SM Doubles OU fire team: 1k RMT

[18:12:47] +AuraRayquaza: i need help
[18:12:54] #Mishiimono: same
[18:12:55] +AuraRayquaza: someone throw me a fire name for an rmt
[18:13:14] #Mishiimono: fire team
Introduction

Hey guys, 1k RMT incoming, guess I'll get to shoutouts later on. Originally I wasn't going to post this team and had another team lined up but Stax used the same 6 mons in doubles tour playoffs so it must be good! Used this team to qualify for the Marshadow suspect and a little bit in some of the live tours too. I'm pretty sure I topped the ladder with this team too at 1837 or something like that. Its a team that I really like and also features one of the most underrated megas imo, Mega Tyranitar.

Team Preview


Teambuilding Process

As soon as Mega Tyranitar got introduced I knew I wanted to use it. Tyranitar was a strong mon in DOU for its ability to matchup well vs a lot of top megas and with its mega evolution it gains much needed speed and bulk to be able to make use of a Dragon Dance set.


Amoonguss was immediately the next mon I thought of to pair with Tyranitar. It is the best redirector in the tier and synergies very well with Tyranitar to allow it to get off a Dragon Dance. It can also just start Sporing stuff to free up turns for Tyranitar. With Marshadow around too Amoonguss can take a hit relatively easily from it and heal back up with Regenerator.


Next I settled on Tapu Lele as it gives the team some form of terrain control while also giving Amoonguss more freedom to Spore the opposing team even if there was a Tapu Fini or Koko facing me down. This also gives me a way to hit Salamence and Zygarde hard before they can start boosting up, both of which threaten Amoonguss and Tyranitar, respectively.


Zapdos seemed like a good addition to the team at this point. It gives me a nice ground resist and very solid Landorus-T check while also bringing consistent speed control with Tailwind and Psychic Seed. It also gives me a decent matchup vs rain too now with Amoonguss and Tyranitar.


Celesteela was my Steel type of choice and the next mon to be added to shore up my Psyspam matchup and also be a pretty hard answer to Zygarde and Landorus-T with Wide Guard. Its also pretty nice to just sit there for 10 turns in the mid game and weaken the opposing team by spamming Leech Seed.


At this point I was a bit stuck so I asked the Doubles Discord and someone said Landorus-T. Being able to nuke Steels with Tectonic Rage is nice and just Intimidate cycling helps Tyranitar set up nicely. With 2 Ground immunities though I didn't need to worry about having a lack of mons to Earthquake next to.


I got tossed by a Curse Ferrothorn in a game so I decided to change Celesteela for Heatran, which still lets me kind of check Ground types with HP Ice, while giving me a better matchup vs opposing Steel types.

In Depth Analysis


Item: Tyranitarite
| Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe | Jolly Nature
Moves: Rock Slide / Crunch / Dragon Dance / Protect​

The star of the team. With one Dragon Dance, I usually find Tyranitar smashing through teams. Its not even hard to set up a Dragon Dance with the support from the rest of the team and Tyranitar's massive bulk. The Sandstorm Tyranitar brings is also very useful against Psyspam for breaking Deoxys-A Focus Sash. Rock Slide is just a strong spammable spread move with the nice chance to flinch if I need a way out of a tough spot, with the STAB boost it does respectable damage too. Crunch is there just for a strong single target STAB, I did try Ice Punch at one point for Landorus-T and Salamence but Crunch is nice for hitting Marshadow and Gengar harder after a Dragon Dance. The EV spread is very simple, but you absolutely need a Jolly nature on Tyranitar, since after a Dragon Dance it hits 397 speed which is just enough to outspeed base 130s.

252 Atk Tyranitar-Mega Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salamence-Mega: 174-206 (52.5 - 62.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Tyranitar-Mega Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 169-201 (52.9 - 63%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Tyranitar-Mega Crunch vs. 240 HP / 80 Def Amoonguss: 280-331 (65.2 - 77.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after either berry
252 Atk Tyranitar-Mega Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Zapdos: 194-230 (50.5 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Tyranitar-Mega Crunch vs. 232 HP / 0 Def Celesteela: 228-268 (58 - 68.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO



Item: Wiki Berry
| Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 196 SpD | Sassy Nature | IVs: 0 Spe
Moves: Spore / Sludge Bomb / Rage Powder / Protect
Amoonguss is a very important member of the team, as it not only serves as nice redirection for Tyranitar, but as my main Trick Room and rain check. Under Trick Room Amoonguss can Spore everything except Tapu Bulu, which doesn't like Sludge Bomb at all. The moves are all pretty self-explanatory. I usually like running Sunny Day over Protect on Amoonguss as a more solid rain check but that wasn't necessary on this team. The HP EVs hit a nice number for berry recovery and minimising sand damage. Amoonguss also avoids the 2HKO from Mega Swampert's spread Earthquake and takes Marshadow's Spectral Thief well if not boosted by Life Orb. On the special side Amoonguss can live a max power spread Eruption from Heatran and also takes 61.5% max from a modest spread Heat Wave, so after sand damage Amoonguss can get one round of Regenerator and still live another Heat Wave.

252+ SpA Heatran Heat Wave vs. 240 HP / 196+ SpD Amoonguss: 222-264 (51.7 - 61.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Heatran Eruption (150 BP) vs. 240 HP / 196+ SpD Amoonguss: 354-416 (82.5 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Earthquake vs. 240 HP / 72 Def Amoonguss: 181-214 (42.1 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Gardevoir-Mega Psychic vs. 240 HP / 196+ SpD Amoonguss: 338-402 (78.7 - 93.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Marshadow Spectral Thief vs. 240 HP / 72 Def Amoonguss: 175-207 (40.7 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO


Item: Choice Scarf
| Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe | Timid Nature
Moves: Psychic / Moonblast / Dazzling Gleam / Focus Blast
Tapu Lele serves as a good catch-all to the faster threats in the tier, but most importantly Marshadow. The Psychic Terrain stops Shadow Sneak and Lele outspeeds and OHKOs with either of its STABs. It also gives Amoonguss free reign to spam Spore and activates the Psychic Seed on Zapdos. Psychic and Moonblast are standard STABs, with Moonblast being nice for hitting Zygarde and Salamence hard. I opted for Psychic over Psyshock mainly because its stronger overall, and I don't necessarily need the OHKO on Amoonguss. Dazzling Gleam is good for picking up the KO on two weakened opposing mons at once, and Focus Blast is only used for emergencies against Heatran and Ferrothorn. The EV spread is pretty simple, Timid is important for outpacing Jolly Scarf Landorus.

252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Salamence: 374-444 (112.9 - 134.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 324-384 (85.2 - 101%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 240 HP / 188+ SpD Amoonguss in Psychic Terrain: 390-462 (90.9 - 107.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Ferrothorn: 232-274 (65.9 - 77.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO if you're lucky lol.



Item: Psychic Seed
| Ability: Static
EVs: 244 HP / 56 Def / 52 SpA / 80 SpD / 76 Spe | Modest Nature
Moves: Tailwind / Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice / Roost
Zapdos is a very important member of the team in that it takes a lot of pressure off the rest of the team by filling a lot of roles. Tailwind means Tyranitar doesn't need a Dragon Dance to outspeed Salamence and Heatran doesn't need to take an Earthquake from opposing Landorus-T before hitting it with a HP Ice. Thunderbolt hits Tapu Fini hard and 2HKOs Marshadow so Tapu Lele and Landorus-T aren't forced to deal with them on their own. HP Ice rounds out the Boltbeam coverage and Roost allows Zapdos to sit o the field for ages and set Tailwind up multiple times. Static is a nice ability for potentially paralysing opposing Landorus-T on a U-turn or Salamence on a Double Edge. Psychic Seed gives an important boost to Zapdos' special defense which allows it to take a Deoxys-A Psycho Boost in Psychic Terrain. Zapdos also avoids the 2HKO from an unboosted Zygarde Thousand Arrows, even factoring in the super effective 2nd hit. 76 speed lets Zapdos outspeed +1 252 speed neutral Mega Salamence in Tailwind, and by extension most other common Choice Scarf users.

252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 244 HP / 56 Def Zapdos: 108-127 (28.2 - 33.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 244 HP / 56 Def Zapdos: 216-254 (56.5 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (2nd hit)
252+ SpA Deoxys-Attack Psycho Boost vs. +1 244 HP / 80 SpD Zapdos in Psychic Terrain: 322-379 (84.2 - 99.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
52+ SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Tapu Fini: 210-248 (61 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
52+ SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-Therian: 288-340 (90.2 - 106.5%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO



Item: Shuca Berry
| Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 188 HP / 4 Def / 144 SpA / 172 Spe | Modest Nature
Moves: Heat Wave / Earth Power / Hidden Power Ice / Protect
As much as I think Heatran is much worse in SM than it was in ORAS, it was necessary on this team to deal well with Steel types, namely Ferrothorn. Heat Wave is a solid spread attack and Earth Power is for opposing Heatran and potential Volcanions. With Thunderbolt from Zapdos and Tectonic Rage from Landorus-T I'm not too worried about Wide Guard users. Hidden Power Ice is for hitting Landorus-T, Zygarde and Salamence very hard after taking one of their hits. The EV's live a -1 Life Orb Close Combat from Marshadow in the event I need to stay in on it or have a chance to KO it after some chip. The speed EVs outspeed Jolly Scarf Landorus-T in Tailwind with one point of creep as I think its a pretty important speed tier. You also notably OHKO non-AV Landorus-T with HP Ice with the special attack investment.

-1 252 Atk Life Orb Marshadow Close Combat vs. 188 HP / 4 Def Heatran: 312-369 (84.3 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
144+ SpA Heatran Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 320-380 (100 - 118.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Heatran Earth Power vs. 188 HP / 0 SpD Shuca Berry Heatran: 206-244 (55.6 - 65.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 188 HP / 4 Def Shuca Berry Heatran: 288-338 (77.8 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Pelipper Scald vs. 188 HP / 0 SpD Heatran in Rain: 306-360 (82.7 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO



Item: Groundium Z
| Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe | Adamant Nature
Moves: Earthquake / Knock Off / U-turn / Protect​

Landorus-T was the best mon in ORAS and nothing has changed in SM. Intimidate with its nice bulk and huge attack is just so good for any team, including this one. It allows Tyranitar to set up with greater ease and also gives me a nuke vs Tapu Fini and other bulky mons. Earthquake is its main STAB, but with only Zapdos to use it next to, Groundium Z is nice to remedy that. It also lets me hit mons protected by Wide Guard, as well as giving me a way out vs a Fini thats set up a Calm Mind or two. Knock Off is my way of stopping Snorlax getting out of hand and helps vs opposing Scarf users or Ferrothorn/Celesteela to stop them recovering with Leftovers. Once I've knocked Snorlax's berry off it just becomes a matter of pummelling it until it dies. U-turn is very spammable and lets me cycle Intimidate and not be caught in vs opposing Landorus-T, since Landorus is Landorus' best check. The EVs are pretty simple, I used to have Jolly over Adamant but the only notable thing Jolly does is outspeed Modest Tapu Lele which is rarely used anyway. Adamant just deals a bit of extra damage vs Fini which can be important in some games.

252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Tapu Fini: 283-334 (82.2 - 97%)
252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Ferrothorn: 261-307 (74.1 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def protected Deoxys-Attack: 271-319 (112.4 - 132.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO


Some Threats


Rain: While I have Tyranitar to reset the weather and even once more with its mega evolution, much of my team takes a decent chunk from one of Swampert's attacks and Pelipper can Hurricane Amoonguss. It can be dealt with though, by cycling Intimidate vs Mega Swampert and using Amoonguss/Zapdos to sponge the stronger attacks and recover off.


Amoonguss: Having Psychic Terrain usually means that if my opponent has an Amoonguss, it can be a pain to play around. With good manoeuvring, I can deal a big hit with Tapu Lele/Heatran or maybe switch my own Amoonguss in on the Spore. In most cases though, I aim to trade sleep with my opponent and limit my sleeping mons to one.

Common Matchups Analysis


Trick Room:
Amoonguss has an amazing matchup vs opposing Trick Room, and can easily Spore the setter to stop it going up. If TR does go up, then it Amoonguss can underspeed most threats, notably Bronzong, and Spore them anyway. U-turn from Landorus-T OHKOs Hoopa-U even at -1 and Tyranitar's Crunch also hits most setters hard. Not a matchup I ever have trouble with.


Fast Stuff/HO: I can live at least one hit of most stuff with Zapdos and Tailwind up. If that doesn't work then setting up a DD with Tyranitar becomes a priority, as I can outspeed most of the meta and start spamming Rock Slide. Most of my team lives a hit from Marshadow too so I can get rid of that before it steals Tyranitar's DD.


Psyspam stuff: My strategy usually revolves around breaking Deoxys' sash early on and then at worst trading with it, if I can not lose a mon then great. Zapdos can also take a hit from Metagross or Deoxys and set up Tailwind, then Tyranitar can deal with them both.​

Don't actually have any saved from the suspect ladder, so I'll put the ones from the live tour I used it in here

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7doublesou-303290 vs Laga r1
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7doublesou-303303 vs Nudisto r2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7doublesou-303312 vs Miltankmilk r3
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7doublesou-303318 vs Marilli Finals


Tyranitar-Mega @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Protect

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Focus Blast

Amoonguss @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 196 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect

Zapdos @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Static
EVs: 244 HP / 56 Def / 52 SpA / 80 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Landorus-Therian @ Groundium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Protect

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 188 HP / 4 Def / 144 SpA / 172 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect


Shoutouts
I'll try my best not to forget anyone but there are quite a few!

Frania Thank you for testing with me over the past few months, my results in DPL and the doubles tour are largely down to the multiple bo7s we played and us playing literally every day (even though I lose way more than I win!). You've definitely become one of my best friends on this site and I hope we can continue to interact. Your record in DPL doesn't do justice to how incredible of a battler you are and I'm sure you will continue to have success in every tour you play.

Mizuhime Arcticblast stratos Pocket Laga Level 51 Matt and many others who have been there from the start. You guys in particular have always been the benchmark for me and it is an honour to have watched the tier grow with you guys.

qsns talkingtree GenOne deoxys speed Memoric Stax MajorBowman Kaori Lolk Checkmater miltankmilk shaian Nido-Rus GreenGogoatttt BlueSkiddo thebagman finally BLOOD TOTEM KyleCole Silverwhiteblue xzern Paraplegic Lohgock Kyubics Croven and everyone else I've had any interactions with over the course of my time on smogon. However much or little we may have talked/played etc. it has always been really enjoyable and I will never forget it. Thanks for all the memories!


Arcticblast Thank you for drafting me and trusting in me to play BW even though I had just come back from a break. This was definitely the most fun I've had in a team tour and I don't feel I did a bad job of repaying your faith.

Jhon The 7-0 god, it was so cool to see you keep winning and stay undefeated right to the end. Thanks for drafting me for BSPL too, shame our season is over a bit early but it was still a lot of fun.

Hashtag Our resident innovator, some of the stuff you came up with was amazing (AV Kyub by far the best) and the best bit was it all worked.

kamikaze God, it was awesome seeing you always come clutch when we needed you to. You were amazing presence as well and it really helped us to win. Also, you're an amazing tier leader and I don't think there's anyone better for the job than you.

n10sit Our interactions over the past couple of years have always been v good and its always very fun talking to you. I hope we can talk more in the future.

Everyone else Psynergy Yoda2798 Akaru Kokuyo Laga Cease Tick Tman Tymano and Frania. I thoroughly enjoyed spending those 7 weeks talking to you guys and building/testing/cheering you on. I think we had a really good team dynamic and that was one of the reasons we won the whole thing even though everyone doubted us at the start. It was definitely the best DPL I've been a part of and it'll be tough to beat in the future.


Demantoid Mishimono Elise Toxigen marilli SableyeMyBae DaAwesomeDude1 Matame Yellow Paint Z strats Akaru Kokuyo Psynergy Jhon (Sure I've missed some people out, sorry!) I want you guys to know that I really value you all as good friends. I really enjoy hanging out with all of you and always have a laugh. Its one of the main reasons I still enjoy coming onto PS and will continue to do so. Some of the quotes that have come from that room are amazing and make me laugh reading them even now. I guess there's just one thing left to do:

(/•~•)/ **T F T A K E O V E R** \(•~•\)​



Conclusion
I won't go much into the reasoning but I'm so happy that Marshadow ended up staying and that most people agreed with that idea. The team has been really fun to use and I expect to use it in the future a bit too (since I don't have any other good teams).

These past 5 years on the site have brought me some of the best experiences, friends and times of my life and I wouldn't change any of it. It has also been a joy to watch Doubles grow and develop from about 15 people in an IRC room to what it is now. Its been a pleasure to spend my time here and I'm grateful to have been a part of it. Here's to another 1000 and hopefully many more!
 
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Cool team, I actually fought you on the ladder vs that team and decided to use those six because I thought it was effective and didn't really have good teams at the time.

I will make some small suggestions after playing with the team a bit to help with some of the more difficult matchups, namely metagross and rain. First off I would change the amoongus to payapa berry with giga drain. Payapa allows you a crucial extra turn vs psychic spam teams while giga allows a way to damage swampert which just runs over the team. Though I love my pinch berries I feel this change is necessary for how bad that matchup is. Next I would use flyinium dd gyara over landorus. This still gives you intimidate support while also giving you another water resist. Though I normally don't stress resists and such, having half your team weak to water makes pivoting around rain extremely difficult. Finally I would take hp ice off heatran and put something like stealth rocks or another support move. I feel as if ttar teams do not need another way to hit dragons and such due to how great ttars matchup is vs them. That's all I have to add, congrats on your team and the 1k n_n.
 
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that is a really cool team. Im not good at doubles ou so im not gonna try to make any comments, but i wanted to know: where did you get those sprites for the teambuilding process?
 

Level 51

the orchestra plays the prettiest themes
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Yo, really cool team you have here, Mega Tyranitar is one of those Pokemon that I always thought would be a 100% waste of a Mega slot, but clearly you've shown otherwise.

Looking at your Heatran slot, and especially what it used to be - have you tried Flamethrower Celesteela? It's a pretty neat tech that gives you the Fire STAB which you chose Heatran while improving your team's Rain matchup. A set like Heavy Slam / Flamethrower / Leech Seed / Wide Guard could be pretty decent - arguably this is a tradeoff on your HO / Tailwind matchup since you lose one Protect user, but your team seems pretty capable in that regard. Notably I think that Mega Tyranitar is strong enough by itself that you can afford to drop your only Fire immunity and leave one Fire resistance on your team, as long as you don't run into Darmanitan or something.

Normally I don't recommend Celesteela because I don't like playing it myself, but you did mention it in the teambuilding process and you seemed to enjoy it. I don't doubt that there were more reasons for you switching out Celesteela than "just" a Curse Ferrothorn matchup, but if that really is all then Flamethrower could bridge the gap you're looking at.

e: grats on 1k btw! :3
 

Fran

formerly Frania
is a Tiering Contributor
DPL Champion
hey Aura, somehow my tag didnt work, so im a bit late, but i still wanted to say congrats on the 1k benchmark!!! last couple of months testing with you was a lot of fun and really hope we're going to continue this in the future.

on the team i support the L51 suggestion about putting celesteela over heatran. the two main reasons behind that are the tapu lele (fightinium, psychium or choice specs) and rain (any ss user) match ups. The former can get past your only soft check (heatran) wih the correct moveset and threaten all your other members, while with half of your team beeing weak to water and very passive options as rain checks i don't think you can win vs the latter. celestella is one of the strongest lele answers and while it may not directly threaten the swift swim sweepers it certainly helps pivot around and weaken the most common ones with leech seed.

another, a bit more controversial idea i had, was putting ninetales-a over tapu lele and making landorus choice scarf. you can't set up aurora vail at the moment sand is up, but if you manage to get it before tyranitar switches in it can befinit its defences greatly (e.g. making earthquake from scarf landorus a 3hko) making it easier to boost up with dd, while hail completely turns your rain match up around. with freeze dry you can come in anytime and threaten to ohko their sweepers while slowing them down and making their attacks weaker. changing your landorus set to choice scarf will allow you to run z move on heatran, improving your lele match up (1v1ning every set but the fightinium one, that you can check under tailwind).

wish you another 1000 posts and more, its really amazing that there are still people around who have been around since the first days of doubles and still are involved in the newer formats and i really hope you stick around :]
 

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