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Hard Trick Room Team Analysis | Pokémon VGC Guide

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.



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Dragon Gym Leader Team Building Guide | Pokémon Champions

Hi, , I'm the dragon gym leader, but I'm ns how to structure these teams. I'm basically trying to build them effectively, but not having much luck. As u know, we're allowed two non-type, non-mega pokemon for our teams. For those of you not aware, there's talks of putting a restricted list in place. Currently the plan will be that everyone will be allowed one Mon from the list. I have suggested that gym leaders get two, but can only bring one to a battle. But this hasn't been set in stone yet. The first team is a team designed to be fast, while the second is a tr team. Thoughts on my teams?


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Top VGC Team Builds & Competitive Sets | Pokémon Champions

Swampert @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Wave Crash
- Protect

Raichu @ Raichunite Y
Ability: Lightning Rod
Modest Nature
- Zap Cannon
- Protect
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast

Pelipper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Weather Ball
- Hurricane
- Tailwind

Sinistcha @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Hospitality
Calm Nature
- Matcha Gotcha
- Trick Room
- Protect
- Rage Powder

Gholdengo @ Kasib Berry
Ability: Good as Gold
Timid Nature
- Make It Rain
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

Archaludon @ Leftovers
Ability: Stamina
Calm Nature
- Electro Shot
- Flash Cannon
- Dragon Pulse
- Protect

80 messages

Mega Raichu X & Staraptor VGC Team Building Help

I have almost completed my Raichu X team but I don’t know what mon I should use as my final mon. I also made two bases to build on and if I should change the moves or the mons please say it. Also please don’t recommend me incin, sneasler, kingambit, farig, gholdengo, archaludon or pelipper


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Pokémon VGC Team Building: Is Baton Pass Viable?

blaziken with baton pass is replaceable with any coverage move. my other plan is like i give gambit a middling speed investment so that i can actually benefit from baton pass but can also play inside trick room with like for example a hundred speed stat. garchomp will definitely benefit from speed aswell, i tested it a bit and it actually is good with vivillion for sleep powder support and this is like a cheap reiteration of swampert vivillion interaction. will it be any good? thanks!

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31 messages

Building a Competitive Ttar-Excadrill VGC Team

I'm entering a local tournament so I'm trying to make a team that I feel the most experienced with
That being ttar excadrill sand
So I'm gonna need some partners to make sure my team can be as successful as possible(preferably w/ dual megas)

12 messages

Mega Chandelure VGC Team Building Help | Pokémon Champions

I’ve had pretty good success with this team but I have had a lot of trouble with Big 6 (or teams with Charzard Y and/or Garchomp) or Rain, or bulky water types in general (Milotic, Mega Blastoise)

Some changes I’ve previously made:
- Primarina instead of Sylveon to have a stronger matchup against Sand/Rock Slide users
- Sash Kingambit to help with the Charzard Y and Fighting moves
- Rock Slide/Tomb on Mega Kangaskhan (Ice Punch is too important against Garchomp)
- Sunny Day on Whimsicott to help with Rain and boost Chandelure’s damage (I’ve found it inconsistent and generally locks my team into Tailwind mode)

I feel like this team has been really good but I have hit a block around Master Tier 3, any help would be amazing thank you!


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Master Pokémon VGC Teambuilding: Official Guide & Examples

THIS THREAD IS TO SERVE AS EXAMPLE FOR WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN POSTS REQUESTING ASSISTANCE

This is not an exhaustive list, nor are all of the below items required. This is only as a reference to what we would like to see to best help you.

If you do not provide a description of what you are looking for, the staff team will ask you to delete your thread and repost using these guidelines.

If you are a newer player just starting out, a screenshot of all of your available Pokemon and a description of the archetype you would like to use are acceptable alternatives to the below example. Examples of archetypes include, but are not limited to, rain, sun, sand, stall, trick room, balance, or hyper offense.

"Hello, , I am looking for assistance with my team to brush it up. I am playing a defensive archetype and it just feels off.

My team is centered around Mega Aggron. I am using it's bulky defenses as a backbone of the team. Aggron has a lot going for it. It's ability filter weakens super effective hits and allows it to stay on the field for longer. With body press and heavy slam, it can push out consistent damage that threatens most mons and keeps it a target. Super defensively bulky, I knew it needed some assistance as it was soaking up hits.

This lead me to Hisuian Goodra, the opposite counterpart to Mega Aggron. Super specially bulky, not only does it threaten water Pokemon that give Aggron trouble, but it also provides much needed support with life dew. Getting both super bulky pokemon an extra 1/4 health at any given time provides plenty of time to either set up an iron defense, or allow a protect and get free health back with little drawbacks. Goodra has enough damage output to make the opponent second guess who they need to target in a given turn.

Next up is Galarian Slowking. The knockoff toxapex, regenerator keeps him healthy and he is able to utilize his psychic to take out quick fighting type threats. Super bulky and chips away at the opponents health with toxic strats. I paired it with muddy water. While very inaccurate and lead to a few unclutch misses, it provides wiggle room with its accuracy drops, especially when the opponent is running more inaccurate moves like heat wave.

At this point I realized I was just super slow and had to hope to keep my damage output high enough that it didn't matter. That wasn't going to work. Which brings me to my next Pokemon of choice.

Typhlosion was brought on the team for fast consistent pressure with its eruption. Paired with Hisuian Goodra, not only could I be one of the faster pokemon on the field with a very powerful spread move, I could also use Goodra as a health pack to keep the eruptions going at full power.

Something I did not have a tool for at this point, even with Typhlosion was soaking up fire types. This is where Aqua Tauros comes in. Decently fast and hits unbelievably hard, Tauros is used for a quick priority aqua jet or a complete deletion with wave crash or close combat.

To round out my team, I picked Mega Altaria. Not only does it threaten dragon, fighting and dark types, of which I have very little answers for, it also gives me a useful tailwind against teams with more middling to slightly above average speed. Many times I utilize it's pixilated hyper voice combined with Typhlosion's eruption to give heavy pressure. This allows me to frequently control the boardstate of tougher matchups, as very little Pokemon could resist both attacks at once. I could also use this to predict a pivot and launch a draco meteor into a slot with a clear switch."

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11 messages

Mega Raichu X Team Building Help | Pokémon VGC Strategy

I have been trying to renovate my Raichu X team and I have a base of 3 mons but I don’t know who to put as my remaining team members or if I should change Raichu’s move to volt switch or electro web. Also please don’t recommend me incin, sneasler, archaledon, kingambit, farig or gholdengo

7 messages

Optimizing Mega Dragalge VGC Teams | Strategy Discussion

While he climbs the Pokemon VGC ladder and provides live commentary as he goes he used a team using Mega Dragalge and I've been using it. Currently, I'm a little torn on the team, I'm not often setting trick room so I'm playing without speed control, and just trying to outplay and outlast other teams. I think there's a better team in here somewhere but was hoping to get some help finding it. I understand Dragalge is not the best Mon, but I think it's good enough to do stuff.

Currently my thought is that the team kind of wants to play in trick room but it also would like helping hand because Dragalge with lots of Spa investment misses a lot of OHKOs but barely. This makes me think farigiraf would be a good choice for the team. But I was struggling to figure out what kind of farig to run and how to fit in the team without losing all of my damage.

I like a9 because it deals with garchomp fairly well. Sini feels necessary for the team. Incin feels pretty good obviously, but I could see it being swapped for something to help with steel types and if it also helps with trick room that'd be neat. Still not 100% on life orb 0 speed Gambit but I've used similar builds for a bit and it's fine. I could also see messing with or replacing rotom wash, but fast will-o-wisp is fantastic into chomp and gambit.

Would love some thoughts on adjustments to try and make my speed control feel more natural and how to improve dealing with steel types (Gambit and arch are both problems)


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Building an Eelektross VGC Team | Pokémon Champions

First time i dont know where to start lol. I've been trying some elektross teams, and they felt alright, but alright isn't good enough when you aren't using meta. I'd prefer tailroom, but it's fine what comes out.

My current idea is to run elektross, chomp, sin, mega floette/delphox/blastiose. But again, if that can't work out, im down to try anything

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20 messages

Optimize Your Rain Team: VGC Strategy & Build Advice

I’d like some suggestions on how to improve my Golden Rain team. I struggle with Staraptor a bit which is why I put in Gholdengo and funny enough I struggle with Zard Y if I lose the weather war.

Some things I’ve played with - Thunder or Power Gem on Gholdengo. I’ve tried Metagross, Basc, and Scizor instead of Gholdengo he just seems to be the best addition specifically for Staraptor and Fairies/Ice.

Tsareena is here for FO abusers and taunt for TR but I’m noticing in MB2 that I don’t see TR nearly as much. Maybe that’s a spot I could switch out.

Any other suggestions? This has been by far my best performing team and one that I feel comfortable with.


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