Doubles OU Teambuilding Frameworks

Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor
approved by kamikaze and Arcticblast

If you're stuck on where to go next when building a team, or unsure of where to start, you can check out this thread to find out what successful Doubles teams have looked like and what some of these teams have in common. Viewing teambuilding frameworks can also be helpful to notice similarities and differences accross compositions to get a better grasp of building with a particular Pokemon or core or archetype. If you want to contribute feel free to post similarities between successful teams that you've spotted! Your post can be a framework for me to add to the OP, or a comment on an existing framework. Please contribute as much as possible: good discussions are always healthy and welcome on the forums, and it's good practice in team analysis!

As a side note, I've been trying to keep this as updated as possible, which might seem a little hectic but new teams always reveal new ways of building which means new updated frameworks are necessary to keep up with the meta.

General
No matter what kind of team you make, there are certain things that your Doubles OU team needs to have in order to function properly and succeed. Here are some very basic points to go over during team building to help you out! Please note that these are general guidelines.

• 2 Kangaskhan switchins OR 1 switchin and 1 check
• 2 ground immunities OR 1 ground immunity and 1 resist
• 2 Fire resists / Sun Checks
• 2 Water resists
• 1 Rock resist
• 2 Fairy resists (preferably resists Psychic as well)
• 1 Sleep immunity / strong Amoonguss checks
• 1 Kyurem B check, avoid over-reliance on team members that give Kyurem-Black free substitutes (Amoonguss, Rotom-Wash)
• 2 steels checks
• 2 different forms of Trick Room checks (Taunt/Spore/TR user/Strong Dark or Ghost/Fake Out/Substitute user)
• 1 CM Cress check
• 1 check to Azumarill + Amoonguss / Jirachi​

Mega Kangaskhan
Memoric's Tailwind Offense

Stax's Kangaskhan SemiRoom

Qsns' Kangaskhan Hyper Offense


Stratos' Kangaskhan Balance

CheckRoom



1: Kangaskhan

Mega Kangaskhan is practically the face of the doubles meta, presenting a huge threat but also having significant drawbacks, many of which have to be supplemented by its teams. Overall, Kangaskhan teams tend to be more balance-oriented, able to switch in for Kangaskhan in sticky situations (as it lacks Protect and high speed) while dealing with many common threats Kangaskhan hates to pave the way.
2: Aegislash/Jirachi Check, Fire Resist and Sun Check
Kangaskhan often struggles with these steels, as they can play around Kangaskhan's normal methods of hitting opposing Steel-Types. In addition, this slot also functions as a Fire resist and a Talonflame/Sun check to varying degrees of effectiveness.
3: Psychic-Type: Amoonguss, Kyurem-Black, Soft Fighting-Types Check
Amoonguss along with opposing Intimidate represents a serious problem to Kangaskhan, being able to redirect and sleep it and then recover the HP back, cycling itself and Intimidate at the same time. This slot puts a stop to that. In addition, while Kangaskhan itself isn't particularly threatened by Kyurem-Black, its compositions frequently leave it vulnerable to Kyube (LandoT, Thundurus, Heatran, Amoonguss, all common Kangaskhan partners that struggle against Kyurem-Black), necessitating a check to prevent Kyube from subbing and destroying these more balance-centric teams. Fighting types such as Terrakion also heavily threaten the first two slots, and running a Psychic-Type helps as a switchin and a way of KO'ing opposing Fighting-Types.
4: LandoT Switchin/Check, Soft Kangaskhan switchin
Pretty straightforward. Bringing in your Kangaskhan at the same time as opposing LandoT hampers Kangaskhan as it gets Intimidated, softening its damage considerably. These options help to inhibit opposing Landorus-Therian and prevent it from doing too much. Most choices in this slot can switch into opposing Kangaskhan. While suicune takes Kangaskhan on poorly, Memoric's team features Breloom in the 5th slot.
5: Keldeo Killer, Trick Room Check, Soft Rain Check
Keldeo is an obvious high-tier threat to Kangaskhan that can be KO'd by this slot, while it also functions to inhibits Trick Room and Rain to varying degrees of success. It should be noted that most all of these teams can get away with having both Heatran and Landorus-Therian due to Kangaskhan's intrinsically good Rain matchup. Kangaskhan is also relatively good against Trick Room but functions better to support a partner that does well against Trick Room using its own Fake Out, as lacking Protect can hold it back significantly.
6: Mega Diancie Check, Kangaskhan Check
Mega Diancie resists all of Kangaskhan's coverage while Diamond-Storm boosting on it very well, necessitating team members dedicated to dealing with it. Landorus-Therian, Aegislash/Jirachi, and bulky Waters all do this pretty well, though it should be noted that LandoT cannot KO Diancie after a defense boost, while Aegislash is forced to position awkwardly with Stance Change. Opposing Kangaskhan can also present an issue to slower, more balance-oriented teams, so Kangaskhan checks and switchins are vital. Qsns' more offensively focused team uses Jirachi, which is a more active counter to Kangaskhan on the field, helping its frail teammates, whereas teams that are better suited for absorbing hits utilize burn or Intimidate here.

Some notes:
-Steel, Fire, Psychic, Intimidate, are all staples
-Anything that's not FullRoom has a LandoT: helps immensely vs Diancie and opposing Kangaskhan while being very versatile as a pivot.

Memoric's Latios is Tailwind, since he has Breloom which appreciates the Tailwind support. On the other hand, Stratos uses Recover to give more staying power, and also to better function as a Fire resist, while Amoonguss does not benefit from Tailwind support like Breloom does.

Kyurem-Black seems rather unpopular... Rain checks aren't a necessity (one of Kyube's biggest draws) and Kyube has the worst Sun matchup of all the dragons, maybe? Kyube also compounds Fighting-Type weaknesses, to an extent. Hydreigon does the same thing, but Qsns gets away with it by running two Psychic-Types, LandoT, and Talonflame. Hydreigon is also notably better at dealing with opposing Aegislash.

Mega Kangaskhan + Aegislash
Qsns Kangaskhan Tailwind Offense

Memoric Kangaskhan Balance

N10siT Kangaskhan Balance

Braverius Kangaskhan Azumarill Offense



1: Mega Kangaskhan
Mega Kangaskhan is practically the face of the doubles meta, presenting a huge threat but also having significant drawbacks, many of which have to be supplemented by its teams. Overall, Kangaskhan teams tend to be more balance-oriented, able to switch in for Kangaskhan in sticky situations (as it lacks Protect and high speed) while dealing with many common threats Kangaskhan hates to pave the way.
2: Aegislash
So part of the purpose of this frameworks is exploring how running Kangaskhan + Aegislash instead of some other steel (ie Heatran) changes the team-building process. Aegislash provides a strong Faerie-types counter while also beating Trick Room rather handily. In addition, Aegislash's Ghost typing allows it to function as a Fighting-types counter, unlike other Steel-types. On the other hand, Aegislash can make Keldeo more difficult to deal with and also leave a team vulnerable to opposing Fire-types and Sun.
3: Offensive Ground-Type: Thundurus, Steels, Sun Check.
4: Sun Check, Fighting Resist/Keldeo Counter, Ground Immunity
This slot and the next one are both focused on dealing with opposing Keldeo, while slot 4 also beats Mega Charizard-Y. This team member also functions as a Ground immunity for the team's ground type but also against opposing Ground-types. In some sense, slot 4 can be thought of as a "'steels check' check", doing extremely well against traditional counters to Aegislash.
5: Second Fighting Check
Three out of the four options here resist Fighting while Rotom-Wash deals with all Fighting-types rather well (being able to burn physical Fighting-types and use Thunderbolt Keldeo).
6: Water Resist, Heatran/LandoT Check

Some notes on differences from Kangaskhan without Aegislash:

Well the first thing that comes to mind is the lack of a Psychic-type in the other Kangaskhan framework. In addition, Jirachi and Diancie checks aren't as much of a deal due to having Aegislash to deal with both of these threats. On the other hand, Kangaskhan+Aegis tends to cram as many Keldeo checks as it can get its hands on while still having a Fire-type, which almost necessitates Talonflame.

Mega Gardevoir

Sam Gardevoir Trick Room

Sam Gardevoir Balance

Dawg Gardevoir Trick Room

Sam Gardevoir Rain

1: Mega Gardevoir
Obviously the first step in a successful Mega Gardevoir team is the Gardevoir. The set on Garde can range from Timid Encore to slow, bulky Trick Room setter.
2: Landorus-T / Intimidate
The second slot on the team should be something to compensate for Gardevoir's lack of physical bulk. Landorus-Therian is the most commonly used Intimidate Pokemon here, but Scrafty is a worthwhile choice on some builds.
3: Sun Check / Fires Check
Gardevoir struggles to deal with opposing Fire-types, mandating both resists and threats that can hit those Fire-types such as Charizard-Y or Talonflame.
4: Bulky Talonflame Check / Soft Rain Check
5: Kangaskhan, Diancie, Fairy Check

Gardevoir appreciates having a redirector in order to spam Pixilate Hyper Voice more effectively, so Amoonguss and Jirachi are commonly seen on Gardevoir teams, while also dealing with Kangaskhan and Diancie. Aegislash works well with Gardevoir by switching into Kangaskhan Return.
6: Additional Sweeper that deals with Aegislash/Heatran
Finally, Gardevoir appreciates another means of applying pressure, allowing yourself to control the flow of the match and position yourself properly. In addition to those listed here, Volcanion is a very strong Pokemon in this role on Gardevoir teams.


Teambuilding Checklist
  • 2 Kang Checks/Counters
  • 3 Talon Counters
  • 3 soft LandoT Checks
  • 2 or more Heatran Checks
  • 2 or more Aegislash Checks
  • Intimidate
  • Steel Type
  • Water Type
  • At MOST 1 other team member that can't hit Aegislash

Notes On Building Mega Gardevoir

Gardevoir is a very powerful but needs some support to prevent it from falling to physical attackers and steels. Thus, Intimidate (usually Lando-T) is almost auto-include to start. The best Mega Gardevoir teams tend to run Trick Room but also some way of slowing down opponents (Icy Wind, Thunder Wave). It's crucial to watch for opposing threats like Talonflame, Heatran, and Aegislash, making sure to account for these in team-building.

Mega Diancie
KyleCole Mega Diancie

Deoxys Speed Lol & Checkmater Mega Diancie

Sam Mega Diancie Rain

Vinc2612 Mega Diancie

Stratos Mega Diancie + Volcarona

Nido-Rus Mega Diancie + Volcarona


Mishimono Mega Diancie Offense


1: Diancie
In the current meta, Diancie-Mega is a huge threat. It's got good matchups against the numerous dragons, flying types, and three musketeers along with a great speed tier. However it tends to struggle against top tier threats such as Aegislash and Landorus-Therian, while also having difficulties with bulky Grass types and Water-types in general (especially rain).

2: Fire-type
As Stratos notes, "a strong fire beats almost every single Diancie check" by having good matchups vs bulky steels such as Aegislash and Ferrothorn and filling the role of Amoonguss-killer while also checking sun to a varying degree. Most teams use Talonflame, but other options such as Blaziken and Volcarona function well too. It should be noted that, of the available Fire-Types, Talonflame is probably the most popular due to being the most splashable while also having the best Rain matchup and bringing a Ground Resist. Other Fire-types can work; it's just that these traits make Talonflame a near-staple.

3: Rain Check/Water Resist and Soft Amoonguss Check/Switchin
Grass types, Dragons, or Thundurus all serve as good rain-checks and cover weaknesses to rain. Togekiss functions as a Rain check by possessing Thunder Wave, a heavy deterrent to Swift Swimmers. This slot also helps to beat Amoonguss, though (generally) in a more passive manner.

4: Second Aegis/Jirachi Check
Aegislash and Jirachi are big threats to Diancie-Mega compositions, meriting a second check alongside with the Fire type already included. This is most often fulfilled by Pokemon that can threaten Aegislash with super-effective moves; however, Water-types that, in the case of Keldeo, 2HKO without triggering Weakness Policy, or in the case of Assault Vest Ludicolo and Rotom-Wash, find it easy to switch into Aegislash and absorb its hits, beat Aegislash for Mega Diancie rather handily.

5: Landorus-Therian Check/Counter, Second Rain Check
Since Landorus-Therian can both lower Mega Diancie's Attack and threaten it with Earthquake, a Landorus-Therian check helps alleviate this issue. On these teams, this ranges from Amoonguss to Kyurem-Black or Rain in general to deal with Landorus-Therian. This slot also functions as a second rain check in all the teams.

6: Steel-type: Kangaskhan Check, Grass/Fairy Resist, Trick Room Check
Used to round out Dragon (typically one of the previous slots) Fairy (Diancie) Steel, Bulky Steel types help against Kangaskhan-Mega while also providing a Fairy resist and Grass resist. Aegis, Ferrothorn, and Jirachi each serve to greatly hamper Trick Room's effectiveness and serve as good Trick Room checks.

So the first thing that jumps out immediately is that many Mega Diancie teams use a really simple formula of 2 popular tri-cores that give the team strong defensive synergy (providing resistances for the other members weaknesses) and offensive coverage (several strong attacks of different type): Fairy/Steel/Dragon and Fire/Water/Grass. KyleCole's team doesn't have a Water-Type but it utilizes Kyurem-Black which switches into many of the Pokemon a Water-type would help with.

Mega Charizard Y + Venusaur
Stratos Sun

KyleCole/ Mizuhime Sun

Shaian Sun

Mizuhime Sun


Just like the XY sun teambuilding framework, sun gives you a little bit more freedom in where you assign each specific role, as long as you have them. The first 3 slots are fairly obvious on all teams:
  1. Charizard Y
  2. Venusaur (in the past this was "fast offensive support grass" but with Skymin banned, Venusaur becomes the best option here)
  3. Check to Electrics and Heatran. Shaky Kangaskhan switch-in.
  4. Bulky Electric and/or speed control and/or ground immune with Cresselia serving as an all purpose switch in, and ground immune being made up for in the last slot on Shaians team (Raikou has Thunder Wave and Latios does not have Tailwind). Though less obvious, this slot also serves as a check to Talonflame and Thundurus. The first 3 team choices obviously accomplish this, but the Cresselia actually has Ice beam & Trick Room which stop Thundurus. These two Pokemon are so important to beat because they essentially ignore whatever speed control is being used to boost Charizard (possibly the Pokemon that appreciates Tailwind/TR more than any other).
  5. Fire Resist / Sun Check / Second Amoonguss killer. While Charizard itself fares rather well against Amoonguss having only 1 check to Amoonguss is a dangerous path. Similarly, Sun teams are hard-pressed to find good Fire resists and checks to opposing Charizard and Heatran, necesitating good partners to deal with these threats.
  6. Kangaskhan Check. Charizard and Venusaur's inability to handle Kangaskhan require more checks
Some notes (creds to Stratos):
While Mizuhimes team only has 2 Ground immune Pokemon to everyone else's 3, the other 3 teams have Landorus-T as one of them, meaning they want 2 more teammates to Earthquake beside.

Picking a steel type is more than just picking your favourite Steel. The teams that used a fighting type Pokemon in the last slot opted for Heatran as the Steel. You can look at this as a decision to compensate for a weakness to Talonflame in the last slot, or the fighting mon alleviating the weakness to Kyurem-B that Heatran adds.

Mega Charizard Y without Venusaur
MajorBowman's Sun Semiroom

KyleCole's Sun SemiRoom

Biosci Sun SemiRoom

BLOOD TOTEM's Sun Balance

TheFourthChaser's SemiRoom


Slot 1: Fire Dino
Slot 2: Fighting-Type

Help check Kangaskhan and Heatran. All Fighting-Types in this slot also check Thundurus to a degree. Sun Compositions are traditionally weak to these threats so being able to bring a Fighting type (since teams can afford the cost of hurting the Talonflame matchup as they aren't running Venusaur) is one of the first things that sets apart Charizard-Y with and without Venusaur, helping the Kang and Heatran matchups considerably from the onset.
Slot 3: Talon / Sun Check
Running a Fighting along with Zard leaves these teams rather Talonflame-weak, requiring a dedicated Talonflame check. Team members in this slot also deal with opposing Thundurus rather handily. Sun teams also have a habit of struggling to find solid Sun Checks, but not running Venusaur gives more room for more Fire resists.
Slot 4: Check to Dragons and Thundurus
Opposing Dragon-types deal well with Zard's Fire/Grass coverage while also being strong offensive threats that previous team members tend to be shaky on checking. Steel/Fairy types or Pokemon that deal well with Special coverage (Hoopa) or can easily threaten most dragons (Latios, Weavile) greatly help this matchup.
Whiile the previous two slots deal with Thundurus rather handily, the more checks the better. Pokemon in this slot tend to trade well with opposing Thundurus.
Slot 5: Mega Diancie Check / Rock Slide switchin / Kangaskhan switchin
Steel types or Intimidate all fill this role rather nicely, taking Rock-Type coverage easily while also switching into Kangaskhan for team members
Slot 6: Landorus-Therian Check
Pokemon here function to varying degrees of effectiveness against opposing Landorus-Therian, either switching in, forcing it out, or taking its coverage with relative ease. In addition, Blood Totem's Landorus-Therian is actually mixed with Hidden Power Ice, making it an extremely good Landorus-Therian check, despite being Landorus-Therian itself.

No Venusaur Sun Checklist:
-
1 Fighting Type
-2 or more Heatran checks
-3 or more Amoonguss killers/counters (including Char Y)
-3 Kangaskhan checks (KyleCole runs both Overheat and HP Ground)
-2 solid checks to opposing Dragons
-Some form of speed control: 4/5 have Trick Room whereas BLOOD TOTEM runs Icy Wind Gengar
-AT LEAST 1 Fire resist/immune (outside of Char Y)
-2 Diancie checks (Totem has Flash Cannon on his Thundurus)
-2 or 3 Landorus-Therian Checks
-1 bulky Steel Type

Some notes on compositions:

Thundurus can used here whereas it isn't with Venusaur because of overlapping status
No Water types besides Volcanion. Seems like halving your damage under sun hurts these waters too much.
4/5 teams are some form of SemiRoom. Something that Venusaur teams struggle to do is have the same kind of flexibility and fluidity that lends Non-Venu Sun the ability to effectively run SemiRoom teams
Teams with both Char Y and Conk still differ heavily, showing there's a lot of options open and diverse possibilities with teams.
The team with only 1 Talon check outside of the first 2 mons has Terrakion, which helps against opposing Talon. The Terrakion team is also the only to feature a grass-type, probably because out of the 3 fighting types used, Terrakion has the best Char Y and Heatran matchup.
All Semiroom teams, to varying degrees, have the ability to bluff not being SemiRoom, possibly catching opponents by surprise.

Analysis on differences from traditional Venusaur Sun:

These teams get to run Fighting-Types, whereas Venusaur teams are hardpressed to do so due to a worsened Talonflame matchup, being forced to run things like Zapdos or Rhydon to alleviate that matchup
All of these teams have very good matchups against FullRoom: being more balance-oriented lets them give hell to Full Trick Room teams even when the screen is purple
While the Heatran matchup can still be a problem, besides a few mons most things on these teams actively prevent Heatran from setting up Substitute
Lacking a Grass type as a Amoonguss switchin means having to run more goggles and more Amoonguss killers, overall

Azumarill

Checkmater's Mega Gengar Bunny Hyper Offense

Braverius' Kangaskhan Bunny

TheTalkingTree's Charizard X Bunny


Laga's Semi-Room Hail Bunny


Fangame10's Full TR Bunny


Slot 1 - A cute bunny.

Slot 2
- Fire Type.
Fire types act as blanket checks to many of the things that Azumarill can struggle against. A check to Grass, Steel, and Fairy types is vital to aid Azumarill in pulling off an easier time setting up. Opposing Charizard Y is also very threatening to Azumarill as it both halves Aqua Jet damage and lives a +5 Aqua Jet, so these fire types also function as Sun checks prevent this matchup from being a huge problem.
Slot 3 - Secondary Grass-types / Amoonguss check. Grass Types restrict Amoonguss and directly threaten it from setting up, but thankfully most are easily checked or slow enough that a partnered Fire type can actively prevent this from being a problem.
Slot 4 - Water Resist / Bulky Waters check. Also functions as a Rain check. While it may seem that Azumarill should beat opposing Rain, it will often struggle to find the right time to come in, as even a resisted Hydro Pump severely hurts its sweeping capabilities. Bulky Waters such as Volcanion and Rotom-Wash can also be troublesome for Azumarill, requiring dedicated checks to beat.
Slot 5 - Thundurus / Talonflame check. In most cases this also serves as a Kangaskhan check, or something that comfortably switches into a Kangaskhan Fake Out. While it can be difficult to find proper Talonflame checks that work well with Azumarill all teams sport some kind of damper / inhibition to opposing Talonflames. In the case of Terrakion, it provides Quick Guard and threatens to KO Talonflame with Rock Slide. LandoT brings intimidate and a threatened KO, while Porygon finds Talonflame an easy target to setup Trick Room on while also being able to KO Talonflame with Thunderbolt. Pokemon in this slot generally deal with opposing Thundurus pretty well (especially offensive Thundurus variants).
Slot 6 - 3rd or 4th Kangaskhan check. Mega Kangaskhan is a huge problem for our bunny friend as Kangaskhan threatens to both restrict its maneuverability with Fake Out while also threatening to break it out of Belly Drum range with a Return. While most teams already feature at least 2 Kangaskhan checks, the more the better. Jolly Kangaskhan and Bulky Low Kick Kangaskhan (Braverius' and Yoda's teams respectively) both function as soft checks whereas Keldeo and Mega Gengar are excellent hard stops to Kangaskhan. Jirachi finds it easy to switch into and redirect all of opposing Kangaskhans' attacks.

Interestingly enough I didn't find myself writing "Heatran check" or "Trick Room check" or "Landorus-Therian check" as Azumarill is phenomenal at setting up and destroying against these threats, nullifying the need to cover them with other team members.

A general Azumarill teambuilding checklist includes the following (outside the standard range of threats):

2 Amoonguss/Grass types Checks
1 Rain Check
1 Bulky Steels Check
3 Kangaskhan Checks (Intimidate, Burns, or team members that directly threaten to OHKO Kangaskhan)
1 or more Talonflame checks
At most 1 team member that is OHKOd by Talonflame OR multiple mons that are OHKOd by Talonflame but featuring some form of a Talonflame counter (Laga's team has Rotom-Heat)
At least 1 form of utility that aids in setting up Belly Drum (Fake Out or Redirection)

Some similarities between compositions:

All teams have fire types
All teams have steel types (great synergy with Azumarill's threat coverage and typing)
All teams have redirection, except for Yoda's Full TR
All teams have priority of some form
Every team except for the one with Amoonguss has some kind of speed control. This can be greatly beneficial against more offensive teams and give not-quite-as-offensive Azumarill teams room to breathe

Mega Gengar

Memoric SemiRoom Mega Gengar

Florist Mega Gengar Balance

Blood Totem Mega Gengar Rain Offense

Checkmater Mega Gengar Bunny Hyper Offense

Nido-Rus Balanced Mega Gengar

KyleCole Mega Gengar FullRoom

1: Mega Gengar

Mega Gengar contrasts from other powerhouse megas (Kangaskhan, Charizard Y, Diancie, Gardevoir) in that its main contribution to a team is support and speed, rather than sheer power. In particular, fast Will-O-Wisp combined with Shadow Tag makes Gengar-Mega a potent Kangaskhan Check. In addition, teams utilizing Mega Gengar can lean on it to cover Fairy weakenesses, either letting them skip Steel- or Fire-Types or complement especially Fairy-weak compositions.
2: Water-Type
Strong Waters complement Gengar's weaknesses almost perfectly, beating opposing steels handily while also dealing with Landorus-Therian.
3: Fire Type/Sun Check
So here most teams run a Fire-Type to deal with opposing Sun teams, but Nido-Rus' team already has a Volcanion. While Volcanion can absorb Heat Waves, it's not as good at checking Char Y as other Fires and therefore requires more support to deal with opposing Charizard.
4: Rain Check/Water Resist
Gengar lacks resists to elemental coverage and this includes issues with Rain, so rain checks and rain switchins are important key aspects of Gengar teams. While Cresselia isn't the best at dealing with Rain, it does provide crucial speed control and Memoric's other members (Hydreigon, Ferrothorn) are extremely well adapted to dealing with Rain.
5: Bulky Pivot / Kangaskhan Switchin
Bulky Intimidate/Steels that can pivot are complemented by Mega Gengar's ability to trap physical attackers such as Kangaskhan
6: Steels Check
Both Heatran and Aegislash are rather difficult to deal with for Gengar teams, thus necessitating more checks to these threats

General Teambuilding Checklist:
-Water type
-Fire Type
-At least 2 Sun checks
-3/more Aegislash Checks
-Intimidate
-1-2 Kangaskhan switchins (other than Gengar)
-Every team but the KyleCole's FullRoom team has a Dragon - Gengar deals with opposing Fairy types (including Mega Gardevoir, unlike the other poison type in the meta, Amoonguss) very well
-2/more LandoT hard-stops
-At least 2 T-Wave switchins/Thundurus Checks



The point of noticing frameworks like this isn't to limit creativity or say "you MUST build this way." this framework catalogue exists as a resource for when you're starting out on a new team to help you take a top level thing and put your own spin on it. - Keith
 
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Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor
Rain

KyleCole's Mega Swampert Rain

Checkmater's Diancie Rain


Sam's Diancie Rain


Blood Totem's Mega Gengar Rain

Rain is a powerful team archetype that excels given the room, but faces pitfalls in accounting for numerous rain checks, such as Mega Charizard-Y, Kyurem-Black, Amoonguss, and Ferrothorn. In many ways, this is due to being forced to run Politoed, a rather mediocre team member, in order to get Rain.
1: Politoed
2: Thundurus Counter, Talonflame Counter, Sun Check, Kyurem-Black Check

On all teams this slot serves to alleviate tough matchups against Thundurus, Talonflame, and Sun. Although Blood Totem's Landorus doesn't carry Rock Coverage, he has Explosion and rain trapping with Gengar (the Politoed is Eject Button) to alleviate the sun matchup. It should be noted that Terrakion is the shakiest of these options, being severely hampered both by opposing Steel-types and Intimidate, but KyleCole makes up for it by running Swampert-Mega which does all of these things, except for being a Sun Check.
3: Talonflame
Simply put, Talonflame is an almost 100% include for rain teams. Unlike other fire types it can still function well inside of Rain, while handily beating the Grass-types that Rain teams struggle with. In addition, Talonflame is valuable as it can KO an Amoonguss before a Swift Swim partner.
4: Third Sun Check/Lure
It's difficult to over-emphasize how difficult of a matchup opposing Sun is. Charizard's ability to override Rain with its Mega Evolve, and the fact that Rain teams tend to sport more than one water-type attacker (which gets completely neutered by Sun) make facing Char Y extremely difficult without adequate checks. Although Mega Gengar doesn't beat Char Y in itself, it provides Shadow Tag along with Politoed's extra switching mobility thanks to Eject button, and Landorus-Therian's Explosion. Simply put, Blood Totem has the ability to outmaneuver opposing Char Y and trap it with Rain. Jirachi has Rain Dance to reset weather while also carrying Safety Goggles to stop opposing Venusaur.
5: Second Kyurem-Black / Dragons Check
While Grass-types pose a threat to Rain, Dragon-types also resist Water-type coverage and pressure rain teams back. In particular, Kyurem-Black is especially worrying as it isn't weak to Ice, though the other Dragon-types output more overall offensive pressure.
6: Waters / Volcanion Check
Opposing Water-types tend to sit in on Rain sweepers, in particular Gyarados, Keldeo, Volcanion, or Suicune all take advantage of rain or stall it heavily, while hampering opponents. Ludicolo or Thundurus deals with this pretty easily, as either Grass coverage or Thundurus' T-Wave / Thunderbolt prevent opposing Water-types from being a problem.
A general Rain teambuilding checklist includes:
-3 sun checks
-Some form of Electric-type coverage (Jirachi is Thunder)
-At least 1 Kangaskhan switchin
-2 Kyurem-Black Checks
-2 Ferrothorn Checks
-At least 3 Talonflame checks

Dedicated Trick Room

Stratos HailRoom


Croven & Yoda2798's Gothitelle FullRoom


KyleCole's GardeRoom

Checkmater's CamelSylv Trick Room


1: Amoonguss Hard-Stop

For Trick Room teams, Amoonguss represents a huge threat to both setup and sweep due to its low speed and Spore. Croven's Gothitelle can both trap Amoonguss and neuter it with Taunt.
2: Second Amoonguss Check, Soft Dragon Check
While not as strong of a check, this second slot serves to also prevent opposing Amoonguss from being an issue, threatening it heavily especially outside of Trick Room. While both slots 1 and 2 check Amoonguss, it can be said that this second slot is more of a heavy deterrent to Amoonguss leads and switchins.
3: Bisharp+Keldeo Check and Kangaskhan Check
A Bisharp+Keldeo lead from a HO team tends to be very threatening to unprepared Fullroom teams. A combination of Quick Guard and Defiant, and powerful physical Dark coverage means that Scrafty either has to play a prediction game (where the opponent's worst case scenario is to get one KO on Scrafty at the expense of Trick Room being setup) or avoid the two altogether. Amoonguss redirects both, Talonflame threatens both while also having offensive initiative, Jellicent is untouched by Keldeo while also possessing Colbur Berry, and Conkeldurr's Mach Punch let it priority KO Bisharp while also easily threatening Keldeo under Trick Room.
4: Steels check and Intimidate
Bulky Steels are one of the best options for stalling Trick Room, and tend to be everywhere. Thus, Trick Room teams should pack checks (water types that can threaten them, Dark coverage, Ground coverage, Porygon's excellent bulk and Ghost-immunity, Fire-types) to these annoyances. Intimidate is also crucial on TR teams for giving partners room to breathe against physical attackers such as Kangaskhan and Talonflame.
5: Second Steels check
6: Dragon switchin/slayer

Dragon-types often find it very easy to come in on opposing elemental coverage and stall out Trick Room. Having at least 2 ways to actively stop opposing Dragon-types from stalling TR turns helps teams greatly. Stratos' Porygon2, while extremely bulky, isn't as active of a check (Blizzard though), but his first slot features Abomasnow, a potent dragon slayer.

While the teams are very diverse, they can generally be categorized into these roles. Most of them are pretty intuitive (and explained in rather beginner terms above) but it's there are a few interesting things to note. First, there are almost no steels, as these typically struggle against hard-hitters and Fire/Ground types that TR hates dealing with. Also, some teams sport 2 defensive setters, a mix of both, or both offensive setters (KyleCole's team) but this lack of offense or lack of defense is made up for in other partners. When building Full Trick Room, lack of "good options" (only real fake out is Kang and scrafty, very few strong AND slow mons) creates a lot of room for creativity, but a general theme can be seen across these different team compositions.

Trick Room Threatlist:
  • Talonflame
  • Powerful Spread attackers (Charizard Y, Landorus-T, Pixilate Hyper Voice etc.)
  • Amoonguss (specifically in combination with Azumarill and Subtran)
  • Aegislash
  • Bisharp Keldeo
  • Taunt (strong setters basically)
  • Kangaskhan in general (specifically Kang+Taunt or Kang+Spore or Kang +Serene Grace)
  • Hoopa-U/Bisharp + Fake Out/Redirection/Serene Grace Flinch
  • Bulky Pokemon that can sit through Trick Room (Mega Venusaur, Suicune, Jirachi, Togekiss, Cresselia, Dragons etc.)

Mega Metagross

Braverius Mega Metagross

Stratos Mega Metagross

Kamikaze Mega Metagross

Finally Mega Metagross


Slot 1
. Mega Metagross
Slot 2. Landorus-T -
Bulky pivot, provides Intimidate support as well as a Ground Immunity for Mega Metagross. Not all Landorus-T in this slot are scarfed.
Slot 3. Offensive water to check a wide range of threats, namely fire types and grounds. Keldeo provides a check to the standard Kangaskhan/Landorus-T/Heatran core (among other things) while Azumarill is a great late game cleaner to beat a wider range of threats providing it can get set up. Slot 3 also has a great matchup vs Kyurem-B.
Slot 4. Speed Control & Levitate in all cases but 1. Blaziken provides the check to the popular core I mentioned above that Keldeo covered in the other teams. It also gets around Tailwind / Icy Wind with Speed Boost. This lack of active speed control is somewhat compensated by priority from Azumarill as well as Speed Boost.
Slot 5. Bulky Support & TR check. Sableye and Amoonguss are obvious picks for this role with Taunt/Fake Out and Spore, Ferrothorn is a decent check to CM Cress as well if you can get up Leech Seed before it sets up too much, and all picks picks besides Sableye check Jellicent & Waters. This slot also serves as a Kangaskhan switchin (of varying effectiveness)
Slot 6. Filler. This slot is usually a catch-all Pokemon to cover the already strong 5 mons in the rest of the team. Victini has V-Create to destroy all non-resists and of course Final Gambit, and Rotom-W/Kyurem-B both cover a huge range of mons. Darkrai has Foul Play in conjunction with Swagger users on the first team which also covers a huge range of Pokemon.

Mega Venusaur Framework

Kamikaze Mega Venusaur

Arcticblast's Mega Venusaur

BLOOD TOTEM's Mega Venusaur

Hashtag's Mega Venusaur

Stratos' Mega Venusaur

MajorBowman's Mega Venusaur


1: Mega Venu

2: Kang Check, Fires Check

Kangaskhan and Fire Types are both very annoying opponents to deal with for Venusaur, either being capable of mostly ignoring Venusaur's prescence or threatening large chunks of damage. While typically this slot is a fighting type, MajorBowman opts for running two ground types instead, using Gastrodon in his second slot to beat Volcanion in particular. Kamikaze uses Azumarill here to help against Fire Types and Steel Types.
3: Ground-Type
Either Landorus form is invaluable in dealing with troublesome steels (many of which carry substitute) and clearing checks for Mega Venusaur. Gastrodon is also an interesting option that enables a team to deal very well with opposing Volcanion.
4: Fire Type
Fire Types help out tremendously with KO'ing opposing Grass types that Venusaur struggles to touch while also dealing with opposing Mega Gardevoir decently well.
5: Trick Room Check / Kangaskhan Check
While Venusaur can be very good at sitting inside Trick Room, it struggles to truly pressure opposing Trick Room teams as it lacks damage output to damage Trick Room setters. Aegislash can switch into Kangaskhan, Darkrai is faster and burns it, while Jirachi redirects Kangaskhan with ease.
6: Soft Lando Check, Water Resist/Rain Check, Steel Check
While Venusaur itself isn't weak to these threats the way it is built with often leaves teams susceptible to being swept by some combination of Talonflame and Rain, thus requiring a check to these two.
General Venusaur teambuilding checklist:
3 Talon checks
At MOST 1 team member that is outsped and KO'd by Talonflame
3 checks to bulky steels (opposing Aegislash, Heatran)
1 Intimidate
1 Water resist/Rain check
3 Kangaskhan checks

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Above is an extension of the OP (char limit OP), this post is an archive of the Sun no Venu Framework that was posted at first

MajorBowman's Sun Semiroom


KyleCole's Sun SemiRoom

Biosci Sun SemiRoom

BLOOD TOTEM's Sun Balance

TheFourthChaser's SemiRoom


Slot 1: Fire Dino
Slot 2: Fighting-Type

Help check Kangaskhan and Heatran. All Fighting-Types in this slot also check Thundurus to a degree. Sun Compositions are traditionally weak to these threats so being able to bring a Fighting type (since teams can afford the cost of hurting the Talonflame matchup as they aren't running Venusaur) is one of the first things that sets apart Charizard-Y with and without Venusaur, helping the Kang and Heatran matchups considerably from the onset.
Slot 3: Talon / Sun Check
Running a Fighting along with Zard leaves these teams rather Talonflame-weak, requiring a dedicated Talonflame check. Team members in this slot also deal with opposing Thundurus rather handily. Sun teams have a habit of struggling to find solid Sun Checks, but not running Venusaur gives more room for more Fire resists.
Slot 4: Check to Dragons and Thundurus
Opposing Dragon-types deal well with Zard's Fire/Grass coverage while also being strong offensive threats that previous team members tend to be shaky on checking. Steel/Fairy types or Pokemon that deal well with Special coverage (Hoopa) or can easily threaten most dragons (Latios, Weavile) greatly help this matchup.
Whiile the previous two slots deal with Thundurus rather handily, the more checks the better. Pokemon in this slot tend to trade well with opposing Thundurus.
Slot 5: Mega Diancie Check / Rock Slide switchin / Kangaskhan switchin
Steel types or Intimidate all fill this role rather nicely, taking Rock-Type coverage easily while also switching into Kangaskhan for team members
Slot 6: Landorus-Therian Check
Pokemon here function to varying degrees of effectiveness against opposing Landorus-Therian, either switching in, forcing it out, or taking its coverage with relative ease. In addition, Blood Totem's Landorus-Therian is actually mixed with Hidden Power Ice, making it an extremely good Landorus-Therian check, despite being Landorus-Therian itself.

No Venusaur Sun Checklist:
-
1 Fighting Type
-2 or more Heatran checks
-3 or more Amoonguss killers/counters (including Char Y)
-3 Kangaskhan checks (KyleCole runs both Overheat and HP Ground)
-2 solid checks to opposing Dragons
-Some form of speed control: 4/5 have Trick Room whereas BLOOD TOTEM runs Icy Wind Gengar
-AT LEAST 1 Fire resist/immune (outside of Char Y)
-2 Diancie checks (Totem has Flash Cannon on his Thundurus)
-2 or 3 Landorus-Therian Checks
-1 bulky Steel Type

Some notes on compositions:

No Electric types!
No Water types!! Seems like halving your damage under sun hurts these waters too much.
4/5 teams are some form of SemiRoom. Something that Venusaur teams struggle to do is have the same kind of flexibility and fluidity that lends Non-Venu Sun the ability to effectively run SemiRoom teams
Teams with both Char Y and Conk still differ heavily, showing there's a lot of options open and diverse possibilities with teams.
The team with only 1 Talon check outside of the first 2 mons has Terrakion, which helps against opposing Talon. The Terrakion team is also the only to feature a grass-type, probably because out of the 3 fighting types used, Terrakion has the best Char Y and Heatran matchup.
All Semiroom teams, to varying degrees, have the ability to bluff not being SemiRoom, possibly catching opponents by surprise.

Analysis on differences from traditional Venusaur Sun:

These teams get to run Fighting-Types, whereas Venusaur teams are hardpressed to do so due to a worsened Talonflame matchup, being forced to run things like Zapdos or Rhydon to alleviate that matchup
All of these teams have very good matchups against FullRoom: being more balance-oriented lets them give hell to Full Trick Room teams even when the screen is purple
While the Heatran matchup can still be a problem, besides a few mons most things on these teams actively prevent Heatran from setting up Substitute
Lacking a Grass type as a Amoonguss switchin means having to run more goggles and more Amoonguss killers, overall
-----

tagging:
MajorBowman KyleCole Biosci BLOOD TOTEM TheFourthChaser
Please comment on your teams and the framework as I haven't really built Char Y very well before so I'm not very good at it n_n
 
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I've actually adjusted my version of the team in this list with the release of volcanion. I've swapped Heatran to Volcanion (to improve the heatran matchup you've mentioned), Gourgeist to Bronzong, and Clefable to Amoonguss. Bronzong even has rock slide to help with Talon/Zard in TR and Volcanion has goggles + EP.
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
I've actually adjusted my version of the team in this list with the release of volcanion. I've swapped Heatran to Volcanion (to improve the heatran matchup you've mentioned), Gourgeist to Bronzong, and Clefable to Amoonguss. Bronzong even has rock slide to help with Talon/Zard in TR and Volcanion has goggles + EP.
so youre telling me your only zard check is ohkoed by solarbeam
 
so youre telling me your only zard check is ohkoed by solarbeam
if TR isnt up I can rock slide it with terrak and KO it, if tr is up I can rock slide it with zonger or sleep it and volcanion is EVd to beat it.

e: oh and SB from the zard y set on the calc is a roll in terraks favour
 
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Roasted sQuash

Diancie @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 160 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Trick Room

Hitmontop @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Atk / 60 Def / 60 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Wide Guard
- Feint

Charizard (M) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 148 HP / 252 SpA / 108 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Protect

Venusaur (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Protect

Victini @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 224 HP / 176 Atk / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Trick Room
- Protect

Jacen (Sableye) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Quash
- Snarl
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect


The purpose of this team is to support a Charizard-Y/Venusaur sweep. I think Venusaur is a fine option for semi-room because Solarbeam hurts like a bitch, it beats Lando/Terrakion/Mega Diancie, and you can take advantage of the Sun being down and attack in TR. Despite the hate, I still believe Hitmontop is a fantastic partner to Zard-Y,and each of it's attacks compliments Zard-Y's potential (as well as my two TR setters'). Diancie is important to the team because it checks Talonflame (one of the largest threats to Zard-Y/Venusaur), Kangaskhan, Heatran, and Mega Diancie (all large threats to Sun Semiroom in general). It's a fucking beast that shrugs off attacks from Keldeo/Volcanion in the Sun, and can even 1v1 Landorus-T after Intimidate support. I initially built the team around Sableye and Zard-Y, after I discovered the power combo of Quash/Zard-Y. Quash is great speed control because it works in-and-out of Trick Room, and it allows Zard-Y to beat Landorus-T, Terrakion, and Thundurus. I also prefer to always have a 100% Kang answer on my teams. Snarl because it's annoying and fuck Sub Aegislash. I initially had Goggles Chandelure instead of Goggles Victini. I wanted a Goggles Fire-type because opposing Zard-Y/Venusaur combos can be really threatening to Sun Semiroom. Chandelure also set TR so it was a perfect fit to my team. Eventually, I realized Victini does everything Chandelure does, has way better bulk, can take advantage of the sun and fire off powerful V-Creates, and boosts the accuracy of all Zard-Y's/Venusaur's shitty accuracy moves.

As for the framework you created checkmater75, I feel like it fits your theory for the most part. I guess since Hitmontop counts as both your Landorus-T check and your fighting type, I had the extra room for Venusaur on my team.
 
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MajorBowman

wouldst thou like to live fergaliciously?
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
My team is a variation of what I used vs TFC in SPL7, I just put Hoopa over Rotom-W and changed Conkeldurr from Assault Vest to Life Orb since I had Trick Room. I think the most trouble the team has is actually other Charizard, my only fire resist is my own Charizard. This Landorus is AV so it can take a fire attack from Timid Zard and KO with Rock Slide, but Intimidate/Wide Guard make that hard. I know against TFC I used Stone Edge, I think I switched to Rock Slide vs Kamikaze in DPL though. Kyurem has Fusion Bolt, and I think my spread OHKOs 4HP Zard but I don't remember for sure. Diancie might look kinda threatening but Scarf Iron Head Kyurem OHKOs, Aegislash is a great answer, and I'm pretty sure Life Orb Iron Fist Hammer Arm just deletes it if TR is up. The Hoopa always survives Moonblast from the default Diancie spread in the calc so getting TR up usually isn't terribly hard. I used D O U B L E G O G G L E S (Hoopa/Aegislash) because having Trick Room up and just losing to Amoonguss isn't fun. Also I didn't have a grass type to switch in to sleep so I figured it would help. Aegislash obviously has Wide Guard, nothing special there. Lando checks were +Speed Scarf Kyurem and I guess Conkeldurr, which still OHKO's lando at -2 (lol), and then my own Lando for Intimidate. Zard can take a -1 Rock Slide and roast it with Overheat, and if Trick Room is up everything can do some pretty good damage to it. Like you covered, I really like Fighting types with Charizard since they typically beat everything that's going to run Rock Slide and threaten Kang/Heatran a lot. Talon isn't super fun to play against with this team but it isn't that bad, Intimidate keeps its damage at bay and everything can hit it hard enough to KO after some recoil damage.
 

TheFourthChaser

#TimeForChange
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
Dude fuck your Double Goggles forreal.

I don't usually think of building in terms of framework, it's generally just what I think is a good idea to use + what I actually want to use. So while the process may not differ much it's kinda odd for me to apply these labels. It's worth noting this team was built with Zach in mind but I think it turned out generally pretty solid.

I'd wanted to use ErupTran the entire season and it seemed like the perfect opportunity in semis. I slapped on Zard / Goggles Rachi / Tran as it provided everything I wanted for the purpose of doing work with Tran: Sun, TR, redirection, and Helping Hand. Zard itself works just fine under TR so I didn't feel like I had a "speed conflict" on this team and Jirachi wasn't a TR user one thinks about from Team Preview the same way one would look at something like Cresselia. Lando was the next slot I chose as it applies pressure to Diancie and is one of the best answers (unfortunately) to opposing Lando, Scarf gave me a fast option for when TR was down. Conkeldurr was one of the best members of the team due to the ability to thrive in TR and function without it, having Wide Guard to stop my core from being destroyed by common spread, immediately threaten Kang, and Sitrus + Iron Fist Drain Punch makes it live forever. Latios was the last member of the team and it was kind of an awkward addition since I felt I had already achieved most of what I needed in 5 slots. While I actually considered Venusaur, I don't think it's very good in the current metagame and it seemed like an inferior choice to Latios who offered Levitate and the ability to outpace and OHKO annoying things like Hydreigon and Keldeo. Latios being so fast distracted away from the idea of TR as well, which allowed for the team to be more effective in it's first appearance. Latios' 4th slot was HP Ground but I would now consider Tailwind just for the last ditch speed.
 

Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor
Unfortunately Full TR hasn't really been being used so much so don't have as many teams to pick from as I would like... but here goes!

I tried to pick a very diverse set of teams so let's see how it turns out
----

Stratos HailRoom


Croven & Yoda2798's Gothitelle FullRoom


KyleCole's GardeRoom

Checkmater's CamelSylv Trick Room


1: Amoonguss Hard-Stop
For Trick Room teams, Amoonguss represents a huge threat to both setup and sweep due to its low speed and Spore.
2: Second Amoonguss Check, Soft Dragon Check
While not as strong of a check, this second slot serves to also prevent opposing Amoonguss from being an issue, threatening it heavily especially outside of Trick Room. While both slots 1 and 2 check Amoonguss, it can be said that this second slot is more of a heavy deterrent to Amoonguss leads and switchins.
3: Bisharp+Keldeo Check and Kangaskhan Check
A Bisharp+Keldeo lead from a HO team tends to be very threatening to unprepared Fullroom teams. A combination of Quick Guard and Defiant, and powerful physical Dark coverage means that Scrafty either has to play a prediction game (where the opponent's worst case scenario is to get one KO on Scrafty at the expense of Trick Room being setup) or avoid the two altogether. Amoonguss redirects both, Talonflame threatens both while also having offensive initiative, Jellicent is untouched by Keldeo while also possessing Colbur Berry, and Conkeldurr's Mach Punch let it priority KO Bisharp while also easily threatening Keldeo under Trick Room.
4: Steels check and Intimidate
Bulky Steels are one of the best options for stalling Trick Room, and tend to be everywhere. Thus, Trick Room teams should pack checks (water types that can threaten them, Dark coverage, Ground coverage, Porygon's excellent bulk and Ghost-immunity, Fire-types) to these annoyances. Intimidate is also crucial on TR teams for giving partners room to breathe against physical attackers such as Kangaskhan and Talonflame.
5: Second Steels check
6: Dragon switchin/slayer

Dragon-types often find it very easy to come in on opposing elemental coverage and stall out Trick Room. Having at least 2 ways to actively stop opposing Dragon-types from stalling TR turns helps teams greatly. Stratos' Porygon2, while extremely bulky, isn't as active of a check (Blizzard though), but his first slot features Abomasnow, a potent dragon slayer.

While the teams are very diverse, they can generally be categorized into these roles. Most of them are pretty intuitive (and explained in rather beginner terms above) but it's there are a few interesting things to note. First, there are almost no steels, as these typically struggle against hard-hitters and Fire/Ground types that TR hates dealing with. Also, some teams sport 2 defensive setters, a mix of both, or both offensive setters (KyleCole's team) but this lack of offense or lack of defense is made up for in other partners. When building Full Trick Room, lack of "good options" (only real fake out is Kang and scrafty, very few strong AND slow mons) creates a lot of room for creativity, but a general theme can be seen across these different team compositions.

Trick Room Threatlist:
  1. Talonflame
  2. Powerful Spread attackers (Charizard Y, Landorus-T, Pixilate Hyper Voice etc.)
  3. Amoonguss (specifically in combination with Azumarill and Subtran)
  4. Aegislash
  5. Bisharp Keldeo
  6. Taunt (strong setters basically)
  7. Kangaskhan in general (specifically Kang+Taunt or Kang+Spore or Kang +Serene Grace)
  8. Hoopa-U/Bisharp + Fake Out/Redirection/Serene Grace Flinch
  9. Bulky Pokemon that can sit through Trick Room (Mega Venusaur, Suicune, Jirachi, Togekiss, Cresselia, Dragons etc.)
 
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Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor
AAAAAHHHHHH KANGASKHAN FRAMEWORK
Note that Kang+Aegis was rather rare, but I am thinking about making a separate framework for it because it's a very different mold, that, while it can be fitted to this framework it isn't a perfect fit and not quite exactly similar. I'll see if I can find enough teams for it.

----------------------
Memoric's Tailwind Offense

Stax's Kangaskhan SemiRoom

Qsns' Kangaskhan Hyper Offense


Stratos' Kangaskhan Balance

CheckRoom



1: Kangaskhan

Mega Kangaskhan is practically the face of the doubles meta, presenting a huge threat but also having significant drawbacks, many of which have to be supplemented by its teams. Overall, Kangaskhan teams tend to be more balance-oriented, able to switch in for Kangaskhan in sticky situations (as it lacks Protect and high speed) while dealing with many common threats Kangaskhan hates to pave the way.
2: Aegislash/Jirachi Check, Fire Resist and Sun Check
Kangaskhan often struggles with these steels, as they can play around Kangaskhan's normal methods of hitting opposing Steel-Types. In addition, this slot also functions as a Fire resist and a Talonflame/Sun check to varying degrees of effectiveness.
3: Psychic-Type: Amoonguss, Kyurem-Black, Soft Fighting-Types Check
Amoonguss along with opposing Intimidate represents a serious problem to Kangaskhan, being able to redirect and sleep it and then recover the HP back, cycling itself and Intimidate at the same time. This slot puts a stop to that. In addition, while Kangaskhan itself isn't particularly threatened by Kyurem-Black, its compositions frequently leave it vulnerable to Kyube (LandoT, Thundurus, Heatran, Amoonguss, all common Kangaskhan partners that struggle against Kyurem-Black), necessitating a check to prevent Kyube from subbing and destroying these more balance-centric teams. Fighting types such as Terrakion also heavily threaten the first two slots, and running a Psychic-Type helps as a switchin and a way of KO'ing opposing Fighting-Types.
4: LandoT Switchin/Check, Soft Kangaskhan switchin
Pretty straightforward. Bringing in your Kangaskhan at the same time as opposing LandoT hampers Kangaskhan as it gets Intimidated, softening its damage considerably. These options help to inhibit opposing Landorus-Therian and prevent it from doing too much. Most choices in this slot can switch into opposing Kangaskhan. While suicune takes Kangaskhan on poorly, Memoric's team features Breloom in the 5th slot.
5: Keldeo Killer, Trick Room Check, Soft Rain Check
Keldeo is an obvious high-tier threat to Kangaskhan that can be KO'd by this slot, while it also functions to inhibits Trick Room and Rain to varying degrees of success. It should be noted that most all of these teams can get away with having both Heatran and Landorus-Therian due to Kangaskhan's intrinsically good Rain matchup. Kangaskhan is also relatively good against Trick Room but functions better to support a partner that does well against Trick Room using its own Fake Out, as lacking Protect can hold it back significantly.
6: Mega Diancie Check, Kangaskhan Check
Mega Diancie resists all of Kangaskhan's coverage while Diamond-Storm boosting on it very well, necessitating team members dedicated to dealing with it. Landorus-Therian, Aegislash/Jirachi, and bulky Waters all do this pretty well, though it should be noted that LandoT cannot KO Diancie after a defense boost, while Aegislash is forced to position awkwardly with Stance Change. Opposing Kangaskhan can also present an issue to slower, more balance-oriented teams, so Kangaskhan checks and switchins are vital. Qsns' more offensively focused team uses Jirachi, which is a more active counter to Kangaskhan on the field, helping its frail teammates, whereas teams that are better suited for absorbing hits utilize burn or Intimidate here.

Some notes:
-Steel, Fire, Psychic, Intimidate, are all staples
-Anything that's not FullRoom has a LandoT: helps immensely vs Diancie and opposing Kangaskhan while being very versatile as a pivot.

Memoric's Latios is Tailwind, since he has Breloom which appreciates the Tailwind support. On the other hand, Stratos uses Recover to give more staying power, and also to better function as a Fire resist, while Amoonguss does not benefit from Tailwind support like Breloom does.

Kyurem-Black seems rather unpopular... Rain checks aren't a necessity (one of Kyube's biggest draws) and Kyube has the worst Sun matchup of all the dragons, maybe? Kyube also compounds Fighting-Type weaknesses, to an extent. Hydreigon does the same thing, but Qsns gets away with it by running two Psychic-Types, LandoT, and Talonflame. Hydreigon is also notably better at dealing with opposing Aegislash.
 

Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor

"I'd fuck Mega Diancie" - Keith

Art Source
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KyleCole Mega Diancie

Deoxys Speed Lol & Checkmater Mega Diancie

Sam Mega Diancie Rain

Vinc2612 Mega Diancie

Stratos Mega Diancie + Volcarona


1: Diancie
In the current meta, Diancie-Mega is a huge threat. It's got good matchups against the numerous dragons, flying types, and three musketeers along with a great speed tier. However it tends to struggle against top tier threats such as Aegislash and Landorus-Therian, while also having difficulties with bulky Grass types and Water-types in general (especially rain).

2: Fire-type
As Stratos notes, "a strong fire beats almost every single Diancie check" by having good matchups vs bulky steels such as Aegislash and Ferrothorn and filling the role of Amoonguss-killer while also checking sun to a varying degree. Most teams use Talonflame, but other options such as Blaziken and Volcarona function well too. It should be noted that, of the available Fire-Types, Talonflame is probably the most popular due to being the most splashable while also having the best Rain matchup and bringing a Ground Resist. Other Fire-types can work; it's just that these traits make Talonflame a near-staple.

3: Rain Check/Water Resist
Grass types, Dragons, or Thundurus all serve as good rain-checks and cover weaknesses to rain.

4: Second Aegis/Jirachi Check
Aegislash and Jirachi are big threats to Diancie-Mega compositions, meriting a second check alongside with the Fire type already included. This is most often fulfilled by Pokemon that can threaten Aegislash with super-effective moves; however, Water-types that, in the case of Keldeo, 2HKO without triggering Weakness Policy, or in the case of Assault Vest Ludicolo and Rotom-Wash, find it easy to switch into Aegislash and absorb its hits, beat Aegislash for Mega Diancie rather handily.

5: Landorus-Therian Check/Counter, Second Rain Check
Since Landorus-Therian can both lower Mega Diancie's Attack and threaten it with Earthquake, a Landorus-Therian check helps alleviate this issue. On these teams, this ranges from Amoonguss to Kyurem-Black or Rain in general to deal with Landorus-Therian. This slot also functions as a second rain check in all the teams.

6: Steel-type: Kangaskhan Check, Grass/Fairy Resist, Trick Room Check
Used to round out Dragon (typically one of the previous slots) Fairy (Diancie) Steel, Bulky Steel types help against Kangaskhan-Mega while also providing a Fairy resist and Grass resist. Aegis, Ferrothorn, and Jirachi each serve to greatly hamper Trick Room's effectiveness and serve as good Trick Room checks.

So the first thing that jumps out immediately is that many Mega Diancie teams use a really simple formula of 2 popular tri-cores that give the team strong defensive synergy (providing resistances for the other members weaknesses) and offensive coverage (several strong attacks of different type): Fairy/Steel/Dragon and Fire/Water/Grass. KyleCole's team doesn't have a Water-Type but it utilizes Kyurem-Black which switches into many of the Pokemon a Water-type would help with.

------------
shaian kamikaze17 Stratos
KyleCole
deoxys speed
SamVGC
Vinc2612

also for future ease of access since I find myself just running to these threads when I remember a team that I wanted to grab I'm just putting the links here for both my and anyone who wants to write a frameworks' convenience
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/dpl-usage-stats-replays.3570266/
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/teams-from-spl-7-doubles.3562920/
 
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BIG FLOWER TIME BITCHEZ


Hashtag Big Flower: RBY


Hashtag Big Flower: Diamond in the Rough

Hashtag Big Flower: Diamond in the Bluff (this is the same team as before with surprise trick room)


Hashtag Big Flower: the one thats just kangstuffs

SPLOT ONE.
big flower goes here. duh

SPLOP TWO.
now is the part of teambuilding where you need a blastoise. hes a total baller and he looks really cool with those cannons on his back. S rank pick for sure.
as you can see the only team that doesnt have a blastoise has to have two water types to make up for their being a baddy. unacceptable.

PART THREE.
time to put talonflame on the team, idiot. talonflame is the strongest and best fire type in the metagame of smogon doubles as you can see the only team that doesnt have talonflame has to have two fire types because you need two other fire types to add up to one talonflame.

FOUR.
Steel pivot. you can probably imagine why a team would need one of these so i'm not going to insult you by describing it. mostly i dont feel like describing it

NUMBER FIVE.
fake out. big flower is kind of a pussy when it comes to taking damage so you needa buy it free turns so it can get loads of kills

THE LAST ONE:
shrug filler i guess
 

Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor

Memoric SemiRoom Mega Gengar


Blood Totem Mega Gengar Rain Offense

Checkmater Mega Gengar Bunny Hyper Offense

Nido-Rus Balanced Mega Gengar

KyleCole Mega Gengar FullRoom

1: Mega Gengar

Mega Gengar contrasts from other powerhouse megas (Kangaskhan, Charizard Y, Diancie, Gardevoir) in that its main contribution to a team is support and speed, rather than sheer power. In particular, fast Will-O-Wisp combined with Shadow Tag makes Gengar-Mega a potent Kangaskhan Check. In addition, teams utilizing Mega Gengar can lean on it to cover Fairy weakenesses, either letting them skip Steel- or Fire-Types or complement especially Fairy-weak compositions.
2: Water-Type
Strong Waters complement Gengar's weaknesses almost perfectly, beating opposing steels handily while also dealing with Landorus-Therian.
3: Fire Type/Sun Check
So here most teams run a Fire-Type to deal with opposing Sun teams, but Nido-Rus' team already has a Volcanion. While Volcanion can absorb Heat Waves, it's not as good at checking Char Y as other Fires and therefore requires more support to deal with opposing Charizard.
4: Rain Check/Water Resist
Gengar lacks resists to elemental coverage and this includes issues with Rain, so rain checks and rain switchins are important key aspects of Gengar teams. While Cresselia isn't the best at dealing with Rain, it does provide crucial speed control and Memoric's other members (Hydreigon, Ferrothorn) are extremely well adapted to dealing with Rain.
5: Bulky Pivot / Kangaskhan Switchin
Bulky Intimidate/Steels that can pivot are complemented by Mega Gengar's ability to trap physical attackers such as Kangaskhan
6: Steels Check
Both Heatran and Aegislash are rather difficult to deal with for Gengar teams, thus necessitating more checks to these threats

General Teambuilding Checklist:
-Water type
-Fire Type
-At least 2 Sun checks
-3/more Aegislash Checks
-Intimidate
-1-2 Kangaskhan switchins (other than Gengar)
-Every team but the KyleCole's FullRoom team has a Dragon - Gengar deals with opposing Fairy types (including Mega Gardevoir, unlike the other poison type in the meta, Amoonguss) very well
-2/more LandoT hard-stops
-At least 2 T-Wave switchins/Thundurus Checks
 
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kaori

Fully Automated Gay Space Communism
is a Top Tiering Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
MEGA GARDE FRAMEWORK WOW



Art Source

I am pretty set in what I think a Gardevoir team needs and I'm not a big fan of most of the old teams so here's a bunch of new ones, including one that I've only laddered with but adds a nice look into the archetpye. Accepting any team suggestions that have had tour success.

Sam Gardevoir Trick Room

Sam Gardevoir Balance

Dawg Gardevoir Trick Room

Sam Gardevoir Rain

LERU's Gardevoir Tailwind Balance

1: Mega Gardevoir
Obviously the first step in a successful Mega Gardevoir team is the Gardevoir. The set on Garde can range from Timid Encore to slow, bulky Trick Room setter.
2: Landorus-T / Intimidate
The second slot on the team should be something to compensate for Gardevoir's lack of physical bulk. Landorus-Therian is the most commonly used Intimidate Pokemon here, but Scrafty is a worthwhile choice on some builds.
3: Steel Type
Steel type adds Kangaskhan switchins and help solidify the team. Heatran is most commonly used, Aegislash offers Wide Guard support on more niche teams or ones with a fire type, and even Bronzong has seen some usage.
4: Speed Control/Electric Type
Gardevoir is able to provide its own speed control through Trick Room or Icy Wind, but additional suport is usually required. Thundurus and Rotom-Wash are most commonly seen due to the synergy with Landorus.
5: Redrection/Team Support
Gardevoir appreciates having a redirector in order to spam Pixilate Hyper Voice more effectively, so Amoonguss and Jirachi are commonly seen on Gardevoir teams. Politoed is obviously only used on Rain teams, but Helping Hand is a valuable move, boosting Gardevoir's Hyper Voice even further.
6: Additional Sweeper
Finally, Gardevoir appreciates another means of applying pressure, allowing yourself to control the flow of the match and position yourself properly. In addition to those listed here, Volcanion is a very strong Pokemon in this role on Gardevoir teams.

hopefully this is sufficient because I can't take many more checkmater reminders to make this
 
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Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor
fucking Smogon deleted my post when I was halfway through it and took a break aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

owell it's rewritten now

Kangaskhan + Aegislash Framework

Qsns Kangaskhan Tailwind Offense

Memoric Kangaskhan Balance

N10siT Kangaskhan Balance

Braverius Kangaskhan Azumarill Offense



1: Mega Kangaskhan
Mega Kangaskhan is practically the face of the doubles meta, presenting a huge threat but also having significant drawbacks, many of which have to be supplemented by its teams. Overall, Kangaskhan teams tend to be more balance-oriented, able to switch in for Kangaskhan in sticky situations (as it lacks Protect and high speed) while dealing with many common threats Kangaskhan hates to pave the way.
2: Aegislash
So part of the purpose of this frameworks is exploring how running Kangaskhan + Aegislash instead of some other steel (ie Heatran) changes the team-building process. Aegislash provides a strong Faerie-types counter while also beating Trick Room rather handily. In addition, Aegislash's Ghost typing allows it to function as a Fighting-types counter, unlike other Steel-types. On the other hand, Aegislash can make Keldeo more difficult to deal with and also leave a team vulnerable to opposing Fire-types and Sun.
3: Offensive Ground-Type: Thundurus, Steels, Sun Check.
4: Sun Check, Fighting Resist/Keldeo Counter, Ground Immunity
This slot and the next one are both focused on dealing with opposing Keldeo, while slot 4 also beats Mega Charizard-Y. This team member also functions as a Ground immunity for the team's ground type but also against opposing Ground-types. In some sense, slot 4 can be thought of as a "'steels check' check", doing extremely well against traditional counters to Aegislash.
5: Second Fighting Check
Three out of the four options here resist Fighting while Rotom-Wash deals with all Fighting-types rather well (being able to burn physical Fighting-types and use Thunderbolt Keldeo).
6: Water Resist, Heatran/LandoT Check

Some notes on differences from Kangaskhan without Aegislash:

Well the first thing that comes to mind is the lack of a Psychic-type in the other Kangaskhan framework. In addition, Jirachi and Diancie checks aren't as much of a deal due to having Aegislash to deal with both of these threats. On the other hand, Kangaskhan+Aegis tends to cram as many Keldeo checks as it can get its hands on while still having a Fire-type, which almost necessitates Talonflame.
 
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Teams with Kyurem-B

I was just perusing through the Frameworks, and noticed that all Kyurem-B teams have the following, and I thought that it was quite interesting. Sorry if you think it's irrelevant, but I received a green light to post it.

Stratos's Mega Diancie + Volcarona



MajorBowman's Sun SemiRoom



Arcticblast's Mega Venusaur



Finally's Mega Metagross



Nido-Rus's Balanced Mega Gengar



1: Kyurem-Black
2: Steel Type (1st Fairy Counter)

There is no question that Kyurem would be in trouble when facing a Fairy type or a faster Dragon type. Thus, there is no surprise that a Steel type would be in the same team. The most popular option, Aegislash, has immunity to Fighting types, and Ferrothorn discourages Fighting types from attacking it. (Note that no team with Kyurem has Jirachi.)
3: Landorus-T (1st Steel Counter)
Landorus-T is an all-around great Pokemon. Earthquake immunity, Intimidate, Kang / Lando-T / Mega Diancie / Zard / Talonflame check, etc. One team has Mega Diancie, which is just as useful for countering other Dragon, Dark, and Fighting types.
4: Fire Type (2nd Fairy Check / 2nd Steel Counter)
Fire types are important because most redirectors can wall Choice Kyurem-B. Having a Fire type really eases the issue, usually taking 1 (or 2 if they want) turns to eliminate them.
5. (2nd) Trick Room and Amoonguss Check / (2nd) Bulky or Immune Pivot
You can’t really go wrong with Amoonguss. Hoopa-U has Safety Goggles and very effective Psychic/Dark Type attacks, Mega Gengar shuts down and traps such threats, and Mega Venusaur performs just as excellent in Trick Room as it does outside of Trick Room.
6: Etc.
Somethings to note is that the majority has some ways to counter Mega Diancie, which can use either of its STAB moves to eliminate Kyurem. Others (Fighting types) are additional means of eliminating Steel types, specifically Bisharp since Landorus-T is a bad Mon to send out against it.
 
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Platinum God n1n1

the real n1n1
is a Tiering Contributor
Deoxys-Attack + Talonflame framework.
Very fun core I have been using lately.
Hashtag Kang

qsns Kang

Yellow Paint Kang

n1n1 Mawile


n1n1 Gyarados

n1n1 Manectric

1) Mega of your choice. If not mega Kangaskhan then have a Fake Out user somewhere else in your team such as Scrafty or Hariyama.

2) Deoxys-Attack + Talonflame. This is the Hyper Offense core. They hit hard and go fast. Good synergy as Talon can remove steel types and Deo-A can dishes out a ton/OHKOs to most water and electric types, and can OHKO Adamant Scarf Lando-T. Additionally this core is relatively decent against trick room, both with strong priority moves.

3) Kang and CharY counter. Preferably. All teams except Hashtag has Intimidate but Terrkaion is still one of the best Kang and CharY checks in the game. Both of the Scarftys are running a rock move.

4) Bulky Support. All of these support type mons are also running a status move. With Talon and Deo-A so frail it is important that half of your team has some decent bulk.

5) Bulky Attacker. You are free to choose what goes here but it should have some decent bulk along with good typing yet still be able to dish out serious damage.
 
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Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor
Ok so just to give an update

Up and coming frameworks:

Currently, I've got nothing on the "shit you need to do for this thread to make it good" checklist. Essentially, other than looking over the grammar/syntax/diction of all the descriptions and stuff, I feel pretty satisfied with the thread and the way it reflects the meta. I'm going to keep updating frameworks with old teams but, at the moment, there's no new frameworks or old frameworks that need updating that could be updated (note that Metagross is kinda outdated but no one's really been using it so can't do anything about it).

Addressing Kyube Framework and Deo-A Framework written by Test Bot and n1n1:

I'm probably not going to include these frameworks in the OP. While I greatly appreciate the effort put into helping out, there are a few issues. Mainly, both Kyube and Deo-A are on an all-time low as far as usage goes, and specifically for the Kyube framework several of those are Choice Scarf. As for Deo-A, I need good, competitive teams and my impressioni is that some of these haven't really been used that much. Also, I've been trying really hard to avoid "filler" roles as I feel that frameworks can generally be written such that a "filler" role isn't necessary. Another point of frameworks is to pass meta insights to new players (for example, when I was new I learned why Gengar was always paired with strong water-types from the framework's explanation), which I feel these are lacking, partially due to having filler roles.

Updated "General Teambuilding Checklist":

I've tried to update the teambuilding checklist after Qsns asked me about it and then I looked at it for a sec. Hopefully it looks a little better now.

No matter what kind of team you make, there are certain things that your Doubles OU team needs to have in order to function properly and succeed. Here are some very basic points to go over during team building to help you out. Remember that these are "at least this many" tips, nothing wrong with having 3 fire resists when the guideline only calls for 2!

• 2 Kangaskhan switchins OR 1 switchin and 1 check
• 1 Landorus-T switchin
• 2 ground immunities OR 1 ground immunity and 1 resist
• 2 Fire resists (Char Y + Venu check)
• 2 Water resists (Ludicolo + Politoed check)
• 1 rock resist
• 1 fairy resist (preferably resists Psychic as well)
• 1 sleep immunity
• 1 Kyurem B check (not weak to Terravolt Earth Power + Ice Beam), and no more than 1 Pokemon that cannot break Kyurem-B substitutes (2 if you have Pixilate Hyper Voice)
• 1 check for each of these steels (Aegislash/Ferrothorn/Heatran)
• 2 of speed control/priority/scarf
• 2 different forms of Trick Room check (Taunt/Spore/TR user/Strong Dark/Ghost/Fake Out/Substitute user)
• 1 CM Cress check
• 1 of Heat Wave, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Pixilate + Hyper Voice (spread)
• 1 check to Azumarill + Amoonguss


While I'm at it, I might as well pester some people for importables, namely

Braverius I need your Kang Azu Talon Aegis team importable, I might've lost this on accident idk
SamVGC gimme your venu team I know I lost it but I still need it so shrug
TheFourthChaser I need your semiroom Sun importable
 
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