Veiled Trick Room team

VintageRonJohn

Thanks in advance for looking this over. I'm completely new to VGC (and very new to competitive Pokemon too).

Archeops @ Flight Gem (leads with Musharna)
Ability: Defeatist
252 Att / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Nature: Jolly (-SpA +Spe)
~Acrobatics
~Rock Slide
~Earthquake
~Protect

Archeops is my specific answer to Whimsicott + Terrakion leads, as it threatens them both with OHKOs. If Archeops will be slower than one or both opponents, it can Protect on the first turn while Musharna uses Trick Room. Thundurus makes it cry, so I wouldn't lead with Archeops against a Thundurus.

Musharna @ Mental Herb
Ability: Telepathy
252 HP / 100 SpD / 156 Def
Nature: Sassy
~Shadow Ball
~Trick Room
~Psychic
~Moonlight

With a Mental Herb, Musharna can set up Trick Room without worrying about Encore and Taunt. Helping Hand allows Musharna to boost Archeops's attacks for a quick punch, and Telepathy prevents it from taking damage from Earthquake. If Archeops is outspeeding an opposing Trick Room team, Musharna can reverse the dimensions back to normal.

Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Att 252 / HP 252 / SpD 4
Nature: Brave
~Hammer Arm
~Rock Slide
~Payback
~Mach Punch

Trick Room sweeper. Conkeldurr gets sent in if Musharna's partner dies and the dimensions are still twisted. Payback helps Conkeldurr dole out major damage to Jellicent, while Hammer Arm is the STAB.

Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
Speed 252 / Att 252 / HP 4
Nature: Adamant
~U-Turn
~Rock Slide
~Flare Blitz
~Superpower

Darmanitan is Conkeldurr's counterpart, there to sweep in normal conditions. With a Choice Scarf it out paces anything that isn't scarfed, but it faces threats in the form of Water and Dragon Pokemon that Flare Blitz doesn't scare.

Jellicent @ Water Gem
Ability: Cursed Body
SpA 252 / HP 252 / SpD 4
IVs: Spe 0
Nature: Quiet
~Water Spout
~Shadow Ball
~Trick Room
~Ice Beam

Jellicent can come in under Trick Room, absorb blows, and pose an instant threat. In addition to being another Pokemon able to set up/reverse Trick Room, Jellicent stops the annoying Heat Wave + Water Spout spam cold. Thanks to Shadow Ball, this Jellicent should be able to handle other Jellicent. Ice Beam provides super effective coverage on genies, but I'm also considering Protect for stalling purposes. Overall, Jellicent is a good contingency if Darmanitan might struggle.

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
Spe 252 / Att 252 / HP 4
Nature: Jolly
~Close Combat
~Protect
~Rock Slide
~Safeguard

Terrakion is my secret weapon, specifically my anti-Thundurus plan. Safeguard is used immediately to protect from Prankster paralysis (as well as potential Spore from Amoongus), and then Musharna's Trick Room allows Terrakion to attack before its foes. The purpose of Terrakion is two-fold, however: During team preview I can lead the opponent to think that I'm using a Whimsicott + Terrakion + Beat Up lead.

My goal has shifted to being one big anti-team. With this I hope to counter Trick Room and Tailwind, as well as Beat Up Terrakion leads. I'm sad to say my team feels somewhat aimless, but I think solid nonetheless, and able to surprise the conventional strategies.

June 18 EDIT: Swapped in what I actually used at VGC today. Lost 1st Round to a Trick Room team.

I feel strongly about keeping Terrakion the way he is--he's there specifically to deal with Thundurus, otherwise he won't lead. Many Thundurus leads try to paralyze Terrakion, then the Lum Berry protects it, and then Terrakion uses Safeguard and my team is immune to such shenanigans for effectively the rest of the game. Generally I don't put Terrakion in anyway.

July 6 EDIT: Replaced Whimsicott with Jellicent. Fixed Terrakion.
 
First off, I would like to say your team looks very well done for you as a beginner, I'm impressed!

You might not know this, but Mach Punch is a staple for Conkeldurr. Mach Punch can finish off any Pokemon at will, and since it is already boosted by the Guts + Flame Orb combo, it can do massive damage. I would replace Detect with Mach Punch. Conkeldurr is pretty bulky, considering how much HP it has. Rock Slide is a good choice, but just in case, a good replacement is Stone Edge.

Your Terrakion should not have Lum Berry but instead Focus Sash. You see a Drain Punch from a Mienshao or Scrafty, and a Mach Punch from a Flame Orb Conkeldurr can OHKO your Terrakion. (Trust me, I did that in the Dallas VGC.) Use Focus Sash so it is guaranteed Terrakion will get an attack. You should replace Safeguard with Protect, but if you want to use Safeguard it should be Musharna using it.

Overall GREAT team, I'm not gonna lie. Good luck in the VGC, it is really fun!
__________________
Dallas VGC 2011 Top 32
Dallas VGC 2010 Top 16
 
Update

So I made changes to this thread last night to reflect what I actually used at VGC. Payback was the biggest blessing I could ask for--the Conkeldurr I received in a trade knew it already, and it's super-effective against the evil Jellicent. In fact, only Rock Slide stayed out of the four moves I intended to have on Conkeldurr.

Results: I was taken out Round 1 by someone who knew what he was doing. He used Trick Room and Escavalier, something I hadn't encountered during Pokemon Online practice. I didn't know Escavalier a) was slower than Musharna and b) could OHKO Musharna with Megahorn. I had 252 HP / 156 Def, after all. First turn I killed Amoonguss, Reuniclus used Trick Room, Escavalier was sent out. Second turn he killed Musharna before it could reverse the Trick Room.

I wasn't aware anyone used Escavalier! I only managed to KO one of his Pokemon after Amoonguss. This guy totally surprised me, and I have to give him credit for a solid win.

What can I do to fix this team? Did I choose the wrong Pokemon for this match? Does anybody else even *use* Escavalier? Thanks, John
 
VintageRonJohn said:
So I made changes to this thread last night to reflect what I actually used at VGC. Payback was the biggest blessing I could ask for--the Conkeldurr I received in a trade knew it already, and it's super-effective against the evil Jellicent. In fact, only Rock Slide stayed out of the four moves I intended to have on Conkeldurr.

Results: I was taken out Round 1 by someone who knew what he was doing. He used Trick Room and Escavalier, something I hadn't encountered during Pokemon Online practice. I didn't know Escavalier a) was slower than Musharna and b) could OHKO Musharna with Megahorn. I had 252 HP / 156 Def, after all. First turn I killed Amoonguss, Reuniclus used Trick Room, Escavalier was sent out. Second turn he killed Musharna before it could reverse the Trick Room.

I wasn't aware anyone used Escavalier! I only managed to KO one of his Pokemon after Amoonguss. This guy totally surprised me, and I have to give him credit for a solid win.

What can I do to fix this team? Did I choose the wrong Pokemon for this match? Does anybody else even *use* Escavalier? Thanks, John
Click to expand...

You were a bit unlucky coming up against one; it's pretty rare (although not unheard of), but helps deal with your team well. Using a Pokémon that slow shows a pretty dedicated Trick Room strategy; it might have been worth trying to keep TR off the field because it probably favoured your opponent more than yourself, but against Amoonguss that's always hard. (I think leading with Darmanitan would have saved you in that specific matchup, but that's generally a bad idea for other reasons, so I don't blame you for not having tried it that game.) Another interesting possibility would have been to sash Whimsicott, which means it can act as a bit of an emergency check against all sorts of things, but probably weakens the subseeding too much to be worth it in your team, and I'm not even sure if it'd have worked in this specific case. I think you were unintentionally counterteamed, and that distorting your team to beat Escavalier would have been a bad idea under normal circumstances.

Probably your best chance in that match would have been to use your standard strategy, and try to mind-games the opponent to keep TR off the field (you know they had an Escavalier around from team preview). That requires superhuman prediction skills, though, and a decent chunk of ordinary guesswork.

The other general change you could make to the team to help improve its matchup to other TR teams would be to spread Protect/Detect among your team a lot more heavily; it helps stall out field effects, and might keep your team alive long enough for the TR to expire. I might consider swapping out Moonlight on Musharna, and EQ on Terrakion, for it (unfortunately, you may not be able to sacrifice a move on Conkeldurr for it). I haven't thoroughly considered the implications of that, though, especially as I'm inexperienced with the TR mirror matchup.
 
To be honest it was my fault for not knowing Escavalier better--I didn't know its stats. When I reconsidered the match I thought of leading with Darmanitan as well as having Musharna use Trick Room turn 1, both of which might've saved me.

Thanks, I'll look into more Protect options ^.^
 
Today I fixed Terrakion and dropped Whimsicott in favor of a Jellicent! I'm gearing up for the LCQ in Indianapolis, and I'd really appreciate any feedback. Thanks everybody.
 
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