SS OU Double Hex Balance

[Deleted User [426440]]

Introduction
Hi Smogon, I'm not exactly new to competitive battling but I'm not very knowledgeable or good. I've always thought a double hex team would be cool and someone (by the name of MasterRyuga) in the Showdown OU room was offering to help teambuild, so we (i.e. mostly he) came up with this. I made a few changes to the version we made together after a bit of playtesting. Both teams will have an importable version at the end of the thread if you're interested in them.

Teambuilding Process

We started out with Dragapult + Gengar. Both learn Hex and WoW, and Gengar can cover for Dragapult's Fairy weakness.

Both were weak to ghost and dark, so we added Mandibuzz as a special wall to beat out popular ghost and darks like Hydreigon, opposing Dragapult, and specs Aegislash. It can also handle physical Aegislash via Foul Play, and it can U-Turn out vs. Bisharp.

Next was Rocky Helm Ferro since we needed rocks and something to beat out Zera and Dracovish. It also provides t-wave support to enable our Hex users.

We decided to not run rocks on Ferro and instead use another mon that could also potentially wall Zera (non-grass knot variants). So we went with Hippo.

We added Weezing-G last since it beats Conk. It also provides t-spikes support.

After playing around with the team for a bit, I made a few minor changes:

40HP / 252 SpA / 216+ Spe --> 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252+ Spe
The original spread had enough speed EVs to outspeed scarf Dracovish with the rest dumped into HP, but I found that not being able to speed-tie opposing non-scarfed Dragapults was hurting, so I changed it to max speed.

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It feels like the extra healing from Lefties helps more than the damage that Rocky Helm provides, even though I'm already running Slack Off. So I decided to change it.

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I didn't see a reason not to run Black Sludge on Weezing; it heals the same amount and deters Trick/Switcheroo more than Leftovers does.

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I've tried swapping out Weezing for specially defensive Toxapex before since my only special wall was Mandibuzz and I could still have t-spikes support, but I'm not sure how much I like it.

The Team

Dragapult

Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

Dragapult is one of the Hexers on the team. Besides that, it carries Draco to nuke anything that isn't a fairy, resist, or statused. Wisp helps to cripple some switch-ins like Bisharp while Substitute can help in setting up against others like Hydreigon. Sub also helps bait out sucker punch from some mons like Bisharp and Cinderace. Leftovers is opted over Spell Tag here to heal off the substitutes.

Gengar

Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hex
- Sludge Wave
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

Gengar is the other offensive presence on the team. Sludge Wave functions as another STAB and as a way to better deal with Clefable. Wisp, Sub, and Black Sludge are on there for the same reasons as Dragapult. This guy's defenses are paper-thin, which is why I use Dragapult as Clefable bait to safely bring him in. Most of the time, Clefs won't expect me to stay in with Dragapult, so they try to get a Wish off. By bringing in Gengar, I threaten taking away a huge chunk of their health with Sludge Wave if they choose to teleport.

Mandibuzz

Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Mandibuzz serves as a defogger and a check to dark and ghost types. Foul Play helps it beat physical Aegislash variants while U-Turn keeps the momentum going. Roost is for sustainability while Defog is for hazard control. HDB are run to prevent it from taking rocks damage.

Ferrothorn

Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave

Ferrothorn serves as a check to Zera as well as a status spreader. It can tank the CC from non-Bulk Up variants and kill it afterwards with Body Press after the defense drop and damage from Iron Barbs + Rocky Helmet. Knock Off is to cripple switch-ins while Leech Seed is for recovery since Lefties aren't being run.

Hippowdon

Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

Hippo provides the team with rocks, sandstorm chip damage, and whirlwind to force out mons who try to set up on it. EQ is for STAB and Slack Off is for recovery. This thing also beats Zera if it doesn't run Grass Knot (i.e. Bulk Up sets). Freeing up SR from Ferro allows it to run both t-wave and Knock Off which is nice.

Weezing-Galar

Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Flamethrower
- Pain Split
- Toxic Spikes

For the last mon we decided to try out Weezing-G since it beats Conkeldurr, who could otherwise potentially shred through this team if a wrong prediction is made. It also gives us one dragon and another toxic immunity. Strange Steam is for STAB, Flamethrower for Ferrothorn switch-ins, Pain Split for recovery, and Toxic Spikes to spread status and power up Hex.

Alternate: Toxapex Set

Toxapex

Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes

Sometimes I run this thing instead of Weezing. It serves as another stop to set-up sweepers and also provides t-spikes support and potential scald burns. It doesn't counter Conk quite as well but it's usually easy to predict when they will go for a Facade, which is when I'll switch in Gengar or Dragapult and Hex it to death.

Threats List

Specs Kyurem shreds through this team. The best I can do against this thing is switch in Weezing on predicted Draco Meteors, but they usually just swap out and only go for Ice Beams afterwards once brought back in.

If I'm not running Toxapex, I can't let Ferro get unhealthy or else Dracovish can hurt a lot of my team, with only Dragapult being able to outspeed it.

Conclusion
Thank you for reading this far. Please let me know what I can change or improve. And a big thanks to MasterRyuga for basically building this team for me and helping me battle with it. I don't know if you'll ever see this but you were a huge help and motivated me to keep playing even though I don't really know what I'm doing.

Importable (Original)

Dragapult @ Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 40HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Sludge Wave
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave

Hippowdon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

Weezing-Galar @ Leftovers
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Flamethrower
- Pain Split
- Toxic Spikes

Importable (Revised)

Dragapult @ Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Sludge Wave
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute

Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

Weezing-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Flamethrower
- Pain Split
- Toxic Spikes

 

[msnt]

The team loos very decent overall, I like the idea of spamming Hex. The biggest problem I see here is that you can't switch-in on Kyurem's Ice Beam. That's why I would replace G-Weezing by a full spedef Clefable to deal with Kyurem even if your Conkeldurr matchup becomes harder now, but I think that double ghost + Hippowdon must help you to deal with it. I would do some minor changements too like putting 96 ev's in speed on mandibuzz to outspeed Modest/Adamant Aegislash which is very important if you want to be a solid check to it. Leftovers on Ferro which is better as long as you have iron barbs and rocky helmet on hippowdon to deal better with Conkeldurr.

 

[Jordy]

Hey man, this is a really good team already, but there's definitely some changes I'd like to recommend. I wholeheartedly agree with the above person, Clefable's a better option here because of Kyurem. Considering you have both Dragapult and Gengar, there's certainly room to outplay Conkeldurr without Galarian Weezing. I agree with the other suggested changes too, but I'd like to recommend some more changes on top of that.

Overall, Substitute isn't really worth bothering with on Hex Dragapult, as it doesn't really achieve anything special; you are still going to be checked by Pokemon like Clefable and Mandibuzz. I guess it makes offensively checking it with Pokemon like Choice Scarf Hydreigon a little harder, but that should never be the sole counterplay anyways, and I'm not convinced that's worth more than the synergy U-turn Dragapult has with Gengar. To elaborate on that, with U-turn, Dragapult can pivot out of Pokemon such as Clefable which will often want to switch into Dragapult, which gives you many opportunities to switch Gengar into play.

I also think you could play around with other item options on Dragapult, specifically Spell Tag and Heavy-Duty Boots. The former allows Dragapult to put much more immediate pressure onto Pokemon like Clefable, and often leads to it overwhelming Clefable once its item has been removed. Considering you've got Gengar, this isn't super important, though, so I think looking for more longevity is a fair option here. That said, I firmly believe that Heavy-Duty Boots is a better option than Leftovers for longevity in the current metagame, as it's very Spikes heavy.

I'd also recommend running the following EV spread on Gengar: 96 HP / 72 SpA / 88 SpD / 252 Spe, with a Timid nature ofcourse. This EV spread notably allows your Substitute to never break from a Toxapex's Scald.

Lastly, I'd like to suggest running Toxic on Hippowdon instead of Whirlwind. Whirlwind is generally run to deal with Swords Dance Aegislash, but considering that you have a Foul Play Mandibuzz, that's really not that important. Toxic's really useful here because it allows teams such as this, which don't have the best Rotom-H matchup, to outlast it long-term.

I hope this was of help!

 

[Deleted User [426440]]

The team loos very decent overall, I like the idea of spamming Hex. The biggest problem I see here is that you can't switch-in on Kyurem's Ice Beam. That's why I would replace G-Weezing by a full spedef Clefable to deal with Kyurem even if your Conkeldurr matchup becomes harder now, but I think that double ghost + Hippowdon must help you to deal with it. I would do some minor changements too like putting 96 ev's in speed on mandibuzz to outspeed Modest/Adamant Aegislash which is very important if you want to be a solid check to it. Leftovers on Ferro which is better as long as you have iron barbs and rocky helmet on hippowdon to deal better with Conkeldurr.

Hey man, this is a really good team already, but there's definitely some changes I'd like to recommend. I wholeheartedly agree with the above person, Clefable's a better option here because of Kyurem. Considering you have both Dragapult and Gengar, there's certainly room to outplay Conkeldurr without Galarian Weezing. I agree with the other suggested changes too, but I'd like to recommend some more changes on top of that.

Overall, Substitute isn't really worth bothering with on Hex Dragapult, as it doesn't really achieve anything special; you are still going to be checked by Pokemon like Clefable and Mandibuzz. I guess it makes offensively checking it with Pokemon like Choice Scarf Hydreigon a little harder, but that should never be the sole counterplay anyways, and I'm not convinced that's worth more than the synergy U-turn Dragapult has with Gengar. To elaborate on that, with U-turn, Dragapult can pivot out of Pokemon such as Clefable which will often want to switch into Dragapult, which gives you many opportunities to switch Gengar into play.

I also think you could play around with other item options on Dragapult, specifically Spell Tag and Heavy-Duty Boots. The former allows Dragapult to put much more immediate pressure onto Pokemon like Clefable, and often leads to it overwhelming Clefable once its item has been removed. Considering you've got Gengar, this isn't super important, though, so I think looking for more longevity is a fair option here. That said, I firmly believe that Heavy-Duty Boots is a better option than Leftovers for longevity in the current metagame, as it's very Spikes heavy.

I'd also recommend running the following EV spread on Gengar: 96 HP / 72 SpA / 88 SpD / 252 Spe, with a Timid nature ofcourse. This EV spread notably allows your Substitute to never break from a Toxapex's Scald.

Lastly, I'd like to suggest running Toxic on Hippowdon instead of Whirlwind. Whirlwind is generally run to deal with Swords Dance Aegislash, but considering that you have a Foul Play Mandibuzz, that's really not that important. Toxic's really useful here because it allows teams such as this, which don't have the best Rotom-H matchup, to outlast it long-term.

I hope this was of help!

Thank you both for the suggestions! I've implemented all of them (+ Spell Tag for Dragapult) and am doing better now.

I have discovered a new problem: Mandibuzz seems to wall me pretty hard. I think I may need a wallbreaker, but I'm not sure what to change. Any advice?

 

[Jordy]

With Clefable to check it and Ferrothorn to cripple Mandibuzz on your team, I think is easy enough to keep in check, though it would definitely lead to longer games.

 

[Cri]

I believe it's generally weak to Zeraora, and you not having sweepers is hard to stay defending for too long, opponents will find ways to break thru.

 

[Deleted User [426440]]

I believe it's generally weak to Zeraora, and you not having sweepers is hard to stay defending for too long, opponents will find ways to break thru.

I've been running into that problem, but I'm not quite sure what to do. It feels like if I take one of the walls out, something will go unchecked as a result and it will mow through the team.

With Clefable to check it and Ferrothorn to cripple Mandibuzz on your team, I think is easy enough to keep in check, though it would definitely lead to longer games.

I've been playing to keep Clefable healthy vs teams with Mandibuzz and it's working so far, thank you!

 

[Cri]

I've been running into that problem, but I'm not quite sure what to do. It feels like if I take one of the walls out, something will go unchecked as a result and it will mow through the team.


I've been playing to keep Clefable healthy vs teams with Mandibuzz and it's working so far, thank you!

Indeed,my suggestion is use Dragapult or Gengar with scarf to force your opponent to switch out their Zeraora (and/or cause damage)

 

[DemZii]

cool team, i really like the idea of dual hex cuz its so powerful, will def try out