New Doubles Team-- suggestions please :)

So lately, I've really been wanting to make a Trick Room team. However, I want to try and stay away from the really generic Dusknoir or Bronzong setups that I keep seeing. So I've thrown a few members together that I think might work and will hopefully catch people off-guard. This is just a prototype, though so any ideas you have would be very welcome! I'm also one member short so any suggestions for Pokemon No. 6 (Chanel No. 5 eat your heart out) would be appriciated very muchly.

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Brave nature
Levitate
252 HP/132 Atk/124 Sp Atk

~ Trick Room
~ Explosion
~ Shadow Ball
~ Energy Ball

I'm hoping this guy'll throw a spanner or two in the works. I've never seen a Gengar with TR... EVER (maybe because he's just not very good at it but we'll see). The basic idea is to set up the Trick Room and get out ASAP with Explosion, hopefully taking somone to the grave with him. I went Brave because I need to be as slow as possible and it'll give my Explosions a bit more bite. Shadow Ball's for STAB and Energy Ball's for Swamperts and Vaporeons (as well as other Water Absorbers) that I reckon will wall my other team members.

Bastiodon @ Chople Berry
Sassy nature
Sturdy
252 HP/120 Sp Def/100 Atk/36 Def

~ Stealth Rock
~ Rock Blast
~ Iron Head
~ Sleep Talk

Totally irrelevant, but Bastiodon's awesome. This one's my saviour when it comes to setting up SR. Beastly defenses (ailing HP but that's what the EV's are for) give it a great chance at getting the rocks up at the start of the battle. Rock Blast's great for breaking subs if the opponent sees through the strategy and sets one up. Always moving before Gengar in TR means that the sub will (hopefully) be broken before they explode. Iron Head has a nice chance to flinch and Sleep Talk makes Bastiodon viable to absorb Hypnosis etc (although really, that move is there because I couldn't think of any more sensible options). And, as a bonus, a handy 4x resistance to Normal attacks means it'll take Gengar's fireworks as though they never happened.

Camerupt @ Wise Glasses
Quiet nature
Solid Rock
252 HP/252 Sp Atk/4 Sp Def

~ Eruption
~ Earth Power
~ Will-O-Wisp
~ Heat Wave

Say hello to the first of my sweepers, Camerupt! I'll be the first to admit that this set's coverage is limited but Camerupt doesn't have much going for it in terms of Specially orientated attacking options. However, a full powered Eruption coming off a nice 105 Special Attack seems too good to pass up. Earth Power is for double STAB and together, they work like a charm against my other sweeper's weaknesses. Heat Wave is there for when HP gets too low for Eruption to be of much use (handily hitting both opposing pokes) and W-O-W is for inflicting some quick burns which could be handy if TR runs out.

Wailord @ Mystic Water
Quiet nature
Water Veil
252 Sp Atk/176 Sp Def/80 Def

~ Water Spout
~ Hydro Pump
~ Ice Beam
~ Hidden Power Grass

Sweeper number two is the gigantic but absolutely fantastic Wailord. Together, him and Camerupt will no doubt cause pain aplenty on anything that's not pink, in extreme need of a gym session and has a fetish for eggs. I left the HP stat untouched since Wailord has enough of it for every Pokemon ever made and still have tons to spare. Instead I focussed on the Defenses since they are a little low. Wailord mocks Kyogre with it's Water Spout and Hydro Pump's for smashing stuff when Wailord's taken a few hits. Ice Beam's for Grassers and HP Grass is for other water types. And yeah, Mystic Water is a pathetic item but I've got this thing with the item clause. Anyway, Choice Specs would limit me to a possibly weak Water Spout and Life Orb would chip away at those precious Hit Points.

Persian @ Itemless as of now...
Jolly nature
Techician
252 HP/252 Spd/4 Sp Def

~ Taunt
~ Feint
~ U-turn
~ Fury Swipes

Yes, I know what you're probably all thinking... what on EARTH is Persian doing on a TR team? Well, I'm hoping that it's stuff like this that won't immediately give my team away. With a nice little Speed stat, Persian can get Taunts out quickly to other Taunters so they can't use Taunt... I hope that sentence made sense to you. This would have to be at the start of a battle, though, when being used with Gengar. With TR up, Persian becomes a fat cat but Feint will always go first if the opposition uses Protect, hoping to avoid almost certiain destruction with Explosion. Also, as it is now so slow, U-turn has a great chance at going last, letting me switch in Wailord or Camerupt without them taking any damage. Fury Swipes is just for the sake of STAB but could break subs if I'm lucky.

So there you have it- this team is now open to your critique! Thanks for reading!

Time to give you a rate for your team, changes I make are in bold of course.

Silver Fusion wrote:

So lately, I've really been wanting to make a Trick Room team. However, I want to try and stay away from the really generic Dusknoir or Bronzong setups that I keep seeing. So I've thrown a few members together that I think might work and will hopefully catch people off-guard. This is just a prototype, though so any ideas you have would be very welcome! I'm also one member short so any suggestions for Pokemon No. 6 (Chanel No. 5 eat your heart out) would be appriciated very muchly.

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Brave nature
Levitate
252 HP/132 Atk/124 Sp Atk

~ Trick Room
~ Explosion
~ Shadow Ball
~ Energy Ball

I'm hoping this guy'll throw a spanner or two in the works. I've never seen a Gengar with TR... EVER (maybe because he's just not very good at it but we'll see). The basic idea is to set up the Trick Room and get out ASAP with Explosion, hopefully taking somone to the grave with him. I went Brave because I need to be as slow as possible and it'll give my Explosions a bit more bite. Shadow Ball's for STAB and Energy Ball's for Swamperts and Vaporeons (as well as other Water Absorbers) that I reckon will wall my other team members.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. The reason gengars are so unpredictable when it comes to using trick room, is because he sucks at it completely and utterly. If you want some options for trick rooming, I suggest Dusknoir, Bronzong, Porygon2, Banette, Claydol, and Slowbro/King. That choice is all up to you. If you're aiming to make an unpreditable Trick Room team, then you're SOL.

Bastiodon @ Chople Berry
Sassy nature
Sturdy
252 HP/120 Sp Def/100 Atk/36 Def

~ Stealth Rock
~ Rock Blast
~ Iron Head
~ Sleep Talk

Totally irrelevant, but Bastiodon's awesome. This one's my saviour when it comes to setting up SR. Beastly defenses (ailing HP but that's what the EV's are for) give it a great chance at getting the rocks up at the start of the battle. Rock Blast's great for breaking subs if the opponent sees through the strategy and sets one up. Always moving before Gengar in TR means that the sub will (hopefully) be broken before they explode. Iron Head has a nice chance to flinch and Sleep Talk makes Bastiodon viable to absorb Hypnosis etc (although really, that move is there because I couldn't think of any more sensible options). And, as a bonus, a handy 4x resistance to Normal attacks means it'll take Gengar's fireworks as though they never happened.

This set looks pretty good, I like it.

Camerupt @ Wise Glasses/Expert Belt
Quiet nature
Solid Rock
252 HP/252 Sp Atk/4 Sp Def

~ Eruption
~ Earth Power
~ Will-O-Wisp
~ Heat Wave

Say hello to the first of my sweepers, Camerupt! I'll be the first to admit that this set's coverage is limited but Camerupt doesn't have much going for it in terms of Specially orientated attacking options. However, a full powered Eruption coming off a nice 105 Special Attack seems too good to pass up. Earth Power is for double STAB and together, they work like a charm against my other sweeper's weaknesses. Heat Wave is there for when HP gets too low for Eruption to be of much use (handily hitting both opposing pokes) and W-O-W is for inflicting some quick burns which could be handy if TR runs out.

Expert Belt will give you a larger boost, unfortunately it will only warrant a boost if it's super effective.

Wailord @ Choice Specs
Quiet nature
Water Veil
252 Sp Atk/176 Sp Def/80 Def

~ Water Spout
~ Hydro Pump
~ Ice Beam
~ Hidden Power Grass

Sweeper number two is the gigantic but absolutely fantastic Wailord. Together, him and Camerupt will no doubt cause pain aplenty on anything that's not pink, in extreme need of a gym session and has a fetish for eggs. I left the HP stat untouched since Wailord has enough of it for every Pokemon ever made and still have tons to spare. Instead I focussed on the Defenses since they are a little low. Wailord mocks Kyogre with it's Water Spout and Hydro Pump's for smashing stuff when Wailord's taken a few hits. Ice Beam's for Grassers and HP Grass is for other water types. And yeah, Mystic Water is a pathetic item but I've got this thing with the item clause. Anyway, Choice Specs would limit me to a possibly weak Water Spout and Life Orb would chip away at those precious Hit Points.

Choice Specs all the way. Since it's running full on attacking power, it needs the biggest boost it can get. Since the basis of it is in Water Spout, then I can't suggest Life Orb.

Persian @ Itemless as of now...
Jolly nature
Techician
252 HP/252 Spd/4 Sp Def

~ Taunt
~ Feint
~ U-turn
~ Fury Swipes

Yes, I know what you're probably all thinking... what on EARTH is Persian doing on a TR team? Well, I'm hoping that it's stuff like this that won't immediately give my team away. With a nice little Speed stat, Persian can get Taunts out quickly to other Taunters so they can't use Taunt... I hope that sentence made sense to you. This would have to be at the start of a battle, though, when being used with Gengar. With TR up, Persian becomes a fat cat but Feint will always go first if the opposition uses Protect, hoping to avoid almost certiain destruction with Explosion. Also, as it is now so slow, U-turn has a great chance at going last, letting me switch in Wailord or Camerupt without them taking any damage. Fury Swipes is just for the sake of STAB but could break subs if I'm lucky.

Once again wrong. Fast Pokemon + Trick Room team = Contradiction. For the next slot, put in a slow but powerful physical sweeper. Azumarill or Hariyama for this slot.

Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Huge Power
Brave nature
252 Atk, 236 HP, 22 Def
- WaterFall
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
- Rest/Encore

This set is just something I came up with off the top of my head. The HP EV's give it max Lefties Recovery. Waterfall is strong STAB. Ice Punch hits grassers and dragons. Brick Break deals with coverage. The final slot is toss up. Rest provides nice little healing. Encore provides screwing over the foe.

Hariyama @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Brave nature
252 Atk, 80 HP, 176 Def
- Force Palm
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch
- Rest/PayBack/Knock Off

Again, randomly created set. Force Palm has nice STAB and parahax. Stone Edge gives coverage, and hits flying types pretty hard. Ice Punch provides some good coverage. The final slot is to you. Rest for healing, Payback gets nearly unbridaled coverage with Force Palm. Knock off can rid pokemon of their items.

Finally, for the 6th and final slot, you need another pokemon to setup Trick Room. This is up to you, and I suggest you take one of the suggestions from earlier on to decided which one to use.

So there you have it- this team is now open to your critique! Thanks for reading!

I hope these suggestions help you, and best of luck in battling.

Actually, if you go as fast as possible with TR... then your second pokemon that is out will get to move first. I'm not sure how soon trick room takes effect but if it is in the same turn then it could be seriously dangerous. Go for max speed on Gengar and maybe even Scarf it just to make sure you get Trick Room in right away, then let him die or switch out the next turn.

As for the rest of the team, you need some physical attacks in there. The first thing to come to mind is Snorlax but I guess you could work with Rampardos as well in a Trick Room. Both have some decent coverage and ridiculous attacking stats. Slap a Choice Band on either and you have epic damage being delt. As for giving away your team, Rampardos would be more confusing to figure out since everyone Scarfs it.

Bastiodon, Camerupt and Wailord all look awesome. I'm not too sure how much damage Bastiodo is goig to deal out with Iron Head and Rock Blast but if you like him that way, then go for it.

Persian seems kinda lacking but it could work in Doubles. I don't have a lot of experiece in this area but I think there would be something more beneficial to your team than Persian. I'd say anything that abuses priority would be a good idea, incase someone else is running some sort of anti-trick room something or other. Hitmontop comes to mind but I'm not sure how good he'll work.

Thanks, Nick!

Unfortunately, TR is a negative priority move and always goes last. Gengar just seemed a different poke to set it up and no one would expect it... but I'm having second thoughts about it now, seeing as it's so fragile.

You're right about Persian. It does look like it could be a dead weight, but I chose it because it can learn both Taunt and Feint, which would help against those who might try and waste turns of TR through Protect.

And thanks for the suggestions for physical attackers- I'll keep those in mind!

Captain Nick wrote:

Actually, if you go as fast as possible with TR... then your second pokemon that is out will get to move first. I'm not sure how soon trick room takes effect but if it is in the same turn then it could be seriously dangerous. Go for max speed on Gengar and maybe even Scarf it just to make sure you get Trick Room in right away, then let him die or switch out the next turn.

idk if you know this or not but Trick Room is -7 Priority Move so idk if Gengar will be able to use it before he dies even if scarfed