An Excessively Verbose Overview
VGC 2015 is one of my favorite metagames of all time. There are a variety of reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is a certain special team style called CHALK. We’ve all heard of it; Cresselia, Heatran, Amoonguss, Landorus-Therian, Kangaskhan, and Thundurus (who everyone likes to pretend isn’t just as important as the other five). The VGC 2015 Master’s Division World Championships were famously dominated by CHALK, with all of the top 8 players using a variation on the core, with the champion, Shoma Honami, using the exact six Pokémon listed above. Though the homogeny of this tournament, and the metagame at large, has been criticized by many, I personally believe it allows each player’s skill to shine through more than almost any other metagame.
The beauty of CHALK is that, while it matches up well into a huge variety of team styles, it can be adapted to the strengths of the player - for instance, while one of the main strengths of the core is its Trick Room mode, several players in 2015 Worlds Top 8 chose to forgo this option entirely, instead focusing exclusively on fast-mode support with the likes of Cresselia’s Icy Wind or Hydreigon’s Tailwind, and letting the team’s natural strength in Trick Room serve just as a tool in matchups against opposing Trick Room teams.
That’s why, when building this team, I decided I wanted to approach teambuilding with a CHALK philosophy. CHALK, in essence, is a semi-room team which aims to find a win condition in any matchup, building around a balance of offensive threats and support Pokémon to make this possible. This team aims to achieve the same thing in the Generation 7 Doubles OU environment. The carryover of Heatran and Amoonguss from the original CHALK core was wholly unintentional - it just goes to show how strong of synergy the two have, especially under Trick Room. I did this by first identifying the most important roles in the metagame - spread attackers, pivot move users, fast mode speed control, terrain control, etc., and then, one at the time, finding the best Pokémon who fills the most possible unfulfilled roles.
The Team
Incineroar @ Mago Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 124 SpD / 40 Spe
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Incineroar is to this team what Landorus-Therian is to CHALK: it’s a single Pokémon packed with more utility than you could ever believe. I started this whole team by picking Incineroar and then building around the roles it does not fill on its own. Though it may not be able to change the whole pace of the game with a key Tailwind or Trick Room, it is the glue that holds this whole team together, much in the same way that it holds this whole tier together.
Ever since I discovered how to fit a whopping 40 Speed EVs on Incineroar without sacrificing any important defensive benchmarks, this has become my go-to Incineroar spread. I even use it on The Ultimate Scizdown now. Though I always think a good speed investment to win Fake Out wars is important to Incineroar’s reliability as a lead, I think that, rather counterintuitively, it is even more important on Trick Room teams. Not only is winning Fake Out wars even more important in when you’re helping a teammate set up a critical Trick Room, (particularly a frail one like Gardevoir-Mega,) being slightly faster allows you to U-turn later as well, increasing the opportunities to give a teammate a safe switch.
As always, I run Mago Berry on Incineroar in order to theoretically increase the odds of confusing a Bug Biting opponent, who would almost certainly either be running a -SpA nature (Scizor) or a -Spe nature (Araquanid). Since I’m running a -SpA nature, I can’t use Wiki Berry, so Mago is the choice.
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Protect
Building this team gave me a new appreciation for the sheer amount of work this simple Life Orb sweeper can put in. It sets up Electric Terrain to annoy opposing Terrain-reliant teams and block incoming Spores, can attack single-target or spread with Thunderbolt or Dazzling Gleam, and even deals ridiculous damage with Volt Switch, which can often nab a KO or reveal a switch while getting a teammate in at the same time.
Amoonguss @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Amoonguss is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated threats in the metagame. Its low base Speed and Spore can turn the tables on Trick Room setters like Bronzong, Gardevoir-Mega, Diancie, and Hoopa-Unbound. Though it doesn’t particularly care for Tapu Koko’s Electric Terrain, it doesn’t undercut Amoonguss’s ability to use Rage Powder to support Gardevoir-Mega’s Trick Room shenanigans and redirect away would-be lethal attacks from teammates.
As Amoonguss’s primary role is often to sit on opposing Rain and Trick Room teams and stall out their turns, I find the decision between Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb usually comes down to which team style your team needs more support against. Giga Drain slams Swampert-Mega, while Sludge Bomb terrifies Tapu Bulu. Since this team already has plenty of options against opposing Trick Room, I decided on Giga Drain to strengthen the Rain matchup.
Zapdos @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Static
EVs: 244 HP / 80 Def / 64 SpA / 56 SpD / 64 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Tailwind
- Roost
Zapdos was chosen primarily for its ground immunity and Tailwind support, letting the team function much better outside of Trick Room by making Gardevoir-Mega a terrifyingly fast sweeper in its own right. The given set for Heatran also moves quite fast under Tailwind. It is also more than happy to sit on the field alongside Tapu Koko, as the two share no weaknesses due to Zapdos’s Flying-type.
This set is notably missing Heat Wave, which is replaced by Volt Switch. Gardevoir-Mega, Heatran, and even Tapu Koko can all have a hard time switching in, so having Zapdos be able to pivot into them is far more beneficial than having a third fire-type attack on the team. Heatran and Incineroar already tear through many Steel-types, and both can outspeed standard Kartana (or all non-scarf Kartana in Heatran’s case) with support from Zapdos’s Tailwind. I am open to suggestions regarding this moveset, though, as I’m still on the fence regarding whether Heat Wave might bring more value than Roost purely for the Kartana matchup.
Edit: when I originally wrote this, I included something about how Zapdos's Thunderbolt and Volt Switch appreciate Tapu Koko's Electric Terrain. I'm fully aware Zapdos isn't affected by Terrain boosts due to not being grounded. I have no idea how this slipped my mind when writing.
Gardevoir-Mega @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 148 Def / 68 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Trick Room
- Protect
Gardevoir-Mega’s 165 base Special Attack is nothing to scoff at, though its 68/65 physical bulk is. I’ve taken the standard Trick Room set from the StrategyDex, which invests a fair bit in Defense, and shifted 44 Special Attack EVs into Speed (changing to 31 IVs and a Modest nature) to match Gardevoir-Mega’s speed tier on Ezrael’s Rain, which speed creeps slower Tapu Fini if I remember correctly. In this case, it’s primarily here to make Gardevoir even faster under Tailwind, allowing Zapdos to set up a win condition for it rather than Gardevoir setting up its own every time. If you’re worried about 68 Special Attack being too low, don’t be. This thing still hits like a truck.
Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
I’ve long considered Heatran to be less-than-viable in this metagame, but in the context of this team, it’s the very best at what it does. It was chosen for its unique combination of checking Tapu Lele defensively while matching up well into opposing Fire-types with Flash Fire and Earth Power, though its flexible speed tier is not overlooked. Heatran’s signature type combination famously gives it the most double-resistances of all Pokémon, which, beyond making it ridiculously awful in inverse battles, makes for an incredible defensive profile when combined with its four regular resistances and two immunities. Among these resistances and immunities are every single one of Amoonguss’s weaknesses, something which I (embarrassingly) did not know until literally right now. On top of this, Amoonguss resists two of Heatran’s three weaknesses, meaning the two have nearly-unbreakable defensive synergy.
For Heatran, I chose to use a bulky offensive set with a neutral 0/31 Speed investment. This makes Heatran slow enough to underspeed the majority of non-Trick Room opponents within Trick Room, but also fast enough to outrun the majority of opponents under Tailwind.
I’m sure I’m not finished with this set yet. Once I have had enough experience, I will determine important defensive and offensive stat benchmarks to aim for, and spec around those. I am also as of yet unsure whether Shuca Berry is the best item for this variant. I have also considered Chople Berry in order to put the nail in the coffin against opposing Kartana, and Leftovers or Wiki Berry for longevity.
Problematic Matchups
I absolutely love this team, but I’ll be the first to admit that it’s never all sunshine-and-rainbows with Pokémon. It does have a few less-than-stellar matchups at the moment.
Kartana:
Kartana is as annoying as always for this team. In the metagame at large, Kartana is a Pokemon with a variety of decent checks, but few true counters. It can snowball out of control if not dealt with quickly. (I personally consider it to be a little unhealthy but that’s beside the point.) It’s the one reason I’m still seriously considering swapping Roost for Heat Wave on Zapdos. Regardless, it can be dealt with by setting up Tailwind with Zapdos and then pivoting to Incineroar or Heatran. This just requires that one of the necessary Pokémon hasn’t already gone down, and if they have, it can become pretty problematic.
Rock Slide:
No, not a team style or Pokémon or anything like that, just the move Rock Slide. This team is sadly lacking a single rock resist, so having Zapdos and Incineroar both be weak to the type can be a bigger liability than it might seem. Surprisingly, I don’t think Stealth Rocks are that big of an issue. Zapdos can roost of the damage, meanwhile itself, Incineroar, and Amoonguss all get passive recovery from berries (and, in Amoonguss’s case, Regenerator). It could spell trouble, though, against a team which is very good at forcing switches. In any case, I don’t see this being a huge issue, just something I find slightly uncomfortable.
Strengths and Conclusion
I’m extremely happy with how this experiment turned out. Though I’ve only played a few ladder games with it so far, I love how in-control this team makes me feel in basically every situation. It’s an extension of the philosophy applied by Scizdown, which aimed to simply bypass annoyances with Misty Terrain and fantastic clickable moves like Scizor-Mega’s Bullet Punch and Zygarde’s Thousand Arrows. This time, though, the team is tailored to be able to find a specialized win condition for any situation, rather than just operating independently of factors like Trick Room and Terrains. It has even opened my eyes to a Pokémon I wasn’t giving enough credit before, Heatran.
If you have any suggestions, I’d be more than happy to hear them. This applies doubly to suggestions regarding Heatran’s set.
Thanks for reading!
https://pokepast.es/c39213b1f0b1335f
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