Hey guys, Arcticblast here. I'm posting a team that's seen quite a bit of success on the Doubles Suspect ladder (and also some failure, like the time I lost to an Electivire). I really like this team and it's proven itself to be really good, but Mega Salamence is probably staying banned. That means I can't pimp the team in Seasonals. So I'm just going to post it and give some insight into the Mega Salamence metagame.
Teambuilding processes are cool and not overrated at all, but I'm not really in the mood, and the team hasn't really changed since I slapped a Thundurus in the last slot. The gist is that I thought Mega Salamence and bulky Landorus-T would work really well together. I added a Jirachi because "lol MenceRachi" and the rest just fell into place afterward.
Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 80 Atk / 216 SpD / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
Obviously I wanted to build a team around DD Mega Salamence. We all know what makes the thing so good. I can't remember at what point I decided on bulky DD Earthquake, but it's been working out well. Despite Earthquake being weak as hell in comparison to Return, I wanted to run it as a lategame option and to beat opposing Jirachi when already set up. The EV spread is a little ugly and could be optimized, but it outruns Jolly Mega Kangaskhan before a Dragon Dance and always survives a Moonblast from standard Mega Diancie.
Landorus (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Atk / 132 Def / 80 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-Turn
Bulky Landorus-T is one of my favorite sets right now, Mence meta or not. It can actually afford to take a hit, unlike the mildly overrated Scarf Landorus-T, and a slower U-turn is great for keeping up momentum. I always use Stone Edge over Rock Slide on bulky Lando-T; Rock Slide is good on Scarf for flinch spam but when you have no speed investment it's just bad. This is also one of the few sets I'd use Leftovers on; with this EV spread, Leftovers is essential for taking on Mega Kangaskhan (who fails to 2HKO with Adamant -1 Return after Leftovers). The spread also takes a Modest Hydreigon's Life Orb Draco Meteor. Pretty cool, right? Landorus-T was great for switching in on the many Electric-types wandering around to check Salamence, and it takes like 20% from Jirachi Icy Winds to check it.
Jirachi @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpA / 108 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Follow Me
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
My reasoning for adding Jirachi in the first place was pretty simple - Mega Mence partner and Mega Diancie check - but this set is a little more "complicated." Simply put, I've never liked the standard Icy Wind / Iron Head set with no offensive investment. I was originally going to run Iron Head / Ice Punch for a bit more offensive presence, but then it occurred to me that if I wanted to use Jirachi as a Mence check Ice Punch was going to be about as helpful as Haruno in a group teambuilding session. After running some calcs, I went with two special attacks. Mega Salamence is going to be the target of Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp, which would render a physical or mixed Jirachi mostly useless (after redirecting WoW of course), so Flash Cannon and HP Ice allow me to keep going when crippled. Safety Goggles weren't originally on the set (I had Sitrus before), but a couple close matches against Trick Room with Amoonguss prompted this change.
Keldeo (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Toxic
Keldeo is easily one of the most adorable Pokemon in the entire Doubles OU metagame, and it's a very potent one to boot. Keldeo gives me a great check to opposing Steel-types as well as resisting Fire/Water and checking Bisharp, Mega Kangaskhan, and Sub Kyurem-B. It's an attacker, big whoop, typical Keldeo stuff. I realized as I was finishing the team that CM Cresselia and bulky Water-types were pretty big threats, so I threw Toxic on the last slot. I didn't find myself weak enough to priority to use Quick Guard. I realized this team is actually bulky enough to draw out matches should the need arise, making Toxic surprisingly potent!
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Substitute
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
Substitute Heatran is something that I think got a lot better in the Salamence metagame, despite not actually being able to hit Mence. The "best" Salamence sets (DD monoattacking) can't hit Heatran too hard either, and with all of Salamence's Steely Sidekicks running around, Heatran gets a lot of opportunities to set up Substitute. The Fire immunity and Fairy resistance were both very important as well. Heatran's just a good Pokemon.
Thundurus (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 8 SpA / 188 SpD / 32 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave
I struggled to find a good Pokemon to put in this slot for a while, considering things as normal as Amoonguss and as weird as Rotom-Mow. I eventually settled on Thundurus, or rather gave up and used Thundurus, and found it worked quite nicely. A backup Earthquake immunity for my own double Earthquake users, my only speed control, and a nice and strong Thunderbolt were all good reasons to pick Thundurus. It also helps me with my Rain matchup, which was a little bit lacking, considering I need Salamence relatively healthy most of the time. Taunt is always useful on the ladder; fuck Trick Room and fuck Spinda. (Seriously, stop using that. It sucks.) Observant readers might notice this is the exact same Thundurus EV spread I've been using since XY, which in itself is a modified BW spread. It works fine for me, why change it?
I personally felt that one of this team's biggest weaknesses was Aegislash. Wide Guard put immense pressure on my team, considering all of my super effective moves against it are spread moves, and activating Weakness Policy meant it could punch right through the many bulky Pokemon on the team. I often found Keldeo was one of my best weapons against it, since Hydro Pump is a 2HKO. There are a few other difficult matchups, as is the nature of Pokemon, but nothing totally unwinnable. Rain requires a healthy Thundurus, Sun requires Heatran and an aggressive Salamence, Bisharp requires an active Keldeo, and Amoonguss TR just gets annoying after a while.
Thanks for reading, everyone!