XY Doubles Suggestions on this Sunny Day Doubles Team?

[bruinsgirl33]

I initially got inspiration for this after thinking about Goodra's Sap Sipper Ability. This team is primarily built around making sure Goodra gets a couple of Sap Sipper boosts while also supporting my other team members. Here it is!


Goodra (F) @ Assault Vest
Sap Sipper
Adamant Nature
252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD

Outrage
Poison Tail
Dragon Tail
Rock Slide

The main reason why I made this team in the first place. Outrage is for STAB, while Poison Tail and Rock Slide take care of any pesky Fairy- and Ice-types respectively. Quite a few of my team members use either Solar Beam or Giga Drain on it to get the boost from Sap Sipper. I could've gone a different Nature and used Sludge Bomb but I wanted to maximize Sap Sipper. Max HP and Attack allow Goodra to act as a bulky physical attacker with the last 4 into Special Defense. Assault Vest further maximizes its Special Defense bulk.


Ninetales (F) @ Heat Rock
Drought
Timid Nature
252 Spe/252 SpA/4 HP

Sunny Day
Nasty Plot
Solar Beam
Fire Blast

Ninetales gets Drought activated which is prolonged thanks to Heat Rock. Sunny Day reactivates it just in case another weather condition gets up. Nasty Plot raises Ninetales' SpA, Fire Blast for STAB, and Solar Beam gets instant use thanks to Sunny Day. Max Speed and SpA lets me get off a couple of Fire Blasts, with the last 4 into HP for a tad bit of bulk.


Talonflame (M) @ Life Orb
Gale Wings
Adamant Nature
252 Spe/252 Atk/4 HP

U-Turn
Flare Blitz
Tailwind
Brave Bird

In the Battle Maison for Doubles battles I tend to start off with this guy and Ninetales. Tailwind allows me to further boost their Speed to get off faster Flare Blitzes, Fire Blasts (in Ninetales' case), and Brave Birds. U-Turn serves a few purposes: scouting and if I have any of my Solar Beam users out I'll be able to switch Goodra in for free and get a Sap Sipper Boost before it even gets to attack.


Roserade (F) @ Black Sludge
Natural Cure
Timid Nature
252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP

Leech Seed
Spikes
Sludge Bomb
Solar Beam

I can set Spikes up on the opposition if I want to start with Roserade. Leech Seed helps keep Roserade healthy so I don't need to waste a slot on Giga Drain. Sludge Bomb is for STAB and takes care of Fairy-types. Solar Beam is also STAB (and whose second purpose is the same as on Ninetales). EVs are self-explanatory.


Houndoom-Mega (F) @ Houndoomite
Solar Power (Flash Fire as regular Houndoom)
Timid Nature
252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP

Nasty Plot
Dark Pulse
Solar Beam
Fire Blast

My Mega, Houndoom takes care of pesky Psychic-type attacks aimed at my Roserade with Dark Pulse. It also takes neutral damage from Fairy-types, which helps since Goodra's weak to those. Nasty Plot raises Houndoom's Special Attack skyrocket, even more so as Mega Houndoom. Fire Blast gets the Sun boost from Drought, and combined with Nasty Plot and STAB it'll hit like a truck. I couldn't decide between Timid and Modest but ultimately went with Timid since I'll get a lot of power from Nasty Plot, two STABs, and base 140 SpA (and having a perfect IV in SpA helps too, lol).


Audino (F) @ Leftovers
Healer
Calm Nature
252 HP/252 SpD/4 Def

Heal Pulse
Wish
Protect/Double Edge
Heal Bell


Audino might seem an odd choice, but it can get more HP than one might expect. Heal Pulse works great in Double Battles, so it works well in conjunction with my team, particularly Talonflame which has a lot of recoil damage moves (so it eliminates me needing Roost). Most people go with Regenerator, but for Double Battles Healer lets me take care of any status problems for Audino's teammate in the field, while Heal Bell heals the team as a whole. Wish gives both Audino and the rest of my team needed healing. Protect is so that if I decide to use Wish to heal Audino I use Protect next turn to guarantee healing (might replace Protect with Double Edge so I'm not Taunt bait; can't decide). Max HP gets me the most recovery from Wish, and max SpD allows me to tank special hits with relative ease.


And that's pretty much it. If anyone has any suggestions about how I can improve just let me know and I'm open to suggestions! Thanks!

 

[Audiosurfer]

bruinsgirl33, this didn't belong in the Doubles forum so I moved it for you. In the future, teams should be put in the Rate My Team section. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me. Have a nice day :)

 

[wllmagic]

hey bruinsgirl, was halfway though a rate when i realized i was in a dilemma on what to change. And was also too lazy. i'll just say a few things below.

I'd advise you read up on these articles right here:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/overview-to-doubles.3498688/
http://www.smogon.com/smog/issue34/protect-your-tool

For a tldr on the first article, your team seems to have been built with a Singles mindset. Things such as entry hazards, stall, boosting and Wish/Heal Bell are rather unviable in the Doubles metagame, reasons being that it's too fast-paced and offensive to waste turns setting up stuff. Not to say select support Mons such as Amoonguss and Togekiss aren't good; It's just that support tends to be centered on speed control (Tailwind, TR, Thunder Wave, Etc.), Follow Me/Rage Powder and rarely Sleep.

Second article is protect all day ery day. I'd replace some unnecessary coverage/boosting moves around the team for this precious gift to dubs


Continuing what I said in the beginning, the team has some serious type synergy issues, that are really quite difficult to solve without compromising what you were trying to achieve. So these are really more of opinions than a rate, due to how far I'm changing it.
I'd probably scrap the whole Sap Sipper Goodra thing and change it to special, much more diverse and able to handle gyar, chary, and mostly lando-t of all. Also CharY can accomplish what both Houndoom and Ninetails can do much better, saving a slot + less fire spam. Audino could be completely scrapped for a Hitmontop, Intimidate support to patch up your whole team's physical frailness and works well with CharY, Wide Guard can stop Rock Slides. I'm not sure what to put in the last slot though.

Threats to watch out for btw;
Heatran
Landorus-T
Rotom-W
Gyarados (support variants)
Rain in general

That's it, hope other raters can share what they think as well.

 

[bruinsgirl33]

Thanks. This team is actually in my X game, so unfortunately CharY isn't going to be helpful here (although I do have Charizardite Y in my Y game so I could probably transfer it). I can get a Goodra with good IVs thanks to one of my Friend Safaris being Dragon and includes Sliggoo :-) I'm actually better at Singles than Doubles but wanted to try something different. Never really thought of using Hitmontop but I might end up using it. Forgot about Wide Guard since I don't see it too often, lol.