Doubles Newsroom

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Audiosurfer

I'd rather be sleeping
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First Ever Doubles Open Signups!

One of Smogon's many prestigious official tournaments is the Grand Slam, where players participate in tournaments for all nonOU official tiers, with the people who have the highest point total at the end of all the tournaments moving on to the playoffs. For years, this tournament has been singles only, with the metagames includied being Ubers, UU, RU, NU, and LC. However, I'm pleased to announce that this will be the first ever Grand Slam where Doubles is included! If you're already psyched to compete just reading this, never fear, as there's no wait to join. Signups are already underway, so sign up today and show off your skills to the world.
 

Audiosurfer

I'd rather be sleeping
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Random Doubles Battles: Now with 1000% More Doubles!

As you all know, courtesy of Joim, Pokemon Showdown has had a Random Doubles Battle option for quite some time, but for a majority of its existence it has simply been Singles x2, with no Doubles-like elements to be found. No longer! Thanks to the hard work of yours truly, as well as the feedback of wonderful people in the PS room such as Anty, SocialSocialSocial, Shaian, and srk1214, the Random Doubles Battle format plays a lot more like (*gasp*) an actual Doubles match. Don't believe me? Hop on the ladder and try it out for yourself! The moves might be random, but you having fun is practically guaranteed.
 

Mizuhime

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Some Stuff

After a insane amount of time, srk1214 has finally be added to the Council. There isn't much to be said that isn't known about him, he's a very good player and has proven that he is more than knowledgeable about the tiering process. Also not to over shadow srk for a job well done, but i'm the new Tier Co-Leader with Pwnemon. I also got mods in this forum so i can post in here :')
 
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Audiosurfer

I'd rather be sleeping
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
New Doubles Ladders

Today marks a historic day for lovers of Doubles offshoots. Previously, the only way for players of Doubles UU or Doubles Ubers to get a match going was to go on PS and find someone willing to play (looking at you AuraRayquaza). Now though, thanks to Antar, both the Doubles UU ladder and the Doubles Ubers ladder went live today, so fans of those metas can now play them to their heart's content. Be sure to give them a whirl and check out the discussion threads for Doubles UU and Doubles Ubers to talk about them with other players.
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
Doubles Major Signups!

This is it: the last chance to get points towards the invitational! Doubles Major signups are going on now in the Tournaments subforum. The point rewards for this are big: top 4 will get automatic invites to the Invitational, so it ain't over till it's over! Sign up if you've been playing in the Circuit, or even if you haven't!
 

Audiosurfer

I'd rather be sleeping
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Calling all Random Doubles Players!

With the completion of the Random Doubles movepools for all Pokemon (more on that here) all development related to Random Doubles is completed, right? Wrong. Edits are always being made to the format, the most significant of which is a reworking of the way items are generated in the metagame. Before I begin undertaking this task, however, I'd like to get feedback from the community on what they'd like to see change (or stay the same) about the way items are doled out in Random Doubles. If you play the format at all (whether hardcore randdubs player or played once in the past two months) and have an opinion on this, PLEASE do not hesitate to shoot me a message on IRC/PS or VM me on Smogon about your thoughts. All feedback is very much appreciated in this process. Thanks :)
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
New Forum Project: CAP!!

I'm proud to announce that Doubles is trying something that's never before been attempted: porting CAP to our own community! If you're not aware, over the course of this project we are going to try and make a Pokemon which provides a unique function to the Doubles OU Metagame, allowing us to learn more about the metagame as we work on the project and eventually playtest it. If you're interested, come contribute here!
 

Audiosurfer

I'd rather be sleeping
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
New Beginnings

First off, the Doubles Newsroom will be regularly updates again (sorry guys), so be on the lookout for great posts about all things new in the Doubles community.

Next, the first suspect test of ORAS is underway with the goal of determining if Salamencite is worthy of a ban. For those of you with strong opinions one way or the other, now is the best time to make your thoughts known by laddering and participating in the suspect discussion. Even if you aren't sure as to your thoughts on the matter, participating in the test is still a great way to be apart of the Doubles community while improving your skills as a player and learning more about the metagame. And let's not forget that all votes count towards the lovely Tiering Contributor badge as well :)

Whether you're ready to grab 1st place on the ladder or aren't sure if you'll ladder at all, learning more about the Salamencite suspect test is well worth it. To all those taking part, good luck and happy laddering.
 

Audiosurfer

I'd rather be sleeping
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Salamencite Banned From Doubles!

Yes, you read that right. Mega Salamence has joined a class of its own as the first Pokemon to be banned in Doubles history. As such, Salamencite is no longer legal in the Doubles metagame. Thanks to all those who participated in the incredibly close suspect test (it literally took every last vote). Be sure to head out to the ladder to give the new, post-MegaMence metagame a whirl. If you want to share your thoughts on the new meta with other players or read the reason for the ban, check out the new metagame discussion thread.
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
Gravity + Sleep Quickbanned by Council

The council has voted to create a complex ban of the move gravity and any sleep-inducing move. Simply put, sleep was balanced by the fact that its users were mediocre, and that the only viable sleep moves could be stopped by Grass-types or Goggles. With Hypnosis and Grasswhistle from fast and good users such as Gengar, Darkrai, and Skymin, Sleep was simply too much, but rather than reinstate a sleep clause (because Spore etc have been a balanced part of the metagame for a while), the council decided to use the least intrusive option to remove the broken strategy. This rule change will be reflected on the ladder ASAP.

audio edit: replay of the strategy in action for those who've never seen it: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-smogondoubles-44534
 
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Stratos

Banned deucer.
A Slight Change in Nomenclature

It shouldn't make a huge difference but we decided to rename Doubles to Doubles OverUsed for a multitude of reasons, such as easier scaling if we introduce doubles uu as an official tier and less confusion when referring to the metagame. You can also abbreviate it DOU. Hopefully this doesn't cause anyone to go catatonic. Have a nice day.
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
Doubles Council Changes

He had a good run, but due to his waning interest in the competitive scene, Audiosurfer will be stepping down from his position on the Doubles Council. Also Darkmalice quit recently which I forgot to post here. However, we're glad to announce on the other hand that we've added three new members: KyleCole, Memoric, and Shaian have all been great contributors to the Doubles PS room and are good battlers, so congratulations to them!
 

Arcticblast

Trans rights are human rights
is a Forum Moderatoris a Tiering Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
Oh hey I'm posting here again.

Tonight we received the worst news in the community's history. Victorious B.I.G., also known as Benja299, has passed away. I know other people have done it, but despite being a writer, I personally am at a complete loss for words. Not that anything I can say could really do him justice. I'll be honest though - it pains me to say this, but there was a time several months ago where I had some beef with you. After some time, I got over it and you stopped giving me any reason to have it. I totally forgot about it, but now I wish I'd actually apologized. I wish I'd taken more time to get to know you, which I don't really feel I managed to do that well. We'd joke around in the Doubles room and we might have talked on Skype once, but that's it. I'm going to miss you, man. We all are.

It's hard to see beyond such a tragedy, but we can't ignore the good news. We'd like to welcome Mizuhime back to the Doubles OU community! She has returned to both the council and to the moderation team. We'd also like to congratulate Bughouse on graduating college! Not relevant to Pokemon at all, but it's worth celebrating!
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
A new type of content

Arcticblast, KyleCole, and myself are trying out a new form of DOU content: a blog! Copied from the first post on https://metagamesecrets.wordpress.com/:

Every day, great discussions about the metagame take place in Showdown, IRC, and Skype chatrooms, and are lost to the sands of time, but perhaps aren’t really fit for forum posting either. I formed this blog as a way to have these conversations on a permanent medium. Myself and other top players will use this blog to post our thoughts on the metagame, and commenting your own thoughts on each topic is highly encouraged. We will also accept guest posts via smogon forum PM if you want to start a discussion about something of your own interests.
 

Mizuhime

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Bumping a super dead thread

Changes in the council

Recently long time member Bughouse stepped down from the council, although this is a upsetting loss to the council we have found someone to fill the void he's leaving. User qsns who has recently been playing very well in tournaments and is a very good member of the community will be replacing him on the council. The council welcomes him with open arms and looks forward to working with him in the future :D
 

kamikaze

The King Of Games
is a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
(because someone like me who is interested in past tier history is gonna join the tier and wonder what the heck even happened in these 7 months)
Large News Roundup

Tier Leadership Change
: Mizuhime has stepped down as Doubles Tier Leader. I have taken her place as co-leader alongside Arcticblast.

Community Contributor: Community Contributor is one of the more elusive badges in Doubles, but we now have 2 new holders of the badge.
Level 51 has received the badge for his long term work on a Stats thread that for our Seasonal circuit and ladder stats. This thread was helpful for encouraging meta discussion that helped many people get more involved in the tier especially during the time that the Doubles Seasonal circuit was starting up.
Memoric has also received the badge for his active contributions and presence in almost all areas of our community. He is a PS Room Owner (used to be mod at the promo), Doubles C&C Leader, and has helped a lot of people get into the tier with his infamous sample team. He also runs the Teambuilding Competition thread which is one of the most successful and longest running projects in the entire doubles forum. 50 weeks running and still going strong.

Doubles Champion 2015: A full year cycle of the Doubles Seasonal Circuit has concluded. Stratos was awarded a banner for finishing at the top of the Doubles Power Rankings at the end of the first 4 seasonals. This Seasonal circuit was a project pioneered by our community over a year ago and has since then gained ground with multiple other tiers adopting a Seasonal format as well.

DPL 2: The second iteration of the Doubles Premier League was hosted shortly after the conclusion of SPL 7. It has since been concluded and won by the Six Island Shitposters captained by Stratos

Doubles Council Shifts: Laga has been inactive from the Doubles tier for awhile because his busy life outside Smogon caught up with him and thus is no longer a member of the Doubles Council. We wish him the best in his endeavors. BLOOD TOTEM and KyleCole have both decided to step down from their council positions but still plan to stick around as a part of the community. We would like to thank all 3 of them for their time serving as council members and actively contributing to the metagame. However Council numbers have not strictly decreased, as Level 51 will now be joining us as our newest council member. He is a positive member of our community that has been part of the tier since its inception in the BW days and has proven his worth as a player in recent tournaments.

Doubles Suspect Stage 4: Jirachi is currently being suspected in the Doubles OU tier. This is a rare suspect where a pokemon that fills a primarily supportive role is being put on the table. Check out discussion on Jirachi's position in the metagame here. The test will run until June 17th with prospective voters required to reach 2600 COIL and 74.6 GXE within 60 games or less.
 

kamikaze

The King Of Games
is a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
New additions to Doubles Council

We would like to welcome Dawgie and SamVGC to the Doubles Council! They have been around since last year but have been greatly more in the metagame this year. Their consistent tournament results should speak for themselves and I give these two credit for the metagame shifts which rose Mega Gardevoir from Tier 2 to Tier 1 on the Viability Rankings. The council respects their opinions and are happy to have them on!
 
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