I've been playing Pokemon since Red and Blue came out. But it wasn't until SM (and hyper training/EV training shortcuts) that I even thought about competitive and started a love affair with the trick room mechanic... but every team I built around it kept getting demolished. So I started lurking here more, "caught 'em all" so I could build a few different types of teams and get to understand everything better, etc. and now I finally feel like I have something worth showing. I was using a hyper offense team and got absolutely embarrassed by a version of this team that used a Riolu instead of Liepard; I think my version is an upgrade here but would love to hear some thoughts and feedback!
Liepard @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Copycat
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Dark Pulse
The idea is to lead off every time with Liepard & Stakataka. Stak dynamaxes and uses Max Guard (Trick Room). Liepard goes second with priority Copycat, and just like that it's off to the slow-races. Almost everyone I've faced tries to focus down Stak, which leaves Liepard free to set up Hatterene or Torkoal with a Nasty Plot (sometimes even 2) into a Baton Pass. (Sometimes I leave Liepard in to blow something away with Dark Pulse if I can get it quad boosted but it's almost always a better use of a Trick Room turn to swap.) It's a little bit of a burn that Prankster means Baton Pass takes away the chance to 100% safely bring in one of the special attackers -- one of my main questions is whether the hive mind here thinks it'd be worth it to build Liepard out differently bc of that -- but so far I haven't really been burned by this.
Stakataka @ Air Balloon
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Body Press
- Gyro Ball
- Stone Edge
- Trick Room
Another thing that kind of sucks is to burn turn 1 of every match on Max Guard, but again so far it's been working out pretty well. If I can get away with a couple Max Steelspikes on turns 2-3, Stak returns to normal size with a double-boosted Body Press (with Beast Boost sometimes even triple- or quad-boosted if I get a real beneficial matchup). That's why I didn't put a full 252 into Defense: it's so easy to boost, but Stak needs to survive hence the extra in SpD. (Another question I have: am I outsmarting myself by doing that?) Side note: it is really funny how many people don't pay attention to the balloon.
Glastrier @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Chilling Neigh
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Stomping Tantrum
- Megahorn
Weakness Policy + Swords Dance + Chilling Neigh = Ded. I chose Megahorn bc I feel like I always get surprised by bug moves when someone busts one out even though they provide pretty good coverage. I've been messing around with Stomping Tantrum bc I seem to have terrible luck with Icicle Crash and Megahorn accuracy, plus I just kinda like "gamble" mechanics like that and this one can pay dividends with the only drawback being a few points of damage. Incidentally, that is often less noticable thanks to the Weakness Policy which plays great on this mon: Everyone has a fighting- or fire-type move thrown onto an off-type for coverage, and Glastrier can absorb a wide variety of those kinda things.
Torkoal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Eruption
- Solar Beam
- Clear Smog
- Yawn
I like Torkoal and originally wanted to build around it, but I think it probably needs to be replaced. Originally I tried pretty much a pure support set (rocks, spin, etc.) but it just wasn't a good fit for what the rest of this team does. I put this current set together thinking it could mess with Drizzle teams -- I thought coming in with a double-boosted SpA from Liepard and activating Drought would let me blow away Swampert or Seismotoad or Quagsire -- but instead they pretty much always survive and demolish Torkoal. (I tried this set with Choice Specs as well to basically similar results.)
Hatterene (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Draining Kiss
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
Hatty usually gets picked for 4-on-4's over Torkoal bc she absolutely wrecks face. I've been thinking maybe Psychic instead of Psyshock -- or even Stored Power bc honestly I can get 2 Nasty Plots off on Liepard more often than not -- since I have such good physical damage already between Stak and Glastrier. But Draining Kiss and Shadow Ball are obviously special dmg soooo idk.
Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Hammer Arm
- Thunder Punch
- Facade
- Poison Jab
I love this set. It is so fun; the coverage is awesome and he hits like a truck. But honestly he should probably be swapped out too; Liepard/Stak/Glas are givens in almost every 4v4 and another physical attacker (esp one who can't back up with another Trick Room) just doesn't make a lot of sense. That said, I still use him sometimes and this build is pretty devastating lol.
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Possible alternatives I've been thinking (all of which could/would be secondary TR setters):
1) Nihilego. Love this thing and its moveset, but it's probably too fast to be reliable on a TR team
2) Comfey. I'm thinking swapping Conk for this would probably be the smartest/easiest, but again it's pretty fast.
3) Aromatisse. I don't really see anyone running this mon and I'm not sure why bc both its abilities (Aroma Veil + Healer) seem beastly. It's also super duper slow.
4) Runerigus. Main benefit here is there's no type overlap with anyone else on the team.
To be clear this team does pretty well as-is. But the Torkoal and Conk slots just feel kind of wasted right now; would love to hear your thoughts and advice!
Liepard @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Copycat
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Dark Pulse
The idea is to lead off every time with Liepard & Stakataka. Stak dynamaxes and uses Max Guard (Trick Room). Liepard goes second with priority Copycat, and just like that it's off to the slow-races. Almost everyone I've faced tries to focus down Stak, which leaves Liepard free to set up Hatterene or Torkoal with a Nasty Plot (sometimes even 2) into a Baton Pass. (Sometimes I leave Liepard in to blow something away with Dark Pulse if I can get it quad boosted but it's almost always a better use of a Trick Room turn to swap.) It's a little bit of a burn that Prankster means Baton Pass takes away the chance to 100% safely bring in one of the special attackers -- one of my main questions is whether the hive mind here thinks it'd be worth it to build Liepard out differently bc of that -- but so far I haven't really been burned by this.
Stakataka @ Air Balloon
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Body Press
- Gyro Ball
- Stone Edge
- Trick Room
Another thing that kind of sucks is to burn turn 1 of every match on Max Guard, but again so far it's been working out pretty well. If I can get away with a couple Max Steelspikes on turns 2-3, Stak returns to normal size with a double-boosted Body Press (with Beast Boost sometimes even triple- or quad-boosted if I get a real beneficial matchup). That's why I didn't put a full 252 into Defense: it's so easy to boost, but Stak needs to survive hence the extra in SpD. (Another question I have: am I outsmarting myself by doing that?) Side note: it is really funny how many people don't pay attention to the balloon.
Glastrier @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Chilling Neigh
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Stomping Tantrum
- Megahorn
Weakness Policy + Swords Dance + Chilling Neigh = Ded. I chose Megahorn bc I feel like I always get surprised by bug moves when someone busts one out even though they provide pretty good coverage. I've been messing around with Stomping Tantrum bc I seem to have terrible luck with Icicle Crash and Megahorn accuracy, plus I just kinda like "gamble" mechanics like that and this one can pay dividends with the only drawback being a few points of damage. Incidentally, that is often less noticable thanks to the Weakness Policy which plays great on this mon: Everyone has a fighting- or fire-type move thrown onto an off-type for coverage, and Glastrier can absorb a wide variety of those kinda things.
Torkoal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Eruption
- Solar Beam
- Clear Smog
- Yawn
I like Torkoal and originally wanted to build around it, but I think it probably needs to be replaced. Originally I tried pretty much a pure support set (rocks, spin, etc.) but it just wasn't a good fit for what the rest of this team does. I put this current set together thinking it could mess with Drizzle teams -- I thought coming in with a double-boosted SpA from Liepard and activating Drought would let me blow away Swampert or Seismotoad or Quagsire -- but instead they pretty much always survive and demolish Torkoal. (I tried this set with Choice Specs as well to basically similar results.)
Hatterene (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Draining Kiss
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
Hatty usually gets picked for 4-on-4's over Torkoal bc she absolutely wrecks face. I've been thinking maybe Psychic instead of Psyshock -- or even Stored Power bc honestly I can get 2 Nasty Plots off on Liepard more often than not -- since I have such good physical damage already between Stak and Glastrier. But Draining Kiss and Shadow Ball are obviously special dmg soooo idk.
Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Hammer Arm
- Thunder Punch
- Facade
- Poison Jab
I love this set. It is so fun; the coverage is awesome and he hits like a truck. But honestly he should probably be swapped out too; Liepard/Stak/Glas are givens in almost every 4v4 and another physical attacker (esp one who can't back up with another Trick Room) just doesn't make a lot of sense. That said, I still use him sometimes and this build is pretty devastating lol.
-------------------
Possible alternatives I've been thinking (all of which could/would be secondary TR setters):
1) Nihilego. Love this thing and its moveset, but it's probably too fast to be reliable on a TR team
2) Comfey. I'm thinking swapping Conk for this would probably be the smartest/easiest, but again it's pretty fast.
3) Aromatisse. I don't really see anyone running this mon and I'm not sure why bc both its abilities (Aroma Veil + Healer) seem beastly. It's also super duper slow.
4) Runerigus. Main benefit here is there's no type overlap with anyone else on the team.
To be clear this team does pretty well as-is. But the Torkoal and Conk slots just feel kind of wasted right now; would love to hear your thoughts and advice!
