SS Doubles OU Oh Boy - Platinum God Sand [3x peaked #1, 2004 elo]

Platinum God n1n1

the real n1n1
is a Tiering Contributor


I made this team several months ago. It has carried me through all of the difficult DOU Ladder Achievements, to the top 4 of Seasonals and to the Doubles Ladder Tour Playoffs. It has also topped the ladder 3 times, twice by me (included during DLT) and by Crunchman (peaking at 2004 elo).
I would call the style of this team balanced-offense and that plays easily with mostly standard high viability mons. With that being said it has some interesting features making it unique compared to other successful balanced DOU teams. For one it is a sand team with no Sand-Rusher. Also it has both Trick Room and Tailwind and utilizes Salamence as a key support (an unranked mon).



Diancie @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Atk / 100 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Body Press
- Trick Room
- Protect

Diancie is the center piece of this team. With the Special Defense boost from sand and Diamond Storm Defense boosts it can become an incredibly difficult tank to break. Thanks to this incredible bulk Diancie makes better use of Weakness Policy than any other mon in the metagame. It uses the standard move pool, very few viable mons can resist both attacks. 252 HP / 100 SpD allows Diancie to live a Flash Cannon from Modest Heatran.


Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Dragon Tail
- Ice Punch

As mentioned above Sand Stream helps boost Diancie's bulk so Weakness Policy can active and Trick Room can be set against super effective attacks. Rock Slide and Crunch are standard attacks while Ice Punch offers important coverage against Landorus-Therian, Zygarde, and grass types. Dragon Tail fills out the last slot to switch out annoying set up mons and can be used when you anticipate a challenging mon switching in. 80 Speed allows Tyranitar to outrun base 70s with 4 Speed such as Volcanion. Assualt vest and 252 HP makes Tyranitar incredibly bulky and a reliable switch in to keep sand streaming.

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Heat Wave
- Substitute
- Protect

Volcanion fills the important role as a check to Steel types which are always challenging to sand teams. It is one of the best mons in the DOU metagame because of its offensive coverage, bulk and ability. I am choosing to run the standard Substitute set so I can attack threatening mons like Zygrade and Kartana from behind a sub.


Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Grassy Glide
- High Horsepower
- U-turn

Rillaboom is arguably the most splashable mon in DOU and fits perfectly as offensive-support on this team. The moves and item are standard. Fake Out is generally an essential move for Trick Room teams. Grassy Glide is important coverage to help deal with Tapu Fini and other water types which can be problematic for the three mons above. Diancie and Volcanion especially appreciate Grassy Surge to increase their longevity. I prefer 252+ attack on this team to do maximum damage to mons like Nihilego, Volcanion, and Zygrade.

Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Download
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Energy Ball
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
- U-turn

Genesect offers speed control outside of Trickroom and Tailwind. Most importantly it is the best check I have to common sand checks like Kartana, Zygrade and Lando. With Energy Ball boosted by Grassy Terrain it provides another strong check Tapu Fini, Urshifu-R and opposing Diancies. As a Steel-Bug it is a reliable switchin to grass types which are usually strong against sand teams.


[redacted] Salamence @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 204 HP / 124 Def / 20 SpA / 124 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Air Slash
- Draco Meteor
- Protect

Salamence consolidates Intimidate and Tailwind into one slot and important diversified resistances with Dragon typing for this team. With 36 Speed EVs it can outrun a Scarf Genesect under Tailwind. The other EVs are general bulk so Salamence can reliably switch in for Intimating. Having Air Slash and Draco Meteor let me check common threats like Urshifu-R, Zygrade, Kartana and Rillaboom.​


Threats
:amoonguss:
With only 1 Spore immune it is important to play smartly around Amoonguss. Volcanion, Genesect and Salamence can hit it reasonable hard but cannot OHKO, so it needs to be double targeted to KO from 100%. Substitute on Volcanion is helpful in many situations against Amoonguss.
:Urshifu-Rapid-Strike:
Urshifu-R is basically the only Psychical that can get a guaranteed OHKO against Diancie with defense boosts because of Surging Strikes. This team has good checks and switch-ins to it with Rillaboom, Volcanion, Genesect and Salamence. But certain mons like Tsareena, Tapu Lele and Heatran next to Urshifu-R can be tough sometimes.

:Hatterene::Stakataka::Porygon2:
A well played full or semi-room team can be difficult. To win these type of match ups you need to preserve Diancie and intelligently use offsetting Trick Room.

Closing Thoughts:
This team has brought me more tournament success than any other by far. And I am especially proud to see so many people enjoy using it often on the ladder. If you are new to doubles or just want to try this team out I suggest leading with Diancie and Genesect, that is usually a safe and smart lead against most teams on the ladder. In general set up Trick Room early with Diancie. With the other slot switch Tyranitar in against special attackers, Salamence versus physical attackers or Rillaboom in to get Fake Out support.

Diancie @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Atk / 100 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Body Press
- Trick Room
- Protect

Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Dragon Tail
- Ice Punch

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Heat Wave
- Substitute
- Protect

Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Grassy Glide
- High Horsepower
- U-turn

Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Download
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Energy Ball
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
- U-turn

Stratos Salamence (Salamence) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 204 HP / 124 Def / 20 SpA / 124 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Air Slash
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
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Crunchman

Banned deucer.
Just gonna offer some supplementary thoughts:
With this team, don't be afraid to play it safe and make safe switches - Volcanion, Salamence and Tyranitar are all very good at switching into attacks that could otherwise cripple your team. Most of the time you should always be trying to setup trick room, but if you're unable to find an opening, it's fine to swap out Diancie and bring in other mons or setup tailwind. You should try to be aware of which Pokemon can taunt Diancie - a well timed taunt can be enough to stop your momentum.

While Diancie does have a Weakness Policy and does capitalize off of being hit super effectively, this doesn't mean that you want Diancie to be hit super effectively. You shouldn't be switching Diancie into super effective attacks, and you should try to minimize the attacks it eats. Keeping Diancie healthy usually means a win.

I'm rarely switching in Genesect - at best, maybe from a u-turn. Even when I know that my opponent is probably going to use Grassy Glide, a variety of other moves/spread moves can greatly harm Genesect's lifespan as it is frail. I'm usually only bringing it in when a Pokemon dies as a revenge killer/uturn pivot, or when I get a free switch.

Because Heatran is a common switch-in to Rillaboom, high horsepower excellently covers a pokemon that would otherwise be extremely annoying to Rilla and Gene.

Against Trick Room teams: Tyranitar is a very solid lead. Dragon tail phases out TR users, and Rock Slide can help get some clutch flinches. As a partner, imo Diancie and Volcanion are most effective, although against non-psy terrain teams Rillaboom is helpful too. Getting Volcanion to setup a sub can be critical against Trick Room - you can stall through trick room with sub and protect, as well as taking openings to deal damage.

Against teams with Steel: You can consider simply leading with Volcanion, or try to lead with Diancie and find an opening. In these games, Volcanion and Tyranitar will likely be your main weapons, at least until the Steels are gone.

Against Amoonguss: Fake out from rillaboom can help neutralize Amoonguss at least temporarily; combined with protecting at the right times, Spore is not that big of a threat. Don't let Amoonguss deter you from setting up Trick Room - you can work around it with fake out, protects and smart subs. Just make sure that you don't get both Pokémon asleep - cycling Rillaboom is optimal to do this.

Weather, Terrain: Identify the strategy being used, and try to switch in Tyranitar and Rillaboom to reset weather and terrain whenever you can; you will want to prolong their lifespan. Sub Volcanion tends to be strong in these matchups as well.

To have success with this team, it's important to utilize its defensive utility to its full potential with smart and savvy switches while identifying which key components of your offense will be successful. Don't be afraid to slow the game down and protect - even if it may wear down your trick room or tailwind turns, you can always set those up again. It's much better to be careful and position properly; the bulkiness of this team gives you that luxury. (And prolonging the game gives you more opportunity to find openings and outplay your opponent.)

Tsareena can also be annoying for this team, as it runs triple axel coverage, threatens tyranitar and diancie and can prevent sub on volcanion. It's also typically paired with urshifu and other problems, which means you may not be able to fake out or grassy glide. In these situations, I like to just play it slow, pivot and chip damage until tsareena goes down, and then play it just like any other normal matchup.

I'm probably missing a lot, these are some of the tips and tricks I could think of off the top of my head. Hope this helps anyone trying to learn this team!

Other useful info:
diancie easily tanks steam eruption in sand (but there is a high burn rate, which can derail your operations)
can tank landorus-i earth power in sand (still would not recommend getting hit by it)
volcanion can tank most physical threats with ease, as well as earth power from heatran/necrozma (unboosted) but does die to meteor beam. Try to protect it from special attacks as they can cripple it.
Salamences draco meteor does around 90% damage to zygarde, usually.
Genesect needs +1 spatk or grassy terrain to ohko urshifu reliably.
intimidated rillaboom doesn't always KO urshifu.

I talked about this with N1 already, but the one move I dont click much is crunch on ttar. Ice punch and rock slide i feel covers situations where i would click it; fire punch would be nice to cover kartana.
 
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This team is extremely powerful and I definitely losing to it more than winning. The tailwind on Salamence gave me lots of troubles, even more so than the trick room on Diancie. Although for Salamence, I would recommend spending a little bit less EVs on Def and SpD and putting it onto HP till it's 252 HP EVs, which according to the math model, will result in a very slightly higher bulk.
 

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