Always, I Wanna Butterfree With You [OU Doubles RMT]

Introduction

Despite what you may say, let me make myself clear. No suggesting Swampert, Scizor, Tyranitar, Azelf, Breloom, Aerodactyl, Crocune, Heatran, Magnezone, Scarfed Rotom-A, Bronzong and especially Salamence. I hate people who use Salamence. Anyone who suggests it will be looked down upon.

Well, any who, so many times I'll start off a match, and my opponent says, "Haha, never seen that before." They're talking about my Butterfree, of course. I then wait a couple seconds, make my move, and their next words are, "Oh shit." Slapping a Choice Scarf on Butterfree isn't just classy, but it has a definite use. Putting almost any non-boosted Pokemon to sleep is a valuable. This team is designed for, well, not necessarily WiFi battles, but VGC-like battling. Doubles tournaments where there aren't Shoddy restrictions and Rotom-A is useable.

Descriptions

The Leads

Butterfree (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Compundeyes
EVs: 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe -Atk)
-Sleep Powder
-Stun Spore
-Bug Buzz
-Hidden Power (Ice)


-WITH-

Infernape (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe -SpA
-Fake Out
-Stealth Rock
-Flare Blitz
-Close Combat

Synergy Strategy

Hit-and-run. First turn, Butterfree lays down a fast Sleep Powder while Infernape uses Fake Out on the other. It often depends on the greater threat. If it's another Fake Out lead (i.e. Toxicroak) I'll fake him out first seeing as he's slower than me. If it's Ambipom or Weavile, I'll opt to Fake Out their other lead hoping they'll Fake Out my Infernape so Butterfree can put something to sleep. Then on the next turn, Butterfree will sleep their other lead that got Faked Out while Infernape sets up Stealth Rock. If they opt to switch out their lead that fell asleep in the first round this round, I will proceed to Sleep their switch in Round 3. If not, Butterfree switches out to something else.

Butterfree

When one of my Pokemon faints and Butterfree can get a free switch in, I do the process all over again. With the Choice Scarf, 252 EVs, and 31 IVs (Thanks HeartGold for making that easier...), she reaches 393 Speed. Enough to outspeed all common leads, bar Aerodactyl and TrickScarf Jirachi and Azelf. Well two of those three are in for a surprise, in that they'll receive a scarf back. Aerodactyl always wins, though.

Opinion

You might be thinking right now, "Who is this dude?" But this dude he stumbled upon an idea he thought was great. Really great. You might not think so, but look at the facts:
-97.5 chance of putting the opposing lead to sleep
-Interesting Pokemon in itself. No one EVER sees a Butterfree in competitive play. Ever. They might think they can easily attack, but will most likely be put to sleep.
-Butterfree evolves from the greatest Pokemon ever. Metapod. Or MetalPod, in this case. (Look at profile picture)
-Base 130s with +Natures 252 Speed EVs and 31 IVs all beat this set by just one point, but let's see, that's Jolteon, Crobat, Aerodactyl, Electrode (Who has 140), and Ninjask (Who no one can outspeed after one turn without setup):

-I have Electivire to take care of him.

-Look one above.

-Rotom can take care of him. Easily.

-This is where it gets interesting. Often I Fake Out to render the Focus Sash useless and then Close Combat. It has a pretty good chance of KOing him, but isn't guaranteed. The only way he'll ever get Stealth Rock up is if he does it on the second turn and forgoes Taunting, so I'll often keep Butterfree in to see what happens.

-HP Ice destroys it as it Substitutes down, not allowing for any Swords Dances. I have encountered it a couple of times and the Speed boosts are nullified by an Exploding Forretress.



Support Squad

Forretress (M) @ Power Anklet
Ability: Sturdy
Relaxed Nature (+Def -Spe)
EVs: 252HP/112Atk/144Def
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Gyro Ball
-Explosion

Remarks

If the opposing lead manages to get Stealth Rock, up, I need to take it down. Gyarados is 2x weak to it and Butterfree is 4x weak to it, making it only able to switch in twice. Unacceptable. If I also can get him in on something he can force to switch or isn't a threat, Spikes can make sweeping easier for Gyarados and Electivire. Mission accomplished in my opinion.

Moves, EVs, and Plan

Spikes and Rapid Spin are pretty much the only reason I ever decided to use Forretress. Gyro Ball, when coupled with Forretress' inanely low speed and a Speed-halving item becomes absurdly powerful against fast sweepers, making him a great Revenge Killer to Revenge Killers, as they often are Choice Scarfed. The EVs are what Smogon told me, and so I used them. I learned from personal experience (And didn't realize sooner that it was on Smogon as well) that this Forretress takes around 37% from a +1 Life Orb Salamence's Outrage and can proceed to OHKO with Gyro Ball. It also give Explosion some punch, and so when I finally need to use it, I bring Rotom in to be immune to it while the other team gets raped.

Rotom (N) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252HP/168Def/88Spe
Bold Nature (+Def -Atk)
-Discharge
-Will-O-Wisp
-Confuse Ray
-Leaf Storm

Remarks

My team needed some bulky ghost, and Rotom-C provides. His primary function is to cripple the sweepers that Butterfree won't be able to take down by either paralyzing them with Discharge, halving their attack with Will-O-Wisp, or punishing boosters with Confuse Ray. The only reason I chose this Rotom over the others is to counter Swampert. Immune to Earthquake, Rotom can cripple Swampert and then KO it most of the time with Leaf Storm.

Moves, EVs, and Plan

Status. Status and wreak havoc. After Forretress explodes, I often bring in Gyarados to lure Electric attacks, Thunderbolts and the like that won't be aimed at Rotom. Then I either switch Gyarados to Elecivire or have him stay in. If I do, Rotom willl use Discharge as they use Thunderbolt, hoping Electivire gets a double speed boost, letting him out speed virtually everything. I actually figured this out on my own, again. The EVs allow it to beat a Tyranitar 1 on 1 because if I catch him on the switch with a Will-O-Wisp, he won't be able to KO me if I decide to stay in. If everything is either paralyzed, asleep or burned, I will then Confuse them. Once again, Leaf Storm is for Waters and especially Swampert.


Sweepers

Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252Atk/4Def/252Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe -SpA)
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge

Remarks

I caught a Jolly Red Gyarados by using a Synchronizing Abra and an Action Replay for IV checking. Finally I ended up with a 29 in Attack and a 28 in Speed, which in my opinion is pretty darn good. Although Gyarados is often considered cheap, he isn't too hard to wall, and that's why I have Forretress and Rotom. Forretress can beat a plethora of walls with Explosion and Rotom can take out bulky waters with Leaf Storm and Discharge.

Moves, EVs, and Plan

After Forretress explodes with Rotom in, I bring him in to switch out again so Electivire gets the boost. If Earthquakes threaten Electivire, I switch back to him. All in all, he's often my last resort as he rarely stays in long early in the match. With a Dragon Dance, Gyarados will be able to outspeed Jolteon and OHKO it with Earthquake. Often I can suprise an enemy if they believe I'll switch back to Electivire and use a Ground move with a Dragon Dance for sweeping. Waterfall is obligatory, Stone Edge is for Flying types (i.e. Defensive Gyarados) and other things his STAB won't hurt too hard. Earthquake is because Electivire and Gyarados will rarely be out at the same time, and half of my team is immune to it. If they need to be on the field at the same time, Electivire wields it as well.

Electivire (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
Ability: Motor Drive
-ThunderPunch
-Ice Punch
-Cross Chop
-Earthquake

Remarks

Despite what Smogon says, him being walled is almost a myth. Skarmory is toasted by ThunderPunch, Blissey is annihilated by Cross Chop expecting to absorb a Thunderbolt, Hippowdon gets destroyed by Ice Punch. The only one who really hinders him is Swampert, and that's why I have Rotom.

Moves, EVs, and Plan

Prediction is completely key. If I know they have a Skarmory, but have their Salamence out and he's at low health, I'll go with ThunderPunch over Ice Punch. It'll probably still KO the Salamence and if Skarmory comes out to absorb it, it'll still deal pretty massive damage. What I'm trying to say, is that I don't stick to the same move when another move will also KO it, because that would be predictable. Fire Punch is debatably better in singles, but since this is doubles and Earthquake has the same base power (The 25% drop for multiple enemy damaging moves) and half my team is immune to it, Well if you account the Infernape and Forretress are both KOd by the time I bring Electivire out most of the time, the entirety of my team is immune. How about that?


Conclusion

Butterfree is the glue of the team, and trust me, I've done some play-testing. Breloom has the same Base Speed and thus same max speed, so he's out of the question. Besides, a Breloom set with Spore is expected and dealt with accordingly. Venemoth was also a viable option because it is faster and has Tinted lens, which is insanely useful if I have to attempt a sweep with her, but Sleep Powder missed too often, I also tried Scarfed Roserade before it became popular, but the same problem arose >_< I often have fun with this team because Butterfree can put an insanely large amount of their team asleep before they can even touch me (With help from Infernape, of course.) Sleep Talk teams cause hassles, unfortunately, and so I considered including Taunt or Encore somewhere, but not on Infernape because using Sleep Talk leads are... odd? Anywho, thanks for reading, I worked really hard on this RMT. Si vales, bene est, ego valeo.

Oh, if anyone gets the title's reference, then they get cookies.

I'm assuming by your lack of responses that this team is perfect in every way and cannot be improved. (Rolls Eyes)

Bump for great justice!

Besides, a Breloom set with Spore is expected and dealt with accordingly.

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I just wanted to note that anyone remotely intelligent knows Butterfree's only real role is the 97% accurate Sleep Powder and if you outspeed their faster Pokemon, that you absolutely have to switch out next turn due to Choice Sleep Powder.

Does no one read the first paragraphs anymore?

I use Butterfree on my OU team. Better players will know what it's capable for. Scarf Sleep / Focus Sash Double Powder is all it has going for it.

Although one of your middle paragraphs seems to indicate you're playing without Sleep Clause. In this case, the reason you aren't getting rates is because you're playing a meta game nobody plays and knows. You're mixing Smogon's rules with Nintendo's VGC rules and coming up with a ruleset nobody but you plays by. There's no basis to rate your team on.

I don't believe I ever said anything about Smogon's rules. And think about this for a second. When your opponent sees a Butterfree, how would they react, do you think?

Muffinmanifestation said:

I don't believe I ever said anything about Smogon's rules. And think about this for a second. When your opponent sees a Butterfree, how would they react, do you think?

Click to expand...

I would immediately go for my ResTalker, since it's obvious you're going to use Sleep Powder. Using a Butterfree in OU just screams that you're abusing Sleep Powder.

I'm not very aware of some VGC rules and strategies and such, but I'll try to help.

Why not use smeargle with dark void instead of butterfree? Since you said you're playing doubles, why put one poke to sleep when you can sleep two? Smeargle is a much better support lead anyways, and can trick away its scarf unlike Butterfree.

Just my two cents.

Although that's a nice thought, a great one, at that, how am I going to get a legit Darkrai? I believe there haven't been any events lately nor will there be any soon.

@The Shiny Pidgey
What if you didn't have one?

@Firestorm
As you probably know, Breloom has a plethora of weaknesses common in the metagame.

Oh, yes, because Butterfree doesn't... It's also frail as heck. It's an okay gimmick, but Smeargle does the job much better, even though its stats are worse because Dark Void can put two opponents to sleep, instead of just one.

Yes, Breloom is resistant to Ground and Rock, but Butterfree has a 4x resistance to Fighting and in immunity to Ground, which is heckas useful in doubles. The problem still remains, how do I get a Darkrai (Because this is a real team). And if I were to run a Smeargle, then who would I replace Infernape with?

You could Pokesav a Darkrai. Moving on, I'll have to agree with everybody- Butterfree has a 4x weakness to Rock which screams for something to use Rock Slide for the lols.

First off, Butterfree is so outclassed by Roserade. There is a set w/ Scarf with Sleep powder AND toxic spikes. Butterfree has no other purpose outside of Double Status, which you have a scarf... I know it gets rid of the theme, but your team will be more effective with it. Sides, you didn't say we couldn't suggest Roserade...

I've never seen an Ape with Flare Blitz, makes sense to me. No change to the set.

I will say heatran makes a better fire pokemon overall throwing off a Fire Blast off a higher stat. Just a small suggestion. I really don't think it's a decision you'll make, but if you 'hit and run' a scarfTran for a lead would also be a suprise...

The only time I used Forre, it sucked. Use Skarm over him. You still retain about the same type coverage.

Shadow Ball over Confuse Ray. Gengars are sent into ALL rotoms a lot. Even though it's not an OHKO w/o SR, Spikes don't work, it has levitate. because of this, your new set for Skarm will be, just a suggestion...

Brave Bird
Roost
Stealth Rocks
Spikes
Whirlwind may seem needed for phazing, Rotom, and the rest of your team, benefit more from Spikes and SR. have MAX SpD to take Flamethrowers and T-bolts a lot better.

Of course, if you just want to keep forre, Leftovers, Payback >> Gyro Ball, slow enough that you don't need weight and he almost always hits 100 damage, and try to fit in SR somewhere, maybe Payback or Explosion?

Try Bounce over Stone Edge. Helps with Breloom and other problems.

Electrive is sooo outclassed by Jolteon, even after a Motor Drive Boost, Jolteon still out speeds. Sides, it makes your team balanced by having 3 physical and 3 special attackers.

*Edit* I'm gonna say it, but using Ubers, and sometimes legendaries in general, are looked down on if you need them to win. Sides, you become a laughing stock in you have a darkria and LOSE. I am 100% against using Ubers for your team. I'm just going to remind you that your making execptions to certain pokemon you want to use, yet wanting to use Ubers, which are cheap, unfair, and Uber for a reason, why not use EVERY pokemon.

Hope I helped and good luck with your team!

I believe you are wrong, I like some of your suggestions, but here's the facts:

1.) Electivire reaches 289 Speed with an Adamant nature. Jolteon reaches 394. With a speed boost, Electivire reaches 434 Speed, a definite outspeeding. If you read my strategy, and note that this is doubles, then I am almost guaranteeing him two speed boosts, enough to outspeed anything, bar a scarfed Deoxys A or S or Ninjask. Which I don't plan on seeing.

2.) This is doubles, and I use Infernape for its access to Fake Out, which also guarantees that Butterfree will put at least one Pokemon asleep.

3.) Gyro Ball with that Power item hits all Pokemon with 228 Speed or faster (For an expample, a neutral natured Scizor with 252 EVs) for 150 Base Power. Which is a lot of Pokemon in, as many have said, a metagame based on speed. The Payback isn't needed to KO the Gengar switch-in. Gyro Ball man-handles him.

To thank you for looking at my anti-lead celebi gimmick ill attempt to rate this team, although I definitely don't know doubles. Here's a scenario I see happening:

You switch in fory and rotom. Another guy sends in a rotom h. At this point, he will probably over heat your foretress or use shadow ball on your rotom. Either way, not good. Maybe taking off the anklet, seeing as how you still kill salamence without it, and replace with an occa berry, and swap explosion for payback. Explosion only works once, and the smart opponent will at least get their ghost out if they predict it. Payback allows you to check ghosts, while still koing salamence. Although I assume some sort of explosion is standard in double battles, being left with a nasty rotom could be worse in certain situations. If you feel like opposing rotom are troubling you this could be an option. And you don't even have to use an occa berry if you predict well.

Infernape checks grass types, but an uncommon celebi can spell trouble if it comes in after infernape faints. Payback on fory would fix tis problem as well

In singles mixmence is becoming common and will fireblast your forrestress. Occa berry is suggested for this reason as well.

It may seem like I'm commenting on your foretress excessively but it along with rotom don't have a definite role on this team. Infernape-butterfree are the gimmick leads, gya-lectivire is the bait switch. Foretress needs to fill the gaps.

In conclusion: I think occaing your foretress and replacing explosion for payback will help in certain situations. If not, there isn't much I can really say.

Hope I helped a little

Nice team, but there's one thing that juts slows it down: the need to put on entry hazards!!!

Entry Hazards are no use in doubles. Why spiking when you can KO a perfectly KOable Weavile?? Doubles is an extremely fast metagame. Entry Hazards just waist a turn, which you could use to really weaken something.

I talk in experience, really ._.

If what he says is true then keep explosion drop the entry hazards and add payback there. True double battles are probably more fast paced and you aren't even putting them up first

Firestorm said:

Although one of your middle paragraphs seems to indicate you're playing without Sleep Clause.

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This is the only reason I haven't rated this team yet. Sleep Clause should really be in every ruleset. Your team is pretty clearly built to take advantage of the lack of Sleep Clause.

~Golden Emp said:

Nice team, but there's one thing that juts slows it down: the need to put on entry hazards!!!

Entry Hazards are no use in doubles. Why spiking when you can KO a perfectly KOable Weavile?? Doubles is an extremely fast metagame. Entry Hazards just waist a turn, which you could use to really weaken something.

I talk in experience, really ._.

Click to expand...

I'm gonna second this guy. I recently became interested in double battles and so I pulled up smogon's article list and found one all about double battling. In it, it clearly states that, although entry hazards can be used, they are much less common in the doubles metagame because switching is much less common (especially if you decide to go to VGCs =P).

http://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/double_battles#switching

Hypothetically speaking, you could take advantage of the lack of rapid spinners in the doubles metagame and lay extra entry hazards; but once again, the supposed lack of switching may weaken its effects.

Switching does happen, but usually not often enough to warrant using entry hazards. There are exceptions. Your team might do a fairly good job of promoting switching, what with the Gyarados, Electivire, and Forretress. Still, if you are playing a VGC-style game where you're only using four Pokémon, don't expect to get a lot of mileage out of Stealth Rock.

But for the love of ranch dressing, get rid of Spikes and Rapid Spin on your Forretress. Talk about wasted moveslots.

I have to say I'm really curious about what sort of environment you've playtested this team in. You talk of your Electivire dealing with Skarmory and Blissey. I've played many hundreds of doubles matches and I can count the number of times I've seen a Skarmory on one hand. Maybe 1 out of 70 teams has a Blissey, and it's usually in a support role, using Gravity and Helping Hand. It doesn't do such a great job walling special attacks when the opponents can just wail on its partner.