yet another stupid bullshit mon revamp
[OVERVIEW]
Dusclops is an extremely bulky Trick Room setter that can survive almost any attack and set up Trick Room, but it doesn't match up well against any traditional anti-Trick Room measures and usually drains momentum and precious Trick Room turns while it remains on the field. Dusclops offers support moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Helping Hand, a typing that counters Mega Kangaskhan and beats Fake Out, and the ability to consistently break Aegislash and Heatran Substitutes. However, Porygon2 is usually a better choice for a bulky Trick Room setter with its access to reliable recovery, semblance of an offensive presence, and typing that isn't redundant with that of other setters, and otherwise Dusclops is usually outclassed by Pokemon such as Jellicent, Reuniclus, and Cresselia, which can use their item slot or ability to beat common Trick Room checks such as sleep, Taunt, and super effective attacks.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Night Shade
move 4: Helping Hand / Protect
item: Eviolite
ability: Pressure / Frisk
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room is to Dusclops as Drizzle is to Politoed. Will-O-Wisp is often Dusclops's most threatening move, as halving Attack keeps physical attackers at bay and the consistent passive damage is quite useful. Night Shade is necessary to avoid being Taunt bait or giving free Substitutes to Heatran and Aegislash, which can be quite the pain for Trick Room teams. Helping Hand is a great move to help teammates grab OHKOs they wouldn't otherwise get, especially for Trick Room teams, which need to do massive damage on a short timer. Protect is always useful in many ways for positioning, but since Dusclops is so fat and immune to Fake Out it's less important than for most other Pokemon.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread allows Dusclops to survive every conceivable unboosted attack—in particular it tanks Life Orb Hoopa-U's Hyperspace Fury. Frisk is incompatible with Helping Hand but otherwise the better ability. Eviolite is the obvious choice of item; if you're running anything else, don't use Dusclops.
Usage Tips
========
Only use Dusclops on full Trick Room teams, as it's worthless besides its ability to set Trick Room. Most teams have a dedicated counter-lead to common Dusclops leads, so if the opponent has things such as Taunt or sleep users on their team you should keep Dusclops in the back and slip it in when its checks are off the field. It's usually a mistake to keep Dusclops on the field wasting precious Trick Room turns after it's used the move—try to pivot to one of your hard-hitting attackers as soon as possible.
Team Options
========
Fake Out support is neat to completely guarantee that Dusclops doesn't faint in one turn, as well as helping to get around things such as Spore and Taunt, though it's far from perfect at beating those. Mega Kangaskhan, Scrafty, and Hariyama are good Fake Out users for Trick Room, though beware when using Scrafty, as Intimidate will trigger Defiant on Bisharp, which then can OHKO Dusclops with Knock Off. Dusclops will need multiple sleep-immune partners; options include Overcoat Reuniclus, Safety Goggles Fire- or Steel-types, Mega Abomasnow, and Amoonguss.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Disable is a powerful move that often forces out foes. Taunt is reasonably viable as a way of stopping Amoonguss and many other Pokemon once Trick Room is already up and could be used over Helping Hand or even Night Shade, perhaps with enough Speed IVs to outrun Amoonguss before setting Trick Room.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Sleep**: Barring the rare Taunt after Trick Room is already up, Dusclops has absolutely no defense against sleep. Because Dusclops will usually rely on its partner (often Fake Out) to keep sleep users at bay on the first turn, and because it usually doesn't run Protect, Fake Out + sleep and Quick Guard + sleep are especially potent. Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur in particular are still quite threatening to Trick Room teams once Trick Room has already been set.
**Taunt**: Dusclops has absolutely no defense against Taunt. Because Dusclops will usually rely on its partner (often Fake Out) to deal with Taunt users and because it often lacks Protect, Taunt Gengar, Fake Out + Taunt, and Quick Guard + Taunt are especially troublesome.
**Dark-types**: While Dark-types technically don't OHKO Dusclops, they definitely deal a ton of damage to it and often their partner can finish the job. Physical ones can Knock Off its Eviolite as well, though they must beware Will-O-Wisp.
**Fire-types**: Pokemon like Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Rotom-H are immune to Will-O-Wisp and quickly KO Dusclops. Heatran in particular is a great Trick Room check in general and can even fish for a Flash Fire boost.
**Ghost-types**: Aegislash, particularly the Substitute variant, is a great Trick Room check in general and 2HKOes Dusclops. Taunt Gengar and Taunt Mega Gengar also handle it extremely well and ones without Taunt fare decently.
[OVERVIEW]
Dusclops is an extremely bulky Trick Room setter that can survive almost any attack and set up Trick Room, but it doesn't match up well against any traditional anti-Trick Room measures and usually drains momentum and precious Trick Room turns while it remains on the field. Dusclops offers support moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Helping Hand, a typing that counters Mega Kangaskhan and beats Fake Out, and the ability to consistently break Aegislash and Heatran Substitutes. However, Porygon2 is usually a better choice for a bulky Trick Room setter with its access to reliable recovery, semblance of an offensive presence, and typing that isn't redundant with that of other setters, and otherwise Dusclops is usually outclassed by Pokemon such as Jellicent, Reuniclus, and Cresselia, which can use their item slot or ability to beat common Trick Room checks such as sleep, Taunt, and super effective attacks.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Night Shade
move 4: Helping Hand / Protect
item: Eviolite
ability: Pressure / Frisk
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room is to Dusclops as Drizzle is to Politoed. Will-O-Wisp is often Dusclops's most threatening move, as halving Attack keeps physical attackers at bay and the consistent passive damage is quite useful. Night Shade is necessary to avoid being Taunt bait or giving free Substitutes to Heatran and Aegislash, which can be quite the pain for Trick Room teams. Helping Hand is a great move to help teammates grab OHKOs they wouldn't otherwise get, especially for Trick Room teams, which need to do massive damage on a short timer. Protect is always useful in many ways for positioning, but since Dusclops is so fat and immune to Fake Out it's less important than for most other Pokemon.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread allows Dusclops to survive every conceivable unboosted attack—in particular it tanks Life Orb Hoopa-U's Hyperspace Fury. Frisk is incompatible with Helping Hand but otherwise the better ability. Eviolite is the obvious choice of item; if you're running anything else, don't use Dusclops.
Usage Tips
========
Only use Dusclops on full Trick Room teams, as it's worthless besides its ability to set Trick Room. Most teams have a dedicated counter-lead to common Dusclops leads, so if the opponent has things such as Taunt or sleep users on their team you should keep Dusclops in the back and slip it in when its checks are off the field. It's usually a mistake to keep Dusclops on the field wasting precious Trick Room turns after it's used the move—try to pivot to one of your hard-hitting attackers as soon as possible.
Team Options
========
Fake Out support is neat to completely guarantee that Dusclops doesn't faint in one turn, as well as helping to get around things such as Spore and Taunt, though it's far from perfect at beating those. Mega Kangaskhan, Scrafty, and Hariyama are good Fake Out users for Trick Room, though beware when using Scrafty, as Intimidate will trigger Defiant on Bisharp, which then can OHKO Dusclops with Knock Off. Dusclops will need multiple sleep-immune partners; options include Overcoat Reuniclus, Safety Goggles Fire- or Steel-types, Mega Abomasnow, and Amoonguss.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Disable is a powerful move that often forces out foes. Taunt is reasonably viable as a way of stopping Amoonguss and many other Pokemon once Trick Room is already up and could be used over Helping Hand or even Night Shade, perhaps with enough Speed IVs to outrun Amoonguss before setting Trick Room.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Sleep**: Barring the rare Taunt after Trick Room is already up, Dusclops has absolutely no defense against sleep. Because Dusclops will usually rely on its partner (often Fake Out) to keep sleep users at bay on the first turn, and because it usually doesn't run Protect, Fake Out + sleep and Quick Guard + sleep are especially potent. Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur in particular are still quite threatening to Trick Room teams once Trick Room has already been set.
**Taunt**: Dusclops has absolutely no defense against Taunt. Because Dusclops will usually rely on its partner (often Fake Out) to deal with Taunt users and because it often lacks Protect, Taunt Gengar, Fake Out + Taunt, and Quick Guard + Taunt are especially troublesome.
**Dark-types**: While Dark-types technically don't OHKO Dusclops, they definitely deal a ton of damage to it and often their partner can finish the job. Physical ones can Knock Off its Eviolite as well, though they must beware Will-O-Wisp.
**Fire-types**: Pokemon like Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Rotom-H are immune to Will-O-Wisp and quickly KO Dusclops. Heatran in particular is a great Trick Room check in general and can even fish for a Flash Fire boost.
**Ghost-types**: Aegislash, particularly the Substitute variant, is a great Trick Room check in general and 2HKOes Dusclops. Taunt Gengar and Taunt Mega Gengar also handle it extremely well and ones without Taunt fare decently.
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