LC Doubles - Double the cuteness :3

[BLOOD TOTEM]

Approved by Arcticblast


Sup OM forum here to put forward yet another fun metagame to play around in. LC doubles!
This OM is available to play under the Smogon Doubles format on PS just make sure to set pokemon levels to 5 in the teambuilder.
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles-46748636 - Sample Game

THA RULES

• 6v6
• Pokemon default to level 5
• Sleep Clause ON
• Item Clause OFF
• OHKO Clause ON
• Evasion Clause ON
• Moody Clause ON
• The following moves are banned from play:

Sonic Boom, Dragon Rage, Sky Drop


The more sharp readers among you will notice that there are several differences between this meta and regular LC. Every LC Pokemon is unbanned for the time being due to the transition from singles to doubles making them slightly weaker than they previously were. In addition to this, Drought is also legal meaning you can spam Chlorophyll users all day. These decisions are subject to change and we'll see whats broken and whats not after some playtesting.

http://www.smogon.com/bw/articles/bw_lc_guide_update
This thread will help you get to grasps with a few fundamental ideas in LC. Make sure to check the bit at the bottom so you don't end up making some of the most common mistakes.

There are some moves that should never see usage in Singles but are great in doubles and here is a handy list.

Wide Guard - Scared of Blizzspam from Snover or Powerful Earthquakes from an Drilbur? This is the move for you. Wide Guard means that spread moves won't hurt your Pokemon giving you time to take down the attacker with your partner. It also stops friendly Earthquakes / Surfs from hurting you.

Helping Hand - This is used to boost the power of your partners move by 1.5 and can be the difference between an opposing Pokemon surviving or being KOd.

Follow Me / Rage Powder - These are both infinitely powerful moves in doubles. Whilst they deal no damage they cause tons of trouble for opposing teams. The moves redirect attacks to the user leaving the partner free to either set up or attack. Watch out though, spread moves like Blizzard and Earthquake will still hit both Pokemon

Icy Wind / Tailwind / Trick Room - Speed control is hugely important in doubles. Going first is often the key to victory so ensure you can control who is going first.

A few other things to note are spread moves have there power weakened and are only at 3/4 power. Protect is staple and should be used on pretty much every mon.


There are tons of cool things you can do in doubles so explore and find a new niche for Pokemon that don't see as much use in the singles meta.

 

[noobcubed]

Who else thinks Murkrow will be awesome here? Hell, Prankster Quash gives it a niche even in conventional doubles...

 

[BLOOD TOTEM]

MONS THAT WILL BE COOL

(shout out to the Murkrow Mafia)
This is the Thundurus-i of LC. A huge pain to deal with both offensively and defensively. Prankster Thunderwave and other good support moves like rain dance mean that it has great versatility as well as huge attacking prowess with Brave Bird (so brave ;_; )and Sucker Punch. Taunt is also good to shut down setups and Trick Room. Another excellent move that Murkrow carries is Tailwind which can turn the tides of many battles

Not only is Foongus a little cutie, but it's gonna cause tons of trouble to a lot of teams. Rage Powder is arguably one of the best moves in doubles with the ability to redirect moves earning your partner free turns to set up and generally run riot. Regenerator means it can get the job done more than once too which is cool. Also lol spore.

Intimidate is one of the most useful abilities in doubles. It has the power to weaken both Pokemon on the field and what better user than Scraggy who, not only has decent bulk w/ Eviolite, but also access to Fake Out which provides free turns for it's partner and can be hard to deal with. Scraggy also has other potential with Dragon Dance and Dran Punch for that pseudo recovery.

Porygon is the definition of speed control. Access to Icy Wind, Thundewave and Trick Room means the duck tank should be seeing some good usage. In addition to this, it's ability, Trace makes it good counter to strategies such as Volt Absorb Discharge spam and can even give it prankster if switched in on a Murkrow or Riolu. Recover is good to keep it fresh and with decent bulk it could see itself living entire matches.

At first Pawniard may seem like a weird choice. It doesn't look to have much going for it. Look at little closer and you see it's ability, Defiant. Intimidate spam and Icy Wind spam can often be problematic for many teams but Pawniard give absoloutley 0 fucks as it gains an attack boost from them. It plays min games with opponents fearing the boosted sucker punch, often allowing it to set up a free substitute and cause even more problems for the opositon.

Stealth Rock really isn't as viable in doubles, srsly don't use it as much, meaning larvesta can come out to play. A powerful move in Flare Blitz and the ability to scout with U-turn means the Larvesta will for sure be a great pick for teams using the now unbanned sun. It can also hurt bulky waters with Wild Charge meaning no one is safe from the firey bug. it can also utilize flame body and Eviolite to switch into resist fighting type attacks.

 

[Celever]

Can we create a Cresselia pre-vo and use it in this?
Pwease?

 

[noobcubed]

Can we create a Cresselia pre-vo and use it in this?
Pwease?

Er, Munna maybe?

 

[Celever]

No munna's stats are not walling potential at all. No good moves either.

I'm talking Cress' stats except take off... idk 30 from HP and the defenses but keep all the moves. Who's with me? :D

 

[BLOOD TOTEM]

No munna's stats are not walling potential at all. No good moves either.

I'm talking Cress' stats except take off... idk 30 from HP and the defenses but keep all the moves. Who's with me? :D

Definatley not broken lel :^)

edit: Ignore me I'm an idiot, would be a cool addition

 

[apt-get]

No munna's stats are not walling potential at all. No good moves either.

I'm talking Cress' stats except take off... idk 30 from HP and the defenses but keep all the moves. Who's with me? :D

Is this really the place for theorymonning about a potential prevo for a legendary

Anyway, gonna post a combo I like

Riolu @ Eviolite
Trait: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 196 Spd / 36 HP / 36 Def / 36 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Hi Jump Kick
- Copycat
- Helping Hand
- Follow Me

Clamperl @ DeepSeaTooth
Trait: Rattled
Level: 5
EVs: 180 Spd / 244 SAtk / 76 SDef
Modest Nature
- Muddy Water
- Hidden Power Grass
- Shell Smash
- Substitute

Riolu is a tanky little fucker, and with follow me + shell smash clamperl, you can easily setup a smash (and potentially a sub) and eliminate the opposition with boosted muddy waters. HJK on riolu is for an attacking move, helping hand strengthens my ally's move (not that I need it most of the time lol), and copycat allows me to copy some things like thunder wave or taunt from the opponent or HJK if I need an immediate move. HP grass on clamperl kills resists, tho you may run ice beam for foongus.

 

[atomicllamas]

So the current mons listed as banned are Scyther and Sneasel, meaning that Meditite, Vulpix, Tangela, Carvanha, Gligar, and Yanma are allowed. I think that if these are allowed, then sun is going to be a very powerful force in Doubles LC. These mons are all exceptionally useful in doubles considering Yanma and Carvanha can be paired with a rage powder user to avoid being straight OHKOed (Carvanha has lolsie 45/20/20 defenses, some of the lowest bulk of all pokemon). Gligar and Tangela are going to be the defensive tanks in the meta (Tangela is baby Cressy imo) as Gligar can support its team with tailwind, while Tangela has stun spore, sleep powder, and rage powder allowing to be a defensive support mon or the scariest sun sweeper in the tier when paired with Vulpix. Meditite has 28 attack, that is all I can say, lol it will wreck unprepared teams.

I don't know if Sneasel is as broken as some of these threats tbh.

 

[BLOOD TOTEM]

I don't know if Sneasel is as broken as some of these threats tbh.

Definatley agreeing with this actually I'm gonna change the OP and we'll start off with everything unbanned and then work from there.

 

[Monte Cristo]

THis looks awesome, can't wait to try out intimiscraggy, regardless I got this implemented on my OM server: http://50.159.57.193-8888.psim.us
It's under Other Metagames Doubles, scroll down if your screen is small smh

 

[cxinlee]

http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles-47146313

I had a match against TOTEM, it was really fun. I made a mistake of not putting prankster on riolu.

 

[Mylo Xyloto]

This actually looks fun, I especially like Murkrow in LC Doubles. Hope to play this soon!

 

[Nozzle]

I NEED to try this :3

 

[Monte Cristo]

I NEED to try this :3

You do know thre is a place for that right? I linked it above :p http://50.159.57.193-8888.psim.us

Anyway since nobody played LC doubs on my server like at all these past 2 days (I even left my MAC on just incase anybody would play it while I'm sleeping!) I'm considering keeping my banlist up to date for 3 days and if nobody plays it by then I'll mark it as LC doubles (outdated banlist) so people know, because I'm not spending time on something nobodies going to play when I could be coding other people's metagames. The support will stay, I just don't see the point of updating the banlist/keeping it up to date when nobody is playing it. (by nobody is playing it, I mean on my server, the popularity doesn't matter, but the people who are willing to play this sure does)

 

[Nollan]

Some more threats (honestly I'm surprised no one considered any of those given how powerful some of the unbanned pokemon are):

A lot of threats that I'm gonna try out at some point

Hands down the most terrifying thing you will ever face. Its already solid 65/115/40 defenses are pretty scary in tandem with Eviolite, Chlorophyll to double its speed, STAB options in Giga Drain or Solarbeam, Sleep Powder, Rage Powder... Yeah if anything gets banned, this Pokemon will definitely be the first to go. Don't underestimate it. My guess is that Hail teams and opposing Fire types will be enough to hold it back though (and Prankster Taunt to a lesser extent, go Murkrow).

Probably one of Clamperl's best partners, as similarly to Manaphy + Parasect core of standard Doubles, Surf spam will heal it, and it can redirect harmful attacks with Rage Powder. It also is the best user of the coveted Spore in LC (well, I suppose Foongus is pretty good competition). Unfortunately, it faces stiff competition from Tangela, who has Rage Powder, better stats all around, and Sleep Powder.

A great choice for any team, Gligar is not to be underestimated. While it may not be able to abuse Sand Veil, Hyper Cutter is a great ability for it, granting an immunity to Intimidate. Along with Thunder Wave immunity and a typing providing a great Ground immunity, as well as a Fighting resistance, it makes for one fearsome sweeper. My guess is that a Flying Gem Acrobatics set will be the best, but hey, I've been wrong before.

Complete terror, spreading Thunder Waves around easily thanks to its large array of resistances. It also deal heavy damage to Snover and Hippopotas (respective Gyro Ball and Seed Bomb), making it a pretty effective choice for a Goodstuff team. It can also abuse options like Rain Dance (the best "messing with weather using weather" option for LC) and Explosion if neccessary.

Not quite as anti-meta as Abomasnow is, but Snover is capable of giving Sand teams grief. Not to mention allowing you to spam Blizzard to your heart's content. Not much apart from that, but hey, STABs and Hail support is all Snover needs to operate.

Munna is pretty bad, so I'm gonna call this the Cresselia of LC. Will O' Wisp, Icy Wind, Thunder Wave, Trick Room, Imprison, Taunt, it has all of Cresselia's tricks and more, though it does miss out on Ice Beam. Still, a similarly effective typing, solid bulk, and a lot of support options make it a stellar choice for a team (it even gets Rain Dance!).

A support pokemon who isn't weak to Taunt, Natu is an example of one of those threats that standard Doubles just doesn't have. While it doesn't have the best bulk in the tier (40/45/45 is pretty rubbish), it has a plethora of support options, such as Rain Dance, Tailwind, Thunder Wave, Dual Screens, Trick Room, etc. It also can be a bit more offensively inclined, as it has great coverage options like Heat Wave.

Nothing in LC can really match Meditite's offensive power (well, not without the use of a special held item, anyway). Fake Out, Bullet Punch, Drain Punch, Psycho Cut, Ice Punch, and more are all offensive options it has at its disposal (save room for Detect though).

Vulpix is utterly terrifying because of Drought. That said, it has some tricks up its sleeve apart from that, such as Energy Ball (or Solarbeam), Imprison, Will O' Wisp, and Power Swap + Overheat.

Yanma is simply terrifying. It has STAB options such as Air Cutter, Air Slash, and Bug Buzz. And it has Speed Boost, which after a Detect makes it the fastest thing in the tier (jk, Chlorophyll and Sand Rush exist). Personally, I'm more interested in Compoundeyes Hypnosis, which gives it a semi-reliable 78% accurate move to use in tandem with that great speed. It can also make use of Tailwind and Feint.

A really fast Fake Out abuser. With A LOT of options. Seriously, it gets everything from Thunder Wave to Ice Punch to Acrobatics. Unfortunately, it lacks Technician, but it is still very unpredictable, and will certainly leave you on your toes. You could just do a standard set of Fake Out, Return, Shadow Claw/Beat Up, and Low Kick with a Focus Sash, but that would be boring, live a little!

The most popular threat in LC happens to be a big threat in LC Doubles. Drain Punch, Acrobatics, Detect, and Fake Out is (probably) the go-to moveset. It has a lot of other options though, such as Helping Hand and Taunt, which will prove useful, should it find room for them.

While Blitzle is fairly underwhelming at first glance, a closer look (mostly at its abilities, try to ignore that horrible movepool) reveals that it can be an efficient member of a Discharge core. After a boost from Lightningrod, Electric/Ice coverage is really all it needs to hit things. It also has enough room to run something unusual in the third slot, such as Magnet Rise or Light Screen, though I'm guessing a non-spread Electric STAB, like Thunderbolt, will be more popular.

Misdreavus and Porygon have already been mentioned, so one could imagine Bronzor faces stiff competition. Fortunately, it has a lot of resistances the former two would die for (such as Rock and Ice), and has impressive 57/86/86 defenses. As such, it can make use of a more stally set (think Dusclops in standard Doubles), featuring Recyle + Oran Berry, for example, to annoy the opposition to no end, while providing Trick Room support. It can also go on the offensive with attacking options like Gyro Ball and Earthquake. Some other mentions include: Dual Screens, Rain Dance and Safeguard.

Cacnea is similarly built like Croagunk in LC Doubles (thanks to Water Absorb), though it can function better with a Choice item, since it has access to Switcheroo. It also can make use of Teeter Dance, which defines it as an extremely annoying threat to face. In terms of offensive potential, it has dual 85 offenses, so it can attack from either side of the spectrum, though Sucker Punch access will probably make the physical side the better one to hit from, especially since it has a fairly lacking 35 base speed.

With the possibility to be immune to either Electric or Water attacks, and a great typing, Chinchou is a great team supporter. Apart from its dual STAB and Ice coverage (which is extremely potent), Chinchou can also use its efficient 75/38/56 bulk to support its team, though it can't do much in those terms apart from Thunder Wave spam.

If you look up "annoying" in the dictionary, you will be sure to see a photo of Cottonee there. Prankster Tailwind, Switcheroo, Taunt, Encore, Stun Spore, Helping Hand (though it really doesn't need a boost in priority), Safeguard and Swagger. You will really never be positive on what to expect (well, Taunt will pretty much always be on the set). Murkrow may have the better stats and offensive potential, but Cottonee gets the options.

-82 more to go :]

Looking forward to some actual battles. :]

 

[BLOOD TOTEM]

Wow Nollan you covered a lot of stuff that I hadn't really thought. Good work :3
I'd barely even looked at missy, I had Porygon down as LCs cress, it'll be interesting to see which one performs better in which situation.
I agree that Tangela looks strong, maybe even banworthy strong we'll just have to see how that goes.

Also kudos for the paras mention, that mushroom thingy is ballin' :3

 

[Rowan]

This is a core that has lots of potential in my eyes:

+

Natu @ Eviolite
Trait: Magic Bounce
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Def / 76 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Trick Room
- U-turn

Cubone @ Thick Club
Trait: Lightningrod
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 36 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Fire Punch
- Protect

Basically Natu is the best TR setter in this metagame because it doesn't care about taunt, meaning you have to kill it to stop it setting it up. Cubone is mega powerful and with TR helping its speed it is a fantastic sweeper. Natu doesn't care about Earthquake due to its flying typing and Cubone redirects Electric-type attacks (although they don't seem like they would be common) targeted at Natu.
Natu has other options besides dual screens. Roost, Psychic, HP Flying and Heatwave all come to mind.


Anyway, this is a replay I had vs. Cxinlee: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogondoubles-48091785
My Cubone didn't really work because I forgot to lower my IVs meaning that Foongus outsped me in TR. I think I just need to edit my team to allow another sweeper since once Cubone and Clamperl were down, it was very tough for me to win. Nevertheless, this is a fun break from normal LC.

 

[Nollan]

This is a core that has lots of potential in my eyes:

+

Natu @ Eviolite
Trait: Magic Bounce
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Def / 76 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Trick Room
- U-turn

Cubone @ Thick Club
Trait: Lightningrod
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 36 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Fire Punch
- Protect

Pretty cool core. Unfortunately, Natu is pretty frail, and not very slow under Trick Room conditions (certainly has potential though). :[
Personally, I think Rage Powder (or Follow Me) is more consistent, since it directs Taunt, Encore, and attacks away from the TR setter. Tangela in particular can tank multiple hits, making it an ideal choice.

-EDIT-
Also, iirc Scyther is banned, so you can blame the loss on cxinlee using illegal pokemon (also curious why he didn't opt for a Mold Breaker Drilbur since he didn't have sand support). :]

 

[Rowan]

@Nollan, see post #10 in this thread. everything is unbanned. Natu can reach 11 speed at min speed which is decent enough in TR as it pretty much outslows anything that has speed investment. It only really misses out on outspeeding the bulky walls. The thing that I prefer with Natu as opposed to a Rage Powder/Follow Me user is that those Pokemon are generally support oriented Pokemon and don't really do much damage off the bat so you're wasting turns of TR when you switch in a sweeper.

 

[cxinlee]

Yeah it was a gg with corkscrew, Im not sure if scyther was banned. Sand Rush Drilbur was a mistake and I meant to use Mold Breaker.

 

[Alfalfa]

So that means we can use Vulpix and Tangela?

 

[Nozzle]

So that means we can use Vulpix and Tangela?

Yesh, and they look very dangerous

 

[Nollan]

@Nollan, see post #10 in this thread. everything is unbanned. Natu can reach 11 speed at min speed which is decent enough in TR as it pretty much outslows anything that has speed investment. It only really misses out on outspeeding the bulky walls. The thing that I prefer with Natu as opposed to a Rage Powder/Follow Me user is that those Pokemon are generally support oriented Pokemon and don't really do much damage off the bat so you're wasting turns of TR when you switch in a sweeper.

Didn't catch that, thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Audiosurfer]

Bumping this thread since I've been playing LC Doubles all day and it's actually super fun. There was an LC Doubles tourney in the PS Doubles room, so I figured I'd talk about some of the Pokemon I used. Ended up making a newer version so I wanted to share the old one to give people an idea of what they could use. First, here's the team: http://pastebin.com/fMkxeBJj

Two of the most popular Pokemon were Scraggy and Pawniard. Pawniard is every bit as good as Bisharp is in Doubles, with Defiant being great to benefit from the high usage of Scraggy. Also, getting stab on the best move in LC is pretty amazing. Sucker Punch is pretty useful to make up for its middling Speed and pick off faster threats. Scraggy is also an amazing Pokemon. With access to Intimidate and Fake Out along with STAB Knock Off, it's probably the best Fake Out user in the tier. Fake Out is every bit as good as it is in standard Doubles, and Intimidate is nice to check physical attackers.

replay: Me vs Shaian

so yeah if you're interested you should swing by the doubles ps room and try this out, it's surprisingly enjoyable