Sup, here's my second RMT. I made this for the OM Snake Draft finals vs Jasprose, and you can see the replay for that here, but it doesn't really show off the team so you should just read this thread. There aren't any other replays because I was playing on an alt and didn't wanna get scouted, sorry. Here's the peak before I tilted and the ladder ended.
If you're not familiar with Partners in Crime, you can check the thread here for details. Basically, it's a doubles format wherein both of your active Pokemon share their moves and abilities. It can get pretty silly, but it's loads of fun, and it actually managed to get me into a non-singles meta for the first time. Anyways, onto the team. It's a relatively non-gimmicky Trick Room team that emphasizes tanking hits over being as slow as absolutely possible; the goal is for the team to not go into panic mode if it can't set TR.
I started off with the classic BuluTran core that everyone knows and loves. Tapu Bulu served me well in my match with Pigeons, so I figured I'd run it again here. Heatran was an immediate partner, as it gives Bulu Flash Fire to let it better handle Electric-types, and it also seemed kind of underused in the meta given its offensive and defensive prowess.
Weakness Policy Diancie performed incredibly in my very first match of the tour vs. Mark K (which I narrowly lost), and I felt that a team with some defensive backbone could really bring out its full potential. Plus, it answers Dragon-types decently, which Bulutran kinda can't. This pushed the team towards Trick Room, and I decided to just roll with it from there.
Another TR setter was an obvious must-have, and I wanted something fat as fuck; Cresselia was the obvious option, but I really hate how passive it is, and its Levitate would cut off its teammates from Grassy Terrain, while Diancie would benefit less than expected due to the utility of a WP boost. I considered Oranguru for some dope Instruct shenanigans + the ability to check Mega Gengar, but Terracotta suggested Necrozma for its useful Prism Armor, which gives Diancie an obvious boon. I haven't regretted this decision since.
Terracotta also suggested Incineroar, and given how stellar it performed on the team I used vs Pigeons, I jumped at the chance to reuse it here. It makes setting up Trick Room super easy.
Obviously a fat Water-type with recovery was warranted here, but what exactly it would be was up for grabs. My first thought was Gastrodon, since it's slow as shit, gives its team Storm Drain for Surf spam shenanigans, and serves as a reliable electric immunity. Terracotta instead recommended Milotic, as at the time my Tapu Bulu was SD, which would force stuff like Mence in, which would activate Competitive on both Milotic and its teammate. Since I had shown up for my last game with a fully physical team, it made sense to carry something that actively punishes Intimidate for this one.
Body (Tapu Bulu) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Atk / 136 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Protect
A standard AV Bulu, albeit with minimized Speed. AV gives Bulu the ability to tank an array of special hits without an SpD-heavy spread compromising its offensive prowess. The first three moves are self-explanatory -- Wood Hammer is Bulu's most powerful STAB, while Horn Leech lets it (or its partner) heal up vs a more fragile Grass-weak opponent without fear of recoil. Superpower hits things like Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Kartana super-effectively. Tapu Bulu does not really need its fourth slot, so it foregoes a move it can use itself to give Protect to its ally. Rock Slide or Stone Edge could be a useful addition to the set, but neither is as needed as Superpower, and the ability to forego Protect on an ally is valuable.
Blood (Heatran) @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Eruption
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Protect
Dead-standard Eruptran spread. Eruption is a very powerful spread move while at relatively high HP and immediately threatens the opponent even without a boosting item. Earth Power is standard coverage on almost all Heatrans, hitting stuff like Tyranitar and miscellaneous Fire-types (such as opposing Heatran), plus pressuring Electric-types is good. Lava Plume is a backup STAB, and while this leaves Heatran without a single-target STAB move to circumvent Wide Guard, the 30% burn chance is too hard to pass up. Do note that Heatran passes Flash Fire on to its partner, making it a risk-free move. Protect serves its obvious purpose -- let Heatran or its partner survive one more turn to let the partner eliminate an opposing threat or set Trick Room, or to just stall out opposing field conditions. Passho Berry halves the damage from a Water-type move, so you can leave Heatran in rather than put unnecessary damage on Bulu or Milotic.
Splendor (Diancie) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Trick Room
- Protect
Diancie is really simple: Click Trick Room, then click Diamond Storm. Protect as necessary, Moonblast as necessary. Since Diancie can survive all but the most powerful super-effective hits, it can get a Weakness Policy boost without much difficulty. The defense boosts from Diamond Storm can not only make Diancie daunting, but its partner (in crime) can abuse the move too if it has nothing better to do. Necrozma and Milotic in particular love to rack up +2 or +4 Defense on a free turn, and Tapu Bulu just likes having Rock coverage. The support isn't one-way, though -- Diancie benefits from Grassy Terrain breaking up Earthquakes, Earth Power letting it touch Steel-types, and Prism Armor softening SE hits. Clear Body kind of nerfs Competitive but it's not a big deal.
Misery (Necrozma) @ Psychium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Trick Room
I don't remember what this spread does. If I had to guess, +1 Shattered Psyche accomplishes something specific -- I know it OHKOs Gastrodon and Mega Camerupt, which would make sense as a benchmark. Regardless, a SpA+ nature with some investment really lets Necrozma pack a punch once it has a boost under its belt. This is a pretty standard Stored Power set meant to set Trick Room reliably, not die, and deal a lot of damage in the late game. Psychium Z can serve a few different purposes, and figuring out which one to use it on is pretty important. Z-Trick Room circumvents Taunt, Encore, Imprison, and so on, getting Necrozma around most forms of disruption. On the other hand, if the opponent is just trying to out-bulk you, Shattered Psyche is a good move to jump-start Necrozma's offensive presence.
No Love (Incineroar) @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 16 Def / 116 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Spread and set are from the smogdex, nothing special here. I prefer Figy Berry to Assault Vest for the ability to use Protect or Trick Room as necessary, but mostly because Incineroar manages to narrowly survive a lot of hits and I know how demoralizing it can be to see a pinch berry undo all your hard work. Anyways, Incineroar is even more powerful in PiC than in Doubles, as its Intimidate is doubled on the switch-in, and every other mon that switches in gets off its own Intimidate. Fake Out can be used by either partner, letting the other attack or set up Trick Room. It's just such an incredible support glue that ALSO manages to have a great damage output under Trick Room. Its teammates love to inherit its whole moveset too, because it's just that useful.
Hot Fuck (Milotic) @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Protect
A standard physically defensive Milotic, with Maranga Berry to let it function well as a special tank. Ice Beam is subbed in over Icy Wind because obviously this team doesn't want to drop the opponents' Speed, and also the decently powerful Ice coverage is pretty useful. As stated in the teambuilding section, Milotic's main job outside of managing opposing Ground- and Water-types is to punish Intimidate -- since Competitive is shared with your partner, and Intimidate is shared by both opponents, you can expect +4 SpA on both mons if your opponent is foolish enough to send in their Salamence.
Other options:
- Grassy Seed Necrozma + Firium Z Heatran: If physical attackers are an issue, Necrozma can pick up a Grassy Seed to take advantage of Bulu's terrain and become even more difficult to KO. This frees up the Z move slot, which is best used by Heatran for a one-time Fire-type nuke.
- Photon Geyser Necrozma: An option over Stored Power, having great initial power and the ability to ignore opposing abilities; moreover, any mon on the team can use it effectively, since it goes off the user's higher attacking stat. Stored Power still helps in the long run vs. opposing Calm Mind users, and capitalizes on Competitive and Diamond Storm boosts really well. Up to you.
- SD Figy Berry Tapu Bulu + Assault Vest Incineroar: Terracotta's initial suggestion, which I changed after getting irritated with Incineroar's inability to set TR or use Protect, and due to the fact that I never used Swords Dance. But maybe it'll work better for your playstyle.
- Gastrodon: By using Gastrodon as the team's Water-type, the matchup vs. opposing Gastrodons, Volcanions, and Electric-types is eased, and Surf spam becomes another win condition for the team. Milotic's sheer bulk and Competitive utility gives it the edge for me, but Gastro is totally valid.
Shout-outs: I wanna give big ups to the Crabominable Snowmen -- Sylveon. TheCoastsOfToast Highlord skysolo14 czim tzop Zesty43 Akashi y'all were great teammates and I had a blast in this tour; those of you who knew PiC were a huge help (especially Terracotta, who as stated, had a lot of ideas for this team), and those of you who weren't still supported me and cheered me on. Snaquaza and Jasprose also get credit for creating and running Partners in Crime, respectively -- quite literally couldn't have done it without you.
Importable: I know this is what you're all here for. Have at it.
Misery (Necrozma) @ Psychium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Trick Room
Body (Tapu Bulu) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Atk / 136 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Protect
No Love (Incineroar) @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 16 Def / 116 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Hot Fuck (Milotic) @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Protect
Splendor (Diancie) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Trick Room
- Protect
Blood (Heatran) @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Eruption
- Earth Power
- Lava Plume
- Protect
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Trick Room
Body (Tapu Bulu) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Atk / 136 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Protect
No Love (Incineroar) @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 16 Def / 116 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Hot Fuck (Milotic) @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Protect
Splendor (Diancie) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Trick Room
- Protect
Blood (Heatran) @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Eruption
- Earth Power
- Lava Plume
- Protect
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