VGC Tailwind + Trick Room Team

[JLFalcon]

Hey yall!

Pokemon Sword is my first pokemon game since gen 4 and even when I was younger I never really played against other people so I've been enjoying getting to play online against other people and the challenge that it presents. I first tried a hard trick room team with Hatterene + Oranguru leading and that was enough to get to tier 8 pretty quickly but I wanted to try something new. I thought Whimsicott looked cute and I thought it was neat that it is used as both a trick room and a tailwind setter so I figured with the online setup of showing 6 and picking 4, having a team that could do both would make it hard for opponents to decide how to fight it while also give me a good range of options to counter their team. So I built a team and tried a few matches on pokemon showdown that left me fairly optimistic. Of course, I am still very new to this so, I would love some feedback on my team thus far. I don't plan on playing competitively, but I would still enjoy making my team the best that I can!

Whimsicott (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 128 SpD / 128 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Tailwind
- Trick Room
- Beat Up

Almost always the lead pokemon. Able to set up a tailwind or trick room and also reverse trick room against trick room teams. I also gave it beat up to boost Arcanine w/justified.

Gastrodon-East (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Protect

For the trick room when going against faster teams and also to wall certain opponents. The moveset is based off of the vgc 17 moveset posted on smogon. I added Scald over Recovery because of the type coverage and the burn chance, but if that isn't really necessary it could be replaced. Protect is there in case I need to bait grass attacks.

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt

Dragapult is a great speedy special sweeper for the team when tailwind is set up. He also has great typing for switching in when needed.

Duraludon (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Stalwart
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 196 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 28 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Dark Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Solar Beam

Mostly to counter hatterene + indeedee but he is also mid-speed and bulky enough to use on either trick room or tailwind setups. Solar Beam is basically only there for when I dynamax.

Arcanine (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge
- Morning Sun
- Flare Blitz

Fast, physical attacker for physical coverage. Partners well with both Whimsicott and Gastrodon. I will likely only ever use him on Tailwind setups.

Snorlax @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 196 Atk / 84 Def
Brave Nature
- Curse
- Body Slam
- Hammer Arm
- Recycle

Mostly for when I use the trick room setup. It also works to wall ghost moves which when I used the Marriland team builder that was the biggest hole left from the last 5. I used Hammer Arm over High Horsepower since it lowers the speed which helps in a trick room.



I assumed that for Tailwind my default lineup would be:
1. Whimsicott 2. Duraludon
3. Dragapult 4. Arcanine

Duraludon in the #2 spot in order to kill any Trick Room users. If they look like they aren't using any form of Trick Room, then that spot will go to whoever has the best type coverage.

And Trick Room default lineup would be:
1. Whimsicott 2. Duraludon
3. Gastrodon 4. Snorlax

Duraludon again in the #2 spot because he would be the fastest of my 4 pokemon so he could start off with an early attack before subbing out to someone more well-suited for a trick room.

But still subbing in-and-out based on type coverages I needed when viewing the opponent's team.

I'd love to hear your opinions and suggestions!

 

[UberSkitty]

Hello! I thought I'd just give some input based on my experience in this meta.

Sets:
Gastrodon-East (M) @ Rindo Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
0 Spe IVs
Relaxed Nature
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Scald
- Protect (Maybe Clear Smog?)

Just the standard Gastrodon set. Rindo Berry is my go-to item on Gastrodon, letting it take hits from mons like Gyarados and Ferrothorn if need-be. It also leaves Gastrodon with theoretically no weaknesses outside of Freeze-Dry, which is nice. 0 Speed IVs, alongside a -Speed nature, lets you creep Rhyperior under Trick Room. I'd also like to note that your Gastrodon was Quiet, which boosts Special Attack, not Defense, which I'm guessing your intent was. While Ice Beam may seem nice to hit stuff, coverage is not a concern for a bulky mon like Gastrodon when it has better options. Recover is nice for longevity. You could go Clear Smog for a better matchup against mons like Rhyperior and Snorlax, tho Protect is still a fine option.

Duraludon (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Stalwart
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 196 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 28 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Solar Beam

Dark Pulse just doesn't hit much outside of, like, Indeedee. You're better off going with a Dragon STAB move, which lets you take on mons that have a better matchup against your other moves such as opposing Duraludon and Hydreigon. You could also go Dragon Pulse over Draco Meteor if you want to go a safer route with more accuracy.

Arcanine (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge (Maybe Protect)
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz

Assuming the point of this set is to be played with Whimsicott's Beat Up, I'd say your better off going a more All-Out-Attacker route. It's not like you'll have much opportunity to pull off Morning Sun when everything on the field is targeting your boosted Arcanine. Close Combat lets you hit mons like Hydreigon and Snorlax harder. That being said, Life Orb does not help when your moves consist of Flare Blitz and Wild Charge. When having moves with recoil, especially if you're theoretically going to OHKO some mons, you're going to want some way to heal off without having to dedicate an entire turn to it, like you would with Morning Sun. Because of that I would recommend Sitrus Berry. Protect can be run over Wild Charge since Fire+Fighting coverage deals with a lot of mons, and Protect is always a safe option in VGC for the mind games.

Snorlax @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 196 Atk / 84 Def (?)
Brave Nature
- Curse
- Body Slam
- Hammer Arm (Darkest Lariat?)
- Recycle (Darkest Lariat?)

I don't know what the spread is exactly for, but I generally wouldn't recommend investing so much HP into a mon that already have a lot naturally. You're probably better off investing more into Defense rather than HP. As you'll see below, Ghost-types can be troubling for your team. They also wall Snorlax. Because of this, I'd recommend sticking Darkest Lariat on Snorlax either as its one coverage move (over Hammer Arm) or over Recycle, (which would admittedly make it more reliant on gigamaxing).

Potential Changes:
You already have a Dragon-type on this team, so a better check to Braviary would be nice over Dragapult. Something like Rotom-Heat would be nice for that role. If you're fine with taking out the Beat Up+Arcanine gimmick, you could also replace Arcanine with a better Fighting-type (such as Conkeldurr) check. Maybe Mimikyu? Naturally you'd take off Beat Up from Whimsicott in the process, which would give you room for something like Energy Ball.
(Dragapult -> Rotom-Heat, Arcanine -> Mimikyu)

Potential sets for new mons:
Mimikyu @ Lum Berry
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough
- Protect / Will-O-Wisp

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Ball

So yeah, these are just some recommendations from little ol' me. Feel free to take or ignore my advice, I won't be offended.

 

[JLFalcon]

UberSkitty

Thank you for your reply! I understand and definitely agree with most of the suggestions you gave for the team. I've replaced Dragapult with Rotom-Heat and opted for Conkeldurr over Mimikyu because of the trouble I was getting from the Excadrill + Tyranitar combo.

Do you have any suggestions for other items for Rotom-Heat? The choice scarf does a lot for his speed, but I find myself getting stuck with only being able to use an ineffective move with him a fair bit. I know this could be solved by Dynamaxing or switching him out but, Rotom-H is not always the best option on the team to Dynamax and the 4v4 doubles format does not allow a lot of opportunities to switch pokemon. I could just be using Rotom-H poorly, so any advice would be appreciated!