Since 2v2's introduction in Gen 3 it has, for whatever reason, proven rather unpopular, not even having a reliable simulator to play it on (Netbattle was far from reliable) for most of Gen 4. Even with the introduction of Pokemon Online it has taken a backseat to standard OU and, surprisingly, VGC. I wanna change that.
So, what is standard Doubles? Basically, it is double battles with six pokemon and using standard clauses. Generally it is a faster paced metagame than singles, with Stall being less viable and being more offensive (although that's not to say that it's pure offense, defense is still important!). In addition, field effects such as Trick Room, Rain, Sun, etc are more common, and some pokemon find new niches (such as Cherrim) while others fall out of favor (such as Forretress). In addition to these things, doubles emphasizes synergy in teambuilding more--or, perhaps it would be better say, differently--than singles; in doubles, you have to consider what your pokemon can do together when on the field together, how they support each other and handle what the other cannot, and most importantly making sure they do not hinder each other (having your Garchomp EQ with your Heatran on the field, etc).
Now some of you may be wondering why bother with this when we have VGC, which has proven to be a playable doubles metagame and is generally the preferred format. I contend that it is indeed worth considering in light of VGC for the following reasons:
Anyway, aside from that, actual discussion. I'm really interested in After You, which lets a slower pokemon move immediately afterwards. Its fastest user is Cinccino with 115 base speed (and slowest is Snorlax at base 30 but you'd only be able to use it in TR and honestly if you're using something that needs After You in TR you're probably doing something wrong), so it seems like it could be viable. Perhaps we'll see a lot more pokemon with mediocre speed such as Chandelure who are too slow for most situations but too fast for TR?
So, what is standard Doubles? Basically, it is double battles with six pokemon and using standard clauses. Generally it is a faster paced metagame than singles, with Stall being less viable and being more offensive (although that's not to say that it's pure offense, defense is still important!). In addition, field effects such as Trick Room, Rain, Sun, etc are more common, and some pokemon find new niches (such as Cherrim) while others fall out of favor (such as Forretress). In addition to these things, doubles emphasizes synergy in teambuilding more--or, perhaps it would be better say, differently--than singles; in doubles, you have to consider what your pokemon can do together when on the field together, how they support each other and handle what the other cannot, and most importantly making sure they do not hinder each other (having your Garchomp EQ with your Heatran on the field, etc).
Now some of you may be wondering why bother with this when we have VGC, which has proven to be a playable doubles metagame and is generally the preferred format. I contend that it is indeed worth considering in light of VGC for the following reasons:
- Ability to self-regulate. VGC must strictly adhere to the ruleset that TPCi provides, no matter how restrictive, and the community has no say in the matter. Standard doubles, in contrast, allows for the community to test the metagame and propose any sort of clauses, bans, or removal of such in order to achieve an ideal metagame. For example, in VGC there is no choice but to deal with Spore spam, whereas in standard if we find this to be unhealthy for the metagame we are free to enact Sleep Clause. So on and so forth.
- Availability of Pokemon. This is a big one here. VGC, our only doubles metagame with 5th gen mechanics, arbitrarily disallows the use of over 493 pokemon. Naturally, this unnecessarily restricts the variety of pokemon and strategies in the metagame, and in a sense is counterproductive given the non-insignificant number of pre-Unova pokemon who receive moves and abilities designed specifically for double battles.
- Just because VGC exists doesn't mean this doesn't deserve to exist. Some people have argued that a standard doubles metagame is useless as we already have VGC. While VGC is popular, this is like saying that no one should bother with Ubers because we have standard OU that plays fine, or that no one should bother with UU because we have LC and that plays fine. Just because there is another metagame that has some similarities does not mean there cannot be another metagame somewhat like it.
Anyway, aside from that, actual discussion. I'm really interested in After You, which lets a slower pokemon move immediately afterwards. Its fastest user is Cinccino with 115 base speed (and slowest is Snorlax at base 30 but you'd only be able to use it in TR and honestly if you're using something that needs After You in TR you're probably doing something wrong), so it seems like it could be viable. Perhaps we'll see a lot more pokemon with mediocre speed such as Chandelure who are too slow for most situations but too fast for TR?
