Fame and fortune await those with a will strong enough to claim it. The Show is a VGC 2020 team focused on offensive pressure and speed control. Through a combination of graceful Tailwinds, subtle Trick Rooms, and aggressive Posturing, this team looks to eliminate threats and place control over each turn in your hands. Now, on with The Show!
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- Rental Code: 0000 0002 WRM4 0H -
Setting out with this team I knew I was going to want access to two specific moves. Tailwind and Trick Room. I considered a ton of options before eventually deciding that Dusclops would make the perfect cast member for setting Trick Rooms due to its unmatched bulk and plethora of support moves. Every team needs a base and this felt like a good place to start.
Second - Conkeldurr
After selecting my Trick Room I knew I wanted at least one TR abuser. Conkeldurr and Trick Room have been a reliable pair since the early Gen 5 Metagame and now with D-Max the Muscle Clown has only gotten even more terrifying under its effects.
Third - Hydreigon
Next, I wanted a strong nuker with good coverage options. Hydreigon has a huge move pool and massive special attack to back them up. I also really liked it's speed tier being faster than most unboosted mons but slow enough to function within TR after an opponent commits to boosting speed.
Fourth - Excadrill
My roster was developing a pretty glaring fairy weakness, Excadrill patches that up nicely. It also provided me a solid spread attacker with EQ and Rock Slide.
Fifth - Whimsicott
As I stated previously I knew there were two moves that I felt were essential for this team. Dusclops covered trick room but I still needed a good Tailwind setter. Whimsicott has proven to be among this generations best Tailwind users and gave my team an intimidating Fairy attack. It also serves to cover the plethora of bulky waters and "The Fish" extremely well.
Sixth - Rotom (Wash)
Lacking a good answer to Arcanine/Charizard I decided to round out the team with Rotom Wash. Again Rotom much like its cast members is a powerhouse and an immediate threat. It also allows me to scout my opponent with Volt Switch.
- Showdown Export -
- Rental Code: 0000 0002 WRM4 0H -
The general strategy with The Show is to use Dusclops to manage speed throughout the match while using your second slot to maintain consistent offensive pressure. Ally switch will allow you to net unexpected KOs by keeping your otherwise threatened sweeper safe and moving the damage onto Dusclops instead. Alternatively if your opponent is also running a more moderate speed tier you can bring Whimsicott to set Tailwind instead. With that said this team lives and dies by making good use of Ally Switch to stay in your opponent's head.
Purpose:
Nomination for best supporting actor goes to... an absolute unit of a Pokémon. Dusclops is the anchor that holds this troop of Pokémon together, allowing for each of its partners to give their best performance. Shadow Sneak gives you a priority move for cleaning up/breaking sashes. Will-O-Wisp lets you manage the abundance of physical threats roaming the wild. Ally Switch ensures you can keep your most valuable assets on board for longer while still taking advantage of their powerful offensive pressure and damage, It also gives you a fun tool for mind games. And finally, Trick Room allows access to a hard toggle for speed, granting you the ability to shut down opposing Tailwind, Sand Rush, Swift Swim, Choice Scarf, etc. on command, or reverse an opposing Trick Room.
Threats:
Purpose:
Conkeldurr fills the role of bruiser bringing oppressive damage and the ability to boost attack for itself and Excadrill. Mach Punch gives it a priority answer to deal with faster opponents, Close Combat is Conkeldurr's main STAB as well as the primary button for Dynamax, Rock Slide gives it answers against Flying types such as Braviary, and Detect is taken over Protect to prevent imprison attempts. I really like bringing Conkeldurr against most leads except for Beat-Up Gimmicks and Fairies.
Threats:
Purpose:
Hydreigon acts as a straight forward special sweeper who can punch big holes in teams without requiring any setup. It has superior neutral coverage with Dark Pulse + Draco Meteor, and nabs some crucial coverages with Fire Blast and Flash Cannon. (Namely Ferrothorn and many of the more frail fairies.) Unfortunately unboosted Specs Timid Flash Cannon is not enough to OHKO something like Sylveon, but with any additional damage it can be a soft check despite its 4x weakness.
Threats:
Purpose:
Excadrill is critical in enabling it's fellow cast members. On D-Max it provides bulk through Iron Head and Earthquake, while in standard form it is able to act as a HARD fairy check and Spread Attacker. Earthquake lets you target down both slots with STAB, Iron Head OHKOs every fairy in the meta, and Rock Slide lets it cover Flying types who might otherwise target Conkeldurr.
Threats:
Purpose:
Whimsicott gives the team coverage against Dragons and Bulky Water. Energy Ball and Moon Blast are fairly self explanatory in that regard, as they are both standard high damage coverage attacks. Tailwind is a secondary option for the team, acting as a fast mode to contend with opponents running middling speed tiers and acts as a secondary option if Trick Room looks to be a liability.
Threats:
Purpose:
Rotom pulls double duty as a scout with Volt Switch and a sweeper with Thunderbolt/Hydro Pump. Thunderbolt is taken as a general STAB attack covering sun leads which would otherwise weaken Hydro Pump's effectiveness, as well as a good flying coverage, Hydro Pump helps round out the team's coverage against Ground/Rock types, and Will-O-Wisp is a strong support option for teams using multiple physical attackers.
Threats:
Problematic Matchups
Despite a pretty good looking Defense Chart. I have noticed that this team struggles pretty badly with Sylveon and Gardevoir. Spread Fairy attacks threaten both Conkeldurr and Hydreigon leaving Excadrill as the only strong answer to them. Normally this would be okay since you can just Ally Switch to avoid damage, but Pixilate Hyper Voice and Dazzling Gleam being spread attacks means you have no safe option other than to switch in Excadrill. If your opponent plays around this they can neutralize Excadrill and then clean sweep to victory. Otherwise the team has not presented any glaring flaws, but I know there are improvements that can be made for sure.
Suspect Testing
As much as I love Hydreigon and I have seen great success with it, I feel like it is probably the weakest link on the team and could probably be replaced with something. In matches where there is even one Fairy with a spread attack it becomes dead weight even if it is the best answer to their other 3 Pokémon.
- Showdown Export -
- Rental Code: 0000 0002 WRM4 0H -
Special Thanks To
ManOfDoom771 - Battle Testing
MrDonders - Rental Code
All vectors were traced/converted by me. However, the original art was not. The following artists created all of the original character designs.
Dusclops Original Art - うまお
Conkeldurr Original Art - Unrenon
Hydreigon Original Art - Girinil
Excadrill Original Art - Crino-line
Whimsicott Original Art - Cloudxmoe
Rotom (Wash) Original Art - Unknown (DM if you know who designed this piece)
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