How to play Perish Trap in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet VGC

On the competitive side of Pokémon, there are certain team archetypes like Trick Room teams or weather teams that see a lot of usage depending on the current meta. By building a team centered around a specific archetype, you’ll usually have a basic game plan in mind with the steps you need to take in order to win.

That doesn’t mean every archetype is easy to pilot, though.

For example, one strong but complex archetype is Perish Trap which utilizes Perish Song with Shadow Tag. Perish Song is a unique move that will make every Pokémon on the field faint in three turns unless they are immune or switch out before then. Shadow Tag is an Ability that works extremely well with Perish Song because it prevents most Pokémon from switching out.

It might be game over for the opponent once Perish Song and Shadow Tag are active on the field, but getting to that point can be tricky.

Using Perish Trap in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet VGC

Wolfe Glick’s win at the 2023 Orlando Regionals has brought more attention to Perish Trap teams, but as of right now, there isn’t much variety for it in Scarlet and Violet. Gothitelle is the only Pokémon in the Gen IX Pokédex that has access to Shadow Tag, while only a small handful of viable Pokémon learn Perish Song, including Flutter Mane and Scream Tail.

Since the team centers around using Perish Song, it’s not a bad idea to run multiple Pokémon with it on their movesets. 

The rest of the team will focus on damage output and stalling until the opposing Pokémon fall to Perish Song. Amoonguss, for example, is one of the best options for stalling out turns because of its ability to heal, redirect attacks, and put foes to sleep.

Once you have your Perish Trap team, it’s time to figure out what works and doesn’t work on the battlefield.

What counters Perish Trap

Knowing how Perish Trap can be countered is crucial in understanding how to pilot the team yourself. Generally speaking, offensive Ghost-types like Gholdengo or Flutter Mane are huge threats to Perish Trap teams.

Ways to stop Perish Song:

• Moves like Taunt or Throat Chop will prevent the target from using Perish Song for two turns.
• It doesn’t affect Pokémon with Abilities like Soundproof or Gholdengo’s Good as Gold.
• Your Pokémon can be switched out to avoid fainting if Gothitelle isn’t on the field.

Ways to bypass Shadow Tag:

• Ghost-types and other Pokémon with Shadow Tag are immune.
• Pokémon can still switch out by using Volt Switch, Flip Turn, or U-Turn.
• Skill Swap will take Shadow Tag away from the target and put it on the other side of the field.

Get the numbers advantage

Power in numbers is always helpful, but it’s even more important when using Perish Trap. Because Perish Song also affects the user and its ally, you’ll eventually want to swap those Pokémon out within three turns. This is only possible if you still have three or four Pokémon alive. If you lose two Pokémon too quickly, you won’t have any options to switch in to, putting you in a bad spot to use Perish Song.

Likewise, if you’re able to get two KOs against your opponent, they won’t be able to switch their last two Pokémon out even if Gothitelle’s Shadow Tag isn’t around to trap them in. From there, using Perish Song will ensure the battle ends in three turns or less. You’ll just have to stall until then.

Keep Gothitelle healthy

To make the most out of Perish Trap, it’s ideal to keep Gothitelle alive for as long as possible. This means using a bulky EV spread with max HP and investing the rest in Defense and Special Defense. Gothitelle can also heal up by holding a Sitrus Berry or having an ally target it with a healing move like Pollen Puff or Heal Pulse. Again, this makes Amoonguss the perfect partner for Gothitelle because it has access to not only Pollen Puff but also Rage Powder to redirect attacks away from the Shadow Tag user.

Stall with different moves

Once Perish Song is used, your priority shifts to stalling out the three turns until the opposing Pokémon faint. There are a bunch of moves that can effectively help you stall while keeping your team relatively healthy.

• Protecting with both Pokémon will guarantee at least one free turn of stalling.
• Fake Out will make the target flinch for one turn.
• Spore, Hypnosis, and Sing will put the target to sleep for one to three turns.
• Disable will take away one move from the target for four turns.
• Will-O-Wisp will severely weaken a physical attacker.
• Heal Pulse and Pollen Puff will help your team stay alive.

Cycle your Pokémon in and out

As mentioned before, switching in and out is essential after using Perish Song to prevent your own Pokémon from fainting. It also, however, helps a lot with stalling. For example, Fake Out can only be used on the first turn after the user is sent out. After using the move once, you can swap out and back in to flinch your opponent again. 

Similarly, Intimidate can be cycled in and out to constantly lower the opposing side’s Attack. This works perfectly with Shadow Tag because the opponent won’t be able to swap out their Pokémon to reset their lowered Attack stat. At that point, physical attackers shouldn’t be doing too much damage to your side of the field.

It’s also smart to run an Amoonguss with Regenerator, which allows it to heal HP whenever it swaps out. This, combined with its entire moveset, makes Amoonguss one of the most annoying Pokémon to deal with on Perish Trap teams and in VGC overall.

On top of getting multiple uses out of Fake Out, Intimidate, and Regenerator, the ability to swap your Pokémon in and out adds gives you so many more options to work with. When they’re on the Perish Song timer, your opponent needs to make every turn count and do as much damage as possible. But if you can read their moves correctly and swap in the right Pokémon at the right time, you’ll stall out another one of your opponent’s turns.

Have a backup plan

Although the whole point of a Perish Trap team is to take your opponent out with Perish Song, it might not always work out. If you’re ever stuck in a position where Perish Song isn’t ideal, consider shifting your plan to more offense.

Thankfully, certain Perish Song users like Flutter Mane and Azumarill are also huge offensive threats. Flutter Mane, one of the most successful Paradox Pokémon at Orlando, will do massive damage on the special side, while Azumarill can be built to have physical offensive pressure with Huge Power. Gothitelle and Amoonguss might not be the most offensive Pokémon in VGC, but they can still chip away at the opponent with Psychic or Pollen Puff.

In addition, the other half of the team can focus purely on offense, so the damage output behind a Perish Trap team should never be underestimated.

Keep in mind you can still use the threat and pressure of Perish Song to your advantage, even if that’s not what’s directly getting the KOs. For example, if Perish Song is used without Gothitelle around, you can anticipate a switch or two from the opponent in the next few turns. Read the switch correctly and you can get free damage on the vulnerable Pokémon switching in.