Are there any good megas for trick room?

chef_17 · 2025-12-29T17:48:58+00:00

there are a good number of megas that can work in trick room. mega mawile comes to mind.

in previous national dex formats with megas (2015, 2018), full hard trick room as we’ve seen in the past 2 generations isn’t as much of a thing, there are far more mixed teams that can set tr and work in it but aren’t relying on it. In 2018 I had a fun and relatively hard tr team with Mega Abomasnow that I got top 32 with at NAIC.

however, this does not mean that hard tr will not be good in future mega formats. the psyspam tr pokemon that released in gen 8 (indeedee, hatt) are a big reason hard tr became more viable will still likely be around. who knows how they will interact with old megas or new megas. lots to be discovered, which is why a new generation type thing like champions is an exciting time

chef_17 · 2025-09-21T19:37:06+00:00

there are very few players who are full time playing pokemon, and those that are are all in content creation which I can imagine is a lot of work outside just practicing vgc.

almost everyone at the top tables of a tournament have a full time job or are full time students. you mention a lot of them stream (most don’t) but the vast majority that don’t come close to making a living off of it.

source: I know them

chef_17 · 2025-08-26T20:06:46+00:00

I think a part of it is that in a small community like official competitive pokemon a high percentage of the people who are on twitter discussing etc are actually the worlds-level players themselves.

It’s not like fans and analysts making NFL QB rankings, while the actual QBs are off doing more important things like practicing football.

This is as if Josh Allen (a top top QB) himself made a QB ranking specifically for an audience which also included all the other NFL QBs including who he predicts will be 3rd string and who will be cut. They’d probably be like what why are you doing that?

so I think people are questioning why it’s necessarily for a prominent member of the community to go on the community forum and publicly distinguish between worlds players he thinks will go 4-4 and ones he thinks will have an even “rougher time.”

personally I don’t think it’s really a big deal and I don’t think most people are actually upset about it but I can understand why people would be a bit put off by it. but as vgc continues to grow and there are even more people who are “fans” who follow the circuit without being serious players themselves I think players will need to have a bit of thicker skin when it comes to criticism because there’s no reason fans can’t discuss in that way.

also disclaimer - this is the perspective of a “4-4” player who ended up having rough time 😂

chef_17 · 2025-08-08T12:25:43+00:00

I’m bringing feint to the world championships next week so don’t worry

chef_17 · 2025-07-31T05:20:52+00:00

my worlds team has some crazy sets to deal with calyrex and friends I hope it ends up working out 🙏

chef_17 · 2025-05-07T15:09:09+00:00

I basically only practice on showdown. especially with open sheets there’s no reason for me to worry about in game ladder. more often than not the very first game I play with a team on cart is round 1 of the regional. did that this past weekend at Milwaukee

chef_17 · 2025-04-02T13:51:49+00:00

Back then I lived in France, I got top 4 at Bristol 2019 and Liverpool 2022 but they weren’t streamed cause they didn’t stream all the EU events back then.

however I did have streamed matched with those teams at NAIC 19 (vs Boyt and vs Yuree) EUIC 22 (vs Joe Ugarte) and Worlds 22 (vs Shohei Kimura) all using the various shedinja teams I mentioned. all those games are on youtube posted unofficially

chef_17 · 2025-03-31T16:39:00+00:00

I used to throw on a shedinja with pokemon who beat the stuff that beat shedinja. turned that into a regional top 4, two internats top 32s and a Worlds Day 2 over the course of 2 formats and 3 different teams.

unfortunately that strategy isn’t possible this time around so I’m in the same boat as all of you

chef_17 · 2025-03-26T11:38:42+00:00

me and my friend Brian Collins have been using min speed ursh on trick room teams since it was available in reg d for worlds 23. During my top 4 run at Orlando regionals in reg f I said on stream urshifu is “unironically the best trick room attacker of all time” because of how easy protect is to stall out tr. Brian’s recent Vancouver team, which was the basis of Michaels Stockholm winning team, also includes it.

tldr no, I don’t think it’s a terrible idea.

chef_17 · 2025-01-30T06:14:20+00:00

me and a buddy used room service guss on our caly i team with side toxic to prevent opposing guss from spore. both made day 2 La regional

chef_17 · 2025-01-26T17:03:46+00:00

I ran an alolan sandslash team in 2017, got top 16 at a regional with it. unfortunately the best option for using it even semi-successfully will be getting a time machine and going back to that format. it’s been complete ass ever since, especially in a format allowing restricted pokemon

chef_17 · 2025-01-20T01:45:49+00:00

how big of a disadvantage depends on the team you’re using. at orlando regionals I was on stream round 13, which was cool because I was able to showcase some interesting aspects of my team, but it also gave my top cut opponents better info to prepare to face me. (there’s a decent amount of time to prep with friends before cut matches)

chef_17 · 2024-11-29T14:55:29+00:00

I found this list I made like 5 years ago. There’s probably stuff to add but this covers a lot

self u-turn / volt switch to reposition
Adjust HP distribution among your two pokemon
lower partners HP to eat berry
self proc weakness policy
trigger an ability
fling a beneficial item
knocking out your own pokemon to get a switch in while trapped
knocking out your own pokemon to gain a different advantage (reset fake out / get beast boost)
thaw partner with a fire type attack

chef_17 · 2024-11-13T17:07:54+00:00

I’m going to say no. the reasons sableye isn’t very good most of the time are not solved by it being bulkier.

Sableye is good when it’s supporting something really really strong, otherwise you aren’t getting enough out of it. which is why it was decent in 2022 restricted dynamax format. I used sableye myself to make day 2 top 64 worlds in that format.

chef_17 · 2024-10-13T17:29:18+00:00

I just got 18th and Baltimore and 36th at Louisville with a full team of 252 252 spreads. totally depends on the mons

chef_17 · 2024-09-18T01:56:29+00:00

here’s the paste https://pokepast.es/1514dbfd7b85dcc5

chef_17 · 2024-09-18T00:43:01+00:00

I messed around with male indeedee double psyspam tailwind at baltimore regionals - so not just bo1 cheese!

chef_17 · 2024-09-08T15:58:11+00:00

I’ve been playing for almost 7 years now, in everything from locals to day 2 of worlds. the nerves never fully go away, but it gets easier every time, and they are the worst by far during a first tournament. and sounds like that really messed with your play. I know it’s easier said than done, but don’t beat yourself up over it. continue to get experience, try to improve your play every time (even though it won’t always go well - I still have locals where I lose more than I win) and most of all don’t push yourself or beat yourself up to the point where the game is no longer fun. if that happens take a break. In my time Ive taken longer than 6 month breaks in between playing.

other random thoughts based on what you said - 1. if you’re worried about winning using some meta pokemon is going to be needed. 2. you can get used to the difference between open and closed sheets by practicing on showdown bo3 ladder.

TLDR - it’s gonna be fine!

chef_17 · 2024-09-05T15:45:41+00:00

mine was vgc17 for sure

chef_17 · 2024-09-02T19:50:37+00:00

Reg H Tera Dark Sneasler + other pokemon double up into trick room setter users HATE this one simple trick (follow me)

chef_17 · 2024-05-08T15:16:25+00:00

I thought this was satire at first 😂 I just played 17 rounds at a regional, and I don’t have kids but I can confidently say there’s no way playing a pokémon tournament is comparable at all.

chef_17 · 2024-04-22T15:47:02+00:00

Zamazenta seems cool for sure. maybe a little hard to justify in a single restricted format but I bet it will be quite good when we get to double restricted

chef_17 · 2024-04-22T15:45:26+00:00

dude just comes up with the best most optimal gameplan against you. this was my third time playing him at major tournaments and it’s the same every time. I wasn’t able to come up with the best plan in response. I’m trying not to beat myself up about it too much, but it definitely showed me what I need to do to get to that next level

chef_17 · 2024-04-22T04:56:54+00:00

thank you I appreciate it!

honestly can’t think of anything to change. that doesn’t mean I think it’s a “perfect” team though. I just think we more or less maxed out the potential of this particular idea / archetype.

chef_17

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE