Quality submission, EonX.
Talking about Kabutops in PotW reminded me of Swift Swimmers of RU, so I'm gonna post them:
Kabutops @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly or Adamant
- Waterfall
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge / Superpower
Role: Physical Sweeper
What it Does: Kabutops dominates RU in the Rain. Thanks to Rain Dance, it does not need to rely on 40 bp Aqua Jet and Stone Miss to sweep. Swift Swim makes it virtually the fastest mon in the tier while it's raining, and Waterfall is now a 120 bp move with 100% accuracy! Mashing the Waterfall button is all you have to do in most matches against opponents lacking a dedicated Kabutops counter.
Swords Dance is always nice to ensure Kabutops can power through everything. Aqua Jet beats priority users to the punch and cleans up after the down pour stops. Stone Edge is a solid coverage STAB move, but Superpower provides a less risky way of disposing frail Grass mons like Sceptile as well as easily eliminating Ferroseed, which is a surprisingly pain in the ass against Rain teams.
Good Teammates: Rain Summoners @ Damp Stone that can safely bring in Kabutops are the best teammates. Uxie has the bulk and Speed to guarantee Rain as well as SR. With either Yawn + U-turn or Memento, it allows Kabutops to come in safely. Memento may even provide Kabutops the opportunity to set up Swords Dance. Electrode's amazing base 140 Speed combined with Taunt prevents the opponent from setting up Sweepers or hazards while Electrode sets up Rain Dance and go kamikaze with Explosion. Lanturn is useful for its special bulk and absorbing Electric-type moves before the Rain goes up. It's a nice answer to mons like Slowking or opposing Lanturn that may harass Rain teams. It's slow Volt Switch guarantees Kabutops' entrance into the rainy battlefield unscathed. Finally, Volbeat makes a particular good Rain inducer, thanks to Prankster getting the Rain up virtually without fail. Encore + Sub Pass also provides clutch moments that offers Kabutops to not only switch in safely but even put up a SD for free.
Nidoqueen is a nice partner to remove bulky Grass- and Water-types with its Sheer Force-boosted Sludge Wave or Thunder, respectively. The ability to absorb TSpikes is also greatly appreciated, since LO recoil and poison damage easily adds up. Gothitelle can trap and eliminate physical walls with ease.
Just coupling Kabutops with Special Rain sweepers, such as Ludicolo and Gorebyss, works, too, but sometimes you need to be more elaborate when facing a stall team.
What Counters It: bulky Grass- and Water- mons can put a stop to Kabutops rampage in the storm. Tangrowth, physically bulky Amoonguss, Poliwrath, Water Absorb Quagsire, and physically defensive Qwilfish are particularly reliable. Physically defensive Cofagrigus is OHKOed by +2 Stone Edge, so don't try Hazing Kabutops x_x;;
Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 12 HP / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
Role: Special Sweeper
What it Does: Ludicolo is an integral part of rain offense, and it's easy to see why. It's unique Grass / Water typing neutralizes the traditional Electric- and Grass-type weakness of Water-types, while providing a useful secondary STAB to fend off against bulky Water-types. It's also noteworthy that it's the fastest Rain Sweeper on the special side (that's viable), with the next fastest one being Omastar :(
Rain provides an especially powerful boost to Special Swift Swimmers, who have access to a 95 bp Surf and 120 bp Hydro Pump (in comparison to Physical Swift Swimmer's Waterfall). With these powerful STAB moves augmented by Rain and Life Orb, Ludicolo can usually clean floor. You want both Surf and Hydro Pump - the former is for sweeping through teams, while the latter is to break through the team's defense. Giga Drain provides an efficient way to punish specially-defensive Water-types like Slowking and Lanturn, while recovering its health. Ice Beam is to punish Grass-types.
The Spe EVs give it 260 Speed, enough to be faster than Scarf Galvantula.
Good Teammates: Rain Summoners @ Damp Stone that can safely bring in Ludicolo are the best teammates. Uxie has the bulk and Speed to guarantee Rain as well as SR. With either Yawn + U-turn or Memento, it allows Ludicolo to come in safely. Electrode's amazing base 140 Speed combined with Taunt prevents the opponent from setting up Sweepers or hazards while Electrode sets up Rain Dance and go kamikaze with Explosion. Lanturn is useful for its special bulk and absorbing Electric-type moves before the Rain goes up. It's slow Volt Switch guarantees Ludicolo's entrance into the rainy battlefield unscathed. Lanturn can also provide Heal Bell support should Ludicolo ends up being Scald-burned or paralyzed by T-Wave. Finally, Volbeat makes a particular good Rain inducer, thanks to Prankster getting the Rain up virtually without fail. Encore + Sub Pass also provides clutch moments that offers Ludicolo to not only switch in safely but even a free Sub.
Physical wallbreakers like CB Escavalier or LO Druddigon is nice to punish these special walls; they can shrug off most hits thrown at them by these non-threatening walls and start punching holes. CB Escavalier is particularly note-worthy for its ability to Pursuit bitch-slap them. Bulky SD Gallade can also deal with most of Ludicolo's checks - Drain Punch for Ferroseed and Clefable; Zen Headbutt for Amoonguss; and Leaf Blade for Lanturn and Slowking.
Ludicolo can always be paired with Kabutops, in the hopes of Kabutops overcoming the special walls, but against stall-tastic teams, Kabutops may simply be walled by the opponent's physical defense.
What Counters It: Ferroseed can tank hits from this Ludicolo and T-Wave it. Specially-defensive Amoonguss only takes 48% max from Ice Beam, so it can then Spore or Sludge Bomb it. Defensive Slowking can also tank a super-effective Giga Drain with relative ease and cripple Ludicolo with T-Wave. Thanks to Regenerator, Amoonguss and Slowking can be really hard to wear down just by slugging it with heavy special moves.
A healthy Lanturn can tank a Giga Drain in order to paralyze Ludicolo. Similarly a healthy bulky Gallade can tank a hit and retaliate with Drain Punch / Zen Headbutt. Specially defensive Clefable takes 68% max from Hydro Pump, while it paralyzes Ludicolo or stall out Rain. Lickilicky is a rare sight, but it fares even better, especially if it has Cloud Nine.
Otherwise, 110+ Scarfers like Tauros or powerful priority like Sucker Punch from Spiritomb / Absol or ExtremeSpeed from Entei can put an end to Ludicolo's fiesta time.
Additional Info: Rain Dance often replaces one of its Water STAB moves, but I'd much rather have more reliable Rain inducers to set up the Rain and free the moveslot on Ludicolo. Focus Blast is a possible option for Ferroseed and Cloud Nine Lickilicky, but thse are rare threats, and Rain-boosted Hydro Pump does more to Clefable. Substitute may be an option to block priority and status moves.
Gorebyss @ White Herb or Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Surf / Hydro Pump
- Shell Smash
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Role: Special Sweeper
What it Does: Sporting base 114 SpA and the ability Swift Swim, Gorebyss is a nasty threat in the Rain. What makes it even more terrific is its access to Shell Smash, which patches up its shoddy base 52 Spe (even Scarf Rotom-C can revenge-kill a Gorebyss with only the Rain speed boost). Fortunately, its pure Water-typing and decent physical bulk enables Gorebyss to set up Shell Smash without dying the next turn. With Shell Smash, Gorebyss can continue annihilating the opponent with its mermaid powers even after the storm has passed.
White Herb is preferred for a safer Shell Smash set up, but Life Orb provides enough power to Gorebyss to make Shell Smash less mandatory.
Good Teammates: Rain Summoners @ Damp Stone that can safely bring in Gorebyss are the best teammates. Uxie has the bulk and Speed to guarantee Rain as well as SR. With either Yawn + U-turn or Memento, it allows Gorebyss to come in safely. Electrode's amazing base 140 Speed combined with Taunt prevents the opponent from setting up Sweepers or hazards while Electrode sets up Rain Dance and go kamikaze with Explosion. Lanturn is useful for its special bulk and especially for absorbing Electric-type moves from Scarf revenge killers. It's slow Volt Switch guarantees Gorebyss's entrance into the rainy battlefield unscathed. Finally, Volbeat makes a particular good Rain inducer, thanks to Prankster getting the Rain up virtually without fail. Encore + Sub Pass also provides clutch moments that offers Gorebyss to not only switch in safely but a free opportunity to smash its shells behind a Substitute.
Also offensive physical tanks mentioned in Ludicolo's submission, such as SD Gallade, CB Escavalier, and LO Druddigon still comes in handy to take advantage of the special walls. Kabutops is a powerful Rain Sweeper that can rampage while the special walls are still around.
What Counters It: Gorebyss shares similar counters to Ludicolo. Ferroseed, specially-defensive Amoonguss, and Slowking can tank hits from Gorebyss before Shell Smash. Lanturn is now a safe counter, since Gorebyss lacks STAB Grass-typing of Ludicolo.
Clefable takes an upwards of 80% from LO Hydro Pump, so it's a shaky check. If it's White Herb, then Gorebyss is hitting softer than Ludicolo, so Clefable can check those. Unaware Clefable gets a special mention for ignoring the boost from Shell Smash. Lickilicky, especially those with Cloud Nine, is another solid defensive counter. If bulky SD Gallade is healthy, it can tank an unboosted Water move and retaliate with Leaf Blade.
Due to Gorebyss's abysmal Speed, it's much easier to check Gorebyss in the rain before it Shell Smashes. Scarf Rotom-C or faster scarfers can defeat Gorebyss even in the rain. Priorities from Spiritomb or Entei are less reliable, but can still pick off weakened Gorebyss, especially the LO variants.