XY Doubles Sunny Side Up

Dragsol

Dragsol

Hello trainers. Recently I read the latest issue of The Smog and specifically the article about Weather Wars in Gen VI. I made a few teams based on the articles advice and I wanted to try and see if it could get rated. I've used this team several times and found it successful. Let me know what you think.
Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Air Slash

Mega Charizard Y is my sun setter. His purpose is to come in and light the way. Protect is to keep him safe until he can mega evolve and do his main goal. Heat wave is to hit both targets using STAB. Solarbeam is an obvious choice as it's high powered, can hit rock, water, and ground types which could give Charizard some trouble, and it doesn't need to charge for a turn. Air slash is my last spot because it's another stab attack which uses his high special attack. EVs and nature are spread to make Charizard a special sweeper

Aerodactyl @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Roost

Aerodactly is pokemon number 2 on my team. Her job is to check rock types and be a physical sweeper. Her flying type makes her immune to ground type attacks, which rock types would have if they are prepared. Earthquake is to hit different types hard, including rock and steel types. Iron head is to hit Fairies, and Rock Slide is to give Aerodactly a STAB move which can flinch and hit both opponents in a double battle. Roost is my recovery move in case she's close to fainting. Leftovers is my preffered item to help her stay in the game for longer. Her EV's and nature are focused on making her a physical sweeper.

Venusaur @ Black Sludge
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Knock Off
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball

Venusaur is a no brainer, which rose to the OU teir last generation thank's to it's hidden ability Chlorophyll. While the sun setter of that generation fell, Venusaur stayed thank's to it's Kanto starter brother. Knock off is there to mess with the opponent and possibly ruin their strategy. Sleep pawde is to hurt any trick room users, as well as give anyone else some trouble. Sludge bomb is to also hit fairies hard, and act as a STAB move in case anyone resists Energyball. Energy ball is to come out in case drizzle Politoed makes an appearance. Her EV's and nature are also made so Venusaur can be a special sweeper. Black sludge is there so V can gain some health back, while making the game fun in case anybody uses trick or switcheroo.

Mamoswine @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rock Slide
- Icicle Crash

Mamoswine, my dragon slayer. Dragons would give M-Charizard a hard time, so someone with ice STAB could be very useful. Icicle crash is for a strong STAB ice move, while ice shard is for speed priority in case Mamoswine needs to revenge kill a Latias or Dragonite. Rockslide is another move picked for the same reason Aerodactly has it, it's strong and hits both sides. Earthquake is a strong STAB move. Thick Fat is picked to help Mamoswines longevity, and the other two option (oblivious and Snow Cloak) stink. Leftovers are there to help Mamoswine stay in the game, and EVs and nature are for attack and bulk.

Bisharp @ Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance

Bisharp is also a trick room stopper. It's low speed and high attack help, as well as it's typing as trick room users tend to be psychics and ghosts, both weak to dark types. Sucker punch is strong and fast, the only drawback is that it needs to be used with caution. Iron head os to hit fairies and anyone who resists dark moves. Knock off is to mess with the opponent, and Sword dance is to make Bisharp's already high attack so much higher. EVs and nature are focused on attack and HP, in hopes he can be around for a while. Leftovers are important to give Bisharp some form of recovery. Defiant is helpful for when someone wants to drop a stat like an intimidate user, sticky web, or defogger. This also scares Aegislash who is weak to dark types thanks to the gen shift.

Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Drill Run

Last but not least is my Hitmontop. Mach punch is for speed priority and STAB, Rapid spin to removes any entry hazards, Close combat for it's strength, and Drill run to hit any body else without hurting your teammate. Intimidate is to lower both opposing pokemon's attack stats. Leftovers are for some recovery, and EV's and nature for attack and some bulk.
 
hi here are some improvements
overheat> air slash because your sun boost already makes neutral fire type attacks stronger than super effective flying type attacks
tailwind> roost/iron head. roost and iron head are pretty bad on aero, and tailwind is really nice in doubles. also focus sash> lefties
protect> knock off on venu. also life orb> black sludge
protect > rock slide on mamo. life orb > lefties
protect> swords dance on bisharp. focus sash> lefties. you aren't really gonna be able to setup with bisharp reliably. your defiant will come in handy much more against intimidators than defoggers.
hitmontop should be: fake out, close combat, wide guard, mach punch. also sitrus berry> lefties. sitrus will heal more overall than lefties considering that it is 25% hp, while lefties will usually only garner 6-18%. fake out good for doubles momentum grabbing. wide guard to protect char and aero from rock slide, and bisharp from eq, venu from blizzard and heat wave, the list goes on. mach punch because you said you wanted priority. drill run is usually inferior, and you already have ground coverage in mamo

overall, lefties are pretty bad in doubles because you only get 6-18% health from them since games are so short. by increasing the offensive pressure of your team with life orbs and focus sashes, you pose more of an offensive threat to the opposing team which is a lot of what doubles is about (offensive pressure).
protect helps ease predictions and protect your pokemon a turn (duh). here is a very good article explaining its usefulness http://www.smogon.com/smog/issue34/protect-your-tool by cute user Electrolyte

:]
 
Oh man, good to know my writing inspired someone. Anyway, going off what finally said, I think you can tweak some of those mons on your team to be more efficient in what they do.

1. Charizard: You have a nice and solid standard Charizard with the EV's, and the moves are more or less perfect for what you want to achieve. Air Slash is the only change I would make, as it is fairly redundant aside from hitting Ludicolo. I would consider these 3 options: Hidden Power Ground, Overheat, and Focus Blast. Hidden Power Ground is specifically for beating Heatran, who otherwise has a field day against Charizard + Venusaur. Overheat is a nuke, and can be used to blast your way through several opposing defensive cores, and Pokemon that otherwise live Heatwave and can OHKO back (namely Mega Kangaskhan). Lastly is Focus Blast, which is the shakiest option of the three, which is only for beating Heatrans and Tyranitars, though the poor accuracy could cost you games, though is still better than Air Slash.

2. Aerodactyl: I love Aerodactyl, and I love that you're incorporating it into a sun team. The current moveset however fails to capitalize on it as efficiently as it could. I would highly suggest swapping out Roost and Iron Head for Protect and Wide Guard. Aero is a frail Pokemon, and it can not utilize Roost efficiently, especially in a fast paced metagame like doubles. As for Iron Head, the coverage on rocks, whilst needed, is redundant on Aerodactyl, as you already have 5 other Pokemon that can handle most Rock types, and Wide Guard affords you complete protection from Rock Slide, which is the most common rock type in the game. Another thing is that I would definitely switch Aerodactyl to a Jolly nature, as this allows you to outrun Shaymin-Sky and Mega-Salamence. Last thing: Lum Berry / Focus Sash instead of Leftovers, maybe even Wacan Berry or Passho Berry, if you don't really like your rain matchup.

Other minor suggestions that I think you should consider are switching out Earthquake (which I feel is unneeded on this particular set, but that is just preference) for one of the following: Taunt, Sky Drop, or Tailwind. Taunt is useful for breaking Trick Room teams, stopping Prankster users, and so on. This will definitely help in your Trick Room matchups, as you look a bit shaky against Trick Room right now, as Bisharp / Mamoswine aren't the strongest counters, and Sleep Power is an unreliable move (the day Venusaur gets Spore will be a glorious one). Sky Drop is a useful disruptive move and can be used to remove Pokemon such as Terrakion and Kangaskhan so that Charizard can just blast through with Heatwave. It also works on flying / Levitate users, albeit without damaging them, so it can be used in that way as well with careful prediction. Tailwind is merely to allow you to just outspeed opposing threats, as your team is quite slow at the moment, and being able to outrun the opponent is a key component of Sun teams, since you only have 5 turns before needing to reset the weather.

3. Venusaur: Not much to change, I would recommend just switching to a Modest nature and just removing Knock Off and using Protect, since Bisharp already has Knock Off. The EV spread is solid, though I feel as if running max speed when using Chlorosaur is unneeded, 176 being the necessary benchmark for the key base max 70 benchmark, and 144 lets you outrun Jolly Scarf Landorus-T in the sun, though I can see the utility in speed tying max neutral Mamoswine, and this is just a nitpicky suggestion. However, a non-nitpicky one is the choice of item on Venusaur. Right now you have Black Sludge, citing the healing it provides as the primary purpose. Whilst healing each turn is useful, the short length of doubles battles makes items such as Leftovers (and similar ones) ineffective, with a Sitrus Berry being the superior choice for healing more often than not. One thing I really like on Venusaur is the use of a Focus Sash, thus ensuring I can take at least 1 attack and either KO that threat, or putting them to sleep. I recommend testing this option to see if it's a better fit. Another option, and the route I think is best for your team, is to go for a LO Chlorosaur, which increases the damage output of your team significantly, and turns the Charizard + Venu core you have into a more potent offensive one.

4. Mamoswine: To start, I would put 192 of those HP EV's into Spe, thus letting you outrun Breloom and Bisharp, who could otherwise put in significant damage to your Mamoswine. It also lets you outrun most variations of Heatran and Rotom-W, several variants of Rotom-H, bulkier Venusaur spreads, and a few other things! Repeating what finally said, I would also swap out Rock Slide for Protect, or if you really want to go for Rock Slide, I would opt for an Assault Vest over Leftovers. Assault Vest makes Mamoswine surprisingly bulky, and combined with his good Attack, it makes for a potent means to tackle most special attackers.

5. Bisharp: Nothing much to change here, just swap Leftovers for a Focus Sash or Life Orb, you'll gain a lot more mileage with either of these. I personally like Focus Sash more since it lets you use Bisharp to handle Charizard or Landorus T in dire situations, though Life Orb grabs many more ko's, and can OHKO a lot of things at +1. Also just regurgitating at this point, but Protect should replace Swords Dance, especially since Doubles has more than enough Intimidate users to make Swords Dance unnecessary.

6. Hitmontop: Wide Guard should replace Rapid Spin, Fake Out should replace Drill Run. The reasons for this are because these two moves have a lot more utility. Wide Guard protects you from Surf, Earthquake, Hyper Voice, Discharge, Heatwave, Rock Slide, Muddy Water, Blizzard, and a few more things, all of which are common. Rapid Spin on the other hand only serves to remove hazards, which are more or less non-existent in doubles. Fake Out over Drill run is because Fake Out is an incredible move for buying free turns, and Drill Run is redundant since most things which it hits are dealt with using Close Combat. Also Sitrus Berry over Leftovers, or perhaps a more offensive Hitmontop variant utilizing a Black Belt could be well suited for you team, the option is yours. And lastly, I noticed you weren't running any EV's in defense, which is not too uncommon on Hitmontop, though taking 120 EVs from Attack and putting 60 in both defences will help you out (tanks 2 Psyshocks / Psychics from 0 SpA Cresselia if you factor in Sitrus Berry). Or if you want, an offensive Hitmontop, taking 136 EVs from HP and putting them into Spe will let you outrun 4 Spe Rotom-W and 80 Spe Heatran, and deal heavy damage before taking a Will-O-Wisp. For the latter set, I recommend either a Black Belt or Lum Berry.

Cool team, and good luck in doubles friend : )
 
Now I really want Showdown to be fixed! I also made a rain and sandstorm team, but the guidelines say I can only post to RMT once every two weeks, so you'll see those later
 
This team isn't bad, but it does need some work to reach it's fullest potential. One thing I would do is change your Aerodactyl set to this:
Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sky Drop
- Tailwind
- Rock Slide
- Protect

In singles, berries are almost never used, but in doubles, berries are some of the most common items. By running unnerve, your opponent's supporters (such as Hitmontop, Amoonguss and Togekiss) are rendered frailer. Sky drop is great because it stops your opponent from moving for a turn letting it's teammate take care of one of your opponent's pokemon. Tailwind lets your pokemon get a big speed boost for a few turns that can very easily let you sweep late game. Taunt is another option for that slot. It lets you stop things like Rotom from Will-o-Wisp ing and trick room from going up. Rockslide is a moderately powerful STAB spread move and protect is protect.

Also, Shaian's article is good, but you may want to check this thread out too. It helps out with team building archetypes... And sun is one of those archetypes highlighted in the OP. That will help a lot. I would have more to say, but most of my other would-be points are already stated above. Good luck with this team and stick with playing doubles!!
 
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