All right guys, I created this team a few days ago and laddered up to #1 with it tonight. I'm 16/1 with the team, and while it's certainly not perfect (a general lack of defensive synergy, among other things), I'm very happy with the general concept and would love some feedback!
Some of these mons might look pretty troll in Inheritance. Bear with me.
With this team I wanted to explore something that I've seen in almost no inheritance teams, and I've never been able to figure out why. So I thought I'd try this out myself and see if it's bad or just criminally underrated. The jury's still out, but I'm leaning towards the latter... Without further ado, I present:
The Team Support
Xatu (Registeel) @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Trick Room
- Roost
- Trick
I know this probably seems like some kind of joke, but hear me out. This guy is the Trick Room lead of your goddamn dreams. Bulky enough to take a hit from almost anything, virtually immune to status by virtue of Magic Bounce, and even tanky enough to TWO hits to pass to a sweeper, Registeel is the best Trick Room user I could ever conceive of. The best part of using this guy is an opponent predicting the switch to an offensive mon and using a coverage move to hit it -- which ends up hitting the metal menace instead. As the Shieldmaiden from Hearthstone would say, "I can take a hit!" Good general counter to atespeeds, and beefy overall with reliable recovery.
I've considered slotting things other than Trick, since I don't think I've ever used it yet.
Swoobat (Cresselia) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Trick Room
- Roost
- Knock Off
Setting up Trick Room can give up a reasonable amount of offensive momentum. Threatening sweepers use this momentum to set up. These sweepers get walled pretty handily by Cresselia. One of the strongest priority moves in the tier, Mega Pinsir's Extremespeed, doesn't even do 40%. Moon duck can tank nearly anything and get up that miraculous Speed reversal.
The Firepower
Crawdaunt (Tyranitar) @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
The main problem with running like a set like this on a regular team: Tyranitar's questionable defensive typing and horrible speed tier for an offensive threat. Sure, it's bulky. Doesn't matter when you get OHKOed by every coverage move ever. But what happens when you get in safely (thanks to Registeel) and actually outspeed things?
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Tyranitar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 370-436 (103.6 - 122.1%)
... yikes. That's a thing. This thing OHKOs Garchomp on a neutral hit. Which means it also OHKOs anything equally or less tanky than Garchomp - including things like offensive Heatran, non-mega Gyarados, all the genies, and more. With a little bit of chip damage, almost nothing on an offensive team other than Mach Punch users stand a chance at actually surviving this hit. This guy is my primary win condition against offense. Defensively oriented teams don't like it much either, since most defensive mons don't appreciate taking 70%+ and losing their items. In Trick Room, this Tyranitar underspeeds everything down to base 38, notably including Hippowdon (which it 2HKOs on the switch with Knock Off) but notably NOT including Ferrothorn and Slowbro.
The other moves are mostly filler, though Crabhammer did come in handy against Primal Groudon (when it was allowed for a few hours) and Aqua Jet swept one game for me that went very late.
Camerupt-Mega (Heatran) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
On the special side of things, this mon also keeps the trend of being able to OHKO offense. Dual STABs and Earth Power provide amazing coverage, and LO Sheer Force is icing on the cake. Not too much to say here. Note that it does beat a fair number of Primordial Sea users by virtue of its coverage, and only really struggles with certain bulky waters. This Heatran is also a threat against slower defensive teams because it doesn't necessarily need Trick Room up to outpace those.
Mega Heracross (Armaldo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Blast
- Pin Missile
- Bullet Seed
- Close Combat
The third abuser. Nobody ever expects Armaldo to be able to do anything, but this little guy surprises with a very solid 125 Attack, no moves under 120 power, and a respectable 75/100/70 bulk when invested. Can counter +0 Mega Pinsir and check +2 Mega Pinsir, even those with sub thanks to the multi-hit moves.
This guy is probably the most expendable member of the team, and the one that I'd most readily sacrifice to improve defensive synergy. He doesn't accomplish too much that Tyranitar doesn't. Although the amount of sheer power this guy has is legitimately impressive and surprising, he doesn't offer too much the team doesn't already accomplish.
And finally... The Bunny
Lucario (Lopunny) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Swords Dance / Thunder Punch / Protect
I had my doubts using Mega Lopunny on this team. Nobody uses it in Inheritance, plus on a Trick Room team? That's just asking for failure, right?
Turns out I was wrong. Lopunny's been a pivotal member of this team from the very start. It's faster than every common atespeed user, and can hit back with a powerful STAB Extremespeed of its own. Further, it inherits a STAB CC from Lucario, as well as retaining a beautiful coverage move in Ice Punch. The last move is mostly filler. Swords Dance is great for cleaning against offensive teams, but +2 Extremespeed just barely misses the OHKO on a number of key offensive mons (90% to Mega Pinsir...). Protect is an option to Mega Evolve more safely, but in general I've found that bringing in Lopunny as a fast revenge killer more or less guarantees its Mega Evolution anyways. This thing is an invaluable member of my team, as its blazing speed tier lets it function outside of trick room, while its powerful STAB priority makes it relevant even while it's getting outslowed.
That's my team! Let me know what you guys think.
