Psychedelic (OU Trick Room)

[SunnyG]

My Trick Room Team

Hello and welcome to my second RMT on Smogon. This team is different from my last team because this is a Trick Room team. Now I know that some of you think that Trick Room isn't viable in OU but this team has gotten me pretty high up the rankings on PO (It peaked at 1396). Now I know that this isn't what you would call extremely stunning but keep in mind that this is still a rough team that I made in half an hour. I thought that this team had potential so I decided to come here to seek out some advice from you to help improve this team. So enough of my rambling, on to the team.

The Process:

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Trick Room had always been interesting to me and I really wanted to make a team based around it. It is a I also didn't want to resort to using a weather team because I was getting sick of seeing them (No offense to people who use weather).

I wanted to build my team around Reuniclus because he was one of my favourite pokemon in the 5th generation. Reuniclus is also one of the best Trick Room sweepers around.

Now that I had gotten the focal point of my team, I decided I needed to add another Pokemon that could set up Trick Room and sweep under and the first Pokemon that came to my mind was Slowking

After I had gotten two Trick Room sweepers on my team, I though to myself that I might need a form of priority on my team just to pick off weakened foes when Trick Room might me down. I saw that Scizor would be perfect this role because he could also become a dangerous sweeper under Trick Room due to his poor speed.

After I had finished assembling the core of my Trick Room team, I decided to add a couple more Trick Room sweepers into the mix because Trick Room teams have to be offensive due to Trick Room running out pretty quickly. I thought that Bouffalant and Cofagrigus would be terrific sweepers. They are also pretty bulky so that they can live some hits.

Now, I thought I was all set to go and than I realized that I didn't have anything to save my butt if Trick Room went down and I was unable to set it back up. So I saw that Salamence would be a perfect fit onto this type of team. He can outspeed lots of things and take them out when Trick Room isn't in play.

The Team:

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Quiet
Ev's: 252 Hp / 252 Special Attack / 4 Defense
-Trick Room
-Psychic
-Focus Blast
-Shadow Ball

I started off my team with Reuniclus, as do many Trick Room teams. Reuniclus is the star player of this team because it is able to completely wreck opposing teams. It can use Trick Room to set itself up for a sweep and help other members of my team. Psychic is strong STAB move that can hit almost anything for a good amount of damage. Focus Blast is to deal with Pokemon that resist Psychic such as Ferrothorn and other Steel types. Shadow Ball is a decent coverage move to hit Ghost types that may come in to kill Reuniclus. I have noticed that most people don't expect Reuniclus to carry Shadow Ball for some reason and freely switch in their Ghost types just for them to get hit in the face by a Shadow Ball. Nature and Ev's are pretty simple. Quiet nature to boost Reuniclus' special attack and 252 Hp and Special Attack to maximize bulk and power.

Slowking @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Quiet
Ev's: 252 Hp / 252 Special Attack / 4 Defense
-Trick Room
-Nasty Plot
-Surf
-Fire Blast

I decided to add Slowking to my team because he could easily set up Trick Room and sweep under it. He can also take special rather nicely even without any investment in Special Defense. He has the same Ev spread as Reuniclus for the same reason as Reuniclus. Nasty Plot boosts Slowking's Special Attack to pretty decent levels. Surf is just a powerful STAB move. Fire Blast is on here to deal with Ferrothorn and Scizor. I am thinking aboout replacing it with Focus Blast so that I don't get completely walled by bulky water types such as Vaporeon and Gastrodon.

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Nature: Brave
Ev's: 252 Hp / 252 Attack / 4 Defense
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Bug Bite
-Superpower

Another Pokemon who I thought was a good member to a Trick Room team was Scizor. Scizor is one of the top threats in today's OU metagame but he also has a pretty poor speed stat. Alongside Trick Room, Scizor becomes even a bigger threat than it already is. It doesn't have to be locked into a move with Choice Band. Swords Dance boosts Scizor's attack. Bullet Punch is a pretty powerful move with a Swords Dance boost and Technician. It also adds a form of priority to my team which can be useful if Trick Room is down. Bug Bite is another STAB move that is powered up by Technician. It can also help taking Sitrus and Lum berries aways from opposing Pokemon. Superpower is just a coverage move to help against Steel types that completely wall Scizor. It also helps taking out Blissey, Chansey, and Porygon2.

Cofagrigus @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
Nature: Quiet
Ev's: 252 Hp / 252 Special Attack / 4 Defense
-Trick Room
-Nasty Plot
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power Fighting

Anybody who can set up Trick Room and sweep under it is a much appreciated member of my team. Cofagrigus is a pretty decent sweeper under Trick Room. He can usually set up Trick Room and get a Nasty Plot up thanks to it's mammoth base 145 Defense and the Hp investment. Shadow Ball is Cofagrigus' best STAB option to deal damage. The possible chance of lowering Special Defense also helps. Since Cofagrigus has a pretty shallow movepool, Hidden Power Fighting is his best option to deal with Pokemon who either resist or are immune to Shadow Ball.

Bouffalant @ Life Orb
Ability: Reckless
Nature: Brave
Ev's: 252 Hp / 252 Attack / 4 Defense
-Head Charge
-Wild Charge
-Earthquake
-Payback

I added Bouffalant to this team because I thought that this was a very underrated Pokemon. The only reason that Bouffalant isn't a great Pokemon in OU is because of it's poor speed, which is solved by Trick Room. With Trick Room in play, Bouffalant is capable of sweeping teams with it's decent attack. The great thing about Bouffalant is that it has damn good bulk for a sweeper. 95/95/95 isn't to shabby for a Pokemon used to annihilate opponents. Head Charge is his main STAB option, and a powerful one as well. Wild Charge helps against bulky Pokemon such as Vaporeon, Politoed, and Skarmory. Earthquake is there for coverage against Pokemon that Head Charge can't do more damage to. Payback is for the Ghost Pokemon that think they switch on a Head Charge and wall it.

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
Nature: Naive
Ev's: 252 Attack / 252 Speed / 4 Special Attack
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast
-Stone Edge

Salamence is on this team so that in the event of Trick Room going down and me not being able to set it back up. Salamence has put this team on his shoulders a couple of times when things were looking down and has led me to victory. Basically, I will just Outrage spam if Trick Room is done with to try and sweep. The Moxie boosts also help it sweep teams. The rest of the moves are just for coverage and will only be helpful if I need to use Salamence as a revenge killer throughout the battle.

Threats:

I have noticed that Tyranitar is a pretty big threat to me because all of my Trick Room setters are weak against Dark type moves and will get destroyed by Crunch. I would like to replace one of my Trick Room setters with somebody who can set up Trick Room and isn't weak against Dark type attacks.

Another Pokemon who can cause Problems is Dragonite. I have nothing on my team that is able to take an Outrage with ease. In addition, Dragonite also gets Multiscale so that it can often be difficult to take down. The Parashuffler variety of Dragonite's are a really pain in the ass. This is why I was thinking about adding somebody who can atleast set up Stealth Rock to break Multiscale and Sturdy that Pokemon have and somebody that could use Taunt. I also might need a defensive Pokemon that can take physical attacks. Slowking can already take most special attacks pretty well.

Another general threat against my team are Stall teams. This isn't as much of a problem as the other threats listed above, but they can be incredibly annoying to play against, if the opponent is a good player. This is another reason somebody with Taunt could be important to add to my team.

Conclusion:

I really think that this team can become a very dangerous team, all it needs is the right adjustments to let it reach it's full potential. Any tips or suggestions would be really appreciated and I am open to criticism and change. Remember that nobody on this team is permanent, which means that anybody on this team can be replaced, as tough as it might be. Reuniclus is probably the closest thing to permanent on this team.
​

 

[Tressed]

Payback on Bouffalant isn't the greatest of ideas, although I see where you got the idea, the point of Trick Room is to make slow Pokemon fast. However, Payback has negative priority, and so Bouffalant will go last anyways. I suggest switching this for another move. To me, Swords Dance looks like a decent option, as Wild Charge can deal with the two main Ghosts in OU, Jellicent and Gengar. Swords Dance, if you can find the time to use it, will let Bouffalant rip through anything in its path. Feel free to find another move if you don't like that though, but it seems like the best suggestion at the moment.

The other thing is to change Scizor's Superpower to Brick Break. Superpower counteracts the effects of Swords Dance, possibly cutting a sweep short.

 

[Mupa97]

Seeing how all your Trick Roomers are Tyranitar weak, I suggest usign a different Trick Roomer over Slowking since all it does is creates weaknesses. I think that a Bronzong may fare a better match up against a Tyranitar, and it can also set up hazards and Dual Screens. It's also a relatively good check against Dragonite by setting up Stealth Rocks and taking Outrages.

I noticed you have lots of set up sweepers. And it's good you have at least 1. But here's the thing. Trick Room doesn't last very long. Meaning you take 2 turns of setting up for just 2 turns of sweeping. By that point, it's likely your Trick Roomer is dead. So I suggest on dropping out on Nasty Plot on Cofagrigus and use something else from it's movepool like Will-O-Wisp to crippling Tyranitar.

 

[SunnyG]

@BlackLight On Smogon, its says that Payback has normal priority (0) but I know what you mean. I will most likely be going first under Trick Room so Payback will rarely have it's power doubled. I'll try replacing Payback with Swords Dance and see how that works out.

@Mupa97 I was considering Bronzong as well, but I would rather take out Cofagrigus for it instead of Slowking because Slowking is extremely helpful and can easily sweep. It also helps me take on some members of Rain and Sun teams which includes Politoed and Ninetales. I hated taking STAB Hydro Pumps under the rain from Politoed, it would destroy pretty much anything on my team.

 

[Bugdomking]

Oh hey this team looks sweet. But if Cofagrigus isnt working out, I suggest running Chandelure instead. It's what I run on my trick room team.

Chandelure @ Expert Belt
Shadow Tag
Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
252 Hp 252 SpA 4 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
-Shadow Ball
-Flamethrower
-Energy Ball
-Trick Room

This set works great, with surprising bulk to set up Trick Room and retaliate. It sweeps with freaking 400+ SpA and it takes out threats.

But sadly it doesn't have much synergy with your team. It partners with Ferrothorn for me, to great effect.

 

[SunnyG]

@Bugdomking That seems like a decent set but as you said, it would have no synergy on my team mostly because I would still have half my team weak against Dark type attacks. Also, Shadow Tag isn't released for Chandelure yet so I would have to use Flash Fire or Flame Body if I wanted to use Chandelure.

 

[magic_leopard]

Bouffalant is seldom used for a reason, and that reason is his lackluster attack stat, poor typing and average defenses. Moreover, he is incapable of being the kind of wall-breaking powerhouse that your trickroom wallbreaker needs to be. Ideally, you want something which would otherwise be an exceptional pokemon if not for having low base speed. Simply put, there are far better equipped pokemon for the job: How about Rhyperior, Escavalier, Emboar, Banded Snorlax, Banded Ferrothorn, Conkeldurr, Tyranitar or even Rampardos? These pokemon listed all have either far greater attacking potential, or incredible bulk. I would immediately swap out ouffalant for one of these listed.

 

[SunnyG]

@magic_leopard I wouldn't really call base 110 attack "lackluster" but I see what you mean. I could probably add somebody that can inflict more damage right away. Boufflant was just a filler that was working out decently but I will definitely try something different. I will probably take a look at Rhyperior, Snorlax, and some other Pokemon that I find.

 

[Demontier]

If your wanting a pokemon that can set up Trick Room and not be weak to Crunch, perhaps you should try out Porygon2. With Evolite, Porygon2 can live through a amazing amount of damage as well as carry Recover, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam to add some extra coverage.

Porygon2 @ Evolite
Quiet Nature
Trace/Download
EV: 252 HP/ 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Sp IV : 0
-Trick Room
-Icebeam
-Thunderbolt
-Recover

 

[SunnyG]

@Demontier I actually had Porygon2 on this team for a while but I got rid of it for some reason lol. I might try giving it another shot.

 

[SunnyG]

Anybody else have any more suggestions?

 

[Slowking12]

Hey SunnyG, I have a similar Trick Room Team, so I might be able to help you.

• First is to drop Buffolant. With only one STAB he will be struggling to 2HKO a lot of the OU threat list. I would Suggest switching Buffolant for a Fighting type Pokemon.

• The next suggestion is that Trick Room teams always have a Ghost, Dark, and or Bug weakness. Your Pokemon that set up Trick are weak to Tyranitar's Crunch and Dark type moves. This is where the fighting pokemon comes I to play. But I would suggest switching Cofagrigus for Bronzong, he stops your weakness and can provide a pokemon that can set up Entry Hazards which makes it easier for your sweepers to KO your opponent's
pokemon.

•On Scizor you don't need Swords Dance b/c in Trick Room you dint want to waste turns trying set up. It's already strong with a Base 130 Attack. So drop Swords Dance and put in Bullet Punch for Prioritey and another STAB move.

• Another suggestion would be that your team doesn't have a check to all Four of the weather starters. Buffolant really only checks Politoed, but he is easily KO by it's STAB Hydro Pump with the boost from the rain.

•Sandstorm teams tear through this team! A Sand Force Landorus can Spam Earthquake and KO at least 4 of your pokemon. Gliscor can set up Substitute to stall out Trick Room, b/c you don't have a pokemon that can KO them with a Super effective Ice Move.