So I've recently entered a UCL style draft league with 16 members for Singles format. The plan is for us to draft 3 pokemon from each tier betwen OU and NU. Pokemon of PU and lower may be selected in the NU tier.
That being said, I've never done a draft league like this, and I'm really worried about my ability to string together a successful team. I've decided that I want to put together a Trick Room team, as it's one of my favorite concepts. However, I don't have a ton of actual experience running it and thought I'd come here in the hopes of finding someone with a bit more experience who could give me some pointers.
Here's what I know so far:
-I believe I want to run a more offensive form of TR. I've tried to rely more on defensive Pokemon, and I just have trouble getting in the sweepers with this kind of setup.
-I'm aware that I need to select Pokemon that are capable of doing work even without TR, since it's assured I won't be able to always put it up.
-We won't know the draft order until right before it starts, so my main plan is to target 1-2 Pokemon per tier to build the core to my team. The other picks will be there to cover weaknesses or just build a backup strategy based on what's available.
The Pokemon that I'm looking at to build the core of my team so far are M-Heracross, Thundurus-T, and Hydreigon. Conkeldurr also seems like a decent option. I was looking to possibly get my main TR setters from RU and lower, mainly Bronzong and possibly Cofagrigus. The main theory for my team is to start with Bronzong as a suicide lead, dropping TR and rocks if necessary. Then I'd custap into an explode, allowing me to bring in one of the heavier hitters to do work. Thundurus-T would be used as a bit of a speed control with the prankster Twaves, giving me more options outside TR. If possible, I'd also like to get another faster Pokemon or two, such as Jolteon or Typhlosion to potentially swap in for one of my slower threats.
Anyways, thank you for reading and potentially offering any help that you might have. I'm really interested to hear what everyone things, especially @"Elly" and @Black117 .
hey I actually train and build TR and Prankster teams for people and first let me say, for a trick team, the move actually sawpas speed, so Fadt pokemon get slower and Slow gets faster... so if you want trickroom, try going for a trick room pokemon with fast speed to set up early then (and have it have high defense or Special def)
and Deffentilly use items, f your useing Sp Attackers, use items that make opponents moves Miss like Bright powder
same goes with Low sp Deffense pokemon
also another thing to note, Trickroom is a turn based move, so after a certain number of turns it will end, and if the opponent uses a trick room , it will cancel out.
if you want, I could battle you with a trickroom team to show you an examplof Trickroom/Prankster
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@Vohras Hi, I'll be glad to help! While I don't play a lot of draft-league sort of things, @Black117 will certainly be able to help you with that part. That being said, as an avid Smogon player, I've used and built plenty of Trick Room teams and I'll try to give you some tips:
1- While you may want to get a more offensive, fast-paced team, you will still need a bulkier Trick Room setter. That being said, bulky doesn't mean weak; Slowking and Cofagrigus can run Trick Room/Nasty Plot very effectively along with two attacking moves (or an attacking move and a recovery move). Jellicent also has decent Sp. Attack and can help against defensive Pokémon with Taunt/Will-O-Wisp/Hex to help out your offensive mons.
2- One thing I remember using along Trick Room in Singles is VoltTurn, and it seems just as good in the draft format (don't quote me on that, like I said I'm not too experienced in this format): you can either get your Trick Room setter safely on the field or switch into an appropriate check/counter, and it can also help for scouting the opponent's set/item (which seems especially useful in the draft format in my opinion).
3- In your thread you mentionned using your potential Bronzong as a suicide lead; don't! Bronzong has great defenses, and so trying to keep it healthy through the match to ensure that you can set up Trick Room many times would probably be better for you. This goes for all TR setters too.
Since it's draft format and you are likely to get your picks sniped, I won't suggest Pokemon since I won't even know what is available, but obviously try to get maybe half of your team slow/decent in TR and the other half capable of working outside of it. Other than that, don't forget the obvious stuff, like having hazards and hazard control, and good luck! If I can think of anything else I will edit this post.
@"Elly" Thank you for the input! I hadn't considered running a voltturn offense. I could actually run U-Turn and TR on Whimsicott as well. I'm assuming Whimsi would be slower then, due to it's speed and allow me to get a switch into one of my power hitters without taking any damage to them. I'm just not sure Whimsi is bulky enough to do anything, but even if it survives with like no health, I can run Tail Wind on it to come back in later and drop it with Prankster.
First, don't recommend that base the entire team on a Trick Room mode, especially if this is Draft League. In such a format, everyone will try their best to counter team each other to get the best possible matchup. Be aware to have things that can beat checks to Trick Room teams like Dark Types, Taunt, or even Roar/Whirlwind. The problem with generally assessing Draft League ideas is some of those Pokemon listed will likely fall, or get sniped into other teams, not yours entirely. Its always a good idea to list down potential Pokemon for your team, but until the draft is finalized, we can't really "team build" everything about the team for you. In fact, as per rules, wwe can't build you a team directly.
That said, could give you some "ideas" for the team. For Trick Room / abuser, I'd probably recommend the following:
Trick Room users: Victini, Mew, Reuniclus, Porygon2, Cofagrigus, Jellicent, Bronzong, Mesprit, etc.
TR Abusers: Amoonguss, Azumarill, Tyranitar, Conkeldurr, Sylveon, Crawdaunt, Metagross, Machamp, etc
Hazards Support: Tentacruel, Greninja (if they allow Torrent), Ferrothorn, Donphan, Druddigon, Forretress, etc
Megas: M-Heracross, M-Camerupt (if you really want to go hard core TR), Mega Gardevoir, etc
Try to focus on getting most of your hazard support options like a decent Rocker, Defog user (or Rapid Spin), and Toxic Spike users as these will be invaluable assets to any strong draft team. Definitely get hazard removal like Crobat, Donphan, Lati@s, etc as some games can literally be decided if the opponent just hazard stack on your side of the field. For potential TR users, Reunclus, Porygon2, and Cofagrigus stick to mind as these Pokemon can setup Trick Room with their substantial bulk, though again chances are these Pokemon could get sniped.
(Nov 3, 2016, 05:22 PM)Vohras Wrote: That being said, I've never done a draft league like this, and I'm really worried about my ability to string together a successful team. I've decided that I want to put together a Trick Room team, as it's one of my favorite concepts. However, I don't have a ton of actual experience running it and thought I'd come here in the hopes of finding someone with a bit more experience who could give me some pointers.
Here's what I know so far:
-I believe I want to run a more offensive form of TR. I've tried to rely more on defensive Pokemon, and I just have trouble getting in the sweepers with this kind of setup.
-I'm aware that I need to select Pokemon that are capable of doing work even without TR, since it's assured I won't be able to always put it up.
-We won't know the draft order until right before it starts, so my main plan is to target 1-2 Pokemon per tier to build the core to my team. The other picks will be there to cover weaknesses or just build a backup strategy based on what's available.
The Pokemon that I'm looking at to build the core of my team so far are M-Heracross, Thundurus-T, and Hydreigon. Conkeldurr also seems like a decent option. I was looking to possibly get my main TR setters from RU and lower, mainly Bronzong and possibly Cofagrigus. The main theory for my team is to start with Bronzong as a suicide lead, dropping TR and rocks if necessary. Then I'd custap into an explode, allowing me to bring in one of the heavier hitters to do work. Thundurus-T would be used as a bit of a speed control with the prankster Twaves, giving me more options outside TR. If possible, I'd also like to get another faster Pokemon or two, such as Jolteon or Typhlosion to potentially swap in for one of my slower threats.
Anyways, thank you for reading and potentially offering any help that you might have. I'm really interested to hear what everyone things
@Vohras Firstly, I'd suggest abandoning the idea of basing your entire draft around Trick Room. In a draft league where the main point is to counter your opponent, Trick Room may not be the best option for a matchup or the opponent may see that Trick Room is your strong point and counter play against that style. Do away with that theory about using Bronzong as a suicide lead as the point of a draft league is to use fresh ideas every week while keeping the team efficient and effective so Suicide Lead Bronzong may or may not work hence basing a strategy around it isn't recommend. I'm telling you this because my PFA Season 4 draft was based around hazard stacking with Roselia and picking off the opponent with Mega Alakazam while having 3/4 of my team being able to work on a stall or bulky offense team. At this moment I had to free agency 1/3 of my team because of how the single minded idea threw off my team preparation for each week
Now, Trick Room is trickier (no pun intended) in league format than it is in regular Singles as the speed EVing/IVing has to be taken on a deeper level to assess threats but obviously you know that. Draft Pokemon that cling in the base 50-80 Speed Tier as those can multitask as speed boosting sweepers and Trick Room attackers.
Easy Trick Room picks are: Tyranitar, Clefable (fully offensive), Dragonite (especially bulky band), Heatran, Slowbro, Tangrowth, Rhyperior, Slowking, Donphan and the list goes on. Generally you want to pick Pokemon that carry either reliable recovery or good enough bulk to where they can function in Bulky Offense. Frail slow mons such as Octillery, Sunflora, Bisharp, Breloom and such aren't ideal for Trick Room situations as outside of Trick Room they either function for better or for worse, no middle ground.
As for Trick Room setters, pray on five knees that Porygon2, Cofagrigus, Reuniclus, Lake Trio (Azelf, Mesprit, Uxie), Diancie, Mew, Celebi, Victini and Malamar alongside a few more aren't sniped (not really a few more, if you don't get at least 2-3 of these in your draft then Trick Room is going to be a pain). I make special mention to these because they carry diverse movepools that allow them to run other sets that aren't Trick Room and a majority of the time Trick Room isn't expected on these Pokemon (with the exception of Reuniclus who has a Smogon set dedicated to it). What you're aiming for in a Trick Room setter is
- Diversity in movepool
- Longevity
So setters such as Gourgeist, Aromatisse, Trevenant, Meowstic, Klingklang, Audino (non-mega, mega Audino is very good), Kecleon (despite being diverse with ability and movepool lacks the ability to effectively use it due to mediocre stats), Hypno, Gengar, Alakazam aren't ideal due to having unreliable recovery, bad typing, bad defensive stats and not very diverse movepools
Other than the typical draft league formula of "Ornament legendary (Mew, Celebi, Jirachi), Mega, DSF core, bulky ground type, fast electric, VoltTurn, hazard support and bulky water type" I can't really suggest what to draft.
M-Heracross is good but needs hazard support as well as a core to beat birdspam
Thundurus-I (Thundurus-T is the Volt Absorb one) is great as well for providing a mixed attacker as well as a reliable Prankster
Hydreigon and Conkeldurr are good picks, Jolteon likewise
HOWEVER, there are way better options than Typhlosion. Scarf/Specs Eruption will not save you in league format as it is easy to prepare for and will leave Typhlosion on the bench for most of the season and being honest, Typhlosion can't do much more outside of that reliably
Ensure you draft at least three hazard setters, three defoggers/rapid spinners, a few walls and wallbreakers and Pokemon who are mainly wild cards due to the amount of viable sets they can run. Salamence, Garchomp, Manaphy, Victini, Jirachi, Mew, Kyurem-B, Clefable and Landorus-T are famous for their ability to run at minimum 4 viable sets in competitive singles so imagine what possibilities lie in league play
