Wicked, Tricksy Fox

Discussion in 'Rate My Team' started by SkipShot, Jun 24, 2010.

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  1. SkipShot

    SkipShot New Member

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    When the OU doubles tier came out some time ago, I built a team to see how it would do, and ended up battling it against ete. It turned out to be pretty successful from that point on, racking up an OU Doubles tournament victory and getting me to 5th on the OU Doubles leaderboard at its peak. This team is being retired, so I see no reason as to why I can't show it here.

    Imported Version first as a requirement:
    Togekiss (M) @ Lum Berry
    Trait: Serene Grace
    EVs: 108 HP / 252 Def / 144 SDef
    Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
    - Follow Me
    - Protect
    - Air Slash
    - Flamethrower

    Bronzong @ Lum Berry
    Trait: Levitate
    EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 144 SDef
    Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
    - Trick Room
    - Gyro Ball
    - Explosion
    - Zen Headbutt

    Tyranitar (M) @ Life Orb
    Trait: Sand Stream
    EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 SAtk
    Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
    - Ice Beam
    - Superpower
    - Dark Pulse
    - Flamethrower

    Rhyperior (M) @ Expert Belt
    Trait: Solid Rock
    EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SDef
    Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
    - Earthquake
    - Stone Edge
    - Megahorn
    - Fire Punch

    Spiritomb (M) @ Spell Tag
    Trait: Pressure
    EVs: 244 HP / 60 Atk / 204 SAtk
    Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
    - Shadow Ball
    - Hidden Power [Rock]
    - Shadow Sneak
    - Pursuit

    Honchkrow (M) @ Life Orb
    Trait: Insomnia
    EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
    Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
    - Brave Bird
    - Sucker Punch
    - Superpower
    - Night Slash

    Breakdown:

    Leading Duo:

    I wanted to guarantee that Trick Room would get up no matter what, so I opted for a Follow me leader to back up Bronzong so he could set up Trick Room. Togekiss became my choice because of its pretty reasonable bulk.

    [​IMG]
    Togekiss (M) @ Lum Berry
    Trait: Serene Grace
    EVs: 108 HP / 252 Def / 144 SDef
    Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
    - Follow Me
    - Protect
    - Air Slash
    - Flamethrower

    Protect allows me to scout for moves as well as keep me safe from Bronzong blowing up. I used to have Roost in the last slot- until lead steel types got annoying and I switch to Flamethrower so Togekiss wasn't being walled by them.

    Bronzong was my only Trick Room setup Pokemon, which was a hindrance at times, but Bronzong could always get the job off in those first crucial turns of the battle.

    [​IMG]

    Bronzong @ Lum Berry
    Trait: Levitate
    EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 144 SDef
    Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
    - Trick Room
    - Gyro Ball
    - Explosion
    - Zen Headbutt

    You may have noticed that Lum Berry is on both Bronzong and Togekiss. I did this as a precaution to those annoying Dark Void Smeargle leads that are crippling. However, I've rarely seen Dark Void Smeargle, which is nice, and the Lum Berries have come in handy for the random burn and paralysis chance afflictions that come across Togekiss' and Bronzong's paths.

    Anyways, Bronzong has a somewhat unique attacking movepool. Most Doubles Bronzong that I have seen run Explosion, Earthquake, and Gyro Ball. This is utterly walled by the Rotom formes (normally not seen in Doubles play outside of Pkmn Online aka Wifi), so I went with Zen Headbutt instead of Earthquake. It's also proven useful in other occasions, being able to deal upwards of 90% to Machamp and smack around Breloom and other fighting types. The flinchhax is also welcome. ^__^


    The offensive core:

    I like TR sweepers with a lot of bulk but massive power as well. In this case, I went for a sandstorm combo with high defense Pokemon for a overall bulky powerhouse. Tyranitar was my first choice because of its ability to produce Sandstorm, which not only cripples other weather teams but adds on residual damage, which can help out in some 2HKOes or OHKOes.

    [​IMG]

    Tyranitar (M) @ Life Orb
    Trait: Sand Stream
    EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 SAtk
    Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
    - Ice Beam
    - Superpower
    - Dark Pulse
    - Flamethrower

    This actually started out as the standard Tyraniboah set from Smogon, but as time progressed, I realized that setup really doesn't work under Trick Room. I decided to go instead with a semi-bulky Mixed Tyranitar set with the same EVs as the original Boah. Tyranitar hits a lot of things hard that are difficult for his teammate to take out, such as Snorlax, Blissey, Gliscor, and Scizor. Dark Pulse also really comes in handy against Dusknoir and Slowking, which are common on Trick Room teams.

    Tyranitar's teammate is Rhyperior, who can take hits like a champ when coupled with Solid Rock and Sandstorm boosts. Rhyperior also hits like a truck, and can pair well with Togekiss and Honchkrow once Tyranitar gets sandstorm going because of Earthquake.

    [​IMG]

    Rhyperior (M) @ Expert Belt
    Trait: Solid Rock
    EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SDef
    Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
    - Earthquake
    - Stone Edge
    - Megahorn
    - Fire Punch

    I chose Expert Belt in order to bluff as a choiced sweeper, which worked well at times when Rhyperior wrecked through teams. Stone Edge was probably Rhyperior's most used move, because a lot of stuff in OU Doubles is immune to Earthquake. Fire Punch was nice for smacking around levitating steels, landing a 2HKO on Bronzong and having a chance to 2HKO Skarmory. Megahorn was chosen as a coverage move for stuff like Celebi and Slowking, although I did debate having Thunderpunch there for bulky waters.


    The Emergency Backup:

    One of the banes of Trick Room teams is what happens when Trick Room wears off. A successful TR team has emergency backups for this very reason, so that it can function with and without Trick Room. In this case, I used priority as a backup, as well as the use of Honchkrow- a powerful sweeper with mediocre speed that could function with and without Trick Room successfully.

    My first back up came in the form of Spiritomb, who really saved games at times with Shadow Sneak and a little surprise:

    [​IMG]

    Spiritomb (M) @ Spell Tag
    Trait: Pressure
    EVs: 244 HP / 60 Atk / 204 SAtk
    Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
    - Shadow Ball
    - Hidden Power [Rock]
    - Shadow Sneak
    - Pursuit

    This is a carbon copy of Xia's Mixed Attacker Spiritomb from Smogon with the Speed EVs removed and a Speed reducing nature. However, instead of Hidden Power Fighting, I chose Hidden Power Rock to hit Gyarados and Salamence with, and it has proven very useful at times. Shadow Sneak is great at picking off weakened opponents, and Shadow Ball just tears into Dusknoir and Slowking. Pursuit was mainly a filler move, and I did consider dropping it for Sucker Punch at times, which would probably have been more useful. Protect also could have been an option to block Bronzong's Earthquake. Spiritomb also fulfills a great job at being able to absorb Bronzong's Explosions without the use of Protect (except for that one time when someone threw an Odor Sleuth Snorlax at me @_@ )

    My last sweeper was Honchkrow, another game saver because of an extremely powerful Sucker Punch and plenty of other attacks to go with it, such as Superpower.

    [​IMG]

    Honchkrow (M) @ Life Orb
    Trait: Insomnia
    EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
    Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
    - Brave Bird
    - Sucker Punch
    - Superpower
    - Night Slash

    I chose to go with both Sucker Punch and Night Slash so that Dusknoir couldn't be a pain and set up Trick Room on me easily once Sucker Punch failed. Night Slash also works as a very powerful STAB, ripping through teams with 2HKOes and OHKOes on unresisted Pokemon. Brave Bird could hit the occasional fighting type, but I didn't use it too much because of the lack of Roost. Superpower came in handy when Snorlax, Tyranitar, etc. was around. Honchkrow also fulfilled a role as a Sleep Absorber in case Smeargle attempted a second Dark Void, and Honchkrow could just take it with Insomnia and pick it off with Night Slash or Superpower afterward.


    Overall, I had a lot of fun with this team, and it is what got me to start playing OU Doubles. I'm beginning to experiment with a lot of other Double Battle strategies, both TR and un-TR related, so leave a comment or rate here and hit me up on the server if you want a Doubles match! I'll be waiting, and hope you enjoyed my lengthy shpeel on this team! ;)
     
  2. eric the espeon

    eric the espeon is an espeon.

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    Cool team, Follow Me+Trick Room Bronzong is hard to stop and it's a struggle to face a TR team once it has set up.

    I'd definitely suggest using (or trying) Rock Slide on Tyranitar over Superpower, not only does it get STAB it hits both opponents and under TR has a solid chance of getting at least one flinch (47% taking accuracy into account). Worth trying it on Rhyperior too, double Rock Slide is brutal especially from such powerful Pokemon.

    Bet teams with many protect users give you hell, a backup Trick Roomer would help hugely. Does Spiritomb help that much? There are a few other Ghosts with TR and solid stats, Dusknoir with 100 base Attack looks most appealing (and you could even run a fighting move like Focus Punch on it to cover Snorlax/Blissey). Oh, and Bronzong is better off with max HP and Atk, investing in Def/SpD does not help as much because of it's low base HP. And maybe Relaxed would be better on Togekiss? more flinches under TR.
     
  3. SkipShot

    SkipShot New Member

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    With Tyranitar, I prefer the use of Superpower so I can hit Blissey and Snorlax for OHKOes, but I could try out Rock Slide on Rhyperior.

    Dusknoir does have the priority that Spiritomb provides, I'll try him out. And yea relaxed kiss sounds like a good idea.

    Thanks for the rate!
     
  4. Sleuth

    Sleuth Member

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    Hey, Skipshot, nice TR team. Wish I could have shown you mine, may post it later. Anyway, have you considered running Regigigas? It can stall much easier in TR, and Slow Start runs out one turn before Trick Room, which is convienient. It's helped me sweep late in the game, when my Trick Room Pokemon have bitten the dust.
     
  5. SkipShot

    SkipShot New Member

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    The one thing I dislike about Regigigas in TR is that it only functions well in TR when Slow Start is still active, which means pitiful attack. I guess Staller Gigas could be used well, then he can sweep once TR is down, but the thing with OU Doubles is that the opponent can focus their strongest attacks on Regigigas to bring it down unless Togekiss is still alive and can use Follow Me. Slowking is also a common TR Pokemon, and laughs off Regigigas' Confuse Ray, so unless you're lucky enough to not encounter Slowking, I think Regigigas is a pretty iffy option under TR.
     
  6. Sleuth

    Sleuth Member

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    Mm, I see your point. However, i enjoy success with it, so =P. Just for interests sake, I actually run Dusknoir and Regigigas as a duo. Regigigas uses Swagger, and Dusknoir uses Psych Up. Sounds gimmicky, but actually, this can halt opponents long enough for Noir to deal heavy damage with Shadow Punch and Earthquake, and Trick Room to run out for Regigigas to power up. Try it if you like, hope you're pleased with the results!
     
  7. SkipShot

    SkipShot New Member

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    I've seen a similar combination to that that I want to try one day. One battler by the name of GigaTitan on YouTube ran a nasty Belly Drum Lax in tandem with Psych Up/Trick Room Zong. With +6 attack Zong could rip into teams with Gyro Ball, OHKOing most of the time unless the opponent resisted and was somewhat to really slow.
     
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