Alakazam

Alakazam is one of the best Pokemon in the metagame. It's the fastest unboosted Pokemon in the entire tier, outspeeding even Latios and Keldeo. Its strength and many coverage options in Focus Blast, Grass Knot, Signal Beam, and Hidden Power Ice let it threaten many common Pokemon, being especially destructive alongside Spikes, which quickly wears down Pokemon that can take these attacks. Encore and Thunder Wave allow it to punish defensive and offensive answers that could otherwise set up on it, like Calm Mind Reuniclus and Volcarona lacking Lum Berry. Lastly, Magic Guard enables an extremely reliable Focus Sash set that can revenge kill or cripple any one threat, beating Tyranitar if it hits Focus Blast twice. It can even run Life Orb without recoil to become a stronger wallbreaker that rips through defensive teams without as much need for prior damage. However, Alakazam can struggle to break through the opposing team without prior damage, especially if running Focus Sash, due to many Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, and Latios taking at least one hit to consume its Focus Sash or OHKO. It can also be properly walled if running the wrong coverage move, like by Reuniclus if lacking Signal Beam or Shadow Ball, Gastrodon if not running Grass Knot, and Gliscor if lacking Hidden Power Ice. It's also quite vulnerable to Pursuit from Chople Berry Tyranitar and Scizor, especially the former if Alakazam lacks or misses Focus Blast.