[REQUEST] VGC Doubles Team help

[bdsaxophone]

Hey everyone, so being new to competitive pokemon in general I am having some issues with the team I am trying to build for myself. I am having problems with Ferrothorn and in general ghost pokemon. I am willing to change most of the team to help with these problems I just don't know to what. So without further ado here is my team.

---

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Moody
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252ATK/4DEF/252SPE
Moves:

• Dark Void
  
• King's Shield
  
• Wide Guard
  
• Follow Me
  

This was the pokemon that I based the team off of. I liked the idea of Dark Void causing havoc for my opp. Wide Guard is being used to protect myself from Mega-Gardevoir's Pixilated Hyper Voice. Follow Me is useful when your opp tries to inflict status on a your other pokemon when Smeargle already has a status. Follow Me also protects its partner from super effective hits. King's Shield is useful for when people try to use priority to knock out the Focus Sash and kill Smeargle allowing for one last use from him. Focus Sash allows you to get at least one Dark Void off if you have a Fake Out user.

---

Mega-Kangaskhan @ Kangashanite
Ability: Scrappy -> Parental Bond
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 212HP/92ATT/60DEF/20SpD/124SPE
Moves:

• Fake Out
  
• Sucker Punch
  
• Return
  
• Power-Up Punch
  

Naturally I wanted a Mega on the team and I wanted a Fake Out user and the giant dmg that Mega-Kang puts out is crazy. Sucker Punch is the one move that I wish I didn't have to run but I was needing a way to hit ghost pokemon and this does it the best. Kind of natural to have the Return and Power-Up Punch. I choose Power-Up Punch because there are very few Pokemon that die to a OHKO from Low Kick and if I am going to be attacking twice with one poke I would rather the boost to be able to sweep easier.

---

Cresselia @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Impish
EVs: 116HP/212DEF/180SpD
Moves

• Calm Mind
  
• Moonlight
  
• Psychic
  
• Ice Beam
  

After a few games I knew that I wanted a counter to Mega-Kang. I like Cresselia as a pokemon so I wanted to make that work. The Calm Mind was to help with stalls as well with Moonlight. I wanted Psychic for the STAB and Ice Beam for coverage.

---

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
EVs: 4HP/100DEF/152SpA/252SPE
Moves:

• Hydro Pump
  
• Trick
  
• Volt Switch
  
• Will-O-Wisp
  

The idea behind trick is that you can come in on a pokemon that is wanting to set up or stall and you can make sure that pokemon is useless. Volt Switch is the STAB electric type of choice so you can switch and deal some dmg. Hydro Pump is the water attack of choice. Finally Will-O-Wisp you are able to cripple other pokemon and take stall pokemon out of the game quickly.

---

Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4HP/252ATT/252SPE
Moves:

• Brave Bird
  
• Flare Blitz
  
• U-Turn
  
• Taunt
  

Spot filler for the most part. Being new to the format I figured I wanted the high power Talonflame. The priority Brave Bird seems very useful but I haven't found a great use. I don't know where Talonflame fits in the meta game. I was hoping for more of an explanation on things that I should bring in Talonflame for.

---

Swampert @ Assault Vest
Ability: Damp
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 56DEF/252SpA/200SpD
Moves:

• Earth Power
  
• Scald
  
• Rock Slide
  
• Ice Beam
  

I saw this somewhere and I thought it was a neat idea. The Damp ability isn't very useful but that wasn't the main reason for him. He is a nice tank that can take a hit well and with Assault Vest that just helps lots. The moves are just coverage moves. Rockslide helps with Talon or other pokemon. I have 0 IVs in speed in order to out slow Aegislash and be able to hit it with an Earth Power and do tons of DMG while it is in Blade Form.

---

This is the team as of right now. I am thinking of adding in Bisharp in order to have Knock Off which is my favorite move in pokemon competitive battling. Bisharp seems to fit well in the meta game because the strength of Intimidate and having the priority STAB sits well with him. I am also needing help to find a counter to Ferrothorn. I need a strong fire type attack in order to make dealing with Ferrothorn bearable. I was also thinking that I wanted another Fake Out user in order to be able to lead with a different pokemon other than Smeargle and Kang. I think I am in the market for something faster in order to have a quicker Fake Out when the Fake Out wars start. I was thinking of Liepard since you can have a quick Fake Out and if another pokemon used Fake Out on you or a stally move you can priority Encore them or have a priority Taunt. I was also thinking of adding Sylveon to the team because of the wide range of moves that it learns to provide lots of coverage as well as creating more diverse threats. I think that Bisharp and Sylveon are fighting for the same spot on this team and the pokemon that they are replacing would be totally different though. Let me know what you would do. I am open to any and all suggestions besides removing Smeargle from the team.

[Rogue]

Your team is well built. It only has 2 double weaknesses, being grass and fighting. However, as you're already aware; You need more than just a safe team when it comes to resistances/weaknesses.

I only have 2 suggestions, which is a good thing because that means your team is rather solid. However, keep in mind no team is perfect. A team will always have some small issues.

Anywho, moving on. Let me touch up on Cresselia, Mega Kangaskhan, and Talonflame.

---

You said you wanted Cresselia to be somewhat of a "counter" to mega kang. I get the idea, but I think you should have another way to beat Kang. Kang can still hit you very hard, and Cresselia can only do decent damage. However, this doesn't mean to change Cresselia. Calm mind cresselia is excellent, and this set is perfect.

As for mega Kang, you opted for power up punch. Once again this is just fine. However, on a 1v1 against your standard jolly max speed max attack mega kangaskhan with lowkick, you lose 1v1.

Basically, what I'm getting at is that we should add another pokemon that can really hit Kangaskhan hard! Once again, I love the calm mind cress and bulky power up punch kang. Keep these.

Now, let's talk Talonflame. I'm a firm believer that Talonflame just really isn't that good for vgc15. Landorus, Thundurus, Heatran, Suicune, etc are all common and beat Talonflame one on one. They eat a brave bird easily, and can OHKO it right back. However, let's look at the good Talonflame brings for your team.

It can beat Ferrothorn, and fighting types.
However.. It's very easy to prevent Talonflame from doing these 2 things. Talonflame is so frail, ferrothorn can easily predict a flare blitz, protect, and their ally can OHKO it. Not to mention, iron barbs + rocky helmet + brave bird basically equals a dead talonflame. Another problem is that their aren't many pokemon in the "meta" who are weak to flying types.

Which really leaves it to it's fire typing to have use, since brave bird is easily lived by most of the top used pokemon. The speed/priority of brave bird is nice, but we can sub that later.

Fire is a really good typing this year, yet it has problems. 1. Physical fire moves can be king shielded by aegislash, making it easy for it to live and KO the opposing fire type. & 2. Heatran.

So, cutting it short we basically want a Pokemon who can use special fire type attacks, KO heatran, and is still speedy like Talonflame.

Blaziken.

Adlet Mayer (Blaziken) @ Life Orb  
Ability: Speed Boost  
Level: 50  
EVs: 196 Atk / 156 SpA / 156 Spe  
Naughty Nature  
- Overheat  
- Low Kick  
- Rock Slide  
- Protect

(Too lazy to remove the nickname lol)

This is the Blaziken that I use. It can also take T-Flames life orb. With Overheat you can easily KO aegislash, ferrothorn, and more without being scared of iron barbs/rocky helmet/king shield. On the off chance your opponent doubles into heatran who is immune to fire; Well.. We can follow up by outspeeding it and OHKO'ing it with low kick. This also helps you beat opposing mega Kangs, remember when we talked about cress and your kang? You can switch up rock slide as you wish, I just like it to deal with thundurus and the like.

(with blaziken on the team, we also gain a way to combat dark types that threaten cresselia.)

---

This last one is mostly a suggestion. But I say drop rotom-wash for zapdos.
You could really drop either swampert or rotom for zapdos really, this will drop your double grass weakness and give you another bulky fighting resistance. Ontop of that Zapdos offers tailwind. Nothing scarier than a bulky kangaskhan under tailwind. Big power.
it also helps your match up a little against rain teams, which is nice.

I like both rotom-wash and swampert; I like the trick idea. But I feel like swampert is too good to drop considering it can handle dual genies rather easily. So i vote for rotom wash to be brought off. But then again, rotom wash deals with rain teams even better than zapdos. So, it's really up to you if you even want to take this advice.

Kaminari (Zapdos) @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Pressure  
Level: 50  
EVs: 232 HP / 40 Def / 20 SpA / 100 SpD / 116 Spe  
Bold Nature  
- Thunderbolt  
- Hidden Power [Ice]  
- Tailwind  
- Roost

The zapdos I use, stolen from user Black117.

I hope any of this helps.

[hi15361]

Not much I can really say as I am new as well but I use my talonflame as brave bird, tailwind, taunt, overheat. The overheat is mainly for physical bulks like ferrothorn and skarmory as it super effects and can OHKO many of them. With support of charti berry instead of choice item I can continue to battle even after the special attack drop.

[Aether]

BANGIN' reply by Rogue. The last thing I would add is that your smeargle is a redirection support, change it from 252 Atk to 252 Hp EVs, with no attacking moves, the're just being wasted.

[DanielJames]

Rouge's comment is A+!

I think Swampert works better for your team so I would personally replace Rotom-W with Zapdos.

I dig the team. I may have to try it out sometime.

[bdsaxophone]

First of all thank you so much Rogue! I agree on all your points. I love the idea of Blaziken! I had completely forgotten about him. He also has this game about him on weather you are going to go for the first turn protect or just throw out an attack. I also like the idea of Zapdos. Zapdos helps with speed control as well as a bulky wall with roost. I was also thinking about adding another Fake Out user. I having a difficult time since Kang isn't the fastest poke and sometimes I can get out speed on a Fake Out war.

---

I am also thinking about replacing Ice Beam on Cress to a Shadow Ball in order to have better coverage. I already have the Ice Beam on Swampert so I think that could be a solid fit but I am not sure.

---

Also Aether I guess I forgot to change it from when I had transform. But I do agree that its needs to be changed.

---

DanielJames! The team is so fun. I thinking that I am going to replace king's shield with helping hand because there are times where both the Opps pokemon are asleep and you are just sitting trying to not reveal king's shield and wide guard. This would also help getting some dmg with Kang which is most common your biggest lead using fake out on the fastest poke and then using dark void to get the both asleep. Then turn 2 you can helping hand and deal some large amount of dmg.

[MegaGallade475]

Try this edited version of this team. It will probably help, but don't go just off of my opinion. Sorry, but I thought removing Smeargle was necessary.

---

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Protect
[/list]

Smeargle is a pretty frail Pokemon, and most teams will be able to counter it effectively. You shouldn't rely on Mega Kangaskhan to protect it since most teams counter that as well. Amoonguss is a way better alternative since it is very bulky, gets Spore, and gets Rage Powder.

---

Mega-Kangaskhan @ Kangashanite
Ability: Scrappy -> Parental Bond
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 76 HP / 92 Atk / 60 Def / 20 SpD / 124 Spe
Moves:

• - Fake Out
  - Sucker Punch
  - Double-Edge
  - Power-Up Punch
  

Naturally I wanted a Mega on the team and I wanted a Fake Out user and the giant damage that Mega-Kang puts out is crazy. Sucker Punch is the one move that I wish I didn't have to run but I was needing a way to hit ghost pokemon and this does it the best. Kind of natural to have the Return and Power-Up Punch. I choose Power-Up Punch because there are very few Pokemon that die to a OHKO from Low Kick and if I am going to be attacking twice with one poke I would rather the boost to be able to sweep easier.

---

Bisharp @ Chople Berry
Ability: Defiant
Level: 50
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Protect

Counters weaknesses to Psychic and Rock, you wanted to add this. It is the set I use, so hopefully it works. Bisharp seems to fit well in the metagame because the strength of Intimidate and having the priority STAB sits well with him.

---

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 92 HP / 148 Def / 252 SpA / 16 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power Fire
[/list]

Hyper Voice is the STAB of choice, Psyshock is to hit special walls and Poison types, Shadow Ball for Ghost types, and Hidden Power Fire is for Ferrothorn. Choice Specs is to hit things hard.

---

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpA / 156 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- King's Shield
- Substitute
- Wide Guard
- Flash Cannon
[/list]

Counters weakness to fighting, counters M-Gardevoir with Wide Guard/ Flash Cannon. King's Shield: no explanation. Sub for double Protect scouting, you get a free one up.

---

Swampert @ Assault Vest
Ability: Damp
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 56 Def / 252 SpA / 200 SpD
Moves:

• - Earth Power
  - Scald
  - Rock Slide
  - Ice Beam
  

I saw this somewhere and I thought it was a neat idea. The Damp ability isn't very useful but that wasn't the main reason for him. He is a nice tank that can take a hit well and with Assault Vest that just helps lots. The moves are just coverage moves. Rock Slide helps with Talonflame or other pokemon. I have 0 IVs in speed in order to out slow Aegislash and be able to hit it with an Earth Power and do tons of DAMAGE while it is in Blade Forme. (btw you probably saw it with Cybertron).

---

This is the team as of right now. I was thinking that I wanted another Fake Out user in order to be able to lead with a different pokemon other than Kangaskhan. I think I am in the market for something faster in order to have a quicker Fake Out when the Fake Out wars start. I was thinking of Liepard since you can have a quick Fake Out and if another pokemon used Fake Out on you or a stally move you can priority Encore them or have a priority Taunt.
[/quote]

[Podfighterninja123]

the answer is simple

[Marcusube]

Rogue's comment pretty much solves the issues with this team so I have no input here