I know these questions probably get asked heaps but I was curious as to whether there are any standard openings for white and strong replies to e4/d4 for black, thanks :D
Yes, you can manually partner someone before joining the tournament from new game, bughouse, then custom, then typing in the partner's name. You should also be able to type "/partner player" in the console or click on their username to pop up the user card, then "more", then "partner".