Level 52: Next Level Teambuilding

[Level 51]

or, Teambuilding From Another Dimension
~ Title courtesy of Electrolyte

Prologue
Hello, Level 51 here! It seems odd that despite being a Doubles moderator, I have yet to post an RMT (or, as some may argue, build a team worthy of being RMT'd). In fact, I'm quite sure some of you forgot I'm actually a moderator; I'll blame my timezone for that. In the mean time, I think I've actually managed to create a team I like, so here it is!

The Short Story

Here's my team! It tends to look quite weird at team preview, but I can assure you that it does what it needs to.

Team Synergy

I'm not too proud of the synergy here, but if it lets me use Electivire, it's totally #worthit.

The Long Story

Volcarona @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
- Protect

Volcarona was the Pokemon this team was built around. At the time, I was reading a few VGC '13 reports, and I noticed several solid teams I liked, such as kingofmars' US Nationals 2013-winning LudiMoth team and of course, Arash Ommati's Worlds 2013-winning team. With Steel-types running rampant here, I felt that I had to base this team around a hard-hitting Fire-type; however, I was tired of using Heatran and getting murdered by every single Ground-type move ever.

If you know me, you'll probably know that I'm not at all a straightforward hyper-offense player. I like to use non-damaging moves in general, and I especially like to see HP bars going from 100% to 0%. And what better support move is there than Quiver Dance? Naturally, I gravitated towards Volcarona. This is a fairly straightforward Volcarona. Although it certainly hits hard even before it Quiver Dances, it's one of those Pokemon that depends heavily on team matchup. Many things threaten Volcarona right off the bat, primarily Talonflame with its insta-kill Brave Birds™, and Gyarados and Keldeo with their amazing defensive typings. Rock-types are nasty too. This, of course, is why I have the second Pokemon here!

Electivire @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 48 SAtk / 92 SDef / 52 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me
- Helping Hand
- Thunderbolt
- Protect

Electivire is the first oddity my opponents face up to at team matchup. Notorious for appearing on badstuffs / DisSpam teams, I find that Electivire is quite a fun Pokemon to use even when I'm not deliberately trying to be bad. Plus, it's a yellow orangutan with power sockets in its back. You really can't argue with that, can you?

Interestingly, not a lot of people realise that Electivire gets Follow Me. It does, however, letting it take Talonflame Brave Birds handily and redirect attacks in general. Helping Hand lets my sweepers, especially Volcarona and Kangaskhan, do that little bit more damage so they don't miss KOs so often. Thunderbolt was chosen over Wild Charge since I needed to preserve Electivire's longevity, while also dealing with Gyarados, whose Intimidate ruins Physical Electivire's day.

Its EVs may look random at first, but they each serve a purpose - the HP and Defense make CB Talonflame's Brave Bird a 3HKO and its Flare Blitz a 2HKO (unless Electivire gets burnt); the Special Attack allows Electivire to OHKO 252HP Gyarados 100% of the time with Thunderbolt, while it can also outspeed the 252 Speed version of Gyarados with its 52 Speed and Timid Nature. Overall, I have absolutely #noregrets about using Electivire.

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Frustration
- Sucker Punch
- Power-Up Punch

What better way to support a setup sweeper than with Fake Out, and what better Fake Out user than Mega Kangaskhan? This set is pretty standard, but I'll explain why I used such a standard set, and I'll also explain Kangaskhan's significance on my team.

I actually think this is probably one of, if not the best set you can run on Mega Kangaskhan. Note that Frustration is better than Return since it deals better with Transform, and I'm not just using it because I like my Pokemon to suffer. Power-Up Punch is my filler move of choice because it's amazing for grabbing momentum out of nowhere - survive one turn and suddenly Kangaskhan is tearing holes in your opponent's team.

Being a two-time suspect, Kangaskhan is a very scary prospect at team preview, especially since it often comes out as an immediate lead to dish out strategy-disrupting Fake Outs and generally destroy stuff. Thus, Kangaskhan acts as a sort of lure to Intimidate users on the opposing team, as well as Fighting-types in general. These are taken out neatly by the next half of the team.

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect

Landorus is hilariously underrated in comparison with its Therian forme. Not only does Landorus-I ignore Intimidate, but it also breaks apart common threats such as Aegislash, Heatran, Hitmontop, Landorus-T, Keldeo and Terrakion with so much as a touch. Its base 101 Speed also helps, meaning that it doesn't need to run a Choice Scarf.

Landorus has a really neat movepool, although I kind of wish it had some way to deal reasonable damage to Cresselia. 252 Speed to take advantage of its neat speed tier, 252 Special Attack to do as much damage as it can. Is there anything else to say? I'm quite sure there isn't.

Keldeo @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Quick Guard
- Protect

At this point, I knew I needed a Fighting-type to deal with Mega Kangaskhan and other Normal types. At first, I tried Terrakion, but having three weaknesses to Water was too much for the team, which got wrecked by everything from Rain to Pinoy Pwnage's Keldeo. Keldeo was probably the ideal replacement for Terrakion here; besides providing a much-needed resistance to Water, it also threatens Ground-types like opposing Landorus-T while not being worn down by Intimidate. Quick Guard is also an effective way to hold off Talonflame for a turn while it Brave Birds, or to stop Fake Outs from opposing Kangaskhans. Not that Terrakion didn't have that too, but you get my point.

Liepard @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Thunder Wave
- Encore
- Sucker Punch

The second weird Pokemon on my team! Liepard is often associated with Swagger and outskilling, but here Liepard is great support for my team. Fake Out provides great and sorely-needed support; Thunder Wave helps to deal with opposing weather teams; Encore helps with opposing Fake Outers, set-up sweepers and Aegislash; and Sucker Punch actually deals a fair amount of damage, especially at 252 Attack. You may be wondering why I chose to invest Attack into a Pokemon that usually goes bulky; my answer to this is that Liepard only really needs those 208 EVs in Speed, after which no amount of bulk will save it from its eventual fate anyway. May as well try to get more damage output out of the cat while it's here!

Epilogue
So there's the team! I hope you enjoyed the quirky nuances of the team as much as I have - one of the main reasons I like it is because it provides a much-needed reprieve from the boredom of bog-standard teams *cough cough*. While it's probably not the best team, I think this showcases the best side of Doubles Teambuilding, where lots of viable Pokemon are just waiting to be found. Thanks for reading my RMT!

Exportable

Come on now, you're not REALLY going to use this team, are you.

 

[pj]

I would suggest hydra pump for keldeo instead of scald

 

[finally]

don't even try improving this pinoy
this team is at its fukin peak

sidenote: lub teh team <3

 

[Haki]

Hey, Level 51! I'm happy to see you finally posted a Doubles RMT, and I applaud you for constructing a team that is extremely creative, yet very solid. I've played you a number of times, and that Follow Me Electivire always manages to screw me over every time I battle against you. The way you incorporate underrated threats in Landorus-I and Electivire is impressive, and it really catches your opponent off guard as they are normally adapted to common Smogon Doubles threats such as Landorus-T and Togekiss, as well as other S-Ranked or A-Ranked Pokémon. You already have a very good team overall, but I'd like to make a few suggestions that will help improve your team a little more. :]

To start off, I recommend utilizing Sludge Bomb over Protect on Landorus for coverage against Fairy-types, which your team lacks. I know that might seem a little unorthodox, but then again your whole team is very unique, and I believe Sludge Bomb has the ability to deal a good amount of damage to a number of threats in the Smogon Doubles metagame. A Sludge Bomb from Timid LO Landorus with a Max Special Attack investment manages to pull off a guaranteed 2HKO against Max HP / Max SDef Togekiss with a Calm nature (53.4 - 63.3% damage dealt), while 2HKOing Max HP Sylveon with 61.6 - 73.3% damage dealt. If you're lucky, you may even have a chance to get an OHKO on 4 HP Mega-Gardevoir (6.3% chance) while inflicting approximately 84.1 - 100% damage. You can also increase the chance of pulling off an OHKO against Mega-Gardevoir with the 1.5x power boost from Electivire's Helping Hand. Basically, a Sludge Bomb from Landorus 2HKOs most Fairy-types, and you even have some added coverage against Grass-type threats such as Ludicolo. Although you must sacrifice Protect, the advantages Sludge Bomb offers ultimately prevails when compared to the benefits Protect provides. Electivire can always redirect incoming attacks targeting Landorus with Follow Me, anyway.

You also have the option of using Choice Specs instead of a Life Orb if you wish to give Landorus some added offensive firepower. Giving him a Choice Specs enables him to OHKO threats he wouldn't normally OHKO, notably 252 HP / 60 SDef Hitmontop with Psychic (100% chance to OHKO) and 4 HP Mega-Gardevoir with Sludge Bomb (87.5% chance to OHKO). However, you can choose to stick with Life Orb if you don't want to be locked into a certain move; I'm just saying Choice Specs Landorus has the ability to hit extremely hard when paired with his Sheer Force ability and a max Special Attack investment.

The only other change I would make to your team is to replace Encore with Taunt on Liepard. I notice that you don't really have a way to prevent Trick Room from getting set up, but a Fake Out + Taunt anti-lead can be formed with Kangaskhan and Liepard, making it difficult for your opponent to setup, whether it be putting up Tailwind, Trick Room, dual screens, etc. Taunt also allows you to stop Amoonguss and Venusaur from spamming Spore or Sleep Powder respectively, which is very useful with the lack of Sleep Clause in the Smogon Doubles metagame.

Anyway, that's all I have to say! I really like this team and I hope my suggestions help you out. :]

tl;dr

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb / Choice Specs (optional if you want some added offensive firepower)
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sludge Bomb

Liepard @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch

 

[LightningLuxray]

Hey, Level 51! I'm happy to see you finally posted a Doubles RMT, and I applaud you for constructing a team that is extremely creative, yet very solid. I've played you a number of times, and that Follow Me Electivire always manages to screw me over every time I battle against you. The way you incorporate underrated threats in Landorus-I and Electivire is impressive, and it really catches your opponent off guard as they are normally adapted to common Smogon Doubles threats such as Landorus-T and Togekiss, as well as other S-Ranked or A-Ranked Pokémon. Although you already have a very good team overall, I'd like to make a few suggestions that will help improve your team a little more. :]

To start off, I recommend utilizing Sludge Bomb over Protect on Landorus for coverage against Fairy-types, which your team lacks. I know that might seem a little unorthodox, but then again your whole team is very unique, and I believe Sludge Bomb has the ability to deal a good amount of damage to a number of threats in the Smogon Doubles metagame. A Sludge Bomb from Timid LO Landorus with a Max Special Attack investment manages to pull off a guaranteed 2HKO against Max HP / Max SDef Togekiss with a Calm nature (53.4 - 63.3% damage dealt), while 2HKOing Max HP Sylveon with 61.6 - 73.3% damage dealt. If you're lucky, you may even have a chance to get an OHKO on 4 HP Mega-Gardevoir (6.3% chance) while inflicting approximately 84.1 - 100% damage. You can also increase the chance of pulling off an OHKO against Mega-Gardevoir with the 1.5x power boost from Electivire's Helping Hand. Basically, a Sludge Bomb from Landorus 2HKOs most Fairy-types, and you even have some added coverage against Grass-type threats such as Ludicolo. Although you must sacrifice Protect, the advantages Sludge Bomb offers ultimately prevails when compared to the benefits Protect provides. Electivire can always redirect incoming attacks targeting Landorus with Follow Me, anyway.

You also have the option of using Choice Specs instead of a Life Orb if you wish to give Landorus some added offensive firepower. Giving him a Choice Specs enables him to OHKO threats he wouldn't normally OHKO, notably 252 HP / 60 SDef Hitmontop with Psychic (100% chance to OHKO) and 4 HP Mega-Gardevoir with Sludge Bomb (87.5% chance to OHKO). However, you can choose to stick with Life Orb if you don't want to be locked into a certain move; I'm just saying Choice Specs Landorus has the ability to hit extremely hard when paired with his Sheer Force ability and a max Special Attack investment.

The only other change I would make to your team is to replace Encore with Taunt on Liepard. I notice that you don't really have a way to prevent Trick Room from getting set up, but a Fake Out + Taunt anti-lead can be formed with Kangaskhan and Liepard, making it difficult for your opponent to setup, whether it be putting up Tailwind, Trick Room, dual screens, etc. Taunt also allows you to stop Amoonguss and Venusaur from spamming Spore or Sleep Powder respectively, which is very useful with the lack of Sleep Clause in the Smogon Doubles metagame.

Anyway, that's all I have to say! I really like this team and I hope my suggestions help you out. :]

tl;dr

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb / Choice Specs (optional if you want some added offensive firepower)
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sludge Bomb

Liepard @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch

I'd just like to point out that Sludge Wave infinitely better than Sludge Bomb, since Sheer Force cancels out secondary effects.

 

[Haki]

I'd just like to point out that Sludge Wave infinitely better than Sludge Bomb, since Sheet Force cancels out secondary effects.

That would be useful, but spread moves actually do less damage in Doubles, so Sludge Bomb would be stronger than Sludge Wave. However, if you want to hit both Pokemon, Sludge Wave is the way to go.

 

[LightningLuxray]

That would be useful, but spread moves actually do less damage in Doubles, so Sludge Bomb would be stronger than Sludge Wave. However, if you want to hit both Pokemon, Sludge Wave is the way to go.

Oops, totally spaced that it was a spread move! Haha yeah, then I'd definitely agree with Sludge Bomb. My mistake! xD

 

[Dashspin]

Hey, nice team! I really like the fact that you incorporated so many underrated mons. However, your defensive synergy is lacking a lot. You only have one ground immunity, Landorus-I, which isn't very bulky as it is. I don't think you can rely on it alone to cover Electivire's ground weakness. I had this problem with a previous team, and I can say confidently that one resistance/immunity is not enough to keep a team going, especially in Doubles. Furthermore, I can see problems with fire-types and sun in general, especially since lando can't really switch in too much and keldeo doesn't like his water-type attacks being nerfed. Therefore, I recommend Hydreigon over Liepard.

I feel like your team could really use the extra resistances. I feel like you don't need liepard as your team creates plenty of free turns as is, and hydreigon will provide a 100% switch-in to heatran and other threats. You say that you need fake out really badly, but I disagree; You already have mega kangaskhan for fake out, electivire for redirecting, and keldeo for opposing fake outs. All you're really missing is a nice solid bulky anchor, which liepard doesn't give you.

Here's the set I recommend (importable):

Hydraspin (Hydreigon) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 44 HP / 252 SAtk / 232 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Taunt
- Protect

This set, I feel, provides you what you REALLY need. I agree with pinoy in that you need taunt in order to screw up various strategies, such as the ever-annoying Trick Room and much more. Dark Pulse will hit standard heatran hard without it being able to do much to you, and draco meteor is your nuke to spam if you suspect a switch into something like lando-t. The EVs will outspeed the 252 neutral speed kyurem-b so you can hit hard with draco. This set also provides a good switch in to fire-types and earthquakes in general, walling a charizard-y without the rare focus blast. If you do this, you really need to look our for fairies, however, since volcarona is your only resistance, but if a sylveon pops up, chances are you can quiver dance on it anyway and/or fake out it to oblivion with KHAN, or simply sludge bomb it with the set that Pinoy suggested.

Once again, I'm glad to see innovation in a tier that has recently been lacking. Thanks!

 

[Level 51]

hpmup > scald on keldeo

Never use any move with below 90 accuracy.

sludge bomb > protect on lando-i
taunt > encore on liepard

Thanks for looking through this team! I'd like to respond to each of your suggestions with my thought process in creating the original set.
First, I agree that Sludge Bomb on Lando-I would be very useful. However, I prefer the use of Protect since my team isn't exactly flawless in synergy, so I often have to Protect in order to save Lando-I from Ice moves. Furthermore, I often use Lando-I as a lead, and I like to double Protect against opposing Mega Kangs.
Taunt is a good idea though -- it saves me the whole headache of Trick Room in the first place. I'll try it out, but it may cause me to lose that little extra edge over Mega Kang. Perhaps I'll also try to use Taunt over Fake Out.

hydrei > liepard

I actually tried Hydreigon, but its bad speed tier does my team no favours and it's not particularly bulky either. Furthermore, the Ground weakness on Electivire is really arbitrary imo since it's destined to faint anyway.

 

[Pocket]

This is a really cool team, Level 51 :F

Landorus-I is definitely a type of Pokemon that appreciates Protect and Life Orb. Especially for such an offensively-minded team with very little defensive backbone Protect is virtually non-negotiable. Landorus-I also certainly appreciates the flexibility and free power boost from LO to fully take advantage of its versatile offense. If it really wants Sludge Bomb, it would go over HP Ice (depends on whether you want to remove fairies more than Landorus-T / Garchomp / Salamence)

I would also be reluctant in losing Liepard. QD Volcarona certainly appreciates the additional Fake Out support, but a well-timed Prankster Encore can mean party time for the moth :d

Why not Vital Spirit on Electivire? Motor Drive doesn't redirect Thunder Waves (iirc), so the ability does not have much utility imo on a support mon. Vital Spirit in the other hand would give you a mon that can redirect and soak up Spores/Sleep Powder, preserving Volcarona's Lum Berry.

Does the speed edge from Timid come in handy? Cuz I usually prefer Modest. With all the Fake Outs, Encore, and Follow Me provided in your team, I feel like Volcarona can easily pull off a Quiver Dance, making that extra 10% Speed boost insignificant, whereas it would certainly appreciate the 10% Special Attack buff from Modest.

 

[Level 51]

vital spirit > motor drive on electivire
modest > timid on volc

Good ideas, Pocket! I just assumed most people run +spe on their base 100s, and in practice I don't recall getting QD off a lot. Of course, that was before I added Liepard, so this could work. Also I forgot about Vital Spirit HAHAhA

edit:
[22:37] <finalmente> also level-51. follow me + vital spirit is illegal

 

[finally]

The only other change I would make to your team is to replace Encore with Taunt on Liepard. I notice that you don't really have a way to prevent Trick Room from getting set up, but a Fake Out + Taunt anti-lead can be formed with Kangaskhan and Liepard, making it difficult for your opponent to setup, whether it be putting up Tailwind, Trick Room, dual screens, etc. Taunt also allows you to stop Amoonguss and Venusaur from spamming Spore or Sleep Powder respectively, which is very useful with the lack of Sleep Clause in the Smogon Doubles metagame.

[/hide]

encore is for protect you dummy
they protect predicting ___. you encore them.

if worried about tr, maybe taunt keldeo?
evire "handles" brave bird and encore kanga into fake out?

 

[Nollan]

Why not Vital Spirit on Electivire? Motor Drive doesn't redirect Thunder Waves (iirc), so the ability does not have much utility imo on a support mon. Vital Spirit in the other hand would give you a mon that can redirect and soak up Spores/Sleep Powder, preserving Volcarona's Lum Berry.

Vital Spirit and Follow Me are illegal together since Follow Me is obtained via Gen III, unfortunately.

However, on the topic of Electivire, I highly recommend Electabuzz > Electivire. Just looking at their base stats, Electabuzz has more speed, the same base SpA, and only a slight loss of bulk which can be patched up easily with Eviolite, making it overall superior to Electivire for the given role Electivire plays on the team. With 252 HP on its own, Electabuzz is almost always enduring powerful hits.

Example

252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Electabuzz: 306-362 (91.6 - 108.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

 

[Haki]

encore is for protect you dummy
they protect predicting ___. you encore them.

if worried about tr, maybe taunt keldeo?
evire "handles" brave bird and encore kanga into fake out?

Yeah, if he wants, he can use Taunt > Fake Out on Liepard; he already has Fake Out support with Kangaskhan so I don't think he really needs to have that move on Liepard. That way, he'll have both Taunt and Encore to shut down the opponent, and he might even be able to force some certain Pokémon with an Encore + Taunt combo. :] And like Pocket mentioned earlier, you have the option of replacing Hidden Power [Ice] for Sludge Bomb if you wish to keep Protect for Landorus-I. You already take care of Landorus-T with Keldeo, and I believe the extra Fairy-type coverage is much more useful when compared to the coverage Hidden Power [Ice] offers.

 

[Fangame10]

Heello Level 51 :], this team is very original but may need a little improvement

Landorus I is great for being able to 2hko most things in the meta. with it's great sheer force it's something not to take likely especially with a life orb and it's Stab earth power.

Keldo is good in stoping priority attacks from pokemon like mega kangaskhan and Talonflame while providing great overall coverage with much needed water and fighting moves at it's disposal, good set you have with life orb

Electabuzz would be prefered over Electivire like Nollaan said up there, an eviolite will make it bulkier and it will be faster. Electvire/buzzs resistance to flying type dose make talonflame useless against opps, Togekiss could also work in place of electribuzz if you wanted more versatility in bulk and offense. If you do use Togekiss I"d recommend giving all the same moves and AIR SLASH, with serene grace you could really troll some people with the high flinch chance you get from it.

Kangaskhan is good, nuff said.

Volcanora of course is an intresting idea to revolve a team around, it has access to the amazing Quiver dance and heat wave, and great type coverage. I would recommend a focus sash for Volcanora, though paralyzing can be bad, most of your moves are desinged to draw those attacks away from it.
although you can draw away talonflame, nothings protecting you from a rock slide, and if you don't have electivire or any follow me'ers have been taunted or killed, a 2nd life will do good justice for it's survival as it's so frail to ATK. Another option could be leftovers if you're confident in your survival abilities.

Liepard is a meh pokemon. it's good at using status moves...but then it becomes useless weight. you do not have taunt on it which is VITAL to beating Trick room teams, also most trick room teams can easily counter this set if good enough. so I propose changing liepard to an amoongus

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge/Mental Herb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def (lazy IVs)
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Rage Powder
- Protect

Amoongus will provide you with the amazing spore coverage that can take down TR teams and others as well. it's rage powder will also help in defending your allies from harm (watch out for Talonflame though). black sludge can help with it's recovery overtime, and mental herb will protect it from taunts and encores. Regenerator will also make this mon a pain to deal with when it switches in and out into a Trick room team. be warned though, some Trick room teams carry overcoat Reuniclus and Saftey goggles on them, in the case make sure you use rage powder to get them to follow and attack the amoongus, 9/10 it will live with half or more HP.

If you have problems against other Trick room teams, I"d recommend using taunt, Bisharp over one of your pokemon, or Landorus-Therain over the original for intimidate support. Spore amoongus is your best friend to have against these teams. so please use it :)...not on me though

anyways that's what I think of your teams :), cya