SS Doubles OU Gardevoir and Dragapult lead

[Unoi90]

Hi all.
I have started playing competitive pokemon some days ago and this is my first serious team, do you have any tips to improve it?
I am not really sure if this is the right place for Doubles Teams, in case it is not... sorry :)

Gardevoir @ Mental Herb
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SpD / 64 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Reflect
- Helping Hand
- Protect
The idea behind Gardevoir is to support Dragapult and spread Paralysis on the enemy team.
I usually lead with it, together with Dragapult or Scizor. With Mental Herb it is immune to Taunts, that completely blocks it.
After Reflect it can use Thunder Wave to paralyse fast pokemon, or use Helping Hand to secure a first kill.

Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Pulse
- Hex
- Thunderbolt
- Fire Blast
Lead with it and try to get an early kill.
Good coverage and Hex works well with Thunderwave. Life Orb for increased damage.
If it is not used as a Lead it can be a good Revenge killer with Hex, since it is really easy to spread conditions. Its good coverage can solve many problems.

Scizor @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Acrobatics
- U-turn
- X-Scissor
It can be a lead, instead of Dragapult, mantaining tempo with U-turn.
Can Revenge kill with Bullet Punch and then, if not defeated, can return with U-turn.
Assault Vest is needed to try to soak some attacks.

Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Iron Head
- Bulk Up
- Drill Peck
When the main threats are remove it can enter, it can Bulk up, Roost if needed, soak some punches with Rocky Helmet and then start to sweep the last adversaries with Iron Head and Drill Peak.
I have seen it is very good to counter Physical enemies that doesn't have fire moves.

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Tail
- Protect
- Waterfall
Gyarados offers coverage on fire Pokemon as this team is really susceptible to fire.
Can sweep with Dragon Dance and can remove enemy pokemon with increased stats with dragon tail.
A good Waterfall + Helping Hand is perfect to remove fast fire pokemon (Cinderace, Charizard), expecially if they are paralysed.

Amoonguss @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect
Works as a Wall with Toxic, protect and Giga Drain. It can enter after Gyarados to soak an electrical move.
With Dragapult, Is one of the answers to enemy water pokemon.
With Regenerator and Leftovers it can really stick on the field, and become really difficult to remove.
Toxic is used to remove enemy pokemons with increades stats or other Tanks/Walls.


Any tips? I have seen that it is really difficult to not lose Dragapult after 1 or 2 attacks, do you think it would be better to lead with another pokemon instead of it?

 

[AustinXX555]

Like the team overall but I think a few changes could help make it better

Gardevoir -> Grimmsnarl
Grimmsnarl (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Thunder Wave
- Fake Tears

Grimmsnarl can allow you to set up screens and thunder waves much safer thanks to Prankster, and you won't have to worry about it getting taunted either due to its typing, allowing you to ditch mental herb for Light Clay to allow your screens to last longer.

Acrobatics -> Dual Wingbeat
Thanks to Technician, Dual Wingbeat is boosted from an 80 power move to a 120 power move, which is essentially Brave Bird with the only downside being a 10% chance to miss. This also puts it at a higher BP than Acrobatics even with Vest knocked off.

Finally I'd recommend putting Rage Powder for your Amoonguss as it can allow you to keep pult alive for an extra turn or two, or even allow you Gyrados or Corvinight to set up more safely. However, I'm not quite sure which move you should replace it for, so I'll leave that decision up to you.

Hope these changes help you out. Happy Climbing!

 

[xzern]

Hi unoi09. I like your team! The idea behind the team is good, but your sets could be improved. Ill try to give a good rate for you here.

-> or

sets

Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Tailwind
- Helping Hand / Encore / Taunt
- Protect

Mew @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fake Out
- Tailwind
- Pollen Puff / Will-o-Wisp
- Transform / U-Turn / Stealth Rock /

When it comes to support mons, consistency is key. With your Gardevoir, you will have to worry about being quickly dispatched by band Urshifu and being outsped frequently in general, which isnt a good look for a speed control user. Whimsicott is an easy to use, reliable support mon in dou for prankster tailwind and other priority utlity. Priority tailwind means you usually wont have to worry about an enemy taunt stopping your speed control.

Mew is another great option with a good speed tier, and is my favorite support to use in doubles. Your team could also use a fake out user, which is good for leads as well. The set I posted here is my mew of choice, but its movepool is so vast that you can run almost anything else you want. Transform and Pollen Puff will work nicely with your two setup sweepers. If you are set on hex Dragapult, you could also use Grimmsnarl for prankster twave and screens, but I have found these other two to be more applicable and easier to use.

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set

Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpD
Impish Nature
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
- Flare Blitz
- Parting Shot

Like you said, your team has a noticeable fire weakness; any opponent with Volcarona is gonna prioritize killing or disabling your Gyarados and sweeping. I think you should consider Incineroar for this slot because it is a great pivot that keeps momentum with fake out and parting shot, while also being a great fire-switch in and sun check. If you would rather keep Scizor instead, replace x-scissor with bug bite and acrobatics with dual wingbeat.

Below are what I think to be more optimal sets for your other mons:

Dragapult

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt / U-Turn

Dragapult can feel kind of underwhelming at times. This is remedied with the use of specs and draco meteor, which lets you use dragapult as a fast nuke. The raw immediate power you will get with specs is probably more reliable then having to set up with hex. Remember to use Dragapult's fake out immunity to pressure other leads, as multiple fake out users on the same team is quite common. Common fake out users that pult can pressure well include Blastoise, Rillaboom, and Gothitelle. It's also fine if you dont like specs and would rather keep life orb, but remember to at least use draco meteor for your dragon stab slot.

Gyarados

Gyarados @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Power Whip / Double Edge
- Protect
- Waterfall

Dragon Tail is a weak move with negative priority, not useful on a setup sweeper. You can use Power Whip to hit other waters, or Double-Edge for strong neutral damage. I think you should try sitrus berry over lum, its a very useful and common berry.

Amoonguss

Amoonguss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Pollen Puff
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Protect

Amoonguss's usefulness in doubles is exclusively as a redirector and sleep user (which is pretty good!) Use rage powder to enable corviknight and gyarados to set up. Use spore to spread sleep and get free turns. Note that doubles has no sleep clause.

 

[Unoi90]

Thank you both for your precious tips: I will surely try both.

I was a bit skeptical of Draco Meteor since it lowers Dragapult Special Attack, but maybe, since it usually dies really fast or it is forced to retreat, this shouldn't be a problem.