ORAS Doubles OU Sea of Fire: A Doubles Hyper Offense Team

[Absollite]

Introduction

Hi Smogon members!

This is my first RMT! I don't think I'm very good at teambuilding, and I want to know other people's opinions on my team. I wanted to try something different from just the standard OU, so I thought doubles would be cool. I didn't want to do VGC either, since I like to bring all my mons. Doubles OU fit the bill (even if it is "the standard OU"). Next, I also wanted to try something unique. Once I stumbled upon the Pledge attacks, I knew I wanted to build around that. After some research (and some team testing), I found that I liked Venusaur + Charizard duo best.

What's Pledge Again?

What's that? You don't know what Grass Pledge and Fire Pledge makes? Combo-ing Grass Pledge with Fire Pledge make a Fire-type, sun-boosted (because of Charizard's Drought) move with a monstrous base power of 160. The Pledges' base power gets doubled from 80 to 160, and it creates an added effect. Grass and Fire Pledge together create a sea of fire around the opposing team, taking away 1/8 of every mon's health except for Fire-types. Hence the title, Sea of Fire. I thought the goal of this team would be to get rid of everything that resisted Fire, and then get Charizard and Venusaur in and then sweep with Pledge.

If you still didn't get how Pledge works, check out Serapis of the VGC's thread here. The thread includes all three combos of Pledges, not just Fire and Grass.

Enough boring stuff said, let's get onto the fun stuff!

The Teambuilding Process

These are the two mons that would form the combo I wanted to use, being Charizard's Fire Pledge and Venusaur's Grass Pledge. Mega-Charizard-Y has an insane base SpAtk stat, and with its STAB Fire-type attacks boosted in the sun, it hits like a truck. Venusaur appreciates the aforementioned sun, which doubles its speed, thanks to Chlorophyll. It also provides some kind of speedy support with Sleep Powder.

I found that Water, Rock, Dragon, and Fire itself were the only types that resisted Fire. A Water-type physical attacker looked good here since I only had special attackers so far, and Gyarados came to mind. Water-types take care of Rock- and Fire-types, and Gyarados was no exception, though it is weak to rock. A downfall is that Gyarados's Water-type attacks will be weakened in the sun.

Next, I needed something to cover Water-types besides Venusaur. Thundurus was a relatively fast and strong mon which can support the team with Prankster Thunder Wave as well as hit hard with a Thunderbolt. There isn't really a lot more I have to say; Thundurus is a great mon overall.

At this point, my team is looking pretty rock weak. As I look for a reasonable replacement for either Gyarados or Thundurus, I find myself looking at Azumarill. Azumarill covers three of the four types that I need to cover: Fire, Rock, and Dragon. However, as with Gyarados, Azumarill's Water attacks are hindered in the sun.

My next mon of choice was Aegislash. Aegislash helped patch up the rock weakness a little further, and my growing Ice weakness. Although Aegislash only covers one of the four types, Rock, it also resists Dragon and can sponge a Fire-type attack. As with Thundurus, there isn't too much that I have to say about Aegi.

I still wanted another answer to dragons, and I decided on Weavile. Weavile is a fast and hard-hitting mon with great STAB typing. However, after looking at it for a while, I realized it only checked dragons, and it hated Fire- and Rock-types. Bulky Waters like Milotic also wall it. Also, it added to my aforementioned rock weakness. After plugging my team into this teambuilder site, I decided there could be better options for my team than Weavile.

Finally, I decided on Excadrill. It resisted Rock 4x, and it was immune to electric, which also popped up to me on the teambuilder. Excadrill destroyed Rock-types, and Fire-types, if it didn't get outsped. There's not a lot I have to say about this mon, either. I'm probably missing something, but this is my first RMT, after all.

This became my team that I will go into detail for this RMT!

The Team

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Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze --> Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 84 SpA / 108 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Fire Pledge
- Solar Beam
- Dragon Pulse

I wanted to build around the Pledge attacks, and Charizard was a strong mon who could dish out tons of damage. Charizard and Venusaur together are the main sweepers of the team, though Charizard can also do some serious work without Venusaur. Protect is necessary for me to double protect first turn to get Venusaur's speed up in the sun. Fire Pledge is I chose for obvious reasons (read the Introduction section), while Solar Beam is an obvious pick as well. The last slot is mainly filler; I run Dragon Pulse since it gets walled by dragons like Dragonite and Lati@s, but other options such as Focus Blast, Heat Wave, and Overheat are certainly viable options as well.

The EV spread guarantees Charizard to live Adamant Mega Kangaskhan Return 100% of the time. Even though sometimes I regret not having full SpAtk investment, the bulk makes up for it, in a way.
​

Calcs:

Hide

252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 64 Def Mega Charizard Y: 303-357 (84.1 - 99.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 64 Def Mega Charizard Y: 300-356 (83.3 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (in case some variants run Jolly :P)

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Grass Pledge
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder

This mon is the main partner for Charizard. In the sun, it outspeeds even Jolly max speed scarfed Landorus-T and Timid max speed scarfed Gardevoir. Venusaur can defeat bulky waters like Milotic, which the rest of the team has a bit of trouble against, except for Thundurus. Grass Pledge and Protect were obvious picks for moves; Sludge Bomb was secondary STAB and Sleep Powder helped put threats to sleep before they could move, since Venusaur is faster than the majority of the mons in the sun. The EV spread is a standard 4/252/252 to make sure I outspeed as many mons as possible and to hit as hard as possible.

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

This blue bunny helps my team get rid of ever common dragons, such as Dragonite and Hydreigon. As mentioned before, Azumarill also takes care of Fire- and Rock-types, which Venusaur and Charizard hate, respectively. A physical attacker was also needed for this team. Azumarill's moveset is the standard set, though Superpower could be replaced with Knock Off. I went for 252/252/4 EVs, though there is most likely a better spread somewhere out there. The Assault Vest is not common in doubles, but I wanted Azumarill to be even bulkier, and I didn't want to be choiced or the Belly Drum set. And the Assault Vest does pay off.
​

Calcs:

Hide

252+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Azumarill: 270-318 (66.8 - 78.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Thundurus-T Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Azumarill: 282-332 (69.8 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 64 SpA / 72 SpD / 20 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Thundurus was a great choice for my third mon, as it provided Thunder Wave and Taunt support as well as a way to get rid of bulky waters. Mainly, Thundurus is for Thunder Waving fast mons so that it can ensure that Venusaur and Charizard can come in and sweep later, and also for getting rid of Water-types, Garchomps, and such. Taunt is for shutting down mons that like to set up, such as Volcarona and CM Cresselia, and for not letting Trick Room get set up. Thunderbolt is its main STAB attack, while Hidden Power Ice lets it hit Salamence and the aforementioned Garchomp. The EV spread I got from Smogdex, which you can find here. After missing a few crucial KO's by 2-3%, I changed Sitrus Berry to Life Orb to hit a little harder.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard

My next pick was Aegislash, as it provided another bulky attacker for my team. At first, I thought Aegislash's role on this team would be to mainly weaken things, but after team testing, it proved to be a very powerful attacker after its Weakness Policy activated. Aegislash helps sponge hits that the rest of my team does not appreciate, as some of them are quite frail. It has the standard moveset, with another 252/252/4 spread. I decided to move the last four EVs into speed to speed creep other Aegislash. Weakness Policy was the obvious choice for the item, as Aegislash can eat even a super effective hit in shield form and attack back with a boosted Shadow Ball or Flash Cannon.

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Drill Run

My team still lacked a scarfer, and I decided that Excadrill would be good as one. The Scarf is not very common on Excadrill, and not many of my opponents expect it. Excadrill was another physical attacker for my team, which I needed. I also wanted some extra Fire coverage, and Excadrill seemed great for the last slot of my team. The moves are pretty simple: Earthquake is my strongest STAB attack which hits both foes, but hits Excadrill's partner as well. Charizard and Thundurus don't mind Earthquakes, but the rest of my team would rather not take one. Iron Head is secondary STAB, and Rock Slide is very standard on Excadrills. Drill Run is used in the last slot in case I don't want to hit my ally with an EQ, or I predict that my opponent is going to use Wide Guard.

Importable

Hide

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 84 SpA / 108 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Fire Pledge
- Solar Beam
- Dragon Pulse

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Grass Pledge
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 64 SpA / 72 SpD / 20 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Drill Run

Threatlist

- This thing is a huge threat to my team. Nothing wants to take a hit from it, since it can hit Aegislash super effectively through Scrappy. The only ways I can get rid of it are putting it to sleep with Venusaur while Sun is up, or Paralyzing it with Thundurus's Thunder Wave.

- With its Priority Brave Bird, it can knock out Venusaur and ruin my Pledge combo. It can also do serious work to the rest of my team as well.

Trick Room - Trick Room is a tremendous problem to my team. Only Azumarill functions well in it, and Aegislash, though it will be vulnerable in its blade form. The rest of my mons will get "outslowed" and take huge chunks of damage.

Replays

I am Absollight
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/doublesou-249113482
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/doublesou-248936851
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/doublesou-248899176

This one's a bit lower on the ladder: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/doublesou-248879338

Remember at the beginning I said the goal of the team was to get rid of everything that resisted fire and then sweep with Pledge? That's not exactly what I do XD. I just try to KO with whoever is out.

Conclusion
Thanks for reading my first RMT, and any and all help is appreciated! I had a lot of fun playing with this team in a tier I hadn't tried before, and I hope you enjoyed!​

 

[ryo yamada2001]

Hi, nice team you have there! :)

Now looking at the strategy that you wanted to use, Fire Pledge + Grass Pledge, that's sadly pretty outclassed in this meta. You're better off running more standard moves considering your strategy is sadly beaten by standard sets.

You have a nice spread on Charizard and a good nature, but then onto the moves..
I recommend just using Heat Wave -> Fire Pledge because Heat Wave is a spread attack, hits hard in sun due to sun boost + STAB and even has a 10% burn chance, overall a really strong move. Nothing really wants to switch into it.
Also Overheat > Dragon Pulse, it might seem weird to run 2 Fire moves but it definitely isn't, Overheat just deals so much damage and it nukes your opponent completely, I think that even out of sun you can OHKO Aegislash-Shield. That thing is tanky as hell.

On Venusaur I am pretty sure that you can run just less speed overall but I don't know exact EVs for that so I won't give you that, you should use Giga Drain > Grass Pledge on Venusaur because Giga Drain heals an okay amount of HP and generally hits pretty hard because Venuaur is a strong Pokémon.

I'd recommend you to run a different kind of bunny on Azumarill, namely either the Belly Drum set or the Choice Band set. However I can see some viability on Azumarill with Assault Vest.
For the last move I'd say Ice Punch > Superpower. You will be able to hit Shaymin-Sky and Landorus-Therian this way which are both very noticeable threats in this meta which can deal tons of damage to your team.

As a player which uses Thundurus really often I'd just say, if you want a bulky spread which can also deal a fair amount of damage you can use: 252 HP / 28 Def / 124 SAtk / 80 SpDef / 24 Spe
It's a complicated spread but it lives a Substitute Kyurem-Black Ice Beam and a Mega-Metagross Ice Punch, which is fairly relevant. Also with 24 Speed you outspeed other Thundurus that use the Smogdex set. The rest is dumped into Special Attack so you are able to get those crucial KOs now :)
If you are going to use this spread you have to use a Calm Nature.

Further with Aegislash: It doesn't really make sense that you are using a Quiet Nature with 4 speed EVs. I'd recommend changing those 4 EVs to SpD, and a great tip is: use 6 speed IVs. This allows you to be faster than Aegislash that run min speed, but because of this you are able to beat Rhyperior in a team called Knights of the Sun, which is a very relevant team on the ladder and in general.

The Excadrill set looks fine but I'm not really sure about using it on a sun team. Just stick with it for now.

On your threatlist:
Mega-Lopunny: Not a major threat in this metagame, you have Aegislash that beats it as well as Thundurus that can just paralyze it.

Talonflame: You have 4 Pokemon that beat Brave Bird

Trick Room: You have Taunt on Thundurus, as well as Aegislash that can do loads of damage vs that bitch called Cresselia

and if this was tl;dr for you:
Charizard:
Heat Wave > Fire Pledge
Overheat > Dragon Pulse
Venusaur:
Giga Drain > Grass Pledge
Azumarill:
Ice Punch > Superpower
Thundurus:
252 HP / 28 Def / 124 SAtk / 80 SpDef / 24 Spe
Calm Nature
Aegislash:
4 SpD EVs
6 Speed IVs

I hope I helped you! :)
If you have any further questions you can always get to the Doubles room and ask questions there, don't be shy!

 

[Absollite]

Hi, nice team you have there! :)

Now looking at the strategy that you wanted to use, Fire Pledge + Grass Pledge, that's sadly pretty outclassed in this meta. You're better off running more standard moves considering your strategy is sadly beaten by standard sets.

You have a nice spread on Charizard and a good nature, but then onto the moves..
I recommend just using Heat Wave -> Fire Pledge because Heat Wave is a spread attack, hits hard in sun due to sun boost + STAB and even has a 10% burn chance, overall a really strong move. Nothing really wants to switch into it.
Also Overheat > Dragon Pulse, it might seem weird to run 2 Fire moves but it definitely isn't, Overheat just deals so much damage and it nukes your opponent completely, I think that even out of sun you can OHKO Aegislash-Shield. That thing is tanky as hell.

On Venusaur I am pretty sure that you can run just less speed overall but I don't know exact EVs for that so I won't give you that, you should use Giga Drain > Grass Pledge on Venusaur because Giga Drain heals an okay amount of HP and generally hits pretty hard because Venuaur is a strong Pokémon.

I'd recommend you to run a different kind of bunny on Azumarill, namely either the Belly Drum set or the Choice Band set. However I can see some viability on Azumarill with Assault Vest.
For the last move I'd say Ice Punch > Superpower. You will be able to hit Shaymin-Sky and Landorus-Therian this way which are both very noticeable threats in this meta which can deal tons of damage to your team.

As a player which uses Thundurus really often I'd just say, if you want a bulky spread which can also deal a fair amount of damage you can use: 252 HP / 28 Def / 124 SAtk / 80 SpDef / 24 Spe
It's a complicated spread but it lives a Substitute Kyurem-Black Ice Beam and a Mega-Metagross Ice Punch, which is fairly relevant. Also with 24 Speed you outspeed other Thundurus that use the Smogdex set. The rest is dumped into Special Attack so you are able to get those crucial KOs now :)
If you are going to use this spread you have to use a Calm Nature.

Further with Aegislash: It doesn't really make sense that you are using a Quiet Nature with 4 speed EVs. I'd recommend changing those 4 EVs to SpD, and a great tip is: use 6 speed IVs. This allows you to be faster than Aegislash that run min speed, but because of this you are able to beat Rhyperior in a team called Knights of the Sun, which is a very relevant team on the ladder and in general.

The Excadrill set looks fine but I'm not really sure about using it on a sun team. Just stick with it for now.

On your threatlist:
Mega-Lopunny: Not a major threat in this metagame, you have Aegislash that beats it as well as Thundurus that can just paralyze it.

Talonflame: You have 4 Pokemon that beat Brave Bird

Trick Room: You have Taunt on Thundurus, as well as Aegislash that can do loads of damage vs that bitch called Cresselia

and if this was tl;dr for you:
Charizard:
Heat Wave > Fire Pledge
Overheat > Dragon Pulse
Venusaur:
Giga Drain > Grass Pledge
Azumarill:
Ice Punch > Superpower
Thundurus:
252 HP / 28 Def / 124 SAtk / 80 SpDef / 24 Spe
Calm Nature
Aegislash:
4 SpD EVs
6 Speed IVs

I hope I helped you! :)
If you have any further questions you can always get to the Doubles room and ask questions there, don't be shy!

Yeah, you helped a lot! I'll be sure to change Thundurus and Aegislash. Facepalm for not realizing Quiet + 4 Speed EVs.

Azumarill I might change. I need Superpower for Mega Kangas, but I'll give Ice Punch a shot and see how it goes.

Sorry, but the team was centered around the pledge attacks, so I'll probably stick to the Pledges. However, I just realized how n00by Dragon Pulse was I'll probably take the Overheat suggestion. Dragon Pulse doesn't pick up enough kills anyways :/. If I want to try more meta, I'll be sure to use your suggestions though (Heat Wave and Giga Drain)!

I'll be sure to stick around in the doubles room more!

Thanks a lot for your help! ~

 

[qsns]

i disagree with the pledge moves being "outclassed", ive seen them work in vgc. however i do agree that chary needs to keep heat wave. dragon pulse is really unneeded coverage on zardy (fire/grass is good enough) so replace that with heat wave. keep grass pledge over another stab on venu imo.

i'd just use the max max timid life orb offensive thundurus set. i think it fits your team better than a bulkier set. you can keep the same moveset or replace one of the utility moves with protect.

av azu is cool and i know its seen a good amount of vgc success but i really would try out cb, its a complete monster. ice punch > superpower if you use av but keep superpower if band.

as boring as it may seem, landorus-t looks better on this team compared to exca. you said you had trouble with mega lop and talonflame so lando-t helps pivot into those. also helps check zardy a bit better as your team has like 0 switchins to it lol

wait actually av azu might be able to pivot into zard on a heat wave and take a solar beam. i'm on phone so its kind of hard to do calcs but its probably able to take that combo of moves. keep av azu then imo

i like the team, cool concepts that work well together :)

 

[Absollite]

i disagree with the pledge moves being "outclassed", ive seen them work in vgc. however i do agree that chary needs to keep heat wave. dragon pulse is really unneeded coverage on zardy (fire/grass is good enough) so replace that with heat wave. keep grass pledge over another stab on venu imo.

i'd just use the max max timid life orb offensive thundurus set. i think it fits your team better than a bulkier set. you can keep the same moveset or replace one of the utility moves with protect.

av azu is cool and i know its seen a good amount of vgc success but i really would try out cb, its a complete monster. ice punch > superpower if you use av but keep superpower if band.

as boring as it may seem, landorus-t looks better on this team compared to exca. you said you had trouble with mega lop and talonflame so lando-t helps pivot into those. also helps check zardy a bit better as your team has like 0 switchins to it lol

wait actually av azu might be able to pivot into zard on a heat wave and take a solar beam. i'm on phone so its kind of hard to do calcs but its probably able to take that combo of moves. keep av azu then imo

i like the team, cool concepts that work well together :)

Yeah I was planning to get rid of Dragon Pulse, but now I'm kinda torn between Overheat and Heat Wave lol.

Ugh now I'm also torn between Meloetta's Thundy suggestion and yours, qsns. I guess I'll try both out and see which works better.

I could try out Lando-T. An Intimidater would be cool as well, thanks for that suggestion!

Btw Meloetta, TFlame Flare Blitz destroys Exca and does a huge chunk if not KO Aegi. Also Azumarill does not really like taking Brave Birds.

Thanks for overall contribution!

Edit: lol facepalm I should obviously use Heat Wave (instead of Dragon Pulse) since I'm gonna use Fire Pledge.