Slowking stands out on Trick Room teams due to its Fire-, Water-, and Psychic-type resistances paired with a high Special bulk that lets it check Pokemon that can be hugely problematic for the archetype without it such as Volkraken and Heatran. Slowking pairs well with Fidgit, easing the pressure on Fidgit to constantly set up Trick Room. Many common answers to Fidgit also are checked by Slowking so with the two together, they can almost guarantee a Trick Room up against most of the metagame. Slowking also provides amazing utility for Trick Room with Future Sight as it applies more offensive pressure alongside Trick Room’s wallbreakers. Its ability, Regenerator, is also largely useful in making Slowking a consistent switch in against the aforementioned threats it checks. However, Slowking is hugely susceptible to being Pursuit trapped by Mega Tyranitar, Weavile, and Colossoil. Slowking's low Defense and typing also makes it exploited by pivots such as Landorus-T, Mega Crucibelle, Krilowatt, and Syclant. Slowking is hugely vulnerable once it’s outside of Trick Room due to its low Speed and weakness to common typings, so it might need to rely on a smart pivot to get it to set up Trick Room again.
[SET]
name: Trick Room Support
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Future Sight
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Iapapa Berry / Colbur Berry
ability: Regenerator
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Future Sight provides a unique form of utility as it forces the opponent to make switch into walls that can resist it and grabs extra chip damage for the archetype’s wallbreakers to abuse. Ice Beam is solid coverage against the likes of Landorus-T, Garchomp, Necturna, and Pajantom who can heavily annoy Trick Room teams. Focus Blast finally rounds out Slowking’s coverage and allows it to muscle through Heatran and pursuit trappers like Mega Tyranitar and Weavile.
Set Details
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An Iapapa Berry offers more consistency so that Slowking can continuously check Volkraken and Heatran while not having to over rely on Regenerator. Alternatively, a Colbur Berry can prevent Slowking from being exploited by Pursuit trappers and to give it an opportune moment to strike them back with its coverage. Psychium Z grants Slowking a one-time nuke to chip down anything that takes neutral damage while also guaranteeing the OHKO on Volkraken after Stealth Rock chip and Arghonaut who would otherwise have to be hit by a delayed Future Sight.
Usage Tips
========
While Trick Room usually leads with Fidgit, Slowking can lead the team if the opponent is expected to start the battle with a counter-lead to Fidgit such as Volkraken or Garchomp. Slowking should almost always set up Trick Room to support its teammates and to prevent possible revenge kill attempts from Mega Tyranitar, Weavile, and Kitsunoh. Slowking is some instances can set up a Future Sight instead of setting up Trick Room which can prove useful to Fidgit as it sets up longer Trick Rooms. Slowking gets various opportunities to set up Trick Room due to the dominance of Heatran and Volkraken and due to it stomaching blows from various Special Attackers. Use Ice Beam and Focus Blast to your advantage to force switches, using the free turns to get Trick Room up if it isn’t already. Future Sight should mainly be used to soften up the opponent’s team for various wallbreakers on Trick Room. Slowking should use it when Trick Room is already set up so there is less risk to using it. It can be used in the early game to scout what the opponent’s answers are to the delay and it’s overall very low risk. Slowking might need to double switch in order to prevent possible Pursuit traps. Once Trick Room is over, Slowking should try to reset it to let it outspeed the rest of the opposing team again and make it harder for Slowking to be Pursuit trapped. Be wary of Taunt as it prevents Slowking from supporting its allies with Trick Room. Taunt users like Tornadus-T and Heatran can be eliminated with Slowking’s coverage but the likes of Tomohawk often can pull a Taunt off on any Slowking lacking Psychium Z. This requires Slowking to retreat from the field.
Team Options
========
Fidgit checks Magearna and Tapu Koko and blocks Volt Switch for Slowking while Slowking deals with Volkraken, Heatran, and Tapu Lele. The two also synergize as the main setters of the archetype and form the backbone of Trick Room teams. Magearna can also operate as a third setter if necessary to preserve Trick Room even further. Mega Mawile is a prominent wallbreaker on Trick Room and powers through Magearna and Celesteela for Slowking. Mega Camerupt and Hoopa-U also similarly power through these Pokemon. Tapu Bulu is another wallbreaker on Trick Room and can threaten its biggest counter, Tomohawk, with the help of Slowking’s Future Sight. It’s also good for chipping down Landorus-T, Tangrowth, and Jumbao to get them closer in range of Tapu Bulu finishing them off. Tapu Bulu's typing and Grassy Terrain also provides these teams an invaluable Ground-resistance and weaken Ground-type moves for Fidgit, Magearna, and Mega Mawile.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Fire Blast can be used over Focus Blast as it offers Slowking coverage against Ferrothorn, Magearna, and Celesteela but its usually difficult to justify over Focus Blast as it gets Slowking walled by Heatran and Mega Tyranitar with the former being a vital Pokemon for Slowking to check while the latter has a far easier time Pursuit trapping Slowking.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Pursuit Trappers**: Slowking is hugely susceptible to being Pursuit trapped by Mega Tyranitar, Weavile, and Colossoil. However, both the Colbur Berry and Focus Blast can mitigate trapping against Slowking.
**Super-Effective Attacks**: While Slowking's typing offers necessary resistances to Trick Room, its typing does have numerous key weaknesses and it can crumble to most super-effective attacks from Aurumoth, Pajantom, Necturna, Krilowatt, and Syclant.
**Chip Damage**: Slowking cannot afford to be worn down too much as it makes its job of setting up Trick Room far more difficult and leaves it open to super-effective attacks.
**Special Walls**: Various Special Walls in the tier can exploit Slowking for its weaker Special Attack. Magearna uses it as set up, Celesteela lays down Leech Seed, and Chansey can potentially lay down Stealth Rock or land a poison. However most notable out of the group is Ferrothorn, who outspeeds Slowking under Trick Room and nails it with a Power Whip. Slowking can use Future Sight to prevent any momentum loss on the switch in.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[BackAtYouBro, 451000]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jordy, 395754], [snake_rattler, 227782], [xavgb, 231402]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
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