VGC Regulation H Double Don

[Cancel cult]

This teams premise is simple: kill Tatsugiri with Perish Song after it boosts Dondozo to get in Flamigo, sweeping the entire team from there. This sounds like a dumb gimmick that is easy to shut down. However, I have spent hours making sure this team can shut down all counterplay to it. As such, I will go in great detail about this team.

Tatsugiri (M) @ Ability Shield
Ability: Commander
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 4 SpA / 188 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Protect
- Draco Meteor
- Taunt
Tatsugiri is optimized to survive as long as possible to minimize the turns Dondozo is stuck on the field alone like a sitting duck. The standard gameplan is to Protect turn one, use Substitute on Tailwind turn two, and Protect turn three, switching Murkrow to Dondozo on Turn four leaving Dondozo only alone for that turn. Taunt is an important tool to stop Haze, and Draco Meteor can make progress and threaten some pokemon, most importantly Amoonguss in conjunction with Gengar. At 108 Speed, it can outspeed Dragapult after Tailwind, letting it put up Substitute. Tera Grass lets it ignore Rage Powder to Taunt, and without Ability Shield, the whole team hard loses to Weezing. It is EVd to survive a Draco Meteor from Timid Choice Specs Infiltrator Dragapult after Substitute and Tera. Having it by droopy was tempting, but the attack buff is ultimately too good to pass up.

Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 244 HP / 44 Def / 220 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Tailwind
- Protect
- Perish Song
- Taunt
The main Perish Singer, Murkrows Prankster makes it very consistent at it. Taunt is great fro previous reasons, and Protect helps it live longer to avoid either having Dondozo switch in early or put Flamigo in danger. Tailwind helps Tatsugiri get up a Substitute, and is also great to have in general. Tera Ghost blocks Fake-Out and any trapping that would prevent a switch to Dondozo. The EV spread lets it live single target Make It Rain. If Murkrow is ever taunted, it would be forced to struggle, so max attack IVs are ideal.

Dondozo (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 4 HP / 20 Atk / 76 Def / 204 SpD / 204 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Wave Crash
- Body Press
- Heavy Slam
- Order Up
The big guy himself, Dondozo is built to last. The speed investments let it outspeed Alolan Ninetails, the attack investments let it OHKO Primarina with Tera Heavy Slam, and the defense lets it kill Offensive Pivot Rillaboom with Body Press alongside Weezings Gunk Shot. Without Unaware, Assault Vest, and significant investments in special defense, Dondozo is threatened by Archaludon. Tera Steel lets it block Clear Smog, and is generally great defensively.

Flamigo (M) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Costar
Level: 50
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Def / 84 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop
- Taunt
Flamigo threatens to OHKO a lot of things, defending it and Dondozo. Throat Chop lets it threaten Gholdengo, and Taunt lets it stop Haze if it can't kill it itself. I am considering replacing Taunt with Wide Guard or Protect, as it already OHKOs basically everything. Tera Grass lets it ignore Rage Powder, and Covert Cloak lets it ignore Fake-Out and Clear Smog. The defensive investments let it live Gallades Psycho Cut on Psychic Terrain.

Gengar (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 50
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic Noise
- Protect
- Perish Song
- Taunt
Farigiraf blocks Murkrows Perish Song, so a second user is needed. Gengars fast speed and Ghost type makes it ideal for this role. Psychic Noise threatens Amoonguss, and Tera Dark makes it immune to Prankster.

Weezing (M) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 12 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 236 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Gunk Shot
- Protect
- Pain Split
- Taunt
Murkrow really shut down this team. For a while, I tried with Baxcalibur and Comfey for priority attacks, but if Murkrow invested in the wrong defense, I was fucked. But then, I had an epiphany. Weezing stopped Murkrows Prankster. I thought I would have to OHKO it with Dondozo, but it turns out that Weezing with max speed EVS outspeeds uninvested Murkrow by one point. I could then use Taunt to shut it down. I used Galarian Weezing at first for Aromatic Mist (the first time that has ever happened) to make Dondozo more resilient to special attacks, but ultimately, the Steel weakness proved too relevant. Protect is to make Weezing last longer, and Pain Split also helps with that as well as being able to heal Dondozo. Gunk Shot threatens Rillaboom, who is problematic for obvious reasons. Its EVs let it survive Make It Rain, and Tera Steel is great, especially with Air Balloon, which protects it from many problematic Ground attacks. It's worth noting that running Weezing usually means not running Flamigo.

 

[Pengu]

I'm going to say this right here, this is a gimmick team. Gimmicks generally don't work in VGC due to the faster paced meta game, so I'd say don't use this team for serious competition. This is the type of bo1 stuff that Timmy brings to the battlefield (no offense). But I'll get into the rate.

-Tatsugiri doesn't need ability shield, since its ability only works when next to Dondozo, and Weezing isn't super common at all. I'd say change it to something like Life Orb or something else.

-Dondozo should be holding Leftovers or Clear Amulet, AV is just bad on Dondozo, even with its lower Special Defense. This is because you need Protect, which should be there over Body Press. Use Earthquake over Heavy Slam, because WHY HEAVY SLAM? Anyways, fix up those EVs too.

-Protect should be there on Flamigo, preferably over Taunt.

-Why do you like Taunt so much? Use Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball on Gengar over Taunt and Psychic Noise.

-WHY IS THERE TAUNT EVERYWHERE. But anyways idt weezing is necessary here. I suggest some kind Fake Out support like Incineroar. I wouldn't say use Rillaboom bc EQ on Dozo.

Overall it's a gimmick and me no likey >:(

 

[Cancel cult]

I'm going to say this right here, this is a gimmick team. Gimmicks generally don't work in VGC due to the faster paced meta game, so I'd say don't use this team for serious competition. This is the type of bo1 stuff that Timmy brings to the battlefield (no offense). But I'll get into the rate.

-Tatsugiri doesn't need ability shield, since its ability only works when next to Dondozo, and Weezing isn't super common at all. I'd say change it to something like Life Orb or something else.

-Dondozo should be holding Leftovers or Clear Amulet, AV is just bad on Dondozo, even with its lower Special Defense. This is because you need Protect, which should be there over Body Press. Use Earthquake over Heavy Slam, because WHY HEAVY SLAM? Anyways, fix up those EVs too.

-Protect should be there on Flamigo, preferably over Taunt.

-Why do you like Taunt so much? Use Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball on Gengar over Taunt and Psychic Noise.

-WHY IS THERE TAUNT EVERYWHERE. But anyways idt weezing is necessary here. I suggest some kind Fake Out support like Incineroar. I wouldn't say use Rillaboom bc EQ on Dozo.

Overall it's a gimmick and me no likey >:(

the reason taunt is everywhere is because without taunt, you lose to haze, and since murkrow cant taunt dark types, and tatsugiri spends so much time protecting itself, they both have to have taunt to threaten it enough. protect on dondozo means it doesn't have a fourth attack, which it needs otherwise it is walled by a lot of things. heavy slam beats primarina, which is very very important as it is the most common haze user, and body Press deals with so much. while weezing isn't common, if I don't have ability shield, I hard lose to weezing. in the majority of games, tatsugiri is too busy keeping itself alive or stopping a hazer from hazing with taunt to even use an attack, and life orbs recoil can be a problem. Psychic noise is there because clear Smog amoonguss is one of the few things that can reliably threaten to stop the setup. most of your critiques miss the point of this team, and are trying to make it more well rounded, which it cant do. this teams one win condition is dozo/mingo, and nothing short of a complete team overhaul can change that. I understand that having not used this team, a lot of the choices seem really weird, but things like taunt being everywhere and assault vest are basically requirenments for this team to remotely function. I don't blame you for this, as this team is probably far different from anything else you, or anyone else has ever seen. also, could you be more specific than fix up your EVs?
Protect over Taunt on mingo is good advice that I will take. I will also give the dozo set you suggested a try.

 

[Pengu]

the reason taunt is everywhere is because without taunt, you lose to haze, and since murkrow cant taunt dark types, and tatsugiri spends so much time protecting itself, they both have to have taunt to threaten it enough. protect on dondozo means it doesn't have a fourth attack, which it needs otherwise it is walled by a lot of things. heavy slam beats primarina, which is very very important as it is the most common haze user, and body Press deals with so much. while weezing isn't common, if I don't have ability shield, I hard lose to weezing. in the majority of games, tatsugiri is too busy keeping itself alive or stopping a hazer from hazing with taunt to even use an attack, and life orbs recoil can be a problem. Psychic noise is there because clear Smog amoonguss is one of the few things that can reliably threaten to stop the setup. most of your critiques miss the point of this team, and are trying to make it more well rounded, which it cant do. this teams one win condition is dozo/mingo, and nothing short of a complete team overhaul can change that. I understand that having not used this team, a lot of the choices seem really weird, but things like taunt being everywhere and assault vest are basically requirenments for this team to remotely function. I don't blame you for this, as this team is probably far different from anything else you, or anyone else has ever seen. also, could you be more specific than fix up your EVs?
Protect over Taunt on mingo is good advice that I will take. I will also give the dozo set you suggested a try.

Sorry for the late reply, just been busy.

The reason why this team is so gimmicky is because of the reliant of Taunt, which is why I didn’t like it. But you don’t need Taunt on almost every Pokémon, as at that point it’s just too much.

Dondozo needs Protect to stall different things, and you’re mostly planning to bring in Flamigo next to it, so there shouldn’t be an issue.

you don’t need ability shield. Doesn’t matter if you lose to it (you can definitely play around it). weezing isn’t popular at all and isn’t something you really need to worry about.

I never said you had to go lorb, some tho big like roseli berry can work too

shadow ball and sludge bomb both hit hard into Amoonguss, as well as flamingo. If your so scared of it, you can try and run substitute on Dondozo.

I’ve seen this before, and I’m going to say it again: on paper it’s good, but in practice, most of the time it doesn’t work. You perform poorly into Rain, Sneasler Balance, and P2 balance. These are all key teams to beat right now.

I don’t have a specific Dondozo EV spread in mind, but I can suggest a few benchmarks:

- Outspeed most Maus

- deal good damage into incineroar, dragapult, Primairna, and Pelipper

- survive +1 electro shot

- take grassy glide easily

I definitely missed some lol.

I just don’t think the team and play style is overall that great, as it is very predictable and easy to beat

 

[Cancel cult]

The reason why this team is so gimmicky is because of the reliant of Taunt, which is why I didn’t like it. But you don’t need Taunt on almost every Pokémon, as at that point it’s just too much.

On paper, this is true, but in practice, even with Taunt on almost every mon, you will still often struggle to get a chance to taunt a mon even with it on both slots. Not to mention the fact that the most reliable way to stop a haze user that they switch in the turn before you faint to Perish Song is to taunt both slots.

Dondozo needs Protect to stall different things, and you’re mostly planning to bring in Flamigo next to it, so there shouldn’t be an issue.

Stalling trick room helps, but outside of Gallade and to some extent psyspam, there isn't a lot that can reliably threaten it fast enough to kill it in time. But mingo isn't as tanky as it is, and since its moves are single target, Dondozo needs to be able to hit a lot of things.

you don’t need ability shield. Doesn’t matter if you lose to it (you can definitely play around it). weezing isn’t popular at all and isn’t something you really need to worry about.

ability shield might not be good in the vast majority of games, but Id prefer to have any chance of fighting it at all. I understand that it is a waste on average, but I prefer having a chance at any team over being better at most but having a matchup you auto lose to, even if it is quite niche.

shadow ball and sludge bomb both hit hard into Amoonguss, as well as flamingo. If your so scared of it, you can try and run substitute on Dondozo.

I'd have to run some calcs to be sure, but I don't think either do enough, and sitrus berry is a problem. also, substitute cant stop clear smog on switch in, since you don't get a turn to use it.

I don’t have a specific Dondozo EV spread in mind, but I can suggest a few benchmarks:

- Outspeed most Maus

- deal good damage into incineroar, dragapult, Primairna, and Pelipper

- survive +1 electro shot

- take grassy glide easily

I'll see what I can do.

I’ve seen this before, and I’m going to say it again: on paper it’s good, but in practice, most of the time it doesn’t work. You perform poorly into Rain, Sneasler Balance, and P2 balance. These are all key teams to beat right now.

I mean, fair enough. I feel like you are being a tiny bit too hard on it, but I also don't think it is good perse. I'd say the team is overall... ok.

Anyways, thank you for your advice. I doubt it was easy giving advice on a gimmick team taken this seriously, but you have said some valuable things.