RMT: VGC'14 Doubles Trick Room

[cagedWINGS]

Hello. I'd like to introduce my new planned VGC'14 Doubles team to you all. As made obvious by the title its going to be a Trick Room team. The team has been constructed and has been tweaked slightly (just small stuff like EV spreads, the odd changed move here and there) on Pokemon Showdown but I'd like to open it up to the public as it were - get some tips before I start building it on my Pokemon Y. You know the drill.

The purpose of this team is to go to VGC tournaments in my area (the UK) around the summer and hopefully bring home the bacon. I'm not a 'win at all costs' sorta guy as I feel tournaments are as much about meeting new people and having a laugh as they are battling. I'm looking for a team that has potential to be great competitively but different and fun to play. Please bare that in mind whilst rating.

A quick note: for those who don't know the rules for VGC'14, click the link for more details, but the format is essentially a Doubles battle format with an item clause, species clause, all Pokemon set to lvl50 and Kalos Pokemon only. There are a few banned Pokemon but none are features in this team anyway, so it doesn't really matter too much.

http://nuggetbridge.com/news/pokemon-announces-standard-format-vgc-14-season/

Another quick note: I like to at least try and include obscure Pokemon in my teams in an effort to make them viable and competitive when facing the big boys such as Charizard Y, Talonflame, Mega Mawile etc. There's something unpredictable and rewarding when using obscure picks I feel.

Without further ado, let me take you through my building process:

At the very beginning of the team's planning stage it wasn't a Trick Room team at all. I started building it because I've always wanted to try a Pokemon out that has the Ability 'Guts'.

Guts Hariyama with a Flame Orb was ideal. I have love for Hariyama as he was a member of my party back in the Gen III days and during that playthrough he was a monster and the go-to Pokemon when I just wanted things to die. He is quite an obscure Pokemon too, you don't see him get much use.

The main two moves in Hariyama's moveset were going to be Facade and Close Combat - Close Combat for STAB and Facade because it would be a lethal move when used in conjunction with Hariyama's Flame Orb + Guts. The last two slots were to be taken by something like Fake Out and possibly Protect or some sort of coverage move.

I got talking to a friend about my plans with Hariyama, and he asked if there was a Pokemon with the Guts Ability that could get STAB from Facade. There were quite a few, but Ursaring stuck in my head for some reason. It had plenty of coverage moves and with only one weakness it could pose as a sortof 'pseudo Fighting-type' Pokemon. Plus I just love his design. He's something perty to look at during battles.

Ursaring was powerful, but to really get the best out of him he needed a little help. His Speed is a little lacking. And thus the Trick Room idea was born. With Trick Room support I truly believe Ursaring is a force to be reckoned with.

So the next task was to find a suitable Trick Room setter. I love Prankster Pokemon too, so by cross-checking the two lists I found Mega Banette - he isn't your typical Mega choice and is a Trick Room Prankster with a whole assortment of support, just plain nasty (Destiny Bond) and priority moves (Shadow Sneak ftw). He ticked all the right boxes.

Every themed team needs a back-up. Every Rain team needs at least two Pokemon that can set Rain. Every Sun team needs two Pokemon that has Drought or has access to Sunny Day. I needed a back-up Trick Room Setter.

In one of my other teams I've had a lot of success with Sylveon. She is just a great little Calm Mind sweeper with plenty of Special bulk. I've lost count of the times where Sylveon has snatched me from the jaws of defeat in past matches. While Sylveon was not a Trick Room setter I wanted something that operated similarly that could.

Aromatisse was that Pokemon. Good bulk and a good starting SpA stat with access to Calm Mind, some decent-ish offensive moves, some healing moves and of course Trick Room. Not only that but it covered Ursaring's only weakness in Fighting. Aromatisse deserved a slot on my team.

For the second half of the team I wanted some slow and strong (and obscure) Pokemon to take advantage of Trick Room.

I picked Relicanth for slot 4. It had the ability to counter a lot of the threats that are currently seen in VGC tournaments when under Trick Room. With its Hard Head/Head Smash and Waterfall combo it could beat the crap out of Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame. Its Hard Head Ability let it take advantage of moves like Double-Edge too.

Admittedly I had a little bit of trouble coming up with ideas for the last two slots of my team. This is where I need a little help and advice to decide the best course of action for my team. But let me talk you through my through process anyway.

Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Slowking and Chandelure were really tempting picks for my last two slots, but I had a few gripes about using them. Firstly, everyone uses those three Pokemon in Trick Room teams. I'd use them if I had to but wanted to try some new ideas out first.

I needed a Fire-type Pokemon to counter the many Steel-types that are popular in VGC'14. I needed something that could kill Aegislash and Ferrothorn. The problem is there is a lack of slow Fire-types that would operate well in a Trick Room. Heatmor seemed like a decent enough choice. It had the potential to be a mixed attacker, but I wanted to focus its power more into the realms of the SpA as I already had two good physical Pokemon.

The last Pokemon I chose was Roserade. I remember seeing her a lot a couple of years ago but her popularity seems to have dwindled slightly with the appearance of Amoongus. I wanted a Rotom-w counter. A swift Grass-type attack from Roserade would fix that little pain right out.

After deciding not to use the 'obvious' picks, I changed my mind and went back on my word slightly, swapping Heatmor for Chandelure. Heatmor is absolutely nothing special really, and I felt my team had a rather large weakness to Psychic-type Pokemon. One obvious Trick Room Pokemon in a team of five not obvious isn't too bad anyway.

So that's the team's history. Its now time to give a breakdown of each Pokemon's movesets, EV spreads, etc.

Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk (Prankster)
Nature: Careful
IVs: 31,31,31,0,31,31
EVs: 252HP, 40Def, 216SpD

-- Trick Room
-- Shadow Sneak
-- Destiny Bond
-- Protect

The team's main Trick Room setter and hence one of my two lead Pokemon. With Mega Banette's Prankster Ability he is most likely always going to be the Pokemon that goes first as all of its moves have priority, no matter if Trick Room is up or not. That's of course until Sableye comes along and throws a giant spanner in the works through using Taunt at least.

I've specifically not worried about Banette's synergy in the team as it only serves one function if I'm honest, which is priority Trick Room. After it has done that one job its free to die, hopefully taking something else with it in the process with its Destiny Bond move. If it has the chance to chip away at something a little bit with Shadow Sneak that is just a bonus.

Ursaring @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Nature: Brave
IVs: 31,31,31,31,31,0
EVs: 252HP, 252Atk, 4Def

-- Protect
-- Facade
-- Play Rough
-- Hammer Arm

Ursaring is my other lead. With his Guts + Flame Orb his three attacking moves should hopefully be OHKOing threats as soon as turn 2 if everything goes to plan. He is quite slow and frail, so hopefully, if all goes well with the Trick Room, he'll be fast and strong enough to be of use.

His moveset is quite self explanatory. Facade for STAB, Hammer Arm because its a strong Fighting-type attack that actually lowers the user's Speed, so Ursaring gets faster when used. Play Rough is a surprising egg move that counters Ursaring's Fighting-type weakness.

Relicanth @ Life Orb
Ability: Rock Head
Nature: Brave
IVs: 31,31,31,31,31,0
EVs: 252HP, 252Atk, 4SpD

-- Head Smash
-- Earthquake
-- Double-Edge
-- Waterfall

The rest of the team are switched in an out depending on the opponent's team.

With Relicanth's Rock Head Ability it can take advantage of moves like Head Smash and Double-Edge. Waterfall for STAB, Earthquake to combat Steel-type Pokemon. Relicanth is just a very Plain Jane physical sweeper. There really isn't anything more I can say about it.

Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
Nature: Sassy
IVs: 31,0,31,31,31,31
EVs: 200HP, 208Def, 100SpD

-- Trick Room
-- Calm Mind
-- Draining Kiss
-- Wish

My second Trick Room setter. It is handy as it cannot be rendered useless by Taunt due to its Aroma Veil Ability. Other than its Trick Room function, Aromatisse operates as a bulky set-up sweeper with the ability to heal its fellow Pokemon with Wish.

Draining Kiss was chosen over Moonblast as it improves the survivability of Aromatisse.

Chandelure @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flame Body
Nature: Quiet
IVs: 31,31,31,31,31,0
EVs: 252HP, 252SpA, 4SpD

-- Will-O-Wisp
-- Energy Ball
-- Shadow Ball
-- Fire Blast

There will come a time where Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokemon will be on my opponents' teams and having nothing to counter them would leave a massive hole in my team. Chandelure packs a few decent coverage move as well as Will-O-Wisp. Again, I'm sorry there's not a lot that there's to be said about Chandelure. Its just a very decent special sweeper that operates well in a Trick Room team.

Roserade @ Black Sludge
Ability: Techncian
Nature: Quiet
IVs: 31,30,30,31,31,31
EVs: 252HP, 4Def, 252SpA

-- Magical Leaf
-- Hidden Power Ice
-- Sludge Bomb
-- Synthesis

Rotom-W is the main reason for packing a Grass-type on this team. It receives heavy play in VGC and having something to counter it is paramount.

Roserade is able to counter other Grass-types such as Amoongus with Hidden Power Ice, which has 90BP due to its Technician Ability as well as being immune to Spore and Toxic.



So that is my VGC'14 Doubles Trick Room team. I appreciate any feedback you may want to give me. Many thanks.

 

[Pikachupwnage]

Trick room still has negative priority even with prankster. Pranskter only gives +1 priority and trick room has -7 priority. You should probably replace Mega Bannette.

 

[Jonater]

Hello. While looking at your team, while you attempt to use underrated pokemon, you are using outclassed pokemon. A good trick room team can function both inside and outside of trick room. First, Banette should be removed with a different, more fitting mega. Trick Room has a -7 priority and with prankster its -6 meaning that you would only out prioritize other pokemon using trick room and phaze moves. I recommend you use Mega Mawile over Mega Banette as Mawile's only disadvantage is it's low speed tier. With trick room support, it can use it's disadvantage to its advantage. (If you get my drift.) Mega Mawile can also function outside of Trick Room with Priority Sucker Punch. Next, you should use Flame Orb Guts Conkeldurr over Ursaring. As you stated, Ursaring is quite frail and cannot function outside of trick room due to a lack of priority moves. Conkeldurr, on the other hand, is much more bulkier and has priority mach punch so that it is not useless outside of trick room. Thirdly, wish passing is quite inefficient, instead you should run Aromatisse with Moonblast / Heal Pulse / Trick Room / Protect with a Sitrus Berry as heal pulse does the same thing as wish but does not take one turn to take effect. Protect is also useful to predict double targeting attacks and can give it's teammate a free turn. Sitrus Berry is usually better then Leftovers in most situations because VGC is a faster paced metagame then singles where quick healing is more advisable over healing over time. Also, Chandelure should also be running Heatwave / Shadow Ball / Trick Room / Protect with a Focus Sash as good trick room teams usually run a backup trick room setter. Chandelure is quite frail and requires a focus sash to survive a hit. Heat Wave provides spread damage and is more reliable then Fire Blast as you can run the possibility of hitting into a protect. Life Orb can also be used over Focus Sash if Chandelure needs the extra power. Lastly, You should run Ferrothorn over Roserade as it can take anything from Rotom-Wash and can OHKO it with a STAB power whip. Ferrothorn can also counter Amoongus by being immune to poison moves such as toxic and taking nothing from HP ice. All in all, this team is quite solid and I congratulate you for trying to use underrated threats.

Suggestions: You can also use a Rotom Form and Kangaskhan Mega over Mega Banette and Ursaring as Kangaskhan can also abuse Hammer Arm to get to half speed and has 105/100/100 bulk. Rotom can provide Will-O-Wisp support to punish the physical metagame.

Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 4 Def / 180 SDef / 20 Spd
Careful Nature
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 48 HP / 208 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
- Hammer Arm
- Return

Good luck!

 

[cagedWINGS]

Thanks for the advice peeps.

I never knew that about TR. I thought it was normal priority as everything else, so I assumed a Prankster would get priority TR set-up.

As that is Mega Banette's only real function in the team I think a different Mega Choice is in order.

I hear you about Conkeldurr but on Showdown, once TR is set, I'm able to OHKO stuff like Garchomp and Salamence using Ursaring and Play Rough. I think I'll be sticking with him for now, but the advice is duly noted.

Roserade might also be replaced by Ferrothorn. She's unfortunately the only Pokemon on this team that really doesn't seem to do much. She's a little bit of a dead-weight.

How would replacing Mega Banette with something like Slowking as a TR setter sound and then swap Roserade out for Mega 'Saur?

 

[cagedWINGS]

Cheeky bump :D.