Trick Mix

[Auride]

This is a straight Trick Room VGC team I developed over the course of the 2014 season. It has obviously gone through numerous changes and transformations throughout the season, but I feel this is by far the team's strongest iteration, and with the coming end of the season, I feel I should share it for the sake of critique and comment.

Aromatisse

Salsa♪
@ Lum Berry
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Moonblast
- Misty Terrain
- Protect
​

Aromatisse is the team's most reliable trick room setter. Its typing, base stats, and IVs make it virtually impossible to KO by any single Pokémon (see calcs below). It can't be taunted, it can't be put to sleep, paralyzed, confused, or even freezed (unless there is an Unnerving Pokémon on the field). In situations where activating trick room is critical (which is not always) I trust Aromatisse to do the job.

• Moonblast gives it offense, which can actually be very significant at times, even managing to OHKO some Hydreigon and Scrafty. The added effect of frequently lowering the target's special attack is often abused to deal with minor special threats, like Rotom-Wash. Often times the chip damage accumulated by even not-very-effective moonblasts can be critical later on in a game.
• Misty Terrain allows the rest of the team to evade status (it's basically Safeguard, except it doesn't block confusion, works for both sides of the field, including blocking toxic/flame orbs and rest). This is very useful against the Amoonguss that people often rely on to counter trick room. Keep in mind that Aromatisse is slower than any Amoonguss, so it's common to set up trick room using the lum berry and then use Misty terrain the next turn before any more spores can go off.

Spoiler: Calcs

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 244 HP / 76+ SpD Aromatisse: 156-186 (75.3 - 89.8%)
252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Iron Head vs. 244 HP / 188 Def Aromatisse: 174-206 (84 - 99.5%)

252 SpA Gengar-Mega Sludge Bomb vs. 244 HP / 76+ SpD Aromatisse: 174-206 (84 - 99.5%)
252 Atk Parental Bond Kangaskhan-Mega Double-Edge vs. 244 HP / 188 Def Aromatisse: 154-184 (74.3 - 88.8%)

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Overheat vs. 244 HP / 76+ SpD Aromatisse in Sun: 178-211 (85.9 - 101.9%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 244 HP / 76+ SpD Aromatisse: 180-212 (86.9 - 102.4%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Iron Head vs. 244 HP / 188 Def Aromatisse: 270-318 (130.4 - 153.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

---

0 SpA Aromatisse Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 232-280 (138 - 166.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Aromatisse Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Scrafty: 192-228 (111.6 - 132.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

---

Chesnaught

Guarden
@ Expert Belt
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 100 HP / 220 Atk / 188 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Hammer Arm
- Wood Hammer
- Spiky Shield
- Feint
​

Chesnaught is my favorite member of this team. It manages to OHKO a variety of common threats while having excellent defensive stats and synergy with the rest of the team. It is the only Pokémon that resists ground on the team, which is critical. It's unique bulletproof ability makes it immune to moves like Gyro Ball, Focus Blast, and Shadow Ball, all of which are common weapons against the team, netting Chesnaught many free switch-in opportunities. I've caught many players surprised when they see their Mega Venusaur basically walled after their sludge bomb has no effect.

• Spiky Shield is just protect with a bonus effect of dealing 12.5% to any attacker using a contact move. Just another reason why Chesnaught is so cool.
• Feint is a support move that allows Chesnaught's team-mate to entirely bypass an enemy's protect, wide guard, mat block, etc. Considering how strong protect is for stalling out turns of trick room, this move comes in handy A LOT. Other options for this slot might include taunt and quick guard, but in testing I found feint to have the most utility.

Spoiler: Calcs

252+ SpA Life Orb Tyranitar Fire Blast vs. 100 HP / 188 SpD Chesnaught: 146-174 (82.9 - 98.8%)
252+ SpA Chandelure Heat Wave vs. 100 HP / 188 SpD Chesnaught: 146-174 (82.9 - 98.8%)
252 SpA Mega Manectric Overheat vs. 100 HP / 188 SpD Chesnaught: 154-182 (87.5 - 103.4%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 100 HP / 0 Def Chesnaught: 364-437 (206.8 - 248.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

---

220+ Atk Expert Belt Chesnaught Hammer Arm vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 194-230 (91.5 - 108.4%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
220+ Atk Expert Belt Chesnaught Hammer Arm vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 278-331 (134.2 - 159.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
220+ Atk Expert Belt Chesnaught Hammer Arm vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 211-252 (125.5 - 150%) -- guaranteed OHKO

220+ Atk Expert Belt Chesnaught Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-W: 161-190 (102.5 - 121%) -- guaranteed OHKO
220+ Atk Expert Belt Chesnaught Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 236 Def Politoed: 223-262 (113.1 - 132.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
220+ Atk Expert Belt Chesnaught Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Azumarill: 274-324 (132.3 - 156.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

---

Chandelure

Passion
@ Focus Sash
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 68 SpA / 144 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
​

With a middling base speed stat and a regular 31 IV in speed, Chandelure isn't built to be as slow as possible. In fact, meant to out-speed certain slower threats like Mega Mawile and Aegislash, which it is specifically meant to counter. The focus sash allows it to consistently set up trick room, even despite it's poor bulk (as well as avoid priority, like Mawile's Sucker Punch). And infiltrator allows it to blow up even substituted or screened Pokémon without concern, which is incredibly useful later on in a game. The lack of Flash Fire hurts, but often the bluff of it is enough.

Think of Chandelure here like a regular attacker that operates in and out of trick room, with the bonus of being able to set it somewhat reliably.

Spoiler: Calcs

252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Chandelure: 138-165 (82.6 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

68+ SpA Chandelure Overheat vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 168-198 (100.5 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
68+ SpA Chandelure Overheat vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile: 186-222 (118.4 - 141.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

68+ SpA Chandelure Overheat vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss: 236-278 (106.7 - 125.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
68+ SpA Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Gardevoir: 128-152 (88.8 - 105.5%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

Ampharos

Amphabulous
@ Ampharosite
Ability: Static (Mold Breaker)
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 96 SpA / 116 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Protect
​

Mega Ampharos takes the spotlight as the sole mega Pokémon on the team. I assume the immediate thought of you is going to be "Where's Mega Mawile?!", and I understand that. The initial build of this team was based around Mawile because it was (and definitely still is) the most threatening trick room sweeper in the game. Why is it not on this team? Because it doesn't fill any of the roles necessary as I see it. Ampharos offers not just surprise, but a very effective counter threats like Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame. It's coverage hit's literally every Pokémon in the format (save Dedenne) for at least neutral damage, and coming off a massive base 165 Special attack, that's usually all you need to make a serious dent. And it's surprisingly bulky too!

I should note that just because Ampharos is this team's mega, that doesn't mean I bring it to every match. I often leave it out for the sake of having better type match-ups. Against bulky teams centered around Mega Venusaur, Ampharos typically get's the boot for our next member.

Spoiler: Calcs

252 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Mega Ampharos: 164-195 (83.2 - 98.9%)
252 SpA Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 116 SpD Mega Ampharos: 164-194 (83.2 - 98.4%)

---

96+ SpA Mold Breaker Mega Ampharos Dragon Pulse vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 198-234 (107.6 - 127.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
96+ SpA Mold Breaker Mega Ampharos Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 164-194 (106.4 - 125.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

---

Reuinclus

Space Jam!
@ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 124 HP / 108 Def / 168 SpA / 108 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
​

Reuniclus is the team's last Trick Room setter. It offers incredible offense (its STAB , Life Orb-boosted Psychic is actually stronger than Mega Ampharos's Thunderbolt) while also being remarkably bulky. Despite this, I almost never lead with it because it is often still too frail to survive certain turn-1 attacks. Instead, it is usually reserved in the back as a back-up attacker that also can set Trick Room in a pinch. In match-ups where KOing the opponent's Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, or Mega Gengar is a must, Reuniclus is often my win condition.

Spoiler: Calcs

252+ Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 124 HP / 108 Def Reuniclus: 168-200 (83.5 - 99.5%)
252 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 124 HP / 108 SpD Reuniclus: 168-200 (83.5 - 99.5%)

252+ Atk Scizor X-Scissor vs. 124 HP / 108 Def Reuniclus: 168-198 (83.5 - 98.5%)
252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 124 HP / 108 SpD Reuniclus: 174-211 (86.5 - 104.9%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 124 HP / 108 Def Reuniclus: 192-226 (95.5 - 112.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

---

168+ SpA Life Orb Reuniclus Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Venusaur: 174-205 (93 - 109.6%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
168+ SpA Life Orb Reuniclus Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Amoonguss: 166-198 (75.1 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

---

Barbaracle

NeedManicure
@ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 204 HP / 84 Atk / 76 Def / 140 SpD
Impish Nature
- Rock Slide
- Helping Hand
- Taunt
- Protect
​

Think back a moment to when you first glanced at that model there. "Barbaracle?!" you must have thought, "Why the heck is that thing on a Trick Room team? Isn't it a Shell Smash sweeper?" And you would be right. Barbaracle isn't here to boost or sweep. Actually, it's part of an experiment I've been running. When I finally came to the previous 5 Pokémon on the team, I quickly noticed a big weakness to Talonflame. Most of the team had no resistance to it's priority Brave Bird, and Chesnaught is even 4x Weak to it! Mega Ampharos might deal with it quite well, but it often needs to focus on bigger threats, like Mega Charizard Y and Garchomp, and rarely has the HP properly deal with things afterwards. So I new straight away that the 6th slot had to be a solid Talonflame counter, but I wanted it to still have good synergy with the rest of the team...

After lots of searching, anaylsis, and testing, I've come to Barbaracle. It has exactly the right typing and base stats to remove Talonflame nearly 100% of the time, but it comes with a rather interesting support movepool!

• Helping Hand is a move available to a relatively small pool of usable VGC Pokémon. When Barbaracle's meager offenses and single attack aren't useful, this is the go-to option, giving it utility in almost any situation
• Everyone knows what taunt does. This can help against Prankster users, opposing supporters (who don't expect Barbaracle to be a supporter), and status users when not leading with Aromatisse. You might swap this with Torment, Switcheroo, Razor Shell, Tickle, Safeguard, etc.

Overall, Barbaracle isn't some amazing obscure Pokémon that wins matches by surprise factor alone (see Pachirisu). It's a specialized counter that happens to have support options. It's Ground weakness is it's most unattractive characteristic, making half the team weak. Unfortunately, I've yet to find another option with equal capacity to remove Talonflame and still be useful besides. If you know one, please tell me!

Spoiler: Calcs

0 SpA Amoonguss Giga Drain vs. 204 HP / 140 SpD Barbaracle: 144-172 (83.2 - 99.4%)

252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 204 HP / 76+ Def Barbaracle: 109-130 (63 - 75.1%)
252 SpA Mega Manectric Thunderbolt vs. 204 HP / 140 SpD Barbaracle: 152-182 (87.8 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

---

84 Atk Barbaracle Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 192-228 (103.7 - 123.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

---

That's it! Sorry if this was rather long, but I tend to explain things a bit too much... If there's something I have not explained here, don't be afraid to ask. Thank you!

 

[Shining Goodra]

*The Pokémon Master enters the room.

*Slams door shut.

Soooooo, here we have a TR team, a TR (Trick Room) team indeed! I am here to give you the help you've been looking for, first off let's go over a few of your Pokémon selections.

I will start by saying you do NOT need 3 Pokémon with TR on one team, most teams I've encountered in the competitive scene run only 1, the TR teams that make it to top cut are usually always mixed as well having a Pokémon or 2 with high speed base stats.

The Pokémon that are most likely hampering you:

Chesnaught
Reuinclus
Barbaracle

1 thing they all have in common, they're bad. No, really, they're not that bad but we have better options.

Your better options:

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
Brave Nature
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/0
EVs: 252 HP, 144 Atk, 108 Def, 4 SDef
– Play Rough
– Waterfall
– Aqua Jet
– Superpower

Azumarill is an overall better option than Barbaracle, hits harder, abuses TR better and covers a wider range of threats. Helping Hand may be gone but this team packs a big punch without HH.

Mawile @Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate –> Huge Power
252 HP/ 44 Atk/ 180 SpDef/ 32 Spe
Careful Nature
– Play Rough
– Iron Head
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 108-128 (68.7 – 81.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 134-162 (85.3 – 103.1%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO252 SpA Choice Specs Salamence Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile: 134-158 (85.3 – 100.6%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile in Sun through Light Screen: 111-132 (70.7 – 84%) — guaranteed 2HKO

The bane of many players existence, no TR team is complete without Mawile, another hard hitter Mawile covers a large range of threats and runs under TR better than what you were using before. You may have 2 Megas now but having the option on who to use can better suit you to certain match ups. Intimidate is perfect on TR allowing your setters to have a safer turn without worry of a 1HKO in most cases.


Rotom-Heat @Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
36 HP/ 252 SpA/ 220 Spe
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Thunderbolt
– HP Ice
– Protect

252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 158-187 (102.5 – 121.4%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 168-202 (100.5 – 120.9%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Amoonguss: 223-262 (100.9 – 118.5%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile: 202-240 (128.6 – 152.8%) — guaranteed OHKO

Rotom-H handles threats your team may have, like other Mawile, HP Ice adds more fire power to counter pesky dragons. The calculations let you take out Amoongus who of which can be annoying playing against in a mirror TR or just entirely in any match.

I hope this helps, I didn't want to get too far away from what you had originally and I think we've done that well. If you have any questions lmk.

 

[Auride]

*The Pokémon Master enters the room.

*Slams door shut.

You're a bit overconfident there, which immediately makes me skeptical about your advice. Take that as constructive criticism.

Soooooo, here we have a TR team, a TR (Trick Room) team indeed! I am here to give you the help you've been looking for, first off let's go over a few of your Pokémon selections.

And this is redundant. I'm well aware that my team is a Trick Room team. That's all for criticizing your style.

I will start by saying you do NOT need 3 Pokémon with TR on one team, most teams I've encountered in the competitive scene run only 1, the TR teams that make it to top cut are usually always mixed as well having a Pokémon or 2 with high speed base stats.

This is not a mixed TR team, and there is only one dedicated TR setter on the team (Aromatisse). Reuniclus and Chandelure are here to be offensive threats, that just happen to be able to set Trick Room (which is why I said that I virtually never lead Reuniclus; Chandelure proves to be a solid lead just because of its Ghost typing and Focus Sash).

The Pokémon that are most likely hampering you:

Chesnaught
Reuniclus
Barbaracle

1 thing they all have in common, they're bad. No, really, they're not that bad but we have better options.

Both Chesnaught and Reuniclus check specific threats while being hard-hitting defensive threats in other situations. Chesnaught counters Kangaskhan, Rotom Wash, Lucario, Politoed, Tyranitar, etc. Reuniclus counters Amoonguss, Mega Venusaur, and Gengar, as well as gets a the 2-hit KO on a number of threats I don't have a check/counter for (such as Ludicolo). The "better options you listed" almost entirely fail to achieve the same degree of coverage.

Barbaracle, on the other hand, I will admit, is bad. But it was an experiment. I wanted to try it out. I have since replaced it with Rotom-Wash (who is also being tested). I'll update the original post soon.

Your better options:

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
Brave Nature
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/0
EVs: 252 HP, 144 Atk, 108 Def, 4 SDef
– Play Rough
– Waterfall
– Aqua Jet
– Superpower

Azumarill is an overall better option than Barbaracle, hits harder, abuses TR better and covers a wider range of threats. Helping Hand may be gone but this team packs a big punch without HH.

Azumarill fails to effectively counter Talonflame (which was the whole point of Barbaracle) because it doesn't resist Brave Bird.

Spoiler

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Azumarill: 130-154 (62.8 - 74.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And it doesn't even KO with Aqua Jet, meaning that it's still helpless in Trick Room

Mawile @Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate –> Huge Power
252 HP/ 44 Atk/ 180 SpDef/ 32 Spe
Careful Nature
– Play Rough
– Iron Head
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 108-128 (68.7 – 81.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 134-162 (85.3 – 103.1%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO252 SpA Choice Specs Salamence Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile: 134-158 (85.3 – 100.6%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile in Sun through Light Screen: 111-132 (70.7 – 84%) — guaranteed 2HKO

The bane of many players existence, no TR team is complete without Mawile, another hard hitter Mawile covers a large range of threats and runs under TR better than what you were using before. You may have 2 Megas now but having the option on who to use can better suit you to certain match ups. Intimidate is perfect on TR allowing your setters to have a safer turn without worry of a 1HKO in most cases.

I'm assuming you copied that spread directly from Ray Rizzo's team, because you seem to have completely failed to actually look at it with any degree of attention whatsoever. Firstly, it still has 32 Speed EVs. Secondly, it's nature is still Careful instead of the more appropriate Sassy. Thirdly, Your calc for Mega Charizard's Heat Wave still says "through Light Screen", despite me having no users of Light Screen on the team. And you didn't even bother to suggest any.

Besides that, I explicitly said why I didn't include Mawile in the team in Ampharos's team summary: It simply doesn't fill any of the roles I need. It does not offer significant coverage over what's already covered by the rest of the team. It's still just as weak to ground as Ampharos (Garchomp, Mamoswine). It's 4 times as weak to fire (Mega Charizard, Talonflame, Rotom-H, Special Dragons). And it only hits 5 of the top 25 Pokemon for Super Effective damage (2 of which are already OHKO'd by Aromatisse anyways). While it has great Neutral coverage, and hits like a truck, it still fails to take the OHKO on almost anything, and lacks the utility of, say, Reuniclus, because it's physical attacks make it far easier to weaken via Intimidate, Will-O-Wisp, and Charm.

Don't interpret that to mean Mawile is bad. Mawile is great, especially in Trick Room, but it simply doesn't do what I need it to do (which is why I dropped it from the team in the first place).

Rotom-Heat @Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
36 HP/ 252 SpA/ 220 Spe
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Thunderbolt
– HP Ice
– Protect

252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 158-187 (102.5 – 121.4%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 168-202 (100.5 – 120.9%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Amoonguss: 223-262 (100.9 – 118.5%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile: 202-240 (128.6 – 152.8%) — guaranteed OHKO

Rotom-H handles threats your team may have, like other Mawile, HP Ice adds more fire power to counter pesky dragons. The calculations let you take out Amoongus who of which can be annoying playing against in a mirror TR or just entirely in any match.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume Rotom has a high investment in speed because of your earlier statement about most successful TR teams including some fast Pokemon. If that's the case, however, you really should have specified what it actually out-speeds.

Besides that, Rotom-H doesn't really add any coverage to the team. I already have an overheat user in Chandelure (though I do have to admit that it does sometimes fail to stay around to actually KO Aegislash and Mawile, so a second user wouldn't be the worse), and I already have a hard counter to Mega Charizard Y in Mega Ampharos. And HP Ice doesn't really help when Ampharos can already OHKO ever single dragon in the tier with Dragon Pulse.

I prefer Rotom-W to Rotom-H on this team because it still handles Talonflame, but also removes threats like Mamoswine. And it has better neutral coverage. And it's strongest attack doesn't make it essentially useless until it switches (if it even can). Rotom-W lacks the ability to get the OHKO much of the same Pokemon, but makes up for it in greater overall utility. Plus, Will-o-Wisp generally slows Mawile down enough for the rest of the team to take care of it.

---

Overall, I appreciate your advice, but I felt the need to point out the flaws in your logic. You make some good points, but seem to have largely failed to properly read my first post (which I can forgive, as it's rather long) or really think about some of your points (which is just silly).

Regardless, thanks.

 

[Shining Goodra]

*The Pokémon Master enters the room.

*Slams door shut.

You're a bit overconfident there, which immediately makes me skeptical about your advice. Take that as constructive criticism.

Soooooo, here we have a TR team, a TR (Trick Room) team indeed! I am here to give you the help you've been looking for, first off let's go over a few of your Pokémon selections.

And this is redundant. I'm well aware that my team is a Trick Room team. That's all for criticizing your style.

I will start by saying you do NOT need 3 Pokémon with TR on one team, most teams I've encountered in the competitive scene run only 1, the TR teams that make it to top cut are usually always mixed as well having a Pokémon or 2 with high speed base stats.

This is not a mixed TR team, and there is only one dedicated TR setter on the team (Aromatisse). Reuniclus and Chandelure are here to be offensive threats, that just happen to be able to set Trick Room (which is why I said that I virtually never lead Reuniclus; Chandelure proves to be a solid lead just because of its Ghost typing and Focus Sash).

The Pokémon that are most likely hampering you:

Chesnaught
Reuniclus
Barbaracle

1 thing they all have in common, they're bad. No, really, they're not that bad but we have better options.

Both Chesnaught and Reuniclus check specific threats while being hard-hitting defensive threats in other situations. Chesnaught counters Kangaskhan, Rotom Wash, Lucario, Politoed, Tyranitar, etc. Reuniclus counters Amoonguss, Mega Venusaur, and Gengar, as well as gets a the 2-hit KO on a number of threats I don't have a check/counter for (such as Ludicolo). The "better options you listed" almost entirely fail to achieve the same degree of coverage.

Barbaracle, on the other hand, I will admit, is bad. But it was an experiment. I wanted to try it out. I have since replaced it with Rotom-Wash (who is also being tested). I'll update the original post soon.

Your better options:

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
Brave Nature
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/0
EVs: 252 HP, 144 Atk, 108 Def, 4 SDef
– Play Rough
– Waterfall
– Aqua Jet
– Superpower

Azumarill is an overall better option than Barbaracle, hits harder, abuses TR better and covers a wider range of threats. Helping Hand may be gone but this team packs a big punch without HH.

Azumarill fails to effectively counter Talonflame (which was the whole point of Barbaracle) because it doesn't resist Brave Bird.

Spoiler

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Azumarill: 130-154 (62.8 - 74.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And it doesn't even KO with Aqua Jet, meaning that it's still helpless in Trick Room

Mawile @Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate –> Huge Power
252 HP/ 44 Atk/ 180 SpDef/ 32 Spe
Careful Nature
– Play Rough
– Iron Head
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 108-128 (68.7 – 81.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 134-162 (85.3 – 103.1%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO252 SpA Choice Specs Salamence Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile: 134-158 (85.3 – 100.6%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile in Sun through Light Screen: 111-132 (70.7 – 84%) — guaranteed 2HKO

The bane of many players existence, no TR team is complete without Mawile, another hard hitter Mawile covers a large range of threats and runs under TR better than what you were using before. You may have 2 Megas now but having the option on who to use can better suit you to certain match ups. Intimidate is perfect on TR allowing your setters to have a safer turn without worry of a 1HKO in most cases.

I'm assuming you copied that spread directly from Ray Rizzo's team, because you seem to have completely failed to actually look at it with any degree of attention whatsoever. Firstly, it still has 32 Speed EVs. Secondly, it's nature is still Careful instead of the more appropriate Sassy. Thirdly, Your calc for Mega Charizard's Heat Wave still says "through Light Screen", despite me having no users of Light Screen on the team. And you didn't even bother to suggest any.

Besides that, I explicitly said why I didn't include Mawile in the team in Ampharos's team summary: It simply doesn't fill any of the roles I need. It does not offer significant coverage over what's already covered by the rest of the team. It's still just as weak to ground as Ampharos (Garchomp, Mamoswine). It's 4 times as weak to fire (Mega Charizard, Talonflame, Rotom-H, Special Dragons). And it only hits 5 of the top 25 Pokemon for Super Effective damage (2 of which are already OHKO'd by Aromatisse anyways). While it has great Neutral coverage, and hits like a truck, it still fails to take the OHKO on almost anything, and lacks the utility of, say, Reuniclus, because it's physical attacks make it far easier to weaken via Intimidate, Will-O-Wisp, and Charm.

Don't interpret that to mean Mawile is bad. Mawile is great, especially in Trick Room, but it simply doesn't do what I need it to do (which is why I dropped it from the team in the first place).

Rotom-Heat @Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
36 HP/ 252 SpA/ 220 Spe
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Thunderbolt
– HP Ice
– Protect

252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 158-187 (102.5 – 121.4%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 168-202 (100.5 – 120.9%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Amoonguss: 223-262 (100.9 – 118.5%) — guaranteed OHKO252+ SpA Expert Belt Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Mega Mawile: 202-240 (128.6 – 152.8%) — guaranteed OHKO

Rotom-H handles threats your team may have, like other Mawile, HP Ice adds more fire power to counter pesky dragons. The calculations let you take out Amoongus who of which can be annoying playing against in a mirror TR or just entirely in any match.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume Rotom has a high investment in speed because of your earlier statement about most successful TR teams including some fast Pokemon. If that's the case, however, you really should have specified what it actually out-speeds.

Besides that, Rotom-H doesn't really add any coverage to the team. I already have an overheat user in Chandelure (though I do have to admit that it does sometimes fail to stay around to actually KO Aegislash and Mawile, so a second user wouldn't be the worse), and I already have a hard counter to Mega Charizard Y in Mega Ampharos. And HP Ice doesn't really help when Ampharos can already OHKO ever single dragon in the tier with Dragon Pulse.

I prefer Rotom-W to Rotom-H on this team because it still handles Talonflame, but also removes threats like Mamoswine. And it has better neutral coverage. And it's strongest attack doesn't make it essentially useless until it switches (if it even can). Rotom-W lacks the ability to get the OHKO much of the same Pokemon, but makes up for it in greater overall utility. Plus, Will-o-Wisp generally slows Mawile down enough for the rest of the team to take care of it.

---

Overall, I appreciate your advice, but I felt the need to point out the flaws in your logic. You make some good points, but seem to have largely failed to properly read my first post (which I can forgive, as it's rather long) or really think about some of your points (which is just silly).

Regardless, thanks.

---

I apologize for coming off the wrong way and accept the criticism. 

Let me answer you though.

The Pokémon I chose to replace Chesnaught, Reuniclus, and Barbaracle, I saw as better options while still answering most of the original threats.

Azumarill, Mawile, and Rotom-H. Azumarill may be weak to Ludicolo but handles Garchomp/Salamence and Talonflame respectfully. 

Mawile has intimidate like I brought up before, it also under TR handles the common dragons, it is however weak to EQ but the calculations show that it should survive for the revenge KO. Also, can hit Ludicolo hard enough

Rotom-H has the ability to take out apposite Mawile and has HP Ice to silence the common dragons. Also answering Amoongus (just as Reuniclus did.

If you do test this out, I do assume you could switch out Reuniclus and Chandelure to see what fits better for opposing match ups. 

Rotom-W could be chosen but Ludicolo still hurts us here.

After 2nd thought Talonflame could take over in the Rotom/Chesnaught spot to be a quick counter to Ludicolo. 

Chesnaught is a fun decent Pokémon but overall can be replaced with a better suited option to help with your teams weakness. 

I feel Azumarill + Ampharos aid in countering Talonflame, along with dragons of course (which I have already listed) Azumarill is bulkier and adds super power vs Kangaskhan. A priority STAB move in AJ, and an effective STAB under TR in Waterfall. 

Mawile may be a Ray Rizzo build but the EV spread is justified and the speed EVs allow for a better match up vs opposing Mawile by out speeding most sets. Careful Nature allows you to survive the calculations provided, which without the nature it would not effectively survive. Under TR Garchomp is no threat and will be OHKOed obviously. 

That's not taking Aromatisse and Ampharos into consideration.

Ampharos has Focus Blast, providing extra answers to Kangaskhan. 

With that said, I apologize for a second time and would like to continue on with this thread to see if we can get your team to where you want it to be.  

Thank you for your kind criticism as well, and keeping it real.