Summary

Breloom is a Pokemon that thrives off of one move and one stat: the one-hundred percent accurate Spore, and a whopping 130 base Attack. Breloom faces many issues in ADV draft due to having a speed stat of 70 which, while decent and outclasses or ties many important mons such as Tyranitar, Metagross, Swampert, and Blissey, also leaves you very susceptible to anything that can outrun you. With the lack of Choice Scarf in ADV Draft, Breloom is often forced to maximize speed. Breloom's low defenses and exploitable defensive typing lend it toward a single-impact playstyle of using Spore then following up with a Focus Punch or Stun Spore to leave two enemy Pokemon crippled. Breloom suffers from both lack of coverage and 4-moveslot syndrome -- it has access to strong options such as Leech Seed, Mach Punch, Swords Dance, but often cannot slot them due to needing to bring Spore in every matchup. Draft helps improve this issue slightly as you can run an ideal physical Hidden Power such as Ghost or Bug, or opt for more standard options such as Sky Uppercut depending on matchup; however, Breloom can also dip into the aforementioned Substitute + Leech Seed combo with a Spore to get itself started. Breloom benefits heavily from Pursuit users such as Tyranitar, Houndoom, and Umbreon as ghost types are Breloom's biggest fears due to being immune to Breloom's main attacking moves. Breloom also is a great recipient of Baton Pass, with passing speed or just for momentum, to allow it to get in and throw off a Spore or a big Fighting-type attack. If speed is passed to Breloom and it gets a free turn, it can also slot Swords Dance to become a truly devastating sweeper although it still struggles from only having fighting STAB and Hidden Power.

Breloom faces competition from other fighting types and is often outclassed by them: Hariyama provides more bulk and access to Knock Off to make permanent progress, Medicham has unmatched power thanks to its Huge Power ability, and Heracross has wider set diversity and a devastating Megahorn that is a far safer click than Focus Punch. Additionally, Breloom's spore does have counters: Pokemon with Insomnia, Lum Berries, or Pokemon with Sleep Talk can devastate an unexpecting Breloom. However, none of these options have access to Spore nor sport the hit-and-run potential Breloom can. The mushroom is a hard Pokemon to work into a draft, but excels on offensive teams lacking physical prowess, status, or an answer to Tyranitar. While Breloom does face stiff competition and is hampered by coverage, in ADV Draft it is able to carve out a very important niche as a wall smasher and a momentum-reverser with Spore.

Summary written by Cammie

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