The Underused Trick Room

[bynoe867]

UU Trick Room Team
overview

Hello , this is my second competitive Pokemon team. This strategy revolves around using trick room on slow but powerful Pokemon. I'm open to any constructive criticism given.




Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 HP/6 SAtk/252 SDef
Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Hypnosis
- Psychic
- Dream Eater
This is the Pokemon I use to start the trick room set. Psychic is there for stab and the Hypnosis/Nightmare combo is to wear down anyone resistant of Psychic.
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Ariados @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Brave nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab
- Body Slam
- Spider Web

Ariados Is a great attacking Pokemon with a x4 fighting resistance to aid in switch-ins. Poison Jab is an excellent stab move which works well with his high attack. A trick room set completely rids him of his low speed weakness, So Sucker Punch might be replaced with Shadow Sneak on the chance that the opponent might not use offensive moves. Spider web is there to trap pokemon vulnerable to him. Body slam is really a filler move, so if anyone has a good idea of what to replace it with I'm all ears.
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Granbull @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 172 HP/252 Atk/86 Def
Brave nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Return
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Roar
Granbull is amazing in a Trick Room set, thanks to his low speed. return with stab takes full advantage of his high attack. Close Combat and Crunch are there for type coverage, and roar is there to stop calm mind and nasty plot sweepers and/or pokemon resistant to his attacks.




Grumpig @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP/160 Def/98 SDef
Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
- Rest
This pokemon is here to maintain trick room, Mirror Coat an Counter, combined with his stat distribution sort of makes him a pseudo wobbuffet. Finally rest is there as a healing move, To be honest grumpig is one the pokemon I'm trying to replace as he has not been working well on my team.
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Ampharos @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/6 SDef
Quiet nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Power Gem
Ampharos is a good special attacker in trick room for three resons,huge special attack, high hit points and low speed. Stab thunderbolt .hidden power ice and focus blast protect him from grass, ground, and rock types. Power gem is another filler move that needs to be replaced, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
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Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Trick Room
- Earth Power
- Rapid Spin
- Shadow Ball


Claydol serves the same purpose as Hypno, except it is not a lead and is more defensive minded. obviously trick room is there to restart it for the team, Earth power there for stab and shadow ball is there for type coverage. finaly Rapid spin is here for utility.
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[Bourbon]

Wow, Crawdaunt, Absol and Sharpedo really rip this team up. Trick Room will hinder Sharpedo and Absol, but with Crawdaunt, you probably won't be so lucky, as he's slower than a wet turd. Though this is a problem with most Trick Room teams thanks to all the psychic types they require, it can be patched up.

I would put a slow, sturdy fighting type over Araidos. He's cool, but really, there has to be better options for his spot. The slowest UU fighting type is Poliwrath, and not only would he patch up your massive Dark weakness, but he also provides a water immunity.

 

[evolutia]

Suggestions:

• Remove Dream Eater on Hypno, most pokemon will switch out. I recommend Wish.
• Look for an alternative to Araidos on your team if your not going to be using baton pass with Spider Web. Perhaps a fighting type to help with your weakness to dark.
• Curse on Granbull which will allow you to power itself up for more sweeping potential. Your heavy hitter should not be a phazer.
• Replacing Grumpig for Banette may be of use as it provides you with trick room as well as a normal immunity and a hard physical attacker.
• Toxicroak over Ampharos as your special attack. It has Nasty Plot and a priority move. Also helps with your Dark weakness.
• Perhaps think of another move to use on Claydol other than Rapid Spin if not using Ariados.

 

[blasphemy1]

Dream Eater is shit. Many people will switch in their Sleep Talker, then switch out to counter Hypno, and they may be getting a free turn of set up if they are using, like skiddle said, Crawdaunt.

Ariados should be switched for something that has more durability, or atleast something that can put a hurting on pokes.

Power Gem on Ampharos is incredibly redundant when you have STAB Thunderbolt, considering Articuno, Yanmega and by extension, Scyther are the only ones getting hit harder, and they won't be surviving anyways. Ampharos can use plenty of support moves, including Thunder Wave, Reflect AND Light Screen, Flatter, and Heal Bell(XD). Thunder Wave would be great to slow the opponent down that way once Trick Room is over you can deal with them. Focus Punch could be used to nail Clefable switchins, which may be worthwhile considering how well that would abuse Trick Room. If you opt for Focus Punch > Focus Blast, then you could use Substitute in the last slot to scout and protect from status. Not sure if Focus Blast does more to Clefable than Focus Blast, but I assume so. If not, any of the support options would work great.

Granbull, should not have Roar. It should use Bulk Up, and I would suggest Curse if it learned it. Also, why waste a slot using Close Combat when you could be using Fire Punch and Earthquake? Fire Punch isn't legal with Close Combat, but Earthquake is. Ground/Fire hits everything for neutral, except for Mantine in UU, who shouldn't be messing around with STAB Return.

You need a backup plan. Why not try out Toxic Orb Raticate>Granbull for when Trick Room ends, then use a more powerful sweeper(aka Crawdaunt) over Ariados.