SCL II DOU Coverage

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Introduction

Smogon Champions League is one of three official team tournaments in the Smogon Tournaments calendar, coming after Smogon Premier League in winter and World Cup of Pokemon in summer. Notably, it is currently the only one of these three tournaments to feature Doubles OU, and the only other trophy tournament featuring Doubles other than Official Smogon Doubles Tournament. As such, SCL is one of the biggest stages for Doubles of the year, featuring big names, well-crafted teams, and a lot of desire to be the one going home with the green trophy.

Tieringwise, very little has changed in Doubles from SCL I to SCL II. Landorus-I was the only Pokemon to be suspected between these two tournaments, and the result of that test was an overwhelming Do Not Ban. And while the metagame has seen a fair bit of change in a year's time, probably the biggest shakeup to last season is the player pool. All of the top 3 players from the SCL I Doubles pool, Z Strats (7-2), Nails (6-3), and Spurrific (6-3) were returning, but other than that, the only returning starter was Frania (4-5). All-time Doubles great stax, 2020 circuit champion Qwello Lee, OSDT finalist Mishimono, tier leader Actuarily, and former tier leaders Memoric and Paraplegic had all opted to not play in SCL II or took a substitute/supporting slot instead. This left the pool pretty open for new blood this year, in which we saw the additions of VGC players Animus and JoeUX9, veteran qsns, OSDT 10-0 Ninja, former-Circuit Breaks-sub-turned-starter Toxigen, and JRL, who was widely considered the biggest snub of the SCL 1 draft.

Immediately following the conclusion of the draft, much of the Doubles community got to work on creating their personal power rankings, where it was quickly clear that most people were projecting Nails, Z Strats, and Spurrific to claim the top 3 spots again, though the order may change depending on who you asked. The middle of the rankings were mostly projecting qsns, JRL, Animus, and Frania, while the lower end projections saw Toxigen, Ninja, and JoeUX9. These projections mostly matched what would come to be of the official SCL 2 power rankings, which you can check out here.

Regular Season Highlights

For a full list of regular season game replays, check out this thread.

When the season scheduled was released and everyone realized this was a pairing we'd be seeing in week one, it was marked as an instant highlight. Z Strats and Spurrific were the #2 and #3 projected players in the pool, so everyone assumed we were in for a banger, and this game did not disappoint. Both players had opted to bring offensive teams featuring Spectrier, though the Team Preview edge seemed to fall in Spurrific's favor, since Dragapult could outspeed Z Strats's Spectrier and pressure it with Phantom Force or Shadow Ball. Both players come out swinging on turn 1, but Z Strats wins the trade, since a KOed Spectrier is one fewer Ghost-type for him to worry about. Z Strats gains an edge mid-game as he successfully bluffs Mew being Safety Goggles and sets Tailwind to enable Zygarde's rampage. After forcing the Dragapult to be KOed by Rillaboom's Knock Off on the turn it attacks with Phantom Force, Spurrific just can't crawl back into the game despite putting up a solid effort.

Another week 1 game for the highlights. It's not too surprising when you consider that most players are more motivated to show off their genius at the start of the tournament, and boy did we get to see that on display here. While Animus's team is mostly built with tier staples down the line, Nails shows off innovation in a big way with the debut of the Tyranitar hazard stack archetype that would go on to dominate the tier during SCL. Animus starts the game off well with a double Heat Wave burn, a crucial Taunt on Nails's Mew, and a Dragon Tail dodge from Dragapult, but Nails's hazards engine eventually gets going, and that combined with a well-supported Tapu Fini proves to be too much for Animus to handle.

This match was a highlight for one reason and one reason: both the Foxes' and the TMs' DOU slots were winless up until this point, but now someone was going to walk away with a win. dnagerbdager opted to bring another one of Nails's Tyranitar hazard stack teams, while Memoric brought a team that looks to enable potential setup sweepers like Dragon Dance Kyurem-B, Nasty Plot Spectrier, and/or Shift Gear Genesect. dnagerbdager wins the early-game trades, mitigating Memoric's revealed Choice Banded Genesect while setting up Stealth Rock and positioning Dracozolt to fire off Bolt Beaks. dnager's Dracozolt loses its Choice Band in the process, but the damage has already been done, as we see Memoric not having the ability to break through dnager's Tyranitar while surviving the onslaught from their Choice Band Genesect in tandem.

At this point, Nails was looking like he was capable of putting up the perfect 9-0 regular season, with wins over Spurrific, Animus, and Z Strats already under his belt. However, the Breakers had subbed in Tenzai for Toxigen in week 4, and he had been able to win all 3 of his games up to this point, leaving these two as the only undefeated players left in the tournament. Even more interesting, Tenzai was the only one with a Tyranitar this time around, as Nails had traded sand for hail in a shocking mixup of team choice. Unfortunately for Tenzai, he loses his Naganadel, a big source of his damage output, early into the game, and Nails is able to capitalize on the lack of pressure remaining, forcing a Pokemon advantage and ultimately running Tenzai out of answers to Arctozolt in the endgame.

The MVP Race and the End of Regular Season

After midseason, only a few players remained realistically in contention for best record in the Doubles pool, with those being Nails (5-0) and Z Strats (4-1), where Frania, Ninja, and Animus were trailing closely behind at 3-2. However, Nails solidified his lead in weeks 6 and 7, taking down Z Strats in week 6 and then 3-0 Tenzai in week 7 as previously discussed. In the end, Nails was able to finish regular season with a perfect 9-0 sweep. Z Strats and Animus rounded out the pool's top 3, both putting up 6-3 records.

Semifinals Analysis

As the series between the Islanders and the Platoon had already been decided, that series's DOU game was unplayed, meaning this was the only semifinals DOU game. However, the series had also been decided here, with the Dynamos securing a spot in the finals, leaving a potential 10-0 overall record as the only thing left for Nails to play for. Spurrific starts off the match with a crucial survive from his Mew on turn 1, setting Trick Room and enabling Lurantis to start boosting with Superpower, thanks in part to an Encore from Nails. While Nails goes down in the Pokemon lead during the Trick Room onslaught, his position looks somewhat decent when it expires, until Spurrific reveals Grassy Glide on Turn 8, KOing Nails's Urshifu-R. Even with Nails's Genesect dodging a Heat Wave to stay alive, Spurrific's double Grass combo is readily available to close out the game and hand Nails his only loss of the tournament.

Finals Analysis

What more fitting way to end the tournament than a rematch of a week 1 highlight? This match was a must-win for Z Strats to keep the Platoon in contention for the title, as they were down 2-5 going into this game, meaning one more win would declare the Dynamos the winner. Spurrific calls Z Strats' Heatran switch on turn 1, scoring the KO on Tapu Fini on the switch. However, Z Strats fires back with a fancy knockout as well, setting Sunny Day and going for an instant Solar Beam to take Spurrific's Tapu Fini, evening the match at 5-5. Z Strats reveals Cosmic Power Mew on turn 4, a centralizing threat that Spurrific has to respond to quickly. Unfortunately, even with Zeraora's Coaching Support, Genesect can't quite remove the boosted Mew, though Spurrific takes out Z Strats's Heatran as a consolation, while Mew takes out Genesect the following turn after two Body Presses and Life Orb recoil. Z Strats then reveals Choice Scarf Kyurem-B on turn 11, KOing Spurrific's Landorus before it can be KOed itself, tilting the match massively in Z Strats' favor. On turn 14, Z Strats gives up his Mew for an Encore on Spurrific's Mew that had just used Fake Out, forcing it to switch out or be useless on the next turn. Z Strats uses this pin to KO Spurrific's Zeraora on turn 14, and from here he has enough momentum to close the match with Whimsicott and Nihilego. Of course, while Z Strats would win this match, the Dynamos would go on to win the next in the series, crowning them the overall champions of SCL 2.

Final Thoughts

Congrats to Spurrific, emma, Enzonana, and the rest of the Dynamos for winning SCL 2 and taking home the green trophy! This tournament was a great showcase of what SS DOU had to offer in its last months and will likely be a huge frame of reference moving forward as the tier enters oldgen territory. We'll see you again next year for another exciting set of Doubles games in Scarlet and Violet!

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