credit to alexwolf
Overview
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Trevenant is one of the best spinblockers available, thanks to a great typing that grants it resistances to attacks both from common spinners and in general. Not only that, but it also has two great abilities in Harvest and Natural Cure that grant it good longevity, and a massive advantage over fellow spinblockers. Trevenant also has a decent movepool and a respectable enough Attack stat to prevent it from becoming setup bait; however, Trevenant is fairly slow, which can be problematic because it preferably wants to cripple foes or heal before they can retaliate. Its standalone bulk isn't fantastic either, especially when compared to Gourgeist, a rival Grass / Ghost Pokemon. Finally, its abilities, while very handy, have drawbacks that can prevent it from doing its job, such as Natural Cure requiring Trevenant to switch, which can be taken advantage of, or in the case of Harvest, simply not activating at the right time. However, Trevenant still does a very good job at sticking around, letting it disrupt foes and spinblock for longer than other Ghost-types.
Status Absorber
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name: Status Absorber
move 1: Horn Leech / Wood Hammer
move 2: Rock Slide / Earthquake
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Rest
ability: Natural Cure / Harvest
item: Leftovers / Lum Berry
evs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 Spe
nature: Impish
Moves
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Horn Leech is the main STAB move, and hits good number of threats for decent damage while providing passive healing; alternatively, Wood Hammer is a much stronger attack and has the greater potential to KO threats, such as a 2HKO on max HP Tyranitar and Landorus-I, but running it means that Trevenant loses health with each attack instead of gaining it. The next move prevents Trevenant from being taken advantage of easily by those that resist Grass-type attacks. Rock Slide prevents Fire-types such as Talonflame, Charizard, and Volcarona from getting easy switch-ins or setup opportunities; Earthquake is applied in much the same way against Steel-types such as Heatran and Mega Mawile, but most other Steel-types cannot actually do much back to Trevenant, much less not mind the burn, so it is the lesser option. Will-O-Wisp is Trevenant's quintessential dirsuption tool, crippling physical foes and providing residual damage. Rest fully heals Trevenant's HP and cures any status problems, and the side-effect of putting it to sleep can be easily remedied via its ability of choice.
Set Details
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76 Speed EVs are important to allow Trevenant to outspeed Scizor and Tyranitar and burn them, preventing them from Pursuit trapping it, and even enabling it to turn the tables on them. The remaining EVs are thrown into HP and Defense, as Trevenant has favorable matchups against a variety of physical threats such as Garchomp, Excadrill, Azumarill, and Breloom, which it can then proceed to burn. A specially defensive spread is also viable for handling Water- and Electric-type threats more easily, but the physical attackers that Trevenant checks are more common and can overwhelm Trevenant more readily if it cannot adequately respond to them. Leftovers offers good passive healing for Trevenant and increases its survivability, or at the very least means it will not be forced to Rest nearly as often; alternatively, the combination of Lum Berry and Harvest allows Trevenant to stay in after using Rest instead of being forced out, but is reliant on its Berry being regenerated, which might not always happen immediately, to keep itself status-free.
Usage Tips
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This variant of Trevenant does not care much about status at all, most notably enabling it to switch into Scald without worry, as well as allowing it to soak up other problematic status effects and shrug them right off. This variant of Trevenant aims to disrupt its opponents using its access to Will-O-Wisp, decent offensive power, defensive typing, and survivability. It can switch into status moves or one of the many attacks it resists, and start spreading burns or smacking opponents with its attacks, which can even be used to catch certain switch-ins for unexpectedly large damage. Natural Cure variants of Trevenant have slightly better longevity due to Leftovers and can consistently cure itself of status with Natural Cure, while Lum + Harvest variants have greater staying power in the face of status users and consequently do not fear Pursuit users very much.
Team Options
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Tyranitar and Trevenant cover each other's weaknesses marvelously, while also taking on special and physical attacks with sandstorm's Special Defense boost and Will-O-Wisp, respectively. Tyranitar can also use Stealth Rock, which Trevenant can keep on the field by blocking Rapid Spin, making them great partners for long-term passive damage. Rotom-W also covers Trevenant's weaknesses to Fire and Flying, while it can avoid debilitating status by Volt Switching into Trevenant; in addition, both have access to Will-O-Wisp, so both of them can spread burns together. Trevenant has issues against the Fire-type opponents it cannot burn, making Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types good partners, while also boasting helpful defensive synergy with Trevenant. Specially defensive Pokemon such as Sylveon and Goodra appreciate facing burned opponents as it means their defenses are harder to pierce, which allows them to stick around on the battlefield for longer. Sweepers that despise status, such as Talonflame and Greninja, can pivot into Trevenant to absorb it for them.
Spinblocker
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name: Spinblocker
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Horn Leech
move 3: Shadow Claw / Leech Seed
move 4: Protect
ability: Harvest
item: Sitrus Berry
evs: 244 HP / 16 Def / 248 SpD
nature: Careful
Moves
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Will-O-Wisp cripples physical threats, most notably Excadrill, and also grants passive damage on foes. Horn Leech in conjunction with Sitrus Berry is vital in healing Trevenant to allow it to withstand attacks from the stronger spinners. It does 78-90% to offensive Starmie and 40-50% to max HP Mega Blastoise, which is often good enough damage to heal Trevenant out of 2HKOes. Shadow Claw is used for a STAB move that hits all spinners for at least neutral damage, while on the other hand Leech Seed both provides both quick healing with Horn Leech and Sitrus Berry, and also racks up damage alongside Will-O-Wisp. Protect allows Trevenant to stall for a turn, which can either be used to scout for a dangerous attack, wait for Harvest to regenerate Sitrus Berry, or cause extra passive damage with Will-O-Wisp and/or Leech Seed.
Set Details
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The HP and Special Defense EVs reduce Mega Blastoise's Dark Pulse and Life Orb Analytic Starmie's Ice Beam to a measly 2% chance to 2HKO; the former needs two Sitrus Berries to achieve these odds while the latter only needs one. Interestingly, while Stealth Rock on the switch increases Mega Blastoise's chances to 2HKO Trevenant, Starmie is actually denied the 2HKO, as Sitrus Berry can be activated twice after the Life Orb- and Analytic-boosted Ice Beam. The rest of the EVs go into Defense to take on unboosted Excadrill better.
Usage Tips
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This set is dedicated to preventing spinners from getting rid of entry hazards, while making use of Protect and Harvest to inch Trevenant out of the 2HKO range of the spinners' attacks. Teams that utilize hazards can make use of Trevenant's spinblocking qualities to ensure that the hazards stay up throughout the match. Keeping Trevenant healthy is of utmost importance if an opposing spinner is present, so it should focus on keeping its health high before aiming to cripple its opponents. Keep Trevenant away from status and Pursuit users (as Trevenant no longer outspeeds the latter), as they will greatly limit this set's capacity to function due to Trevenant incurring too much damage. Keep in mind though that this set is mainly equipped to deal with Starmie and Mega Blastoise while doing only decently against Excadrill without Swords Dance, but if you have greater troubles with Excadrill, you should probably try Gourgeist instead.
Team Options
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Hazard setters provide residual damage that Trevenant can stack with its own, while Trevenant's Ghost typing stops Rapid Spin from getting rid of the hazards. Tyranitar is the most obvious teammate, as it not only possesses Stealth Rock but also offers great defensive synergy with Trevenant; on rare occasions, Trevenant can even make use of sand to inch itself into Sitrus range to gain more net health. Spikes users are a tad harder to choose from as most, such as Skarmory and Forretress, share weaknesses with Trevenant, most notably to Fire. Greninja and Klefki have decent defensive synergy with Trevenant, though the former is frail; Trevenant, in turn, takes Ground-type attacks for Klefki or Electric-, Grass-, and Fighting-type moves for Greninja. Tentacruel and Greninja both have Toxic Spikes, but note that they can interfere with Trevenant's use of Will-O-Wisp. Note also that Trevenant cannot take on Swords Dance Excadrill with Iron Head or Shadow Claw, so fast powerful sweepers that can switch into those moves, such as Greninja and Charizard, are good partners as they can threaten Excadrill before it gets to spin. A backup plan against Starmie and Mega Blastoise is also advised in case they break through with high damage rolls or their moves' secondary effects; fast Electric-types such as Thundurus and Choice Scarf Rotom-W can dispatch them before they get the chance to spin, and can make use of the prevailing hazards with Volt Switch. Lucario can even activate Justified via Mega Blastoise's Dark Pulse and threaten with +1 Close Combat. Defog throws a wrench in the spinblocking plan, so Pokemon that can dispatch of the most common Defog users are exceptional partners. Tyranitar can Pursuit trap Latias and threaten Mandibuzz while also setting up Stealth Rock in their faces, the aforementioned Electric-type partners can handle Mandibuzz, and Magnezone traps Scizor to KO it with Hidden Power Fire. Bisharp is another option to take advantage of Defog's evasion-lowering effect, as it is able to switch into it for a Defiant boost, and can also Pursuit trap Latias if you wish.
SubSeed
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name: SubSeed
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Leech Seed
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Phantom Force
ability: Harvest
item: Sitrus Berry
evs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 Spe
nature: Impish
Moves
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Will-O-Wisp weakens physical threats, which can be rendered unable to break Trevenant's Substitute or just not do enough damage to overwhelm it. Leech Seed damage stacks quickly alongside Will-O-Wisp, and also heals Trevenant, thus allowing it to keep making Substitutes. Substitute is used to avoid status and direct attacks, and it takes advantage of the Sitrus Berry and Harvest combo to generate infinite Substitutes. Phantom Force provides both a STAB move and a method to stall out more turns, either to rack up more Will-O-Wisp and/or Leech Seed damage, or to increase the odds of getting the Sitrus Berry back. The fact that it cannot be blocked by Protect is the icing on the cake.
Set Details
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Maximum HP provides an even HP number, allowing Sitrus Berry to activate at exactly 50% as opposed to very slightly lower. The rest are thrown into HP and Defense, as Trevenant's physical resistances coupled with Will-O-Wisp can make its Substitutes hard to break. 76 Speed is for outpacing 0 Spe Scizor and Tyranitar, burning the former before it can U-turn and improving the match-up against the latter by enabling Trevenant to hit Tyranitar with Will-O-Wisp and Horn Leech before Tyranitar hits Trevenant with super effective moves.
Usage Tips
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If Trevenant can grab a free Substitute, it can stall out almost any opponent that cannot do over 75% damage to it. Physical opponents should be burned, and Leech Seed should be used on anything else in order to keep Trevenant healthy. Trevenant can spam Substitute while remaining healthy due to Sitrus Berry + Harvest, letting the residual damage do the rest. If a Sitrus Berry is not generated by the end of the turn, Phantom Force can be used to stall for a turn to get it back, while also doing more damage to the opponent, though note that Normal-types can switch in for free and break the chain. SubSeed Trevenant should avoid status like the plague, as even paralysis can screw up the tempo of this set by forcing it to miss a crucial turn, while damaging status conditions limit the number of Substitutes it can make.
Team Options
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Toxic Spikes are a good way to buy Trevenant time to start the stalling chain without having to waste a turn to burn or Leech Seed foes, while also affecting grounded Fire-types. Greninja and Tentacruel have access to Toxic Spikes, while also offering decent defensive synergy with Trevenant, and can take on Fire-types in their own right. Grass-types are immune to Leech Seed and often pack healing moves to counteract Will-O-Wisp; Heatran is an example of an excellent partner, as it not only easily deals with said Grass-types, but handles Fire-types as well, all while having great defensive synergy with Trevenant. Pokemon with Substitute can take the whole strategy apart, so an Infiltrator user or user of sound-based attacks such as Chandelure, Noivern, Bug Buzz Volcarona, or Hyper Voice Sylveon can be used to punish Substitute users.
Other Options
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Curse could fit on the SubSeed set as it bypasses Substitute, but there are very few times where Trevenant is willing to drop 50% of its health and become even more reliant on Harvest for its staying power, and it has little room to squeeze it into the set. Forest's Curse is a gimmick at best, as unlike Soak it merely adds Grass-type to the opponent as opposed to replacing it entirely. Trevenant's high Attack stat and movepool options may imply that it could run a decent Choice Band set, but it is too slow to be effective and it throws away the survivability aspect of Trevenant that represents its biggest advantage over other Ghost-types. Destiny Bond allows Trevenant to take down an opponent with it by surprise, but it is too slow to be very effective as a surprise tactic and, again, sacrifices Trevenant's longevity. Hone Claws can be used to boost Trevenant's power as well as accuracy, but it doesn't have the moveslot for it and it doesn't usually stay in battle long enough for it to matter. Trick Room gives Trevenant some sweeping potential, but all of its moves bar Wood Hammer do not have impressive power, and Wood Hammer itself has rather poor coverage when it comes to sweeping foes.
Checks & Counters
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**Residual Damage Immunity**: Most Pokemon that aren't affected by at least one of Trevenant's disruption techniques can give the tree trouble. Fire-types make for good responses thanks to their immunity to Will-O-Wisp, but they have to watch out for Earthquake or Rock Slide. Grass-types are immune to Leech Seed, but they can have difficulty actually KOing Trevenant. Magic Bounce users can bounce back most of Trevenant's moves, but Mega Absol is frail while Espeon and Xatu have to be wary of Ghost-type moves. Magic Guard Clefable can comfortably switch into Trevenant, but can struggle to bring it down without a boosting move. Faster Substitute users or Lum Berry users can temporarily evade Trevenant's Leech Seed and/or Will-O-Wisp to lay the beatdown on Trevenant.
**Taunt**: Shutting down Trevenant's main forms of disruption and healing screws it up hard for the most part, so users such as Gliscor, Thundurus-I, Deoxys-D, and even Talonflame can stop most Trevenant sets cold. Just be sure that said Taunt user can take attacks from Trevenant, because Trevenant does have a base 110 Attack stat.
**Item Removal**: Trevenants that use Berries hate losing them to moves such as Trick or Knock Off - the latter even deals super effective damage to it or, if used by a strong enough attacker, can outright knock it out. If that wasn't bad enough, sticking a Choice item on Trevenant is even more detrimental to it as it can no longer alternate moves, which it needs to do to be effective.
**Pursuit**: This is especially relevant for Natural Cure variants, which have to switch to avoid being sitting ducks after using Rest. Harvest variants do not tend to switch out nearly as often.
**Infiltrator**: Noivern, Crobat, and Chandelure tear right through Substitute variants, doing massive damage or KOing with their STAB moves.
**Special Attackers**: As a last resort, you should respond with these to Trevenant simply because they do not mind being burned, though if they do not have a way to shrug off the residual damage, they can succumb before Trevenant does.
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