Battle Spot Doubles Good Cores Thread

Approved by cant say

Foreword: this is not my original work, for the most part. This will be mostly copy+pasted from Chenkovsky 's original post HERE with some edits.

Not gonna copy all the cores, mostly the highlights of offense and balance, might add one or two of my own. All the old cores are still in Chenkovsky's thread linked in the foreword.

Many teams revolve around or start with a good core - a core is two or three Pokemon that synergize in some way to accomplish a specific goal. Most cores have multiple roles they fulfill all at once, in order to succeed in several areas and cover ground. Cores in doubles revolve around offensive cores or balanced cores; defensive/stall cores are almost completely unviable.
Offensive cores seek to break apart the foe by checking or countering their partner's usual checks and counters and exert enormous pressure through power and coverage.
Balanced cores often seek to support 1-2 attackers, breaking/disrupting checks and counters to the attacker. Typically bulkier and slower than offensive cores, but pretty flexible.
Having two low-offense, supportive mons / walls enables your opponent to get low risk damage while you accomplish significantly less. That said, a combination of Thundurus + Mega Venusaur could reasonably be called balance; both can deal decent support and disruption, but they can also offensively shove back against foes like Milotic and Sylveon.

Not exactly rules, but these points make cores much more intuitive:

1) When posting a core, please explain each member's purpose, and the EV spread if it deviates from a simple 252/252/4 spread. Knowing what X pokemon is supposed to outrun, KO, or survive saves a lot of math and confusion from a third-person PoV. A small paragraph is fine, we don't need an essay.

2) Gimmiks, haxstrats, and generally unreliable cores and strategies. ParaFlinch Togekiss is an ass, but it's not reliable. Gravity Sableye + Hypnosis Crobat is a no. In contrast to the VGC thread, I don't consider PerishTrap a gimmik.

3) Use sprites, it makes my textwall much prettier.


Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf/Choice Specs/Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Earth Power/Protect
- Fire Blast/Protect
- Dark Pulse

Aegislash @ Leftovers/Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon

These two synergize really nicely together with Hydreigon being able to take out Ghost types that threaten Aegislash as well as opposing Hydreigon (if scarfed). Not to mention Earth Power is a decent check to Heatran while Fire Blast is pretty nice against Bisharp tho a bit unreliable. Aegislash helps with taking out opposing Fairy types, Ice types and Terrakions that threaten Hydreigon. Aegislash also provides Wide Guard support too for things like Icy Wind/Hyper Voice/Dazzling Gleam.


Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze => Drought
EVs: 12 HP / 28 Def / 212 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Protect

Landorus-T @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- U-turn

Charizard-Y is a very strong option for the Mega slot on a VGC team. It gives you ridiculously strong, sun-boosted STAB Fire-moves that threaten everything without a Fire-type resistance. Heat Wave offers strong spread damage, while Overheat works as a nuke to OHKO threats to your team. Drought Solar Beam gives you coverage to damage Watertanks and Rock-type Pokémon, that resist those Fire-type attacks.
The ability Drought also gives you a way to mess with opposing Sand or Rain teams and allows you to turn the momentum in your favor, if used wisely.

The most common threats to Charizard-Y are opposing Rock Slide users like Landorus-T, Terrakion or Tyranitar and Pokémon that resist it's Fire + Grass-coverage like Heatran, Hydreigon or Mega Salamence. Less common checks include Pokémon like Entei, Garchomp, Mamoswine or Rotom-H. Charizard-Y's limited physical bulk also means, that strong physical attackers like Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Metagross or Talonflame can easily finish it after it has taken some chip damage.
The Special Defense is better, but also limited because of the low HP stat. It does allow it to take some special hits though. Bulky Thundurus-I can't OHKO you with Thunderbolt for example.
Additionally, Charizard-Y faces an awkward mirror match against opposing Charizard-Y, since it's offensive coverage is resisted.

The Charizard-Y EV spread is highly customizable. Personally, I prefer Speed + damage output over bulk, which is why I use this one. It's a simple offensive 252/252 spread with enough EVs moved from SpA to physical bulk to achieve this:

-1 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 12 HP / 28 Def Mega Charizard Y: 128-154 (82.5 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 12 HP / 28 Def Mega Charizard Y: 129-153 (83.2 - 98.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 12 HP / 28 Def Mega Charizard Y: 124-147 (80 - 94.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 12 HP / 28 Def Mega Charizard Y: 120-144 (77.4 - 92.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252 Atk Garchomp Rock Slide vs. 12 HP / 28 Def Mega Charizard Y: 104-124 (67 - 80%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 12 HP / 28 Def Mega Charizard Y: 97-115 (62.5 - 74.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Landorus-T is a great partner, because it has STAB Earthquake to threaten opposing Heatran, Terrakion and/or Entei.
Superpower gives you another option to KO Kangaskhan after some chip damage, if you want to preserve Charizard's Special Attack and is your best option against Hydreigon and Mamoswine. It also OHKO's non-Chople Berry Tyranitar, something that Earthquake can't do.
U-turn is for scouting, to create momentum, get out of dangerous situations while dealing chip damage and to cycle Intimidate.
Rock Slide is the best move in the metagame and needs no explanation, but for the sake of completion... it does deal at least chip damage to both opponents, has a very nice chance to flinch and threatens the Fire-types that resist Fire-, Grass- and Ground-moves like other Charizard-Y, Rotom-H and Talonflame. It is also useful to finish weakened Thundurus-I and Zapdos or to allow Charizard-Y to finish them with Heat Wave.
The ability Intimidate patches up Charizard's weak physical bulk and allows Charizard to stay around for longer. In exchange, Charizard's Drought neutralizes Landorus-T's weakness to Water-type attacks and Drought Solar Beam kills Watertanks for Landorus, that often carry Ice-type coverage to quickly KO it. Amoonguss and Breloom, two Pokémon that can be problematic for Landorus-T, are highly threatened by Charizard-Y and will think twice about switching in.

Simply spamming the spread moves Heat Wave and Earthquake/Rock Slide can be very effective with this core, because none of the common Wide Guard users have a great matchup against Charizard-Y/Landorus-T. Aegislash and Conkeldurr die to Overheat and Swampert dies to Solar Beam.

Add teammates that can deal with "double genie", Life Orb Bisharp and Mega Salamence, because those can be problematic matchups.
Conkeldurr deals with "double genie" pretty well, threatens Bisharp and allows you to pivot into a lot of the attacks that would be aimed at Charizard-Y/Landorus-T. It does nothing to improve your Mega Salamence matchup though.
Bulky Electric-types and Watertanks with Ice-coverage help against Salamence.


LO Virizion + Mixed Mega Salamence + Sub Heatran


LO Virizion has become one of my favorite VGC mons simply because of its ability to do so many important things with one moveset, things that MegaMence really appreciates: checks the Competitive/Defiant duo in Milotic and Bisharp, respectively, something that pre-mega Mence really hates coming in on, beats most opposing Heatran variants with Close Combat (minus the rare Chople and Scarf variants), beats any T-Tar variant minus Scarf or DD sets with Ice Punch (you can still live one when at full if not boosted by DD) and can do a lot of damage to Rotom-Wash, perhaps even OHKO it when combined with LO Leaf Blade and whichever move Mence uses on it. Quick Guard provides excellent anti-priority support, whether it's to help its teammates dodge a Sucker Punch from Kanga/Bisharp, a support move from Thundy or Talonflame's Brave Bird. You could also opt for Stone Edge if your Zard Y matchup isn't favorable.

Meanwhile, Mega Mence removes Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur, two Pokes that Virizion absolutely despises.

Aegislash and Ice type moves pose a problem to these two, so Heatran is added to the core to provide a nifty 4x Ice Resistance and an offensive STAB capable of roasting Aegislash. Sub is also nice here because it'll prompt your opponent to double-target the Heatran slot, giving Mence, Virizion and whoever else is on your team more breathing room to cause damage to the opposition.

Mamoswine, especially Scarfed variants, has its way with this core, so possible teammates include bulky waters such as Rotom-W, Suicune or Milotic to form a nice FWG core.

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 20 Atk / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor

Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Quick Guard/Stone Edge
- Protect

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Modest Nature
- Substitute
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect


Kangaskhan + Azumarill + Volcarona



I've used these three in the past personally and I can say that this is a very fun combo to use. The idea is to have Kangakshan provide a free setup for either Azumarill or Volcarona via Fake Out then try to plow through the opposing team as best as you can. Kangaskhan has a standard spread while Azumarill is meant to outspeed other Belly Drum Azumarill's by 2 points (to creep on the 20 speed Azumarill) and Volcarona is made to outspeed Jolly Scarf Landorus-T after a Quiver Dance. What's fun about this core is that each Pokemon has a set-up move that can turn them into a threat real fast, and they can each set up on each others counters. For example, Volcarona can set up Quiver Dances on Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, and Aegislash for Azumarill and Kangaskhan. Meanwhile, Kangaskhan can Power-Up Punch on Heatran and Tyranitar with relative ease for Volcarona and Azumarill gets a free Belly Drum off on Heatran for Volcarona as well. This core has a bit of a weakness to Mega Salamence which is why Tyranitar and Thundurus make solid partners.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Atk / 28 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Protect

Volcarona @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz / Giga Drain
- Protect



This maybe be a bit outdated, as I have not used this particular team for a long while, but I think the core is still applicable for people wishing to run a Trick Room team. :)

Mega-Mawile and Slowking have great defensive synergy, covering each other's weaknesses perfectly. Slowking can set up Trick Room for Mawile, and with Oblivious and a fully defensive spread, is very hard to stop from setting it up. Mawile's Intimidate also helps Slowking tanks hits better. Mawile provides the offensive presence that Slowking lacks, becoming an absolute nightmare in Trick Room. Depending on the set, Slowking can help support Mawile with moves like Heal Pulse. I have personally used a very defensive Slowking dedicated to ensuring Trick Room stays up, but more less passive sets may work better depending on your needs.

You have a few different options with Mega-Mawile. Play Rough is a given due to the sheer terror of a STAB Play Rough coming of of that much attack being aimed at your foes under Trick Room. I highly recommend running Protect, as this will give you turns to set up Trick Room or otherwise conserve Mawile while you position yourself. It has good resistances, but still goes down easily to Ground-type and Fire-type attacks aimed at it. Sucker Punch is useful for times when you have to battle outside of Trick Room, and good for picking off foes in general. Iron Head is a good secondary STAB with 100% accuracy and a chance to flinch if using it in Trick Room. Knock Off is another respectable option for dealing damage and removing items. Fire Fang can also be used for Ferrothorn if your team doesn't have another answer to it.

As for partners, general Trick Rooms mons work well, since it's mostly a Trick Room core. Pokemon that can deal with Ferrothorn and Scizor are useful, as this core does have problems with those Pokemon. Fake Out users, particularly Scrafty of Hariyama, are a good pokemon to use alongside Slowking, as Fake Out helps ensure that Trick Room will almost always be able to be set up the first turn. Gothitelle can function as another Trick Room setter, and can help make the battle easier by trapping the opponent, although it does share weaknesses with Slowking. Lanturn may be niche, but it is something that I have found to be extremely useful with this core due to its ability to cripple foes with Soak.
Toon World (Slowking) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Trick Room
- Scald
- Heal Pulse
- Slack Off


Kuchi-kun (Mawile-Mega) (M) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate -> Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Protect
- Iron Head



Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower / Knock Off
- U-turn

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 36 SpA / 164 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

Landorus-T and Rotom-W are one of the most common balanced cores. Rotom-W being immune to Earthquake helps Landorus-T go for Earthquake without worry of hitting your own Pokemon. Landorus-T opts for a Choice Scarf to counteract its otherwise mediocre speed. With a Choice Scarf Landorus is comfortably able to run an Adamant nature maximizing its damage output. Superpower gives Landorus-T the ability to KO Pokemon, such as Terrakion and Mega Kangaskhan, without worry of Wide Guard. Knock Off allows Landorus to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types for super effective damage. Rotom-W can threaten opposing bulky Water-types with Thunderbolt. Landorus-T supports Rotom-W with Intimidate which furthers Rotom-W's overall bulk. The Defense EVs guarantee that Rotom-W can survive one Play Rough from Mega Mawile without Intimidate, whereas the Special Defense lets Rotom-W survive a Draco Meteor from Modest natured Choice Specs Hydreigon. The Speed is just a minor speed creep, for other Rotoms or Pokemon trying to speed creep Rotom-W. The remaining EV's went into Special Attack.



Clefable @ Sitrus Berry / Rocky Helmet / Leftovers (Item dependant on what the rest of the team uses, but Sitrus is preferred)
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 28 SpA / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Nature: Bold
- Follow Me
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Helping Hand


Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate --> Aeriliate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe (Note: EV Spread may be optimized depending on the rest of your team, to survive certain attacks the team may struggle with)
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Protect
- Dragon Dance
- Roost


Bisharp @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Protect

Oh the good old Drag / Fair / Steel core, back from it's peak usage in 2014. Dragons have a new friend to play with in the form of Mega Salamence, with a devastating 145 base attack and Aerilate to fire up those Returns to horrifyingly high levels. Let's look at each of the Pokemon individually.

Salamence - With Intimidate and a whopping 130 base Def., it can switch in to Landorus-T and setup all it wants. Dragon Dance is the main reason to use this set, as even at +1 attack it can OHKO 4 HP Kang ( +1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 184-217 (101.6 - 119.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO. ) Roost is preferred over the second attack of Earthquake or Rock Slide because Flying is simply such a good offensive type on it's own, and Roost helps scout for/live HP Ices that would have KO'd Salamence if it wasn't for the loss of Flying type ( Before Roost: 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mega Salamence: 192-229 (112.9 - 134.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO | After Roost: 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mega Salamence: 96-114 (56.4 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO) as well as general survivability.

Clefable - (EVs stolen from Angel Miranda, blog here ) Clefable is used as a great way to support Salamence, utilising it's staple move, Follow Me. Redirection + Set Up is such a powerful strategy at the moment, so Clefable supports Salamence blissfully. Unaware is the preferred ability, as although it may have negative synergy with Salamence's Intimidate, it helps against opposing Set Up sweepers, namely PuP Mega Kangaskhan and BD Azumarill. Sitrus is the chosen item as it allows Clefable a quick burst of HP when it needs it, but Leftovers or Rocky Helmet can be used also. EV spread, as explained in Angel's blog allows it to always survive +1 Bisharp's Iron Head (+0 because of Unaware) and Aegislash's Flash Cannon, whilst also OHKOing 4 HP Landorus.

Bisharp - Not much to say on Bisharp, considering it's a pretty standard set. The item is once again dependent on the rest of the team, but Life Orb is my personal preferred item. Bisharp's role is to complete the Fair / Drag / Steel core as well as provide Defiant support. In a VGC 2015 metagame so filled with Intimidate users that want to shut down Salamence as soon as possible, Bisharp scares them off at the possibility of giving it a +1 boost. It also provides the core with some excellent but at-times-hard-to-use priority in Sucker Punch.

I've had a lot of fun with this core, and I hope you do too :]



Milotic @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 236 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Icy Wind
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Protect

Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Atk / 148 Def / 4 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
- ExtremeSpeed

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 104 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Protect

A traditional FWG core that has seen a bit of growing traction given what i've seen, these three offer a fairly decent Balanced core with a slight bias on defense.

Arcanine can come in with either two, pulling off an intimidate to help supplement either teammate's bulk. Both teammates also don't mind receiving an intimidate themselves, especially Milotic who receives a nice Special Attack boost. Arcanine can continue to spread status once it's on the field, or go straight for Offense using Flare Blitz. Extremespeed can be used to get in front of weakened threats and net a nice KO.

Milotic can help with speed control, using Icy Wind to force switches by your opponent. Scald helps Milotic score some burn hits, while Ice Beam can help take down Landorus-T and Mega Salamence. Sitrus berry helps Milotic stay longer on the field. Scald can be taken off for Hydro Pump if you're aiming for more power, or are using a support Arcanine.

Mega Venusaur has proven to be a rather Anti-Meta choice so far, with it's considerable bulk and access to Giga Drain a tough kill. Putting it into play with Arcanine means you have a nice resistance to Fairy Type moves (such as Hyper Voice Sylveon). The EV spread allows Venusaur to even out its defenses and Maximise bulk, as well as allow it to speed creep on other uninvested mons in its speed tier. Giga drain allows Venusaur to keep itself in play longer, and Sludge Bomb hits other grass types and Fairies for large chunks (in particular Whimsicott will take a hefty blow). Sleep powder allows Venusaur to provide some utility, as a sleeping foe is a vunerable foe.

This core would be complimented quite well by Offensive teammates, as this core focuses on Bulk. Tailwind support could be handy to help this team get the jump on other opponents while allowing you retain much of your bulk outside of Tailwind.



Heatran @ Shuca Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave / Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon / Substitute / Ancient Power / Overheat
- Protect


Cresselia @ Safety Goggles / Sitrus Berry / Leftovers / Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 172 Def / 4 SpA / 92 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind / Helping Hand / Safeguard / Skill Swap
- Psychic
- Icy Wind / Ice Beam / Moonblast
- Moonlight / Thunder Wave / Trick Room

(Yeah, i used Platinum Sprites. Wanna fight about it?)

Well, Mr. Typing of the Year award and Miss Bulk of the Year and Support of the Year awards have amazing synergy together, both offensively and defensively, and support wise as well. Heatran is a Fire / Steel type that can get rid of any Pokemon that Cresselia can't break, mainly Steel-types, but it also scares away Fairies which are usually Specially Defensive. Cresselia, in the other hand, can do A LOT of things for Heatran. And i mean A LOT!

First of all, Cresselia resist 2 of Heatran's main weaknesses, these being Ground and Fighting, and can scare Pokemon that has these typings with the Super Effective coverage Ice Beam and Psychic provides, doing a lot of damage to Pokemon like Landorus-T, Conkeldurr, Terrakion, Breloom, and the list goes on.

It also provides crucial speed control Heatran needs to succeed, as its base 77 Speed leaves it in a very vulnerable speed tier. Cresselia learns 3 different speed control methods. YEAH, THREE.
Cresselia can slow down Pokemon like Landorus-T, Thundurus and Mega Salamence with Icy Wind, while hitting these Pokemon for decent chip damage Heatran appreciates to score KOs. On the other hand, Thunder Wave, even when it's really passive, it's a speed control method that last for the entire match, making Heatran have a better standing against Pokemon like Terrakion, Hydreigon or Breloom. Lastly, Trick Room makes Cresselia shine brighter as it sits at a below-than-average speed tier (base 85), making it a really dangerous Pokemon under Trick Room. Heatran is really slow as well, so it also benefits it in its matchup against Kangaskhan, Landorus-T and Terrakion.

Finally, Cresselia can support Heatran with other support options, such as Helping Hand, Skill Swap and Safeguard. Helping Hand makes Heatran score ridiculous OHKOs against Pokemon such as Amoonguss, Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon, while Safeguard... ehh, let's say Safeguard stop Thundurus' Swagger shenanigans from going on later in the match. Lastly, Skill Swap gives Heatran Levitate, and can also mess up with opposing Pokemon's abilities.

The EV spread in Heatran allows it to outspeed neutral nature base 70s, while maximizing its offensive power and with that little defensive investment, take important attacks such as Landorus-T's Earthquake (with Shuca) and -1 Mega Kangaskhan's Low Kick. On the other hand, the EV spread on Cresselia allows it to take Bisharp's Knock Off 100% of the time, survive 3 Brave Birds from Talonflame, and outspeed 4 Spe Rotom forms.


So I noticed that this core hasn't been listed yet, which is a shame because they have obviously made a huge impact on the VGC 15' format. What makes these two so effective is the sheer amount of options that they present for the player. Offensive pressure, speed control, damage control, shifting momentum, and board positioning are among the many possibilities they offer. Thundurus is usually bulky to be able to spread around Paralysis which coincides with Landorus-T's Rock Slide to reduce your opponent's chance of pulling off a move that turn. Landorus-T can go several routes such as: Assault Vest, Choice Band, and Focus Sash. I chose Choice Scarf for this instance as it gives you a better matchup against Charizard-Y. As for the spreads, Thundurus is designed to live a Choice Specs Draco Meteor from Modest Hydreigon and outspeed max speed positive speed natured Smeargle. Landorus-T is designed to outspeed Naive Blaziken after a speed boost, survive a +1 Life Orb Bisharp, and a HP ice from 252 SpAtk neutral natured Thundurus-I.

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 236 HP / 204 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt / Swagger

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 140 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpD / 172 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- U-turn / Stone Edge


Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP, 4 Def, 172 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 76 Speed
Nature: Modest

- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon

Togekiss @ Saftey Goggles / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP, 60 Def, 4 Sp. Atk, 116 Sp. Def, 76 Speed
Nature: Calm

- Air Slash
- Tailwind
- Follow Me
- Thunder Wave / Protect


Believe it or not, this happened to me by accident. I was playing with a sixth slot on my team that already had Aegislash, and decided to use Kiss as a MegaMence counter + Tailwind + redirector for a Mega Venusaur. I actually didn't realise the amazing synergy with Aegislash until Kansas City Regionals. lol.
Anyway, onto the core: Togekiss supports Aegislash almost perfectly, rendering things like Hydreigon, TTar, Gengar, Flamethrower/Overheat/Fire Blast, Amoonguss, Breloom, WoW, Crunch Mega Khan, and Encore nearly useless, while Aegislash sets a Sub. Once a Sub is set, Aegislash can attack freely, or even attack consecutively without setting a Sub. Tailwind and Thunder Wave offer obvious Speed control, but both members abuse the ability to attack first very well. Against TR, Aegislash hits nearly every user of the move very hard, is immune to Fake Out, and Togekiss can fish for flinches with Air Slash. Facing a Subbed Aegislash while Paralyzed and being bombarded by Air Slash is absolutely disgusting, granting many free turns for Aegislash to sweep. The core needs hopefully obvious support against Bisharp, Heatran, and Lando-T but that really should be vital on every team anyway. I often found myself leaving Aegislash in Blade form 3+ turns straight, occasionally even going entire matches without even using King's Shield. It mostly just blocks spread damage and trolls shit if Kiss dies.

The large array of utility and resistances offered by a small, splashable core is impressive, and I've tested it extensively, including actual, irl VGCs. Good partners include Hydreigon (Dragon/Steel/Fairy, plus we've already covered Aegislash + Hydreigon, that's why I didn't make it a 3 mon core), TTar, and Rotom-W. Rotom-H lets you take the Goggles off of Kiss, but you have a *very* big Lando-T hole. TTar, gets great cover against Superpower / Low Kick with an immune partner + Follow Me 4x resist.

Aegislash's spread allows it to outspeed max Speed Thundurus-I and Tornadus-I (base 111) in Tailwind, which is a pretty good chunk of the game. HP is maxed for general bulk, it's not a special Sub / Lefties number. The remainder is dumped in Sp. Atk.
Togekiss is a specially defensive spread, designed to ironically survive 252+ Aegislash's LO Flash Cannon, enough Speed to outrun Scarf Adamant Landog and +1 252+ Gyarados (Jolly, max Speed, Dragon Dance) in Tailwind, with the remainder splashed in Def for general bulk. Thunder Wave is reccomended for powerful Speed control, and gut-wrenching hax abuse. Saftey Goggles lets you sponge Spore while Aegislash sets a Sub (making Scarf Breloom very, very fucking useless), and pairs well with TTar. It also lets you Twave like a plague even when Amoonguss tries to spam Rage Powder to contain the ParaFlinch hax. Sitrus makes you bulkier, which is nice for setting Tailwind multiple times. Protect is good if you already have T-Wave support like Thundy, as Togekiss does attract double targets, much like Amoonguss and Suicune.
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Necromancing this. ;o


This might be a bit outdated, as I have not used this particular team for a long while, but I think the core is still applicable for people wishing to run a Trick Room team. :)

Mega-Mawile and Slowking have great defensive synergy, covering each other's weaknesses perfectly. Slowking can set up Trick Room for Mawile, and with Oblivious and a fully defensive spread, is very hard to stop from setting it up. Mawile's Intimidate also helps Slowking tanks hits better. Mawile provides the offensive presence that Slowking lacks, becoming an absolute nightmare in Trick Room. Depending on the set, Slowking can help support Mawile with moves like Heal Pulse. I have personally used a very defensive Slowking dedicated to ensuring Trick Room stays up, but more less passive sets may work better depending on your needs.

You have a few different options with Mega-Mawile. Play Rough is a given due to the sheer terror of a STAB Play Rough coming of of that much attack being aimed at your foes under Trick Room. I highly recommend running Protect, as this will give you turns to set up Trick Room or otherwise conserve Mawile while you position yourself. It has good resistances, but still goes down easily to Ground-type and Fire-type attacks aimed at it. Sucker Punch is useful for times when you have to battle outside of Trick Room, and good for picking off foes in general. Iron Head is a good secondary STAB with 100% accuracy and a chance to flinch if using it in Trick Room. Knock Off is another respectable option for dealing damage and removing items. Fire Fang can also be used for Ferrothorn if your team doesn't have another answer to it.

As for partners, general Trick Rooms mons work well, since it's mostly a Trick Room core. Pokemon that can deal with Ferrothorn and Scizor are useful, as this core does have problems with those Pokemon. Fake Out users, particularly Scrafty or Hariyama, are a good pokemon to use alongside Slowking, as Fake Out helps ensure that Trick Room will almost always be able to be set up the first turn. Gothitelle can function as another Trick Room setter, and can help make the battle easier by trapping the opponent, although it does share weaknesses with Slowking. Lanturn may be niche, but it is something that I have found to be extremely useful with this core due to its ability to cripple foes with Soak.


Toon World (Slowking) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Trick Room
- Scald
- Heal Pulse
- Slack Off


Kuchi-kun (Mawile-Mega) (M) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate -> Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Protect
- Iron Head
 
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I think the above should really be Gothitelle + Mega Mawile instead. It's far more infamous, having been piloted to some very strong finishes during both VGC '14 and '15, particularly on Rain teams, which in themselves provide the Water-type coverage that Slowking does. Gothitelle is just a better Trick Room setter in general and Shadow Tag + Intimidate is very strong. Anyway, onto my own addition:

Offensive Core: Mega Gengar, Terrakion, and Whimsicott


The combination of Terrakion and Whimsicott should shock nobody, but the addition of Mega Gengar is what really makes the core great. Terrakion can handle the Dark-types that threaten Mega Gengar and, in return, Mega Gengar deals with the Grass-, Psychic-, and Fairy-types that threaten Terrakion. It's also worth noting that no Pokemon in the game resists the combination of Shadow Ball + Close Combat, making it about as safe as double targets get. When Mega Gengar and Whimsicott are paired they can use the combination of Shadow Tag + Encore + Disable, allowing them to not only lock down a foe, but stop them from switching to resolve it as well. While Terrakion and Whimsicott are partnered they can either Rock Slide + Beat Up straight away, or Protect + Tailwind against faster foes.

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Disable
- Protect

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Double Kick
- Protect

Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 44 Def / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Encore
- Beat Up
- Protect

A Lum Berry is used on Terrakion to prevent Thunder Wave from hindering its sweep. Terrakion has other options over Double Kick, but it's good for stopping Focus Sash users such as Bisharp who either threaten Gengar or can survive a boosted Rock Slide. Gengar's EVs are simple, but if you have an Intimidate user on your team you can change them to 52 / 20 Def / 172 SpA / 12 SpD / 252 Spe to survive a -1 Landorus-T Earthquake and Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave. Whimsicott's EVs allow it to survive a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan Return and outrun max Speed Thundurus.
 
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I think the above should really be Gothitelle + Mega Mawile instead. It's far more infamous, having been piloted to some very strong finishes during both VGC '14 and '15, particularly on Rain teams, which in themselves provide the Water-type coverage that Slowking does. Gothitelle is just a better Trick Room setter in general and Shadow Tag + Intimidate is very strong. Anyway, onto my own addition:

Offensive Core: Mega Gengar, Terrakion, and Whimsicott


The combination of Terrakion and Whimsicott should shock nobody, but the addition of Mega Gengar is what really makes the core great. Terrakion can handle the Dark-types that threaten Mega Gengar and, in return, Mega Gengar deals with the Grass-, Psychic-, and Fairy-types that threaten Terrakion. It's also worth noting that no Pokemon in the game resists the combination of Shadow Ball + Close Combat, making it about as safe as double targets get. When Mega Gengar and Whimsicott are paired they can use the combination of Shadow Tag + Encore + Disable, allowing them to not only lock down a foe, but stop them from switching to resolve it as well. While Terrakion and Whimsicott are partnered they can either Rock Slide + Beat Up straight away, or Protect + Tailwind against faster foes.

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Disable
- Protect

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Double Kick
- Protect

Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 44 Def / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Encore
- Beat Up
- Protect

A Lum Berry is used on Terrakion to prevent Thunder Wave from hindering its sweep. Terrakion has other options over Double Kick, but it's good for stopping Focus Sash users such as Bisharp who either threaten Gengar or can survive a boosted Rock Slide. Gengar's EVs are simple, but if you have an Intimidate user on your team you can change them to 52 / 20 Def / 172 SpA / 12 SpD / 252 Spe to survive a -1 Landorus-T Earthquake and Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave. Whimsicott's EVs allow it to survive a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan Return and outrun max Speed Thundurus.
Offensive Mega Gengar has been on the rise lately; for once I am pleased. Fuck Perish Song.
Will add the core in tommorow; I'm up later than I should be atm.
The point of Slowking + Mawile is that Gothitelle + Mawile does absolutely nothing against things like Landorus-T, Taunt users (part 1 of Slowking's biggest niche), and Heatran. Longivity is huge as well; Slowking makes your entire team damn near immune to dying with 'fast' Heal Pulses, and is among the very few things that gets Heal Pulse + reliable recovery that isn't utterly unviable and BSD legal (Chimecho and Meganium are your next best options; not joking). Very good at setting up TR twice. Goth has good enough bulk to dodge a 2HKO most of the time but let's be serious, Shadow Tag is the only reason to ever run it over the plethora of otherwise superior Psychic mons and TR setters.
Goth + Mawile + Toed would be another good core if anyone has good sets to post for them though, don't take me the wrong way. Slowking just functions differently, and I've personally seen cannibal do some hilarious shit with it. I want to see it with Mega Camerupt, lol. Full HP Eruption spam for life.
 

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