ORAS Doubles OU Pattern - Volcanion HO ft. Serperior

[Matame]

Serperior is suave don't listen to the haters

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Hello everybody and welcome to my Doubles Rate My Team, featuring a Volcanion Hyper Offensive squad built for the teambuilding competition a while back, and after various tweaks and uses in friendlies and tournament matches, I have grown very fond of this team, so fond I have shared it with many others for the recent suspect test regarding Jirachi, and general feedback i've recieved regarding the team has been positive. Therefore I feel confident with sharing this squad with you in the form of a Rate My Team, going in to depth with the intricacies of what makes this squad special in my eyes, it being one of my favourite teams at the moment. Sappy introduction over, lets get in to this.

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Oh yeah halfway through writing this, I decided to change the theme of this RMT to a song I was listening to while writing it because music. Listen while you read in my opinion, reading these things can be incredibly dull.
Oh yeah Kudos to me for writing this on my tablet. I think I deserve a medal for that.

TEAM-BUILDING PROCESS​

Robin-Today at 10:30 PM
describe the teambuilding process with that spongebob episode with the weird dance and bubbles

ok

So we begin our team with a pretty basic Kang and Volcanion core. Kang is a powerhouse on any team and offers much needed fake out support to help mons like Volc set up wincons in subs. Volc has the potential to drop 2 of kangs biggest walls, Amoong and Jirachi, which can prevent kang from sweeping. Kang also drops Thundurus which Volc is afraid of.

Next I added Lando. I wanted a few things: A. A way to check opposing Lando. B. A way to check Jirachi + Diancie which gives Volcanion + Kang an uneasy time and C. A way to safely switch into Twaves, which have the potential to ruin Kang and Volcs momentum. Lando is just such a splashable mon and pairs well with most things due to its versatility.

Here I added Bisharp. Bisharp is not a popular choice at the moment by a long shot due to the rise of more balance-centric teams, of which Bisharp does not seem to fit on at all. Despite this, I am a fan of Bisharp. Its dual stab combination checks most common trick room setters, which is fitting as this team is not a big fan of trick room and kinda clicks x in the unfortunate event that trick room goes up. Bisharp also pressures your opponent into keeping their intimidate users in the back, and prevents your opponent from using moves such as icy wind, of which will get punished with defiant boosts. At +2 bisharp practially sweeps entire teams. Even without this boost, Bisharp can find itself winning from team preview.

Serperior is even more of an unpopular choice, but i feel it is fitting for this team. I wanted a reliable way of breaking bulky waters and another way of checking Diancie . Serperior has the ability to add increasing offensive pressure on teams with each leaf storm which is a nice touch.

In this slot i wanted speed control and a way to punish Kang. With the introduction of static being legal Zapdos has never been a better way of punishing kang's fake outs or power up punches. Zap is also a debatably unpopular choice, with most arguing it is an inferior Thundurus, however Tailwind is a more reliable form of speed control over thunder wave in my opinion (despite not being as haxy sigh) and i find zap being much more bulkier.

Now its time to go more in depth on the individual members of the team.

In depth analysis

Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Return
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch​

Kang is one of, if not the most, popular megas for a reason. Not only does it offer immense power in powerful stab returns, which gain massive boosts from Parental Bond, but it also offers useful utility in fake out and essential priority in sucker punch, which also allows it to hit ghost types whom of which have the potential to wall kang otherwise. Power up punch activates twice as a result of parental bond, making kang an extreme potent threat at +2. Kang is a fun starting point for any team because its quite flexible and can go in any direction, from balance to trick room offence. Spread is relatively basic 252 stuffs, with adamant for more power. Honestly, inner focus vs scrappy is your choice, however I often find myself making use of inner focus more so than scrappy.

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 116 HP / 172 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Steam Eruption
- Substitute
- Protect​

(wow lana what is it with all these gifs?)
Its 1am lets blame it on that.

Anywhom I enjoyed the introduction of Volcanion. Sub is a fun set that can serve as a useful wincon. It also happens to get amazing dual stab in heat wave and steam eruption. Heat Wave deals nifty spread damage and enables it to hit and beat many common tanks like Amoong, Aegi and Rachi. Steam Eruption is essentially scald with the base power of hydro pump. Dealing that amount of hefty damage and having a crucial chance to burn an amazing stab attack with few switch ins. Timid 220 outspeeds fast tran. Honestly I forgot what the bulk achieves, again ill just blame it on be being tired.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- U-turn​

The thing about Landorus is that it has the capability to fit on pretty much any team due to its versatility and utility surrounding its great typing, effective movepool and nifty ability in intimidate. Its ability to safely switch in on other Landorus and check a variety of things with its coverage, including Rachi, Talonflame, Char y (all of which are big threats). Set is standard and there are not many ways to run scarf Lando other than the occasional stone edge.

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Protect​

I feel that Bisharp is slightly underrated. Its powerful stab combination, priority in sucker punch and great ability in Defiant make it an effective trick room check and an all round powerhouse that can threaten an entire team from team preview. I almost always opt for Life Orb over sash due to sash doing so very little compared to life orb. Spread is incredibly standard 252 stuffs.

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Protect
- Taunt​

The general consensus i've gathered upon peoples opinions on Serp in the current metagame are negative, with most quarrels often revolving around the fact that a +0 Serp isnt much of a threat to anything. I hold a soft spot on my heart for Serperior, however. Its immense offensive pressure the more you use leaf storm and its cool speed tier make it a potent threat that punishes switches, allowing serp to become more powerful. I opted for taunt over hidden power ground because I felt my trick room matchup was shaky so taunt is an additional check towards it.

Zapdos @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 68 SpA / 40 SpD / 112 Spe
Modest Nature
- Roost
- Tailwind
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt​

Zapdos is a reliable form of speed control, and isnt as passive as some other setters. Stab Tbolts do a fair amount to anything unresisted and help check bulky waters. Hidden Power ice acts as a Landorus check, and Zap is eved to survive 2 rock slides from lando to make surviving its hits while getting up tailwind easier. Speed is used to outspeed base 70's. Rest is spread across special defence and special attack.

Threats: ​

With my Deoxys switch ins being practically non existent, and my most reliable way of checking it being priority from Kang, of which is complexly stopped by quick guard Keldeo of which can safely KO, you can understand why this popular offensive lead can cause trouble as a lead. Best way to deal with this is play zapdos well, get up tailwind, and now safely threat the two. I wish this matchup was better though.

Gard fullroom and gard semi room give this team an incredibly hard time. Once trick room is up, there are basically no switch ins to counter act the powerful stab provided by gard, and the assistance of scrafty makes getting up trick room all too easier. Volcanion is a good way to try and beat it. While behind a sub gard is not doing very much to it and you can wear it down with steam eruption. Bisharp and kang lead also has a decent matchup. YOu just have to hope that gard isnt running speed and decides to attack.

Also would like to point out that sub Kyurem and sub Hearten matchup can be kinda iffy.
Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/doublesou-384930021 - Seasonal Replay
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-doublesou-167300 - Suspect tour replay
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-doublesou-167749 - Forgot what this was for
I also got to #2 on the suspect ladder with this team before deciding to use that alt to test random shit and tilting after losing to mono dragon :I

Shoutouts:
Mishimono: For helping innitially with this team lel. Also for being the crux of some of the best memes, and for just being a nice person in general. Win ssnls pls
CorruptedOmega7: For being a great friend and just a fun person to talk to in general. f it weren't for you i would've probably quit back in febuary lol.
Stax: For helping test an insane amount of stuff and for actually being amazing at this game oo
Palkia > Yveltal tho tbh
mang@ team: For supplication of the dank memes ! Also your a cool guy and fun to talk to also.
Yoda2798: For more memes. If mishi isnt winning ssnls you are tbh
ClaimingRobin: For coming to a mutual agreement that mishi smells.

Also just realised that as of a few days ago I have been involved in doubles for 6 months \o Big thanks to a large part of the dubs community for making me feel welcome and being friendly. Ive enjoyed my stay here so far and hopefully thats here to stay.

Also s/o to anyone who has actually made it this far, these must be hella boring to read.

Importable

Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Return
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 116 HP / 172 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Steam Eruption
- Substitute
- Protect​

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- U-turn

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Protect

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Protect
- Taunt

Zapdos @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 68 SpA / 40 SpD / 112 Spe
Modest Nature
- Roost
- Tailwind
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt

 

[Yellow Paint]

Have you tried wg aegi in the bish slot? You're keld weak and it definitely has a better matchup vs garde tr and diancie at the expense of a worse hoopa matchup but you should still be alright with kang.

Also with aegi you're good vs diancie so you could do latios/hydrei>serp to help with kyube which wrecks you pretty hard. Serp is a really cool mon though, you could prob swap something else out for a kyube answer. Low kick kang?

 

[Idyll]

hey,

so yeah, this looks like a neat team. The structure of the team is sound enough, the only problems that I find are the ones on your threatlist and Kyurem-B, which is also a bit of a problem (thought unlike what yp siad, it doesn't wreck you "pretty hard" lol). I also personally feel that some picks on this team are holding you back.

my first suggestion to this team would be changing Zapdos -> bulky Thundurus. Even though you already talked about this in your rmt, I still recommend bulky Thund. This is because bulky Thundurus improves your matchup against Keldeo and Deoxys-A by a good amount since you don't have to take a strong-ass hit just to seize the Speed advantage. In the debate of Tailwind vs Prankster Thunder Wave on this team, I'd say that Thunder Wave is better for you as you don't really need the global Speed boost much due to having 2 fast threats already in Scarf Landorus-T and Serperior, making neutering of specific foes much better in the long run. For most purposes, Thundurus and Zapdos are the same thing; it's just that Thundurus helps you out more in this case.

my next suggestion would be Bisharp -> Aegislash with some SDef. It's a case pretty similar to the above in that both check the same things but in some aspects Aegislash is simply the better choice for this build. Your team still needs an actual switchin to Deoxys-A and something that can handily take and deal back solid damage to Keldeo; this is what Aegislash can do for you and more. Aegislash also helps with the Gard TR matchup that you were worrying about; Aegislash can also deal with Trick Room just as fine as Bisharp, but Aegislash can handily take blows from Mega Gardevoir, can block Hyper Voice with Wide Guard, and is Fake Out immune. The presence of Aegislash also provides you with another component for a defensive backbone, something always handy to have. If you're wondering why I recommended some SDef, this is because you need some to make Kyurem-B's Earth Power a guaranteed 3HKO.

my last suggestion would be changing Serperior's Taunt -> Hidden Power Ground. If you followed my bulky Thundurus suggestion, you'll be able to free up Taunt on Serperior for something else, in this case an additional coverage move. It simply makes sense that you give your attacker as much coverage as it can, especially something with the snowball potential of Serperior; in particular, you need HP Ground to not get totally walled by Heatran, Aegislash, and Jirachi. Another change I recommend is implementing a Life Orb HP number on Serperior, but this is minor and doesn't really matter.

sets

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SpA / 80 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 4 SpA / 72 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Protect

Note: The nature on Aegislash is preference, basically. Feel free to run Quiet as you see fit

good luck