We spies, we slow hands

[Matthew]

Changes in orange
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Slow Hands

I submit my incentive is romance, I watched the pole dance of the stars, We rejoice cause the hurting is so painless, From the distance of passing cars. Well, this is Gen. Empoleon with another fabulous RMT, so I decided to brush off my old Trick Room team and see how it handled Platinum, to my surprise it did fairly well despite all the new threats. Though, it wouldn't be a Gen thread without a long winded explanation of how I made this team, and what I did to prepare. so let us get started!

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What is Trick Room?

Trick Room is a "weather" type move that causes the slower pokemon to always go first. There are exceptions to this rule, if the opposing pokemon is paralized he will most likely go first, and priority always goes first. So Scizors new toy Bullet Punch is just as effective as ever. Trick Room has no way of being exteneded like Rain and Sun can, and it only lasts four turns, since the first turn you use Trick Room counts as one of the five. Giving you three turns total to get a sweep if you go to another pokemon.

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Issues

Well Trick Room is fucked once the Trick Roomers are gone, since they rely on their low base speed to help them in the long run. They can hit hard, but if your opponent can out predict you, you're in for a lot of trouble. Priority is still an issue, so SD Bulet Punch / Extreme Speed from Scizor / Lucario can still be an issue. Pokemon that can survive a Trick Room hit and Stat Up on the last turn of Trick Room. Trick Room lasts for four turns, meaning I'll need constant coverage from the Roomers. Lastly, what do I do when Trick Room is down.
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Solutions

Well, to settle this, I'm going to need three Trick Roomers to give me full coverage, and to help me counter threats if Trick Room is down. Secondly, I will need a slow, yes powerful Priority abuser who will help me if Trick Room is down. I'll need a slow mixed wall breaker to help me out mid/early game. I'll need completely solid pokemon that can take priority moves, and I'll need pokemon that can explode once Trick Room is out

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Team Overview

Trick Room supporter # 1: Who can provide Trick Room coverage throughout the game, and will handle most leads
Trick Room supporter # 2: Who can provide Trick Room coverage through out the game and has the abilty to sweep
Trick Room supporter # 3: Who can provide Trick Room coverage through out the game and can wall pokemon
Trick Room Abuser # 1: Who can hit hard with special attacks, and doesn't mind priority
Trick Room Abuser # 2: Who is a hard hitting priority user that is physically dominant
Trick Room Abuser # 3: Who is a mixed wall breaker, doesn't mind most priority, hits extremely hard.
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The Team

Tricky Bastards:
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@ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 240 HP/164 Def/12 SAtk/92 SDef
Quiet nature
- Trick Room
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
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Overview:
Porygon2 is an excellent pokemon to carry in a Trick Room team, as he provides a Gyarados counter, and can start the matches off the right way. He usually will get Trick Room off nice and early to allow one of my sweepers to come in and have a good time with the team. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam are there for coverage and to counter Salamence and Gyarados if my Trick Room is up, while I can recover off health.

Why not another lead:
Porygon2 starts off the match giving me an advantage against Heatran, though the occasional Heatran lead might not give me an exact reason why to always lead with him, He also messes with pokemon quite often. Porygon2 is an eradict pokemon, meaning people usually expect him too Magic Coat something or to paralize / Toxic with an attack. Most leads wouldn't care about getting Toxic or Paralized since they're still getting their rocks down.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 212 HP/44 Def/252 SAtk
Quiet nature
- Nasty Plot
- Surf
- Slack Off
- Trick Room
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Overview:
Slowking was the next obvious choice, since his natural bulk, and the ability to stat up was to good to pass up on. Trick Room, Nasty Plot, Surf. He is only walled by Vaporeon, as other bulky Waters won't be able to handle his boosted STAB Surfs. He also has the ability to heal, something which I find invaluable.

Why not another Trick Roomer:
Slowking was a throw up between him, his brother Slowbro and Dusknoir. Slowbro has more bulk than Slowking and can stat up via Calm Mind, and Dusknoir can cripple pokemon with Will-o-Wisp. Why Slowking then? Nasty Plot. I will get a +2 SpAtk boost which is something that I need on a Trick Room team. I can't waste my time statusing and using slower Stat Ups like Calm Mind. I have four turns to get sweeping, every turn I'm spending to get a +2 or +3 or spreading status I need to be deal damage.

@ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/152 Atk/8 Def/96 SDef
Relaxed nature
- Trick Room
- Gyro Ball
- Trick
- Explosion
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Overview:
Bronzong is my last Trick Roomer. I decided that my last Trick Roomer should be able to switch my sweepers in safely, the only way to do that is Explosion. Hypnosis is terrible now, sp I decided to use Choice Band + Tick to help me get a nice hit on Heatran and to cripple a bunch of the faster threats in todays Metagame. Gyro Ball is for faster threats.

Why not another Trick Roomer:
Well, no other Trick Roomer can pull of Explosion + Trick Room as well as Bronzong can. He also helps against Rock types with Gyro Ball, not to mention can sleep pokemon while remaining extremely bulky. Mostly is here to come in mid-late game to explode on something that has been causing me grief the entire game. He really would be the most replaceable Trick Roomer, but no one else can do this job.

The Abusers:
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@ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Brave nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Return
- Ice Punch
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Overview:
Azumarill carries a huge punch in Trick Room teams thanks to Huge Power + Choice Band. Some may say that using a Choice Band pokemon in a Trick Room team is completely stuoid, well they no nothing. Aqua Jet is a priority move that is the most treaured thing on this team, while Waterfall is the gneric STAB move and Returnand Ice Punch are for coverage.

Why not another abuser:
Well, Azumarill was hand picked out of the other abusers for the fact he can abuse a STAB priority move outside of Trick Room, often saving me the game from a Heatran or something. Choice Band is not a stupid idea on a Trick Room abuser either, as you should be able to predict fairly well, and mess with your opponents mind due to Trick Room. Azumaril has a HUGE stat in attack as well, which helps deal with things like Blissey

@ Life Orb
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/6 SDef
Quiet nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Magnet Rise
- Explosion
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Overview:
Magnezone is a steel trapper. Scizor won't be able to take a Life Orb Thunderbolt coming off this guy, and neither will many steels. He can function outside of Trick Room by being faster than Bronzong and trapping him by using Magnet Rise, to avoid Earthquake. Hidden Power [ICE] if for Dragons and Explosion is when my Trick Room is coming to a close

Why not another abuser:
Mostly I couldn't find any other hard hitting slow special sweepers that would function well (mention clampearl and I'll kill you). He has the ability to trap and pressure steels, along with giving me an answer to Dragons and Ground. Explosion is another great move to carry on a abuser so I can get a Trick Roomer in safely at the end of my three turns of sweeping.

@ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 SAtk
Brave nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast

Overview:
Tyranitar is a mixed special attacker. Bosting a tremendus attack stat and a fairly decent special attack stat not much can stand in his way. Crunch + Stone Edge + Earthquake + Fire Blast give total coverage to what ever can come in on this guy. Fire Blast was mainly for Skarmory's since they were popular, now it's for Scizor and Forretress. Stone Edge for Dragons + Gyarados and Crunch is for Ghosts and Psychics

Why not another abuser:
Mostly because nothing else could do a good job at mix attacking, and was slow enough to be in a Trick Room team. He can wall break like a champion and nothing really stops him until Trick Room comes to a close. He can take a beating as well, a Sciors Bullet Punch should not be able to OHKO him, making it easier and easier to take down pokemon with him.

Threat list to be added

 

[Olimarman]

Why Special Attack EVs on TTar? I would just invest Special Attack EVs to have enough to OHKO the likes of scizor and forretress and even Skarm if you think it will cause you a problem, though I'm fairly posititve a 4x weak hit would OHKO without any EVs. After that, invest the rest in hp for more bulk.

Overall, nice team, has a lot of uniqueness to it outside of it being a TR team.

 

[Imran]

I can't help but think that your "problem" with Bronzong may well be Hypnosis, it is really quite unrelibale now, in fact I avoid it's use completely, what might be a fun idea, would be to give Bronzong a Choice Scarf, that way it will speed up things, it will cripple things like Gyarados who might try to come in and set up a DD on you (or try to Taunt you). It will also work with the Trick Room theme of your team, possibly making one of your opponants walls faster!

I also think that a Life Orb will be useful for you on Azumarill, The ability to switch moves will really be invaluable, even if you predict right and catch their Salamence with an Ice Punch, then can simply stall out the rest of the Trick Room with Heatran, or something like that. Life Orb won't help your surviverability, but that is not a nessecity in a Trick Room team, as they are designed for short powerful attacks, to sweep quickly. I will also suggest Hidden Power Grass on your Zone, Swampert is going to be a bit of a bitch for you (Slowking Abuses him nicely, but apart from that you might find yourself walled more often than not). In short, now Garchomp is gone, you can hit Dragons with Thunderbolt should you Wish to, or simply explode on them, so the highest level mthreat would be Swampert, who you really can't do much against. Sorry If my reasoning isn't entirely clear, I'll explain myself better later should you Wish, I'm a little tired now lol.

I agree with Olimarman on Tyranitar, you'll really be wanting the HP EVs on Tyranitar, enough SpA to 2HKO Skarmory will be fine, which you have already, considering that you are holding the Life Orb, I'd change it simply to 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA if I were you, the ability to have Bulky sweepers is what makes Trick Room so attractive, so I'd abuse that as much as you can. This will help you out especially against Zapdos who may be a bit of a bitch otherwise.

In all honesty I really do like this team, and I am going to leave my Rate at that. I see the resoning behind choosing each mon, and I am sure that they work well together, as you seem to have the majority of threats covered. (I'd be interested to know how well you have been doing with this) You have some nice back up plans with Azu and Tar being able to perform outside of Trick Room, and a couple of Explosions, which are always handy! I shall leave it at that.

 

[Matthew]

yeah, I'll change Tyranitars EV spread, and I'll test Azumarill, though you would be amazed how well he works with the Choice Band. I'll try Choice Scarf on Bronzong with Trick.

This team does fairly well in todays metagame, in case someone wanted to use it

 

[MetaNite]

Why does Bronzong have a Choice Scarf!? Even with Trick, I'd definately use Choice Band (take that Heatran).

I remember battling a TR team of yours awhile ago, and it was one hell of a match. Interesting ending, I think I saved the log...

From that I see Starmie and Jolteon being a pain if you don't have Trick Room up. In addition you lack an Electric immunity, with only Magnezone to take all your Electric attacks.

Tyranitar handles the former pretty well, but can't take repeated hits from SpecsJolt. To this end I believe Rhyperior would be of more benefit rather than Tyranitar. No, you can't use Fire Blast to great effect but the boost in power sort of makes up for it. That gives you an electric immunity and a super tank to smash stuff with.

Only other thing I suggest is Return > Ice Punch (or Brick Break) on Azumarill. You can hit bulky water really hard who wall Slowking, and Tyranitar to a lesser extent.

 

[Matthew]

Tyranitar handles most things, and SpecsJolt will most likely Baton Pass early game, meaning I'll get Trick Room up to help kill him later. Also Bronzong can Trick a Choice Band to him, limiting his usefulness as a pokemon. I do agree with Return > Brick Break, though.

Rhyperior was overlooked in the making of this team due to his lesser SpDef, SpAtk and his ability to not boost his own SpDef via Sand Storm. Everyone slaps a Rhyperior on a Trick Room team and calls it a day, that is not the case. Rhyperior doesn't fuction well on Trick Room teams since he cannot fuction well outside of Trick Room, and if you mispredict you're left with nothing.

 

[legend of Krory]

I fail to see why you need Nasty Plot on Slowking, it's just TauntGyarados bait and it will wall you. Why not replace Nasty Plot for HP Electric? Your better off having coverage than set up, because there are likes of Vaporeon that you could fight 1v1 at the end and Surf is completely useless on it. Also I think you are better off with Life Orb on Azumarill, the constant switches to his attacks could waste Trick Room time. Life Orb is still effective. I could spot a Machamp weakness to the team, but Bronzong will handle it nicely. Just watch out for fighting-types as they put a scare to 3 of your pokemon.

 

[Matthew]

I'll bump it I guess

 

[Game Freak201]

Your mono-attacking Slowking kind of worries me mainly due to the likes of bulky waters not named Gyarados. Though you can get around them by Tricking a Choice Band on them or Exploding on their face. With that aside, I can see that this is a pretty well-constructed TR team. I also like the idea of using MixTar.

 

[Nibsauce]

I REALLY think you should replace Azu's CB with LO.

I know the immense power is tempting but you're using a TR team, if your Azu gets walled you will either switch out or stay in.

No matter which choice you go for, you will be wasting precious TR turns.

Also, it's really recommended that you switch NP on Slowking for another move. Maybe HP Elec/Grass, Elec for Gyara or Grass for Pert.

If at the end of the game it's you vs. Vaporeon you will lose. And besides which, isn't he a trick roomer? He was not meant to be an abuser, so having Nasty Plot in there would contradict what his role is. I highly doubt you would rely on Slowking for sweeping teams. If you really want to keep in NP, then maybe replacing Slack Off is a viable option.

 

[Yuko]

Nibsauce is correct. CB in Trick Room is not suitable, change for LO

 

[stormtrooper]

superpower over return is ok on azumarril at least for hitting blissey but its fine ive just not been a fan of return i guess.
put in a rhyperior instead of magnezone its a beast in sandstorm and trick room.
brave
swords dance
earthquake
stone edge
megahorn
then ice beam over stone edge on tyranitar to ohko gliscor and 2ohko hippo with 252special attack and 252 attack and switch fire blast to flamethrower so it doesnt miss. this is a lure to set up rhyperior after you kill gliscor and hippo.

edit:just having surf is fine on slowking 6+ surf hurts any water not named vaporeon

 

[Yuko]

Just a comment for the previous Rhyperior set, put 0 IV's and Rock Slide>Stone Edge, remember you're in TR circumstances and actually the flinch rate can be a good tool.

 

[Matthew]

Rhyperior is terrible in Trick Room teams. I'm usually open to comments and suggestions, but Rhyperior is rubbish. Replacing Magnezone is also getting rid of my only special abuser, which also is a nono.

Life Orb is replacing Choice Band after I have tested it. More effective

 

[Indra]

Haha, I have played this team before and you have major CB Scizor problems. D=. I can keep U-Turning Out on any of your pokes if Trick Room isnt out and go to a counter then kill it. Maybe you can use a marowak as a sweeper those things are amazing! Anyways this is a fun team to use, it seems. Mixmence is also a problem you kept switching to Tyranitar since you had nothing else. So maybe fix some stuff up =p. Anyways nice team.