Building the Perfect Hard Trick Room Team | VGC Strategy
Résumé
The Pokémon Champions | VGC Battles & Tournaments community is collaborating on a competitive Hard Trick Room team build. This discussion focuses on optimizing team synergy, evaluating potential attackers like Spiritomb, and refining EV spreads for core members like Cofagrigus, Conkeldurr, and Mega Mawile. Join the server to share your expertise and help finalize this powerful VGC lineup.
I need help with my last pokemon of this hard tr team, the pokemon i have work perfectly, but i want one final tr attacker, can anyone help me?
My teams plan, is basically cofagrigus will o wisps conkeldurr who dose absurd damage wirh either mawile or torkoal + sinistcha inthe back, depending on opposite team
Cofagrigus @ Mental Herb
Ability: Mummy
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 13 Def / 21 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Haze
- Trick Room
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Sinistcha @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Hospitality
Level: 50
EVs: 31 HP / 7 Def / 28 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Matcha Gotcha
- Trick Room
- Rage Powder
- Life Dew
Torkoal @ Charcoal
Ability: Drought
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 SpA / 2 SpD
Modest Nature
- Eruption
- Earth Power
- Heat Wave
- Protect
Conkeldurr @ Life Orb
Ability: Guts
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 SpD
Brave Nature
- Iron Head
- Play Rough
- Ice Punch
- Protect
why cofagrisgus specifically here
Mummy could be harmful since mawile relies on the ability to be good
Rockslide over ice punch is really nice
True, but i mainly have it as my tr setter + will o wisp (my main idea was conk, added mawile later ngl)
I am looking at spiritomb, but idk if its any good
He can be really fun.
Some teams don’t have a good answer for it
If you’re not wanting to use farig. The next answer is mental herb mimikyu
It’s really solid
Yeah you should swap it for something less potentially harmful since you don't need it specifically
maybe ghorgeist
Spiritomb is a great trick room setter, max HP, 28 def, 6 SpD. Foul play, trick room snarl and protect
That’s how I run it lol 😂 give or take some defensive EVs
I used to run 31 and 3 lol
I also need will o wisp for conk tho
So i take it its a good spread lol
Yeah it’ll work !
I always use two setters and I remember making my mimikyu sassy and my spirit defence + speed - I think bold
So they could kinda be good at different things
You also only have one mega
I think
And 5 mons
Yep
Spiritomb @ Mental Herb
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 5 Def / 29 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Trick Room
- Protect
- Will-O-Wisp
- Foul Play
Sinistcha @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Hospitality
Level: 50
EVs: 31 HP / 7 Def / 28 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Matcha Gotcha
- Trick Room
- Rage Powder
- Life Dew
Torkoal @ Charcoal
Ability: Drought
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 SpA / 2 SpD
Modest Nature
- Eruption
- Earth Power
- Heat Wave
- Protect
Conkeldurr @ Life Orb
Ability: Guts
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Play Rough
- Ice Punch
- Protect
Swap conk for another mega
It and Mawile have the same role
I have a extra slot (5 pokemon)
True.
Uh megas for trick room were crab golurk dragalgea drampa
Audino lol but I don’t recommend
Camerupt
I was useing golurk for a bit, but, 3 ghost types, wasnt it
You already got torkoal tho so no camerupt
Yeah no golurk
Crab is the same as mawile and conk
I feel crab would also be redundant with conk
Yeah
Slow single target physical nuke with prio
One of the dragons
Drampa of drag
So either drampa or draga
Yep lol drag was nice into things like sylveon that can be annoying
Havent used either ngl
I’m using drampa haha
Discord sent us an expired image link.
Discord sent us an expired image link.
Well, tbh i ran a trampa team (back in m-a) with instruct hyper voice, but thats all ive used it for
That’s pretty cool
Y hyper cutter over intimidate mawile?
Already got incin
Don’t want to proc milo and king too much haha
True
If I didn’t have incin I’d use it
But I don’t actually understand how you guys set trick room reliably without fake out
I see it a lot
Well
I like to gamble when i play
Like
Hahaha it’s still a gamble !
Sometimes I do hatterene and farig so I get it but sometimes I need the security haha
I protect cofagrigus and use konk to wipe any threats if i need to
True
I do that with a farig torkoal lead sometimes
Even high end players double the farig
So I get free heatwaves
What u can do is (in this case) eruption + tr, rither masive dmg, or tr, both are good for you, horrible for them
And in a bo1
That lead is masive, if you can close it out
Yeah ! These teams are a lot stronger in bo1
This is only good in bo1 i think
I’m trying to make it work in bo3 so I’ve cut out a lot of stuff
Fair
I’m trying lol 😂
Im not the best, but what i try to do is round 1, play aggressive, take all the kos u can, round 2, more defensive, and if there is a gme 3, base it off what i saw
Again, not the best
But what i do
If i may ask tho, which would u recomend for my team, drampa or dragaledge? (Ngl, this is my biggest weakness in my opinion, teambuilding)
𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗠 — 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗬𝗦𝗜𝗦
This team originally came from a team I found through this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk1IWKkbm0k
Since then I’ve changed a lot. Moves, spreads and how I use certain Pokémon have all evolved, but the idea behind the team has stayed pretty much the same.
Reliable Trick Room without sacrificing offense.
𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗔𝗙
Farigiraf is the safe Trick Room setter.
It’s bulky, reliable and Armor Tail is huge for this team. Trick Room controls Speed, but priority doesn’t care about Speed order. Farigiraf fixes that.
Once TR is up, it can Protect and keep Armor Tail active while something next to it does the damage.
The downside is that Farigiraf can be passive, which is something I’ve tried to balance with the rest of the team.
𝗛𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗘
Hatterene is the other side of double TR.
Farigiraf gives me safe TR. Hatterene gives me offensive TR.
Hatterene can set Trick Room without giving up offensive pressure. The opponent still has to respect the damage coming from that slot.
For me, Hatterene + Torkoal are a massive part of what makes hard Trick Room actually worth playing.
A good example of the style:
https://youtu.be/bqgUiZcJYQw?si=y_vPE_pBGTJ4CsDA
𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗢𝗔𝗟
Torkoal is the payoff.
Get it onto the field healthy under Trick Room and Eruption can take control of a game very quickly.
The team does a lot to create that opportunity.
Sometimes the game plan really is as simple as:
Get TR up → keep Torkoal healthy → Eruption.
𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗔
Drampa is probably the glue of the team.
It has huge Special Attack, great Speed for TR and some really useful resistances.
But the biggest reason I love it is Cloud Nine.
It creates some awesome switches against weather teams. Against rain, for example, I can Intimidate something like Swampert with Incineroar and bring Drampa in to shut down the benefits of rain.
It also means Torkoal can Eruption into rain without the usual Fire damage reduction while Cloud Nine is active.
Drampa doesn’t need to beat everything either. What it can’t kill, Hatterene or Torkoal often can.
Those three work incredibly well together.
𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗔
My Incineroar is intentionally unconventional.
I found that bulky Incineroar + bulky Farigiraf was simply too passive. I could reliably establish TR, but sometimes there wasn’t enough immediate damage behind it.
So Incin became much more offensive.
I still get Fake Out and Intimidate, but now the slot can actually threaten serious damage.
It keeps the reliable Farigiraf mode without turning the lead into two Pokémon that just sit there.
𝗠𝗔𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗘
Mawile is more of a specialist.
I don’t bring it nearly as often as the main HTR core. I like it most against slow, passive or screen-based teams.
If someone gives me a turn to set screens, I can sometimes use that opening to Swords Dance + Trick Room and suddenly Mawile becomes a huge problem.
The set is unconventional too.
I stopped relying on Play Rough because the misses weren’t worth it. Iron Head gives me reliability, Thunder Punch hits things Iron Head can’t, Sucker Punch gives priority and Swords Dance punishes passive turns.
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞
The funny thing is that I don’t always Mega Evolve.
The Mega isn’t what makes the team work.
The strength is the HTR core and how everything supports it:
Farigiraf — safe TR and priority protection
Hatterene — offensive TR
Torkoal — huge TR payoff
Drampa — weather control and special pressure
Incineroar — Fake Out, Intimidate and physical damage
Mawile — situational physical win condition
The team has gone through plenty of changes, but the philosophy has never really changed:
Get Trick Room up reliably, don’t give away offensive pressure, and make every TR turn count.
If you can be bothered
Give this a read haha I think it helps since you have a decent understanding you should be able to learn baha
The videos are good even tho the trick room team loses to wolfey it’s still interesting
I think if you’re going hard trick room you need to use hatterene also
She’s the only who gets good results
Ok, ill give it a read (tmrw tho, its midnight where i live > .>)
Easy !
Yeah, i had her, but 3 tr setters was too much
Yeah had to replace one of the other setters
One passive setter one aggressive setter. Hat always is the aggressive setter
Sinistcha was healing, and cof / spirit is will o wisp (which makes me deal a LOT more dmg, like 2 ohkos with rockslide type)
Sinis is cool like I didn’t use it much I considered it a fast teams way to shut down trick room more then a trick room Mon
Conk is surprisingly strong with guts + life orb, if u have time, calc some stuff, cause imo, it has potential (atleast in bo1)
I keep imagining you missing your will o wisp
Yeah, but when my main atk takes recoil from burn + life orb, heals are nice lol
Ngl, i missed 1, and didnt rlly matter (protected + ohko into charry)
Fair. Just trick room turns are really valuable I hate the set up
I agree, thats why i tend to atk while i set it up, that way i never lose a turn, but even if that fails, i usually use my other sweeper and have a backup setter in sinistcha (who can heal if any1 is low)
Anyhow, ima talk tmrw, i gotta wake up in 4 hours ;-;
Yeah being able to attack when you set up is super nice. I can’t always afford that tho like say Zard and chomp are infront of me I need a way to stop one of them from attacking on turn one
Kk Gn !!
yo, im back if you can keep helping me > .>
Hahah hello !
Good morning
