Approved by Actuarily
Art by NotlPrimRose. Caption: "Tinkaton says 'Shop at Bath and Body Works!'"
Introduction
Hello, and welcome to my Doubles World Cup Team Dump! I was lucky enough to get chosen to start in The Doubles World Cup of Pokémon III, and I’m here to post all the teams I used and built for this tournament, as well as give some of my thoughts on the matches I played in the tournament. I put a LOT of effort into preparation and building for this tournament, and I’ve grown a lot as a player and builder because of it. Though, before we get into the Pokémon teams I built, let’s talk about the human team that made it all possible!
Shoutouts
Actuarily
Lunar.
MZB
zoe
Chris32156
Arcticblast
zee
Xrn
Animus
Human
I’m extremely grateful for being given a chance to start this year, as well as all of your help and support. Being a part of this team has been such an amazing experience, and I would do it all again without a second thought. If you're reading this, thank you so much for believing in me and supporting me this whole time. I hope we get to play again next year.
Pools (Week 1)
Meminger (W)
Team Ideas
I didn't have too much information going into this matchup. They had only used two teams, one of which was only used once. Because my information was so limited going in, bringing a solid team that I felt comfortable with seemed like the move. I brought an edited version of a Chien Pao Priority Spam team I built a few days prior. This team has good matchups into the teams they had historically used, and has a pretty simple gameplan (get hazards up, spam priority) that doesn't change, regardless of what your opponent brings. Even against priority blockers like Indeedee-F, Farigiraf, and Tsareena you have two Pokémon with Ice Spinner, and Scizor does massive damage to all priority blocking mons with U-Turn. After some tests and a healthy amount of ladder games, I felt pretty confident in my team. It has a good amount of immediate offense and is unlikely to be overwhelmed by opposing offense. Being able to not care about speed control like Tailwind and Trick Room is a large part of this.
Full Team Report
https://pokepast.es/db1a24f0444d4e01 / https://pokepast.es/0287d734615138a1 *
Team Breakdown
Glimmora @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Mortal Spin
- Earth Power
This Glimmora feels like a pretty big improvement over the one on the first version. Having hazard removal is pretty valuable in this meta, as it's VERY hazard-centric. Earth Power for the mirror is also very nice, but it also hits other things such as Iron Hands for super effective damage. I gave it Focus Sash to guarantee two Toxic Debris procs. Flying is also a great tera type for it, but it's not worth using your Terastallize on in 99.9% of games. I was originally running a max speed Modest Glimmora, but Actuarily suggested a bulkier Glimmora in one of our test games, and I decided to go with a max HP variant instead. Glimmora isn't outspeeding much anyway, and the bulk is nice as it lets you set more hazards. Glimmora is pretty much always either a lead or at least brought out as early as possible to get its hazards up. In my experience with the team, after its set hazards, it's usually just sacked to bring in something more offensive, but against some balance teams keeping it alive to Mortal Spin later can be worth it as well.
Chien-Pao @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Spinner
- Sucker Punch
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
This Chien-Pao was originally a Life Orb set, but I went with Safety Goggles here as Scizor is no longer holding it, and having switch-ins to Amoonguss' Spore is more important to me than bolstering Chien-Pao's already good damage output. It does miss some 2HKOs on things, like 2HKOing Scizor with Sucker Punch for example, but those differences can easily be made up for with Stealth Rock and Spikes. I considered Flying-type Tera here, but Fighting is nice into Dragonite and opposing Chien-Pao which I felt they were likely to use, so I chose it instead. You generally want to keep Chien-Pao alive as long as possible just to boost the damage of your teammates and enable them to pick up OHKOs they would otherwise not be able to. It's also a pretty solid lead into Murkrow offense.
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Claw
- Ice Spinner
- Earthquake
Dragonite synergizes extremely well with hazards and Sword of Ruin. Tera Normal Extreme Speed hits like a truck and outspeeds all of Murkrow's prankster moves. Dragonite even has some good coverage moves outside of that, like Earthquake to hit all the resists to Extreme Speed and Ice Spinner to remove Psychic Terrain. The EVs allow it to outspeed the Rotom appliances and Glimmora if not running speed investment. Dragonite is an amazing cleaner into most teams, with its priority even going before other priority moves such as Jet Punch, Sucker Punch, and Bullet Punch. You're also faster than most other Dragonites that are being used, so your Extreme Speed is more likely to go first as well.
Palafin @ Choice Band
Ability: Zero to Hero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flip Turn
- Jet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Close Combat
Palafin was added because the team had some pretty difficult matchups with Arcanine in this slot (Chansey, Tyranitar, Garganacl, needed a sun check) and Palafin solves all of these problems while providing more offense to the team. Choice Band Tera Water Jet Punch hits like an absolute truck, and between sacking Glimmora to bring it out, Scizor's U-Turn and Eject Button Amoonguss, it doesn't even eat much momentum here, if at all. Wave Crash/Haze could be used over Zen Headbutt, but I feel like Wave Crash is fairly redundant coverage as Jet Punch is already an extremely strong Water-type STAB move. Haze on Palafin is also kinda just bad in my opinion and it's pretty stupid that you have to resort to it just to beat Dondozo. This team has Clear Smog Amoonguss anyway, so it's not like I was super weak to Dondozo. Palafin is a nice late-game cleaner on this team and is a pretty threatening offensive pivot once its ability has been activated.
Amoonguss @ Eject Button
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Clear Smog
- Leaf Storm
Eject Button Amoonguss is a pretty cool defensive pivot on this team. It's mostly here as a countermeasure against Pokémon like Dondozo and Palafin, but it also works as a pivot to activate Palafin's ability. Amoonguss also helps in the Trick Room matchups, threatening Spores on basically everything under Trick Room. Rage Powder is nice because allows you to preserve HP on your offensive mons. The EVs allow you to live Tera Fire Chi-Yu's Heat Wave, which actually requires 252/252+. Amoonguss is usually just used as a safe switch into something else to preserve momentum, and because of Regenerator, it can heal off the damage it takes from coming in on attacks for its teammates.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Tera Blast
This is quite an interesting Scizor set that I may or may not have stolen from Actuarily. Rock is a great defensive Tera type for Scizor, but it also allows it to hit Fire-types and Pokémon like Gyarados with Tera Blast. Choice Band Scizor does a TON of damage and is another great pivot for Palafin. Scizor's U-Turn can also do massive damage to every priority blocker in the tier and allows it to function as a solid defensive pivot, Bullet Punch is good into Flutter Mane teams, and Rock-type Tera Blast is a nice surprise delete button against Pokémon like Chi-Yu. Iron Head is seldom clicked here, it can easily be changed for something else.
Teambuilding Process + Gameplay Summary
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9doublesou-664267
My teambuilding process for the original version of this team was pretty simple. I wanted to use Chien-Pao with Dragonite, and hazards complimented the two very nicely. Glimmora, being the best hazards user in the tier, was a natural addition to the team. I originally used Arcanine and Amoonguss to act as defensive pieces, and the last slot changed a lot until I eventually landed on Scizor, as it put the final nail in the coffin against Flutter Mane teams, U-Turn hit all the common priority blockers extremely hard, and it was a good user of the Safety Goggles item, as it was running a Tailwind set at first. After testing, the team had trouble breaking stall, and Arcanine felt like a momentum sink that didn't add much utility that this team really needed. I swapped it out for Palafin, which solved all of these problems. I also changed the Amoonguss to Eject Button here to help with activating Palafin's ability and general pivoting.
As for the edited version of the team, I changed the Scizor from a Tailwind Safety Goggles set to a Choice Band Tera Rock set. Rock-type Tera Blast is useful for sniping pokemon like Chi-Yu and Gyarados and Rock is a good defensive Tera type for it. I gave Chien Pao Safety Goggles in exchange, which lowered its damage output compared to Life Orb, but that was easily made up for by Hazards from Glimmora. Speaking of Glimmora, its set was also changed. I gave it Earth Power over Power Gem for opposing Glimmora and Iron Hands as well as Mortal Spin as hazard removal for Chien Pao and Dragonite. These edits felt pretty good. They kept the core ideas of the team intact and a lot of the changes made the team more solid, like Mortal Spin on Glimmora helping with the team's matchup against stall teams for example. After some test games, I felt very confident in my team. A very common problem with a lot of more balanced teams is that they end up getting overwhelmed by hard-hitting Pokemon like Chi-Yu, Flutter Mane, and Great Tusk with Tailwind support. This team's abundance of priority and indifference to speed control makes it very unlikely to be out-offensed by such teams, and hazard support makes it a lot harder for the opponent to pivot around threats like Palafin and Scizor. This team isn't perfect, pokemon like Tsareena and Indeedee-F make it much harder to effectively use your priority moves to combat Tailwind-based teams, effectively removing your counterplay to offense against an offense team. While these matchups aren't unwinnable and can be worked around with good play, it's still an extremely difficult matchup to play effectively, and can require a few predictions and hard reads to steal momentum back from your opponent. This wasn't something I felt Meminger was likely to bring, however, so I wasn't too worried about it. This assumption was correct, and I got basically the exact matchup I wanted and won in a pretty close game. My play in the game wasn't as good as I would have liked. I feel like I played a bit too carefully due to nerves, and I could have gotten a much cleaner win by being more aggressive and thinking through my moves more. A win is a win though, and winning my first game of the tournament was a huge boost in confidence for me going into my next matches.
Fespy
https://pokepast.es/08d296990cb9f2e8
Team Ideas
I really didn't have much to work with going into this matchup. I knew fespy's teams generally have a very specific gameplan, and you generally want to bring teams that can easily run away with games and force awkward positions. I knew I wanted to bring some kind of offense, and I started messing around with Sun teams specifically. Murkrow Manual Sun Offense had been doing pretty well, and I thought about bringing it, but I knew those kinds of structures generally struggle with priority spam. I kept it in the back of my mind and moved on to a Garganacl team. Instead of overwhelming my opponent, I planned to simply use my own strong setup sweepers to run away with the game before my opponent can. The team I ended up with looked fine in theory but in my test games it felt too awkward to pilot and relied heavily on making predictions, something I've been trying to avoid in my gameplay. I then went back to Murkrow offense, but with some small tweaks to fix the problems I had with the original. Firstly, I swapped out Chien-Pao for Tsareena. Tsareena blocks priority and learns Rapid Spin, which frees up a moveslot on my Great Tusk which I opted to use for Head Smash. I also made the Dragonite an Assault Vest variant to allow it to more easily sponge hits from Chi-Yu and Flutter Mane in the mirror. I also gave it Iron Head and Fire Punch to hit Flutter Mane and Scizor/Abomasnow respectively. After some tests and ladder games, I was feeling pretty confident in my ability to pilot the team around unconventional matchups. I got a pretty good matchup, but some bad rng on a crucial turn ended up losing me the game.
Full Team Report
https://pokepast.es/81727799306c959e
Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 140 Def / 104 SpD
Impish Nature
- Tailwind
- Sunny Day
- Haze
- Brave Bird
I've been sleeping on Murkrow for a while this generation, but it's proven itself to be an exceptional Pokémon due to a few key factors. Firstly, it's the best use of Haze, which is nearly required on every team to deal with Dondozo. It also has access to Prankster and Tailwind, allowing it to guarantee tailwind against teams lacking priority moves capable of incapacitating it. Lastly, it has Sunny Day, which allows you to manually set the Sun up and enable your Protosynthesis Pokémon, like Flutter Mane and Great Tusk. Sun also greatly benefits Chi-Yu, allowing its fire moves to kill even some resisted targets. All of these factors together make Murkrow a very reliable support for these kinds of offense teams, allowing you to break past most bulkier teams with sheer force. The EV spread allows you to live Dragonite's Tera Normal Choice Band Extreme Speed and OHKO Flutter Mane with Tera Flying Brave Bird
Chi-Yu @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Snarl
This Chi-Yu's damage output is disgusting. Having Prankster Tailwind support allows you a more offensive item on Chi-Yu instead of Choice Scarf, like Choice Specs. Choice Specs Chi-Yu in Sun while Terastallized does insane amounts of damage and can OHKO resisted targets with Fire Blast. Snarl, which was just added as a debuffing option for the mirror, also does pretty disgusting damage despite being a 55 base power move. If you can get this in position next to Flutter Mane or Great Tusk there's a good chance you can just win the game right there. However, both of it's fire STABs are inaccurate, meaning that while they'll probably do great damage if they hit, they can also just... not hit.
Flutter Mane @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 60 HP / 108 Def / 148 SpA / 192 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect
This is a pretty bulky flutter mane variant that can sponge more hits while still doing great damage. Once again, Murkrow providing Prankster Tailwind support allows me to put my speed EVs elsewhere, and in this case in bulk. The EVs allow this Flutter Mane to outspeed Maushold and live Garchomp's unboosted Tera Ground Earthquake. Despite being bulkier than most Flutter Manes, which can mess with my opponent's damage calcs, this Flutter Mane is also significantly stronger than most due to now getting a Protosynthesis boost to Special Attack as well as a Life Orb boost. Its speed is also made up for by Prankster Tailwind and is only really a problem in the Flutter Mane mirror where they also have Tailwind set up.
Great Tusk @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 120 HP / 188 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SpD / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Heavy Slam
- Head Smash
We once again have a pokemon that can invest more in its bulk than its Speed stat due to Prankster Tailwind. It also still does great damage due to its very high base power STABs and coverage moves as well as Protosynthesis boosting its Attack stat. Speaking of coverage, Heavy Slam allows Great Tusk to hit Fairy-types such as Flutter Mane and Sylveon, and Head Smash hits Flying-types like Dragonite and Gyarados which Great Tusk otherwise struggles to hit for much damage. Tera Fire lets it resist the combination of Chi-Yu's Heat Wave and Flutter Mane's Dazzling Gleam while OHKOing them back with Headlong Rush and Heavy Slam respectively. The EV spread allows it to live Flutter Mane's Tera Fairy Dazzling Gleam and Jolly Chien Pao's Ice Spinner.
Tsareena @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Rapid Spin
- Taunt
- U-turn
Tsareena is mainly just here to block priority, but it does some other cool things too. This meta has very limited options for offensive Grass and Electric-types. This makes Water-types like Palafin and to a lesser extent Iron Bundle significantly harder to punish. Tsareena fills this niche and is one of the few Pokémon that can hit Palafin super effectively. Rapid Spin is nice for hazard removal, as Dragonite and Chi-Yu are weak to Stealth Rock. Lastly, Taunt is just there to block Trick Room and stop setup like Annihilape and Garganacl.
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Atk / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Head
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
Assault Vest Dragonite is a pretty strong late-game cleaner and defensive switch into Chi-Yu, which this team doesn’t have many of. I gave it Iron Head and Fire Punch for coverage moves to hit Flutter Mane/Sylveon and Scizor respectively. Dragon Claw is a strong STAB before Terastallizing and as a way to hit Garchomp. Extreme Speed gives you a hard-hitting priority move to clean up late game. The EVs allow it to outspeed Iron Bundle in Tailwind with the remaining EVs going to HP.
Teambuilding Process + Gameplay Summary
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9doublesou-664840
My teambuilding process here was also pretty simple. I wanted to use an offensive team and Murkrow offense is the main offensive team right now. I felt like the six was mostly solid, but I knew it struggled to handle excessive priority, which I used to my advantage in my first game in pools. I added Tsareena over Chien-Pao to block priority moves and as Rapid Spin support so that Great Tusk can fit more coverage moves. Tsareena also provides Taunt to stop Trick Room as well as a strong Grass-type to punish Water-types like Palafin. I also made the Dragonite an Assault Vest variant to sponge hits from Flutter Mane after Terastallizing and Chi-Yu before Terastallizing. It also acts as a switch-in for Palafin’s Jet Punch and can OHKO Scizor with Fire Punch. After some tests, the team felt pretty solid, and I felt very confident in my ability to win going into the match.
As for the actual match, I got just about the exact matchup I wanted. Unfortunately, Chi-Yu decided to just… not hit. I missed a crucial Heat Wave with Chi-Yu, turning a pretty solid win into a loss. Earthquake Great Tusk would have also been able to win from that position, but I didn’t have it. I don’t regret not running Earthquake here, as its coverage moves are more consistently useful, but not having it in this matchup was unfortunate. While I didn’t play perfectly in this matchup, I don’t regret how I played at all. Sometimes you just get unlucky, it happens.
Acehunter1
https://pokepast.es/171cdf431e3f35cf
Team Ideas
My original opponent was Willie, but due to scheduling issues, they were subbed out. Once again I had very little information going into this. At this point, I was pretty frustrated with my lack of information to work with in preparation for my pools games, and I was having trouble coming up with ideas for teams. I knew I wanted my teams to be as varied as possible to prevent my opponents from getting a read on what I'm going to bring. I generally try to build my teams to be able to consistently play into everything rather than countering a specific opponent, as there's no guarantee they'll bring the same teams they used prior, especially in a team tournament setting. They had also used a Dondozo + Tatsugiri team in the one replay I had access to, so I needed to be prepared for that as well. I decided to go with an Iron Bundle team (Iron Bundle didn't even end up on the final version funnily enough). I think Iron Bundle has a lot of potential in a meta without Flutter Mane and Tatsugiri. I built a Murkrow offense team around it only to be informed that both Tatsugiri and Flutter Mane would be legal for the rest of pools. I still liked the idea of Iron Bundle though, so I built a rain team featuring it. I ended up with this team, which I felt pretty confident in going into my match.
Full Team Report
https://pokepast.es/171cdf431e3f35cf
Pelipper @ Eject Button
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SpA / 80 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Hurricane
- Tailwind
- Wide Guard
Pelipper is the only Drizzle user in the game since Politoed got dexited, so Pelipper is literally mandatory here. Pelipper puts in a surprising amount of work on this team. It actually does decent damage which I didn't expect, it acts as a pivot to activate Palafin's ability, and is great in the Glimmora matchup, as you can kill it with Hydro Pump without activating Toxic Debris. Wide Guard also helps you pivot around Flutter Mane and Chi-Yu teams, which was still relevant at the time as Flutter Mane was still legal in pools. The EVs let you outspeed Roaring Moon after a tailwind. The remaining EVs were put into Special Attack to hit as hard as possible.
Palafin @ Choice Band
Ability: Zero to Hero
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flip Turn
- Jet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Haze / Ice Punch
Palafin is the main rain abuser here and is a massive source of damage for this team. Tera Water Jet Punch in rain hits like an absolute truck, and it bypasses all opposing speed control which is a nice bonus. Bulky Palafin is pretty interesting. Because you're usually clicking Jet Punch with it, you don't really need speed investment outside of the mirror, which I felt this team was fine into between Tsareena and Iron Hands being able to hit opposing Palafin for massive damage. I EVd it to speed creep Great Tusk and put the remaining EVs into HP. The added bulk can throw off some damage calcs vs Palafin and allows it to live longer to click Haze against Dondozo and Annihilape teams. Since Dondozo is banned now, Ice Punch is objectively better in the Haze moveslot to hit Garchomp and relevant Grass-types like Tsareena and Meowscarada.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Tera Blast
Scizor is one of the main defensive pieces and pivots on this team. Choice Band Scizor Bullet Punch does a ton of damage, and being able to get around speed control is really nice in this meta where Murkrow is on every team. I went with Rock-type Tera Scizor again here, which was actually really clutch in the actual game allowing me to stay in on Chi-Yu and eat a Heat Wave. I wasn't really clicking Iron Head and I couldn't fit Close Combat on Palafin because I needed Haze for Dondozo, so I used Close Combat Scizor. I would have used Brick Break, but it doesn't OHKO Tera Normal Dragonite and Close Combat does. The EVs allow you to outspeed Maushold in Tailwind.
Tsareena @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Rapid Spin
- Taunt
- U-turn
Tsareena is important for the opposing priority spam matchup and also can hit Palafin and Dondozo super effectively with Power Whip. Because Tsareena lost a lot of its best moves this generation, this is mostly a utility set. U-Turn gives you yet another pivot for Palafin, Taunt allows you to prevent Trick Room, and Rapid Spin is for hazard removal against Glimmora teams. The EVs allow you to outspeed base 100s after a Rapid Spin boost.
Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 132 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Wild Charge
- Fake Out
- Volt Switch
Iron Hands is insanely good and I'm shocked I haven't used it sooner. It has great bulk but also does good damage and has access to Fake Out. Volt Switch also allows it to form a pretty nice pivot core with Scizor. Wild Charge is also really nice into water types, specifically Gyarados and Palafin. I originally used Close Combat here, but I swapped it for Drain Punch for longevity. I also considered Heavy Slam to hit Flutter Mane, but I like Volt Switch more. The EVs allow it to outspeed Garchomp in Tailwind as well as outspeed neutral speed Scizor out of Tailwind.
Chien-Pao @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Spinner
- Sucker Punch
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
Chien-Pao enables the many physical attackers here as well as hits Grass-types like Amoonguss and Brute Bonnet. Sucker Punch is also nice for Gholdengo and can also hit Flutter Mane if the opponent uses their Terastallization on something else. Tera Fighting with Sacred Sword also allows it to beat Dragonite before and after it Terastallizes. Safety Goggles lowers its damage output compared to a Life Orb set, but Safety Goggles Pelipper feels a lot worse, so I just slapped it on Chien-Pao.
Teambuilding Process + Gameplay Summary
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9doublesou-1745285138-grgu014v8nk78v4rtqa9bepfkqb78szpw
I started with a Palafin + Iron Bundle rain team. Iron Bundle is a relatively underexplored and extremely strong Pokemon, so I wanted to use it in this match. Scizor and Amoonguss were added as defensive pieces and Garchomp was a throwaway flex slot that can eat Chi-Yu's Heat Wave and throw out powerful Earthquakes. The team felt pretty weak to Extreme Speed Dragonite, so I added Tsareena over Amoonguss and made the Garchomp Iron Hands as a bulky disruption option. The team felt like it didn't have many Chi-Yu switch-ins, so Iron Bundle ended up getting swapped out for Choice Scarf Garchomp. I then realized that my Chi-Yu switch-in is Iron Hands because it's broken and lives everything, so I added Chien-Pao over Garchomp which was suggested by Actuarily. Funnily enough, at this point, the team was strikingly similar to a team Actuarily had built. I hadn't even seen the team before I built this, but it is very funny that we both came to very similar conclusions when building rain. This six ended up sticking, as the team felt really well made and fun to play. Most of my losses in testing were just due to matchup inexperience and dumb plays, so I went with it hoping I would play better in my tournament set than my test games.
Going into this matchup, I felt pretty nervous. We were 5-11 at the time, and if I lost, my team wouldn't be able to make playoffs. The pressure was on. If I lost, I would not only be letting myself down, but everyone else on my team as well. The actual match went very smoothly, however. I got the exact matchup I expected and won pretty convincingly. This is probably my best win in the tournament, and I'm really proud of how I did. My prep was pretty good, the team I used was really solid, and my play felt less rigid than it did in the games before. I was less nervous going into the game than the matches prior, and I was able to stay relatively calm during the game, allowing me to more easily think through my moves and pivot around my opponent's threats. All of my pools games were completed, making my final record 2-1.
Conclusion
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my performance. 2-1 with my one loss being due to a miss is pretty epic. Unfortunately, with a final record of 10-14, my team was unable to make playoffs and was eliminated from the tournament. I’m not disappointed in my personal performance at all, I actually think I did quite well, but it does suck that the year I actually got to play, where my prep was more extensive than in any other tournament I’ve played in, we didn’t even make playoffs. Still though, I’m very happy I got to play, I’ve improved so much as a player and teambuilder. Being a part of this team is always a great experience, and I hope I get to play with you all again in 2023!
Teams I Built but didn't use
AV Dragonite Sunroom
https://pokepast.es/a72d43870d95fba9
AV Dragonite Sunroom (Post Bans Edit)
https://pokepast.es/2d2b05c85e517777
Iron Bundle Offense
https://pokepast.es/44f5aa2b52bf6461
Annihilape Balance
https://pokepast.es/dedc63cc7128671b
Garganacl + Ting Lu
https://pokepast.es/a140754d5c126666
Skeledirge Balance + Arcanine Edit
https://pokepast.es/3a08c49c549d8370
https://pokepast.es/64b6db69473eacf8
I understand that I’m not the most flashy or interesting teambuilder out there, but I feel like the teams I built for this tournament are pretty cool. If you’re just here for World Cup/SV Teams, you can click off now. The next section is for oldgens teams I’ve built and really enjoy. It’s not related to the DWCOP in any way, it’s kinda just a nice bonus.
Oldgens Teams
SS
BRIMSTONE
https://pokepast.es/ff86eb3ff4d57e1e
Isotope
https://pokepast.es/7d1737314b7079b8
Technicolor Tussle
https://pokepast.es/1e9e1ac178eb7f7d
Choice Band Genesect Whimsicott Offense
https://pokepast.es/ad33f4c6a0de9575
Spectrier + Choice Band Explosion Genesect (ft. Yoda2798 and NinjaSnapple)
https://pokepast.es/36ecf4f2b3936f15
Pyramid Peril
https://pokepast.es/a8d414cb765b80af
Funhouse Frazzle
https://pokepast.es/924ea47979d91b5b
PYROSOMNI
https://pokepast.es/5fe42979bad720f8
DEATH BY GLAMOUR
https://pokepast.es/1dbcddd7c2dda5b0
Stakataka Semiroom
https://pokepast.es/f18ee5b5834b8001
Drowning
https://pokepast.es/abe0c48b5dbb2c89
Cinderace Semiroom
https://pokepast.es/470ec9d8c7af57ca
Tapu Koko Balance
https://pokepast.es/925af4935d986279
Choice Band Landorus Offense
https://pokepast.es/0a2e21a3ca61e404
SM
Mega Salamence Balance
https://pokepast.es/b3ed22d6dad864b7
Charizard Y + Kommo-o
https://pokepast.es/1aa00a81b24d7eba
Mega Diancie Balance
https://pokepast.es/56ffd861b6906527
Kyurem-Black Bulky Offense
https://pokepast.es/aa8ef90e919819cd
BW
"The Six" Heatran Balance
https://pokepast.es/db6f7d3db440b225
Art by NotlPrimRose. Caption: "Tinkaton says 'Shop at Bath and Body Works!'"
Introduction
Hello, and welcome to my Doubles World Cup Team Dump! I was lucky enough to get chosen to start in The Doubles World Cup of Pokémon III, and I’m here to post all the teams I used and built for this tournament, as well as give some of my thoughts on the matches I played in the tournament. I put a LOT of effort into preparation and building for this tournament, and I’ve grown a lot as a player and builder because of it. Though, before we get into the Pokémon teams I built, let’s talk about the human team that made it all possible!
Shoutouts
Actuarily
Lunar.
MZB
zoe
Chris32156
Arcticblast
zee
Xrn
Animus
Human
I’m extremely grateful for being given a chance to start this year, as well as all of your help and support. Being a part of this team has been such an amazing experience, and I would do it all again without a second thought. If you're reading this, thank you so much for believing in me and supporting me this whole time. I hope we get to play again next year.
Pools (Week 1)
Meminger (W)
Team Ideas
I didn't have too much information going into this matchup. They had only used two teams, one of which was only used once. Because my information was so limited going in, bringing a solid team that I felt comfortable with seemed like the move. I brought an edited version of a Chien Pao Priority Spam team I built a few days prior. This team has good matchups into the teams they had historically used, and has a pretty simple gameplan (get hazards up, spam priority) that doesn't change, regardless of what your opponent brings. Even against priority blockers like Indeedee-F, Farigiraf, and Tsareena you have two Pokémon with Ice Spinner, and Scizor does massive damage to all priority blocking mons with U-Turn. After some tests and a healthy amount of ladder games, I felt pretty confident in my team. It has a good amount of immediate offense and is unlikely to be overwhelmed by opposing offense. Being able to not care about speed control like Tailwind and Trick Room is a large part of this.
Full Team Report
https://pokepast.es/db1a24f0444d4e01 / https://pokepast.es/0287d734615138a1 *
Team Breakdown
Glimmora @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Mortal Spin
- Earth Power
This Glimmora feels like a pretty big improvement over the one on the first version. Having hazard removal is pretty valuable in this meta, as it's VERY hazard-centric. Earth Power for the mirror is also very nice, but it also hits other things such as Iron Hands for super effective damage. I gave it Focus Sash to guarantee two Toxic Debris procs. Flying is also a great tera type for it, but it's not worth using your Terastallize on in 99.9% of games. I was originally running a max speed Modest Glimmora, but Actuarily suggested a bulkier Glimmora in one of our test games, and I decided to go with a max HP variant instead. Glimmora isn't outspeeding much anyway, and the bulk is nice as it lets you set more hazards. Glimmora is pretty much always either a lead or at least brought out as early as possible to get its hazards up. In my experience with the team, after its set hazards, it's usually just sacked to bring in something more offensive, but against some balance teams keeping it alive to Mortal Spin later can be worth it as well.
Chien-Pao @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Spinner
- Sucker Punch
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
This Chien-Pao was originally a Life Orb set, but I went with Safety Goggles here as Scizor is no longer holding it, and having switch-ins to Amoonguss' Spore is more important to me than bolstering Chien-Pao's already good damage output. It does miss some 2HKOs on things, like 2HKOing Scizor with Sucker Punch for example, but those differences can easily be made up for with Stealth Rock and Spikes. I considered Flying-type Tera here, but Fighting is nice into Dragonite and opposing Chien-Pao which I felt they were likely to use, so I chose it instead. You generally want to keep Chien-Pao alive as long as possible just to boost the damage of your teammates and enable them to pick up OHKOs they would otherwise not be able to. It's also a pretty solid lead into Murkrow offense.
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Claw
- Ice Spinner
- Earthquake
Dragonite synergizes extremely well with hazards and Sword of Ruin. Tera Normal Extreme Speed hits like a truck and outspeeds all of Murkrow's prankster moves. Dragonite even has some good coverage moves outside of that, like Earthquake to hit all the resists to Extreme Speed and Ice Spinner to remove Psychic Terrain. The EVs allow it to outspeed the Rotom appliances and Glimmora if not running speed investment. Dragonite is an amazing cleaner into most teams, with its priority even going before other priority moves such as Jet Punch, Sucker Punch, and Bullet Punch. You're also faster than most other Dragonites that are being used, so your Extreme Speed is more likely to go first as well.
Palafin @ Choice Band
Ability: Zero to Hero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flip Turn
- Jet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Close Combat
Palafin was added because the team had some pretty difficult matchups with Arcanine in this slot (Chansey, Tyranitar, Garganacl, needed a sun check) and Palafin solves all of these problems while providing more offense to the team. Choice Band Tera Water Jet Punch hits like an absolute truck, and between sacking Glimmora to bring it out, Scizor's U-Turn and Eject Button Amoonguss, it doesn't even eat much momentum here, if at all. Wave Crash/Haze could be used over Zen Headbutt, but I feel like Wave Crash is fairly redundant coverage as Jet Punch is already an extremely strong Water-type STAB move. Haze on Palafin is also kinda just bad in my opinion and it's pretty stupid that you have to resort to it just to beat Dondozo. This team has Clear Smog Amoonguss anyway, so it's not like I was super weak to Dondozo. Palafin is a nice late-game cleaner on this team and is a pretty threatening offensive pivot once its ability has been activated.
Amoonguss @ Eject Button
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Clear Smog
- Leaf Storm
Eject Button Amoonguss is a pretty cool defensive pivot on this team. It's mostly here as a countermeasure against Pokémon like Dondozo and Palafin, but it also works as a pivot to activate Palafin's ability. Amoonguss also helps in the Trick Room matchups, threatening Spores on basically everything under Trick Room. Rage Powder is nice because allows you to preserve HP on your offensive mons. The EVs allow you to live Tera Fire Chi-Yu's Heat Wave, which actually requires 252/252+. Amoonguss is usually just used as a safe switch into something else to preserve momentum, and because of Regenerator, it can heal off the damage it takes from coming in on attacks for its teammates.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Tera Blast
This is quite an interesting Scizor set that I may or may not have stolen from Actuarily. Rock is a great defensive Tera type for Scizor, but it also allows it to hit Fire-types and Pokémon like Gyarados with Tera Blast. Choice Band Scizor does a TON of damage and is another great pivot for Palafin. Scizor's U-Turn can also do massive damage to every priority blocker in the tier and allows it to function as a solid defensive pivot, Bullet Punch is good into Flutter Mane teams, and Rock-type Tera Blast is a nice surprise delete button against Pokémon like Chi-Yu. Iron Head is seldom clicked here, it can easily be changed for something else.
Teambuilding Process + Gameplay Summary
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9doublesou-664267
My teambuilding process for the original version of this team was pretty simple. I wanted to use Chien-Pao with Dragonite, and hazards complimented the two very nicely. Glimmora, being the best hazards user in the tier, was a natural addition to the team. I originally used Arcanine and Amoonguss to act as defensive pieces, and the last slot changed a lot until I eventually landed on Scizor, as it put the final nail in the coffin against Flutter Mane teams, U-Turn hit all the common priority blockers extremely hard, and it was a good user of the Safety Goggles item, as it was running a Tailwind set at first. After testing, the team had trouble breaking stall, and Arcanine felt like a momentum sink that didn't add much utility that this team really needed. I swapped it out for Palafin, which solved all of these problems. I also changed the Amoonguss to Eject Button here to help with activating Palafin's ability and general pivoting.
As for the edited version of the team, I changed the Scizor from a Tailwind Safety Goggles set to a Choice Band Tera Rock set. Rock-type Tera Blast is useful for sniping pokemon like Chi-Yu and Gyarados and Rock is a good defensive Tera type for it. I gave Chien Pao Safety Goggles in exchange, which lowered its damage output compared to Life Orb, but that was easily made up for by Hazards from Glimmora. Speaking of Glimmora, its set was also changed. I gave it Earth Power over Power Gem for opposing Glimmora and Iron Hands as well as Mortal Spin as hazard removal for Chien Pao and Dragonite. These edits felt pretty good. They kept the core ideas of the team intact and a lot of the changes made the team more solid, like Mortal Spin on Glimmora helping with the team's matchup against stall teams for example. After some test games, I felt very confident in my team. A very common problem with a lot of more balanced teams is that they end up getting overwhelmed by hard-hitting Pokemon like Chi-Yu, Flutter Mane, and Great Tusk with Tailwind support. This team's abundance of priority and indifference to speed control makes it very unlikely to be out-offensed by such teams, and hazard support makes it a lot harder for the opponent to pivot around threats like Palafin and Scizor. This team isn't perfect, pokemon like Tsareena and Indeedee-F make it much harder to effectively use your priority moves to combat Tailwind-based teams, effectively removing your counterplay to offense against an offense team. While these matchups aren't unwinnable and can be worked around with good play, it's still an extremely difficult matchup to play effectively, and can require a few predictions and hard reads to steal momentum back from your opponent. This wasn't something I felt Meminger was likely to bring, however, so I wasn't too worried about it. This assumption was correct, and I got basically the exact matchup I wanted and won in a pretty close game. My play in the game wasn't as good as I would have liked. I feel like I played a bit too carefully due to nerves, and I could have gotten a much cleaner win by being more aggressive and thinking through my moves more. A win is a win though, and winning my first game of the tournament was a huge boost in confidence for me going into my next matches.
Fespy
https://pokepast.es/08d296990cb9f2e8
Team Ideas
I really didn't have much to work with going into this matchup. I knew fespy's teams generally have a very specific gameplan, and you generally want to bring teams that can easily run away with games and force awkward positions. I knew I wanted to bring some kind of offense, and I started messing around with Sun teams specifically. Murkrow Manual Sun Offense had been doing pretty well, and I thought about bringing it, but I knew those kinds of structures generally struggle with priority spam. I kept it in the back of my mind and moved on to a Garganacl team. Instead of overwhelming my opponent, I planned to simply use my own strong setup sweepers to run away with the game before my opponent can. The team I ended up with looked fine in theory but in my test games it felt too awkward to pilot and relied heavily on making predictions, something I've been trying to avoid in my gameplay. I then went back to Murkrow offense, but with some small tweaks to fix the problems I had with the original. Firstly, I swapped out Chien-Pao for Tsareena. Tsareena blocks priority and learns Rapid Spin, which frees up a moveslot on my Great Tusk which I opted to use for Head Smash. I also made the Dragonite an Assault Vest variant to allow it to more easily sponge hits from Chi-Yu and Flutter Mane in the mirror. I also gave it Iron Head and Fire Punch to hit Flutter Mane and Scizor/Abomasnow respectively. After some tests and ladder games, I was feeling pretty confident in my ability to pilot the team around unconventional matchups. I got a pretty good matchup, but some bad rng on a crucial turn ended up losing me the game.
Full Team Report
https://pokepast.es/81727799306c959e
Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 140 Def / 104 SpD
Impish Nature
- Tailwind
- Sunny Day
- Haze
- Brave Bird
I've been sleeping on Murkrow for a while this generation, but it's proven itself to be an exceptional Pokémon due to a few key factors. Firstly, it's the best use of Haze, which is nearly required on every team to deal with Dondozo. It also has access to Prankster and Tailwind, allowing it to guarantee tailwind against teams lacking priority moves capable of incapacitating it. Lastly, it has Sunny Day, which allows you to manually set the Sun up and enable your Protosynthesis Pokémon, like Flutter Mane and Great Tusk. Sun also greatly benefits Chi-Yu, allowing its fire moves to kill even some resisted targets. All of these factors together make Murkrow a very reliable support for these kinds of offense teams, allowing you to break past most bulkier teams with sheer force. The EV spread allows you to live Dragonite's Tera Normal Choice Band Extreme Speed and OHKO Flutter Mane with Tera Flying Brave Bird
Chi-Yu @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Snarl
This Chi-Yu's damage output is disgusting. Having Prankster Tailwind support allows you a more offensive item on Chi-Yu instead of Choice Scarf, like Choice Specs. Choice Specs Chi-Yu in Sun while Terastallized does insane amounts of damage and can OHKO resisted targets with Fire Blast. Snarl, which was just added as a debuffing option for the mirror, also does pretty disgusting damage despite being a 55 base power move. If you can get this in position next to Flutter Mane or Great Tusk there's a good chance you can just win the game right there. However, both of it's fire STABs are inaccurate, meaning that while they'll probably do great damage if they hit, they can also just... not hit.
Flutter Mane @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 60 HP / 108 Def / 148 SpA / 192 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect
This is a pretty bulky flutter mane variant that can sponge more hits while still doing great damage. Once again, Murkrow providing Prankster Tailwind support allows me to put my speed EVs elsewhere, and in this case in bulk. The EVs allow this Flutter Mane to outspeed Maushold and live Garchomp's unboosted Tera Ground Earthquake. Despite being bulkier than most Flutter Manes, which can mess with my opponent's damage calcs, this Flutter Mane is also significantly stronger than most due to now getting a Protosynthesis boost to Special Attack as well as a Life Orb boost. Its speed is also made up for by Prankster Tailwind and is only really a problem in the Flutter Mane mirror where they also have Tailwind set up.
Great Tusk @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 120 HP / 188 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SpD / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Heavy Slam
- Head Smash
We once again have a pokemon that can invest more in its bulk than its Speed stat due to Prankster Tailwind. It also still does great damage due to its very high base power STABs and coverage moves as well as Protosynthesis boosting its Attack stat. Speaking of coverage, Heavy Slam allows Great Tusk to hit Fairy-types such as Flutter Mane and Sylveon, and Head Smash hits Flying-types like Dragonite and Gyarados which Great Tusk otherwise struggles to hit for much damage. Tera Fire lets it resist the combination of Chi-Yu's Heat Wave and Flutter Mane's Dazzling Gleam while OHKOing them back with Headlong Rush and Heavy Slam respectively. The EV spread allows it to live Flutter Mane's Tera Fairy Dazzling Gleam and Jolly Chien Pao's Ice Spinner.
Tsareena @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Rapid Spin
- Taunt
- U-turn
Tsareena is mainly just here to block priority, but it does some other cool things too. This meta has very limited options for offensive Grass and Electric-types. This makes Water-types like Palafin and to a lesser extent Iron Bundle significantly harder to punish. Tsareena fills this niche and is one of the few Pokémon that can hit Palafin super effectively. Rapid Spin is nice for hazard removal, as Dragonite and Chi-Yu are weak to Stealth Rock. Lastly, Taunt is just there to block Trick Room and stop setup like Annihilape and Garganacl.
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Atk / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Head
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
Assault Vest Dragonite is a pretty strong late-game cleaner and defensive switch into Chi-Yu, which this team doesn’t have many of. I gave it Iron Head and Fire Punch for coverage moves to hit Flutter Mane/Sylveon and Scizor respectively. Dragon Claw is a strong STAB before Terastallizing and as a way to hit Garchomp. Extreme Speed gives you a hard-hitting priority move to clean up late game. The EVs allow it to outspeed Iron Bundle in Tailwind with the remaining EVs going to HP.
Teambuilding Process + Gameplay Summary
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9doublesou-664840
My teambuilding process here was also pretty simple. I wanted to use an offensive team and Murkrow offense is the main offensive team right now. I felt like the six was mostly solid, but I knew it struggled to handle excessive priority, which I used to my advantage in my first game in pools. I added Tsareena over Chien-Pao to block priority moves and as Rapid Spin support so that Great Tusk can fit more coverage moves. Tsareena also provides Taunt to stop Trick Room as well as a strong Grass-type to punish Water-types like Palafin. I also made the Dragonite an Assault Vest variant to sponge hits from Flutter Mane after Terastallizing and Chi-Yu before Terastallizing. It also acts as a switch-in for Palafin’s Jet Punch and can OHKO Scizor with Fire Punch. After some tests, the team felt pretty solid, and I felt very confident in my ability to win going into the match.
As for the actual match, I got just about the exact matchup I wanted. Unfortunately, Chi-Yu decided to just… not hit. I missed a crucial Heat Wave with Chi-Yu, turning a pretty solid win into a loss. Earthquake Great Tusk would have also been able to win from that position, but I didn’t have it. I don’t regret not running Earthquake here, as its coverage moves are more consistently useful, but not having it in this matchup was unfortunate. While I didn’t play perfectly in this matchup, I don’t regret how I played at all. Sometimes you just get unlucky, it happens.
Acehunter1
https://pokepast.es/171cdf431e3f35cf
Team Ideas
My original opponent was Willie, but due to scheduling issues, they were subbed out. Once again I had very little information going into this. At this point, I was pretty frustrated with my lack of information to work with in preparation for my pools games, and I was having trouble coming up with ideas for teams. I knew I wanted my teams to be as varied as possible to prevent my opponents from getting a read on what I'm going to bring. I generally try to build my teams to be able to consistently play into everything rather than countering a specific opponent, as there's no guarantee they'll bring the same teams they used prior, especially in a team tournament setting. They had also used a Dondozo + Tatsugiri team in the one replay I had access to, so I needed to be prepared for that as well. I decided to go with an Iron Bundle team (Iron Bundle didn't even end up on the final version funnily enough). I think Iron Bundle has a lot of potential in a meta without Flutter Mane and Tatsugiri. I built a Murkrow offense team around it only to be informed that both Tatsugiri and Flutter Mane would be legal for the rest of pools. I still liked the idea of Iron Bundle though, so I built a rain team featuring it. I ended up with this team, which I felt pretty confident in going into my match.
Full Team Report
https://pokepast.es/171cdf431e3f35cf
Pelipper @ Eject Button
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SpA / 80 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Hurricane
- Tailwind
- Wide Guard
Pelipper is the only Drizzle user in the game since Politoed got dexited, so Pelipper is literally mandatory here. Pelipper puts in a surprising amount of work on this team. It actually does decent damage which I didn't expect, it acts as a pivot to activate Palafin's ability, and is great in the Glimmora matchup, as you can kill it with Hydro Pump without activating Toxic Debris. Wide Guard also helps you pivot around Flutter Mane and Chi-Yu teams, which was still relevant at the time as Flutter Mane was still legal in pools. The EVs let you outspeed Roaring Moon after a tailwind. The remaining EVs were put into Special Attack to hit as hard as possible.
Palafin @ Choice Band
Ability: Zero to Hero
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flip Turn
- Jet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Haze / Ice Punch
Palafin is the main rain abuser here and is a massive source of damage for this team. Tera Water Jet Punch in rain hits like an absolute truck, and it bypasses all opposing speed control which is a nice bonus. Bulky Palafin is pretty interesting. Because you're usually clicking Jet Punch with it, you don't really need speed investment outside of the mirror, which I felt this team was fine into between Tsareena and Iron Hands being able to hit opposing Palafin for massive damage. I EVd it to speed creep Great Tusk and put the remaining EVs into HP. The added bulk can throw off some damage calcs vs Palafin and allows it to live longer to click Haze against Dondozo and Annihilape teams. Since Dondozo is banned now, Ice Punch is objectively better in the Haze moveslot to hit Garchomp and relevant Grass-types like Tsareena and Meowscarada.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Tera Blast
Scizor is one of the main defensive pieces and pivots on this team. Choice Band Scizor Bullet Punch does a ton of damage, and being able to get around speed control is really nice in this meta where Murkrow is on every team. I went with Rock-type Tera Scizor again here, which was actually really clutch in the actual game allowing me to stay in on Chi-Yu and eat a Heat Wave. I wasn't really clicking Iron Head and I couldn't fit Close Combat on Palafin because I needed Haze for Dondozo, so I used Close Combat Scizor. I would have used Brick Break, but it doesn't OHKO Tera Normal Dragonite and Close Combat does. The EVs allow you to outspeed Maushold in Tailwind.
Tsareena @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Rapid Spin
- Taunt
- U-turn
Tsareena is important for the opposing priority spam matchup and also can hit Palafin and Dondozo super effectively with Power Whip. Because Tsareena lost a lot of its best moves this generation, this is mostly a utility set. U-Turn gives you yet another pivot for Palafin, Taunt allows you to prevent Trick Room, and Rapid Spin is for hazard removal against Glimmora teams. The EVs allow you to outspeed base 100s after a Rapid Spin boost.
Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 132 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Wild Charge
- Fake Out
- Volt Switch
Iron Hands is insanely good and I'm shocked I haven't used it sooner. It has great bulk but also does good damage and has access to Fake Out. Volt Switch also allows it to form a pretty nice pivot core with Scizor. Wild Charge is also really nice into water types, specifically Gyarados and Palafin. I originally used Close Combat here, but I swapped it for Drain Punch for longevity. I also considered Heavy Slam to hit Flutter Mane, but I like Volt Switch more. The EVs allow it to outspeed Garchomp in Tailwind as well as outspeed neutral speed Scizor out of Tailwind.
Chien-Pao @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Spinner
- Sucker Punch
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
Chien-Pao enables the many physical attackers here as well as hits Grass-types like Amoonguss and Brute Bonnet. Sucker Punch is also nice for Gholdengo and can also hit Flutter Mane if the opponent uses their Terastallization on something else. Tera Fighting with Sacred Sword also allows it to beat Dragonite before and after it Terastallizes. Safety Goggles lowers its damage output compared to a Life Orb set, but Safety Goggles Pelipper feels a lot worse, so I just slapped it on Chien-Pao.
Teambuilding Process + Gameplay Summary
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9doublesou-1745285138-grgu014v8nk78v4rtqa9bepfkqb78szpw
I started with a Palafin + Iron Bundle rain team. Iron Bundle is a relatively underexplored and extremely strong Pokemon, so I wanted to use it in this match. Scizor and Amoonguss were added as defensive pieces and Garchomp was a throwaway flex slot that can eat Chi-Yu's Heat Wave and throw out powerful Earthquakes. The team felt pretty weak to Extreme Speed Dragonite, so I added Tsareena over Amoonguss and made the Garchomp Iron Hands as a bulky disruption option. The team felt like it didn't have many Chi-Yu switch-ins, so Iron Bundle ended up getting swapped out for Choice Scarf Garchomp. I then realized that my Chi-Yu switch-in is Iron Hands because it's broken and lives everything, so I added Chien-Pao over Garchomp which was suggested by Actuarily. Funnily enough, at this point, the team was strikingly similar to a team Actuarily had built. I hadn't even seen the team before I built this, but it is very funny that we both came to very similar conclusions when building rain. This six ended up sticking, as the team felt really well made and fun to play. Most of my losses in testing were just due to matchup inexperience and dumb plays, so I went with it hoping I would play better in my tournament set than my test games.
Going into this matchup, I felt pretty nervous. We were 5-11 at the time, and if I lost, my team wouldn't be able to make playoffs. The pressure was on. If I lost, I would not only be letting myself down, but everyone else on my team as well. The actual match went very smoothly, however. I got the exact matchup I expected and won pretty convincingly. This is probably my best win in the tournament, and I'm really proud of how I did. My prep was pretty good, the team I used was really solid, and my play felt less rigid than it did in the games before. I was less nervous going into the game than the matches prior, and I was able to stay relatively calm during the game, allowing me to more easily think through my moves and pivot around my opponent's threats. All of my pools games were completed, making my final record 2-1.
Conclusion
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my performance. 2-1 with my one loss being due to a miss is pretty epic. Unfortunately, with a final record of 10-14, my team was unable to make playoffs and was eliminated from the tournament. I’m not disappointed in my personal performance at all, I actually think I did quite well, but it does suck that the year I actually got to play, where my prep was more extensive than in any other tournament I’ve played in, we didn’t even make playoffs. Still though, I’m very happy I got to play, I’ve improved so much as a player and teambuilder. Being a part of this team is always a great experience, and I hope I get to play with you all again in 2023!
Teams I Built but didn't use
AV Dragonite Sunroom
https://pokepast.es/a72d43870d95fba9
AV Dragonite Sunroom (Post Bans Edit)
https://pokepast.es/2d2b05c85e517777
Iron Bundle Offense
https://pokepast.es/44f5aa2b52bf6461
Annihilape Balance
https://pokepast.es/dedc63cc7128671b
Garganacl + Ting Lu
https://pokepast.es/a140754d5c126666
Skeledirge Balance + Arcanine Edit
https://pokepast.es/3a08c49c549d8370
https://pokepast.es/64b6db69473eacf8
I understand that I’m not the most flashy or interesting teambuilder out there, but I feel like the teams I built for this tournament are pretty cool. If you’re just here for World Cup/SV Teams, you can click off now. The next section is for oldgens teams I’ve built and really enjoy. It’s not related to the DWCOP in any way, it’s kinda just a nice bonus.
Oldgens Teams
SS
BRIMSTONE
https://pokepast.es/ff86eb3ff4d57e1e
Isotope
https://pokepast.es/7d1737314b7079b8
Technicolor Tussle
https://pokepast.es/1e9e1ac178eb7f7d
Choice Band Genesect Whimsicott Offense
https://pokepast.es/ad33f4c6a0de9575
Spectrier + Choice Band Explosion Genesect (ft. Yoda2798 and NinjaSnapple)
https://pokepast.es/36ecf4f2b3936f15
Pyramid Peril
https://pokepast.es/a8d414cb765b80af
Funhouse Frazzle
https://pokepast.es/924ea47979d91b5b
PYROSOMNI
https://pokepast.es/5fe42979bad720f8
DEATH BY GLAMOUR
https://pokepast.es/1dbcddd7c2dda5b0
Stakataka Semiroom
https://pokepast.es/f18ee5b5834b8001
Drowning
https://pokepast.es/abe0c48b5dbb2c89
Cinderace Semiroom
https://pokepast.es/470ec9d8c7af57ca
Tapu Koko Balance
https://pokepast.es/925af4935d986279
Choice Band Landorus Offense
https://pokepast.es/0a2e21a3ca61e404
SM
Mega Salamence Balance
https://pokepast.es/b3ed22d6dad864b7
Charizard Y + Kommo-o
https://pokepast.es/1aa00a81b24d7eba
Mega Diancie Balance
https://pokepast.es/56ffd861b6906527
Kyurem-Black Bulky Offense
https://pokepast.es/aa8ef90e919819cd
BW
"The Six" Heatran Balance
https://pokepast.es/db6f7d3db440b225
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