Intro/Concept:
This is a variation of my Dual-Weather Hyperoffense team, and even after making changes to the original, I still had problems with Trick Room teams. I was staring at the roof of my room one night when I started thinking about the components of a Trick Room team. I came up with: 1) Trick Room starters are usually bulky Psychics or Ghosts; 2) Trick Room leads usually consist of a Trick Room starter and a Fake-Out user. I thought of having something that stops Trick Room and can't be flinched by Fake Out. Chandelure immediately came into mind, as it sports Imprison + Trick Room and can't be affected by Fake Out.
With Chandelure down, I looked for ways to eliminate the Fake Out user. Many times, on a Trick Room team, the Fake Out user is a Hitmontop or Hariyama. The more common Pokemon that I've seen is Hitmontop, and those usually carry Intimidate. I pondered using Bisharp, and it could go both ways. It could have Inner Focus so it couldn't flinch from a Fake Out, or (the option I chose) it could run Defiant so it gets a +1 in Attack from Intimidate.
I originally had a Garchomp in place of Gastrodon, and I made the switch between the two when I saw how poorly I fared against other rain teams, especially those without any Ludicolo. The other three members of my team are adapted from my original Dual-Weather Hyperoffense.
Team At a Glance:
And Here We Go...
Bisharp (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 248 Atk / 248 SDef / 12 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Sucker Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Iron Head
- Protect
Defiant is, as stated beforehand, Bisharp has a pretty hefty Attack Stat, firing off STAB Sucker Punches at the likes of Latios and offensive Psychics. Iron Head is there for secondary STAB and to hit the likes of Tyranitar for SE damage with a side chance of flinch. Psycho Cut is, as stated before, to severely damage or even KO Fighting type Fake-Out leads. Protect is an obvious option for doubles. The 8 Speed EVs make sure that Bisharp outspeeds opposing Hitmontop with 4 Spd.
Chandelure (M) @ Ghost Gem
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 248 SAtk / 12 SDef / 248 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Imprison
- Trick Room
Chandelure is my leading Trick Room counter, possessing both Imprison and Trick Room to disrupt the setup of all other Trick Roomers. STAB, Ghost-Gem boosted Shadow Ball severely hurts pure Psychic Trick Room leads, if they run a +SpD nature. It usually KOs if they run a neutral SpD nature. Heat Wave provides a nice spread move to break Hail and clear Abomasnow for Politoed. Flame Body has the potential to cripple Scrafty and Tyranitar that Crunch it.
Gastrodon (M) @ Rindo Berry
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 180 Def / 80 SDef / 248 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Icy Wind
- Muddy Water
- Protect
I found that other rain teams were a pain to take down with only a Ludicolo and a Politoed, so I started using a Gastrodon to counter them. Additionally, the Icy Wind helps bring down enemy Pokemon's speed, especially if they have Tailwind up. This helps my team outspeed and sweep the enemy team. Earth Power and Muddy Water are there for STAB, and Muddy Water gets an attack boost in the Rain. Additionally, Politoed and Ludicolo make great partners as they both outspeed Gastrodon and can use Surf to give Gastrodon a Special Attack boost.
Scizor (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Atk / 12 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Acrobatics
- Protect
Scizor is a potential Trick Room killer that can KO Scrafty with Flight Gem boosted Acrobatics. Scrafty poses somewhat of a threat to my leads, as it has STAB SE moves against both. However, if Trick Room isn't up, he doesn't outspeed my Anti-TR leads, and Chandelure gets his purpose served. Bullet Punch helps kill Abomasnow that try to set up weather, and Bug Bite kills Latios and other Psychics that can't otherwise damage Scizor, especially under rain.
Politoed (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 12 Def / 248 SAtk / 248 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Psychic
Politoed is my Drizzle inducer of the team. Scarf lets him outspeed Genies and retaliate with a Double-STAB Surf. Along with Ludicolo, his partner in crime, dual Surfs stack to hurt a majority of the Pokemon in the VGC. Ice Beam is for Dragons, which are oh-so-common in VGC. HP Grass is if and only if the opponent has a Jellicent and a Gastrodon on the field. Psychic is there as a means of severely damaging Toxicroak, which otherwise laughs at this team.
Ludicolo (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 248 SAtk / 12 SDef / 248 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Ludicolo provides the Grass coverage I need, getting both STAB and HP recovery from Giga Drain. It can eliminate Gastrodon and Jellicent, which have given me problems in the past when Ludicolo's spot was occupied by a Kingdra. Surf stacks with Politoed's to "stragetically repeat" moves that severely damage most pokemon in the VGC. Ice Beam is to outspeed and go for the KO on genies that don't use a status move.
Final Look
This is a variation of my Dual-Weather Hyperoffense team, and even after making changes to the original, I still had problems with Trick Room teams. I was staring at the roof of my room one night when I started thinking about the components of a Trick Room team. I came up with: 1) Trick Room starters are usually bulky Psychics or Ghosts; 2) Trick Room leads usually consist of a Trick Room starter and a Fake-Out user. I thought of having something that stops Trick Room and can't be flinched by Fake Out. Chandelure immediately came into mind, as it sports Imprison + Trick Room and can't be affected by Fake Out.
With Chandelure down, I looked for ways to eliminate the Fake Out user. Many times, on a Trick Room team, the Fake Out user is a Hitmontop or Hariyama. The more common Pokemon that I've seen is Hitmontop, and those usually carry Intimidate. I pondered using Bisharp, and it could go both ways. It could have Inner Focus so it couldn't flinch from a Fake Out, or (the option I chose) it could run Defiant so it gets a +1 in Attack from Intimidate.
I originally had a Garchomp in place of Gastrodon, and I made the switch between the two when I saw how poorly I fared against other rain teams, especially those without any Ludicolo. The other three members of my team are adapted from my original Dual-Weather Hyperoffense.
Team At a Glance:
And Here We Go...
Bisharp (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 248 Atk / 248 SDef / 12 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Sucker Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Iron Head
- Protect
Defiant is, as stated beforehand, Bisharp has a pretty hefty Attack Stat, firing off STAB Sucker Punches at the likes of Latios and offensive Psychics. Iron Head is there for secondary STAB and to hit the likes of Tyranitar for SE damage with a side chance of flinch. Psycho Cut is, as stated before, to severely damage or even KO Fighting type Fake-Out leads. Protect is an obvious option for doubles. The 8 Speed EVs make sure that Bisharp outspeeds opposing Hitmontop with 4 Spd.
Chandelure (M) @ Ghost Gem
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 248 SAtk / 12 SDef / 248 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Imprison
- Trick Room
Chandelure is my leading Trick Room counter, possessing both Imprison and Trick Room to disrupt the setup of all other Trick Roomers. STAB, Ghost-Gem boosted Shadow Ball severely hurts pure Psychic Trick Room leads, if they run a +SpD nature. It usually KOs if they run a neutral SpD nature. Heat Wave provides a nice spread move to break Hail and clear Abomasnow for Politoed. Flame Body has the potential to cripple Scrafty and Tyranitar that Crunch it.
Gastrodon (M) @ Rindo Berry
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 180 Def / 80 SDef / 248 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Icy Wind
- Muddy Water
- Protect
I found that other rain teams were a pain to take down with only a Ludicolo and a Politoed, so I started using a Gastrodon to counter them. Additionally, the Icy Wind helps bring down enemy Pokemon's speed, especially if they have Tailwind up. This helps my team outspeed and sweep the enemy team. Earth Power and Muddy Water are there for STAB, and Muddy Water gets an attack boost in the Rain. Additionally, Politoed and Ludicolo make great partners as they both outspeed Gastrodon and can use Surf to give Gastrodon a Special Attack boost.
Scizor (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Atk / 12 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Acrobatics
- Protect
Scizor is a potential Trick Room killer that can KO Scrafty with Flight Gem boosted Acrobatics. Scrafty poses somewhat of a threat to my leads, as it has STAB SE moves against both. However, if Trick Room isn't up, he doesn't outspeed my Anti-TR leads, and Chandelure gets his purpose served. Bullet Punch helps kill Abomasnow that try to set up weather, and Bug Bite kills Latios and other Psychics that can't otherwise damage Scizor, especially under rain.
Politoed (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 12 Def / 248 SAtk / 248 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Psychic
Politoed is my Drizzle inducer of the team. Scarf lets him outspeed Genies and retaliate with a Double-STAB Surf. Along with Ludicolo, his partner in crime, dual Surfs stack to hurt a majority of the Pokemon in the VGC. Ice Beam is for Dragons, which are oh-so-common in VGC. HP Grass is if and only if the opponent has a Jellicent and a Gastrodon on the field. Psychic is there as a means of severely damaging Toxicroak, which otherwise laughs at this team.
Ludicolo (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 248 SAtk / 12 SDef / 248 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Ludicolo provides the Grass coverage I need, getting both STAB and HP recovery from Giga Drain. It can eliminate Gastrodon and Jellicent, which have given me problems in the past when Ludicolo's spot was occupied by a Kingdra. Surf stacks with Politoed's to "stragetically repeat" moves that severely damage most pokemon in the VGC. Ice Beam is to outspeed and go for the KO on genies that don't use a status move.
Final Look
