VGC 2011 Trick Room - All Hail Druddigon

BlackRoija

This team doesn't revolve around Druddigon, this is just something I plan to shout upon the much-maligned single-stage dragon taking out a Hydreigon or Haxorus under TR conditions 8)

Reuniclus
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Focus Blast
nature: Quiet
ability: Magic Guard
item: Life Orb
evs: 172 HP / 32 Def / 252 SpA / 52 SpD

Amoonguss
move 1: Spore
move 2: Rage Powder
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Protect
nature: Relaxed
ability: Effect Spore
item: Mental Herb
evs: 200 HP / 160 Def / 148 SpD

These two lead. Amoonguss uses Rage Powder to draw attacks/taunt for the first round while Reuniclus sets up TR. Second round involves Amoonguss Sporing a threat while Reuniclus takes down another. Proceed from there. Mental Herb on Amoonguss protects from taunt and whathaveyou.

Scrafty
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Drain Punch
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Rock Slide
nature: Brave
ability: Moxie
item: Chople Berry
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def

Scrafty can help set up TR again in case Amoonguss gets KO'd. Fake Out the most likely taunter or encore user. Even if TR doesn't need setting up again, Fake Out still helps stall while Reuniclus does his job sweeping. Drain Punch and Crunch are good STAB attacks while Rock Slide makes use of flinch and extra coverage. Moxie helps Scrafty build momentum without the need for a boosting item, as Chople Berry helps weather attacks from likely Conkeldurr encounters.

Druddigon
move 1: Dragon Claw
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Rock Slide / Superpower
move 4: Protect
nature: Brave
ability: Sheer Force
item: Haban Berry
evs: 252 HP / 252 At / 4 Def

Druddigon provides some key resistances as well as outspeeds the big dragons under TR to hit them hard with Dragon Claw. Crunch is stronger than Sucker Punch, and under TR I won't need to worry about outspeeding anyone anyway. I have a tough choice to make: do I go with Rock Slide to hit the genies harder and take advantage of flinch or use Superpower so I don't end up walled by steels? Reuniclus and Scrafty both have fighting attacks and Scrafty has rock slide so I'm not sure. Any suggestions?

Jellicent
move 1: Water Spout
move 2: Trick Room
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Ice Beam
nature: Quiet
ability: Cursed Body
item: Sitrus Berry
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD

Jellicent acts as my backup TR user and would most likely be swapping with Druddigon for that fourth slot in the team core when he's needed. Ice Beam takes care of things like the genies who could end up being a big pain, and the rest is obligatory STAB. Sitrus Berry keeps his health up for longevity and Spout power.

For the last slot, I was advised to choose someone who could work outside of Trick Room in case the strategy did not appear viable in team preview. I've been considering Scarf Darmanitan, FG Archeops, and sweeping Volcarona. Is this a smart direction to head in? Does anyone spot any glaring flaws or threats that this sixth Pokemon can cover? Should I just stick to Trick Room and get another slow, bulky physical attacker in there like Gigalith?
 
I would avoid Outrage, as you cannot specifically target an opponent with it, unless they are the last one on the field.
 
The EVs also allow it to survive Timid Vulcarona's Bug Buzz, Modest Chople Berry Hydreigon's Dark Pulse, and Quiet Chandelure's Shadow Ball, as well as a +4 Terrakion's Rock Slide. The EVs also allow it to survive Landorus's Earthquake and Thundurus's Discharge (assuming neither of them hold a Life Orb), allowing Reuniclus to set up Trick Room on the turn they attack and hit them hard on the next.
 
BlackRoija said:
Should I just stick to Trick Room and get another slow, bulky physical attacker in there like Gigalith?
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I think that Gigalith would be perfect for this team with access to rock slide, earthquake, and explosion. (You could even lead with Giga using explosion and Jelly using Trick Room)

BlackRoija said:

The EVs also allow it to survive Timid Vulcarona's Bug Buzz, Modest Chople Berry Hydreigon's Dark Pulse, and Quiet Chandelure's Shadow Ball, as well as a +4 Terrakion's Rock Slide. The EVs also allow it to survive Landorus's Earthquake and Thundurus's Discharge (assuming neither of them hold a Life Orb), allowing Reuniclus to set up Trick Room on the turn they attack and hit them hard on the next.
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If your just looking for someone bulky I might suggest Musharna seeing how it has basically the same movepool, reasonable Special Attack, and better HP, Defense, and Special Defense.
 
BI0QUAKE said:
I think that Gigalith would be perfect for this team with access to rock slide, earthquake, and explosion. (You could even lead with Giga using explosion and Jelly using Trick Room)
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I'll try this out, but I'm still wary about not having any back-up plans in the event that Trick Room fails. The Explosion strategy would be risky with the prevalence of Protect in VGC as well.

BI0QUAKE said:
If your just looking for someone bulky I might suggest Musharna seeing how it has basically the same movepool, reasonable Special Attack, and better HP, Defense, and Special Defense.
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Musharna's walled by things like Scrafty and I straight up just like Reuniclus better. He's too cute to swap out for some ugly pink tapir thing.
 
I run a similarly based team and I find Meinfshao to work well in the sixth slot. max attack/speed gives it power and apeed.

Fake Out/Hi Jump Kick/Acrobatics/Protect allows it to get a free stop to one of the opposinf leads and allow your partnet to do what it wants. Acrobatics allows it to kill some pokemon that annoy TR such as Amoongus and espescially Whimsicott.
 
If Hi Jump Kick misses or the target uses Protect or Detect, the user loses HP equal to 1/2 the damage it would have dealt if it had hit. If Hi Jump Kick targets a Ghost-type Pokémon, the user loses HP equal to 1/2 the damage that would have been dealt had the target not been a Ghost-type.

U-Turn works well on Mienshao if you're probably going to be doing alot of switching [especially if you have Regenerator, but Inner Focus probably has more use in the VGC metagame]

So, Mienshao is a good lead. And Acrobatics pisses on alot of stuff, like my team :/
 
Druddigon wants Sucker Punch over Crunch in or out of TR. Rock Slide gives you the Sheer Force boost, but will never flinch. Superpower or Fire Fang is a must for Steel types. Likewise, you could use Life Orb over Haban Berry which boosts those moves by x1.3, and Sheer Force adds x1.3 to that for Rock Slide or Fire Fang without losing Life Orb damage.
Protect, while very useful in VGC in general, does little for this team. Because Trick Room can't be extended like weather conditions, you have 4 turns to attack, which other pokes can abuse by outstalling you with protect. I would suggest having Taunt on Scrafty, Jellicent, or Druddigon especially for this reason , but also so you yourself don't get taunted.

In the issue of using a Scarfer to revenge kill, TR could cause you problems in one way or another, but using a slow poke with priority is probably the best answer. Scizor and Conkeldurr come to mind as being threatening in or out of TR.
 
Minacciosa said:
Druddigon wants Sucker Punch over Crunch in or out of TR.
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Why? Crunch is more powerful with the Sheer Force boost and in TR Druddigon isn't going to need to worry about outspeeding much.

Minacciosa said:
Rock Slide gives you the Sheer Force boost, but will never flinch. Superpower or Fire Fang is a must for Steel types. Likewise, you could use Life Orb over Haban Berry which boosts those moves by x1.3, and Sheer Force adds x1.3 to that for Rock Slide or Fire Fang without losing Life Orb damage.
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Unfortunately I can only use one life orb in VGC so I'd have to have Druddigon in while Reuniclus was out, and I'm not sure if that's going to happen. You're right about the flinch though.

Minacciosa said:
Protect, while very useful in VGC in general, does little for this team. Because Trick Room can't be extended like weather conditions, you have 4 turns to attack, which other pokes can abuse by outstalling you with protect. I would suggest having Taunt on Scrafty, Jellicent, or Druddigon especially for this reason , but also so you yourself don't get taunted.
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Honestly, I think you're right; I can't think of many situations where I'd go with Protect over an attack. But of those few situations, I can see those occurring in the instance such as when someone sends out one of the Fake Out users. But I guess I'll have to play around and see how big of a problem that actually is.

Minacciosa said:
In the issue of using a Scarfer to revenge kill, TR could cause you problems in one way or another, but using a slow poke with priority is probably the best answer. Scizor and Conkeldurr come to mind as being threatening in or out of TR.
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Scizor isn't in VGC. I liked the suggestion to try out Mienshao with Fake Out, but I haven't tested it yet so it's not set in stone. I'll check out Conkeldurr.
 
Mienshao seems like an okay option, but some of its common moves could be problematic in VGC. Protect is everywhere, which sort of ruins Fake Out and Hi Jump Kick, additionally, you might want to U-turn out but your target protects and you get KOed by their partner. Obviously you could switch out normally, but its a fairly common scenario. Mienshao is one of those pokes that relies on its speed, which is a hinderance in TR.
While it's far from common, Gravity prevents the use of HJK which is basically Mienshao's strongest move.
 
I've been testing Drain Punch out on Mienshao and it works fine for me without all the risks of HJK. He's worked well during attempts to set up TR a second time, or if the first attempt with the Reuniclus/Amoonguss combo got botched. His main strength is actually in countering opposing TR teams.
 
Why not use life orb on Druddigon? It cancels out the recoil while maintaining the power of moves affected by sheer force. It gives all the base power of moves a x1.7 boost with no recoil. Superpower is not affected by sheer force, but comes to 156 Base power with life orb. Fire fang comes to beat steel types and no stat drops/recoil, with 110 base power with life orb and sheer force. However, you miss out on hitting Terrakion, Krookodile, Scrafty, Gigalith and others for super effective damage. I think you should go with Superpower, as it will help you get more KOs and the stat drops wont matter because he is late game (i think, if thats what you intend him for).
 
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