"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain"
-Vivian Greene
Hwello flens
Originally, this team was made in the 3rd week of the wonderful SPL season when I had to play, in my opinion, one of the top 3 players in the tier, Randy. I spent the entire week brain storming, trying to figure out what I could do to make the match a little easier for me. It wasns't until a very good friend of mine told me I should try out a set, Assault Vest Ludicolo. At first I was slightly skeptical, rarely using Ludicolo in the past when it comes to competitive play, but after thinking about it decided to make a team around it. Not only did Ludicolo work well in the game, but quickly become a staple, and a very potent Pokemon in the Doubles tier. When rain is up, and it has the proper EVs Ludicolo is able to be faster than the most common of scarfed Pokemon and still have the bulk to live a variety of attacks. Providing powerful STABs and Fake Out support, Ludicolo is in my opinion one of the best Pokemon in the tier when it's (named bro fist) used correctly. After using this team in SPL it has stayed consistent for me in the Doubles Circuit where it's a team that I will rely on to get an important win against a tough opponent. This team has also been the team I give to anyone who asks, so many people already have this team and have used it in the circuit as well. *-*
The Team
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Protect
Breloom as a Pokemon has always been extremely annoying to play against, and it's even more so in doubles. Lack of Sleep Clause means that it is one of two Pokemon that are commonly used in the tier with access to Spore, the other being Amoonguss. The difference is Breloom is able to apply insane amounts of offensive pressure thanks to Technician boosted attacks, something that Amoonguss cannot do. Bullet Seed and Mach Punch give Breloom all of the cover it needs, while Spore is used entirely to put multiple Pokemon to sleep during the battle. Protect is one of the best moves in Doubles, and it's no different in this case. Breloom is known for having low base stats and being extremely frail unless heavily invested, so protect allows it to be safe for a turn when it may be double targeted by your opponent which would let your teammate deal with the problem at hand.
Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
When building the team I originally wanted to have something that hit like a nuke, and would do well in a matchup against Randy. For those who don't know, Randy is well known for using Togekiss on nearly every team. So going over a list in my head, Latios wouldn't work and it doesn't get to use Gems anymore, Kyurem-b was an option but something faster would be better. Finally Thundurus-T, a Pokemon that isn't used much, fit the role I needed it to perfectly. Base 145 Special Attack with 100% accuracy Thunders in rain. Faster than Charizard-y in-case he brought that, and access to Volt Switch which would help me in a weather war if it came down to that. He actually ended up using Mono Attacking Thundurus-i as his support Pokemon, so he couldn't touch Thundurus-t without healing it, and it came down to Swagger 50/50's at the end of the game. Focus Blast and Hidden Power are both for coverage, but un reliable and not something you really want to be locked into, but they fit in certain situations. All though Hidden Power Ice is more reliable in the current meta, it could be changed to Flying to help Mega Scizor in the matchup vs Mega Venusaur.
Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Encore
Since the team was going to built around Ludicolo and Ludicolo does best while rain is up, it was fairly evident that this team needed a Polifrog. With access to plenty of support moves Politoed can make up for the fact he does literally 0%. Helping Hand boosts your ally's move by 1.5 for the turn, while encore can lock slower Pokemon into a move they don't want to be such as Protect. Scald is the only attacking move this Politoed runs, boosted by rain it does respectable damage and gives you the chance to burn opposing Pokemon. Gen 6 changed many things about Doubles, the 2 most notable being lack of Gems and weather turns. So now weather only last 5 turns, and because of this Damp Rock is a very good item in doubles, battles aren't as long in this format, so 8 turns can be most of the battle depending on how things go.
Hitmontop (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Atk / 136 Def
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Feint
- Close Combat
- Wide Guard
Intimidate is one of the best abilities in Doubles no question about it, and Hitmontop is arguably one of the best Pokemon in Doubles even with being nerfed this gen. Being able to support the team is so many ways is something not many Pokemon are able to do, but Hitmontop can do so very well. Intimidate support helps keep powerful physical attackers in check, while Fake Out support can prove to be major for Pokemon like Scizor who want to set up. Feint is a move that should be used much more on Hitmontop. It's one of the few moves that will stop the affects of Protect allowing your ally to hit the Protecting Pokemon while maintaining offensive momentum, which is amazing to have on a team that only has a limited amount of turns to do something such as a rain team does. Wide Guard isn't really needed for this team, but still comes in handy depending on the situation. Protected Scizor from Heatwave is a great thing to do, as well as other spread moves that may put anything at risk. The only Thing Hitmontop really misses from gen 5 is the fighting-gem, without Hitmontop is forced to explore other options such as Sitrus Berry, Chesto Berry, or even a resist berry if you're desperate, but for this team I decided that Sitrus was the best option, I wouldn't have time to use a Rest + Chesto Combo and Stirus berry gives me some health back more reliably.
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Protect
Scizor was the last Pokemon that was added to the team, after realizing I had 1) no Dragon resists 2) No mega and 3) No Steel-type, it was an easy choice. Mega Scizor is a Pokemon that doesn't see as much usage as it should in Doubles. It's extremely powerful and very bulky on both sides, but it's overlooked as a Mega because of things like Kangaskhan and Charizard. Scizor just fit very well on this team, rain lessened its Fire weakness, it provided a Dragon resist, gave more priority, and is a Pokemon that can set up very easy and take advantage of the pressure Thundurus, Ludicolo, and Breloom were going to be putting on the opposing team. It also fits in to the "Randy always uses Togekiss" thing since Scizor can pick apart fairies all day every day. The moveset is pretty self explanatory on Scizor, Swords Dance is to boost, Bullet Punch and Bug Bite kill things, and protect is extremely common on any offensive Pokemon in Doubles.
Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SAtk / 152 Spd
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
The star of the show and the reason this team was created. Ludicolo has always been a threat in Rain due to it's powerful STABs, the Swift Swim ability, the ability to provide Fake Out support, and the unique typing combination is has. Assault Vest, a item that was introduced this gen, hadn't seen much use in Doubles until this point. Ludicolo already has respectable bulk, but with Assault Vest it gets the 1.5x boost to it's SpDef stat meaning that it hits 354 SpDef. With the only trade off being that it can no longer use Protect. When Rain is up, Ludicolo becomes the fastest Pokemon in the metagame, outrunning even the most common Choice Scarf users, which means that Ludicolo also has the fastest Fake Out, being able to get the jump on things such as Infernape, Weavile, and the ever common Mega Kangaskhan. Hydro Pump is the main STAB on this set, as it deals major damage when boosted by Rain. Giga Drain gives Ludicolo a way to heal of all the damage it's taken, as well as giving it a way to deal with opposing bulky Water-types like Politoed or Gastrodon. Ice beam is used as the last move on this set so Ludicolo can hit Dragons for Super Effective Damage, but outside of that isn't used much. Life i've mentioned before Ludicolo is, in my opinion one of the best Pokemon in the tier and if you're using a rain team it should probably have Ludicolo on it. Not many Pokemon can reliably use Assault Vest in Doubles, and Ludicolo just happens to be one of the lucky ones that can take advantage of it, making it an extremely bulky Pokemon with the ability to hit extremely hard.
Shoutouts
BKC - Thank you for editing this, and thank you for being a good manager and drafting me in SPL, you've been one of my good friends on smogon since last WCOP and it's been nice having someone to talk to whenever I needed it. You always help me when I ask and it will be fun to be the boss next year in SPL. Everyone will have to listen to me huehuehhehue
Masterclass - I remember we use to fight a lot, but you turned out to be one of my better friends on Smogon, thank you for always calming me down before games and thanks for just being a great person and teammate, our season would have sucked without you, and i look forward to teaming with you in the future.
bro fist - Juan, you'll always be my Ludicolo <3
Every Other Scooter - you guys made it a great season, Braverius it was a pleasure working with you this season, Dice we had our differences but you're a pretty awesome guy, august I know you won't see this but good luck with life dude, it's sad to see you go. PDC , undisputed , Vinc2612 , fitzy72 , Hack He Must , cbt , Bad Ass , george182 , Karrot , liberty32 , Nails , Triangles , Lohgock , SnowCristal! , and Blue Eon , it was great to be on a team with all of you, and hopefully we will team together again in the future. Also shoutouts to the scooters at heart like ]V[ajinTupacZ and Hugendugen even tho you may have been on other teams.
McMeghan , Bloo , CrashinBoomBang and the rest of the Ruiners + Funkasaurus (◕‿◕✿)- you guys know how valuable you were to us near the end of the season, thank you for being some good friends and doing your all to help us reach playoffs. you're all amazing !
Team Canada - you're all pretty awesome, and it will be a great season. We will be a much better team this year, and we will see if we can land a spot in playoffs this season.
CTC , gr8astard , PROBLEMS , Edgar , Sinclair , and the rest of IDM - The chat is often crazy, theres lots of shit talking, and making fun of one another, but when it comes down to it, you're all some pretty great people. I'm really happy to be apart of IDM and i've made some pretty awesome friends from it. Btw I heard Edgar was mexican ...
makiri - Thank you for helping me build my teams during SPL even tho you were a manager for another team, if it wasn't for you a lot of amazing sets would have never been used in Doubles including the Assault Vest Ludicolo. You're a great guy and a very good friend, but you will lose next SPL I promise you.
and last but not least the #Doubles community. - Even tho there may be some arguing, and things may get heated at times, its great to be apart of this community. SPL was extremely fun and the circuit has been very fun thus far. I look forward to playing everyone in the invitational at the end of the year, and I thank all of the current, past and future members of this community.
Special Shoutouts to DracoMalfoy and the rest of #baril I LOVE YOU ALL
Special thanks to Blue Frog for the Amazing art <3
This concludes the RMT, I thank you all in advance for any rates you may have, and I thank you all for taking the time to read it.
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