Gonna do this one from scratch, actually, most teams I see for VGC15/doubles are outdated.
Pokemon Global Link has been shut down to upgrade features for Sun and Moon. Battle Spot no longer exists as a metagame. These can still be used on Pokemon Showdown, however.
PART 2 IS HERE
This thread will be for full, complete, tested teams for the Battle Spot Doubles metagame. These are to help new players get a feel for the metagame, or even more experinced players looking for ideas. I'll be posting my two finest teams to kick things off. A few guidelines:
1) Full, complete, and tested:
Full means 6 pokemon, 4 moves each, legal for the metagame
Complete means you're not actively swapping out 1-2 team members or actively experimenting a new mon/set for less than 5 battles. I understand that teams change and adapt over time: that's fine and 100% acceptable.
Tested: I want to make a minimum standard of how much you've used the team; 30 battles should be enough to have a feel for a team without setting some absurd "1700+ ranking, 100+ battles" bull. As for BS Doubles Ranking / PS! scores, I don't know how PS! runs but a Peak Ranking of 1600+ on BSD would be adequate for me. No, I'm not demanding or even requesting proof: just don't post a team you just made yesterday and played 5 battles with is all I ask :P
2) Explain your team, with a short paragraph for each mon explaining what it does, what your EV spread does if it deviates from a 252/252/4 spread, and move choices (ie, why did you choose Fire Blast over Flamethrower on Hydreigon, or Knock Off over U-Turn on Scarf Landog?). Identifying your core(s) if you have one may also be a good idea but not required (ie, "Charizard formes a FWG core with my Venusaur and Blastoise"). A blank importable with no explaination whatsoever isn't that helpful to people. As for formatting... I don't really care, as long as it's readable.
3) This is not an RMT Thread. If you have a suggestion for someone's team ("Your team is weak to Ferrothorn, try running Fire Blast and LO on Garchomp"), VM/PM them, or if you're trying out the team, just make the change(s) yourself and see if you like it. This isn't the Teambuilding Workshop or the RMT forum. You can discuss the teams/ask questions, that's fine. ie: "I like the team! But would Virizion over Breloom work?" and "I tried this team with Entei over Rotom-H, it works pretty nice" is fine imo. Asking "My team seems weak to Mixed MegaMence, any suggests on how to fix that?" is a no-no.
And now that we've got the buns and cheese, here's the meat of the sandwich:
Charizard-Y is the primary Mega of the team, while Venusaur functions as a Chlorophyll supporter alongside it, or as a Mega Venusaur against vulnerable opponents / bad team matchups for Charizard like Rain. Swampert supports both, demolishing common answers to both Megas. Rotom-H acts a secondary blanket check to MegaMence, Talonflame, Charizard, Mega Metagross, etc. paired with Mega Venusaur and hits hard in Sun as well. Heracross smashes Khan, Terrakion, Gengar, cresselia, and many other threats while exerting offensive pressure and revenge killing. Togekiss is the main support, boosting Speed with tailwind, hampering opposing Tailwind via T-Wave, and Follow Me support to open attacking opportunities for teamates. Used this a long time; this is the current, complete team.
Fantasy Core (Fairy + Dragon + Steel) combined with a FWG core, all in 5 mons, with Thundurus for speed control. Team's generally pretty fast, reasonably bulky, and just synergizes really well. No complicated Pledges, no obscure niche sets or mons. Just pummel your foe to death with a variety of power, speed, bulk, support, and disruption.
I first built this team a few months before US Nationals, and for those of you who don't remember, that was when "Japan Sand" was hugely popular, so this team definitely had that in mind. It's a pretty offensive build, but it still requires quite a bit of prediction to be used due to the team's reliance on single-target moves. So like I said, when building the team I knew Sand was priority #1 to beat, and just looking at the common Sand builds, it was apparent that they were all (as well as many other teams) incredibly weak to Rain, so that was my starting point. After that I built around Rain's common checks such as Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn and rounded the team off with some bulkier Pokemon to give it some decent Pokemon for making switches. Despite the large metagame shifts that took place after US Nationals, the team still held up very well against the rising Mega Gardevoir teams and the post worlds CHALK craze. In general Ludicolo just blasts stuff and then the rest of the team can clean up, whether it be Salamence picking things off with Hyper Voice or Conkeldurr just outlasting everything.
Pokemon Global Link has been shut down to upgrade features for Sun and Moon. Battle Spot no longer exists as a metagame. These can still be used on Pokemon Showdown, however.
PART 2 IS HERE
This thread will be for full, complete, tested teams for the Battle Spot Doubles metagame. These are to help new players get a feel for the metagame, or even more experinced players looking for ideas. I'll be posting my two finest teams to kick things off. A few guidelines:
1) Full, complete, and tested:
Full means 6 pokemon, 4 moves each, legal for the metagame
Complete means you're not actively swapping out 1-2 team members or actively experimenting a new mon/set for less than 5 battles. I understand that teams change and adapt over time: that's fine and 100% acceptable.
Tested: I want to make a minimum standard of how much you've used the team; 30 battles should be enough to have a feel for a team without setting some absurd "1700+ ranking, 100+ battles" bull. As for BS Doubles Ranking / PS! scores, I don't know how PS! runs but a Peak Ranking of 1600+ on BSD would be adequate for me. No, I'm not demanding or even requesting proof: just don't post a team you just made yesterday and played 5 battles with is all I ask :P
2) Explain your team, with a short paragraph for each mon explaining what it does, what your EV spread does if it deviates from a 252/252/4 spread, and move choices (ie, why did you choose Fire Blast over Flamethrower on Hydreigon, or Knock Off over U-Turn on Scarf Landog?). Identifying your core(s) if you have one may also be a good idea but not required (ie, "Charizard formes a FWG core with my Venusaur and Blastoise"). A blank importable with no explaination whatsoever isn't that helpful to people. As for formatting... I don't really care, as long as it's readable.
3) This is not an RMT Thread. If you have a suggestion for someone's team ("Your team is weak to Ferrothorn, try running Fire Blast and LO on Garchomp"), VM/PM them, or if you're trying out the team, just make the change(s) yourself and see if you like it. This isn't the Teambuilding Workshop or the RMT forum. You can discuss the teams/ask questions, that's fine. ie: "I like the team! But would Virizion over Breloom work?" and "I tried this team with Entei over Rotom-H, it works pretty nice" is fine imo. Asking "My team seems weak to Mixed MegaMence, any suggests on how to fix that?" is a no-no.
And now that we've got the buns and cheese, here's the meat of the sandwich:
Charizard-Y is the primary Mega of the team, while Venusaur functions as a Chlorophyll supporter alongside it, or as a Mega Venusaur against vulnerable opponents / bad team matchups for Charizard like Rain. Swampert supports both, demolishing common answers to both Megas. Rotom-H acts a secondary blanket check to MegaMence, Talonflame, Charizard, Mega Metagross, etc. paired with Mega Venusaur and hits hard in Sun as well. Heracross smashes Khan, Terrakion, Gengar, cresselia, and many other threats while exerting offensive pressure and revenge killing. Togekiss is the main support, boosting Speed with tailwind, hampering opposing Tailwind via T-Wave, and Follow Me support to open attacking opportunities for teamates. Used this a long time; this is the current, complete team.
Charizard @ Charizardite-Y
Timid, 140 HP, 4 Def, 164 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 196 Speed
Ability: Blaze [Drought]
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Fire Pledge
- Ancientpower
The fiery death-dealer himself, spamming a STAB + Sun boosted Heat Wave until everything dies. Against faster threats, such as Scarfed Landorus-T, the combination and mechanics of Fire + Grass Pledge allows Charizard to outspeed and nuke anything slower than ChloroSaur (which is 98% of the entire metagame). Ancientpower smites opposing Char-Y and Talonflame, which are very threatening to Venusaur, Togekiss, Swampert, and Heracross. Protect because Doubles.
EVs allow excellent mixed bulk, tanking Timid Mega Manectric's Thunderbolt (and by extension, nearly every common unboosted Thunderbolt like Thundurus-I), and the combination of Jolly Mega Kanga's Fake Out followed by Sucker Punch. Speed outruns max Speed Krookodile, in order to outrun all Landorus-T + those that creep it by a point. Remainder in Sp. Atk to shove harder.
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Bold, 252 HP, 132 Def, 4 Sp. Atk, 36 Sp. Def, 84 Speed
Ability: Chlorophyll [Thick Fat]
- Grass Pledge
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb
Complicated, please forgive.
Non-Mega is primarily a bulky, blisteringly fast supporter, tossing around Pledge comboes left and right and Leech Seed against bulky mons like cresselia. Sludge Bomb is there to do something to opposing Amoonguss and Fairies. Protect because Doubles.
Mega is used when Char-Y has a very bad matchup, such as a Rain team or Japan Sand. It's incredibly bulky and acts as a win condition, outlasting and KOing everything once the foe's counter is down (most teams have 2 pokemon, max, that can hit MegaSaur for decent damage). Lack of Giga Drain is sad, but Leech Seed goes and Poison residual damage adds fast. Sleep powder is ommited because it misses very often, 1 turn sleeps are useless, and you completely lack recovery. Trust me, Leech Seed works much better. Also, Saftey Goggles.
EVs hit 222 Speed with Chlorophyll active (or Mega in Tailwind), outrunning Max Speed Gyarados after a Dragon Dance, and Scarfed Adamant Darmanitan/Landorus-T. Bulk survives max Attack Adamant Mega Kangaskhan's Double-Edge and LO Modest Hydreigon's Draco Meteor - all in Non-Mega form. As a Mega, it lives pretty much everything that isn't SE or insanely boosted.
Swampert @ Life Orb
Modest, 188 HP, 4 Def, 236 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 76 Speed
Ability: Torrent
- Water Pledge
- Wide Guard
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Defensively, Swampy covers Char-Y perfectly by virtue of being a Ground type, resisting Rock and immune to Electric. It also doesn't care about BoltBeam coverage from Thundurus/Zapdos. Offensively, it checks Mega Salamence, Mega Mawile, Landorus-T, Aegislash, Zapdos, Thundurus, Talonflame (only if it's not in Sun though), Rotom-H, Garchomp, Heatran, Terrakion, and Mega Metagross: all major threats to one (or both!) Megas. Water + Fire Pledge is useless and should never be used, but Grass + Water creates a powerful Grass attack (far more damaging than Venusaur itself, despite lack of STAB) that demolishes Suicune, Milotic, Rotom-W, TTar, etc. while crippling the foe with a Swamp effect, halving the Speed of the entire opposing team. Very devastating and has turned around entire matches several times. Perfectly usable with both Mega and Non-Mega Venusaur.
Wide Guard is very niche for Swampy, but keeps Rock Slide off of Charizard while making Landorus-T/garchomp very useless and pairing decently with Togekiss (Follow Me mons bait Spread moves). Ice Beam and Earth power are the reason Swampert KO's so many important threats, much like Mamoswine, but with no fear of Intimidate/Burns.
EVs and Life orb achieve many vital KOs, in addition to buffing neutral damage on switchins, a notable flaw of Expert Belt. Speed outruns max Speed Thundurus-I and Gengar in Tailwind, and the rest goes into bulk for nothing specific (since LO recoil makes defensive benchmarks moot).
Rotom-H @ Expert Belt
Modest, 252 HP, 196 Sp. Atk, 60 Speed
Ability: Levitate
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- Hidden Power Ice
- Overheat
Rotom-H helps take pressure off of Swampert, kills opposing Grass/Steel/Flying types for Mega venusaur (since an essentially itemless, non-mega Charizard should not be brought to battle), and generally is just useful as heck in most any match regardless of Mega choice.
Thunderbolt is simple and reliable STAB, Protect because Doubles, HP Ice smites Mega Salamence (a HUGE threat to the team), and Overheat because it's a Rotom-H.
EVs hit 114 Speed, to outrun most Cresselia/Suicune/Milotic variants, max HP because Rotom's bulk is godawful without max HP, and remainder in Sp. Atk to increase the hurt.
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Adamant, 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Speed
Ability: Moxie
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
Yes, I'm serious. Heracross is a really solid answer to Kangaskhan, Cresselia, Gengar, Heatran, Hydreigon, Char-Y, Terrakion, Greninja, and many common pokemon on BSD that this team needs specific cover on. Moxie is chosen because of psychology: when people think of Guts, the first mon to pop into mind isConkeldurr Heracross, and 99% of foes will very much hesitate to Burn it. Heracross is often in the back, hops out after a teamate faints, and unleashes havoc; after revenging a foe, a +1 Scarfed Heracross locked on any of its four moves it amazingly dangerous to at least 1 foe and draws a lot of attention, opening the field for its partner. Megahorn and Close Combat are powerful STABs (even if megahorn is a bit unreliable at times), Knock Off demolishes Ghosts and at worst can be used to rob opponents of items, while Rock Slide flinches your way to victory nails Flying and Fire types and does something to Sylveon (Gardevoir cringes at Megahorn). 4 def increases the odds of tanking certain Psyshocks, rest of the spread is simple as knives.
Togekiss @ Sitrus Berry
Calm, 252 HP, 60 Def, 4 Sp. Atk, 116 Sp. Def, 76 Speed
Ability: Serene Grace
- Air Slash
- Follow Me
- Tailwind
- Thunder Wave
My stalwart pillar of support, Togekiss provides much needed Tailwind support, redirects powerful/annoying attacks with Follow me (can't have Talonflame clicking Brave Bird against Heracross and Mega Venusaur, now can we?), and winning Tailwind wars with Thunder Wave. Air Slash is there to do something against Taunt, troll Amoonguss / anything unfortunate enough to be Paralyzed or slower, and hit Conkeldurr/Scrafty.
EVs outrun max Speed Speed, + 1 Gyarados with Tailwind, and the bulk survives a huge list of hits, the main three being Mega Khan / Mega Mence's max attack Adamant Double-Edge, and max Sp. Atk Modest Char-Y's Overheat in Sun. Also makes the team literally immune to Hydreigon. Sitrus lets you dodge a lot of 2HKOs and tank Kangaskhan much better, I do not reccommend Rocky Helmet with this specific spread.
Timid, 140 HP, 4 Def, 164 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 196 Speed
Ability: Blaze [Drought]
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Fire Pledge
- Ancientpower
The fiery death-dealer himself, spamming a STAB + Sun boosted Heat Wave until everything dies. Against faster threats, such as Scarfed Landorus-T, the combination and mechanics of Fire + Grass Pledge allows Charizard to outspeed and nuke anything slower than ChloroSaur (which is 98% of the entire metagame). Ancientpower smites opposing Char-Y and Talonflame, which are very threatening to Venusaur, Togekiss, Swampert, and Heracross. Protect because Doubles.
EVs allow excellent mixed bulk, tanking Timid Mega Manectric's Thunderbolt (and by extension, nearly every common unboosted Thunderbolt like Thundurus-I), and the combination of Jolly Mega Kanga's Fake Out followed by Sucker Punch. Speed outruns max Speed Krookodile, in order to outrun all Landorus-T + those that creep it by a point. Remainder in Sp. Atk to shove harder.
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Bold, 252 HP, 132 Def, 4 Sp. Atk, 36 Sp. Def, 84 Speed
Ability: Chlorophyll [Thick Fat]
- Grass Pledge
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb
Complicated, please forgive.
Non-Mega is primarily a bulky, blisteringly fast supporter, tossing around Pledge comboes left and right and Leech Seed against bulky mons like cresselia. Sludge Bomb is there to do something to opposing Amoonguss and Fairies. Protect because Doubles.
Mega is used when Char-Y has a very bad matchup, such as a Rain team or Japan Sand. It's incredibly bulky and acts as a win condition, outlasting and KOing everything once the foe's counter is down (most teams have 2 pokemon, max, that can hit MegaSaur for decent damage). Lack of Giga Drain is sad, but Leech Seed goes and Poison residual damage adds fast. Sleep powder is ommited because it misses very often, 1 turn sleeps are useless, and you completely lack recovery. Trust me, Leech Seed works much better. Also, Saftey Goggles.
EVs hit 222 Speed with Chlorophyll active (or Mega in Tailwind), outrunning Max Speed Gyarados after a Dragon Dance, and Scarfed Adamant Darmanitan/Landorus-T. Bulk survives max Attack Adamant Mega Kangaskhan's Double-Edge and LO Modest Hydreigon's Draco Meteor - all in Non-Mega form. As a Mega, it lives pretty much everything that isn't SE or insanely boosted.
Swampert @ Life Orb
Modest, 188 HP, 4 Def, 236 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 76 Speed
Ability: Torrent
- Water Pledge
- Wide Guard
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Defensively, Swampy covers Char-Y perfectly by virtue of being a Ground type, resisting Rock and immune to Electric. It also doesn't care about BoltBeam coverage from Thundurus/Zapdos. Offensively, it checks Mega Salamence, Mega Mawile, Landorus-T, Aegislash, Zapdos, Thundurus, Talonflame (only if it's not in Sun though), Rotom-H, Garchomp, Heatran, Terrakion, and Mega Metagross: all major threats to one (or both!) Megas. Water + Fire Pledge is useless and should never be used, but Grass + Water creates a powerful Grass attack (far more damaging than Venusaur itself, despite lack of STAB) that demolishes Suicune, Milotic, Rotom-W, TTar, etc. while crippling the foe with a Swamp effect, halving the Speed of the entire opposing team. Very devastating and has turned around entire matches several times. Perfectly usable with both Mega and Non-Mega Venusaur.
Wide Guard is very niche for Swampy, but keeps Rock Slide off of Charizard while making Landorus-T/garchomp very useless and pairing decently with Togekiss (Follow Me mons bait Spread moves). Ice Beam and Earth power are the reason Swampert KO's so many important threats, much like Mamoswine, but with no fear of Intimidate/Burns.
EVs and Life orb achieve many vital KOs, in addition to buffing neutral damage on switchins, a notable flaw of Expert Belt. Speed outruns max Speed Thundurus-I and Gengar in Tailwind, and the rest goes into bulk for nothing specific (since LO recoil makes defensive benchmarks moot).
Rotom-H @ Expert Belt
Modest, 252 HP, 196 Sp. Atk, 60 Speed
Ability: Levitate
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- Hidden Power Ice
- Overheat
Rotom-H helps take pressure off of Swampert, kills opposing Grass/Steel/Flying types for Mega venusaur (since an essentially itemless, non-mega Charizard should not be brought to battle), and generally is just useful as heck in most any match regardless of Mega choice.
Thunderbolt is simple and reliable STAB, Protect because Doubles, HP Ice smites Mega Salamence (a HUGE threat to the team), and Overheat because it's a Rotom-H.
EVs hit 114 Speed, to outrun most Cresselia/Suicune/Milotic variants, max HP because Rotom's bulk is godawful without max HP, and remainder in Sp. Atk to increase the hurt.
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Adamant, 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Speed
Ability: Moxie
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
Yes, I'm serious. Heracross is a really solid answer to Kangaskhan, Cresselia, Gengar, Heatran, Hydreigon, Char-Y, Terrakion, Greninja, and many common pokemon on BSD that this team needs specific cover on. Moxie is chosen because of psychology: when people think of Guts, the first mon to pop into mind is
Togekiss @ Sitrus Berry
Calm, 252 HP, 60 Def, 4 Sp. Atk, 116 Sp. Def, 76 Speed
Ability: Serene Grace
- Air Slash
- Follow Me
- Tailwind
- Thunder Wave
My stalwart pillar of support, Togekiss provides much needed Tailwind support, redirects powerful/annoying attacks with Follow me (can't have Talonflame clicking Brave Bird against Heracross and Mega Venusaur, now can we?), and winning Tailwind wars with Thunder Wave. Air Slash is there to do something against Taunt, troll Amoonguss / anything unfortunate enough to be Paralyzed or slower, and hit Conkeldurr/Scrafty.
EVs outrun max Speed Speed, + 1 Gyarados with Tailwind, and the bulk survives a huge list of hits, the main three being Mega Khan / Mega Mence's max attack Adamant Double-Edge, and max Sp. Atk Modest Char-Y's Overheat in Sun. Also makes the team literally immune to Hydreigon. Sitrus lets you dodge a lot of 2HKOs and tank Kangaskhan much better, I do not reccommend Rocky Helmet with this specific spread.
Fantasy Core (Fairy + Dragon + Steel) combined with a FWG core, all in 5 mons, with Thundurus for speed control. Team's generally pretty fast, reasonably bulky, and just synergizes really well. No complicated Pledges, no obscure niche sets or mons. Just pummel your foe to death with a variety of power, speed, bulk, support, and disruption.
Metagross @ Metagrossite
Jolly, 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Clear Body [Tough Claws]
- Iron Head
- Protect
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt
The 8-armed flying battering ram itself, Mega Metagross is, imo, pretty anti-meta against a lot of currently popular (at time of writing) cores on BSD. Mega Salamence, AV Landorus-T, Mega Gardevoir, Terrakion, Rain teams in general, Amoonguss/Mega Venusaur, there is simply no shortage of things MegaGross excels at killing. Iron Head is chosen over Meteor Mash for accuracy, lack of notable KOs for MM, and a great hax chance for a bonus. Zen Headbutt is meh on coverage, but Water / Fire types take a good chunk and there's not a lot of reason to run something else. Ice Punch creams common, Ice-weak adversaries like Mence/Landog/Chomp/Zapdos/Thundy and thanks to Clear Body, you don't fear Intimidate / Icy wind much upon leading. Decent enough to actually leave non-Mega in the face of Milotic, etc. spamming Icy Wind. EVs are simple as axes. Great at cleaning too, thanks to high Speed and good power is good to pick off weakened teams. Just don't try to beat Khan with it. Sucker Punch wins, every time.
Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Jolly, 252 Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dual Chop
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Slight variant of Garchomp's ancient, tried-and-true offensive set. Dual Chop + Lum Berry beats Smeargle, Sash variants KO'd outright by Dual Chop's two-hit attack, Scarf countered by Lum and Dual Chop again. Beyond that: you don't really lose anything from Dragon Claw.
Rock Slide is a staple on Doubles Garchomp, for coverage and flinch-fishing. Protect because doubles, EQ for spread STAB.
Simple EV spread, again.
Azumarill @ Mystic Water
Adamant, 212 HP, 252 Atk, 44 Speed
Ability: Huge Power
- Waterfall
- Protect
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
Odd set, I know, but Belly Drum just didn't work well for me.
Azumarill is an excellent partner and switch option for MegaGross, resisting Fire+Dark and slamming most of its counters hard. Waterfall hits accurately and powerfully, and Aqua jet is a decent Priority attack to pick off / break Sashes and weak foes, both boosted by Mystic Water for a significant damage buff at no cost, especially for a one-two punch (ie Waterfall + Aqua Jet). Just remember: against neutral foes like Cresselia, Waterfall hits harder than Play Rough and won't miss. PLay Rough offers great neutral coverage alongside Waterfall, and smashes Dragons with no discrimination. Protect lets Chompy use EQ and it's in Doubles. Main reason for Azumarill is just an amazing partner to MegaGross, and a hard answer to Dark types, especially Hydreigon and Weavile, which beats both Chompy and MegaGross.
Spread invests some Speed for creeping purposes (outruns a Paralyzed, Scarfed max Speed Jolly Aerodactyl, specifically), max Attack, and HP is even for Belly Drum sets.
Rotom-H @ Choice Scarf
Modest, 156 HP, 164 Sp. Atk, 188 Speed
Ability: Levitate
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Hidden Power Ice
- Overheat
The primary softener for the team, Scarf Rotom-H is specifically used to snipe lower ladder threats to Metagross like Greninja and Weavile, while slapping around MegaMence, Thundurus (both formes), Amoonguss, Char-Y, Talonflame, Milotic, Gyarados, Zapdos, and a few other things.
Thunderbolt is reliable STAB, Overheat is it's only reasonable STAB option for Fire, Ice checks many Ice-weak foes and offers great coverage, while Trick allows you to shed the burden of a Choice lock when desired. Support mons simply cringe when they see it, it's outright hilarious when the target uses Fake Out, and it's kinda funny on an obvious TR setup. Hell, Scarf your own Garchomp if you want.
Speed outruns max Speed, Jolly Weavile, HP/Sp. Atk isn't actually specific to anything but has worked fine so far.
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Relaxed, 100 HP, 252 Def, 156 Sp. Def [0 Speed IV]
Ability: Regenerator
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Protect
Amoonguss is a nice supporter and a good check to Water, Ground, Fairy, and Rock types.
Set is very standard: Giga Drain for STAB / something to do other than Struggle when Taunted, Spore is 90% of the reason Amoonguss even exists in any Metagame and threatens everything that isn't a Grass type, or holding Lum Berry/Saftey Goggles. Rage Powder funnels hits into the bulkiest mon on the squad, punishing contact moves with Rocky Helmet and plauging Mega Kangaskhan just in case Thundy and Chompy don't give it enough of a headache. Protect punishes double targets, and lets Chompy use EQ.
EVs tank max Atk Adamant mega Khan's Double Edge, and reduces Specs Hydreigon's Draco Meteor to a 25% chance to OHKO on the Special side. Regenerator is used to heal, since Effect Spore is useless against anything not using a contact move + Rocky helmet is more than enough in that field. Very fun with Azumarill and Rotom-H.
Thundurus-Incarnate @ Sitrus Berry
Timid, 252 HP, 120 Def, 108 Sp. Def, 28 Speed
Ability: Prankster
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power Ice
Thundy is a second EQ immunity, and a Speed control force with Prankster T-Wave and Taunt to deny opposing Speed control (bar Icy Wind). Thunderbolt offers reliable STAB and chip damage, HP Ice nails Ground, Dragon, and Grass types.
Spread allows Thundy to outrun max Speed Jolly Gyarados, bulkier Thundurus for Taunt wars, and neutral 95's like Adamant Arcanine. Bulk tanks... a gaping hole in my notes but it's been a reliably bulky spread; will fix once I figure out where my calcs are.
Taunt is iffy, so I may go back to Swagger > Taunt as it's really funny with T-Wave and Lum Berry Chompy.
Jolly, 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Clear Body [Tough Claws]
- Iron Head
- Protect
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt
The 8-armed flying battering ram itself, Mega Metagross is, imo, pretty anti-meta against a lot of currently popular (at time of writing) cores on BSD. Mega Salamence, AV Landorus-T, Mega Gardevoir, Terrakion, Rain teams in general, Amoonguss/Mega Venusaur, there is simply no shortage of things MegaGross excels at killing. Iron Head is chosen over Meteor Mash for accuracy, lack of notable KOs for MM, and a great hax chance for a bonus. Zen Headbutt is meh on coverage, but Water / Fire types take a good chunk and there's not a lot of reason to run something else. Ice Punch creams common, Ice-weak adversaries like Mence/Landog/Chomp/Zapdos/Thundy and thanks to Clear Body, you don't fear Intimidate / Icy wind much upon leading. Decent enough to actually leave non-Mega in the face of Milotic, etc. spamming Icy Wind. EVs are simple as axes. Great at cleaning too, thanks to high Speed and good power is good to pick off weakened teams. Just don't try to beat Khan with it. Sucker Punch wins, every time.
Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Jolly, 252 Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dual Chop
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Slight variant of Garchomp's ancient, tried-and-true offensive set. Dual Chop + Lum Berry beats Smeargle, Sash variants KO'd outright by Dual Chop's two-hit attack, Scarf countered by Lum and Dual Chop again. Beyond that: you don't really lose anything from Dragon Claw.
Rock Slide is a staple on Doubles Garchomp, for coverage and flinch-fishing. Protect because doubles, EQ for spread STAB.
Simple EV spread, again.
Azumarill @ Mystic Water
Adamant, 212 HP, 252 Atk, 44 Speed
Ability: Huge Power
- Waterfall
- Protect
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
Odd set, I know, but Belly Drum just didn't work well for me.
Azumarill is an excellent partner and switch option for MegaGross, resisting Fire+Dark and slamming most of its counters hard. Waterfall hits accurately and powerfully, and Aqua jet is a decent Priority attack to pick off / break Sashes and weak foes, both boosted by Mystic Water for a significant damage buff at no cost, especially for a one-two punch (ie Waterfall + Aqua Jet). Just remember: against neutral foes like Cresselia, Waterfall hits harder than Play Rough and won't miss. PLay Rough offers great neutral coverage alongside Waterfall, and smashes Dragons with no discrimination. Protect lets Chompy use EQ and it's in Doubles. Main reason for Azumarill is just an amazing partner to MegaGross, and a hard answer to Dark types, especially Hydreigon and Weavile, which beats both Chompy and MegaGross.
Spread invests some Speed for creeping purposes (outruns a Paralyzed, Scarfed max Speed Jolly Aerodactyl, specifically), max Attack, and HP is even for Belly Drum sets.
Rotom-H @ Choice Scarf
Modest, 156 HP, 164 Sp. Atk, 188 Speed
Ability: Levitate
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Hidden Power Ice
- Overheat
The primary softener for the team, Scarf Rotom-H is specifically used to snipe lower ladder threats to Metagross like Greninja and Weavile, while slapping around MegaMence, Thundurus (both formes), Amoonguss, Char-Y, Talonflame, Milotic, Gyarados, Zapdos, and a few other things.
Thunderbolt is reliable STAB, Overheat is it's only reasonable STAB option for Fire, Ice checks many Ice-weak foes and offers great coverage, while Trick allows you to shed the burden of a Choice lock when desired. Support mons simply cringe when they see it, it's outright hilarious when the target uses Fake Out, and it's kinda funny on an obvious TR setup. Hell, Scarf your own Garchomp if you want.
Speed outruns max Speed, Jolly Weavile, HP/Sp. Atk isn't actually specific to anything but has worked fine so far.
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Relaxed, 100 HP, 252 Def, 156 Sp. Def [0 Speed IV]
Ability: Regenerator
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Protect
Amoonguss is a nice supporter and a good check to Water, Ground, Fairy, and Rock types.
Set is very standard: Giga Drain for STAB / something to do other than Struggle when Taunted, Spore is 90% of the reason Amoonguss even exists in any Metagame and threatens everything that isn't a Grass type, or holding Lum Berry/Saftey Goggles. Rage Powder funnels hits into the bulkiest mon on the squad, punishing contact moves with Rocky Helmet and plauging Mega Kangaskhan just in case Thundy and Chompy don't give it enough of a headache. Protect punishes double targets, and lets Chompy use EQ.
EVs tank max Atk Adamant mega Khan's Double Edge, and reduces Specs Hydreigon's Draco Meteor to a 25% chance to OHKO on the Special side. Regenerator is used to heal, since Effect Spore is useless against anything not using a contact move + Rocky helmet is more than enough in that field. Very fun with Azumarill and Rotom-H.
Thundurus-Incarnate @ Sitrus Berry
Timid, 252 HP, 120 Def, 108 Sp. Def, 28 Speed
Ability: Prankster
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power Ice
Thundy is a second EQ immunity, and a Speed control force with Prankster T-Wave and Taunt to deny opposing Speed control (bar Icy Wind). Thunderbolt offers reliable STAB and chip damage, HP Ice nails Ground, Dragon, and Grass types.
Spread allows Thundy to outrun max Speed Jolly Gyarados, bulkier Thundurus for Taunt wars, and neutral 95's like Adamant Arcanine. Bulk tanks... a gaping hole in my notes but it's been a reliably bulky spread; will fix once I figure out where my calcs are.
Taunt is iffy, so I may go back to Swagger > Taunt as it's really funny with T-Wave and Lum Berry Chompy.
The Toad (Politoed) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 76 SpA / 84 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Helping Hand
- Encore
Rain needs a Rain setter, and the only usable one (aside from manual Rain) was Politoed. A bulky support set was the optimal choice when the team was built due to Sand's popularity, I needed to survive long enough to maintain the weather advantage, which often meant switching Politoed in. The moveset is pretty simple, Icy Wind was used over Ice Beam because the team has so much Ice coverage as is and does appreciate the Speed control. Encore over Protect is an odd choice given how much emphasis I put on keeping Politoed alive, however it proves crucial against Aegislash (if I can't bring Rotom for some reason) and Mega Gardevoir TR teams(this Politoed underspeeds min Speed Gardevoir, so it can actually Encore the TR before Gardevoir launches an attack). I've never really needed it, Politoed's partner is targeted more often anyways and it can still switch in a decent number of times.
The Pineapple (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Energy Ball
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Ludicolo was he chosen Rain sweeper, nothing else has nearly as great coverage against the whole metagame. Life Orb is not the most common item choice, but I am stronly of the opinion that AV Ludicolo has no place on Rain teams. Assault Vest is great on non-Rain teams, but Rain typically relies on overwhelming the opponent with offence and AV does not help this at all. Life Orb gives Ludicolo insane power after a Helping Hand from Politoed and also allows Ludicolo to run Protect. Protect is used because Ludicolo is so important to the team's overall offence, so keeping it alive is a top priority. Protect also catches many opponents off-guard do it can really save me in a pinch. The rest of the moves are fairly obvious, Energy Ball and Hydro Pump were used over Giga Drain and Scald respectively for more power, Giga Drain's recovery wasn't all that helpful and the power drop was noticeably against Rotom-W. Scald vs Hydro Pump was quite tricky but I decided on Hydro Pump because it hit so many KOs (1HKO on Aegislash after HH, 1HKO onto Mega Gardevoir after HH, 1HKO onto Mega Kangaskhan), although the accuracy is often a letdown.
The Dragon (Salamence) (M) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Double-Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Some Rain teams just slap a Talonflame in this spot to effectively check both Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn, and while this wouldn't be a bad option, I dislike Talonflame because it struggles not just to deal with the previously mentioned threats, but most of the metagame as well. I knew my checks for both those Pokemon had to be flexible and not entirely reliant on their presence, and also not have one Pokemon that needs to check both. After considering my options, Mega Salamence seemed like a strong pick to deal with Mega Venusaur, but it also demolishes AV Conkeldurr (who is tough to beat with Rain), does a lot to Ferrothorn and is nice and powerful by itself, so bringing it never feels like an obligation due to certain threats. This is a standard MixMence so I don't have much to say about moves or EVs, but MixMence was the chosen set because it combined the nuking power of Physical sets with the cleaning abilities of the Special set.
Rotom-Heat @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 228 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Rotom was the Pokemon I chose to deal with things that were currently problematic such as Talonflame, Ferrothorn and Charizard Y. The set's a bit odd but it's easily my favourite thing on the team. The reason I decided on an Expert Belt set was simply to get 1HKOs on relevant targets such as Ferrothorn while Rain is up and Charizard-Y. Overheat and Thunderbolt are pretty self-explanatory, but HP Ice is something I've gotten questions about a lot in the past. Firstly, yes, this team already has quite a bit of Ice coverage. The reason I chose it was Will-O-Wisp didn't really have a place on an EBelt set because it was almost always spamming attacks. HP Ice gives another check to Mega Salamence (while the Rain duo does this well enough, if Rain goes down, which it often does in the late game, Salamence can be a huge problem) and also is great against standard Sun teams, because usually if I lead Rotom+Salamence, Charizard switches into Landorus, and I've nailed countless of them like this. Rotom has consistently been my neat little surprise and has probably won the most games out of anything here.
The Sword (Aegislash) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 100 Def / 60 SpA / 92 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Sneak
- King's Shield
I seriously can't build a team without this thing on it. Threats to the current team members were Cresselia, Kangaskhan and Fairy-types (especially under TR), and that just screamed Aegislash. Bulky Aegislash with WP is my preferred set as it lets Aegislash take advantage of both its bulk and offensive power. The EVs focus on Bulk because Aegislash has more than enough power after a WP boost, and anything that needs to be removed quickly can be double-targeted. Wide Guard was originally on the set, but I eventually took it off for Shadow Sneak because I was rarely using WG and Shadow Sneak makes Aegislash less prone to revenge killing after it gets a WP boost. WG was only helping against Sand in some cases, but the team's Sand matchup was strong enough without it.
The Thing (Conkeldurr) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 180 Atk / 84 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 29 Spe
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
I played for a bit on Showdown with just the above 5, and by far the biggest problem was opposing Rain teams, but Sand was still tricky as well and I wanted a bit more insurance against Thundurus. After watching some of Alex Ogloza's videos on Youtube, I decided AV Conkeldurr would be a great fit on this team. It's also a pretty standard set, Ice Punch may seem redundant with all the other Ice coverage on this team, but it's very useful against double Genies (Rotom shouldn't stay in on Landorus, Ludicolo hates being paralyzed). Conkeldurr rounds out the team very well, it completes a nice balance of 2 Physical Pokemon to 4 Special and also gives me another bulky Pokemon to switch into things, so a loss in momentum isn't catastrophic.
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 76 SpA / 84 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Helping Hand
- Encore
Rain needs a Rain setter, and the only usable one (aside from manual Rain) was Politoed. A bulky support set was the optimal choice when the team was built due to Sand's popularity, I needed to survive long enough to maintain the weather advantage, which often meant switching Politoed in. The moveset is pretty simple, Icy Wind was used over Ice Beam because the team has so much Ice coverage as is and does appreciate the Speed control. Encore over Protect is an odd choice given how much emphasis I put on keeping Politoed alive, however it proves crucial against Aegislash (if I can't bring Rotom for some reason) and Mega Gardevoir TR teams(this Politoed underspeeds min Speed Gardevoir, so it can actually Encore the TR before Gardevoir launches an attack). I've never really needed it, Politoed's partner is targeted more often anyways and it can still switch in a decent number of times.
The Pineapple (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Energy Ball
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Ludicolo was he chosen Rain sweeper, nothing else has nearly as great coverage against the whole metagame. Life Orb is not the most common item choice, but I am stronly of the opinion that AV Ludicolo has no place on Rain teams. Assault Vest is great on non-Rain teams, but Rain typically relies on overwhelming the opponent with offence and AV does not help this at all. Life Orb gives Ludicolo insane power after a Helping Hand from Politoed and also allows Ludicolo to run Protect. Protect is used because Ludicolo is so important to the team's overall offence, so keeping it alive is a top priority. Protect also catches many opponents off-guard do it can really save me in a pinch. The rest of the moves are fairly obvious, Energy Ball and Hydro Pump were used over Giga Drain and Scald respectively for more power, Giga Drain's recovery wasn't all that helpful and the power drop was noticeably against Rotom-W. Scald vs Hydro Pump was quite tricky but I decided on Hydro Pump because it hit so many KOs (1HKO on Aegislash after HH, 1HKO onto Mega Gardevoir after HH, 1HKO onto Mega Kangaskhan), although the accuracy is often a letdown.
The Dragon (Salamence) (M) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Double-Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Some Rain teams just slap a Talonflame in this spot to effectively check both Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn, and while this wouldn't be a bad option, I dislike Talonflame because it struggles not just to deal with the previously mentioned threats, but most of the metagame as well. I knew my checks for both those Pokemon had to be flexible and not entirely reliant on their presence, and also not have one Pokemon that needs to check both. After considering my options, Mega Salamence seemed like a strong pick to deal with Mega Venusaur, but it also demolishes AV Conkeldurr (who is tough to beat with Rain), does a lot to Ferrothorn and is nice and powerful by itself, so bringing it never feels like an obligation due to certain threats. This is a standard MixMence so I don't have much to say about moves or EVs, but MixMence was the chosen set because it combined the nuking power of Physical sets with the cleaning abilities of the Special set.
Rotom-Heat @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 228 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Rotom was the Pokemon I chose to deal with things that were currently problematic such as Talonflame, Ferrothorn and Charizard Y. The set's a bit odd but it's easily my favourite thing on the team. The reason I decided on an Expert Belt set was simply to get 1HKOs on relevant targets such as Ferrothorn while Rain is up and Charizard-Y. Overheat and Thunderbolt are pretty self-explanatory, but HP Ice is something I've gotten questions about a lot in the past. Firstly, yes, this team already has quite a bit of Ice coverage. The reason I chose it was Will-O-Wisp didn't really have a place on an EBelt set because it was almost always spamming attacks. HP Ice gives another check to Mega Salamence (while the Rain duo does this well enough, if Rain goes down, which it often does in the late game, Salamence can be a huge problem) and also is great against standard Sun teams, because usually if I lead Rotom+Salamence, Charizard switches into Landorus, and I've nailed countless of them like this. Rotom has consistently been my neat little surprise and has probably won the most games out of anything here.
The Sword (Aegislash) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 100 Def / 60 SpA / 92 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Sneak
- King's Shield
I seriously can't build a team without this thing on it. Threats to the current team members were Cresselia, Kangaskhan and Fairy-types (especially under TR), and that just screamed Aegislash. Bulky Aegislash with WP is my preferred set as it lets Aegislash take advantage of both its bulk and offensive power. The EVs focus on Bulk because Aegislash has more than enough power after a WP boost, and anything that needs to be removed quickly can be double-targeted. Wide Guard was originally on the set, but I eventually took it off for Shadow Sneak because I was rarely using WG and Shadow Sneak makes Aegislash less prone to revenge killing after it gets a WP boost. WG was only helping against Sand in some cases, but the team's Sand matchup was strong enough without it.
The Thing (Conkeldurr) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 180 Atk / 84 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 29 Spe
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
I played for a bit on Showdown with just the above 5, and by far the biggest problem was opposing Rain teams, but Sand was still tricky as well and I wanted a bit more insurance against Thundurus. After watching some of Alex Ogloza's videos on Youtube, I decided AV Conkeldurr would be a great fit on this team. It's also a pretty standard set, Ice Punch may seem redundant with all the other Ice coverage on this team, but it's very useful against double Genies (Rotom shouldn't stay in on Landorus, Ludicolo hates being paralyzed). Conkeldurr rounds out the team very well, it completes a nice balance of 2 Physical Pokemon to 4 Special and also gives me another bulky Pokemon to switch into things, so a loss in momentum isn't catastrophic.
I first built this team a few months before US Nationals, and for those of you who don't remember, that was when "Japan Sand" was hugely popular, so this team definitely had that in mind. It's a pretty offensive build, but it still requires quite a bit of prediction to be used due to the team's reliance on single-target moves. So like I said, when building the team I knew Sand was priority #1 to beat, and just looking at the common Sand builds, it was apparent that they were all (as well as many other teams) incredibly weak to Rain, so that was my starting point. After that I built around Rain's common checks such as Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn and rounded the team off with some bulkier Pokemon to give it some decent Pokemon for making switches. Despite the large metagame shifts that took place after US Nationals, the team still held up very well against the rising Mega Gardevoir teams and the post worlds CHALK craze. In general Ludicolo just blasts stuff and then the rest of the team can clean up, whether it be Salamence picking things off with Hyper Voice or Conkeldurr just outlasting everything.
Dreams (Salamence-Mega) (M) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Double-Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Faith (Virizion) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Close Combat
- Quick Guard
- Protect
Beauty (Milotic) (F) @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 228 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpA / 12 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Recover
- Protect
Love (Rotom-Heat) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 116 SpA / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Power (Tyranitar) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Ice Punch
- Protect
Loyalty (Aegislash) (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpA / 156 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Double-Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Faith (Virizion) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Close Combat
- Quick Guard
- Protect
Beauty (Milotic) (F) @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 228 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpA / 12 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Recover
- Protect
Love (Rotom-Heat) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 116 SpA / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Power (Tyranitar) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Ice Punch
- Protect
Loyalty (Aegislash) (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpA / 156 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield
Rose (Gardevoir) (F) @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 124 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Hyper Voice
- Trick Room
- Protect
Volcano (Heatran) (M) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Protect
Cybertom (Rotom-Wash) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 60 SpA / 36 SpD / 140 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Michaella (Scrafty) (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Atk / 52 Def / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- Stone Edge
Amanita (Amoonguss) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Halvard (Terrakion) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Quick Guard
- Protect
Ability: Trace
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 124 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Hyper Voice
- Trick Room
- Protect
Volcano (Heatran) (M) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Protect
Cybertom (Rotom-Wash) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 60 SpA / 36 SpD / 140 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Michaella (Scrafty) (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Atk / 52 Def / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- Stone Edge
Amanita (Amoonguss) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Halvard (Terrakion) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Quick Guard
- Protect
Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Parental Bond
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Fake Out
Kangaskhan is one of the best megas in the tier. This set isn't anything special as it is just used for hitting hard and fast. It has Low Kick>Power-Up Punch because I felt without any redirection or support Kangaskhan worked better as an offensive attacker right off the bat.
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 68 Atk / 196 SpA / 244 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Blaziken is really good for doing lots of fast damage to some of the most common pokemon in the tier. It is useful with Kangaskhan to help get rid of pokemon like Terrakion and Landorus-T. The EV spread allows Blaziken to outspeed Choice Scarf Landorus-T at +1 and KO the standard Salamence. I went with the standard moves because they were best at doing lots of damage right away as Blaziken is quite frail and doesn't last on the field for too long.
Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Protect
Ferrothorn works well with Blaziken to help get rid of fairies and bulky waters. There isn't really much too say about this set as it is just ripped off the smogdex. The Atk allows it to KO 252 HP, 44 Def Rotom-W. The rest is just put into bulk.
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 140 Def / 100 SpA / 12 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Toxic
Now the team had 3 pokemon using physical attacks to it was a bit weak to Intimidate so I added Milotic. Milotic also helps check opposing fire-types. Now this spread is a little bit different but the Def EVs allow Milotic to live an Adamant Kangaskhan Double-Edge while the SpD allows Milotic to take some special attacks like Thunderbolts slightly better. The rest of the EVs are thrown into SpA and Spe. The moveset is fairly standard except for Toxic. I decided to use Toxic as I felt I was a bit weak to CM Cress.
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 60 SpA / 68 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
- Swagger
- Thunderbolt
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
Thundurus helps to give the team some speed control and further help with bulky waters. This spread may not be the best but I believe it just hits the same benchmarks as the smogdex spread would but with 31 Def IVs. The extra EVs were just thrown into SpA. I'm using Swagger>Hidden Power Ice because I felt I had enough ice coverage on the team already and Swagger can win games.
Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 116 HP / 148 Atk / 44 Def / 12 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Landorus is a good partner for Thundurus and just a good pokemon overall. I stole this EV spread from Steven Stone and I think it works fairly well. The speed allows you to outspeed Jolly Breloom and it can live a LO Hidden Power Ice from Thundurus. The moveset is the standard AV Lando moveset. I'm using Knock Off over U-Turn because I don't think U-Turn is very good on slower Landos.
Ability: Parental Bond
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Fake Out
Kangaskhan is one of the best megas in the tier. This set isn't anything special as it is just used for hitting hard and fast. It has Low Kick>Power-Up Punch because I felt without any redirection or support Kangaskhan worked better as an offensive attacker right off the bat.
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 68 Atk / 196 SpA / 244 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Blaziken is really good for doing lots of fast damage to some of the most common pokemon in the tier. It is useful with Kangaskhan to help get rid of pokemon like Terrakion and Landorus-T. The EV spread allows Blaziken to outspeed Choice Scarf Landorus-T at +1 and KO the standard Salamence. I went with the standard moves because they were best at doing lots of damage right away as Blaziken is quite frail and doesn't last on the field for too long.
Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Protect
Ferrothorn works well with Blaziken to help get rid of fairies and bulky waters. There isn't really much too say about this set as it is just ripped off the smogdex. The Atk allows it to KO 252 HP, 44 Def Rotom-W. The rest is just put into bulk.
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 140 Def / 100 SpA / 12 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Toxic
Now the team had 3 pokemon using physical attacks to it was a bit weak to Intimidate so I added Milotic. Milotic also helps check opposing fire-types. Now this spread is a little bit different but the Def EVs allow Milotic to live an Adamant Kangaskhan Double-Edge while the SpD allows Milotic to take some special attacks like Thunderbolts slightly better. The rest of the EVs are thrown into SpA and Spe. The moveset is fairly standard except for Toxic. I decided to use Toxic as I felt I was a bit weak to CM Cress.
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 60 SpA / 68 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
- Swagger
- Thunderbolt
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
Thundurus helps to give the team some speed control and further help with bulky waters. This spread may not be the best but I believe it just hits the same benchmarks as the smogdex spread would but with 31 Def IVs. The extra EVs were just thrown into SpA. I'm using Swagger>Hidden Power Ice because I felt I had enough ice coverage on the team already and Swagger can win games.
Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 116 HP / 148 Atk / 44 Def / 12 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Landorus is a good partner for Thundurus and just a good pokemon overall. I stole this EV spread from Steven Stone and I think it works fairly well. The speed allows you to outspeed Jolly Breloom and it can live a LO Hidden Power Ice from Thundurus. The moveset is the standard AV Lando moveset. I'm using Knock Off over U-Turn because I don't think U-Turn is very good on slower Landos.
This is the team I used most of last season. I ended at 1772 but I probably could have finished above 1800 if I wasn't so lazy at the end (didn't even play 50 games). This is a variant on what has been one of the most popular and consistently good teams throughout the VGC 15 season.
Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
Cresselia (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 12 Def / 236 SpA / 4 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Helping Hand
- Thunder Wave
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 172 Atk / 28 Def / 12 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpA / 76 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Swagger
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 204 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Protect
Milotic @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 156 Def / 4 SpA / 52 SpD / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
Cresselia (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 12 Def / 236 SpA / 4 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Helping Hand
- Thunder Wave
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 172 Atk / 28 Def / 12 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpA / 76 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Swagger
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 204 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Protect
Milotic @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 156 Def / 4 SpA / 52 SpD / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic
he team is an adaption of the CHALK that has been widely used since Worlds. I altered it to what I was more comfortable with so feel free to customize it. I added Thundurus to the core because I love to spam paralysis and have the speed advantage. I removed Amoonguss for Milotic because I don't like Amoonguss and I wanted a way to deal with Landorus and Salamence.
Kangaskhan's spread hits hard and fast. This is the type of Kang I personally have the most experience and am most comfortable despite my highest ever rating coming from bulky Kang. I use Fake Out over Protect to help support the team and PUP over Low Kick or Ice Punch to let Kangaskhan become very threatening. Double Edge to have the most power possible.
Cresselia's spread ohkos 4 hp Mega Salamence and outspeeds 12 speed Rotom while reaching a Sitrus number. I like Thunder Wave as speed control because it helps give you a more rng rolls that could go in your favor. I like Helping Hand because it can help you make big plays and get unexpected kos.
This team was partially built to help me become more used to using AV Lando-T. EV spread outspeeds Jolly Breloom with defense explained in the calcs. I chose Knock Off to deal more damage to Cress.
Thundurus is one of my favorite pokemon to use due to how it can help quickly turn a game around with a few Paralysis or Swagger rolls. I chose Swagger over HP Ice because I have 2 other Ice moves on the team. The spread is actually a Sitrus spread but it's what I'm used to and I was too lazy to change it. The speed investment outspeeds max Smeargle because no one likes Smeargle. I sometimes change its item to Safety Goggles or Rocky Helmet.
Heatran is the team's main Fairy and sun check and has amazing defensive typing and synergy with a lot of common pokemon. Flash Cannon was chosen because the team struggles against fairies.
Milotic scares Landorus and Salamence at team preview while also checking Heatran. Toxic along with Recover allows it to beat pokemon like Cresselia. Maranga Berry is used to make Milotic extremely difficult to take out on the special side. It outspeeds 4 speed Rotoms.
Kangaskhan's spread hits hard and fast. This is the type of Kang I personally have the most experience and am most comfortable despite my highest ever rating coming from bulky Kang. I use Fake Out over Protect to help support the team and PUP over Low Kick or Ice Punch to let Kangaskhan become very threatening. Double Edge to have the most power possible.
Cresselia's spread ohkos 4 hp Mega Salamence and outspeeds 12 speed Rotom while reaching a Sitrus number. I like Thunder Wave as speed control because it helps give you a more rng rolls that could go in your favor. I like Helping Hand because it can help you make big plays and get unexpected kos.
This team was partially built to help me become more used to using AV Lando-T. EV spread outspeeds Jolly Breloom with defense explained in the calcs. I chose Knock Off to deal more damage to Cress.
Thundurus is one of my favorite pokemon to use due to how it can help quickly turn a game around with a few Paralysis or Swagger rolls. I chose Swagger over HP Ice because I have 2 other Ice moves on the team. The spread is actually a Sitrus spread but it's what I'm used to and I was too lazy to change it. The speed investment outspeeds max Smeargle because no one likes Smeargle. I sometimes change its item to Safety Goggles or Rocky Helmet.
Heatran is the team's main Fairy and sun check and has amazing defensive typing and synergy with a lot of common pokemon. Flash Cannon was chosen because the team struggles against fairies.
Milotic scares Landorus and Salamence at team preview while also checking Heatran. Toxic along with Recover allows it to beat pokemon like Cresselia. Maranga Berry is used to make Milotic extremely difficult to take out on the special side. It outspeeds 4 speed Rotoms.
- 236+ SpA Cresselia Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 172-204 (100.5 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- +1 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 108 HP / 28 Def Landorus-T: 149-177 (83.7 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 108 HP / 12 SpD Assault Vest Landorus-T: 76-91 (42.6 - 51.1%) -- 5.5% chance to 2HKO
- -1 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 236 HP / 116 Def Thundurus: 99-118 (53.8 - 64.1%) -- 0.6% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery (As I mentioned this is a Sitrus spread)
- 252+ Atk Landorus-T Stone Edge vs. 236 HP / 116 Def Thundurus: 156-184 (84.7 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
- 252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 236 HP / 76+ SpD Thundurus: 97-115 (52.7 - 62.5%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
- 252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 44 HP / 4 Def Shuca Berry Heatran: 144-170 (83.7 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. +1 244 HP / 52 SpD Milotic: 84-100 (41.7 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Charizard @ Mega-Y
Timid, 140 HP, 4 Def, 164 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 196 Speed
Ability: Blaze (Drought)
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Solar Beam
- Ancient Power
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Jolly, 4 HP,252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dual Chop
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Cresselia @ Rocky Helmet
Calm, 252 HP, 188 Def, 4 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 60 Speed
Ability: Levitate
- Psyshock
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
- Icy Wind
Klefki @ Sitrus Berry
Bold, 252 HP, 108 Def, 148 Sp. Def
Ability: Prankster
- Foul Play
- Thunder Wave
- Swagger
- Safeguard
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Jolly, 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Speed
Ability: Moxie
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
Rotom-W @ Expert Belt
Modest, 252 HP, 196 Sp. Atk, 60 Speed
Ability: Levitate
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- HP Ice
- Hydro Pump
Timid, 140 HP, 4 Def, 164 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 196 Speed
Ability: Blaze (Drought)
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Solar Beam
- Ancient Power
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Jolly, 4 HP,252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dual Chop
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Cresselia @ Rocky Helmet
Calm, 252 HP, 188 Def, 4 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 60 Speed
Ability: Levitate
- Psyshock
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
- Icy Wind
Klefki @ Sitrus Berry
Bold, 252 HP, 108 Def, 148 Sp. Def
Ability: Prankster
- Foul Play
- Thunder Wave
- Swagger
- Safeguard
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Jolly, 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Speed
Ability: Moxie
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
Rotom-W @ Expert Belt
Modest, 252 HP, 196 Sp. Atk, 60 Speed
Ability: Levitate
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- HP Ice
- Hydro Pump
Char-Y outruns Max Speed base 92 Pokemon (aka, Jolly Mega Chompy) in order to outrun 252+ Jolly Lando-T and everything that creeps it. Works out very well; there's nothing relevent to Charizard in the 93-100 deadzone of Speed since Hydreigon wins regardless, and Jolly Mega Khan / Salamence (turn it Megas) also win. Solarbeam smashes into Water types like Suicune, Milotic, Toed, and Rotom-W that threaten Chompy, often enough to KO after Chompy attacks, or a Solarbeam + Protect followed by a Solarbeam next turn. Ancientpower demolishes Talonflame and Char-Y, while also nibbling Mence, Gyarados, and other Fire mons like Rotom-H. Heat Wave and Protect because, well, It's Char-Y in doubles.
Bulk tanks fake Out + Return from Jolly Khan, and most Thunderbolts lacking LO / boosts. Sp. Atk is a remainder, does plenty of damage.
Garchomp is very straightforward: fast and brutal, and pairs well with Char-Y to spam strong spread STAB attacks that basically nothing wants to take. It also resists Rock, is immune to Ground, and handles Fire types like Entei and Heatran. "Why no Landoggy?" ye say? I just prefer Chompy's speed, Fire+Rock resists, and the fact that it yells "GarCHAMP!!" every time you see it. I guess you can use AV Landog too, I haven't tried it yet but I see no reason why it wouldn't work; just watch out for Milotic and Bisharp.
Set is extremely obvious, max speed, max damage, and the same old 3 move coverage Chompy has been spamming since DPP. Dual Chop is particularly effective with LO, since the damage bonus allows you to KO Sash Gengar and Sash Smeargle (along with other similar Sashmons like Liepard) along with tapping the utterly obscure Dragonite harder. I guess it has double the crit rate too? It's mostly just for Gengar.
Cresselia is stupidly bulky, synergizes with CharChomp, and is our primary answer to mega Salamence, Terrakion, Conkeldurr, Hariyama, and pretty much any Special attacker not named Hydreigon or Aegislash. Speed outruns max speed Garchomp after Icy Wind, bulk allows you to out-heal 252+ mega khan's D-E in Sun while the fat bitch KO's herself with recoil / Rocky Helmet. After that, Calm Mind makes you stupidly hard to kill (especially if physical threats are KO'd or unable to break Cress) and makes her exist in the damage department. I've had a fair few matches where Cress was able to simply set up, heal as needed, and sweep 2-3 mons herself against a team unable to break it. Psyshock specifically is used to win CM wars against Sylveon, while Icy Wind actually becomes quite painful Spread damage at +2.
Remaining 4 Sp. Atk/Sp. Def gives a bonus point to Sp. Atk / Sp. Def on every Calm Mind by virtue of being divisible by 3, Nikola Tesla be praised.
Klefki performs outright miracles in terms of resistances: it sponges Rock for Charizard, Ice/Dragon/Fairy for Chompy, Dark/Bug for Cress, walls Mega Khan, Mega Salamence, AND Mega Gardevoir all at once. Prankster T-Wave is, as I am sure we all know by now, annoying/broken/useful as fuck, and Klefki will happily spew it everywhere while walling 75% of a team. Swagger adds even more misery to the mix, rendering Special attackers into a 50/50 coinflip, or alternatively, doubling Chompy/Heracross' Atk to unleash absolute fucking murder. Safeguard also blocks T-Wave, Dark Void, HypnoBat, SwagPlay, WoW, and the odd Toxic Stall douchebag for 5 turns, for your whole team, even after Klefki dies/switches out. Foul Play and Swagger kill stuff, and is Klefki's most reasonable damage output. Also lets you beat mega Metagross too, because why not.
Bulk tanks 252+ LO Hydreigon's Earth Power and 252+ Heatran's Heat Wave. Rest is in Def, to torment Khan and Mega Mence. Klefki's typing synergizes with Charizard far better than Thundurus, and that is 80% of the reason it is here (Safeguard is the other 20%, fuck cheese teams).
Heracross. This thing is so inexplainably succesful for me I can't even comprehend it. After testing many Fighting mons, like Terrakion/Mienshao/Blaziken/etc, most had a marked weakness to Cresselia, were utter shit against Rain, etc. Mienshao was ok though, definetly the first mon I'd pick for a replacement. Anyway, Heracross fills an odd niche: he outruns and decimates Khan, Heatran, Cresselia (rarely packs enough power to KO), LO Ludicolo in Rain, Gengar (sash AND Mega Perish Trap), Weavile, Bisharp, and in general is a fantasic revenger that easily and reliably nets a +1 Atk boost and usually smashes half a team alone. Moveset is optimal coverage; Poison Jab is trash. EVs, the Def. specifically reduces Cresselia's Psyshock damage, rest is max speed and power. Adamant and Scarf outruns 99.9% of the unscarfed metagame (Mega Aerodactyl, mega Alakazam, and Mega Sceptile do not exist) and you NEED the power output of Adamant for a few KOs. This is also our primary Hydreigon killer, btw: Scarf cannot KO you without Sun-boosted Fire moves, and non-Scarf sets are, well, outran and turned into a free +1 atk.
You can swap this out for Terrakion and such, as it's mostly a khan/heatran check, but you'll be pretty meek against Rain, or be forced to change Chompy's item to accomodate LO Virizion.
Moxie because Guts + Safeguard is just dumb, and most people will not even attempt to WoW/Toxic Heracross simply because it is LEGENDARY for running Guts since Gen 3. Also used as a revenger, so it often nets a KO anyway, so why not get a free +1 for a subsequent KO?
Rotom-W, I finally found a damn set that works. Speed outruns 252+ Garchomp after Icy Wind, just like Cresselia, +1 point to creep my own Cress; this adds the illusion that both are uninvested, and creeps most other Rotom-W, Suicune, Cresselia, and Milotic. Moves are simply STAB + HP Ice for SE coverage and hitting Mega Salamence / Landog in Sun for a KO (OHKO's 4/0 AV Landog, specifically), and biting into Thundurus (2-3HKO, depends on spread+item). It also lays a beating on Gyarados, rare as it is, an enormous threat to the team (notice it walls + KOs EVERYONE between non-Mega and Mega forms?). It also patches up Flying, Water, Ice, and Fire weaknesses a bit better, while helping against Rain. Weak only against Grass, which is vey heavily covered by the entire rest of the team.
Bulk tanks fake Out + Return from Jolly Khan, and most Thunderbolts lacking LO / boosts. Sp. Atk is a remainder, does plenty of damage.
Garchomp is very straightforward: fast and brutal, and pairs well with Char-Y to spam strong spread STAB attacks that basically nothing wants to take. It also resists Rock, is immune to Ground, and handles Fire types like Entei and Heatran. "Why no Landoggy?" ye say? I just prefer Chompy's speed, Fire+Rock resists, and the fact that it yells "GarCHAMP!!" every time you see it. I guess you can use AV Landog too, I haven't tried it yet but I see no reason why it wouldn't work; just watch out for Milotic and Bisharp.
Set is extremely obvious, max speed, max damage, and the same old 3 move coverage Chompy has been spamming since DPP. Dual Chop is particularly effective with LO, since the damage bonus allows you to KO Sash Gengar and Sash Smeargle (along with other similar Sashmons like Liepard) along with tapping the utterly obscure Dragonite harder. I guess it has double the crit rate too? It's mostly just for Gengar.
Cresselia is stupidly bulky, synergizes with CharChomp, and is our primary answer to mega Salamence, Terrakion, Conkeldurr, Hariyama, and pretty much any Special attacker not named Hydreigon or Aegislash. Speed outruns max speed Garchomp after Icy Wind, bulk allows you to out-heal 252+ mega khan's D-E in Sun while the fat bitch KO's herself with recoil / Rocky Helmet. After that, Calm Mind makes you stupidly hard to kill (especially if physical threats are KO'd or unable to break Cress) and makes her exist in the damage department. I've had a fair few matches where Cress was able to simply set up, heal as needed, and sweep 2-3 mons herself against a team unable to break it. Psyshock specifically is used to win CM wars against Sylveon, while Icy Wind actually becomes quite painful Spread damage at +2.
Remaining 4 Sp. Atk/Sp. Def gives a bonus point to Sp. Atk / Sp. Def on every Calm Mind by virtue of being divisible by 3, Nikola Tesla be praised.
Klefki performs outright miracles in terms of resistances: it sponges Rock for Charizard, Ice/Dragon/Fairy for Chompy, Dark/Bug for Cress, walls Mega Khan, Mega Salamence, AND Mega Gardevoir all at once. Prankster T-Wave is, as I am sure we all know by now, annoying/broken/useful as fuck, and Klefki will happily spew it everywhere while walling 75% of a team. Swagger adds even more misery to the mix, rendering Special attackers into a 50/50 coinflip, or alternatively, doubling Chompy/Heracross' Atk to unleash absolute fucking murder. Safeguard also blocks T-Wave, Dark Void, HypnoBat, SwagPlay, WoW, and the odd Toxic Stall douchebag for 5 turns, for your whole team, even after Klefki dies/switches out. Foul Play and Swagger kill stuff, and is Klefki's most reasonable damage output. Also lets you beat mega Metagross too, because why not.
Bulk tanks 252+ LO Hydreigon's Earth Power and 252+ Heatran's Heat Wave. Rest is in Def, to torment Khan and Mega Mence. Klefki's typing synergizes with Charizard far better than Thundurus, and that is 80% of the reason it is here (Safeguard is the other 20%, fuck cheese teams).
Heracross. This thing is so inexplainably succesful for me I can't even comprehend it. After testing many Fighting mons, like Terrakion/Mienshao/Blaziken/etc, most had a marked weakness to Cresselia, were utter shit against Rain, etc. Mienshao was ok though, definetly the first mon I'd pick for a replacement. Anyway, Heracross fills an odd niche: he outruns and decimates Khan, Heatran, Cresselia (rarely packs enough power to KO), LO Ludicolo in Rain, Gengar (sash AND Mega Perish Trap), Weavile, Bisharp, and in general is a fantasic revenger that easily and reliably nets a +1 Atk boost and usually smashes half a team alone. Moveset is optimal coverage; Poison Jab is trash. EVs, the Def. specifically reduces Cresselia's Psyshock damage, rest is max speed and power. Adamant and Scarf outruns 99.9% of the unscarfed metagame (Mega Aerodactyl, mega Alakazam, and Mega Sceptile do not exist) and you NEED the power output of Adamant for a few KOs. This is also our primary Hydreigon killer, btw: Scarf cannot KO you without Sun-boosted Fire moves, and non-Scarf sets are, well, outran and turned into a free +1 atk.
You can swap this out for Terrakion and such, as it's mostly a khan/heatran check, but you'll be pretty meek against Rain, or be forced to change Chompy's item to accomodate LO Virizion.
Moxie because Guts + Safeguard is just dumb, and most people will not even attempt to WoW/Toxic Heracross simply because it is LEGENDARY for running Guts since Gen 3. Also used as a revenger, so it often nets a KO anyway, so why not get a free +1 for a subsequent KO?
Rotom-W, I finally found a damn set that works. Speed outruns 252+ Garchomp after Icy Wind, just like Cresselia, +1 point to creep my own Cress; this adds the illusion that both are uninvested, and creeps most other Rotom-W, Suicune, Cresselia, and Milotic. Moves are simply STAB + HP Ice for SE coverage and hitting Mega Salamence / Landog in Sun for a KO (OHKO's 4/0 AV Landog, specifically), and biting into Thundurus (2-3HKO, depends on spread+item). It also lays a beating on Gyarados, rare as it is, an enormous threat to the team (notice it walls + KOs EVERYONE between non-Mega and Mega forms?). It also patches up Flying, Water, Ice, and Fire weaknesses a bit better, while helping against Rain. Weak only against Grass, which is vey heavily covered by the entire rest of the team.
Charizard, cress, and Klefki are the main lead choices, Heracross is always best in the back, Chompy can either open up and weaken shit early, or clean up after the foe is cracked open by the rest of the team. Rotom-W is rarely picked, but works well against certain combos (Landog + Mence, Milotic + Khan, Heatran + Mence) and usually leads when picked. Cress and Klefki can work together: Cress sets up with CM, and Klefki's sheer hax and dickery with Foul Play keeps damage output up while Safeguard + hax covers Cress and opens free turns for setup, so don't be afraid to bring both. Chompy spams EQ very easy with 3 immunities, but Klefki/heracross lacking Protect sucks sometimes. Don't try going out of your way to set up SafeSwag Heracross / Chompy; Heracross is scarf locked and thus wallable, and Chompy can't EQ next to Klefki. Fucking hilarious when you get a shot at setting it up as a secondary win condition though, not gonna lie, +2 Atk Scarf Heracross is unholy once it can spam a move with no resists left and I won a game like that once.
Pretty fast, lots of reliable speed control, and every mon is capable of good damage output either immediately, or after setup. Klefki is mostly just an asshole, though.
Pretty fast, lots of reliable speed control, and every mon is capable of good damage output either immediately, or after setup. Klefki is mostly just an asshole, though.
Here's a Semi Trick Room team that I've been working on. It got me to 1802 so it's at least decent. I wouldn't recommend full TR because it's bad even though my highest ever rating came from using it
Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 20 Atk / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Double-Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Gothitelle @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Trick Room
Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 36 SpA / 52 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Protect
Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Scald
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Protect
- Brick Break
Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 60 Def / 60 SpA / 124 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 20 Atk / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Double-Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Gothitelle @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Trick Room
Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 36 SpA / 52 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Protect
Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Scald
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Protect
- Brick Break
Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 60 Def / 60 SpA / 124 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
First off this team can be very difficult to use because the many different modes present, so I would recommend trying a different team to get more comfortable with BS Doubles before this one. Calcs are in a different place to not clutter the description. Ludicolo speed creeps other Ludicolo outspeed Adamant Scarf lando-T in rain.
This team has three main modes in Fast Rain Offense, Trick Room Offense, and Perish Trap. Salamence+Ludicolo+Politoed is the Fast Rain Offense. Mawile is the main form of offense under Trick Room(TR) with Gothitelle as the setter. Gothitelle traps opponents while Politoed's Perish Song knocks them out. Rotom-H is used as the last slot because it can be used on all modes and gives needed Talonflame and Amoonguss checks which is why it runs Safety Goggles.
When I use the team I tend to use Perish Trap with one of the other modes. When you use Perish Song is usually dependent on the opponent's lead and team. If the opponent leads with a pair that can not significantly threaten Politoed and Gothitelle a Perish Song can be set to KO them and the offensive pokemon can usually beat the remaining two. If the opponent's lead greatly threatens Gothitelle especially or they lead with a Ghost-type (which can switch out of Shadow Tag) the offensive portions of the team can be used to KO two pokemon and the Politoed can use Perish Song if you have three remaining pokemon or the slowest pokemon on the field.
Some threats to the team are Amoonguss, Talonflame, and Heatran. Amoonguss does not take too much from the Ice Beams and Gothitelle's Psychic. It can redirect attacks away from dangerous set up sweepers like Kangaskhan and Volcarona and allow Heatran to set up free Substitutes. If Politoed and Ludicolo go down or are not brought Heatran is a major problem. Rotom-H can wall most sets for a while but deals little with T-Bolt. Heatran is the reason Brick Break was chosen over Iron Head on Mawile. It allows Mawile and Gothitelle to threaten Heatran which otherwise wouldn't be the case. Talonflame deals major damage to most of the team but it can be more easily played around than Heatran. Bisharp and Milotic can also be troublesome due to there being two Intimidators on the team which give them free boosts.
This team has three main modes in Fast Rain Offense, Trick Room Offense, and Perish Trap. Salamence+Ludicolo+Politoed is the Fast Rain Offense. Mawile is the main form of offense under Trick Room(TR) with Gothitelle as the setter. Gothitelle traps opponents while Politoed's Perish Song knocks them out. Rotom-H is used as the last slot because it can be used on all modes and gives needed Talonflame and Amoonguss checks which is why it runs Safety Goggles.
When I use the team I tend to use Perish Trap with one of the other modes. When you use Perish Song is usually dependent on the opponent's lead and team. If the opponent leads with a pair that can not significantly threaten Politoed and Gothitelle a Perish Song can be set to KO them and the offensive pokemon can usually beat the remaining two. If the opponent's lead greatly threatens Gothitelle especially or they lead with a Ghost-type (which can switch out of Shadow Tag) the offensive portions of the team can be used to KO two pokemon and the Politoed can use Perish Song if you have three remaining pokemon or the slowest pokemon on the field.
Some threats to the team are Amoonguss, Talonflame, and Heatran. Amoonguss does not take too much from the Ice Beams and Gothitelle's Psychic. It can redirect attacks away from dangerous set up sweepers like Kangaskhan and Volcarona and allow Heatran to set up free Substitutes. If Politoed and Ludicolo go down or are not brought Heatran is a major problem. Rotom-H can wall most sets for a while but deals little with T-Bolt. Heatran is the reason Brick Break was chosen over Iron Head on Mawile. It allows Mawile and Gothitelle to threaten Heatran which otherwise wouldn't be the case. Talonflame deals major damage to most of the team but it can be more easily played around than Heatran. Bisharp and Milotic can also be troublesome due to there being two Intimidators on the team which give them free boosts.
- 20 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 222-264 (100.4 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- -1 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 212 Def Gothitelle: 92-110 (51.9 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
- 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Politoed: 169-199 (85.7 - 101%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
- -1 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Politoed: 88-106 (44.6 - 53.8%) -- 0.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
- -1 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Politoed: 97-115 (49.2 - 58.3%) -- 2.6% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal (two turns of recovery from leftovers)
- 252+ SpA Heatran Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Mega Mawile: 132-156 (84 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Heatran Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Mega Mawile in Rain: 66-78 (42 - 49.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
- 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 244 HP / 60 Def Rotom-H: 135-160 (86.5 - 102.5%) -- 5.9% chance to OHKO
- 60 SpA Rotom-H Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 152-182 (98.7 - 118.1%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
- 252+ SpA Ludicolo Scald vs. 244 HP / 124+ SpD Rotom-H in Rain: 134-162 (85.8 - 103.8%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
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