Impressive Trap Team

[Raj]

Lately I've been experimenting with the concept of trapping and it has been doing quite well. My first attempts had me with all out offense trapping, but I soon realized that that was the wrong way to go.

Staraptor @ Choice Scarf
Intimidate
Adamant
116 HP/ 252 Att/ 6 Def/ 136 Spe
-Brave Bird
-Close Combat
-U-Turn
-Pursuit

My lead. I usually just U-Turn from the get go. Brave Bird does massive damage, Close Combat helps with Steels, and every trap team should carry a Pursuiter. I can't say I really like this as my lead and I hate to have two scarfers, but this stops Heracross from tearing up my team. If anything, Raptor is what needs replacing.

Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Arena Trap
Jolly
6 HP/ 252 Att/ 252 Spe
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Night Slash
-Suckerpunch

Most notorious trapper. I find that if I only go with one of the Dark moves I end up needing the other so I use both. Night Slash for the likes of Gengar if I know it's not scarfed, Suckerpunch for Deoxys-E and shit I know is Scarved.

Wobbuffet @ Leftovers
Shadow Tag
Bold
6 HP/ 252 Def/ 252 Sp Def
-Encore
-Counter
-Mirror Coat
-Safeguard

Standard Wob.

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Magnet Pull
Timid
6 HP/ 252 Sp Att/ 252 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Flash Cannon
-Hidden Power Ice
-Thunder

Scarfzone comes as a surprise to most battlers. Since Zone's movepool is terribly shitty I opted for Thunder over something like Tri Attack. I really don't like the Substitute/Magnet Rise set.

Porygon 2 @ Leftovers
Trace
Modest
236 HP/ 160 Def/ 18 Sp Att/ 96 Sp Def
-Discharge
-Ice Beam
-Magic Coat
-Recover

This is INVALUABLE. This is truly awesome in aiding in trapping and sweeping for that matter. Discharge makes him a team player, Ice Beam...duh, Magic Coat to reflect nasty status, and recover so I can do it all over again. I'll switch this into Heatran and Vaporeon and make them useless, at which point I predict a switch and trap.

Mesprit @ Leftovers
Levitate
Bold
252 HP/ 180 Def/ 76 Sp Att
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Stealth Rock
-U-Turn/ Grass Knot

This is my Chomp switch in most of the time. Pretty bulky, I think, but last moveslot is up for grabs.

Well, now you've seen it. My mainmost concerns lie with my lead and Mesprit. I had been using Crobat or Azelf as leads but every good Crobat set is illegal and Azelfs are polluting Shoddy. Additionally, I'm not sure If Mesprit should be replaced by Uxie or even something else altogether.

 

[Aeroblacktyl]

Okay, one of the first things I'm going to look for is Aerial Ace on Dugtrio. Forget Night Slash or Sucker Punch, but without Aerial Ace, any Swords Dancer or non-Choiced Hera will eternally fuck you over. Hell, a CB/CS Hera who just spams Megahorn all day will still win. Staraptor just won't cut it due to SR being on the ground and making it able to only switch in once before dieing.

What I'd like to suggest over it is...Gliscor. It makes a great Heracross counter, and can U-Turn to help out the whole seeing what trapper to go to, as well as help out with Lucario as it could get troublesome here and there.

 

[Raj]

Well you see, I've been using Aerial Ace but that's not going to stop a ScarfCross. Would you suggest Gliscor as a lead? It seems to many leads carry HP Ice.

 

[Aeroblacktyl]

But the point is, you'd at least get the kill on any non-Scarf, or still kill a Scarf'd one if it used Stone Edge or Pursuit, in which case, that's way better than having no defense at all.

But anyways, if you add Gliscor, than Magnezone can go directly to the lead, since sleep hurts you a lot. Although for that, I might rather use the whole Sub/Magnet thing since Bronzong can still win if you're without it.