Hello everyone. Resident Natdex Ladder meme and washed Monotype player Bit here with another silly RMT, this time built around Trick Room! I'd never used this playstyle before and a quick check of the Natdex RMT forums showed very few teams using this gimmick, specially ones trying to optimize it as much as it can be. With that in mind, I decided to build using the 'optimal' TR setup and give it my own spin to make it fit my playstyle. Thus this team is born, with four aggressive Trick Room abusers and three different setters, attempting to break through the opponent's team quickly and sweep while my setters are still alive.
I knew from the start what abusers I wanted to use for my Trick Room. Taking some cues from different people, I arrived at the conclusion the most versatile trio would be Ursaluna, Mega Mawile and Marowak-Alola, each one providing different offensive and defensive types for the team to play around the usual weaknesses of Trick Room teams. I considered Melmetal over Marowak, but having two out of three sweepers walled by Mega Scizor and punished by contact abilities wasn't appealing to me, so I ended up going with Marowak. Initially I used Slowbro as my physically defensive setter, but I kept struggling with my double Ground weakness and no resistance, so I ended up swapping it for Cresselia.
This ended up being the final team, although I still kept tweaking sets as I climbed. Initially I was using a bulky defensive Hatterene as I'd seen in other Trick Room teams, but eventually I figured I'd try out a Z move on it seeing as I didn't have an abuser. I never went back after that decision, because Z Misty Explosion Hatterene kept impressing me in multiple situations. Additionally, I was running Mental Herb Cresselia but I found it didn't come up often. Even in lead situations where the opponent could prevent Trick Room with Taunt, they usually expected Mental Herb and just clicked something else, or were weary of a Hatterene switching in and bouncing the Taunt back. With that in mind, I swapped to Rocky Helmet, helping me in the terrible Melmetal and Mega Lopunny matchups.
Ballora (Hatterene) (F) @ Fairium Z
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Misty Explosion
- Trick Room
- Psychic Noise
- Healing Wish
The secret weapon of the team and the main hazard deterrent through it's intimidating aura alone, Hatterene is crucial to this team's success. She's valuable in some measure in almost every game and practically always worth keeping alive over either Cress or P2 thanks to her offensive pressure. Whether it's for a one-time nuke past a physical wall or deleting a dangerous sweeper or even a setup TR and Healing Wish sacrifice play, Hatterene almost always has something to do. Switch her in when you think your opponent is clicking hazards, which usually happens on the same turn they expect you to Trick Room with either p2 or Cress.
There's no need to save the Z-move Nuke, it's usually best to try to get an inmediate KO for momentum. Z-Misty Explosion kills alot of things, but you rarely end up clicking the actual Misty Explosion move... Unless it's to do something like block a Terapagos spin while breaking it's shell or break a Gholdengo's Air Balloon without losing a turn. Psychic Noise is valuable as one of the team's two ways to go around Substitute and allows Hatt to wear down her's own switchins through it's Heal Block effect. The most value Hatt can get in a game is setting up Trick Room, nuking a Pokemon that thought it could tank any one hit, then Healing Wishing into one of the sweepers to continue the onslaught.
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 402-474 (105.2 - 124%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Alomomola: 619-730 (115.9 - 136.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kingambit: 382-451 (112 - 132.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 364-430 (95 - 112.2%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 180-212 (57.1 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Alomomola: 619-730 (115.9 - 136.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kingambit: 382-451 (112 - 132.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 364-430 (95 - 112.2%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Hatterene Twinkle Tackle (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 180-212 (57.1 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Baby (Cresselia) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Moonlight
- Trick Room
- Lunar Dance
Cresselia. The physically defensive backbone of the team and the main answer to all sorts of threats such as Mega Lopunny, Mega Medicham, non-Protective Pads Melmetal, Landorus-T, etc. Cresselia's main purpose is to take a physical hit, set the Trick Room up, and either Moonlight to Trick Room again later or switch to a sweeper. Depending on the situation, it may be best to save Cress or use Lunar Dance to setup a sweep.
Ice Beam was chosen as the best coverage option for the team, enabling Cress to defeat all sorts of threats such as Landorus-T, Gliscor, Dragonite and Garchomp all on her own. Moonlight provides semi-reliable recovery and allows Cresselia to wear down Melmetal and Urshifu-Rapid trying to spam their multi-hit moves into it. Trick Room is self explanatory and Lunar Dance provides a way to sacrifice Cresselia while preserving momentum and later instantly heal a previously damaged sweeper.
F10-N4 (Porygon2) @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Teleport
- Tri Attack
- Recover
The specially defensive backbone of the team and main Gholdengo answer, Porygon2! In most games, the lead will either be Cresselia or Porygon2. The reason for this is that few teams can OHKO both, guaranteeing Trick Room will be going up almost inmediatly. Consider carefully whether it's best to let Cress or Porygon2 take a Knock Off on lead, as whether it's best to preserve the Rocky Helmet or the Eviolite depends on the matchup.
Trick Room is self-explanatory, Teleport is there to allow Porygon2 to grant a free switch to a teammate which is specially potent with Ursaluna as based on how the pivot mechanics work, Ursaluna being Teleported in will instantly activate his Flame Orb, which is not how it works when it's switched in using Healing Wish or Lunar Dance. Tri Attack was chosen as Porygon2's best move to handle Substitute Kyurem, as it can break the sub of 404 HP Kyurem most of the time. Recover is there in order to ease repeated switch-ins into powerful Special threats such as Gholdengo, Charizard-Y, Raging Bolt and Tapu Lele. Trace is crucial as the ability in order to block Scarf or Specs Gholdengo's Trick utilizing it's own Good as Gold, along with Intimidating Landorus-T on switch-in and other useful effects such as stealing Alomomola's Regenerator.
Freddy (Ursaluna) (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Headlong Rush
- Fire Punch
The main attraction and the reason many even consider playing Trick Room... Ursaluna! This pokemon is absurd. Offensive threats get OHKO'd by unboosted burned Facade, Headlong Rush deletes anything weak to it and Fire Punch provides crucial coverage to hit Ferrothorn, Corviknight and Mega Scizor for inmense damage. While you can usually claim a kill every turn the bear is in, sometimes it's most effective to get to +2 as the opponent switches and just claim two brainless Facade kills instead. Missing a prediction with Ursaluna can have it waste all of your TR turns without making much progress, so the safe play ironically enough is usually clicking what you'd think is a 'callout' SD on a switch.
252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zamazenta: 352-415 (108.3 - 127.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Note it's not +1 Defense)
-1 252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 288-340 (90.2 - 106.5%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Headlong Rush vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 362-428 (119.4 - 141.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 318-375 (83 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 80+ Def Ferrothorn: 384-456 (109 - 129.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 660-777 (123.5 - 145.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-Therian: 459-541 (120.1 - 141.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Fire Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 396-466 (99.2 - 116.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
-1 252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 288-340 (90.2 - 106.5%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Headlong Rush vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 362-428 (119.4 - 141.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 318-375 (83 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 80+ Def Ferrothorn: 384-456 (109 - 129.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 660-777 (123.5 - 145.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-Therian: 459-541 (120.1 - 141.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Guts Ursaluna Fire Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 396-466 (99.2 - 116.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
Chica (Mawile-Mega) (F) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
The Trick Room Mega, as far as I'm concerned. Sorry Camerupt. Mawile provides the team with not only a second Powerful Wallbreaker that comes equipped with Priority, but more importantly a crucial Steel/Fairy typing that gives the team a switch in to Knock Off. In situations in which it's important to maintain both Cresselia's Rocky Helmet and Porygon2's Eviolite, switching in Mawile to Intimidate the opponent and tank a Knock Off can be the correct play. Mawile has enough bulk to take a hit from an Intimidated opponent and hit back really hard, even without Trick Room being up.
Play Rough is the requisite STAB, Knock Off is requiered because being walled by Defensive Ghold is not an option for this team and Sucker Punch allows Mawile to exert offensive pressure even after she's taken damage and Trick Room has worn off. Swords Dance is the move Mawile most clicks after switching in and Intimidating the opponent, enabling her to instantly nuke whatever comes in next. It can also be useful to switch Mawile into weak Pokemon like Alomomola who she walls with her typing alone and use that as an opportunity to setup freely or fire off a massive hit when they switch out.
Bonnie (Marowak-Alola) (M) @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Bonemerang
- Swords Dance
Our third Trick Room sweeper and final member, Alolan Marowak. This pokemon's rare typing and incredibly powerful STAB options provide support to Mawile and Ursaluna in breaking through the opponents team. He also provides a valuable Fire resist to a team otherwise lacking one, which can come in handy in many situations, particularly against Charizard-Y teams.
Flare Blitz nukes all but the sturdiest resists, most of which get 2HKO'd by Poltergeist instead. While I could've picked Shadow Bone for consistency, Poltergeist's ability to ensure OHKO's on bulky targets like Alomomola at +2 make it requiered. Something to keep strongly in mind is that Marowak is one of the few pokemon on this team that can go toe-to-toe with threats like Slowbro and Corviknight thanks to it's unique STAB combination. It's also capable of OHKOing even Melmetal which can be difficult to deal with otherwise, although you'll have to keep in mind you'll be slower than most Melmetals outside of Trick Room. Bonemerang was chosen over the more consistent Earthquake because of how weak this team can be to threats like Substitute Volcarona. It also allows Marowak to bypass Focus Sashes and Sturdy in particular situations.
Peak Replay vs Zard Y Band Victini Sun
Short match vs Substitute Volcarona
Fun encounter with the Specs Regidrago team
Unfortunate matchup for Pinsir Sticky Webs
Full team effort to defeat Leftovers Bulu and Wisp Cinderace
Ice Beam Cresselia saves me from being swept by taunt Bulk Up Bulu
I get really lucky with an Ice Beam freeze, but this replay shows Rocky Helmet Cress doing stuff
A brief encounter vs Ditto Dondozo stall
Short match vs Substitute Volcarona
Fun encounter with the Specs Regidrago team
Unfortunate matchup for Pinsir Sticky Webs
Full team effort to defeat Leftovers Bulu and Wisp Cinderace
Ice Beam Cresselia saves me from being swept by taunt Bulk Up Bulu
I get really lucky with an Ice Beam freeze, but this replay shows Rocky Helmet Cress doing stuff
A brief encounter vs Ditto Dondozo stall
Setup sweepers are particularly dangerous to Trick Room, specially on Turn 1. Because you're incentivized to click Trick Room on the first turn, it grants the opponent an opportunity to click a setup move and probably delete one of your pokemon or deal heavy damage to one of your setters on the second turn. Gholdengo is particularly dangerous because it easily walls both of our common leads in P2 and Cress and clicks NP on both. Because of this, whenever the opponent has a Gholdengo, you almost always want to lead Porygon2 to cover for the possibility of it leading. That way you guarantee you get TR up the first turn, then you can either teleport and pray you live a Steel Z with p2 or predict Z fight and go Marowak (I've never done this).
Any 'free turn' pokemon. Fake Out, Protect, any similar move that allows the opponent to stall a turn is logically really difficult to deal with for Trick Room. You already have effectively 4 turns of twisted dimensions, and usually you have to spend the next turn switching to a sweeper, so it's really 3. The best way to punish these moves is to of course click Swords Dance the turn they Protect, but the opponent also knows this and will try to circumvent this idea with 50/50 mixups. Unfortunately there's not much to be done about this. You're playing Trick Room, man up or give up.
As for Lopunny, you can at least punish the fake out slightly using Cresselia's Rocky Helmet.
Extremely defensively bulky pokemon who can setup using Curse or Iron Defense. Special mention goes to Dondozo, who can simply ignore your own setup boosts. Corviknight usually lacks the raw power to 1v1 Marowak, but you must make sure to keep it alive for the endgame if you can't catch it with a +2 hit at some point. As for Dondozo, Hatterene is the best answer available, with the threat of Z move nuking it being helpful. It is possible to defeat stall with this team with smart use of the breakers, but your own speed being lower than the Stall team's walls can get in the way, as you'd rather not have to setup Trick Room at all in that matchup.
Ballora (Hatterene) (F) @ Fairium Z
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Misty Explosion
- Trick Room
- Psychic Noise
- Healing Wish
Baby (Cresselia) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Moonlight
- Trick Room
- Lunar Dance
F10-N4 (Porygon2) @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Teleport
- Tri Attack
- Recover
Freddy (Ursaluna) (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Headlong Rush
- Fire Punch
Chica (Mawile-Mega) (F) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
Bonnie (Marowak-Alola) (M) @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Bonemerang
- Swords Dance
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Misty Explosion
- Trick Room
- Psychic Noise
- Healing Wish
Baby (Cresselia) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Moonlight
- Trick Room
- Lunar Dance
F10-N4 (Porygon2) @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Teleport
- Tri Attack
- Recover
Freddy (Ursaluna) (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Headlong Rush
- Fire Punch
Chica (Mawile-Mega) (F) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
Bonnie (Marowak-Alola) (M) @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Bonemerang
- Swords Dance
Well, I've gotta say, after a brief learning curve Trick Room ended up being extremely fun to use! It takes careful positioning and it condenses all the important decisions in a game into just a few turns. If you get them right, great! If you don't, it can be tough to mount a comeback. I hope this team inspires others to try out this strategy, I really don't think it's as bad as some believe, particularly as a counter-pick to throw your opponent off of what they expected you to bring. No matchup is an auto-win with something as clunky as 4 turns to twist the dimensions, but I truly don't believe any matchup is a true autoloss either. Give it a try, I learned to play this in 4 days lmao.
Cheers!
Cheers!
