I saw OU doing this a while back and thought "wow this would be cool for VGC, maybe I should ask someone if we can start it". Needless to say, I did not ask because I am lazy (and besides someone else did it so :P) I wanna start this off by giving makiri/zerowing/Paul (and whatever other VGC mod approved this, I'm assuming Firestorm, GEC, etc) a big thank you! for starting this.
I actually really liked the two cores in the posts above me (I'd love to try them out some time), but the potential problems I see with both is that Hitmontop is a significant roadblock to their success, Intimidate wrecking Lucario and Dragonite and Sucker Punch doing a job on Jellicent, while Gallade is not (as) able to hit back with Zen Headbutt due to the aforementioned Intimidate.
After hearing from Cybertron that Azelf and a Ghost-type (Chandelure in his case), worked very well together due to Azelf's fast and powerful Explosion, I decided to try it out, albeit with a different ghost. This is what I came up with:
(I am allowed to have slashes so if it gets picked it can be ironed out later right???)
Brief Overview
(In case I wasn't clear what the strategy is)
The ideal situation (and goal of this core/lead) is a turn one Explosion+<strong move from Gengar> to clear the field, barring Gengar, and leave you at a 3-2 advantage, from which you should be able to win the game.
The Pokemon
Pokemon: Azelf
Item: Life Orb / Normal Gem
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Zen Headbutt
-Ice Punch
-Explosion
-Protect
Most people (singles influencing doubles thinking >__>) think of Special Attack when Azelf is mentioned. What many people don't realize, though, is that Azelf's Attack is the exact same as its Special Attack. Zen Headbutt is a strong STAB move that wrecks a lot of stuff (especially with a Life Orb), namely Hitmontop. I was using Ice Punch, not really for any specific reason outside of coverage, it hits the Pokemon that resist Zen Headbutt/take more from Ice Punch like Lat@s, Whimsicott, Thundurus and Tornadus, and Zapdos. Explosion is the main reason for using Azelf. With a Life Orb or a Normal Gem, it's great to either lead off or use when Azelf is about to die, as it can often clear the field. Its Speed is what sets it apart from other Explosion/Selfdestruct users (i.e. Snorlax, Metagross, etc), as it doesn't have to rely on bulk or Trick Room to get a boom in before it dies. Its partner, Gengar, allows it to Explode with impunity, as its Ghost-type makes it immune to Explosion.
Gengar
Item: Ghost Gem / Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Shadow Ball
-Thunderbolt / Sludge Bomb
-Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ice
-Trick Room / Protect / Destiny Bond
I needed a Ghost-type to go with Azelf, and on the same day (coincidence? I think NOT) as I tried Azelf, Lucien took over Gengar (the analysis) and told me about how good it was. I thought "ok, why not", and LOVED IT. With a Ghost Gem Shadow Ball just destroys, 2HKOing most Cresselia (!!!) and decimating other stuff besides. I ran Thunderbolt, again for no reason other than coverage, hitting Water-types like Politoed and Suicune for good damage. (Ghost Gem SBall may be stronger but I usually used it on the first turn or reserved it for later on) Sludge Bomb could certainly work, providing a STAB for Gengar's Poison-typing and beating mons like Breloom and Ludicolo. I originally started out with HP Ice in the third slot to hit...again, I don't really know. I would say Dragon-types but Shadow Ball does more to the most common one (Latios), and 2HKOes Garchomp (iirc), and as most carry Yache I found it being redundant. I do think it has a place, and if the community wants to pick this core they can use it if they want! As it is, Focus Blast provided a way to whack Tyranitar (and while I didn't run into any other Dark-types, in theory(mon) it would work well against Scrafty, Hydreigon, etc), which walls Gengar otherwise. Its accuracy does kinda suck, but running HP Fighting means you aren't hitting it very hard at all, and it also drops your Speed IVs to 30, making the Latios/Gengar matchup an almost auto-loss. I didn't actually run Trick Room, but it seems good (more theorymon), as both Gengar and Azelf are fast, it needs a way to stop it. Protect is, duh, Protect, you guys are all VGCers here ;). Destiny Bond can be used in tandem with Focus Sash to nearly always get two kills a game.
Problems (and possible solutions):
Hitmontop - I said the previous cores had a Hitmontop problem, and this one does too (to an extent). If I were a singles player, I'd just call for a ban (this thing ruins all my teams fufufu), but since us doubles players have to deal with stuff, that's what we do here. What I really love about this is that Intimidate doesn't hurt quite as much as it can on others: Gengar is special-based, and Azelf still 2HKOes (so close to an OHKO ;( ) with Zen Headbutt. "But a 2HKO isn't good enough when Sucker Punch 2HKOes you!" This is where prediction comes in. Since Azelf is prone to Fake Out, a first turn Shadow Ball from Gengar (while Azelf Protects to avoid Fake Out/being double targeted) followed by a Zen Headbutt often allows me to escape the encounter without losing a mon. Of course, this all depends on what teammate Hitmontop has, what it chooses to do, and so on. I have to admit that Hitmontop probably has the best chance of stopping this combo, so if the community wants to use this core another teammate is going to have to be used to take Hitmontop out of the game (Tornadus, Gyarados, and special-based Landorus wall the crap out of it, for an example).
Trick Room - Since these are both fast Pokemon, they were used on a fast team. While Gengar reversing Trick Room with Trick Room can work (maybe), it still needs more than that to stop it. Explosion + Ghost Gem Shadow Ball on the first turn can often take out the Trick Room user, but this won't always work. Once again teammates are needed to ensure that Trick Room doesn't go up.
Aside from those two, I can't recall anything specific that hindered these two (but seriously I hate Hitmontop), but that's not to say nothing beat it, I lost a fair amount of games with it. I think that with tweaking from the community and proper team support these two can be the start of something special.
Sorry if this is tl;dr, I tried to keep it short :/
(disclaimer: it may look like I think we're only picking leads, I know that we aren't, however Gengar and Azelf are designed to most often lead together)
edit: ugh mattj why'd you have to post under me now everyone will skim my long boring post and read your concise exciting one x_x)
