Hello everyone! I'm back with another Doubles RMT, and this time it's showcasing a team that I have been using in various iterations for around 5 months now. The original concept of the team came in a particularly boring Physics lecture where I wrote up a formula for Doubles Hail after seeing many people talk about the effectiveness of Hail in the current Doubles meta. This team has been one that has helped me gain a deeper perspective of the Doubles metagame, and I've learned a lot through testing the many mons that were used (even the brief ones) on this team. Although it never got the chance to be used in a tournament, this team has performed well on the ladder in multiple iterations on the alts tony the superhero and Audiospicious 2.0, and has also performed well against some of the higher level Doubles players on #doubles. This team is very unique in that it features multiple setup users to success, uses some cool sets, and also lacks any form of speed control. For the most part, I'm retiring it in order to focus on other team ideas I had, because I wanted to showcase it for others to see, and because this team has started to get stale to use for me.
catdog (Suicune) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Blizzard / Icy Wind
- Rest
This was meant to be a pivot that could boost up and sweep through the opponent's team. Initially I would try to snag as many CM boosts as possible before Resting and then attacking. Through further testing however, I found that the set was far too weak for the metagame, and would often struggle to get multiple boosts up without dying, especially in hail where it would take 6% recoil at the end of every turn. When I tested it with Blizzard over Icy Wind, while it now had a more powerful spread option, it also could not be used as a support mon in the early stages of the game, which hampered its usability further.
Swampert @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 176 HP / 242 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Wide Guard / Protect
Swampert was used at the same time that I tried out Scrafty > Hitmontop to damage Cresselia, and the goal was really to fit Garchomp's curent role and Hitmontop's Wide Guard support into one mon. Thanks to its great typing and specific eving, it could beat common Fire and Steel types while also providing Wide Guard support for the team. The main problem with this though was that in an actual battle, Swampert didn't hit hard enough and was easy to wear down, especially combined with the recoil from Hail, making it difficult for Swampert to actually perform its roles on the team.
Pwnemon (Blissey) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Softboiled
- Protect
This Pokemon actually wasn't too bad, but it vanished from my team at random and left a Salamence in its place, so I was forced to scrap it from the team.
Other Pokemon that were tested were Mamoswine and Rotom-Frost as the main "sweepers" of the team, Scrafty as a replacement for Hitmontop to damage Cresselia, and Metagross over Scizor for a reduced Fire weakness, check to Fighting types and ability to stay in after Intimidate, but they were all found to be overall inferior for the team to the options listed for various reasons.
tree (Abomasnow) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Ice Shard
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Abomasnow serves many roles on this team. It is the weather inducer, it's a Rain check, it checks bulky waters, and it also checks Trick Room due to its low Speed. Since I was making a Hail team, this was the first Pokemon I put on the team. In many ways it is the most important member of the team, since although very few other members actually benefit directly from the hail that it brings, the lack of Speed control on this team makes preventing opposing Swift Swimmers, Chlorophyllers, and Excadrill from getting a Speed boost in their respective weathers is very important. The moveset is fairly basic, with Blizzard being a powerful STAB spread move that does a number to many Pokemon, and Giga Drain being to hit things that resist Blizzard as well as providing healing and a secondary STAB move. I've considered putting another move in the place of Ice Shard, but the priority in revenge killing Dragons and Shaymin-S as well as picking off weakened threats before they could attack me was often too important to give up. A Quiet Nature and 0 Speed IVs allow it to Speed tie with minimum speed Base 30s under Trick Room, which is crucial for killing Jellicent and Slowking as well as dealing damage to things like Reuniclus to wear them down for another team member. Focus Sash is the best item on this set since Abomasnow has a ridiculous amount of weaknesses, so the use of this item gives me a lot of valuable leeway when attacking and doesn't put as much strain on my playing. It also lets Abomasnow take a hit and fire back with a Blizzard when necessary.
pixie (Manaphy) @ Wacan Berry
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Blizzard
- Protect
Manaphy was added thanks to Pocket's suggestion for a Suicune replacement after I found Suicune to be too weak, and Manaphy does the job well. Tail Glow might seem weird due to the fact that Stat boosting moves are uncommon in Doubles, however, when you manage to snag a Tail Glow boost your opponent then has to face down a +3 Manaphy with a spread move, which allows Manaphy to tear through weakened teams. Scald is the main STAB move on the set since I didn't want to use Surf and hit my own teammates, and Blizzard is a good spread move that provides coverage alongside Scald and gets 100% accuracy in Hail. Protect is still Protect (aka the greatest thing since sliced bread) and makes life easier by letting me essentially dodge an attack for a turn, which is nice to take out a troublesome Pokemon with Manaphy's partner so that Manaphy can set up a Tail Glow. Hydration makes it so that even in Rain, Manaphy can still pose a threat as they can't use status to wear it down and it gets a boost to its STAB. The EVs allow Manaphy to outspeed 252 Jolly Breloom as well as neutral Base 80s such as Mamoswine and Venusaur. Wacan Berry is chosen to allow Manaphy to live through Thunderbolts from things like Thundurus and Genesect and either set up or beat them down.
beyblade (Hitmontop) @ Fighting Gem
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Feint
- Wide Guard
Hitmontop is one of the best support Pokemon in the Doubles metagame, which was why it was an easy choice for this team. It provides Fake Out support, which not only lets me stop an opposing Pokemon from doing anything for a turn, but also makes it easier for my set up users to grab a boost. In addition, Wide Guard is an immensely useful move on this team since Hail teams are typically weak to common spread moves like Rock Slide and Heat Wave. Close Combat is the STAB move of choice on this set, and with a boost from Fighting Gem can either OHKO or heavily dent many things that don't resist it. I've been considering putting Feint > Sucker Punch, but I like the ability to pick off weakened threats as well as the harder hit on Lati@s, so it stays for now. The EV spread lets it outspeed 4 Speed Rotom-W and hit it with a Close Combat. Intimidate support is also very useful for the team as it cushions it from powerful physical attacks and makes life easier for Manaphy and Scizor when they're trying to get a boost.
bug (Scizor) @ Metal Coat
Trait: Technician
EVs: 208 HP / 252 Atk / 48 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Protect
Scizor was originally added as a Steel type so I would have something to sponge hits from Dragons, but it has instead become one of the main cleaners on this team. Swords Dance allows it to gain a +2 Attack boost, letting it OHKO many of the fast metagame threats with a priority Bullet Punch. Bug Bite is useful to deal damage to annoying Psychics like Cresselia, as well as to hit Water types that resist Bullet Punch neutrally. Bug Bite also does a lot of damage to common Trick Room Pokemon such as Cresselia, Slowking, and Reuniclus. The ability to prevent people from using their berries when hit with a Bug Bite is also a nice plus. Scizor pairs well with many members of this team and helps to remove problem Pokemon such as Kyurem-Black with its powerful priority. The EV spread is to outspeed 4 Speed Metagross and hit it with a Bug Bite, as well as outspeeding things like Politoed and opposing Scizor. Although it cannot sponge hits repeatedly, Scizor also makes a nice pivot for switching into things like Draco Meteors from Latios if I don't want to let another member of the team take the hit. It also acts as a large threat to opposing Hail teams as it can handle both the Ice types and the Psychics commonly found to beat Fighting types.
landshark (Garchomp) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Protect
Garchomp serves an incredible amount of crucial functions on this team. First, it is the main Sun check on this team, resisting Fire type attacks and hitting back with Earthquake or Stone Edge, as well as being able to handle Quiver Dance Volcarona by KOing it with a Stone Edge. Garchomp also allows me to beat Steel types that resist Blizzard thanks to STAB Earthquake dealing good damage to them. Finally, it acts as a check to slower Dragons by outspeeding them and KOing with a Dragon Claw. Dragon Claw and Earthquake serve as the STAB moves on this set and get good neutral coverage together. Stone Edge is used over Rock Slide in order to KO even bulky Quiver Dance Volcarona, which can be very threatening to this team (although the accuracy of this move still sucks). The EV spread is simple and is meant to make the most of Garchomp's speed tier. Yache Berry is chosen to give an insurance to the many random Ice type coverage moves that could potentially KO my Garchomp and leave me without a crucial member of my team. Rough Skin is mostly an afterthough, but it is useful to wear down physical attackers in conjunction with the 6% per turn recoil from Hail.
moth (Volcarona) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Bug Buzz
- Rage Powder
- Protect
This Volcarona set is probably my favorite on the team, and helps to tie the team together. It can roast Steel types with its STAB Heat Wave, switch in on powerful Fighting type hits and potentially burn the attacker, hit common Psychic TR setters such as Reuniclus and Slowking for a lot of damage, and it acts as a check to opposing Sun teams, since a STAB Heat Wave coming from a full SpA Volcatona in the Sun will do a lot of damage. The main draw of this set is the use of the move Rage Powder. Rage Powder allows me to redirect my opponent's moves and have them attack Volcarona instead if they were attacking my partner. This has many great applications on this team, such as shielding a partner from a super effective move, redirecting Fake Outs (and potentially getting a burn thanks to Flame Body) and giving one of my two set up users an opportunity to boost up so they can clean through the opposing team. The EVs were made to outspeed neutral Base 80s such as Venusaur and Mamoswine as well as Jolly Breloom and hit them with a Heat Wave before they could attack. Although I have yet to see another Rage Powder Volcarona in Doubles, I didn't come up with the set. The original inspiration for it came from a VGC team I saw in which someone used a Rage Powder Volcarona on a Rain team in order to be an offensive support Pokemon for their team.
Conclusion: This team's been a blast to play, and has been fun to experience over the course of the past few months. Special thanks go to Pwnemon for being my primary tester when it came to the many trashy varients of the team that preceded this one and to Pocket for the suggestion of Tail Glow Manaphy, which helped make the team alot better. Also, shoutout to everyone on #doubles, you're all awesome people and give me one more reason to keep up with the tier. Any feedback would be great, so feel free to rate the team and help me improve it. Also, if you think the team is cool or enjoyed the RMT, feel free to luvdisc it.
Some threats to the team are as follows
Red = Major Threat Dark Orange = Threat Blue = Potential threat
QD Volcarona: Eats up Scizor and Abomasnow, does good damage to almost everything else. If it gets a boost and Garchomp is down (or misses because stone edge is the worst) then I've probably lost.
Heatran: Less threatening than Volcarona since Hitmontop, Manaphy and Garchomp all can hit it supereffectively, (Manaphy doesn't work as well against QD Volc due to the SpD boost from Quiver Dance) but can still roast Scizor and Abomasnow and walls Scizor, Abomasnow, and Volcarona
Chandelure: As annoying as Heatran for the same reasons, as well as the fact that there's little to stop it from setting up Trick Room against my team. If Garchomp isn't around to hit it with a Stone Edge / Earthquake or it's not at low enough health for Hitmontop to pick off with Sucker Punch, I could be in trouble.
Genesect: Thanks to its spectacular coverage, it is capable of threatening many members of this team, especially with Tailwind support to outspeed Garchomp. Volcarona can roast it and it's not the bulkiest thing in the world so I can wear it down, but it can be pretty threatening most times.
Special Dragons: Primarily Latios but in general this team doesn't like to take repeated Draco Meteors, and in the case of Lati@s, Garchomp can't outspeed them. Thankfully they're weak to Ice moves so some smart playing can help KO them.
Breloom: Techniloom is too obnoxious of a Pokemon. Its great STAB lets it threaten Abomasnow and hit the other members of my team with powerful priority, and Spore lets it incapacitate a member of my team. Thankfully though, it's slow and weak to many moves on this team, so it can be played around. Also Volcarona can handle it pretty well.
Sun Teams: Sun boosted Fire type attacks are incredibly dangerous for this team to face, since nothing like to take them repeatedly. Also, Chlorophyll users can outspeed everything on this team and most of them pack sleep. Since Chlorophyllers are Grass however, they can be taken care of with Abomasnow, and Manaphy + Garchomp can take care of Fire types while Hitmontop's Wide Guard shields me from Heat Waves, so it can be played against.
Sand Teams: Rock Slides suck, especially coming from an Excadrill under Sand since that can potentially rampage through this team. Volcarona hits Tyranitar hard as does Scizor, and winning the weather war eases this matchup alot.
Red = Major Threat Dark Orange = Threat Blue = Potential threat
QD Volcarona: Eats up Scizor and Abomasnow, does good damage to almost everything else. If it gets a boost and Garchomp is down (or misses because stone edge is the worst) then I've probably lost.
Heatran: Less threatening than Volcarona since Hitmontop, Manaphy and Garchomp all can hit it supereffectively, (Manaphy doesn't work as well against QD Volc due to the SpD boost from Quiver Dance) but can still roast Scizor and Abomasnow and walls Scizor, Abomasnow, and Volcarona
Chandelure: As annoying as Heatran for the same reasons, as well as the fact that there's little to stop it from setting up Trick Room against my team. If Garchomp isn't around to hit it with a Stone Edge / Earthquake or it's not at low enough health for Hitmontop to pick off with Sucker Punch, I could be in trouble.
Genesect: Thanks to its spectacular coverage, it is capable of threatening many members of this team, especially with Tailwind support to outspeed Garchomp. Volcarona can roast it and it's not the bulkiest thing in the world so I can wear it down, but it can be pretty threatening most times.
Special Dragons: Primarily Latios but in general this team doesn't like to take repeated Draco Meteors, and in the case of Lati@s, Garchomp can't outspeed them. Thankfully they're weak to Ice moves so some smart playing can help KO them.
Breloom: Techniloom is too obnoxious of a Pokemon. Its great STAB lets it threaten Abomasnow and hit the other members of my team with powerful priority, and Spore lets it incapacitate a member of my team. Thankfully though, it's slow and weak to many moves on this team, so it can be played around. Also Volcarona can handle it pretty well.
Sun Teams: Sun boosted Fire type attacks are incredibly dangerous for this team to face, since nothing like to take them repeatedly. Also, Chlorophyll users can outspeed everything on this team and most of them pack sleep. Since Chlorophyllers are Grass however, they can be taken care of with Abomasnow, and Manaphy + Garchomp can take care of Fire types while Hitmontop's Wide Guard shields me from Heat Waves, so it can be played against.
Sand Teams: Rock Slides suck, especially coming from an Excadrill under Sand since that can potentially rampage through this team. Volcarona hits Tyranitar hard as does Scizor, and winning the weather war eases this matchup alot.
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Ice Shard
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Manaphy @ Wacan Berry
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Blizzard
- Protect
Hitmontop @ Fighting Gem
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Feint
- Wide Guard
Scizor @ Metal Coat
Trait: Technician
EVs: 208 HP / 252 Atk / 48 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Protect
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Protect
Volcarona @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Bug Buzz
- Rage Powder
- Protect
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Ice Shard
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Manaphy @ Wacan Berry
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Blizzard
- Protect
Hitmontop @ Fighting Gem
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Feint
- Wide Guard
Scizor @ Metal Coat
Trait: Technician
EVs: 208 HP / 252 Atk / 48 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Protect
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Protect
Volcarona @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SAtk / 108 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Bug Buzz
- Rage Powder
- Protect
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