Draconid

Thank you for correcting me! This doubles format is proving to be very interesting to learn about! :)

Randy Kwa (R Inanimate) had some decent success with this team back in vgc 2012 that exploits abomasnow pretty well. Heracross / Heatran could be swapped out for something that can deal with the core's weaknesses better in this meta https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/international-wifi-tournament-international-challenge-won-by-cybertron.3462081/page-48#post-4165189 "The team is a Hail Team in the sense that it goes for Blizzard spam. There ends up being a lot of shared weaknesses in the team, particularly Fire, Fighting, Ice, and Rock. I've found it quite entertaining to play, but also quite difficult. There were a lot of situations where I was a hair's width away from losing, but bailed myself out with a bit of luck or some good plays. I found out the hard way that the team can collapse fast when I'm not at the top of my game, losing 100 points in rating within about 4 hours."

Good advice, thank you. I've replaced life orb with yache berry and tailwind with protect.

Yes it's a staple move on most doubles sets - unless you have good reason for me to use otherwise?

Hi everyone! I haven't been nearly as active as I would have liked to have been when I joined PokeMMO, thanks to college, and now Sinnoh is out, I thought I would have a go at building a team in the new metagame! This will be the first team I aim to build in-game for competitive play in Doubles... Please be as critical as you can, as I don't want to go into the new metagame blind. At A Glance Yes... It's your run-of-the-mill sand team, and for good reason. I knew I wanted to use Garchomp and Rotom-W now that they had been released, so what better way to use them than to improve upon my previous BW core idea of Tyranitar/Salamence/Ferrothorn! Gengar was added last to round out the team, providing a way to disrupt opposing set up strategies with an immunity to fake out and a fast taunt, among many other great attributes. In Depth Tyranitar @ Chople Berry Ability: Sand Stream EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD Brave Nature IVs: ~0 Spe - Rock Slide - Crunch - Superpower / Low Kick - Protect No real explanation needed, Tyranitar is here to set the weather and to be a rock for the rest of the team to be build upon *bad pun sorry* Slow speed to have maximum guarantee of setting the weather, and Superpower for coverage. I'm using 252/252/4 spreads on every Pokemon to ease EV training. Garchomp @ Life Orb / Yache Berry Ability: Sand Veil EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Dragon Claw - Earthquake - Rock Slide - Protect Everyone's favourite Pokemon. Able to do massive damage to just about anything, with the added bonus of Sand Veil. Garchomp is really a no-brainer. I'm a little torn between life orb and focus sash, as they both do wonders for Garchomp - I'm siding towards the life orb as it can rack up kills a lot faster that way. Salamence @ Dragon Gem Ability: Intimidate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Timid / Modest Nature - Draco Meteor - Hidden Power [Flying] / Tailwind - Fire Blast / Heat Wave - Protect / Tailwind I'm a little torn between speed control and coverage here. Tailwind would be fab for most of the Pokemon on the team (bar ferrothorn), and HP/Fire Blast provide much needed coverage for things like Hitmontop, Ferrothorn, Volcarona etc... I'm quite tempted to just go for 3 attacks + protect here and use speed control moves on other slots (i.e rotom/gengar) - what do you think? Ferrothorn @ Leftovers / Occa Berry Ability: Iron Barbs EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD Brave Nature IVs: ~0 Spe - Gyro Ball - Power Whip - Stealth Rock / Leech Seed - Protect Bulk of the team. Ferrothorn is a great counter to opposing weather teams, and is just a fantastic Pokemon all around. Stealth Rock and Leech Seed are both great, although I'm favouring Stealth Rock due to the more offensive spread. Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Levitate EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe Modest Nature - Hydro Pump - Thunderbolt - Will-O-Wisp / Thunder Wave - Protect One of my favourites. Rotom-W/Ferrothorn has been a staple core in doubles, as they have fantastic type synergy, providing a resistance to nearly every type (excluding fight/ghost/dark/bug), and form part of the typical FWG core found on many teams. Will-O-Wisp would be fantastic here, although I am a little tempted by Thunder Wave due to the lack of speed control on this team. Gengar @ Focus Sash / Ghost Gem Ability: Levitate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Shadow Ball - Icy Wind - Taunt - Protect / Sludge Bomb Here to balance out the team. Gengar provides nearly everything this team lacks. An answer to status moves, set ups, trick room, fake out... And some speed control in Icy Wind, which is lovely. Gengar is a great lead against most teams, and can put a dent in nearly every major Trick Room setter (bar Porygon2), as well as common dragons like Garchomp/Salamence. Ghost gem is for threats like dusclops, as focus sash is pretty pathetic once sand is up, and sludge bomb is for threats like abomasnow, who would otherwise eat through the team. *** Please let me know what you think, and if you have any tips for building in-game! Thanks! Showdown Importable

I agree completely! I didn't know that iron head was available and completely forgot about drill run! Thanks for pointing them out! :)

Quick question, where can I find more resources for this metagame? These forums seem a little lacking in resources like viability rankings, sample teams etc. If the community here need a hand with creating this type of thing, I'd be willing to help! I made this resource for VGC 2016 which gained some popularity on smogon/nugget bridge: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/vgc-16-teambuilding-frameworks.3564141/

Thanks a lot for the help! I've had a go at experimenting with some of the cores you listed, and arrived back at the conclusion of Tyranitar/Salamence/Ferrothorn/Hitmontop/Reuniclus/Excadrill. Excadrill this time being added on as a filler, as the rest of the team does plenty to support it.

Sounds like a plan, I'll keep re-working the team until I can't break it. What are some common cores in the current meta?

Fantastic response, thank you very much. I hadn't actually considered hitmontop as a threat until you brought it up, thank you. I thought there was something I missed. So with your rate, a team of Tyranitar/Excadrill/Salamence/Hitmontop/Ferrothorn/Reuniclus would suffice? How would you go about optimising Reuniclus for the team in this meta? I would personally go with: Reuniclus @ Life Orb Ability: Magic Guard Quiet Nature EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD IVs: 0 Spe - Trick Room - Psychic - Focus Blast - Protect Anything you'd change? Thanks again, Draconid

Hi everyone! I'm really new here - I've just completed White, and have been trying to design a solid team for the Doubles metagame so that I can take a stab at playing competitively. I want to make sure that I'm headed in the right direction first before attempting to build this team in game from scratch, which is why I need your help. So let's get to the team. At a Glance In-Depth Tyranitar @ Chople Berry Ability: Sand Stream EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe Adamant Nature - Rock Slide - Crunch - Superpower - Protect By far my favourite weather setter. Tyranitar is the crux of the team, allowing Excadrill to sweep with Sand Rush, and to function as a sweeper under both Tailwind and Trick room. Chople Berry allows Tyranitar to tank a hit from the several fighting types that pervade the metagame, and the 252/252/4 EV spread simplifies IV breeding, which is something I've applied to each Pokemon here to save time on team building. Pretty standard move set here, with Superpower allowing Tyranitar to take on threats like Hydreigon with greater ease. Excadrill @ Life Orb Ability: Sand Rush EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Earthquake - Rock Slide - X-Scissor - Protect Sand sweeper. Very self-explanatory set, with X-Scissor as coverage. Excadrill would typically be conserved for late-game, while the rest of the team clear out any potential hazards and have Tyranitar set up sandstorm. I have a suspicion that Excadrill would be too dependent on sandstorm that his role in the team in Trick Room/Tailwind modes would be inflexible, so if you have any other suggestions as to whom might be able to replace him, let me know. Salamence @ Haban Berry Ability: Intimidate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Modest Nature - Draco Meteor - Fire Blast - Tailwind - Protect Best type synergy with Tyranitar/Excadrill out of all available Dragons. Tailwind setter. Haban berry allows Salamence to function as somewhat of a counter to Kingdra, especially under Sandstorm/Tailwind/Trick Room conditions. Intimidate means that the team have an easier time against physical threats, and Salamence's flying type makes it an excellent partner for an Excadrill sweep. Hitmontop @ Fighting Gem Ability: Intimidate EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe Adamant Nature - Fake Out - Close Combat - Feint - Wide Guard One of the best offensive support Pokemon available. Fake Out makes for a more efficient Trick Room/Tailwind set up, Feint makes sweeping easier, Fighting Gem Close Combat handles Tyranitar, Wide Guard blocks opposing Earthquakes, Rock Slides, Muddy Water etc... The list goes on. Oh, and it's also got intimidate. Amoonguss @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Effect Spore EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD Sassy Nature IVs: 0 Spe - Spore - Rage Powder - Giga Drain - Protect Another fantastic support Pokemon. Amoonguss provides redirection and sleep support for all team members, giving Tyranitar and Excadrill a way to deal with Fighting types in Rage Powder, which also allows Jellicent to set up Trick Room much more easily. Sitrus Berry allows it to stay on the field for a little longer, giving it more time to offer redirection support. All-round great little mushroom. Jellicent @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Water Absorb EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA Quiet Nature IVs: 0 Spe - Trick Room - Scald - Shadow Ball - Protect Trick Room setter immune to Fake out, Rain check and Fighting type counter. Jellicent is mainly here as a counter to Rain, and to offer another form of speed control that supports nearly every member of the team. There's not much else to say here. Threats Rain The most threatening weather to sand. I would usually respond to rain teams with Jellicent+Amoonguss in order to set up TR, taking Pelipper out with Tyranitar, and handling Kingdra with Salamence. All of which are very shaky counters, so I'd appreciate some advice on how to go about beating it. Bisharp Having two Pokemon with intimidate on the team leaves me wide open to Bisharp's Defiant, allowing it to cut through the bulk of my team if I don't handle it quickly enough. Ideas for Team Changes --> / These three Steel Pokemon are all floating around the same spot for me. Excadrill has a number of flaws, namely that he can only safely Earthquake next to Salamence, and that he needs Sandstorm to be up to function properly. Bisharp on the other hand doesn't need the field to be cleared to threaten the opponent, he thrives in Sand/TR/TW, threatens Kingdra with Sucker Punch, and effectively removes the threat of opposing Intimidate. Ferrothorn too provides another check to Rain, and doesn't require any set ups to exert pressure on the field. I'm leaning toward Bisharp, what do you think? Bisharp Ferrothorn Importable