Monotype Scream (Ghost Trick Room Offence)

Hey all, longtime RMT lurker and first time RMT poster here, so hopefully I don‘t mess this up TOO badly. Most of my experience with mons lies in OMs, but if I’m bored and come up a fun concept for a team in another tier I’ll give it a shot. My only previous experience in Monotype comes from screwing around in SM with a Flying-type rain team that performed about as well as you’d expect a Flying-type rain team to, but I wanted to attempt a dedicated Trick Room team in Gen VIII that wasn’t shit, and Monotype seemed like a fun meta to build it in. Ghost was the obvious type to me, mostly thanks to it having a ridiculously strong abuser in Alolan Marowak and a great mid-game setter in Mimikyu, and the rest of the team eventually fell into place from there. You generally win by just overwhelming your opponent with raw physical offence, though you also have Specs Dragapult in the back to snipe physical walls. Choose your sacks wisely (ie don’t throw away your wincons like I do) and the team performs a far better than you might expect.

people seem to link songs for some reason so...

Runerigus @ Mental Herb
Ability: Wandering Spirit
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Trick Room
- Night Shade
- Memento

Runerigus is the designated suicide lead, though if you have a good read on the opponent’s lead you can save it for later. This thing’s ridiculously bulky, capable of setting rocks and Trick Room before using Memento or switching out to save it as a sack. Focus Sash is kind of excessive when you also have a Trick Room Mimikyu, so I opted for Mental Herb instead, and it’s saved me on quite a few occasions. Wandering Spirit can be fun against mons like Araquanid, Azumarill, and Guts users, but be sure to keep track of it; You don’t want to wind up accidentally using Flare Blitz without Rock Head, or Dynamic Punch without No Guard.
edit: swapped from physdef with Body Press to spdef with Night Shade, lets you set up on mons like Pelipper and Hydreigon

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Bonemerang
- Brick Break

Switch this in with Trick Room up and just click moves until it’s over. This thing hits stupid hard, putting dents into anything it doesn’t straight-up instakill. It makes Ice matchups nigh-autowin, obliterates HO, and breaks through defensive cores with ease. Fire/Ghost is also a potent defensive typing, allowing Marowak to be effective outside of Trick Room, especially vs Fire, Bug, Poison, and Grass-type teams. I originally had Swords Dance in the fourth moveslot but it was never worth wasting a Trick Room turn on, so I opted for Brick Break, which is useful tech for dealing with screen teams and Hydreigon.

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Surf

Every good Trick Room team needs a really fast mon to deal with threats outside of Trick Room, and Ghost just happens to have the second-fastest mon in the meta, so Pult was an easy pick. A Specs set provides some much-needed special power to an otherwise physical team. TBolt and Surf are my coverage moves of choice, notably hitting nuisances like Azumarill, Keldeo, Hippowdon, Excadrill, Incineroar, Krookodile, and Corviknight. Draco is really nice if you just need to nuke a mon, or nuke 2 if you’re against a Dragon-type team.

Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Trick Room
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough

Mimikyu is almost essential on Ghost-type teams to help with Dark mons, and its ability to tank any hit (except, like, Haxorus Iron Tail) and hit back or set Trick Room is key to this team’s success. You need to be very careful with how you use this mon, because Disguise can and will save your ass in nearly any situation. STAB is all you really need because nobody runs Pyroar, and SD is just nice to have, letting you set up on walls or forced switches. Generally, you want to save this mon to set up for a final sweep of the opponent’s team, either on its own or by setting Trick Room for a teammate.

Aegislash @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Close Combat

At this point I needed more Trick Room abusers, but I also wanted them to be viable outside of room, and Aegislash was the first mon that came to mind. Priority in the form of Shadow Sneak is really nice to have, allowing you to deal with mons that barely avoid a KO from another mon, both inside and outside of Room. Aegislash also provides a Psychic resist, which helps you deal with Expanding Force mons outside of Trick Room. Colbur’s nice tech, letting you catch mons like Bisharp, Urshifu, Hydreigon, and Zarude off guard and hit them with an adamant Close Combat.

Golurk @ Choice Band
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 4 Spe
- Poltergeist
- Earthquake
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge

I went back and forth on what my last mon should be for a while. I tried Polteageist for a sweeper outside of Trick Room, AV Dhelmise for hazard control and a Ground switchin, and Specs Cursola for another special attacker, but all of those just had too much trouble in the Dark matchup, so I settled on a Banded Golurk. Stone Edge 2HKOes Mandibuzz, the single biggest threat to this team, Dynamic Punch hits Dark and Normal types and has confusion bullshit, and EQ is really nice vs Poison and Fire teams once you deal with Galarian Weezing and Rotom Heat respectively. 4 Speed IVs let you outspeed Toxapex outside of Trick Room, and I chose to invest EVs into defense rather than HP to make sure I can take Sucker Punch, Aqua Jet, and Shadow Sneak as well as possible. No Guard is a godsend, especially on a Trick Room team, where a miss is often the difference between having just enough turns to sweep and getting counterswept.
​

Threatlist

SD Bisharp
You can’t afford to let it set up. Thankfully, we have plenty to OHKO this, but +2 Sucker Punch is extremely dangerous and Disguise Mimikyu can’t save you from this monster.

Mandibuzz
Extremely difficult to kill and hits every mon on the team hard with Foul Play. Try to hit it with Golurk or Dragapult on the switch.

Hippowdon
Another physical wall that can comfortably tank hits from the entire team sans Dragapult, and it can also stall out Trick Room with Yawn.

SD King’s Shield Aegislash/SD Doublade
Not too bad as long as you get off enough damage that you can finish them off with Mimikyu, but still scary to face if they get set up.

Belly Drum Azumarill
Similarly to Bisharp, this thing is a monster if it manages to get set up, and doesn‘t die to Mimikyu. However, as long as you’re outside of Trick Room and haven’t been chipped too hard, Dragapult can tank an Aqua Jet and kill. Also, if Pult’s chipped but Rune’s alive, you can sack Runerigus to get rid of Huge Power.

Bulk Up/Curse Users
Annoying if they get set up, but you can use Specs Dragapult to deal with most of them, with the three pictured here generally needing a bit of chip first.

Replays

VS Poison: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1177713589
VS Fighting: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1177
VS Grass: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1177916026
VS Fire: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1177961819

Importable

Runerigus @ Mental Herb
Ability: Wandering Spirit
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Trick Room
- Night Shade
- Memento

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Bonemerang
- Brick Break

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Surf

Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Trick Room
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough

Aegislash @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Close Combat

Golurk @ Choice Band
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 4 Spe
- Poltergeist
- Earthquake
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge

Aaand that’s the team! It struggles most in Dark and Ground-type matchups, but both are definitely winnable if you play your cards right. My goal with the team, and teams in general, is to have them be unorthodox and fun to play, while also being as competitively viable as possible. Criticism of the team is much appreciated, as is criticism of the RMT itself in case I ever do this again.​

 

[AA]

Hi, I have experienced playing tr mono ghost I have a few suggestions as you said you struggle with SD Bisharp and probably a few other dark types such as the bulk up grimmsnarl on fairy and urshifu on dark/fighting to name a few. I have a few suggestions to help beat sucker punchers which would be substitute chandelure which allows you to avoid the priority attacks that you most likely struggle it could you could also run energy ball to beat Hippowdon along with flamethrower to beat corviknight and shadow ball as stab an alternative is to run calm mind in the place of energy ball but I don't think that that is personally a good idea for trick room ghost as it most likely wastes a turn this may also help slightly with your steel mu although it makes you weaker to azumrail and crawdaunt (both aqua jet users). My other suggestion is to replace shadow claw for drain punch as it may help you beat Bisharp as he resits both of your current stabs and you listed as the biggest threat to this team which I fully agree with. While you will get walled by shadow sneak Aegislash slash and Doublade Mimikyu already struggled to beat them as king shield lowers attack and most sets can 2 shot you along with their insane bulk if max def or hp. This also allows Mimikyu to get hp back and can help beat Snorlax. If you don't like chandelure as you would have 2 fire types alternative is Cursola which has a wide virality of moves such as scald/Hydro Pump, Power Gem/Meteor Beam, Ice Beam, Psychic, Burning Jealousy, and Earth Power are just a few in its move pool paired with its 145 bases sp attack it and slow speed tier it is a good trick room sweeper you can run a similar set to the chandelure set I recommended above with substitute and as it not a super popular pokemon most people don't know how strong it is or the movsets it runs so it's hard to predict then chandelure. And finally, its ability Perish Body not amazing but it can allow you to make a setup sweeper swap out.

Cursola

This is a fun set I made up Meteor Beam with Power Herb which gives it a plus 1 and a base 140 move

Cursola @ Power Herb
Ability: Perish Body
EVs: 252/ 4 Def / 252 SpA
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- filler
- filler
- Meteor Beam
- substitute

Chandelure Sub Cm

I didn't ev them
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind

Chandelure Energy Ball

I didn't ev them
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball

Mimikyu w Drain Punch

Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Trick Room
- Drain punch
- Play Rough

ps: sorry my spelling sucks hope you have fun with the team and good luck with it, I am also not the best mono player ever just wanted to give you my thoughts on the team I may have given suggestions that are incorrect and the real rmt guys completely disagree with.

 

[Tapler]

My other suggestion is to replace shadow claw for drain punch as it may help you beat Bisharp as he resits both of your current stabs and you listed as the biggest threat to this team which I fully agree with.

I’m concerned about making this switch with how useful Shadow Claw is against mons like Aegislash, Toxapex, and Weezing-Galar, especially since you can mindgame your way around Sucker Punch Bisharp with Swords Dance if needed. That said, I’ll try out a sub mon in place of Golurk, maybe Cursola since that Meteor Beam set’s fire.

edit: Yeah, probably going to be sticking with Cursola > Golurk for now. Even though Weak Armor’s counterintuitive for a Trick Room set, Perish Body tends to cripple you against priority mons, so it’s actually worse on this team imo.

Set

Cursola @ Power Herb
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Meteor Beam
- Earth Power
- Substitute

 

[Rio Vidal]

Introduction
Hi Tapler, that is a very interesting team. Trick Room Ghost is an archetype I have not seen in a while. I have a few ideas for you to make it better in the current Monotype metagame. There were a few initial things I saw that I think could improve this team, first of all for 5 Trick Room Pokemon I like to have at least 3 setters and one revenge killer. So I tweaked the team a bit and gave the team speed control outside of Trick Room by changing Dragapult's item. Anyway, that's enough of that, lets get into this spooky rate!

Major Changes
Gourgeist-Super > Golurk
>
Ok, so the first thing I noticed is that your team is way weak to Water teams and offensive Water-type Pokemon in general. Since you already had an Electric immunity in Runerigus, which also acts as a lead I decided to remove Golurk for the team for Gourgeist. This does a few things for the team, first, it provides a third Trick Room setter, which I believe is the ideal number for this type of team, it provides a Ground resist, and a way to take on Water and Ground teams. Miracle Seed allows Power Whip to hit even harder than it does and Rock Slide can hit Volcarona and Charizard.

Minor Changes
Dragapult

I changed Dragapult's item to a Choice Scarf, this gives the team some Speed control. I changed up its set to be the standard Choice Scarf set since Thunderbolt and Surf both hit extremely poorly without Choice Specs they were no longer worth running. Dragapult's U-turn has also help the team keep offensive momentum, which is extremely important for hyper offensive teams. Dragapult's Infiltrator also helps you better deal with screen teams.

Aegislash

The team really lacked a good special attacker after I made Dragapult a revenge killer, so Aegislash became the Choice Specs user. This allows it to hit with devastating power immediately under Trick Room. It should also help you against the most common screens abusing team as well, being Fairy.

Runerigus

Ok so I EVd Runerigus to be mixed. 252 HP alongside 88 Defense EVs allows it to take on Cinderace's Pyro Ball into Sucker Punch, making it a better lead against Fire teams. To that same extent I changed Night Shade to Earthquake to better help deal with Cinderace.

Alolan Marowak

This was the easiest change, I just gave Alolan Marowak Swords Dance, this allows it to be even more threatening under Trick Room especially if you predict a switch. Brick Break is not really useful. Mimikyu should be preserved to check Hydreigon or use Choice Scarf Dragapult and Fairy teams shouldn't be too difficult to handle between Alolan Marowak and Choice Specs Aegislash.

Mimikyu

The two things I did to Mimikyu was first to change its item Red Card to force out setup and give a free oppurtunity for setting Trick Room. The second was to give Mimikyu Drain Punch over Shadow Claw to lessen the terrible Dark matchup. However, if you say want to use Life Orb that is fine as well.

Conclusion

{team can be found by clicking on the sprites above}
This is the final version of your team after I tweaked it around a bit to play more easily. Anyway, good luck with the team and hope you enjoy playing with my version of the team. If you have any questions let me know, I'm maroon on PS! and maroon#1999 on discord and wouldn't mind answering any potential questions, comments, or concerns!