(Other) Sunny Day Parade: A Smogon Standard Doubles RMT (Peaked #3)

[BlankZero]

Sunny Day Parade

AKA Voodoo Pimp is a Putz


I managed to peak over 1955 with this team so far.
(That's my highest peak on anything ever.)

I recently won the first Double Mini-Tour with this team (except for the Finals Match where my opponent and I used different teams, but it was still fun.)

So recently, a new metagame was created, called Smogon Standard Doubles. Thanks to Zarel, we even have our own Ladder! Since now it's an official game, I decided to make an RMT based upon my current team. I've been playing around with VGC quite a bit recently, taking a break from the OU metagame, and realizing Doubles is probably the best game ever. Several normally banned Pokemon, including Shaymin-Sky, Blaziken, Excadrill, and all Deoxys forms have been released into the field for this new doubles game and I decided I wanted to play around with Sun and Blaziken, one of my favorite starters, who was blessed with the most game-changing ability it could receive, Speed Boost (although it could have gotten Reckless and I would've been overjoyed by that too.) Anyhow, I hope you like it, and I hope if you have any suggestions for how it could be better, you'll comment below.

Team At A Glance


In-Depth Teambuilding Process

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So as I mentioned in the opening statement, I wanted to build a team around Sun Blaziken, so I had to take Ninetales along too!



Now I knew I'd need a Rain check, as well as something that could function in Trick Room, since Blaziken just gets faster and faster. I chose Ferrothorn just for these reasons and I've never looked back on that decision.



Next, I wanted a Chlorophyll Abuser to really mess with the opponent. Venusaur was my first thought, but looking through the list on-site, I saw that Lilligant was faster, and had access to multiple status effects, so I decided to throw it in. It works perfectly.



Now after playing around a little while with the team, I wanted something bulky and slow that could reset Trick Room. Who better than the gold standard in doubles, Cressalia?



Finally, I wanted another Sun Abuser, and as I already had the physical side covered with Blaze, I wanted a Special attacker. With Doubles, hazards are fairly rare, and I felt Volcarona would really shine.



After a while, I felt Volcarona was too frail for the team, and swapped to Heatran as my Special Sweeper.



Sadly, Blaziken was far too frail and lacked some of the power I wanted if I lost the weather war, plus Sand could be an issue sometimes, so traded out my founding member for Terrakion, who thrives in Sand.



At this point, I thought the team was set, but I found myself with a slight disadvantage versus Fighting types. I traded Heatran back out for Volcarona and updated some EV spreads and Voila! 1955 peak!



And that's the team as it stands. Now let's do an in-depth look.

Set Lists and Such

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Ninetales @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SAtk
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spd
- Heat Wave
- Will-O-Wisp
- Energy Ball
- Protect

Iron Ball Ninetales pretty much guarantees Sun on Turn 1 as it outslows everything...somehow. Heat Wave for Sun, STAB and spread damage. WoW is for crippling physical threats, as well as increasing her bulk. Sunny Day is to reset weather if I don't feel like swapping her out. Protect is Protect. I've also toyed with the idea of Imprison over Sunny Day, which prevents opponents from using any moves I have, notably Protect and WoW, but also Heat Wave from other Sun Sweepers. In singles, Ninetales Defensive leanings usually give it troubles, as it's not able to KO threats, but in Doubles, it's actually a boon, being able to resist a lot of hits before succumbing, while Burning things in the process, while its partner cleans house on the newly crippled threats.

Edit: Changed the set and Item on Ninetales. Iron Ball was pretty much wasted considering at 0 IVs and Relaxed, I could outslow most weather starters, or just bring in Tales on the second turn if I was unsure. Leftovers gave me added longetivity, and Energy Ball lets me hit Water types and Balloon Heatran.

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Terrakion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Protect

I replaced Blaziken with LO Terrakion, as I had a bit of a Sand weakness, as well as a problem with Rain Ferrothorn. This guy can also help me with my Psychic weakness when paired with some speed control, like Paralyze, or Icy Wind from Cress. He can also answer the threat of Excadrill. Honestly, this guy is just about as frail as Blaziken, but it hits a bit harder with Rock Slide and Close Combat, and can actually dent Psychics. It also doesn't need a turn to Protect to start rushing the other team, and it doesn't rely on Sun as much, or get completely fucked by a badly predicted protect, or 90% accuracy miss. It does mess with my Heatran/Blaze core, but it really makes up for the loss with raw power.

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Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip
- Toxic

Ferrotank! This thing has won more than a few games with a clutch Leech Seed, or by Stalling out the opposition. Power Whip 2HKOs Politoed. Protect/Leftovers/Leech Seed makes Ferrothorn hard to kill even in the sun. He makes rain teams cry, makes Sand teams cringe and lures other Sun teams into a sense of false confidence. With dual Seeding, you can rack up damage against both opponents while protecting, can Toxic + Seed Stall and rack up huge damage over time, all while healing up and causing headaches to everyone involved.

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Lilligant @ Lum Berry
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 180 HP / 140 SAtk / 188 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 SAtk / 30 SDef
- Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power Ground
- Protect

When making a Sun Team, you want a Chloro Abuser. I looked hard at Venusaur, but looking through the list, I noticed another couple Chlorophyll users, including Sawsbuck, Jumpluff and this beauty, Lilligant. Lilligant has access to several forms of status inducing moves such as Sleep Powder and Stun Spore, and is only beaten by Jumpluff in terms of fast sleepers, but Jumpluff is even frailer Lilligant and lacks any sort of attack stat, where Lilligant sports a fairly decent 110 Special Attack and can easily OHKO the bulkiest spread of Politoed with a Leaf Storm to the face, or it can paralyze Excadrill not carrying X-Scissor. Yes, Whimsicott is faster with Prankster and has about 116 Base Speed and Chlorophyll as well, but it really can't do anything but annoy things and it's easily predicted and shut down. Lilligant can also get KOs on things like Keldeo, Terrakion, Tyranitar and Excadrill, which are usually big issues for any sun team. Lum berry gives me a Trump card against Prankster Whimsicott, and gives me a backup against speed ties with other Lilligant, which is getting more popular suddenly.

Edit: I changed the spread to a much bulkier one. Also, I can stand getting locked into Giga Drain much better than I could with Leaf Storm. I can now take Ice Beams, except from weird things like Specs Politoed, but no one runs that, right? It runs 188 Speed EVs to outspeed max speed Politoed out of Sun, unless it's Scarfed.

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Cresselia @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Moonlight
- Psychic
- Icy Wind
- Calm Mind

The Great Wall of Flying Duck Thing! I totally stole this set from Voodoo_Pimp's RMT, and it replaced my TR resetter set. It's really, really, REALLY hard to kill, and it gets very powerful, very fast. Moonlight gives back 2/3 HP in the sun, and still gives back 1/3 in Sand/Hail/Rain. After a Calm Mind or two, almost nothing can kill this thing. Even TTar's Crunch can barely dent it, and pairing Cress with Blaziken is a quick way to remove the bloated Dinosaur. Icy wind is for Speed Control, which helps against Sand where Excadrill can give me issues. This is one of my go-to pokemon for Rain teams as well, as it helps dispatch of Politoed, slows down Ludicolo/Kingdra, walls Rotom-W, and hits Dragons for SE damage, as well as the Genies. Psyshock is for obligatory STAB and hits Conkeldurr and Hitmontop hard. Psychic can be subbed in to hit Conkeldurr over Tops harder, but usually Shock is usually a better idea for things like QD Volcarona or anything else that would normally boost up on Cress. Her versatility makes her pair off easily with anyone on my team, and helps everyone out, especially with Speed Control options. Leftovers increases its bulk even more and helps against Sand/Hail damage, as well as just making it harder and harder to kill over time.

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Volcarona @ Charti Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Heat Wave
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz

Bulky Volcarona is very strong, much stronger than people give it credit. With a Charti Berry equipped, it gets a one time pass against Rock Slide spammers, and at +1, it outspeeds Base 110s easily. It counters Lati@s, Cresselia, Water Types, Steel Types, Fighting Types, and patches up quite a few weaknesses on my team, without gaining any new ones (except a Flying one and a greater Rock one I suppose). Flame Body trolls things like Hitmontop, Scizor, and other priority users. Just swap out with Terrakion and let the lulz begin!

Final Thoughts

This team has gone through a lot of changes. I've been looking at making some changes, but I'm unsure, so I'm bringing it to you folks to give me some ideas. I can't see it for myself anymore, so that's where you come in.

If you like the team, give it a try. If you like it, steal it, etc, leave a comment, luvdisc or rate!

Importable

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Great Wall (Cresselia) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Icy Wind

Tinderbox (Ninetales) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 124 SAtk / 132 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spd
- Heat Wave
- Will-O-Wisp
- Energy Ball
- Protect

Discordia (Lilligant) (F) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 180 HP / 140 SAtk / 188 Spd
Modest Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Protect

Ferrobawse (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip
- Toxic

Mothra (Volcarona) @ Charti Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 Def
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Heat Wave
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz

Bully (Terrakion) @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect

[BlankZero]

Pairs


Chloroabuser
and

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This is pretty much my go-to lead. Iron Ball guarantees Sun first turn, while Lilligant sleeps something. If I see a Fake Out user, especially Hitmontop, I'll usually use Protect on Lilligant and try to burn it with Ninetales. The only time I've ever had an issue was against a Lilligant/Whimsicott lead, but Lum Berry saved my butt that time too somehow. It can really cripple teams relying on speed, letting me run right over them with Heatran and Blaziken.

Rain-X
and

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This is my answer to Rain, and sometimes Sand. Cresselia is super bulky, as is Ferrothorn, so it takes a LOT to break them. Ferrothorn can kill Politoed fairly easily, can Seed everything but Ludicolo and Protect stall to perfect health and generally be a nuisance, while CM Cress can get really bulky, really fast, and can cover Ferro's weakness to Keldeo, while Ferro covers Cress's TTar weakness. It aims to get rid of opposing weathers so Ninetales can reign supreme in the weather war. This couple is also my anti-TR team, which is a very powerful strategy in Doubles.

Cresselia: The Great Wall of Duck
and The Rest of the Team

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Cresselia is just a great support Mon for every single Pokemon on the team. It controls Speed, sets up on a ton of things, is terribly hard to kill, and after a few boosts, can start killing things all by itself. It provides support for every member of the team, who can, in turn, support it right back. Blaziken is probably its best immediate partner, due to its ability to annihilate Dark Types like Weavile and TTar. It can also destroy the Fighting types that threaten Heatran, and can slow down things like Dragons or other Psychics so Blaze can Flare Blitz it into oblivion.

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Threat List

RAIN

This little bastard makes me sweat, I kid you not.

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The bane of the sun team is naturally a good rain team. With threats like Jirachi, Ferrothorn, Keldeo, and the infamous Tornadus-T roaming the field, it requires some careful planning to run against rain, or a bad player behind the team. Normally, I start the same, as Ninetales with Iron Ball gives me a guaranteed weather win first turn. I try to sleep things with Lilligant and Paralyze Kingdra, Ludicolo, and Torn-T with a combo of Stun Spore and T-Wave, as well as Icy-wind support from Cresselia. In fact, Cresselia is one of my hard stops to Rain, as her CM set up and with Lefties and even 1/3 HP back Moonlight, she can setup on all common rain sweepers and smack back with Psyshock or with Icy Wind, adding to the mayhem. With Ferrothorn in the teams, Terrakion becomes an important member, being able to headslam the iron ball with Close Combat, and if I win weather, Heatran obviously gets the MVP. If I lose Ferrothorn or Cresselia before I win the weather war, I'm pretty much toast, so keeping them up is critical. Protect on Ferrothorn is important as it allows him to scout out fighting type moves, like Superpower and Focus Miss Blast, as well as shield it for a turn from incoming Ice type moves, which still hit rather hard coming from the right attacker.

SAND

So badass. I love it.

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Sand is the original Weather Team, all the way back from Gen 3, and TTar came in Gen 2, where Sandstorm was one of his signature moves. Sand damages every single turn, so for me, keeping sun up is super important, especially with Excadrill running around. Keeping Sun up but Ninetales off the field makes this daunting, but with smart plays, I can ruin Tyranitar with Sleep and Paralysis, or, if I'm lucky, can outright KO it with Leaf Storm from Lilligant out of the Sand. Standard lead applies here, as Sun is important for the whole match. Winning the weather war usually means victory, as Excadrill hates Fire, and so does most of a Sand Team. Watch out for EQ though, and make sure to Icy Wind/Paralyze that Exca if you get the chance, as losing the weather war isn't the end-all-be-all most opponents think it will be, although it requires much smarter play at that point. Terrakion can once again shine on this team, as it thrives in Sand and KOs many steel types hoping to KO my Heatran with EQ after its balloon is down.Honestly, just keeping up Sun and not playing carelessly will win you the game.

HAIL

Ho Ho Ho Bitches

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Hail is a weird weather. It can be offensive, defensive, or just plain bad, but it usually isn't. Abomasnow and most Hail teams are weak to Sun, but lately, most people throw it onto a Goodstuffs Team to combat other weather, leaving him safe and sound til right at the end. The easiest way to takeout a Hail team is to apply constant pressure in the form of Paralysis followed by heavy offense. Steallth Rock can help as well, if you don't think TWave is worth it on Ferrothorn, or if you think Heatran can do without Flame Charge or Protect or something. Still, Hail isn't a big threat to this team, so you shouldn't have any issues with it, as even Blizzard Spam from Kyurem, so many things can ruin it, it's no big deal.

GOODSTUFFS

*Insert Witty Comment Here*

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Goodstuffs tend to carry something for every weather, but once that Pokemon is down, you can generally steamroll the rest of the team with your own synergy. Usually, burning physical attackers, paralyzing the special attackers, and generally causing mayhem among the synergy most Goodstuffs try to run, and you'll win.

TRICK ROOM

Slow and Steady

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Trick Room Teams. Ugh. These guys are pretty annoying to be honest, and in Doubles, they work much better. Trick Room teams tend to be bulky and slow, but without TR up, they have plenty of issues with all of the Wallbreakers in the game now. The strategy for dealing with Trick Room is to prevent its setup in the first place. Barring that, start stalling out those 5 turns and try again. Protect-Stalling and switching out is important, but the easiest way to habdle TR is to either Abuse it yourself or reset it. On this team, you can mess with Cress' set and add in TR as a reset button, or use her and Ferrothorn as an Anti-TR team, stalling til the end, the TWave/Icy Winding to slow them down further for the turn TR ends so you can open up a big can of whoopass on them the second their advantage ends.

[BlankZero]

Bumping. I would love a rate please.

[youngjake93]

The team looks great; however, it really lacks offensive pressure required to keep up with rain or tailwind teams.
Cresselia also is extremely status-prone by not carrying rest OR lum berry. Sure, it will wall an inexperienced battler to hell, but a paralyzed, poisoned or sleeping Cresselia would hurt you a lot as it is your most important mon. I'm thinking ChestoRest would be a better fit for this team.
I'm also thinking Gyro Ball>Power Whip on Ferrothorn as you will want to be Leech Seeding over Power Whip in most occasions.
I think that Tyranitar>Terrakion for what you want to use him for. Just reading your description of Terrakion made it seem like you would want Tyranitar instead. Unnerve is also much more useful in doubles than singles or you could be bold and go dual weather.

[BlankZero]

Originally Posted by Fat youngjake93

The team looks great; however, it really lacks offensive pressure required to keep up with rain or tailwind teams.
Cresselia also is extremely status-prone by not carrying rest OR lum berry. Sure, it will wall an inexperienced battler to hell, but a paralyzed, poisoned or sleeping Cresselia would hurt you a lot as it is your most important mon. I'm thinking ChestoRest would be a better fit for this team.
I'm also thinking Gyro Ball>Power Whip on Ferrothorn as you will want to be Leech Seeding over Power Whip in most occasions.
I think that Tyranitar>Terrakion for what you want to use him for. Just reading your description of Terrakion made it seem like you would want Tyranitar instead. Unnerve is also much more useful in doubles than singles or you could be bold and go dual weather.

Interesting ideas here.

I had a ChestoRest Cresselia at one point, and I may try it out again. What kind of set would you run on it?

Power whip is to help fuck up Rain teams, since Gyro Ball gets resisted by everything that I want to hit anyhow (Thundurus, etc) and Power Whip gets base 120 already. It also 2hkos most Politoed, and Ferro by itself messes up almost every single rain team barring things with Focus Blast.

Tyranitar is such a weird idea here. I know I need something to replace Terrakion, since he is such deadweight on the team as it stands, but Tyranitar is just such a weird idea. What about Aerodactyl instead? It also gets Unnerve, is stupidly fast, has good attack and Focus Sash variants are brutal.

[youngjake93]

You mentioned psychic types twice in your description of Terrakion as well as a hard hitting Rock Slide and fighting attack. You even mentioned bulkiness.
Tyranitar <3s psychics, has a harder hitting Rock Slide, has Superpower and has nice bulk even w/o sandstorm.
Aerodactyl has 30 less attack than Tyranitar, is made out of glass(Focus Sash helps a ton though), and has a bad offensive movepool.
I'd say scarftar would give you the speed you want from Aero as well as plenty of power and utility.

You could simply just replace Moonlight+Leftovers for Rest+Chesto Berry and be good to go. Your team doesn't seem to want screens or helping hand all that much.

[Organization Member XIV]

I understand your reasoning for Iron Ball, but just run no Speed IVs and no Speed EVs and a -Speed Nature. Running Iron Ball purely for the purpose of getting up Sun first is useless as once you get up the sun first turn it will still most likely be a weather war EVEN IN doubles. Run Leftovers over Iron Ball on Ninetales, please.What's even worse is when you face a weatherless team, meaning Iron Ball is basically useless.

[BlankZero]

Originally Posted by Fat Organization Member XIV

I understand your reasoning for Iron Ball, but just run no Speed IVs and no Speed EVs and a -Speed Nature. Running Iron Ball purely for the purpose of getting up Sun first is useless as once you get up the sun first turn it will still most likely be a weather war EVEN IN doubles. Run Leftovers over Iron Ball on Ninetales, please.What's even worse is when you face a weatherless team, meaning Iron Ball is basically useless.

Iron Ball has a Dual Purpose in the fact that I hate Trick Room teams, but I appreciate the advice.

[BlankZero]

Bumpdate.

Changed sets, items, etc and added my Ladder Peak Screenshot.

[nyttyn]

Replace Terrakion's Life Orb with Rock Gem
Life Orb just wears Terrakion down and it's probable he won't get off more then one or two Rock Slides anyway.

Replace Volcarona's Charti Berry with Focus Sash OR Bug Gem
If Volcarona is out against something that's spamming rock attacks it's probably dead anyways, and proper Protecting can help you get around it - rock slide isn't that common anyway.

[BlankZero]

Originally Posted by Fat nyttyn

Replace Terrakion's Life Orb with Rock Gem
Life Orb just wears Terrakion down and it's probable he won't get off more then one or two Rock Slides anyway.

Replace Volcarona's Charti Berry with Focus Sash OR Bug Gem
If Volcarona is out against something that's spamming rock attacks it's probably dead anyways, and proper Protecting can help you get around it - rock slide isn't that common anyway.

How about Sash on Terrakion? No one uses Hazards anymore in Double except for the rare as fuck SR setter wasting a turn it could be nuking.

Also, for the Bug Gem:
252SpAtk Bug Gem Volcarona (+SAtk) Bug Buzz vs 252HP/252SpDef Levitate Cresselia (+SpDef): 67% - 79% (300 - 354 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.

So max Special Cress gets 2HKO'd by +1 Bug Buzz, meaning +1 and Gem can OHKO Cress? SEXY TIME!