National Dex Nat Dex Trick Room ft. Mega Mawile

[Skeletom]

Hello! I've recently switched to playing Nat Dex from Gen 8 OU and have been enjoying it much more. When I started playing on Showdown in X/Y I peaked in the low 1700s using Mega Mawile, and used many Trick Room teams through Gen 7. Although I've been playing for a couple of years, I've only recently really started to focus on my team-building skills and this is my first RMT!


THE TEAM
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click me!​

ANALYSIS
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Magearna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch

Magearna is an absolute monster and a personal must-have on TR teams, as she's the only mon that functions well as both a setter and abuser. Her typing allows switch-ins on threats to Slowbro, like Greninja, typically letting you set TR for free or secure a kill if it's already been set w/ Z-Move. Twinkle Tackle OHKOs almost anything that isn't a dedicated wall to Mag, and the subsequent Soul-Heart boosted Fleur Cannon usually guarantees another kill. Volt Switch is taken for coverage and to keep momentum (e.g. Volt Switch on last turn of TR to another setter). Flash Cannon for neutral STAB damage, but I'm considering replacing this with Ice Beam or Focus Blast.
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Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Marowak is our first TR abuser. Already a threat in gen 7 TR teams with Shadow Bone; receiving access to Poltergeist has made Marowak even stronger and will be the primary button you press on him. Lightning Rod is taken over Rock Head to provide Slowbro with more safe options to switch into, and typically positions Marowak well given you read the electric attack correctly. Not taking recoil from Flare Blitz is nice, but I personally don't find myself clicking it over Polt enough to warrant losing the value Lightning Rod has given me. Earthquake/Stone Edge are taken for additional coverage, but I'm considering replacing SE with Swords Dance.

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Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Fang
- Play Rough
- Swords Dance

Mawile is my personal favorite Mega, and the mon this team was built around. In past iterations of this team, a lack of priority moves were a big issue in the end game when I found myself running out of TR turns. Given the opportunity to Swords Dance up, Mega Mawile sweeps inside and outside of TR with a ridiculous 1356 Attack stat and access to Sucker Punch. Fire Fang is taken for needed coverage. Next to Mag, this mon has probably swept the most teams for me.

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Teleport
- Scald
- Slack Off

Slowbro is the backbone of this team. His primary job is to switch-in, set up TR, and Teleport out to one of our threats. You'll be using Bro as a mid-ground switch pretty often, and Regenerator + Slack Off keeps him healthy enough to fill this role. Although TR is typically played pretty fast and aggressively, don't feel forced to constantly maintain momentum if it means you'll run out of TR turns and put yourself in a bad position. Bro is good at stalling a turn or 2 of TR through Slack Off and roll for potential burns while you wait to reset it up and teleport/switch out.
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Hatterene @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Misty Explosion
- Trick Room
- Mystical Fire
- Healing Wish

Hatterene is our dedicated (suicide) lead. Focus Sash usually guarantees a free TR set turn 1, and Magic Bounce denies taunt and entry hazard setters. You'll usually just lead with her, set TR, and then Misty Explosion out to get the most of your TR turns. Healing Wish is taken because sometimes it's better to lead with a different setter or sash isn't broken due to a switch turn 1, and the ability to entirely restore one of your sweepers is invaluable. Mystical Fire for coverage.

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Xurkitree @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch

Xurkitree is the final TR abuser of this team. This is probably the most controversial pick on the team and I'm sure I'll be recommended to take Vikavolt instead, but I love how much of a cannon this mon is. Energy Ball is taken for Gastrodon/Swampert and general coverage, HP Ice for Lando explicitly, and Volt Switch to retain momentum. Similarly to Mag, Volt Switch is usually used best on the last turn of TR to retreat back into one of our setters. Beast Boost also lets Xurkitree basically secure a second kill every time you snag your first given there's enough TR turns left (and even then +1 Volt Switch kills too).

THREAT LIST:
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These are some mons that have absolutely put me down and I typically have a hard time dealing with. Not to say there aren't other weaknesses' these are just the most prominent I've encountered.
Mega Camerupt: Takes advantage of my own TR and sweeps basically everything due to the overwhelming Fire/Ground weaknesses.
Mega Heracross: Denies all of my TR setters since Pin Missle breaks Hatt's sash and kills Slowbro
Melmetal: Also takes advantage of my own trick room. Denies Hatt's sash with Double Iron Bash. Earthquake wrecks me.
Mega Charizard Y: Beating Mega Zard Y is entirely dependent on having TR up whenever he's in. Zard Y is able to deny my setters by OHKOing them outside of Hatt who likely suicide leads turn 1 anyways.

CONCLUSION:
I love playing viable, off-meta/counter meta teams and Trick Room really fulfills that niche despite being considered kinda cheesy. This team can be really satisfying to use as you force "no-win" situations from your opponent repeatedly, but can also be kinda difficult to pilot against experienced players who are good at wearing the team down before you're able to sweep them through status/entry hazard/chip damage. To be successful, you'll have to make reads and sack/save strategically to keep TR up and allow your win conditions to tear through your opponent. Another nice bonus of playing TR is the matches are typically really fast so you can climb low/mid ladder pretty efficiently.

I've gone through many different roster changes on this team and would love some recommendations on how to deal with my primary threats (Ground/Fire weakness) and anyone willing to point out other threats or major flaws to the team. I'm not super attached to using Mega Mawile over another physical sweeper either; any replacement suggestions are welcomed.

 

[Zneon]

Hiya Skeletom, no one rated this team yet so I decided why not do so myself? Trick Room is a pretty fringe archetype in National Dex and has many flaws, however since you've built your team around that I'll offer some suggestions to help improve this team.


Major Changes

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You really do not need a suicide lead for Trick Room, because usually you want incredibly consistent and durable Trick Room setters in order for your abusers to wreak havoc, and I feel Hatterene on this team hinders it in my eyes especially when considering this team lacks Stealth Rock. Therefore, I feel Uxie is a much better Pokemon for Trick Room teams, and this is because it provides so much in one slot, it is a Stealth Rock setter, a Ground immune, and it has Memento which both tilts all the momentum to you and your abusers, and makes them more threatening as they get a free turn to come in. It gives you incredibly valuable roles all in 1 slot and therefore incredibly useful for this team.

Set

Uxie @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Trick Room
- Stealth Rock
- Memento
- Magic Coat

→

I'm replacing Slowbro with Cresselia because your team still has a horrendous disadvantage against offensive Ground types, and Uxie, while a decent Ground type answer in its own right due to Memento giving free momentum to your Trick Room abusers, I don't think this is ideal at all in my eyes. Therefore, I would suggest Cresselia over Slowbro, not only is it a better Trick Room setter than Slowbro on Trick Room teams, but it also gives you a great matchup against Landorus-T, Gliscor and Garchomp, which are very prominent threats with its amazing bulk, Levitate, and Ice Beam. The most important thing about Cresselia and what makes it a better Trick Room setter over Slowbro is due to Lunar Dance, which provides phenomenal support in not only healing one of your Trick Room abusers to full health, but allowing them to come in safely as well without risk.

Set

Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Trick Room
- Ice Beam
- Moonlight
- Lunar Dance

→

Xurkitree is a pretty awful Pokemon, especially on Trick Room teams; against opposing Trick Room you are not doing underspeed anything with this, and without 0 Speed IVs you can sometimes even be revenge killed by Pokemon you shouldn't be revenge killed by, like Tangrowth, Slowbro and Clefable and it is largely worse than Magearna in basically every way on these teams. Melmetal is what I've decided to replace Xurkitree with, it's ludicrously powerful first of, almost every neutral target is OHKO'd by Double Iron Bash and even some resisted targets gets 2HKO'd, but its bulk and typing allows it to get the opportunities to get multiple kills in a game, making it easily one of the best Trick Room abusers in the metagame due to how consistent it is.

Set

Melmetal @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Double Iron Bash
- Superpower
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake

Minor Changes

Set Change

Magearna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Focus Blast

I don't think there's a need for Volt Switch on Magearna, this is an offensive Trick Room user and so its incredibly threatening on its own. Because of this I would swap Volt Switch with Focus Blast. The reason why I chose Focus Blast and not Thunderbolt is for Ferrothorn and Heatran, both are very prominent Pokemon super effectively as they otherwise wall you with Thunderbolt, and when paired with its other moves it becomes pretty hard to effectively wall.

Set Change

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

You said you were considering replacing Stone Edge with Swords Dance and I completely agree with swapping the two. Stone Edge doesn't really hit anything prominent that your STABs are not doing already, and so I feel Swords Dance is a much better option here simply because the combination of Flare Blitz / Poltergeist / Earthquake hits everything in the metagame for at least neutral damage, and with Swords Dance Alolan Marowak becomes unwallable, which is great for abusing Trick Room as much as possible.

Set Change

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Swords Dance

This is a very minor change but I decided to include it because I think its very important. So I chose Knock Off over Fire Fang because it hits all Steel-types ludicrously hard, Fire Fang is walled by Heatran, whereas with Knock Off it just falls to Mega Mawile, Ferrothorn also gets beaten by Knock Off, so the need for Fire Fang isn't necessary in my opinion. Because of the wide amount of Pokemon that gets hit neutrally from Knock Off, I feel this is the preferred option on Mega Mawile for this set.

Also I decided to make this a small point, but make everything -Speed with 0 speed IVs to abuse Trick Room as much as possible.

Final Team


And there we go! I hope these changes help your team and hopefully the team is more consistent. Enjoy!