So I like Trick, and wanted to make a team up for it. I think it's a better move then it used to be as Choice items aren't common anymore. Here's what I came up with:
Gothitelle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 236 HP / 60 SAtk / 212 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Trick Room
- Taunt
- Trick
Really in essence the corner stone of this team, Gothitelle's job is very simple. Step 1 Trick the Scarf onto something that won't like it. Step 2 Trick Room (Taunting if they're locked into WoW or something). Step 3 bring out Mega Mawile or Bisharp and watch the pain train as they set up on your opponents switch. It's really that simple.
The EVs are there to out-speed and 2HKO Mega-Venusaur whilst not receiving a 2HKO in return if there are no hazards in play, also out-speeding 252+ Speed base 100s. I thought these were reasonable benchmarks, whilst retaining good bulk. Taunt is there to stop any annoying strategies.
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Brick Break
- Play Rough
Originally I had a SubPunch set here, and whilst it was nice there were several problems. Firstly it could be Intimidated if the opponent switched in their Intimidate user on the substitute turn (which they invariably would do). Second, there was no way to sustain any sort of sweep - sure Focus Punch guarantees you a KO but by this point they've usually broken your sub and then what do you do?
Using TR on Gothitelle and having an SD set on Mawile fixes many of these problems. Most Intimidate pokemon are going to die if I SD on the first turn as they switch and hit them first on the second turn due to Trick Room, for example:
+1 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 454-535 (118.8 - 140%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 505-595 (152.1 - 179.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Manectric: 297-350 (105.6 - 124.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Anything that want's to come in and try to burn me should get an OHKO if I boost, and Sableye would fall to Play Rough if I predict the switch.
Once Trick Room comes down, then you can fall back on Sucker Punch - this isn't as much of a risk as it seems as most of the time the opponent will send their WoWers in early making it easy for you to spam sucker punch late game.
Of course if TR never gets up in the first place than Mawile can be a bit fragile, but most of the time it will do some damage with Sucker Punch.
Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp
Rotom-W is here to be a safe switch in for a lot of the teams problems (fire moves, ice moves, non-Mold Breaker EQ, etc.). It's speed is there to outspeed any +252 base 125s, which is most of the unboosted meta. Apart from that, running Modest let's it hit hard, and Trick allows it to annoy the opponent in other ways. Acts as the glue which holds the team together.
Bisharp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Brick Break
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
Bisharp is great as it's attack can't be lowered, it has strong priority and is monstrous under Trick Room. The Lum Berry insulates it against burns allow it to sweep for a little longer. Takes care easily of things like Aegislash who might otherwise be a pain.
Togekiss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aura Sphere
- Trick
Scarf Togekiss can act as a win condition in and of itself, at the very least it usually punches some holes. Allows me to stop Smeargles and Brelooms dead in a lot of cases with flinch, and it can do a number of things like Charizard-Y. Aura Sphere is there for Bisharp, who most of the time won't see the switch and use Iron Head. Overall it's very nice, but you do have to watch out for Scizors.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Transform
-
-
-
I wanted a wild card, something that could punch some holes in the right situation (originally I was using WP Aegislash, but it lacked consistency); Ditto is just the pokemon for that. He solves the problem that I don't have anything much to combat set up sweepers like Charizard-X with, whilst at the same time letting me scout the opponent (make it easy to know who would suffer the most from a choice item) and occasionally letting me set the opponents hazards. If you use him cleverly, he can be a great tool - I've swept an opponent's team with HJK on Mega-Medicham when they no longer had ghosts; I've also taken out a Roost/SD Mega-Scizor with it (I let them reach +6 using Roost to heal off any damage dealt, I sacrificed Togekiss and then I 2HKO'd Scizor with my faster Bullet Punch and swept the rest of their team). The IVs are for HP Ice should I need it.
So there you have it. I'd say no member of this team is sacred expect perhaps Gothitelle, so feel free to suggest fairly radical alterations.
Gothitelle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 236 HP / 60 SAtk / 212 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Trick Room
- Taunt
- Trick
Really in essence the corner stone of this team, Gothitelle's job is very simple. Step 1 Trick the Scarf onto something that won't like it. Step 2 Trick Room (Taunting if they're locked into WoW or something). Step 3 bring out Mega Mawile or Bisharp and watch the pain train as they set up on your opponents switch. It's really that simple.
The EVs are there to out-speed and 2HKO Mega-Venusaur whilst not receiving a 2HKO in return if there are no hazards in play, also out-speeding 252+ Speed base 100s. I thought these were reasonable benchmarks, whilst retaining good bulk. Taunt is there to stop any annoying strategies.
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Brick Break
- Play Rough
Originally I had a SubPunch set here, and whilst it was nice there were several problems. Firstly it could be Intimidated if the opponent switched in their Intimidate user on the substitute turn (which they invariably would do). Second, there was no way to sustain any sort of sweep - sure Focus Punch guarantees you a KO but by this point they've usually broken your sub and then what do you do?
Using TR on Gothitelle and having an SD set on Mawile fixes many of these problems. Most Intimidate pokemon are going to die if I SD on the first turn as they switch and hit them first on the second turn due to Trick Room, for example:
+1 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 454-535 (118.8 - 140%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 505-595 (152.1 - 179.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Manectric: 297-350 (105.6 - 124.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Anything that want's to come in and try to burn me should get an OHKO if I boost, and Sableye would fall to Play Rough if I predict the switch.
Once Trick Room comes down, then you can fall back on Sucker Punch - this isn't as much of a risk as it seems as most of the time the opponent will send their WoWers in early making it easy for you to spam sucker punch late game.
Of course if TR never gets up in the first place than Mawile can be a bit fragile, but most of the time it will do some damage with Sucker Punch.
Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp
Rotom-W is here to be a safe switch in for a lot of the teams problems (fire moves, ice moves, non-Mold Breaker EQ, etc.). It's speed is there to outspeed any +252 base 125s, which is most of the unboosted meta. Apart from that, running Modest let's it hit hard, and Trick allows it to annoy the opponent in other ways. Acts as the glue which holds the team together.
Bisharp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Brick Break
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
Bisharp is great as it's attack can't be lowered, it has strong priority and is monstrous under Trick Room. The Lum Berry insulates it against burns allow it to sweep for a little longer. Takes care easily of things like Aegislash who might otherwise be a pain.
Togekiss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aura Sphere
- Trick
Scarf Togekiss can act as a win condition in and of itself, at the very least it usually punches some holes. Allows me to stop Smeargles and Brelooms dead in a lot of cases with flinch, and it can do a number of things like Charizard-Y. Aura Sphere is there for Bisharp, who most of the time won't see the switch and use Iron Head. Overall it's very nice, but you do have to watch out for Scizors.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Transform
-
-
-
I wanted a wild card, something that could punch some holes in the right situation (originally I was using WP Aegislash, but it lacked consistency); Ditto is just the pokemon for that. He solves the problem that I don't have anything much to combat set up sweepers like Charizard-X with, whilst at the same time letting me scout the opponent (make it easy to know who would suffer the most from a choice item) and occasionally letting me set the opponents hazards. If you use him cleverly, he can be a great tool - I've swept an opponent's team with HJK on Mega-Medicham when they no longer had ghosts; I've also taken out a Roost/SD Mega-Scizor with it (I let them reach +6 using Roost to heal off any damage dealt, I sacrificed Togekiss and then I 2HKO'd Scizor with my faster Bullet Punch and swept the rest of their team). The IVs are for HP Ice should I need it.
So there you have it. I'd say no member of this team is sacred expect perhaps Gothitelle, so feel free to suggest fairly radical alterations.
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