SM Doubles OU Oceans Deep

Mizuhime

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?
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Art by goddess herself, PrincessofMusic

"We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness."

I’ll start by saying that this will be the final RMT I ever write on Smogon and will be a farewell of sorts to frequently participating in tournaments. I love this community and i’m not leaving, but a combination of work and life has made it very hard to find the time and the want to participate frequently in tournaments. I come online now and just want to hang out, and find myself in a position where I would rather host or manage than play. This RMT is nothing more to say that and also share one of the favourite teams i’ve even built, sadly I had to WAIT FOREVER for Abomasnow to be released.

Now a small introduction to the team.

Throughout the history of my playing career two things have been very known about my play style. First and foremost, i’ve always had an obsession with weather centralized teams, and second, i’ve always found Trick Room to be one of the most reliable team formats within any Doubles meta game. At the release of SM I fell immediately in love with 2 Pokemon, the first being Mimikyu, not only for it’s adorable design but ability to set Trick Room pretty much 100% every game, and the second being Araquanid, because it’s a bad ass water-type that can’t be burned and hits like a truck. Early in the developing stages of the tier I created many teams featuring the both but always found myself missing a special attacker that wasn’t named Heatran and that didn't struggled with getting past Pokemon like Mega Salamence and Tapu Fini. I knew before too long that Abomasnow would be released, it was just a matter of when. Abomasnow actually fit perfectly with the two, forming a deadly offensive duo with Araquanid that covered each other perfectly. Everything one can’t really damage the other is more than able to.

One of my favourite aspects of this team is the creativity within the build, i've opted for some Pokemon that are viewed as untraditional within the current meta and created a team that focuses on dealing as much damage as possible within the shortest amount of time while other teams focus on setting up a Snorlax and winning the game that way. Anyone who knows me can attest to the value i've put on creative builds and how i've always tried to stray away from the norm, so having a team that succeeds and doesn't need to use the 4 Pokemon everyone else uses has always been something I strive for in my builds.

Now on to the good stuff.

The team


@ Mental Herb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 248 HP | 252 Atk | 8 SpDef
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Brave

Play Rough | Shadow Claw | Trick Room | Protect

Mimikyu has been my favourite Pokemon ever since it was introduced before SM's release, something about a spooky ghost that wants to be loved just hits home for me. It also has, what we can essentially call a free substitute to start the battle with. Disguise, in combination with ghost-type and a Mental Herb basically means free Trick Room assuming you don't throw the game out of the Window on turn 1.

Moves are straight forward, first you need Trick Room, second you need Protect. Attacking moves are delegated to the most power STAB attacks that it has access too on the physical side. The Fairy-type stab moves help Trick Room a fair bit against monsters that roam the meta like Hoopa Unbound, which directly threats Snorlax by stealing his poor item.


@ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 248 HP | 252 Atk | 8 SpDef
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Brave

Liquidation | Leech Life | Wide Guard | Protect

The first member of the offensive core. Araquanid has proven to be a little offensive powerhouse who can't be burned and doesn't care about the number 1 intimidate user in the tier, a beautiful combination. Water Bubble paired with a fantastic offensive typing, great natural bulk and the ability to use a z move makes Araquanid one of the best Trick Room Pokemon in the game.

Liquidation is the only offensive move you really find yourself using. Araq's attack isn't stellar without the boost from Water Bubble. Leech Life despite it's boost this generation is only used against frail psychics and Pokemon that at 4x weak to it like Hoopa. Wide Guard is a fantastic support option for the Trick Room setters that want to avoid flinches from Rock Slide and for the members of the team that want to avoid Super Effective damage from things like Earthquake and Heat Wave.


@ Abomasnowite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 248 HP | 8 Atk | 252 SpA
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Quiet

Blizzard | Giga Drain | Ice Shard | Protect

The second part of the offensive core is the one who hits on the special side, obviously. Not much has to be said about Abomasnow as a choice, it fits perfectly on Trick Room teams due to the slow speed stat and natural bulk and has been one of my go-to mons since it's introduction back in gen 6, and even before then as regular Abomasnow in gen 5.

It's main job is to cover weaknesses that Araquanid can't power-through and it does that spectacularly. Spamming Blizzard in Hail and Giga Drain against bulky Waters is all the wonderful mon has to do. The one odd choice on this set is Ice Shard, seems like an odd choice for most cases considering the relevance of Psychic Terrain but it finds kills on a team that lacks priority for the most part. This move could be replaced with Hidden Power Fire to aid in the matchup vs Ferrothorn but that's up to the user of the team.



@ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 8 HP | 252 Atk | 124 Def | 124 SpDef
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Brave

Fake Out | Close Combat | Heavy Slam | Ice Punch


Another Pokemon that could be considered an "off meta choice" due to the relevance of Fairy-Types introduced in SM. Hariyama has always been another one of my favourite Pokemon to use on Trick Room oriented teams. A combination of natural bulk, priority, and guts boosted attacks that put the opponent on the defensive in the first couple turns of the battle has been one of my favourite aspects of using Hariyama time and time again.

Fake Out is obvious, pretty much all Trick Room teams need it. Close Combat and Ice Punch are the most spammable attacks Hari can use and cover a fair amount of the meta for neutral damage. Heavy Slam was the last choice for this set, with the large amount of Fairies and Haryiamas lack of way to hit them Heavy Slam gets the job done vs all but Fini.



@ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP | 252 Atk | 8 Def
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Brave

Diamond Storm | Moonblast | Trick Room | Protect


Diancie as a Pokemon was chosen because this is a Trick Room team after all and only had a single setter up to this point. Wanting to forgo a traditional bulky setter like Cresselia, I decided to try a set i've never used in Weakness Policy Diancie. Once WP gets activated Diancie becomes the immediate must kill Pokemon and opens a lot of space for the more traditional offensive Pokemon to do their thing.

Diamond Storm received a buff this gen, an unneeded buff at that. It's the most spammable move on the team for obvious reasons. Moonblast helps cover Diancie when the opponent is threatening to use Wide Guard while Trick Room and Protect are obvious choices for a Trick Room team.



@ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 68 HP | 252 Atk | 108 Def | 80 SpDef
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Brave

Curse | Recycle | Double-Edge | High Horsepower

Admittedly, by this point of the team I wasn't sure on what to do with the final slot, but saw what Snorlax has been and is still doing for other people. The difference I find is other teams focus on setting up a sweep with Snorlax and having him become the star of the show, my team focuses on just breaking the opponent to the point where they can't do anything and if Snorlax has to come out, then so be it.

Some consider Snorlax bannable in the current meta due to this set, or similar sets. Curse Recycle and Berry of choice is extremely strong, and lets Snorlax live everything if the opponent isn't ready for it. I opted for Double-Edge as the main attacking move on the set to open things up quicker than Return, Similar to GSC Curse Sets. High Horsepower is just coverage for Tapu Koko and things that are weak to it like Heatran and what not.

Mimikyu @ Mental Herb
Ability: Disguise
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Play Rough
- Trick Room
- Shadow Claw
- Protect

Abomasnow-Mega @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Ice Shard
- Protect

Araquanid @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Bubble
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Wide Guard
- Protect

Snorlax @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Curse
- Recycle
- Double-Edge
- High Horsepower

Diancie @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Trick Room
- Protect

Hariyama @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Def / 124 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Heavy Slam
- Ice Punch


Final Thoughts & Shoutouts

Throughout my career i've made a lot of friends & sadly burned just as many bridges. Doubles has always been my favourite tier simply due to the creativity building offers. Nothing has ever felt better in Pokemon than a team that just works and works super well together. The highest compliment i've ever received for my building was that they feel like Doubles teams. Although a fair amount of my builds are similar in the sense they're very offensive oriented and generally have some sort of weather move on them so I can't really talk too much about creativity, i'll let Level 51 hold that candle.

For Shoutouts ill keep it short and sweet.

To the 3 people who have always stuck by me on Smogon Funkasaurus McMeghan and BKC, you all don't really know how much you mean to me and if coming to this site everyday means I get to talk to you guys still, it's worth.

To the old guard of Doubles, Pocket Level 51 Laga Biosci Matt Arcticblast kamikaze Memoric and others. Thank you for providing me with top level competition over the many years, letting me lead this tier at one point, and making the doubles chat a welcoming place to come and hangout.

The new guard of doubles, MajorBowman Kaori Frania Stax and many more i've never really spoken too. Fuck you guys are good at this game, thank you for taking over the competition and bringing the level of play much higher than it's been before.

Special shoutout to stratos, even out of hatred you challenged me on everything and it helped me grow as a person and a player.

The circle jerk group: Hard feelings and lost friends, no love lost though.

Finally a last special shoutout to one of my favourite people on the site and my favourite artist princessofmusic. You always believed in me, and you've always spoke positive and highly of me. We haven't talked much, or for long but I always hope the best for you and in everything you do. Having you create the beautiful art for this final RMT meant the world to me. My inbox always remains open for you no matter the hour.
 
Last edited:

Pocket

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Thank you for sharing this solid team, Mizuhime! TR teams need more love :heart:

I wouldn't change much of this team other than perhaps trying out Victini if you ever find Ferrothorn giving you problems. I prefer Bug Bite > Leech Life on Araquanid, since it has a lot more utility value.

Also I would optimize your Snorlax defensive spread. I suggest 68 HP / 108 Def / 80 SpD for increased overall bulk.

Hope you are lying and make more doubles RMT in the future ;)
 

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