Trick Room is one of the most polarizing strategies in competitive Pokemon — and in Pokemon Champions, it hits just as hard as it ever did. The premise flips the core assumption of the game: instead of outrunning your opponent, you out-slow them. Get the room up, send in a lumbering powerhouse, and watch it move first while the opposing speedsters wait helplessly at the back of the queue.
This guide covers everything you need to run Trick Room in Pokemon Champions: how the mechanic works, what makes great setters and abusers, how to handle counters, and team structure principles for ranked Doubles. Because Champions is a new game and competitive data is still forming, we keep claims grounded — where numbers are unconfirmed, we say so.
How Trick Room Works in Pokemon Champions
Trick Room is a Psychic-type move with -7 priority, meaning the Pokemon using it moves last under normal speed order. Once active, it reverses the speed priority for 5 turns (including the turn it is set). The slower a Pokemon’s Speed stat, the earlier it acts.
The practical effect: a Pokemon with low base Speed under Trick Room moves before a fast sweeper. Your “slow” threat becomes your first-strike threat. The opponent’s revenge-killer sits at the back of the queue waiting for a turn that may never come.
Key rule: casting Trick Room again while it is active cancels it immediately. This means a player can reset the room on purpose, or an opponent can disrupt it by using Trick Room themselves — a counterplay option called “double Trick Room.”
The Four-Turn Reality
Newer players sometimes over-count Trick Room turns. Here is the accurate breakdown:
| Turn | What happens |
|---|---|
| Turn 1 (setup) | Setter uses Trick Room (moves last due to -7 priority). Room is now active. |
| Turn 2 | First full abuser turn under reversed speed. |
| Turn 3 | Second full abuser turn. |
| Turn 4 | Third full abuser turn. |
| Turn 5 | Fourth and final full abuser turn. Room expires after this turn. |
You get four attacking turns for your abuser on the first set. With a second setter ready, you can chain a second window — giving up to eight total turns across the match. That is usually enough to close out a game if your abusers are strong.
Setters and Abusers: What to Look For
Every Trick Room team is built around two distinct roles. Understanding what each role needs helps you evaluate any Pokemon as a potential team member.
The Setter
A setter’s job is to get the room up reliably. Good setters share these traits:
High bulk. The setter needs to survive a hit on turn 1. Bulky Psychic and Ghost types have historically dominated this role across competitive Pokemon, and early community discussion from Champions suggests the same pattern holds here.
Secondary utility. A setter that only sets Trick Room is a liability in team preview. The best setters bring something extra: status moves, spread damage, redirection support, or Fake Out pressure that buys setup time.
Speed investment is wasted. Setters move last anyway due to -7 priority. Every EV goes into HP and defenses instead.
The Abuser
The abuser is your win condition under the room:
| Trait | Goal |
|---|---|
| Base Speed | 55 or lower (ideally in the 30–45 range) |
| Attack or Sp. Atk | Very high — you are sacrificing Speed entirely |
| Bulk | Enough to survive at least one hit |
| Coverage | Wide enough to threaten multiple opposing types |
| Speed EVs | 0 EVs, 0 IVs, negative Speed nature (as slow as possible) |
The golden rule: dump every Speed stat. Under Trick Room, minimum Speed beats maximum Speed. A common mistake is forgetting to zero out the abuser’s Speed IVs, accidentally moving after a slower opposing Pokemon and losing priority in the reversed order.
Building Your Setter and Abuser Core
The foundation of a Trick Room team is a setter-abuser core — two Pokemon that cover each other’s weaknesses and function smoothly together from turn 1.
Turn 1 in Doubles
Optimal turn 1 looks like this:
- Setter uses Trick Room (moves last, sets room)
- Lead support uses Follow Me or Fake Out (draws aggro or disrupts opponent)
After turn 1, the setter steps back (switching out or using Protect) while the abuser comes in. From turn 2 onward, the abuser runs freely under reversed speed.
The Backup Setter
Experienced Trick Room teams carry two setters. If your first setter gets KO’d on turn 1 — something a skilled opponent will absolutely attempt — a second waiting in the back keeps the strategy alive. The backup also lets you re-establish the room when the first window expires, extending your total turns across the match.
Anti-Trick Room Tech: What Your Opponents Will Try
If you run Trick Room in ranked, expect these counters. If you face a Trick Room team, these are your tools.
Targeting the setter. The fastest and most reliable counter is knocking out the setter before Trick Room goes up, using priority moves (Fake Out, Sucker Punch) or a sufficiently fast lead. Protect on the setter is a common response — be ready to read and pivot around it.
Taunt. A fast Taunt user hitting the setter before Trick Room blocks the room entirely. The counter is Protect on the setter while your support threatens the Taunt user — then you set freely next turn.
Imprison. If your lead knows Trick Room + Imprison, the opposing setter cannot use Trick Room at all. This is niche but can hard-counter known Trick Room teams in team preview.
Waiting it out. If you cannot prevent Trick Room, sometimes the correct play is to burn the 5-turn window. Protect, Substitute, or switching to less Speed-dependent options costs your opponent’s abuser turns. Once the room expires, your faster team reasserts control.
Double TR. Using Trick Room while your opponent’s room is active cancels it immediately. A team that can threaten this forces complex mind-games and shows up at higher-ranked play.
Sample Team Structure
Below is a structural framework for a Doubles Trick Room team. Specific Pokemon and moves are intentionally left open — the Champions meta is still forming, and the right slot fillers for the current patch matter more than a fixed list.
| Slot | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primary Setter | Bulky Psychic or Ghost type; runs Trick Room plus a utility or coverage move |
| 2 | Lead Support | Fake Out or Follow Me user; draws turn-1 aggro away from the setter |
| 3 | Primary Abuser | Lowest Speed on the team, highest offensive stat, wide coverage |
| 4 | Secondary Abuser | Covers different typing threats than Slot 3 |
| 5 | Backup Setter | Re-establishes room when first window expires or if Slot 1 is KO’d early |
| 6 | Flex / Speed Control | Performs outside the room; handles games where setting safely is not possible |
The flex slot is critical. Pure Trick Room teams that burn both setters early can find themselves speed-checked hard in the endgame — your slowest abuser with 0 Speed EVs is genuinely last to move under normal order. A flex option with enough bulk or natural utility keeps you from hard-losing those games.
Speed Tiers Under Trick Room
Under Trick Room, the slower a Pokemon’s Speed, the higher its effective priority. This means Speed tiers essentially invert — a Pokemon that sits at the very bottom of normal speed tiers suddenly sits at the top.
Understanding which of your abusers outprioritizes which in the reversed order matters in mirror matches and in situations where both players have slow Pokemon. When two low-Speed attackers are both under Trick Room, the slower one still moves first — so knowing your exact Speed number relative to the field matters.
For a full breakdown of normal and reversed Speed benchmarks, see our speed tiers guide.
Trick Room in Singles vs. Doubles
Trick Room sees much heavier use in Doubles, and for good reason. In Doubles you run the setter and an abuser on the field simultaneously. On turn 1, the setter sets the room while a support lead handles the opponent’s front two. The abuser enters with the room already active and attacks immediately.
In Singles, you spend a full turn setting Trick Room while the abuser sits on the bench. The opponent uses that turn to attack your setter — potentially KO’ing it before the room ever goes up — and there is no field slot for a redirector.
Trick Room Singles is not unplayable. If your setter has enough bulk to survive the set and your abuser threatens enough that the opponent cannot ignore it, the strategy can work. It just requires more careful team preview positioning.
For more on format differences in Champions, check our Singles vs. Doubles breakdown.
How the Meta Shifts Trick Room’s Viability
Speed control as an archetype is sensitive to the broader meta. As new Pokemon, moves, or items arrive in patches, the Trick Room landscape shifts:
- A new fast priority move makes setting harder
- A new bulky, slow attacker with strong coverage makes abusing easier
- Nerfs to existing setters open slots for new setter options
- Buffs to redirection users make turn-1 setup safer
Tailwind interaction: Tailwind doubles Speed for 4 turns — the opposite philosophy from Trick Room. If Tailwind is active when you try to set, your slow abusers are even slower against Tailwind-boosted opponents outside the room. Getting the room up before Tailwind starts doing work is essential against those teams.
Because Champions patches are expected to iterate actively, Trick Room’s viability is worth revisiting after each patch. We update our patch notes hub with every change — check there first when evaluating whether a given build is still optimal.
Is Trick Room Worth Building in the Current Meta?
As of the early weeks of Pokemon Champions, the meta is unsettled. Early community reports from ranked play suggest Trick Room is viable, particularly because:
- Many players are not yet accounting for it in team builds
- Newer players gravitate toward fast, offensive teams — which Trick Room directly punishes
- The slow-power ceiling is genuinely threatening when setters land cleanly
The counterargument: experienced opponents target setters aggressively, and as anti-TR tech becomes more common at higher ranks, execution complexity increases. Trick Room teams that lack flex options or backup setters are punishable.
The honest verdict: Trick Room is a high-ceiling strategy with a real learning curve. Early in a meta it tends to overperform until players adapt. Building a clean TR team now — while the field is still developing — is a reasonable path to climbing ranked.
For a broader look at what is performing in the current meta, see the best teams guide and the tier list.
FAQ
What does Trick Room do in Pokemon Champions? Trick Room reverses the speed order for 5 turns, making the slowest Pokemon move first. It is set by a support Pokemon and then abused by high-power, low-speed attackers.
How many turns does Trick Room last? Trick Room lasts 5 turns including the turn it is set. The setter moves last on turn 1 due to its -7 priority, so abusers effectively get 4 full turns to attack under reversed speed.
What are the best Trick Room setters in Pokemon Champions? As of the early meta, bulky Psychic- and Ghost-type support Pokemon tend to make the best setters because they can survive a hit and set the room reliably. Specific usage rankings are still forming as the meta develops.
What makes a good Trick Room abuser? A good abuser has very low base Speed (ideally 55 or lower), high Attack or Special Attack, and wide coverage. Being slow is an asset — the lower the Speed, the more reliably it outspeeds everything under Trick Room.
Does Trick Room work in Singles format in Pokemon Champions? Yes, Trick Room is legal in Singles, but it sees far more use in Doubles where you can run the setter and abuser side by side on the same turn. In Singles you must dedicate full turns to set it while your abuser waits on the bench.
How do I beat Trick Room teams in ranked? The main counters are: KO the setter before it can move, use Imprison or Taunt to block Trick Room outright, wait out the 5-turn window with stall moves, or reset with your own Trick Room.
Can you run multiple Trick Room setters on one team? Yes, and experienced players often run 2 setters so that if the first is knocked out, a backup can re-establish the room. This also lets you extend Trick Room beyond the initial 5 turns.
What is “double Trick Room” tech? If Trick Room is already active, using the move again cancels it immediately and returns speed to normal order. This can be used strategically to end your own Trick Room if the opponent is now benefiting from it more than you are.
Should I use max Speed EVs or min Speed EVs on a Trick Room abuser? Min Speed (0 Speed EVs, 0 Speed IVs, negative Speed nature if available) is the standard. Under Trick Room the slower the Pokemon, the faster it moves, so dumping Speed entirely maximizes your advantage in the reversed turn order.
Is Trick Room viable for climbing ranked in Pokemon Champions? Early community reports suggest Trick Room is viable and can catch unprepared opponents off guard, especially players who have not built anti-TR tech into their teams yet. Its viability shifts patch to patch as the meta matures.
