Battle Spot: Sudowoodo Trick Room and Doubles Strategy

Build set as of Gen 6

Ability – Rock Head

Stats – HP (252), Attack (252), Defense (6)

Nature – Adamant 

Item – Focus Sash

Move set – Rock Slide, Wood Hammer, Sucker Punch, Protect

Ah, Sudowoodo, who could forget this tree wannabe during the Gold/Silver era. Many got fooled thinking it was a Grass-type but turned out to be pure Rock-type. Many trainers won't consider using this imitator for a good reason, being pure Rock-type is a really bad idea in the current metagame, as it faces off many weaknesses and it's super slow too. But does it work well in a Trick Room team?

Strength

To start off, Sudowoodo has two useful abilities - Rock Head and Sturdy, both are viable options but for me, I'd usually go for Rock Head because it negates recoil from recoil moves, like Wood Hammer which we will get to that later. If one chooses not to use Wood Hammer, then by all means, go for Sturdy. 

Another strong point is its Attack and Defense base stats, which are pretty high standing at 100 and 115 respectively.

Weakness

On the other hand, Sudowoodo has very low Special Defense which poses a big issue. As a pure Rock-type as aforementioned, being weak to five types (Fighting, Water, Ground, Grass, and Steel) is like being Bad Luck Brian in the metagame, but luckily you have Sturdy for that or a Focus Band.

Not only that, it's lacking quite a few useful moves, and the only two moves that are useful for Rock Head ability is Wood Hammer and Double Edge. 

Moveset

Having Rock Slide (or Stone Edge) is a must as this is its best STAB move for obvious reasons. The question remains is what other moved should it learn after that. With Rock Head ability at its disposal, this prompts Wood Hammer a must have to counter Water and Ground-type Pokemon, although Double Edge also benefits from the ability, this Normal-type move is out of place and it’s not super effective against anything. 

Sucker Punch is great to compensate its slow stat speed. Last but not least, Protect is a no brainer. Low Kick is also a move worth mentioning as it deals with Steel-type Pokemon, but that would mean you have to sacrifice one move slot for it.

Closing thoughts

My experience using Sudowoodo has not been that great, honestly speaking. Sometimes I do get to fool players who have never seen one thinking it was Grass-type, but when they don't, they tend to deal with it accordingly. What's more, Wood Hammer couldn't really OHKO most Water and Ground-type Pokemon as they tend to have respectable Defense base stats.

Choosing a pure Rock-type has never been recommended due to its glaring 5 weaknesses, not to mention there are always better options out there like Barbaracle if you want a kickass Rock Slide user with STAB. Oh well, it was nice knowing you.

So Sudowoodo, I don't choose you. Sorry :(