WWII: Weather Wars in Doubles

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Introduction

While useful in singles formats, weather teams are far more threatening in the Doubles metagame. The ability to both subject your opponent to play under your desired weather and increase the potency of certain Pokémon makes weather-based cores a strong starting point for any team. Any weather—be it rain, hail, sun, or sand—can be utilized either offensively or defensively, and can quickly turn around a match if used appropriately. Activating useful abilities, powering up attacks, weakening opposing attacks, and buffing your own Pokémon are some of the amazing benefits of building around a weather-based core. Additionally, weather teams can be used to check other weather teams and can lead to some pretty tricky mind games.

Let it Rain

The first weather we're going to examine is rain. Politoed is the most prominent rain setter in the metagame, as it is the only Pokémon in Doubles that can automatically set up rain with Drizzle. Other prominent Rain Dance users include Kingdra and Ludicolo, which can utilize Swift Swim to outrun most of the metagame. A basic rain team consists of Politoed, a Grass-type, a check to Mega Charizard Y, a bulky Steel-type, an Intimidate user, and a wildcard. Each of these serve a specific goal in allowing a rain team to function effectively.

The first part of any rain team is the weather setter and in most cases, is Politoed, which is able to set up rain, and its all-around decent stats allow it to serve as either an offensive threat that beats opposing Dragon-, Fire-, and Ground-types or a defensive one that utilizes Encore, Helping Hand, and Perish Song. As Politoed is the primary rain setter, it is best used conservatively to ensure it can keep the weather favorable to your team on the field.

Next up is the Grass-type, which will serve as a switch-in to opposing Water-types, which rain teams have a hard time beating, and will also have an easier time against Fire-types thanks to the weakened power of Fire-type moves under rain. Grass-types are able to beat opposing Water-types, most notably Rotom-W. Another added benefit is being able to ignore Rage Powder users, which could otherwise redirect your attacks. Ludicolo is an excellent option for this role, as it can utilize the fastest Fake Out in the game under rain and a strong Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Giga Drain to deal heavy damage to a large portion of the metagame.

The next teamslot is used to check Mega Charizard Y and is most commonly served by a fast Electric-type; however, any Pokémon that can beat it one-on-one can be used. Good options for this role include Thundurus-T and Mega Manectric, although Raikou and Zapdos work as well. Electric-types can make use of the rain to fire off a perfectly accurate Thunder, and they also enjoy the fact that a standard rain core poses a huge threat to Ground-types, which usually force them out. Alternatively, if you do not want to use an Electric-type, Terrakion, Garchomp, and Landorus can be used as well, as they can all beat Mega Charizard Y with ease.

Next up is a Steel-type, which is used as a bulky counterbalance to a typical rain team's relatively frail and fast core. Being able to exploit the reduced power of Fire-type moves in rain lets Steel-types have an easier time on the field and possessing a myriad of resistances to types such as Dragon, Poison, and Fairy also gives them a good defensive presence on rain teams. Scizor, Mawile, and Escavalier are all excellent options, as they can bring several things to the table that rain teams enjoy, such as a check to Fairy-types, something that can beat Grass-types, and reasonable bulk that is further boosted by the reduced power of Fire-type moves under rain.

The fifth teamslot is usually reserved for a Intimidate user to augment the team's bulk and allow Politoed in particular to become a defensive juggernaut. Pokémon such as Hitmontop, Landorus, and Scrafty work in this role, with Hitmontop and Scrafty being able to use Fake Out and Landorus being a strong Choice Scarf user that can beat Electric-types with ease.

The sixth teamslot is a wildcard that can be used to patch up any holes the team might have. If your team have a specific weakness that needs patching up, this is the space to do so. If you find your team excels under certain conditions, then you can use this slot to add on to that. Perhaps you want to add a secondary rain setter? If so, this slot can be used to do that. The options here are limitless and can be used to add a unique spin on your team.

Example of a Three Pokémon Rain Core

OH! Let it Shine

Next up is sun, a very potent weather that allows Mega Charizard Y to inflict large amounts of damage to almost every Pokémon in the tier with extremely powerful Fire-type moves. It can also fend off most Water-types, notably Rotom-W, slower Ground-types, and Rock-types with Solar Beam. Mega Charizard Y is also generally an excellent switch-in to other weather teams, as it can heavily damage other weather setters, if not OHKO them. Another perk of using Mega Charizard Y is its ability to hold off on Mega Evolving until the most opportune time and to bluff being a Mega Charizard X.

After Mega Charizard Y, the next component of a sun team is something that can easily handle opposing Fire-types (mainly Heatran) and something that can dispose of Rock-types. Like rain teams, each of these core components are needed to keep the weather under control and in your favour. The difference, though, is that the primary members of a sun team also serve to mitigate Mega Charizard Y's weaknesses. Sun offense also requires a significant amount of role condensation, as it needs to accomplish more in order to be effective.

Firstly, one needs something that can beat Fire-types to mitigate your opponent's ability to benefit from your weather and remove Fire-types, which trouble Mega Charizard Y. Fast Rock-, Ground-, and Dragon-types, such as Garchomp, Terrakion, Landorus, and Aerodactyl, all fit this role well, though Aerodactyl struggles against Heatran, which is easily the biggest Fire-type counter to Mega Charizard Y.

Next up on the list is the Rock-type check. Being able to beat Rock-types is essential on a sun team, as Mega Charizard Y simply cannot handle a Rock-type attack due to its 4x weakness to Rock. Landorus, Terrakion, and Garchomp all work incredibly well in this role. A great example of a Rock-type counter is Venusaur, which is a prominent Chlorophyll user and can work efficiently against both rain teams and opposing Rock- and Ground-types. Another reason Venusaur is just a natural fit on sun offense is because it fulfills the next great need of a sun team, which is being able to counter and beat common rain cores.

The next objective of a sun team is to be able to beat Dragon-types, which resist Mega Charizard Y's Fire-type moves. Fast Dragon-types, such as Latios and Latios, and Ice-types, such as Mamoswine and Weavile, are all great fits. It is important to consider how the Pokémon; that fills this role fits in with the other Pokémon in your team; for instance, using both Weavile and Mega Charizard Y gives your team extra coverage against Pokémon such as Terrakion and Heatran and is appreciated. The extra condensation involved in building with sun makes typing synergy more critical than it is for rain teams.

Next up is a Trick Room counter, as sun tends to be a fast and frail archetype that can be broken down with ease by Trick Room. This is another area where Venusaur can shine, as its access to Sleep Powder gives it a decent method of stopping common Trick Room setters. Other Pokémon such as Bisharp and Aegislash also work well in this role; they can also be used to beat Rock-types. The perks of using each of these options once again illustrates the need to condense roles on sun teams, as each of them is used to cover Rock-types but also has to be balanced, with increased support to deal with Fire-types.

Lastly, an Intimidate user is needed in order to compensate for the general frailty of sun teams. Landorus-T, Hitmontop, and Scrafty are the best Intimidate users, as they can also fulfill other roles on the team. Landorus-T is an amazing option in this role, as it can be used to check Rock- and Fire-types, essentially condensing three roles into one. Hitmontop and Scrafty both work against Rock-types, and Scrafty is also an excellent option in and against Trick Room. Having such a tight budget with the Pokémon on a sun team isn't meant to discourage creativity, as being able to condense roles isn't so much of a hindrance as it is an incentive to maximize efficiency.

Example of a Three Pokémon Sun Core

Darude - Sandstorm

The third weather we're looking at is sand, which has been a mainstay of competitive battles since ADV and the introduction of Sand Stream. The most notable sand setter is Tyranitar, which also was the first non-legendary Pokémon to be able to summon weather through an ability. A typical sand team revolves around Tyranitar setting up sand. However, unlike previous generations, Tyranitar finds itself to be a rather underwhelming Pokémon in XY Doubles. Tyranitar's key weaknesses to several common types, most notably Ground, Fighting, Steel, and Fairy, mean it has to be played carefully, and sand teams are typically built much like sun is with Mega Charizard Y: to mitigate Tyranitar's weaknesses.

After Tyranitar, the next teamslot is used to remove both Steel- and Rock-types from the opposing tea and is most commonly filled by Excadrill, which can utilize sand to break through teams with its great Speed thanks to its Sand Rush ability. One of the issues with using Excadrill, though, is that its moves and typing does not mesh well with Tyranitar. They both find themselves weak to Fighting, Ground, and Water, types that are quite common in Doubles. Another option is Garchomp (both the base and Mega formes), which works well because it shares only a Fairy-type weakness with Tyranitar and is able to beat Mega Charizard Y outside of sand, which is something Excadrill can not do.

The third teamslot is reserved for an anti-rain or Water-type member to make sure the team isn't ill-prepared for weather wars. Pokémon that are immune to Ground-type moves, such as Rotom-W, Shaymin-S, and Gyarados, are even better for this role. Rotom-W can handle Politoed both in and out of rain and can cripple most common physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp or slow down fast Pokémon with Thunder Wave. Shaymin-S also has the benefit of being able to easily take care of Politoed; it also has an easy time with Fighting-, Ground-, and Rock-types, takes care of most frail sweepers, and can just be a nuisance with Seed Flare and Air Slash's high chances to flinch when boosted by Serene Grace. Gyarados provides Intimidate support and can either be an offensive threat or utilize its support set to allow more room for the main sweepers to operate in sand.

Next up is a Fighting-type counter, as common sand users are devastated by Fighting-types. Fast Psychic-types, such as Latios, Latias, and Gardevoir, and bulky Fairy- and Psychic-types, such as Sylveon and Cresselia, respectively, are all great choices for this teamslot. Latios and Latias also work particularly well against Pokémon commonly found on sun teams, such as Venusaur, Mega Charizard Y, and Terrakion, and have an immunity to Ground-type moves, allowing them to switch in on an Earthquake with ease.

The 5th slot is used as a means to be better prepared for physical hits, and is typically used to spread Intimidate or to redirect the foes' moves. If you opt for Intimidate, Pokémon such as Hitmontop, Scrafty, Salamence, and Landorus-T are all strong users of Intimidate that can also fulfill another one of the primary needs of the team. For redirection, the best options are typically Togekiss and Amoonguss, which can absorb common Fighting-type moves easily.

The last slot on the team is a wildcard that is, once again, used to patch up whatever else is needed. Noteworthy options for a wildcard are Pokémon that can trap and take out opposing weather setters or threats to Tyranitar, Wide Guard or Quick Guard users, speed control users, or offensive threats. Good examples include Mega Kangaskhan, which can soften up opposing teams in a flash and lets Excadrill clean up a lot easier late-game, Mega Gengar, which can be used in conjunction with a teammate to trap and dispose of opposing weather setters, and Thundurus, which can provide speed control with Thunder Wave and can also handle Mega Charizard Y and Politoed.

Example of a Three Pokémon Sand Core

Running the Cloud Factory

Another method of setting weather in the doubles format is through the use of moves such as Rain Dance and Sunny Day. Manual weather setting is a more unorthodox playstyle, though it can be used to great effect, being able to swing the course of a battle. Pokémon such as Thundurus, Latios, and Cresselia are able to make use of weather moves to help their teams function. The benefits of having a manual weather setter in Doubles is that it doesn't immediately show that your team is weather-based, allowing for the use of mind games to swing the momentum in your favour easily. Another important aspect of a manual weather setter is that you can disrupt your opponent's weather, temporarily rendering their playstyle useless. You can also use a manual weather setter as a backup in case your primary weather setter is either unable to safely switch in and set up weather, or if they have already been KOed. This provides a nice safety cushion that can allow you to play a bit more aggressively than normal.

The first manual weather setter we're going to discuss is Thundurus. Thundurus can use its Prankster ability to quickly remove an opponent's favourable weather condition, or to set a favourable weather on your own side. With Rain Dance, it can allow itself to fire off Thunder or it can use it to break a Tyranitar's sand or Mega Charizard Y's sun, effectively diminishing their effectiveness. Rain Dance Thundurus pairs well with Steel-types who appreciate having their Fire weakness patched up, and in turn can beat Rock-types, which threaten Thundurus.

Next up is Latios, which, when opting for a manual weather move, typically runs Sunny Day, as Latios already works quite effectively against rain teams. Latios can also use Sunny Day to partner with Heatran to quickly run through teams. This is especially useful against rain teams, which are weak to Dragon-types.

Lastly, weather setting with Cresselia is a lot more variant on the team around it. If you find your team weak to a particular weather or find that your team could benefit from a certain weather but don't have a slot for a weather setter, adding a weather option on Cresselia can be worthwhile. Trick Room Cresselia variants can run Sunny Day to partner with Eruption Heatran, similar to Sunny Day Latios, though Cresselia can definitely be used as a backup weather setter on sun teams. Cresselia has the bulk to be able to set weather effectively and partners well with several different Pokémon that can exploit various weather playstyles.

Overall, it should be remembered that weather teams don't revolve around simply setting the weather; they also have to play effectively against other weather teams and be effective without weather. Manual weather setters allow for a flexible style of play, as they become variable team options rather than core functions and, as such, are great additions to any weather-based team.

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