Don't be too quick to abandon your strategy. It's a good idea to run Protect on Rhyperior in 2v2 in general. If you predict that they'll focus fire it, Protect. This lets you use Earthquake with Gyarados, too. An old strategy, but an effective one with good prediction skills.
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The Double Battle metagame; does it require skill?
- Thread starter StarmanXL
- Start date
Don't be too quick to abandon your strategy. It's a good idea to run Protect on Rhyperior in 2v2 in general. If you predict that they'll focus fire it, Protect. This lets you use Earthquake with Gyarados, too. An old strategy, but an effective one with good prediction skills.
A lot double junkies are not going to like what i am about to say.It is way to easy in doubles to go offense offense offense with no real taught of team concepts.I am not saying well taught teams and strategies don't work in 2 vs 2 but you can put together teams of the fastest and hard hitting things and very successful 2 vs 2.
I do agree 2 vs 2 leads to more pokemon,more underused poke,more variety of strategies, but use 6 choice banders in 1 vs 1 you probably get murdered,the same team of 6 choice banders will thrash teams in 2 vs 2. A couple of strageties in like Trick room,Tailwind might change this.
Hit Hard works and Fast works to well.IMO
I do agree 2 vs 2 leads to more pokemon,more underused poke,more variety of strategies, but use 6 choice banders in 1 vs 1 you probably get murdered,the same team of 6 choice banders will thrash teams in 2 vs 2. A couple of strageties in like Trick room,Tailwind might change this.
Hit Hard works and Fast works to well.IMO
All right, I'll give it a try when I get round to doing a 2v2 team. (Breeding for my singles team is killing me though!)
I like the Protect idea, thanks!
How about throwing on Focus Band too, to help Rhyperior last longer?
(Not sure if I'm getting a lil' too much off-topic now xP PM if we are lol)
Well, hitting hard and fast is definitely a legitimate strategy in Doubles. I usually prefer to battle with Item Clause to avoid the 6 Choice Band situation. Honestly, though, being locked into moves is much more risky in Doubles, where the stakes are higher for switching. Whatever you bring in probably won't resist all of your opponent's moves. A skilled player may be able to dance around your Choice moves and ream whatever you switch to.
There are other things that hurt this as well. Remember that Intimidate hits both foes, so switching in an Intimidate Pokémon can effectively negate both your Choice Band bonuses in one fell swoop. As you say, Tailwind or Trick Room combined with Fake Out for easier set up can also put a dent in this strategy.
No doubt about it, though. Pure power often carries the day.
I fully agree, although I feel that Life Orb tends to work much better in Doubles, as with 8 potential attacks at your disposal it's much easier to just continue sweeping with super effective hits. It's also much more dangerous to switch out in Doubles, as it's much harder to play the prediction game as compared to Singles.
Dual Hitting attacks just wreak havoc in 2 vs 2.
Example: Typhlosion + Eruption. Choice Specs/Scarf and you're ready to take down whole teams unless they can 1/4 resist it. (Water/Dragon, for example.)
It's just way too easy to kill Pokemon in Dual Battle that Pokemon loses its fun aspect of prediction and mindgames. You just need to get in there and pack the most firepower you can as fast as you can to win. That isn't the case in Singles.
Example: Typhlosion + Eruption. Choice Specs/Scarf and you're ready to take down whole teams unless they can 1/4 resist it. (Water/Dragon, for example.)
It's just way too easy to kill Pokemon in Dual Battle that Pokemon loses its fun aspect of prediction and mindgames. You just need to get in there and pack the most firepower you can as fast as you can to win. That isn't the case in Singles.
-Multi Enemy attacks get power reduced in 2v2 to avoid brokenness
-The game's not nearly as stale as the 1v1 metagame (start with Skarm, spikes, roar- Kill an entire unprepared team easily, so you have to counter it. same goes for everything else. There are so many must-counters that the game is boring.)
-Finally, moves like Captivate (which is a multi-target 2stage Spatk drop) gain precedence over moves that target single foes with the same effect and less cost, so not only do pokémon unused in 1v1 get used, but moves to boot
It's too varied to just say "soandso owns all", especially when you so obviously don't play 2v2. Aqua Jet lols @ your Eruption, making it more of a baking soda volcano, and then Steelix comes in and Scarf-Explode.
Everything is counterable, but 2v2 has way more to counter. And that makes it fun, not broken.
Double Battles is a whole new ball game. Turns become far more precious since you now get 2 attacks per turn. If both of your pokemon fail to attack then the opponent could walk all over you. And I'm actually glad that Nintendo is encouraging us to do Double Battles that don't actually force us to do it (Like Coliseum, no offense, but non-stop non-semi-competitive double battles is annoying).
That being said, Protect does nothing but piss me off in double battles when being abused. Also, some pokemon shouldn't be underestimated when trying to figure out who's the bigger threat >.>
That being said, Protect does nothing but piss me off in double battles when being abused. Also, some pokemon shouldn't be underestimated when trying to figure out who's the bigger threat >.>
setting up is much harder in double battles because if your opponent predicts a setup, they may focus fire on that guy to prevent any sweeping. weather also becomes a huge factor and moves like follow me, helping hand, reflect/light screen, etc are extremely powerful becuase they affect all the pokemon in battle. Example: 2v2 kyogre team, say you have a kyogre + vaporeon out. kyogre sets up rain, gets a few CMs in, then procedes w/ surf. Vaporeon heals from kyogre and can help out with a double surf (hurting kyogre), or helping hand for an exceedingly powerful hit that heals itself.
and protect is really annoying, which may be why feint is soemwhat useful in 2v2 *cough protect exploders cough*
and protect is really annoying, which may be why feint is soemwhat useful in 2v2 *cough protect exploders cough*
Ummmm..... Quick Question:
Wobbuffet isn't broken in 2v2 is he? I mean, I've never really played 2v2 seriously, so I really don't know how well he'd work there... plus I don't know how his trait works there either. If he isn't, I understand kind of, but if he is I'd like to hear why. I'm sure someone has thought about this.... right?
Wobbuffet isn't broken in 2v2 is he? I mean, I've never really played 2v2 seriously, so I really don't know how well he'd work there... plus I don't know how his trait works there either. If he isn't, I understand kind of, but if he is I'd like to hear why. I'm sure someone has thought about this.... right?
Wobbuffet's kinda useless as he can only counter one person at once, the best he can really do is draw your opponent's attention while your other Poke explodes and can't really do anything about it as they can't switch. Of course they could ignore Wobbuffet entirely and then attack the exploder, unless its something really meaty it'll probably struggle to absorb two attacks.
Combos like Sceptile and Regigigas could work, Sceptile launches a nice speedy worry seed onto Regigigas ending his slow start on turn one, possibly quick enough to let Regigigas get an attack in before your opponent has done anything.
Other things like using a Suft poke with a Water Absorb poke could work well. Sure there is the issue of common weaks, but with admittedly non-STAB users like Draggy, TTar, Exploud and in Ubers Mew and Lugia do okay, but the Latis are almost too perfect for it due to having a nice special attack and Levitate.
Combos like Sceptile and Regigigas could work, Sceptile launches a nice speedy worry seed onto Regigigas ending his slow start on turn one, possibly quick enough to let Regigigas get an attack in before your opponent has done anything.
Other things like using a Suft poke with a Water Absorb poke could work well. Sure there is the issue of common weaks, but with admittedly non-STAB users like Draggy, TTar, Exploud and in Ubers Mew and Lugia do okay, but the Latis are almost too perfect for it due to having a nice special attack and Levitate.
In Doubles, Wobbuffet is neither broken, nor is it useless, as long as it has the right set. Shadow Tag keeps both opponents from switching. However, smart opponents will ignore Wobbuffet in favor of attacking its partner, like TSPhoenix says.
However, that's not the end of the story. Wobbuffet has Encore, and when your Pokémon is locked into a move with Encore, you can no longer pick a target for the move you're using. For targetable moves, the target is randomized every turn. Wobbuffet can use this to its advantage and get lucky with a Counter or Mirror Coat.
Another viable strategy is to give Wobbuffet Charm. The idea is to Charm a pure physical attacker until it's Attack stat is so low that it becomes worthless. Since it can't switch out, the battle becomes a one-on-one between Wobbuffet's partner and the Charmed Pokémon's partner. The advantage goes to Wobbuffet's partner, though. It can still switch out if it wants to.
However, that's not the end of the story. Wobbuffet has Encore, and when your Pokémon is locked into a move with Encore, you can no longer pick a target for the move you're using. For targetable moves, the target is randomized every turn. Wobbuffet can use this to its advantage and get lucky with a Counter or Mirror Coat.
Another viable strategy is to give Wobbuffet Charm. The idea is to Charm a pure physical attacker until it's Attack stat is so low that it becomes worthless. Since it can't switch out, the battle becomes a one-on-one between Wobbuffet's partner and the Charmed Pokémon's partner. The advantage goes to Wobbuffet's partner, though. It can still switch out if it wants to.
I will play doubles when competitor comes out. It took me one friggin week just to make the one good poke I've ever bred(totodile), and I only did that because I knew I'd be able to nab some great stuff from others in trade. Doubles has a tiny population of people to trade with and likely they are not going to have what I need since doubles strategies are not mix and match the way singles teams are. It just takes too long to breed for the right pokemon and then find out the strategy sucks.