With Trapinch finally banned, I feel like it is safe to finally post this team somewhere. This was one of the teams that I built for my Spring Seasonal run, in which I finished in 2nd place, only dropping games to BurntZebra. This team was particularly notable because it was the first team that I built that was really out in left field in terms of building. Upon initial viewing of the team, it appears to be weak to literally all of the flavors of the month that were currently dominating the metagame. It has no real way to handle birds, as it's best check is Pawniard. Abra and Gastly give it issues, because Pawn has to run an Eviolite to beat birds and Vullaby is neither scarf, nor Specially Defensive. You have 4 mons that are weak to trappers. And a literal trash bag. With all of that in mind, this team appears to be unviable. Now I'll explain why it was so successful. I'll quickly get into how to use the team properly, and then we'll dive into the specifics.
To start off, I generally play very flowcharty, which basically means I tend to think: if this happens -> do that. This team allows me to maximize how I play, while also being able to adapt to the situation at hand. Generally I stick to these stupidly easy rules when I use this team.
1. Identify Key Threats on the Opposing Team
Most higher level players do this anyway, but generally find what could potentially threaten the team, and figure out all of the ways that it can beat you.
2. Overwhelm Those Key Threats
Now that the key threat is clear as day, your job is to do everything you can to make sure that it comes in and gets deleted somehow. Generally, this consists of trapping it with Trapinch or using alternative measures to chip down something vital.
3. Get Rid of Onix
Onix 6-0s you. Don't let Onix 6-0 you. Use Trapinch to revenge it if you accidentally hit it. Use Abra to revenge it if you have given it damage but it is still slow. Use Croagunk as a last resort to Vacuum Wave it.
4. Keep Momentum, Even if It Means Letting Them Hit You
Simple enough, make sure to stay ahead of the game, even if you have to sack something to do it. This team is fast enough where something like that is okay for the greater good.
5. Run Through the Rest of the Team.
You deleted everything that could win the game, now win the game.
Note that everything below this line can absolutely change for the situation at hand, the point of the team is for it to be fluid and to use said fluidity to win games.
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
The team starts with Pawniard because it is the most essential mon to the team. Upon looking at it in the builder, it is unclear as to what exactly this Pokemon's job is. This is obviously intentional. I opted to go for an Eviolite, Adamant set because I didn't really see the need for the additional speed from either a + Speed nature or a scarf. This leaves my team intentionally weak to Abra and Gastly. I'll get to them later, but Sucker Punch does wonders for handling them if they try to beat Pawniard. If that is too much of an initial risk, spamming Knock Off does wonders for any game. Setting rocks is always important and can sometimes be challenging, but generally Pawn finds a free turn to do so if you are playing properly. Always try to set some of hazards, Stealth Rock is extremely useful in nearly every matchup in every tier it's available in. Generally, don't be afraid to use him to collect hits from birds. Some of them do run fighting attacks, but it is imperative that Pawniard attempts to handle birds before handing it off to the late game. More often than not, this should be the first mon to die, as it is the most expendable, but it is almost always worth it to let Pawniard die in exchange for momentum.
Vullaby @ Berry Juice
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 236 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
Vullaby is immediately next to Pawniard so the opposing player tries to guess what set it is. Naturally, I chose the set that makes the least amount of sense from preview. Vullaby serves as a general win condition and late game cleaner. This is extremely important for this team, as the rest of the team focuses on clearing threats for late game. I chose Vullaby because it is a sweeper that is generally tankier than most of the other options I had. This allows me to use it as an alternative solution if my usual flowchart of handling things becomes overwhelmed. This only really happens with things like Ferroseed / Abra / Fast Physical Hitter that beats Trapinch, so possible, but unlikely. Regardless, this mons main job is to play guess the set and hope the opponent guesses wrong, practically handing you a late game win. Dark Pulse was chosen over Hidden Power Grass for reliability, but if you're particularly afraid of Onix or Tirtouga, you could swap to that pretty comfortably. Heat Wave is often my solution to Ferroseed, as it is generally seen as a mid-ground for both players. It is worth it for the opponent to stay in and either set rocks, Thunder Wave, or Knock Off the Vullaby, so I am perfectly content with dishing out Heat Waves and winning the trade instead of going even. Vullaby should be used as late as possible without compromising the rest of the game, as it is very capable of winning, or at least pulling through with some luck.
Trapinch @ Eviolite
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 36 Atk / 76 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Giga Drain
- Feint
- Protect
This Pokemon is busted. I am glad it is gone. Trapinch does the exact same thing on every team that it was on, and the reason that it doesn't really change is because it worked so well. It traps. Specifically for this team, it traps exactly what you need it to trap. There is an order of priority of which this Trapinch handles things, always take the one highest in priority. You trap in this specific order; Onix -> Diglett -> Abra = opposing Trapinch -> Anything Else. Onix is first because it will absolutely ruin this team's day, as we have learned it currently beats both of the Pokemon we have already read about, and we still have two poison types to go. Diglett proceeds it because while not as major of a threat as Onix, unchecked this mon can destroy the team. Both of these mons can be generally handled very safely, as Giga Drain handles both of them comfortably, even possibly giving you the chance to take on both of them. An alternative EV spread of 24 HP / 18 Attack / 14 Defense was also used on this team several times, as it generally will be trapping Physical monsters more often than Special monsters. All in all, this thing was absolutely broken, but I think it also helped the metagame in a significant way, which is a shame.
Trubbish @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 100 Def / 116 SpA / 20 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 6 Atk
- Recycle
- Spikes
- Sludge Wave
- Giga Drain
God the more you look at it the worse it gets...
Onto the black sheep of the team. At the time of writing this, Trubbish currently sits at C- on the viability rankings, and for good reason. It sucks. I'm completely serious it's terrible. But on this team it's exactly what I want. This mon does at excellent job at blanket checking a ton of things. With an un-knockable Berry Juice, it completely defeats every Vullaby set that you could potentially come across, provided it doesn't set up, but there's ways around that as well. That alone is fairly impressive. It also often generates free turns from things that can't really damage it. So it sets Spikes. I opted for a Special Trubbish because a Physical Trubbish didn't really beat Vullaby as well as it could have. Giga Drain also was a really cool tech, which nails things like Onix, Trapinch and Tirtouga upon switch-in. The EV spread is also extremely confusing, like one of those that if you didn't know LC and you wanted to show off how complex it is, you'd show off one that looks like this. It invests mainly in HP because it allows Trubbish to now handle both sets of attacks more comfortably. 12 Special Attack is a must because it scores a 2HKO on Corphish, while scoring significantly better rolls on targets. It doesn't kill any of them. Like at all. It's still 12 Special Attack. But it does do a considerable amount more than I'm sure the opponent was expecting. Finally, onto how to using Trubbish properly. That would be by letting it die. Trubbish's job, if it cannot wall the entire opposing team by the end of the game, is to die, giving Trapinch a free switch-in. This allows the remaining Pokemon to not have to worry about a potential threat that could stop a sweep. There are often many teams where the only check to Trubbish is their Ground type, which Trapinch can then handle the moment they come to kill Trubbish. Overall, this Pokemon is incredibly underrated, in the sense that it does blanket check a ton of things. And now with only Diglett standing in it's way, it is that much closer to becoming the premier fight check in LC.
Abra @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Substitute
Now that the heaping pile of trash is out of the way, let's move onto the things that it supports. Life Orb Abra is an absolute monster, as it has the highest potential of any mon on this team. Abra is basically the only thing on this team that should really be used as late as possible. I know I said that about Vullaby and I probably will write that about Croagunk too, but this one I'm serious. It's practically impossible to tell from preview that this is a LO Abra, as by all accounts this thing should probably be Sashed. But with the opposing Diglett trapped by our Trapinch after they trap our Trubbish, there isn't really much on an opposing team that can safely handle Abra. If priority users such as Mienfoo come in after Abra scores a kill, in the hopes of either U-Turning or using Fake Out, simply send in Vullaby to soak up the damage and collect the burst of speed. Substitute is specifically for Sucker Punch, dodging Sucker Punch from Gastly in particular, as Abra happens to be the best way for this team to beat Gastly. Hidden Power Fighting is for Pawniard, after you are behind a Sub. Not much to explain here, just make sure to start running through things when it is safe for Abra, otherwise you're going to put yourself into a bad situation.
Croagunk @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 5
EVs: 116 Def / 188 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sucker Punch
- Focus Blast
- Vacuum Wave
- Sludge Wave
Finally, we've reached the end to find another relatively underrated monster in Croagunk. Generally perceived to be unviable as well, Croagunk hasn't really got much use in this gen simply because of the advent of the trappers, birds and psychic users. The meta has certainly been unfavorable to it. This set takes advantage of this, with trappers removed by Trapinch prior to Croagunk coming in. Croagunk OHKOs Vullaby on a switch-in with this set, using it's Z-Move. Sludge Wave also deals massive damage while also not missing, which is really nice. Sucker Punch is used because it can catch things like Gastly or Abra by surprise. Note that with a negative nature and no investment it does not kill either of them. What it does do however is put the fear of the heavens into your opponent when they see a Sucker Punch coming at their frail Psychic/Ghost pokemon. It does put Abra into Trapinch Feint range, and alllllllllllmost kills LO Gastly after a Sludge Wave, leaving it with 1 HP, most of the time, which means you trade with it at worst. I did use Nasty Plot over Sucker Punch for this mon sometimes, as a third sweeper could have potentially come in handy for what I was working with, but I ended up never really using it, so I replaced it with something I could at least see some practical use for. If you don't think you'll be playing AbraGast, it might be worth the switch for the extra sweeper.
Well, I guess that's the entire team. To close it out some fun things about this team: I learned if there's Spikes on the field, there's going to be a sudden urge to get them off of the field, especially if there's more than one, even if it means giving up so much momentum, or giving Pawniard +2. The team does have 5 mons with Special Attacks, which is crazy if you know LC because that's like the opposite more often than not. Finally, the team's called Dermatologist because of a certain Beastie Boys line.
Special thanks for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate you running through this boggling boring RMT with no pictures.
An even bigger thanks to the people who helped me test teams for my Seasonal run. You know who you are, no need to tag people. I'll leave the import but it's essentially a dead team with Trapinch gone, so go nuts I guess.
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
Vullaby @ Berry Juice
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 236 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
Trapinch @ Eviolite
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 36 Atk / 76 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Giga Drain
- Feint
- Protect
Trubbish @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 100 Def / 116 SpA / 20 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recycle
- Spikes
- Sludge Wave
- Giga Drain
Abra @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Substitute
Croagunk @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 5
EVs: 116 Def / 188 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Focus Blast
- Vacuum Wave
- Sludge Wave
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
Vullaby @ Berry Juice
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 236 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
Trapinch @ Eviolite
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 36 Atk / 76 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Giga Drain
- Feint
- Protect
Trubbish @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 100 Def / 116 SpA / 20 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recycle
- Spikes
- Sludge Wave
- Giga Drain
Abra @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Substitute
Croagunk @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 5
EVs: 116 Def / 188 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Focus Blast
- Vacuum Wave
- Sludge Wave
Last edited: