Mugger beetle~
[Overview]
<p>With its impressive Attack stat and STAB Megahorn, Escavalier boasts the strongest unboosted attack available to scare the living hell out of Cresselia with. Its pathetic Speed means it is a natural candidate for Trick Room teams, hitting foes hard with its powerful Bug STAB. It even boasts good mixed defenses and a very nice defensive typing, resisting many attacks most notably Dragon-, Dark-, Ghost-, Bug-, Ice-, and Psychic-type attacks, thus allowing it to take on the likes of Latios, Kyurem-B, Bisharp, Scizor, Gengar, and other Pokemon that can trouble Trick Room users. However, Escavalier is severely let down by its sparse movepool and poor coverage, and is downed by any Fire-type move; it also struggles to bypass Steel-types and Pokemon that resist its STABs. However, if you can make up for its small movepool, Escavalier can make use of what it has to skewer its foes a new one.</p>
[SET]
name: Trick Room Attacker
move 1: Megahorn
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Substitute / Return / Quick Guard
move 4: Protect
item: Bug Gem / Occa Berry
ability: Swarm
nature: Brave
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Escavalier's STAB Megahorn is its strongest move; it hits Cresselia really hard and also OHKOes Latios, Tyranitar, and Hydreigon with ease and hurts a lot of neutral targets. Iron Head provides an alternate, more reliable STAB move that can allow Escavalier to flinch opponents under Trick Room and hit Kyurem hard. Iron Head is also Escavalier's most effective attack against Ghost-, Flying- and Fighting-type Pokemon that resist Megahorn. Substitute can guard Escavalier from strong attacks and status and inch it into Swarm range, potentially letting it save up for a monstrously strong Swarm and Bug Gem-boosted Megahorn. Return is Escavalier's best attack against Pokemon that resist its dual STABs, such as Thundurus, Volcarona, and Gyarados, in case Escavalier gets into a bind with them, but it only 2HKOes most of them at best, limiting its usefulness. Quick Guard can be used to guard Escavalier's teammate from Fake Out while it sets up Trick Room, but it is only useful for that, and most Fake Out users have good matchups against Escavalier anyway.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Escavalier really needs Trick Room to function at its best, hence its spread of absolute minimum Speed. Bug Gem-boosted Megahorn has over a 65% chance to OHKO even the most physically defensive of Cresselia, and the power boost can be restored or even stacked with Swarm. On the other hand, only 132 Attack EVs are needed for the same Megahorn to KO standard Cresselia, so if you are content with that, the other Attack EVs can be moved into Special Defense to take Draco Meteors and rain-boosted attacks better, or into Defense if Scizor is a greater issue. Occa Berry allows Escavalier to survive surprise Fire-type attacks such as Hidden Power Fire from Latios and Tyranitar's Fire Blast, but Escavalier still fares poorly against Fire-types due to their resistances, so they are best left for teammates to deal with.</p>
<p>X-Scissor is a more accurate alternative to Megahorn, but it is much weaker; the role of an accurate STAB is already fulfilled by Iron Head regardless. Pokemon that can set up Trick Room, such as Reuniclus, Chandelure, Musharna, and Cresselia, make natural partners, as Escavalier can sweep and handle most Pokemon that threaten or wall Trick Room-setters. Escavalier also greatly appreciates Pokemon that can deal with Fire-types, Steel-types, and troublesome dual-typed Pokemon that resist its STABs. Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types can KO Fire-types and take advantage of Escavalier's 4x resistance to Grass-type attacks; Pokemon such as Politoed, Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Rotom-W, Gastrodon, Jellicent, and Slowbro and Slowking fit this bill, the former two and latter three receiving special mention due to weather control and Trick Room access, respectively. Rock-type teammates are favorable since they can crush bulky Flying-types. Fighting-types such as Conkeldurr and Hitmontop are the best partners to deal with Steel-types that Escavalier cannot pierce through; they also appreciate Escavalier's ability to scare Cresselia silly.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Unfortunately, Escavalier doesn't have much of a movepool to speak of. Pursuit catches fleeing Latios, Latias, and Gengar looking to avoid Escavalier's attacks, but it is useless outside of these threats as even a resisted Megahorn outdamages a super effective, unboosted Pursuit. Double-Edge is stronger than Return, but while the recoil can inch Escavalier into Swarm range, it also undermines Escavalier's great bulk. Reversal hits Steel-types such as Heatran but requires Escavalier to be near dead to work and that is difficult to time correctly. Rain Dance is an option to weaken Fire-type attacks and for unexpected weather changing, but it doesn't really benefit Escavalier itself. Overcoat is an option to block Hail damage, permitting Escavalier's use on Hail teams, but it still competes with the more offensively-minded Swarm, which suits Escavalier's playstyle. Steel Gem can result in strong Iron Heads that match Megahorn's power to surprise Bug-resistant foes, but the extreme power boost to Megahorn is what gives Escavalier its KOing power.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Due to Escavalier's limited coverage, plenty of Pokemon can stand in its way. Fire-types such as Heatran, Volcarona, and Chandelure all roast it easily and their access to Heat Wave adds salt into the wound. Intimidate users such as Landorus-T, Hitmontop, and Gyarados tend to resist Megahorn and can tank Escavalier's hits well. Pokemon that resist Megahorn, are not weak to Iron Head, and can strike back at least neutrally fare well against Escavalier; Pokemon such as Genesect, Excadrill, Thundurus, Gyarados, Hitmontop, and Togekiss can take on Escavalier one-on-one. Surprise Fire-type attacks can also catch Escavalier off guard, though the move must at least have moderate power and not be used in rain. Escavalier becomes easy prey outside of Trick Room since it will then be susceptible to multiple beatings per turn, so if you can outlast Trick Room, you should be able to beat it down.</p>
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