Rain Team OU, Doubles

[Harry12]

Hey,
Having a crack at doubles Teams.
Constructive criticism only thanks, as this is my first competitive team


Lay Out

Pokemon - Nature
Ability
Item
EV's
- Move
- Move
- Move
- Move


Politoed - Bold
Drizzle
Mystic water
4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hypnosis
- Toxic

Politoed straight away puts Drizzle to work. It then uses toxic and hypnosis to wear down bulky Pokemon like Chansey and Dusknoir. Or spams surf to get widespread damage and heal Vaporeon. Mystic water gives some more power to surf for more damage. Ice Beam is for coverage of dragons and grass types


Vaporeon - Bold
Water Absorb
Left Overs
248 HP/252 Def/8 Spe
- Scald/Dig
- Baton Pass
- Wish
- Substitute

Vaporeon is supported by Politoed's surf which gives it lots of HP each turn. Many of you will be thinking, Dig? The idea behind this is that if the opponent can guess my next move, they'll send in a flying type or something that resists ground to stop it taking much damage, but I attack the less obvious choice and baton pass to whatever can attack it.
Scald provides water coverage i need and it gets a power boost from the rain. The downside with dig is that it doesn't always work. I use wish is to baton pass to a teammate or substitute to assure Vaporeon gets it. Also with vaporeons high HP and politoed constantly surfing it provides Vaporeon instant health gain after using health to create a sub.


Magnezone - Timid
Magnet pull
Sitrus Berry
252 HP/128 Sp A/124 Sp D
- Thunder/ Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power (fire)
- Volt switch/ Flash Cannon
- Magnet Rise

Magnezone's Thunder is supported by rain dance to hit 100% of the time as well as having STAB boost makes it a very powerful attack. Plus with magnet rise it provides immunity to ground moves which otherwise annihilate it. Magnet rise also makes it a good team mate for Metagross as Metagross Earthquakes, with a baton pass from vaporeon it can trap steel types and take them down with hidden power. Volt switch is average but allows quick strategic switches with damage.


Volcarona - Modest
Flame Body
Focus sash
4 HP/252 Sp A/252 Spe
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane

Volcarona's great it uses the rain to get 100% accuracy on hurricane which makes it lethal, hurricane also covers Magnezones weakness to fighting types, and all three moves can easily take out any grass type which threatens Vaporeon or Politoed. Its main weakness, Rock is taken by Vaporeon or Politoed. and quiver dance adds more power to this beast in three stats! What's not to like. I use Heat wave as Politoed & Vaporeon resist it and it's a spread move


Metagross - Adamant
Clear Body
Lum Berry
252 Atk/4 Def/252 Sp D
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Ice Punch

Metagross and Magnezone make a perfect team once Magnezones got his Magnet rise on. Metagross spams Earthquake while Magnezones takes anything else out that threatens Metagross such as Gyarados or it volt switches to Vaporeon or Politoed to take out bulky Ground types, such as Garchomp. It also provides the team with some sweeping ability. It's huge Attack also means in Dire situations it can Explode OHKOing almost anything but Magnezone due to it's high Defense and resistance survives to attack again.

Dusclops - Sassy
Pressure
Eviolite
225 HP/4 Def/252 Sp D
- Trick Room
- Night shade
- Will-O-Wisp
- Helping Hand

Standard set off Smogon. Dusclopsr and Metagross make a perfect team Dusclops is unaffected by Metagross's explosion and with helping hand boosts it's attack by 50%. Volcarona is great with dusclops as it takes down all Dusklops's threats but doesn't work well with Trick room due to it's high speed


This is My first OU doubles team so please, as I said at the start Constructive criticism. Please mention anything you would change and suggestions for EV changes, Items, moves or Even Pokémon changes if you think that would improve the team

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this

Thanks,
Harry12

[Divine Retribution]

You're using Volcarona and no spinner, enjoy losing 50%+ every time you switch in. Also, no point in carrying Heat Wave, in the rain, with the 25% damage reduction from doubles, it simply will do very little damage.

Your team isn't slow, so what the hell does Dusclops do with Trick Room? Screw your Volcarona over?

On Magnezone, go Thunder / Hidden Power Ice / Substitute / Charge Beam or Magnet Rise. In the Rain with only half an investment, HP Fire won't OHKO Ferrothorn or the other important things it normally hits. HP Ice gives pseudo-BeamBolt coverage.

Dig on Vaporeon? WHY? You have Earthquake on Metagross!!!

I'd recommend SpecsToed over BulkyToed, with Surf > Hydro Pump, hits stuff insanely hard.

[loco1234]

Besides what Divine has already said, Leftovers on Politoed if you're running a SpD variant. Mystic Water only boosts your Surf and while I get how that's useful it's plenty powerful with the rain and STAB even with the damage reduction for the spread.

Besides that, I just want to emphasize those bits about Trick Room on Dusclops and Dig on Vaporeon, Dig is especially bad in Doubles where so much carries EQ.

[Harry12]

Hi Thanks for the feedback Divine retribution,

I don't have a spinner as I tried a doubles team after reading Smogon OU singles info (doh) and was instantly told that entry hazards are very rare in doubles so a spinner wasn't needed.
What would you use over Heat wave? HP(ground)? Flamethrower? or a very strong fire move that does huge damage even with rain

Dusclops is pretty pointless now that I look at it, if anything it's giving the other team an advantage because I'm fast (doh again)
What would you do instead?

Point taken on Magnezone will do that.

I had a strategy for Dig and now see it was unrealistic and unreliable.

The whole point of surf in my team is so that it spreads + heals Vaporeon + Rain Boost + Mystic water boosts. But thanks for the idea

Loco1234
Leftovers on Politoed it is

Overall thanks for the rates. there are holes in this team and I need people like you to help make it better

[Harry12]

Decided to abandon Dusclops as it quite obviously doesn't fit the team instead going with

Toxicroak - Adamant
Dry Skin
Black sludge
252 HP/ 252 Atk/ 4 Spe
- Drain Punch
- Sucker punch
- Substitute
- Ice Punch

This guy works very well because of his dry skin ability which constantly is replenishing his health. He can substitute regain his health in the rain; by holding black sludge; by using drain punch or from surf. Ice punch allows him to deal with bulky dragon types from behind a sub that would otherwise OHKO him (most notably Garchomp). He works well with Volcarona by killing ground, rock and flying types. All which threaten him. While Bug buzz defends him against psychic pokemon.

[Atrocious]

If you want a Spinner, Tentacruel is probably the best fit, as well...I've seen literally 100+ rain teams...lol.

[Luciola]

Just chipping in some suggestions during my break in training for the Winter VGC.

First, you don't need spinners in doubles. Harry12 is right about it. You rarely see hazards in doubles. Although there would be some switches happening, abusing hazards is not that much of a call in doubles.

Politoad appreciates resist berries, especially Rindo or Wacan. If you don't want resist berries, then go with Gems or a Sitrus Berry.
I see you play it with Speed EVs, though you should know that that EV spread is a little bit tricky to use especially with Weather wars. Common weather inducers would play a speed reduced pokemon (Tyranitar on Brave, Abomasnow on Quiet, Ninetails on Quiet with Iron Ball). So play it wisely.

Vaporeon on Hydration and Rest is better than Water Absorb since you'd be running on Rain. Ditch Wish, Substitute and Baton Pass. That set only works well in Singles. Protect over Sub. Icy Wind or Ice Beam over BP (If you want a better offensive presence go with the latter, if you want support go with the former). Helping Hand or Yawn over Wish (Yawn, since there is no Sleep Clause in doubles. It would force your opponent to switch it or rush an offensive before the Sleep triggers. Though it wouldn't be that effective since Vaporeon is bulky even in Doubles standards.) Lastly, go with Scald or Muddy Water (I prefer the latter. I'm currently using it with my Gastrodon and it works well as a support unit with Icy Wind).


Magnet Pull on Magnezone, while a staple in Singles, you can try running Sturdy over it since trapping is not a must in Doubles. Thunder and Flash Cannon, then maybe a support move with Thunder Wave. The latter works well with Sturdy chipping a paralysis before it dies (if it will die). Oh, and chip in a Thunder Gem?

Volcarona, my favorite pokemon. Heat Wave is a spread move meaning in gets a 25% reduction when hitting two targets (when only a single pokemon remains it hits with its original power). In rain, it gets an additional reduction of 50%. So, instead of using a fire spread move under the rain, go with Flamethrower or Fiery Dance since it will only bear the 50% reduction from the rain and not with the 25% reduction on spread moves. I encourage using the latter coz' it gives you a 50% chance to boost Volcy's SpA.

People saying Trick Room on a fast team is a joke or that it screws your fast team knows nothing about playing in doubles. Dusclops with Trick Room counters opposing TR. Since your team is quite fast, your opponent might abuse it by playing their own TR. I say you should retain the TR in your Dusclops. But since you've replaced it with Toxicroak, my suggestion/criticism is pretty much useless.

Last point. Try using a fake-out user? Maybe a Ludicolo? It screws your opponent's strategy for a turn. In the fast-paced gameplay in doubles, losing a turn could mean a win or a loss.

Anyway, that's all I can suggest for now. I should thank you too for this post since I'm prepping up for the Winter VGC, and teams like this helps me review for the tourney.

[Harry12]

Luciola!

Thanks so much for all the advice it's really helpful for newbie like me. I have a Flawless Shiny Politoed and a Flawless Shiny Metagross already but am going to be hunting for a while for the rest of them. If I get them in time I might enter VGC tournament. Once again thanks so much.

P.S would you use fake-out on Toxicroak rather than ice-punch?

[Luciola]

Yes. Since you already have Ice Beam with Politoad and Ice Punch with Metagross. Though paying Fake-Out against another Fake-Out user, you should know that even though it has a +3 priority, speed is a determining factor. Toxicroak has a base 85 speed which is easily over speed by Ludicolo under the rain, though you can wall it easily thanks to Toxicroak's Poison typing. Other Fake-Out users you don't have to mind much since you'd be faster (Hitmontop rarely gets a Spe EV, Sableye is slow and so is Scrafty).