This is The Rise of Space
I started out this team knowing that I wanted to make Escavalier the star of the show. This Gen 5 Pokemon was clearly designed with TR in mind. With only 20 Base Speed, he is faster than pretty much everything else under trick room, even other “trick room pokemon” like Reuniclus. He also has the best Megahorn in the entire game. Next I had to choose a decent Trick Roomer to support him:
Slowking is basically the perfect partner. Amazing type synergy, access to Trick Room and Regenerator, and decent Sp. Atk. to boot, Slowking can set up TR multiple times without even breaking a sweat. At this point I knew I wanted to make a powerful offense team, so I drew again from the Gen 5 barrel for another great sweeper:
Conkeldurr also has great type synergy with Slowking, and similar checks and counters as Escavalier. Using both together, I can draw them out of the opponent’s team and wear them down. Next, I wanted something that could fill a pseudo-lead position, set up TR and lay down some SR to help Esc and Durr do their job.
The final two spots are where I’ve had the most trouble. I know I want one more pokemon that takes advantage of Trick Room and one very fast pokemon that can revenge kill outside of TR. For the last Trick Room guy, I choose to go with something that can trap/surprise kill two of the biggest threats to the team thus far: Skarmory and Gliscor. Magnezone w/ HP Ice is added.
Finally, I realize there is a huge Fire weakness here. Slowking helps out, but I’m in a bit of trouble if he gets KO’d trying to set up TR. I decide to add a Scarftran to round out the team, giving me both a switch-in to Fire attacks and a nice revenge killer.
Bronzong "Horizon" @
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Atk / 112 Def / 40 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Trick Room
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Bronzong is the pokemon I lead with most, even against Politoed and Ninetails leads (switching directly to Slowking). He is an important and VERY reliable member of the team. His EVs give him enough bulk to survive many attacks from both ends of the spectrum, as well as attack quite aggressively with his two physical moves.
He really does quite a deal of damage with Gyro Ball especially against speedy offense teams. Earthquake is to allow Bronzong to KO Excadrill after a Gyro Ball (to get rid of Balloon if necessary) and to hit slower pokemon like T-tar for greater damage.
Stealth Rock is especially important because it helps Escavalier and Bronzong tremendously in the long run by wearing down Flying types like Dragonite and the Genies.
Sometimes it is nice to have him around late game if I see many EQ users in the opponent’s team, as two other members are Ground weak, so I lead with something else.
He really does quite a deal of damage with Gyro Ball especially against speedy offense teams. Earthquake is to allow Bronzong to KO Excadrill after a Gyro Ball (to get rid of Balloon if necessary) and to hit slower pokemon like T-tar for greater damage.
Stealth Rock is especially important because it helps Escavalier and Bronzong tremendously in the long run by wearing down Flying types like Dragonite and the Genies.
Sometimes it is nice to have him around late game if I see many EQ users in the opponent’s team, as two other members are Ground weak, so I lead with something else.
Slowking "Captain" @
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 120 SAtk / 132 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Surf
- Psychic
- Nasty Plot
Slowking is the heart and soul of this team, holding everything together. He walls tons of special sweepers that would otherwise walk all over his team mates, Fire types in particular.
Because this is mostly an offense team, I decided to go with Nasty Plot over Slack Off. Thanks to his natural Bulk, huge HP and Sp. Def EV investment, Leftovers, and the AMAZING Regenerator, he hardly needs it anyway. Even Toxic can’t really keep him down if he just keeps switching. NP helps keep the pressure on the opposing team even when they think I’m just setting up TR.
Surf and Psychic are his two well used STAB moves. Psychic in particular is very helpful versus opposing Conkeldurr. Speaking of which:
Because this is mostly an offense team, I decided to go with Nasty Plot over Slack Off. Thanks to his natural Bulk, huge HP and Sp. Def EV investment, Leftovers, and the AMAZING Regenerator, he hardly needs it anyway. Even Toxic can’t really keep him down if he just keeps switching. NP helps keep the pressure on the opposing team even when they think I’m just setting up TR.
Surf and Psychic are his two well used STAB moves. Psychic in particular is very helpful versus opposing Conkeldurr. Speaking of which:
Conkeldurr "Martian" @
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Drain Punch
- Facade
- Stone Edge
- Mach Punch
Part one of my physical duo, Guts-boosted Conkeldurr. Most people never see Façade coming, and semi-bulky Psychic or Poison pokemon that normally set up on Durr (like Toxicroak, Roserade, the Lati twins, etc.) are usually OHKO’d. If I can activate Toxic Orb early, he also acts like a status sponge, which is especially useful versus stuff like Breloom which often really hurts TR teams by wasting their turns asleep.
I chose Drain Punch over Hammer Arm. I think this might be a bit controversial because it doesn’t OHKO all forms of Ferrothorn, but it does provide a lot of healing which helps with the poison damage. Façade is powerful enough for everything else anyway, like bulky waters.
Stone Edge is coverage versus Ghosts and Flyers that won’t eat a Façade. Mach Punch is an especially amazing move, because it lets me fight outside of Trick Room a bit, or revenge kill stuff in general.
I have him hold Toxic Orb over Burn Orb, because I probably won’t stay in more than 3 turns anyway.
Conkeldurr also lures two key pokemon out for me: Reuniclus (Escavalier’s favorite food) and Gliscor (hates Façade).
I chose Drain Punch over Hammer Arm. I think this might be a bit controversial because it doesn’t OHKO all forms of Ferrothorn, but it does provide a lot of healing which helps with the poison damage. Façade is powerful enough for everything else anyway, like bulky waters.
Stone Edge is coverage versus Ghosts and Flyers that won’t eat a Façade. Mach Punch is an especially amazing move, because it lets me fight outside of Trick Room a bit, or revenge kill stuff in general.
I have him hold Toxic Orb over Burn Orb, because I probably won’t stay in more than 3 turns anyway.
Conkeldurr also lures two key pokemon out for me: Reuniclus (Escavalier’s favorite food) and Gliscor (hates Façade).
Magnezone "UFO" @
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Magnezone is the last pokemon I have that abuses Trick Room. The added HP EVs really do wonders for his survivability. Thunderbolt and HP Ice are his two main attacking moves, getting a ton of coverage together. Volt Switch is so I can do a bit of hit-and-run on the last turn of Trick Room, doing good damage and at the same time sending one of my Trick Roomers back in. Magnezone also has nice type synergy with Slowking, because he can take a lot of special Electric attacks.
I realize Substitute might be a bit controversial for use on a Trick Room team, but it serves a few important purposes. For one, it allows me to fake out Gliscors that try to Protect to scout for HP Ice. If I Sub first, they might stay in and get OHKO’d which is sometimes crucial to winning the match. It also allows me to block status move in the off chance I feel like slowing T-bolting a Ferrothorn to death.
I realize Substitute might be a bit controversial for use on a Trick Room team, but it serves a few important purposes. For one, it allows me to fake out Gliscors that try to Protect to scout for HP Ice. If I Sub first, they might stay in and get OHKO’d which is sometimes crucial to winning the match. It also allows me to block status move in the off chance I feel like slowing T-bolting a Ferrothorn to death.
Escavalier "3x10^8" @
Trait: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Megahorn
- Return
- Reversal
- Pursuit
CB Escavalier is a pokemon to be very afraid of. STAB Megahorn eats pokemon alive, everything from Scizor to Excadrill. He can KO the genies with it after SR damage, and 2HKO most Magnezones so they can’t switch in a trap kill if TR is up (and can usually survive an HP Fire if full HP otherwise). Really the only thing he needs to look out for is surprise burns from Scald when fighting bulky waters.
I think he has great defensive and offensive synergy with Slowking and Durr, taking care of most Dark and Psychic types. Return provides an alternate strong move for use against Gliscor and Volcarona, but is mostly just filler. Likewise, Reversal gives a chance to hurt Heatran if my HP is low enough, but there isn’t much chance to use it. Pursuit is excellent for capturing ghosts that I don’t want to escape.
I think he has great defensive and offensive synergy with Slowking and Durr, taking care of most Dark and Psychic types. Return provides an alternate strong move for use against Gliscor and Volcarona, but is mostly just filler. Likewise, Reversal gives a chance to hurt Heatran if my HP is low enough, but there isn’t much chance to use it. Pursuit is excellent for capturing ghosts that I don’t want to escape.
Heatran "Nova" @
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- HP Grass
Heatran is the final member of the team, and serves two very important purposes. One, he absorbs Fire type attacks for the rest of the team, and hits back HARD with his Overheat. Second, he is my only fast pokemon that can fight well outside of Trick Room. If I need to revenge kill something after TR goes down, Heatran is who I switch to.
Fire Blast is for when I don’t want the Sp. Atk. drop, and Earth Power is just a good coverage move versus other Heatran and the like. HP Grass is a key move, used to threaten Quagsire and other bulky Ground/Waters who are otherwise tough to get around barring Megahorn/Façade.
I love using this guy on the same team as Bronzong, as often you can switch him in on Earthquakes meant for Heatran to set up TR.
Fire Blast is for when I don’t want the Sp. Atk. drop, and Earth Power is just a good coverage move versus other Heatran and the like. HP Grass is a key move, used to threaten Quagsire and other bulky Ground/Waters who are otherwise tough to get around barring Megahorn/Façade.
I love using this guy on the same team as Bronzong, as often you can switch him in on Earthquakes meant for Heatran to set up TR.
-This team is very offensive, and focuses a lot of switching and luring certain moves to not end up on the short end of the stick. In other words, it’s kinda tricky to use in my opinion.
-Versus rain teams: These can be very tough, as always Slowking is a key member in handling strong special attackers like Specs Politoed and friends. Luckily if I can manage to get Esc or Durr in safely with some TR turns up, many things are going to get OHKO’d because there tend to be a lot of frail sweepers involved.
-Versus sand teams: Probably the easiest out of the three most common weathers, because more sand teams rely on their speed boost than their defense boost nowadays. The only thing I need to watch out for is Gliscor, who is a BIG pain for this team.
-Versus sun teams: These rely a lot on speed too, but also carry a lot of Fire attacks. This can sometimes overload Slowking, particularly when used in conjunction with Solarbeam or Venusaur or both. Again, if Dur or Esc get in safely, things are going to get hurt.
Biggest threat pokemon:
-Marvel Scale Dragonite: This thing is a HUGE pain to fight, especially in the rain. It does great at stalling me out of my TR turns, and usually has a Fire or Ground move to kill Magnezone with.
-Physical wall Gliscor: The ones with more bulk than attack are very annoying. Façade doesn’t do enough to 2HKO, and Overheat doesn’t OHKO. Moreover, they can easily stall with Protect.
-Subpunch Breloom: Always an annoyance, it is especially tough here because my only fighting resist is also Grass weak. :(
-Versus rain teams: These can be very tough, as always Slowking is a key member in handling strong special attackers like Specs Politoed and friends. Luckily if I can manage to get Esc or Durr in safely with some TR turns up, many things are going to get OHKO’d because there tend to be a lot of frail sweepers involved.
-Versus sand teams: Probably the easiest out of the three most common weathers, because more sand teams rely on their speed boost than their defense boost nowadays. The only thing I need to watch out for is Gliscor, who is a BIG pain for this team.
-Versus sun teams: These rely a lot on speed too, but also carry a lot of Fire attacks. This can sometimes overload Slowking, particularly when used in conjunction with Solarbeam or Venusaur or both. Again, if Dur or Esc get in safely, things are going to get hurt.
Biggest threat pokemon:
-Marvel Scale Dragonite: This thing is a HUGE pain to fight, especially in the rain. It does great at stalling me out of my TR turns, and usually has a Fire or Ground move to kill Magnezone with.
-Physical wall Gliscor: The ones with more bulk than attack are very annoying. Façade doesn’t do enough to 2HKO, and Overheat doesn’t OHKO. Moreover, they can easily stall with Protect.
-Subpunch Breloom: Always an annoyance, it is especially tough here because my only fighting resist is also Grass weak. :(
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Thank you for reading and making suggestions! :)
