XY OU Sloth | Trick Room Hyper Offense

[alexwolf]

Sloth - Trick Room Hyper Offense

Introduction


Hi everyone, it's been a really long time since i made a decent RMT, and seeing how i have been using this team for the last two weeks and it turned out to be pretty effective, plus Trick Room is really underrated as a playstyle, i figured it's time to do it. With Diancie getting released, the synergy between Trick Room setters is better than ever, leaving very few Pokemon able to threaten Trick Room teams offensively, such as Bisharp and Mega Heracross. Furthermore, with stall getting a bit less prominent thanks to the rise in usage of Mega Medicham, Staraptor, Terrakion, Magnezone, Mega Heracross, Mew, and Mega Medicham, all of which make stall's life harder, it was a good time to try out Trick Room offense, which didn't like facing stall teams in general. Add to this that offensive teams featuring the Tyranitar + Excadrill combo and birdspam with Magnezone and Mega Pinsir are getting more popular, teams that Trick Room teams have a matchup advantage against, and it's not hard to see why Trick Room offense is an effective playstyle right now. And for whoever cares about ladder rankings, i have reached top 10 with this team multiple times over the past weeks under the nickname MoltresMan. With that said, let's see the team in details (changes and additions are mentioned at the end of each Pokemon's description):


The team in details

Diancie @ Mental Herb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Diamond Storm
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

Diancie is usually my lead, and a very reliable one. Outside of Breloom, Choice Specs Keldeo, Bisharp, Excadrill, Greninja, Landorus, Flash Cannon Heatran, offensive Politoed, Starmie, Magnezone, and Jirachi, Diancie can successfully lead against everything else, almost always setting up Trick Room and Stealth Rock before getting KOed. Diancie can also check threatening Pokemon such as Mega Charizard X, Talonflame, and Mega Pinsir, so if the team they are used on allows them to cause troubles to my team, i will try to save Diancie until those Pokemon are no longer able to pose a threat, or if i see that they rely on a spinner to get rid of SR, as Cofagrigus is a decent spinblocker and all i have to do is set up SR once to make sure that those threats can't come in and out freely. The EV spread allows Diancie to take the hits it wants to better, such as Latios's Psyshock, Mega Charizard X's Earthquake, and Mega Pinsir's Close Combat / EQ, as well as avoid the OHKO from most physical attackers with super effective STABs, such as Garchomp, Choice Band Azumarill, Mega Gyarados, and Landorus-T. The moves are standard, with Trick Room and Stealth Rock being the team support, Explosion doing some damage and giving to a teammate a free switch, and Diamond Storm dealing with the Pokemon that Diancie checks, such as Mega Charizard X, Talonflame, and Mega Pinsir.

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 20 Spe
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet

Crawdaunt is usually the early-game wallbreaker, as it's literally impossible to wall outside of Chesnaught, which i haven't seen for ages. It doesn't even need prediction, all you have to do is click Crabhammer or Knock Off and you 2HKO the whole metagame. And if the opponent has multiple Protect users, such as Heatran, Alomomola, and Ferrothorn, and they try to stall out the TR turns, you can just use Swords Dance to make sure that nothing goes unpunished. Crawdaunt also serves as a check to Bisharp if for some reason Mega Heracross is down, but it should be noted that it doesn't like losing its Life Orb. It also helps a lot that many of the Pokemon that Diancie lures in are OHKOed by Crawdaunt, such as Bisharp, Excadrill, Greninja, Landorus, Heatran, Politoed, Starmie, Magnezone, and Jirachi, sometimes even allowing Crawdaunt to get an easy Swords Dance to ease prediction and avoid getting forced out by the likes of Keldeo and Azumarill under Trick Room, as +2 Crabhammer / Knock Off OHKOes both of them. Furthermore, Crawdaunt is a key member when playing against stall teams. With 23 Speed IVs and an Adamant nature instead of Brave, Crawdaunt is able to outspeed many defensive Pokemon stall teams carry, such as Chansey, Ferrothorn, Slowbro, Amoonguss, and Quagsire, use some faster ones as set up bait, such as Heatran and Skarmory, and OHKO some faster Pokemon that would be able to threaten it with +2 Aqua Jet, such as Gliscor, Landorus-T, Mega Aerodactyl, and Victini. So, against stall teams, i usually try to bring Crawdaunt in asap and do as much damage as i can, so that Mega Heracross can hopefully clean up. Aqua Jet is a very useful move to bypass priority users under Trick Room, especially Talonflame, which is OHKOed, as well as threaten a plethora of offensive Pokemon if Trick Room is not up, as Aqua Jet's power is massive for a priority move, OHKOing Landorus after SR, Terrakon after 1 LO round and SR, and Excadrill unconditionally.

Change No 1: Reduced Crawdaunt's IVs from 23 to 20, in order to outspeed minimum Speed Azumarill under Trick Room.

Escavalier @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Drill Run

Escavalier provides my team with an offensive check to many Pokemon, including but not limited to Breloom (thanks to Overcoat), Clefable, Mega Gardevoir, Gengar, Kyurem-B, and Mega Alakazam. Under Trick Room, with SR, and with a Swords Dance boost it outspeeds everything and can't be walled outside of Skarmory, a Pokemon that the rest of my team has no troubles with. It's also not forced out by most priority users and isn't weak to Stealth Rock like Victini, which makes it stick around longer and very hard to force out under Trick Room. Also, thanks to its great bulk, power, and lack of weaknesses, it's very hard to OHKO in 1 v 1 scenarios outside of Fire-types, making it a threat even outside of Trick Room if the opponent lacks a Fire-type. If you see Pokemon such as Clefable and Mega Gardevoir on the opposing team make sure to keep Escavalier healthy until they are dealt with, otherwise they can prove to be very problematic, especially Unaware physically defensive Clefable. Escavalier is also very useful because unlike most of my other Pokemon, it can't be outsped by anything under Trick Room, making it a great sweeper against teams with Ferrothorn, Slowbro, and Amoonguss.

Change No 1: Replaced Victini with Escavalier. Set below:

Trick Room Victini

Victini @ Flame Plate
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Final Gambit

Victini does a lot of things for this team, including setting up Trick Room, checking dangerous threats such as Mega Gardevoir, SD Mega Scizor, CM Clefable, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Medicham, and luring and KOing certain Pokemon with Final Gambit. Victini's job is usually to set up Trick Room against defensive Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and mega Scizor, and get a KO with Final Gambit, which often means a dead Tyranitar, Heatran, Slowbro, Rotom-W, or Landorus-T, helping Mega Heracross, Crawdaunt, and Cofagrigus sweep in the late-game. Victini can do some sweeping job on itself if the opponent doesn't have a hard counter to it, as V-Create is strong enough to 2HKO many offensive resists, such as Azumarill, Latios, Latias, Keldeo, Terrakion, and Talonflame, and Victini is bulky enough to withstand most priority hits even at -1, such as Talonflame's Brave Bird (even from Choice Band) and non CB Azumarill's Aqua Jet. Of course if the opponent has CM Clefable or SD Mega Scizor i will keep Victini alive, as it's my best switch-in to them while they threaten a big portion of my team. Another handy thing about Victini is its ability to fuck up Baton Pass teams using GeoPass Smeargle + Espeon with screens and Memento support, as Victini dgaf about all those and OHKOes Smeargle with Final Gambit. One thing you could do if you don't like Final Gambit is use Life Orb and Glaciate over Final Gambit, to fare better against some offensive teams whose main answer to Victini is Landorus-T or Garchomp, while also 2HKOing physically defensive Rotom-W with V-Create after SR. I have found the extra longevity granted by not having Life Orb and the luring ability of Final Gambit much more consistent overall though.

Cresselia (F) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Lunar Dance
- Psychic
- Ice Beam

Cresselia is the second and last dedicated Trick Room supporter, after Diancie. It's job is to set up Trick Room, check threats such as Choice Specs Keldeo, Greninja, Politoed, and the specially attacking Water-types in general that Diancie can't stay in against when leading, and when it's no longer needed, bring for free and heal a teammate with Healing Wish. So, basically, Cresselia handles most of the Pokemon that Diancie can't, which coupled with dual Mental Herb means that there is no Pokemon against which this team can't set up Trick Room against, ensuring that i can get some offensive pressure going on no matter what. Checking Specs Keldeo is incredibly important for this team, as Keldeo is able to OHKO/2HKO everything else on the team and has a good matchup against many of the team's members, such as Crawdaunt, Cofagrigus, Victini, and Diancie, assuming Trick Room is not up. If you see Specs Keldeo on the opposing team make sure to keep Cresselia alive and healthy enough to take one Hydro Pump instead of sacrificing it to bring a teammate in for free with Healing Wish. However, if the opponent doesn't have anything important that Cresselia can handle, feel free to sacrifice Cresselia in the early-game with Lunar Dance in order to give a free switch to a teammate. Thanks to Cresselia's Healing Wish, you can afford to play more recklessly with all the offensive Pokemon in the early-game. For example, you can attempt to stay in against Heatran with Crawdaunt and set up Swords Dance, not worrying about a potential burn from Will-O-Wisp or Lava Plume, stay in against Keldeo with Mega Heracross in order to OHKO with Bullet Seed (Mega Heracross takes anything from Specs Keldeo at full life, except from Hidden Power Flying), or take a hit from Lati@s with Mega Heracross and OHKO back (LO Psyshock doesn't OHKO max HP Mega Heracross). The EV spread allows Cresselia to be 2HKOed from Specs Keldeo's Hydro Pump only 1.2% of the time, as well as be 2HKOed by CB Talonflame's Brave Bird only 3.1% of the time. Ice Beam and Psychic give coverage against some threats that Cresselia checks, such as Terrakion, Garchomp, Gliscor, and Dragonite, which can be especially useful if any of those threats carries Substitute.

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Bullet Seed / Swords Dance

Mega Heracross is probably the most reliable offensive member of the team, almost always pulling its weight regardless of team matcup. Mega Heracross can lead if i suspect that the opponent will lead with an offensive Water-type or Bisharp and i don't want to bring in Cresselia because i need her to check some dangerous threats. Water-types such as Choice Band Azumarill, Politoed, Greninja, Starmie, and Specs Keldeo are all beaten 1 on 1 by Mega Heracross, and Cresselia can heal it back to full health with Lunar Dance later. Mega Heracross checks Bisharp, a big threat to any Trick Room teams, thanks to its good matchup against most Pokemon found on such teams including mine, as well as strong priority to pick off my sweepers, especially Victini and Cofagrigus. Mega Heracross breaks the Subs of Pokemon such as Mega Gyarados, which can set up on Cresselia and Diancie (Explosion breaks Sub and Mega Gyarados makes another, it's slower thanks to Trick Room). It can also be used as the early-game wallbreaker of choice if going with Crawdaunt is not the ideal option (eg. my opponent has Ferrothorn, which forces Crawdaunt out after a kill) and doesn't even need Trick Room to be up thanks to its amazing bulk and ability to outspeed a lot of defensive Pokemon. Bullet Seed is used over Swords Dance to OHKO Water-types such as Keldeo without dropping my defenses, Azumarill, and Rotom-W, which is usually more useful than Swords Dance because Mega Heracross hardly has the time to set up and sweep with Trick Room lasting only 4 turns, and unlike Crawdaunt Mega Heracross doesn't even have priority. However, Swords Dance is a perfectly viable alternative that eases prediction, as a lot of teams rely on switching around to check Mega Heracross under Trick Room. As i already mentioned, Mega Heracross's bulk is nothing sort of amazing, being able to avoid getting OHKOed from moves such as Keldeo's Specs Hydro Pump and Latios's LO Psyshock, and max HP transforms Mega Heracross into an amazing tank, in addition to a great wallbreaker.

Cofagrigus @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 248 HP / 172 SpA / 88 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp

I used to have Choice Specs Exploud and then Trick Room Porygon2, but i had a huge Mega Heracross weakness, sometimes lacked Trick Room setters (when using Exploud), and Porygon2 lacked a single spammable move, which made it easy to play around with switching and stall out the Trick Room turns. While Cofagrigus may not be very strong, it has a single spammable move, making it hard to play around just by switching, can check Mega Heracross, and with those EVs has the bulk to take one Specs Hydro Pump from Keldeo even after SR. Will-O-Wisp cripples Tyranitar, Mega Gyarados, Diggersby, and Bisharp who would otherwise have a field day with Cofagrigus, and also cripples Pokemon that Cofagrigus checks but can't KO fast enough, such as Mega Scizor and Mega Heracross. Cofagrigus can also spinblock against Excadrill and bulky Starmie, making birdspam teams easier to deal with, and any dangerous threat that relies on SR being off the field, such as Dragonite and Mega Charizard Y. Sometimes it might be able to do some job against weakened offensive teams, but because it's so weak it can't even 2HKO semi-bulky offensive Pokemon such as Keldeo at +2. Other than checking Mega Heracross and providing a last moment Trick Room thanks to its great all around bulk, Cofagrigus doesn't do that much and is the team's most replaceable member.


Threats to the team

Specs Keldeo is a big threat and threatens the fuck out of this team if Cresselia is weakened or goes down, so make sure to keep her alive or bait and KO it with Mega Heracross early-game. Slow Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Slowbro, and Amoonguss can be very annoying, as they can move before my offensive Pokemon under Trick Room, forcing me to switch out and waste precious turns. And if this wasn't enough, Ferrothorn carries Protect to fuck with my Trick Room turns even more, and Amoonguss has Spore to make one of my Pokemon useless, though Lunar Dance can somewhat mitigate this. To play around those slow Pokemon make double switches to the right Pokemon if you expect them to come in, for example Mega Heracross or Victini for Ferrothorn and Amoonguss, and Mega Heracross or Cofagrigus for Slowbro. Stall teams with a solid Mega Heracross counter, such as Doublade or Toxic Landorus-T force me to rely on Victini's Final Gambit and Crawdaunt to get past them, which can be a pretty challenging task sometimes, but it's definitely doable. I don't remember anything else atm, but there might definitely be more threats, so will add here whatever you guys post, as long as we are talking about relevant threats. SubToxic Gliscor is also very annoying, being able to stall out all my Trick Room turns and Toxic stall my whole team, as i have no Toxic immunity. It can set up a Sub against Mega Heracross or Diancie, so i have to be very carefull to not let this happen. Mega Pinsir can also be very threatening, being able to revenge kill Mega Heracross even under TR, and being able to OHKO my whole team at +2, outside of Diancie, which can take a hit from +2 Mega Pinsir, having a good chance to survive even a +2 Earthquake. I have to make sure i don't give it free switches and if possible, use Crawdaunt over Mega Heracross to wallbreak early-game and set up Stealth Rock, though this means that you don't have Diancie to check Mega Pinsir.


Replays

Hide

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-161406513
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-161413639
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-161415884
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-161431821
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-162005569
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-162136784
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-167039698

Importable

Hide

Diancie @ Mental Herb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Diamond Storm
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 23 Spe
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet

Victini @ Flame Plate
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Final Gambit

Cresselia (F) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Lunar Dance
- Psychic
- Ice Beam

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast

Cofagrigus @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 248 HP / 172 SpA / 88 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp

Closing words

And that's it guys. This team isn't the second coming of Jesus or anything like that, just a solid offensive team showcasing that Trick Room teams are not a gimmick and incredibly matchup based, but are a very viable playstyle with a pretty solid chance at winning against most common playstyles. Have fun using and rating this team, and of course leave a like if you liked it. Until next time, see ya!

 

[BlackBuccaneer]

Hey Alexwolf, this is a really well-built team, it seems you've accounted for everything possible with the team, making it really hard to make somewhat significant helpful changes, but that won't stop me to make small but somewhat significant changes! The only change I could make for the better on this team was 248 HP EVs on Cresselia. This is really nit-picky, but it does give you an odd HP number for Stealth Rock switch-ins, and it doesn't make any 2HKO's into OHKOs, or even increase the chance of certain moves OHKOing.

Hide

Cresselia (F) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 208 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Lunar Dance
- Psychic
- Ice Beam

I did try to optimize EVs on Victini for an odd HP number as well, but then it leaves Max HP Tyranitar with 1 HP after Final Gambit, which is pretty huge. Also tried to optimize the defensive spread for Diancie but it ended up increasing the percentage of some moves OHKO'ing it or 2HKO'ing it, even if they were small increases.

252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Diancie: 258-306 (84.8 - 100.6%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 244 HP / 228+ Def Diancie: 260-308 (86 - 101.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Mega Charizard X Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Diancie: 130-154 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Mega Charizard X Earthquake vs. 244 HP / 228+ Def Diancie: 132-156 (43.7 - 51.6%) -- 9.8% chance to 2HKO

It does give you a slightly stronger Explosion, so if you do want to consider that...

Hide

Diancie @ Mental Herb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 244 HP / 36 Atk / 228 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Diamond Storm
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

Well, I hope I did something at the very least, nice job on the team!

 

[trc]

This isn't a rate, more of a question, but have you considered running Passho Berry on Diancie, to Explode on Keldeo making it easier for your team?

 

[linkinparkrules]

nice, finally a good trick room team. I think if you have that issue with Keldeo, use Jellicent, but i don't think any member of your team can be replaced but Cofagrigus. It's a good spinblocker, has Spamdow Ball, WoW, Trick Room and even better movepool than the Coffin. The drawback is that its bulk is less than coffin, and Spatk is a bit weaker

By the way, can you put some replays so all of us can understand more of how your team functioned?

 

[heritage]

Ah ha. I finally get to rate one of your teams, Alex.

Well anyways. I notice that Scizor can pose a pretty big threat to this team if you aren't prepaired, especially if it's the bulky SD set. The only thing I really see that checks it is Cofagrigus. Even Victini might have a little problem with it if you've used too many V-Creates, because it's half Psychic typing. Also, why would Victini have Trick Room? I can't see it being able to set up a lot.
Also, this is just a nitpick, but I run Arm Thrust on Mega Heracross. I hate the lowered defense of CC and breaking Focus Sash is also really nice.

Have you considered running a bulky Mega-Scizor over Heracross yourself? I see it as a much better team mate.

EDIT: I just battled this team on the ladder. I don't know if it was you but I got swept by Heracross .-.

 

[alexwolf]

BlackBuccaneer

By moving 4 EVs from HP to SpD CB Talonflame has 3.9% chance to 2HKO Cresselia instead of 3.1% and Keldeo has 2% chance to 2HKO instead of 1.2%. This might seem small, but so is the SR number, so i'll stick to my current spread, though thx for the suggestion! And you are right about Victini, i need 404 HP to OHKO Tyranitar with Final Gambit. And with Diancie i need all the physical bulk i can get to survive CB Azumarill's Waterfall and +2 Mega Pinsir's Earthquake.

TRC

Yeah i have, actually i was using it for a while, but having two Pokemon able to set up against Taunt users is way more important, especially because Diancie is my suicide lead and i don't want to sacrifice Cresselia early-game, because Lunar Dance would go to waste. Even though specially attacking Water-types can be a bit of an issue, that's why i have Cresselia and Mega Heracross, so leading with them is what you should do if you suspect them leading. It really depends on team matchup though and Passho Berry is definitely a viable alternative if you suspect the opponent won't be packing a Taunt user.

linkinparkrules

Jellicent is weaker, less bulkier, and lacks a set up move, so i don't think it's worth using over Cofagrigus, even though it gives me a better switch-in to Water-types. Maybe Taunt + WoW + Trick Room and a 4th move might be decent though, so i will try it out. Also, added some replays and will be adding more as i play. Not all of them are good games but the quality of the replays will increase as i gather more of them, just included whatever i found for now just to have some replays in the OP.

Ohioisonfire

Mega Scizor is checked by both Victini and Cofagrigus, though both dislike Knock Off. I have to make sure i keep Trick Room up and that i don't give it room to set up, but it's definitely a threat to watch out for if it carries Knock Off, otherwise it's a non issue. If it does have Knock Off though, Crawdaunt can do some work against it, resisting its moveset, avoiding the 2HKO from +2 Mega Scizor, and doing 90% minimum with +2 Crabhammer (without Life Orb, assuming Mega Scizor uses Knock Off as you set up). Arm Thrust is nice but it lacks power, making Mega Heracross unable to OHKO Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and the defense drops are not that big of an issue as Mega Heracross takes priority hits not named Brave Bird / Quick Attack just fine even after the drop anyway. As for Mega Scizor, i have tried using a bulky variant and it was ok, but Mega Heracross is way stronger and fits better with this team's fast pace, not to mention that Mega Scizor makes me weaker to Water-types.

Thx all of you guys for the suggestions and the good words, looking forward for more!

 

[dead9]

I like your team, it's the best trick room team i've seen so far! This is kind of gimmicky, but have you considered trick room alakazam in place of cofagrigus? It still provides you with a near-guaranteed trick room, and gives you a decent check to all your current threats. It might open you up to a few new threats though like azumarill.

Alakazam @ Focus Sash

252 SpA / 252 Spe Timid

Psychic, HP Ice / Rock, Trick Room, Taunt / Encore

 

[mikekap]

Looks so creative, with underused pokemons such as Cress, Diancie , Crawdunt being used. I really have to try it!
EDIT: You may want to put Guts instead of Moxie in your Hera, cause of status and beating stall even easier, but idk, I'll try it, too
Double edit: Confa doesn't pull its' weight, this team wants a water resist-immuntity, I think Jellicent is mandatory....

 

[heritage]

I like your team, it's the best trick room team i've seen so far! This is kind of gimmicky, but have you considered trick room alakazam in place of cofagrigus? It still provides you with a near-guaranteed trick room, and gives you a decent check to all your current threats. It might open you up to a few new threats though like azumarill.

Alakazam @ Focus Sash

252 SpA / 252 Spe Timid

Psychic, HP Ice / Rock, Trick Room, Taunt / Encore

That makes no sense. Why would you use one of the fastest Psychic types in the game on a trick room team? At least make it a Quiet nature with 0 speed EV's if you're going to use it.

 

[asdfCookie]

That makes no sense. Why would you use one of the fastest Psychic types in the game on a trick room team? At least make it a Quiet nature with 0 speed EV's if you're going to use it.

Quiet with 0 IVs will do nothing since his base speed is too high already. The point is that you don't always have to use it to set Trick Room. It still functions as a strong revenge killer with the utility of a sash, and when you need it to be, you can use the sash to guarantee a Trick Room setup.

 

[alexwolf]

Made a small edit and changed Crawdaunt's IVs to 20, in order to underspeed 0 Speed Azumarill and thus outspeed it under Trick Room. For some reason a lot of people don't run any Speed on CB and AV sets, which they should, at least enough to outspeed Clefable, but yeah, outspeeding Azumarill when Trick Room is up > outspeeding Chansey outside of Trick Room.

As for Sash Zam, i don't like it, because Cofagrigus can already live almost any hit from full life, while also being able to check Mega Heracross and be a much better TR sweeper than Alakazam, which basically sets up Trick Room and dies.

I am also experimenting with Safeguard > Psychic on Cresselia, in order to fare better against SubToxic Gliscor and other defensive threats in general, as i rarely if ever use Psychic anyway.

 

[mikekap]

Hmm actually I begin to like confa, although this team would kill to have a nasty plot jelli (if that was possible). Immense physical bulk, mummy erasing all huge power , and gale wings abilities(especially that under trick room is HUGE) is so nice , and a bit of setting up, makes it putting some offensive pressure. Also, guts normal hera, makes faster stall mons cry... It is one of the most fun teams I have ever used! Although that safeguard suggestion seems actually cool, but it's nice to have psychic around to put some pressure against random pokemons, for example Talonflame, and KELDEO, which can be annoying. But I can see it being useful....

 

[theV8man]

Cool team. I made a team quite similar to this one actually. Glad to see you also use Crawdaunt, thing is an absolute monster under TR and works out of it because of Aqua Jet. I actually used Bronzong with max attack and a Normal Germ as a lead. Mental Herb Diancie seems much more reliable. Doesn't get taunted and bulkier. But Bronzong's Normal Gem powered Explosion is pretty insane...
I felt reluctant about putting a Fire type like Victini on my team. Even though it helps against Mega Scizor, which is dangerous if given a couple free turns, the SR weakness on a TR poke isn't nice. It seems to work out for you, though. Instead of Mega Hera, I actually had Toxic Orb Conkeldurr. It actually worked really well, but tbh now I see that Mega Hera's bulk would've really come in handy here and there. Like you, I also used Porygon and Exploud.

Anyway, after making you read all that I might as well suggest an improvement. It's about SD Crawdaunt. I don't have too much experience with using SD on Crawdaunt, but I guess it can be useful against those pokes that use the PIECE OF SHIT move Protect. However, from my experience, running Crunch can be really useful to 2HKO Venu, which aaaaalways comes in on Crawdaunt. It might even be beneficial to run Areal Ace for Chesnaught, although this is a bit less useful. Mega Venusaur is annoying in general to TR. Then again, I'm guessing that against Mega Venu, you pull some double switch shenanigans to match it up against Hera or Victini. I dunno. My point is that Crunch is nice.

 

[JMach]

Hey alexwolf :)

I took the liberty of pasting your importable into my PS and would like to start off by saying that this is categorically, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most entertaining teams I've ever used on the ladder. I've never touched anything quite like it! It's fast paced as hell and catches everyone off guard... couldn't have asked for anything more - fantastic job on the team building and everything seems so well thought out. Bravo!

I did notice a threat to the team that you hadn't mentioned. Although not that common anymore, BD Azu can pile on ridiculous amounts of pressure, and Cofag has to be pretty much exclusively relied upon a lot of the time. I know Crawdaunt can kind of retaliate but it didn't always seem to get the job done well enough. I came across BD Azu twice whilst laddering, lost one of them and struggled my way to victory in the second. It seemed to rely on how much TR was left, and any smart opponent just waited until TR was down to grab their window with Azu. CB or AV are also quite easily bluffed on Drum sets, so it can be hard to mark it out early to prioritise the burn / mummy with Cofag. So yeah, I'd probably see it as more of a mid-late game threat, as you have to keep Cofag and Craw so healthy in order to reliably deal with it.

Rustyy's idea sounded pretty cool (replacing MegaCross with Mega Amphy). Amphy hits ridiculously hard, and it just so happens to deal with BD Azu pretty nicely...

+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Ampharos: 153-180 (39.8 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

EDIT: I just saw linkinparkrules's suggestion of replacing Cofag with Jellicent (and I also saw your last two replays). Wanted to ask if it was faring any better? Seems like a pretty good switch to me.

 

[alexwolf]

Cool team. I made a team quite similar to this one actually. Glad to see you also use Crawdaunt, thing is an absolute monster under TR and works out of it because of Aqua Jet. I actually used Bronzong with max attack and a Normal Germ as a lead. Mental Herb Diancie seems much more reliable. Doesn't get taunted and bulkier. But Bronzong's Normal Gem powered Explosion is pretty insane...
I felt reluctant about putting a Fire type like Victini on my team. Even though it helps against Mega Scizor, which is dangerous if given a couple free turns, the SR weakness on a TR poke isn't nice. It seems to work out for you, though. Instead of Mega Hera, I actually had Toxic Orb Conkeldurr. It actually worked really well, but tbh now I see that Mega Hera's bulk would've really come in handy here and there. Like you, I also used Porygon and Exploud.

Anyway, after making you read all that I might as well suggest an improvement. It's about SD Crawdaunt. I don't have too much experience with using SD on Crawdaunt, but I guess it can be useful against those pokes that use the PIECE OF SHIT move Protect. However, from my experience, running Crunch can be really useful to 2HKO Venu, which aaaaalways comes in on Crawdaunt. It might even be beneficial to run Areal Ace for Chesnaught, although this is a bit less useful. Mega Venusaur is annoying in general to TR. Then again, I'm guessing that against Mega Venu, you pull some double switch shenanigans to match it up against Hera or Victini. I dunno. My point is that Crunch is nice.

I have tried using LO Sheer Force Conkeldurr with Drain Punch / Ice Punch / ThunderPunch / Poison Jab and it was ok, but it needed much more prediction than Mega Heracross, which can simply click SD on forced switches and packs a way bigger punch in general. Also, Mega Heracross has better bulk and is a better switch-in to Bisharp that is also immune to Knock Off, so this helps a lot too. However, feel free to use Conk if you want to use another MEvo. Chesnaught and Mega Venusaur haven't been particularly troubling, not to mention that Knock Off already 2HKOes Tank Mega Venusaur after SR, or just OHKOes it at +2, so there is no need for Crunch.

I swapped out MegaCross for Mega Ampharos and its wrecking teams.

Mind explaining why you preferred Mega Ampharos over Mega Heracross?

Hey alexwolf :)

I took the liberty of pasting your importable into my PS and would like to start off by saying that this is categorically, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most entertaining teams I've ever used on the ladder. I've never touched anything quite like it! It's fast paced as hell and catches everyone off guard... couldn't have asked for anything more - fantastic job on the team building and everything seems so well thought out. Bravo!

I did notice a threat to the team that you hadn't mentioned. Although not that common anymore, BD Azu can pile on ridiculous amounts of pressure, and Cofag has to be pretty much exclusively relied upon a lot of the time. I know Crawdaunt can kind of retaliate but it didn't always seem to get the job done well enough. I came across BD Azu twice whilst laddering, lost one of them and struggled my way to victory in the second. It seemed to rely on how much TR was left, and any smart opponent just waited until TR was down to grab their window with Azu. CB or AV are also quite easily bluffed on Drum sets, so it can be hard to mark it out early to prioritise the burn / mummy with Cofag. So yeah, I'd probably see it as more of a mid-late game threat, as you have to keep Cofag and Craw so healthy in order to reliably deal with it.

Rustyy's idea sounded pretty cool (replacing MegaCross with Mega Amphy). Amphy hits ridiculously hard, and it just so happens to deal with BD Azu pretty nicely...

+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Ampharos: 153-180 (39.8 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

EDIT: I just saw linkinparkrules's suggestion of replacing Cofag with Jellicent (and I also saw your last two replays). Wanted to ask if it was faring any better? Seems like a pretty good switch to me.

Actually, BD Azumarill is not a big threat because it can't set up anywhere. Crawdaunt 2HKOes with a combo of Crabhammer and Aqua Jet after SR and can easily tank a +6 Aqua Jet, Mega Heracross does enough to prevent Azu fro using Belly Drum after SR, Victini too with Bolt Strike, and Cofagrigus obviously burns it. If Azumarill wants to set up against Cresselia and Diancie it will get revenge killed by either Crawdaunt or Mega Heracross, both of which can take a +6 Aqua Jet and OHKO back.

Mega Ampharos would be a nice bulky attacker to have for when Trick Room is not up, and to check Talonflame, but i don't see where it can fit.

 

[Rustyy]

Mega Ampharos would be a nice bulky attacker to have for when Trick Room is not up, and to check Talonflame, but i don't see where it can fit.

The only thing MegaCross does is make you lose turns because of Talonflame. He is just a bad Pokemon regardless of the team. The only mon Ampharos needs to switch out against is Lati@s. Right now im around 1700 with the team and ive literally only been using Diancie, Crawdaunt, Cofagrigus and Ampharos, havent even had the need to use Cresselia and Victini. Crawdaunt and Ampharos put in overtime with trick room.

 

[F22/aRaptor]

I agree with a lot of the guys on here about Jellicent over Cofagrigus tbh. Not only do you stop Keldeo cold, you also have something to stop Slowbro from taking advantage of TR and retain a spinblocker, you've also overlooked the fact it can use Water Spout. This is a set I've sort of come up with, although how optimal it is I don't know.

Jellicent @LO/Leftovers
Quiet: 0Atk/0 Spd IV
252HP/252 Sp Atk/4 Def
Water Spout
Trick Room
Will-O-Wisp
Recover/Taunt

 

[Wally Smitty]

yeah i am high but that doesnt change the fact that Heracross is a bad Pokemon. whats the point of a TR abuser that dies by priority brave bird and quick attack

I agree that he can be easily killed by talonflame and pinsir, but If it's replaced by Ampharos, the team would lose another physical attacker, and chansey/blissey would wall the entire team if crawdaunt is gone

 

[alexwolf]

I have tried Jellicent and it was a big momentum killer. Even lower SpA than Cofagrigus and no Nasty Plot means i have to make it a stallbreaker (Taunt + WoW + TR + filler), and stallbreakers are just too slow for this team.

Also, i tried Memento > WoW on Cofagrigus to keep momentum and bring something else for free whenever i needed to, and the occasional set up chance for Crawdaunt doesn't hurt either. Bisharp shits on me though, and gets a free +2, so that's a pretty big con. Overall, Memento was nice to keep an even faster pace, but makes the team a bit more matchup based, as Cofagrigus is useless against Bisharp teams and can't immediately cripple physical attackers with WoW.

Rustyy i am going to ignore you until you start adding some real content in your posts. Saying ''Mega Cross is shit and revenge killed by Talonflame, Ampharos is da best'' is not really constructive criticism.

 

[Glaedrix]

Hi alexwolf ! This is more of a play than anything else :
Suppose you have Trick Room set up and a Talonflame comes out.
Switch to your Cofagrigus. Why ?

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Cofagrigus: 169-201 (52.9 - 63%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Cofagrigus: 169-201 (52.9 - 63%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

If it uses Brave Bird/Flare Blitz it's 2 usual STABs, it's ability will turn to Mummy.

Now it will not be faster than you (most probably) and won't get up Brave Birds all the time.

Hope this helps !

 

[alexwolf]

Yeah i know this Glaedrix, that's a useful little perk of Cofagrigus. In other news, i have started testing SD Escavalier over Victini, because Victini increased my Azumarill weakness and SR really reduces its lifespan, which fucks up Final Gmabit's power a lot, making Victini not that hard to deal with. The moveset is SD + Megahorn + Iron Head + Drill Run with Lefties, which 2HKOes at worst everything that can threaten Escavalier outside of Skarmory with SR up. Haven't had the time to test it as much as i would want, so opinions about this change are welcome.

 

[alexwolf]

Here is a replay of a battle showcasing Escavalier's usefulness: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-167039698. So far, i have been really impressed with Escavalier and will most probably replace Victini with it. Not having another Pokemon weak to Azumarill and Keldeo really helps, and the added longevity and immunity to sleep are great as well.

 

[Wally Smitty]

I'm glad you decided to change victini for escavalier. I was just about to suggest that to you. I've been using your team for pokemon X (replacing diancie with carbink, cresselia with slowbro and victini with chandelure. Sry I don't have access to the origianls). It works really well, but victini (chandelure) hates sr and fucking bisharp takes a chunk off its health.
So I assume escavalier's evs are brave 252 hp 252 atk 4 def?

 

[alexwolf]

I'm glad you decided to change victini for escavalier. I was just about to suggest that to you. I've been using your team for pokemon X (replacing diancie with carbink, cresselia with slowbro and victini with chandelure. Sry I don't have access to the origianls). It works really well, but victini (chandelure) hates sr and fucking bisharp takes a chunk off its health.
So I assume escavalier's evs are brave 252 hp 252 atk 4 def?

That's correct.

 

[pe5e]

I had never played Trick Room before, but i like Hyper Offense so i gave it a try. It was a blast! Very fun to play, abusing the fuck out of Mega Heracross and seeing opponents typing what just happend was amazing. Though there were some issues i had. I tried the Victini and Escavalier version though both had problems with ether Azumarill and Rocks or Clefable, Skarmory and bulky Mega Scizor.

So i was looking what could be changed to solve those problems. The only poke i saw to replace was the Victini/Escavalier slot. Yes, Cofagrigus is the worst pokemon on the team, but there isnt really any thing better for that slot. It should be a spin blocker that can set up a trick room, should be able to set up and bulky enough to cripple threats. There is pretty much only Cofagrigus. I toyed with some other Ghosts and stuff, but those were all worse.

After the replacable mon was clear I searched for a bulky enough strong sweeper that could do want Escavalier and Victini couldnt.
Enter Magnezone:

Zone-tan (Magnezone) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magnet Pull
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 0 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

I tested with it today and it really shined. Amazing SpAtk, can switchin on Scizor and Dragon Attacks as well as Brave Bird spam and Mega Pinsir´s Quick Attack.
Trapping Skarmory, Ferrothorwn and Scizor worked really well even without Trick Room. I am not really sure about the Volt Switch though. You could run Tri Attack for other Electric typs, but there werent really an issue as Volt Switching into something else normally does the job. Volt Switching on the last Trick Room Turn into another Trick Room user is nice and prevents set ups on Magnezone too.

That is the team I used the last 3 days with which i got to 1700-1800 multiple times:

Hide

Mr. Krabs (Crawdaunt) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 23 Spe
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet

Zone-tan (Magnezone) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magnet Pull
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 0 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Luna (Cresselia) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 204 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Lunar Dance
- Psychic
- Ice Beam

Diva (Diancie) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Diamond Storm
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

Wrecking Bug (Heracross) (M) @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast

Free Aids for you (Cofagrigus) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 172 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Trick Room
- Nasty Plot

I would love to get some feedback on the change and the team in general. I really hope others are still seting up Trick Rooms :]