Here's something a little more interesting compared to my other RMTs. A Trick Room team revolving around Honchcrow!
TEAM BUILDING
THE TEAM IN DETAIL
(All Pokemon within the team have 0 speed IVs.)
Honchcrow
Brave
Life Orb
Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Def.
Brave Bird, Sucker Punch, Superpower, Pursuit.
Honchcrow is the main win condition here. He's designed to work outside and inside of trick room successfully.
Why The Nature? - Achieving lowest possible speed and highest possible attack. Plus, I just like the idea of having a "brave" Pokemon.
Why The EV spread? - Investing in speed is a bad idea under trick room. Obviously, maximizing attack is a given, but I was also able to put the rest of the EVs in HP. Honchcrow, surprisingly, has a really nice HP stat. At 404 HP, Honchcrow is able to dish out wayyyy more Brave Birds than before. I can also switch into resisted hits a lot more comfortably.
Brave Bird - Brave Bird sees a lot more use when under Trick Room. Firstly, the ability to maximize HP allows more uses of the move. Secondly, the ability to move first negates the need to rely on Sucker Punch all of the time.
Sucker Punch - Again, the idea here is to be able to work inside and out of Trick Room. That being said, if Trick Room does wear off during late-game, I can simply rely on Sucker Punch to dish out priority hits.
Superpower - Coverage move that allows me to hit what resists Brave Bird as hard as possible. The attack decrease is neutralized by Moxie.
Pursuit - With Honchcrow, I find that people will try their hardest to avoid me getting a Moxie boost, even switching out weakened Pokemon. To respond to this, I added Pursuit, which will guarantee me an attack boost in ideal conditions.
Swampert
Brave
Choice Band
Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Def.
Waterfall, Earthquake, Ice Punch, Stone Edge.
Swampert is good at eliminating Honchcrow's counters under Trick Room, such as Zapdos, Rhyperior, and Gligar.
Why the Nature? - Maximizing attack, minimizing speed for good synergy with Trick Room.
Why the Item? - Swampert has good attack, but I needed him to be extremely offensive in order to take out what might threaten Honchcrow.
Why the EVs?: - With this set, Swampert is able to defend against both sides of the spectrum quite well, while also having an extreme offensive presence.
Waterfall - A reliable and strong STAB with a handy flinch chance.
Earthquake - Very powerful move, although not as reliable as Waterfall.
Ice Punch - Hits Gligar and Flygon.
Stone Edge - This was chosen over Superpower because I want to maintain bulk and attack power. Otherwise it's just filler.
Bronzong
Sassy
Leftovers
Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Def, 4 Atk.
Gyro Ball, Toxic, Earthquake, Trick Room.
Bronzong is a reliable setter of Trick Room and a dependable special wall.
Why the Ability? - Heatproof Bronzong has been rising in popularity, it seems. However, I still believe that Levitate is the superior choice. Lots of Pokemon carry Earthquake as a coverage move, including opposing Bronzong, so I value the immunity much more.
Why The EVs? Overall, I just wanted a Pokemon that could take special hits really well and properly retaliate.
Gyro Ball - To my surprise, Trick Room doesn't reverse the effects of Gyro Ball, maintaining it's ridiculous power. Bronzong can literally sweep offensive Pokemon with this move under Trick Room. It's ridiculous.
Toxic - This team's weakness is that it doesn't have many options to stall out defensive Pokemon, making Toxic very valuable.
Earthquake - Coverage. Coverage that.. Doesn't hit very hard.
Trick Room - Bronzong loves setting up Trick Room for its teammates. He can also abuse it himself quite well thanks to a powerful STAB Gyro Ball.
Porygon2
Quiet
Eviolite
Trace
EVs: 252 HP, 160 Sp Atk, 96 Sp. Def.
Tri Attack, Thunderbolt, Recover, Trick Room.
Porygon2 is another Trick Room setter, but a more offensive one.
Why the Ability? - I just love Trace. Sometimes it doesn't do much, but other times you end up Tracing Roserade's Natural Cure, Chandelure's Flash Fire, or even Xatu's Magic Bounce. Lol.
Why the EVs? This Porygon2 is decently offensive but I also gave it a little Sp. Defense buff to capitalize on Eviolite.
Tri Attack - A great STAB that hits pretty hard. It also has a chance to inflict a random status. Sometimes I even get freezes.
Thunderbolt - Just another coverage option.
Recover - Lack of leftovers means I have to rely on Recover a lot.
Trick Room - Porygon2 is also a reliable setter of Trick Room! Being able to move first can also help it quite a bit too.
Cofagrigus
Quiet
Leftovers
Mummy
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Sp Atk, 8 Def.
IVs: 2 Atk, 2 Spd, 30 Sp. Atk, 30 Def, 30 Sp. Def.
Shadow Ball, HP Fighting, Nasty Plot, Trick Room.
Cofagrigus is an alternative win condition. It can also be a reliable setter of Trick Room if the situation requires it.
Why the EVs? - Mainting good physical bulk was important, while also maximizing on Cofag's Sp. Attack.
Why the IVs? Minimizing Speed for Trick Room, and Minimizing Attack for Umbreon's Foul Play, while also making Hidden Power a fighting type attack.
Shadow Ball - What do you think this move is for? Take a STAB at it.
HP Fighting - This move has excellent coverage with Shadow Ball.
Nasty Plot - Lets Cofag have enough power to hit anything hard and also use opposing Pokemon as setup bait.
Trick Room - Cofagrigus finds it hard to function outside of Trick Room, making this move a necessity.
Magneton
Quiet
Choice Specs
Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 252 HP
IVs: 30 HP, 30 Atk, 30 Def, 30 Sp. Atk, 2 Spd.
Thunderbolt, HP Fire, Volt Switch, Flash Cannon.
Ahh, Magneton. With good Sp. Atk and a fantastic ability, Magneton can only further move aside Honchcrow's counters and it can occasionally sweep.
Why the Item? - Capitalizing on Magneton's awesome base 120 Sp. Atk.
Why the ability? - Steel types can give Honchcrow some trouble, such as Cobalion and Bronzong, so being able to trap them and eliminate them gives me a pretty great advantage.
Why the IVs? - Giving me access to HP Fire while minimizing Speed.
Thunderbolt - A really great STAB move.
HP Fire - Kills the steels that I end up trapping with Magnet Pull.
Volt Switch - Under Trick Room, allows me to revenge kill and scout.
Flash Cannon - Electric/Fire/Steel hits a majority of the tier SE.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I think this team could be a lot better. It is fairly weak against more defensive teams and stall teams, and I really think I should have more options to deal with them. This team excels at countering hyper offensive teams, however, which is a dominant playstyle in UU right now. Still, I am open to any suggestions you might have. I'm just experimenting with Trick Room for the first time with this team, and it's been really fun to use. I recommend you try Trick Room Honchcrow some time, it's a very effective threat. With that said, please leave your thoughts so I can take them into account! Thanks for reading!
TRICK CROW
TEAM BUILDING
As previously stated, the purpose of this team was to properly test how well Honchcrow could function under Trick Room, so he was a given.
Next I needed a Pokemon that could make a strong physical offensive core with Honchcrow, and help eliminate counters. Swampert seemed like a perfect partner; having good type synergy with the mob bird.
All Trick Room teams obviously need a reliable setter of the move. Bronzong seemed like a great choice, being able to set up Trick Room and also providing some offensive pressure with Gyro Ball.
Porygon2 is also able to set up the move, has decent bulk with Eviolite, and also has a pretty nice special attack, making him a pretty valuable member of the team.
The most offensive setter of Trick Room on this team, Cofagrigus is designed as an alternative win condition in case Honchcrow is unable to pull off the sweep. OTR Cofagrigus is infamous for being pretty deadly, and deadly it is indeed.
And now, the last Pokemon. In this spot, I really wanted to put in an offensive Fire type, I felt like it would really round out the coverage. Unfortunately however, there are not really any viable "slow" offensive fire types, so I had to put that idea to rest. However, while searching for a member, I came across and old friend, Specs Magneton.
Next I needed a Pokemon that could make a strong physical offensive core with Honchcrow, and help eliminate counters. Swampert seemed like a perfect partner; having good type synergy with the mob bird.
All Trick Room teams obviously need a reliable setter of the move. Bronzong seemed like a great choice, being able to set up Trick Room and also providing some offensive pressure with Gyro Ball.
Porygon2 is also able to set up the move, has decent bulk with Eviolite, and also has a pretty nice special attack, making him a pretty valuable member of the team.
The most offensive setter of Trick Room on this team, Cofagrigus is designed as an alternative win condition in case Honchcrow is unable to pull off the sweep. OTR Cofagrigus is infamous for being pretty deadly, and deadly it is indeed.
And now, the last Pokemon. In this spot, I really wanted to put in an offensive Fire type, I felt like it would really round out the coverage. Unfortunately however, there are not really any viable "slow" offensive fire types, so I had to put that idea to rest. However, while searching for a member, I came across and old friend, Specs Magneton.
THE TEAM IN DETAIL
(All Pokemon within the team have 0 speed IVs.)
Honchcrow
Brave
Life Orb
Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Def.
Brave Bird, Sucker Punch, Superpower, Pursuit.
Honchcrow is the main win condition here. He's designed to work outside and inside of trick room successfully.
Why The Nature? - Achieving lowest possible speed and highest possible attack. Plus, I just like the idea of having a "brave" Pokemon.
Why The EV spread? - Investing in speed is a bad idea under trick room. Obviously, maximizing attack is a given, but I was also able to put the rest of the EVs in HP. Honchcrow, surprisingly, has a really nice HP stat. At 404 HP, Honchcrow is able to dish out wayyyy more Brave Birds than before. I can also switch into resisted hits a lot more comfortably.
Brave Bird - Brave Bird sees a lot more use when under Trick Room. Firstly, the ability to maximize HP allows more uses of the move. Secondly, the ability to move first negates the need to rely on Sucker Punch all of the time.
Sucker Punch - Again, the idea here is to be able to work inside and out of Trick Room. That being said, if Trick Room does wear off during late-game, I can simply rely on Sucker Punch to dish out priority hits.
Superpower - Coverage move that allows me to hit what resists Brave Bird as hard as possible. The attack decrease is neutralized by Moxie.
Pursuit - With Honchcrow, I find that people will try their hardest to avoid me getting a Moxie boost, even switching out weakened Pokemon. To respond to this, I added Pursuit, which will guarantee me an attack boost in ideal conditions.
Swampert
Brave
Choice Band
Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Def.
Waterfall, Earthquake, Ice Punch, Stone Edge.
Swampert is good at eliminating Honchcrow's counters under Trick Room, such as Zapdos, Rhyperior, and Gligar.
Why the Nature? - Maximizing attack, minimizing speed for good synergy with Trick Room.
Why the Item? - Swampert has good attack, but I needed him to be extremely offensive in order to take out what might threaten Honchcrow.
Why the EVs?: - With this set, Swampert is able to defend against both sides of the spectrum quite well, while also having an extreme offensive presence.
Waterfall - A reliable and strong STAB with a handy flinch chance.
Earthquake - Very powerful move, although not as reliable as Waterfall.
Ice Punch - Hits Gligar and Flygon.
Stone Edge - This was chosen over Superpower because I want to maintain bulk and attack power. Otherwise it's just filler.
Bronzong
Sassy
Leftovers
Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Def, 4 Atk.
Gyro Ball, Toxic, Earthquake, Trick Room.
Bronzong is a reliable setter of Trick Room and a dependable special wall.
Why the Ability? - Heatproof Bronzong has been rising in popularity, it seems. However, I still believe that Levitate is the superior choice. Lots of Pokemon carry Earthquake as a coverage move, including opposing Bronzong, so I value the immunity much more.
Why The EVs? Overall, I just wanted a Pokemon that could take special hits really well and properly retaliate.
Gyro Ball - To my surprise, Trick Room doesn't reverse the effects of Gyro Ball, maintaining it's ridiculous power. Bronzong can literally sweep offensive Pokemon with this move under Trick Room. It's ridiculous.
Toxic - This team's weakness is that it doesn't have many options to stall out defensive Pokemon, making Toxic very valuable.
Earthquake - Coverage. Coverage that.. Doesn't hit very hard.
Trick Room - Bronzong loves setting up Trick Room for its teammates. He can also abuse it himself quite well thanks to a powerful STAB Gyro Ball.
Porygon2
Quiet
Eviolite
Trace
EVs: 252 HP, 160 Sp Atk, 96 Sp. Def.
Tri Attack, Thunderbolt, Recover, Trick Room.
Porygon2 is another Trick Room setter, but a more offensive one.
Why the Ability? - I just love Trace. Sometimes it doesn't do much, but other times you end up Tracing Roserade's Natural Cure, Chandelure's Flash Fire, or even Xatu's Magic Bounce. Lol.
Why the EVs? This Porygon2 is decently offensive but I also gave it a little Sp. Defense buff to capitalize on Eviolite.
Tri Attack - A great STAB that hits pretty hard. It also has a chance to inflict a random status. Sometimes I even get freezes.
Thunderbolt - Just another coverage option.
Recover - Lack of leftovers means I have to rely on Recover a lot.
Trick Room - Porygon2 is also a reliable setter of Trick Room! Being able to move first can also help it quite a bit too.
Cofagrigus
Quiet
Leftovers
Mummy
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Sp Atk, 8 Def.
IVs: 2 Atk, 2 Spd, 30 Sp. Atk, 30 Def, 30 Sp. Def.
Shadow Ball, HP Fighting, Nasty Plot, Trick Room.
Cofagrigus is an alternative win condition. It can also be a reliable setter of Trick Room if the situation requires it.
Why the EVs? - Mainting good physical bulk was important, while also maximizing on Cofag's Sp. Attack.
Why the IVs? Minimizing Speed for Trick Room, and Minimizing Attack for Umbreon's Foul Play, while also making Hidden Power a fighting type attack.
Shadow Ball - What do you think this move is for? Take a STAB at it.
HP Fighting - This move has excellent coverage with Shadow Ball.
Nasty Plot - Lets Cofag have enough power to hit anything hard and also use opposing Pokemon as setup bait.
Trick Room - Cofagrigus finds it hard to function outside of Trick Room, making this move a necessity.
Magneton
Quiet
Choice Specs
Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 252 HP
IVs: 30 HP, 30 Atk, 30 Def, 30 Sp. Atk, 2 Spd.
Thunderbolt, HP Fire, Volt Switch, Flash Cannon.
Ahh, Magneton. With good Sp. Atk and a fantastic ability, Magneton can only further move aside Honchcrow's counters and it can occasionally sweep.
Why the Item? - Capitalizing on Magneton's awesome base 120 Sp. Atk.
Why the ability? - Steel types can give Honchcrow some trouble, such as Cobalion and Bronzong, so being able to trap them and eliminate them gives me a pretty great advantage.
Why the IVs? - Giving me access to HP Fire while minimizing Speed.
Thunderbolt - A really great STAB move.
HP Fire - Kills the steels that I end up trapping with Magnet Pull.
Volt Switch - Under Trick Room, allows me to revenge kill and scout.
Flash Cannon - Electric/Fire/Steel hits a majority of the tier SE.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I think this team could be a lot better. It is fairly weak against more defensive teams and stall teams, and I really think I should have more options to deal with them. This team excels at countering hyper offensive teams, however, which is a dominant playstyle in UU right now. Still, I am open to any suggestions you might have. I'm just experimenting with Trick Room for the first time with this team, and it's been really fun to use. I recommend you try Trick Room Honchcrow some time, it's a very effective threat. With that said, please leave your thoughts so I can take them into account! Thanks for reading!
