Special Season 11: VGC/Doubles UU

[cant say]

VGC / Battle Spot Doubles Underused!​

With Season 10 and Inverse Battles behind us, it's time to get on with Season 11 and a new Special ladder! This season's Special ruleset will be standard Battle Spot Doubles (aka VGC) rules, except that any Pokemon that showed up in the top 12 most used on the PGL between seasons 7 and 10 will be banned! There are a total of 20 Pokemon banned from normal VGC / Doubles rules, they are:

Aegislash
Amoonguss
Bisharp
Charizard
Cresselia
Garchomp
Gardevoir
Gengar
Greninja
Heatran
Kangaskhan
Landorus (both formes)
Mawile
Rotom (all formes)
Salamence
Sylveon
Talonflame
Terrakion
Thundurus (both formes)
Tyranitar​

This is obviously on top of the already banned legendary Pokemon (Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Diancie and Hoopa).

What do you think this metagame will be like? Which Pokemon do you see being viable now with all these bans? Discuss away!

​

 

[DaAwesomeDude1]

Originally had a post about mega gardevoir but I didn't see it was banned :^(. Mega Metagross tho is going to be pretty huge. With Aegislash and heatran, two of its biggest counters, gone there isn't much stopping this thing lol

 

[Psynergy]

I'm still confused that people are actually using Greninja that much, there's a few other Pokemon I would've have expected to get more usage than Greninja. Not that it's necessarily bad but it's definitely not as threatening or dominating as the rest of the banned Pokemon up there so I won't miss the lack of Greninja. Mega Metagross and Mega Venusaur are definitely looking strong, Venusaur loving the lack of Salamence and Talonflame (Breloom also loves this). Suicune and Ferrothorn are also looking awesome. Clefable and Togekiss for redirection is looking solid as well, and the lack of Bisharp not only helps them but also means you can more freely bring in Intimidate users. I'm wondering if that will affect Milotic usage though, it's not quite the same as Bisharp though it filled a similar purpose in deterring Intimidate users. Arcanine itself faces less competition from other Intimidate users and doesn't need to worry about Landorus-T anymore, Zapdos doesn't have to compete with Thundurus, and Hydreigon appreciates the lack of Hyper Voice spam.

Wondering how rain will be here though, Politoed + Ludicolo is a dangerous combination and without some of the biggest threats I can see that combo getting better. Also wondering how something like Blaziken might perform with a ton of its crippling threats being out of the picture, it's always been a lesser threat in Doubles and its Mega even less so though I can see it being a bit more viable here. In general though it'll be interesting to see which lesser used Megas emerge as bigger threats here.

 

[Demantoid]

I guess they banned the top 12 from XY and ORAS doubles. Last time they did this all forms of banned pokemon couldn't be used (so all Rotoms).


A few thoughts,
I can see the best teams being Mega Metagross rain or Mega Venusaur rain. Mega Altaria could see more usage as the only -ate Hyper Voice user left besides Aurorus but it does struggle with Metagross and Venusaur. One interesting thing is that Suicune isn't banned because it never managed to break the top 12 but I think Zapdos may be the best Tailwinder in the meta. Azumarill will probably be very popular but struggles against Venusaur. Ferrothorn and Virizion are some of the few nonmega Pokemon that deal with rain well. Grass types in general are more viable due to the absence of Talonflame, Salamence, Heatran, and Aegislash. Latios and Hydreigon are probably the best dragon types with Latios killing Venusaur and Hydreigon killing Metagross. Scizor also becomes better because most of the best fire types are gone and also handles Metagross and Venusaur well. You also don't have to ev against Kangaskhan anymore which is exciting!

 

[Hulavuta]

I think generally, all forms of a Pokemon are banned as the PGL doesn't really distinguish between forms like we do on Smogon. I'm pretty sure it was that way in past competitions as well, so all Rotoms and Landoruses should be banned as far as I know.

Anyway, I'm definitely gonna be playing this meta. Kinda surprised that Tyranitar is in the top used Pokemon, 'cause I kinda wanted to use it. Fortunately, Ferrothorn's still free so of course I have to use it like always. Gonna use Hydreigon too, but whether or not on the same team as Ferrothorn...that remains to be seen.

 

[lucariomaster2]

This is going to be so awesome. Nice for me, since even though a few members of my Tailwind team are banned, I can just revert to its original draft of Suicune/Breloom/M-Meta/Heracross/Chandelure/Mamoswine!

 

[Ksh13]

Seems fun enough. Rain with Metagross sounds kind of unstoppable. Zapdos will see quite a bit of usage with Thundurus gone, I personally prefer it over Thundurus so I don't really bother. With the common Rock Sliders gone, Volcarona could also be very good. Anyways excited to watch as this metagame develops, I will play it myself for sure.

 

[Skore]

M-Sceptile could be a good choice if rain Thunder spammage is going to be thrown about.
Maybe adding a Swampert to your team to take advantage of opposing rain if you're not running it yourself could be a thing too if you're looking to mess up your opponent's strat.

 

[ck49]

M-Sceptile could be a good choice if rain Thunder spammage is going to be thrown about.
Maybe adding a Swampert to your team to take advantage of opposing rain if you're not running it yourself could be a thing too if you're looking to mess up your opponent's strat.

Swampert might be a pretty decent second mega, actually. It's decently strong and if you run wide guard it can support a team while something else Mega evolves, if need be. I don't know if there will be enough rain to warrant that, however, since it's not great without rain. I'd still rather run AV Ludicolo.

 

[Melon Vodka]

I built on M-Metagross. :P

 

[ethan06]

Mega Pinsir sounds pretty sweet as it can fill the void left by Talonflame and Salamence with powerful Flying-type moves. It can also comfortably run Close Combat with Aegislash gone, although Zapdos is still a thing and Doublade might see some use too. Flying-type Feint does sound really ridiculous though, especially for beating stuff like Ludicolo...

 

[ck49]

I'm really feeling mega-manectric. It deals with metagross, probably the most common mega, and hits rain teams hard. Now I just gotta breed one with HP grass...

 

[Melon Vodka]

It's funny how me and a my friend were talking about a M-kangaskhan ban from VGC and the very next day Japanese Global Link announced this. lol

Anyway, I think Metagross and Mawile will be at the center of attention, but even Pinsir is a good Pokémon for build a team. Yeah, I like it, good idea ethan06, I think I'll build another team with Pinsir. Pinsir + Landorus-t?... oh but Icy wind is a problem I guess and Rotom-W is also a problem.. Well, I'll think the core in an other moment.

And rain teams? What do you think about, guys?

 

[cant say]

It's funny how me and a my friend were talking about a M-kangaskhan ban from VGC and the very next day Japanese Global Link announced this. lol

Anyway, I think Metagross and Mawile will be at the center of attention, but even Pinsir is a good Pokémon for build a team. Yeah, I like it, good idea ethan06, I think I'll build another team with Pinsir. Pinsir + Landorus-t?... oh but Icy wind is a problem I guess and Rotom-W is also a problem.. Well, I'll think the core in an other moment.

And rain teams? What do you think about, guys?

Check the OP friend, Landorus (both formes) and Rotom (all formes) are banned.

I think rain will be a real thing. It was already kinda a thing already but with all the stuff banned I think it will emerge as a strong playstyle. Full rain won't work imo coz you only get 5 (or 8) turns of it, but having semi rain with a few mons that operate well out of it (but obviously benefit from it in some way) will be good.

I do like the look of Mega Pinsir myself. Aerilate Feint is cool, it gets +2 priority so it goes ahead of all the other +1 moves, and it stops Protect (and Wide / Quick Guard too?) from working so you can kill off something that's trying to stall for a turn. Honestly anyone that runs Quick Attack is doing it wrong...

 

[Demantoid]

Mega Meatgross with rain seems like it will be a very big problem. Very few things are capable of outspeeding and killing it. The only things I have found that do that without helping hand are Scarf Chandelure and LO or Specs Kingdra in rain.

Mega Pinsir and Manectric aren't quite strong enough nor bulky enough to reliably deal with rain teams. Helping Hand Scald from Ludicolo OHKOs both and LO Kingdra doesn't even need Helping Hand. Pinsir needs an Adamant nature and Quick Attack to kill even an uninvested Ludicolo. Virizion seems to be a pretty good check to rain surviving 2 Ice beams and having a chance to kill Politoed and Ludicolo (but not Kingdra). Bulky Gyarados will also cause problems for rain.

Had a question about Garchomp forgetting that XY pokemon are banned.
Also do you guys think it is a little unfair that Japan has this information and there doesn't seem to be any mention of it on the US PGL yet?

 

[cant say]

How do you guys think Garchomp will be now that Lando-T is gone? I think it will be better than in regular VGC but will not help with rain.

Seriously guys, I have all the banned mons in the OP (as reported by Serebii). Any more "hey do you think [banned mon] will be good?" will be deleted...

Also do you guys think it is a little unfair that Japan has this information and there doesn't seem to be any mention of it on the US PGL yet?

Yeah it's been this way for a while now. Japan always gets it's news first, a lot of the time they get news exclusive to them as well so you can never really tell whether it's for them only or if we'll get the same (like the Circle of Legends comp for example). A little unfair but meh...

 

[Melon Vodka]

Check the OP friend, Landorus (both formes) and Rotom (all formes) are banned.

Oh, that's right, I forgot.

About rain teams, I think M-Venusaur is a good check for them.
Mega Gyarados looks cool to stop M-Metagross, the standard moveset i mean: Iron Head - Zen Headbutt - Protect - Ice Punch/Substitute. And then, if Dos hasn't Mega Evolved yet, its Intimidate can help (Not with normal Gross and its Clear Body).

 

[ethan06]

I'm fairly sure this is the only Battle Spot meta in a long time not to have Kangaskhan in it (other than Circle of Legends), which should be enough of an incentive to play this lol

I mentioned Doublade before, and although it's not nearly as good as Aegislash it's far bulkier on the physical side and has the same access to Wide Guard. Eviolite and a physical inclination make it really susceptible to Will-o-Wisp and Knock Off though, which is worrying, but its typing and bulk could make it useful as an abuser of Wide Guard. It also has perfect type synergy with Hydreigon \o/

Interestingly, the only redirector that's banned is Amoonguss... a good replacement for that is Tangrowth, or Eviolite Tangela. Togekiss is still legal, Clefable is still legal, and Volcarona is a thing. All of them have improved as well.

 

[cant say]

The english site recently updated with the news of this season, nothing we didn't already know but I did get a nice image to use as the banner for this thread! It still only says "Rotom," "Landorus" and "Thundurus" are banned so I think it's safe to assume that all formes are banned ;_;

http://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/information/4504860d-0554-40ff-add0-65691050178c

 

[SecretT]

I'm in the process of building the team for this, and I'm looking for a tailwind user (support for Breloom).
Focus Sash Whimsicott was the first idea, but Breloom would want a Focus sash as well.
And I'm not sure if I'm going to have time to get a Suicune.

At the moment I'm looking at Aerodactyl. Any other ideas?

Thanks for help

 

[Demantoid]

I'm in the process of building the team for this, and I'm looking for a tailwind user (support for Breloom).
Focus Sash Whimsicott was the first idea, but Breloom would want a Focus sash as well.
And I'm not sure if I'm going to have time to get a Suicune.

At the moment I'm looking at Aerodactyl. Any other ideas?

Thanks for help

Aerodactyl wants sash too. Zapdos is good if you can get one. Other Tailwind users include Lati@s, Hydreigon, Togekiss, Scizor, Volcarona, Crobat, and Golbat. Crobat and the Latis are faster option. Hydreigon, Scizor and Volcarona are more offensive Tailwind. Golbat has similar bulk to Suicune. Togekiss and Volcarona also have redirection available.

 

[ethan06]

If you're missing your Fairy spam then special Mega Altaria could work as an offensive Tailwind setter. I don't expect that to be too great in a format where Mega Metagross and Azumarill are expected to reign supreme though :[

Also, tack Parasect onto that list of redirectors. Spore, Dry Skin and Wide Guard all on the one mon make this a pretty cool option imo

 

[ErasthamusGames]

I've seen a lot of discussion on how rain is going to be a really annoying aspect of this meta, but I felt the need to point out that even though Cress has gotten banned, TR seems like an excellent counter-meta option. Gothitelle is still around, and that paired with something like Mega Scizor sounds like a fairly powerful combination. Gastrodon + Tailwind support + Pinsir could also be another check to rain/Mega Saur.

 

[flargananddingle]

Look at all those steel types and rock slide users. With greninja and talonflame being gone, this guy

is free to wreak havok.

Pair him up with a lightning rod user or a follow me user and let him rip. Hell, he can even afford to run modest since he outspeeds the entire relevant format. Something like hurricane/heatwave/protect/¿? Tailwind, roost,featherdance, hp ice or ground..who knows (totally original set..I know)

 

[ErasthamusGames]

Look at all those steel types and rock slide users. With greninja and talonflame being gone, this guy

is free to wreak havok.

Pair him up with a lightning rod user or a follow me user and let him rip. Hell, he can even afford to run modest since he outspeeds the entire relevant format. Something like hurricane/heatwave/protect/¿? Tailwind, roost,featherdance, hp ice or ground..who knows (totally original set..I know)

I'd actually be very interested in if someone could make a team around Pidge.
The only issue being that rain is the only viable weather left in the format, so it's just a matter of doubling into bird :/