Trevenant [GP 2/2]

Punchshroom

FISHIOUS REND MEGA SHARPEDO
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[OVERVIEW]

Trevenant boasts a high Attack stat with decent dual STAB options, which can hit many slower Pokemon in the tier for good damage. It is also backed up by decent coverage such as Earthquake and Rock Slide, giving it solid neutral coverage on the metagame. Natural Cure makes Trevenant a passable status absorber, especially with its resistance to Scald. However, Trevenant is slow, and it's not bulky enough to make up for it. Its numerous weaknesses to common attacking types such as Fire, Ice, Dark, Flying, and Ghost leave it easily revenge killed by many attackers and vulnerable to various coverage moves, which makes it a poor check to Normal- and Fighting-types, such as Tauros, Hitmonchan, and Hariyama. Although Trevenant has good resistances, it is largely outclassed in defensive and supportive roles by Gourgeist-XL, which has superior physical bulk and reliable recovery in Synthesis. Even with its supposed offensive niche, it still competes with Torterra as a Grass-type hole puncher due to the latter's superior resistances, bulk, and stronger STAB moves, although Trevenat's Ghost-typing does give Trevenant mild spinblocking abilities and different neutral STAB coverage.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Wood Hammer
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rock Slide / Horn Leech
item: Choice Band
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Wood Hammer is Trevenant's strongest STAB move, 2HKOing a majority of Pokemon that don't resist it and even some of the frailer ones that do, such as Magmortar, Swellow, and Pyroar, although it comes with hefty recoil damage. Shadow Claw is Trevenant's next best STAB option, with its better neutral coverage making it a decent move to throw out. It is also Trevenant's strongest attack against Psychic-types, particularly Xatu. Earthquake OHKOes Skuntank and Pyroar switch-ins, takes out Garbodor without making contact, and can hurt Steel-types such as Steelix and Aggron more efficiently. Rock Slide targets bulky Flying-types, such as Eviolite Scyther and Swords Dance Charizard, which can otherwise prove bothersome checks. Horn Leech is an alternative Grass-type STAB move for Trevenant to use that restores health instead of depleting it like Wood Hammer, making it decent for extending Trevenant's longevity.

Trick can be used to cripple the likes of Weezing, Vileplume, and Ferroseed while allowing Trevenant to switch up moves, although its attacks do lose substantial power upon doing so and Tricking Choice Band doesn't cripple many of Trevenant's checks. The aforementioned Poison-types might be holding Black Sludge as well, which puts pressure on Trevenant to Trick it away immediately, as it has horrible synergy with Wood Hammer. X-Scissor has mild use in skewering Malamar as well as OHKOing Shiftry switch-ins, though it doesn't hit much outside of that.

Set Details
========

Maximum Attack and Speed investment allows Trevenant to outspeed and threaten as much as possible, most notably Jolly Rhydon, Malamar, Adamant Golurk, and Adamant Aggron. An Adamant nature further increases Trevenant's damage output, while a Jolly nature allows Trevenant to outspeed Pokemon such as Modest Aurorus, Timid Omastar, Jolly Aggron, and opposing Adamant Trevenant if any of these are of concern. Choice Band bolsters Trevenant's power to the point where even resisted Wood Hammer does substantial damage to frailer Pokemon that resist Grass while suiting its hit-and-run attacking style. Natural Cure allows Trevenant to take on status users without fear, particularly letting it not being permanently crippled by Scald burns.

Usage Tips
========

Trevenant would preferably switch in on an attack it either resists or is immune to, such as Rhydon's Earthquake, Samurott's Waterfall or Aqua Jet, or Tauros's Rock Climb, or a status move from Pokemon that don't immediately threaten it, such as Toxic from Gastrodon or Thunder Wave from Musharna and non-Heat Wave Xatu. Alternatively, VoltTurn support from the likes of Swellow, Archeops, and Manectric can allow Trevenant to enter battle safely. Be wary of switching into Scald; even with Natural Cure ensuring Trevenant won't stay crippled, being burned on the switch means Trevenant would struggle to threaten the opponent's switch-ins. Once it enters battle, Trevenant should choose the move most capable of punching a hole through the opponent's team. Usually this move is Wood Hammer, as it has enough power to 2HKO, if not OHKO after Stealth Rock damage, the likes of Skuntank, Pyroar, Swellow, and Shiftry, which would be the opponent's most likely switch-ins given their resistance to both of Trevenant's STAB moves. However, Trevenant's low Speed and bad weaknesses mean it gets forced out really easily after using an attack or getting a KO, so it might be wise to go for the move with the most immediate results, which is when the other attacks and prediction come into play.

Team Options
========

VoltTurn teams allow Trevenant to enter battle without having to risk taking a direct hit and often absorb status moves or resisted attacks aimed at the VoltTurn users. VoltTurn Pokemon are also speedy, which helps cover for Trevenant's awful matchup against offensive teams. Flying-types such as Swellow, Archeops, and Scyther can use U-turn to pivot into Trevenant on various status moves and appreciate Trevenant threatening Ground- and Rock-types as well as softening up Steel-types for them. Primeape can U-turn away from Psychic-type switch-ins, such as Musharna and Xatu, for Trevenant to prey on, while Trevenant can cripple Poison-types with Earthquake or Trick. Lanturn and Manectric make for appealing Volt Switch teammates for Trevenant, as they can handle most Flying-type Pokemon, as well as Fire-type Pokemon in Lanturn's case, while Trevenant easily takes advantage of opposing Lanturn, Gastrodon, and Rhydon while also luring in and denting bulky Grass-types. Fire-types also can synergize well with Trevenant, as they offer speed, great offensive presence, and the ability to threaten most Pokemon that resist Grass, such as Vileplume, Weezing, and Scyther, which deter Trevenant from throwing out Wood Hammers. Trevenant meanwhile absorbs status for them and resists or otherwise covers for most of their weaknesses, including Pyroar's Fighting weakness and Combusken's Psychic weakness. Floatzel can be a good teammate for Trevenant, as it can revenge kill many of the Pokemon that would threaten Trevenant, while Trevenant can switch into Lanturn and Gastrodon and threaten them with powerful attacks, although switching into the former can be risky if they can Volt Switch into a Pursuit trapper.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Rest could be considered alongside Natural Cure to give Trevenant effectively a Full Restore, but this forces Trevenant out when it has issues entering battle to begin with, and it doesn't really help Trevenant much more than Horn Leech's recovery would, when considering that Trevenant is not difficult to KO. Trevenant is one of the few self-sufficient Trick Room attackers in the tier, as it has high power and effective neutral coverage to attempt a sweep. However, Trevenant's average bulk and exploitable defensive typing gives it few safe setup opportunities, and its reliance on Wood Hammer for damage output heavily dwindles its longevity as well as its chances at maintaining the sweep.

The large majority of Trevenant's gimmick potential comes from its Harvest sets, where it is capable of making use of a wide variety of Berries. Custap Berry with Destiny Bond and Endure can be an interesting way to use Trevenant as a Pokemon that can thwart setup sweepers. Custap Berry allows a heavily weakened Trevenant, usually achieved via Endure, to use Destiny Bond before the faster foe can move, and should Harvest activate right after, Trevenant can go for Destiny Bond again. Should Harvest not activate, Trevenant can sneak in an attack, as Destiny Bond remains active until Trevenant's next move, meaning the opponent has to spend two actions not KOing Trevenant between the Custap-boosted Destiny Bond and Trevenant's slower attack. Should Harvest not activate once in two consecutive turns, Trevenant can stall with Endure for a third try. However, the chain is broken if Harvest fails to activate even once in three consecutive turns, and it can be circumvented by an attacker with priority moves, Taunt, or status-inducing moves. Lum Berry allows Trevenant to absorb status, particularly from bulky Water- and Psychic-type Pokemon, and gives it a drawback-free Rest, but Trevenant doesn't have the bulk and typing necessary to take on many of the offensive attackers and even some of the status-inducing Pokemon of the tier, making its instant recovery much less valuable. Starf Berry gives a random +2 boost to one of Trevenant's stats, most notably including evasion, when Trevenant is below 25% health. Combined with Substitute, the luck-of-the-draw element of this set can either allow Trevenant to sweep the foe with little to no opposition or completely fall flat on its face as it gains useless boosts. Substitute + Leech Seed alongside Sitrus Berry sounds annoying to beat but is inefficient compared to Trevenant's other sets and stopped rather easily by the likes of Taunt Skuntank, pierced by sound-based moves from Scrappy Swellow and Refrigerate Aurorus, and outright shut down by Unnerve Pyroar.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Bulky Poison-types**: Weezing and Vileplume are rather hard counters to Trevenant, taking on all of the Choice Band set's attacks with relative ease and either outlasting it, crippling it, or beating it one-on-one. While these Pokemon dislike Trick, Trevenant also dislikes Black Sludge further limiting the number of Wood Hammers it can use before it succumbs to recoil. Garbodor can be a nuisance for Trevenant, as it can punish most of Trevenant's attacks with Rocky Helmet and hurt it with Gunk Shot, though it has to be wary of Earthquake.

**Sap Sipper Miltank**: Miltank is barely scratched by any of Trevenant's common moves and can easily heal off any damage taken. However, Miltank might lack a way of actually hurting Trevenant back and is one of the few Trevenant answers that are badly crippled by Trick.

**Dark-types**: Skuntank is a major thorn in Trevenant's side, as its resistance to Trevenant's dual STAB types as well as its access to Taunt and Pursuit can shut down most Trevenant sets. Shiftry also resists Trevenant's STAB types and easily threatens the OHKO with Knock Off. Liepard has a much harder time switching in but can still threaten Trevenant with Knock Off or Pursuit. However, these Dark-types are physically frail and dislike eating hits from Choice Band Trevenant, as Wood Hammer cleanly 2HKOes Skuntank through its resistance.

**Fire-types**: Fire-types resist Grass and can easily revenge kill Trevenant, making them decent initial switch-ins. Pyroar receives a special mention due to its Ghost immunity, although Choice Band-boosted Wood Hammer can still 2HKO Pyroar and Earthquake drops it in one blow. Charizard 4x resists Grass, and bulky sets can stomach Shadow Claws, although Rock Slide will demolish Charizard with ease. Magmortar and Combusken have more difficulty finding safe switch-ins, but otherwise they still make for good checks.

**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: While Trevenant is not the easiest Pokemon to switch into, it is one of the easiest Pokemon to force out due to its poor Speed and plentiful weaknesses. There are a multitude of Pokemon that can pick off Trevenant, such as Scyther, Archeops, Jynx, Rotom, Vivillon, Abomasnow, Haunter, and the aforementioned Dark- and Fire-type Pokemon.

**Coverage moves**: Trevenant has a hard enough time against the large majority of fast attackers in the metagame, but limiting Trevenant's safe switches only curbs its presence even further, which isn't hard due to Trevenant's many exploitable weaknesses. Examples include Knock Off Gurdurr, Knock Off Hariyama, Ice Punch Hitmonchan, Fire Blast Tauros, Ice Beam Water-types, and Heat Wave Xatu.
 
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The way you describe Trick makes it not seem very worthwhile and in general it's a lot less useful than Rock Slide or Horn Leech, so just remove it as slash, but keep it as moves mention. Give some examples of Pokemon that provide VoltTurn support in team options. I'd also give a mention of Floatzel in team options, as it revenge kills the majority of faster Pokemon that try to pick off Trevanant, while Trevanant can (for the most part) switch into Lanturn and Gastrodon and threaten the opposition with powerful attacks. Because they're not listed on the main set, remove any references to Harvest or Will-O-Wisp in some sections of checks and counters.

Everything else looks good, 1/3
 

boltsandbombers

i'm sorry mr. man
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[OVERVIEW]
  • High Attack stat with decent dual STAB options which can hit many slower Pokemon for good damage.
  • Backed up by decent coverage such as Earthquake and Rock Slide
  • Natural Cure makes Trevenant a decent status absorber, especially with its resistance to Scald
  • Slow while not being bulky enough to make up for it, which also greatly limits the potential of its Harvest sets given that harvest sets are only oo remove this bullet
  • Numerous weaknesses to common attacking types such as Fire, Ice, Dark, Flying, and Ghost, leaving it easily revenge killed by many attackers and vulnerable to various coverage moves, which by extension makes it a poor check to Normal- and Fighting-types add a few examples of common pokemon of these attacking types which its weak to
  • Has good resistances, though largely outclassed at defensive and supportive roles by Gourgeist-XL, which has superior physical bulk and reliable recovery in Synthesis
  • Competes with Torterra as a Grass-type holepuncher due to the latter's superior resists, bulk, and STAB specify that tort has stronger stab moves

[SET]
Name: Choice Band
Move 1: Wood Hammer
Move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rock Slide / Horn Leech
item: Choice Band
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

  • Wood Hammer is strongest STAB, 2HKOing a majority of Pokemon that don't resist it and even some of the frailer ones that do, although it comes with hefty recoil damage
  • Shadow Claw is Trevenant's next best STAB option, with its better neutral coverage making it a decent move to throw out mention that claw is trev's strongest hit versus psychic types, particularly xatu
  • Earthquake smashes Skuntank and Pyroar switch-ins, takes out Garbodor without making contact, and can hurt Steel-types such as Steelix and Aggron more efficiently
  • Rock Slide targets bulky Flying-types such as Eviolite Scyther and Swords Dance Charizard which can otherwise prove bothersome checks, and can snipe Swellow switch-ins remove swellow part because hammer kills after rocks 100% of the time anyways
  • Horn Leech is an alternative Grass STAB move for Trevenant to use that restores health instead of depleting it like Wood Hammer, making it decent for extending Trevenant's longevity
  • Trick can be used to cripple the likes of Weezing, Vileplume, and Ferroseed, while allowing Trevenant to switch up moves, although its attacks do lose some substantial power upon doing so and Tricking Choice Band doesn't cripple much of Trevenant's checks. Not to mention that those aforementioned Poison-types may be hold Black Sludge, which puts pressure on Trevenant to Trick it away immediately as it has horrible synergy with Wood Hammer.
  • X-Scissor has mild use in skewering Malamar as well as OHKOing Shiftry switch-ins, though it doesn't hit much outside of that

Set Details
========

  • Maximum Attack and Speed investment allows Trevenant to outspeed and threaten as much as possible, most notably Jolly Rhydon, Malamar, Adamant Golurk, and Adamant Aggron
  • An Adamant nature further increases Trevenant's damage output, while a Jolly nature allows Trevenant to outspeed Pokemon such as Modest Aurorus, Timid Omastar, Jolly Aggron, and opposing Adamant Trevenant, if any of these are of concern
  • Choice Band bolsters Trevenant's power to the point where even resisted Wood Hammer does substantial damage to frailer Pokemon that resist Grass, while suiting its hit-and-run attacking style
  • Natural Cure allows Trevenant to not fear status, particularly not being permanently crippled by Scald burns

Usage Tips
========

  • Trevenant would preferably switch in on either an attack it resists or is immune to, such as Rhydon's Earthquake, Samurott's Waterfall / Aqua Jet, and Tauros's Rock Climb, or a status move from Pokemon that don't immediately threaten it, such as Toxic from Gastrodon, or Thunder Wave from Musharna and non-Heat Wave Xatu.
  • Alternatively, VoltTurn support from the likes of Swellow, Archeops, and Manectric can allow Trevenant to enter battle safely
  • Be wary about switching into Scald; even with Natural Cure ensuring Trevenant won't stay crippled, being burned on the switch means Trevenant would struggle to threaten the opponent's switch-ins
  • Once in battle, Trevenant should choose the move most capable of punching a hole through the opponent's team. Usually this move is Wood Hammer, as it has enough power to 2HKO the likes of Skuntank, Pyroar, and Shiftry, which would be the opponent's most likely switch-ins given their resistance to both of Trevenant's STABs.
  • However, Trevenant's low Speed and bad weaknesses means it gets forced out really easily after using an attack or getting a KO, so it may be wise to go for the move with more immediate results, which is when the other attacks and prediction come into play

Team Options
========

  • Trevenant's poor Speed and limited defensive presence means it can have a tough time finding a place on teams, as it doesn't appreciate taking any sort of hits that aren't resisted
  • However, Trevenant can threaten powerful attacks on a decent amount of the slower Pokemon in the tier, such as Gastrodon, Regirock, Rhydon, and Musharna, especially when switching into status moves
  • From there, Trevenant can do some damage with its power, dual STAB attacks, and coverage moves, which do not make Trevenant an easy switch-in for most foes
  • Therefore, Trevenant should be used on teams that have the best capacity to put Trevenant in favorable matchups and start hammering away at the opponent's team.
these sentences are too arbitrary as they're not explicitly stating any potential teammates, they're essentially filler and everything else below is what is important for the analysis, please remove the first 4 bullets
  • VoltTurn teams allow Trevenant to enter battle without having to risk taking a direct hit, and often absorbs status moves or resisted attacks aimed at the VoltTurn users. VoltTurn Pokemon are also speedy, which help cover for Trevenant's awful matchup against offensive teams
  • Flying-types such as Swellow, Archeops, and Scyther can use U-turn to pivot into Trevenant on various status moves and appreciate Trevenant threatening Ground- and Rock-types as well as softening up Steel-types for them. Primeape can U-turn Psychic-type switch-ins, such as Musharna and Xatu, for Trevenant to prey on, while Trevenant can cripple Poison-types with Earthquake or Trick. Lanturn and Manectric make for appealing Volt Switch teammates for Trevenant, as they can handle most Flying-type Pokemon, as well as Fire-type Pokemon in Lanturn's case, while Trevenant easily takes advantage of opposing Lanturn, Gastrodon, and Rhydon, while also luring in and denting bulky Grass-types.
  • Fire-types also can synergize well with Trevenant, as they offer Speed, great offensive presence, and the ability to threaten most of what Trevenant cannot break. Trevenant meanwhile absorbs status for them and resists or otherwise covers for most of their weaknesses, including Pyroar's Fighting weakness and Combusken's Psychic weakness.
  • Flaotzel can be a good teammate for Trevenant as it can revenge many of the Pokemon that would threaten Trevenant, while Trevenant can switch into Lanturn and Gastrodon and threaten powerful attacks

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

  • Rest could be considered alongside Natural Cure to give Trevenant effectively a Full Restore, but this forces Trevenant out when it has issues entering battle to begin with, and it doesn't really help Trevenant much more than Horn Leech when considering that Trevenant is not difficult to KO
  • Trevenant is one of the few self-sufficient Trick Room attackers in the tier, as it has high power and effective neutral coverage to attempt a sweep. However, Trevenant's average bulk and exploitable defensive typing gives it few safe setup opportunities, and its reliance on Wood Hammer for its best damage output dwindles its longevity as well as chances at maintaining the sweep.
  • Harvest sets:
  • Custap Berry with Destiny Bond and Endure can be an interesting way to use Trevenant as a Pokemon that can thwart setup sweepers. Custap Berry allows a heavily weakened Trevenant, usually achieved via Endure, to use Destiny Bond before the foe can move, and should Harvest activate right after, Trevenant can go for Destiny Bond again. Should Harvest not activate, Trevenant can sneak in an attack as Destiny Bond remains active until Trevenant's next move, meaning the opponent has to spend two actions not KOing Trevenant between the Custap-boosted Destiny Bond and Trevenant's slower attack. Should Harvest not activate once in two consecutive turns, Trevenant can stall with Endure for a third try. However, the chain is broken if Harvest fails to activate even once in three consecutive turns, and can be circumvented by an attacker with priority moves or status-inducing moves.
  • Lum Berry allows Trevenant to absorb status, particularly from bulky Water- and Psychic-type Pokemon, and give it a drawback-free Rest, but it doesn't have the bulk and typing necessary to take on many of the offensive attackers and even some of the status-inducing Pokemon of the tier, making its instant recovery much less valuable
  • Starf Berry gives a random +2 boost to one of Trevenant's stats, most notably including evasion, when Trevenant is below 25% health. Combined with Substitute, the luck-of-the-draw element of this set can either allow Trevenant to sweep the foe with little to no opposition, or completely fall flat on its face as it gains useless boosts.
  • Substitute + Leech Seed alongside Sitrus Berry sounds annoying to beat, but is inefficient compared to Trevenant's other sets and stopped rather easily by the likes of Taunt Skuntank, pierced by sound-based moves from Scrappy Swellow and Refrigerate Aurorus, and outright shut down by Unnerve Pyroar.
Checks and Counters
===================

**Bulky Poison-types**: Weezing and Vileplume are rather hard counters to Trevenant, taking on all of the Choice Band set's attacks with relative ease and either outlast it, cripple it, or beat it 1v1. While these Pokemon dislike being Tricked, Trevenant also dislikes Black Sludge further limiting the amount of Wood Hammers it can use before it succumbs. Garbodor can be a nuisance for Trevenant as it can punish most of Trevenant's attacks with Rocky Helmet and hurt it with Gunk Shot, though it has to be wary of Earthquake.

**Dark-types**: Skuntank is a major thorn in Trevenant's side, as its resistance to Trevenant's dual STABs as well as its access to Taunt and Pursuit can shut down most Trevenants. Shiftry also resists Trevenant's STABs and easily threatens the OHKO with Knock Off. Liepard has a much harder time switching in, but can still threaten with Knock Off or Pursuit. However, these Dark-types are physically frail, and dislike eating hits from Choice Band Trevenant, as even Wood Hammer cleanly 2HKOes Skuntank.

**Fire-types**: Fire-types resist Grass resistance and can easily revenge kill Trevenant, making them decent initial switch-ins. Pyroar receives special mention due to its Ghost immunity, although Choice Band Wood Hammer can still 2HKO Pyroar and Earthquake drops it in one blow. Charizard 4x resists Grass, and bulky sets can stomach Shadow Claws, although Rock Slide will demolish Charizard with ease. Magmortar and Combusken have more difficulty finding safe switch-ins, but otherwise still make for good checks.

**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: While Trevenant is not the easiest Pokemon to switch into, it is one of the easiest Pokemon to force out due to its poor Speed and plentiful weaknesses. There are a multitude of Pokemon who can pick off Trevenant, such as Scyther, Archeops, Jynx, Rotom, Vivillon, Abomasnow, Haunter, and the aforementioned Dark- and Fire-type Pokemon.

**Coverage moves**: Trevenant has a hard enough time against the large majority of fast attackers in the metagame, but limiting Trevenant's safe switches only curbs its presence even further, which isn't hard due to Trevenant's many exploitable weaknesses. Examples include Knock Off Gurdurr, Knock Off Hariyama, Ice Punch Hitmonchan, Fire Blast Tauros, Ice Beam Water-types, and Heat Wave Xatu.
Comments in bold, QC 2/3

Please post in this thread after you've written it up to make it easier for us to know when its ready for the last check.
 

Shadestep

volition immanent
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Moves:

Mention some Grass-resists that get 2HKOd by Wood Hammer.

Usage Tips:

Shortly note something about Trevenant not always being able to safely switch in to Lanturn when the opponent also has a Pursuit-trapper since it can just Volt Switch into it safely.

Checks and Counters:

Mention Sap Sipper Miltank as a hard-counter to CB Trevenant.

Not much to add, nice work. QC 3/3
 

Pilo

uses walther
is a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
amcheck

add
remove
comments

[OVERVIEW]

Trevenant boasts a high Attack stat with decent dual STAB options, which can hit many slower Pokemon in the tier for good damage. It is also backed up by decent coverage such as Earthquake and Rock Slide, giving it solid neutral coverage on the meta. Natural Cure makes Trevenant a decent status absorber, especially with its resistance to Scald. However, Trevenant is slow, and it's not being bulky enough to make up for it. Its numerous weaknesses to common attacking types such as Fire, Ice, Dark, Flying, and Ghost, leaves it easily revenge killed by many attackers and vulnerable to various coverage moves, which makes it a poor check to Normal- and Fighting-types, such as Tauros, Hitmonchan, and Hariyama. Whole Though (I'm fairly certain you meant this) Trevenant has good resistances, it is largely outclassed at in defensive and supportive roles by Gourgeist-XL, which has superior physical bulk and reliable recovery in Synthesis. Even with its supposed offensive niche, it still competes with Torterra as a Grass-type holepuncher due to the latter's superior resists resistances, bulk, and stronger STAB moves.

[SET]
Name: Choice Band
Move 1: Wood Hammer
Move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rock Slide / Horn Leech
item: Choice Band
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Wood Hammer is Trevenant's strongest STAB move, 2HKOing a majority of Pokemon that don't resist it and even some of the frailer ones that do, such as Magmortar, Swellow, and Pyroar, although it comes with hefty recoil damage. Shadow Claw is Trevenant's next best STAB option, with its better neutral coverage making it a decent move to throw out. It is also Trevenant's strongest attack against Psychic-types, particularly Xatu. Earthquake OHKOs Skuntank and Pyroar switch-ins, takes out Garbodor without making contact, and can hurt Steel-types such as Steelix and Aggron more efficiently. Rock Slide targets bulky Flying-types, such as Eviolite Scyther and Swords Dance Charizard, which can otherwise prove bothersome checks. Horn Leech is an alternative Grass-type STAB move for Trevenant to use that restores health instead of depleting it like Wood Hammer, making it decent for extending Trevenant's longevity.

Trick can be used to cripple the likes of Weezing, Vileplume, and Ferroseed, while allowing Trevenant to switch up moves, although its attacks do lose some (a bit unnecessary imo) substantial power upon doing so and Tricking Choice Band doesn't cripple much many of Trevenant's checks. The aforementioned Poison-types may be holding Black Sludge as well, which puts pressure on Trevenant to Trick it away immediately as it has horrible synergy with Wood Hammer. X-Scissor has mild use in skewering Malamar as well as OHKOing Shiftry switch-ins, though it doesn't hit much outside of that.

Set Details
========

Maximum Attack and Speed investment allows Trevenant to outspeed and threaten as much as possible, most notably Jolly Rhydon, Malamar, Adamant Golurk, and Adamant Aggron. An Adamant nature further increases Trevenant's damage output, while a Jolly nature allows Trevenant to outspeed Pokemon such as Modest Aurorus, Timid Omastar, Jolly Aggron, and opposing Adamant Trevenant,(-comma) if any of these are of concern. Choice Band bolsters Trevenant's power to the point where even resisted Wood Hammer does substantial damage to frailer Pokemon that resist Grass, while suiting its hit-and-run attacking style. Natural Cure allows Trevenant to not fear status take on status users without fear, particularly not being permanently crippled by Scald burns.

Usage Tips
========

Trevenant would preferably switch in on either an attack it resists or is immune to, such as Rhydon's Earthquake, Samurott's Waterfall / Aqua Jet, and Tauros's Rock Climb, or a status move from Pokemon that don't immediately threaten it, such as Toxic from Gastrodon, or Thunder Wave from Musharna and non-Heat Wave Xatu. Alternatively, VoltTurn support from the likes of Swellow, Archeops, and Manectric can allow Trevenant to enter battle safely. Be wary about of switching into Scald; even with Natural Cure ensuring Trevenant won't stay crippled, being burned on the switch means Trevenant would struggle to threaten the opponent's switch-ins. Once it enters battle, Trevenant should choose the move most capable of punching a hole through the opponent's team. Usually this move is Wood Hammer, as it has enough power to 2HKO, if not OHKO after Stealth Rock damage, the likes of Skuntank, Pyroar, Swellow, and Shiftry, which would be the opponent's most likely switch-ins given their resistance to both of Trevenant's STABs. However, Trevenant's low Speed and bad weaknesses means it gets forced out really easily after using an attack or getting a KO, so it may be wise to go for the move with the most immediate results, which is when the other attacks and prediction come into play.

Team Options
========

VoltTurn teams allow Trevenant to enter battle without having to risk taking a direct hit, and often absorbs status moves or resisted attacks aimed at the VoltTurn users. VoltTurn Pokemon are also speedy, which help cover for Trevenant's awful matchup against offensive teams. Flying-types such as Swellow, Archeops, and Scyther can use U-turn to pivot into Trevenant on various status moves and appreciate Trevenant threatening Ground- and Rock-types as well as softening up Steel-types for them. Primeape can U-turn Psychic-type switch-ins, such as Musharna and Xatu, for Trevenant to prey on, while Trevenant can cripple Poison-types with Earthquake or Trick. Lanturn and Manectric make for appealing Volt Switch teammates for Trevenant, as they can handle most Flying-type Pokemon, as well as Fire-type Pokemon in Lanturn's case, while Trevenant easily takes advantage of opposing Lanturn, Gastrodon, and Rhydon, while also luring in and denting bulky Grass-types. Fire-types also can synergize well with Trevenant, as they offer Speed, great offensive presence, and the ability to threaten most of what Trevenant cannot break. Trevenant meanwhile absorbs status for them and resists or otherwise covers for most of their weaknesses, including Pyroar's Fighting weakness and Combusken's Psychic weakness. Flaotzel can be a good teammate for Trevenant as it can revenge many of the Pokemon that would threaten Trevenant, while Trevenant can switch into Lanturn and Gastrodon and threaten them with powerful attacks, although switching into the former can be risky if they can Volt Switch into a Pursuit trapper.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Rest could be considered alongside Natural Cure to give Trevenant effectively a Full Restore, but this forces Trevenant out when it has issues entering battle to begin with, and it doesn't really help Trevenant much more than Horn Leech's recovery would, when considering that Trevenant is not difficult to KO. Trevenant is one of the few self-sufficient Trick Room attackers in the tier, as it has high power and effective neutral coverage to attempt a sweep. However, Trevenant's average bulk and exploitable defensive typing gives it few safe setup opportunities, and its reliance on Wood Hammer for its best damage output heavily dwindles its longevity as well as its chances at maintaining the sweep.

The large majority of Trevenant's gimmick potential comes from its Harvest sets, where it is capable of making use of a wide variety of Berries. Custap Berry with Destiny Bond and Endure can be an interesting way to use Trevenant as a Pokemon that can thwart setup sweepers. Custap Berry allows a heavily weakened Trevenant, usually achieved via Endure, to use Destiny Bond before the faster foe can move, and should Harvest activate right after, Trevenant can go for Destiny Bond again. Should Harvest not activate, Trevenant can sneak in an attack as Destiny Bond remains active until Trevenant's next move, meaning the opponent has to spend two actions not KOing Trevenant between the Custap-boosted Destiny Bond and Trevenant's slower attack. Should Harvest not activate once in two consecutive turns, Trevenant can stall with Endure for a third try. However, the chain is broken if Harvest fails to activate even once in three consecutive turns, and can be circumvented by an attacker with priority moves, Taunt, or status-inducing moves. Lum Berry allows Trevenant to absorb status, particularly from bulky Water- and Psychic-type Pokemon, and give it a drawback-free Rest, but it doesn't have the bulk and typing necessary to take on many of the offensive attackers and even some of the status-inducing Pokemon of the tier, making its instant recovery much less valuable. Starf Berry gives a random +2 boost to one of Trevenant's stats, most notably including evasion, when Trevenant is below 25% health. Combined with Substitute, the luck-of-the-draw element of this set can either allow Trevenant to sweep the foe with little to no opposition, or completely fall flat on its face as it gains useless boosts. Substitute + Leech Seed alongside Sitrus Berry sounds annoying to beat, but is inefficient compared to Trevenant's other sets and stopped rather easily by the likes of Taunt Skuntank, pierced by sound-based moves from Scrappy Swellow and Refrigerate Aurorus, and outright shut down by Unnerve Pyroar.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Bulky Poison-types**: Weezing and Vileplume are rather hard counters to Trevenant, taking on all of the Choice Band set's attacks with relative ease and either outlasting it, cripple crippling it, or beating it 1v1. While these Pokemon dislike being Tricked, Trevenant also dislikes Black Sludge further limiting the amount of Wood Hammers it can use before it succumbs to recoil. Garbodor can be a nuisance for Trevenant as it can punish most of Trevenant's attacks with Rocky Helmet and hurt it with Gunk Shot, though it has to be wary of Earthquake.

**Sap Sipper Miltank**: Miltank is barely scratched by any of Trevenant's common moves, and can easily heal off any damage taken. However, Miltank may lack a way of actually hurting Trevenant back, and is one of the few Trevenant answers that is badly crippled by Trick.

**Dark-types**: Skuntank is a major thorn in Trevenant's side, as its resistance to Trevenant's dual STABs as well as its access to Taunt and Pursuit can shut down most Trevenants. Shiftry also resists Trevenant's STABs and easily threatens the OHKO with Knock Off. Liepard has a much harder time switching in, but can still threaten with Knock Off or Pursuit. However, these Dark-types are physically frail,(-comma) and dislike eating hits from Choice Band Trevenant, as even Wood Hammer cleanly 2HKOes Skuntank.

**Fire-types**: Fire-types resist Grass resistance and can easily revenge kill Trevenant, making them decent initial switch-ins. Pyroar receives special mention due to its Ghost immunity, although Choice Band Wood Hammer can still 2HKO Pyroar and Earthquake drops it in one blow. Charizard 4x resists Grass, and bulky sets can stomach Shadow Claws, although Rock Slide will demolish Charizard with ease. Magmortar and Combusken have more difficulty finding safe switch-ins, but otherwise,(+comma) still make for good checks.

**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: While Trevenant is not the easiest Pokemon to switch into, it is one of the easiest Pokemon to force out due to its poor Speed and plentiful weaknesses. There are a multitude of Pokemon who can pick off Trevenant, such as Scyther, Archeops, Jynx, Rotom, Vivillon, Abomasnow, Haunter, and the aforementioned Dark- and Fire-type Pokemon.

**Coverage moves**: Trevenant has a hard enough time against the large majority of fast attackers in the metagame, but limiting Trevenant's safe switches only curbs its presence even further, which isn't hard due to Trevenant's many exploitable weaknesses. Examples include Knock Off Gurdurr, Knock Off Hariyama, Ice Punch Hitmonchan, Fire Blast Tauros, Ice Beam Water-types, and Heat Wave Xatu. be
 

Lumari

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GP 1/2
[OVERVIEW]

Trevenant boasts a high Attack stat with decent dual STAB options, which can hit many slower Pokemon in the tier for good damage. It is also backed up by decent coverage such as Earthquake and Rock Slide, giving it solid neutral coverage on the meta. Natural Cure makes Trevenant a decent fine / passable (or whatever synonym of "decent" you want) status absorber, especially with its resistance to Scald. However, Trevenant is slow, and it's not bulky enough to make up for it. Its numerous weaknesses to common attacking types such as Fire, Ice, Dark, Flying, and Ghost (RC) leave it easily revenge killed by many attackers and vulnerable to various coverage moves, which makes it a poor check to Normal- and Fighting-types, such as Tauros, Hitmonchan, and Hariyama. Although Trevenant has good resistances, it is largely outclassed in defensive and supportive roles by Gourgeist-XL, which has superior physical bulk and reliable recovery in Synthesis. Even with its supposed offensive niche, it still competes with Torterra as a Grass-type holepuncher due to the latter's superior resistances, bulk, and stronger STAB moves.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Wood Hammer
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rock Slide / Horn Leech
item: Choice Band
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Wood Hammer is Trevenant's strongest STAB move, 2HKOing a majority of Pokemon that don't resist it and even some of the frailer ones that do, such as Magmortar, Swellow, and Pyroar, although it comes with hefty recoil damage. Shadow Claw is Trevenant's next best STAB option, with its better neutral coverage making it a decent move to throw out. It is also Trevenant's strongest attack against Psychic-types, particularly Xatu. Earthquake OHKOs OHKOes Skuntank and Pyroar switch-ins, takes out Garbodor without making contact, and can hurt Steel-types such as Steelix and Aggron more efficiently. Rock Slide targets bulky Flying-types, such as Eviolite Scyther and Swords Dance Charizard, which can otherwise prove bothersome checks. Horn Leech is an alternative Grass-type STAB move for Trevenant to use that restores health instead of depleting it like Wood Hammer, making it decent for extending Trevenant's longevity.

Trick can be used to cripple the likes of Weezing, Vileplume, and Ferroseed (RC) while allowing Trevenant to switch up moves, although its attacks do lose substantial power upon doing so and Tricking Choice Band doesn't cripple many of Trevenant's checks. The aforementioned Poison-types may be holding Black Sludge as well, which puts pressure on Trevenant to Trick it away immediately, (AC) as it has horrible synergy with Wood Hammer. X-Scissor has mild use in skewering Malamar as well as OHKOing Shiftry switch-ins, though it doesn't hit much outside of that.

Set Details
========

Maximum Attack and Speed investment allows Trevenant to outspeed and threaten as much as possible, most notably Jolly Rhydon, Malamar, Adamant Golurk, and Adamant Aggron. An Adamant nature further increases Trevenant's damage output, while a Jolly nature allows Trevenant to outspeed Pokemon such as Modest Aurorus, Timid Omastar, Jolly Aggron, and opposing Adamant Trevenant if any of these are of concern. Choice Band bolsters Trevenant's power to the point where even resisted Wood Hammer does substantial damage to frailer Pokemon that resist Grass (RC) while suiting its hit-and-run attacking style. Natural Cure allows Trevenant to take on status users without fear, particularly not being permanently crippled by Scald burns.

Usage Tips
========

Trevenant would preferably switch in on either an attack it resists or is immune to, such as Rhydon's Earthquake, Samurott's Waterfall or Aqua Jet, and or Tauros's Rock Climb, or a status move from Pokemon that don't immediately threaten it, such as Toxic from Gastrodon (RC) or Thunder Wave from Musharna and non-Heat Wave Xatu. Alternatively, VoltTurn support from the likes of Swellow, Archeops, and Manectric can allow Trevenant to enter battle safely. Be wary of switching into Scald; even with Natural Cure ensuring Trevenant won't stay crippled, being burned on the switch means Trevenant would struggle to threaten the opponent's switch-ins. Once it enters battle, Trevenant should choose the move most capable of punching a hole through the opponent's team. Usually this move is Wood Hammer, as it has enough power to 2HKO, if not OHKO after Stealth Rock damage, the likes of Skuntank, Pyroar, Swellow, and Shiftry, which would be the opponent's most likely switch-ins given their resistance to both of Trevenant's STAB moves. However, Trevenant's low Speed and bad weaknesses means mean it gets forced out really easily after using an attack or getting a KO, so it may be wise to go for the move with the most immediate results, which is when the other attacks and prediction come into play.

Team Options
========

VoltTurn teams allow Trevenant to enter battle without having to risk taking a direct hit (RC) and often absorbs status moves or resisted attacks aimed at the VoltTurn users. VoltTurn Pokemon are also speedy, which help helps cover for Trevenant's awful matchup against offensive teams. Flying-types such as Swellow, Archeops, and Scyther can use U-turn to pivot into Trevenant on various status moves and appreciate Trevenant threatening Ground- and Rock-types as well as softening up Steel-types for them. Primeape can U-turn Psychic-type switch-ins, such as Musharna and Xatu, for Trevenant to prey on, while Trevenant can cripple Poison-types with Earthquake or Trick. Lanturn and Manectric make for appealing Volt Switch teammates for Trevenant, as they can handle most Flying-type Pokemon, as well as Fire-type Pokemon in Lanturn's case, while Trevenant easily takes advantage of opposing Lanturn, Gastrodon, and Rhydon, while also luring in and denting bulky Grass-types. Fire-types also can synergize well with Trevenant, as they offer speed, great offensive presence, and the ability to threaten most of what Trevenant cannot break. Trevenant meanwhile absorbs status for them and resists or otherwise covers for most of their weaknesses, including Pyroar's Fighting weakness and Combusken's Psychic weakness. Flaotzel Floatzel can be a good teammate for Trevenant, (AC) as it can revenge kill many of the Pokemon that would threaten Trevenant, while Trevenant can switch into Lanturn and Gastrodon and threaten them with powerful attacks, although switching into the former can be risky if they can Volt Switch into a Pursuit trapper.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Rest could be considered alongside Natural Cure to give Trevenant effectively a Full Restore, but this forces Trevenant out when it has issues entering battle to begin with, and it doesn't really help Trevenant much more than Horn Leech's recovery would, when considering that Trevenant is not difficult to KO. Trevenant is one of the few self-sufficient Trick Room attackers in the tier, as it has high power and effective neutral coverage to attempt a sweep. However, Trevenant's average bulk and exploitable defensive typing gives it few safe setup opportunities, and its reliance on Wood Hammer for its best damage output heavily dwindles its longevity as well as its chances at maintaining the sweep.

The large majority of Trevenant's gimmick potential comes from its Harvest sets, where it is capable of making use of a wide variety of Berries. Custap Berry with Destiny Bond and Endure can be an interesting way to use Trevenant as a Pokemon that can thwart setup sweepers. Custap Berry allows a heavily weakened Trevenant, usually achieved via Endure, to use Destiny Bond before the faster foe can move, and should Harvest activate right after, Trevenant can go for Destiny Bond again. Should Harvest not activate, Trevenant can sneak in an attack, (AC) as Destiny Bond remains active until Trevenant's next move, meaning the opponent has to spend two actions not KOing Trevenant between the Custap-boosted Destiny Bond and Trevenant's slower attack. Should Harvest not activate once in two consecutive turns, Trevenant can stall with Endure for a third try. However, the chain is broken if Harvest fails to activate even once in three consecutive turns, and it can be circumvented by an attacker with priority moves, Taunt, or status-inducing moves. Lum Berry allows Trevenant to absorb status, particularly from bulky Water- and Psychic-type Pokemon, and give gives it a drawback-free Rest, but it Trevenant doesn't have the bulk and typing necessary to take on many of the offensive attackers and even some of the status-inducing Pokemon of the tier, making its instant recovery much less valuable. Starf Berry gives a random +2 boost to one of Trevenant's stats, most notably including evasion, when Trevenant is below 25% health. Combined with Substitute, the luck-of-the-draw element of this set can either allow Trevenant to sweep the foe with little to no opposition (RC) or completely fall flat on its face as it gains useless boosts. Substitute + Leech Seed alongside Sitrus Berry sounds annoying to beat (RC) but is inefficient compared to Trevenant's other sets and stopped rather easily by the likes of Taunt Skuntank, pierced by sound-based moves from Scrappy Swellow and Refrigerate Aurorus, and outright shut down by Unnerve Pyroar.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Bulky Poison-types**: Weezing and Vileplume are rather hard counters to Trevenant, taking on all of the Choice Band set's attacks with relative ease and either outlasting it, crippling it, or beating it 1v1 one-on-one. While these Pokemon dislike being Tricked Trick, Trevenant also dislikes Black Sludge further limiting the amount number of Wood Hammers it can use before it succumbs to recoil. Garbodor can be a nuisance for Trevenant, (AC) as it can punish most of Trevenant's attacks with Rocky Helmet and hurt it with Gunk Shot, though it has to be wary of Earthquake.

**Sap Sipper Miltank**: Miltank is barely scratched by any of Trevenant's common moves (RC) and can easily heal off any damage taken. However, Miltank may lack a way of actually hurting Trevenant back (RC) and is one of the few Trevenant answers that is are badly crippled by Trick.

**Dark-types**: Skuntank is a major thorn in Trevenant's side, as its resistance to Trevenant's dual STAB types as well as its access to Taunt and Pursuit can shut down most Trevenant sets. Shiftry also resists Trevenant's STAB types and easily threatens the OHKO with Knock Off. Liepard has a much harder time switching in (RC) but can still threaten Trevenant with Knock Off or Pursuit. However, these Dark-types are physically frail and dislike eating hits from Choice Band Trevenant, as even Wood Hammer cleanly 2HKOes Skuntank.

**Fire-types**: Fire-types resist Grass resistance and can easily revenge kill Trevenant, making them decent initial switch-ins. Pyroar receives a special mention due to its Ghost immunity, although Choice Band-boosted Wood Hammer can still 2HKO Pyroar and Earthquake drops it in one blow. Charizard 4x resists Grass, and bulky sets can stomach Shadow Claws, although Rock Slide will demolish Charizard with ease. Magmortar and Combusken have more difficulty finding safe switch-ins, but otherwise (RC) they still make for good checks.

**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: While Trevenant is not the easiest Pokemon to switch into, it is one of the easiest Pokemon to force out due to its poor Speed and plentiful weaknesses. There are a multitude of Pokemon who that can pick off Trevenant, such as Scyther, Archeops, Jynx, Rotom, Vivillon, Abomasnow, Haunter, and the aforementioned Dark- and Fire-type Pokemon.

**Coverage moves**: Trevenant has a hard enough time against the large majority of fast attackers in the metagame, but limiting Trevenant's safe switches only curbs its presence even further, which isn't hard due to Trevenant's many exploitable weaknesses. Examples include Knock Off Gurdurr, Knock Off Hariyama, Ice Punch Hitmonchan, Fire Blast Tauros, Ice Beam Water-types, and Heat Wave Xatu.
 
Last edited:

GatoDelFuego

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Punchshroom

REMOVE CHANGE COMMENTS

[OVERVIEW]

Trevenant boasts a high Attack stat with decent dual STAB options, which can hit many slower Pokemon in the tier for good damage. It is also backed up by decent coverage such as Earthquake and Rock Slide, giving it solid neutral coverage on the metagame. Natural Cure makes Trevenant a passable status absorber, especially with its resistance to Scald. However, Trevenant is slow, and it's not bulky enough to make up for it. Its numerous weaknesses to common attacking types such as Fire, Ice, Dark, Flying, and Ghost leave it easily revenge killed by many attackers and vulnerable to various coverage moves, which makes it a poor check to Normal- and Fighting-types, such as Tauros, Hitmonchan, and Hariyama. Although Trevenant has good resistances, it is largely outclassed in defensive and supportive roles by Gourgeist-XL, which has superior physical bulk and reliable recovery in Synthesis. Even with its supposed offensive niche, it still competes with Torterra as a Grass-type hole puncher due to the latter's superior resistances, bulk, and stronger STAB moves. So why should we use it at all? What's the point?

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Wood Hammer
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rock Slide / Horn Leech
item: Choice Band
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Wood Hammer is Trevenant's strongest STAB move, 2HKOing a majority of Pokemon that don't resist it and even some of the frailer ones that do, such as Magmortar, Swellow, and Pyroar, although it comes with hefty recoil damage. Shadow Claw is Trevenant's next best STAB option, with its better neutral coverage making it a decent move to throw out. It is also Trevenant's strongest attack against Psychic-types, particularly Xatu. Earthquake OHKOes Skuntank and Pyroar switch-ins, takes out Garbodor without making contact, and can hurt Steel-types such as Steelix and Aggron more efficiently. Rock Slide targets bulky Flying-types, such as Eviolite Scyther and Swords Dance Charizard, which can otherwise prove bothersome checks. Horn Leech is an alternative Grass-type STAB move for Trevenant to use that restores health instead of depleting it like Wood Hammer, making it decent for extending Trevenant's longevity.

Trick can be used to cripple the likes of Weezing, Vileplume, and Ferroseed while allowing Trevenant to switch up moves, although its attacks do lose substantial power upon doing so and Tricking Choice Band doesn't cripple many of Trevenant's checks. The aforementioned Poison-types may might be holding Black Sludge as well, which puts pressure on Trevenant to Trick it away immediately, as it has horrible synergy with Wood Hammer. X-Scissor has mild use in skewering Malamar as well as OHKOing Shiftry switch-ins, though it doesn't hit much outside of that.

Set Details
========

Maximum Attack and Speed investment allows Trevenant to outspeed and threaten as much as possible, most notably Jolly Rhydon, Malamar, Adamant Golurk, and Adamant Aggron. An Adamant nature further increases Trevenant's damage output, while a Jolly nature allows Trevenant to outspeed Pokemon such as Modest Aurorus, Timid Omastar, Jolly Aggron, and opposing Adamant Trevenant if any of these are of concern. Choice Band bolsters Trevenant's power to the point where even resisted Wood Hammer does substantial damage to frailer Pokemon that resist Grass while suiting its hit-and-run attacking style. Natural Cure allows Trevenant to take on status users without fear, particularly letting it not being permanently crippled by Scald burns.

Usage Tips
========

Trevenant would preferably switch in on either an attack it either resists or is immune to, such as Rhydon's Earthquake, Samurott's Waterfall or Aqua Jet, or Tauros's Rock Climb, or a status move from Pokemon that don't immediately threaten it, such as Toxic from Gastrodon or Thunder Wave from Musharna and non-Heat Wave Xatu. Alternatively, VoltTurn support from the likes of Swellow, Archeops, and Manectric can allow Trevenant to enter battle safely. Be wary of switching into Scald; even with Natural Cure ensuring Trevenant won't stay crippled, being burned on the switch means Trevenant would struggle to threaten the opponent's switch-ins. Once it enters battle, Trevenant should choose the move most capable of punching a hole through the opponent's team. Usually this move is Wood Hammer, as it has enough power to 2HKO, if not OHKO after Stealth Rock damage, the likes of Skuntank, Pyroar, Swellow, and Shiftry, which would be the opponent's most likely switch-ins given their resistance to both of Trevenant's STAB moves. However, Trevenant's low Speed and bad weaknesses mean it gets forced out really easily after using an attack or getting a KO, so it may might be wise to go for the move with the most immediate results, which is when the other attacks and prediction come into play.

Team Options
========

VoltTurn teams allow Trevenant to enter battle without having to risk taking a direct hit and often absorb status moves or resisted attacks aimed at the VoltTurn users. VoltTurn Pokemon are also speedy, which helps cover for Trevenant's awful matchup against offensive teams. Flying-types such as Swellow, Archeops, and Scyther can use U-turn to pivot into Trevenant on various status moves and appreciate Trevenant threatening Ground- and Rock-types as well as softening up Steel-types for them. Primeape can U-turn away from Psychic-type switch-ins, such as Musharna and Xatu, for Trevenant to prey on, while Trevenant can cripple Poison-types with Earthquake or Trick. Lanturn and Manectric make for appealing Volt Switch teammates for Trevenant, as they can handle most Flying-type Pokemon, as well as Fire-type Pokemon in Lanturn's case, while Trevenant easily takes advantage of opposing Lanturn, Gastrodon, and Rhydon, (RC) while also luring in and denting bulky Grass-types. Fire-types also can synergize well with Trevenant, as they offer speed, great offensive presence, and the ability to threaten most of what Trevenant cannot break. elaborate; what Pokemon are those? Trevenant meanwhile absorbs status for them and resists or otherwise covers for most of their weaknesses, including Pyroar's Fighting weakness and Combusken's Psychic weakness. Floatzel can be a good teammate for Trevenant, as it can revenge kill many of the Pokemon that would threaten Trevenant, while Trevenant can switch into Lanturn and Gastrodon and threaten them with powerful attacks, although switching into the former can be risky if they can Volt Switch into a Pursuit trapper.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Rest could be considered alongside Natural Cure to give Trevenant effectively a Full Restore, but this forces Trevenant out when it has issues entering battle to begin with, and it doesn't really help Trevenant much more than Horn Leech's recovery would, when considering that Trevenant is not difficult to KO. Trevenant is one of the few self-sufficient Trick Room attackers in the tier, as it has high power and effective neutral coverage to attempt a sweep. However, Trevenant's average bulk and exploitable defensive typing gives it few safe setup opportunities, and its reliance on Wood Hammer for its best damage output heavily dwindles its longevity as well as its chances at maintaining the sweep.

The large majority of Trevenant's gimmick potential comes from its Harvest sets, where it is capable of making use of a wide variety of Berries. Custap Berry with Destiny Bond and Endure can be an interesting way to use Trevenant as a Pokemon that can thwart setup sweepers. Custap Berry allows a heavily weakened Trevenant, usually achieved via Endure, to use Destiny Bond before the faster foe can move, and should Harvest activate right after, Trevenant can go for Destiny Bond again. Should Harvest not activate, Trevenant can sneak in an attack, as Destiny Bond remains active until Trevenant's next move, meaning the opponent has to spend two actions not KOing Trevenant between the Custap-boosted Destiny Bond and Trevenant's slower attack. Should Harvest not activate once in two consecutive turns, Trevenant can stall with Endure for a third try. However, the chain is broken if Harvest fails to activate even once in three consecutive turns, and it can be circumvented by an attacker with priority moves, Taunt, or status-inducing moves. Lum Berry allows Trevenant to absorb status, particularly from bulky Water- and Psychic-type Pokemon, and gives it a drawback-free Rest, but Trevenant doesn't have the bulk and typing necessary to take on many of the offensive attackers and even some of the status-inducing Pokemon of the tier, making its instant recovery much less valuable. Starf Berry gives a random +2 boost to one of Trevenant's stats, most notably including evasion, when Trevenant is below 25% health. Combined with Substitute, the luck-of-the-draw element of this set can either allow Trevenant to sweep the foe with little to no opposition or completely fall flat on its face as it gains useless boosts. Substitute + Leech Seed alongside Sitrus Berry sounds annoying to beat but is inefficient compared to Trevenant's other sets and stopped rather easily by the likes of Taunt Skuntank, pierced by sound-based moves from Scrappy Swellow and Refrigerate Aurorus, and outright shut down by Unnerve Pyroar.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Bulky Poison-types**: Weezing and Vileplume are rather hard counters to Trevenant, taking on all of the Choice Band set's attacks with relative ease and either outlasting it, crippling it, or beating it one-on-one. While these Pokemon dislike Trick, Trevenant also dislikes Black Sludge further limiting the number of Wood Hammers it can use before it succumbs to recoil. Garbodor can be a nuisance for Trevenant, as it can punish most of Trevenant's attacks with Rocky Helmet and hurt it with Gunk Shot, though it has to be wary of Earthquake.

**Sap Sipper Miltank**: Miltank is barely scratched by any of Trevenant's common moves and can easily heal off any damage taken. However, Miltank may might lack a way of actually hurting Trevenant back and is one of the few Trevenant answers that are badly crippled by Trick.

**Dark-types**: Skuntank is a major thorn in Trevenant's side, as its resistance to Trevenant's dual STAB types as well as its access to Taunt and Pursuit can shut down most Trevenant sets. Shiftry also resists Trevenant's STAB types and easily threatens the OHKO with Knock Off. Liepard has a much harder time switching in but can still threaten Trevenant with Knock Off or Pursuit. However, these Dark-types are physically frail and dislike eating hits from Choice Band Trevenant, as even Wood Hammer is strong so this isn't "surprising" Wood Hammer cleanly 2HKOes Skuntank.

**Fire-types**: Fire-types resist Grass and can easily revenge kill Trevenant, making them decent initial switch-ins. Pyroar receives a special mention due to its Ghost immunity, although Choice Band-boosted Wood Hammer can still 2HKO Pyroar and Earthquake drops it in one blow. Charizard 4x resists Grass, and bulky sets can stomach Shadow Claws, although Rock Slide will demolish Charizard with ease. Magmortar and Combusken have more difficulty finding safe switch-ins, but otherwise they still make for good checks.

**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: While Trevenant is not the easiest Pokemon to switch into, it is one of the easiest Pokemon to force out due to its poor Speed and plentiful weaknesses. There are a multitude of Pokemon that can pick off Trevenant, such as Scyther, Archeops, Jynx, Rotom, Vivillon, Abomasnow, Haunter, and the aforementioned Dark- and Fire-type Pokemon.

**Coverage moves**: Trevenant has a hard enough time against the large majority of fast attackers in the metagame, but limiting Trevenant's safe switches only curbs its presence even further, which isn't hard due to Trevenant's many exploitable weaknesses. Examples include Knock Off Gurdurr, Knock Off Hariyama, Ice Punch Hitmonchan, Fire Blast Tauros, Ice Beam Water-types, and Heat Wave Xatu.

2/2
 
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