Double Dragon with Raptors

[Colossus]

Hi everyone! This is my first attempt at using the Staraptor/Talonflame combination, dubbed "sixth gen's Double Dragon". Without further ado, here's the team:

Staraptor @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
- U-turn

The first half of the duo, Staraptor acts as a hole-puncher, severely denting and/or crippling Talonflame's checks/counters, as well as a fair part of the metagame. BB and Double-Edge are not only STAB boosted, but Reckless powers them up as well, making them hit obscenely hard. Close Combat is a beautiful move to have, hitting Steel and Rock types who would otherwise laugh at Staraptor harder than its STABs. U-Turn is in my opinion mandatory on this Choice set, allowing me to switch out of harm's way while still dealing chip damage. Choice Band is used in this case for raw power currently dropped, and Choice Scarf is being tested.

Edit: dropped Band for Scarf, as per nmitchell890's suggestion.

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-Turn
- Tailwind/Will-O-Wisp/Steel Wing

The second half of the pair, Talonflame cleans up what is left after Staraptor is done its job. This set looks odd, but is nevertheless effective. BB and FB for STABs, with the former getting priority from Gale Wings. U-Turn is there to switch out of a check and maintain offensive momentum. The last moveslot boils down to coverage or utility- I will finalize it as I see fit. I could will try swapping this for the standard CB set, depending on how the old set plays out.

Edit: swapped to the CB set, as per nmitchell890's suggestion.

Rotom-Wash @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest

The possessed washing machine finds itself a place on my team- again (seriously, is there any team that wouldn't like this guy on it?). Chesto Rest Rotom-W is in my opinion a ludicrously effective set- which can stop quite a few physical attackers in their tracks. Hydro Pump is it's strongest STAB move, although I'm not fond of the accuracy. Volt Switch helps keep the momentum going forward, and forms the "VoltTurn" combo with Scizor. Will-O-Wisp to cripple the opposition, and Rest to come back and fight anther day.

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
- Knock Off

The ironclad mantis joins the team for a few reasons- Defog, Knock Off utility, U-Turn access, and...Defog (I NEED those rocks off of the field to have any success with this). Bullet Punch is a useful priority move, allowing me to pick off weakened threats at me leisure. Roost for survivability, which can let me Defog more than once if necessary. Defog really needs no explanation, and finally Knock Off removes pesky items from opponents that would otherwise give me issues. The power boost this gen doesn't hurt, either. The only issue I think there is lies in optimizing the EV spread- any suggestions are welcome.

Edit: dropped U-Turn for Roost, as per GaryTheGengar's suggestion.

Garchomp @ Leftovers/?
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw/Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

My favorite dragon, and likely the most reliable I've used as of yet. Dragon Claw/Outrage for STAB, which boils down to safety over power. Earthquake for secondary STAB, which also forms the EdgeQuake combo with Stone Miss. Stone Miss rounds out coverage, and is really the only way this set beats Togekiss (although there's 5 other team members for that) and a few others. The last slot is a surprise for the opponent when they switch out to a check or counter- Garchomp is dangerous enough to force a switch, basically giving it a free set-up turn.

Edit: swapped Choice Scarf for Lefties/other effective item (suggestions appreciated), slashed DC with Outrage, and dropped coverage for SR as per nmitchell890's suggestions. EVs could also be tweaked to make it bulkier (if needed).

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect
- Wish

My WishPasser- who is coincidentally difficult to take down with a physically bulky spread and a few CMs under its belt. Moonblast for basic STAB. CM, as everyone knows, lets me hit harder and become harder to take down. Protect/Wish can be cycled to heal Clefable if it's trying to boost up, or simply using Wish to heal a teammate back up (which is vitally important since 'Raptor and T-Flame don't use Roost). I haven't used it yet, but it will (hopefully) be useful on this team.

Edit: dropped Sylveon for Clefable (for the time being) as per GaryTheGengar's suggestion.

Alright! There it is! Any comments/suggestions/ideas are all more than welcome! Thanks for reading.

 

[nmitchell890]

If you don't take my suggestion below, I would stick Dragon Claw over your filler Poison Jab/Iron Head on Garchomp. Outrage prevents switching whereas Choice Scarf doesn't, it is more restricting and an alternate dragon STAB is very useful. Dragon Claw acts as the revenge killing move, nabbing the KO and allowing Garchomp to switch out and fight another day. Outrage is useful when the extra power is needed to grab the KO or when Garchomp is cleaning up.

A personal preference of mine is Choice Scarf Staraptor and Choice Band Talonflame. With Reckless and lack of common flying resists outside of Rotom-W and Heatran (that I can think of off the top of my head) Staraptor can sweep very easily even without weakening a lot of walls. Most things that can stop Staraptor is either mauled by Close Combat or hit obscenely hard by Talonflame. Talonflame becomes the wallbreaker with its boosted Flare Blitz and Brave Bird smacking most opponents around and with Gale Wings, Talonflame can clean up late game too. With Choice Scarf Staraptor, You don't need Choice Scarf on Garchomp so switch to a Stealth Rock variant.

 

[GaryTheGengar]

pretty cool team, but wheres the mag lol? i also dont really understand why you avoid using recovery. I'd definitely use roost over u-turn on mega scizor. i also suggest using roost over flare blitz, as FB only hits aegislash and skarmory really, most steels just get set up on my bulk up. i agree with nmitchell's suggestion, dragon claw is a nice filler option on garchomp. finally, I think clefable would offer you a lot more utility than sylveon while occupying the same role. Good luck!

clefable

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Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind

also there is only 1 raptor. 2 birds tho :]

 

[Colossus]

@ nmitchell890 - Thanks for the rate! To be honest, I more or less threw the team together to try out the dual bird combo, and as such, may not have been thinking clearly. I will try out Scarf Staraptor and CB Talonflame and see how that goes. It sounds more solid than what I've got, anyway. Two questions: first, is Jolly still recommended with Staraptor, even with Scarf? Or would Adamant be viable for the power boost? Second, for SR Garchomp, is that more or less a regular offensive set with SR in place of a coverage move or SD/Sub? Thanks again for the input.

@ GaryTheGengar - Thanks for rating as well! Firstly, calling this team a "DragMag" was a bit of a mistake on my part- I really meant "Double Dragon" (I can be dumb some days :p). I have definitely noticed the lack of recovery on Scizor, so putting Roost over U-Turn is likely going to happen. U-Turn kind of only existed to keep momentum, but it's useless to do so if the Pokemon's longevity was compromised. As for Talonflame, if I don't outright drop the current set in favor of CB, Roost was actually the move of choice in the Bulky TFlame set, which worked wonders against anyone not expecting it. I'll test CB first, and if it doesn't work for whatever reason, I'll definitely give that set another go. Finally, as per your last suggestion, I haven't really considered using Clefable before, but trying it out probably wouldn't hurt. I tend to notice set-up sweepers kind of walk all over Sylveon despite the considerable bulk it has with the listed spread. So I'll definitely test it in place of Sylveon, and post the results here.

P.S. I meant "raptor" as in bird of prey, seeing as Talonflame probably doesn't eat a lot of vegetables :p Although I didn't miss Sta(raptor) when making the team.