Xyless' Trick Room - RMT

[Xyless]

I'm trying to make a team that can adapt to most clauses, which include the Item Clause. Thus, I'm trying to keep two build options: one for with Item Clause and one without.

I based my list on JasonTongRulz's doubles Trick Room build, but tweaked multiple things and added two more Pokemon for singles (Jellicent and Ferrothorn).

Another side rule I've sort of given myself that I might drop if there's better options: I've been making this team under the idea that it would be all Gen 5 Pokemon, so if there's any strange Pokemon in there, that's probably why.

My current main issue is picking a lead, as TR is slow anyways.

Anyways, here's my builds right now. First item is with Item Clause, second is without.

Summary:

Possible Sub:
Trick Roomers:

Non-Trick Roomers:

THE MAIN TEAM

Cofagrigus @ Leftovers
Trait: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 88 SAtk / 28 SDef
IVs: 31 HP / 31 Atk / 30 Def / 30 Sp.Atk / 30 Sp.Def / 2 Spe (HP Fighting 70)
Quiet Nature (+Sp.Atk, -Spe)
- Trick Room
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

I have recently shifted Cofagrigus to the head of the team, now that Porygon2 has been added, I needed a better lead. With amazing bulk, Leftovers, and Nasty Plot, Cofag's been a surprise main contributor who has swept some teams, due to them being unable to actually kill him before getting two Nasty Plots off. Shadow Ball and HP Fighting cover types very well. Also, Nasty Plot was a recommendation from someone I talked to, which I put over WoW.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover


I decided to add Porygon2 after reading through a few other teams and an article about Trick Room. I noticed that my team got shut down by Gliscor in particular, due to his Poison Heal and immense amount of stalling. Thus, I added Porygon2 to add some Ice coverage. I gave P2 standard sweeper stats, and Eviolite helps immensely keeping him alive. Plus, I finally have a Trick Roomer that can recover. I left P2 out of lead in case I did wind up facing a Gliscor, so I can switch him in before Gliscor uses Fling (which most do) to poison the opponent to free up a slot for Acrobatics. That gives me poison heal and stuff. Trace is an amazing ability.

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SAtk 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef
Quiet Nature (+SpAtk, -Spd)
-Trick Room
-Shadow Ball Recover
-Psychic Psyshock
-Focus Blast

What I consider to be a staple in any TR team. Magic Guard nullifies Life Orb's penalty, so that is a no-brainer. Focus Blast is to cover Darkness weakness a little, and replaced Recover with Shadow Ball and Psyshock with Psychic after talking it over, as I already have physical sweepers that can cover its physical attacking issues (like Blissey), as well as give more attacking options.

Escavalier @ Choice Band
Trait: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Def
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
Return Swords Dance
Megahorn
Pursuit
X-Scissor

I've replaced Ferrothorn with Escavalier, as it's been decided that a Trick Room team needs sweepers, not tanks. Megahorn is extremely powerful, and Pursuit punishes people who switch out on the fly. Being a non-trick roomer, it was pointless for Escavalier to have a stat-boosting attack, so I replaced it with X-Scissor. Return was added in case I wanted to cover different bases if I expected the opponent to switch in something that resisted bug.

Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb Toxic Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SpD
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
-Stone Edge
-Drain Punch
-Mach Punch -Bulk Up
-Facade

Conkeldurr was the first Pokemon my friend recommended for my team as far as a sweeper. Its low speed and high attack makes it a devastating force in my team. Now that I've added Facade (instead of Hammer Arm) to give him slightly more options, he's improved. Someone recommended I remove Flame Orb for Toxic Orb, considering I should be switching out before Toxic becomes more damaging. However, I decided that, even without Trick Room, I sometimes find that I want to keep Conkeldurr in to take out a key enemy or get a quick Mach Punch if he's near the end of his life anyways, so I switched back to Flame Orb.

Eelektross @ Expert Belt / Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpAtk
-Flamethrower
-U-Turn
-Thunderbolt
-Dragon Claw

The latest addition to my team, thanks to V0x recommending it to me. I wasn't sure what item to give it, so I decided to make it an all-or-nothing and fit it with a Life Orb. Flamethrower is to deal with the pesky Steel types and the plethora of Pokemon that are 4x weak to Fire (also a generally good move). People don't really expect it to have Flamethrower, so it hasn't had much problem switching in on enemies like Ferrothorn or Scyther. I replaced Wild Charge with Thunderbolt, since he was damaging himself so much with recoil at times, it became a scary move to use. Dragon Claw is the only super effective move on my team against Dragons. U-Turn is for scouting and revenge killing if needed, as well as a quick escape for when I know my Trick Room will be ending anyways.

OTHER OPTIONS:

Whimsicott @ Focus Sash / Focus Sash
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd / SpDef 4
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SpAtk)
-Trick Room
-Taunt
-Encore
-Stun Spore Leech Seed

I originally had Whimsicott with Leech Seed instead of Stun Spore, but I've realized that, because I don't really have entry hazards, there's no reason my opponent wouldn't just switch out. Considering Whimsicott's life is potentially very short, I added Stun Spore, so he at least can hope to have an effect on the match down the line if he winds up dying before he gets his Trick Room up. If the opponent switches for some reason after being paralyzed, use Stun Spore again the next turn and get another Paralyze out (no rules against multiple Paralyzes, I believe?). I actually put Trick Room at a relatively low priority for Whimsicott, mostly as a "if you can pull off not getting taunted AND stun sporing, then you have free ride" option. I pulled Whimsi, however, because I wanted a Pokemon that was not as much of a suicide lead.

Jellicent @ ? / Leftovers
Trait: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe)
-Trick Room
-Scald
-Recover
-Shadow Ball

Jellicent was added to replace Whimsicott, whom I didn't feel was worth keeping in a TR team. I later put Whimsicott back in for safer setups for Trick Room. I originally chose Jellicent because I needed a Pokemon who could resist fire, so this was an obvious choice. Cursed Body makes Jellicent a great option against physical sweepers, and Scald gives the chance of burning, which is always a plus.

Gigalith @ Normal Gem / Normal Gem
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 SpDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Explosion -Curse
-Protect

After using Gigalith, he did ok with what I needed, but he just didn't have the options that Eelektross did (in particular being able to choose between attack and spatk), so I took him out. If I did doubles, he might find his way back in my team.

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet / Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp Def
Sassy Nature (+SpDef, -Spd)
-Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
-Toxic
-Power Whip

My possible lead, to test waters with the other lead. Stealth Rock would be my starting move, and depending on the opponent's Pokemon at the time, either Leech Seed or switch out to another Pokemon that can TR. Power Whip was the main attack people recommended for me for Ferrothorn. I ultimately decided that Ferrothorn was too defense-oriented to be of use to my team, and replaced him with Escavalier.

NON-UNOVA OPTIONS:

Machamp @ Lum Berry / Leftovers
Trait: No Guard
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpAtk)
-Dynamicpunch
-Payback
-Stone Edge
-Bullet Punch


Main Issues I Have:
-I don't know what order my Pokemon should be, mostly because I have no experience in competitive play other than back in the Red/Blue days. In particular, if I should start with a TRer or with someone else.
-I don't know what items are worth giving to each Pokemon, as I don't know much about Hold Items, since again, I haven't played competitively at all, so most of the time, I've used Amulet Coin, Leftovers, and EXP Shares and stuff, not "serious items".
-I feel like I don't have enough type coverage, but that might just be from always trying to have multiple kinds of Pokemon in my single player teams.

Other Questions:
-What are my primary weaknesses? In particular, what threats could I have? Fire type attacks seem to be my largest issue, as well as buff-heavy teams that would out-power me by the time I'm set up.
-Is there any other Pokemon you'd recommend? Again note that I'm trying to stay pure Gen V, but if one Pokemon is a necessity, I might consider adding it.

 

[MegaChrisHimself]

i would strongly recommend that you change conkeldurr to the typical no guard machamp set as this is potentially a 6-0 sweeper when used in a trick room team

Machamp @ lum berry / leftovers (iron ball may be a possibility)
adamant nature / trait: no guard
EVS: 240 HP / 248 Atk / 16 SpD / 4 Spe
-dynamicpunch
-payback
-stone edge
-bullet punch/mach punch (mach punch is probably better as it gets STAB, i've never had much luck with bullet punch)
this set is a perfect fighting type set, giving you the type coverage you need plus the 1/2 stab moves. you might actually want to replace the priority moves with something else if you're running trick room consistantly, something like maybe ice punch? that would give you better coverage for dragon types.

 

[666lumberjack]

Machamp doesn't learn Mach Punch.
Also, when posting a RMT thread, it's generally assumed that you will have played 20-30 matches with the team to get a rough feel for what things give you trouble. If you don't have Pokemon Online yet, I suggest you download it and do some testing, and if you do, just go ahead and test the team before you post it up.
(link is pokemon-online.eu)

 

[Lemonade]

The general rule of thumb is if you aren't setting up Trick Room, you should not have a stat boosting move. Thus, Escavalier would be more effective with Choice Band. Essentially, you take down any Skarmory or Gliscor and then spam Megahorn, as the other moves are rarely used.

Next, I would like to address your TR core. All three of your Pokemon are weak to Dark. While this is good for drawing in Dark moves and then switching to a resist, having three leaves your team very vulnerable. You may want to consider simply switching back to Whimsicott for Jellicent. The idea is to create an opening to get a free Trick Room up, not come in on anything and try to set it.
TR/encore/taunt/leech seed/sub are basically the five moves to choose from, in order of effectiveness. This helps you deal with two huge problems of TR: set up sweepers in general and taunters. Encore a move, TR, then switch out to your sweeper to wreak havoc for 3 more turns.

The team also somewhat has an issue with Skarmory being able to outstall your TR turns. Instead of Gig, try a mixed Eelwhatever (electric type, levitates). Flamethrower, u-turn, wild bolt/thunderbolt, and Dragon Claw/Brick Break would be the general set, with 252/252 Atk/SpA EVs for maximum power. This breaks down annoying stall cores as well. The idea is to cover stuff for 3 turns, u-turning out to your TRoomer in the last turn. Moves depend on what you trouble with,

 

[Xyless]

Machamp doesn't learn Mach Punch.
Also, when posting a RMT thread, it's generally assumed that you will have played 20-30 matches with the team to get a rough feel for what things give you trouble. If you don't have Pokemon Online yet, I suggest you download it and do some testing, and if you do, just go ahead and test the team before you post it up.
(link is pokemon-online.eu)

I actually just downloaded it an hour or so, and have been playing tons of people.

The general rule of thumb is if you aren't setting up Trick Room, you should not have a stat boosting move. Thus, Escavalier would be more effective with Choice Band. Essentially, you take down any Skarmory or Gliscor and then spam Megahorn, as the other moves are rarely used.

Next, I would like to address your TR core. All three of your Pokemon are weak to Dark. While this is good for drawing in Dark moves and then switching to a resist, having three leaves your team very vulnerable. You may want to consider simply switching back to Whimsicott for Jellicent. The idea is to create an opening to get a free Trick Room up, not come in on anything and try to set it.
TR/encore/taunt/leech seed/sub are basically the five moves to choose from, in order of effectiveness. This helps you deal with two huge problems of TR: set up sweepers in general and taunters. Encore a move, TR, then switch out to your sweeper to wreak havoc for 3 more turns.

The team also somewhat has an issue with Skarmory being able to outstall your TR turns. Instead of Gig, try a mixed Eelwhatever (electric type, levitates). Flamethrower, u-turn, wild bolt/thunderbolt, and Dragon Claw/Brick Break would be the general set, with 252/252 Atk/SpA EVs for maximum power. This breaks down annoying stall cores as well. The idea is to cover stuff for 3 turns, u-turning out to your TRoomer in the last turn. Moves depend on what you trouble with,

Noted, and I'll look into what you say and add what works.

The issue I have with having Whimsicott is having another Fire weakness, whereas Jellicent was my counter to Fire before. But I do see what you're saying, it's better to have a character that can root itself on setting things up quickly (Whimsicott) and has a mutual weakness with just one of your team as opposed to having the three primary characters be weak to the exact same element. It's one issue I was noticing with going online: whenever a dark would show up, I would either hurry to switch out or pray Focus Blast would hit.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

I utterly agree with CB on Escalavier. Its always going first meaning it can rape so many things outright or set them up for your second mon (eg, Phys Def Jellicent takes around 45% as a resisted attack).

 

[Xyless]

After messing around with builds for Whimsicott, I think I'm going to make him my lead and give him Stun Spore instead of Leech Seed. Considering I don't have any shift punishing options (Spikes, Stealth Rock, etc), the opponent has no problem switching out. Running him with Trick Room / Stun Spore / Encore / Taunt will keep him from being taunted himself, then will let him Stun Spore to try to catch the second wave (attack), THEN let him Trick Room and switch out. It's all about luck, but I like running with a little luck on my side. Plus, giving him Stun Spore will give him a better chance to sneak in after one of the team is killed, reset paralyze and TR, then sneak out.

Again, another round of "maybe it will work maybe it won't", but it's something to try out, right?


EDIT: Also, the Excavalier isn't really working out well against most teams I'm using. He's currently running Megahorn / Counter / Pursuit / Return. I think I am going to replace Counter with Double-Edge and Pursuit with...well, I don't even know. It has good coverage, but if I don't catch them switching, then it becomes a weak move that they know not to switch out on.

 

[Xyless]

After doing some reading and studying, I decided to add Porygon2 to the team. He's added some amazing coverage (Ice Beam in particular for Gliscor coverage), and he's the first that I have felt comfortable enough in his moveset to give Recover. My team has been doing far better since his addition.

Also, I've put Cofagrigus in lead spot now, as I didn't feel comfortable making P2 apparent, in case the opponent has a Pokemon with a great ability that I could potentially abuse, like Gliscor, Zapdos, or Heatran. I also gave Conkeldurr a Flame Orb instead of Toxic, gave it Facade, and taught my Escavalier X-Scissor instead of Counter, to give him an accuracy option.