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Mega Lucario Flash Cannon/Aura Sphere
Mega Pinsir Return
Darkrai LO Dark Pulse
Kingdra Muddy Water in Rain/Draco
Lando-I Earth Power
Rotom-H Overheat
Staraptor (Band Maybe, probably scarf) Double Edge/Brave Bird (Reckless usually as well)
Shaymin LO Seed Flare
Mega Abomasnow Blizzard
Max HP Rotom-H (Maybe other investment too)
Min HP Intimidate Staraptor
Min HP Tornadus-I
Max HP Escavalier
Max HP and Max Def/Spdef Aromatisse (Check both for what type of attacker you are)
Max HP Bronzong
Max HP Mega Abomasnow
qwerts has pretty much nailed it. I was just hoping someone had some resources for EVing defensive spreads, and I wasn't really sure what were the main threats, the heavy hitters in other words, in this tier. Thanks a ton.
Some benchmarks i like to use:
Defensive:
Mega Lucario Flash Cannon/Aura Sphere
Mega Pinsir Return
Kingdra Muddy Water in Rain/Draco
Lando-I Earth Power
Rotom-H Overheat
Mega Abomasnow Blizzard
This tiers p. diverse and i might have forgotten a few, i might update when off mobile.
Oh lol i had that and deleted it because CB reckless brave bird/double edge is gonna ohko almost everything not resisted, but scarf is a good benchmark too.
God bless that Abomasnow, Aromatisse, Jellicent, and Rotom-Heat got dropped down to this tier, cause now Hail Room is so much cooler. (See what I did there)
Regardless, I've been playing around with full HailRoom on the ladder with Mega Abomasnow, and it functions really, really well, especially since Flying types and Tailwind are everywhere. It works so well that I've considered making an RMT for my team, but I digress. If people want me to go more in depth with this team I could, but here's the paste for anyone curious.
Escavalier (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Drill Run
God bless that Abomasnow, Aromatisse, Jellicent, and Rotom-Heat got dropped down to this tier, cause now Hail Room is so much cooler. (See what I did there)
Regardless, I've been playing around with full HailRoom on the ladder with Mega Abomasnow, and it functions really, really well, especially since Flying types and Tailwind are everywhere. It works so well that I've considered making an RMT for my team, but I digress. If people want me to go more in depth with this team I could, but here's the paste for anyone curious.
Escavalier (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Drill Run
lol that's my exact team with a few move changes and cb bronzong > escav
but hailroom is definitely one of the best playstyles in the meta. it's very hard to check considering Aromatisse is immune to Taunt, which is brutal. the reason the slow, powerful steel type is necessary in this archetype is to even have a chance against opposing hailroom, as it's pretty easy to wear down your main attackers with blizzards. cobalion is a pretty good check that fits on faster teams, as it resists blizzard + wood hammers, can taunt the non aromatisse setter and iron head aromatisse (though its definitely not an ohko).
Yeah TR is still strong, but i think camerupt will be amazing seeing as it steamrolls most hailroom teams. Works great with jellicent for the sexy water absorb.
Wow, trick room seems like it'll be REALLY strong in this meta. It has good setters like Aromateese and Jelicent, and it has good sweepers like Mega Camperupt, Mega Abomasnow, and Escavaleer.
Its all about TR now. Most teams will now be over preparing to counter TR. I have seen stuff like copycat liepard, double taunters (doesn't work aginst aromatisse but still) and jirachi is cool too with follow me and iron head flinches to stop TR from being set up.
Welp my team is out of SDPL so here are the teams that I won with and I think they're all pretty solid (particularly the hail spam) and even with the new drops the teams ought to work with minor tweaking or none at all. Use em, don't use em, change em, it's whatever.
Week 1: Mono Purpleish Rain
Shiny Lanturn looks way more purple in the teambuilder
I decided right away that I wanted to use rain because from looking at the list of available mons it seemed to me that there were the perfect tools needed to make a great rain team. I knew that I wanted an early Fake Out + Bulky Rain lead so I started with a speed creeping Coba Hariyama + Rain dance + Damp Rock Lanturn. I went with Coba berry because I figured that psychic types would fear knock off, none of the fairies in the tier could OHKO Hariyama, and worse case scenario I could Stone Edge a flyingmon that wanted to hit me. Hari is EVd to survive a Jolly DE from Mega Pinsir. I went with Aerodactyl and Escavalier to beat Ninetales and TR Abomasnow respectively, and Kingdra with Rain Dance as a set up sweeper of sorts. Aero has Aerial Ace > Sky Drop because opposing Hariyama are too heavy for sky drop to work. Lastly Specs Raikou with HP fire was added because I needed a fire move and Specs Raikou just so happened to always get the OHKO on opposing Escavalier outside of rain, and because it beat bulky water types that Lanturn lacked the muscle to really get by. Lanturn was the MVP of the team being a really bulky rain setter, and providing a way to beat Rhyperior + Flying + Bulky Water (Lanturn Scald OHKOs 252hp rhyperior in the rain iirc). Overall a pretty cool team, would definitely use again. Oh and I didn't make this team setting out to make a mono purple team, it just kinda happened when I was looking to see If I wanted to use any shinies :]
Hariyama @ Coba Berry
Ability: Guts
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 200 HP / 248 Atk / 52 Def / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- Stone Edge
Lanturn @ Damp Rock
Ability: Volt Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Thunder
- Rain Dance
- Thunder Wave
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Muddy Water
- Draco Meteor
- Rain Dance
- Protect
Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Escavalier @ Lum Berry
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Protect
Week 2: Hailroom like everyone else
So for week 2 I didn't really get to play the team in the way I would've liked because I played Perish trap which is cool and all but I liked this one so I thought I'd share. Anyway standard Hail core in Doubles UU is Abomasnow + Perior + Bulky Water + Hariyama because of the resistances they provide each other and of course you have Hari to catch status (if you use Milo you stop Intimidate too). My TR setters were Jellicent (EVd to survive a Specs Tbolt from ThundyT) and max Def Aromatisse to catch Knock Offs. Moltres was the last slot on the team because it fulfilled a lot of roles that I needed:
1) Ground resist/Immune
2) Steel Resist
3) Fire Offense
4) Status
5) Bird Up
Moltres was EVd to take 2 CCs from Guts Boosted Hariyama before Sitrus and then I added Sitrus and forgot to change the spread back to 252/252 so you can change either the spread or the item :]. Subperior was a cool mon that I wanted to try to take advantage of opps who Double Protect the last turn of TR or if Abom was going to get 2 KOs with Blizzard anyways. Overall a pretty standard team, nothing special but still really solid.
This team was inspired in part by Mizu's blizzspam team and also because I just really like Hail, it's so fun! Started with the Abomasnow + Perior + Bulky Water core I mentioned above but didn't include Hariyama because it wasn't required to set up Hail. Instead I went with Taunt/Twind Tornadus to help out against opposing TR/Twind respectively. It also serves as my main hariyama check (you need one in this tier). I went with Lum Berry Rhyperior because thanks to Abomasnow and Milotic, Rhyperior's only real way to be taken out or crippled was burns so I eliminated that as a threat. I went with Hammer Arm in part for opposing Darkrai but also because I wasn't running min speed Perior, but still wanted to go first if my opponent had TR. Safety Goggles Milotic with double ice was a great pick with Ice Beam Always OHKOing 4 HP Thundurus after Hail damage and Blizzard for being Blizzard and thanks to Lightningrod Rhyperior I could keep Milo in to beat Thundy. Focus Blast on Darkrai was a little iffy but I went with it because this team was insanely weak to Mega Lopunny and if I could get Tailwind up I needed as many positive matchups against it as possible. My fav team by far. Scarf Kyurem to beat other Kyurems and with Hp Fire + Earth Power it was a good way to hit every steel. Scarf Blizzard is also pretty cool.
Billy (Rhyperior) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hammer Arm
- Protect
Ew Lando T (Tornadus) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Tailwind
- Taunt
- Protect
- Air Slash
Week 4: #Tanggangordie
For this team I wanted to use really Bulky Offence because it seemed like something that no one had really done yet without dedicated TR. After Calcing that LO Adamant Victini could OHKO every TR user that had been in the tour so far (it doesn't OHKO cofag though!) I knew that between the same speed creeping Hariyama I had used in week 1, Victini, and Sleep + Redirect from Tangela I had a really solid core that could prevent TR from going up in almost every instance (assuming that opponents Full TR teams would beat mine in TR). Victory Star also makes Sleep Powder more accurate which is nice. That being said the team wasn't very fast so I added my own TR Jellicent to catch Water and Bug moves aimed at tini/Tang and of course for Speed Control. Altaria was added for offensive synergy with Victini and as a full Hariyama Counter. Escavalier was added because good+steel, it was either offensive rachi or Escav. Escav beats Abomasnow in TR which had been one of the most popular picks so far in the tour so I went with Alphonse Elrick the bug. If you don't get that reference watch Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Jellicent is EVd to live a bolt strike from my own Tini build and Tangela lives a DE from Jolly Mega Pinsir.
Solid change would be adding some speed to Altaria
Hariyama @ Coba Berry
Ability: Guts
EVs: 200 HP / 248 Atk / 52 Def / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- Wide Guard
Victini @ Life Orb
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect
EDIT: Forgot to mention but using rhyperior > Rhydon in cases where I needed lightningrod was because I wanted to use the item slot on not eviolite
EDIT 2: Minitour Team!
I was scrolling through this thread and I realized that I forgot to add one of my favourite teams that I used in the Doubles UU minitour (which I won n_n) so here's the squad. The team is built around setting up a Slurpuff sweep and works very well. Lead Lopunny and either Haunter or Victini depending on if you need to disrupt your opponent with Taunt/Will-O or grab a KO. Milotic rounds off the team, covering against Arcanine, Landorus I, and Rhyperior that would otherwise give me trouble. The Milo EV spread lives a Bolt Strike from Victini, creeps other Milotic, with the remainder into SAtk. Jirachi is there for using Follow Me and protecting Puff. It's EV spread outspeeds opposing Slurpuff and does 75% min with Iron Head to 4HP Puff to prevent a Belly Drum, the SDef lives a Dark Pulse from LO Darkrai and the rest is put into Def.
Damn it was just about to ask for these so i could get to finals of minitour :) good job for ancients and dw about losing 1 out of 5 games. You did better than anyone else on our team
As for the upcoming minitour, I'm predicting that TR will be all over this tournament like homosexuality is all over finally. To prevent this tournament from being really boring, (because, face it, trick room is boring), I say we discuss some ways to stop Trick Room in its tracks.
Mega Lopunny, with Scrappy Fake Out, could be a cool answer to help get rid of the TR setter of Jellicent. It also does some decent damage to the squishy spdef-oriented pokemon of Aromatisse and Hariyama.
Jirachi @ whatevs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: whatevs
whatevs Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- whatevs
- whatevs
0 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Aromatisse: 162-192 (39.9 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Theoretically, Jirachi could just hit Aromatisse 3 times, and if Lucifer is in your favor, you could flinch more times than one (you have a 60% chance to flinch anyway and double targeting exists)
0 Atk Jirachi Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 128 Def Hariyama: 218-258 (50.8 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
Jirachi also does a decent number to Hariyama, one of Trick Room's premier offensive tank.
As for the upcoming minitour, I'm predicting that TR will be all over this tournament like homosexuality is all over finally. To prevent this tournament from being really boring, (because, face it, trick room is boring), I say we discuss some ways to stop Trick Room in its tracks.
Mega Lopunny, with Scrappy Fake Out, could be a cool answer to help get rid of the TR setter of Jellicent. It also does some decent damage to the squishy spdef-oriented pokemon of Aromatisse and Hariyama.
Jirachi @ whatevs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: whatevs
whatevs Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- whatevs
- whatevs
0 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Aromatisse: 162-192 (39.9 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Theoretically, Jirachi could just hit Aromatisse 3 times, and if Lucifer is in your favor, you could flinch more times than one (you have a 60% chance to flinch anyway and double targeting exists)
0 Atk Jirachi Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 128 Def Hariyama: 218-258 (50.8 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
Jirachi also does a decent number to Hariyama, one of Trick Room's premier offensive tank.
As for the upcoming minitour, I'm predicting that TR will be all over this tournament like homosexuality is all over finally. To prevent this tournament from being really boring, (because, face it, trick room is boring), I say we discuss some ways to stop Trick Room in its tracks.
Mega Lopunny, with Scrappy Fake Out, could be a cool answer to help get rid of the TR setter of Jellicent. It also does some decent damage to the squishy spdef-oriented pokemon of Aromatisse and Hariyama.
Jirachi @ whatevs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: whatevs
whatevs Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- whatevs
- whatevs
0 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Aromatisse: 162-192 (39.9 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Theoretically, Jirachi could just hit Aromatisse 3 times, and if Lucifer is in your favor, you could flinch more times than one (you have a 60% chance to flinch anyway and double targeting exists)
0 Atk Jirachi Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 128 Def Hariyama: 218-258 (50.8 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
Jirachi also does a decent number to Hariyama, one of Trick Room's premier offensive tank.
In the spirit of the team I used in week 1 of SDPL:
252+ SpA Life Orb Deoxys Psycho Boost vs. 252 HP / 56 SpD Aromatisse: 374-442 (92.1 - 108.8%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
20 Atk Life Orb Deoxys Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Jellicent: 278-328 (68.8 - 81.1%)
252+ SpA Life Orb Deoxys Psycho Boost vs. 252 HP / 68 SpD Jellicent: 325-383 (80.4 - 94.8%)
add a fake out user and you can stop TR p easily
etc, etc is nuke
Celebi @ Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Posting this awesome mon here. It's strong, bulky and has good coverage. It kills a large portion of the meta and has natural cure so no para bs. Make your own spreads this one is lazy. Celebi has good resistances but bad weaknesses, good shit that Bug moves are kinda uncommon in Doubles UU. The last moveslot can be w/e you want I use HP Fire for the swag points vs Escav thinking he can come in and shit to OHKO.