ORAS UU Trick Room Team

[n80001]

Tricky Team

Intro

Alright, so I've been playing the lower tiers (RU, NU, PU) for a while now, and I finally made a UU team. It's surprisingly different than the other tiers as there's a bit more of balance between offense and setup. I have always liked Trick Room, and when I saw Porygon-Z (in Gen IV he was the only one who could learn it via level-up) in this tier I couldn't help but make a team around it. I've played a few matches with this team and am getting about a 50% win rate, but I feel like the team could be improved.

In-Depth
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Gyro Ball

Doublade is quite a good choice in terms of Pokémon who are slow but are physically tough and have lots of coverage. It's my main physical Trick Room sweeper because it can do incredible damage with STAB Gyro Ball + Brave nature + 0 Speed IVs. Shadow Sneak is my main backup move because it will (nearly) always hit first, and with STAB it'll do at least a mediocre amount of damage. Sacred Sword allows Doublade to effectively handle Pokémon like Lucario who need to set up before they can do damage. Pursuit allows Doublade to get a KO that would normally keep a Pokémon in back for future use once it's gone. Eviolite provides Doublade with the ability to survive non-STAB ground moves from Pokémon like Machamp.


Cloyster @ Icicle Plate
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Blast
- Icicle Spear

Cloyster is my main check to Flying types because of Skill Link Rock Blast STAB Icicle Spear. Icicle Spear is just a general-use attacking move that gives a whopping 125 power and can bring down some offensive threats like Nidoking and Salamence when paired with the Icicle Plate. Rock Blast can be used to predict switch-ins to Pokémon that are resistant to Ice moves like Suicune. Rapid Spin can remove entry hazards, which is a must in UU with all 3 entry hazards running amok. Shell Smash is in case I can't get Trick Room up, and I really need to be able to provide physical offense.

Nidoqueen @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Rash Nature
- Ice Beam
- Dragon Tail
- Earth Power
- Toxic Spikes

Nidoqueen is my lead because of the combined Dragon tail and Toxic Spikes. The idea is that Dragon Tail will drag out the wrong out the wrong Pokémon, and that the opposing trainer will have to use a turn to set up or switch will allow you to set down a layer of your Toxic Spikes. The idea with Earth Power is to have a decent STAB move that can do decent damage to Steel types that can't be poisoned, and the Ice Beam is for Pokémon that fly above the toxic spikes. Black Sludge is for Trick leads that want to attach choice items to Nidoqueen, and to heal it when it's still attached. Also, the lack of Sheer Force allows Dragon Tail to activate the switch.

Porygon-Z @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Tri Attack
- Trick Room
- Thunder Wave
- Dark Pulse

Aww, yeah, Porygon-Z is the Trick Room setter for the team. It's not terribly slow, but it can deal damage pretty well. Since Trick Room, the main move, nearly always moves last, the Sitrus berry will allow it to survive another attack before bringing out M-Ampharos or Doublade for the special or physical sweep, respectively. The goal is that no one expects this guy to be a Trick Room setter/minor offensive user is helped by the Ability plus the two offensive moves and Thunder Wave (make sure the paralyzed Pokémon is KO'd before Trick Rooming) really makes this unexpected.


Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Heal Bell
- Focus Blast

M-Ampharos is my Trick Room special sweeper. STAB Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse can deal with completely different types of problems, with T-Bolt being effective against water types such as Suicune and Cloyster, and Dragon Pulse being able to be used without Mega Evolving gives it a nice edge against Salamence and Hydreigon who can't really touch the special bulk of Ampharos without landing a Super effective hit. Heal Bell is nice for when Chandelure and Rotom-Heat go around burning everything on your team, and Focus Blast is nice against Mamoswine where Thunderbolt isn't effective at all and Focus Blast is super effective.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Moonblast
- U-turn
- Substitute

Whimsicott is basically what I use if basically everything else fails, such as Porygon-Z getting KO'd prematurely, and it also covered my team's huge Ground weaknesses, and gave me a check against Dragon and Dark types. Giga Drain is basically just for Swampert, since it's 4x effective, and it saps a ton of hit points. This pairs nicely with Substitute, as it can be used to tank damage from Ice Punch, and it can recover the lost HP with Giga Drain. Moonblast just checks Dragon, Fighting, and Dark types that may have been able to defeat one of my slower Pokémon like Doublade. U-turn makes it (kind of) like a pivot because you can switch out from it, albeit not very strong from the lack of physical moves.
Infiltrator is my Ablilty of choice because I don't run any moves affected by Prankster and Chlorophyll isn't really that good in this tier from my experience, and hitting through Substitute is really nice.

Notes

• I really wasn't thinking about my Ground weakness when I made the team, so it might be a good idea to put in a Toxic Spikes user with a ground resistance/immunity.
• I'd like to fit a water move on Cloyster if at all possible, so I was thinking maybe a Defogger would be nice on the team.

Thanks for any help you'd be able to provide. :)

 

[Complicating]

Nice team, mate. But I do have a statement for trick room: Porygon2 is slower than Porygon-Z and it also learns trick room while being much bulkier. That's going to need to change because you want something that will consistently set up trick room for your team. You should use great bulk to your advantage with trick room if you're using things like Fabio (Ampharos-Mega), Nidoqueen, and Doublade. Remember, Trick Room gets negative priority (-6 right? or is it -5?), meaning that it will almost always go last in the turn. I'm pretty sure that you're not using your entire team to take advantage of trick room, as you only have one trick room setter. I'll try to take that into consideration as well as the opposite - where you are trying to run a full trick room team.
I love the idea of mixing bulk on a trick room team with speed, but in my honest opinion from looking at your team, it's inconsistent. I'm going to also point out that you may want to reconsider the logic behind a few member's purposes on your team. For example, cloyster being a flying type check is really difficult to swallow because the main flying types you should fear in this tier are Aero-Mega, Zapdos, and Salamence. Aero-Mega and Zapdos both run right through Cloyster's low HP, with Aero-Mega having stone edge and Zapdos abusing the extremely frail special defense. Salamence is Cloyster's easiest flying type check being OHKOed by ice shard without a yache berry. I don't disagree that Cloyster can work as a check to flying types, but I don't think that Cloyster is efficient enough. Anyway, I'm just going to start from the top before I jumble everything around and give you unorganized feedback.

Doublade: quite the cutting edge pokemon if I may say so. I absolutely love Doublade under trick room because it out-slows pretty much everything and is still a Doublade outside of Trick Room. I think you have a great mon there, but I think that you shouldn't call it a sweeper because you aren't using swords dance. Rather, this is a tank, a cleaner, and a pursuit trapper all in one. I will say that the idea of pursuit is really cool when you can trap something such as Alakazam, Espeon, Beedrill-Mega, or Crobat, however... The main problem with Doublade acting as a pursuit trapper comes down to how easy it is to check it and or revenge kill it. Beyond that, if you're outside of trick room, Doublade is going to have some issues against some of the things it can pursuit trap, as psychic types commonly carry shadow ball. Of course, not knowing Doublade has pursuit trap will typically work in your favor earlier on in the game, but really isn't helpful outside of a handful of pokemon. I think that you should use Swords Dance over Pursuit because that will give Doublade an easier time cleaning and sweeping late game. Optionally, you can use 240 HP EVs to minimize hazard damage and burns and use the extra 8 EVs in SpD.

Cloyster: I'll have the Cloyster platter as my entree. Cloyster used to be a threat, and a serious one at that. Though as time moves on, Cloyster continues to lose its charm. It's outclassed as a rapid spinner by Forretress and Blastoise. It's outclassed as a physical Ice type by Mamoswine. It's outclassed by a number of water types in the tier. Cloyster is virtually always outclassed in one way or another. Even as a sweeper, it tends to get outclassed by Gyarados, Feraligatr, and Crawdaunt. I greatly feel that Cloyster is a bad fit to your team because it lacks the proper bulk to complement your team among other reasons. I recommend using Suicune, Donphan, Mandibuzz, or Gligar. If you're trying to abuse trick room, you want to have Donphan or Gligar. If you're not going to abuse trick room, Suicune is your best option. Mandibuzz is good in either case. Donphan is a pretty cool rapid spinner and can help you set up hazards if you wish. Donphan has a really nice movepool imo. It can easily target flying types with stone edge, provide knock off utility, hit dark and fighting types with play rough, tank physical hits, and so on. It also works well in trick room. Gligar works for your team as well, providing defog support and acting as a good defensive pivot through u-turn. Another interesting idea for Gligar that would be fun to try, albeit a little gimmicky, would be a SD+Baton Pass set. Gligar could send something on your team some serious firepower if you could somehow incorporate trick room at the same time. Like I said though, that would be a bit gimmicky. Suicune would fit wonderfully on your team, having good overall synergy with Whimsicott, Ampharos, and Doublade. Apart from Ampharos, you have no counter for Entei. Suicune is arguably the best counter for Entei, boasting resistance to STAB while also depleting it's precious PP by 2. Suicune would act as a really good sweeper for you too. Mandibuzz would be a good pokemon in either way you want your team, as it complements Ampharos and Nidoqueen very nicely. Mandibuzz would provide you a really bulky pivot through u-turn as well as hazard control. You could also try Empoleon, but that gives you another ground weakness and potentially costs you momentum.

Nidoqueen: Grrrrrrr-L Power. Nidoqueen is a nice fit for your team overall; however, I don't see Nidoqueen as a very good lead because of the competition she faces from other ground type leads, most of which threaten to OHKO Nidoqueen with EQ. Nidoqueen is good on your team if you want a bulky tank that can set up hazards and absorb toxic spikes while also functioning well inside trick room support; however, Nidoqueen will commonly be threatened by several lead matchups, Krookodile and Mamoswine in particular. Considering the replacement to Cloyster, you can choose to keep Nidoqueen if you take Suicune or Mandibuzz. If you take Donphan, I recommend using Uxie, Mesprit, Cresselia, Reuniclus, or Sigilyph over Nidoqueen, because you'll want to try and abuse trick room more for your whole team. If you take Gligar, then I think you should consider Reuniclus, Cresselia, or Swampert depending on whether Gligar sets up hazards or not. If you want more trick room, go for either psychic type. If you want to free up a moveslot on Gligar, use bulky swampert.

Porygon-Z: A fatal error has occurred. This program will now shut down. Would you like to send a report? Porygon-Z is a lesser used pokemon because of X and Y reasons, but in my opinion... it can give anyone a taste of Vitamin Z. I think that it does work on your team as a cleaner if you opt to dismiss trick room entirely; however, I don't want to suggest anything that would ruin the idea and goal of your team if I can help it. I think that you should use Porygon2 to set trick room because it's bulk means you can continually use trick room throughout the battle. You may have to lose momentum to put something else into the trick room, but you should have an easy time doing that with the absurd bulk throughout your team. Unexpected or not, Porygon-Z typically won't benefit your team if it just sets up a trick room and dies. It can do so much better.

Ampharos-Mega: FABIO!!!!!!!!!!! That's a pretty interesting set, but I think you could use either a different moveset to let Fabio act as a pivot, or just give it some all out offensive presence so you can use it like you want, as a cleaner. Give it HP Grass for something like Mega-Pert or let it use volt switch anyway. It's an incredibly hard task to sweep/clean someone off the bat. Interestingly, you could also use Mega Abomasnow for a trick room team as well, but that would change the whole build of your team, so I'm not going to say anything else about it.

Whimsicott: Love me, Hate me, Say whatcha want about me... Whimsicott is annoying. No matter its set, it's annoying. Whimsicott could definitely be replaced on your team though. I think you'd find an exceptional liking for Chesnaught or Shaymin, depending on how you orient your team. Chesnaught would be able to spike stack, wall every ground type bar Mamoswine, and just really synergize well with your whole team in general. I think that you should use shaymin if you aren't going to fully abuse trick room on your team, as Shaymin annihilates a good portion of the tier with its move coverage.

In summary, I think you have a unique idea, you're just going about it in the wrong direction. You either want to add more abuse of trick room for your team, or you want to use less of that. If you want to try and go full HO with trick room, you can use Diancie as a lead with SR, TR, Explosion, and Moonblast, but then you'll need to make sure that the rest of your team is ready to work off of that with extremely powerful attacks, such as Banded Mamoswine or Specs Dragalge. You'd definitely need a 2nd trick room setter if you were to do that. But I think you're not letting your whole team fully rely on trick room, as you have just one primary user to begin with. If you're going to abuse trick room, I think you need a second trick room user, otherwise you should balance it out and use the huge bulkiness on your team to take advantage of it.

Team After Personal Changes

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Gyro Ball
- Sacred Sword

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Nidoqueen (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Toxic Spikes
- Stealth Rock

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 232 HP / 24 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Recover
- Trick Room
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch

Chesnaught @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Synthesis

The purpose of running this team would be to use trick room mid to late game as a method of giving Ampharos or Doublade an easier time of sweeping and cleaning because of all the hazard stacking your team does. All the hazards should greatly wear down the opposition until you reach a breaking point. Replacing Nidoqueen with Krookodile is viable as well. Mamoswine would be the largest threat to your team; however, as Suicune is the main way of dealing with it. If Mamo becomes too much of an issue for you, I recommend swapping Doublade for CM Cresselia, SD Crawdaunt or Banded Crawdaunt, CM Reuniclus, Rotom-C or Rotom-H, or Banded Metagross. I think Cresselia or Crawdaunt would work the best out of that list. Under trick room, Mamo shouldn't be an issue though.

Or if you're trying to abuse trick room yourself...

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Gyro Ball
- Sacred Sword

Donphan @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

Mesprit @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Stealth Rock
- Healing Wish
- U-turn

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover

Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch

Shaymin @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 232 HP / 24 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Dazzling Gleam
- Earth Power
- Rest

Shaymin can also be replaced with Adamant Chesnaught if you really want to abuse trick room. Mesprit will set rocks, provide a useful pivot and grant you one free revival. Mesprit is much bulkier than it appears and can definitely set trick room at least once. I gave Donphan a choice band so it wall breaks very well under trick room and I had to give it rapid spin because you would lose to hazard stacking more often without some form of hazard control. You can change donphan however you like, or use Gligar, that's up to you. But I think that you'd appreciate having such a powerful wallbreaker under trick room.

I hope that helps. I think the main problem your team faced was a lack of consistency at realizing its goal above anything else. Porygon2 generally doesn't use trick room either, so it'll still have a surprise factor. Mesprit is a huge surprise as well if you choose to abuse trick room, as it is fairly bulky and just works pretty well at that one task it has. I think I addressed the primary concerns. My apologies if my changes and suggestions didn't match with your intentions for the team. Let me know if there's anything that you'd like to address or say about the team. Best of luck.

 

[n80001]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to try both of your improved teams and see which one better suits my own play style. I really like the idea of putting Shaymin on the team, because I feel like it does what I wanted Whimsicott to do a lot better personally. I'll also take into account the options you gave for each team member. I'll see where this gets me, and make necessary changes.

P.S. I really liked the puns you made in the description for each pokemon.

 

[Complicating]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to try both of your improved teams and see which one better suits my own play style. I really like the idea of putting Shaymin on the team, because I feel like it does what I wanted Whimsicott to do a lot better personally. I'll also take into account the options you gave for each team member. I'll see where this gets me, and make necessary changes.

P.S. I really liked the puns you made in the description for each pokemon.

Thanks mate. Let me know how your team turns out in the end. I'm glad you enjoyed the puns.

 

[Kalawishis]

I'm a fan of Trick Room teams myself, so reading these threads is always a joy.

I must say, however, that the main problem with your team is that there are simply not enough Trick Room setters. If you want Trick Room to be effective, and I mean very, very effective, you're going to need Pokemon that can sponge a hit, set up a Trick Room, and then preferably fight back.

Preferably you'd have three Trick Room setters: the Suicide Setter, the Tank Setter, and the Offensive Setter. The Suicide Setter simply sets up rocks, screens, etc., Trick Rooms, and then uses some momentum conserving move, like Explosion, Memento, VoltTurn, etc. Examples are Bronzong, Diancie, Uxie, Espeon, and others. The Tank Setter is more focused on taking hits (reliable recovery is a must), setting up Trick Room, and then switching out - although it should not be so passive as to have no offensive presence. Porygon2 is the best example, although some other options would be physically defensive Reuniclus or Slowking. The Offensive Setter is lastly a setter that only uses Trick Room rarely. Of course, it would preferably have a good deal of natural bulk, but it would be more focused offensively. An example would be your PorygonZ, offensive Reuniclus, Gardevoir, etc.

From there I prefer to add two slow mons and one fast mon, although this is hardly a strong recommendation I have for you. For the two slow mons, there are endless options. You'll notice that many potential offensive powerhouses are limited by their low speed, and in Trick Room they really shine. Such examples are Escavalier, Crawdaunt, Mega Ampharos, the list goes on. For the fast mon I suggest something with powerful priority, like Entei, or something with utility as a pivot, like Cobalion.

Now, lets see how these principles apply to your team. You have two powerful slow mons, Duoblade and Mega Ampharos, although the former doesn't have the Swords Dance set. You have an Offensive Setter in PorygonZ. However, from there your team starts showing weaknesses. Whimsicott has little synergy with your team. As you said yourself, you only use it if everything else fails. Since your team is weak to stall, I suggest that you change it to this Smogon set with Encore:

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Encore
- U-turn

That way, Whimsicott has the potential to be a good fast mon to pair with your two slow mons.

Next, your Nidoqueen. Toxic Spikes has little use on a Trick Room team, as your team has little means of Toxic stalling save Whimsicott, and like half the Pokemon in UU aren't affected due to typing or ability (trust me, I used to use Toxic Spikes myself). Rocks are sufficient on a Trick Room team, maybe Spikes, but little more. For that purpose, I suggest offensive Trick Room Diancie with rocks:

Diancie @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
IVs: 0 Spe
Brave Nature
- Trick Room
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Diamond Storm

This can set up rocks, Trick Room, and then dent anything on the other side with Explosion. It's also a check to Flying types and things like Salamence. It's naturally high bulk means that even with no investment, it can tank even super effective hits.

Now, lets move onto your Cloyster. Cloyster by all means is a powerful Pokemon, but as the meta progresses it becomes less useful. A crippling weakness to Stealth Rock, and the fact that it's a fast mon on a Trick Room team when you already have a fast mon in Whimsicott means that other Pokemon can be more useful on your team. So in its place, I believe I can suggest something, a Pokemon of my own which I find useful.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Def
IVs: 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Trick Room
- Recover

This Pokemon cannot be OHKOed by anything. Even Close Combats from Cobalions barely do over half. Furthermore, with the right Download boost, Porygon2 becomes quite powerful offensively. On my UU Trick Room team it's the most useful mon, and I believe if you use this it will be the most useful mon on your team as well.

Finally, I have two set recommendations. Firstly, change Heal Bell on your Mega Ampharos to Volt Switch. It grabs you a lot of momentum which is crucial on a Trick Room team. Secondly, change Thunder Wave on your PoryZ to an attacking move. Thunder Wave under Trick Room actually benefits your opponent, so I avoid using it.

Overall, this team has a ton of potential, but it needs tweaks before it can be truly great. By no means should you take what I say as gospel - test it out for yourself first. Experimentation is always the best way to make your team better.