hi! Welcome to my 1000th post. When I first joined Smogon, I had no idea that I would end up where I am now. Which isn't saying much, honestly, but it's still better than photoshopping peoples' faces onto pokemon sprites for like$, which is where i was a year ago. The only thing I really did around here back then was be a horrible firebot poster (magicarpmandude level), until I picked up NU and then Doubles and became a good player (tm). However, I'm no tournament player, like a lot of the doubles playerbase. I consider myself to be a rather decent player with good knowledge of the metagames that I play. Anyway, onto the team: noticing a lack of
shamshel (Diancie-Mega) @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect
Diancie is a ridiculously fun mega to use. It stomps ladder noobs and any other player once I've killed their rock resists. It's also the mega that I chose to build the team around. It also helps support the team greatly by providing a very straightforward check to Thundurus, which is a really dumb mon. The EVs are standard and the moves are standard, so there's nothing special to say about them that hasn't been said time after time before.
sandalphon (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Quick Guard
- Protect
Keldeo is a great mon that can fit on almost any team. Or, in my case, every team. It's pretty much my favorite mon to use in Doubles, since it can pair well with so many other mons with its STAB coverage and then go further with its Quick Guard support. My favorite thing about it, however, is that its able to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan with Secret Sword. This makes it a great asset to the team; I don't have to worry about playing around Mega Kangaskhan, or switching this and that just to dent it. Keldeo just straightforward kills it. Keldeo also forms a great FWG core with Serperior and Talonflame.
armisael (Serperior) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Rock] / Dragon Pulse
- Glare
- Protect
This is where it gets interesting. Serperior is a grossly underrated mon in doubles, and it's not hard to see why. It has horrible stats except for its speed, but its saving grace is being pretty much the only good fast grass type with skymin's banning. Before this set, the only Serperior set I've used was Arcticblast's defensive set, but now I've been using offensive Serperior a lot more. With Serperior's speed tier, it can outspeed a ton of random shit like Mega Diancie, Mega Metagross, Thundurus, etc. I've tried out Life Orb over Focus Sash, but I feel like Focus Sash is better, especially when used in tandem with Glare. If Serperior has a horrible matchup against the other team for what ever reason or if its hanging onto the sash with 1 health and isn't useful otherwise, it can get up a Glare (which hits ground-types, by the way), and cripple an otherwise potent threat to the team. While I have abundant rock coverage from Diancie, I've tried out different hidden powers and the only one that's really useful is HP rock. It means that Serperior can nab an unexpected ko against Talonflame and that it doesn't need a ton of support to function well. Dragon Pulse is also pretty useful for neutral coverage and killing dragons.
arael (Talonflame) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Brave Bird
- Overheat
- Tailwind / Taunt
- Protect
Talonflame is a super handsome bird and is even handsomer with the ousting of skymin. It's pretty much one of the only good users of flying STAB now that skymin is banned. It ties up the FWG core really nicely, too, with its cool fire/flying coverage. The set you see here is the Overheat Talonflame set that I first started using. Overheat is great for preventing Talonflame from being useless in the face of Intimidate and also lessens recoil by a lot while also still nabbing most KOs. On the 3rd slot, I usually use either Tailwind or Taunt. Tailwind is great for supporting the team in general, while Taunt is cool for stopping Trick Room and other shenanigans.
zeruel (Aegislash) @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Sneak
- King's Shield
Aegislash is a great powerhouse for the team that also provides a bunch of resists. Its main purpose is to act as a Trick Room check, as it kills pretty much every setter and a lot of attackers. Futhermore, it just so happens to be able to switch-in and put pressure on Mega Kangaskhan, making it a great addition to any team. Aside from the basic 2 STABs, my favorite move to use in Aegislash's 3rd slot is probably Shadow Sneak, since it's so easy to bluff Wide Guard and you can still put pressure on Talonflame.
sahaquiel (Hydreigon) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Protect
Being weak to both Aegislash and partly Thundurus, I opted to use Hydreigon. It ties up the team pretty nicely and syngergizes almost perfectly with Aegislash. You're probably looking at Hydreigon's spread right now and wondering: "xzern, you handsome devil, what are you up to? what's with that spread?" I'm glad you asked. Since Hydreigon can't outspeed base 100, I'm only using 124 speed, which allows it to outspeed Bisharp and Breloom. Furthermore, with 132 HP, it can either tank an Adamant Mega Kangaskhan Return or avoid a 2HKO from Talonflame's Brave Bird. Hydreigon is also the team's secondary Heatran check, since I'm pretty weak to Heatran here.
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shamshel (Diancie-Mega) @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect
sandalphon (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Quick Guard
- Protect
armisael (Serperior) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Glare
- Protect
arael (Talonflame) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Brave Bird
- Overheat
- Tailwind
- Protect
zeruel (Aegislash) @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
sahaquiel (Hydreigon) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Protect
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect
sandalphon (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Quick Guard
- Protect
armisael (Serperior) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Glare
- Protect
arael (Talonflame) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Brave Bird
- Overheat
- Tailwind
- Protect
zeruel (Aegislash) @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
sahaquiel (Hydreigon) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Protect
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