DISCHARGANCE
A Smogon Doubles team.
A Smogon Doubles team.
Hey! I've been lurking the Smogon forums a lot, and I've been competitively battling for around half a year already. Now, I'm making my first post here on the forums with my first RMT. Just recently, I was getting bored of the OU/UU scene, and of singles in general, because they're pretty constricting and there are clear cut advantages over many other Pokemon. When VGC was released, I played around with that for a while, and it was fun. Now Smogon Doubles is here, and this is what I've always wanted, really. This is what got be in to Pokemon all over again. Being new to the scene, I borrowed some ideas here and there, but I will credit where I got them from. Hopefully, I can make a team entirely out of my ideas soon and be successful with it!
Mr. Mime (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Skill Swap
- Icy Wind
- Fake Out
- Helping Hand
Here I got this set, sans Light Screen, from a guy in the Smogon Doubles thread in the Other Metagames forum. All credit goes to him.
As soon as I saw this set, I thought it was ingenious. I already tried experimenting with Skill Swap Cresselia, but her lackluster Speed and predictability was always a looming annoyance to me. I tried out Mr. Mime; a Pokemon that is mostly overlooked. What I saw was incredibly promising: an ability that is only CIRCUMSTANTIALLY useful, as most Pokemon don't have moves that are less than 60 BP, and by playing my cards right, I can mutually benefit my team, essential support moves akin to Cresselia, and the ever-awesome Fake Out. Mr. Mime functions similarly to Cresselia, actually, except for the reasons why I picked him above and his unpredictability; you don't really know what he's going to do unless you've read or battled against one already.
I switched out Light Screen for Icy Wind in the original set because -1/3 damage for 3 turns (IIRC?) just isn't worth the utility of Icy Wind, which has won me games countless times with this team and others.
Ninetales @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 Def
Quiet Nature
- Heat Wave
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat
Ninetails is my weather counter, but also a pretty powerful spread move nuker when equipped with Choice Specs. I've used Specs Ninetails in Singles before, and I've always wondered why people don't use it. Sure, there are so many Pokemon that can pull of specs better than her, but Drought is its selling point, so might as well make Ninetails the best that she can be. Part of why Specstails (copyright!) is so effective for me is that people don't usually expect it. They expect a pretty soft hit or a supportive set, but they're incredibly wrong. Heat Wave puts dents, though not that big, to the enemy, making them easy pickings for my partner, and the burn chance has saved me one time or another. Combined with Helping Hand, it actually gets me KOs, and my opponent didn't know what hit him.
Ninetail's speed EVs is at a whooping 0 to win weather wars, which is one of the most important roles of Ninetails in this team--weather is incredibly potent in Doubles, so I need to keep opposing weather out no matter what. Ninetails has great synergy with Mr. Mime because of Skill Swap, which when used, resets the weather to sun. Useful if I predict a Politoed/Obama/T-tar/Hippo switch.
Manectric @ Electric Gem
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Discharge
- Flamethrower
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
I read about Discharge cores somewhere around here, and I always wanted to try one. Here's my rendition, though I doubt it's unique. Manetric is part one of the core.
Manetric is the premier sweeper of the team. Most of the time, he fires of Discharges at 1.5x BP, even without his supporter due to his Electric Gem. (Though, I'm still wondering if I should put a Life Orb. Longevity might be a problem as the other part of my core has Volt Absorb instead. Thoughts?) Once the two get into the field, things are going to get destroyed. Fast. This Discharge core is my win condition, though I try not to revolve winning around just these two Pokemon.
Discharge for obvious reasons, which has great synergy with Thundy and Mamo, Flamethrower has pseudo-stab so it is my main non-spread move. It also deals with many Pokemon that I wouldn't be able to handle otherwise. Volt Switch is the interesting part. I was thinking of another coverage move, but I felt that this move was more important. This is a non-spread move for one, so it would always deal more damage so singular opponents. This can lead to important KOs if my Electric Gem is still intact. Also, it grants me momentum if ever there is a bad match up, since as much as possible, I'd want Thundy and Manetric to live up until late game. HP Ice is there to shut down would-be counters like ground and dragon Pokemon.
Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Icicle Spear
- Ice Shard
- Stone Edge
Mamoswine! I got the idea from the Smogon Doubles thread as well. He may stand as the odd one out, and I may agree. If there any suggestions for Pokemon switches, it would be this. Though, that being said, Mamoswine is still a big threat to opposing teams.
The main selling point of Mamoswine would be Skill Swapping Technician to Mamoswine. This is very hard, but if it is accomplished, one Pokemon is going down no matter what. This isn't where Mamoswine's usefulness ends, though. Another function would act as a filler in my Discharge core, since he is immune to electric. The ideal partner of Mamoswine would be Thundy, since they both can spam EQ and Discharge, wrecking things along the way. Other than that, this is a pretty standard Mamoswine, but that isn't something to laugh about at all.
Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Discharge
- Grass Knot
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Before Thundy, it was Jolteon here. Why? I needed a lightning fast Pokemon to revenge, and also for my Discharge core. Jolteon would always bring the +1 to Manetric, giving a +2 Spa boost on its very first turn. With Thundy though, Manetric goes first. I could adjust the EVs and IVs, but the speed creep is essential in Doubles. Though if it really doesn't matter, I may be inclined to change Manetric's speed, or change Thundy back to Jolteon. I was also thinking of Scarf Thundy, but then coverage is also one of the biggest strengths of my Discharge core, so I opted not to.
So yeah, standard Thundy. Again, still nothing to laugh about.
Hitmontop (M) @ Fighting Gem
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Wide Guard
Hitmontop. Sometimes my MVP, sometimes just a pretty darn good team leader. Fake Out core anyone? Because of this, Mr. Mime and Hitmontop can help their teammates blow holes into enemies without them touching me. Also about Mr. Mime, Skill Swapping also resets Intimidate, effectively shutting down most physical sweepers. Wide Guard is just god.
For Sucker Punch, I'm not sure if I should keep it. Priority is a must, yes, but sometimes I wished I had Mach Punch. Though, with that, I can't touch ghosts and psychics anymore, and it might use up my Fighting Gem before I'd need it.
I'd post a threat list and match-up, but then from my experiences, Doubles is an incredibly diverse playing field, and I rarely see the same teams and skill sets like in singles. Maybe once I play more I can fill it out.