Trapped!

[Gulpin]

Trapped! is my first competitive team for the XY metagame, and one of my only teams that I've actually attempted to use competitively.. I'm still not very good at this but I believe this team is doing decently well so far on the simulator. I've been playing around with it on Pokemon Showdown and I definitely think I could use some help with making it better! The basic goal of this team is to essentially use trapping techniques to annoy wear down the opponent.

Team Preview

In Detail

Focus Sash
Arena Trap
252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Dugtrio is my first trapper. As long as Stealth Rocks aren't in the field, he is generally able to come in and revenge kill anything that is weak to Earthquake, and if I'm good with my predictions, Dark types (primarily Tyranitar, and the occasional Sharpedo/Crawdaunt).

Choice Specs
Magnet Pull
172 HP / 252 SAtk / 84 Spd
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt

Magnezone serves to trap and kill pretty much any Steel-type. Unfortunately, when the opponent doesn't have any it becomes essentially dead weight for me, because it is slow and weak to a lot of common attacks. I've had great luck taking down Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Scizor with this guy, but it still needs help from the rest of the team to take down Aegislash.

Choice Specs
Shadow Tag
252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Energy Ball
- Trick

Gothitelle is one of my favorites on this team. It can switch in to a lot of things, take quite a few hits, and manage to hit back really well. Also, Trick comes in handy for the Eviolite carriers that I've run in to (such as Chancey and Porygon2); however, it's not good when I poorly predict their next move.

Choice Band
Gale Wings
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Roost

I've had a lot of fun using Talonflame on this team. It supports my trappers really well, and hits hard in general. It too is weak to Stealth Rocks, but once those are cleared off of the field it is able to cripple a lot of the team. One thing I'm unsure with about this set is Roost, as I hardly ever get the chance to use it since I'm also using a Choice Band.

Pinsirite
Hyper Cutter
252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake

Pinsir either does really well or becomes dead weight.. I'm not really sure about its role on the team because Talonflame hits pretty hard with priority Flying-type STAB, which is the only thing Mega Pinsir seems to have going for him with Aerilate Return. However, it does occasionally serve me well by hitting hard and crippling the opponent's team when Talonflame is already down/weakened.

Life Orb
Analytic
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin

As for Starmie, its main role is to clear out Stealth Rocks so Pinsir, Talonflame, and Dugtrio can all do their job without too many issues. It also can hit pretty hard when it gets the chance. I only wish that I could trap the likes of Garchomp and Gliscor with it to quickly take care of them with Ice Beam, but alas.

Final Comments
This team so far seems to cover a lot of things that I've seen so far pretty well. One thing that I have no idea how to counter is Protean Greninja.. I'm not really sure if it is a strategy type thing that needs improvement of if there is a sure-fire way of dealing with it. Also, one potential change I've thought of for the team is to replace Starmie with a Defog user (while simultaneously replacing Dugtrio's Stealth Rock with Memento).​

 

[jimmies]

I'd use Analytic over Magnet Pull on Magnezone, you can bluff magnet pull and net some extra surprise kills. Its just got more utility overall.

 

[Esoj]

You may use CM over Trick on Gothitelle, trap the pokemon and you can start setting up. Psyshock over Psychic to hit special defensive pokes. Leftovers or Life orb over Chice Specs, you can freely move with your attack options instead of being trapped in one attack, and give Gothitelle some recovery option with leftovers. On the other hand, life orb provide power for health, up to you. Good luck : )

 

[srinator]

What's wrong with using choice items? Lol

Anyway, Defog>rapid spin! since u don't heavily rely on hazards and getting spin blocked and ko'd will be fatal for you. Also star is kinda outclassed by a lot and generally doesn't see much use in ou. Greninja has better coverage+ability and exca is a better spinner. Anyway looking at your team I would suggest Latios as a Defog user with Draco/Defog/surf/psy. This also gives u the famous drag mag lol

Trick specs gothi is extremely good since chansey can say bye to eviolite :p also helps break stall, as well as hit when you want to hit.

If you do use memento trio change talon into a sd set, so it can easily set up once.

None of your team mates can safely switch I to Greninja but it can revenge kill it.
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 325-384 (113.6 - 134.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(325, 330, 333, 337, 340, 345, 348, 352, 357, 360, 364, 367, 372, 375, 379, 384)

 

[PlatinumDude]

Dugtrio isn't as good as it used to be; there are times when its moves fall short of KOing the opponent, resulting in its KO in return. It's also massively prone to priority from things like Talonflame and Dragonite. Sharpedo also tends to outspeed things after some Speed Boosts, even Dugtrio. Just putting this out there.

 

[MoxieInfinite]

how do you deal with pursuit aegi?

i'd suggest something like pursuit scizor somewhere, to ♥♥♥♥ up aegi, so you can spin easier.

 

[zygardian harbinger]

Some of your Pokemon are very susceptible to Rock-type moves. Maybe good counters can be considered?

 

[Zeffy]

Your team is OHKO'd by unboosted Mega Tyranitar.

Spoiler:

252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dugtrio: 268-316 (127 - 149.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Earthquake vs. 174 HP / 0 Def Magnezone: 460-544 (141.9 - 167.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gothitelle: 324-384 (115.3 - 136.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 1032-1216 (346.3 - 408%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 664-784 (245 - 289.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starmie: 356-422 (136.3 - 161.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Your best check is Dugtrio with Sash, but with the prevalence of stealth rock it might not always have that sash handy--especially if Starmie has been ko'd. I'd suggest replacing Starmie with Excadrill w/ Air Balloon to add another check. You're still very susceptible, though, so I suggest replacing someone with Breloom as well.

Hope I helped a bit.

 

[champagnepapi]

Might want to watch out for Thundurus, who is a great check to both of your main sweepers, yet none of your trappers can really trap him. Best strategy is to set SR and trap their spinner/defogger but not too many of those are beaten by your trappers either. Sashloom lead with rock tomb looks problematic as well. I had a full thing typed up but I closed the tab by accident. I think you should focus on Talonflame/Dugtrio/Pinsir maybe, because the other trappers don't do a whole lot to help them outside of killing Skarm [and both accomplish that purpose, so that's 2 team slots used for a single objective].

 

[Gulpin]

I'd use Analytic over Magnet Pull on Magnezone, you can bluff magnet pull and net some extra surprise kills. Its just got more utility overall.

That's an interesting idea, but I have no idea if it would work on Showdown! I don't really have enough experience battling on it to know if the opponent would be able to tell if they were able to switch when up against Magnezone.

You may use CM over Trick on Gothitelle, trap the pokemon and you can start setting up. Psyshock over Psychic to hit special defensive pokes. Leftovers or Life orb over Chice Specs, you can freely move with your attack options instead of being trapped in one attack, and give Gothitelle some recovery option with leftovers. On the other hand, life orb provide power for health, up to you. Good luck : )

I'll definitely give CM a try. I think Gothitelle has the bulk to switch in to quite a few things (even things it doesn't resist), and that would be the perfect opportunity to set up. However, without the Specs I'm not sure if she would be hitting as hard as I've gotten used to xD. I'll test it out.

What's wrong with using choice items? Lol

Anyway, Defog>rapid spin! since u don't heavily rely on hazards and getting spin blocked and ko'd will be fatal for you. Also star is kinda outclassed by a lot and generally doesn't see much use in ou. Greninja has better coverage+ability and exca is a better spinner. Anyway looking at your team I would suggest Latios as a Defog user with Draco/Defog/surf/psy. This also gives u the famous drag mag lol

Trick specs gothi is extremely good since chansey can say bye to eviolite :p also helps break stall, as well as hit when you want to hit.

If you do use memento trio change talon into a sd set, so it can easily set up once.

None of your team mates can safely switch I to Greninja but it can revenge kill it.
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 325-384 (113.6 - 134.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(325, 330, 333, 337, 340, 345, 348, 352, 357, 360, 364, 367, 372, 375, 379, 384)

Some of your Pokemon are very susceptible to Rock-type moves. Maybe good counters can be considered?

I've recently replaced Defog Latias with Starmie, but I haven't had time to play around enough to see if it works well for my team. I've definitely noticed that I've missed out on Starmie's Hydro Pump/Ice Beam though. What exactly is the difference between using Latias vs Latios? Is it primarily just the choice of bulk vs force?
Since I'll probably put Defog > Starmie, I'll be changing SR to Memento on Dugtrio. I'm guessing for SD Talonflame, I would put SD > Roost? And what would I put as the item?
Also, what exactly does counter Greninja well? Anything that can also deal with Rock types?

Dugtrio isn't as good as it used to be; there are times when its moves fall short of KOing the opponent, resulting in its KO in return. It's also massively prone to priority from things like Talonflame and Dragonite. Sharpedo also tends to outspeed things after some Speed Boosts, even Dugtrio. Just putting this out there.

Yeah, I have noticed this.. I'm not sure if I should just get rid of Dugtio altogether or try to make it work though. Also, with Healing Wish Latias, I've noticed that depending on how the battle is going, Dugtrio may be able to get in two revenge kills after Latias deals with entry hazards. I'm not sure if that would work well though.

how do you deal with pursuit aegi?

i'd suggest something like pursuit scizor somewhere, to ♥♥♥♥ up aegi, so you can spin easier.

What would you suggest replacing?

Your team is OHKO'd by unboosted Mega Tyranitar.

Spoiler:

252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dugtrio: 268-316 (127 - 149.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Earthquake vs. 174 HP / 0 Def Magnezone: 460-544 (141.9 - 167.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gothitelle: 324-384 (115.3 - 136.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 1032-1216 (346.3 - 408%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 664-784 (245 - 289.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starmie: 356-422 (136.3 - 161.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Your best check is Dugtrio with Sash, but with the prevalence of stealth rock it might not always have that sash handy--especially if Starmie has been ko'd. I'd suggest replacing Starmie with Excadrill w/ Air Balloon to add another check. You're still very susceptible, though, so I suggest replacing someone with Breloom as well.

Hope I helped a bit.

I have noticed my horrible weakness to Tyranitar. Luckily, most of the time I've been able to get in with Dugtrio and no entry hazards to quickly deal with it. If I've already replaced Starmie with Latias for Defog, should I consider replacing something else with Breloom/Excadrill? If so, which one? Or should I put both Breloom and Excadrill in over Latias and someone else?

Might want to watch out for Thundurus, who is a great check to both of your main sweepers, yet none of your trappers can really trap him. Best strategy is to set SR and trap their spinner/defogger but not too many of those are beaten by your trappers either. Sashloom lead with rock tomb looks problematic as well. I had a full thing typed up but I closed the tab by accident. I think you should focus on Talonflame/Dugtrio/Pinsir maybe, because the other trappers don't do a whole lot to help them outside of killing Skarm [and both accomplish that purpose, so that's 2 team slots used for a single objective].

I'm hesitant about getting rid of Gothitelle and Magnezone though. Magnezone deals with pretty much any Steel type which has been really helpful to Pinsir primarily who is completely walled by them. Also, Gothitelle seems to be pretty much the only one that can switch in to almost everything without having to worry; also, if I decide to put CM>Trick with Gothitelle I would have another strong sweeper on my team.

Thank you everyone for the help! I'm still open to changing up my team, but I've been playing around on Showdown! trying to get a little more skilled myself with things like prediction so I can allow the team to reach its full potential. I'm really considering Breloom as well, but I'm not sure where it could go on my team. Any further help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[srinator]

Well yes, the bulk and attack stats are the only difference. If you are going to use a Defog from one of them I would say go for Latios tho, since you can pack power too. But the problem is as mentioned before if you do bring in Lati your bird/ttar weakness remains as it is, which is bad since most of ou right now is bird spam. I think you should get rid of pinsir. It doesn't do much anyway, you have talon flame for the priority flying. And if you do give memento to trio talon becomes even more threatening.
Breloom helps against ttar, but you again become bird weak. I think quagsire and zapdos will do good. Oh well experiment and see.
Tbh Greninja counters a lot of things that aren't scarf, it's frail but helps beat lando,glisc and generally anything weak to hydro/ice/dark.
Quagsire can handle most rock types well and also has unaware+haze, so it can stop bp teams and even set up sweepers.

Normally on talon flame I use sd/roost/flare blitz/brave bird with left over or life orb. Roost mainly because of rocks and also for setting up, priority recover is amazing.

Dugtrio seems weird tbh, Garchomp could be a good replacement, it won't be able to trap but atleast it isn't a one hit pony. Garchomp can also run rocks and can stand up to ttar,

Quagy and Garchomp should be able to mitigate that weakness

 

[Zeffy]

If you opt for Lati@s, keep in mind that you will still be Mega Tyranitar weak. I see no other way of mitigating this huge weakness unless you replace one or two of your trappers.

 

[zygardian harbinger]

I've recently replaced Defog Latias with Starmie, but I haven't had time to play around enough to see if it works well for my team. I've definitely noticed that I've missed out on Starmie's Hydro Pump/Ice Beam though. What exactly is the difference between using Latias vs Latios? Is it primarily just the choice of bulk vs force?
Since I'll probably put Defog > Starmie, I'll be changing SR to Memento on Dugtrio. I'm guessing for SD Talonflame, I would put SD > Roost? And what would I put as the item?
Also, what exactly does counter Greninja well? Anything that can also deal with Rock types?

A major difference statwise in Latias and Latios is that Latias has 130 Sp. Def. and 110 Sp. Atk., while Latios has 130 Sp. Atk. and 110 Sp. Def. Also, looking at movesets, Latias generally has more healing and the likes, while Latios has a more offensive movepool.

One thing you really have to look out for with Talonflame is the dreaded Stealth Rock, since it has a 4x weakness to Rock. Also, Stone Edge will put heavy damage to it. I agree with WarPaint on his moveset. Leftovers or Life Orb can make Talonflame a good offensive Pokemon, either Leftovers for gradual recovery from Steath Rock, or Life Orb for more damage, in addition to Roost, which can help recover from Stealth Rock or damage from the Life Orb.

Honestly, anything that can hit Greninja supereffectively can do quite a number. Greninja can be pretty frail, but its speed puts it ahead of a lot of Pokemon. I've heard Breloom is becoming more common, and it could be a great counter to Greninja, since it can counter both of its types, and has access to the priority move Mach Punch, which can hit a Protean Greninja hard before it switches types. Putting Technician on top of that increases damage. A base of 130 Attack is incredible, and it has a decent speed of 70. However, the drawback is weakness to common types such as Fire and Flying, and low Sp. Def. and HP stats.

Good counters to Rock-types... a good Water-type typically cleans up Rock-types pretty well. But you already have Starmie, so putting another Water-type in doesn't make too much sense...

 

[Gulpin]

Sorry for not responding earlier; I've been pretty busy and haven't had much time to play around on PS. Anyway, for a few battles I played around with Breloom > Dugtrio to try to help with Tyranitar and Greninja.. until I came up against Heatran and realized I had no way of dealing with it. Although Dugtrio is one of my 'trappers' which is the essence of the team, I won't hesitate too much to swap him out. However, I'm not sure what I could change around to be able to deal with Tyranitar, Heatran, and (to a lesser extent) Greninja.
Also, so far Latias has been a pretty good replacement for Starmie. However, I'm not sure if it works with my play style. I'm running Defog/Draco Meteor/Healing Wish/Ice Beam. I don't really know when to use Draco Meteor because of that awful Special Attack decrease, and I can never time a Healing Wish right. In theory, Healing Wish could be helpful if I use it to give Dugtrio another life with Focus Sash, but that hasn't worked out for me yet.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Sorry for not responding earlier; I've been pretty busy and haven't had much time to play around on PS. Anyway, for a few battles I played around with Breloom > Dugtrio to try to help with Tyranitar and Greninja.. until I came up against Heatran and realized I had no way of dealing with it. Although Dugtrio is one of my 'trappers' which is the essence of the team, I won't hesitate too much to swap him out. However, I'm not sure what I could change around to be able to deal with Tyranitar, Heatran, and (to a lesser extent) Greninja.
Also, so far Latias has been a pretty good replacement for Starmie. However, I'm not sure if it works with my play style. I'm running Defog/Draco Meteor/Healing Wish/Ice Beam. I don't really know when to use Draco Meteor because of that awful Special Attack decrease, and I can never time a Healing Wish right. In theory, Healing Wish could be helpful if I use it to give Dugtrio another life with Focus Sash, but that hasn't worked out for me yet.

Why are you using Ice Beam on Latias? It has redundant coverage with Draco Meteor. Instead, use Thunderbolt (for Mandibuzz and other bulky Waters) or Psyshock (for a secondary STAB and to get around special walls).

 

[Gulpin]

Why are you using Ice Beam on Latias? It has redundant coverage with Draco Meteor. Instead, use Thunderbolt (for Mandibuzz and other bulky Waters) or Psyshock (for a secondary STAB and to get around special walls).

Honestly, I don't know. Mainly because I'm not a fan of using Draco Meteor. I'm thinking of using Latios instead since I think its stats match my style of play. In that case, what set should I run to help cover my team's weaknesses?

 

[Nah]

Honestly, I don't know. Mainly because I'm not a fan of using Draco Meteor. I'm thinking of using Latios instead since I think its stats match my style of play. In that case, what set should I run to help cover my team's weaknesses?

Offensively, Latias and Latios run basically the same sets. You can use Dragon Pulse in place of Draco Meteor if you want if you really hate DM's Sp.Attack drop.