Keep your stupid Reaper Cloth.
OVERVIEW
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- Outstanding defensive stats.
- Eviolite raises its impressive defenses to absurd heights.
- Low speed makes for a great defensive Trick Room user.
- Access to utility moves in Will-O-Wisp and Confuse Ray.
- Poor offensive stats require reliance on Night Shade or indirect damage.
- What is taunt bait you ask? You're looking at it.
- Knock off.
- Very predictable. Savvy opponents will know you are running Trick Room when they see it on team preview.
Trick Room
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name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Pain Split
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Confuse Ray / Night Shade / Protect
ability: Frisk / Pressure
item: Eviolite
evs: 252 Hp / 68 Def / 188 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Relaxed / Sassy
Moves
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- Trick Room, the namesake of the set, can be set by Dusclops and abused by its teammates.
- Because Dusclops requires Eviolite to become the defensive behemoth it is, it lacks passive healing. Unfortunately, Pain Split is the only healing option it has access to, although with its impressive defensive stats and low health, it is a good user of the move.
- Will-O-Wisp allows Dusclops to shut down physical attackers that would threaten itself or its teammates and is a way it can deal passive damage to opponents.
- Confuse Ray can be used both on physical attackers and the special attackers that don't mind Will-O-Wisp, possibly causing the opponent to lose tempo and take indirect damage. Night Shade is an option Dusclops can run to not be complete Taunt bait and deal more consistent damage.
- Protect is a nice option but Dusclops has difficulty finding room for it. Ideally Dusclops would run Protect in the fourth moveslot since Pain Split and Will-o-Wisp are important for success, but if you don't mind a lack of healing or have other means of attack control, feel free to use the second or third slot.
Set Details
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- It is important to note that Dusclops' EV spread is flexible. It should be changed depending on what offensive threats pressure your team the most and the threats your opponents most commonly have. The default EV spread gives equal weight to Def and SpD.
- Sassy should be used over Relaxed if you want to maximize special bulk. Knock off becomes even more of a threat with this spread.
- Frisk is a neat utility ability that Dusclops doesn't mind running if PP stalling is not a valid plan. In that case, Pressure is superior.
- Eviolite is required to give Dusclops the bulk needed to succeed in its role of defensive Trick Room setter. Dusknoir is a strictly superior user of any other item.
Usage Tips
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- Team Preview is a mixed blessing to Dusclops. While it allows you to get a good feel for whether or not your opponent will threaten you with Taunt or Knock Off, it also tips them off to your Trick Room team. It is only appropriate to lead with Dusclops when you are confident your opponent will not use the aforementioned moves against you.
- While its defenses are outstanding, its lack of offensive presence means Dusclops should attempt to indirectly harrass the opponent once Trick Room is set. Use Will-O-Wisp on physical attackers and Confuse Ray Pokemon that don't mind being burned.
- If using Night Shade, focus on Pokemon that teammates cannot OHKO. The 100 flat damage will likely bring the opponent's health within range of a KO if your sweepers can hit it neutrally.
- Generally try to avoid having Dusclops on the field with another passive Pokemon while Trick Room is up. Offensive Pokemon can make better use of the Trick Room turns available once Dusclops has set up.
Team Options
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- While Dusclops has the defensive prowess to tank even super-effective attacks and still use Trick Room, teammates with utility moves are still appreciated while setting up. Fake Out, Follow Me, Rage Powder, and Wide Guard are excellent Trick Room enablers, but each have drawbacks.
- Dusclops' single Ghost typing sports only two weaknesses, so be sure to use Pokemon that can ward off Dark and Ghost-types or soak their attacks. Scrafty and Pangoro resist both, can hit back hard with their dual STAB, and shine in Trick Room. Other bulky Fighting and Fairy-types generally pack coverage moves to handle these opponents, but must be wary of Psychic or Poison coverage moves, respectively.
- Generally speaking, teammates should either set or abuse Trick Room. Strong, slow attacking Pokemon such as Conkeldurr, Mega-Mawile, Mega-Abomasnow, Mega-Ampharados, and Tyranitar shine in Trick Room. Indirect abusers such as Amoonguss also make great teammates, but should generally not be on the field at the same time as Dusclops.
- Taunt generally renders Dusclops useless, so faster users of the move such as Gyarados or Prankster Thundurus make great teammates. Pokemon with the Magic Bounce ability can also surprise Taunt users and force switches, although the two best users of the ability - Espeon and Mega-Absol - are too fast to be great in Trick Room.
- Dusclops can't do much against Magic Bounce Pokemon itself, so teammates that clean up Espeon and Mega-Absol, such as Aegislash and Gallade, are appreciated.
- Talonflame gets an honorable mention for not caring much about Trick Room with its priority Flying-type attacks. Pokemon with the Prankster ability can also operate just as well under Trick Room, with Thundurus leading the list of options.
Other Options
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- Dusclops' awful offensive stats require it to rely on indirect moves or moves that deal set damage. This greatly restricts its movepool.
- Sets that utilize items other than Eviolite are better suited for Dusknoir.
- Trick Room is required for any Dusclops set to be successful, as its incredibly slow speed will result in it dying before it can do much, even with its impressive defenses.
- Helping Hand is an option for the fourth slot that can be used on teams that appreciate the extra power and don't need Confuse Ray or Frisk support (move is illegal with Frisk).
Checks and Counters
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**Type Advantage**
- Only Dark and Ghost-type moves hit Dusclops super-effectively, and only very strong moves of these types put any kind of dent in it: 252 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 188 SpD Eviolite Dusclops: 150-176 (52.8 - 61.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. That being said, multiple super-effective attacks on the same turn will bring Dusclops down.
- Physically offensive Fire-types, such as Blaziken, Mega-Houndoom, and Mega-Charizard-X cannot be burned by Will-O-Wisp and will threaten especially specially defensive Dusclops.
**Utility**
- Dusclops is complete set up bait for specially offensive Pokemon. Calm Mind and Nasty Plot Pokemon can set up without fear of being burned. Espeon in particular is unaffected by Dusclops unless it is running Night Shade.
- Taunt ruins Dusclops, causing it to Struggle or only have access to Night Shade.
- Pokemon with the ability Pranskter can Encore Dusclops after it has used Trick Room, negating its effect and forcing Dusclops to switch out after the next turn.
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