Hello all. I normall play DOU, but I wanted to do something different. Since there is little variety in DOU, I decided to make a DUU team. Metagross has been a favorite of mine pretty much as soon as I discovered it, so I figured I would center a team around it. Without further ado, here it is:
Metagross Metagrossite
Jolly, 252Att, 252Spe, 4Def
Clear body / Tough Claws
- iron head
- zen headbutt
- power-up punch
- protect
The star of the team, this guy is meant to sweep/clean. The set is pretty straight forward, almost a carbon copy of the Smogon set. Max speed to outspeed anything below base 110, and max attack to improve sweeping potential. I was thinking of doing a more sophisticated EV spread, but I wasn't sure what benchmarks to consider. Iron head is stab with a chance to flinch, and always hits, which is really useful when you just need to secure the KO. Zen headbutt is secondary stab, only used when iron head is not as powerful against the target. Protect to ensure a safe mega evolution if necessary, and to stall out field conditions and keep it safe while a partner KOs a threat. Lastly, the twist: power-up punch. While not as powerful as hammer arm, it always hits, and increases attack, rather than lower speed. While it doesn't provide any OHKOs, it's perfect for securing KOs on weakened 'mons, and giving metagross' otherwise sub-par stab moves some punch.
Arcanine Sitrus berry
Modest, 252HP, 252Spa, 4Spe
Intimidate
- snarl
- wil-o-wisp
- fire blast
- morning sun
I'm going to get this out of the way: I couldn't think of a spread, so I gave it a simple "bulky special attacker" spread that is automatically generated when creating a team. Arcanine is on this team mainly to provide defensive support by lowering the opposing team's offensive stats. Snarl lowers special attack, and intimidate and wil-o-wisp lower attack. Sitrus berry and morning sun give it longevity, and fire blast ensures it has offensive pressure when its support moves aren't needed. Aside from lowering stats, Arcanine shines against sun teams, since it essentially loses a weakness, and gets a boost to its fire blast. It also gets more health from morning sun, and provides a switch in for metagross.
Gastrodon, Rocky helmet
Modest, 252HP, 252Spa, 4Def
Storm Drain
- scald
- earth power
- ice beam
- protect
Okay, pretty much all my EV spreads are simple. I'm new to the DUU meta, and I'm not sure of what benchmarks to meet. So, just maximizing bulk and special attack here. My team still struggles against sun teams, especially ninetales; while Arcanine checks, it struggles to take out opposing fire types. Gastrodon fixes that issue with scald and earth power, the latter preferred for sun teams. I slapped on ice beam for coverage, and protect for nasty grass moves. I settled on rocky helmet to take advantage of its bulk, but I was thinking of changing it to the grass berry (name?) to deal with solar beam and other grass moves. Not sure if i would help. Also thinking of icy wind for speed control over ice beam. Lastly, I picked storm drain over sticky hold because rocky helmet should have done its damage by the time it gets knocked off. If I opt for the grass berry, I suspect a respectable knock off plus grass move should KO even with the berry.
Crobat Focus sash
Jolly, 252 Spe, 252 Att, 4 Def
Inner Focus
- tailwind
- u-turn
- cross poison
- taunt
Crobat offers some speed control with tailwind and its own high speed stat. It can also taunt trick room setters, and put a huge dent in Aromatisse with Cross Poison. U-turn gives it the option to deal chip damage and switch after it has done its job. Focus sash and inner focus almost ensures it gets tailwind up. While not its intention, cross poison can be used for offensive pressure, as well as u-turn. Cross poison is mostly for Aromatisse, but it has other uses with Crobats decent attack stat, especially with the investment.
Mienshao Focus sash
Jolly, 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Inner Focus
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- u-turn
Together, Mienshao and Crobat make an amazing lead/duo. Fake out plus taunt / cross poison shuts down trick room, while fake out plus tailwind helps against faster teams. Double inner focus ensures fake out from the opposing team is not a threat. Outside of fake out utility, Mienshao provides some offense with its respectable attack and speed stats. For stab, I chose drain punch over high jump kick, due to the prevalent protect. Knock off provides great utility for the team, as well as great damage, especially against psychic types that otherwise scare Mienshao out. Lastly, u-turn lets Mienshao damage the enemy while switching to something that can better take a hit.
Serperior Life Orb
Timid, 252 Spa, 252 Spe, 4 def
Contrary
- leaf storm
- dragon pulse
- hidden power fire
- protect
Serperior deals with bulky water types that metagross struggles with. In the event it boosts once or twice and gets the opportunity to sweep, it has dragon pulse and hidden power fire to sweep. Life orb allows Serperior to deal as much damage as possible, which is important before any boosts due to its mediocre special attack stat. Lastly, protect is a great utility move you can give to almost any 'mon in doubles. It provides the ability to stall field conditions, and allows a partner to KO or at least weaken a bulkier threat. Another option in my mind was giga drain, but the sustain is not as important in doubles. Serpeior has virtually no other coverage options, so protect seems like the best bet.
What do you guys think? All criticism is welcome. I'm new to DUU, and would love to see some advice and recommendations!
Metagross Metagrossite
Jolly, 252Att, 252Spe, 4Def
Clear body / Tough Claws
- iron head
- zen headbutt
- power-up punch
- protect
The star of the team, this guy is meant to sweep/clean. The set is pretty straight forward, almost a carbon copy of the Smogon set. Max speed to outspeed anything below base 110, and max attack to improve sweeping potential. I was thinking of doing a more sophisticated EV spread, but I wasn't sure what benchmarks to consider. Iron head is stab with a chance to flinch, and always hits, which is really useful when you just need to secure the KO. Zen headbutt is secondary stab, only used when iron head is not as powerful against the target. Protect to ensure a safe mega evolution if necessary, and to stall out field conditions and keep it safe while a partner KOs a threat. Lastly, the twist: power-up punch. While not as powerful as hammer arm, it always hits, and increases attack, rather than lower speed. While it doesn't provide any OHKOs, it's perfect for securing KOs on weakened 'mons, and giving metagross' otherwise sub-par stab moves some punch.
Arcanine Sitrus berry
Modest, 252HP, 252Spa, 4Spe
Intimidate
- snarl
- wil-o-wisp
- fire blast
- morning sun
I'm going to get this out of the way: I couldn't think of a spread, so I gave it a simple "bulky special attacker" spread that is automatically generated when creating a team. Arcanine is on this team mainly to provide defensive support by lowering the opposing team's offensive stats. Snarl lowers special attack, and intimidate and wil-o-wisp lower attack. Sitrus berry and morning sun give it longevity, and fire blast ensures it has offensive pressure when its support moves aren't needed. Aside from lowering stats, Arcanine shines against sun teams, since it essentially loses a weakness, and gets a boost to its fire blast. It also gets more health from morning sun, and provides a switch in for metagross.
Gastrodon, Rocky helmet
Modest, 252HP, 252Spa, 4Def
Storm Drain
- scald
- earth power
- ice beam
- protect
Okay, pretty much all my EV spreads are simple. I'm new to the DUU meta, and I'm not sure of what benchmarks to meet. So, just maximizing bulk and special attack here. My team still struggles against sun teams, especially ninetales; while Arcanine checks, it struggles to take out opposing fire types. Gastrodon fixes that issue with scald and earth power, the latter preferred for sun teams. I slapped on ice beam for coverage, and protect for nasty grass moves. I settled on rocky helmet to take advantage of its bulk, but I was thinking of changing it to the grass berry (name?) to deal with solar beam and other grass moves. Not sure if i would help. Also thinking of icy wind for speed control over ice beam. Lastly, I picked storm drain over sticky hold because rocky helmet should have done its damage by the time it gets knocked off. If I opt for the grass berry, I suspect a respectable knock off plus grass move should KO even with the berry.
Crobat Focus sash
Jolly, 252 Spe, 252 Att, 4 Def
Inner Focus
- tailwind
- u-turn
- cross poison
- taunt
Crobat offers some speed control with tailwind and its own high speed stat. It can also taunt trick room setters, and put a huge dent in Aromatisse with Cross Poison. U-turn gives it the option to deal chip damage and switch after it has done its job. Focus sash and inner focus almost ensures it gets tailwind up. While not its intention, cross poison can be used for offensive pressure, as well as u-turn. Cross poison is mostly for Aromatisse, but it has other uses with Crobats decent attack stat, especially with the investment.
Mienshao Focus sash
Jolly, 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Inner Focus
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- u-turn
Together, Mienshao and Crobat make an amazing lead/duo. Fake out plus taunt / cross poison shuts down trick room, while fake out plus tailwind helps against faster teams. Double inner focus ensures fake out from the opposing team is not a threat. Outside of fake out utility, Mienshao provides some offense with its respectable attack and speed stats. For stab, I chose drain punch over high jump kick, due to the prevalent protect. Knock off provides great utility for the team, as well as great damage, especially against psychic types that otherwise scare Mienshao out. Lastly, u-turn lets Mienshao damage the enemy while switching to something that can better take a hit.
Serperior Life Orb
Timid, 252 Spa, 252 Spe, 4 def
Contrary
- leaf storm
- dragon pulse
- hidden power fire
- protect
Serperior deals with bulky water types that metagross struggles with. In the event it boosts once or twice and gets the opportunity to sweep, it has dragon pulse and hidden power fire to sweep. Life orb allows Serperior to deal as much damage as possible, which is important before any boosts due to its mediocre special attack stat. Lastly, protect is a great utility move you can give to almost any 'mon in doubles. It provides the ability to stall field conditions, and allows a partner to KO or at least weaken a bulkier threat. Another option in my mind was giga drain, but the sustain is not as important in doubles. Serpeior has virtually no other coverage options, so protect seems like the best bet.
What do you guys think? All criticism is welcome. I'm new to DUU, and would love to see some advice and recommendations!
