nobody makes doubles RMTs so I gotta make one myself
So a while back I made KyleCole make a video with a Charjabug team I built for VGC, and he went 8-0 with it on the ladder. I was thinking about how I was able to bend him to my iron will when I considered making a similar team for Doubles OU. I decided maybe Charjabug wasn't the meta call this time (pure support mons are usually a fair bit worse in 6v6 than 4v4, where you can just not bring it to the game), but stuck with the rain theme. I think rain is pretty strong right now, with a lot of common teams only having one or two Water resists (and 50% of their Water resist needs being filled by Mega Salamence). Speed control is as important as ever, and being able to have a FAST AS FUCK BOIII seahorse turn 1 launching powerful Rain-boosted attacks puts a lot of pressure on the opponent, especially when their Speed control 'mons have less-than-stellar Kingdra matchups. Of course, I might just be talking out my ass.
Pictured: "the rain theme."
Tapu Koko is one of the best Pokemon available in the format, being able to outspeed and deal heavy damage to Mega Salamence, Shaymin-S, and many others. It also gets strong STAB Thunder. Win/win.
So with the core out of the way, I went to assemble the back end of the team. But when you need to run a Grass type, something that can capably use Fire moves, another Ground immunity, and a Steel, all in Rain, things get a little tricky. (RIP Talonflame, you were so brave ;_;7) After a lot of mental tossing and turning, I ended up with Tapu Bulu and Heatran here.
idk Mega Mence seemed like the best option here for a Mega. It gets Intimidate, and going back I couldn't think of any good replacements that filled all my criteria...
Pelipper @
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Tailwind
I'm not forced to use Politoed any more! Wait no this mon still kinda sucks. But with a slightly more useful typing than Politoed and access to Tailwind, Pelipper is a great choice over Politoed. Scald and Hurricane both have 30% effect rates, making the Pokemon a little annoying to switch into, and Tailwind is incredibly useful in the meta right now. I wasn't feeling like coming up with a good EV spread, so max/max Modest will have to do. It's decent at taking hits, although it isn't really anything special in that regard.
Kingdra @
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Muddy Water
Kingdra on the other hand is something special. There's something awe-inspiring about Kingdra consistently being a top Swift Swim user and competing with the very best in the meta every year despite a mediocre stat line. Waterium Z brings out even more of Kingdra's potential; Hydro Vortex in rain shreds through just about anything that doesn't invest a ton into bulk, and even the things that do will have trouble taking it. Kingdra absolutely shines in the lategame, where it can clean up teams with Muddy Water and Hydro Vortex, yet it's able to make its presence known through the entire battle. Muddy Water is ultimately why I chose it over Ludicolo - I felt that having a strong spread option would be important.
Tapu Koko @
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 40 HP / 172 SpA / 64 SpD / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nature's Madness
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
I really, really like Assault Vest Tapu Koko. There's really no better way I can say that. AV is super useful on Tapu Koko for, well, not dying. While it's still pretty frail, Assault Vest makes it much better at taking on Mega Salamence and Shaymin-Inherently Broken-Sky, with the latter now not being able to KO it with anything + Air Slash. I can't remember what physical benchmark I wanted to hit but it was probably important.
While on a previous team I had Sky Drop, I opted to run Nature's Madness on this team. Nature's Madness helps me break down the bulkier Pokemon I'd have trouble getting through later in the game, such as Cresselia, Jirachi, and (especially) Ferrothorn. Thunder does a fuck load of damage in Electric Terrain. Unfortunately HP Ice is pretty garbage with so little Special Attack, but honestly it puts everything important in Muddy Water range, so it's cool. Dazzling Gleam would be a waste on this set due to the lack of SpA investment.
Tapu Bulu @
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed
- Taunt
Although Tapu Bulu is admittedly not that strong in the meta right now, I felt it was the right choice for this team in the end. Bulu helps me take on opposing Rain teams and other strong Water-type attackers without chunking out Koko or putting Kingdra in harm's way, and also allows me to generally annoy support Pokemon with the combination of Leech Seed + Taunt while keeping itself healthy through all the recovery in its kit. It's also one of the best Lando-T checks in the game with Grass Terrain, although I do need to beware of the occasional Sludge Bomb variants. The EV spread is pretty arbitrary; I was just going for general bulk.
Heatran @
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 24 HP / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
One of the things I loved about Talonflame last gen was its ability to fit onto Rain perfectly, despite being a Fire-type. With the bravest bird off to conquer the past, I had to find a new option for a Fire 'mon in Rain. I eventually decided Heatran was the best candidate, with a strong and relevant STAB not neutered by the weather. But just running Heatran wasn't enough. If I'm gonna be relying on Flash Cannon, I'm going ham. Life Orb Timid Heatran with Fire Blast is the kind of set you run when you've thrown caution to the wind and decided that if you're gonna go out, it's gonna be in a blaze of glory like nobody's ever seen. The kind of set you make your name on. The kind of set that'll live with you beyond this world.
Heatran is also a great Sun check. 24 HP lets it tank an Earthquake from Adamant Landorus-T in Grassy Terrain, although it'll die to LO recoil shortly after. At least it does a fuck load of damage before that happens.
Salamence @
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 60 Atk / 196 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Double-Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Hyper Voice
I'm really glad Mega Salamence is legal! It was never broken. Beyond Intimidate though, Mence doesn't really add a lot to the team that doesn't exist. What it does offer is a ball of stats backed with strong spread and 120 base Speed. It's just a really good Pokemon, and I think it works well with the team. Mence is a pretty solid early-game dragon, which is an area where Kingdra falls short.
I don't really have anything else to say that hasn't already been said here or in the title, so I'll leave you with the RSE gym leader remix I've been listening to on repeat for the past hour. Have a good day, and thanks for any feedback you might have!
So a while back I made KyleCole make a video with a Charjabug team I built for VGC, and he went 8-0 with it on the ladder. I was thinking about how I was able to bend him to my iron will when I considered making a similar team for Doubles OU. I decided maybe Charjabug wasn't the meta call this time (pure support mons are usually a fair bit worse in 6v6 than 4v4, where you can just not bring it to the game), but stuck with the rain theme. I think rain is pretty strong right now, with a lot of common teams only having one or two Water resists (and 50% of their Water resist needs being filled by Mega Salamence). Speed control is as important as ever, and being able to have a FAST AS FUCK BOIII seahorse turn 1 launching powerful Rain-boosted attacks puts a lot of pressure on the opponent, especially when their Speed control 'mons have less-than-stellar Kingdra matchups. Of course, I might just be talking out my ass.
Pictured: "the rain theme."
Tapu Koko is one of the best Pokemon available in the format, being able to outspeed and deal heavy damage to Mega Salamence, Shaymin-S, and many others. It also gets strong STAB Thunder. Win/win.
So with the core out of the way, I went to assemble the back end of the team. But when you need to run a Grass type, something that can capably use Fire moves, another Ground immunity, and a Steel, all in Rain, things get a little tricky. (RIP Talonflame, you were so brave ;_;7) After a lot of mental tossing and turning, I ended up with Tapu Bulu and Heatran here.
idk Mega Mence seemed like the best option here for a Mega. It gets Intimidate, and going back I couldn't think of any good replacements that filled all my criteria...
Pelipper @
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Tailwind
I'm not forced to use Politoed any more! Wait no this mon still kinda sucks. But with a slightly more useful typing than Politoed and access to Tailwind, Pelipper is a great choice over Politoed. Scald and Hurricane both have 30% effect rates, making the Pokemon a little annoying to switch into, and Tailwind is incredibly useful in the meta right now. I wasn't feeling like coming up with a good EV spread, so max/max Modest will have to do. It's decent at taking hits, although it isn't really anything special in that regard.
Kingdra @
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Muddy Water
Kingdra on the other hand is something special. There's something awe-inspiring about Kingdra consistently being a top Swift Swim user and competing with the very best in the meta every year despite a mediocre stat line. Waterium Z brings out even more of Kingdra's potential; Hydro Vortex in rain shreds through just about anything that doesn't invest a ton into bulk, and even the things that do will have trouble taking it. Kingdra absolutely shines in the lategame, where it can clean up teams with Muddy Water and Hydro Vortex, yet it's able to make its presence known through the entire battle. Muddy Water is ultimately why I chose it over Ludicolo - I felt that having a strong spread option would be important.
Tapu Koko @
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 40 HP / 172 SpA / 64 SpD / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nature's Madness
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
I really, really like Assault Vest Tapu Koko. There's really no better way I can say that. AV is super useful on Tapu Koko for, well, not dying. While it's still pretty frail, Assault Vest makes it much better at taking on Mega Salamence and Shaymin-
252 SpA Shaymin-S Air Slash vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 45-54 (15.4 - 18.5%)
252 SpA Shaymin-S Earth Power vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 146-172 (50.1 - 59.1%)
4 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 40 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 123-145 (42.2 - 49.8%)
252 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 48-57 (16.4 - 19.5%)
136+ SpA Tapu Fini Muddy Water vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko in Rain: 103-123 (35.3 - 42.2%)
136+ SpA Tapu Fini Moonblast vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 97-115 (33.3 - 39.5%)
this one is less relevant:
252+ SpA Heatran Inferno Overdrive (175 BP) vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 246-289 (84.5 - 99.3%)
252 SpA Shaymin-S Earth Power vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 146-172 (50.1 - 59.1%)
4 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 40 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 123-145 (42.2 - 49.8%)
252 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 48-57 (16.4 - 19.5%)
136+ SpA Tapu Fini Muddy Water vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko in Rain: 103-123 (35.3 - 42.2%)
136+ SpA Tapu Fini Moonblast vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 97-115 (33.3 - 39.5%)
this one is less relevant:
252+ SpA Heatran Inferno Overdrive (175 BP) vs. 40 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Koko: 246-289 (84.5 - 99.3%)
Tapu Bulu @
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed
- Taunt
Although Tapu Bulu is admittedly not that strong in the meta right now, I felt it was the right choice for this team in the end. Bulu helps me take on opposing Rain teams and other strong Water-type attackers without chunking out Koko or putting Kingdra in harm's way, and also allows me to generally annoy support Pokemon with the combination of Leech Seed + Taunt while keeping itself healthy through all the recovery in its kit. It's also one of the best Lando-T checks in the game with Grass Terrain, although I do need to beware of the occasional Sludge Bomb variants. The EV spread is pretty arbitrary; I was just going for general bulk.
Heatran @
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 24 HP / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
One of the things I loved about Talonflame last gen was its ability to fit onto Rain perfectly, despite being a Fire-type. With the bravest bird off to conquer the past, I had to find a new option for a Fire 'mon in Rain. I eventually decided Heatran was the best candidate, with a strong and relevant STAB not neutered by the weather. But just running Heatran wasn't enough. If I'm gonna be relying on Flash Cannon, I'm going ham. Life Orb Timid Heatran with Fire Blast is the kind of set you run when you've thrown caution to the wind and decided that if you're gonna go out, it's gonna be in a blaze of glory like nobody's ever seen. The kind of set you make your name on. The kind of set that'll live with you beyond this world.
Heatran is also a great Sun check. 24 HP lets it tank an Earthquake from Adamant Landorus-T in Grassy Terrain, although it'll die to LO recoil shortly after. At least it does a fuck load of damage before that happens.
Salamence @
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 60 Atk / 196 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Double-Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Hyper Voice
I'm really glad Mega Salamence is legal! It was never broken. Beyond Intimidate though, Mence doesn't really add a lot to the team that doesn't exist. What it does offer is a ball of stats backed with strong spread and 120 base Speed. It's just a really good Pokemon, and I think it works well with the team. Mence is a pretty solid early-game dragon, which is an area where Kingdra falls short.
I don't really have anything else to say that hasn't already been said here or in the title, so I'll leave you with the RSE gym leader remix I've been listening to on repeat for the past hour. Have a good day, and thanks for any feedback you might have!
Last edited: