Twisted World
First, I believe an introduction is in order. Greetings to the community of Smogon. This is not only my first rate-my-team, but also my very first post on this forum in general. I am a long time lurker of Smogon, having used the site's resources to help me train pokemon and battle against my friends. Finally, after playing around with the new simulator and falling in love, I've decided to officially join and try my hand at competitive battling. While I am a newbie around these parts, please, show no mercy when looking at my team. If you find something absolutely terrible about the pokemon I have lined up, then by all means, call me out on it. You are only helping me to become a better player.
Now on to the team itself. Twisted World, as you guys have seen from the title, is a Trick Room team I've come up with for OU. I've read several guides on how to form Trick Room teams, but I've found that they are generally relegated to lower
tiers. But, with so many great options for Trick Room teams in OU, such as Reuniclus and Conkledurr, it seems almost silly to restrict it only to the lower tiers. Personally, I have every belief that Trick Room teams can compete with the big weather boys in OU, and I think my team reflects that. I've been playing around with the team on Pokemon Showdown for a while, and with how well it has done against more experienced players, I think it justifies the fact that Trick Room has a place in OU.
Before I show the team itself, its worth explaining why a player should use Trick Room at all. I'll leave a full explanation of Trick Room to far more experienced players and detailed guides, but to me Trick Room is devastating due to the effect it can have on your opponent. Think about it, so much of this game's offense revolves around speed. Simply being the one to hit first can have a major impact on the course of a battle. With Trick Room, all of the speed your opponent has built into their team becomes more of a hindrance than anything else. This is especially troubling for teams that use Swift Swim, Chlorophyll, or other speed enhancing moves.
That's not all trick room has to offer. There are several pokemon in the metagame that, as opposed to speed, have bulk. The ability to not only absorb damage but also dish it out can be a devastating combination. An example of this is the pokemon I have in my avatar (and my personal favorite), Marowak. While Marowak does not take a place on my team, he not only tears holes in his opponent, but can take enough hits to continue the sweep. With these thoughts in mind, I decided to try and create my first pokemon team.
I've heard every taunt online. "Trick Room is a gimmick, its ineffective, use a darn drizzle toad," but I think that in the right circumstances, Trick Room can be a hard thing to counter.
Team History
...
My first edition of the team. More of an experiment than anything else, I can immediately spot a few problems with it. First of all, there were far too many physical attackers, and both of my trick room setters had problems with dark types. Therefore, some changes were made.
Change one, goodbye Snorlax. I had more than enough physical attackers at this point, and the big guy never did much for me. While I wanted my team to be primarily offensive, I still needed pokemon that could take a few hits while being able to sit up trick room. Porygon fits this team extremely well, and without a weakness to dark types.
The final spot on my team was in constant flux as I tried to find a final pokemon that could do damage. Magnezone was given a try to help me deal with the likes of Ferrothorn and Skarmory, both of which I was having some trouble with. However, the magnet guy wasn't doing the job, and Scizor was underwhelming. I know that several of you guys would disagree with me on this, but I was never that impressed by Scizor. With how prominent he has become, it feels like everyone I run into knows exactly how to take him out. Therefore, I decided to try something different.
I decided to try something different. I never liked Heatran that much. He's ugly (for me, it is a factor), seemed easy to counter, and seems to embody what I hate about recent legendary designs in pokemon games. Then I tried him out, and he seems to be the perfect fit for my team, easily dealing with the metal threats I've been having, while still managing to knock holes in the teams of my opponent. Heatran always had great stats, but his speed was lower than that of the average sweeper. Trick Room solves that problem, and he has the bulk to take several hits too.
The Team
Apocalypse (Cofragigus) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SpD
Nature: Quiet
- Trick Room
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power Fighting
The pokemon I choose to use as my lead fluctuates based on how my opponent's team looks. Apocalypse, however, is the one I choose most often due to his massive defenses and pure shock power. Seriously, I have faced a ton of opponents who have no idea how to deal with this guy. While his first function is to set up trick room, his second is to start sweeping if given the opportunity. Many opponents choose to start the game by setting up entry hazards, while Apocalypse starts powering up with nasty plot. Before they know it, Apocalypse is hitting at four times his normal power, outrunning everything on his opponent's team, and hitting everything with only two attacks. Its not a problem that can easily be solved either, as Apocalypse's great defenses take plenty of hits, and his hidden power fighting allows him to surprisingly ko several of the dark types my opponent is depending on stopping him. Any pokemon that has consistently won a game by himself is worthy of being labelled as a threat, and Apocalypse has certainly earned his name.
As to the name itself, its a reference to
X-men Evolution, if anyone cares.
Psycho (Reuniclus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Evs: 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SAtk
Nature: Quiet
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball
Basic Reuniclus set. Nothing really surprising here, but Psycho requires no improvements in my mind. Magic Guard is a wonderful ability that allows Psycho to not only avoid entry hazards, but eat my opponent's toxic attacks whenever they are thrown his way. With his bulk, slow speed, and high special attack, Reuniclus is ready to start sweeping right away once trick room is set up. The usage of energy ball might require some explanation. My team was having some trouble with bulky waters, so I decided to have Reuniclus surprise them. So far, I prefer this change, but if it doesn't work well in the future, then I might change it back to shadow ball. Thus far, I haven't had many situations where it was beneficial to keep Reuniclus in against another psychic type, so I generally just switch anyway.
Goldberg (Conkeldurr) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Evs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def
Nature: Brave
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
- Facade
I dislike Conkeldurr, mostly because his arrival marked the replacement of Machamp, one of my favorites from the first generation. However, it cannot be denied that Conkeldurr is immensely good at what he does, and that is hitting extremely hard. With his combination of drain punch and mach punch, Conkeldurr is not only able to keep his health up, but also hit with priority whenever trick room is not running. There isn't much to say about Conkeldurr, his beauty is in his simplicity. The guy hits things until they fall down, and that doesn't take long.
Phanny (Donphan) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Brave
-Rapid Spin
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Ice Shard
A Donphan built for offense, this pokemon seems to be favored more as a utility user than an offensive threat. I, however, in accordance with the rest of my team, use Phanny to bring the pain. My favorite pokemon on my team, Phanny is able to not only dish out damage, but also take it from physical attackers. Ice shard is his most useful move, allowing him to surprise opponents without trick room due to his priority, and finishing off dragons. Rapid spin is self-explanatory if one is running an offensive team, as the threat of entry hazards is too big to ignore. Phanny ensures that the rest of my team can enter the field safely.
Plucky (Porygon2) @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Nature: Quiet
-Trick Room
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Recover
You can never have enough trick room setters, especially when your entire game plan can be shattered when they are taken out. Plucky seems to do everything well, whether its taking hits, scouting the opponent, or doing surprising amounts of damage. Trace is Plucky's best ability, completely screwing up certain opponents. For instance, Heatran's flash fire ability suddenly becomes a hindrance once his opponent acquires it, and this is also true of any other pokemon that rely on their abilities to be useful. Surprisingly, Plucky's best usage seems to be that of a dragon killer, annihilating the likes of Dragonite and Salemence by using their own abilities against them before firing off an ice beam.
The Pyro (Heatran) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
Evs: 252 Hp/ 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Nature: Quiet
-Overheat
-Dragon Pulse
-Earth Power
-Hidden Power Grass
The latest edition to my team, and perhaps the most surprising. I've never seen Heatran recommended for a trick room team, but he actually works really well. With his lower than average offensive speed, the Pyro sweeps quite well under trick room, whether its setting up on a vulnerable opponent, or revenge-killing when one of my trick room setters is taken out. His bulk and excellent typing allow him to take many hits while dishing them out, an ideal attribute for a trick room sweeper. Also, Heatran works extremely well for countering Sunny Day teams, which is important given the number of them I've run into. The opponent always hesitates to throw out fire attacks when they know that Heatran can switch in at any time.
Considered Changes
...
Heatran's position is the one that is currently in flux. So far, I have grown very attached to my team's newest member, but changes might occur. I've considered using a Ditto with a macho brace, slowing down the mimic pokemon enough to surprise opponents in trick room. It would certainly be an interesting experiment.
My all time favorite pokemon. Marowak hits hard, and has the bulk to deal with trick room. However, he lacks a priority move, which is important for trick room teams.
With Donphan not pulling his weight, it seems like the most logical thing to do would be to add a pokemon who can sweep once my trick room setters are taken out. That job can be handled well by Salemence, a pokemon that should always be feared for its attack and speed.
Poor Haxorus. Not even a monstrous attack stat can make him get as much attention as Salemence or Dragonite. However, I've always been fond of Haxorus, and he might fit very well on my team. After all, if I'm replacing a trick room setter, it would be nice to have one who isn't vulnerable to stealth rock.
Past Team Members
...
Skynet (Magnezone)@ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
Evs: 252 SAtk / 252 Hp / 4 Def
Nature: Quiet
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden power fire
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
I chose Magnezone because I thought it would be useful for countering bulky waters, but that was not a problem that ever came up for me again once I started using the guy. The problem with Magnezone, for me, is that the very pokemon he was meant to trap always ended up killing him. Heatran just works better.
Red Ranger (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Evs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Brave
Scizor, what can I say about this guy you don't already know? Stab priority, low speed, great typing, and high attack...all are good attributes for a trick room pokemon. Yet, Red Ranger always seemed to die quickly on the battlefield. Eventually, one gets tired of seeing one of their team members being killed in one hit, and a change was made. Furthermore, Scizor was easily walled by Skarmory, a big problem for my team.
Big Show (Snorlax) @ Normal Gem
Ability: Thick Fat
Evs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Nature: Brave
I think everyone is slightly fond of the big guy here. Snorlax is just plain effective at what it does...soaking up damage while dishing it out. However, Snorlax never seemed to work well for me as a physical sweeper, so he was taken out. Porygon2 was the superior choice.
Threats
...
Heatran has helped to alleviate my Skarmory problem, but it is still a big threat to my team. With low speed, Skarmory potentially benefits from trick room as much as my own team, allowing him to set up entry hazards and surprise me with brave bird.
Possibly the biggest threat my team faces is a stalling Gliscor. Once he gets going with subsitutes and protect, I have a hard time breaking through. Any recommendations on how to break this guy would be much appreciated.
With his low speed, Ferrothorn loves trick room as much as I do, setting up entry hazards and hitting hard with his surprisingly high attack. Heatran has essentially eliminated this threat, but if he's eliminated, I can have a lot of trouble with this guy.
A threat I rarely see, but one that needs to be recognized, Honchkrow not only counter Conkledurr with his flying typing, but also wreaks havoc on two of my trick room setters. Porygon2 helps knock this bird out of the sky, but I still fear the crow.
A pokemon seen only for his ability, I have a hard time countering Politoed as a started. He generally managed to kill one of my team members at the start of the game. My team works well against drizzle, except for the man who actually brings the rain.
Closing
So that's my team everyone! I put a lot of work into setting this page up, and I hope it suites your standards. Please let me know if I missed anything, and don't hold back with your comments. I will only get better through your tough love.
Importable (I mean, if you want to...)