Rate my Trick Room VGC Team

Question

So starting off, I wanted to build a Trick Room based team. I thought about which TR oriented mega to use, and I finally settled on Camerupt. Camerupt had less weaknesses and more firepower then leading megas, as well as great bulk.

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So I had my main mega. I then looked for a secondary pokemon that could work well in TR and out as well, if need be. I found that Assault Vest Clawitzer would do the job quite nicely. Clawitzer hits very hard with Mega Launcher, essentially a free +1 on most of his moves. With investment in defense and the Assault Vest, Clawitzer could tank hits out of TR as well.

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I Then looked for a pokemon to cover what Camerupt and Clawitzer could not. I found that a grass type could do this well. Ferrothorn worked well with Trick Room and provided key offensive coverage and defensive resists. I now had nice Fire/Water/Grass synergy.

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I had my main offensive force all set, so I decided to choose my all-important Trick Room setter. Cresselia is pretty standard support, so why mess with what works?

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I wasn't really sure what to add here, but Bisharp seemed to appeal to me for whatever reason (okay, okay, I happen to have a good breeding thing going with pawniards right now).

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For my final pokemon, I chose Landorus-Therian. As much as I think Landorus is overused, he seemed to fit well with team. I chose a slow Choice Banded set that would fit fairly well in or out of Trick Room.

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So now that you all have seen the teambuilding process, on with the team itself!

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Camerupt @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Protect

All is pretty self-explanatory with Camerupt. Solid Rock for less switch-in damage, Dual STAB + coverage moveset. Quiet Nature for maximum power and maximum speed under Trick Room. The EVs are pretty standard and could be tweaked if there are better options. 0 IVs in attack for less foul play and confusion damage, 0 IVs in speed for greater TR speed.

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Clawitzer @ Assault Vest
Ability: Mega Launcher
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Water Pulse
- Aura Sphere
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse

Clawitzer takes a slight turn from the normal life orb set and gets an Assault Vest. This allows for much more bulk, making Clawitzer better out of Trick Room. Quiet Nature for max power, max TR speed. EVs allow for maximum power, as well as maximum mixed bulk with the Assault Vest. IVs allow for minimum foul play and confusion damage, as well as max TR speed. Mega Launcher gives much more power to most of Clawitzer's moves.

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Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Knock Off
- Protect

Ferrothorn, while usually used as a defensive wall, also has fair attacking prowess. Brave Nature and 0 speed IVs allow for maximum power and TR speed. Iron Barbs is generally the better of Ferrothorn's abilities, although anticipation could be used to see if the opponent has fire coverage moves. EVs give Ferrothorn maximum attack, as well as very much bulk. These could be changed if there are better options out there. Dual STABs for attacking, Knock Off and Protect as fillers with good utility.

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Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Helping Hand
- P̶r̶o̶t̶e̶c̶t̶ Ice Beam
- Psychic

Cresselia has a standard bulky Trick Room support set. Mental Herb to almost guarantee Trick Room, Helping Hand to boost ally's power. P̶r̶o̶t̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶t̶i̶ ̶f̶a̶k̶e̶-̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶l̶o̶n̶g̶e̶v̶i̶t̶y̶.̶ Ice Beam as suggested to hit the main taunter Thundurus, as well as to hit dark types like Mandibuzz. Psychic for when Cress needs to attack, as well as if the opponent gets off a Taunt. IVs are standard Trick Room, EVs give bulk + a little extra power. These could be tweaked.

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Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
IVs: 0 Spe
Brave Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge
- Low Kick

Bisharp has standard Trick Room attacker IVs, EVs, Nature formula. Defiant to get a boost from Intimidate. Iron Head is the main STAB attack on this set, with Sucker Punch providing powerful STAB priority in a format with fairly few setup moves. Stone Edge and Low Kick for coverage. In a pinch, Bisharp can act out of Trick Room because of Sucker Punch. As with every other member of this team, EVs could be altered if there are better options.

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Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Landorus has a standard Choice Banded moveset, with IVs, EVs, and Nature optimized for Trick Room performance. Intimidate is nice to have in VGC, helping with Mega Genghis, Mega Mence, and other Landorus-Ts.

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So, I think this is a fairly solid Trick Room based team! Tell me any opinions, changes that need to be made, etc. I'm not an expert with EV spreads, so if any of you would help me with them or tell me how to make better ones, that would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for rating!!

Comments

Alright I like this team alot, just a couple things:

1) You need 1-2 Pokemon that can fuction outside Trick Room or a 2nd Trick Room Setter

2) Go with a more standard Iron Head/Sucker Punch/ Knock Off for this team, it will do more for you

3) Mega-Camerupt gets Sheer Force, not Solid Rock, so Ancient Power's possible boosts are removed, so really it isn't doing as much for your team. Go for Hidden Power (Grass)/(Ice) or Eruption. But, Ancient Power Can still be good.

4) Remove Protect and put Ice Beam on Cress. Thundurus will be your main Taunter, and it allows you to hit Liepard if nessesary.
You can also look into Sunny Day on Cresselia, to help you win weather wars, and boost Camerupt.

5) You cannot be your very best with 252/252/4 EV sets. I will do my best to make some for you. The sets I tend to make are good, but take a while to produce.

6) You have a large weakness to Water, Fire, and fighting. Many times, strong water or strong fire moves come with weather. You are very weak to weather overall, and that needs to be fixed.

However, I have a plan, are there any Pokemon that I absolutely cannot remove?

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@Unstoppable, Solid Rock is Camerupt's pre-Mega ability, which some people like to make not of.

I suggest using Gastrodon > Clawitzer. With Storm Drain it nullifies Camerupt's main weakness, Water. It can't prevent Earthquakes, but it can OHKO most Landorus with Expert Belt boosted Ice Beam.

As for Landorus, your own spread isn't the best. With a Choice Band you don't need max Attack to kill things, and can invest more in bulk. I suggest something like 108 HP / 28 Def to survive +1 LO Bisharp Sucker Punch, with the rest in Attack and Speed. Preferably you want to outspeed Jolly Breloom.

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@Unstoppable: Thanks for your suggestions.
 I'll change cress to have ice beam, but I'm not sure that I want to change Bisharp. When someone sees Bisharp, they think iron Head, Sucker Punch, Knock Off, and they act accordingly. My set can take care of Mega Gyarados and several other things much better then with the standard set, as well as offering an element of surprise.
 As for Ancient Power, it  gets the sheer force boost. I use it because it's a 78 base power coverage move that hits what I can't normally. That and HPs are hard to breed for :/

I agree that I could make some of my team members function better out of Trick Room / a second setter. I also agree that I might have some troubles with weather, though I feel the team might be able to work around that, providing I can get TR up.

If I were to remove some team members, The only one that doesn't fit as well would be Bisharp. However, I like being able to capitalize on the abundance of Landorus-Ts in the metagame. Bisharp also gives the team priority, which it otherwise lacks.

Maybe if you tell me your plan, we can figure something out. I really do need better EV spreads, so it would be great if you could help with that.

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@Grime Time: I've been wanting to work with Clawitzer, and I think that I can work around water attacks. Clawitzer also functions pretty well out of Trick Room as well. Is there any way I could stick with him?

I'll change Landorus, is there a specific best speed for him to hit that would make him work well in and out of Trick Room?

By the way, thanks for finding Mega Camerupt's minisprite.

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If you want this to be dedicated Trick Room you could also run Jellicent > Clawitzer, since having two setters is often a good thing and Cursed Body has a chance to disable Earthquake. It's personally my favorite TR setter and can use all of Mental Herb, Safety Goggles, Sitrus Berry and Colburr Berry effectively.

I strongly suggest going max Attack + max Speed on Bisharp, to keep your fast mode fast. Maybe change the item to Focus Sash if Life Orb doesn't end up working out too well.

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Ferrothorn are usually at their best when they are in coalition with Dragon / Fairy pokemon. Maybe you could consider Mega Mawile over Bisharp and a speedy pokemon in Lando's.

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I was thinking to add Abomasnow/Mega-Abomasnow and then adding Talonflaming. Maybe running a dual mega with 2 out of Mega-Abomasnow/ Mega-Camerupt/ Mega-Mawile. I was also going to suggest adding Jellicent

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Abomasnow requires rediculous support and can't just be slapped on a team, so I would advise against that. Mawile would actually be pretty good, but it would be risky keeping her and Landorus on the same team because of double Intimidates.

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I know, but Abomasnow has a lot to offer this team as both a non mega or mega, Landorus would have to be removed if Mawile is added I agree

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I'm failing to see exactly what Abomasnow does for this team :|

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I don't really want to use Abomasnow or Mawile, and I'm not adding *Talonflame*...
I don't really see what the blasted bird does for me anyway...

@Grime Time, making Bisharp Adamant and fast works well, as i have a 6IV Adamant Defiant Pawniard sitting in my PC.

I'll consider adding Jellicent, though I would like to finish breeding and test the team with Clawitzer first. That way I can have a couple of replays too. (you can see my 3ds replays, right?)

Question: What if I used Moonblast on Cress over Psychic? Could I then go without Ice Beam?
I really would like to have something anti-fake out. I could also use a ghost type over cress, possibly Cofagrigus or Jellicent. Thoughts on these?

Please add all comments on the main post here, as the list is getting very long and it's hard to distinguish who is talking.

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this shouldn't be an answer, you should convert it to a comment

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Oh that blasted bird is the saving grace for 70% of TR teams out there, being the one and only fast pokemon nearly unhindered by TR.

And to be honest, you might even need it, because lets face it: no matter how fast Bisharp is, or Lando for that matter, you're not outspeeding the invested base 100s. And they're literally everywhere. You would definitely come across situations where you cannot set up TR, so you should have your backups ready.

Btw what's wrong in Mawile?

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If you want a Ghost type then Trick Room Gengar is a nice tech to have. It also lets you break the base 100 speed tier, plus gives you some Poison and Ghost coverage.

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I was thinking  last night about Mawile. Maybe I could use a hyper cutter Mawile as my secondary mega in place of Bisharp. That way I could still use Lando without double intimidate. I'm not really sure. Also, I suppose I could use Talonflame. I have a Jolly 5IV Gale Wings I could use.

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Bump, this team looks good. I can't rate it myself, but I think someone should (dunno who am I to talk though)