Hi everyone. This team was originally designed for the VGC ladder, with ideas taken from previously successful teams (mainly Wolfe's), but when I tried it on the Doubles ladder, I discovered that it performed better on this ladder, with this team being undefeated till I passed the 1950 rank and lost to Bravieus, who also got #1 on the ladder.
This team is a tank TR team. 5 of my Pokemon excel at taking hits, and the team can easily capitalise on this to gain the advantage. It can easily switch from going on the defensive to the offensive and vice versa. Switching around is a very important part of this team. This team has a variety of types with great type-synergy, including a FWG core. This, coupled with bulk, makes switching a low-risk yield that can quickly turn the match-up.
The theme is Wreck-it Ralph, as that was the last movie I watched before making this team, and it was an awesome movie.
My team at a glance:
Teammates in detail:
Vanellope (Scrafty) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Atk / 56 SDef / 80 Def
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Fake Out
- Crunch
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
Scrafty provides Fake Out + Intimidate support. I pretty much always lead with it because of this unless the opponent has a Defiant user. EV spread enables it to survive Modest Hydreigon’s Dragon Gem Draco Meteor (Modest Latios is too rare for me to care about), and -1 Terrakion’s Close Combat. Also has a 93.75% chance to avoid OHKO from Hitmontop’s Gem Close Combat. The bulk also pairs well with Drain Punch. Expert Belt boost makes Scrafty Atk’s comparable to a Brave 252 Scrafty’s, which is easy to get with Drain Punch + Crunch + Ice Punch. Ice Punch hits so many things super-effective that would otherwise beat Scrafty; Dragonite,Shaymin-S, Landorus-T. It is used pretty much every match; I find it even more useful than Crunch usually. It’s unexpected and takes the opponent by surprise. Whilst sometimes Detect would be nice, I can switch out to avoid being hit-super effectively whilst resetting Fake Out + Intimidate. Scrafty > Hitmontop for bulk and Dark-type Crunch (Top’s Sucker Punch sucks against most Psychic- and Ghost-types as most of them are support mons who commonly don’t attack). It is also slower in TR than Hitmontop, which works well when TR is up. Unfortunately, it doesn't when they lead together, but it's not a big deal. Usually what happens in this scenario is that Hitmontop uses Fake Out on the other opposing Pokemon as I either use TR with my other Pokemon or go for the Taunt or KO with Tornadus. What happens is that either both Fake Outs work, leaving the field in a neutral position, or the opponent Fake Outs my Pokemon, and my teammate uses his move to gain an advantage over the opponent (whilst the opponent could gain an advantage with this other teammate, it almost always works in my favour).
Sour Bill (Tornadus) (M) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Taunt
- Protect
There’s 3 reasons why I chose Tornadus to be my strong physical attacker. 1st is for speed and momentum outside of TR, outspeeding Latios, the main benchmark I like to aim for with Speedy Mons. Taunt is the 2nd; provides great support, stopping opposing TR teams from getting the predictable TR up is its main us (these teams usually go for TR first-turn, as Team Preview usually reviews that their team is slower than mine). Taunt is useful outside of this though. The 3rd is Defiant; I did not want my strongest physical attacker neutered by Intimidate, and with a boost, +1 Flying Gem Acrobatics will OHKO most things, for example, Reuniculus. Also discourages opposing Icy Wind. Acro + Superpower has very good coverage, but Superpower doesn’t see much use; it’s mainly used against TTar but is very useful when it needs to be used. I generally either lead with this or Cresselia alongside Scrafty, using Tornadus when it outspeeds 5 or 6 Pokemon on the opposing team (even 6 is a common scenario, especially against TR teams) and I don’t need TR up asap. It’s pretty much only used outside of TR, so I tend to switch a lot less with Tornadus and I usually don’t switch it into attacks. He’s not part of my core and functions more like the glue holding it together, providing utilities that I explained above that the rest of the team can’t provide, or alternatively or a Pokemon to harass the opponent and take down the opponent from the start so my core has one less Pokemon to deal with. The rest of my team functions perfectly fine if Tornadus faints early game.
Calhoun (Cresselia) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 40 SAtk / 176 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd / 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Psyshock
- Skill Swap
- Sunny Day
Based on Wolfe’s Worlds Cress from last year. The main change is TR over Icy Wind. Other than fitting in better with my team, it saves me EVs being wasted on Speed so she can enjoy more bulk (same for Heatran). Psyshock > Psychic, as most Pokemon prioritise special bulk over physical bulk in Doubles, especially the bulky mons, so I take advantage of that. For example, Psyshock will always break a bulky Thundurus’ Sub, but Psychic will not because bulky Thundurus usually run a 252 HP / 252 SDef Calm spread. Skill Swap synergises well with Scrafty (reset Intimidate) and Heatran (give it Levitate, removing its main weakness). Has multiple offensive uses, including stealing Volt Absorb from Thundurus-T, opposing Intimidate to use against my opponents (and then Skill Swap with my own Scrafty for an -2 Atk boost to both opposing Pokemon), and taking Dry Skin from opposing Toxicroak in rain teams (and then pass this to Heatran). Sunny Day to combat weather teams (especially rain, which is everywhere), protect Heatran from Water-type attacks, boost Heatran’s Heat Wave, and let Exeggutor’s Harvest activate 100% of the time. 40 SpA EVs guarantees Psyshock 2HKOes 252 HP Hitmontop. 176 SDef for max amount of bonus points in SDef, but I didn’t want 216 SDef, as Cress needs at least 12 Def EVs to always survive Tyranitar’s Dark Gem Crunch. Cress’ weaker defence can be patched up with Scrafty’s Intimidate. Leftovers, as Cress is so bulky and survives for so long, it works better than Sitrus. Plus I usually switch out if the opponent has something out that can badly dent Cress, making Sitrus a lesser option.
Wreck-it Ralph (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 56 SAtk / 56 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 17 Spd
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Protect
Best Fire-type to be part of a FWG core. Great defenses and typing (on that topic, only Pokemon on my team that can absorb Dragon-type attacks). Best Pokemon in the game against sun teams. If passed Levitate, walls many Pokemon, including commonly seen Pokemon like Garchomp and Metagross. Gastrodon and Sunny Day Cress patch up its Water weakness. So really, its only weakness is Fighting-types, but Cress and Exeggutor can switch into those and hit back super-effectively. Heat Wave and Earth Power is all I’ve ever needed for coverage; I never found myself needing Hidden Power or Dragon Pulse. Heat Wave > Eruption as it’s non-HP dependent and pairs better with Sub. Heatran has many opportunities to set up a Sub, as most Pokemon have a bad match-up against it
17 Spe to be 1 Spe point slower than Cress, hence underspeeding it in TR, so Cress can set up Sunny Day before Heatran attacks. Def EVs ensure that Terrakion’s Rock Slide will never break Heatran’s Sub, and if Intimidated, will never OHKO with Choice Band Close Combat. SDef EVs ensure that Politoed’s Surf cannot break Heatran’s Sub in sun (whilst Scald can do so, I have Gastrodon to redirect that). Rest goes into SpA. Leftovers pairs excellently with Sub + Protect, more so than Sitrus Berry, and it usually stays on the field for a long time.
Felix Jr. (Gastrodon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spd
- Muddy Water
- Toxic
- Recover
- Stockpile
Provides an invaluable Electric-type immunity; great against Discharge teams and teams that just love to spam Thunder Wave (which they spam even if TR is up). Oh, and Water-type immunity for it and for single-target attacks against its teammate. It’s one weakness is covered well by Heatran and Exeggutor.
Muddy Water as lone STAB. Very few things are immune to it, and being multi-target works increases its net damage output, which is especially useful if Gastrodon gets a Storm Drain boost. Accuracy sucks though. Whilst it doesn’t pair well with Cress’ Sunny Day, this has never been a problem, as it’s always has opportunities to use its other moves, or I use other Pokemon. Toxic for defensive mons, particularly Cresselia and set-ups mons The latter can otherwise be a problem if I let them get too many boosts, and Gastrodon is good at stalling them out due to its bulk + typing (set-up users rarely have a Grass-type attack), Recover, and Stockpile defensive boosts. Toxic also pairs well with Recover and Stockpile. Stockpile pairs well with TR. If opponent does not have a Grass-type attack, Stockpile will make Gastrodon untouchable. Even if my opponent just aims for my teammate and leaves Gastrodon for last, this is fairly predictable, so I predict around it whilst Gastrodon just uses Muddy Water and Toxic (and if they don’t, Gastrodon can easily take the punishment). Stockpile also enables Gastrodon to survive some Grass-type attacks, which I sometimes use to force the opponent to switch and bring out their Pokemon with Grass-type attacks (usually Ludicolo). I can then take down that Pokemon with my teammates whilst switching out Gastrodon and set-up Stockpile later in the game, when nothing can touch it. Recover is what enables Gastrodon to survive for so long. Defensive EVs are obvious on a Pokemon that usually tries to survive the whole match. 80 SDef with a Sassy nature ensures that Modest Hydreigon’s Dragon Gem Draco Meteor cannot OHKO; rest goes in Def to balance its defences.
King Candy (Exeggutor) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 36 SAtk / 220 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spd
- Leaf Storm
- Psyshock
- Trick Room
- Protect
Many people don’t see what’s coming when they see Exeggutor. As long as you avoid the Pokemon who have super-effective STABs, Exeggutor won’t die without a crit. It’s that good. With its good overall bulk, it can take hard-hitting STABs and non-super-effective attacks. For reference, with its EVS, it will always surviving Timid Latios’s Dragon Gem Draco Meteor, and Modest 252 SpA Politoed’s Ice Beam deals 51.77% damage max. Exeggutor then heals with Sitrus Berry, regrows the berry, and uses it again. It is not common for Exeggutor to go down to 15 – 25% in one turn, and then end up at 65 – 75% after that turn. This strategy just repeats itself without requiring you to use any attack; it is an effortless trick that wins game. If you need another turn for Harvest to activate, just use Protect. While your opponent tries and fails to KO Exeggutor, reset TR and beat down your opponent with your attacks. Should your opponent do send in something that can OHKO Exeggutor, swap out. Leaf Storm is its strongest attack; with 36 SpA EVs give a 93.75% chance to OHKO 252 HP / 0 Politoed with Leaf Storm. Trick Room as I don’t want Cress to be my own TR user.
Pairs excellently with my team. Has excellent defensive synergy with Heatran, with each Pokemon resisting the other one’s weaknesses (think CeleTran!). Together, only the Rock-type is not resisted, but I have Scrafty and Gastrodon for Rock-type moves. This gives Exeggutor ample opportunities to switch out after it uses Leaf Storm Pairs well with Cress thanks to Sunny Day support and if both on the field at the same time, on the last turn of TR, when opponents commonly double Protect they can both use TR simultaneously, essentially resetting the TR counter. Scrafty’s Intimidate gives it more opportunities to survive attacks, which means more opportunities to use Sitrus Berry.
I have 0 Atk IVs on all Pokemon without physical moves to lower confusion and Foul Play damage.
How my team fairs against opposing teams:
Exeggutor is my biggest threat against rain teams, even more so than Gastrodons as (good) rain teams carry Grass-type attacks for Gastrodon. Exeggutor is a havoc for rain teams to KO, Ice Beams usually dealing 40 – 50% damage, which means endless Harvest abuse. In the meanwhile Exeggutor can hit the Water-types hard with its STABs. Just make sure you scout Thundurus-T’s moveset before leaving Exeggutor unexposed, as Specs HP Flying OHKOes. Gastrodon is also a major threat for obvious reasons, and will win the game if I can take down Ludicolo (which is usually taken down by Cress and/or Exeggutor). Sunny Day Cress seals the deal with Sunny Day, forcing Politoed in and out to reset weather, wasting my opponents turns that I can take advantage of (and whilst my opponent does this, with Cress’ massive bulk + Leftovers, he doesn’t get any closer to taking her down). Rain teams also have Pokemon that don’t like being Skill Swapped like Thundurus-T and Toxicroak. Most rain teams aren’t a problem. Whilst this seems like overkill preparation for rain teams, their popularity and success on the ladder makes this necessary. I commonly lead with Scafty for Fake Out and either Cress or Exeggutor for the early TR, leading with Exeggutor when I want to apply offensive P as soon as TR is set up.
Beware Amoonguss though. The only Pokemon on my team who can stop it from Sporing one of my mons is Tornadus. However, it is much easier to preserve Amoonguss than Tornadus due to Regenerator + bulk and Tornadus’ fragility. And Tornadus only has a chance outside TR. If TR is up, Amoonguss will Spore something. Once Spore is used, it’s not that bad, as Cress, Exeggutor, and Heatran can deal decent damage to it.
Beware Amoonguss though. The only Pokemon on my team who can stop it from Sporing one of my mons is Tornadus. However, it is much easier to preserve Amoonguss than Tornadus due to Regenerator + bulk and Tornadus’ fragility. And Tornadus only has a chance outside TR. If TR is up, Amoonguss will Spore something. Once Spore is used, it’s not that bad, as Cress, Exeggutor, and Heatran can deal decent damage to it.
Heatran walls both opposing Fire-types and Grass-types and has multiple opportunities to set up Sub to aid it against those Pokemon that can threaten Heatran. Tornadus OHKOes most Grass-types and Fire-types with Gem Acrobactics, including Ninetales. Gastrodon walls every Fire-type, though beware the occasional surprise Grass-type attack; I have had Gastrodon KOed by Energy Ball Jellicent Chandelure. Cresselia can also take lots of hits from the opponent with her massive bulk, easily set up TR, and steal Flash Fire from opposing Fire-types. These teams also tend to consist of many speedy Pokemon that hate TR. I lead with Scrafty and either Tornadus to OHKO something (usually Ninetales) or Cresselia for the early TR.
Tornadus OHKOes many Pokemon on this team again. Heatran ‘s Heat Wave works great against Ice-types, whilst it shrugs off Blizzards. Scrafty deals major damage to most of the Pokemon with Drain Punch and heals itself. Cress isn’t taking much damage from Blizzard, has Sunny Day to remove Blizzard’s perfect accuracy, and easily sets TR against this team. Like with sun teams, I lead with Scrafty and either Tornadus or Cress. I have never had an issue against hail teams.
These teams generally have many physical attackers spamming Earthquake. Consequently they hate Scrafty. Ttar hates Scrafty even more, as Scrafty tends to force it out. Garchomp and Landorus especially hate Scrafty because they don’t see Ice Punch coming. Ice Punch is also useful for Zapdos, who is common on sandstorm teams due to Discharge. Cress can remove sandstorm and give Heatran Levitate so it can wall many of the opposing mons and lure out certain mons (like Ttar to Low Kick Heatran). Cress can also steal opposing Landorus-T Intimidate and reset Scrafty’s Intimidate. TR also makes opposing Excadrill a liability. Gastrodon’s Water STAB works great, and its typing works wonders, with the opponent often not having a move that can hit Gastrodon super-effectively. If I can get TR up and start getting Stockpile boosts, I can end the game quickly. Exeggutor fairs well against Chomp and Discharge users, and many of the Pokemon get KOed by Leaf Storm after having taking previous damage. End-game, Tornadus can clean up the debris; this is when Superpower comes in handy. I always lead with Scrafty, and usually Cress for the quick TR.
Usually they have Pokemon that are slower than mine, commonly in the 20 – 30 base range. So usually they try to set up TR against me, whilst I try to keep it off the field. This puts me at an inherent advantage, as while we’ve both moved our Speed EVs into bulk, I have the Speed Advantage, and I can always reverse TR with my own TR. Chandelure is the biggest threat because it hits my two TR users hard, but Cress can always take a Shadow Ball if need be, even if Chandelure holds a Ghost Gem. Heatran and Gastrodon take care of Chandelure well too. I always manage to keep TR from going up first turn with Scrafty’s Fake Out and Tornadus’ Taunt, even if the opponent has a Fake Out user (use both Fake Out and Taunt on the TR mon; opposing Fake Out can’t stop both of them). Mental Herb isn’t common as well, making Taunt a reliable way to stop TR going up first turn, and the opponent usually has one Mental Herb max on the whole team, so I can sometimes keep it from going up for quite a few turns. I pretty much always KO something before TR goes up. Scrafty’s STAB hitting most TR users super-effective also means that a TR user gets badly damaged if they do get TR up, and that user won’t be able to set it up again. Heatran, Gastrodon and Exeggutor may also stall out TR with Protect + Sub, Stockpile + Recover and Harvest respectively.
So many different Pokemon can be part of a goodstuff team, so I’ll talk about how I deal with the most common members. If the opponent has Hitmontop, I usually lead with Tornadus for a potential free Defiant boost. Even if I don’t, Cress has a great match-up against it. Scrafty is pretty much always my lead regardless of the team, so Hitmontop gets -1 Atk, whislt Scrafty would have swapped out by turn 2 to remove its -1 Atk and avoid Close Combat. Latios isn’t an issue when every Pokemon on my team survives Draco Meteor except for Tornadus, who outspeeds and OHKOes Latios. Cresselia fails to do any significant damage to any Pokemon on my team except Tornadus, so keep Tornadus away from her and she’ll be fine. Crunch it with Scrafty and/or Toxic it with Gastrodon. Screens generally aren’t a problem when my team Swagger Cresselia is the most annoying, as 4/6 members of my team cannot make use of the Atk boost. Opposing Gastrodon match poorly against Exeggutor and my own Gastrodon thanks to Toxic + Recover; I am willing to let my Gastrodon get Toxiced to Toxic an opposing Gastrodon. Fortunately Gastrodon doesn’t deal excessive damage to any Pokemon on my team except Heatran and Tornadus (with Ice Beam) unless it gets a Storm Drain boost, but only my Gastrodon can give it that (and then I Toxic it). Scizor is greatly weakened by Scrafty’s Intimidate and has problems against Gastrodon and Heatran. Unfortunately, the one Pokemon on my team with a berry will stay as far away from Scizor as possible, so no Bug Biting berries for Scizor =D. Opposing Terrakion hates Cresselia; same for Exeggutor but I need to make sure it doesn’t know X-Scissor first and smart switching means I can lower its Atk with Scrafty whilst avoiding Close Combat should I need too. Gastrodon and Heatran can also hurt it under TR, with Heatran even baiting Terrakion into Close Combat for Def drops with Sub (and if it tries to cheat around this by using Rock Slide, it won’t break the Sub). Metagross is an excellent opportunity for Cress to set up TR and then use Skill Swap on my Heatran. Exeggutor can also take a Meteor Mash if it needs to set up TR. Against the rare non-Meteor Mash Metagross, Exeggutor walls this (I have actually won a match in which I only had Exeggutor left and my opponent only had Metagross left, but the Metagross didn’t have Meteor Mash). Volcarona despises Heatran, Tornadus, and Gastrodon (beware Giga Drain though). If it has Quiver Dance to try and set up on Heatran, it will hate Gastrodon even more thanks to Toxic.
Also, any team is utilising Tailwind, Icy Wind, or Thunder Wave for speed control will have those moves turned against them by TR, giving my team an inherent advantage against them.
Also, any team is utilising Tailwind, Icy Wind, or Thunder Wave for speed control will have those moves turned against them by TR, giving my team an inherent advantage against them.
To give you all an idea as to how I play this team, I've included some logs:
Vs an opposing Trick Room team
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles9300722
Vs rain team:
http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-smogondoubles9239626
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles9426642
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles9306404
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles8972353 This highlights the effectiveness of Exeggutor against rain teams
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles8779014
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles8779735
vs good stuff:
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles8917617
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles8965510 This highlights the effectiveness of Stockplie Gastrodon
http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-smogondoubles8842608 Taunt is also useful to stop opposing Ditto from using Transform
