My First Attempt at a Rain Team.

[fire r a g e]

Hello smogon forums. I have decided to go beyond my realm of team building and run my very first Rain team. I am pretty sure it is going to have some flaws considering the aforementioned fact, but I hope to use some constructive criticism. I honestly don't know what to look for, because whenever I test my teams, even after doing so, I could never figure out what changes I should make. With that being said, I hope you guys will help me out with my uncharted territory of weather teams. Anyway, enough of the introduction, here's my team!

Team Building Process

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First, a good Pokemon to start a rain team with is Tornadus-T.
It can plow through whole teams with the proper support,
which my five other members plan on doing.

Now, its most powerful attack is 100% accurate under rain.
The only partner that helps with that is Politoed. I decided to use Specstoed

Both Politoed and Tornadus-T are zapped into oblivion by the many electric types, such as
Thundurus-T, Jolteon, Rotom-W, etc, so I needed a Pokemon that can take these threats out.
A Thundurus-T of my own would help as it only fears Specs Rotom-W, so I decided to go with
it.

Torn-T and Thundurus-T are both weak to Stealth Rock, so a Rapid Spinner was a must. I decided
to use Starmie for the job because, although it adds an Electric weakness, I already have
Thundurus-T to absorb electric attacks and Politoed is specially bulky enough to survive
unboosted ones. To not hamper on the offensive presence I have on this team, I decided to use
the Standard Starmie.

I lacked Stealth Rock and a Pokemon that has both offensive presence and the ability to set
SR up is just what I wanted to use. I also needed a
Dragon type resist, so in came Metagross, fitting the bill quite nicely.

I lacked a revenge killer and a Pokemon to help me clean up late-game. Scarfkion allows me
to deal with Volcarona, who could hurt me outside of rain.

After a few tests from suggestions by you guys, I agree with Mosquiton that I am pretty weak to Mamoswine and I can't really handle Tornadus-T without sacrificing a Pokemon. To counter that weakness, I replaced Metagross with Bronzong. It has about the same physical bulk as Metagross (if not better) but a lot better SpD to take hits from Tornadus-T without being KOed easily.

Here it is, my Offensive Rain Team.

A Closer Look..

Politoed @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Modest
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves:
Hydro Pump
Focus Blast
Ice Beam
Hidden Power [Grass]

Ah, the source of eternal rain, here to bless my Pokemon with its presence. I decided to go with SpecsToed for more offensive prowess. Hydro Pump is the STAB of choice, as I'd much rather KO an opponent's Pokemon than regret having Surf not finish the job. The 80% accuracy doesn't bother me. Anyway, it is insane in the rain. To show you how much power Hydro Pump has, in a sandstorm against support Tyranitar, it does an insane 59.9% - 71.29%, a guaranteed 2HKO. Focus Blast is a more reliable means of handling most Tyranitar, who is OHKOed. Support Tyranitar has a small chance of being OHKOed with SR up. Ice Beam helps against most OU dragons, who are OHKOed (only the bulkiest Dragonites survive, but take over half damage after SR damage). Hidden Power Grass does a number on Gastrodon. With the suggestion by Mosquiton, I switched the Speed and HP EVs around. With 252 Spe, I outspeed and deal with Breloom, CBNite, Scizor and Mamoswine. I am debating whether or not to use Surf instead of HP Grass, for reliability against weakened foes. Any ideas?

Tornadus-T @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Naive
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Atk
Moves:
Hurricane
Superpower
U-Turn
Taunt

Meet the main rain sweeper of my team. This thing is a beast under the rain. Hurricane is mainly STAB, which hurts a majority of the metagame, even some things that resist it. I chose Superpower over Focus Blast because my whole team is pretty lacking in the physical department and I want to hurt Blissey harder so it doesn't wall me. U-Turn has great synergy with Regenerator. Incase I have SR on my field and my Rapid Spinner is dead, Regenerator mitigates the damage. Taunt is to shut down Deo-D leads from setting up on me.

Thundurus-T @ Yache Berry
Ability: Volt Absorb
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Moves:
Thunder
Agility
Hidden Power [Ice]
Grass Knot/Focus Blast

Behold the thunder god of chaos. This monster has the highest SpA of all Electric types. Thunder is STAB, allowing me to hurt most things that aren't resistant to it. Another one of Mosquiton's suggestion was to replace Volt Switch with Agility. Volt Switch is not always ideal on Thundurus-T due to reason mentioned in the Thundurus-T analysis. Agility allows me to sweep late-game. HP Ice allows me to 2HKO Dragonite through Multiscale and OHKO all other OU Dragons. Grass Knot is to nail Gastrodon and Hippowdon. However, I could use Focus Blast to hit Ferrothorn and Magnezone. Any ideas on which one I should use? I mentioned under Politoed's explanation that Mamoswine is pretty threatening to my team, so I changed the item to Yache Berry, again, as suggested by Mosquiton.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Moves:
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Thunder
Rapid Spin

Here's my Spinner, one of the most reliable in OU under the rain. This is because he has an offensive presence as well with his great SpA, as well as decent defenses. Rapid Spin is self explanitory. Hydro Pump serves as his STAB, and I prefer power over accuracy. Ice Beam hits dragons and the grass types. However, Ferrothorn completely walls this set. Thunder hits pretty hard the many Bulky Water types lurking in OU, even the most Specially Defensive of Jellicent, who are 2HKOed.

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SpD
IVs: 2 Spe (for HP Ice)
Moves:
Stealth Rock
Gyro Ball
Earthquake
Hidden Power [Ice]

As suggested by Mosquiton, I have changed Metagross to Bronzong after testing out his changes (don't worry, I tested everyone's changes out but I found his to work the best for me). Stealth Rock is required for almost every team, so it's a given. Gyro Ball allows me to deal with threatening Pokemon such as Terrakion, Kyurem-B, etc. Earthquake handles Jirachi, Heatran, and Magnezone. HP Ice is for Dragons who think they can take me on as well as Landorus. I made him specially defensive so he can tank Hurricanes from Tornadus-T and go for the KO with Gyro Ball.

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Moves:
Close Combat
Stone Edge
X-Scissor
Rock Slide

Thanks to his awesome coverage and offensive stats, he makes a great revenge killer and late-game sweeper. Close Combat and Stone Edge serve as STAB, hitting everything commonly seen in OU super effectively (trivia: the only two Pokemon who resist his STAB are Medicham and Gallade). X-Scissor allows it to damage Psychic types. Rock Slide is for those times I need to reliably take down a Pokemon. EVs maximize his cleaning potential. He is the most dispensable member of my team, so please suggest changes for him.

Conclusion
Here is my team. Please critique it as best as possible. I really want to get better at making Rain Teams. Thanks!​

 

[Professor Birch]

Hello. The team is very nice although I have a few suggestions. I see Terrakion being able to do much harm to this team. I would recommend switching Terrakion to Choice Banded Scizor. Another suggestion is that I would switch Thundurus-T to Expert Belted Latios. This would deal with the Terrakion problem. Or possibly, you could switch Terrakion to Defensive Sub DD Dragonite although it would still make you weak to Terrakion. Terrakion is very versatile so watch out when facing them. Hope this helps! When making rain teams, the one thing you want to know is that they have endless possibilities.

 

[fire r a g e]

Thanks for the advice. Terrakion can certainly be replaced, but I think I need another Electric resist. Thundurus-T can be easily predicted and dispatched of.

 

[Souf]

Hey there,

Nice rain team you have there. Rain is quite the dominant weather isn't it? Anyways, onto the rate. I recommend using a Special Defensive Jirachi over your current Metagross set. Like Metagross, Jirachi can set up Stealth Rock, but Jirachi is better at taking special hits. Using Jirachi's Serene Grace ability, you could use Thunder / Body Slam to paralyze your opponent's Pokemon, which can be helpful when using Politoed or Thundurus-T to open up holes in your opponent's defense. Next, I recommend changing Starmie to the bulky Starmie set if you want a Pokemon to take hits from Keldeo better. Keldeo is a big threat in the current metagame. It is an excellent revenger and clean-upper. A team not prepared for it will, most likely, pay the price. Last, but not least, I recommend using Perish Song on your Politoed over Hidden Power Grass or Focus Blast. This can help your team against Baton Pass teams or a boosting sweeper.

Sets

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd) / Careful
- Wish
- Thunder / Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 44 SAtk / 216 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

Politoed
Hidden Power / Focus Blast ----> Perish Song

 

[Leftiez]

Hi Firerage.
This is an interesting Rain team , but I see a lot of weaknesses, first I see that you are weak against Terrakion, you have nothing for tank Close Combat and Metagross is 2HKO, then even if you put Tornadus or Starmie the opponent can switch and come after to continue, then I see that you are weak against Rotom-W, you have Thundurus-T with his ability Volt Absorb,that's good, but if the opponent chosen Hydropump, Thundurus-T dies and you have nothing for tank Volt Switch Thundurus-T does not have a good defense.
I see also a weakness against the Sun Teams with Ninetales + Venusaur you can not do anything, Tornadus-T is outspeed by Venusaur and then even if you own Politoed, Venusaur generally has the Sunny Days move, I suggest you Latias LO on Thundurus-T, Latias is good counter against Sun Team, it can come on Ninetales/Venusaure/Heatran with Psyshock/Draco Meteor/Surf then it has Recover, with this move it can come on Rotom-W easily. But pay attention to Jirachi Def CM Wish because Earthquake of Metagross does not 2HKO (96 + Atk Metagross Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 224 + Def Jirachi: 162-192 (40.09 - 47.52%) - guaranteed 3HKO).

Latias

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Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Recover

Tl;dr

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Thundurus-T--->Latias LO

Good team, I appreciate a lot Metagross ^_^
Hope I Helped and Good Luck with your Team.

edit:

I asked someone on another forums about this and he suggested the same thing.

So Leftiez, you don't think I should change Metagross like Funk?

I think originality is very good and it does not interfere with the team.

 

[fire r a g e]

I asked someone on another forums about this and he suggested the same thing.

So Leftiez, you don't think I should change Metagross like Funk?

EDIT: Oh, and sorry for the lack of pictures. I totally forgot to include them!

edit 2: Okay, keeping Metagross then. I think Latios can help against Terrakion as I outspeed it and it takes 80.25% - 95.06% (260 - 308) from a neutral natured Psyshock. With Spikes, he is a guaranteed OHKO outside of Sandstorm. However, Terrakion that are Choice Banded can always OHKO without SR damage.

 

[Electrolyte]

hey,

Cool team! You look quite standard with Torn/Thundy as an offensive core. One proble
I see is a weakness to bulky Rotom-W: it can wall most of your team, including your physical attackers, which it can burn and then OHKO with HPump. Tornadus and Starmie are not powerful enough to beat it either, nor is Thundurus, and Poli isn't fast enough to kill before VSwitch. I think Metagross is your weak link here- so I'd suggest you replace it with Standard Ferrothorn.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Relaxed / 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpDef
Leech Seed / Stealth Rock / Power Whip / Spikes

Ferrothorn will solve all of your Rotom/Rain problems with its great defenses and typing- plus, you don't lose Metagross's ability to set Rocks and wall Lati@s. Ferro's bulk lets you wall a multitude of pokemon easily- including, but not restricted to, Rotom, Lati@s, Mamoswine, And Dragons, all of whom threaten your offensive and defensive core. Stealth Rock and Spikes give you plentiful hazards to aid Tornadus's sweep, and Leech Seed helps Drain the health of ppposing walls like Jirachi as well as heal yourself up. Power Whip is your STAB, and it hits all water types hard.

Ferrothorn does make you a bit fighting weak, so if need be you could change Starmie into Bulky Starmie. Still, it shouldn't be nexessary bexause you already have 2 great fighting resists.

Good luck!

 

[fire r a g e]

Ferrothorn looks like it could be pretty helpful. One thing, though. I would prefer not losing any offensive presence I have on this team, so I am not sure if I should change him for Ferro.

 

[Mosquiton]

Hi There! Nice rain team!

The first thing i notice is that your team has a big weakness to Mamoswine, you haven't safe switch on him because his powerful STAB can it hard if you make a wrong switch but with a simple change we can solve this problem: you should enter sassy Bronzong > Metagross for to neutralize Mamoswine's STAB.
Essentially he do the same job but better because Zong has better defensive power than Gross but Zong can also to neutralize HP Ice and Earth Power of Sheer Lando and Take a little damage by Focus Blast; you gain also a serious tornadus-t's hurricane counter.
The set that I want suggest is the Sassy nature with stealth rock, HP Ice to hit x4 Landorus, Dragonite, Salamence, Garchomp and stuff, Earthquake for hit Jirachi, Heatran and Magnezone and the last slot is for Gyroball to win the 1v1 against Kyurem-B and to hit hard CalmMind latias.
At this point you should put Timid nature on Politoed and get 252 evs on speed for outspeed Breloom, CBNite, Scizor and Mamoswine. These are dangerous threat and be able to take them off all of the way with a Pokémon can be a really useful.
Last thing you should insert Agility > VoltSwitch to Thundurus because it can be a really useful thing to close quickly matches and to clean all the opposing team with his great coverage.
Put on Thundurus Yache Berry > EXpert Belt for resist on Mamoswine's Ice Shard.

Sets:

Hide

>Bronzong over metagross
>Timid Nature, 4 HP / 252 Spa / 252 Spe @ Politoed
>Agility over Volt Switch @ Thundurus
>Yache Berry over Expert Belt @ Thundurus

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SDef
IVs: 2 in speed for HP Ice and get more power on Gyroball
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

 

[Trainer Au]

Ferrothorn looks like it could be pretty helpful. One thing, though. I would prefer not losing any offensive presence I have on this team, so I am not sure if I should change him for Ferro.

Don't change to ferro, as it would add to your terrakion weakness, electrolyte is right though, Bukly rotom-w is a threat. You could try to fit a Physically Defensive Amoonguss into your team, which takes pitiful damage from any of terrakion's attacks, I also agree with Funkasaurus, having a Jirachi would benefit you a lot. I reccomend replacing Metagross with a Scarfed Jirachi and then change Terrakion to a Taunt lead Stealth Rocker so you can beat DeoGar teams that much better (scarf gar and sash+d-bond have become very common imo).

Summary:
Physically Defensive Amoonguss>something you think is replacable (I say Thund-t, but that's just me)

ScarfRachi>Metagross
Sashed Terrakion with Taunt+Stealth Rock>your current set

Hope I helped!

 

[fire r a g e]

I will test out Amoonguss over Thundurus-T.
I agree that Terrakion could be a Taunt SR Lead.
So Jirachi would be my revenge killer and late-game cleaner?
I guess if it is for the betterment of my team, I will test out Jirachi over Metagross.

@ Mosq, I will test out all your changes.

 

[fire r a g e]

Hi There! Nice rain team!

The first thing i notice is that your team has a big weakness to Mamoswine, you haven't safe switch on him because his powerful STAB can it hard if you make a wrong switch but with a simple change we can solve this problem: you should enter sassy Bronzong > Metagross for to neutralize Mamoswine's STAB.
Essentially he do the same job but better because Zong has better defensive power than Gross but Zong can also to neutralize HP Ice and Earth Power of Sheer Lando and Take a little damage by Focus Blast; you gain also a serious tornadus-t's hurricane counter.
The set that I want suggest is the Sassy nature with stealth rock, HP Ice to hit x4 Landorus, Dragonite, Salamence, Garchomp and stuff, Earthquake for hit Jirachi, Heatran and Magnezone and the last slot is for Gyroball to win the 1v1 against Kyurem-B and to hit hard CalmMind latias.
At this point you should put Timid nature on Politoed and get 252 evs on speed for outspeed Breloom, CBNite, Scizor and Mamoswine. These are dangerous threat and be able to take them off all of the way with a Pokémon can be a really useful.
Last thing you should insert Agility > VoltSwitch to Thundurus because it can be a really useful thing to close quickly matches and to clean all the opposing team with his great coverage.
Put on Thundurus Yache Berry > EXpert Belt for resist on Mamoswine's Ice Shard.

Sets:

Hide

>Bronzong over metagross
>Timid Nature, 4 HP / 252 Spa / 252 Spe @ Politoed
>Agility over Volt Switch @ Thundurus
>Yache Berry over Expert Belt @ Thundurus

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SDef
IVs: 2 in speed for HP Ice and get more power on Gyroball
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

With 252 Spe EVs, I only speed tie with Jolly Breloom. Are most Breloom Adamant?

 

[Sazandoringlps]

Hi looks great to me
only thing i would change is the Thundurus-T with Jolteon.Reason why is because its WAY faster then Thundurus-T and acts as the same thing.it has a good base 110 SpAtk and is not weak to rocks which is good. Its movepool is good or as good as Thundurus-T and really does the same thing just better.i would not have you change this if your Thundurus-T was scarf but its not and because of that i think you should change that.
the Set:
Jolteon (M) @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd/
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Grass/Ice]
2 Minor things you could also change is Terrakion to SR lead and SR on Metagross with BP to help with Terrakion.
Hope i helped and sorry for a brief explanation but i am limited on time
take care

 

[Superpowerdude]

Hey nice team!

It looks to me that apposing rain teams can cause you a few problems. This is because besides Politoed your only Water-type resist is Starmie who is rather frail with no defence investment, a Life Orb and no recovery. The rest of your team is victim to the powerful special attacks found on rain teams like Hydro Pump and Surf. Choice Specs Keldeo looks like a huge threat because nothing can reliably switch into its stab moves Hydro Pump or Secret Sword. Same goes for Choice Band Terrakion as your team finds a hard time switching into its Stone Edge or Close Combat.

To help against these problems you could use a Defensive Starmie>Life Orb Set with Leftovers and Recovery Starmie lets your team have a somewhat easier time taking Hydro Pumps from apposing rain teams. With Psyshock you can also switch into Keldeo quite easily resisting its stab moves and beat it. The same goes for Terrakion although Starmie can't switch in as easily. The recovery also helps Starmie get more Rapid Spins which is important to keep Thunderous-T and Tornadus-T healthy as well as make it easier for Politoed to win the weather war because it doesn't have to take continous entry hazard damage. While you do lose a bit of offensive pressure with this set it is not changing to much really and between Terrakion, Politoed, Thunderous-T and Tornadus-T your team is still quite offensive. Scald is used over Hydro Pump for its impressive 30% burn chance. Max Hp is used for the best mixed bulk while 216 speed evs are used to outspeed max speed base 110s and below notable ones being Terrakion, Keldeo and Gengar which Starmie can beat with Psyshock. The spare 40 evs are put in defence.

Good luck with the team i hope i helped!

Set

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Starmie @ Leftovers | Natural Cure
Timid | 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Scald | Psyshock | Recover | Rapid Spin

TL:DR

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Starmie
.Life Orb Set--->Defensive Set

~Superpowerdude

 

[fire r a g e]

Sorry, I haven't been able to test some changes because of holidays. Now that the new year has started, I will be testing everyone's suggestions.

Thanks for the rate superpowerdude and everyone else. If you guys have any more suggestions, please, don't hesitate to suggest them. I will be testing the suggestions for a few days to a week or so.

 

[fire r a g e]

I have tried out all the changes suggested by you all, and have updated my OP according to the changes I found most useful. How's my team faring now?

 

[fire r a g e]

Bump.

 

[fire r a g e]

Now that Tornadus-T is banned, should I just use Tornadus-I instead or something else?