Effective Cores in the Doubles metagame

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finally

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that core is indeed tight yo

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
EVs: 224 Atk / 132 SpD / 152 Spe
Careful Nature

  • hits 234 speed to outspeed base 110s at +1 (hits 351)
  • Survives a Moonblast from Mega Diancie
  • OHKOs 0/0 Mega Diancie with +1 Frustration 100% of the time
EVs: 232 HP / 180 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature

  • Hits 220 speed to outspeed base 100s at +1 (hits 330)
  • Survives an Ice Beam from Kyurem-B
  • OHKOs 4HP Mega Kangaskhan 100% of the time at +1 if you use Double Edge > Return
it should be noted that running max speed jolly +1 altaria beats adamant scarf lando-t by 1 point
ymca
 
This is a good thread don't let it die ;-;
Anyways I guess I'll contribute a pretty cool offensive rain core that's worked well for me.

Shaymin-Sky @ Life Orb/Focus Sash
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature / Modest Nature
- Seed Flare
- Protect
- Air Slash
- Earth Power/Tailwind

First part here, shaymin-s works very well to eliminate opposing water types like rotom-w that give swampert and talonflame a lot of trouble in general. Modest sash + tailwind is probably usable since swampert gives you excellent heatran coverage but i prefer the earth power set. Skymin also dispatches grass types to give swampert an edge of the opposing team. Also flinches are always nice :>



Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Ice Punch / Hammer Arm

Rain sweeper, this guy is essential to the core as it gets rid of things like landorus-therian under rain, which is a large problem for talonflame and to a lesser extent skymin. Ice punch is exchangeable for hammer arm depending on what your team is weak for. He also outright destroys fire types, especially rotom-h which the other two member have nothing for.


Talonflame @ Life Orb / Safety Goggles
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
- Will-O-Wisp / Roost / Tailwind

Here's our hard counter to grass types, priority brave bird comes in handy a lot of the time, especially when mirror matching against rain and needing something to deal with things like ludicolo. Safety goggles is fun to switch into amoonguss with ease, and life orb obviously boosts power. Tailwind is a great option too, but sometimes trivial depending on the structure of the rest of your team.

Yeah, not the first person to use it but solid core.
 
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Electrolyte

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Fun


Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect


Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam

+ Politoed ofc

Diancie with rain in general is a pretty nice combination that generally isn't used too much. Diancie solves a lot of the problems common rain sweepers face, smashing Zard Y easily and countering rain checks such as Thundurus-I. Mega Diancie works especially well with Ludicolo, especially because it walls Flying-types (TALONFLAME) to hell and back and wrecks Dragons such as Kyurem-B. Ludicolo checks / counters nearly everything Diancie fears, including Steel-types, Ground-types, and Bulky Water-types. The offensive and defensive synergy is just great. If you need a powerful core that can tear through most standard builds, look no further.

I didn't bother listing a set for Politoed but it's worth noting that it can be used with Encore to check the slower defensive Pokemon that this combination has a bit more trouble muscling past.
 

Bughouse

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yeah I think Diancie rain is one of the better forms of rain out there right now
 
This core is pretty common and well known but no one has actually posted it in here so I decided that I would.

Hydraslash


Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Tailwind/Fire Blast/Earth Power
- Protect



Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute/Wide Guard/Shadow Sneak (If running Wide Guard, I prefer using Weakness Policy or Safety Goggles, if running Sneak I use Life Orb)
- King's Shield

---------------------------------------------------------------
Hydraslash has been a pretty common core since the beginning of XY doubles. It's such an effective core because of the perfect defensive synergy that the two have together...

Aegislash (ignoring abilities):
Weaknesses: Dark, Fire, Ghost, Ground
Resistances: Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, Psychic, Rock, Steel
Immunities: Fighting, Normal, Poison

Hydreigon (ignoring abilities):
Weaknesses: Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Fighting, Ice
Resistances: Dark, Electric, Fire, Ghost, Grass, Water
Immunities: Psychic

As you can see hydreigon can switch into every single thing that super effectively hits aegislash and vice versa. Hydreigon hits pretty much everything really hard and aegislash is no slouch offensively as well. Playstyle wise, I like to have only one of these out at a time. For example, if my hydreigon is out and I'm predicting a draco meteor onto it, I simply switch in the aegislash etc. I can't really think of anything else that needs to be said except that this core has been super solid for the past two-ish years or so for a reason.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that lando-t can threaten both of these mons. Because of this, I like having a bulky water (suicune or washtom usually) paired with this core to help deal with that.
 
This is a pretty cool thread, and I'd really like to see more cores being posted here. With that in mind, here's a pretty popular offensive core:

Terrakion + Bisharp



Terrakion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
- Earthquake/Double Kick/Quick Guard
- Protect

Bisharp @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Protect

These two do a great job at breaking through the opponent's team, usually on hyper offense. Terrakion does a great job at breaking bulky steel types with close combat, like Heatran, and Ferro. Steels that are neutral to or immune to fighting like Jirachi, Metagross, and Aegislash all lose to Bisharp's Knock Off or Sucker Punch. In addition, one of Terrakion's best switch-ins, Lando-T, is unable to switch into Bisharp for fear of giving it a Defiant boost. These two are both weak to fighting types, so it would be good to pair them with something that will cover those for them, like Shaymin-Sky, Talonflame or Lando-T.
 
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