Official Doubles Usage Stats - May 2014

[Audiosurfer]

While we were ahead of LC and NU Beta, our current monthly plays puts us behind p. much everyone else (we're around 1/3rd of Ubers' plays for the month). Let's aim to fix that for June :) At around 130k though we're far from dying (although Gen 5 Doubles is well and truly dead with 73 battles for the month lol).

Usage Stats:
Smogon Doubles stats
Smogon Doubles 1760 stats
Smogon Doubles (suspect ladder) stats
Smogon Doubles (suspect ladder) 1760 stats
Gen V stats

Metagame:
Smogon Doubles Metagame stats
Smogon Doubles 1760 Metagame stats
Smogon Doubles (suspect ladder) Metagame stats
Smogon Doubles (suspect ladder) 1760 Metagame stats

Other:
Smogon Doubles Mega Usage
Smogon Doubles (suspect ladder) lead stats
Smogon Doubles (suspect ladder) 1760 lead stats
Smogon Doubles Movesets
Smogon Doubles 1760 Movesets
Smogon Doubles (suspect ladder) Movesets
Smogon Doubles (suspect ladder) 1760 Movesets

Doubles UU Banlist:
Abomasnow, Aegislash, Aerodactyl, Amoonguss, Aromatisse, Azumarill, Bisharp, Breloom, Chandelure, Charizard, Conkeldurr, Cresselia, Dragonite, Dusclops, Excadrill, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Gardevoir, Genesect, Gengar, Greninja, Gyarados, Heatran, Hitmontop, Infernape, Kangaskhan, Klefki, Kyurem-Black, Landorus-Therian, Latios, Lucario, Mamoswine, Manectric, Mawile, Meowstic, Politoed, Rotom-Wash, Salamence, Scizor, Scrafty, Shaymin-Sky, Sylveon, Talonflame, Terrakion, Thundurus, Togekiss, Tyranitar, Venusaur, Volcarona, Whimsicott, Zapdos

(bolded Pokemon are rising from Doubles UU)

The following Pokemon were previously Doubles OU and are now Doubles UU:
Alakazam, Clefable, Gastrodon, Gliscor, Goodra, Jolteon, Metagross, Ninetales, Reuniclus, Sableye, Trevenant, Weavile

So friends, discuss :)

 

[AuraRayquaza]

Ok so ive only looked at the 1760 stats for dubs because greninja is #2 on the non-1760 -.-

On the non suspect ladder stats, heatran makes at top appearance, and that surprised me quite a lot. It would seem that, even though sets like subtran are dying out, other sets like shuca tran and eruptran are still very much used. Heatrans great typing also helps it a lot, it can take kangas unboosted hits without much trouble and hit back with a strong fire attack. It also walls some big threats in the meta, like talonflame and charizard.

Kanga i expected to be #1. It is just so good on a ladder where offense is a very good/used playstyle, because it can provide fake out support and sucker punch priority. However, clearly tran's great typing trumps kangas raw power on tbis ladder.

Lando t and talonflame take the next two spots, and they dont really surprise me. Lando t is one of the best pokes in the meta atm. It has so many moveset options (e.g. sash and scarf) and provides invaluable intimidate support for any team, usually, you wont lose much by putting lando t on your 6th slot. Talon has also been on the rise in a highly offensive meta (going by metagame stats), as its blazing fast speed and priority brave bird are just so good, being able to revenge kill and dangerous poke or just apply offensive pressure. It can also go support mode with WoW and tailwind, or even quick guard. I guess this poke is the reason why rotom and tran are where they are, which really says a lot.

Rotom-w and togekiss come up next. Togekiss is a great poke. The fairy typing helped it massively, as it is immune to dragon attack now and can use follow me to even better effect. Safety goggles can also be used to wall breloom and make it useless. It also serves as a great partner to kanga, and on offense in general, as it can redirect strong attacks or status to allow its ally to bash the opposing team. Rotom-w, im actually really surpised. It is still a good poke, as it only has one weakness and WoW to support a team. however, i find that it gets overpowered a lot and very easily by pokes like kanga, skymin, and dragons. Although that might just be me, it would be nice to get some feedback on this from others. I wpuld understand it as a counter to talonflame, but tran arguably does it better, and it is #1!

Then we have hitmontop and charizard. Hitmontop is still a pretty good poke this meta, with an unbelievable support movepool (fake out, wide guard, feint, intimidate) along with a strong STAB, even without gems. Its an odd matter with zard, he is getting about the same usage he was last gen, but he is actually good this time! Zard y is a massive threat in this meta, sun boosted base 159 spatk heat waves are stupidly strong. Fire blast is just aids. It can even use tailwind as support. You can also go for the surprise factor with zard x, tough claws boosted attacks are very strong.

Aegislash and thundurus come next. Aegislash is a very good poke, and #9 fits it well. Amazing defenses, paired with amazing offense, when aegislash chooses! Shadow ball and flash annon hit hard, wide guard is always a nice move to have in dubs, and kings shield is a full stop to a lot of physical attackers. Shadow sneak can give it priority too. Aegislash serves as a check to kanga as well, but has to be wary of sucker punch/crunch. Thundurus is at the right place as well imo. Quite frankly, it is much better in singles. Prankster thunder wave is always going to be ridiculous, dont get me wrong, as it slows down skymin, megagar, terrak, lati@s etc. However, it is beaten down quite easily in this meta, as kanga, tran, rotom(ish), aegislash and scarf/yache lando all hurt it a lot. Along with paralysis nerf, means rotom cannot be para'ed. Thundy is still a great poke, just deserves #10.

Bisharp, sylveon and gardevoir are next. Bisharp got amazing this meta. With the need for intimidate users to slow down terrak, kanga, lando t etc, bisharp can use them as a way to get a free boost and kill stuff with sucker punch or knock off or iron head. It also serves as a great parnter to kanga, because it can deter intimidate users from coming in and weakening kanga. Sylveon is good in this offensive meta, because pixilate hyper voice is frigging strong. It also has very good spdef, so can tank a hit or two. It is a very good partner to kanga as well, as kanga can fake out while specs sylveon rapes stuff with hyper voice. Gardevoir is mostly the same, except it uses a mega slot, so isnt used as much when sylveon does much of the same stuff. However, a scarf moonblast set can be used to snipe dragons.

I will post more later but #1-13 is enough to get a discussion started

 

[Laga]

| 43 | Vivillon | 4.24915% | 1793 | 0.959% | 0 | 0.000% |
| 44 | Latios | 4.13099% | 5370 | 2.872% | 0 | 0.000% |

^1760 stats wtf...

also I'm actually quit surprised at how Heatran is still #1. I was a huge user of it back in early XY, but it just seems kinda lackluster atm, so I'd definitely say Landorus-T fits #1 much better. Scarf Landorus-T is just THE Pokemon right now (also this means i disagree with Aura, cuz I don't think sash is a good set).

 

[Bughouse]

This has got to be the single best tier shift I've ever seen in a single month. Everything that fell is pretty bad, most everything that rose is good.

 

[Audiosurfer]

Bisharp, sylveon and gardevoir are next. Bisharp got amazing this meta. With the need for intimidate users to slow down terrak, kanga, lando t etc, bisharp can use them as a way to get a free boost and kill stuff with sucker punch or knock off or iron head. It also serves as a great parnter to kanga, because it can deter intimidate users from coming in and weakening kanga. Sylveon is good in this offensive meta, because pixilate hyper voice is frigging strong. It also has very good spdef, so can tank a hit or two. It is a very good partner to kanga as well, as kanga can fake out while specs sylveon rapes stuff with hyper voice. Gardevoir is mostly the same, except it uses a mega slot, so isnt used as much when sylveon does much of the same stuff. However, a scarf moonblast set can be used to snipe dragons.

I don't really get how either sylveon or gardevoir are used that much. While yeah, Pixilate Hyper Voice is a srong strategy. neither of them are versatile or threatening enough to justify such high usage (how fairies can take up slots 12 and 13 when Heatran is number 1 and aegislash is in the top 10 is beyond me). there are typically better megas than gardevoir, and sylveon is pretty slow and not hard to wear down. wouldn't be surprised if the usage stats are so close together because a bunch of people just take sample teams lol (not even playing though, sample teams having a large impact on usage wouldn't surprise me).

also lol at the gen 5 doubles top 10: gengar, infernape, charizard, absol, garchomp, sceptile, golduck, dragonite, machamp, alakazam

 

[AuraRayquaza]

I think that sylveon and garde are so high up because we are talking about the high ladder. Here you get the shake-style teams where people like that pomodoro ladder like crazy with a sylveon + kanga. I think it has to be noted that this is the ladder, and while the 1760 stats are relatively representative of the meta atm, there will be people spamming fairy + kanga to get to the top of the ladder. Higher level play is quite different, and that is where your points make perfect sense. Honestly, i agree with you Audiosurfer on garde tho. If people are using hyper voice kanga, then what is garde doing?

Also, to carry on from my first post, notice cresselia at #15. Last gen, cress was right up at #1-3 all the time, being the premier bulky supporter. However, this gen came with the downfall of cress, as such powerful pokes like mega kanga/mawile came and aegislash walls it shitless. Not to mention bisharp, which is on the rise, beats it easily. I feel cress.belongs there, but it just goes to show what these powerful threats have done to last gens main mons.

Im extremely surprised to see terrakion down at #17 and keldeo at #40. Imo, these are the two best pokes for getting rid of mega kanga, ohko'ing it with life orb and the appropriate fighting STAB. They also learn quick guard and have great offensive STABs. I would expect to see them much higher, especially keldeo.

And Laga, i do not believe sash is a particularly good set in comparison to scarf lando, i was just stating it as a moveset option to show how many roles lando can take up in a team. I think the item stats for lando show that scarf is the dominant set.

A note on the mega usage stats. Im really surprised by kangas usage. I know that there is no split in the usage stats, and im sure there are many fanboys using zard on the lower ladder for the sake of using it, but i would still expect kanga to outshine zard, especially on the higher ladder.

On the metagame stats, i dont know how stall/offense is discriminated between, and i think sun is quite inaccurate, as zard y makes a team sun. The only two stats i think anything can be drawn from are the fact that weatherless and offense dominate in this meta. Clearly, because of the weather nerf, it is not as beneficial to waste a slot on a toed, or a losing-popularity ttar, only for rain/sand to go after 5 turns. With the new threats like the megas and pokes like keldeo/terrak to beat kanga being used more, offense is definitely the better playstyle this meta.

With the moveset stats, i couldnt see anything untoward in them. The only thing worth mentioning was safety googles on togekiss being the dominating item. It is actually really good this meta with sleep clause gone, as it can *wall* every sleep abuser, just pack a way to beat sludge bomb venusaur.

Same with the lead stats, nothing much to say. Lando t should be expected at #1, being amazing for intimidate and getting out fast with scarf u turn. Hitmontop, no different really. Fake out, intimidate etc. It would be interesting to see the lead stats of the non-suspect ladder, as i wonder where kanga would come, with fake out and immediate offensive pressure on the opponent.

Finally, using echoed voice on srk1214, all of the doubles uu drops are good. Bar dusclops and aerodactyl, maybe aromatisse, all of the shifts up are good as well, i am tempted to try doubles uu now because all of the large ou threats are gone from uu.

 

[realiti]

Covering #14-20


Garchomp takes 14 and I believe it belongs there. Great offensive typing and a good base attck and speed can quickly plow through the opponent's team. The standard DClaw/EQ/ RSlide/Protect is probably the set used. However I do say that some Pokemon easily counter Chomp and swiftly defeat it, such as Rotom-W and Togekiss.

Cresselia takes 15 and I'm incredibly shocked. It's still a top tier defensive mon and apart from some pokemon being more common Cresselia's viability is unchanged. It's a top tier defensive threat and can run a variety of sets. I really think Creselia deserves a higher usage rank. The current meta, however, doesn't allow it to get 1

Skymin takes 16 and even though I never see it I think it's where it belongs. STAB Seed Flare hurts, 2HKoing Thundurus and OHKOing Landdorus-T. Air Slas flinches so often and Earth Power hits those pesky Steel types. It is frail, and it's walled by some of the top 14 like Togekiss. It's also weak to priority as Bisharp's Sucker Punch will leave a mark and Thundurus can cripple it with TWave.

Terrakion takes 17 and I would expect a higher ranking from it. It's a great Kanga check, and its high power STAB moves along with a lovely base 129 Atk, 108 Spe, and Quick Guard makes it worth a spot on teams. Maybe its the problem of it struggling against common threats like Aegislash and Lando-T but once those pokemon go down, the opponent will struggle to find a way to defeat this monster.

Amoonguss takes 18 and like Cresselia, this pokemon does not deserve to be this low. It has access to amazing moves such as Rage Powder and Spore. Its defensive typing allows it to check various threats and it has a great ability in Regenerator (which I always forget to put >_<) which allows the shroom to always be at a good amount of health. I do believe that this pokemon is very easy to fit on a team and deserves a higher rank.

TTar takes 19 and tbh, I never found it that great Most common Pokemon can kill it. Intimidators decrease its power, and the only set that's good imo is MixScarf. It does catch peoply by suprise and can outspeed and OHKO previous counters.

Conkeldurr takes 20 and I have a miixed bag of feelings. On one hand, it has great bulk with AV, has enough coverage to strike most of the meta. It also has a healing move and priority move along with 140 Atk. On the other hand, it has no protect, only ok special bulk, and it can sometimes be outclassed. I think think that Conkeldurr has lots of pros that makes it a good mon.

I'm tired so feel free to point out mistakes.

 

[AuraRayquaza]

Cresselia takes 15 and I'm incredibly shocked. It's still a top tier defensive mon and apart from some pokemon being more common Cresselia's viability is unchanged. It's a top tier defensive threat and can run a variety of sets. I really think Creselia deserves a higher usage rank. The current meta, however, doesn't allow it to get 1

I do agree mostly with what you are saying U-Turn Out. However, i have to say that i think cresselia is where it should be. This metagame has become so strong that cresselia struggles to last as long as it did in the last generation. Pokemon like mega kanga and mega mawile can easily do 40% to it when unboosted. Cresselia jist doesnt last as long as it did to support teams like it did, and therefore i think it is where it deserves. It still has uses, though, and i feel that the offensive set is the most effective atm, because it can do respectable damage.

 

[realiti]

I do agree mostly with what you are saying U-Turn Out. However, i have to say that i think cresselia is where it should be. This metagame has become so strong that cresselia struggles to last as long as it did in the last generation. Pokemon like mega kanga and mega mawile can easily do 40% to it when unboosted. Cresselia jist doesnt last as long as it did to support teams like it did, and therefore i think it is where it deserves. It still has uses, though, and i feel that the offensive set is the most effective atm, because it can do respectable damage.

I do agree with you, as the meta just became too strong. Threats can easily deal heavy damage and I should have thought about itmore.
What are your opinions on amoonguss? I oversold it but its support is amazing.

 

[AuraRayquaza]

I like it very much personally as it provides the best sleep support in the meta, as well as redirection. It also checks everything ever seen on rain (poli, ludi, terrak, gene etc.) . However, amoon can become dead weight if taunted or against any grass type, as it's attacks hit for poo. So I'm not sure, definitely not lower, maybe a couple of places higher?