SV DOU Double Ghost Balance

Arcticblast

Arcticblast

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:ting-lu: :chien-pao: :gholdengo: :amoonguss: :dragapult: :tauros-paldea-aqua:
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This is a Doubles OU balance team I've been using to great success in DOU's Winter Seasonal. The team uses a sturdy defensive backbone to facilitate a couple different win conditions depending on the matchup: Choice Band Dragapult tends to be strongest against more offensive teams, while Nasty Plot Gholdengo can mop up bulkier teams after the meta's powerful Dark types are removed.

To be totally honest, this team was actually a pretty early draft at first! This is the first team I built after Annihilape was banned from DOU, and I actually think I built it while the suspect was going on. Teambuilding in DOU this generation isn't the most open thing in the world, but I can't put into words just how much more difficult it was in Ape meta, and the ability to run stuff it beats just... felt good. I managed to stumble on a winner pretty much first try, and I couldn't be happier about that. This team plays in a way I'm very comfortable with--it's resilient, but not passive--and the more I learned it, the more opportunities I found to worm my way out of tough matchups with it.

The Pokemon were added in the order they're listed above, but for ease of reading, I've reordered them below. Check out the sets!

* * * * * *

:sv/ting-lu:

Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 172 HP / 84 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stomping Tantrum
- Throat Chop
- Stealth Rock
- Protect​

Ting-Lu is where the team started. I hadn't used Ting-Lu in a while, and honestly I was afraid to while Annihilape was in the meta; once it was clear the ape was leaving, I decided to build with it again. Ting-Lu's strongest asset on this team is being a big lunk who refuses to die. Vessel of Ruin is incredibly potent against threats like Chi-Yu and Iron Bundle, and for everything Vessel can't handle, the natural 155/125 physical bulk will usually suffice. When I built the team, I really wasn't a fan of the common Whirlwind + double hazards set, so I opted for two attacks and Protect. Stomping Tantrum is pretty good in a meta with precious few Ground resists, and the occasional power buff it gets from failing an attack is very welcome. Throat Chop is mostly "just another attack," but it helps a lot against Sylveon, Farigiraf, and the rare Skeledirge, and having two different attacks makes it generally easier to stay on the board. Stealth Rock is very important on this team; with only three real damage dealers, the additional damage rocks can secure in prolonged fights makes a huge difference, and it comes with the bonus of breaking Focus Sashes too. Protect is Protect! There's not much to say about Protect beyond "it's really good," so I won't. I can say that Protect combined with Leftovers recovery (and the occasional Pollen Puff) makes Ting-Lu stick around for a very long time.

Tera Grass gives it a Spore immunity and flips the Water weakness, which is particularly helpful against things like Palafin. These EVs are straight from the analysis; the Attack investment will always OHKO uninvested Chi-Yu with Stomping Tantrum, and the rest goes into bulk.

:sv/amoonguss:

Amoonguss @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 232 HP / 176 Def / 100 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 28 Spe
- Pollen Puff
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Clear Smog​

I use so much Amoonguss that everyone else in the DOU community has taken notice, but honestly, I can't get enough of this thing. I will argue until the day Home drops that Amoonguss is the best Pokemon in the metagame. It can just get thrown in front of so much stuff, click Spore, and then get back up later. Pollen Puff is big in keeping half the team alive, Clear Smog stops a few scary setup Pokemon, and Rage Powder's redirection let me click Nasty Plot or just keep damage off of the bigger threats. I've really been enjoying Covert Cloak on Amoonguss this generation; not only do you ignore Fake Out, but you make a complete joke of opposing Garganacl who can no longer Salt Cure you, and it also just stops annoying stuff like Rock Slide flinches or Freeze Dry freezes.

Tera Water gives Amoonguss a resistance to Fire and Ice, two types with some VERY strong attackers like Ruins and Torkoal, but should never be used in the mirror match if possible. You don't want your Amoonguss to lose to your opponent's Amoonguss! This EV spread is designed to survive a Tera Flying Roaring Moon Acrobatics (from Proto Speed Moon), but can also survive Timid Scarf Chi-Yu's Heat Wave and Jolly Chien-Pao Ice Spinner. The 28 Speed IV will always underspeed Iron Hands against Trick Room, but will also outspeed most Iron Hands at -1.

:sv/tauros-paldea-aqua:

Tauros (Tauros-Paldea-Aqua) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Atk / 144 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Raging Bull
- Close Combat
- Bulldoze
- Aqua Jet​

Tauros was the last Pokemon added to the team. The five Pokemon I had at the time didn't really have any direct answers to Chi-Yu or Chien-Pao, two of the best Pokemon in the format, and adding something like Arcanine would make Stealth Rock and Rain harder to deal with. I don't remember what exactly inspired me to try out Tauros--it was probably an Annihilape game where somebody used it to break screens--but I'm glad I did, because it does pretty much exactly what I wanted it to do! Tauros switches in on the stuff that nothing else wants to switch in on. Intimidate is incredibly useful against a lot of the aggressive teams, and with smart play, can wholly neuter stuff like Roaring Moon and Palafin. While these moves are pretty self-explanatory, I did want to stop on Bulldoze for a moment; in a meta where going first is paramount, this is the only speed control on the team. I don't click Bulldoze all that often, but it has some decent uses from time to time, like slowing stuff down for Gholdengo to annihilate next turn. I haven't tried out Wave Crash or coverage moves, but I imagine they'd be all right.

Tera Grass is there almost entirely to ignore Rage Powder and Spore from opposing Amoonguss. The EVs live a Specs Walking Wake Draco Meteor with the Protosynthesis boost, and the rest are put into Attack for some more damage.

:sv/gholdengo:

Gholdengo @ Leftovers
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Protect​

Early in the teambuilding process, I had Ting-Lu and Chien-Pao. Gholdengo seemed like a pretty easy next choice; it resists the Fighting and Fairy moves that those are both weak to, and it's one of the best special attackers around. The ability to make an Amoonguss almost completely irrelevant is never a downside either; immunity to Spore and a spread move to dodge Rage Powder is a great combination. I wasn't sure what set to run until all six Pokemon were on the team, at which point I decided on Nasty Plot. The team's bulk and ability to shut down threats gives Gholdengo a reasonable number of opportunities to set up, but more importantly, it's the only special attacker on the team--if it's going to do damage, it needs to do LOTS of it, especially with Ting-Lu on the team. It actually doesn't mind sitting next to Ting-Lu either, since Vessel of Ruin weakens opposing Pokemon and lets Gholdengo sit in front of more things. I opted for Leftovers over Life Orb; Gholdengo occasionally needs to switch in on strong attacks, and Leftovers lets it do this a little more consistently.

The Tera type and EVs here are about as basic as you get. It hits fast and hard. What more do you want?

:sv/chien-pao:

Chien-Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Spinner
- Sucker Punch
- Sacred Sword
- Protect​

One of the first teams I built in the format used both Chien-Pao and Ting-Lu, and I decided to repeat that idea. The two work reasonably well in tandem; while Ting-Lu doesn't like Sword of Ruin much, it does appreciate the damage buff, and Chien-Pao likes Vessel. Chien-Pao is an enabler. It doesn't usually end games on its own, but Sword of Ruin amplifies Tauros and Dragapult really well, and as a result it tends to come out when games need to end. Sucker Punch felt far more important to me than Throat Chop--while the more consistent damage is nice, Sucker's priority is very necessary. Heavy-Duty Boots is usually a little worse than Focus Sash, but this team is ill-equipped to deal with hazard stack, so letting Chien-Pao completely ignore hazards means I don't have to play quite so carefully around things like Glimmora and opposing Ting-Lu.

Tera Ghost provides an immunity to Fake Out, Extreme Speed, and the terrifying Close Combats from stuff like Great Tusk and Iron Hands. It can be used against opposing Chien-Pao to dodge Sacred Sword, but most other Chien-Pao are doing this too, so proceed with caution.

:sv/dragapult:

Dragapult @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn​

Dragapult give this team a super fast finisher where it previously had none. Choice Band Dragon Darts, particularly when backed by Sword of Ruin, is super powerful, and outspeeding the entire unboosted metagame means it's not a difficult button to click. It's also really hard to stop; the move's smart targeting means most opponents just have to let both Pokemon take a Dart, and if they try to Protect or Tera Fairy one thing, the other will often eat both hits and might just die. While I can't say this for certain, I think most games with this team are won with Dragapult on the field. The rest of the moves aren't nearly as clickable, but they certainly aren't bad by any means. Phantom Force is Dragapult's only decent physical Ghost STAB (Shadow Claw sucks), U-turn makes Dragapult a relatively safe lead option into several teams, and Sucker Punch specifically lets Dragapult play mind games against opposing Chien-Pao.

Tera Dragon removes Dragapult's weakness to the myriad of Dark moves in the metagame and powers up Dragon Darts, but I think there's an argument to run Tera Ghost and Tera Blast over Phantom Force. It's not something I'm interested in, but you might find it useful.

* * * * * *
:tauros-paldea-aqua: Tips and Tricks :tauros-paldea-aqua:​

The current SV DOU metagame is stuffed full of incredibly aggressive teams. This is not one of those teams. Without a ton of win conditions, this team needs to use Ting-Lu, Amoonguss, and Tauros to get as much disruption in early as possible. The Ghosts can pull a win out of thin air sometimes, but they can only do this when their checks are removed or incapacitated. If that means you need to stall to get one extra Throat Chop or Spore out, then stall! If you need to burn that last turn of Tailwind to set up a Dragapult endgame, do it! The chunky trio is expendable. The wincons are not. If any of them are, it's Gholdengo--sometimes the team needs it to be a Steel/Ghost type to respond to threats, rather than a finisher.

Stealth Rock is important for this team, but it's not necessary every game. Against teams running Glimmora or Great Tusk, it's usually better to not click it early, even if you have a free turn, because giving those two an excuse to spin is a bad thing--Glimmora will gladly poison your Ting-Lu, and Tusk with extra Speed is dangerous. You can technically spinblock Glimmora for a turn with Protect and a Gholdengo switchin, but Tusk can always side Spin in a pinch.

Use Terastallization wisely. Going Ghost with Chien-Pao turn 1 to get a leg up on Iron Hands is great, but you may regret it later when you need Amoonguss to live a Heat Wave. I find that I rarely Tera Tauros, but everything else has strong use cases in different matchups. When possible, you should Terastallize to push an advantage. You want to win more, not lose less.

If you see something you don't like on the other team, you can (and probably should) Spore it. Safety Goggles is annoying, but if they Tera Grass to beat Amoonguss, they've used a valuable resource, and you can often find a win later if they drop a Steel or Dragon resist.

* * * * * *
:gholdengo: Threats :gholdengo:

:iron_bundle:​
Booster Energy Iron Bundle outspeeds the entire team, can guarantee that it stays that way, and also hits all three bulky Pokemon for super effective damage. Your best bet against Bundle is to smack it once or twice with Ting-Lu, or threaten a Close Combat or Make it Rain. Spore it if you get a chance. If you can get chip damage on it, Chien-Pao can clean it up later with Sucker Punch, and obviously it doesn't like taking Stealth Rock damage, but it's tough to force out.

:great_tusk: :garchomp:​
You may have noticed that this team has no Ground resists, and that makes these two Pokemon highly dangerous. Great Tusk hits incredibly hard even after Intimidate, and SD Clear Amulet Garchomp can often do enough damage early that winning becomes impossible.

:glimmora: :ting-lu:​
Hazard stack is frustrating for this team to deal with, even with the Boots on Chien-Pao. Glimmora is best dealt with quickly, so that Amoonguss can come in later and absorb the Toxic Spikes permanently. Ting-Lu is hard to beat sometimes, but it doesn't really beat this team either. Beat it up and it will eventually fall.

:walking_wake:​
This team was built well before Walking Wake was released, and that thing has proved itself to be a big threat. Use Amoonguss or Tauros to scout its set. Chien-Pao does severe damage with Sucker Punch, and Ting-Lu can take a Hydro Steam in a pinch (provided it doesn't have a Protosynthesis boost to Special Attack) and chip it. When in doubt, Spore.



This team is sometimes difficult but incredibly fun to play. It rewards experience and knowing your lines, and when played well, can take wins in pretty much any matchup. DOU is a slugfest right now--and I do agree with some people's complaints about it--but as long as teams like this one can keep taking wins, I'm going to keep enjoying it. I didn't play SS DOU at all after Crown Tundra, and I didn't particularly enjoy it before that either, so seeing success and having FUN with SV DOU has been a great reminder of why I keep using this site. Pokemon is fun! If you have any questions about the team, please feel free to ask.

You can find an importable of the team here.

I'm not going to make any specific shoutouts, but I can make one bold claim:
:tinkaton: THE CRATERMAKERS WILL WIN DPL :tinkaton:​
 
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