My Little Keldeo: a Smogon Doubles RMT

[noobcubed]

Changes are in red.

Well, nobody commented on my last RMT, even though it peaked at about 2200 on the PS ladder. Never mind. Inspired by drakeyy, who recently posted his own Research Week team to demonstrate the value of Celebi in Smogon Doubles, I am doing the same with another VGC-illegal OU powerhouse that has often been considered a bit of a misfit in Doubles, the recent suspect Keldeo.

Ever since Doubles, with its unbanning of Swift Swim, was introduced, people have insisted that Keldeo is outclassed by Swift Swimmers. Well here are some reasons why it is not:

1) 129 SpA is way more powerful than Kingdra or Ludicolo, even though these threats run Modest natures while Keldeo has to run Timid. Life Orb Hydro Pump is a scary thing to face, and Keldeo 2HKOs most things.
2) Secret Sword blasts through traditional rain counters like Ferrothorn and the occasional Blissey (which is mostly why it was suspected in OU in the first place). Try killing Ferrothorn with Kingdra.
3) It doesn't need rain, it can function in any weather (though obviously not sun). Swift Swimmers tend to be obliterated by faster threats once their precious rain is removed. Meanwhile Keldeo has a highly decent 108 speed whatever the weather.

Anyway, here's the teambuilding process:

Obviously.

I ran sand to give Keldeo a chance to stand out from Swift Swimmers. Plus the two have tremendous offensive synergy, as Choice Scarf Tyarnitar can outrun and take out the likes of Latios, Tornadus, Thundurus, Salamence and Scarf Jellicent (to name a few), against which Keldeo struggles.

SubTran, to my mind, almost qualifies as a sand abuser. That 6% being drained from the opponent's health bar every turn while Heatran makes more Substitutes can add up in a metagame where not much stuff bothers with either passive or instant recovery. He's become my primary win condition.

Yikes, Heatran and Tyranitar share quite a few weaknesses. I'd better add something that can switch into Water-, Ground- and Fighting-type attacks without blinking. Fortunately just such a Pokemon exists and it has arguably the best ability in the metagame to boot.

Yes, it's Wolfe's famous Heatran/Cresselia combo, but I don't subscribe to those Skill Swap/Levitate shenanigans, it's too situational for my taste. Still, it can run Sunny Day to buff Heatran's attacks and stick two fingers up at rain, and provides speed control and another Ground-type immunity.

Amoonguss and Heatran have awesome defensive synergy: with one exception, each type which one is weak to is resisted by the other. This means that often Amoonguss can merrily Rage Powder as Heatran sets up a Substitute. Also, it's the only thing on this team has an Electric-type resist, which is important.

In full:

Keldeo @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power Electric
- Protect
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 30 SpA
Timid Nature
​

I've already waxed lyrical about Keldeo in the introduction, but I'd like to reiterate quite how powerful it is. That third moveslot proved troublesome to fill: I tried Taunt, Substitute, Icy Wind, Calm Mind and other Hidden Powers. I'm going with Hidden Power Electric because of my team's issue with bulky Water-types. Of the other stuff I tried, Substitute was probably best but with Life Orb and sand damage I often ended up dying behind the Sub, which is so not the point. Keldeo is actually really good at countering rain once the inevitable Kingdra has been dealt with.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 SpA
Jolly Nature
​

Despite the fact that Scarf Tyranitar has a Smogon analysis which calls it "one of the biggest threats in the metagame", people never seem to expect Tyranitar to be holding a Choice Scarf, so this thing can get a fair few unexpected kills. Several times opponents have lost Tornadus because they expected to kill Tyranitar first with Superpower and Tyranitar has got in first with Stone Edge. If all else fails, Rock Slide flinch hax can get the job done. Tyranitar outruns and kills several other threats, and normally I'm quite happy to let it die after it has killed its designated target.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
- Heat Wave
-Earth Power
- Substitute
- Protect
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Modest Nature
​

SubTran seems to be the flavour of the month. But with good reason: it is very effective. Once Heatran has a Substitute intact at the end of the turn it is often game over as far as my opponent is involved. Heatran appreciates both Cresselia's sun and Tyranitar's sand, and Heat Wave is great for sweeping teams when boosted by Cresselia's Sunny Day. I've used it over Eruption here because just putting up a Substitute takes away 25% of Eruption's power to start with, although the perfect accuracy would be nice. The success of this set has left me considering taking it one step further and running Torment, as it occasionally does in singles.

Gyarados @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Intimidate
- Waterfall
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
IVs: 0 SpA
Careful Nature
​

Nothing much to say here. A standard set and it does what it's supposed to do. Taunt is mostly useful versus Trick Room as Gyarados's Taunt is not the fastest, though it can be nice to catch Pranksters and the like on the switch. Waterfall, even uninvested, packs a punch when boosted by opponent's rain, but considering most rain teams on the ladder seem to be composed of six Water types anyway, it isn't always the most useful thing. Thunder Wave cripples stuff, obviously, and is really vital for slowing down other threats, although sadly it works against Cresselia's Trick Room. 44 speed EVs creep opposing Cresselia.

Cresselia @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Sunny Day
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 112 SpA / 8 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Calm Nature
​

Cresselia is one of those Pokemon that can viably run about ten different moves, and it is the task of the teambuilder to pick the ones which are needed the most. Ice Beam 2HKOs Tornadus and Yache Berry Garchomp, and has a 50% chance to OHKO Shaymin-S, which are notable threats to this team. I've gone for Trick Room mostly as a way of countering dedicated Tailwind teams that can rip me to shreds; since it trumps all other forms of speed control it is really the only speed control needed. I know Sunny Day looks weird when I have two Water-types on my team but without it I keep getting run over by rain teams. Plus it can pave the way for Heatran to sweep.

Amoonguss @ Mental Herb
Ability: Regenerator
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Giga Drain
- Protect
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Def / 168 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
Sassy Nature
​

Everyone knows about Amoonguss and how annoying it is. It is highly bulky, surviving both Modest Hydreigon's Draco Meteor and Timid Latios's Psyshock with the given EVs. I have given it minimum speed to allow it to counter Trick Room, which is a role in which it excels. If Gyarados's Taunt is the best thing I can do to prevent Trick Room, Amoonguss is the best Plan B, immediately sleeping the most dangerous threat. Apart from that, Rage Powder. Mental Herb allows me to get in one more Rage Powder in the face of Taunt users, and that can sometimes make all the difference.

Threats to this team:

​

Defiant Variants stop Gyarados from ever switching in, which can be a bit limiting, and Prankster Variants get up Tailwind without fail and exploit my already slow-ish team. Apart from Cresselia, everything is destroyed by either Acrobatics or Superpower, and Cresselia can't take Taunt very well. By luck not design, Tyranitar is just fast and powerful enough to OHKO it with Stone Edge after an Intimidate, but if it gets in with Tailwind up I am in trouble unless I can activate Trick Room.

​

Tyranitar can revenge most other Dragon-types but can't do the same to Garchomp, who has a little more bulk than most. Cresselia's Ice Beam is only a 2HKO, and Keldeo's Hydro Pump falls short of being an OHKO too. For that reason I often have to play around it a bit with Gyarados's Intimidate, which can be a problem if (as it often is) Garchomp is partnered with Zapdos.

Keldeo's Secret Sword just barely 2HKOs Gastrodon. Same for Amoonguss's Giga Drain. And it is a massive problem for Gyarados, Heatran and Tyranitar, hard countering the lot. Other bulky Water-types - Gyarados, Manaphy, Suicune, Slowking, Jellicent and Swampert - are all problematic but this is certainly the worst and sadly also the most common.

Since nothing on the team approaches Shaymin-S's lightning-fast speed tier and I have limited speed control, this thing can and has flinched me to death when my predictive powers and the random number generator conspire against me. If Amoonguss is around I will be okay since I can absorb a Seed Flare and Thunder Wave/Ice Beam the thing.

​

This team contains no priority attacks, not even Fake Out. Therefore Deoxys-A is a massive bitch, and will score at least one KO if played well. Cresselia is the best answer, but will still take a lot from Dark Pulse.

 

[youngjake93]

You might want to try physically defensive Cress with Ice Beam.
It deals with the two threats listed pretty well. It can go over Icy Wind or Sunny Day, which both look like they only support Heatran while Sunny Day actually hinders most of your team.
Leftovers on Gyarados could probably help some, but your call.

I like the pairing of Scarftar and Keldeo a lot. It is a lot different from how I paired Keldeo with Latios. The rest of the team does a good job of filling in the holes and controlling the pace of the game. You even run several TR deterrents, which is great for reliably getting through the middle of the ladder where it is fairly dominant.
I also agree that HP Electric is the best HP in doubles, but that the rare opportunities to use CM/Taunt/Icy Wind are usually worth more.

 

[Drakeyy]

I would run superpower > FB on Ttar. This team looks like it has serious problems with Hydreigon and it gives you an answer to that especially considering heatran answers everything that fire blast covered. I would also drop Sunny Day on Cress and the Sitrus Berry and replace it with Chesto Berry and Rest, and I would drop Icy wind for Ice beam and run 112 SpA EVs to gurantee a 2hko on Tornadus and a 2hko on Garchomp even with yache.

 

[Pocket]

Interesting Amoonguss spread ;o. With Gyarados's maximum invest in special bulk, it can tank Hydreigon's boosted Draco Meteor, with a high probability of surviving another DM after the special fall (especially without sand damage). I would highly suggest Leftovers on Gyarados, though, to counteract the health drop from sand. You have Amoonguss and Cresselia for tanking Electric moves, and Gyarados should not be taking these hits anyways, even if it could.

I have a mixed feeling about Sunny Day on Cresselia - it helps out Heatran, but Gyarados, Keldeo, and maybe even Amoonguss wont necessarily appreciate it. Granted it's just another form of weather control to screw Rain and Hail teams, but it just seems a bit awkward. You may want to consider Thunder Wave or Trick Room over Sunny Day instead, providing another form of Speed control when Icy Wind isn't the best option. Reflect is also an option to provide buffer against Tornadus and Garchomp.

 

[noobcubed]

I have adopted these changes and put them in red. Really appreciate the feedback. :)

EDIT: I know you guys don't like Sunny Day Cresselia but without it I have been run over by rain teams. Changed it back again.