VGC VGC 2016 Perish Trap Team

[rawrsome]

Heyo~

So I am rather new to VGC, and competitive Pokémon in general! I've been tweaking around with a Perish Trap team, and I have reached the point where I would appreciate feedback on how this team could be improved. Below are each of the Pokémon and a brief description of their roles.

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpA / 20 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Perish Song
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

The first Pokémon to come to mind when I think of Perish Trap team. I dunno how much I need to explain here, except that I gave Gengar 228 EVs in HP to keep the number a multiple of 4 (for Substitute).

Kyogre @ Blue Orb
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Icy Wind
- Origin Pulse
- Thunder
- Protect

Obligatory legendary -_- ... This is the Special Sweeper of the team, and usually serves as a backup in case the Perish Song strategy falls through the floor or for cleaning up remaining Pokémon.

Raichu @ Air Balloon
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fake Out
- Discharge
- Encore
- Protect

Quick supporting Pokémon. Fake Out pressure, Encore, diverting Electric attacks from Kyogre. Discharge for chance of Paralysis. Works rather well with Dugtrio.

Dugtrio @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Sucker Punch
- Bulldoze
- Beat Up

Supporting Pokemon and additional trapping for Perish Song. I find myself using Rock Slide a lot because of potential Flinching and Choice Scarf making it faster than most Pokémon; however, I'm finding that the other 3 moves not very useful, so I would definitely say this is a weak point in my team, but having the Arena Trap ability makes it really useful.

Azumarill @ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Perish Song
- Protect

Physical Sweeper and Perish Song user. Would use it more for Sweeping, but Azumarill usually can't use Belly Drum after being hit. So it's primarily for Perish Song.

Whimsicott @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Taunt
- Worry Seed
- Tailwind
- Protect

Taunt to counter Trick Room, Tailwind, and Dark Void. Worry Seed allows me to change troublesome abilities (*cough* Desolate Land, Delta Stream, Parental Bond *cough*)...

This is my first time posting, so yeah... ^_^;

 

[RebornFX]

Hey, really cool looking team. I like the idea of Perish Trap, but I'm not sure how functional it is to have 3 mons dedicated to it. My changes aim to take early KOs and take adavantage of Gengar's trapping capabilities to secure these KOs to preferably put your opponent in a 4v2 situation, at which point perish song can be a great win con even without Shadow Tag, though not having to rely on Perish Trap to win the game.

The first change that I'd recommend is adding another restricted legend to the team. The team really is missing out on raw damage output and I feel Mega Ray would fit the team quite well, forming the common RayOgre core. Rayquaza functions very well to put pressure on your opponent from turn one and functions with or without the mega depending on whether or not you bring Gengar. The set I recommend would be the standard physical set with Overheat instead of Draco Meteor, allowing you to take advantage of Rayquaza's ability to remove the weather and KO Steels such as Ferrothorn. I would suggest replacing Dugtrio with this, for the simple fact that Dugtrio's trapping capabilities are limited to grounded foes, its offensive presence is practically non existent and it is incredibly frail, meaning it will not last long enough for Perish Song to take effect.

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Overheat
- Protect

With this change, the team looks pretty Xerneas weak, with nothing on your team appreciating a hit or threatening it. For this reason I would suggest replacing Azumarill with Ferrothorn. Azumarill's niche has always been being able to fire off +6 Aqua Jets, and with Primal Groudon cock blocking it entirely and other restricted legends preventing it from setting up it just really isn't a strong pick in this format, and I feel the team gets too dependent on Perish song to win by having more than one user. I chose Ferrothorn over Aegislash in this slot for its ability to better stall out Perish song turns through Leech seed and Protect, though Aegislash may work better. The EVs allow Ferrothorn to OHKO Xerneas at +2 Speed, with the rest in Sp.def to better take hits from Xerneas and Kyogre.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 84 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect

The final team member change I'd suggest is running Crobat over Whimsicott. It seems to do everything your Whimsicott can do, such as a fast Taunt and TW, while also better taking on Smeargle, being immune to Fake Out, providing you with Quick Guard support, having more of an offensive presence with Super Fang (also meaning it is not complete Taunt bait) and having better synergy with M Gengar. The spread survives a Jolly Kang Double Edge.

Crobat @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 236 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Super Fang
- Tailwind
- Taunt
- Quick Guard

As for moveset changes, the first change I'd suggest is lowering the speed on M-Gengar slightly. This allows your Crobat to outspeed your Gengar and soften up your target with Super Fang. The spread I've provided below outspeeds Jolly Weavile and survives a LO Talonflame Brave Bird. I would also suggest running more special attack EVs and running Sludge Bomb over Shadow Ball. This allows Gengar to have a pretty good chance to OHKO opposing Xerneas (which improves even more once you factor in the poison chance) as well as hitting Mega Kang. This does mean that you can't really touch Groudon, but RayOgre gives you options to deal with it, as does your last slot option. I would suggest running a move that takes advantage of Gengar's ability to trapping ability to eliminate certain threats. HP Water can be interesting in conjunction with Kyogre to get a surprise KO on opposing Groudon, while HP Ice can take care of Mega Mence and (to an extent) Rayquaza. Disable can also be an interesting choice in conjuction to Raichu's Encore, forcing your opponent to Struggle while Perish song turns count down or simply remove your enemies only way of dealing damage to you if for example you disable a Precipice Blades as you bring in your Kyogre.

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 12 HP / 96 Def / 180 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Sludge Bomb
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Ice]/Hidden Power [Water]/Disable

Next up your Kyogre. The moveset seems fine to me, though I don't think that max speed is entirely necessary. With 2 forms of speed control and 4/5 of the rest of the Pokemon being very fast I feel that Kyogre would benefit more from having a more bulky spread. The following spread survives two Precipice blades from Jolly Groudon and outspeeds mega mence at -1.

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 172 Def / 60 SpA / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Origin Pulse
- Thunder
- Icy Wind
- Protect

And finally, I feel that Raichu should be running a Physical set with Volt Tackle. This hits Kyogre on its weaker side and with a Zap plate, Volt Tackle can OHKO most Kyogre.

Raichu @ Zap Plate
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Encore
- Volt Tackle
- Protect

There we go, hopefully this team functions pretty well. Sorry that half of the team members were changed, but Azumarill and Dugtrio just don't function well in the format and in this case I felt Crobat works better than Whimsicott.

Importable:

Hide

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 172 Def / 60 SpA / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Origin Pulse
- Thunder
- Icy Wind
- Protect

Raichu @ Zap Plate
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Encore
- Volt Tackle
- Protect

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 12 HP / 96 Def / 180 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Sludge Bomb
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 84 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Overheat
- Protect

Crobat @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 236 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Super Fang
- Tailwind
- Taunt
- Quick Guard

tl;dr

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Set change

Spread change

Set change

 

[iPRODiGY VGC]

RebornFX Made some great points. The only thing I'd like to add is the option of putting a Focus Sash on Raichu. Considering the amount of Kyogre checks you have you could probably get away with not running Zap Plate. Especially since everyone sort of knows Raichu's role as a Kyogre check, and in my experience either save Kyogre for late game of EV him to survive a VT.

Only other problem I could see for this team is Dialga.

 

[rawrsome]

RebornFX! I am absolutely astounded by the amount of explanation you provide in your feedback, and the cordially pleasant atmosphere that members like you engender in the Smogon Community (I mention the latter because — admittedly — I have been especially anxious about soliciting help initially; but I digress!)

Prior to this post, I have rather lightly play-tested the team adhering to your recommendation, albeit with iPRODiGY VGC's suggestion of Focus Sash on Raichu (I likewise express gratitude to ye, kind sir!) While I still have yet to experiment with the numerous options you've provided (notably Disable on Gengar, trying Aegislash in lieu of Ferrothorn, and alternating between Whimsicott and Crobat... Having Worry Seed has been game-changing for me before, so I want to see how that works with the new team); the team feels considerably more reliable! In comparison I see Dugtrio's and Azumarill's roles have been disappointingly lackluster and that other Pokémon make better use of those slots.

I have slight concerns about whether the role of Perish Song is mitigated by the two powerful sweepers on the team, but I'll just have to play the team more (gosh! my apologies if that comes off as brash and ungrateful!)

Anywho, thank you both so, so much for your input! It's been wonderfully helpful, and I inexpressibly appreciate the time and effort you put in helping people like me with Competitive Pokémon (^_^)

 

[iPRODiGY VGC]

Perish Song, in my opinion, shouldn't be used as your primary win condition. It's something to have in your back pocket. The problem I always have with Perish Trap teams is feeling obligated to bring Gender Gengar to every game. Try not to fall into that trap and you'll be able to utilize the team better.

That said another option for this team would be the addition of Primal Groudon in lieu of Mega Ray. With him you'll be able to trap a primal in with opposing weather up. Just something to consider. I'll put a sample set below if you feel inclined to try it out.

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Level: 50
EVs: 12 HP / 236 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Rock Slide
- Overheat
- Protect​