Moxie Trick Room

[zeid]

I have been playing pokemon on and off since it first came out, so I am a big fan of 1st gen pokes'. But begun playing competitively only recently with the release of BW2. One of my friends was very keen to get some opponents to play with, so I took him up on it seeing as he had been asking since BW was released. I played OU for a fair while, and whilst it is enjoyable I was getting a little tired of the metagame. So around a month or two ago I decided to start give LC ago in an attempt to refresh my desire for pokemon battling. I was pleasantly surprised to find a really interesting and fun little metagame, and came up with a really nice team I like off the bat.

Team Building

I have been a big fan of the trick room teams I have made in OU. Whilst some of them may not have been the most competitively viable, they were always a lot of fun to play. So I decided straight away I would go this route in LC. I did however want to make a point of not using Pokemon whose evolutions I used in OU, as I wanted to start fresh and get a new experience from this tier. I also wanted to go with something a little more original, so didn't look at any threat lists or similar when I jumped into things.

more to come...

The Game Plan

The main win condition of the team is get Mellow's moxie going while trick room is up and then Drain Punch whatever is left over. The sweep is often started with a High-Jump kick, Crunch is for coverage. Zen Headbutt provides an answer to fighting types under TR and will often surprise the opponent. Obviously some teams pose more of a threat to this setupthan others and that is where the other pokemon come in.

In order to get the sweep started you of course need a TR up. Enter Cinnamon. Slowpoke is as bulky as they come, living a super-effective hit and regenerating back up to 60-70% on switch out is certainly a big deal. It means you will get a number of opportunities to go into TR and soak-up a whole heap of damage while you do it. Given how well his typing pairs with Scraggy, a nice core comes together that can be very hard to deal with.

8Ball was the last addition to the team, and it took a fair bit of thought to finally settle on him. Basically he covers many of the problem pokes' that serve to shut down the team. Magnet Pull + HP Fire lets him kill Bronzors that may be slowing things down, as well as dealing with Ferroseed before he can setup too many hazards. Magnet Rise lets him avoid Earthquake, this is especially nice under TR as there is no need for prediction. Flash Cannon will deal with Lileep and offers a big hit on most switch-ins. Finally Volt Switch lets him keep momentum and allows you to return to either a TR setter or sweeper depending on your needs.

Malleus offers and alternative sweeping option while TR is up. Bonerang breaks subs and Sturdy/Focus Sash so that your sweep doesn't get cut shorter then you would like. His other moves are there for coverage, but may be in need of a rethink.

Xerosis offers some solid clean-up for when the Sweeps start to tapper off. His priority also serves to keep some threats under control, and he seems to deal rather nicely with Meinfoo who hits slowpoke rather hard with u-turn regeneration.

No Trick Room team should run a single setter, hence Inky. Inky offers immunity to ground via-levitate which the team otherwise doesn't care for. As well as immunity from Normal and Fighting, this is great when a TR is about to end and your opponent sends something out with the intention of Fake Out stalling. A priority STAB Shadow Sneak can end an Abra or opposing Ghost type and serves as good cleanup; Ice Beam is for coverage when you have trick room up (But doesn't get too much use); and finally Pain Split lets you keep him alive as losing your TR setters is a real hastle.

Current Team
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Cinnamon
Slowpoke @ Eviolite
EVs: 236 Def / 196 SDef / 76 SAtk
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
Ability: Regenerator
Trickroom
Scald
Psychic
Slack Off

Mellow
Scraggy @ Eviolite
EVs: 236 Atk / 196 SDef / 76 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
Ability: Moxie
High-Jump Kick
Drain Punch
Crunch
Zen Headbutt

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Malleus
Cubone @ Thick Club
EVs: 196 Atk / 196 SDef / 116 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
Ability: Thick Skull
Bonerang
Fire Punch
Thunder Punch
Double Edge

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8Ball
Magnemite @ Eviolite
EVs: 240 SAtk / 236 SDef / 32 Def
Quiet Nature
Ability: Magnet Pull
Magnet Rise
Volt Switch
Flash Cannon
Hidden Power Fire
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Xerosis
Croagunk @ Eviolite
EVs: 188 Atk / 196 SDef / 124 SAtk
Brave Nature
Ability: Dry Skin
Fake Out
Vacuum Wave
Drain Punch
Dark Pulse
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Inky
Duskull @ Eviolite
EVs: 196 SDef / 116 Atk
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
Ability: Levitate
Trickroom
Shadow Sneak
Ice Beam
Pain Split

I am currently sitting around the top 75 LC on the Pokemon Showdown Ladder, so the team is pretty solid. I would however love as much advice as can be provided on where weaknesses might lay in this team against top pokes' and teams and how I might go about resolving these issues.

Thanks everyone.
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[Magnemite88]

Hi! I'm not too experienced with rating teams, but I do see a few things that can be improved.

First, Duskull's EV spread has about 200 possible EVs that you haven't invested and offense isn't its strong point (with 40/30 attacking stats), so try this spread: 196 HP/196 Def/116 SpD.

Secondly, I don't see the purpose of having both HJK and Drain Punch on Scraggy. I recommend replacing HJK with Knock Off, so that you can remove the Eviolites of irritating opponents (read: Misdreavus, Prankster Murkrow) and still heal yourself.

Hope I helped.