Hi, My name is Nox! I’m a longtime Pokémon fan but I’m somewhat new to VGC. I previously played Smogon singles and swapped over to VGC in January. Since then, I’ve been experimenting with a ton of fun strats! I’m active in Wolfe Glick’s subscriber Discord server, and probably my most famous team was one involving Slurpuff and Indeedee-M that Max Gelman used to make Top 16 in the recent online Champions Cup.
Wolfe’s Sub Server recently had our first friendly tournament (we plan to host them biweekly, so maybe join?). After a not-so-great time in the Victory Road Tournament last week, I was able to top cut (going 4-2 in swiss) and eventually made it to the finals before finally losing. Anyways, I’m really happy with this team and so I wanted to share it with some of you!
*This article’s cover image was created by Inika – check out their work over on Tumblr!*
The Squad!
Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
– Trick Room
– Night Shade
– Pain Split
– Bulldoze
There’s not much to say about Dusclops which hasn’t already been voiced within the VGC community; Dusclops’ outrageous bulk makes it one of the most reliable setters of Trick Room in the format. Night Shade offers consistent damage, dealing 50HP with each hit. Due to Dusclops’ low base HP, Pain split is a really strong option for this Pokémon, increasing his longevity whilst also dealing significant damage to healthier opponents. Bulldoze is there to help proc Rhyperior’s weakness policy. There’s nothing super cool about this set, but it works.
Vikavolt @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpA / 12 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
– Discharge
– Energy Ball
– Bug Buzz
– Protect
Here’s the star of the show himself! Despite being a bug type, Vikavolt only has 2 weaknesses (although fire and rock aren’t exactly uncommon) and a very helpful immunity to ground. He almost always comes with Rhyperior, who has Earthquake, allowing them to clean up towards the end of the game with the classic DisQuake combo, hitting most Pokémon in the format for at least neutral damage as well as offering a very nice 30% paralysis chance. I originally had Thunderbolt and Discharge but, due to the necessity for Protect, I opted for just Discharge. Bug Buzz is a reliable bug STAB and Energy Ball rounds out the set nicely, providing a coverage option against the likes of Gastrodon and Rhyperior. Life Orb, coupled with Vikavolt’s base 145 Special Attack provides immense damage output. Although I dynamaxed Vikavolt a fair amount at the beginning of the tourament, it might not be the best option to max consistently with Rhyperior, Conkeldurr and Hatterene being in the team.
Rhyperior @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Solid Rock
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– High Horsepower
– Fire Punch
Another fairly standard set. My Rhyperior notably lacks Protect, instead opting for two ground moves—one for single target damage and one for spread. Whilst missing out on Protect was sometimes bad for me, I feel like the two ground moves were extremely important. I would usually max Rhyperior as Max Rockfall and Max Quake covered her lackluster Special Defence. Outside of Dynamax forme, I would typically use Earthquake or High Horsepower exclusively. Combined with Vikavolt, most opposing squads offered little resistance inside the twisted dimensions.
Hatterene-Gmax (F) @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpA / 12 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
– Dazzling Gleam
– Psychic
– Trick Room
– Mystical Fire
Here’s our secondary Trick Room setter… well… kind of… Hatterene didn’t actually twist the dimensions herself, but she did assist our little cat friend Liepard in setting Trick Room! By far, my most common lead was Hatterene + Liepard. The Max Guard + Copycat strategy (where we would Dynamax Hatterene, click the Trick Room Max Guard slot which would allow Liepard’s Copycat to copy Trick Room) is both fun and surprisingly reliable against a lot of teams I faced. I actually ended up bringing Hatterene, to my surprise, a fair amount more than Dusclops! Babiri Berry was extremely helpful, allowing us to survive a Max Steelspike from Dynamaxed Durant and fire back with a Max Flare for the KO in one of my games.
Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Drain Punch
– Mach Punch
– Ice Punch
– Detect
You know what? It actually took me a while to get around to using this brute. I never really used it, and boy was I missing out. Conkeldurr hits like a truck with its base 140 Atk, and combined with the Guts boost once burned? Wow. Drain Punch helped compensate for the burn damage and Mach Punch gave me a strong priority option against faster targets. Ice Punch provided excellent coverage against Dragapult and Togekiss which usually wall Conkeldurr. I actually ended up bringing Conk the least due to usually bringing Hatterene, Liepard, Vikavolt, and Rhyperior, but he certainly put in some solid work when he was selected for battle!
Liepard @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Copycat
– Fake Out
– Foul Play
– Fake Tears
Liepard is one of my favorite Pokémon. I remember all the way back in Pokémon White leveling it way further than the rest of my team! In competitive play, Liepard is an excellent support Pokémon. The most common usage is to combine it with Hatterene. For the aforementioned Copycat + Max Guard combo. It’s also very nice if your opponent decides to remove your TR with their own use of the move as Copycat will copy TR first next turn, unless your opponent using a higher priority move first! (a list of priority tiers can be found by following this link!) Fake Out is an excellent move if the usual Copycat strategy is blocked by the opposing leads and Fake Tears, if Liepard happens to stick around after the first turn, provides excellent support to Hatterene, helping her secure some surprising KO’s. The most surprising aspect to Liepard for me, however, was the utility of Foul Play; Foul Play is incredibly nice to use against strong physical attackers, especially those weak to Dark (like Dragapult). Pretty much any setup sweeper will take ridiculous damage from a STAB-boosted Foul Play.
Common Leads:
Hatterene x Liepard
This was my most common lead by far and provides you with a fair few options: The typical Max Guard + Copycat strategy, an offensive Max Move + Fake Tears/Fake out, or even going for a Foul Play. This setup was literally never stopped in my entire run through the tournament and never stops being fun to execute! It is vulnerable to Follow Me though, as Copycat will instead copy that, not Trick Room.
Dusclops x Liepard
Another fun lead is Dusclops and Liepard. While I don’t suggest dynamaxing Dusclops, I do suggest using Fake Out to stop a potential Taunt or other pesky move directed at Dusclops in order to help him get off TR.
Vikavolt x Rhyperior
This lead isn’t very common, but against opposing Trick Room, it sometimes works. You can max either of the two and get off to a pretty strong start. The classic DisQuake combination can also be executed to great effect.
Dusclops x Conkeldurr
This was another lead which wasn’t as common. If you see that Dusclops doesn’t have many checks to it setting up TR turn 1, you can lead him with Conk. Conk is also a nice max option. Max Hailstorm and Max Knuckle were very instrumental in me beating Max, the guy who used my Slurpuff team in the CC.
So that’s the team! I hope you’ll give it a whirl on the ladder or in a tourney. It’s been treating me well, and I’m very happy with how it turned out, so I hope you all can find success with it!
Check out the below links to test the team out for yourself either in game or over on Showdown!
A massive thanks to Nox for allowing us to publish his Team Report here on GoldenrodPress!
Follow this link to follow Nox over on Twitter; definitely a player to keep an eye on having already built two successful teams in VGC despite only playing for a relatively short period of time!
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