What makes Trick Room so strong in ranked Doubles?
Trick Room flips the entire speed order for 5 turns, letting your slowest, hardest-hitting Pokemon act before anything else on the field. In Pokémon Champions, where the current meta leans heavily on fast attackers and Tailwind setups, a well-executed Trick Room effectively neutralizes the opponent's entire speed-based strategy in a single move. The payoff is enormous, but the execution requires the right team structure and clean decision-making from turn one.
A functional Trick Room team needs three things working together: a setter that can reliably get the move off, at least one slow heavy hitter to capitalize on the reversed speed, and enough support to protect the setter or clean up when Trick Room isn't active. Get all three right and this archetype is genuinely difficult to stop.
Custom uploaded: Farigiraf Trick Room.avif
How to build a Trick Room team from scratch
Choosing your Trick Room setters
The setter is the foundation of the whole strategy, so picking one that can actually get Trick Room up against a prepared opponent matters more than almost anything else.
Farigiraf is the top-rated setter in the current meta. Its Armor Tail ability blocks priority moves like Fake Out entirely, and holding a Mental Herb covers Taunt. That combination removes the two most common ways opponents try to stop Trick Room from going up. After setting, it can attack with Hyper Voice or boost an ally with Helping Hand, so it stays useful throughout the match. A Relaxed nature (Defense up, Speed down) maximizes its effectiveness under the reversed speed order.
Sinistcha works as an excellent secondary setter. Ghost-typing makes it immune to Fake Out by default, and Rage Powder lets it redirect single-target attacks away from a partner setter. Its Hospitality ability restores 25% of an ally's max HP on entry, which becomes particularly valuable for keeping a sweeper's Water Spout at full power. Run a Sassy nature (Special Defense up, Speed down) to keep it slow and bulky.
Oranguru offers a different angle. Inner Focus prevents flinching from Fake Out, and a Mental Herb handles Taunt, meaning the only real way to stop it is a direct KO from Dark-type attacks. After Trick Room goes up, Oranguru can use Instruct to repeat an ally's last move, effectively doubling your sweeper's output in a single turn.
Gardevoir (including Mega) is a solid four-star option. Telepathy prevents it from taking damage from ally spread moves, but it needs more support to set Trick Room safely compared to the top three options.
Picking your sweepers
The setter gets Trick Room up. The sweeper wins the game. These are the Pokemon you build the rest of the team around.
Kingambit is the most consistent option. Strong both inside and outside of Trick Room, its Defiant ability means Intimidate users actually boost its Attack instead of weakening it, which punishes one of the most common support strategies in the format. Pair it with a Pokemon immune to Ground if you want to spam Earthquake freely.
Mega Golurk hits with Ghost and Ground STAB simultaneously, and Unseen Fist lets it deal damage through Protect. That combination of coverage and Protect-bypassing makes it extremely hard to play around once Trick Room is active.
Mega Blastoise is the centrepiece of the featured Rain team build. Under Rain with a Quiet nature and maximum Special Attack EVs, a full-HP Water Spout hits at 150 base power before Rain and STAB amplification. Very few Pokemon survive a direct hit, and those that do are usually threatened by Ice Beam or Aura Sphere. It also learns Fake Out, giving it a dual role as both sweeper and Trick Room support.
Torkoal doubles as a Sun setter and a Trick Room sweeper. Eruption under Sun mirrors what Blastoise does with Water Spout, and it can fall back on Heat Wave if its HP drops too low.
Support options: Fake Out and redirection
The two most reliable ways to protect a setter on turn one are Fake Out (which flinches a threat before it can move) and redirection moves like Follow Me or Rage Powder (which absorb single-target attacks aimed at the setter).
Incineroar is the gold standard for Fake Out support. Intimidate drops both opponents' Attack on entry, Fake Out flinches the most dangerous threat, and its naturally low Speed makes it a genuine attacker once Trick Room is up. Parting Shot lets it pivot out while lowering the replacement target's offensive stats.
Maushold (Family of Four) provides Friend Guard, Follow Me, and solid damage through Super Fang. Its Normal-typing also makes it immune to Ghost-type attacks that would otherwise threaten Psychic-type setters.
Clefable (or Mega Clefable with Magic Bounce) threatens Dark-types that prey on many Trick Room setters, and can redirect attacks with Follow Me.
Strong options outside of Trick Room
Trick Room doesn't always go up on turn one. Having Pokemon that perform well in normal speed order gives you outs when the setup fails or gets disrupted.
Basculegion (Male) with Choice Scarf and Adaptability is a strong non-Trick Room mode option. Most opponents expect Swift Swim and Mystic Water on Rain teams, so the Choice Scarf set catches them off guard. Aqua Jet provides priority to move first even when Trick Room is active and Basculegion would otherwise go last.
Archaludon is flexible enough to operate under both Trick Room and Tailwind depending on the matchup. Garchomp is one of the strongest Pokemon in the current meta but avoid bringing it onto the field while Trick Room is active due to its high natural Speed.
The best Trick Room team: Trick Room Rain build
This team combines Rain's damage amplification with Trick Room's speed reversal to create a setup where Mega Blastoise becomes almost impossible to stop once it gets going. The team runs dual Fake Out users (Blastoise and Incineroar) and dual Trick Room setters (Farigiraf and Sinistcha), giving multiple lead variations for different matchups.
One important note about this team's construction: none of the six Pokemon carry Protect. That's intentional. A turn spent using Protect is a turn of Trick Room that expires without dealing damage.
Full team builds
Farigiraf | Nature: Relaxed (Def up, Spe down) | Item: Mental Herb | Ability: Armor Tail EV Spread: 24 HP / 22 Atk / 20 SpD Moves: Hyper Voice, Twin Beam, Trick Room, Helping Hand
The primary setter. Mental Herb plus Armor Tail covers Taunt and priority moves respectively. Twin Beam is preferred over Psychic in some situations because hitting twice bypasses Focus Sash and KOs frail Fighting and Poison-types that would otherwise survive.
Pelipper | Nature: Quiet (SpA up, Spe down) | Item: Focus Sash | Ability: Drizzle EV Spread: 32 HP / 32 SpA / 2 SpD Moves: Weather Ball, Hurricane, Wide Guard, Helping Hand
The Rain setter and spread move counter. Hurricane never misses in Rain, making it a reliable answer to Grass-types. Wide Guard protects the team from spread moves like those used by Mega Floette. Focus Sash keeps it alive to set Rain even if targeted directly.
Mega Blastoise | Nature: Quiet (SpA up, Spe down) | Item: Blastoisinite | Ability: Mega Launcher EV Spread: 32 HP / 2 Def / 32 SpA Moves: Water Spout, Ice Beam, Aura Sphere, Fake Out
Stats after Mega Evolution: 186 HP / 125 Atk / 140 Def / 205 SpA / 135 SpD / 88 Spe
The win condition. Water Spout at full HP under Rain hits at maximum power and eliminates most threats outright. Fake Out gives it a turn-one support option to help Farigiraf set Trick Room safely before the sweeping begins.
Incineroar | Nature: Brave (Atk up, Spe down) | Item: Chople Berry | Ability: Intimidate EV Spread: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 Def Moves: Flare Blitz, Throat Chop, Parting Shot, Fake Out
Physical threat removal and Blastoise protection. Chople Berry halves incoming Fighting-type damage, keeping it alive against common physical attackers. Parting Shot on the same turn Trick Room goes up allows Blastoise to enter with a stat-dropped opponent already on the field.
Sinistcha | Nature: Sassy (SpD up, Spe down) | Item: Sitrus Berry | Ability: Hospitality EV Spread: 32 HP / 14 Def / 20 SpD Moves: Matcha Gotcha, Shadow Ball, Rage Powder, Trick Room
Backup setter and Blastoise sustain. Hospitality restores 25% of Blastoise's max HP on entry, which directly increases Water Spout's base power. Rage Powder redirects attacks away from Farigiraf or Blastoise. Matcha Gotcha provides passive healing and a 20% burn chance.
Basculegion (Male) | Nature: Jolly (Spe up, SpA down) | Item: Choice Scarf | Ability: Adaptability EV Spread: 32 Atk / 2 Def / 32 Spe Moves: Wave Crash, Last Respects, Flip Turn, Aqua Jet
The surprise mode. Choice Scarf Basculegion with Adaptability covers matchups where Trick Room isn't the right call. Aqua Jet remains useful even under Trick Room since it's a priority move that ignores speed order entirely.
Blastoise Water Spout sweep
How to play the Trick Room Rain team
Lead options and when to use them
The default aggressive lead is Farigiraf + Mega Blastoise. Use this against teams that have no obvious Trick Room counter. Blastoise Fake Outs the biggest threat while Farigiraf sets Trick Room, then Blastoise starts spamming Water Spout immediately on turn two.
Against teams running Water and Grass-types that resist Blastoise's STAB, swap to Incineroar + Sinistcha. This lead still has both Fake Out and Trick Room available, and Incineroar handles the Grass-type threats that would otherwise wall the core.
For most standard matchups, the recommended four Pokemon to bring are Farigiraf, Mega Blastoise, Pelipper, and Sinistcha. Pelipper sits in the back to counter weather teams or boost Water Spout damage, while Sinistcha provides a Trick Room reset and Blastoise healing.
When Blastoise can't pressure early (usually because the opponent leads with its direct counters), bring Incineroar and Basculegion to clear those counters first. Once they're gone, Sinistcha sets Trick Room and Blastoise closes out.
Mega Evolution timing
Mega Evolve Blastoise immediately when leading with it. The stat gains and Mega Launcher ability are too significant to delay. For Pokemon like Mega Golurk or Mega Drampa on other team variants, wait until their counters have been removed before bringing them in, since manually switching a Mega into an unfavorable matchup risks losing it before it can act.
How to counter Trick Room teams
Preventing the setup
The most reliable counter is stopping Trick Room from going up at all. Taunt shuts down passive setters before they can use any status moves. Knock Off removes Mental Herb before the setter can activate it, but timing matters: the Knock Off user must act before the Taunt user, otherwise you Taunt into the Mental Herb and Knock Off nothing.
Imprison combined with Trick Room on the same Pokemon completely locks the opponent out of the move for as long as Imprison stays active. Gardevoir and Meowstic (Male) both learn this combination. Against the Rain team specifically, Imprison is particularly punishing because the team has no Protect to stall out the timer.
If Trick Room goes up anyway
Protect is the simplest response since it burns a turn of the 5-turn effect without taking damage. Running your own slow and bulky Pokemon partially negates the speed reversal since they may still move at similar speed to the opponent's sweepers.
Priority moves bypass the speed order entirely. Sucker Punch, Aqua Jet, and Extreme Speed all act before normal moves even under Trick Room, giving faster teams a way to deal damage before the slow sweepers can act.
Balance teams with naturally slow and bulky Pokemon like Kingambit, Archaludon, Primarina, and Incineroar can sometimes benefit from the opponent's Trick Room themselves, turning a counter strategy into a shared advantage.
What are the biggest weaknesses of Trick Room teams?
The Trick Room Rain build specifically struggles against three things:
Imprison Trick Room is the hardest counter. Without Protect to stall the timer, this team has limited ways to wait out Imprison once it's active.
Balance teams with bulk across the board can outlast the Trick Room windows and use their own Trick Room to reset speeds back to normal, neutralizing the main advantage.
Mega Meganium Rain is a particularly bad matchup. Mega Meganium actually wants Rain active, and only Pelipper and Blastoise's Ice Beam can threaten it effectively. Archaludon and Kingambit on the same team also have strong matchups against the rest of the roster through Electro Shot and Dark STAB respectively.
For more team archetypes to pair or contrast with Trick Room, check the Pokémon Champions rain team composition guide and the sun team composition guide for weather-based alternatives. If you want to see how Trick Room Pokemon stack up across the full roster, the Pokémon Champions Doubles tier list breaks down every viable pick by ranking. For more builds and strategies across every playstyle, browse the full Pokémon Champions strategy guides collection.