My First VGC is in a Tricky Room

[Ice-Master]

Ok, so just earlier today I was offered to go to the Orlando VGC's this weekend with my friends, and for the longest time I have told myself that I would use a Trick Room team if I ever went to VGC's. So with minimal time to spare, and little testing, here is what I have come up with. I post it before testing because I need some feedback ASAP as I need to start making the team before Saturday.

The Team at a Glance​

Construction:

So the whole team is to be Trick Room, and my favorite Trick Room Set-uper is Dusclops. I really think he is one of the coolest eviolite pokemon, and has always been a favorite, so he is a must

Initially I made a version of this team where I threw some random pokemon I had together in order to help my friend practice, Metagross happened to be one of them, and I enjoyed his presence.

I knew that only having one pokemon to set up Trick Room was a bad idea, so I decided to throw in Cresselia, which I knew was a standard 'mon to have on most teams. Along with a second set up pokemon, I needed a way to reliably set up Trick Room, and thats where Hariyama comes in.

I needed pokemon to fill up the last two spots, so I added Reuniclus, since Trick Room is really where he shines and I needed a Special Attacker. Breloom is a good pokemon to spread sleep around, so I added him in.

So, onto the pokemon themselves:

Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
Ev's: 252 HP / 134 Def / 120 Sp. Def
Impish Nature
- Trick Room
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Night Shade

I made this first set without really looking at any of Smogons listed sets. I knew that I wanted to be able to set up Trick Room easily, and that Dusclops had an even defense spread. I spread his defenses somewhat evenly, with a higher emphasis on Def since I know that Rock Slide is a prevelant move in this meta.
I went with a SubSplit set because I wanted Dusclops to be able to last in order to set up multiple times if needed, though Im not sure if thats the greatest idea in this meta, so feed back on the set choice would be greatly appreciated.

Metagross @ Air Baloon
Ability: Clear Body
Ev's: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def
Brave Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Explosion

I initially put Metagross on the team because I had him on the 'pretend' team I used to help my friend practice and I really liked him. I also really enjoyed Explosion hijinks back in Gen 4 when I played on PBR, so having a pokemon with explosion on my team felt very amusing to me.
I like him on it now still because he has a great attack stat, can tank anything thats not called Fire Blast (until his Baloon is poped of course) and can hit hard with those all important double-targeting moves.
Though, Im not really sure what he does for the team that my other pokemon do; so if anything, this would be the first thing off the team if anything.

Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 Hp / 60 Def / 196 Sp. Def
Sassy Nature
- Trick Room
- Safeguard
- Psychic
- Helping Hand / Light Screen

So I since I knew I needed another set up for Trick Room, I threw in a Cresselia, which I know is a very good pokemon (or at least commonly used) in VGC. I have never really used one before, so Im using the standard set from Smogon for Trick Room.
I left the last slot between Helping Hand and Light Screen because Im not sure which is more important. I know that of the two stats, my team would appreciate the Sp. Def boost, but I dont know how common pecial attackers will be. So some feed back on this would be helpful.

Hariyama @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Ev's: 252 Atk / 124 Def / 132 Sp. Def
Brave Nature
- Fake Out
- Ice Punch
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide / Feint

So to go along with my Cresselia to help her set up, is my Fake Out Hariyama. I initially had a Conkeldurr in this spot, but when I read up a bit more, and saw how important and helpful a Fake Out user would be, I added in this guy. He fills a lot of the same roles as Conkeldurr, and add a lot of coverage with Close Combat and Ice Punch.
I leave the last slot of Rock Slide and Feint open, because I feel like Feint can be a very useful tool in the hands of this hard hitter. So feedbakc on this would be nice.

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Ev's: 172 Hp / 28 Def / 252 Sp. Atk / 56 Sp. Def
Quiet Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder / Trick Room / Protect

Reuniclus is one of the greatest Life Orb users in my opinion, and I love this excuse to use him. He fills the role of Special Attacker on my team. Psychic helps hit those Bulky Fighting types who might cause me trouble, and Focus Blast provides coverage. I feel that Shadow Ball is a must if I want to deal with the likes of the Lati's.
The last move is a toss up, mainly due to inexperience. Thunder I feel is a good way to help take care of Politoed before it can cause trouble, and help get rid of other bulky waters. Protect can help keep Reuniclus alive longer, but Im not sure if its worth the loss of coverage. And im not sure if I need a third Trick Roomer on this team, the set descripton said that Trick Room was the crux of this set, but I feel with two other pokemon to help set it up, putting TR on here would be redundant. This is something I really need help with.

Brelooom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Toxic Heal
Ev's: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def
Brave Nature
- Spore
- Seed Bomb
- Drain Punch
- Protect

Breloom, who I added in initially as a placeholder, really fills some important roles in my opinion. His ability to put anything to sleep, and usually do it first with Tr set up, is a great help to my team, being able to take out any problems with ease. He also makes a good counter to T-Tar, Politoed, and Abomasnow as he will most likely 'outspeed' all three, and can cripple them with sleep if needed.

​

Final Comments
the thing I would like most on this team is something to counter opposing weather users. I wanted to use Cloud Nine Lickilicky, but he seems just a bit too weak. Golduck and Altaria also dont fit the Trick Room theme too well either, and I'm not sure if using Ninetails is the greatest idea, as it doesnt really benefit too much on my team.


Thanks for reading, and any comments or feedback would highly be appreciated.

 

[cocoon]

Hi there! Nice team, I got a few suggestions for you.

You're really weak to hail and sun teams and if you're looking for a pokemon that can go out with a bang, may I suggest snorlax in place of metagross?

Snorlax@Normal Gem
Nature: Brave(-Spe + Atk)
Ivs: 0 Spe
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Trait: Thick Fat
-Selfdestruct
-Earthquake
-Crunch / Superpower
-Double Edge / Rock Slide

Just look at the grin? It's too adorable to resist! Snorlax is a better pokemon than metagross(or your team, specifically) because it can tank blizzards, heatwaves, and discharges which your team is quite weak to. Second, Snorlax' selfdestruct is more powerful than metagross' explosion! Snorlax also works well with your cresselia, being able to target ghost and dark types that cress has trouble with, while also being able to spam earthquakes w/o trouble. Rock Slide is also a fun move that hits both targets and can do some serious damage to hail and sun team. It's also pretty slow, which means nothing outspeeds it in trickroom.

One more suggestion, if you're looking for a spore user and a rain counter, you should try amoongus in place of breloom.

Amoongus@Leftovers
Nature: Sassy(- Spe, +SpD)
Trait:Regenerator
Ivs: 0 Spe
EV 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
-Spore
-Giga Drain
-Rage Powder
-Protect / Sludge Bomb

This is pretty much the onsite set. Well first off, amoongus is a hell of a lot bulkier than breloom, which will do you good in being to deal with rain teams in general. Second thing that makes it good is spore, which shuts down counters. Amoongus also has regenerator which allows it to switch out and regain health, meaning it isn't worn down so easily. Rage powder is also a cool move, you can lead with amoongus and Trick room user, have amoongus use rage powder to take the taunts away from cress or dusclups and allowing you to get an almost guaranteed set up. Amoongus is better than breloom in that it can sponge hits better, aid your team in setting up trick room and functions decently in it to begin with.

Well that's all for now. Happy team building!

 

[Ice-Master]

Basically you're suggesting it for the Thick Fat and the resistances it brings?

I can understand that, I'll try switching the two.

However I still feel like it fills similar roles as my other physical hitters, and I still have the problem of opposing weather.
But I definately will try this out. Thank you!


I like the Idea of that amoongus, I'll try that too. Thank you.

 

[araluen7]

I'm about 90% positive I saw this team sitting next to me in Round 2 of Regionals. Instead of Hariyama I would add Moxie Scrafty, instead of the intimidate set, with Drain punch, Fake out, Crunch, and either protect or something along those lines. I really don't like using Explosion as a move either, even in last resort. I had an opponent use it on me with his last pokemon, and it took down my last 2, but since he fainted first I still won the match. It's really a gamble if you ask me. I'd replace it on Metagross with Ice punch so you can get that Dragon Coverage that is so rampant in this meta. On my TR Dusclops I run Will-o-Wisp instead of sub, because that helps slow down their physical attackers along with residual damage each turn. That Amoongus set posted really could replace your Breloom if you wished, it likes sitting well in TR too. Anyway, hope you made it pretty far there, GLHF

 

[Mymble]

Your team has one major flaw and that's it's got no way to defend it's self against anti-trickroom chandelure (protect, trick room, imprison, heat wave, if your curious.) the set isn't that common but would really ruin your team. Uxie runs a similar set, but can be fake out'd, that's why'd run a mental herb on reuniclus, and use it as your primary trick room setter. Agreeing with cocoon rage powder amoonguss is a superior option to brelloom. Other than that a decent team.