The title should tell you that this team originally started out as a combination of Pokemon out of several failed attempts in the realm of Smogon Doubles. Not long into the attempted resuscitation of my badly ailing Smogon Doubles record, it occurred to me that Bisharp needed to go. I was only using it because I liked it so much (it was a favourite of mine in-game), but it was far from pulling its weight in the team. Its replacement: the wondrous Kyurem! Its Glaciate coupled with Mienshao's Rock Slide made the duo a truly dominating middle-order, but I shouldn't give so much away just yet. Let's get into it:
Conkeldurr (M) @ Payapa Berry
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
- Ice Punch
Conkeldurr is one of my opening batsmen, and has proven to be one of the most efficient Pokemon I've ever had in terms of the hits:KO ratio. The first two moves work as their usual lethal combination, but then it left me with a choice of 2 out of 3 moves: did I want to hit Flying-types and Garchomp with Ice Punch, hit Alakazam and Espeon with a super-powerful Payback after surviving an inevitable Psychic/Psyshock, or do I Bulk it Up to help protect against such common threats as Lando-T's Earthquake? In the end, I decided to have one opener come out and just hit as hard as it can right off the bat.
Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 SDef / 252 HP / 252 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Here you'll find the more relaxed of the two openers, not in terms of its nature, but of its moveset. Only up until very recently I ran Scald, with Giga Drain in place of Will-O-Wisp, which was fine. But now WOW's accuracy has been buffed I can feel safer using it, and it allows me to take some more risks and hit harder with Hydro Pump, while Hidden Power Fighting is just a general coverage move that would benefit a heap of stuff anyway, but in this case it is primarily for the usual Ferrothorn switch.
Volcarona (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Rock]
Third man (woman actually, it's a woman) in to bat (most of the time) is Volcarona. People go on and on about how much of a force it is under the sun. We all know this. Some also claim that even in rain, you shouldn't count it out. Of course, Hurricane is a powerful asset for it to have. However, this is a weatherless team, and with weather being nerfed this gen I felt it was best to keep a completely weather-neutral Volcarona that still knows how to function should a Politoed or even Tyranitar arrive on the scene. The actual set here is pretty run-of-the-mill, where I decided to run HP Rock narrowly over Quiver Dance, purely because if I didn't Dragonite and Salamence, as well as other Volcarona in particular, would wall it to death.
Kyurem @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 160 HP / 4 SDef / 92 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Glaciate
- Flash Cannon
Kyurem, the super sub off the bench! You don't see a lot of physical Kyurem (I'm not counting Kyurem-B) and honestly, Outrage has never appealed to me. Special it was, because I'm generally not good at managing mixed attackers. Kyurem serves to help in part as the No. 1 Dragonite counter, but in actuality its STAB Glaciate (not used as often as it should be from my experience) is its main point of call in conjunction with fellow middle-order batsman Mienshao's Rock Slide are a dominant force, especially when Dragonite and Volcarona come running along.
Mienshao @ Expert Belt
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
The fastest member of the team, there wasn't much reason to invest in HP with Regenerator about, and its purpose is clear. It's the only member of the team that can outspeed Mega Garchomp and Regular Garchomp and can as a result be perhaps the only thing standing in the way of said Garchomp tearing through everything if it doesn't get in the way of Glaciate.
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave
The sole Steel-type, it carries with it a number of useful resistances, in particular Dragon. I would like to think that this has the potential to be the "hustler" of the side, in which you don't expect it to do what it's about to do. After all, most of the carry HP Ground for dealing with itself or HP Fire for other Steel types in general. Not to mention Magnet Pull is usually the preferred option in doubles. Thunder Wave is put in as an ever-reliable paralysis option, as the set was pretty much complete attack-wise (it's only resisted by itself) and it provides the option of living an Earthquake (barring something rare like Haxorus) and delivering one mighty powerful HP Ice in return.
So that's all there is to tell you about the side. They well and truly salvaged what looked like a dying record on my name, with the only new addition to the side being Kyurem in Bisharp's place. I at least hope this turns out better than my last RMT, which spanned several tiers and was overall an absolute train-wreck.
Conkeldurr (M) @ Payapa Berry
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
- Ice Punch
Conkeldurr is one of my opening batsmen, and has proven to be one of the most efficient Pokemon I've ever had in terms of the hits:KO ratio. The first two moves work as their usual lethal combination, but then it left me with a choice of 2 out of 3 moves: did I want to hit Flying-types and Garchomp with Ice Punch, hit Alakazam and Espeon with a super-powerful Payback after surviving an inevitable Psychic/Psyshock, or do I Bulk it Up to help protect against such common threats as Lando-T's Earthquake? In the end, I decided to have one opener come out and just hit as hard as it can right off the bat.
Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 SDef / 252 HP / 252 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Here you'll find the more relaxed of the two openers, not in terms of its nature, but of its moveset. Only up until very recently I ran Scald, with Giga Drain in place of Will-O-Wisp, which was fine. But now WOW's accuracy has been buffed I can feel safer using it, and it allows me to take some more risks and hit harder with Hydro Pump, while Hidden Power Fighting is just a general coverage move that would benefit a heap of stuff anyway, but in this case it is primarily for the usual Ferrothorn switch.
Volcarona (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Rock]
Third man (woman actually, it's a woman) in to bat (most of the time) is Volcarona. People go on and on about how much of a force it is under the sun. We all know this. Some also claim that even in rain, you shouldn't count it out. Of course, Hurricane is a powerful asset for it to have. However, this is a weatherless team, and with weather being nerfed this gen I felt it was best to keep a completely weather-neutral Volcarona that still knows how to function should a Politoed or even Tyranitar arrive on the scene. The actual set here is pretty run-of-the-mill, where I decided to run HP Rock narrowly over Quiver Dance, purely because if I didn't Dragonite and Salamence, as well as other Volcarona in particular, would wall it to death.
Kyurem @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 160 HP / 4 SDef / 92 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Glaciate
- Flash Cannon
Kyurem, the super sub off the bench! You don't see a lot of physical Kyurem (I'm not counting Kyurem-B) and honestly, Outrage has never appealed to me. Special it was, because I'm generally not good at managing mixed attackers. Kyurem serves to help in part as the No. 1 Dragonite counter, but in actuality its STAB Glaciate (not used as often as it should be from my experience) is its main point of call in conjunction with fellow middle-order batsman Mienshao's Rock Slide are a dominant force, especially when Dragonite and Volcarona come running along.
Mienshao @ Expert Belt
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
The fastest member of the team, there wasn't much reason to invest in HP with Regenerator about, and its purpose is clear. It's the only member of the team that can outspeed Mega Garchomp and Regular Garchomp and can as a result be perhaps the only thing standing in the way of said Garchomp tearing through everything if it doesn't get in the way of Glaciate.
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave
The sole Steel-type, it carries with it a number of useful resistances, in particular Dragon. I would like to think that this has the potential to be the "hustler" of the side, in which you don't expect it to do what it's about to do. After all, most of the carry HP Ground for dealing with itself or HP Fire for other Steel types in general. Not to mention Magnet Pull is usually the preferred option in doubles. Thunder Wave is put in as an ever-reliable paralysis option, as the set was pretty much complete attack-wise (it's only resisted by itself) and it provides the option of living an Earthquake (barring something rare like Haxorus) and delivering one mighty powerful HP Ice in return.
So that's all there is to tell you about the side. They well and truly salvaged what looked like a dying record on my name, with the only new addition to the side being Kyurem in Bisharp's place. I at least hope this turns out better than my last RMT, which spanned several tiers and was overall an absolute train-wreck.
