As I'm sure many already know, field effects like weather are much more abusable in doubles than in singles, given the faster pace and what not. What I wanna know is, how do these weather effects stack up?
I'm assuming Rain would be the best weather effect (boosting Surf, 100% Thunder, easy abuse with Water Absorb/Dry Skin, easy Swift Swim abuse) with Sun coming in second (boosting Eruption/Heat Wave/Lava Plume, Chlorophyll, Flower Gift). What I'm curious about is how the weather effects Hail and Sandstorm compare.
I believe Hail is better than Sandstorm in doubles due to the fact it has a higher abusability in Blizzard, whereas Sandstorm has no notable offensive effect besides Weather Ball, which is only learned by two pokemon and not exclusive to Sandstorm. Blizzard has a great attacking type, is not restricting since it targets both opponents but not one's ally, has a large pool of potential users (Starmie, Froslass, Abomasnow, Porygon-Z, Mesprit, Milotic, and Glaceon, to name a few), is 100% accurate in Hail, has a 25% chance to hit through the common Protect or Detect, and has the same power as an Ice Beam against both opponents after the move's power is lowered IIRC.
In terms of ability, both effects don't seem to have much to exploit: for Hail, the only abilites affected by Hail are Snow Cloak (possessed by only Mamoswine, Froslass, and Glaceon) and Hail Body (possessed by only Walrein and Glalie). Sandstorm has only Sand Veil (possessed only by Garchomp, Gliscor, Dugtrio, Sandslash, and Cacturne). Ice Body is not as effective in doubles given its fast past hinders stalling, and, of all the Sand Veil users, Garchomp and possibly Gliscor are the only real users; Dugtrio has a better ability in Arena Trap, Sandslash is rarely used (even in Trick Room there are better choices such as Marowak or Rhyperior) and so is Cacturne given its fragility (although it might see more use in Trick Room given its high attack and poor speed). Gliscor may see use, but walls are not used as much in doubles, although it may benefit from SD sets, Knock Off, and Taunt.
Sandstorm, of course, still has its Sp.Def boost for Rock Types and causing damage to all those not immune to it, but these are more features of stalling, and like I said stalling is much harder to do in doubles.
Now, if I am correct and Sandstorm isn't as popular in doubles as in singles, what will that do to the usage of certain pokemon, namely Tyranitar and Hippowdon? I can see Hippowdon being used with Trick Room and Curse sets. Tyranitar, while still having great stats and movepool, does suffer from numerous weaknesses and the fact that it's outsped by a lot outside and inside of Trick Room given its mediocre speed. But I have to wonder if these pokemon will be used often to support Garchomp or to counter other weather teams.
Of course, this is a lot of Theorymon since there's no readily established doubles metagame as of yet (can't wait for that addition to Shoddy), so I admit I'm probably wrong on a lot of stuff. I just wanna hear people's opinions on this topic.
I'm assuming Rain would be the best weather effect (boosting Surf, 100% Thunder, easy abuse with Water Absorb/Dry Skin, easy Swift Swim abuse) with Sun coming in second (boosting Eruption/Heat Wave/Lava Plume, Chlorophyll, Flower Gift). What I'm curious about is how the weather effects Hail and Sandstorm compare.
I believe Hail is better than Sandstorm in doubles due to the fact it has a higher abusability in Blizzard, whereas Sandstorm has no notable offensive effect besides Weather Ball, which is only learned by two pokemon and not exclusive to Sandstorm. Blizzard has a great attacking type, is not restricting since it targets both opponents but not one's ally, has a large pool of potential users (Starmie, Froslass, Abomasnow, Porygon-Z, Mesprit, Milotic, and Glaceon, to name a few), is 100% accurate in Hail, has a 25% chance to hit through the common Protect or Detect, and has the same power as an Ice Beam against both opponents after the move's power is lowered IIRC.
In terms of ability, both effects don't seem to have much to exploit: for Hail, the only abilites affected by Hail are Snow Cloak (possessed by only Mamoswine, Froslass, and Glaceon) and Hail Body (possessed by only Walrein and Glalie). Sandstorm has only Sand Veil (possessed only by Garchomp, Gliscor, Dugtrio, Sandslash, and Cacturne). Ice Body is not as effective in doubles given its fast past hinders stalling, and, of all the Sand Veil users, Garchomp and possibly Gliscor are the only real users; Dugtrio has a better ability in Arena Trap, Sandslash is rarely used (even in Trick Room there are better choices such as Marowak or Rhyperior) and so is Cacturne given its fragility (although it might see more use in Trick Room given its high attack and poor speed). Gliscor may see use, but walls are not used as much in doubles, although it may benefit from SD sets, Knock Off, and Taunt.
Sandstorm, of course, still has its Sp.Def boost for Rock Types and causing damage to all those not immune to it, but these are more features of stalling, and like I said stalling is much harder to do in doubles.
Now, if I am correct and Sandstorm isn't as popular in doubles as in singles, what will that do to the usage of certain pokemon, namely Tyranitar and Hippowdon? I can see Hippowdon being used with Trick Room and Curse sets. Tyranitar, while still having great stats and movepool, does suffer from numerous weaknesses and the fact that it's outsped by a lot outside and inside of Trick Room given its mediocre speed. But I have to wonder if these pokemon will be used often to support Garchomp or to counter other weather teams.
Of course, this is a lot of Theorymon since there's no readily established doubles metagame as of yet (can't wait for that addition to Shoddy), so I admit I'm probably wrong on a lot of stuff. I just wanna hear people's opinions on this topic.
