Welcome to the Generation 7 Doubles Forum
This forum is focused mainly on Doubles OU, Smogon's official Doubles Format
Come chat with the community in real time at the Smogon Doubles Discord Server or PS! Room
This forum is focused mainly on Doubles OU, Smogon's official Doubles Format
Come chat with the community in real time at the Smogon Doubles Discord Server or PS! Room
Format Rules
Banlist:
Doubles OU is a format in which both players have two Pokémon on the field at the same time. All Pokémon except those on the banlist (found below) can be used in Doubles OU regardless of the Pokémon's tier in singles play. Unlike in VGC, all Pokémon default to level 100 instead of level 50 and all 6 members of the team are brought each game.
Play Restrictions
- Endless Battle Clause: Players cannot use any moveset on any Pokémon capable of intentionally causing an endless battle. Thus:
- A Pokémon may not carry Recycle and hold a Leppa Berry in conjunction with Heal Pulse and Milk Drink, Moonlight, Morning Sun, Recover, Roost, Slack Off, Soft-Boiled, or Wish.
- A Pokémon may not hold a Leppa Berry while carrying Recycle and Pain Split.
- A Pokémon may not hold a Leppa Berry while carrying Recycle and Fling.
- Evasion Clause: Players cannot use the moves Double Team or Minimize.
- Moody Clause: Players cannot use a Pokémon with the Moody ability.
- OHKO Clause: Players cannot use the moves Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, or Sheer Cold.
- Species Clause: Players cannot have two Pokémon with the same Pokédex number on the same team
Players cannot use the following Pokémon:
- Snorlax
- Mewtwo
- Lugia
- Ho-oh
- Kyogre
- Groudon
- Rayquaza
- Jirachi
- Dialga
- Palkia
- Giratina
- Giratina-Origin
- Arceus
- Reshiram
- Zekrom
- Kyurem-White
- Xerneas
- Yveltal
- Solgaleo
- Lunala
- Magearna
- Marshadow
- Necrozma-Dusk Mane
- Necrozma-Dawn Wings
Players cannot use the following moves:
- Dark Void
- Swagger
- Gravity and sleep moves with below one hundred percent accuracy
Players cannot use the following items:
- Eevium Z
- Gengarite
- Kangaskhanite
Players cannot use the following abilities:
- Power Construct
1. All main forum rules still apply here. Be sure to read those, as well as the rules in this thread, before posting in the subforum
2. The forum moderation team (listed below) reserves the right to lock and/or delete, without notice, senseless threads
3. Be nice to other posters and maintain good discussion
Doubles OU Tier Leaders:
MajorBowman
talkingtree
Doubles OU Forum Mods:
Arcticblast
Level 51
MajorBowman
talkingtree
Doubles OU Council:
MajorBowman
talkingtree
AuraRayquaza
Croven
Demantoid
n10sit
Forum Resources
Discuss
USUM Doubles Discussion Thread
Doubles Viability Rankings
Doubles Newsroom
Build
Doubles Sample Teams and Team Showcase
Doubles Team Bazaar 2.0
Doubles Teambuilding Frameworks
Doubles Roles Compendium
Doubles EV Spread Compendium
Doubles Teambuilding Competition
Compete
Doubles Circuit Information
Doubles Hall of Fame
Old Generation Info
BW DOU
XY DOU
Lower Tier Info
Doubles UU
Doubles Ubers
Doubles Basics
The true gem of Doubles does not lie in such minute differences in rulesets - it's the various strategies that are born and made viable by the virtue of having an additional partner and an extra opponent on the battle field simultaneously. Such battle setting results in a fast and furious play unimaginable in Singles play. If you think you have time to dilly dally with setting up hazards and some brainless volt-turn spam, think again! Since so much happens in a span of a single turn, on-the-spot decision making and intuition are tested heavily in Doubles. A thrilling new challenge unfounded in Singles!
Another major appeal of Doubles is the increased viability and deeper nuances of Pokemon moves. Here are some quick overview of such moves:
Protect - +4 Priority. Undoubtedly the most important move in Doubles; it shields whatever moves targeted at the user and without the need to blindly switch out and let another one of your Pokemon to take a hit, too! A well-executed Protect means wasted turns for the opponent, whose attacks utterly fail to do anything while your other Pokemon can ideally take the attacker out. Protect also shield your Pokemon against Fake Out flinches, a devastating move in Double. Stalling out Tailwind or TR turns serve as another purpose for using Protect.
Feint - +2 Priority. With Protect being such a pivotal move in Doubles, it's no wonder that a counter-move in Feint would see some use! It comes in handy when you need to connect with the target Pokemon on that turn NO MATTER WHAT. Feint also breaks other protection moves, including Wide Guard, Quick Guard, and Spiky Shield.
Fake Out - +3 Priority. This is another prevalent move in Doubles, and it's a game-breaking one, too. A super-priority flinch move renders one of the opponent's Pokemon immobile and vulnerable to assaults. Just like in Singles, Fake Out can be seen from a mile away, but the Fake Out user can actually take advantage of this, forcing the opponent to use Protect. Fake Out's greater utility in Doubles in turn increases the value of Inner Focus.
Spread Moves - These moves target multiple Pokemon - some only affect both enemies while other spread moves also catches your ally, too. Such distinctions make otherwise obscure moves in Singles, such as Heat Wave and Rock Slide, to have a specific niche in Doubles!
All spread moves's power is reduced to 75% of its original base power (so Earthquake is a 75 bp Ground-type move, while Blizzard is a 82 bp Ice-type move), but this reduction is more than compensated by hitting more than one target. If it's hitting both foes, it is effectively hitting with 150% of the move's original power (75%*2). When there is only one target on the field, the spread move hits the opponent with 100% of its original power.
Wide Guard / Quick Guard - +3 Priority. BW added new protection moves to Doubles. Unlike Protect, these Guard moves protect both the user AND the ally from spread moves and priority moves, respectively. This means that one Pokemon can guard for Earthquake or Fake Outs, thereby wasting the opponent's turn, while its partner can go on the offensive.
These these two moves were both buffed in XY; both Guard moves can be used consecutively without fail! Quick Guard now also blocks non-damaging moves from Prankster Pokemon!
Helping Hand - +5 Priority. A move designed specifically for Doubles, this move boosts the power of the user's ally by 50% for one turn, which can change a 2HKO into a OHKO. Such a difference is significant in Doubles, as knocking out the opponent effectively means cutting down on the opponent's offense by half for that turn. Thus, Helping Hand user pairs nicely with a fast Sweeper like Thundurus or Latios. Helping Hand has +5 priority, so the helper can be a slow bulky supporter like Cresselia, and it is used before Prankster Taunt.
Follow Me / Rage Powder - +2 Priority. Another move tailored for Doubles, but this time all non-spread moves are re-directed to the user of Follow Me or Rage Powder, thereby keeping its partner untouched. Spread moves like Blizzard and Earthquake still hits both users, though. This move comes in handy when you are trying to set up with your other Pokemon. XY nerfed Follow Me / Rage Powder by lowering its priority bracket to one below Fake Out - faster users can no longer re-direct Fake Out with these moves. Grass-types and Pokemon either holding Safety Goggles or using the Overcoat ability also ignore Rage Powder.
Tailwind / Icy Wind / Thunder Wave / Trick Room - Similarly to Singles, having the first move is almost always more advantageous than attacking second. Tailwind, Icy Wind, and Trick Room are prevalent moves to control Speed and attack first. Even though 4-5 turns go awfully quick in Singles to do anything productive, in Doubles it is usually half the game or more! Icy Wind (or Electroweb) is also an amazing utility move, a spread move that drops BOTH enemies' Speed by one stage.
Move Order - Who moves first is often a frequently confused topic, since a Pokemon's Speed can change in the middle of a turn, making faster Pokemon slower. The move order is pre-determined at the beginning of the turn, so any changes in the Pokemon's Speed would only affect the move order in subsequent turns. Here are some scenarios:
- Your Zapdos sets up Tailwind. Your Kyurem-B will not move before the opponent's Charizard Y until the following turn
- Your Thundurus paralyzes the opposing Genesect with Thunder Wave. However, Genesect will still move before Volcanion until the turn ends.
- Your Charizard Mega Evolves into Charizard Y and summons sun. Venusaur's Chlorophyll wont kick in until the following turn.
- The above scenario is different from a case where the weather is summoned before the beginning of the turn (ie, if you used Ninetales to summon sun before the turn begins, then Venusaur has its Speed doubled from turn 1).
- Megas gain their new speed and abilities immediately. For example, Mega Diancie will be treated as base 110 Speed on the turn it Mega evolves, unlike XY, where it uses its non-mega Speed on the evolution turn. Mega Swampert, which gains Swift Swim on Mega Evolution, will be able to move at Swift Swim Speed on its evolution turn if Rain is up.
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