We Get It, You Vipe: a Snake Draft Team Archive

Level 51

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We Get It, You Vipe: a Snake Draft Team Archive

Hi there! It's me, your friendly neighbourhood uninteractive cheesemonger Level 51, now with 100% more green in my badgeset! I wasn't originally going to post this thread, but after asking around it turns out some people are actually interested in my teams. Whether it's because they actually thought my teams were interesting, or you were just surprised that I managed to build something besides Perish Trap or setup spam, big s/os to them for getting me to write this thread!

The Snake Draft was my first big team tournament, and I think it showed in not only my nervousness in approaching each individual battle but also my teambuilding. For many of my games, I had no idea how to even go about counter-styling an opponent, so my best bet was to just make teams which were as solid as I could humanly manage and to practice playing with them until I could pilot them optimally. In the end, this approach seemed to work out somewhat, as I finished the regular season 5-4 (and the overall tournament 6-5) after an awful 0-2 start. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this performance considering this was, after all, my first big team tournament.

By the Numbers
As you can probably see above, I played a pretty obscene number of ladder battles while preparing for the tournament, and I probably fought most people who are reading this thread now. If you played against any of the following alts on the ladder, thanks for helping me test my teams for the tournament!
  • Daniel55123
  • ck923121
  • Satoshi2003
  • PikachuGurl2001
  • SIMC22
  • GGraveler77
I'm also pretty happy with how most of my teams turned out; a lot of them had enough quirk for my liking, and though for most of the teams I wasn't 100% confident about all of their matchups right up to the battle, I'm glad the tournament turned out alright in the end. As a clarifying note, none of the "quirky" Pokemon I used were used exclusively because they were unique Pokemon: each of them had a purpose behind their inclusion on each team. All in all, though, this introduction has probably gone on for too long, so let's move on to the teams!

The Teams, or: Ten Importables to Steal

Edited Matame Semiroom (L vs miltankmilk)
Samu Koko (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot

Tapu Sami (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 100 SpA / 40 SpD / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Muddy Water
- Moonblast
- Protect

Samlamence (Salamence-Mega) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Atk / 8 Def / 120 SpD / 56 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Roost
- Protect

Ferrosam (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Schweitzer-Unbound (Hoopa-Unbound) @ Misty Seed
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 12 Def / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Hyperspace Fury
- Hyperspace Hole
- Trick Room
- Protect

Samlax (Snorlax) @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Def / 88 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Self-Destruct
- Double-Edge
- High Horsepower
- Fire Punch
I knew that right out of the gates people would be expecting stupid cheese out of me, so I opted for a more solid team. Or, well, that was the idea, anyway - I spent the whole of the first week of Phase 1 panicking and throwing out idea after idea because of how nervous I was about the first game. Eventually, I decided to start from a sample team and make edits as I went along, so I picked up Matame's sample team and tried to make a few edits which I thought would catch miltank off-guard: Scarf Tapu Koko, Band Snorlax, and DD Mence (the original team uses MixMence). In retrospect, I'm not sure why I made these edits - this team was probably my least-well-thought-out team out of all 10 teams, since the pressure of having to produce a team of some sort got to me. While the Scarf Tapu Koko did net me a turn 1 KO on miltank's Deoxys, the game went downhill from there as the pressure exerted by his Metagross and Marshadow prevented me from setting up Trick Room. Overall, the team was a hot mess teetering on the knife edge between viability and creativity, and it ultimately fell foul of actually being a good team. Sorry for ruining your team, 3/10 would not play again.

Team nicknamed after the many faces of Kaori, aka SamDOU.

Almost the Coolest TerraCott Team in History (L vs marilli)
So Big (Terrakion) @ Kee Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
- Taunt
- Protect

So Small (Whimsicott) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nature Power
- Tailwind
- Beat Up
- Encore

Only Us (Tapu Fini) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 64 SpA / 16 SpD / 104 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Dazzling Gleam
- Scald
- Moonblast

Requiem (Charizard-Mega-Y) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 240 HP / 64 Def / 12 SpA / 32 SpD / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Tailwind
- Protect

For Forever (Celesteela) @ Misty Seed
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Atk / 116 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Leech Seed
- Acrobatics
- Heavy Slam
- Wide Guard

Disappear (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 8 HP / 172 Atk / 76 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- U-turn
If the previous team was the least-well-thought-out team I brought to a Snake match, this was a close second. Going into this game, I thought I could get away with playing off marilli's supposed inexperience and cheesing him out with a "good" TerraCott team. Spoiler: good TerraCott teams probably don't exist. After I lost all my momentum turn 1, and then some, the whole game went downhill and he was in the driving seat the whole time, so TerraCott was apparently: not the call.

What is notable about this team, however, is the expansion of the Z-Nature Power Whimsicott from my Team Competition-winning team submission; in this case, I used Tapu Fini to allow me to come out on top against Marshadow, which is a huge threat to any team that involves boosting. Also notable is that the team originally featured Red Card Terrakion, theoretically allowing the user to switch Whimsicott out for something which could exert more offensive pressure (Charizard Y, Landorus-T, Specs Tapu Fini). I wussed out at the last moment and switched it back to the more "standard" pick of Kee Berry Terrakion, though that probably doesn't mean anything either way.

Team nicknamed after songs from the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack.

Pursuit Chople Tyranitar and 5 Unimportant Pokemon (W vs MajorBowman)
scary viper (Salamence) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 152 Atk / 104 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor
- Protect

windy viper (Suicune) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpA / 148 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Snarl
- Mirror Coat

slashy viper (Aegislash) @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 164 SpA / 44 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield

zen viper (Tapu Lele) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 92 HP / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt

high viper (Amoonguss) @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Sludge Bomb
- Rage Powder
- Protect

sandy viper (Tyranitar) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 4 Def / 156 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rock Slide
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
In what would prove to be a recurring theme throughout Snake, I had no real clue what Jake would be bringing to this game, and as such had no idea what to bring to this game in response. I tested a whole bunch of things but none seemed to stick, so I relied on my usual teambuilding resource of "Sam throwing random sets at me". Eventually, he tossed AV Suicune my way and it caught my attention mostly because it seemed like a really silly set, but one that could actually work. Since I don't usually build teams around my speed control option, I had some vague idea that I wanted to use some sort of balance team with Suicune. Unoriginal and VGC-idea-thief Level 51 thus decided that it would be a good idea to run a version of the Sand balance archetype that dominated post-Worlds VGC 2015. Of course, it wouldn't be until semifinals that I actually had the balls to use the Pokemon that I personally called out in the same post in which I enthused about Gothitelle, and thus I eschewed it in favour of Tapu Lele as a "fast Sand abuser". In another departure from the standard choice, I also decided to use a Tyranitar with SR and Pursuit to put some dents in what I presumed would be a switch-heavy team from Jake. Well, it wasn't, but I guess it worked anyway.

Someone also asked about my opinion on Rain Psyspam. For my answer on this, please refer to the sentiments of my good friend Sam.

Team nicknamed after vipers. hiss

Demandtoid (W vs Demantoid)
Demandtoid (Mandibuzz) @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Roost
- Taunt
- Foul Play

Degrosstoid (Metagross-Mega) @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm
- Protect

Deleletoid (Tapu Lele) @ Mago Berry
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 52 SpA / 92 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect

Delandotoid (Landorus-Therian) @ Groundium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 8 HP / 172 Atk / 76 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Protect

Definitoid (Tapu Fini) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 164 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Muddy Water
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Dekyubtoid (Kyurem-Black) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 224 HP / 56 Atk / 72 Def / 52 SpA / 12 SpD / 92 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Icy Wind
- Earth Power
At this point in the tournament I was still pretty deflated from the rough Phase 1, and I was quickly losing motivation to build more teams. Fortunately, I had this team left over from when I first started building for Snake, even before the actual draft. The origin of the team was as such: I knew that most of my opponents would be bringing Marshadow against me, since not only is it a ridiculously powerful Pokemon in its own right, but it also happened to rip right through all of my most-used teams at that point in time. In order to do that, I decided to scroll through a list of Flying-types, and somehow ended up with Mandibuzz. It's a strange choice, obviously—it doesn't even resist Close Combat, and doesn't use a Flying-type move to chunk Marshadow. However, I recalled its success in VGC, and wondered if I could make it fulfill a similar role in DOU. I originally set aside the team because I thought Mandibuzz was a bit of a momentum sink, but at this point I reworked a few spreads to get the team to rely less on Mandibuzz. Requiring less of Mandibuzz meant that it didn't have to spend as much time on the field, letting me make the most of the Tailwind turns and swinging momentum in my favour. I think Mandibuzz is a cool Pokemon but probably not the most viable Tailwind setter, it's like a Zapdos which trades offensive presence for Taunt and bulk.

Team nicknamed after, uh, well, you know.

Veil is Like Playing a 10v6 (L vs Jhon)
crushing day (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Atk / 20 SpD / 164 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Substitute
- Protect

ice 9 (Ninetales-Alola) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Moonblast
- Roar

satch boogie (Volcarona) @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 88 HP / 88 Def / 144 SpA / 188 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Protect

...the alien (Mew) @ Light Clay
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 132 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Aurora Veil
- Tailwind
- Fake Out
- U-turn

always with you (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect

midnight (Salamence) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 152 Atk / 104 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Voice
- Earthquake
- Protect
Almost halfway through the tournament and I still hadn't used setup spam! Despite its less-than-stellar record in Snake, I still think Alolan Ninetales is a really good Pokemon and has a lot of potential. The one thing I didn't like about it, though, was that it was an Ice-type with Blizzard which was somehow incapable of outrunning the two most common Pokemon which were 4x weak to Ice—Mega Salamence and Scarf Landorus-T. To remedy this, I decided to use Choice Scarf Ninetales as a "surprise" set, allowing me to get off surprise damage on an opposing team, especially on these two threats, and Mew as my Aurora Veil setter instead. I also ran some cute techs, such as Roar on Ninetales to prevent TR from being set up straight away, and U-turn on Mew both to protect my two setup Pokemon from switching directly into attacks as well as to chunk Hoopa-U. Volcarona in particular appreciates the help with removing three of its biggest threats: Mega Salamence, Scarf Landorus-T, and Hoopa-U. I paired this with a DD Zygarde, but unfortunately I opted to use an old spread from an early-season team where Zygarde had more time to set up. While I've kept the importable true to the team I brought, I definitely recommend using a more offensive set—64 HP / 252 Atk / 28 SpD / 164 Spe with an Adamant Nature is my personally preferred EV spread.

Overall, I think the team has potential. While Ferrothorn was pretty hastily slapped on as a TR check and secondary Rain check and could probably substituted for something else, the other 5 team members feel pretty well-positioned to me, and I think Jhon and I independently innovating Aurora Veil Mew at the same time with the same setup sweepers does say something about their worth.

Team nicknamed after the music of Joe Satriani. Relevant songs linked from nicknames :3

:b:ased Team (W vs Kaori)
Kyurem-:b:lack (Kyurem-Black) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 224 HP / 56 Atk / 72 Def / 52 SpA / 12 SpD / 92 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Icy Wind
- Earth Power

:b:agonite (Dragonite) @ Choice Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 32 Def / 4 SpD / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- Extreme Speed

Sci:b:or (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Atk / 36 SpD / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Protect

:b:andorus (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 8 HP / 172 Atk / 76 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- U-turn

Ta:b:u :b:o:b:o (Tapu Koko) @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
- Protect

Cle:b:airy (Clefairy) @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Pulse
- Follow Me
- Encore
In reality, my three Phase 2 teams were all built around the same time and it was only after building them all that I decided which team I would use for each match. This team originated from a Scarf Soak Fini + LO Seed Flare Skymin idea that I copped from Nido-Rus (as usual), and the fact that neither of them are on the final team shows what I think of that idea. Anyway, when he was playing that team against me (and winning, sadly), he mentioned that the team was pretty weak to Scarf Landorus-T. I didn't see why that was the case because Fini learns Ice Beam, but I figured it had something to do with Rock Slide. Once again, it was Nido-Rus who saved the day, though whether he realised it or not at the time is up to debate.

In the end, the team's concept evolved into "bulky offensive core to chip stuff and clean with double priority", which sounds pretty impressive but was just a cheap front for my Dragonite obsession. Partially because I didn't want to give up the Dragonite slot, there were about 8 Pokemon I wanted to use on this team (these six + Skymin and Fini), and in view of my awful Rain matchup I figured Kyurem-B would require a slot on the team, and without Fini there was no point for Skymin / without Skymin there was no point for Fini. Hence it was decided!

Team ni:b:named after :b:.

xXAwesomeTeam98Xx (L vs stax; W vs Biosci)
bioscizor (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Atk / 72 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Protect

steamyboy98 (Volcanion) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Heat Wave
- Steam Eruption
- Earth Power
- Protect

xXintimid8boiXx (Landorus-Therian) @ Groundium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 8 HP / 172 Atk / 76 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Protect

xXzappybirdXx (Tapu Koko) @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
- Protect

c00l_ice_2002 (Kyurem-Black) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 224 HP / 56 Atk / 72 Def / 52 SpA / 12 SpD / 92 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Icy Wind
- Hidden Power [Fire]

g0thgurl2001 (Gothitelle) @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Helping Hand
- Heal Pulse
- Trick Room
- Protect
The story behind this team is that I had been corresponding with Nido-Rus about how good Mega Scizor is and how good Gothitelle is and how no one understood our genius. One day, he messaged be saying how good Gothitelle and Mega Scizor were together on the same team, and I spent a solid five minutes trying to figure out how I had not thought of that before. He even gave me the six Pokemon he was using and I spent a good 3 days trying to optimise the team but realised I couldn't really do better than those six.

I've explained this like 2738492348 times to anyone who tries to shittalk Gothitelle, but Gothitelle + Scizor is amazing. Scizor is a Pokemon that does well against most of the format but struggles with a few things: it has a bad time with being chipped slowly due to its lack of a moveslot for Roost, it lands just on the wrong side of getting a few KOs, especially if it's Intimidated, and most importantly, it's 100% forced out by almost any Fire-type that switches into it. Gothitelle fixes both these problems, and more: it prevents Fire-types from switching in, usually; it traps Fire-types that are already in so that Volcanion and Landorus-T can take care of them; it pushes Scizor's offensive capabilities over the edge with Helping Hand; it provides healing for Scizor in the form of Heal Pulse; and it even offers the team an additional Trick Room option for Scizor and Volcanion to take care of. Volcanion in particular appreciates being able to make use of its neat Fire/Water STAB coverage without the opponent switching out a lot. Finally, there's the Koko / KyuB combination to round out the team and give it some immediate speed and bulk. I really like this team and I think it was my favourite from the whole of Snake, so props to Nido-Rus for that :P

Team nicknamed after awful usernames ;)

The Only Laptop in the Village (W vs Memoric)
memoric's "gf" (Gardevoir-Mega) (M) @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 72 HP / 36 Def / 184 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

poor harvest (Zygarde) @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD / 240 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Stone Edge
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Tail

village's 1 laptop (Tapu Koko) @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
- Protect

eats ur crops (Talonflame) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tailwind
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Quick Guard

subsistence farmer (Marshadow) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Close Combat
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect

crop seed (Whimsicott) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Encore
- Fake Tears
- Sunny Day
If there was one person I was fairly convinced would not bring Trick Room, it was Memoric, so I took advantage of this by bringing the most hyper-offensive Tailwind team I could muster. Looking through his past games, Memoric was a fan of either bulkier stuff like his (pretty recent) Thousand Waves Zygarde team or fast stuff like his Charizard HO from Phase 1. Considering the teams, I figured Tailwind Gardevoir with Fake Tears support from Whimsicott would be pretty sufficient for chunking his teams, while it could outspeed and overrun the faster and flimsier teams. In the end, I went all-out down this alley, piling on double priority Tailwind from Prankster and Gale Wings and a bunch of hard hitters. For once I had a spare moveslot on Whimsicott, so I dumped on Sunny Day to compensate for my lack of Water-type resists (apart from Whimsicott itself). I didn't think I'd really end up using it but he ended up bringing Rain so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯!

Team is nicknamed after facets of Memoric's life. This was the only team where I had to actually decide between two nickname schemes; here was the other one:


Almost TurboDog (W vs MajorBowman)
MIne dino (Tyranitar) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Atk / 4 Def / 64 SpA / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
- Rock Slide
- Assurance
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

MIne molle (Excadrill) @ Steelium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Protect

MIne turle (Tapu Lele) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

MIne bambo (Celesteela) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Atk / 88 Def / 40 SpA / 96 SpD / 4 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Leech Seed
- Wide Guard

MIne goast (Gengar) @ Gengarite
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 104 HP / 4 Def / 148 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Taunt
- Protect

MIne birb (Staraptor) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Final Gambit
- U-turn
- Steel Wing
Right up until the day I was actually scheduled to play Jake for the semis, I had no idea what I wanted to use and everything I tried to build for him just didn't seem right. I took the night before the match off to play some PTCGO and somehow couldn't stop thinking about Lycanroc-GX the next morning. Somehow this idea transferred itself onto my DOU teambuilding and I ran some calcs for Rockium Z Swords Dance Lycanroc during breakfast. Surprised by the fact that it actually got some relevant KOs, I once again asked Sam what he thought about it. Surprisingly, he said he didn't think it was trash and we started building around it, only to remember about an hour later that Excadrill existed. While I was a bit bummed about not getting to use TURBO DOG and also about not getting to flinch the living daylights out of Jake, I accepted that Excadrill was probably a better fit and put it on over Lycanroc. In the end, of course, it didn't matter since Gengar + Lele carried the match and Excadrill didn't get a single attack off the entire time.

Team nicknamed after MIne turle. There was one time we were spectating someone ladder for suspect and their opponent's Torkoal was nicknamed MIne turle. I still have no idea why, or even what that means, but I found it so stupidly funny I nicknamed my whole squad after it. please send help

Watching Cybertron Videos at 2am (L vs marilli)
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 16 HP / 8 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm
- Protect

Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Atk / 72 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Darkest Lariat
- U-turn

Landorus-Therian @ Groundium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 60 HP / 100 Atk / 96 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Protect

Zapdos @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 88 SpA / 52 SpD / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Tailwind
- Roar

Tapu Fini @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 68 SpA / 12 SpD / 104 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Muddy Water
- Protect
Going into finals and reviewing all of marilli's teams, I noticed a glaring general weakness to Scarf Tapu Lele + Mega Metagross, especially with Hammer Arm Metagross to chunk all his typical Psyspam checks (Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, Heatran). I tried a bunch of supporting casts around this core, and even tried to replicate my Gengar + Lele success from the previous round, but in the end I couldn't find anything that felt right to me. A little defeated, I took a break to watch Cybertron's new series where he plays Battle Spot Doubles, and somehow became enamoured with his team of AV Incineroar / Electrium Z Zapdos / Choice Band Landorus-T / CM Tapu Fini / LO Aegislash / TR Mega Gardevoir. Since I wasn't trying to go for a semiroom kinda team, I took the former four Pokemon and dumped them onto my team. I realised that Incineroar's Fake Out support was really good for setup and all that good stuff, so I opted for a SD Landorus-T to let me capitalise on not only that but also the switches that the Landorus-T + Zapdos pair in Tailwind tends to force. Originally I ran Mago Berry Landorus-T, then Flyinium Z, then Rockium Z, then Groundium Z—ironically enough, if I had used either Flyinium Z or Rockium Z that battle, I probably would have come out on top, but that's a regret for another time.

I forgot to nickname my team and that's probably why I lost.

That's it for teams, pretty much! If you have any questions about any of the move or EV or item or Pokemon or lifestyle choices on any of the teams, feel free to ask them below!

Also, because I thought it would be interesting, here's a picture showing all the teams (and one team skeleton) that I built and tested for Snake, but which didn't make the final cut (big picture warning). Not featured are about a dozen other teams I deleted out of frustration. Feel free to inquire about any of them if any of them catches your eye, depending on which team it is I might be able to drop you an importable:


Shoutouts and Acknowledgements
I won't lie, I'm pretty proud of my performance in my first big team tournament, especially given that I was so nervous about the whole thing that it affected my sleep and caused me to dry retch before every match. I already shouted out my teammates in the main thread, but I'd also like to give my sincere gratitude to those others whom I couldn't have accomplished this without:
  • Kaori: Teambuilding and testing partner, moral support, friend. You somehow think every single thing I type is funny, and every Pokemon set I suggest is awful... so in that sense, thanks for talking me out of Mega Alakazam, Lycanroc, Klefki, and a whole bunch of other shitmons. More importantly, thanks for always being there to chat and play with me, even though you weren't having the best tournament the whole time. Hope you don't leave any time soon, I'd miss you dearly.
  • talkingtree: You helped test so many teams with me and also let me chat and vent to you, especially after I choked six ways from Sunday to stax and you were the only person online. Also, thanks for blazing a trail with Mega Scizor... and for helping me get out of subsequent Mega Scizor rut I got stuck in during teambuilding. I still haven't tested QD Ribombee or Crobat, but I'll get around to them!
  • Nido-Rus: You somehow consistently come up with weirder team ideas than me, but I can't write you off because you did help me build Mega Scizor + Gothitelle which is one of my favourite teams ever. Fun fact: I almost brought your Toxapex / Porygon2 stall team to Phase 3 before remembering that Deoxys-Attack was a Pokemon.
  • Elise: Thanks for all the test games, and for helping me to have more confidence in myself both as a player and as a human being. I hope life has been treating you well recently, and sorry for being unable to reply to your snaps :(
  • KyleCole for getting me drafted lmao
  • Everyone else whom I tested with, especially AuraRayquaza and miltankmilk.
  • God, without whom none of this would be possible.
 

Fran

formerly Frania
is a Tiering Contributor
DPL Champion
hey so something i was always curious about is your teambuilding choices. every time you try to use something extraordinary and never bring standard teams, which makes your games fun to watch but im really interested in whats the ideology behind it. so do the ideas just come naturally and you make your teams without caring what others use, is it for the surprize factor and unprobablity or just your preferance?
 
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Shrug

is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past SCL Champion
LCPL Champion
i'm a stupid ape who knows nothing about doubles ou so i'm just here to say you look good with a trophy mane. it was one of the simple pleasures of snake watching you bring some wacky shit and play it perfectly. your semifinal was probably the most dominant game of that absurd 6-0 hammering we laid down. cheers
 

Level 51

the orchestra plays the prettiest themes
is a Site Content Manageris a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SCL Champion
hey so something i was always curious about is your teambuilding choices. every time you try to use something extraordinary and never bring standard teams, which makes your games fun to watch but im really interested in whats the ideology behind it. so do the ideas just come naturally and you make your teams without caring what others use, is it for the surprize factor and unprobablity or just your preferance?
yo

As is probably evident in the descriptions above I take a lot of inspiration from VGC, and since this year the format was especially limited a lot of Pokemon which no one would touch otherwise got used. CB Dragonite, for example, was taken from one of CasedVictory's teams; he paired it with Scarf Garchomp to bop erstwhile checks like Celesteela or Tapu Fini with its strong Thunder Punches / Extreme Speeds. The team also had Nature Power Tapu Koko which was really strong for setting up KOs for Dragonite to nab with ESpeed. Mandibuzz was another example; it was one of the best bulky TW setters the whole format due to terrain + seed and access to Taunt, and STAB Foul Play let it actually do damage (to select attackers).

So that's where the ideas came from, but how do I decide what to use? Obviously there was the incentive of smogtours chat going wild at team preview with each UR mon I brought but I never used a Pokemon unless I thought it really fit a role I thought I needed. Dragonite (probably my favourite example) was just really really good as a priority attacker which is both strong (it's about 10-20% stronger than Mega Scizor's Bullet Punch I believe) and bulky (Multiscale!!) which fit in perfectly to a bulky offense core designed to chip opponents. Another example is Clefairy, which was chosen for its ability to compress both Stealth Rock support (almost essential for a Mega Scizor team) and damage reduction support (which also really helps Scizor set up an initial SD), via Friend Guard / Follow Me, into one slot with reasonable viability. I wouldn't say that at any point I've used a Pokemon just for the sake of surprising an opponent, since I'd trust most of my opponents to know what any semi-viable Pokemon does in a given circumstance.

Overall I wouldn't call my teambuilding style wacky or extraordinary, they just happened to create niches and probably due to playing Doubles for almost 5 years I know what kinds of Pokemon fit into those niches.

i'm a stupid ape who knows nothing about doubles ou so i'm just here to say you look good with a trophy mane. it was one of the simple pleasures of snake watching you bring some wacky shit and play it perfectly. your semifinal was probably the most dominant game of that absurd 6-0 hammering we laid down. cheers
It was closer than it looked lol, Deoxys couldve cleaned easily if I got a little unlucky. Glad you got a trophy too :)
 

Pocket

be the upgraded version of me
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Heya, Level 51 - congrats on your stellar tournament debut! What a beautiful emerald trophy <3

Can you tell me more about your semi team? Making a good Mega Gengar team is always difficult for me, and yours truly dominated that week. Why Scarf Staraptor and AV TTar?? I think esp SR on TTar would help against opposing weather and another opportunity to throw out a powered-up Assurance :d

I may post more as I go through the Snek replays :o
 

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