woo 100 wins
After playing over one hundred matches in Doubles, I feel I'm qualified to start talking about it as a metagame - it is awesome, for starters. Completely awesome, hands down the best metagame I've played yet, capable of insane plays and batshit maneuvers impossible in any other metagame. It's not polished yet, but I think we're coming close to the point where we should start being a bit more serious about Doubles future as a metagame.
As it stands, nothing "stands out" as broken right now in Doubles - and that is completely
glorious on so many levels. While Skymin's BS might get a bit obnoxious at times, it's really not that bad even, and that's pretty much the only case I can think off of the top of my head. I think that, once we start entering the Suspect phase, we should actually try to bring things
down - Doubles seems like a metagame where bringing things down from ubers is actually a valid, legitimate, possible option.
But wherever the future path we take, I think we have something extremely promising on our hands here. I have seen a plethora of pokemon and combos used in my doubles escapedes, from the basic ZapEtic Discharge to a surprisingly ingenious Heatran Bronzong Skill Swap wombo combo. While there is much we can learn from VGC, it is clear the extra two pokemon add an extra layer to Doubles that none of us could have seen coming, as well as the unbanned pokemon.
And with that, I would like to talk about one of them.
INTRODUCING:
#386 - Deoxys
The DNA Pokemon
Attack Forme
Type:
BST: 600
50 HP / 180 Attack / 20 Defense / 180 Special Attack / 20 Special Defense / 150 Speed
Right off the bat, the first thing that leaps out at you are Deoxys-Attack's absolutely
insane attacking stats: 180/180/150 is sufficient to outspeed, outmurder, and outmatch every other attacker in the entire game with both physical and special attacks. Combined with a movepool that has just enough coverage and raw might to obliterate your foes, Deoxys-A is
the epitome of offense. Unfortunately, these are matched up with paper-thin 50/20/20 defenses - Deoxys-A will survive, at
best, extremely weak neutral spread attacks. But it's okay, Deoxys-A doesn't need to live that long - the best defense is a dead enemy.
Items
The most important decision you will make on your Deoxys is yet the most simple choice - will you be using Life Orb, or Focus Sash? This choice will effect not only what moves you use, but the very way you use Deoxys-A: Life Orb sets work better as cleanup sweepers, able to obliterate the remnants of a weakened team, while Focus Sash sets will attempt to launch an absolutely devastating initial salvo which your opponent will be extremely hardpressed to recover from.
Life Orb
Pros:
- Gains more OHKOs then Focus Sash
- Has more upfront killing potential
- Makes Deoxys-A an absolutely terrifying cleanup sweeper
Cons:
- Not as good at leading off
- Loses saftey coushion that Focus Sash provides
- Recoil, however moot in the grand scheme of things, will make surviving even the weakest of blows like a midsummer night's dream
Focus Sash
Pros:
- Provides Deoxys-A a layer of saftey
- Turns it into an absolutely terrifying lead
- Allows Deoxys-A to BS around some things that would otherwise kill it
Cons:
- Loses out on some OHKOs
- Passive damage renders it almost useless
Moveset
While Deoxys-A has a plethora of moves at its disposal, it ultimately comes down to five main moves: Psycho Boost, Ice Beam, Superpower, Extremespeed, and Protect. For starters, you need to run Protect on literally every set - It simply provides far too much utility, from stalling out crucial turns of Trick Room/Tailwind, to preventing Deoxys-A from dying/sash breaking to Fake Out, the sheer
utility of Protect cannot be forsaken. From there, Psycho Boost is also mandatory, as it does far too much damage to not be a staple of every single Deoxys-A set. In addition, Superpower cannot be dropped either, as without it, the likes of Tyranitar, Cacturne, and Ferrothorn would simply stop Deoxys-A cold.
Thusly, in the end, the choice will depend on what you desire, and what item you are using: Life Orb users cannot afford to miss out on Extremespeed's priority, while Focus Sash users can choose between Extremespeed for Priority, or rely on Ice Beam to take out the surprisingly bulky pokemon which are quad weak to Ice (Gilscor, Salamence, Landorus-T, Garchomp, just to name a few). There are also a number of other options you can consider, such as Hidden Power [Fire], but that will depend on your team and what you, exactly, need from your Deoxys-A.
EVs
252 Spatk / 252 Spe Rash / Naive. Nuff said.
Support
Deoxys-A is not a pokemon that needs a ton of support if you are using a Sash set - in that case, it
is the support, the best form of support you can get - outright killing things. On the other hand, if you are using Life Orb, you will want more support, but it isn't absolutely mandatory to build your team around Deoxys-A - but it will provide you great results if you do. You will, however, in both cases require at least some support.
Hands down, the best support Deoxys-A can get is Fake Out, allowing it to kill one pokemon with its unparalleled power while the other can do naught but just sit there, helpless, watching its best friend be torn asunder by the space viruses' galactic might. The best team-mate Deoxys-A can get is probably Hitmontop, as it provides not only Intimidate support for your entire team, allowing Deoxys-A to survive slightly more attacks then usual, but also provides the crucial moves Close Combat, Sucker Punch, and Wide Guard, which, in turn, allow Deoxys-A to not have to break its sash on Ferrothorn/take out double Psychic resist-Fighting weak leads at the same time (surprisingly common), take out Mono-Psychic types which give Deoxys-A serious trouble/take out weakened Scarfers before they can touch Deoxys-A, and protect Deoxys-A from moves such as Heat Wave, Rock Slide, and Surf, which would be suffficent to OHKO.
Other options include almost every Fake Out user. Even Persian has use if you want to ensure you win the Fake Out war, which Deoxys-A extremely appreciates. Use the Fake Out user that best fits your team - but if you lack a particular need, Hitmontop is Deoxys-A's best partner in crime.
Deoxys-A also appreciates Imprison Trick Room support, for obvious reasons, as well as Rage Powder/Follow Me (Amoongus!) support, Wide Guard support, Quick Guard support, and anything that generally either takes the heat off of it or makes its job easier.
Using Deoxys-A
The most important part of using Deoxys-A is knowing when to let it live, to reset its special attack/physical attack drops and come back in later for round two, and when to let it die. This will be something you can only learn from playing with it, but it is by far the most important skill to master.
While in general Deoxys-A boils down to just clicking on buttons and watching things die, you must also remember to establish a
threat priority when using Deoxys-A - You must look at what DeoxysA can OHKO, what your partner can OHKO/KO in general, and what is most important to KO at any given time. As Deoxys-A is extremely fragile, you must carefully weigh which pokemon it should target at any given time - odds are more then likely you won't get a second shot.
And above all else, never forget that the best defense is a good offense.
Sample Set
Here's a Deoxys-A set to get you started.
Flandre (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Rash Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Ice Beam
- Superpower
- Protect
Now go out there, and rain down carnage with this absolute terror from space! The sheer power of Deoxys-A cannot be conveyed with mere words - it is simply something you must try for yourself. Once you get a chance to try for yourself the sheer, outrageous power of this titan, you'll find yourself pleased with the results. The fact that I spent over an hour and a half typing up this post should speak volumes of how great Deoxys-A is.