L.A. Pokémon Showdown Doubles 4 v. 4 Team (Too bad it didn't get a chance to fight.)

[Pulse]

I show up at around 8 A.M. Saturday morning at the Los Angeles Science Center. I come in with my nike backpack and my game cart ready to roll. I get my wristband with my number and eagerly await to hear my number called... *023097, 023097, 023097* I chant in my head. The announcer says.. "0-2-3-0-9..." I almost jump up, until, "...5". Heartbreak. Oh well, it was fun to be there anyways. I think this team could have went pretty far, especially considering the winner of the tournament also had a Rain Dance team. Albeit mine was a bit more offensively based, it still was pretty fun to build. With this, I want to transform this team into a standard doubles team. Enough chat, heres the team:

Vaporeon @ Lum Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Def / 68 SpA
Nature: Bold
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Rain Dance
- Protect

Omastar @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Modest
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Grass / Electric]
- Ice Beam
- Protect


My leads. Very self explanatory. Rain Dance on turn one from Vaporeon to get the gears rolling. Since Omastar is 2HKO'd by a Surf from Vaporeon under Rain, I decided to leave it out and just go with Ice Beam and Hidden Power [Electric], to deal with Gyarados (who otherwise really, really hurts). From Omastar and Kingdra keeps it alive, so Wish isn't necessary. Nor is it very helpful in doubles to begin with. Lum Berry is to prevent Smeargles with Dark Void from ruining strategy from the getgo. Credits to the Lexx for this awesome Vaporeon. Once again for Omastar, Chesto Berry is to make sure Dark Void doesn't fuck me over. Omastar is the hardest hitting Water Pokémon from the Special spectrum that is allowed in this tournament. So I will abuse it. I have Protect on both of my leads because it stops Obi-mode in its tracks. If I see Azelf + Smeargle from turn one, of course I am going to Protect with both of my leads. They Explode, so what? Smeargle uses Spore, and I wake up for the OHKO. Credits for DawnBringer on this kickass Omastar. :)

One reason I'm considering Ludicolo in this spot is for Fake Out. That could come in handy for sure.

The next two Pokémon come in, abuse Rain and hit hard. Here they are:

Kingdra @ Life Orb / White Herb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 168 Atk / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Nature: Mild
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Waterfall / Protect

Gets in, hits hard, and puts the opponent away. Not much needs to be said here. Credits to Thomaz for breeding this beauty. :)

Kabutobs @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Swords Dance / Return / Protect

Right now I've been using Swords Dance, since it works well in unison with Wacan Berry. Aqua Jet is very necessary since it is my only priority move on the team. God this thing hits fucking hard. @_@


As you can probably tell from the comments, my experience in the doubles metagame is rather lacking. What I hope to get out of this RMT is some good feedback should there be a followup tournament next year and also a chance to convert this team into the standard 6 v. 6 format in the Smogon Doubles Metagame. Thanks for reading! ^_^

 

[Darkartisan]

Raindance team. Good, yet unreliable. The problem here is that a Deoxys S can go through your team like a fish to water.

I can't say that I am an excellent 4 v 4 rater, but from what I can see mixvire/celebi destroys this team.

 

[Pyong]

well, really offensive team. The double protect + two berrys is a cool tool for stopping some popular leads, but what about trick room teams? They are really dangerous to your team, but there isn't anything you can do about this, but maybe hydro pump>>> ice beam on your vaporeon could help you. You know, hydro pump hits quite hard under the rain, and you can OHKO some popular trick room users with it + surf.
Swords dance isn't a need on your kabutops, cause with the few rain dance turns it's really hard to find time to use it.
Anyway, a cool rain dance team with high risk- high reward.

 

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

Celebi and Deoxys-S are banned from Showdown play, so those are not a problem for him.

 

[COCKBLOCK]

I really love the concept of 4v4 double play. It shows that you're not only good with standard Single 6v6 stuff.

But you know, I'm not an expert at this but I'll do my best. I think you could use a Ground resistance. Bronzong can be a nice addition, as it is another nice Rain Dance supporter and it can Explode for major damage on both sides (with Protect from your other guys of course). I've made a Discharge based team with Scarf Porygon-Z and Electivire, I'm thinking you should watch out for that, who knows. Ironically, it seems a bulky water can do you good, maybe. Maybe try Zapdos for an extra Ground resistance?

Like I said I don't have great knowledge but I gave it my best. Hai Pulse btw. ^^

 

[StarmanXL]

One thing that bothers me here is your massive Grass and Electric weakness. Rain boosts Thunder to 100% and also carries a 30% chance for paralysis which will shut down Kingdra, Omastar, and Kabutops (if they even survive). Discharge is a problem too because, although weaker, hits both of your pokes at once and has the same rate for paralysis. Ludicolos with Swift Swim can abuse your Rain and start spamming STAB Energy Balls which take out Omastar and Kabutops. It also 4x resists Surf and takes neutral damage to Ice Beam; I'd consider X-Scissor on Kabutops for that and Starmie.

The fact that half of your team can't reliably take Surf is troubling, since that's your best move to spam given that it hits all opponents and is boosted in rain. When and if you decided to make this 6v6, consider more rain dance abusers who aren't threatened by Surf, such as Dry Skin Toxicroak.

Also, like Pyong said, you're dead if the enemy uses Trick Room. You could consider using a Taunter or something as a lead to prevent them from getting you, but that's not fool proof.

Now, onto individual pokemon:

VAPOREON: Looks solid, but like I said you probably wanna change your team around some so you can use Surf since it's a great STAB move. Also, I just wanna mention that I've never seen Obi mode used, like, ever, but it's a consideration--Dark Void is more than likely banned due to sleep clause.

OMASTAR:
Looks good.

KINGDRA:
I'd simply go with Life Orb and Dragon Pulse since I don't see Draco Meteor being that helpful even with White Herb (although that may just be me). You can consider Hydro Pump if you want a more powerful attack and are afraid of hitting your teammates with Surf. As for the EVs, I'd rather just go straight Special attacker, especially if you use Protect over Waterfall, since Blissey doesn't show up nearly as often in doubles as it does in singles. If it really bugs you, you could always add something on here such as Poliwrath or Toxicroak (be careful of the 3 EQ weaks with the last one; you could always use Ludicolo instead of Kingdra if it bugs you).

KABUTOPS:
Ditch Waccan for Focus Sash; Stealth Rock will rarely ever be a problem and you can change the weather from Hail or Sandstorm at will. Focus Sash will allow you to survive not only electric attacks but also ground and grass. I don't think Kabutops should be bothering with Swords Dance and should go on the all-out offensive with X-Scissor for Starmie and Ludicolo, although if it's been working then keep at it.

Should you make this a 6v6 team, make sure to look into more RD abusers such as Toxicroak, things with Thunder, etc. I wonder how my own Rain Dance team would stack up against it?

 

[Darkartisan]

I probably sounded a little harsh. I read the La warstorys and wow, what an inspiration.

I had no idea legends weren't allowed.

 

[Farewell]

I would suggest Damn Rock to go with Rain Dance, honestly.

Use Gorbyss over Omastar, its resistance to Surf helps when Kingdra is its partner, and it has only slightly weaker Special Attack than Omastar.

However, the main reason is because it learns Psychic which will help kill Toxicroak which will threaten your team, as well as Qwilphish/Scarf Gengar and Scarf Heracross [Qwilfish dies to HP Electric, but on your moveset you also list Hidden Power Grass, so Psychic is insurance when facing Qwilfish if you use HP Grass].

Toxicroak can Cross Chop your Kabutops, while being Immune to Waterfall/Aqua Jet, and resistant to Stone Edge, and can easily take an Ice Beam because it heals in the rain 12.5%.

Sucker Punch is also an issue especially on Swords Dance versions.