Overview
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Doublade has an amazing base 150 Defense stat which, coupled with Eviolite, means it can take a lot of physical hits, even super effective ones. Although Doublade's Steel / Ghost typing gives it weaknesses to common attacking types, such as Fire, Dark, and Ground, it has many resistances and superb physical bulk to make up for that. Doublade also has a great base 110 Attack stat which can be further boosted thanks to its access to Swords Dance. It also has access to priority in Shadow Sneak, allowing Doublade to beat out revenge killers. However, Doublade's base 49 Special Defense stat means that even resisted special hits are going to take a chunk out of its health. Doublade's base 35 Speed also leaves it outsped by common walls that it may want to set up on, such as Umbreon and Gligar.
Doublade Dance
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name: Doublade Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Shadow Sneak
move 3: Iron Head / Gyro Ball
move 4: Sacred Sword
ability: No Guard
item: Eviolite
evs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
nature: Adamant / Brave
Moves
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Swords Dance allows Doublade to become a great win condition, becoming a threat very quickly. Shadow Sneak is a great STAB move that bypasses Doublade's bad base 35 Speed stat thanks to it having +1 priority. Iron Head is a more reliable STAB move to hit slower Pokemon such as Florges harder while Gyro Ball hits foes such as Crobat harder, albeit with fewer PP. Sacred Sword allows Doublade to hit Dark-types harder along with providing great neutral coverage alongside Doublade's Shadow Sneak. Shadow Claw can be used instead, as it gains STAB, provides a stronger neutral hit on Water- and Electric-types, and provides decent neutral coverage with Iron Head.
Set Details
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Maximum Attack EVs allow Doublade to hit as hard as possible. 240 HP EVs minimize Stealth Rock and burn damage while the rest is dumped into Special Defense. An Adamant nature is used with Iron Head, but a Brave nature and 0 Speed IVs are necessary with Gyro Ball to allow it to hit as hard as possible against faster threats. Eviolite is used to allow Doublade to survive any physical hit, even super effective ones, alongside weaker special hits.
Usage Tips
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Try to set up late-game when opposing Pokemon are weakened enough to faint to a +2 Shadow Sneak. Doublade can set up on almost all physical attackers thanks to its amazing physical bulk and nice resistances, so Pokemon such as Mega Aerodactyl and Crobat are ideal setup bait for Doublade, as even a switch-in is not going to like taking a hit from +2 Doublade.
Team Options
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Doublade appreciates wallbreakers such as Darmanitan and Mienshao, as both can break Steel-types that tend to wall Doublade. Wish support is necessary, as Doublade has no form of recovery outside of RestTalk. Florges is a great partner and forms a nice Steel + Fairy core while also providing Aromatherapy support, meaning Doublade doesn't have to worry about being crippled by status ailments. Entry hazard support is also necessary to wear down Doublade's common checks. Tentacruel and Chesnaught are good partners, as Tentacruel can spread burns with Scald and pressure the rest of the team with Toxic Spikes while Chesnaught has Fighting-type STAB moves to hurt Steel-types and can wear them down with Leech Seed and Spikes. Trick Room support from Pokemon such as Aromatisse and Slowking allows Doublade to outspeed foes with base 35 Speed and higher and hit them before it gets hit. This improves Doublade's chances of retaining its Eviolite against the many powerful Knock Off users in the tier, such as Krookodile and Absol, while applying major pressure to the opponent's team.
Other Options
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A defensive set can be used to allow for better setup opportunities for Doublade; however, Doublade will still faint to neutral special hits and the bulk is usually not worth the loss in power. RestTalk provides Doublade with a way of recovering health and allows it to not be setup fodder while asleep. This set, however, would be hard-pressed to run what it needs to, as it would lose out on either boosting Doublade's decent base 110 Attack with Swords Dance or having coverage in the form of Sacred Sword or Iron Head. Toxic is the only useful move Doublade can learn that takes advantage of No Guard; however, Doublade already has enough of a hard time choosing moves, and Toxic doesn't really help it beat what it wants to, which are bulky Steel-types, which are immune to Toxic. Pursuit can be nice for trapping purposes against Pokemon such as Mega Aerodactyl and Crobat; however, Doublade would much rather set up a Swords Dance on the switch to hit the switch-in with a +2 Shadow Sneak or Iron Head.
Checks & Counters
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**Physical Walls**: Mega Aggron and Swampert can tank Doublade's attacks and proceed to cripple it with Thunder Wave in the former's case or Scald in the latter's case.
**Bulky Water-types**: Suicune can not only tank most of Doublade's hits but also can set up Calm Minds on Doublade and threaten it with a burn from a STAB Scald, rendering Doublade ineffective.
**Special Attackers**: Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Alakazam are able to hit Doublade on its weaker defense although Alakazam does have to worry about a +2 Shadow Sneak if its Focus Sash is broken.
**Burns**: Without an Aromatherapy partner, Doublade doesn't like burns from the likes of Scald and Will-O-Wisp, as burns halve its Attack stat.
**Knock Off**: Pokemon which Doublade tends to wall otherwise, such as Mienshao and Heracross, often run Knock Off. Doublade is not only weak to Knock Off but will also lose its Eviolite, thus losing a lot of its bulk.
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