Alakazam C/ShB - solo
Finally did it. Partly clouded, Pokebattler gave me a 50% chance with my team, but failure wasn’t even close. Last Ttar could absorb at least 2 more Shadow Balls, 14 sec left.
Mewtwo was MVP, took 20-25% of HP even though I missed one dodge. No dodging with Ttars.
Incredible difference between PC/FS and C/ShB...
Answers
Congrats on the clear. I'm level 40 & about 90 minutes ago, I just got my 1st Alakazam solo clear in rainy weather. The boss had PC/SB. My team was Mewtwo 1st. Level 40 13/11/13 PC/SB. 2nd was a level 40 Tyranitar 15/15/10 B/C. Next was another level 40 Tyranitar, B/C 11/15/12. And a level 32.5 Raikou TS/WC 12/15/10 sealed the deal with confetti falling at 4 seconds left.
Mewtwo was the MVP for me as well. The difference in moves the boss has matters. However what stood out to me was that P/SB Mewtwo is invaluable. I like slow moves like Confusion & Dragon Tail, but Psycho Cut charges energy for Shadow Ball so quickly, all of the Shadow Balls that I fired off was the difference between winning and losing. Its nice that everyone has the chance to complete their Kanto dex with Mewtwo as a normal 5 star raid, but not having a chance to get such a strong and difference making charge move like Shadow Ball is unfortunate.
Believe it or not, yes. I only have 2 B/C Ttars, 8 in total. Regarding the other 6, one was a wild level 30 catch B/SE 4/11/8. Another 2 are level 40 with SD/SE. 1 is 14/15/13. It was caught as a weather boosted Level 35 Larvitar. The other was caught at Level 34, weather boosted Level 34 Larvitar. The final 3 are 2 of them at level 34 & one at level 35 weather boosted. 1 is 64% IV and the other 2 are 84%. The problem for me is that when I evolved them, they came with the mixed moveset of SD/C. As we know, Smack Down is legacy. B/C is useful, but I'm not sure if its good enough to get rid of a legacy move.
I understand your struggle trying to get Crunch. It took me 6 Charge TM's to get the 11/15/12 Crunch. I realize that in the big picture, 6 isn't bad. But I am primarily a solo player and Instinct. 6 Charge TM's for me feels like 10 or more to any other player. The only good thing for me is that I've had good luck with Charge TM's & important pokemon. An example is only needing to 2 to get Dazzling Gleam for Gardevoir, or only using 1 to go from Psychic to Shadow Ball.
Don’t TM away Smack Down!!! My biggest regret is that I only evolved 4 SD on community day. Got almost 500 candies from the trading event, had I only known that before...
All my SD Tyras came without SE and I still have one left to TM, but I’d never get rid of SD. On Moltres day I got 1 cTM for every 7th raid on average. I don’t remember when I last got one in a solo raid.
Interesting choice with Raikou at the end. No bugs to take advantage of the weather? In the rain they manage to out-DPS Mewtwo.
That last paragraph is why I TM'ed what I could to Shadow Ball before the legacy change. SB Mewtwo is a godsend against any psychic type boss. Even if I don't use all of mine I have them to trade to those who were less fortunate and missed out getting one. Gave one to a buddy who still has all his guaranteed lucky rolls.
Honestly, I never considered Raikou. Its only level 32.5 & I've dumped plenty of rare candy into other pokemon besides that Raikou. The only reason that I used Raikou is Poke Genie recommended using it and having it in that specific spot, while Pokebattler suggested a level 40 B/HP Gyarados as the 4th choice. I've used Poke Genie in the past & it has given me some interesting and surprisingly effective choices to finish some other tough T3 solos.
With Shadow Ball Mewtwo, its my only Mewtwo. I got my invite during that wave of when Niantic sent out a bunch of invites by mistake. People had invites for gyms where they raided upwards of 6 months before or longer. I caught my Mewtwo on 2/10/18 & I remember the 1st community day coming soon after on 2/24. Since my Mewtwo is legacy, yet maxed out, I'll do a Mewtwo raid if one is available, but I won't go out of my way for it.
