Shadestep
volition immanent
Fairytale
a HO RMT with M-Diancie & friends
a HO RMT with M-Diancie & friends
Introduction:
hi everyone, shadestep here! you (doubles OU community) probably don't know me, because I'm not really involved with the tier. I do although ladder Doubles OU quite a bit (that place is worse than hell, I swear), have joined the Doubles OU Open tournament and am also playing as Doubles OU for the OR/AS Team Tournament.
I mainly play UU, and Doubles OU is a really fun and interesting tier to play and learn when I'm bored of UU.
I made this team in the preperation of DOU open, and have used it in round 1 and round 3.
I know far from everything about this tier, so any help and criticism is greatly appreciated!
Teambuilding Process:
I started off with a 2-mon core of M-Diancie and Aegislash. they work well together because Aegislash struggles with fast things like Keldeo, Charizard-Y, Heatran, etc. with Wide Guard, it supports M-Diancie really well because Diancie doesn't have to fear things like Heat Wave, Earthquake or Rock Slide anymore, shutting down the mons that use those moves.
next up, I went with bulky Thundurus and Greninja. I thought Greninja was a cool hipster lead with protean + toxic spikes + sneak + Mat Block. Mat block is what caught my attention the most, because it's (atleast I thought so) is really useful in certain situations. Thundurus was added for Thunder Wave and Taunt support.
after asking in the Doubles room for help, I soon found out that Greninja was not considered a really good mon, and it was easily replaceable with Keldeo. Keldeo also supports me with Quick Guard which is always useful for dealing with Azu, Talonflame, Fake Out mons etc.
I was looking pretty weak to Amoonguss and M-Kangha, and Intimidate is always a good ability to have. Talonflame has Tailwind, which makes opposing Tailwind teams quite a bit less scary, as for example Heatran + Keldeo can wreck pretty much my entire team with a tailwind up (my only check is Thunder Wave Thundurus).
Movesets, EV Spreads and Explanations
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Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect
pretty standard moveset and EV-spread. Pulled this one right from the smogdex analysis for M-Diancie, and I have not found the need to change anything on it. Max Speed because Diancie has a very high-traffic speed tier that it wants to compete in. 48 SpA to OHKO Heatran (non-Shuca) and Bisharp, the rest goes in to the most spammable move Diamond Storm.
It has good synergy with Thundurus and Aegislash; it kills mons like Heatran and Talonflame that annoy Aegislash and Thundy as they can't hit them hard and risk getting Heat Waved for a shit ton of damage.
It's one of the only 'answers' to Bisharp on the team, and kind-of deals with Weavile which is also a threat.
Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Wide Guard
- Shadow Ball / Substitute
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
Aegislash is here to deal with Cresselia, slow TR mons like Aroma and Bronzong, and most importantly Fairy-Spam. Wide Guard gives M-Diancie and Thundurus a relieve, as they don't need to be super-worried of powerful Earthquakes and Rock Slides from things like Lando-T and Terrakion.
a last-minute change I made was Sub -> Shadow Ball to deal with Bisharp a bit better as it creates another 50/50 situation and it makes the opponent focus-fire on Aegislash, giving its current partner a bit of a free playground.
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 64 SpA / 72 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
Thundurus was added to the team mostly for priority Thunder Wave. this can also be done with other mons (whimsicott, klefki), but it also gives me some raw power and a bit of bulk to the team. it helps weaken Landorus-T for Talonflame and my own Lando, and checks fast threats like Rain Sweepers (Kabutops, Ludicolo etc) by Thunder Waving it.
Keldeo @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Taunt
- Quick Guard
Life Orb cuz you kill shit with it, Timid because you really need the speed.
Keldeo was a good overall pick because of the utility it gave me, as well as check most Rain Sweepers and Bish + Weavile, which are a big problem for this team. It has good synergy with pretty much anything but especially Aegi and Talonflame as it gets rid of bulky steels and ground-types for them, while providing them with a bit of support as well.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Explosion / Knock Off / U-Turn
Yet again a pretty standard set. the only unorthodox thing is Explosion. it has clutched me some games in the past, but it's not always that useful. Knock Off or U-Turn are also viable options, it's just preference I guess.
this thing is here to check most physical attackers like M-Kangaskhan, Talonflame and Terrakion. it is also a soft-check to Zard-Y, because you can never have enough Zard checks on your team.
Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tailwind
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
- Brave Bird
Ht 'n Run. this Talonflame set is not designed for longevity, but for killing shit fast. moveset is pretty self-explenatory, Flare Blitz and Brave Bird are pretty much Talonflame's only two viable offensive moves D:
Tailwind is to not get overran by other Tailwind teams, and it's used mostly as a safety net as you can almost always get up a Tailwind due to Talonflame's completely balanced ability Gale Wings.
I added this because the team looked pretty weak to Amoonguss and Ludicolo. without priority Brave Bird, Ludicolo could run through my team and Amoonguss could almost spore everything for free.
Final thoughts:
this team has done me very good on the ladder as well as test battles vs. friends and in the DOU Open tournament and the ORAS Team Tournament (Go Pilots!) .it is far from perfect, but pressures bulkier teams a lot because literally every mon is offensive, there are no sitting ducks like Amoonguss and Cress that can only support and have literally no offensive presence.
it might not be the best team to use but it sure is a hella fun team and it deserves a try.
Threats and Problems:
Keldeo @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Taunt
- Quick Guard
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Explosion
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 64 SpA / 72 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Wide Guard
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tailwind
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
- Brave Bird
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Taunt
- Quick Guard
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Explosion
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 64 SpA / 72 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Wide Guard
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tailwind
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
- Brave Bird
If you're still reading up to this point: thanks for your time and any constructive criticism is very much appreciated! :]
edit: added explanations as to why I chose what pokémon and what role it plays, thanks to Stratos and KyleCole who noted this.
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