Smogon Doubles, a tier that some of us are only just getting into.
Many great battlers such as Profirio, Ben, AlphaDraconis, and myself
currently reside there. We even have a Doubles Gym lead by
AlphaDraconis in the league. Before Doubles my main tier was OU, and
shortly behind that, UU. But with AlphaDraconis I rose fast. Like
many, I have that ability to learn fast, and strike hard. With our
first team and the kindling of our friendship and our rise to power in
Doubles, AlphaDraconis and I started. Then we talked, and in came, the
rain. Rain is the most popular weather, and in doubles easily my
favorite. We of course started with Politoed, but there are so many
sets it can run. We went for a bulky set allowing it to stay alive and
bring us rain, while also wrecking havoc by supporting our sweepers.
We bring you,
Why you so wet there Sonny-Boy?
Politoed
@ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 128 HP / 64 Def / 64 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Surf
- Ice Beam
Specially Defensive Politoed with bulk and some Defensive presence. Tanks hits extremely well while dealing sufficient damage to my enemy. Surf hits multiple opponents and is boosted by rain. Also works well for Ludi's item and 4x resist. Helping Hand is godly in Doubles causing my ally to deal unfathomable damage. Protect works well for scouting, stalling, and HP recovery.
Ludicolo
@ Absorb Bulb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SAtk / 128 SDef / 128 Spd
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
This guy is one hell of a boss. With Absorb Bulb and typing he can tank a surf from Poli and get his special attack boosted, gg. Swift Swim speed, some SDef bulk to help him tank some hits. Giga Drain main STAB and HP recovery, hurts Gastro and Gliscor hard. Ice Beam is for them dragon types who think they boss. Scald is Secondary STAB with decent chance to burn.
Sableye
@ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Seismic Toss
"Oh so you want to set up do you?" Taunt.
"Oh so you're physical attacker are you?" Will-O-Wisp.
"Oh so you think you can out last me do you?" Recover.
"Oh so you have your own taunt do you?" Seismic Toss.
Classic Eyeballs with prankster. Set is UU and works just fine in Doubles, my main counter to teams who use that Skill Swap Slaking trick.
Amoonguss
@ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Clear Smog
This guy...This guy is so brutal. The defensive side of Politoed, he makes a great switch in for several of my pokes, sadly he can't run leech seed, which is why we Spore instead, HP Fighting hits Ferro AND Heatran instead of just one of them and isn't slowed down by rain. Giga Drain is main attack and provides HP Recovery, while Clear Smog annihilates them set-ups. Fully Defensive/bulky switcher. Pulls it off really well with Regenerator. He's a recent addition to the team as Thundurus wasn't making the cut.
Sharpedo
@ Focus Sash
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Earthquake
My Sharky <3. I love this guy to death with his speed boost and rain boosted Waterfall. EQ > Ice Fang as I liked the ability to hit steel types which the team sorta lacks. Hydreigon is only counter to this moveset, although defensive Gastro walls it pretty hard. You wanna Mach Punch? I haz Focus Sash. Protect can be most annoying as it suffices for scouting and surviving while team member finishes off the surviving pokes. Often paired with Poli to get that Helping Hand boost which decimates the opponents.
Ferrothorn
@ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 130 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def / 122 SDef
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
Aren't we tired of seeing this guy in rain? But he so good D: And it's true, he is beastly in rain. Leech Seed + Leftovers + Protect = Ragequit < basic pokemon math there. Power Whip is one heck of an attack even with only 4 Atk EVs. T-Wave screws Fast pokes who think theysa gonna boss here. EVs provide nice overall bulk which makes it hard to take this guy down.
To quote Alpha, "That Ferro is still a ***"
One thing I think you'll all notice, is the EVs. Only Sableye (and possibly Ferro) carry that sort of EVs in 1-vs-1. In Doubles it is vitally important for your walls to tank both hits. Gliscor gets bye with a high speed, but most walls will be slower. If Gliscor was as slow as Ferrothorn, he'd be a dead bat because he can't tank those Special Attacks.
Attackers, well that's a bit easier to pull off then the walls. High speed and good attack stats. Choice items aren't seen as often in Doubles although you can run them for sure, in fact I encourage it.
Helping Hand + Choice Band + Rock Slide + Sand Rush + Excadrill = ouch...
This team was the second team I made with my good friend AlphaDraconis. Our first team utilized Trick Room. This second team (which he still calls mine though I keep reminding him it is ours) is my favorite Doubles team by far. Rain abuse with some nice stall.
Let's see if I can find some replays.
Replay #1 VGC (4-vs-4)
Replay #2 Gym Battle vs AlphaDraconis
Thanks for reading fellow battlers.
Master Kijani
