recovery. Specially defensive walls with Knock Off, such as Clefable and Empoleon, are especially effective to help wear down opponents with Leech Seed. Breloom also saves Clefable from having to trade Knock Off with opposing Clefable. Anti Spikes options are extremely important with Breloom due to the ubiquity of Skarmory. Breloom fits quite well with Magnezone to trap Skarmory and Forretress, while Shed Shell Skarmory doesn’t enjoy repeated residual damage and paralysis this set inflicts. Other choices that fit alongside Magnezone, such as Latias, defensive Wish + Protect Jirachi, Toxic + Protect Metagross, and Swampert are helpful. Hippowdon can also be effective, but like Tyranitar, sand can sometimes be detrimental. Choice Scarf Magneton can also be effective to help against the hyper offensive teams that can take advantage of defensive Breloom, as it outspeeds and revenge kills Adamant Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragonite. Breloom fits quite well on bulkier paralysis spamming teams due to spreading paralysis to Latias and Gliscor effectively. Potential partners include Starmie, physically defensive Zapdos, and Jirachi. Starmie is especially helpful to Rapid Spin the hazards that the opponent sets up on Breloom. In return, Breloom counters Tyranitar and Clefable, two common Stealth Rock users and checks to Zapdos, and helps Jirachi out against Dragon Dance Tyranitar.
Breloom fits well alongside bulky special sweepers that are vulnerable to Encore Clefable, such as Calm Mind + RestTalk Suicune, Calm Mind Latias, and Calm Mind + Wish or Substitute Jirachi, as it can take the Knock Off once Toxic Orb activates and 2HKO Clefable. Breloom enjoys easy entry for its Toxic Orb activation, meaning Uxie, RestTalk Rotom-A, and Latias are good partners to bait in Tyranitar. Uxie can even use U-Turn to bring in Breloom easily. These Pokemon also ease Breloom’s commitment to absorbing opposing Breloom’s Spore by tanking strong Fighting-type coverage and forcing opposing Breloom out.
[SET]
name: Lead
move 1: Spore
move 2: Superpower / Focus Punch
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Stone Edge / Stun Spore
item: Choice Scarf / Focus Sash
ability: Effect Spore
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Breloom is one of the best options to immediately get momentum as a lead on hyper offensive teams, as any lead without a Lum Berry or a faster Taunt is put to sleep. Spore is an excellent tool to prevent Stealth Rock and simplify game plans, as the pace of the team makes it difficult to burn sleep turns. The choice between Superpower and Focus Punch is item dependent—with a Choice Scarf, Breloom has to use Superpower because it can function as a revenge killer. However, with a Focus Sash, Breloom can leverage the more common Choice Scarf set to Focus Punch foes trying to burn sleep turns or switch. Seed Bomb threatens Grass-weak leads such as Swampert, Hippowdon, and Starmie as well as provides a reliable attack should it use Focus Punch. Stone Edge rounds out Breloom's coverage against Flying-types, hitting Zapdos, Gyarados, and Dragonite hard. However, since it doesn't OHKO them, Stun Spore is another option especially on Focus Sash sets to spread paralysis on Breloom checks that switch in after Spore such as Latias, Gliscor, Zapdos, and Skarmory.
Set Details
========
To outspeed common leads, Breloom needs to be as fast as possible. Since Breloom can't use a Toxic Orb, Effect Spore provides an additional chance to status contact attacks, such as leads like Flygon and Uxie using U-turn.
The choice between Choice Scarf and Focus Sash depends on how weak to Stealth Rock the rest of the team is. Breloom hits 393 speed with a Choice Scarf, enough to outspeed common fast Stealth Rock leads such as Azelf and Choice Scarf Tyranitar, putting them to sleep (should Azelf lack a Lum Berry) before they can set up Stealth Rock. It also helps against powerful wallbreakers such as Choice Specs Latias, Heatran, and Dragonite. Breloom can also act as speed control for typically frail hyper offense teams, letting it revenge kill Dragon Dance Tyranitar and neutral speed nature Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragonite. On teams not as weak to Stealth Rock or have other revenge killers, Focus Sash allows Breloom to survive one hit and get off a Spore or powerful attack. Having a Focus Sash also prevents Breloom from being forced out immediately once it uses Spore.
Usage Tips
========
This Breloom should lead, as it has no bulk and aims to immediately get momentum. Breloom should almost always use Spore turn 1, as it aims to prevent the opposing lead from doing anything. Exceptions tend to be if the opposing lead common carries a Lum Berry, such as Metagross and Gyarados; is faster than Breloom and will Taunt, such as Aerodactyl; or could be KOed by an attack and are thus likely to try to absorb Spore, such as Tyranitar and Swampert. Once Breloom uses Spore, Choice Scarf leads are forced out and can be used later as fodder or to revenge kill. Focus Sash leads instead try to do as much damage as possible before Breloom faints, which also gives a free switch. As such, try to leverage the fact that Choice Scarf Breloom is forced out after using Spore on something slow to Focus Punch possible switches or burnt sleep turns.
Team Options
========
This Breloom is a staple of aggressive hyper offense teams. With Choice Scarf, Breloom should be used with threats that do not like Stealth Rock, such as Gyarados and Dragonite. Mixed Dragonite is especially threatening with Breloom, as it enjoys coming in for free without Stealth Rock up and immediately threatens common Breloom answers. As using lead Breloom means forgoing early Stealth Rock, common synergistic users such as Heatran, Metagross, and Camerupt are good partners. Other hyper offense mainstays such as Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Swords Dance Scizor, offensive Calm Mind Jirachi, offensive Empoleon, and Swords Dance Lucario are other strong partners with Breloom. Swords Dance Scizor with Pursuit is an especially strong partner, as it helps to defeat Latias trying to come in after Breloom uses Spore. Scizor can even use an Occa Berry to better protect against Hidden Power Fire.
With Focus Sash, the team does not have to be as aggressive, as Breloom can't prevent Stealth Rock from faster leads such as Azelf or Aerodactyl. However, it can immediately weaken prominent Breloom checks such as Skarmory, especially if the opponent tries to switch it in after Breloom uses Spore expecting the Choice Scarf set. With Stun Spore, Breloom can unexpectedly paralyze Latias, Gliscor, and Zapdos, helping Jirachi, Mamoswine, and Machamp break through them. Breloom also appreciates other forms of speed control, such as Choice Scarf Latias, as it can let Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragonite set up on it if they can mitigate status.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Seed Bomb
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Facade / Spore / Mach Punch
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Breloom can become a full-blown sweeper with Swords Dance. Even walls that resist one or both of Seed Bomb and Superpower such as Nidoqueen, Latias, and Skarmory can be 2HKOed easily after a Swords Dance boost. Milotic and Hippowdon, prominent answers to physical sweepers, are both OHKOed by Seed Bomb after one Swords Dance, while Superpower OHKOes all non-physically bulky Jirachi.
Facade rounds out the coverage, as it hits Zapdos, Latias, and Dragonite hard. Due to Toxic Orb, Facade will always be at 140 base power, doing more damage than Seed Bomb against neutral targets. Other options include Spore, which eases Breloom’s set up. It may seem odd to use Breloom without Spore, but the additional coverage is worth it, especially since Latias outspeeds and walls Breloom even while asleep. Mach Punch helps to alleviate Breloom’s low speed, as a boosted Mach Punch can help with Breloom’s issue with faster revenge killers weak to Fighting, such as Heatran, Magnezone, and faster Tyranitar sets. Breloom can also be a bulky win condition with Protect in the last slot as well.
Set Details
========
The EV spread given maximizes Breloom’s sweeping abilities while also hitting a Poison Heal number—both Jolly and Adamant natures work here. Many other EV spreads works too; the most prominent of these is run max HP and hit another speed benchmark, such as around 60 EVs for minimum speed Heatran, 136 for Machamp, minimum speed Rotom-A, and Suicune, and 184 EVs for max speed neutral Tyranitar and Swampert while putting the rest in attack and HP. This route gives Breloom some more breathing room to set up. An additional route is to run further bulk by making Breloom Impish—this allows Breloom to fulfill its defensive obligations against Dragon Dance Tyranitar and opposing Breloom once the Toxic Orb has activated while still being a threat with Swords Dance. An example EV spread is 248 HP / 4 Atk / 120 Def / 136 Spe that survives Dragon Dance Tyranitar’s +1 Ice Punch, Dragon Dance Gyarados’s +1 Ice Fang while still outspeeding the Machamp, Rotom-A, and Suicune benchmark. As an Impish non attack invested +0 Superpower can leave standard Clefable and Chople Berry + Dragon Dance Tyranitar alive, another option is to run less Speed and use 248 HP / 16 Atk / 184 Def / 60 Spe with an Adamant nature, as this still survives the bulk thresholds while strengthening Breloom.
Usage Tips
========
This Breloom, especially if it drops Spore and has no defensive investment, must be more careful when it comes in. Breloom appreciates its checks such as Latias to be either KOed or paralyzed before it uses Swords Dance. Against more defensive teams, due to Breloom’s longevity, it can come in more often, activate its Toxic Orb, and threaten Clefable and Tyranitar. As most opponents will expect Spore, leverage likely Sleep sacrifices to get a free Swords Dance or to switch to an appropriate counter. On more defensive teams, Breloom’s role changes as a wall that can sweep, so trading lots of Breloom’s health for eliminating +1 Dragon Dance Tyranitar is valuable.
Team Options
========
This Breloom is most commonly featured on teams with extensive paralysis support, as paralyzing walls such as Latias and Skarmory can open up teams to a Breloom sweep. In return, Breloom provides these teams with a strong answer to Ground-types such as Swampert and Hippowdon that can annoy these teams as well as answers to Knock Off Clefable and Tyranitar. Common teammates for this style include Blissey, Bold Clefable, Zapdos, Jirachi, and Starmie. These Pokemon, especially Starmie, can make up for Breloom’s weakness to Spikes, while Blissey, Zapdos, Clefable, and Jirachi cover for strong attacks Breloom can’t take. Breloom also appreciates additional support for breaking down walls—the most prominent of these is Machamp, as it also takes advantage of paralysis support. Other Pokemon that take advantage of paralysis, such as Togekiss, can also be supported by Breloom. More offensive paralysis teams can also support Breloom, such as with Azelf, Jirachi, Tyranitar, and Dragon Dance + Thunder Wave Gyarados. Tyranitar is particularly helpful here, as it can Pursuit trap Dark-weak Breloom answers and can even spread paralysis on difficult to paralyze threats like Latias.
An additional route to using Swords Dance Breloom is with Magnezone support, as it traps Skarmory and other bulky Steel-types such as Bronzong, Metagross, and Scizor that can interfere with sweeping. Common partners in this style include Tyranitar, Jirachi, Skarmory, Clefable, and defensive Latias. Other ways to open up walls, including Trick + Iron Ball or Choice Scarf Metagross and mixed threats such as Jirachi and Flygon are generally helpful.
[SET]
name: SubPunch
move 1: Spore
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Focus Punch
move 4: Seed Bomb / Leech Seed
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 208 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
The threat of Spore and powerful attacks is generally enough to get Breloom a Substitute on something it forces out. From here, Substitute provides Breloom with a number of advantages. The first is that Breloom can more easily choose what to use Spore on, as sleep sacrifices only give Breloom momentum to attack rather than waste Spore. Additionally, Substitute counters switching in a choiced Sleep Talk user to absorb Spore, as they must break the Substitute before locking into Sleep Talk. Second, the Substitute allows Breloom to use the more powerful Focus Punch without worrying about being hit; with investment, it can even 2HKO resists like offensive Latias. Third, the Substitute helps prevent revenge killing on the typically slow Breloom. With investment, Substitute can survive weaker attacks, such as Choice Scarf Flygon’s U-Turn, opposing Breloom’s Seed Bomb, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar’s Crunch. As such, this Breloom is one of the best punishers of teams lacking multiple good Breloom checks.
Seed Bomb rounds out Breloom’s coverage, giving Breloom a no drawbacks attack while also threatening Fighting resists. Another option, however, is to run Leech Seed, as Breloom has the unique advantage of Poison Heal over other SubSeed users, meaning it can potentially heal more HP than a Substitute requires. This will leave Breloom without a no drawbacks offensive move, however.
Set Details
========
The EV spread given allows Breloom’s Substitute to survive Choice Scarf Flygon’s U-Turn. This counters a common way to break to get around Substitute: continually using U-Turn into a threat that survives the Focus Punch. It also survives Dragon Dance Tyranitar's +1 Fire Punch after Stealth Rock and sand damage. The rest of the EVs are put into attack to power up Seed Bomb and Focus Punch. Breloom can also take some of the attack investment to keep up a Substitute on Skarmory. However, Breloom can also go fully offensive and run 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Speed with a Jolly or Adamant nature. For SubSeed sets, the Jolly max speed spread is particularly threatening to slower teams, as Breloom will continually be able to set up a Substitute + Poison Heal while throwing out strong Focus Punch. Breloom can also maximize its defensive bulk with a SubSeed set, with an EV spread of 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe with an Impish nature; the speed investment is for minimum speed Heatran.
Usage Tips
========
Because Breloom’s Focus Punch has to be predicted, Breloom typically should be brought in more carefully on something it threatens, such as Swampert, choiced Tyranitar, Blissey, and Clefable and then Substitute on the switch out. This puts the opponent in a difficult situation of dealing with a Breloom behind a Substitute that still can put something to sleep. Beware of opponents that deal with Breloom with offensive pressure, as fast Swampert hitting Breloom with Ice Beam or Tyranitar using Fire Blast is one of the best ways to prevent Breloom from getting that Substitute. Once Breloom has a Substitute, Breloom can use Focus Punch and Leech Seed with impunity, as it can just attack sleep sacrifices without using Spore or set up repeated Leech Seed on slower targets. Once Breloom has used Spore and is forced out, coming in on Fighting-weak threats such as Clefable and Tyranitar again is more difficult, as they will continue to attack Breloom instead of switch out. Should Breloom be Jolly, using Spore is more forgiving on a threat such as defensive Jirachi, as Breloom can continuously sleep and set up a Substitute without being punished.
Team Options
========
Generally, Substitute Breloom has similar partners to the offensive set; however Breloom doesn't have as much utility due to being forced to use a Fighting-type attack with drawbacks. As such, it enjoys being used alongside other checks to Tyranitar, such as Metagross and Jirachi. Trick Metagross can lure in and give prominent Breloom checks like Skarmory, Rotom-A, and Zapdos an Iron Ball to allow Breloom to outspeed and more easily defeat them. Pursuit Tyranitar is again an excellent partner, as it can Pursuit prominent Sleep absorbers such as Rotom-A and Latias to allow Breloom to use Spore again. Breloom’s strong Focus Punch and Spore combination often soften up opposing teams for fast sweepers such as Calm Mind Jirachi and Dragon Dance Tyranitar to take advantage of. Many Pokemon enjoy Breloom’s ability to bust up defensive core involving Clefable, such as Heatran, Latias, Calm Mind Jirachi, Suicune, and Empoleon. A particularly potent pairing is Will-o-Wisp Heatran + Choice Specs Latias, as opponents will be less likely to switch in Clefable knowing Breloom can easily take advantage of it. This can force burn on Pokemon such as Tyranitar, opening up Choice Specs Latias. Breloom also appreciates entry hazard users, as some of its more prominent sleep absorbers are weak to Stealth Rock. Pokemon such as Heatran, Tyranitar, Empoleon, and Skarmory are useful. Skarmory also sets up Spikes, which can be helpful due to other prominent Breloom checks such as Celebi, Nidoqueen, and Jirachi giving free set up. With Spikes, SubSeed Breloom especially becomes very difficult to deal with.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
The most prominent other options for Breloom often involve dropping Spore. One of these is Bulk Up + Drain Punch, as a specially defensive EV spread can make Breloom a very bulky stallbreaker with Seed Bomb and Protect. However, such as set can struggle against strong attackers such as Latias and Gengar forcing it out. Breloom also has access to Stone Edge and ThunderPunch for specific targets; however, these are almost always outclassed by Seed Bomb and Facade as offensive options. Lead versions of Breloom should not especially not use ThunderPunch, however, as it doesnt KO Gyarados after Intimidate. Defensive Breloom also can act as a weather changer with Sunny Day, as it enjoys maximizing Poison Heal and easily forces out Tyranitar for a Suicune in the back, typically used over Seed Bomb or Spore. Breloom can spread some paralysis after it uses Spore with Stun Spore but watch out for its low accuracy.
Checks and Counters
===================
Breloom is one of the most frustrating Pokemon to answer in DPP OU, as it can be a pest and survive due to Poison Heal's constant recovery while also putting to sleep a prominent answer. It often is checked throughout the game with offensive pressure on more faster pace teams and multiple walls on slower teams.
**Bulky Psychic-types**: Celebi, Cresselia, Uxie, and Latias are the most prominent Breloom answers in the tier. They can all absorb its attacks in the short term and KO back with Psychic or Ice Beam. However, while Celebi has Natural Cure, another Pokemon is needed to absorb the Spore, or Breloom will switch to a powerful teammate or generate momentum off of a sleeping Pokemon.
**Flying-types**: Zapdos, Gliscor, Skarmory, and Dragonite are all effective ways to scout out Breloom’s set. Of these, Zapdos is the best due to commonly outspeeding it and taking little from its attacks besides a boosted Facade. Gliscor and Skarmory can OHKO with Flying-type attacks, while Dragonite easily OHKOs with its powerful attacks and can even absorb the Spore on its Choice Band + Sleep Talk. However, Zapdos, Gliscor, and Skarmory all become vulnerable to Breloom’s coverage upon using Roost, while Zapdos and Dragonite do not enjoy Stealth Rock + Breloom’s strong attacks.
**Poison-types**: Nidoqueen, Gengar, Roserade, and Crobat all can absorb Breloom’s attacks and hit hard in return. Roserade even can run a physically bulky set with Sleep Talk to set up Spikes and hit Breloom hard, while it commonly uses Poison Point over Natural Cure to absorb Spore. However, the others are all neutralized by Spore, while Nidoqueen and Gengar will eventually fall to repeated Seed Bomb. Crobat doesn’t enjoy Facade and struggles with longevity due to its Stealth Rock weakness.
**Sleep Talk**: Latias, Dragonite, Zapdos, Yanmega, and Heracross can switch into Spore effectively while still functioning or threaten Breloom with strong attacks. However, care should be taken to only switch them in on Spore, as Breloom with Protect and especially Subsitute can take advantage of the switch and generate momentum.
**Powerful attackers**: Faster Pokemon such as Gengar, Heatran, and Infernape while they can’t always switch in, will easily outspeed and OHKO Breloom if they can get in safely.
**Offensive Pressure**: Slower versions of Breloom can be checked by having its normal entry points on offensive teams—Tyranitar, Swampert, and generally slower Pokemon like Metagross and Machamp—either carry a Lum Berry to absorb Spore or run a lot of speed and hit Breloom hard. An example of this is max Speed Swampert OHKOing Breloom with Ice Beam, Zen Headbutt or Explosion + Lum Berry Metagross, and even opposing Breloom switching into Spore and hitting hard back with Superpower.
**Physically bulky Pokemon**: While Jirachi, Skarmory, and Rotom-A do not enjoy repeated attacks from Breloom, they avoid being 2HKOed and heal off the attack while threatening Breloom out. Rotom-A can even take Spore while still functioning, even KOing Breloom should it have Shadow Ball over Thunderbolt.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [johnnyg2, 57904]]
- Quality checked by: [[Oiponabys, 435540 ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
[OVERVIEW]
Breloom stands as one of the more difficult threats to cover in the tier thanks to its unique blend of survivability and power. Breloom’s access to Spore, Poison Heal ability as well as Toxic Orb's easy activation, and powerful Grass and Fighting-type attacks make it one of the premier stallbreakers in the tier. Spore warps the tier: only a few Pokemon such as defensive Latias, Zapdos, and Celebi can stomach repeated attacks while asleep. Offensive teams are forced to sack a key Pokemon to Spore, run a Sleep Talk user, or never give Breloom a chance to gain momentum with multiple fast Pokemon. Defensive teams must typically carry two strong Breloom checks: one to absorb Spore and the other to beat it. Once Toxic Orb activates, Breloom prominently is immune to both status and Knock Off, making it difficult to wear down despite its poor defensive stats. Breloom's typing grants it key access to strong Grass and Fighting-type attacks such as Seed Bomb, Superpower, and Focus Punch, allowing it to threaten prominent Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Clefable, Blissey, and Swampert.
Breloom’s attributes allows it to feature on a wide variety of teams and different roles: the most offensive teams use Breloom to sleep potential Stealth Rock users for gaining momentum while defensive teams can take advantage of Leech Seed, a strong Clefable answer, and disabling another Pokemon with sleep. Mach Punch allows Breloom to keep most Tyranitar sets in check, crucial for supporting a Choice Scarf Latias or Choice Scarf Rotom-A. Defensive sets are fantastic status absorbers for opposing Breloom, Rotom-A, and Clefable while generally threatening much of the tier with Leech Seed and paralysis with Force Palm. Swords Dance sets with paralysis support can slice through even multiple bulky checks such as Skarmory, Nidoqueen, and Latias. Substitute sets easily punish teams with poor Breloom checks with repeated Focus Punch without having to worry about revenge killing.
Breloom’s flaws lie in its relatively low Speed and defensive stats, making it hard to fulfill all of its niches at once, while also suffering from how the tier has adapted to it. Breloom is often stuck in a conundrum of needing to invest in its bulk to survive strong attacks such as +1 Tyranitar’s Fire Punch, +1 Gyarados’s Ice Fang, utility Tyranitar's Fire Blast, and Swampert’s Ice Beam, while still needing enough speed investment to outpace max speed Swampert, Tyranitar, and slow base 100s if Breloom has a Jolly nature. This makes Breloom vulnerable to offensive pressure from faster Pokemon such as Flygon, Heatran, Latias, Gengar, Dragonite, and Jirachi. Breloom’s survivability comes more from its resilience due to Poison Heal rather than numerical bulk even when invested; it can be overwhelmed by strong neutral attacks such as Life Orb Gengar's Shadow Ball and even resisted hits such as Choice Band Tyranitar’s Stone Edge. Although Breloom can be devastating if underprepared for, common cores are built to limit its impact. Hyper offensive teams often have multiple faster Pokemon with Lum Berry such as Dragonite and Metagross that can OHKO Breloom once set up. Defensive Breloom is deathly afraid of Skarmory; Spikes heavily limit how often Breloom can come in and break common defensive cores, especially since defensive teams often have multiple Breloom counters. Even though Poison Heal heals Breloom in sand, it chips away at its resilience and makes it more difficult to function.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Spore
move 2: Superpower / Focus Punch
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Mach Punch / Protect / Toxic
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 HP / 72 Atk / 184 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Breloom’s Spore is one of its strongest qualities, immediately disabling an opposing Pokemon by putting them to sleep. Superpower is Breloom’s strongest attack bar Focus Punch and heavily threats much of the tier, OHKOing many prominent Fighting-weak Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Clefable, Heatran, and Magnezone while hitting neutral threats such as Scizor, Bronzong, Metagross, and Machamp very hard. Focus Punch can be used after Spore or on a predicted switch, even 2HKOing physically defensive Skarmory. It also does not immediately force Breloom out with the stat drops. Seed Bomb pairs well with both Superpower and Focus Punch, as many prominent walls are Grass-weak such as Hippowdon, Swampert, Milotic, and Suicune. Others are immune or resist Fighting but not Grass such as Nidoqueen, Rotom-A, Uxie, Gliscor, and Gyarados. Seed Bomb is also strong enough to damage Gengar despite resisting it.
Mach Punch provides a failsafe against Tyranitar, potentially OHKOing bulkless version after Stealth Rock, Agility Empoleon, and forcing Lucario to use Extremespeed rather than Close Combat. Protect emphasizes Breloom's survivability, as Breloom will always heal even in sand due to Poison Heal. Against more offensive teams, a common way to deal with Breloom is to switch in a Sleep Talk user such as Choice Specs Latias or Choice Band Dragonite. As Sleep Talk can only be selected once while choice locked, Protect forces these Pokemon out. Should it be paired with Magnezone, Breloom can take advantage of Skarmory's removal and run Toxic to cripple secondary checks such as defensive Latias, defensive Zapdos and Gliscor.
Set Details
========
Due to Breloom not needing much attack to pose a threat, there are many different possible EV spreads. This specific EV spread gives Breloom max HP while also outspeeding neutral nature Tyranitar and Swampert with the rest in attack. With max HP, Breloom can survive many prominent attacks such as utility Tyranitar’s Fire Blast, most Swampert Ice Beam, Gengar's Shadow Ball, and defensive Latias’s Ice Beam. Other possibilities include maximizing attack and speed using an EV spread of 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature. This allows Breloom to reach a Poison Heal number and outspeed Adamant Gyarados. Jolly variants are particularly difficult to deal with for defensive teams, as Breloom’s can outspeed prominent slow base 100s such as Jirachi and Zapdos and use Spore before they can respond. Breloom without investment is very frail, however. Should speed not be important, Breloom can also just run a simple spread of 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def, but beware of offensive pressure from faster variants of Swampert and Tyranitar.
As Breloom's defensive stats are quite low, sparing some EVs in either of its defenses improves survivability greatly. Breloom can run some more physical bulk, such as 248 HP / 116 Atk / 144 Def that survives +1 Tyranitar’s Ice Punch and Gyarados’s +1 Ice Fang after sand damage. With special bulk, such as 108 HP / 176 Atk / 40 SpDef / 184 Spe, Breloom can survive max SpA Swampert's Ice Beam without entry hazards and defensive Latias's Ice Beam after one layer of Spikes. Breloom can also use additional speed, such as around 60 EVs to outspeed minimum speed Heatran, 136 to outspeed Machamp and minimum speed Rotom-A and Suicune, and 176 with a Jolly nature to outspeed Tyranitar. Generally, sets with Mach Punch run more attack to maximize damage.
Usage Tips
========
Breloom often switches in early into prominent Pokemon such as Swampert, Tyranitar, and Clefable to exert pressure. However, these switches could be dangerous; Breloom can be OHKOed by super-effective coverage and is effectively useless should it take Knock Off or Thunder Wave. Once Breloom has activated Toxic Orb, it can freely switch into many status and Knock Off users such as Clefable and RestTalk Rotom-A. Delaying the timing of Breloom’s Spore can often net a more valuable target; opponents will often switch to a sleep absorber or leave their Swampert for example in to absorb the Spore. Delaying additionally avoids using Spore on a Lum Berry target such as Tyranitar, Metagross, Dragonite, and Gyarados. Should Breloom have Focus Punch over Superpower, predicting bulky neutral threats switching in after something absorbs Spore such as Skarmory and Jirachi can maximize damage. Breloom can even stay in on Skarmory as it uses Roost and OHKO it with Focus Punch. Should Breloom have Protect, beware of being too predictable to give opponents free switches due to the amount of offensive pressure Breloom typically exerts.
Team Options
========
Breloom has many viable partners as a stable of DPP OU. One of the best partners for Breloom is Pursuit Tyranitar, as some of the most prominent Breloom checks are Dark-weak, such as Latias, Rotom-A, and Gengar, leaving them open to getting Pursuit trapped. Tyranitar is also helpful in other ways; Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates Breloom’s Spore to help break through bulky checks such as Skarmory, Jirachi, and Nidoqueen. Choice Band Tyranitar can break through Breloom checks with its powerful attacks, while Breloom can absorb Clefable’s Knock Off once the Toxic Orb is activated. Other prominent Breloom partners include Choice Scarf Rotom-A and Choice Scarf Latias, as Mach Punch allows Breloom to check the one boosted threat they cannot handle well: Dragon Dance Tyranitar. As Breloom takes advantage of both Clefable and Tyranitar, it is a great partner to many strong special attackers, such as Heatran, Empoleon, Latias, Zapdos, and Suicune. Heatran is uniquely valuable, as it can potentially trap and KO Latias with Magma Storm while OHKOing Skarmory and Jirachi. Breloom also pressure defensive Water- and Ground-types such as Swampert, Hippowdon, Quagsire, and Suicune, potentially helping offensive Steel-types such as Heatran, Jirachi, Scizor, and Metagross.
Breloom also benefits from Magnezone support, as it removes a prominent check in Skarmory, allowing to use Spore on something else. Breloom also heavily pressures Shed Shell Skarmory, as Skarmory can no longer passively heal out after it takes a Focus Punch or Superpower. Both defensive and offensive partners with Magnezone work well, as Starmie, Clefable, and physically defensive Zapdos appreciate Breloom's offensive pressure while offensive partners such as offensive Trick Room Bronzong, Gengar, and Metagross enjoy Breloom's ability to break open defensive teams should Skarmory be trapped. Starmie greatly improves Breloom's survivability by Rapid Spinning away Spikes, while Breloom takes advantage of Pursuit Tyranitar trying to remove Starmie. Breloom’s ability to absorb Spore from opposing Breloom and its relatively slow speed allow it to fit well with Trick Room Bronzong, as the teams it is featured on typically struggle with opposing Breloom. In a similar vein to Magnezone, Trick + Iron Ball Metagross opens up Skarmory, Rotom-A, and Zapdos by slowing them down and removing their Leftovers.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Force Palm / Superpower / Facade
move 3: Protect
move 4: Spore / Seed Bomb
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Defensive Breloom takes a much different approach and focuses on shoring the team against status and Knock Off while being a strong answer to Tyranitar and Clefable. The primary weapon of defensive Breloom is Leech Seed, damaging all non Grass-types and Clefable while maximizing Breloom’s longevity. Force Palm OHKOs bulkless Tyranitar after Stealth Rock and 2HKOs Clefable. However, the primary advantage of Force Palm is its paralysis chance. Breloom is a fantastic way to paralyze Latias, Gliscor, and Jirachi, targets that are typically difficult to paralyze and lose a lot of efficacy once statused. Superpower provides Breloom with a much stronger option; Force Palm fails to 2HKO Bold Clefable and has rely on paralysis to stop Chople Berry Dragon Dance Tyranitar. A more midground option that doesn't drop Breloom's stats is Sky Uppercut; however, beware of the miss chance. Breloom can also forgo a Fighting-type option to use Facade, hitting much of the tier with a strong neutral hit.
Protect synergizes well with Leech Seed: scouting the opponent, gaining additional recovery easily, and racking up Leech Seed damage. The most prominent last option is Spore, as it instantly neutralizes a threat. It also works well with Leech Seed to gain additional health. However, Seed Bomb is also an excellent option, as it allows Breloom to hit Ghost-types and remain threatening against Swampert and Gastrodon.
Set Details
========
This Breloom generally can go in two directions: physically or specially bulky. Physical bulk is preferred, as Breloom is often one of the primary checks for opposing Breloom, Tyranitar, and Swampert and needs a lot of physical bulk to endure their attacks continuously. Physical bulk also helps Breloom check Hippowdon, Gliscor without a Flying-type attack, and Gyarados. The speed investment allows Breloom to outspeed minimum speed Heatran while also outspeeding slower versions of Skarmory, Tyranitar, Swampert, and Metagross. Due to Breloom’s very low special defense stat, some of this speed investment can be put into SpD to help against defensive Latias's Ice Beam, utility Tyranitar’s Fire Blast, and Swampert’s Ice Beam.
Another route to go is to fully invest in Breloom’s SpD with a Careful nature and full bulk investment with a spread of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD. Specially defensive Breloom is a fantastic answer to Calm Mind Clefable while also takes special coverage much better. Specially defensive Breloom can survive many super-effective special attacks such as +1 Suicune Ice Beam, defensive Zapdos’s Heat Wave, Jirachi’s Psychic, Choice Scarf Rotom-A’s Shadow Ball, and defensive Heatran’s Lava Plume. Breloom loses the ability to switch into opposing Breloom’s Spore while surviving Superpower and is commonly OHKOed by +1 Tyranitar’s Fire Punch by going down this path, however.
Usage Tips
========
Breloom generally wants to activate its Toxic Orb as soon as possible, as it is useless without Poison Heal. Switch into opposing Breloom’s Spore sparingly, as Breloom’s Fighting-type coverage 2HKOs on even physically bulky Breloom. This Breloom is particularly annoying for offensive teams to deal with, as it commonly stalls out any momentum from choiced attackers such as Latias, Rotom-A, Tyranitar, and Gyarados while chipping them with Leech Seed. As such, take advantage of Breloom’s bulk and recovery throughout the game to choke out the opponent. Breloom often can recover from very low health quite easily with Leech Seed, Protect, and Poison Heal, allowing it to tank strong hits and eventually come out healthy.
Keep Breloom away from entry hazard setters, Spikes, and Substitute users, as its offensive options are weak and easy to set up on. Once Breloom uses Spore, it should be trying to use Force Palm to spread paralysis on its checks as much as it can, as for example, Gliscor can’t use Taunt before Breloom uses Leech Seed, Latias can’t use Reflect on a potential Tyranitar switch, and Jirachi can’t Iron Head flinch Breloom.
Team Options
========
Defensive Breloom generally belongs on stall teams that can afford its lack of offensive pressure, absorb the strong hits it can’t take, and benefit from its ability to neutralize Clefable. However, because Breloom is deathly afraid of Skarmory and forced out by mixed Flygon, defensive partners need to account for offensive Spikes teams well. Tyranitar is particularly effective, as choiced sets can take advantage of a paralyzed Latias, while defensive sets easily stomach the strong special attackers that eliminate Breloom, like offensive Heatran and Latias. However, sand can sometimes be detrimental to Breloom’s constant passive recovery. Specially defensive walls with Knock Off, such as Clefable and Empoleon, are especially effective to help wear down opponents with Leech Seed. Breloom also saves Clefable from having to trade Knock Off with opposing Clefable. Anti Spikes options are extremely important with Breloom due to the ubiquity of Skarmory. Breloom fits quite well with Magnezone to trap Skarmory and Forretress, while Shed Shell Skarmory doesn’t enjoy repeated residual damage and paralysis this set inflicts. Other choices that fit alongside Magnezone, such as Latias, defensive Wish + Protect Jirachi, Toxic + Protect Metagross, and Swampert are helpful. Hippowdon can also be effective, but like Tyranitar, sand can sometimes be detrimental. Choice Scarf Magneton can also be effective to help against the hyper offensive teams that can take advantage of defensive Breloom, as it outspeeds and revenge kills Adamant Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragonite. Breloom fits quite well on bulkier paralysis spamming teams due to spreading paralysis to Latias and Gliscor effectively. Potential partners include Starmie, physically defensive Zapdos, and Jirachi. Starmie is especially helpful to Rapid Spin the hazards that the opponent sets up on Breloom. In return, Breloom counters Tyranitar and Clefable, two common Stealth Rock users and checks to Zapdos, and helps Jirachi out against Dragon Dance Tyranitar.
Breloom fits well alongside bulky special sweepers that are vulnerable to Encore Clefable, such as Calm Mind + RestTalk Suicune, Calm Mind Latias, and Calm Mind + Wish or Substitute Jirachi, as it can take the Knock Off once Toxic Orb activates and 2HKO Clefable. Breloom enjoys easy entry for its Toxic Orb activation, meaning Uxie, RestTalk Rotom-A, and Latias are good partners to bait in Tyranitar. Uxie can even use U-Turn to bring in Breloom easily. These Pokemon also ease Breloom’s commitment to absorbing opposing Breloom’s Spore by tanking strong Fighting-type coverage and forcing opposing Breloom out.
[SET]
name: Lead
move 1: Spore
move 2: Superpower / Focus Punch
move 3: Seed Bomb
move 4: Stone Edge / Stun Spore
item: Choice Scarf / Focus Sash
ability: Effect Spore
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Breloom is one of the best options to immediately get momentum as a lead on hyper offensive teams, as any lead without a Lum Berry or a faster Taunt is put to sleep. Spore is an excellent tool to prevent Stealth Rock and simplify game plans, as the pace of the team makes it difficult to burn sleep turns. The choice between Superpower and Focus Punch is item dependent—with a Choice Scarf, Breloom has to use Superpower because it can function as a revenge killer. However, with a Focus Sash, Breloom can leverage the more common Choice Scarf set to Focus Punch foes trying to burn sleep turns or switch. Seed Bomb threatens Grass-weak leads such as Swampert, Hippowdon, and Starmie as well as provides a reliable attack should it use Focus Punch. Stone Edge rounds out Breloom's coverage against Flying-types, hitting Zapdos, Gyarados, and Dragonite hard. However, since it doesn't OHKO them, Stun Spore is another option especially on Focus Sash sets to spread paralysis on Breloom checks that switch in after Spore such as Latias, Gliscor, Zapdos, and Skarmory.
Set Details
========
To outspeed common leads, Breloom needs to be as fast as possible. Since Breloom can't use a Toxic Orb, Effect Spore provides an additional chance to status contact attacks, such as leads like Flygon and Uxie using U-turn.
The choice between Choice Scarf and Focus Sash depends on how weak to Stealth Rock the rest of the team is. Breloom hits 393 speed with a Choice Scarf, enough to outspeed common fast Stealth Rock leads such as Azelf and Choice Scarf Tyranitar, putting them to sleep (should Azelf lack a Lum Berry) before they can set up Stealth Rock. It also helps against powerful wallbreakers such as Choice Specs Latias, Heatran, and Dragonite. Breloom can also act as speed control for typically frail hyper offense teams, letting it revenge kill Dragon Dance Tyranitar and neutral speed nature Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragonite. On teams not as weak to Stealth Rock or have other revenge killers, Focus Sash allows Breloom to survive one hit and get off a Spore or powerful attack. Having a Focus Sash also prevents Breloom from being forced out immediately once it uses Spore.
Usage Tips
========
This Breloom should lead, as it has no bulk and aims to immediately get momentum. Breloom should almost always use Spore turn 1, as it aims to prevent the opposing lead from doing anything. Exceptions tend to be if the opposing lead common carries a Lum Berry, such as Metagross and Gyarados; is faster than Breloom and will Taunt, such as Aerodactyl; or could be KOed by an attack and are thus likely to try to absorb Spore, such as Tyranitar and Swampert. Once Breloom uses Spore, Choice Scarf leads are forced out and can be used later as fodder or to revenge kill. Focus Sash leads instead try to do as much damage as possible before Breloom faints, which also gives a free switch. As such, try to leverage the fact that Choice Scarf Breloom is forced out after using Spore on something slow to Focus Punch possible switches or burnt sleep turns.
Team Options
========
This Breloom is a staple of aggressive hyper offense teams. With Choice Scarf, Breloom should be used with threats that do not like Stealth Rock, such as Gyarados and Dragonite. Mixed Dragonite is especially threatening with Breloom, as it enjoys coming in for free without Stealth Rock up and immediately threatens common Breloom answers. As using lead Breloom means forgoing early Stealth Rock, common synergistic users such as Heatran, Metagross, and Camerupt are good partners. Other hyper offense mainstays such as Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Swords Dance Scizor, offensive Calm Mind Jirachi, offensive Empoleon, and Swords Dance Lucario are other strong partners with Breloom. Swords Dance Scizor with Pursuit is an especially strong partner, as it helps to defeat Latias trying to come in after Breloom uses Spore. Scizor can even use an Occa Berry to better protect against Hidden Power Fire.
With Focus Sash, the team does not have to be as aggressive, as Breloom can't prevent Stealth Rock from faster leads such as Azelf or Aerodactyl. However, it can immediately weaken prominent Breloom checks such as Skarmory, especially if the opponent tries to switch it in after Breloom uses Spore expecting the Choice Scarf set. With Stun Spore, Breloom can unexpectedly paralyze Latias, Gliscor, and Zapdos, helping Jirachi, Mamoswine, and Machamp break through them. Breloom also appreciates other forms of speed control, such as Choice Scarf Latias, as it can let Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragonite set up on it if they can mitigate status.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Seed Bomb
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Facade / Spore / Mach Punch
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Breloom can become a full-blown sweeper with Swords Dance. Even walls that resist one or both of Seed Bomb and Superpower such as Nidoqueen, Latias, and Skarmory can be 2HKOed easily after a Swords Dance boost. Milotic and Hippowdon, prominent answers to physical sweepers, are both OHKOed by Seed Bomb after one Swords Dance, while Superpower OHKOes all non-physically bulky Jirachi.
Facade rounds out the coverage, as it hits Zapdos, Latias, and Dragonite hard. Due to Toxic Orb, Facade will always be at 140 base power, doing more damage than Seed Bomb against neutral targets. Other options include Spore, which eases Breloom’s set up. It may seem odd to use Breloom without Spore, but the additional coverage is worth it, especially since Latias outspeeds and walls Breloom even while asleep. Mach Punch helps to alleviate Breloom’s low speed, as a boosted Mach Punch can help with Breloom’s issue with faster revenge killers weak to Fighting, such as Heatran, Magnezone, and faster Tyranitar sets. Breloom can also be a bulky win condition with Protect in the last slot as well.
Set Details
========
The EV spread given maximizes Breloom’s sweeping abilities while also hitting a Poison Heal number—both Jolly and Adamant natures work here. Many other EV spreads works too; the most prominent of these is run max HP and hit another speed benchmark, such as around 60 EVs for minimum speed Heatran, 136 for Machamp, minimum speed Rotom-A, and Suicune, and 184 EVs for max speed neutral Tyranitar and Swampert while putting the rest in attack and HP. This route gives Breloom some more breathing room to set up. An additional route is to run further bulk by making Breloom Impish—this allows Breloom to fulfill its defensive obligations against Dragon Dance Tyranitar and opposing Breloom once the Toxic Orb has activated while still being a threat with Swords Dance. An example EV spread is 248 HP / 4 Atk / 120 Def / 136 Spe that survives Dragon Dance Tyranitar’s +1 Ice Punch, Dragon Dance Gyarados’s +1 Ice Fang while still outspeeding the Machamp, Rotom-A, and Suicune benchmark. As an Impish non attack invested +0 Superpower can leave standard Clefable and Chople Berry + Dragon Dance Tyranitar alive, another option is to run less Speed and use 248 HP / 16 Atk / 184 Def / 60 Spe with an Adamant nature, as this still survives the bulk thresholds while strengthening Breloom.
Usage Tips
========
This Breloom, especially if it drops Spore and has no defensive investment, must be more careful when it comes in. Breloom appreciates its checks such as Latias to be either KOed or paralyzed before it uses Swords Dance. Against more defensive teams, due to Breloom’s longevity, it can come in more often, activate its Toxic Orb, and threaten Clefable and Tyranitar. As most opponents will expect Spore, leverage likely Sleep sacrifices to get a free Swords Dance or to switch to an appropriate counter. On more defensive teams, Breloom’s role changes as a wall that can sweep, so trading lots of Breloom’s health for eliminating +1 Dragon Dance Tyranitar is valuable.
Team Options
========
This Breloom is most commonly featured on teams with extensive paralysis support, as paralyzing walls such as Latias and Skarmory can open up teams to a Breloom sweep. In return, Breloom provides these teams with a strong answer to Ground-types such as Swampert and Hippowdon that can annoy these teams as well as answers to Knock Off Clefable and Tyranitar. Common teammates for this style include Blissey, Bold Clefable, Zapdos, Jirachi, and Starmie. These Pokemon, especially Starmie, can make up for Breloom’s weakness to Spikes, while Blissey, Zapdos, Clefable, and Jirachi cover for strong attacks Breloom can’t take. Breloom also appreciates additional support for breaking down walls—the most prominent of these is Machamp, as it also takes advantage of paralysis support. Other Pokemon that take advantage of paralysis, such as Togekiss, can also be supported by Breloom. More offensive paralysis teams can also support Breloom, such as with Azelf, Jirachi, Tyranitar, and Dragon Dance + Thunder Wave Gyarados. Tyranitar is particularly helpful here, as it can Pursuit trap Dark-weak Breloom answers and can even spread paralysis on difficult to paralyze threats like Latias.
An additional route to using Swords Dance Breloom is with Magnezone support, as it traps Skarmory and other bulky Steel-types such as Bronzong, Metagross, and Scizor that can interfere with sweeping. Common partners in this style include Tyranitar, Jirachi, Skarmory, Clefable, and defensive Latias. Other ways to open up walls, including Trick + Iron Ball or Choice Scarf Metagross and mixed threats such as Jirachi and Flygon are generally helpful.
[SET]
name: SubPunch
move 1: Spore
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Focus Punch
move 4: Seed Bomb / Leech Seed
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 208 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
The threat of Spore and powerful attacks is generally enough to get Breloom a Substitute on something it forces out. From here, Substitute provides Breloom with a number of advantages. The first is that Breloom can more easily choose what to use Spore on, as sleep sacrifices only give Breloom momentum to attack rather than waste Spore. Additionally, Substitute counters switching in a choiced Sleep Talk user to absorb Spore, as they must break the Substitute before locking into Sleep Talk. Second, the Substitute allows Breloom to use the more powerful Focus Punch without worrying about being hit; with investment, it can even 2HKO resists like offensive Latias. Third, the Substitute helps prevent revenge killing on the typically slow Breloom. With investment, Substitute can survive weaker attacks, such as Choice Scarf Flygon’s U-Turn, opposing Breloom’s Seed Bomb, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar’s Crunch. As such, this Breloom is one of the best punishers of teams lacking multiple good Breloom checks.
Seed Bomb rounds out Breloom’s coverage, giving Breloom a no drawbacks attack while also threatening Fighting resists. Another option, however, is to run Leech Seed, as Breloom has the unique advantage of Poison Heal over other SubSeed users, meaning it can potentially heal more HP than a Substitute requires. This will leave Breloom without a no drawbacks offensive move, however.
Set Details
========
The EV spread given allows Breloom’s Substitute to survive Choice Scarf Flygon’s U-Turn. This counters a common way to break to get around Substitute: continually using U-Turn into a threat that survives the Focus Punch. It also survives Dragon Dance Tyranitar's +1 Fire Punch after Stealth Rock and sand damage. The rest of the EVs are put into attack to power up Seed Bomb and Focus Punch. Breloom can also take some of the attack investment to keep up a Substitute on Skarmory. However, Breloom can also go fully offensive and run 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Speed with a Jolly or Adamant nature. For SubSeed sets, the Jolly max speed spread is particularly threatening to slower teams, as Breloom will continually be able to set up a Substitute + Poison Heal while throwing out strong Focus Punch. Breloom can also maximize its defensive bulk with a SubSeed set, with an EV spread of 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe with an Impish nature; the speed investment is for minimum speed Heatran.
Usage Tips
========
Because Breloom’s Focus Punch has to be predicted, Breloom typically should be brought in more carefully on something it threatens, such as Swampert, choiced Tyranitar, Blissey, and Clefable and then Substitute on the switch out. This puts the opponent in a difficult situation of dealing with a Breloom behind a Substitute that still can put something to sleep. Beware of opponents that deal with Breloom with offensive pressure, as fast Swampert hitting Breloom with Ice Beam or Tyranitar using Fire Blast is one of the best ways to prevent Breloom from getting that Substitute. Once Breloom has a Substitute, Breloom can use Focus Punch and Leech Seed with impunity, as it can just attack sleep sacrifices without using Spore or set up repeated Leech Seed on slower targets. Once Breloom has used Spore and is forced out, coming in on Fighting-weak threats such as Clefable and Tyranitar again is more difficult, as they will continue to attack Breloom instead of switch out. Should Breloom be Jolly, using Spore is more forgiving on a threat such as defensive Jirachi, as Breloom can continuously sleep and set up a Substitute without being punished.
Team Options
========
Generally, Substitute Breloom has similar partners to the offensive set; however Breloom doesn't have as much utility due to being forced to use a Fighting-type attack with drawbacks. As such, it enjoys being used alongside other checks to Tyranitar, such as Metagross and Jirachi. Trick Metagross can lure in and give prominent Breloom checks like Skarmory, Rotom-A, and Zapdos an Iron Ball to allow Breloom to outspeed and more easily defeat them. Pursuit Tyranitar is again an excellent partner, as it can Pursuit prominent Sleep absorbers such as Rotom-A and Latias to allow Breloom to use Spore again. Breloom’s strong Focus Punch and Spore combination often soften up opposing teams for fast sweepers such as Calm Mind Jirachi and Dragon Dance Tyranitar to take advantage of. Many Pokemon enjoy Breloom’s ability to bust up defensive core involving Clefable, such as Heatran, Latias, Calm Mind Jirachi, Suicune, and Empoleon. A particularly potent pairing is Will-o-Wisp Heatran + Choice Specs Latias, as opponents will be less likely to switch in Clefable knowing Breloom can easily take advantage of it. This can force burn on Pokemon such as Tyranitar, opening up Choice Specs Latias. Breloom also appreciates entry hazard users, as some of its more prominent sleep absorbers are weak to Stealth Rock. Pokemon such as Heatran, Tyranitar, Empoleon, and Skarmory are useful. Skarmory also sets up Spikes, which can be helpful due to other prominent Breloom checks such as Celebi, Nidoqueen, and Jirachi giving free set up. With Spikes, SubSeed Breloom especially becomes very difficult to deal with.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
The most prominent other options for Breloom often involve dropping Spore. One of these is Bulk Up + Drain Punch, as a specially defensive EV spread can make Breloom a very bulky stallbreaker with Seed Bomb and Protect. However, such as set can struggle against strong attackers such as Latias and Gengar forcing it out. Breloom also has access to Stone Edge and ThunderPunch for specific targets; however, these are almost always outclassed by Seed Bomb and Facade as offensive options. Lead versions of Breloom should not especially not use ThunderPunch, however, as it doesnt KO Gyarados after Intimidate. Defensive Breloom also can act as a weather changer with Sunny Day, as it enjoys maximizing Poison Heal and easily forces out Tyranitar for a Suicune in the back, typically used over Seed Bomb or Spore. Breloom can spread some paralysis after it uses Spore with Stun Spore but watch out for its low accuracy.
Checks and Counters
===================
Breloom is one of the most frustrating Pokemon to answer in DPP OU, as it can be a pest and survive due to Poison Heal's constant recovery while also putting to sleep a prominent answer. It often is checked throughout the game with offensive pressure on more faster pace teams and multiple walls on slower teams.
**Bulky Psychic-types**: Celebi, Cresselia, Uxie, and Latias are the most prominent Breloom answers in the tier. They can all absorb its attacks in the short term and KO back with Psychic or Ice Beam. However, while Celebi has Natural Cure, another Pokemon is needed to absorb the Spore, or Breloom will switch to a powerful teammate or generate momentum off of a sleeping Pokemon.
**Flying-types**: Zapdos, Gliscor, Skarmory, and Dragonite are all effective ways to scout out Breloom’s set. Of these, Zapdos is the best due to commonly outspeeding it and taking little from its attacks besides a boosted Facade. Gliscor and Skarmory can OHKO with Flying-type attacks, while Dragonite easily OHKOs with its powerful attacks and can even absorb the Spore on its Choice Band + Sleep Talk. However, Zapdos, Gliscor, and Skarmory all become vulnerable to Breloom’s coverage upon using Roost, while Zapdos and Dragonite do not enjoy Stealth Rock + Breloom’s strong attacks.
**Poison-types**: Nidoqueen, Gengar, Roserade, and Crobat all can absorb Breloom’s attacks and hit hard in return. Roserade even can run a physically bulky set with Sleep Talk to set up Spikes and hit Breloom hard, while it commonly uses Poison Point over Natural Cure to absorb Spore. However, the others are all neutralized by Spore, while Nidoqueen and Gengar will eventually fall to repeated Seed Bomb. Crobat doesn’t enjoy Facade and struggles with longevity due to its Stealth Rock weakness.
**Sleep Talk**: Latias, Dragonite, Zapdos, Yanmega, and Heracross can switch into Spore effectively while still functioning or threaten Breloom with strong attacks. However, care should be taken to only switch them in on Spore, as Breloom with Protect and especially Subsitute can take advantage of the switch and generate momentum.
**Powerful attackers**: Faster Pokemon such as Gengar, Heatran, and Infernape while they can’t always switch in, will easily outspeed and OHKO Breloom if they can get in safely.
**Offensive Pressure**: Slower versions of Breloom can be checked by having its normal entry points on offensive teams—Tyranitar, Swampert, and generally slower Pokemon like Metagross and Machamp—either carry a Lum Berry to absorb Spore or run a lot of speed and hit Breloom hard. An example of this is max Speed Swampert OHKOing Breloom with Ice Beam, Zen Headbutt or Explosion + Lum Berry Metagross, and even opposing Breloom switching into Spore and hitting hard back with Superpower.
**Physically bulky Pokemon**: While Jirachi, Skarmory, and Rotom-A do not enjoy repeated attacks from Breloom, they avoid being 2HKOed and heal off the attack while threatening Breloom out. Rotom-A can even take Spore while still functioning, even KOing Breloom should it have Shadow Ball over Thunderbolt.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [johnnyg2, 57904]]
- Quality checked by: [[Oiponabys, 435540 ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
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