SM Doubles OU Animal

[BlueSkiddo]

♪ When days turn to night, that's when you show your other side ♪
♪ With all those freaky thoughts, freaky thoughts ♪
♪ You bring out the animal ♪

Introduction​

I’m BlueSkiddo, aka Yung Disciple Of The Based Shay God and this is my first RMT. With Kang on the ropes, I’d like to share one of my favorite teams that I’ve built with it. This is the team the I used to get reqs for the Kang suspect (33-3), and I found that it actually made laddering a little bit more enjoyable. It doesn’t contain as many meme sets as I might usually employ, but nonetheless it is my favorite team right now.
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The Squad

Kangaroo
Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 40 Def / 132 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
Fake Out / Seismic Toss / Low Kick / Protect​

My boi Kang is arguably the best mon in the meta right now and it's nearly always a good choice of mega to start with. Fake Out is a great way to help me set up TR or tailwind, finish off low HP mons, and general gain momentum. Seismic Toss is what it’s clicking 90% of the time as it 2hko’s most of the meta. I chose Low Kick as the third move because 1. it provides a way to 2hko 252 / 124 def kang (the most bulky set I’ve seen) and 2. It OHKO’s every Ttar I’ve come across easily. I have found it to work quite well as a surprise to many teams (especially crappy ladder ones running random heavy steel and dark types), though it could be switched to doubles edge if you prefer. The EV spread allows it to live Deo-A Psycho Boost in Psychic Terrain and 2hko 252 / 124 def Kang with Low Kick. The rest is dumped into Def with 4 speed just to out speed the occasional other no speed Kang.
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Fish
Tapu Fini @ Mago Berry
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 152 SpA / 32 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Muddy Water / Moonblast / Calm Mind / Protect
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Tapu Fini is the real MVP of this squad, providing it with a fighting and dragon-type check that it needs as well as a decent Lando-T check and a solid set up win condition. The most useful part of Fini, however, is removing opposing terrains and preventing opposing fire types from shitting on my win cons (Snorlax) with lucky n' bad freezes and burns. Legit, I lost 2/3 of my battles during my reqs run because my opponent froze my Lax. It’s infuriating. This bad boy right here saves you tons of stress and also forces poor situations for your opponent while you set up both Fini and Lax in front of them and they are forced to try and focus on one in order to not get run over, meaning one of them is going to get set up to a very threatening point. The set is standard Muddy Water / Moonblast / Calm Mind / Protect with Mago Berry. I chose Mago Berry over Leftovers because I found the instant recovery to be immeasurably more useful than slow recovery.
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Bird
Zapdos @ Misty Seed
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 36 SpA / 32 SpD / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Thunderbolt / Hidden Power [Ice] / Tailwind / Roost​

Rounding off the oh-so-common Kang / Fini / Zap core is Zapdos, a near eternal being. Thanks to its 90/85/90 defenses and Misty Seed boosts it can be quite difficult to take down for a very special leaning meta. It often finds itself in scenarios where it can simply heal itself right back up to a threatening position again and continue to pressure opponents through speed control and its cool electric / ice coverage. I like the Tailwind option that Zap provides, as I often find that a team which is well prepared to stop me from setting TR is less so prepared to stop me from setting Tailwind. I’ve never been very fond of TailRoom teams in the past, but this one holds together perfectly.

Demon
Hoopa-Unbound @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Magician
EVs: 80 HP / 236 Atk / 152 Def / 40 SpA
Brave Nature
Hyperspace Fury / Hyperspace Hole / Trick Room / Protect
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Here we have the wild "Broken Mon", better known by its scientific name: Hyperspace Fuck You. Hoopa is an amazing threat to offensive teams and helps to keep rain in check as well. If you can get TR up with either Lax, CM Fini, or Kang next to you this thing can rip hole through teams. There’s a reason Shay dubbed this mon “BAN THIS PIECE OF SHIT”. With Sitrus, the spread allows it to live 2 Kang Stoss’ and a Mega Mence Double Edge, as well as KO standard Bronzong with HF with the rest dumped in SpAtt. This thing is truly a monster and it could not be more fun to use.
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Human
Snorlax @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 100 HP / 144 Atk / 204 Def / 60 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
Return / High Horsepower / Curse / Recycle​

Okay, I know I said Fini was the real MVP of this team, but let’s be honest, what stops Lax at +2 /+2? This mon is easily my favorite thing to use right now thanks to its strong set up ability and absurdly reliable recovery. If you can eliminate your opponent’s fighting types / coverage moves, they will have quite the difficult matchup on their hands trying to stop this behemoth. It works effortlessly well with Hoopa under TR and “set up and win” scenarios end up being quite common. Who even runs taunt these days anyway??? Honestly, I’m not quite sure what the set does, as I stole it from Level 51 who did some really complicated calcs and stuff so you know it has to be good.
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Dragon
Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
Ice Beam / Earth Power / Fusion Bolt / Protect​

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Kyube is the perfect last mon to act as a blanket check to so many common meta threats. Ice / Ground / Electric coverage is amazing and never ceases to come in handy. Its speed tier is pretty decent this gen considering how much bulky offense is going around, and most importantly it gives me a solid offensive answer to Lando-T, Zap, Tran and Milo. The one downside I’ve found is that it’s not always fun to have your electric type switchin lose to fairy type moves (see: Koko is annoying). I originally had this as Scarf Kyube, but then remembered that that OHKO’s a total of 0 mons and opted for a slower, but much more powerful set in LO Kyube.

Importable

Kangaroo (Kangaskhan-Mega) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 40 Def / 132 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Seismic Toss
- Low Kick
- Protect

Fish (Tapu Fini) @ Mago Berry
Ability: Misty Surge
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 152 SpA / 32 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect

Bird (Zapdos) @ Misty Seed
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 36 SpA / 32 SpD / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Tailwind
- Roost

Demon (Hoopa-Unbound) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Magician
EVs: 80 HP / 236 Atk / 152 Def / 40 SpA
Brave Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Hyperspace Hole
- Trick Room
- Protect

Human (Snorlax) @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 100 HP / 144 Atk / 204 Def / 60 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Return
- High Horsepower
- Curse
- Recycle

Dragon (Kyurem-Black) @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Protect

Shoutouts

This is my 450th post, that's important enough for some shoutouts right?

• shaian - The man himself. The Radiant Canadian. The Ultra Light Beam. The Based God. I gotta thank the man who taught me all I know. You took me under your wing when I was but a fledgling. You played video games and talked me through matches while I tried to not lose wifi at a local McDonalds. For all you've done, thanks a million man.

• finally - You are the only real reason I was interested in this SPL, and I really hope that we're on the same team for DPL so I can continue making you hawt Checkmater images upon your many victories.

• Nido-Rus - The best testing and building partner in the world. You are never short on amazing, metagame defining memes that keep me interested in this tier. Keep the innovation coming.

• Stratos - These bitches won't let me tag you, but that's just fine. I have to thank the man who introduced my to my favorite anime (Ping Pong) and who gave me someone to look up to as a player when I first started out. I used to watch all your matches and try to pick what you'd do next before you did it. I was never very good at it, but I tried. At least I didn't pick up your bad ladder luck with it.

• n1n1 - Big thanks to the man who gave me a shot last DPL, and, most importantly, gave me an excuse to make memes and harvest likes. It was a very enjoyable experience.

• talkingtree - You're the man who keeps me in check and makes sure I do my work, and then listens while I rant about politics while drunk. You do so much for this community, much more than I could possibly thank you for in just this s/o, but just know we all appreciate it and love ya to the moon and back.

• Sam-testings - You'll be the best Sam of them all, just you wait n_n

• SamVGC - Even though we didn't get to see each other at last year's Nats, I feel like we've grown to be good friends since you joined the community and I promise we'll see each other this year at Nats :3
  
  
• n10sit - The only player I've met IRL n_n. Thanks for introducing me to the fun of VGC events and being a great friend. I can't wait to see you again this year at Nats.
  
  
• Elise - Stay wavy my boy. It's great to have someone to talk to about music and K A N Y E.
  
  
• TheRealJahim - I swear to God I will never let you maintain a position above me on the leaderboard.
  
  
• Yoda2798 - I know you don't come on much more, but I'm glad we got to spend the time together that we did. I miss our long conversations and random memes. Come back to us you silly boy ;-;

To anyone I missed: I love this community and its users to death, and I'm so glad to be a part of it. This game may be the most frustrating thing in existence at times, but that frustration is no match for the warmth and laughter that you all have brought me. Don't let your memes be dreams!

50% Pinch Berry Viability Rankings

Tier 1: Metagame-defining berries. If you're not using these berries on your team you had better have a good reason for it.

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  Iapapa Berry - Look at that Thicc bottom. Not only is this berry the most booty-esque, but it is also easily the most fun to say. Has the added benefit of only confusing -Def mons, which are basically never running 50% pinch berries, so it's always a safe bet.

Tier 2: Berries that are generally strong, but can be dead weight in some jams, don't have great matchups vs many Tier 1 berries, or are only particularly useful in a certain type of fruit salad.

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  Mago Berry - Mago Berry is cool because it confuses -Spe Hoopa if they steal it from you with Magician, but it also comes with the downside of revealing that you aren't -Spe nature. I'm not sure if that will ever be relevant, but I'm sure it'll fuck me over eventually just like everything else in this game.

Tier 3: Berries which have broad applications on a variety of pastries but are simply less effective than the berries in the higher tiers. This also includes berries which, while tasting good, only fit on a specific type of cake or require heavy glazing but are still tastier than berries in the tiers below.

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  Wiki Berry - That purple color is nice AF, reminiscent of the olden days when purple represented royalty. Unfortunately it is unusable by -SpAtt mons, but the majority of meta threats are special attackers anyway.
• 
  Figy Berry - Less booty like than the Iapapa Berry, but still a very nice bottom nonetheless. It confuses if -Att which is a big downside considering how special oriented the meta is.

Tier 4: Berries that can only serve a specific role not needed by most bakeries, but still taste excellent.

• 
  Aguav Berry - What is this shit tier berry. Please never use this, for the love of god.

 

[Pocket]

Great team, BlueSkiddo! I know you punked my TTar with Low Kick during my suspect ladder run, which was NOT FUN

Even if Kanga gets banned, this team doesn't by any means need to go out of commission. Replace Kanga with Scrafty, and you got some awesome Intimidate + Fake Out support to help set up your win cons. Scrafty does exacerbate your issue with Tapu Koko, which you can mitigate by swapping Kyurem-B for something like Mega Gengar

Thanks for sharing, champ! Keep the sexy check memes coming ;)