The Darkness Core
Greetings. It's been a while since I posted an RMT, and this time around I decided to do a Battle Spot Doubles team. I've spent many hours testing and playing so I believe it's time to get other people's input on my team. Without further ado, here is the team.
Goal
When making the team, I wanted something that could support Mega-Gardevoir in a sort of balanced way. While there are many Pokemon that can overpower Gardevoir, she is still a powerful threat that shouldn't be taken lightly. I then remembered the old Fantasy core from back in VGC 2014, which consists of a Fairy, Dragon, and Steel Pokemon core. Gardevoir happened to fit in the core quite nicely at the time and I still think she can still do so today despite the presence of Tapu Lele.
The Team
@ Gardevoirite
Ability: Telepathy--->Pixilate
EVs: 236 HP / 148 Def / 4 SpA / 100 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
Psychic
Protect
Icy Wind
Hyper Voice
The mega of choice as well as the first member of the Fantasy Core. Many players tend to go for Tapu Lele due to its better ability and not being item restricted. However, Gardevoir does have some niches over the Guardian. Higher Special Attack, less reliance of terrain, and a large range of support options makes M-Gardevoir a great Pokemon to use. The EV spread was taken by ShadowTex of the VGC chat on Showdown (used with permission), which grants Mega Gardevoir a massive amount of bulk while, thanks to its high base SpA, still retaining a good chunk of power. Psychic and Hyper Voice are stables on Mega-Gardevoir, with Icy Wind rounding off the set to help provide speed control for itself and the rest of the team. This came about after continuous testing between it, Trick Room, and Will-O-Wisp. M-Gardevoir is always left in the back so it plays the late-game sweeper, though sometimes I don't bring her in at all.
@ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
Dark Pulse
Protect
Flamethrower
Draco Meteor
The second member of the Fantasy core. Despite its x4 Weakness to Fairies as well as other weaknesses, Hydreigon is a monstrous Special Attacker thanks to having a large variety of attacks at its disposal. The EV spread is self-explanatory to give Hydreigon maximum power and Speed with a Modest nature and Life Orb further boosting its power. Dark Pulse and Draco Meteor act as powerful STABs while Flamethrower provides an answer against Steel-types like Celesteela and Ferrothorn.
@ Ghostium Z
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 188 HP / 4 Def / 236 SpA / 4 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
Shadow Ball
Flash Cannon
Wide Guard
King's Shield
The final member of the Fantasy core, I picked Aegislash as an answer to popular Megas like M-Kangaskhan, M-Salamence, etc, Trick Room teams, and its access to Wide Guard to provide protection against spread moves. The EVs were made to have Aegislash possess more power and speed. As suggested by Jhon , this allows Aegislash to outspeed Mega Metagross and have enough power to OHKO with Never-Ending Nightmare. It also prevents having to deal with mirror matches against opposing Aegislash.
@ Aguav Berry
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 244 HP / 148 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
Scald
Icy Wind
Helping Hand
Protect
A suggestion by Jhon ,Politoed was added for both support and weather control as Sand and Sun make it difficult for this team to match up well against the opposing team. Icy Wind, like on Gardevoir, is used for Speed control while Helping Hand provides a powerful boost to attack power for the Mega as well as Aegislash and Hydreigon. Scald provides a reliable STAB thanks to its high Burn chance unless Misty Terrain is out.
@ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 4 SpA / 148 SpD / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
Thunderbolt
Detect
Tailwind
Hidden Power [Ice]
With Thunderus-I losing its ground with the prominent Lele and Fini users Zapdos gained the chance to shine once again, and I aimed to take advantage of it. The moveset is more or less standard as Zapdos' primary role is to setup Tailwind and allow its teammates to sweep. EV wise, 60 EVs in speed allows Zapdos to outrun Heatran at 252, which it can proceed to strike with STAB Thunderbolts while HP Ice provides coverage against Ground types such as Garchomp. Bulk wise, I opted for a specially defensive variant as the EVs allow it to survive a Gigabolt Havoc from Timid Tapu Koko under Electric Terrain 9/10. To be precise:
252 SpA Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 148 SpD Zapdos in Electric Terrain: 169-199 (85.7 - 101%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
While having a Calm nature would prevent any chance of a OHKO, I went with Modest to give Zapdos a little more firepower. It is also the only nature I have at my disposal with its HA Static, which makes attacking with contact moves risky.
@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 44 HP / 212 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
Rock Slide
Earthquake
U-turn
Superpower
The final member of the team, I went with Landorus-T because a lot of the team appreciate his presence as well as the Intimidate support. The defensive EVs give Landorus enough bulk to survive a Double-Edge from M-Salamence. Choice Scarf was chosen over Assault Vest to give Landorus more speed, although because of the lower Speed it loses to faster Landorus which can proceed to spam Rock Slide it for the flinch chance.
Well that's the team. Please provide comments and critique so that I can make improvements (if any are needed). Credit to Jhon for providing wonderful advice on the team.
@ Gardevoirite
Ability: Telepathy--->Pixilate
EVs: 236 HP / 148 Def / 4 SpA / 100 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
Psychic
Protect
Icy Wind
Hyper Voice
The mega of choice as well as the first member of the Fantasy Core. Many players tend to go for Tapu Lele due to its better ability and not being item restricted. However, Gardevoir does have some niches over the Guardian. Higher Special Attack, less reliance of terrain, and a large range of support options makes M-Gardevoir a great Pokemon to use. The EV spread was taken by ShadowTex of the VGC chat on Showdown (used with permission), which grants Mega Gardevoir a massive amount of bulk while, thanks to its high base SpA, still retaining a good chunk of power. Psychic and Hyper Voice are stables on Mega-Gardevoir, with Icy Wind rounding off the set to help provide speed control for itself and the rest of the team. This came about after continuous testing between it, Trick Room, and Will-O-Wisp. M-Gardevoir is always left in the back so it plays the late-game sweeper, though sometimes I don't bring her in at all.
@ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
Dark Pulse
Protect
Flamethrower
Draco Meteor
The second member of the Fantasy core. Despite its x4 Weakness to Fairies as well as other weaknesses, Hydreigon is a monstrous Special Attacker thanks to having a large variety of attacks at its disposal. The EV spread is self-explanatory to give Hydreigon maximum power and Speed with a Modest nature and Life Orb further boosting its power. Dark Pulse and Draco Meteor act as powerful STABs while Flamethrower provides an answer against Steel-types like Celesteela and Ferrothorn.
@ Ghostium Z
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 188 HP / 4 Def / 236 SpA / 4 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
Shadow Ball
Flash Cannon
Wide Guard
King's Shield
The final member of the Fantasy core, I picked Aegislash as an answer to popular Megas like M-Kangaskhan, M-Salamence, etc, Trick Room teams, and its access to Wide Guard to provide protection against spread moves. The EVs were made to have Aegislash possess more power and speed. As suggested by Jhon , this allows Aegislash to outspeed Mega Metagross and have enough power to OHKO with Never-Ending Nightmare. It also prevents having to deal with mirror matches against opposing Aegislash.
@ Aguav Berry
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 244 HP / 148 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
Scald
Icy Wind
Helping Hand
Protect
A suggestion by Jhon ,Politoed was added for both support and weather control as Sand and Sun make it difficult for this team to match up well against the opposing team. Icy Wind, like on Gardevoir, is used for Speed control while Helping Hand provides a powerful boost to attack power for the Mega as well as Aegislash and Hydreigon. Scald provides a reliable STAB thanks to its high Burn chance unless Misty Terrain is out.
@ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 4 SpA / 148 SpD / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
Thunderbolt
Detect
Tailwind
Hidden Power [Ice]
With Thunderus-I losing its ground with the prominent Lele and Fini users Zapdos gained the chance to shine once again, and I aimed to take advantage of it. The moveset is more or less standard as Zapdos' primary role is to setup Tailwind and allow its teammates to sweep. EV wise, 60 EVs in speed allows Zapdos to outrun Heatran at 252, which it can proceed to strike with STAB Thunderbolts while HP Ice provides coverage against Ground types such as Garchomp. Bulk wise, I opted for a specially defensive variant as the EVs allow it to survive a Gigabolt Havoc from Timid Tapu Koko under Electric Terrain 9/10. To be precise:
252 SpA Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 148 SpD Zapdos in Electric Terrain: 169-199 (85.7 - 101%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
While having a Calm nature would prevent any chance of a OHKO, I went with Modest to give Zapdos a little more firepower. It is also the only nature I have at my disposal with its HA Static, which makes attacking with contact moves risky.
@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 44 HP / 212 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
Rock Slide
Earthquake
U-turn
Superpower
The final member of the team, I went with Landorus-T because a lot of the team appreciate his presence as well as the Intimidate support. The defensive EVs give Landorus enough bulk to survive a Double-Edge from M-Salamence. Choice Scarf was chosen over Assault Vest to give Landorus more speed, although because of the lower Speed it loses to faster Landorus which can proceed to spam Rock Slide it for the flinch chance.
Well that's the team. Please provide comments and critique so that I can make improvements (if any are needed). Credit to Jhon for providing wonderful advice on the team.
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