Dual Swords and an Alien...

[Dr. Silver]

Hello there Pokecommunity! I was hoping that I could get some advice about an effective way to build up two different Pokemon, Doublade and Beheeyem!

Before we begin though, please do take note that I have no interest in proper "competitive battling", so I would appreciate it if you could leave your "But x sucks, use y instead" or "But x is total trash in the metagame". Believe me, I know these Pokemon may not meet the standards that Smogon or other tier systems use, but I honestly don't care. If you want to argue those points, there's already a thread for that, and I'll continue to not care about them.

With that pre-emptive rant over, let's talk about the two Pokemon:

Doublade:

Why Doublade? Well I'm not a big fan of Aegislash for one, especially when used in online battles. Whenever I see an Aegislash, I always get that dull sense of "Oh no, an Aegislash, whatever shall I do", because they've gotten pretty predictable. I think Aegislash looks "okay", with the shiny form looking very nice, but I honestly prefer Doublade's design.

As for what set I'd like to run for Doublade, I was thinking an Eviolite set and investing in Attack and Special Defence, or an Assault Vest and investing in Attack and Defense. The moveset for the Eviolite one would be pretty simple, with Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak being there, but I'm not sure about the Assault Vest one and if it would even be worthwhile.


Beheeyem:

This little alien was a favourite of mine from Gen V but I never really figured out how to use one effectively. I almost never see one of these being used in any game format, including areas such as the Battle Maison.

I was thinking about using a Trick Room set to help it take down an opponent or three. I have natural allies for it in the form of Rhyperior and Escavalier, but as for what I'd run on the Beheeyem itself, I have no idea. I was thinking Focus Sash to make sure it gets a Trick Room off, unless it can survive a neutral attack that is.


I thank you for the help in advance!

 

[Nah]

Assault Vest Doublade sounds like a good idea on paper because it sounds like you could turn it into a mixed tank, but I ran a few calcs, and it doesn't seem to hold up well even with maximum special bulk, and the lack of physical investment hurts too:

252 SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Doublade: 192-228 (59.6 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Doublade: 307-367 (95.3 - 113.9%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Doublade: 213-252 (66.1 - 78.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Doublade: 222-264 (68.9 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

It seems to be let down by its low base HP and Sp.Defense and lack of good recovery.

However, you do occasionally see Eviolite Doublade being used because its physical bulk is on par with or even better than Aegislash's. The ability to use Swords Dance also helps it (since while base 110 Attack aint bad, more power is nice).

-Doublade w/Eviolite
Nature: Brave/Relaxed
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Defense
Moves: Shadow Sneak, Swords Dance, Sacred Sword, Gyro Ball

You get pretty good coverage outta that too. You may wanna consider putting a Wish passer or some sort of cleric on the team; Doublade would appreciate getting healed and not having to deal with burns.

Not gonna lie, I don't know much about Beehyem other than that it can learn Steel Wing for some strange reason. But seeing how your team is going, a Trick Room one sounds like a good idea. Pulling this from Beeheyem's Smogon page:

-Beeheyem w/Leftovers
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp.Attack, 4 Defense
Moves: Trick Room, Psychic/Psyshock, Nasty Plot, Signal Beam/Thunderbolt/HP Ground

IDK, see how that goes.

You'll also need a Dark type on your team since Doublade and Beeheyem don't like Ghost and Dark types and Rhyperior nor Escavalier resists them.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Assault Vest Doublade sounds like a good idea on paper because it sounds like you could turn it into a mixed tank, but I ran a few calcs, and it doesn't seem to hold up well even with maximum special bulk, and the lack of physical investment hurts too:

252 SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Doublade: 192-228 (59.6 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Doublade: 307-367 (95.3 - 113.9%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Doublade: 213-252 (66.1 - 78.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Doublade: 222-264 (68.9 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

It seems to be let down by its low base HP and Sp.Defense and lack of good recovery.

However, you do occasionally see Eviolite Doublade being used because its physical bulk is on par with or even better than Aegislash's. The ability to use Swords Dance also helps it (since while base 110 Attack aint bad, more power is nice).

-Doublade w/Eviolite
Nature: Brave/Relaxed
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Defense
Moves: Shadow Sneak, Swords Dance, Sacred Sword, Gyro Ball

You get pretty good coverage outta that too. You may wanna consider putting a Wish passer or some sort of cleric on the team; Doublade would appreciate getting healed and not having to deal with burns.

Not gonna lie, I don't know much about Beehyem other than that it can learn Steel Wing for some strange reason. But seeing how your team is going, a Trick Room one sounds like a good idea. Pulling this from Beeheyem's Smogon page:

-Beeheyem w/Leftovers
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp.Attack, 4 Defense
Moves: Trick Room, Psychic/Psyshock, Nasty Plot, Signal Beam/Thunderbolt/HP Ground

IDK, see how that goes.

You'll also need a Dark type on your team since Doublade and Beeheyem don't like Ghost and Dark types and Rhyperior nor Escavalier resists them.

Nah. Eviolite Doublade is the way to go. It boosts both of Doublade's defenses, unlike Assault Vest:
-Swords Dance
-Gyro Ball
-Shadow Sneak
-Sacred Sword
Nature: Brave
EVs: 240 HP/252 Atk/16 SDef
Item: Eviolite

Or
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Gyro Ball/Toxic
-Shadow Claw/Sacred Sword
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 240 HP/252 Def/16 SDef
Item: Eviolite

Edit: if you fully invest in Doublade's special bulk, you compromise its ability to tank physical hits. Its barely invested Eviolite-boosted Special Defense is only decent at best, but regardless, it should be kept away from special attackers.

 

[Dr. Silver]

You get pretty good coverage outta that too. You may wanna consider putting a Wish passer or some sort of cleric on the team; Doublade would appreciate getting healed and not having to deal with burns.

I hadn't considered a Cleric on my teams before as it usually slows down my offensive momentum. I understand that Chansey, Blissey and Sylveon seem to be the premier clerics these days, but are there any others that I could use in their place?

Not gonna lie, I don't know much about Beehyem other than that it can learn Steel Wing for some strange reason. But seeing how your team is going, a Trick Room one sounds like a good idea. Pulling this from Beeheyem's Smogon page:

-Beeheyem w/Leftovers
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp.Attack, 4 Defense
Moves: Trick Room, Psychic/Psyshock, Nasty Plot, Signal Beam/Thunderbolt/HP Ground

I hadn't actually planned for a Trick Room team, but I've raised enough "slow" Pokemon that could easily function around a Trick Team.
My worry though is would Beeheyem be able to survive long enough to set up a Nasty Plot? I understand that it has just enough bulk to get a Trick Room going, but not am not overly sure about its chances of setting up.

You'll also need a Dark type on your team since Doublade and Beeheyem don't like Ghost and Dark types and Rhyperior nor Escavalier resists them.

Would Bisharp be slow enough to take advantage of a Trick Room, considering he can always switch to priority attacks?

Nah. Eviolite Doublade is the way to go. It boosts both of Doublade's defenses, unlike Assault Vest:
-Swords Dance
-Gyro Ball
-Shadow Sneak
-Sacred Sword
Nature: Brave
EVs: 240 HP/252 Atk/16 SDef
Item: Eviolite

This set is sounding pretty good, as it seems to take advantage of Doublade's poor speed.


Thanks for the replies!

 

[Nah]

I hadn't considered a Cleric on my teams before as it usually slows down my offensive momentum. I understand that Chansey, Blissey and Sylveon seem to be the premier clerics these days, but are there any others that I could use in their place?

Vaporeon and Umbreon could also work:

-Vaporeon w/Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP, 248 Defense, 8 Sp.Defense
Moves: Scald, Wish, Protect, Heal Bell/Toxic

-Umbreon w/Leftovers
Nature: Calm
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP, 248 Sp.Defense, 8 Defense
Moves: Foul Play, Wish, Protect, Heal Bell/Toxic

I hadn't actually planned for a Trick Room team, but I've raised enough "slow" Pokemon that could easily function around a Trick Team.
My worry though is would Beeheyem be able to survive long enough to set up a Nasty Plot? I understand that it has just enough bulk to get a Trick Room going, but not am not overly sure about its chances of setting up.

That is a good point. Beeheyem doesn't appear to be the bulkiest Pokemon out there. You could use Steel Wing Recover, Calm Mind, or another coverage move or something.

Would Bisharp be slow enough to take advantage of a Trick Room, considering he can always switch to priority attacks?

70 Speed isn't THAT fast, but you could run a set with no Speed EVs and a -Speed nature. Though a set with Speed isn't such a bad thing either, since Trick Room teams do need to have that one faster poke for when TR isn't active.....

 

[PlatinumDude]

I hadn't considered a Cleric on my teams before as it usually slows down my offensive momentum. I understand that Chansey, Blissey and Sylveon seem to be the premier clerics these days, but are there any others that I could use in their place?



I hadn't actually planned for a Trick Room team, but I've raised enough "slow" Pokemon that could easily function around a Trick Team.
My worry though is would Beeheyem be able to survive long enough to set up a Nasty Plot? I understand that it has just enough bulk to get a Trick Room going, but not am not overly sure about its chances of setting up.



Would Bisharp be slow enough to take advantage of a Trick Room, considering he can always switch to priority attacks?




This set is sounding pretty good, as it seems to take advantage of Doublade's poor speed.


Thanks for the replies!

I'll assume this is a UU team, since Doublade and Beheeyem aren't good in OU; Bisharp is an OU Pokemon in case you're wondering. If that's the case, Scrafty can function in Trick Room:
-Bulk Up
-Knock Off
-Drain Punch
-Rest
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin