The range of strategies and team compositions that you can create are limitless, and a Pokémon that seemingly has no potential can become a world-beater if you build around it correctly. In the case of Trick Room, it allows you to run attackers that would otherwise be outsped by other meta picks, thanks to the move flipping the order of how moves are prioritized. If you’re looking for a more nuanced approach to your competitive battling, then this might be the strategy for you – and below I’ve listed some of the best Trick Room sweepers in the game right now to help you make a team capable of winning championships.
7. Ferrothorn
Ferrothorn isn’t exactly the first Pokémon that would come to mind when you talk about sweepers, and for good reason. This ‘mon has been a staple defender since its introduction in Gen V. Ferrothorn’s bulky defense, combined with access to entry hazards, makes it a nightmare for most teams to take down. However, Ferrothorn is one of the rare Pokémon that can defend and attack in equal measure. It boasts a strong 95 base ATK, although that’s nothing compared to its 100+ in both defensive stats. We’re going to be taking advantage of those numbers on our Trick Room build, running Gyro Ball and Body Press as our main attacking moves. Gyro Ball’s damage is based on how much slower you are compared to your opponent. Ferrothorn only has 20 base Speed, so that’s going to hit like a truck. When Gyro Ball isn’t an option, Body Press will scale off of your defense rather than your attack, making it capable of tearing through a lot of teams.
6. Escavalier
Escavalier is a bit of an outsider pick. It’s not a mainstay in the current meta, which is a bit of a surprise given how strong it actually is. Escavalier has bug/steel typing which is one of the stronger ones in the game. Not only does this serve Escavalier defensively, but it also means that it has access to a range of steel-type STAB moves. On the stats side of things, Escavalier has a base Speed of 20 and an Attack of 135. Needless to say, numbers like that are begging it to run a Trick Room setup. Throw something like a Life Orb on top of that Attack and you have yourself one of the most slept-on sweepers in the entire meta right now. Escavalier also has access to the Overcoat ability, making it immune to powder moves, weather effects, and spore moves. Given how popular the likes of Stun Spore have gotten recently with a lot of top-tier teams, Escavalier can serve as a hard counter, making it almost an anti-meta sweeper pick.
5. Torkoal
Here’s a Pokémon I bet you didn’t expect to see on this list. It’s rare that a Pokémon that doesn’t have an evolution wins championships – but that’s exactly what happened with Trick Room Torkoal. This humble turtle only has an Attack of 85, which isn’t exactly what you would call “sweeper material”. However, it has some serious internal synergy that allows it to come out with some explosive damage without the need for any setup. You see, Torkoal has access to the Drought ability. Drought lets Torkoal summon a Sunny Day when it switches in. Combine that with a setup Trick Room, a held Charcoal, and a STAB move like Eruption, and you’ve got what essentially amounts to a nuclear warhead in your back pocket. However, Torkaol suffers from an overreliance on this setup. If your Sunny Day gets canceled, don’t expect to be hitting anything too hard with it.
4. Alolan Marowak
Yeah, yeah, I know this is a list moreso for Sword and Shield. However, you can actually get your hands on an Alolan Marowak if you find 50 Digletts for the Diglett Master on the Isle of Armor. Does this mean you have to sit through what is essentially an overblown fetch quest? Yep, but let’s be honest: you’ve wasted far more time than that breeding Pokémon. It’s well worth the grind (or finding someone to trade) for an Alolan Marowak. Although it’s similar to Torkoal in that it doesn’t look too strong at first glance. However, also like Torkoal, when you put some effort into actually researching Alolan Marowak, you realize what an absolute monster it is. Alolan Marowak has a base Attack of 80. Pretty bad, right? Well, it also has access to a held item called Thick Club. This doubles Marowak’s Attack. In other words, it makes it base 160. Yeah, not such a pushover now. Aside from the Thick Club, Marowak doesn’t have anything fancy to work with. It just hits like a truck, but what else do you really need from a Trick Room sweeper?
3. Rhyperior
Rhyperior is a technical juggernaut. It has a whopping 140 Attack, 130 Defense, and 115 HP. In other words, as long as you’re not running up against a special attacker, Rhyperior isn’t going to be getting OHKO’d any time soon. It also has a Speed of 40, hence the need to run it in a Trick Room team. With that Trick Room active, you’ve got yourself a monster that looks as tough as it actually is. It has great survivability, move coverage, and enough Attack to maul almost anything you put it up against. Running Rhyperior with Lightning Rod adds a little bit of finesse to the Pokémon, making your timing important as you want to switch in against an electric attack to take advantage of that drawing effect, giving it versatility as a support as well as a hard-hitting attacker. Throw a Life Orb on top of that, combined with a move like Protect to keep it out longer, and you have a Pokémon that seems to exist to do nothing other than giving your opponent a headache.
2. Snorlax
Trick Room is such a great team build option because it allows Pokémon like Snorlax to smash through teams. Without it, you wouldn’t ever consider running a ‘mon like this as an attacker, let alone one that can be used at the top of competitive play. Snorlax has an Attack of 110, so we’re off to a good start. However, what really sends it over the edge is its access to Belly Drum. Belly Drum is a move that takes the user down to half health, but in exchange, it will maximize your Attack. This synergizes extremely well with Snorlax’s Gluttony ability. Gluttony allows it to eat berries at 50% HP instead of 25%. In other words, you can Belly Drum and immediately trigger your berry, healing Snorlax back up to, more or less, full health with a maxed-out Attack stat. This should give you a picture of just how dominant a setup like this can be, once you establish it in-game.
1. Conkeldurr
Last but not least, we have Conkeldurr. I have to admit that I actually hate this Pokémon. I think it’s one of the worst-looking Pokémon ever designed… However, I can’t deny that it’s an absolute killer Trick Room sweeper. Conkeldurr’s base Attack of 140 immediately puts it right up at the top of this list in terms of how hard it can hit, all without the need for fancy setups like Sunny Day or Belly Drum. That’s not to say that there isn’t any tech involved with Conkeldurr, because there absolutely is. Cokeldurr has access to the Guts ability. This ability increases its Attack by 50% when it’s afflicted by a status condition. Pair that with a Flame Orb and the tale pretty much writes itself. But Conkeldurr is not just a phenomenal attacker, though. Running Flame Orb means it’s immune to status conditions like sleep and paralysis, and getting access to Detect allows it to stick around when your opponent finally manages to get some damage onto it. All of the Pokémon on this list are great Trick Room options – but Conkeldurr is easily the strongest of the lot.
