Gyro Ballin'
Please ignore the low GXE. It came about as the result of testing memes on my main account on ladder, which severely tanked my GXE. My ladder run with this team started at ~1650 elo and ~82% GXE, going all the way up to the peak shown above.
This team is a Trick Room team designed for ladder usage. It's built around the powerful wallbreaking core of Choice Band Melmetal + Choice Band Dracovish, which are together capable of powering through most of the major walls in AG. This team is an evolution of my previous experiments with AG Trick Room teams, some of which had integrated either Melmetal or Dracovish, but never both in the same team. Trick Room is an underexplored strategy in AG, because of a perceived inability to break through bulky balances or stalls. This perception is partially correct, but intelligent gameplay coupled with overwhelming wallbreakers enables this Trick Room team to break even the bulkiest stalls.
Building Process
I began to build this team after taking a hiatus from Trick Room teams owing to my failure to consistently ladder with them. I was discussing the shortcomings of my Trick Room teams in pms with cromagnet42, when he suggested that I could remedy my teams' inability to deal with bulky walls by using both Melmetal and Dracovish on the same teams. This idea immediately interested me, and I set to building a new Trick Room team. The first two members of the team, unsurprisingly, were Melmetal and Dracovish.
With this wallbreaking core in place, I needed a way to set up Trick Room. An offensive Necrozma-DM sprang to mind, since it's basically mandatory on AG Trick Room teams, and is capable of being a deadly sweeper in its own right.
With these three Pokemon on the team, I realized that I was sorely lacking any form of effective counterplay to the terrifying special sweepers, Xerneas and Yveltal. For this, I used a Magearna set from some of my earlier Trick Room teams that was capable of effectively stopping both of them. I modified the set to better pass momentum to the rest of the team, and gave it a new and drastically improved EV spread to make it a far more reliable check to the afforementioned sweepers, while also providing some counterplay to V-Create Mega Rayquaza sets that can cause the team some problems.
With this solid core in place, I decided that I needed a potential snowballing TR sweeper to help clean up frailer teams in a harder-to-stop way than Melmetal or Dracovish. In addition, I wanted more Mega Rayquaza counterplay, since Magearna could easily be overwhelmed by V-Create Mega Rayquaza + Yveltal or Xerneas. To that end, I chose Stakataka, which can turn into a terrifying snowballing sweeper under TR to rapidly clean up unprepared teams. And additonal bonus of Stakataka is that it is capable of setting Trick Room against the common defensive Primal Groudon, which the team otherwise struggles with.
With most of the team now created, I felt that the team needed a reliable way to revenge kill Zacian-C, which can cause problems for the team if Necrozma-Dusk-Mane is already down. To that end, I chose Choice Scarf Rayquaza-Mega, for its ability to reliably RK Zacian-C, as well as reduce the threat posed by Zygarde-C and Primal Groudon.
The Team in Detail
Melmetal @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Double Iron Bash
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
Choice Band Melmetal is a fearsome breaker, capable of dealing massive damage to any Pokemon that it hits neutrally, and flinching its way through those that resist its STAB. Double Iron Bash is chosen as an incredibly powerful STAB attack, which also provides useful utility because it hits twice, enabling it to break through Focus Sash Pokemon, limiting suicide leads to one turn on the field. Ice Punch is chosen primarily to hit Zygarde-C, allowing Melmetal to Dynamax and OHKO a pre-transformation Zygarde. Rock Slide enables Melmetal to OHKO Ho-Oh, which would otherwise cause it some trouble due to resisting its STAB. Rock Slide often isn't that useful, but in a situation where I desperately need to OHKO a Ho-Oh and can't risk not getting the flinch from DIB, I can Dynamax Melmetal to break Ho-Oh with Max Rockfall. Thunder Punch could be situationally useful over Rock Slide, enabling Melmetal to deal heavy damage to defensive Arceus-Water, but at the cost of missing the key OHKO on Ho-Oh. Owing to this, I have elected to stick with Rock Slide. Superpower lets Melmetal break through the common wall Ferrothorn, which otherwise would cause a lot of trouble for the team since only Rayquaza and Dracovish carry coverage that can hit Ferrothorn super effectively. In addition, when Dynamaxed, Superpower allows Melmetal to boost its firepower with Max Knuckle, greatly increasing its breaking power. The chosen EVs are straightforward, maximizing firepower and bulk while minimizing speed to ensure that Melmetal moves first under Trick Room.
Dracovish @ Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Low Kick
Dracovish is a fearsome breaker with or without Trick Room. Its main utility comes from Fishious Rend, which doubles in damage output if Vish goes first, enabling it to break through almost the entire metagame in one or two hits. Dracovish is an incredibly powerful Trick Room breaker, dealing enormous damage to anything that it manages to go before, as long as that thing isn't named Primal Groudon. Notably, Vish doesn't run a -spe nature, or 0 spe IVs, in order to ensure that it can go before defensive Giratina outside of trick room if necessary. Earthquake is chosen to deal heavy damage to Primal Groudon as it switches in on a predicted Fishious Rend. Crunch is a more niche move, chosen primarily to prevent Vish from being stopped in its tracks by a well placed Shedinja, which is a staple on many AG stall teams. Low Kick allows Vish to use Max Knuckle if it dynamaxes, as well as break through ferrothorn marginally more consistently than would be allows by Fishious rend. Overall, Dracovish is an incredibly important part of the team, often wiping out multiple opposing Pokemon every time it comes in, provided that any opposing Primal Groudon has already been removed.
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Sunsteel Strike
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
Necrozma-DM is a vital component of any AG Trick Room team, providing an exceptionally durable Trick Room setter capable of setting Trick Room multiple times throughout the match if necessary, while also providing an immense amount of firepower. Necrozma's bulk investment allows it to live hits from many common offensive Pokemon then set Trick Room against them. Sunsteel Strike serves as a powerful STAB option, dealing extremely heavy damage, especially after its Weakness Policy has been set off. In addition, when Dynamaxed, Max Steelspike enables Necrozma to boost its defense and increase the likelihood that it will survive hits and set off its Weakness Policy. Earthquake allows Necrozma to break through opposing defensive Necrozma-DM and Groudon-Primal, dramatically easing the matchup against teams with those Pokemon, which applies to almost every team. In addition, the special defense boosts from Max Quake can help Necrozma to defeat special attackers, like Xerneas. Rock Blast is chosen to dramatically reduce the likelihood that the team will lose to cheese, as well as enable Necrozma to break through Ho-Oh. Rock Blast is chosen over the potentially more powerful Stone Edge due to its multi-hit nature allowing it to break focus sashes, and its greater accuracy helping to compensate for the reduced expected damage. Necrozma-DM is a key glue for any AG Trick Room team owing to its phenomenal movepool and bulk enabling it to set Trick Room against a wide variety of offensive threats, notably including Zacian-C, even Crunch sets. For this set, I do not believe that calcs are particularly necessary, since this set is quite straightforward, and in the interest of my time, it's best for me to move on.
Magearna @ Occa Berry
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fleur Cannon
- Trick Room
- Explosion
- Heart Swap
Magearna is an incredibly useful part of a Trick Room team thanks to its ability to blanket check both Xerneas and Yveltal. The Occa Berry with special defense investment allows it to live a +2 Max Flare from Xerneas in Sun after Stealth Rock which, while a niche application, is something that is extraordinarily important to plan for due to the high rate of Xerneas usage on ladder. SImilarly, Magearna also checks Yveltal by living a Max Flare, setting Trick Room, then either using Fleur Cannon or Explosion to deal damage and let in one of the TR abusers to finish the job. Against Xerneas, it is often advisable to Heart Swap away its boosts, in case the check that you bring in for some reason fails to KO Xerneas. This spread also lets Magearna live an Earthquake from Jolly Life Orb Mega Ray after Stealth Rock. Magearna is easily one of the most important members of this team because it can utterly shut down two of the major meta threats in Xerneas and Yveltal, and in the process generate enormous amounts of momentum for its team. Additionally, Magearna is capable of setting up Trick Room on either defensive Primal Groudon or Adamant Zacian-C in a pinch, if necessary. It's hard to overstate just how much value Magearna brings as a check to Xerneas and Yveltal that doesn't require you to use your own Dynamax defensively, enabling far more aggressive Dynamax usage than might otherwise be advisable without such a strong way to stop Xerneas and Yveltal. As an added bonus, Magearna is capable of switching into a Max Airstream from Yveltal if necessary, although that's a fairly risky play, because if Yveltal uses Max Darkness, Magearna needs to be switched out and something else sacked in order to let it come back in.
Stakataka @ Air Balloon
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely Nature
IVs: 15 Def / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Gyro Ball
Stakataka is a relatively conventional pick on Trick Room, able to set up Trick Room against almost all Mega Rayquaza sets, as well as non-Eruption Primal Groudons. It also can serve as a secondary Yveltal check with Dynamax in the event that Magearna is removed before it can set Trick Room on Yveltal. Stakataka's main use, however, is as a snowballing sweeper for use later-game against teams that have lost defensive counterplay to it. Trick Room is an obvious necessity, allowing Stakataka to set Trick Room against threats that can't OHKO it. Rock Blast is chosen over the potentially stronger Stone Edge due to its higher accuracy and its multi-hit nature allowing it to break focus sashes and multiscale, which is especially valuable on ladder, where EVERYTHING is sashed. Earthquake is strong coverage allowing Stakataka to hit and heavily damage Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM. Gyro ball is an incredibly spammable STAB move, that does incredibly heavy damage to any Pokemon unlucky enough to get hit by it, even if that Pokemon resists Steel. Stakataka's interesting IV spread allows it to snowball attack boosts instead of defense boosts by minimizing its otherwise gargantuan defense stat.
Rayquaza-Mega @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Surf
- Dragon Ascent
- Draco Meteor
- V-create
Mega Rayquaza is a vital part of the Trick Room team, providing crucial speed control along with counterplay to defensive Zygarde and Primal Groudon. Surf allows it to OHKO Primal Groudon from full, which is absolutely vital in many games to ensure that Dracovish can be useful. Dragon Ascent is mandatory for Mega Rayquaza, and allows it to pick off a plethora of weakened threats, such as support Arceus formes that have taken heavy damage, or dealing heavy damage to opposing Primal Kyogre and enabling one of the other team members to set up Trick Room on it. Draco Meteor allows Mega Rayquaza to remove opposing non-complete Zygarde, making it dramatically easier for Necrozma-DM or Stakataka to sweep or rip huge holes in the opposing team. V-create allows Mega Rayquaza to revenge kill Zacian-C, as well as deal heavy damage to defensive Necrozma-DMs to make them easier to remove. Mega Rayquaza is an incredibly integral member of this team, providing vital revenge killing capability and preventing Zacian-C from automatically winning if Necrozma-DM has been crippled.
Conclusion
Trick Room is not a playstyle intended for Tournament play. Its main use is as a counter-team to all of the Hyper Offense teams that appear on the ladder. In this role, it excels as a way to easily grind copious amounts of ELO through unlosable matchups. Trick Room in an AG setting is, however, at its core, a meme. It struggles to break through strong balances, namely those carrying multiple defensive support Arceus formes. In addition, it generally struggles to beat Ferrothorn, despite specific coverage for it. Despite this, well played Trick Room can still be an overwhelming force that even strong teams can struggle with. For a long time, Trick Room has been dismissed by the AG community as a weak playstyle that is incapable of holding its own against competent players. With this RMT, and the replays that will be presented below, I hope to dispell this notion, and demonstrate that Trick Room is a semi-viable playstyle in AG, and that it is not as incapable of success as it is often depicted.
I'd like to thank all of you reading this for having an open mind to new playstyles, and encourage you to try this team on the AG ladder. I'd like to give a special thanks to cromagnet42 for giving me the idea that sparked the creation of this team. I'd also like to thank MDB, Bread Sandwich, mistermath, ice-master-523, pichus, Ktütverde, BaconEatinAssassin, 64 Squares, J1mm1P, Rup❤Ainu, WrathoftheLeopard, Shivam3299, WSun1, Zayele, GRNBLN, and Monsareeasy for being generally awesome and supportive. If I forgot anyone, I'm really sorry.
Threatlist
This team is utterly incapable of breaking through defensive Waterceus. The best counterplay to it consists of either Dynamaxing Magearna to break through it with a powerful Max Starfall, or just flinching your way through with Melmetal's Double Iron Bash.
Counterplay to this consists of Melmetal's Superpower and Rayquaza's V-create. Between these, it shouldn't be too hard to deal with Ferrothorn, but it still can cause a lot of problems if there are other pokemon that also shut down Melmetal and Mega Ray.
Defensive Dusk Mane is manageable, but only if it doesn't Dynamax. If Defensive NDM gets Max Steelspike boosts, this team is utterly incapable of breaking it.
Offensive variants can be dealt with via the combination of Mega Rayquaza and Dracovish, but defensive PKyogres are almost untouchable for this team.
This isn't very common, but this team is utterly incapable of beating Dracovish, because Vish can just OHKO all the Trick Room setters.
Click the sprites for an importable!
I'm going to end this with a big thank you for everyone in the AG room for being awesome and supportive on my mons journey!
E: fixed mag spread lol Please ignore the low GXE. It came about as the result of testing memes on my main account on ladder, which severely tanked my GXE. My ladder run with this team started at ~1650 elo and ~82% GXE, going all the way up to the peak shown above.
Building Process
I began to build this team after taking a hiatus from Trick Room teams owing to my failure to consistently ladder with them. I was discussing the shortcomings of my Trick Room teams in pms with cromagnet42, when he suggested that I could remedy my teams' inability to deal with bulky walls by using both Melmetal and Dracovish on the same teams. This idea immediately interested me, and I set to building a new Trick Room team. The first two members of the team, unsurprisingly, were Melmetal and Dracovish.
With this wallbreaking core in place, I needed a way to set up Trick Room. An offensive Necrozma-DM sprang to mind, since it's basically mandatory on AG Trick Room teams, and is capable of being a deadly sweeper in its own right.
With these three Pokemon on the team, I realized that I was sorely lacking any form of effective counterplay to the terrifying special sweepers, Xerneas and Yveltal. For this, I used a Magearna set from some of my earlier Trick Room teams that was capable of effectively stopping both of them. I modified the set to better pass momentum to the rest of the team, and gave it a new and drastically improved EV spread to make it a far more reliable check to the afforementioned sweepers, while also providing some counterplay to V-Create Mega Rayquaza sets that can cause the team some problems.
With this solid core in place, I decided that I needed a potential snowballing TR sweeper to help clean up frailer teams in a harder-to-stop way than Melmetal or Dracovish. In addition, I wanted more Mega Rayquaza counterplay, since Magearna could easily be overwhelmed by V-Create Mega Rayquaza + Yveltal or Xerneas. To that end, I chose Stakataka, which can turn into a terrifying snowballing sweeper under TR to rapidly clean up unprepared teams. And additonal bonus of Stakataka is that it is capable of setting Trick Room against the common defensive Primal Groudon, which the team otherwise struggles with.
With most of the team now created, I felt that the team needed a reliable way to revenge kill Zacian-C, which can cause problems for the team if Necrozma-Dusk-Mane is already down. To that end, I chose Choice Scarf Rayquaza-Mega, for its ability to reliably RK Zacian-C, as well as reduce the threat posed by Zygarde-C and Primal Groudon.
The Team in Detail
Melmetal @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Double Iron Bash
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
Choice Band Melmetal is a fearsome breaker, capable of dealing massive damage to any Pokemon that it hits neutrally, and flinching its way through those that resist its STAB. Double Iron Bash is chosen as an incredibly powerful STAB attack, which also provides useful utility because it hits twice, enabling it to break through Focus Sash Pokemon, limiting suicide leads to one turn on the field. Ice Punch is chosen primarily to hit Zygarde-C, allowing Melmetal to Dynamax and OHKO a pre-transformation Zygarde. Rock Slide enables Melmetal to OHKO Ho-Oh, which would otherwise cause it some trouble due to resisting its STAB. Rock Slide often isn't that useful, but in a situation where I desperately need to OHKO a Ho-Oh and can't risk not getting the flinch from DIB, I can Dynamax Melmetal to break Ho-Oh with Max Rockfall. Thunder Punch could be situationally useful over Rock Slide, enabling Melmetal to deal heavy damage to defensive Arceus-Water, but at the cost of missing the key OHKO on Ho-Oh. Owing to this, I have elected to stick with Rock Slide. Superpower lets Melmetal break through the common wall Ferrothorn, which otherwise would cause a lot of trouble for the team since only Rayquaza and Dracovish carry coverage that can hit Ferrothorn super effectively. In addition, when Dynamaxed, Superpower allows Melmetal to boost its firepower with Max Knuckle, greatly increasing its breaking power. The chosen EVs are straightforward, maximizing firepower and bulk while minimizing speed to ensure that Melmetal moves first under Trick Room.
252+ Atk Melmetal Max Hailstorm vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 424-500 (100.9 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Melmetal Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Ho-Oh: 468-552 (112.5 - 132.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Arceus: 356-420 (93.4 - 110.2%) -- approx. 62.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Arceus-Ground: 266-314 (59.9 - 70.7%) -- approx. 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Melmetal Superpower vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 364-430 (103.4 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 72 Def Kyogre-Primal: 210-246 (61.5 - 72.1%) -- approx. 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rayquaza-Mega: 414-488 (117.9 - 139%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 126-150 (31.6 - 37.6%) -- approx. 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
note: with a little prior chip and a few flinches, Melmetal can even power through defensive Dusk Mane.
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Zacian-Crowned: 372-438 (114.1 - 134.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 434-512 (110.4 - 130.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Melmetal Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Ho-Oh: 468-552 (112.5 - 132.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Arceus: 356-420 (93.4 - 110.2%) -- approx. 62.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Arceus-Ground: 266-314 (59.9 - 70.7%) -- approx. 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Melmetal Superpower vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 364-430 (103.4 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 72 Def Kyogre-Primal: 210-246 (61.5 - 72.1%) -- approx. 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rayquaza-Mega: 414-488 (117.9 - 139%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 126-150 (31.6 - 37.6%) -- approx. 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
note: with a little prior chip and a few flinches, Melmetal can even power through defensive Dusk Mane.
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Zacian-Crowned: 372-438 (114.1 - 134.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 434-512 (110.4 - 130.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Dracovish @ Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Low Kick
Dracovish is a fearsome breaker with or without Trick Room. Its main utility comes from Fishious Rend, which doubles in damage output if Vish goes first, enabling it to break through almost the entire metagame in one or two hits. Dracovish is an incredibly powerful Trick Room breaker, dealing enormous damage to anything that it manages to go before, as long as that thing isn't named Primal Groudon. Notably, Vish doesn't run a -spe nature, or 0 spe IVs, in order to ensure that it can go before defensive Giratina outside of trick room if necessary. Earthquake is chosen to deal heavy damage to Primal Groudon as it switches in on a predicted Fishious Rend. Crunch is a more niche move, chosen primarily to prevent Vish from being stopped in its tracks by a well placed Shedinja, which is a staple on many AG stall teams. Low Kick allows Vish to use Max Knuckle if it dynamaxes, as well as break through ferrothorn marginally more consistently than would be allows by Fishious rend. Overall, Dracovish is an incredibly important part of the team, often wiping out multiple opposing Pokemon every time it comes in, provided that any opposing Primal Groudon has already been removed.
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 324-382 (81.4 - 95.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 336-396 (80 - 94.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 210-247 (59.6 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 240 HP / 180+ Def Arceus-Fairy: 357-420 (80.9 - 95.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dracovish Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Groudon-Primal: 144-170 (35.6 - 42%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 248 HP / 180+ Def Yveltal: 421-496 (92.5 - 109%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 336-396 (80 - 94.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 210-247 (59.6 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 240 HP / 180+ Def Arceus-Fairy: 357-420 (80.9 - 95.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dracovish Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Groudon-Primal: 144-170 (35.6 - 42%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 248 HP / 180+ Def Yveltal: 421-496 (92.5 - 109%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Sunsteel Strike
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
Necrozma-DM is a vital component of any AG Trick Room team, providing an exceptionally durable Trick Room setter capable of setting Trick Room multiple times throughout the match if necessary, while also providing an immense amount of firepower. Necrozma's bulk investment allows it to live hits from many common offensive Pokemon then set Trick Room against them. Sunsteel Strike serves as a powerful STAB option, dealing extremely heavy damage, especially after its Weakness Policy has been set off. In addition, when Dynamaxed, Max Steelspike enables Necrozma to boost its defense and increase the likelihood that it will survive hits and set off its Weakness Policy. Earthquake allows Necrozma to break through opposing defensive Necrozma-DM and Groudon-Primal, dramatically easing the matchup against teams with those Pokemon, which applies to almost every team. In addition, the special defense boosts from Max Quake can help Necrozma to defeat special attackers, like Xerneas. Rock Blast is chosen to dramatically reduce the likelihood that the team will lose to cheese, as well as enable Necrozma to break through Ho-Oh. Rock Blast is chosen over the potentially more powerful Stone Edge due to its multi-hit nature allowing it to break focus sashes, and its greater accuracy helping to compensate for the reduced expected damage. Necrozma-DM is a key glue for any AG Trick Room team owing to its phenomenal movepool and bulk enabling it to set Trick Room against a wide variety of offensive threats, notably including Zacian-C, even Crunch sets. For this set, I do not believe that calcs are particularly necessary, since this set is quite straightforward, and in the interest of my time, it's best for me to move on.
Magearna @ Occa Berry
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fleur Cannon
- Trick Room
- Explosion
- Heart Swap
Magearna is an incredibly useful part of a Trick Room team thanks to its ability to blanket check both Xerneas and Yveltal. The Occa Berry with special defense investment allows it to live a +2 Max Flare from Xerneas in Sun after Stealth Rock which, while a niche application, is something that is extraordinarily important to plan for due to the high rate of Xerneas usage on ladder. SImilarly, Magearna also checks Yveltal by living a Max Flare, setting Trick Room, then either using Fleur Cannon or Explosion to deal damage and let in one of the TR abusers to finish the job. Against Xerneas, it is often advisable to Heart Swap away its boosts, in case the check that you bring in for some reason fails to KO Xerneas. This spread also lets Magearna live an Earthquake from Jolly Life Orb Mega Ray after Stealth Rock. Magearna is easily one of the most important members of this team because it can utterly shut down two of the major meta threats in Xerneas and Yveltal, and in the process generate enormous amounts of momentum for its team. Additionally, Magearna is capable of setting up Trick Room on either defensive Primal Groudon or Adamant Zacian-C in a pinch, if necessary. It's hard to overstate just how much value Magearna brings as a check to Xerneas and Yveltal that doesn't require you to use your own Dynamax defensively, enabling far more aggressive Dynamax usage than might otherwise be advisable without such a strong way to stop Xerneas and Yveltal. As an added bonus, Magearna is capable of switching into a Max Airstream from Yveltal if necessary, although that's a fairly risky play, because if Yveltal uses Max Darkness, Magearna needs to be switched out and something else sacked in order to let it come back in.
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Max Flare vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Occa Berry Magearna in Sun: 289-340 (79.6 - 93.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Magearna: 286-338 (78.7 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Magearna: 259-306 (71.3 - 84.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Magearna: 288-342 (79.3 - 94.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Yveltal Max Flare vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Occa Berry Magearna: 148-175 (40.7 - 48.2%) -- 8.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Yveltal Max Airstream vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Magearna: 110-131 (30.3 - 36%) -- 97.8% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Occa Berry Magearna: 257-303 (70.7 - 83.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Occa Berry Magearna: 282-333 (77.6 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Magearna in Heavy Rain: 276-325 (76 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Max Lightning vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Magearna: 245-289 (67.3 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde: 366-432 (87.1 - 102.8%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Magearna: 286-338 (78.7 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Magearna: 259-306 (71.3 - 84.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Magearna: 288-342 (79.3 - 94.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Yveltal Max Flare vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Occa Berry Magearna: 148-175 (40.7 - 48.2%) -- 8.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Yveltal Max Airstream vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Magearna: 110-131 (30.3 - 36%) -- 97.8% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Occa Berry Magearna: 257-303 (70.7 - 83.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 138 Def Occa Berry Magearna: 282-333 (77.6 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Magearna in Heavy Rain: 276-325 (76 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Max Lightning vs. 252 HP / 122+ SpD Magearna: 245-289 (67.3 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde: 366-432 (87.1 - 102.8%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
Stakataka @ Air Balloon
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely Nature
IVs: 15 Def / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Gyro Ball
Stakataka is a relatively conventional pick on Trick Room, able to set up Trick Room against almost all Mega Rayquaza sets, as well as non-Eruption Primal Groudons. It also can serve as a secondary Yveltal check with Dynamax in the event that Magearna is removed before it can set Trick Room on Yveltal. Stakataka's main use, however, is as a snowballing sweeper for use later-game against teams that have lost defensive counterplay to it. Trick Room is an obvious necessity, allowing Stakataka to set Trick Room against threats that can't OHKO it. Rock Blast is chosen over the potentially stronger Stone Edge due to its higher accuracy and its multi-hit nature allowing it to break focus sashes and multiscale, which is especially valuable on ladder, where EVERYTHING is sashed. Earthquake is strong coverage allowing Stakataka to hit and heavily damage Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM. Gyro ball is an incredibly spammable STAB move, that does incredibly heavy damage to any Pokemon unlucky enough to get hit by it, even if that Pokemon resists Steel. Stakataka's interesting IV spread allows it to snowball attack boosts instead of defense boosts by minimizing its otherwise gargantuan defense stat.
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka: 245-289 (75.1 - 88.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Groudon-Primal Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka in Harsh Sunshine: 153-181 (46.9 - 55.5%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Stakataka Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Groudon-Primal: 186-220 (46 - 54.4%) -- 55.1% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Sunsteel Strike vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka: 168-198 (51.5 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Stakataka Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 220-259 (65.6 - 77.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Stakataka Rock Blast (3 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Smeargle: 306-360 (97.7 - 115%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Groudon-Primal Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka in Harsh Sunshine: 153-181 (46.9 - 55.5%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Stakataka Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Groudon-Primal: 186-220 (46 - 54.4%) -- 55.1% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Sunsteel Strike vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka: 168-198 (51.5 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Stakataka Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 220-259 (65.6 - 77.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Stakataka Rock Blast (3 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Smeargle: 306-360 (97.7 - 115%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO
Rayquaza-Mega @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Surf
- Dragon Ascent
- Draco Meteor
- V-create
Mega Rayquaza is a vital part of the Trick Room team, providing crucial speed control along with counterplay to defensive Zygarde and Primal Groudon. Surf allows it to OHKO Primal Groudon from full, which is absolutely vital in many games to ensure that Dracovish can be useful. Dragon Ascent is mandatory for Mega Rayquaza, and allows it to pick off a plethora of weakened threats, such as support Arceus formes that have taken heavy damage, or dealing heavy damage to opposing Primal Kyogre and enabling one of the other team members to set up Trick Room on it. Draco Meteor allows Mega Rayquaza to remove opposing non-complete Zygarde, making it dramatically easier for Necrozma-DM or Stakataka to sweep or rip huge holes in the opposing team. V-create allows Mega Rayquaza to revenge kill Zacian-C, as well as deal heavy damage to defensive Necrozma-DMs to make them easier to remove. Mega Rayquaza is an incredibly integral member of this team, providing vital revenge killing capability and preventing Zacian-C from automatically winning if Necrozma-DM has been crippled.
Conclusion
Trick Room is not a playstyle intended for Tournament play. Its main use is as a counter-team to all of the Hyper Offense teams that appear on the ladder. In this role, it excels as a way to easily grind copious amounts of ELO through unlosable matchups. Trick Room in an AG setting is, however, at its core, a meme. It struggles to break through strong balances, namely those carrying multiple defensive support Arceus formes. In addition, it generally struggles to beat Ferrothorn, despite specific coverage for it. Despite this, well played Trick Room can still be an overwhelming force that even strong teams can struggle with. For a long time, Trick Room has been dismissed by the AG community as a weak playstyle that is incapable of holding its own against competent players. With this RMT, and the replays that will be presented below, I hope to dispell this notion, and demonstrate that Trick Room is a semi-viable playstyle in AG, and that it is not as incapable of success as it is often depicted.
I'd like to thank all of you reading this for having an open mind to new playstyles, and encourage you to try this team on the AG ladder. I'd like to give a special thanks to cromagnet42 for giving me the idea that sparked the creation of this team. I'd also like to thank MDB, Bread Sandwich, mistermath, ice-master-523, pichus, Ktütverde, BaconEatinAssassin, 64 Squares, J1mm1P, Rup❤Ainu, WrathoftheLeopard, Shivam3299, WSun1, Zayele, GRNBLN, and Monsareeasy for being generally awesome and supportive. If I forgot anyone, I'm really sorry.
Threatlist
This team is utterly incapable of breaking through defensive Waterceus. The best counterplay to it consists of either Dynamaxing Magearna to break through it with a powerful Max Starfall, or just flinching your way through with Melmetal's Double Iron Bash.
Counterplay to this consists of Melmetal's Superpower and Rayquaza's V-create. Between these, it shouldn't be too hard to deal with Ferrothorn, but it still can cause a lot of problems if there are other pokemon that also shut down Melmetal and Mega Ray.
Defensive Dusk Mane is manageable, but only if it doesn't Dynamax. If Defensive NDM gets Max Steelspike boosts, this team is utterly incapable of breaking it.
Offensive variants can be dealt with via the combination of Mega Rayquaza and Dracovish, but defensive PKyogres are almost untouchable for this team.
This isn't very common, but this team is utterly incapable of beating Dracovish, because Vish can just OHKO all the Trick Room setters.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122724804 - VS stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122334855 - VS generic HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122296511 - VS a competent player with generic HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1121953098 - VS the almighty Pokevana
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1123272265-3ysi0l1bn7x67td4lmgcur7eeams0dqpw - VS Rup
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122751132-hgbxy9t4h2dq3ten69ngxnmaz9pclvnpw - VS Rup again
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1121870141-b4xgpsrn0xaverh54y22yfb3qgkydgypw - VS a decent player
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122266368 - VS another decent player
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122296511 - VS Ghost & birds again lol
I have a lot more that I didn't put here.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122334855 - VS generic HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122296511 - VS a competent player with generic HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1121953098 - VS the almighty Pokevana
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1123272265-3ysi0l1bn7x67td4lmgcur7eeams0dqpw - VS Rup
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122751132-hgbxy9t4h2dq3ten69ngxnmaz9pclvnpw - VS Rup again
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1121870141-b4xgpsrn0xaverh54y22yfb3qgkydgypw - VS a decent player
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122266368 - VS another decent player
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1122296511 - VS Ghost & birds again lol
I have a lot more that I didn't put here.
Click the sprites for an importable!
I'm going to end this with a big thank you for everyone in the AG room for being awesome and supportive on my mons journey!
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