ORAS Doubles OU Team Hoopa-Unbound

[Kenpwnchi]

My name is pwndkthnx, and I present Team Hoopa-Unbound. After watching Hoopa & The Clash of Ages, I was inspired to build a team around Hoopa-Unbound. It was originally supposed to be a Trick Room team, but I decided to use it differently. Basically, I only use Trick Room when my opponent uses Trick Room or Tailwind. This allows my team to outspeed regardless of the circumstances. I've gotten to Rank 388 and 1339 Elo with this team (my highest on the DOU ladder so far). However, as a competitive battler, I know my team could be better. And, thus, I need your help. I want to make this team the best.

Hoopa-Unbound @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Magician
EVs: 80 Atk / 178 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hyperspace Hole
- Hyperspace Fury
- Drain Punch
- Trick Room

The star of the show, Hoopa-Unbound. I gave Hoopa-Unbound Safety Googles to prevent it being Spore'd by the likes of Amoonguss, Breloom, and Mega Venasaur before it could get Trick Room up. This makes Hoopa-Unbound a good switch-in for stuff like that. Magician is its only ability, but comes in handy if my opponent uses Knock Off to knock Safety Goggles off. I gave Hoopa-Unbound 80 EVs for Atk to balance its Atk with its SpA. The 178 EVs for Def is to prevent Hoopa-Unbound from being OHKO'd by Mega Kangaskhan, and other physical attackers. I put the rest of the EVs in Spe to make sure Hoopa-Unbound moves faster than my opponent's Pokemon. Naive nature to help with speed. Hyperspace Hole has great STAB and breaks protect while easily OHKOing Fighting-Types. Same for Hyperspace Fury, which can OHKO Aegislash and Ghost-Types. Drain Punch for Mega Kangaskhan and other Normal-Types. Trick Room because that's the niche. With only two weaknesses, Hoopa-Unbound doesn't have much to worry about.

Heatran @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Eruption
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power

Next up, Heatran. I chose Heatran as my next Pokemon since it checks Bug and Fairy types, Hoopa-Unbound's weaknesses. Life Orb is pretty standard for Heatran, so no explanation is needed. Flash Fire allows Heatran to switch-in to Fire moves without taking damage, especially a Flare Blitz from Talonflame. 6 HP to allow Heatran to stick around longer, and take more damage. I boosted the SpA and Spe to allow Heatran to be the fastest and sweep. Since I use Eruption, I had to pick Quiet for nature. Eruption is absolutely devastating, even to other Fire pokemon. It beats Steel, Grass, and Ice mons easily. Being a spread move, it gets two for one. While not having the 10% burn chance as Heat Wave, it does more damage and has better accuracy. Flash Cannon to take out Fairy mons. Flamethrower for Wide Guard Aegislash (which is a common set). Earth Power for opposing Heatran's.

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Protect
- Leech Seed

My third Pokemon, Ferrothorn. I chose Ferrothorn because it checks Ground and Water types, two of Heatran's three weaknesses. Rocky Helmet + Iron Barbs does massive damage to physical attackers, ESPECIALLY Mega Kangaskhan (which hits twice with Parental Bond). 6 HP for longevity, and the usually max SpA and Spe. Just like my others, I wanted to make Ferrothorn as fast as possible. Although typically still outsped by most, this makes Ferrothorn faster than Belly Drum Azumarill. Jolly nature for speed. Power Whip, although horrible accuracy, OHKO's all the top tier water Pokemon bar Gyarados and Suicune. Gyro Ball, while not doing much, can kill Fairy types with medium to low health (depending on their speed, and if Ferrothorn moves last). Protect to scout moves, and stall for a turn. Leech Seed to pinch away health from bulky mons.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- U-turn

My fourth Pokemon, Lando-T. I chose Lando-T because he checks Fire types, one of Ferrothorn's two weaknesses. Lando-T is pretty infamous with its Choice Scarf and Intimidate, so no need for me to explain. Lando-T is absolutely the fastest Pokemon on my team, and one of the best supporters I could ask for. Choice Scarf, most of the time, allows Lando-T to go first, and Intimidate weakens physical attackers. 6 HP for longevity, and my usual 252/252, this time Atk and Spe. Jolly nature for more speed. Earthquake beats non-flying Fire types, Electric types, and Aegislash (woot). Superpower to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan and Normal types. Rock Slide for spread flinch to set up Trick Room, and to OHKO Flying types, ESPECIALLY Mega Charizard Y. U-turn to evacuate if facing a Pokemon Lando-T is weak against. My favorite part about Lando-T is his immunity to Electric moves. This makes him a great switch-in against Thundurus, and other Electric mons (like Raikou and Mega Manetric).

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 84 Def / 170 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

My fifth Pokemon, Thundurus. I chose Thundurus because it checks Water types, one of Lando-T's two weaknesses. Life Orb to completely devastate, and Prankster for priority TWaves. 4 HP for longevity, 84 Def to balance with SpD, 170 SpA for added destruction, and 252 speed to sweep as fast as possible. Timid nature for speed. I prefer Thunder over Thunderbolt because it does more damage. Although missing sucks, greater damage output is even better. Volt Switch to do some damage, and allow for a safe switch-in. Thunder Wave for speed control, and it even hits before other moves due to Prankster. Hidden Power Ice for Dragon types, and opposing Lando-T's.

Keldeo @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Quick Guard
- Protect

My sixth, and last Pokemon, Keldeo. I chose Keldeo because it checks Ice and Rock types, both of Thundurus' weaknesses. Life Orb for the same reason as the others. Justified is pretty useless, but can be useful if I switch-in Keldeo to a dark move, giving it a free Atk boost. 6 HP for longevity, and the 252/252 ordeal for SpA and Spe. Timid nature for more speed. Hydro Pump, although capable of missing, presents itself as a better move to me than Scald. While Scald does burn, Hydro Pump does more damage, and can actually OHKO fire types, like Talonflame or Mega Charizard Y. Secret Sword is Keldeo's best fighting STAB move, and OHKOs Mega Kangaskhan without a second thought. Quick Guard to protect Hoopa-Unbound from Fake Out so it can set up Trick Room. Protect to keep itself safe, and buy the team time.

Please go into detail when you RMT. I appreciate your feedback. Thank you. :)

 

[Sylveon.]

Hey dude, good team you got there, but your evs really need some correction also you seem new to this format so I am going to be a little brutal on your team-

1. As far as I think you are going for semi trick room, so first of all remove all speed evs from hoopa and invest it either in bulk or attack as hyperspace fury is going to be your spamming move. Also dude to that really bad bulk of hoopa , it needs some redirection to work offensively. Your set gets koed by u-turn from lando-t, talonflame bravebird and various common outspeeding stuff, so I would suggest dropping hyperspace hole though its breaking through protect is nice but kind of holds back hoopa, and run a brave nature with 252hp/252atk while running zen headbutt to hit things as hard as possible.

2. So now, you can drop speed evs on heatran too and invest in bulk and and go as slow as possible in tr to hit hard using eruption. This would work pretty well as no one expects eruption under tr. Also use fire blast to KO aegislash in shield form.

3. Ferro doesn't do well in doubles, just believe me on this one it just doesnt, get walled by many things and hits nothing except rotom-wash. Also Jolly ferro is kind of funny as it is going out speed nothing with its terrible speed. But as i said you need a redirector, Togekiss with safety goggles would be perfect for your team
Togekiss @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 236 HP / 192 Def / 20 SpD / 60 Spe
Calm Nature
- Air Slash
- Follow Me
- Tailwind
- Encore/Roost
This set shits over amoongus , a massive threat in tr. It also lets your hoopa carry something like life orb.

4. Also change thundy's set to
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 70 Def / 132 SpA / 34 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
This is an excellent set, which helps to stop opposing tr, koes scarfed lando-t with hp ice, survives 3 rock slides from lando-t, has a chance to 2hko Suicune.

5. Also, always use a mega as the opportunity cost of not using one is too much, you can yourself use mega - kanga to counter opposing ones , actually the all out attacking one provides nice offense to your whole team, and also makes you less talon weak.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Low Kick
- Sucker Punch

This set has a chance to ohko opposing kanga with low kick, ohkos kyurem-b and heatran also koes normal rotms with double edge.
So thats it, enjoy the format.

 

[Arcticblast]

3. Ferro doesn't do well in doubles

I'd have more sympathy for Slaking fanboys than I have for this. Ferro is fucking rad, dude.

Beyond making sure you have Protect on every team member not holding a Choice item, I don't really have any feedback besides to remove all Speed from Heatran, Ferro, and Hoopa. Definitely consider adding a Mega Evolution (maybe Gardevoir over Hoopa-U or Mega Venusaur over Ferrothorn). Good luck with the team!

 

[Idyll]

Hey pwndkthnx, nice team :)! So this kind of team set-up that you're aiming for is SemiTrick Room, which, while cool, is not really doing that well as of late. You also lack a Mega, which you should find room for immediately as there's really no reason not to have one. Your team composition is quite fine, but I got a few suggestions that hopefully would make it function much more effectively. Since this team's based on Hoopa-U, I'll make sure the team still revolves around it in offensive aspects

Hoopla-U, on its own, is a really shaky Pokemon for setting Trick Room, and this can be really detrimental when your team is quite dependent on it to get an ideal match-up. Your team would easily get beat and battered by a lot of faster things without it. My following suggestions are going to make it so that your team is going to utilize Tailwind instead, making the team into one that can efficiently set the pace at a reliable rate.

My first suggestion would be changing up your Ferrothorn -> Mega Kangaskhan. Your lack of a mega forme and reliable hard hitter isn't really ideal, as this leaves you without something that can effectively blast holes into your opponent's team. Mega Kangaskhan brings to the table its high power while also boasting some good bulk, letting it also function as a decent switch-in to some attacks like how Ferrothorn does. It's also useful for overloading bulky foes such as Suicune and Cresselia with Power-up Punch, which is p helpful for keeping pace up. Ferrothorn, as of now, is quite redundant with Heatran as the Steel-type they share doesn't really bring anything new to the team, and Kangaskhan + Hoopa-U can fare against Water-types just fine so the durian won't really be missed much.

Kanga set

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

My second suggestion would be changing your Thundurus -> Zapdos, as your overall team composition outside of Keldeo and Choice Scarf Landorus-T is quite on the slow side. Tailwind over Thunder Wave is much more helpful to the team as it helps out the whole team for a short time rather than neuter an opposing threat, which can be useful as Hoopla-U, Mega Kangaskhan, and Heatran all appreciate a Speed boost. Tailwind is also useful as it can be a way to play around Mega Diancie, which can't be paralyzed. Zapdos, as a whole, also has much more longevity with Roost and its higher bulk, which can prove to be good to the team as it wants its form of speed control to be reliable.

Zap set

Zapdos @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 80 SpA / 124 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Tailwind
- Roost

Takes two Landorus-T Rock Slides and two Ice Beams from Assault Vest Ludicolo. Safety Goggles gives you a way to play around opposing Amoonguss's Rage Powders and Spores.

My last few suggestions are at a more minor scale, but still pretty important nevertheless. Change the Hoopa-U set to something faster and much more offensive, as you won't be utilizing TR anymore. With a Life Orb, Hoopa-U can be a very dangerous foe—especially under Tailwind. Making Hoopa-U hit harder with LO is a no-brainer as it can pile up a lot of pressure, especially since opponents can't stall out Tailwind turns with Protect when against it. Using Protect is also a must (on any Hoopa-U set really) for reasons obvious to any Doubles player. Another thing is that you should change Heatran to a Substitute set, as since you're not using Trick Room anymore you can't afford to use an offensive Eruption set that much anymore. Substitute Attacker Heatran is a reliably bulky attacker which also synergizes well with Mega Kangaskhan's Fake Out, and is still a pretty dangerous and respectable threat as an attacker even without a Life Orb.

Hoopa-U and Heatran sets

Hoopa-Unbound @ Life Orb
Ability: Magician
EVs: 192 Atk / 140 SpA / 176 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hyperspace Hole
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Protect

Outruns Jolly Breloom, Hyperspace Hole OHKOes standard Relaxed Amoonguss, and the rest of the EVs is dumped onto Attack.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Protect

Outruns Adamant Bisharp

For the record, Ferrothorn is quite good in DOU (though we'd best not discuss that here). You do have a small-ish Mega Diancie weakness but it's not really a problem if you play Scarf Lando-T effectively and pressure it a lot before it Mega Evolves with Heatran, Kangaskhan, and Keldeo. That's all from me, good luck with your team :)!

 

[Sylveon.]

I'd have more sympathy for Slaking fanboys than I have for this. Ferro is fucking rad, dude.

Yeah Ferro has its niche, but it prevails in singles as it is hard to knock out in one hit but in two hits it isnt that big a issue, it can't set up hazards in doubles as they are literally useless, so only option remains is leech + protect and gyro and is shut down by all the pranksters present. As far as i know it is more of a liability.

 

[Idyll]

Yeah Ferro has its niche, but it prevails in singles as it is hard to knock out in one hit but in two hits it isnt that big a issue, it can't set up hazards in doubles as they are literally useless, so only option remains is leech + protect and gyro and is shut down by all the pranksters present. As far as i know it is more of a liability.

Ferrothorn is good lol as it can effectively endgame match-ups by its own with Leech Seed and its high raw bulk. It's only a liability against Fire-types as it can't really do anything against them. Stealth Rock is actually a decent option on Ferrothorn as it's pretty useful for getting nabbing some KOs and is a nifty tech against Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame. Also, the only Prankster Taunt in the metagame is from Thundurus, as Sableye and Whimsicott are pretty rare lol, and even then offensive variants of Thundurus aren't running Taunt anymore. Ferrothorn is far from bad in the metagame.

The RMT forums isn't really the place for this discussion so I'll refrain from responding again. I just don't want the OP to get the wrong idea.

 

[Kenpwnchi]

So, would Mega Kangaskhan be a better option than Ferrothorn? For some reason, I've grown attached to the Pokemon I've been using. Although I don't mind getting rid of Ferrothorn, it sucks to see him go. That's only because Ferrothorn is so bulky, and can take a lot of hits while doing damage in return. I'm very conflicted over the Hoopa-Unbound and Heatran sets provided. What makes Zen Headbutt or Gunk Shot particularly useful on Hoopa-Unbound (over Hyperspace Hole and Drain Punch)? I don't mind dropping Drain Punch for Protect, but I'd like to keep Trick Room. Idk what it is, but I simply like the move, and feel it can be very useful when used against opposing Trick Room setters and Tailwind users. Again, this allows my team to always maintain the best speed. I really hate Substitute as a move because, to me, it seems like a waste of a turn (especially when it gets broken, and you basically used a bit of your health up for nothing). Leftovers really doesn't give you more HP than you lose from using Substitute. Eruption OHKOs way more than Heat Wave. I also like Flamethrower because it hits the popular Wide Guard Aegislash. I'm also conflicted over removing Thundurus for Zapdos. Sure, Zapdos can use Tailwind and Roost, but Thundurus is still faster, and can switch-out during battle. Which is better overall: Zapdos or Thundurus? I'd like to use the better of the two, but I'm still more inclined to keep Thundurus. Also, thank you guys for the swift feedback. Hoping to hear more from you soon. :)

 

[Idyll]

Yes, Mega Kangaskhan is a better option on this team. Ferrothorn doesn't bring anything to this team other than be a bulky wincon, but due to how the team plays you'd rather want a strong attacker instead, which is basically Mega Kangaskhan.

Your concerns on the movesets are valid. Still, on Hoopla-U, Gunk Shot over Drain Punch is still pretty much better overall on your team as Kangaskhan and Keldeo already deal with Bisharp pretty handily and a STAB Hyperspace Hole hits just as hard as a 2x effective Drain Punch, and you'd pretty much prefer the ability to get a KO on Fairies such as Sylveon and instead. I'm not gonna comment on Zen Headbutt as I never suggested that, and Hyperspace Hole is still nifty and isn't affected by Intimidate. As I already said, SemiTR teams aren't exactly good right now so Trick Room isn't really that much of a good option. It also contradicts with Thundurus's Thunder Wave and Zapdos's Tailwind, depending on if you decide to follow me earlier rate or not.

On Substitute: Substitute is a useful move when taking advantage of certain match-ups and switches, as it essentially gives Heatran a "safety" that lets it stay in and damage threats it couldn't otherwise (it can Heat Wave a Lando-T, EP a Mega Diancie...). It gives Heatran a way to keep momentum and lets it be an annoying threat for you foe. Substitute is only a waste of a turn when you predict wrong or set it carelessly. Leftovers is more of compensating for the loss of HP from Substitute, and of course it doesn't give all HP back instantly. Still, Leftovers recovery can rack up pretty quickly when you successfully get a Sub up as Heatran can actually stay on the field for a long time behind it. You won't really miss Flamethrower much as Heat Wave still does pretty sizable damage and you can easily play around Wide Guard Aegislash with Earth Power, and Eruption isn't a reliable attack when it weakens in power when Heatran takes damage, essentially taking out Heatran's ability to switch in on things with its bulk and typing (something it's good at mind you). There's a reason why Sub Heatran is the most popular variant ;)

On Thundurus vs Zapdos: Zapdos's ability to support the whole team kinda trumps Thundurus's ability to neuter foes, as Tailwind supports the team on a wider scale. While Thundurus is faster, it doesn't exactly bring you anything of note except get a fast KO on Keldeo, which is something Zapdos can also do. On another note, Zapdos can actually take a hit and, along with Heatran, can function as a defensive backbone for your team, which is something your Thundurus set can't do reliably. Volt Switch is hardly notable on Thundurus (or Zapdos too) as it forces them out abruptly, making them unable to beat the threats they should be staying in on and beating. If you insist on using Thundurus, run Thunderbolt / Flash Cannon / Thunder Wave / Protect with 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe. Thunder -> Thunderbolt is because Thunder is a really unreliably move due to its accuracy and you'd rather much actually get a hit in instead of have more power, and HP Ice -> Flash Cannon is for the quick OHKO on Mega Diancie (and the fact that you can't outrun and KO Lando-T lol). Volt Switch -> Protect is because, as I already said, VSwitch isn't that good and you'd rather much use Protect, a necessity on most Pokemon in DOU, especially attackers.

Anyways, good luck with your team :)!