Pastelle
we're all star stuff
Have you ever played a video game that was so captivating in its location, characters, and story that you just couldn't stop thinking about it and when you needed to come up with a nicknaming theme for your Smogon Doubles Ubers team, you took inspiration from it? Well, Xenoblade Chronicles did that for me, as I realized every member of my team could be compared to a character from the game, so I went with it because I was too lazy to think of something better. This team is essentially a Tailwind team, and it peaked at about 67th on the ladder. Not the best ranking since not a lot of people battle in the meta, but certainty not bad. This team has some weak spots and flaws, that I will elaborate on later, but overall works really well. I'd love to hear any suggestions for improvement. So enough synopsis, let's get into it!
Warning: Nicknames and descriptions may contain minor spoilers to characters in Xenoblade Chronicles. However, there are no plot spoilers whatsoever. Enter at your own risk.
Now that's out of the way, how about some mood music, hm?
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Teambuilding
This team's inspiration can be directly linked to KyleCole's Butterfree moveset video. After watching it, I immediately wanted to build a team with it. Mega Kanga was the suggested partner to go with Butterfree, and since I hadn't really used Mega Kanga before, I wanted to try him as well. This could have easily been a regular Smogon Doubles team, but I decided to make it duber because 1.) I didn't have a dubers team yet and 2.) I thought it would hilarious to bring a Butterfree into a Ubers match and have it destroy.
Since I decided to make this a Tailwind team, I chose Latias to be my second setter. Latias has great coverage, bulk, and an outstanding supporting movepool. I also wanted a mon I could use to switch into Earthquakes, so Latias fit the bill perfectly.
At this point, the team had a ton of weaknesses to common attacking types like Fairy, Rock, Ghost, etc., so I decided to use Aegislash. In Shield Form, it could wall to a certain extent, as well as sweep in Blade Form.
Weaknesses to Fire and Ground were starting to form, so I brought in the powerhouse Kyogre. It has amazing Special bulk, and could be used to eliminate annoying weather effects, since my team doesn't mind Rain, but could be in trouble in the Hail or Sand, for example.
And finally, I filled the last slot with Dialga to resist any other weaknesses that remained, as well as provide some more coverage and offensive support. I was skeptical about using Dialga at first, and I will admit its probably the least useful member on this team, but it has come through in many situations
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Team Analysis
(What you all came here for tbh)
Shulk (Kangaskhan) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus ➙ Parental Bond
EVs: 252 Atk / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
- Protect
- Sucker Punch
In Xenoblade Chronicles, Shulk in the main hero, one of the first characters you meet, and is overall really powerful. Kangaskhan, coincidentally, is one of the main heros on this team, is one of the first Pokemon you ever met if you started playing from Gen 1, and, of course, is really powerful. This set is about as standard as it gets for Mega Kanga. When I led with Kangaskhan and Butterfree, Fake Out is to make any threat that could OHKO Kangaskhan useless, while Butterfree sets up TWind. Once its up, its Power-Up Punches everything to make it even more powerful, then Sucker Punches to essentially kill everything, while Protect is Protect. It's EV's give it just the right balance of bulk and strength. I guess you could say it gives you Shulk, amirite!?!
Sharla (Butterfree) (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Tailwind
- Protect
Sharla, when you get her early on in Xenoblade, can be really useful. However, later in the game, she essentially becomes pointless, which perfectly describes the Butterfree here. If you've seen KyleCole's moveset video, I'm basically just restating everything he said. I also put a link to that video in the Teambuilding section above if you'd like a little more details about this set. Anyways, there is one big reason I'm using Butterfree over Vivillon, Butterfree gets TWind. Once TWind is up, it can sleep spam everything to oblivion, and since it has Compound Eyes, Sleep Powder rarely misses. Bug Buzz is Butterfree's strongest STAB move, and Protect finishes off the set. Focus Sash is essential, since Butterfree has terrible defenses, and it's guaranteed to get TWind up on the first turn. However, once Butterfree gets down to 1HP and TWind peters out, it's basically useless, and only really good for allowing another mon to get a free switch-in once it faints. But early on, this butterfly is a monster of a support.
Melia (Latias) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Tailwind
- Heal Pulse
- Psyshock
- Protect
Melia in Xenoblade is an ether based attacker, ether essentially being magic in the game. She's best at dealing strong attacks and buffing the rest of the party, which is what Latias is best at. She's primarily my second TWind setter, but she also serves the purpose of the team healer with Heal Pulse. Psyshock is for coverage, and Protect is for obvious reasons. Latias is a Special wall of a Pokemon, since Special Attackers are far more common the Physical Attackers in Ubers. Sitrus Berry is for extra bulk. Latias overall is a great supportive asset to my entire team.
Mechonis (Dialga) @ Adamant Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 76 Def / 252 SpA / 180 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flash Cannon
- Ancient Power
- Protect
Mechonis is the name of the metal world in Xenoblade, that exists opposite of the Bionis, and is buried deep in the game's folklore, and since Dialga is part of the Creation Trio, it fits, you see? Dialga is sorta my wild card, "I don't really know why he's here but he is" mon on this team. However, he provides great coverage with Draco Meteor, Flash Cannon, and Ancient Power. Adamant Orb is to give him more of an offensive boost, to make up for his more defensive EV's. If I had to change a mon on this team, I would probably pick to choose Dialga to replace.
Metal Face (Aegislash) (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Sneak
Metal Face is a sinister, creepy Mechon, or being who lives on the Mechonis. Aegislash is a creepy piece of metal. See where I'm going with this? Aegislash is my jack-of-all-trades on this team, able to sweep as well as stall. While in Shield Form, its high Defenses can takealmost anything. However, it a super-effective attack activates its Weakness Policy, it becomes a monster sweeper. Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon are essential to this set for STAB. King's Shield is also essential to return Aegislash to it's Shield Form, as well as drop the attack from any Knock Off'ers. I have Shadow Sneak in the forth slot for priority sake, but I'm considering changing it to Sacred Sword for Dark coverage. If I could get some opinions on that, that would be fantastic.
Riki (Kyogre) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpA / 76 SpD
Modest Nature
- Water Spout
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Scald
Finally, we've come to the real star of the show in both Xenoblade and on this team, Riki. Riki in Xenoblade, is both insanely bulky, but able to deal hard hits, which is what Kyogre here does. With its already crazy Special Defense, the Assault Vest just adds to the insanity, alongside a maximum HP stat. Water Sport is its main form of destruction, Thunder is an amazing coverage move in the rain, Ice Beam is also an amazing coverage move, and Scald is another great STAB for when my HP is too low to use Water Spout. I've considered replacing Scald with Icy Wind for Speed control, but I'm unsure.
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Threats
After battling dozens of matches with this team, I've noticed there are a handful of mons that this team struggles with. Some of these mons are very common, but I could some direct help with how to deal with them.
The first thing this team has trouble with is breaking the monster wall Lugia, partcually one's equipped with Recover and Calm Mind. I have coverage with Aegislash and Kyogre's Thunder, but they almost always do next to nothing to this beast's HP. I can't really rearrange their EV's to make their Special Attack any stronger, but I need some suggestions as to how to deal with this semi-common threat. I was thinking perhaps replacing Aegislash with a Will-o-Wisp'er like Sableye, but I know there has to be a better option.
The second big threat I want to address is Bisharp. Though he's not as common in dubers as he in in regular doubles, the times I have come across him have not fared so well. The only real counter I have to Bisharp on this team right now is Mega Kanga's Power-Up Punch, after I have at least used it once to double my Attack. Even then, Mega Kanga isn't exactly a reliable answer to this big threat, considering Bisharp wipes out half of my team. I've considered running Sacred Sword on Aegislash for a bit more coverage, even though Bisharp would kill him anyways, or making Latias more offensive and running Fire Blast. Again, that's not the best option. Any suggestions to help deal with Bisharp would be greatly appreciated.
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Replays
Some ladder matches this team has found success with. I plan on adding more to this list in the future. Keep in mind some of these were fought before I changed all their nicknames.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogondoublesubers-181775038
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogondoublesubers-181706173
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogondoublesubers-182306211
Shulk (Kangaskhan) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
- Protect
- Sucker Punch
Melia (Latias) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Tailwind
- Heal Pulse
- Psyshock
- Protect
Mechonis (Dialga) @ Adamant Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 76 Def / 252 SpA / 180 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flash Cannon
- Ancient Power
- Protect
Metal Face (Aegislash) (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Sneak
Sharla (Butterfree) (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Tailwind
- Protect
Riki (Kyogre) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpA / 76 SpD
Modest Nature
- Water Spout
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Scald
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
- Protect
- Sucker Punch
Melia (Latias) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Tailwind
- Heal Pulse
- Psyshock
- Protect
Mechonis (Dialga) @ Adamant Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 76 Def / 252 SpA / 180 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flash Cannon
- Ancient Power
- Protect
Metal Face (Aegislash) (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Sneak
Sharla (Butterfree) (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Tailwind
- Protect
Riki (Kyogre) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpA / 76 SpD
Modest Nature
- Water Spout
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Scald
And that's basically it! Thanks so much for reading my RMT, and I can't wait to hear any feedback! May the majesty of the Bionis guide you.
-pastelgameboy
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