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Heyo! I'm Pengu, but a lot of you guys probably already know me from my VGC Rates in this forum and on the designated Discord channels. Well, I decided to carry my doubles knowledge from VGC over to Doubles Ubers, and laddering was actually kind of fun! BEFORE YOU CALL ME A DEGENERATE FOR RUNNING THIS, I would like to tell you that this team has some cool gimmicks and things that I think many would enjoy.
I. Building Process
So, this story all starts with me being bored. I was scrolling through some new stuff posted in the Doubles Ubers thread, and since I have played the tier before (with samples), I decided to craft my own team. So, I took a look at the viability rankings, and right there I saw it:
Lunala really peaked my interest at the time thanks to its ability and rather good matchup into things like Calyrex-Shadow and Koraidon, if you play it right. I haven't actually seen anyone use Lunala really in this tier, so I decided to dabble into VGC to inspiration for my next Pokemon:
This core is probably my favorite in the whole tier (yes I am a certified psyspam enthusiast). Indeedee-F sets terrain for Lunala, and Helping Hand Expanding Force goes stupid. Indeedee-F can play defensive and use Follow Me to let Lunala use Trick Room, or can set Trick Room itself. The next Pokemon I chose actually fits perfectly onto this team I believe, being:
Calyrex-Ice is a top tier threat in almost every meta it is legal in, and here it's no different; Glacial Lance just hits fucking hard. Set up Trick Room or use Helping Hand to get Calyrex-Ice going and it becomes almost impossible to stop it. So far although, the team feels like it can't hit Steel-types, which is a massive issue with Zacian-C and Zamazenta-C running around. Thus, I added:
Yes, Groudon. I'll get to Torkoal later, but basically I liked the idea of Tera Dark Crunch Groudon, since it was funny into Calyrex-Shadow. Precipice Blades and Heat Craah were also just good to hit Steel-types. On second though, Fire Puncu or something is probably better than Heat Wave because everything is heavy, but its alright. To round out this team, I added two Trick Room staples in VGC:
Since the team wasn't really showing any glaring weaknesses, I decides on choosing two Pokemon I'm comfortable with. Amoonguss just puts things to sleep, super fun! And Ursaluna clicks buttons. Also super fun!
As I started testing, the team worked amazing! But as I hit around 1400-1450 ELO, I was stuck. Something felt weak, and it waa Groudon. It was often too slow outside of Trick Room since I ran minimum speed and Iron Ball, and it was always beaten out by good Amoonguss players inside of Trick Room, one of the struggles for this team. I wanted something more reliable when Trick Room was set up. That's when I decided upon:
Torkoal is literally the slowest viable Pokemon I could think of, and it kept the sun up, which was invaluable in Kyogre endgames. It also fared better into the less common but still scary opposing Torkoal and beat out Amoonguss. It was everything I needed, and the team was done.
II. Proof of Peak
III. The Team
Let's get into the team, shall we?
So, this story all starts with me being bored. I was scrolling through some new stuff posted in the Doubles Ubers thread, and since I have played the tier before (with samples), I decided to craft my own team. So, I took a look at the viability rankings, and right there I saw it:
Lunala really peaked my interest at the time thanks to its ability and rather good matchup into things like Calyrex-Shadow and Koraidon, if you play it right. I haven't actually seen anyone use Lunala really in this tier, so I decided to dabble into VGC to inspiration for my next Pokemon:
This core is probably my favorite in the whole tier (yes I am a certified psyspam enthusiast). Indeedee-F sets terrain for Lunala, and Helping Hand Expanding Force goes stupid. Indeedee-F can play defensive and use Follow Me to let Lunala use Trick Room, or can set Trick Room itself. The next Pokemon I chose actually fits perfectly onto this team I believe, being:
Calyrex-Ice is a top tier threat in almost every meta it is legal in, and here it's no different; Glacial Lance just hits fucking hard. Set up Trick Room or use Helping Hand to get Calyrex-Ice going and it becomes almost impossible to stop it. So far although, the team feels like it can't hit Steel-types, which is a massive issue with Zacian-C and Zamazenta-C running around. Thus, I added:
Yes, Groudon. I'll get to Torkoal later, but basically I liked the idea of Tera Dark Crunch Groudon, since it was funny into Calyrex-Shadow. Precipice Blades and Heat Craah were also just good to hit Steel-types. On second though, Fire Puncu or something is probably better than Heat Wave because everything is heavy, but its alright. To round out this team, I added two Trick Room staples in VGC:
Since the team wasn't really showing any glaring weaknesses, I decides on choosing two Pokemon I'm comfortable with. Amoonguss just puts things to sleep, super fun! And Ursaluna clicks buttons. Also super fun!
As I started testing, the team worked amazing! But as I hit around 1400-1450 ELO, I was stuck. Something felt weak, and it waa Groudon. It was often too slow outside of Trick Room since I ran minimum speed and Iron Ball, and it was always beaten out by good Amoonguss players inside of Trick Room, one of the struggles for this team. I wanted something more reliable when Trick Room was set up. That's when I decided upon:
Torkoal is literally the slowest viable Pokemon I could think of, and it kept the sun up, which was invaluable in Kyogre endgames. It also fared better into the less common but still scary opposing Torkoal and beat out Amoonguss. It was everything I needed, and the team was done.
II. Proof of Peak
Username was PenguGuy1
View attachment 717156
View attachment 717156
Let's get into the team, shall we?
Lunala @ Power Anklet
Ability: Shadow Shield
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Moongeist Beam
- Expanding Force
- Wide Guard
This is a relatively standard Psyspam Lunala spread, or is it? Here, I'm running Power Anklet (fuck Iron Ball), cutting my speed in half and then letting me play the Trick Room mode effectively. Trick Room to set my team up, Moongeist Beam as STAB, Expanding Force to abuse terrain and hit hard, and Wide Guard to deny moves like Astral Barrage and Expanding Force from Calyrex-Shadow, Glacial Lance from Calyrex-Ice, and even smaller things like Bleakwind Storm from Tornadus.
Indeedee-F @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Psychic Surge
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Follow Me
- Helping Hand
- Trick Room
- Dazzling Gleam
Next is the main supporter for the team, Indeedee-F. There are only really three things I need to talk about here. First, I chose Psychic Seed to live strong special attacks, specifically from foes like Miraidon. I chose Tera Grass over Tera Water/Fairy because I was really struggling against Amoonguss, and it proves helpful against Smeargle cheese as well. Finally, I chose Dazzling Gleam over Psychic/Psyshock because I wanted to have some way to hit Dark-types, not matter how common they are.
Calyrex-Ice @ Sitrus Berry / Clear Amulet
Ability: As One (Glastrier)
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Protect
- Glacial Lance
- Close Combat
- Trick Room
Next is our next big attacker, Calyrex-Ice. Realistically only three things yet again that I really need to talk about. Sitrus Berry has been super helpful in end games where I need to rely on Calyrex-Ice, but it can get annoying to get Intimidated by Incineroar and getting forced out. Tera Water provides good defensive coverage overall, specifically for things like Koraidon and Zacian-C. Finally, I opted for Close Combat over High Horsepower. Close Combat brought loads more for me, especially against Arceus.
Torkoal @ Charcoal
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Heat Wave
- Eruption
- Weather Ball / Earth Power
- Solar Beam
Again, this set is self explanatory. The only thing I found with Torkoal is that 99% of the time you click Eruption. I also really wanted Earth Power in some games, so you can probably slot it on somewhere over Heat Wave or Weather Ball. I think, for this team, Solar Beam is necessary just to add to the surprise factor of this team.
Amoonguss @ Focus Sash
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Clear Smog
- Pollen Puff / Clear Smog
To be honest, Sash Amoonguss has felt AMAZING! It really helps when trying to set Trick Room, especially on the first turn. Amoonguss guaranteed takes two hits, and if it goes down while one Pokemon sets Trick Room, another sweeper can come into the battle. Tera Ghost feels a bit unnecessary and I never Tera Amoonguss anyways, so change that to your liking. Everything else makes sense, but you can run Protect over Clear Smog if you want.
Ursaluna @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Facade
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Punch
- Protect
The last Pokemon of the bunch, Ursaluna. Everything here is normal, except for the fact that I'm running Ice Punch. Honestly it's just a filler slot since I didn't want to tun Earthquake. You can run Substitute, Crunch, Play Rough, whatever you want in that slot really.
IV. Tough Matchups
Amoonguss has been probably the biggest annoyance to this team, as it underspeeds a majority of the team (notably the two main sweepers) and outspeeds Torkoal outside of Trick Room. It can also use Rage Powder to disrupt or can chip away at my team with Pollen Puff while removing Calyrex-Ice's boosts with Clear Smog. For this, removing it early with a combination of Tera Grass Indeedee-F and Lunala/Calyrex-Ice should work, especially since most don't run Sash. If that fails, Torkoal is your next best answer. Ursaluna is only for dire situations, since it can be hard to position it to OHKO Amoonguss.
Imprison
For some odd reason, Imprison Trick Room Calyrex-Shadow littered the ladder, and made everything considerably harder. Luckily, almost everyone swapped it out once they saw Tera Fairy Lunala. Really just force it off the field or remove it from the game and you should be fine.
Trapping is just really annoying for teams with no pivoting moves and a need to get in sweepers. Removing it isn't super difficult but it definitely makes the game a lot harder to win.
V. Lead Combos
+
Really self explanatory, Indeedee-F helps set Trick Room and Lunala sweeps with Expanding Force (well, not sweeps but beats the opposing side down enough). I lead this pretty much every match, except for when they have a Miraidon/Rillaboom in the back, which most of the time makes me lead...
+Again, relatively self explanatory. It is pretty easy to do, mostly just pressing Trick Room and Rage Powder. Sometimes I use Protect + Spore or just Pollen Puff +Trick Room if I know my Calyrex-Ice will take spread damage, although that mostly doesn't happen.
VI. Replays
VS Offensive Sun
VS Rain (funny forfeit)
VS Kyogre Balance
VS I give up with names like what the fuck is this
VS Arceus-Ice Rain
I COULDNT GET BETTER REPLAYS :skull:
VII. Closing Thoughts
All in all, I liked making people rage LMAO. For real though, I'm just so amazed at hoe these Pokemon mesh together. Anyways, I need help from you guys. PLEAS LEAVE NICKNAME SUGGESTIONS BELOW!!
See ya.
VS Offensive Sun
VS Rain (funny forfeit)
VS Kyogre Balance
VS I give up with names like what the fuck is this
VS Arceus-Ice Rain
I COULDNT GET BETTER REPLAYS :skull:
VII. Closing Thoughts
All in all, I liked making people rage LMAO. For real though, I'm just so amazed at hoe these Pokemon mesh together. Anyways, I need help from you guys. PLEAS LEAVE NICKNAME SUGGESTIONS BELOW!!
See ya.