Doubles (New Topic - EV benchmarks!)

[NidoJosh]

Originally Posted by Fat Pwnemon

Yeah, that's exactly what I was getting at.



Sand is disgustingly mediocre in this metagame because it gets nothing. Unlike in OU, the passive damage afforded by the weather doesn't mean shit, and its only real abuser is Excadrill. Couple that with the fact that it's beaten by both Rain and Hail and it's no wonder that sand is the least popular weather.

Eh to be honest Sand can beat rain, so long as it isn't a "full on" sand team with only Steel, Ground and Rock type pokemon.. I mean pokemon like Rotom-W and Shaymin-S can operate well on a Sand team to counter Rain, while pokemon like Metagross and Excadrill can destroy Abomasnow to win the weather war.

On a different note.. on one of my alts when I was testing out a new team..I got completely wrecked by a gravity team featuring Moxie Krookodile. I was completely unprepared for it and it really did work against my team. The Krookodile got boosts for KOing both my pokemon and his own pokemon with STAB Earthquake and was getting a lot of boosts. I think if it was coupled with Tailwind as well.. the only stop to the Krookodile would have been priority moves like Mach Punch or Bullet Punch. Has anyone seen many gravity teams like this running around?

[Darkmalice]

Originally Posted by Fat VarunR

ETA: there aren't many niche users of Defiant though. Thundurus and Tornadus forms have it, but they're better off with their main abilities than Defiant. Rest are mediocre pokemon.

Tornadus is arguably the best Defiant user in the game. It outspeeds and OHKOes all the main Intimidate users with +1 Flying Gem Acrobatics. Scrafty, Hitmontop, Landorus-T, Gyarados, and Salamence are all OHKoed. They can only win with speed support, but then again, you have to be careful using Icy Wind on Tornadus; it'll give it a +2 boost. Having Pranskter also means the opponent has to be on the guard for either ability, being prepared for either a Prankster Tailwind / Taunt / Substitute, and keep their Intimidate users off the field. Defiant is definitely a viable choice over Pranskter. Both the two abilities play differently anyways; Prankster focuses more on team support, where as Defiant enables Tornadus to become arguably the best anti-Intimidate Pokemon in the metagame.

Bisharp, on the other hand, fares poorly against Hitmontop and Scrafty, and whilst it can OHKO Landorus-T, Gyarados, and Salamence with +1 Dark Gem Sucker Punch, Sucker Punch can be played around with switching; at least if the opponent switches into Acrobatics, it gets hurt. Admittely, Bisharp can function as an anti-Icy Wind Pokemon better than Tornadus thanks to resisting Icy Wind and Sucker Punch (though you may become even more over-reliant on Sucker Punch to have a Speed advantage).

I agree about Thundurus being a bad user of Defiant though. It's too hard to give up Pranskter for a potential boost to Wild Charge, when without the boost, Thunderbolt deals more damage. Wild Charge's negative side-effect seals the deal.

[thesynchrohero]

Originally Posted by Fat SubwayJ

I think I'd like to show an interesting pair I've been having pretty good success with

@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drought
EVs: 4HP, 252Atk, 252Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk)
-Flare Blitz
-Zen Headbutt
-Quick Attack
-Return

Yes, it is a physical ninetales, you aren't going crazy. This thing alone doesn't have much purpose other than putting up sun, but when paired with it's partner, kills things like crazy!

@ Leftovers
Trait: Flower Gift
EVs: 252HP, 4SpAtk, 252SpDef
Nature: Calm (+SpDef -Atk)
-Giga Drain
-Protect
-Synthesis
-Aromatherapy

Cherrim! This little fella has so much awesomeness that just comes from flower gift. Ninetails Flare Blitz now hits just as strong as one from Darmanitan! Cherrim itself is surprisingly bulky on the special side and can stay alive for quite a while with Synthesis/Giga Drain+Protect allowing havoc to be wreaked!


These two offer a lot of surprise value and are very fun to use :P

Better in triples with a Darmanitan as well but is still great.

[Cease Tick]

I just started playing this metagame yesterday, and it's tons of fun. I've been using hail, and it has held up pretty well so far.
Team:

...

---

Abomasnow @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Blizzard
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Giga Drain
Standard stuff. Quiet makes me slower than other weather starters. Leech Seed can be useful for Cresselia and stuff but is mostly filler. Resists Earthquake and Discharge, which is very nice, and the main reason I decided to use hail.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Really useful. Rocks aren't used often, but they can sometimes turn the tide of a match. There's not much else to do with the moveslot anyway.

Manectric @ Fire Gem
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Discharge
- Overheat
- Protect
Fun when paired with Thundurus-T. I'm not so sure on his moveset and item, though. I might change volt switch for thunderbolt and give him a life orb, or even a magnet or something.

Kyurem-Black @ Light Clay
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Blizzard
- Outrage
- Roost
- Reflect
Fun times. Even without any investment he has a respectable 276 Special Attack and a whopping 376 Attack. Reflect is pretty useful, but I think that Light Clay is probably overkill in this meta.

Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SAtk / 176 Spd
Modest Nature
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
- Thunderbolt
Really strong. Thundurus-T + Landorus-T is probably the strongest pair on this team. Fun with Manectric. Thunderbolt kills stuff dead. The extra bulk + Sitrus Berry helps me stick around quite a bit longer.

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Follow Me
- Tailwind
- Helping Hand
- Thunder Wave
A fantastic support pokemon. It's bulky as hell, and tailwind is fantastic for this team because a lot of my pokemon are at around mid speed. Helping hand + Earthquake/Blizzard is great, and it can be used with discharge too if I reall need to. Follow Me is great for allowing weakened pokemon to get one more blow off. Thunder wave is always good.

If you guys have any suggestions/comments, feel free to post them.

Here are some replays of the team in action:

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/repla...doubles8533426
Tons of Togekiss support, and some stealth rock action.

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/repla...doubles8595705
Thundurus-T hurts stuff.

[Audiosurfer]

Originally Posted by Fat Pwnemon

Sand is disgustingly mediocre in this metagame because it gets nothing. Unlike in OU, the passive damage afforded by the weather doesn't mean shit, and its only real abuser is Excadrill. Couple that with the fact that it's beaten by both Rain and Hail and it's no wonder that sand is the least popular weather.

This is definitely false. The only reason Sand seems to be disgustingly mediocre is because there are so many bad Sand teams running around. The majority of the ones I face on the ladder are comprised of sand setter/sand abuser/ sand abuser/ electric type / ? / ? or sand setter/ sand setter/ sand abuser / sand abuser/ electric type / ?. In this team makeup, there's not one water or ice resist, yet for some reason it's so common. People run Sand teams with multiple abusers and then chuck on a Zapdos or something at the end and start playing, when there are obvious flaws with your only Rain check being weak to a type commonly found as a coverage move on Water types.
The only major flaws with Sand teams are that too many people play them like Rain teams, thinking that you can overwhelm the opponent's checks by using multiple Sand abusers, when this is usually untrue. Most Sand checks are Levitators, so they'll take no damage from an EQ regardless of how many Pokemon you have to spam it, and then can proceed to deal heavy damage to or OHKO your abuser. A perfect example is Rotom-W, who is immune to Earthquake and can KO any Sand abuser with its STAB Hydro Pump. Another is Cresselia, who is also immune to EQ, is bulky enough not to care about their other moves, and can use Icy Wind to prey on their Ground typing while slowing them down. A good sand team is definitely capable of handling Rain teams and Hail teams. It's just that the common formula for Sand seen right now is flawed.
The only point on your post I agree with is that Sand has fewer toys to play with, which is true, but Excadrill is really good at what it does. In addition to that, the fact that Sand isn't too popular means that when it's up, most opposing teams have no way to benefit from it, which gives you a huge advantage with your Sand abuser. I think a good Sand team should have a setter, an abuser, and dedicate the rest of their mons to being able to handle opposing threats, as opposed to trying to play Sand Hyper Offense, which isn't very good as a playstyle.

[The Exeggutor]

Originally Posted by Fat VarunR

ETA: there aren't many niche users of Defiant though. Thundurus and Tornadus forms have it, but they're better off with their main abilities than Defiant. Rest are mediocre pokemon.

i'm sorry but you truly can't be serious with this post. +1 Tornadous destroys almost every in it's path with flying gem acro, it is easily one of the best pokemon in the meta if you play it correctly. Well Bisharps typing may not be the best, it still has the perks of a +1 sucker punch and with sub your opponent will have to try and hit you well getting owned by sucker punch at the same time. Defiant pokemon are just short of amazing if you can play them correctly

[BlankZero]

For those interested in VGC as well:

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3478340

^VGC Mini-tour^

ALSO:

To keep this more Double-themed, here's a replay for ya!

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/repla...doubles8617269

I've traded out Ninetales for Sableye and Terrakion for Lando-T. I might also be trading out Cress for Musharna soon for HH/Gravity and Telepathy. The team flows quite a lot better than the old team already, allowing me to keep momentum the whole game, forcing switches, and making the opponent freak out.

[The Unlucky one]

I have played this metagame quite a bit recently. I gotta say that this meta is really fun aside from Skymin being a huge problem to everything (do you really need Rachi revamped?). Aside from that, rain is an extremely strong presence. I have went 11-0 with a combination of Drizzle Helping Hand Politoed with Icy wind + rain abusers. The team was Politoed/Electric gem thundurus-t/Specs Tornadus-T/Rage Powder Amoonguss/ SS kingdra and Scizor. Politoed can easily Helping Hand Kingdra with Muddy Water raping everything. Another pokemon i think is great is Amoonguss. It can really deal with annoying pokemon with Rage Powder allowing Tornadus-T or Thundurus-T to hit really fucking hard.

[NidoJosh]

Originally Posted by Fat The Exeggutor

i'm sorry but you truly can't be serious with this post. +1 Tornadous destroys almost every in it's path with flying gem acro, it is easily one of the best pokemon in the meta if you play it correctly. Well Bisharps typing may not be the best, it still has the perks of a +1 sucker punch and with sub your opponent will have to try and hit you well getting owned by sucker punch at the same time. Defiant pokemon are just short of amazing if you can play them correctly

The thing with Defiant pokemon is that they are heavily dependent on that boost though. With out it they can't get that extra damage that is the difference between an OHKO and just falling short. Not every team runs Intimidate or Stat Lowering abilities and pokemon like Bisharp is outclassed by a lot of other better options

[VarunR]

This person mentioned in his RMT that Serene Grace also doubles the partner's chance of triggering additional effects. I tried searching, but found absolutely no references whatsoever to it - every analysis/description of Serene Grace deals with only Singles. It would be great if someone who has used Serene Grace in the VGC and in doubles confirms/debunks this, since it would have a major impact on the tier (Shaymin-S would be arguably broken).

[nyttyn]

Serene grace only affects the pokemon that has it. However, it is possible that it is bugged like other abilities that only affect one pokemon, such as scrappy (which enabled my blissey to hit a dusclops with a hyper beam. Why was I using hyper beam blissey? Was bored). Since nobody except for zarel can 100% confirm that, that person is simply mistaken.

[youngjake93]

Originally Posted by Fat VarunR

This person mentioned in his RMT that Serene Grace also doubles the partner's chance of triggering additional effects. I tried searching, but found absolutely no references whatsoever to it - every analysis/description of Serene Grace deals with only Singles. It would be great if someone who has used Serene Grace in the VGC and in doubles confirms/debunks this, since it would have a major impact on the tier (Shaymin-S would be arguably broken).

When I play, it sometimes says [DEBUG]Boosted water attack. For rain or whatever.
It would say boosted secondary chance for Togekiss, but not for my partner. I don't know if that classifies as confirmation though. That person seemed pretty convinced that it did boost your partner.

[Pwnemon]

Originally Posted by Fat youngjake93

When I play, it sometimes says [DEBUG]Boosted water attack. For rain or whatever.
It would say boosted secondary chance for Togekiss, but not for my partner. I don't know if that classifies as confirmation though. That person seemed pretty convinced that it did boost your partner.

I've not seen a [DEBUG] Doubling Secondary Effect Chance when a partner uses a hax move, so i'll venture to say no

I've definitely found rain to be a potent force in this meta. Helping Hand-boosted +1 (or water gem) Hydro pump from kingdra even OHKOes cresselia! Rain HO is one of the best teams to run, as stacking too many rain resists makes a team weak and eventually you will find yourself running through them like a knife through butter. My preferred strategy for my team is to save kingdra until late-game, where it can sweep with the water counters gone, but that's definitely not the only way to do it.

[Zarel*]

I can confirm, Serene Grace doesn't boost the ally. I think it's more likely he typoed "Pink", his Blissey who has Serene Grace Skill Swap.

[Pikmin1211]

Did anyone else here know that Gengar has Perish Song?

[BlankZero]

Originally Posted by Fat Pikmin1211

Did anyone else here know that Gengar has Perish Song?

It also gets Trick Room if you're looking for a surprise setter.

[ThePillsburyDoughBoy]

Don't worry Pwnmon I will avenge my loss! I vow in this metagame never to make a rain-weak team again!

In Pwnmon's game I was exploring the strategy of using Psych Up. For those who do not know what the effect of Psych Up is, it copies the stat boosts of which ever Pokemon you target. Through Psych Up, you can get insane boosts to certain Pokemon in the fraction of the time it would take boosting your own. Another interesting property of Psych Up is that it can hit through Protect, meaning your booster does not have to take two consecutive hits from the opponent!

Psych Up abuse has two facets of abuse: The boosters and the Psych Up'ers

The boosters:

+3 Special Attack - Tail Glow
Heart Swap.

The first booster we have in our arsenal is Manaphy. Manaphy has a number of boosting options, but the big draw is Tail Glow. With Tail Glow, Manaphy can boost up to +3 in one shot. In addition to Tail Glow, Manaphy has access to excellent bulk to tank hits, especially ones from rain *with sp. Def investment. It can also trade boosts around with the move Heart Swap, stealing opponents boosts for your own use. It can even trade Intimidate. Heart Swap can also be used to give Tail Glow boosts to a Pokemon who otherwise does not have Psych Up.

Volcarona is hands down the best user of Quiver Dance: great bulk, STAB's, and power make it an awesome sweeping force to be reckoned with in both singles and Doubles. However, its boosting prowess is also great for Psych Up, since it offers boosts in three seperate stats, most importantly special attack and speed together! Its good bulk and Flame Body allow it to set up Quiver Dances safely and even if its partner can not get the Psych Up, it still can sweep on your own. If you execute your strategy correctly, your opponent will have two +1 SpA +1 SpD +1 Spe on their hands.

Blaziken and Yanmega are relatively unique Psych Up partners in that they do not need to utilize a move to gain boosts, but they are gained passively though Speed Boost. Thus through the use of Protect and Focus Sash, it is possible for a partner to get up to +2 in speed through Psych Up! Each has their distinctive advantages. While Blaziken may seem more powerful initially, the use of Protect and Intimidate curves its usage of its most powerful moves: Flare Blitz and Hi Jump Kick. While it can use Heat Wave, it is generally weaker and has to settle with weaker moves like Sky Uppercut and a Hidden Power of its choice. If you are feeling ballsy, you can use Swords Dance to provide even more boosts for yourself and allow for Flare Blitz. Yanmega has a more precise movepool with slightly more power and includes support moves such as Hypnosis and Tailwind should you feel your team has the need for them. Air Slash with King's Rock can be uber annoying at such a high speed, buying free turns with a good chance to flinch.

The Psych Uppers:

Metagross


Metagross was an interesting niche in a Psych Up user: not only is it powerful physically, but it can preserve its boosts with Clear Body was its ability. Thus, intimidating Pokes or Icy Wind can mitigate any Speed Boosts or Attacking Power. Metagross has good bulk in order to get a chance to Psych Up and prevent priority from killing him off. Meteor Mash also has good power even before Psych Up boosts, so it is not reliant on its team mate to do good damage. Metagross does have his flaws: he is pretty slow initially and suffers from 4mss, as it will always have to choose one out of five of Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt, Earthquake, or Protect because of Psych Up.

Cresselia plays the role of preserver of stats rather than a sweeper. As one of the bulkiest Pokemon in the game, it is sure a hassle to take out and thus a hassle to remove stats boosts from the field when you have them. Don't worry though, even when Cresselia does gets its boosts it is not helpless . Psychic and Icy Wind sting at +2. You can also use Cresselia inversely as a Pokemon to gain stat boosts, since its Calm Mind set racks many boosts for another Pokemon to grab.

Latios and Keldeo are two of the best special attackers with Psych Up. What differentiates them from other Psych Up users is their STAB moves that allow them to hit from the other side of their main special attacking spectrum, Psyshock and Secret Sword respectively. Both also present high speed to ensure they can obtain Psych Up boosts readily before their partner is touched by the opponent.. Even without Psych Up boosts, both provide a large amount of power through their excellent STAB and high stats.

[MarshallLeRoy]

Speaking of other terrific doubles abuse tactics, I was pondering other strategies that might be effective and looked back through Pokemon Colosseum to see what was popular in 3rd gen. Then Earthquake dawned on me.

Obviously earthquake has been nerfed by the number of levitate users that dominate OU and by extension smogon doubles, but Gravity makes Earthquake and a bunch of other spread moves much more viable.

The site has an article for Gravity in singles and it's useful for identifying setters and abusers, but has anyone made a successful gravity team in doubles? Is Landorus-T, or a powerful Blizzard spammer, as good as I think they'd be? Blizzard seems like a great option especially since Gravity isn't dependent on hail to make it 100% accurate, at the expense of having to use a move to set it up.

[BlankZero]

Originally Posted by Fat MarshallLeRoy

Speaking of other terrific doubles abuse tactics, I was pondering other strategies that might be effective and looked back through Pokemon Colosseum to see what was popular in 3rd gen. Then Earthquake dawned on me.

Obviously earthquake has been nerfed by the number of levitate users that dominate OU and by extension smogon doubles, but Gravity makes Earthquake and a bunch of other spread moves much more viable.

The site has an article for Gravity in singles and it's useful for identifying setters and abusers, but has anyone made a successful gravity team in doubles? Is Landorus-T, or a powerful Blizzard spammer, as good as I think they'd be? Blizzard seems like a great option especially since Gravity isn't dependent on hail to make it 100% accurate, at the expense of having to use a move to set it up.

Lando-T/Musharna is the most popular version of that team.

I ran a few new changes on my Sun team and now I'm back to ALMOST my original team. Here is 5 Replays with captions.

Replays

---

Pretty standard game. Came down to the wire due to some stupid plays on my part.

I win by accident due to passing Mummy to Conkelderp at the last second.

6-0 sweep. Some people don't learn. It's the second time I've played this guy.

Same TR team, too bad it forfeited early.

Ferrobawse and Cress come back and nearly win the whole thing from a 5-2 deficit. If Zapdos hadn't woken up right at that moment, I would have won it.

[NidoJosh]

Originally Posted by Fat MarshallLeRoy

Speaking of other terrific doubles abuse tactics, I was pondering other strategies that might be effective and looked back through Pokemon Colosseum to see what was popular in 3rd gen. Then Earthquake dawned on me.

Obviously earthquake has been nerfed by the number of levitate users that dominate OU and by extension smogon doubles, but Gravity makes Earthquake and a bunch of other spread moves much more viable.

The site has an article for Gravity in singles and it's useful for identifying setters and abusers, but has anyone made a successful gravity team in doubles? Is Landorus-T, or a powerful Blizzard spammer, as good as I think they'd be? Blizzard seems like a great option especially since Gravity isn't dependent on hail to make it 100% accurate, at the expense of having to use a move to set it up.

I was completely unprepared for a Gravity team featuring Moxie Krookodile. It gets boosts from spamming Earthquake to KO friend and foe alike. With Tailwind support it is basically unstoppable once it gets going but it is definitely scared of powerful priority Mach Punches and Bullet Punches. Maybe Mew would make a good partner as it can learn both Tailwind and Gravity.. or even Cresselia who can simply slow down enemies with Icy Wind and can also learn Gravity itself

To be honest I think you may as well just go hail if you want to spam Blizzard. It makes it a lot smoother in case your gravity user gets KOed and you don't need to waste that extra turn setting up.

I'm also really interested in that Psych Up Strategy. I can definitely see those pokemon starting sweeps, Keldeo more so than Latios because it isn't hurt as much by priority moves like Sucker Punch which could otherwise ruin Latios. Keldeo also theoretically works a lot better because of the prevalence of rain giving Keldeo that extra push in its powerful water STABs

[Sphoofle]

Hail is INCREDIBLY effective in this metagame, I think. I got a match with NidoJosh and Pocket a few times using a laddering alt using my Hail team (#3, Florante! Honestly, I've never gotten a rank nearly as high as that.), and although very close matches, hail still prevailed! I don't really consider myself a very good player though; I guess people just underestimate Hail.

Okay, I'll admit, even if I don't want to, a lot of matches have Blizzard spamming. (Surprisingly, I've gotten around less than 5 freezes. I've got more "residual kills" than freezes, actually!) Still, Blizzard spamming only works due to smart switches with my Pokemon and the appropriate coverage moves from time to time. Not to mention Specs Obama hits like a truck.

[NidoJosh]

Originally Posted by Fat Sphoofle

Hail is INCREDIBLY effective in this metagame, I think. I got a match with NidoJosh and Pocket a few times using a laddering alt using my Hail team (#3, Florante! Honestly, I've never gotten a rank nearly as high as that.), and although very close matches, hail still prevailed! I don't really consider myself a very good player though; I guess people just underestimate Hail.

Okay, I'll admit, even if I don't want to, a lot of matches have Blizzard spamming. (Surprisingly, I've gotten around less than 5 freezes. I've got more "residual kills" than freezes, actually!) Still, Blizzard spamming only works due to smart switches with my Pokemon and the appropriate coverage moves from time to time. Not to mention Specs Obama hits like a truck.

I remember that match! ( I think..) It's always awesome to verse high ranking players like yourself, Pwnemon, Arcticblast etc because it's just class to see the smart switching and everything.
But seriously onto the actual topic... Blizzard spamming is incredibly annoying because.. it is very effective under hail conditions.

But at the mention of Specs Obama.. I noticed that I don't really see Choiced items being utilised at all. I guess the switch will leave your incoming pokemon wide open if they were aware of the choiced item.. but I think if you hide it well enough maybe it's possible to execute? I've been using Life Orb instead of Choice just because of the fact that it deals a ton of damage and most pokemon don't last too long anyway. Does anybody have any successful choiced pokemon sets?

[Sphoofle]

Originally Posted by Fat NidoJosh

I remember that match! ( I think..) It's always awesome to verse high ranking players like yourself, Pwnemon, Arcticblast etc because it's just class to see the smart switching and everything.
But seriously onto the actual topic... Blizzard spamming is incredibly annoying because.. it is very effective under hail conditions.

But at the mention of Specs Obama.. I noticed that I don't really see Choiced items being utilised at all. I guess the switch will leave your incoming pokemon wide open if they were aware of the choiced item.. but I think if you hide it well enough maybe it's possible to execute? I've been using Life Orb instead of Choice just because of the fact that it deals a ton of damage and most pokemon don't last too long anyway. Does anybody have any successful choiced pokemon sets?

The thing is, Abomasnow shouldn't be staying in too long anyway. It's vulnerable to the common Scizor, Metagross, Terrakion, Hitmontop, and basically any other faster fighting type, and gets destroyed by basically any fire attack. Since it's a weather starter, you'd usually never want to sack it unless your opponent has no other weather. The only way to circumvent that weakness, though only to get one more hit in, would be to use a scarf on him, but that really makes his Blizzards and whatnot pretty lackluster.

I feel that Choice Bands and Specs are less potent than in singles, but I feel that Choice Scarfs are infinitely more useful. I find that other people double target more than use spread moves. Why? Because if you beat the opposing 'mon first, you effectively negate its damage! Early game, only you know you have the Scarf. That can score crucial KOs that wouldn't have had happened if you would have gone second. Late game, you can pull off a sweep. Weakened Pokemon are actually a pretty common sight due to spread moves and switching into resists against double targeting. Because of this, a scarfer can come in later on and just pick off enemy 'mons.

Of course, I don't have much experience in Scarfers--the only one I used is Landorus-I, which is incredibly useful because you really would want him to switch out. I usually let him come in to scout. I just U-Turn out, which is powerful enough to score nice KOs with my partner. His x4 weakness to Ice is very exploitable too for safe switch-ins with free damage from U-Turn and Intimidate! :)

[youngjake93]

Choice Scarf is amazing in this metagame, arguably better than in singles. In my opinion, you can afford to lock yourself into a move into doubles because usually you are spamming a powerful spread attack or your single attack is more likely to have a favorable match-up because there are two targets.
Because people are afraid of choice items currently, you can outspeed nearly everyone with base 60+ scarfers. Behemoths such as Heat Wave Heatran, Water Spout Jellicent, and Rock Slide Tyranitar are suddenly KOing everything before they can attack.
Choice Band/Specs are somewhat less useful because you get a lot of overkill that you didn't need at the expense of sticking to the same move. However, there is still merit to using them. Choice Specs Gastrodon usually finds a place on my team because Specs Earth Power @ +1 1HKOs everything that isn't immune. If I'm not doing that, I'm spamming Icy Wind/Surf so the boosted power gets around resists.

Just wondering, why would anyone make a team without Hitmontop? There isn't a single battle where he isn't incredibly useful for almost every turn of the match. Heck, I feel like I would be 10x better off if I had 2 Hitmontops and that's saying something because I'd be compounding weaknesses.
Fake Out+Wide Guard+Intimidate is a legendary combination. Oh and has anyone experimented with Fake Out+U-turn Mienshao? I've seen Ambipom used to little success(taking a 25% chunk out with Fake Out, then dying).

[Joim]

You can add a second Hitmontop to your team using Scrafty, which can Intimidate + Fake Out. I use Landorus-I, though.