SV OU DOUBLE PUNCH: Crabominable + Belly Drum Iron Hands Trick Room

[Mr502]

Trick Room has been very underutilized this generation, and I think there's some great Trick Room setters and abusers not being utilized enough. Enter Crabominable + Iron Hands Trick Room. Both very slow and heavy hitters, they each serve roles in dishing out damage and killing things under Trick Room — the former going for raw power with the latter opting for bulk. As you will see, there are some odd choices in what I decided to do with these sets; I tried to go for Swiss Army knives rather than full blown power optimization as Trick Room can play awkward if your momentum is ever stopped. Plus, added flexibility reduces risk in matchups. Without further ado, here are the sets. With each set I included a description of their role and why I included them, some calcs for the two featured Pokémon and alternative options if you hit snags or don't like the current sets. And, here is the PokePaste for those wanting to use it: https://pokepast.es/5089e630602554e9

CRAB (Crabominable) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Close Combat
- Ice Hammer
- Earthquake
- Gunk Shot​

Crabominable seems like a lackluster Pokemon (her PU tiering would agree), but she does have great tools to help her succeed in OU Trick Room. Crabominable's coverage is amazing, and with an amazing offensive typing, is hard to switch into. Life Orb boosts all her attacks, all in triple digits attack power. Close Combat and Ice Hammer are your two stab options, both with 120 power after Iron Fist. Ice Hammer's secondary effect is negligible as well; in fact, inside Trick Room, she needs to be at -1 to underspeed Clodsire (outspeed in Trick Room) who she can then OHKO (even PhysDef). Close Combat hits everything well, and can OHKO Garganacl. Earthquake is for Toxapex, a Pokémon who would otherwise resist Crabominable, and can 2HKO even the Physically defensive The Pex set. Gunk Shot is for Fairies. Fairy types threaten Crabominable pretty well, but Gunk Shot can even threaten a OHKO on full PhysDef Hatterene. Crabominable does need to watch out for Air Balloon Gholdengo. Athough Earthquake does a good up to 73.5% on PhysDef and can OHKO offensive ones, it will easily get OHKOd by Make It Rain regardless of its offensive investment.

252+ Atk Life Orb Crabominable Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Garganacl: 367-432 (90.8 - 106.9%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Crabominable Ice Hammer vs. 248 HP / 252 Def Clodsire: 510-603 (110.1 - 130.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Crabominable Ice Hammer vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 494-585 (137.6 - 162.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Crabominable Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 199-234 (49.8 - 58.6%) -- 70.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Crabominable Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Toxapex: 177-208 (58.2 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Crabominable Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 234-278 (61.9 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Crabominable Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hatterene: 281-333 (88.3 - 104.7%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

Alternatives: I wouldn't recommend changing Crabominable's moves: the current choices give perfect neutral coverage against every OU Pokémon. However, if you find yourself struggling against Rain, Thunder Punch would be a good option to hit Pelipper. The Tera Type, however, I'm very unsure of. Depending on your preference for offensive or defensive tech, this can definitely be flexed. I have found myself conserving my Tera most games for Hatterene, Iron Hands or Kingambit, so it probably does not matter overall. Hyper Cutter over Iron Fist could be considered, but there aren't any relevant Intimidate Pokémon running around in OU right now to justify it. You can exchange Life Orb for Expert Belt for more longetivity, but honestly you don't need that; even with max HP, she's thin as paper.

HAND (Iron Hands) @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 128 HP / 116 Atk / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
- Belly Drum
​

Seeing Iron Hands' set, the first thing that probably comes to mind is, "Why on earth does Booster Energy activate Defense on an offensive Belly Drum set?" Well dear viewer, in using this Iron Hands set, Booster Energy Defense allows you to survive a stupid amount of different hits after Belly Drum, and the offensive boost after Belly Drum is usually only worth it for the Unaware Pokémon. 128 HP lands it on an uneven number to give you an effective extra HP point after Belly Drum, and 116 Atk is as much Atk as you can put without activating it for Booster Energy. It's best to bring this in after Trick Room -> Memento Rabsca, but it's so tanky that if a set-up opportunity comes up, take it. The nice thing about its bulk is you don't even need Trick Room for it to put in work, and its so bulky it can grab an extra KO or two after TR wears off. The move choices, although weaker, are important for its longetevity. Drain Punch is essential in keeping it healthy and not lowering its defenses, Thunder Punch keeps it from taking Wild Charge recoil and Ice Punch gives it some coverage against Ground types such as Clodsire.

+6 116 Atk Iron Hands Drain Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Great Tusk: 372-438 (100.2 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 116 Atk Iron Hands Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Protosynthesis Great Tusk: 288-340 (66.3 - 78.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+6 116 Atk Iron Hands Drain Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 328-387 (82.2 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+6 116 Atk Iron Hands Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 244+ Def Rotom-Wash: 325-384 (106.9 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 116 Atk Iron Hands Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 351-414 (92.8 - 109.5%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+6 116 Atk Iron Hands Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Unaware Skeledirge: 118-141 (28.7 - 34.3%) -- 3.3% chance to 3HKO
+6 116 Atk Iron Hands Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Dondozo: 156-186 (30.9 - 36.9%) -- 66.5% chance to 3HKO
+6 116 Atk Iron Hands Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Unaware Clodsire: 236-278 (50.9 - 60%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Great Tusk Earthquake vs. 128 HP / 252+ Def Quark Drive Iron Hands: 144-170 (29.9 - 35.3%) -- 20.2% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Headlong Rush vs. 128 HP / 252+ Def Quark Drive Iron Hands: 206-246 (42.8 - 51.1%) -- 3.9% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 128 HP / 252+ Def Quark Drive Iron Hands: 144-170 (29.9 - 35.3%) -- 20.2% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Roaring Moon Earthquake vs. 128 HP / 252+ Def Quark Drive Iron Hands: 198-234 (41.1 - 48.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Alternatives: If you want to go full offensive, go for it. It does help change 3HKOs to 2HKOs on the Unaware gang. If you want to bring this thing out multiple times a game (a.k.a. use Revival Blessing for it), you could use Punching Glove, which boosts each of its moves and keeps it from wearing down to Rocky Helmet. Alternatively, you could drop the two punching STABs altogether and opt for the more reckless Close Combat and Wild Charge. As you can see from the calcs, most things are OHKOs, so you could invest some of its Attack into more bulk. Lastly, you can change its Tera Typing, but I have found Steel useful for protecting against Fairy and Psychic types, both typically strong Special attackers.

Rabsca @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Synchronize
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Bug Buzz
- Memento
- Revival Blessing
- Trick Room
​

Another PU 'mon? Yes, and this dung beetle is essential in the Trick Room process, although there are other options. From the added utility and pressure in Revival Blessing to excellent Special bulk, Rabsca does serve an important function on the team. Addtionally, Tera Dark allows it to tank Kingambit and other Dark-type attacks in a pinch. Not much needs to be said about Rabsca; its set is straightforward: set Trick Room and then bring someone back or Memento to keep momentum.

Alternatives: I won't pretend there aren't other great Trick Room setters with great Special bulk that could fit this slot. Slowking is another strong Trick Room setter with good Special bulk with the added benefits of Regenerator and pivoting in Chilly Reception which can increase Crabominable's bulk. Indeedee-F is another great option, with the added benefit of Psychic Terrain to block priority and Healing Wish over Memento, although she is significantly faster than the other two. Experimenting with these options might not be a bad idea, but I like the funny Dung Beetle guy for now. Other options on Rabsca itself are the attack slot; this could be replaced with an extra status move like one of the screens or an attacking move like Struggle Bug with an additional effect. If you are extra brave and unphazed by hazards, you could run a Focus Sash, but without reliable hazard removal on this team I would not recommend it.

Kingambulus (Kingambit) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Kowtow Cleave
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
​

Kingambit is such a free Pokémon. I've talked about this thing on my channels, but I truly think he may be a little two powerful for OU, but that's my personal hot take. This thing is meant to sweep in the end game, Trick Room up or not. His current Speed stat is meant to gurantee outspeeds on bulky Corviknight and bulky Skeledirge, even if they are speed crept a bit. The nice thing about Rabsca's Revival Blessing is you can effectively have one extra teammate and its initial death still counts for Supreme Overlord. Lum Berry allows you to avoid hax from Volcarona's Flame Body and allow you to not have to play Sucker Punch mindgames against Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave. Tera Flying allows him the best opportunity to set up Swords Dance on Ground types such as Great Tusk.

Alternatives: This is the best Kingambit set in my opinion. However, if you want to fully lean in to Trick Room, you could opt to put his Speed investment into HP. Heavy-Duty Boots allow him to come in better throughout the game and punishes him less for Tera Flying in the midgame. Leftovers is also an option to put more pressure on your opponent to kill him quickly and play Sucker Punch mindgames. You can put Low Kick in place of one of your attacks or even Swords Dance, but this is almost solely for the Kingambit matchup and I don't believe it's worth the opportunity cost of dropping his other moves. Tera Flying could be switched for a different defensive Tera, but I strongly recommend against it as Tera Flying is so valuable in set-up.

Hatterene @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Draining Kiss
- Mystical Fire
- Calm Mind
- Trick Room
​

Hatterene is an amazing Pokémon, and serves so much more function than setting Trick Room. Calm Mind exerts a lot of pressure on the opponent to kill her quickly, and Trick Room ensures she moves first for long enough to set up and be annoying. Hatterene also boasts a good defensive profile, especially with max Defense. Tera Fire is useful offensively and defensively. Offensively it gives extra power to Mystical Fire to help it break past bulky Pokémon; on defense it protects you against one of the few things that threaten Hatterene: Iron Head. The downside to Tera is it makes you very vulnerable to Ground types if you don't line up your Trick Rooms correctly in conjunction with it. I originally ran Psychic + Draining Kiss in the attacking slots, but Psychic only helped against Toxapex (which Iron Hands and Crabominable can switch in on if you've already set up Trick Room anyway), and Mystical Fire helps in her matchup to Steels and Volcarona. This was one of the "Swiss Army knife optimizations" I talked about earlier; Psychic lost the team so much momentum if the opponent brought in a Steel type.

Alternatives: If you are allergic to the no Psychic STAB, you could run Psychic or Psyshock in place of Mystical Fire or Calm Mind, but again I wouldn't recommend. If you'd like to play a faster team style, you could run Healing Wish in place of Calm Mind (or Draining Kiss if you want to run Psychic STAB), but Hatterene works so well as a set-up wall that I wouldn't recommend that either. You could use Tera Water to make Hatterene a more defensive wall, but then you have to worry more about Salt Cure.

Glimmora @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Mortal Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Memento
​

Glimmora is a great hazard suicide lead. With access to Stealth Rock, Spikes and its Toxic Debris ability, it makes a great first impression to discourage your opponent from switching around during your Trick Room turns. In addition, Mortal Spin can gurantee a Poison on one of your opponent's Pokémon (ex. Great Tusk is usually a common anti-lead I've faced, and Poisoning Great Tusk is huge for Iron Hands sweeping later in the game). Memento also gives you a guranteed and safe exit plan if your opponent tries to take advantage of the 'mons passivity.

Alternatives: Tera Type is pretty negligible; you have to be desperate if you Tera Glimmora. That said, Tera Flying is also a decent option. Those 4 Atk EVs are also pretty negligible, but they could be but on Defense.

Conclusion
Trick Room is a very underrated playstyle right now, and its underappreciation has led to a lot of teams not being prepared for it. This team has many consistent options in and out of Trick Room for guranteed progress, strong backup plans in case things go wrong, and most important of all, is a fun and unique team to spice up your ladder adventure. If you have any additional questions about the team please let me know, and let me know if there's formatting or styling things I could improve on; this is my first time putting a team on the forums so I hope things were mostly alright. Have a good day :)
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Edit: Corrected some Iron Hands calcs that previously incorrectly factored in Quark Drive or Electric Terrain.

 

[Motor Hawk]

With several hard-hitting mons, have you thought about putting healing wish on Hatt and pivoting more toward a suicide lead/ utility mon? It would pair well with reviving from rabsca and the bulk that the mons you are using have.

 

[Mr502]

With several hard-hitting mons, have you thought about putting healing wish on Hatt and pivoting more toward a suicide lead/ utility mon? It would pair well with reviving from rabsca and the bulk that the mons you are using have.

I definitely have thought about it, but I have not tried it myself yet. This specific Hatterene has been the reason I’ve won a lot of games so I’ve been reluctant to swap any of her moves around.

 

[zReptar]

Based asf team