Hello everyone! As a few of you know I recently won the Australian Senior National Championships for the Pokémon Video Game. I won with a Trick Room team that had Chandelure, Porygon2, Togekiss, Ferrothorn, Metagross & Scrafty in it. Anyway, this is the RMT part of my report.
Introduction:
Trick Room is easily my favourite style of play in VGC. It’s bulky, powerful and has a lot of options, not to mention it can be the fastest team around once the Trick Room is up. There is a few problems with it though, a lot of the Pokémon that you use have x4 Weaknesses, luckily any good player will build the team so it takes minimal damage from any attack. My team is more of a defensive team, but can easily go on the offence with Chandelure & Metagross. This team has very few holes in it, but can very easily be torn apart by Volcarona or just luck itself.
Now for the analysis of the Pokémon I used on the team.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Porygon2 is a very important part of my team, with its natural bulk from Eviolite it’s already hard to take down, when we put the EVs on it and it becomes an even bigger tank. At full health this Porygon2 can take a Fighting Gem boosted Close Combat from Hitmontop and survives it with about a third of my health. Recover is extremely useful and a necessity on Porygon2, as it makes it way harder to take down. Ice Beam is the only Ice attack I have on my team so if I see Garchomp/Salamence/Dragonite (I did see a Dragonite at my Nationals, and I needed this for it) I have a way to take them down quickly and efficiently. Protect is always nice to use if I need to wait a turn or am predicting a Super Effective move. 0 Speed IVs are present to make sure I’m faster than any Porygon2 with a higher amount under Trick Room, as well a general pseudo-speed boost.
Togekiss (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Follow Me
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Protect
Togekiss is kind of the glue that sticks this team together despite not being present in over half my battles. Follow Me + Trick Room is great, and this set lets it take the Electric Gem boosted Thunderbolt from Thundurus, unless it has a +SpA nature, but then it’s still only a 18.75% chance of Togekiss being taken out. Protect can be used to block that attack. Air Slash & Aura Sphere are probably the best attacks it has, Air Slash is incredibly useful against Breloom & Volcarona especially with that 60% flinch rate. Aura Sphere is just nice to have as it deals a massive amount of damage to Tyranitar plus some nice coverage. Sitrus Berry could be replaced with Wacan Berry, but I prefer it with Sitrus. It just makes it a whole lot more bulky overall, and when I feel that moves like Rock Slide and Stone Edge are more common that Thunder/Thunderbolt it comes out on top.
Chandelure @ Fire Gem
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
- Protect
Chandelure is easily my favourite Pokémon on this team. Fire Gem boosted Heat Wave is pretty much always enough to OHKO Metagross, unless it has an Occa Berry (18.75 chance with 252HP/4SDef defences) and is always enough without the Gem & Occa Berry. Shadow Ball is just a nice STAB move that hits a few things for SE damage (namely Cresselia). Trick Room is amazing as hardly anyone ever sees it coming, and Protect is pretty self-explanatory. Additionally, when at full health Chandelure can take a Metagross’ Earthquake, which is just amazing really.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Protect
Ferrothorn is probably the least used Pokémon on this team. But when it is used, it is scary, Gyro Ball even without any attack EVs hits for an insane amount of damage, hitting for about 40% on Bulky Garchomp. Leech Seed is also great for stalling and Power Whip can really scare Tyranitar & Politoed away. Leftovers just makes this thing even more bulky, if it can get both of the opponent’s Pokémon hit by Leech Seed it takes hardly any damage by the end of the turn. Otherwise it’s pretty one dimensional and predictable.
Scrafty @ Chople Berry
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
Scrafty is another really good member of my team, Fake Out is great on anything & Drain Punch makes this thing incredibly bulky. Crunch is also good against stuff like Cresselia but isn’t really that good compared to Drain Punch. Chople Berry lets me take any Close Combat and then turn around with Drain Punch to get most of that damage back (and with a Moxie boost a good chance of KO’ing whatever hit me!). Detect because I gotta stall sometimes.
Metagross @ Occa Berry
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Protect
Now we get to the tank. Metagross just comes in and throws stuff around like the Hulk. Earthquake’s there to hit Sandstorm stuff, Bullet Punch for Priority and Meteor Mash for that big KO on something. Why Metagross instead of Scizor? I think Metagross is just a lot better for this particular team, Scizor isn’t even all that good on Trick Room teams, not when there’s stuff that hits much harder than it does. Occa Berry gives Metagross a lot more options and makes it a whole lot more useful against Heatran.
!THREATS!
Volcarona
Volcarona can tear this team apart if given the chance, if it gets a Quiver Dance while Trick Room is gone forever I’m in huge trouble, nothing of mine can really touch it, while the Room is down that is. Also the amount of different Volcarona is tough to handle as well, it’s nigh impossible to predict which Volcarona my opponent is using (if any). Aside from Volcarona I feel that there’s nothing I’m particularly scared of, everything here has pretty good synergy.
Anyway thank you for reading and please post any recommendations for my team!
Introduction:
Trick Room is easily my favourite style of play in VGC. It’s bulky, powerful and has a lot of options, not to mention it can be the fastest team around once the Trick Room is up. There is a few problems with it though, a lot of the Pokémon that you use have x4 Weaknesses, luckily any good player will build the team so it takes minimal damage from any attack. My team is more of a defensive team, but can easily go on the offence with Chandelure & Metagross. This team has very few holes in it, but can very easily be torn apart by Volcarona or just luck itself.
Now for the analysis of the Pokémon I used on the team.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Porygon2 is a very important part of my team, with its natural bulk from Eviolite it’s already hard to take down, when we put the EVs on it and it becomes an even bigger tank. At full health this Porygon2 can take a Fighting Gem boosted Close Combat from Hitmontop and survives it with about a third of my health. Recover is extremely useful and a necessity on Porygon2, as it makes it way harder to take down. Ice Beam is the only Ice attack I have on my team so if I see Garchomp/Salamence/Dragonite (I did see a Dragonite at my Nationals, and I needed this for it) I have a way to take them down quickly and efficiently. Protect is always nice to use if I need to wait a turn or am predicting a Super Effective move. 0 Speed IVs are present to make sure I’m faster than any Porygon2 with a higher amount under Trick Room, as well a general pseudo-speed boost.
Togekiss (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Follow Me
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Protect
Togekiss is kind of the glue that sticks this team together despite not being present in over half my battles. Follow Me + Trick Room is great, and this set lets it take the Electric Gem boosted Thunderbolt from Thundurus, unless it has a +SpA nature, but then it’s still only a 18.75% chance of Togekiss being taken out. Protect can be used to block that attack. Air Slash & Aura Sphere are probably the best attacks it has, Air Slash is incredibly useful against Breloom & Volcarona especially with that 60% flinch rate. Aura Sphere is just nice to have as it deals a massive amount of damage to Tyranitar plus some nice coverage. Sitrus Berry could be replaced with Wacan Berry, but I prefer it with Sitrus. It just makes it a whole lot more bulky overall, and when I feel that moves like Rock Slide and Stone Edge are more common that Thunder/Thunderbolt it comes out on top.
Chandelure @ Fire Gem
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
- Protect
Chandelure is easily my favourite Pokémon on this team. Fire Gem boosted Heat Wave is pretty much always enough to OHKO Metagross, unless it has an Occa Berry (18.75 chance with 252HP/4SDef defences) and is always enough without the Gem & Occa Berry. Shadow Ball is just a nice STAB move that hits a few things for SE damage (namely Cresselia). Trick Room is amazing as hardly anyone ever sees it coming, and Protect is pretty self-explanatory. Additionally, when at full health Chandelure can take a Metagross’ Earthquake, which is just amazing really.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Protect
Ferrothorn is probably the least used Pokémon on this team. But when it is used, it is scary, Gyro Ball even without any attack EVs hits for an insane amount of damage, hitting for about 40% on Bulky Garchomp. Leech Seed is also great for stalling and Power Whip can really scare Tyranitar & Politoed away. Leftovers just makes this thing even more bulky, if it can get both of the opponent’s Pokémon hit by Leech Seed it takes hardly any damage by the end of the turn. Otherwise it’s pretty one dimensional and predictable.
Scrafty @ Chople Berry
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
Scrafty is another really good member of my team, Fake Out is great on anything & Drain Punch makes this thing incredibly bulky. Crunch is also good against stuff like Cresselia but isn’t really that good compared to Drain Punch. Chople Berry lets me take any Close Combat and then turn around with Drain Punch to get most of that damage back (and with a Moxie boost a good chance of KO’ing whatever hit me!). Detect because I gotta stall sometimes.
Metagross @ Occa Berry
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Protect
Now we get to the tank. Metagross just comes in and throws stuff around like the Hulk. Earthquake’s there to hit Sandstorm stuff, Bullet Punch for Priority and Meteor Mash for that big KO on something. Why Metagross instead of Scizor? I think Metagross is just a lot better for this particular team, Scizor isn’t even all that good on Trick Room teams, not when there’s stuff that hits much harder than it does. Occa Berry gives Metagross a lot more options and makes it a whole lot more useful against Heatran.
!THREATS!
Volcarona
Volcarona can tear this team apart if given the chance, if it gets a Quiver Dance while Trick Room is gone forever I’m in huge trouble, nothing of mine can really touch it, while the Room is down that is. Also the amount of different Volcarona is tough to handle as well, it’s nigh impossible to predict which Volcarona my opponent is using (if any). Aside from Volcarona I feel that there’s nothing I’m particularly scared of, everything here has pretty good synergy.
Chandelure @ Fire Gem
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
- Protect
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 109 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Protect
Togekiss (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Follow Me
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Protect
Scrafty @ Chople Berry
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
Metagross @ Occa Berry
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Protect
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
- Protect
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 109 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Protect
Togekiss (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Follow Me
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Protect
Scrafty @ Chople Berry
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
Metagross @ Occa Berry
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Protect
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Anyway thank you for reading and please post any recommendations for my team!