[REQUIRED READING] - Writing Doubles Analyses

Darkmalice

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I find myself saying the same things over and over again as a QC member. This is a guide is to give tips to writing up analyses in the Doubles forum so that they are as high as quality as possible and save the QC team from telling you to include this stuff later. This is especially aimed at people writing a Doubles analysis for the first time.

Obviously this isn't a rulebook, you don't have to do everything here. Use your head.

General tips
  • Give examples for Pokemon-types, users of moves etc
    • Don't say stuff like Thunderbolt checks Water-types and Flying-types. Who am I checking? Lumineon? Swellow? Swampert? The former two are non-relevant threats in Doubles, and the latter is immune to Electric-types. Give examples relevant to the metagame and who are actually weak to the move you've mentioned, such as Politoed and Talonflame. This applies for moves, teammates and checks & counters. The amount of times I see "Taunt users" in Checks and Counters without examples is frustrating; tell me some Pokemon that can use Taunt e.g. Thundurus-I, Gyarados.
  • Keep the writing relevant to the metagame
    • Mention common Pokemon over not so common ones. For example, Superpower on Landorus-Therian provides coverage against Mega Kangaskhan and Ferrothorn. Don't mention non-relevant threats like Blissey and Aurous.
    • Don't say stuff like EQ checks Fire-types. Many of the common Fire-types (Charizard, Talonflame, Rotom-H) are immune to EQ. Say that EQ checks Heatran instead, who is another relevant Fire-type
  • Read the XY analysis of the Pokemon if it has one (a list can be found here). They will very likely have information that can be useful for your analysis, even if it is outdated. All the ORAS analyses should be better than the old ones, and there is no excuse when you can easily read the old ones
Be warned that if your knowledge about using the Pokemon in question, or the DOU metagame isn't up to scratch, your analysis can be reassigned.
Overview – copied directly from Stratos' thread
I'm tired of writing this separately for every goddamn analysis so I'm going to make a thread, stop shitting up your overviews. This is what they should contain:

  • What does the Pokemon beat? Notable individual Pokemon, groups, or whole playstyles (eg Abomasnow is a cold stop to rain, heatran is a good switchin on opposing steel and grass types, diancie's powerful dual STAB ohkoes basically every fast Pokemon in the tier). Avoid just restating the type chart or I WILL DICK YOU
  • What general role the Pokemon takes / What teams it fits best on (eg Amoonguss temporarily incapacitates faster Pokemon by spamming Spore and Rage Powder, so it fits well on bulky teams that often find themselves being outsped)
  • What threatens this Pokemon? Notable individual Pokemon, groups, or whole playstyles (eg heatran can't put in much work vs rain except to beat their steel if it gets lucky, and also suffers from lando-t being so common, or that most teams run a bulky fire to deal with steel types and they all stop Scizor cold)
  • An HONEST estimation of its worth, don't write about greninja like it's lando-t unless you want me to hunt you down and rip off your testicles

Things NOT to put in the overviews

  • Anything you could find out by looking at the dex, i mean jesus christ nobody here is retarded, i was going to make a list of them but like seriously just don’t


Moves
The thing to focus on is explaning why you should use these moves. It will usually be brief for each move. For example, Dragon Pulse provides STAB and good neutral coverage. You do not need to state the base power – this isn't a copy from the dex). This will depend on the move. Other useful thigns to say is if the move has spread, coverage against relevant threats, high power e.g. Draco Meteor, drawbacks to the move e.g. SpA drop.

Good examples are as follows
An entire moves section said:
Rock Slide is the main attack, as it is boosted by STAB and deals spread damage. It allows Tyranitar to successfully complete its role as a check to Flying- and Fire-type Pokemon better. Dark Pulse is preferred over Crunch because it isn't weakened by Intimidate or burns and doesn't activate Aegislash's King's Shield. Fire Blast is an option to hit threats such as Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, and Bisharp hard, while Ice Beam can be used to hit Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Hydreigon. Protect keeps Tyranitar alive while partners take care of specific threats, stalls out field conditions, and scouts for attacks.
a specific move said:
Hydro Pump on Salamence hits Heatran who otherwise walls your other attacks, and also hits Landorus-T for more damage
Protect is really common and has multiple uses. Somethings you can mention for Protect
  • Keep Pokemon alive whilst partner takes care of specific threats
  • Stall out field conditions such as Trick Room
  • Scout attacks

Especially good things to mention are uses relevant to a particular Pokemon as opposed to every single Pokemon out-there. Good examples are
  • Diancie can Mega Evolve safely before it gets an increase in its Speed stat
  • Lets Ferrothorn stall for Leftovers and Leech Seed recovery
  • Protects Rhydon whilst it continue to provide Lightning Rod support.


Set Details
Quite similar to Moves. This is explaining why you use the item, ability, nature, and EVs for the Pokemon. You can often explain nature and EVs together. Ability should always be explained, the only exception for this is if you cannot choose the ability e.g. Levitate, but it may still be good to explain it if it is particularly helpful. Even near-useless abilities like Damp on Swampert should be explained. Also explain IVs if they are anything other than 31, for example 0 Spe IVs if using it in Trick Room, or 29 IVs to lower Life Orb recoil.

Examples
Life Orb said:
Life Orb lets you hit harder, Shuca Berry lets you act as a lure for Ground-types such as Landorus-Therian so that you can nail them with Ice Beam.
complex EV spread said:
252 HP and 184 Def allows Amoonguss to never be OHKOed by Timid Latios's Life Orb-boosted Psyshock. A Sassy nature and the rest of the EVs are dedicated to Special Defence as Amoonguss usually redirects special attacks. Speed is minimized so it can work as well as possible against Trick Room, one of its main niches.
simple EV spread said:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature allows Metagross to outspeed as much as possible, notably speed-tieing with Latios and Mega Diancie. The rest is moved into Attack.
Usage Tips
Tell me how to use the Pokemon. This should focus primarily on the main uses of Pokemon. Things you need to mention
  • When should you use your Pokemon. For example as a lead, late-game, as a switch-in to these types of attacks, after a KO. You should briefly state why too e.g. late-game when Excadrill threats have been weakened or eliminated, in particularly removing Landorus-T
  • Role of the Pokemon. For example, late-game sweeper, tank, set up weather
  • Important specific to the Pokemon. For example, if against a team with another weather inducer, Tyranitar should be kept alive until you can remove Politoed. This enables you to switch in Tyranitar after your opponent has set up rain, removing it.

Remember the focus is about how to use the Pokemon. All the little stuff may still be important, but if your entire Usage Tips is about little details, you've written it wrong.


Team Options
Appropriate teammates to mention are
  • Pokemon who are supported well by your Pokemon. For example, Bisharp discourages Pokemon with Intimidate from switching in, so Pokemon that dislike Intimidate enjoy Bisharp's support, such as Terrakion and Mega Diancie
  • Pokemon who check or counter threats to that Pokemon. For example, Flying-types such as Talonflame and Shaymin-S check Grass-types (note when I say types, I give examples)
  • Pokemon who provide other forms of support to the Pokemon. For example
  • Trick Room e.g. Cresselia and Mega Slowbro for Heatran
  • Tailwind e.g. Suicune for Mega Heracross
  • Wide Guard support for Pokemon weak to common spread attacks (Rock Slide, Earthquake) e.g. Hitmontop for Mega Charizard Y, who also provides Intimidate support to patch up Charizard's weaker Defence stat
  • Fake Out and/or redirection support for Pokemon who want to set up e.g. Amoonguss' Rage Powder can be used to help Azumarill set up Belly Drum
  • Weather (e.g. Politoed for Swift Swim users)
Remember if saying Pokemon types or move users e.g. Wide Guard users, give examples of Pokémon or I'll come to you asking why you think Parasect is a good Wide Guard user.

Also try to make Team Options flow well. For example, mention speed control options together where possible instead of all over the paragraph.


Other Options
Basically anything here that is not worthy of being on any the main sets but is worthy of mention. If something is removed from a set, it may be wise to add it to OO, or if something from OO gets on the set, remove it from OO. Generally there is a low threshold as to how good something needs to be to be mentioned, as long as it's viable. If the OO list is too large, you should recheck the viability of some of the stuff. This includes moves, items and alternate sets (e.g. Dragon Dance Tyranitar).


Checks & Counters - mostly from Lolk's thread
We use specific tags in Doubles analyses in order to create uniformity between Doubles analyses, the tags for Checks and Counters should match in each one. Pocket, Mizuhime, and Lolk collaborated to cover most possible scenarios a Pokemon could be checked or countered with. Please use this as a resource when labeling each Pokemon's threats.

Allowed Tags:

**Typing Advantage**: If a threat can switch into most of the analyzed Pokemon's attacks and beat it with a strong neutral or super effective attack than list it is a check. If a threat can switch into all of the analyzed Pokemon's attacks and retaliate with a strong neutral or super effective attack, list it as a counter. Threats that can handle of an opponents attacks, making them reliable switch-ins for certain Pokemon. While they may not be able to threaten the Pokemon with super effective attacks, they are still able to safely wear down the analysed Pokemon in a 1v1 setting, or simply ignore them, also belong in this category. You do not need to make a tag for each type of Pokemon that threatens the analyzed Pokemon.

**Intimidate and Burns**: If the physical attacker is crippled by the Intimidate ability, list the popular Intimidate users here that threaten the analyzed Pokemon. If the Pokemon is also threatened by the Burn condition, than list users that can beat the analyzed Pokemon here as well. If the Pokemon is only weak to burns, feel free to have just a **Burns** tab, and if the Pokemon is only weak to Intimidate, feel free to have just an **Intimidate** tab.

**Opposing Weather**: If the Pokemon attacks, defenses, or abilities rely on a certain weather condition (Blizzard sweepers, SolarBeam sweepers, Heatran vs Rain, Blastoise vs Sun, bulky Sand walls, Harvest walls, etc.) than mention the opposing weather teams as threats. Keep in mind that if the Pokemon is threatened by certain weather sweepers, and not the weather itself, those threats belong under **Type Advantages**.

**Speed**: If the analyzed Pokemon is frail or vulnerable, list threats with a higher base Speed, use a Choice Scarf, use Priority attacks, or have Speed Boost as an ability that can cripple or KO the analyzed Pokemon before it has a chance to act. Most of these Pokemon will not have safe switch-ins so they will be listed as checks.

**Speed Control**: If this Pokemon is neutered by Trick Room, Thunder Wave, or Icy Wind/Electroweb, then list common and effective users of these moves that can handle the analyzed Pokemon's attacks with this tab.

**Strong Physical Attackers**: This tag should be used for Pokemon that have an overall low HP and Defense stat, meaning that Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan and other powerhouses typically beat it. A **Strong Special Attackers** tag is also appropriate and should be used like this one.

**Utility Moves**: If the analyzed Pokemon is threatened by Encore, Taunt, Fake Out, Sleep or Substitute, specifically list them here with their popular users. If the opposing Pokemon can use one of these moves to set up and sweep, list that here too. If Knock Off cripples the analyzed Pokemon purely because it loses the item, than it belongs here as well. If the Pokemon is weak to the attack itself, put it in **Offensive Typing Advantages**.

**Miscellaneous**: For situations that do not apply to one of these tags. An example is how spread attackers are counters to Follow Me/Rage Powder users because they stop the users from doing their job.

While most scenarios do apply to these tags, specific checks and counters that are unique to a few Pokemon are relevant and do deserve their own tag.


Unacceptable Tags:
  • Tags dedicated to one Pokemon - there will be so many tags if we have one per Pokemon
  • Tags to one type of Pokemon - include the type in **Typing Advantage** instead

Once again remember if saying Pokemon types or move users. Fire-types by itself is not acceptable.


By reading all this, you should be more adapt at writing analyses, and that means the QC team will not need to spend as much time to QC your analysis and give you checks :)
 
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