JhowCrazy Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 (edited) In competitive Pokémon, Tier Doubles is one of the most exciting and strategic modalities in the game. Unlike the singles format, where players fight with a team of six Pokémon and only use one at a time, the doubles format allows trainers to use two Pokémon simultaneously, bringing a completely different dynamic to the battlefield. In this format, synergy between Pokémon is crucial to success. Players must consider not only each Pokémon's individual strength, but also how they interact and complement each other. Strategies such as type combinations, skills that complement each other and moves that increase allies' defense or attack are fundamental to building a solid team. Furthermore, understanding field mechanics is essential in Tier Doubles. Moves like Protect and Wide Guard can protect Pokémon from enemy attacks, while spread attacks can affect both opponents simultaneously. The notion of field control is much more complex in this format, as the presence of four Pokémon on the battlefield simultaneously can lead to a series of unpredictable interactions. Team building in Tier Doubles is an exercise in balancing offense and defense while considering the dynamics between the four Pokémon on the field. Oftentimes, players opt for Pokémon that have the ability to support each other while also maintaining a considerable offensive presence. Additionally, weather and field control strategies are common, allowing players to manipulate the battlefield to their advantage. In short, Tier Doubles is a challenging and strategic mode in competitive Pokémon, which requires a deep understanding of battle mechanics and the ability to predict and react to a wide variety of interactions on the field. Team synergy and understanding of pitch control are key to achieving success in this dynamic and exciting format. Text in Portuguese Spoiler No competitivo de Pokémon, a Tier Doubles é uma das modalidades mais emocionantes e estratégicas do jogo. Ao contrário do formato singles, onde os jogadores lutam com uma equipe de seis Pokémon e usam apenas um de cada vez, o formato doubles permite que os treinadores usem dois Pokémon simultaneamente, trazendo uma dinâmica completamente diferente para o campo de batalha. Neste formato, a sinergia entre os Pokémon é crucial para o sucesso. Os jogadores devem considerar não apenas a força individual de cada Pokémon, mas também como eles interagem e complementam uns aos outros. Estratégias como combinações de tipo, habilidades que se complementam e movimentos que aumentam a defesa ou ataque dos aliados são fundamentais para construir uma equipe sólida. Além disso, a compreensão das mecânicas de campo é essencial no Tier Doubles. Movimentos como Protect e Wide Guard podem proteger os Pokémon de ataques inimigos, enquanto ataques spread podem afetar ambos os oponentes simultaneamente. A noção de controle de campo é muito mais complexa nesse formato, já que a presença de quatro Pokémon no campo de batalha simultaneamente pode levar a uma série de interações imprevisíveis. A construção de equipe no Tier Doubles é um exercício de equilíbrio entre ofensividade e defensividade, enquanto se considera a dinâmica entre os quatro Pokémon em campo. Muitas vezes, os jogadores optam por Pokémon que têm a capacidade de oferecer suporte uns aos outros, enquanto também mantêm uma presença ofensiva considerável. Além disso, estratégias de controle de clima e de campo são comuns, permitindo que os jogadores manipulem o campo de batalha a seu favor. Em resumo, o Tier Doubles é uma modalidade desafiadora e estratégica no competitivo de Pokémon, que exige um profundo entendimento das mecânicas de batalha e a capacidade de prever e reagir a uma ampla variedade de interações no campo. A sinergia da equipe e a compreensão do controle de campo são fundamentais para alcançar o sucesso neste formato dinâmico e emocionante. Text in Spanish Spoiler En Pokémon competitivo, La Tier Doubles es una de las modalidades más emocionantes y estratégicas del juego. A diferencia del formato individual, donde los jugadores luchan con un equipo de seis Pokémon y solo usan uno a la vez, el formato de dobles permite a los entrenadores usar dos Pokémon simultáneamente, aportando una dinámica completamente diferente al campo de batalla. En este formato, la sinergia entre Pokémon es crucial para el éxito. Los jugadores deben considerar no sólo la fuerza individual de cada Pokémon, sino también cómo interactúan y se complementan entre sí. Estrategias como combinaciones de tipos, habilidades que se complementan entre sí y movimientos que aumentan la defensa o el ataque de los aliados son fundamentales para construir un equipo sólido. Además, comprender la mecánica del campo es esencial en los niveles dobles. Movimientos como Proteger y Guardia amplia pueden proteger a los Pokémon de los ataques enemigos, mientras que los ataques extendidos pueden afectar a ambos oponentes simultáneamente. La noción de control de campo es mucho más compleja en este formato, ya que la presencia de cuatro Pokémon en el campo de batalla simultáneamente puede dar lugar a una serie de interacciones impredecibles. La formación de equipos en Tier Doubles es un ejercicio para equilibrar la ofensiva y la defensa mientras se considera la dinámica entre los cuatro Pokémon en el campo. A menudo, los jugadores optan por Pokémon que tienen la capacidad de apoyarse entre sí y al mismo tiempo mantienen una presencia ofensiva considerable. Además, las estrategias de control del clima y del campo son comunes, lo que permite a los jugadores manipular el campo de batalla a su favor. En resumen, Tier Doubles es un modo desafiante y estratégico en Pokémon competitivos, que requiere una comprensión profunda de la mecánica de batalla y la capacidad de predecir y reaccionar ante una amplia variedad de interacciones en el campo. La sinergia del equipo y la comprensión del control del tono son clave para lograr el éxito en este formato dinámico y emocionante. In Pokémon Doubles competitions, there are different types of teams, each with their own strategic approach to battle. Understanding these types of teams is essential to building an effective strategy and adapting to their preferred style of play. Here are some of the most common team types and credit goes to the creators of the most classic builds for each team archetype: Rain: Classic build created by OrangeManiac in the season 1 of Doubles Ranked. (This is probably one of the most copied teams of all time, OrangeManiac took top 1 in the tier DB 3 consecutive times, alternating only between this and another different Trick Room Team.) Detailed team building: Spoiler (Description made by Orange Maniac, the team's creator himself) Pelipper Spoiler The only rain setter before Politoed but I'd argue Tailwind still makes it the best in this team. Rain teams are completely hopeless if anything outspeeds them so Tailwind to counteract opposing Tailwind is very useful way to keep hitting first. I always preferred to use Focus Sash so the risk of switching in Pelipper is the lowest but Eject Button also became popular for some people piloting the team which is an alright option too. Build for Pelipper for me was very simple: Tailwind Scald/Hydro Pump (I always used Scald for consistency) Hurricane Protect Modest/Timid 252 Speed, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 HP Focus Sash Kingdra Spoiler The best rain sweeper in the game if you don't have to care about special walls. And in Doubles, you really don't need to. Kingdra having only 1 weakness is great while possessing a great number of offensive pressure with Water/Dragon STAB combination. Kingdra's stats are also great across the board. Rain boosted attacks from Kingdra hurts a lot, whether it's Muddy Water or a single-targeted move like Scald/Hydro Pump. I always preferred to have both options available. Having only Muddy Water is annoying because you're pressured a lot by Wide Guard. I liked Draco Meteor as the coverage move to hit Water-resisted Pokemon. Some people have opted to use Hurricane instead of single-target Water-move and that's fair enough, Most common Wide Guard user is Hitmontop so you can easily get rid of it by just using Hurricane. Build for Kingdra for me is Muddy Water Scald/Hydro Pump/Hurricane (I always preferred Scald for consistency) Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse Protect Modest, 252 Sp. Atk 252 Speed, 4 HP Water Gem/Life Orb Ludicolo Spoiler The secondary rain sweeper of choice to me. The greatest feat about Ludicolo to me is its Grass-type so it pressures Gastrodon, a Pokemon which otherwise is extremely annoying to rain teams. Additionally, with Scizor it provides needed Fake Out support. Ludicolo's coverage is quite insane - resisting all Water/Grass/Ice at the same time is near impossible. Because you often hit for super effective damage, I enjoyed Expert Belt in the Season 1. Now I think Assault Gear/Life Orb is just better though, especially Assault Gear is a great item for Ludicolo now because you aren't using Protect. Build for Ludicofo for me is Fake Out Scald/Muddy Water Giga Drain Ice Beam Modest 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Sp. Def Assault Gear (Expert Belt in season 1 but not anymore) The next Pokemon that I find the most important Pokemon in the team is Scizor. Why Scizor? Spoiler Scizor is arguably the strongest counter to standard Trick Room teams (i.e. consisting Reuniclus, Hariyama/Conkeldurr, Porygon2, etc). Because of Swords Dance and Bullet Punch you can really pressure Trick Room Pokemon. You don't care they go first in Trick Room if you have priority and they don't. Trick Room matchup for standard rain is probably the worst. That's why having the best possible counter for Trick Room is reasonable. Even with Scizor, I felt like my Trick Room matchup often was slightly unfavourable. WIthout Scizor, however, Trick Room matchup felt almost impossible to me. Metagross is alternatively also a good Pokemon against Trick Room but it's offensively a bit less pressurizing. Also making use of reduced Fire-damage in rain is nice. Build for Scizor (the only good build in the game imo) Swords Dance Bullet Punch Bug Bite Protect Adamant 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Sp. Def Steel Gem The next most important Pokemon in the team is Hitmontop. Spoiler Hitmontop is the hardest counter in the game to sand setters like Tyranitar and Gigalith. Having your weather removed by these Pokemon is one of the most annoying things for a rain team. Having a strong immediate counter is very needed and Hitmontop is exactly that. It also provides pressure against tanks like Porygon2 which is very difficult for Pelipper-Ludicolo-Kingdra to beat. Also, if anyone is crazy enough to play Blissey/Chansey then Hitmontop also takes care of that. Also provides Fake Out support to help Scizor to set up Swords Dance. I preferred to play Fighting Gem to give Hitmontop one-time offensive nuke. Back in the day, Eject Button and Sitrus were also okay. Some people use Assault Gear now, which is also fine. Build for Hitmontop Fake Out Feint Close Combat Wide Guard/Sucker Punch/Protect/Helping Hand/anything really always 252 HP other EVs can be on Atk or Sp. Def and maybe even a bit of speed Adamant/Careful both fine Lastly, I used Jolteon as the last Pokemon. Spoiler Jolteon is arguably the most obscure pick in this team as Jolteon alone is arguably the worst of these Pokemon. What makes Jolteon great in this team though? The main reason is fast Volt Switch. If you have a rain sweeper + Jolteon in, opponent cannot just bring in counterweather to stop rain sweeper. If opponent goes to Tyranitar, for example, they switch in - Jolteon uses Volt Switch - Pelipper comes in and rain sweeper can do enormous damage. It takes away one of the main counters to rain - the hard switch in counterweather. It requires a lot of prediction, yes. If you Volt Switch into Protect, that is a lot of trouble. Rain in general is very aggressive and prediction reliant team so you just have to live with it. Also what I loved about Jolteon is that on its time it nuked 2 of the best Follow Me Pokemon in 1 turn: Togekiss and Blastoise. Build for Jolteon Volt Switch Thunder Hidden Power Ice Protect Timid to speedtie with Crobat Modest for maximum damage (both are okay) 252 Speed, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 HP I used Electric Gem but Life Orb also is okay. 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler Metagross: the first version of this team was used with it instead of scizor Politoad: it could be a good option to set rain instead of the pelipper Sableye: another option to set rain with rain dance and prankster Poliwrtath: a good option for a physical beater to take advantage of the rain Golduck: It is a viable option if someone wants to opt for Kingdra Raichu: a lot of people like to use it with raichu instead of jolteon because of Lightningrod Raikou: it can also be a good option if you don't want to use Jolteon/Raichu Mienshao: Can be used instead of hitmontop Serperior: It is a Pokémon that has good synergy in rain teams Dragonite: also has good synergy in rain teams, and now he learns Wheather Ball after the last update Rain Room: Classic build Unknown creator, but this was also created in season 1 of Doubles Ranked. (I created something very similar to this in season 1, and I was probably the player who used this team archetype the most that season, but I don't want to give myself credit because someone may have thought of it before me. If anyone knows who was the first person to create this team in season 1 Doubles please let me know so I can mention the creator.) Detailed team building: Spoiler Pelipper Spoiler Surf (This is important for you to heal your Jellicent's life) Scald / Wide Guard Hurricane Protect Quiet 252 Hp, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp Def Focus Sash / Macho Brace Jellicent Spoiler Water Spout Giga Drain / Shadow Ball Trick Room Protect / Recover Quiet 252 Hp, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp Def Life Orb / Leftovers Ludicolo Spoiler Fake Out Scald/Muddy Water Giga Drain Ice Beam / Protect Modest 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Sp. Def Assault Gear / Life Orb Hariyama Spoiler Metagross Spoiler Porygon2 Spoiler 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler Politoad: Gastrodon: Ferrothorn: Amongus: Raichu: Dragonite: Conkeldur: Hitmontop: Scizor: Bronzong: 3 Follow-Me: Classic build created by JhowCrazy in the season 1 of ranked Doubles. (Yes, I created this shit and I regret it bitterly to this day because it's really boring to play against it, and they copy my team to this day even after 14 seasons Doubles. And that's the main reason why I created this thread, I was tired of seeing people copying and posting my team in various Doubles threads, but no one ever mentioned me or gave me my deserved credit for creating a team that never left the metagame.) Detailed team building: Spoiler I will update soon 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler Mr.Mime: the first version of this team was used with it instead of Electabuzz Amoonguss: Amongus Rage Power can replace one of the follow-me Clefable: Clefable is also a great support Raichu: an option to protect Poliwrath from electrical strikes Hitmontop: Hitmontop can be a good support in this type of team Kingdra: Kingdra with focus energy is also a great option in this type of team. Dragonite: I used to use Dragonite from Dragon Dance instead of the serperior, since he didn't have a Hidden Ability yet Rotom-Wash/Mow: Rotom Nasty plot was also used a lot by me in this team at the beginning Scizor: Scizor could be a Setup option instead of Poliwrath Gliscor: Gliscor with Sword Dance is an interesting physical setup option HO Mamotom: Classic build created by Lactosoid in the season 4 of ranked Doubles. (Lactosoid was the first player I saw use this combination of Rotom + Mamoswine in Doubles, he probably created it, they both have great synergy together and are usually used in many Hyper Offensive teams.) Detailed team building: Spoiler I will update soon 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler Crobat: Metagross: Hitmontop: Gigalith: Hydreigon: Garchomp: Volcarona: Serperior: Scizor: Gyarados: HO Gastrotom: Classic build created by darmoiZ in the season 8 of ranked Doubles. (After Rotom Wash + Mamoswine became very popular in DB, darmoiZ innovated and created the duo Gastrodon + Rotom-Heat to go head to head against the previous duo.) Detailed team building: Spoiler I will update soon 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler Trick Room Base: Classic build created by OrangeManiac in the season 1 of ranked Doubles. (This is the Trick Room team that OrangeManiac used during the first 3 seasons in which he finished the season in the top 1 while alternating between this and his rain team. This team has also been copied a lot by other players for a long time, currently I don't see anyone using it this way but most of the current Trick Room teams are still created using this same skeleton.) Detailed team building: Spoiler I will update soon 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler I will update soon Trick Room Queenzong: Classic Chinese build created in the season 12 of ranked Doubles. (If you analyze it, this team has the same skeleton as orange's first Trick Room team that I mentioned above, but it is a more updated version and one that I see frequently used nowadays in ranked.) Detailed team building: Spoiler I will update soon 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler I will update soon Sun: Classic build created by Kharma? in the season (?) of ranked Doubles. (tell me who created it and the season) (I don't really know who created this, but I see Astterio using it frequently in ranked, and I've also seen other players using the same team, it seems to be a standard sun team.) Detailed team building: Spoiler I will update soon 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler I will update soon Trick Room Sandsun: Exotic Build created by KanCYL in the season 5 of ranked Doubles. (I know, this seems very strange but I can't judge his results because KanCYL had an 84% winrate with 182 Doubles battles using only this in season 7, he spent a good part of that season as top 1 but in the last few weeks he lost his position and He ended up finishing sixth, after that I never saw this player in action again and that to me is a great mystery.) Detailed team building: Spoiler I will update soon 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler I will update soon Paraflinch: Build created by Smbee in the season (?) of ranked Doubles. Build created and used by Smbee to win two Doubles tournaments in a row without changing teams during every battle. Detailed team building: Spoiler I will update soon 10 others Pokémons that can be used in the same team archetype: Spoiler I will update soon I'm still updating this topic, so if you know of any interesting builds that haven't been mentioned yet comment your suggestion below, new suggestions are always welcome. Edited October 27, 2023 by JhowCrazy Topic is under construction Xratello, LipeHaru, Deadwind and 25 others 13 3 10 1 1 Link to comment
Shadow Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 This is fire 🔥 JhowCrazy 1 Link to comment
CaptnBaklava Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 Looking forward for the rest ❤️ JhowCrazy 1 Link to comment
JhowCrazy Posted October 23, 2023 Author Share Posted October 23, 2023 1 hour ago, CaptnBaklava said: Looking forward for the rest ❤️ I'm working on it, I'll have to leave now but tomorrow I'll update more teams 👊🏻 1 hour ago, Shadow said: This is fire 🔥 🔥🔥🔥 Shadow 1 Link to comment
Doctor Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 This is amazing man stunning thread ♥ JhowCrazy 1 Link to comment
OrangeManiac Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Cool idea of a thread, I'll guess I can start by explaining my initial thought process behind my original rain team. It isn't necessarily the best team archetype anymore but seeing it constantly in ladder even after 3 years after I made it kinda demonstrates that it's still effective. Pelipper Spoiler The only rain setter before Politoed but I'd argue Tailwind still makes it the best in this team. Rain teams are completely hopeless if anything outspeeds them so Tailwind to counteract opposing Tailwind is very useful way to keep hitting first. I always preferred to use Focus Sash so the risk of switching in Pelipper is the lowest but Eject Button also became popular for some people piloting the team which is an alright option too. Build for Pelipper for me was very simple: Tailwind Scald/Hydro Pump (I always used Scald for consistency) Hurricane Protect Modest/Timid 252 Speed, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 HP Focus Sash Kingdra Spoiler The best rain sweeper in the game if you don't have to care about special walls. And in Doubles, you really don't need to. Kingdra having only 1 weakness is great while possessing a great number of offensive pressure with Water/Dragon STAB combination. Kingdra's stats are also great across the board. Rain boosted attacks from Kingdra hurts a lot, whether it's Muddy Water or a single-targeted move like Scald/Hydro Pump. I always preferred to have both options available. Having only Muddy Water is annoying because you're pressured a lot by Wide Guard. I liked Draco Meteor as the coverage move to hit Water-resisted Pokemon. Some people have opted to use Hurricane instead of single-target Water-move and that's fair enough, Most common Wide Guard user is Hitmontop so you can easily get rid of it by just using Hurricane. Build for Kingdra for me is Muddy Water Scald/Hydro Pump/Hurricane (I always preferred Scald for consistency) Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse Protect Modest, 252 Sp. Atk 252 Speed, 4 HP Water Gem/Life Orb Ludicolo Spoiler The secondary rain sweeper of choice to me. The greatest feat about Ludicolo to me is its Grass-type so it pressures Gastrodon, a Pokemon which otherwise is extremely annoying to rain teams. Additionally, with Scizor it provides needed Fake Out support. Ludicolo's coverage is quite insane - resisting all Water/Grass/Ice at the same time is near impossible. Because you often hit for super effective damage, I enjoyed Expert Belt in the Season 1. Now I think Assault Gear/Life Orb is just better though, especially Assault Gear is a great item for Ludicolo now because you aren't using Protect. Build for Ludicofo for me is Fake Out Scald/Muddy Water Giga Drain Ice Beam Modest 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Sp. Def Assault Gear (Expert Belt in season 1 but not anymore) The next Pokemon that I find the most important Pokemon in the team is Scizor. Why Scizor? Spoiler Scizor is arguably the strongest counter to standard Trick Room teams (i.e. consisting Reuniclus, Hariyama/Conkeldurr, Porygon2, etc). Because of Swords Dance and Bullet Punch you can really pressure Trick Room Pokemon. You don't care they go first in Trick Room if you have priority and they don't. Trick Room matchup for standard rain is probably the worst. That's why having the best possible counter for Trick Room is reasonable. Even with Scizor, I felt like my Trick Room matchup often was slightly unfavourable. WIthout Scizor, however, Trick Room matchup felt almost impossible to me. Metagross is alternatively also a good Pokemon against Trick Room but it's offensively a bit less pressurizing. Also making use of reduced Fire-damage in rain is nice. Build for Scizor (the only good build in the game imo) Swords Dance Bullet Punch Bug Bite Protect Adamant 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Sp. Def Steel Gem The next most important Pokemon in the team is Hitmontop. Spoiler Hitmontop is the hardest counter in the game to sand setters like Tyranitar and Gigalith. Having your weather removed by these Pokemon is one of the most annoying things for a rain team. Having a strong immediate counter is very needed and Hitmontop is exactly that. It also provides pressure against tanks like Porygon2 which is very difficult for Pelipper-Ludicolo-Kingdra to beat. Also, if anyone is crazy enough to play Blissey/Chansey then Hitmontop also takes care of that. Also provides Fake Out support to help Scizor to set up Swords Dance. I preferred to play Fighting Gem to give Hitmontop one-time offensive nuke. Back in the day, Eject Button and Sitrus were also okay. Some people use Assault Gear now, which is also fine. Build for Hitmontop Fake Out Feint Close Combat Wide Guard/Sucker Punch/Protect/Helping Hand/anything really always 252 HP other EVs can be on Atk or Sp. Def and maybe even a bit of speed Adamant/Careful both fine Lastly, I used Jolteon as the last Pokemon. Spoiler Jolteon is arguably the most obscure pick in this team as Jolteon alone is arguably the worst of these Pokemon. What makes Jolteon great in this team though? The main reason is fast Volt Switch. If you have a rain sweeper + Jolteon in, opponent cannot just bring in counterweather to stop rain sweeper. If opponent goes to Tyranitar, for example, they switch in - Jolteon uses Volt Switch - Pelipper comes in and rain sweeper can do enormous damage. It takes away one of the main counters to rain - the hard switch in counterweather. It requires a lot of prediction, yes. If you Volt Switch into Protect, that is a lot of trouble. Rain in general is very aggressive and prediction reliant team so you just have to live with it. Also what I loved about Jolteon is that on its time it nuked 2 of the best Follow Me Pokemon in 1 turn: Togekiss and Blastoise. Build for Jolteon Volt Switch Thunder Hidden Power Ice Protect Timid to speedtie with Crobat Modest for maximum damage (both are okay) 252 Speed, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 HP I used Electric Gem but Life Orb also is okay. Anyways, good luck with the thread! Shadow, JhowCrazy, Xratello and 4 others 2 4 1 Link to comment
Parke Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Great thread man! Will be super helpful for some players starting out to get an insight into the thought process of the veteran players in the tier when building teams etc. JhowCrazy 1 Link to comment
JhowCrazy Posted October 24, 2023 Author Share Posted October 24, 2023 16 hours ago, Doctor said: This is amazing man stunning thread ♥ 6 hours ago, Parke said: Great thread man! Will be super helpful for some players starting out to get an insight into the thought process of the veteran players in the tier when building teams etc. I'm happy that people are enjoying my topic, if any of you have any team suggestions I can introduce them to the topic. Link to comment
JhowCrazy Posted October 24, 2023 Author Share Posted October 24, 2023 8 hours ago, OrangeManiac said: Cool idea of a thread, I'll guess I can start by explaining my initial thought process behind my original rain team. It isn't necessarily the best team archetype anymore but seeing it constantly in ladder even after 3 years after I made it kinda demonstrates that it's still effective. Pelipper Reveal hidden contents The only rain setter before Politoed but I'd argue Tailwind still makes it the best in this team. Rain teams are completely hopeless if anything outspeeds them so Tailwind to counteract opposing Tailwind is very useful way to keep hitting first. I always preferred to use Focus Sash so the risk of switching in Pelipper is the lowest but Eject Button also became popular for some people piloting the team which is an alright option too. Build for Pelipper for me was very simple: Tailwind Scald/Hydro Pump (I always used Scald for consistency) Hurricane Protect Modest/Timid 252 Speed, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 HP Focus Sash Kingdra Reveal hidden contents The best rain sweeper in the game if you don't have to care about special walls. And in Doubles, you really don't need to. Kingdra having only 1 weakness is great while possessing a great number of offensive pressure with Water/Dragon STAB combination. Kingdra's stats are also great across the board. Rain boosted attacks from Kingdra hurts a lot, whether it's Muddy Water or a single-targeted move like Scald/Hydro Pump. I always preferred to have both options available. Having only Muddy Water is annoying because you're pressured a lot by Wide Guard. I liked Draco Meteor as the coverage move to hit Water-resisted Pokemon. Some people have opted to use Hurricane instead of single-target Water-move and that's fair enough, Most common Wide Guard user is Hitmontop so you can easily get rid of it by just using Hurricane. Build for Kingdra for me is Muddy Water Scald/Hydro Pump/Hurricane (I always preferred Scald for consistency) Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse Protect Modest, 252 Sp. Atk 252 Speed, 4 HP Water Gem/Life Orb Ludicolo Reveal hidden contents The secondary rain sweeper of choice to me. The greatest feat about Ludicolo to me is its Grass-type so it pressures Gastrodon, a Pokemon which otherwise is extremely annoying to rain teams. Additionally, with Scizor it provides needed Fake Out support. Ludicolo's coverage is quite insane - resisting all Water/Grass/Ice at the same time is near impossible. Because you often hit for super effective damage, I enjoyed Expert Belt in the Season 1. Now I think Assault Gear/Life Orb is just better though, especially Assault Gear is a great item for Ludicolo now because you aren't using Protect. Build for Ludicofo for me is Fake Out Scald/Muddy Water Giga Drain Ice Beam Modest 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Sp. Def Assault Gear (Expert Belt in season 1 but not anymore) The next Pokemon that I find the most important Pokemon in the team is Scizor. Why Scizor? Reveal hidden contents Scizor is arguably the strongest counter to standard Trick Room teams (i.e. consisting Reuniclus, Hariyama/Conkeldurr, Porygon2, etc). Because of Swords Dance and Bullet Punch you can really pressure Trick Room Pokemon. You don't care they go first in Trick Room if you have priority and they don't. Trick Room matchup for standard rain is probably the worst. That's why having the best possible counter for Trick Room is reasonable. Even with Scizor, I felt like my Trick Room matchup often was slightly unfavourable. WIthout Scizor, however, Trick Room matchup felt almost impossible to me. Metagross is alternatively also a good Pokemon against Trick Room but it's offensively a bit less pressurizing. Also making use of reduced Fire-damage in rain is nice. Build for Scizor (the only good build in the game imo) Swords Dance Bullet Punch Bug Bite Protect Adamant 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Sp. Def Steel Gem The next most important Pokemon in the team is Hitmontop. Reveal hidden contents Hitmontop is the hardest counter in the game to sand setters like Tyranitar and Gigalith. Having your weather removed by these Pokemon is one of the most annoying things for a rain team. Having a strong immediate counter is very needed and Hitmontop is exactly that. It also provides pressure against tanks like Porygon2 which is very difficult for Pelipper-Ludicolo-Kingdra to beat. Also, if anyone is crazy enough to play Blissey/Chansey then Hitmontop also takes care of that. Also provides Fake Out support to help Scizor to set up Swords Dance. I preferred to play Fighting Gem to give Hitmontop one-time offensive nuke. Back in the day, Eject Button and Sitrus were also okay. Some people use Assault Gear now, which is also fine. Build for Hitmontop Fake Out Feint Close Combat Wide Guard/Sucker Punch/Protect/Helping Hand/anything really always 252 HP other EVs can be on Atk or Sp. Def and maybe even a bit of speed Adamant/Careful both fine Lastly, I used Jolteon as the last Pokemon. Reveal hidden contents Jolteon is arguably the most obscure pick in this team as Jolteon alone is arguably the worst of these Pokemon. What makes Jolteon great in this team though? The main reason is fast Volt Switch. If you have a rain sweeper + Jolteon in, opponent cannot just bring in counterweather to stop rain sweeper. If opponent goes to Tyranitar, for example, they switch in - Jolteon uses Volt Switch - Pelipper comes in and rain sweeper can do enormous damage. It takes away one of the main counters to rain - the hard switch in counterweather. It requires a lot of prediction, yes. If you Volt Switch into Protect, that is a lot of trouble. Rain in general is very aggressive and prediction reliant team so you just have to live with it. Also what I loved about Jolteon is that on its time it nuked 2 of the best Follow Me Pokemon in 1 turn: Togekiss and Blastoise. Build for Jolteon Volt Switch Thunder Hidden Power Ice Protect Timid to speedtie with Crobat Modest for maximum damage (both are okay) 252 Speed, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 HP I used Electric Gem but Life Orb also is okay. Anyways, good luck with the thread! Thank you very much bro, I'll add your detailed explanations about each Pokémon on your team to the topic. Link to comment
JhowCrazy Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) . Edited October 27, 2023 by JhowCrazy page maintenance Link to comment
Rakhmaninov Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Great guide bro JhowCrazy 1 Link to comment
Razachu Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Really nice thread! Cheers for posting this Jhow! JhowCrazy and Rakhmaninov 2 Link to comment
RenDude Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Very epic, might get into dubs now 🙏 Queza and JhowCrazy 1 1 Link to comment
JhowCrazy Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 5 hours ago, Rakhmaninov said: Great guide bro 1 hour ago, Razachu said: Really nice thread! Cheers for posting this Jhow! Ty bros 33 minutes ago, RenDude said: Very epic, might get into dubs now 🙏 Great, that's my goal Razachu, Rakhmaninov and RenDude 3 Link to comment
PrinBruce Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Yoo This is making me wanna try doubles out too JhowCrazy 1 Link to comment
DoubleJ Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 Man just hustled for deets and didn't share his own. Massive play. Axelgor 1 Link to comment
IanP Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 (edited) Congratulations on the topic @JhowCrazy I want to share this variation from the Rain team so you can add it to your thread! https://pokepast.es/eea8cd19aac75113 I don't guarantee that it will be faithful to the original version, but with your knowledge, if something is wrong, I will correct it. 🙂 Edited April 2 by IanP LeJovi and JhowCrazy 1 1 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now