Nova
snitches get stitches
Hurricane !
Hello, Smogon. This is Novaray presenting my favorite team from BW2. This team takes the classic BW2 Rain team and is modified with some changes that suit my style and i believe helps it perform better. One of the main changes was the Breloom+Mamoswine offensive core that I thought would be good in the current metagame and it has certainly proved to be very effective. This team got me voting reqs for the 9th round of suspect testing and has gotten pretty high up on the ladder with various alts. I thought I'd post this team now as Keldeo and Tornadus-T are soon being voted on and their days in OU may be limited. This team is extremely solid and each member can help cover another's weaknesses. It does have some weaknesses which I am aware of, especially to Sub+CM Keldeo and Jirachi but they are not very common and whenever I have tweaked to try to account for these weaknesses, it opens new ones to bigger, more common threats. I eagerly present to you: Hurricane! So sit back, enjoy, and grab an umbrella !
Hello, Smogon. This is Novaray presenting my favorite team from BW2. This team takes the classic BW2 Rain team and is modified with some changes that suit my style and i believe helps it perform better. One of the main changes was the Breloom+Mamoswine offensive core that I thought would be good in the current metagame and it has certainly proved to be very effective. This team got me voting reqs for the 9th round of suspect testing and has gotten pretty high up on the ladder with various alts. I thought I'd post this team now as Keldeo and Tornadus-T are soon being voted on and their days in OU may be limited. This team is extremely solid and each member can help cover another's weaknesses. It does have some weaknesses which I am aware of, especially to Sub+CM Keldeo and Jirachi but they are not very common and whenever I have tweaked to try to account for these weaknesses, it opens new ones to bigger, more common threats. I eagerly present to you: Hurricane! So sit back, enjoy, and grab an umbrella !
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Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Perish Song
Defensive Politoed was the best set to use on this team as the team relies heavily on Rain being up and he has the best survivability of any Politoed set. His great bulk especially on the physical side allows him to take a number of hits. Scald is the only attacking move on this set but it is enough, dealing moderate damage with a boost in the Rain and having the nifty 30% chance to burn the opponent, severely crippling physical attackers. Toxic helps to wear down walls with residual damage and is especially useful against other weather starters Tyranitar, Ninetales, Hippowdon, and Abomasnow as it it crucial to get damage on these Pokemon so Politoed can win the weather war. Protect is nice to get an extra turn of Leftovers recovery, inflict an extra turn of Burn/Poison damage on the opponent if they are statused, and to also scout Choice Pokemon. Finally, Perish Song is a life saver in the last slot. Without it, set up sweepers such as Sub+Calm Mind Latias would be able to set up all day in front of Politoed. It is also my best bet against the aforementioned Sub+CM Keldeo and Jirachi, to force them out after 3 turns. The EV spread is standard and I chose to run 4 Speed EVs just to outrun opposing Defensive Politoeds that do not invest in any Speed.
Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Low Sweep
- Bullet Seed
Breloom is a great Pokemon for nearly any team with its access to a 100% accurate sleep move in Spore and ability to hit extremely hard with base 130 Attack and Technician. Mach Punch is standard on the set and has incredible power, equivalent to that of Scizor’s Bullet Punch but with much better coverage. The move is important to take out threats such as Terrakion that could otherwise prove troublesome for my team. Bullet Seed is also very powerful with a Technician boost and annihilates opposing bulky Water types. I chose Low Sweep in order to beat many of the counters that switch into the standard Swords Dance Breloom, expecting to be able to beat it. With this move, Breloom can 2HKO the likes of bulky Pokemon such as Latias as the first Low Sweep drops Latias’ Speed, allowing Breloom to outspeed and go for the kill with the second Low Sweep or Bullet Seed. Low Sweep is also a great move to use when you expect the opponent to switch out and sacrifice something as sleep fodder, expecting to take a Spore. Breloom also makes a great offensive partner with the following Pokemon, Mamoswine, as the mushroom guy can beat things like Terrakion, Scizor with some prior damage, and bulky waters, which the mammoth struggles with.
Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Mamoswine is a great Pokemon in the current metagame where a lot of the top threats are weak to Ice type attacks. His priority Ice Shard helps check things like Tornadus-T, Thundurus-T, Garchomp, Salamence, etc. Without Mamoswine, Dragon Dance Salamence and Dragonite can easily 6-0 my team after setting up a single DD. It’s also great against Chlorophyll Venusaur in the sunlight as it can now outspeed my Tornadus-T. Icicle Crash is Mamoswine’s strongest Ice-type move and it has a 30% flinch chance which is helpful occasionally as it can flinch and beat Skarmory. Earthquake is a very powerful move and destroys things that Rain teams commonly struggle with these days such as Toxicroak, Tentacruel, and Specially Defensive Jirachi. Superpower in the last slow is mainly just to do damage against Rotom-W as most Rotom-W’s are Specially Defensive and Mamoswine can outspeed them and do a nice 50%~ to them. I use a Jolly nature as the extra damage from Adamant is not usually required and Jolly allows him to outspeed Jolly Breloom, so Ice Shard outspeeds Mach Punch. Mamoswine forms the other half of the offensive core with Breloom, taking out things like Landorus, Latios, Latias, and Gliscor that give Breloom trouble.
Tornadus-Therian @ Choice Specs
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Air Slash
- U-turn
Big Bird. This guy is the real deal and in my eyes, the most threatening Pokemon in OU. In the rain, this guy throws 180 Base Power Hurricanes at will, easily OHKO’ing frailer Pokemon and even 2HKO some Pokemon that resist the move. Hurricane is just such an easily spammed move with its amazing coverage, damage output, and confusion chance that beats would-be counters. I usually lead with this guy to get off a quick U-turn to immediately gain switch advantage and put pressure on my opponent. And “quick” is right as Tornadus-T’s base 121 Speed allows it to outspeed Pokemon that had previously been considered top tier in Speed including Latios, Latias, Starmie, and Alakazam. Another reason Tornadus-T is so deadly is because of its Regenerator ability, healing 33% of its HP every time it switches out. This means that Tornadus-T cannot be worn down by Stealth Rock and U-turn essentially becomes a move that deals damage, gains momentum, and provides recovery all in one, making it all the more spammable. Focus Blast provides coverage to things that resist Focus Blast such as Heatran and Rotom-W, easily 2HKO’in them provided that it hits. I chose to use Air Slash over the more commonly used Sleep Talk as Air Slash is still a very powerful Flying type attack that can be used outside of Rain when I don’t want to mess around with a 70% Hurricane. It’s also a nifty surprise to beat Ninetales and win the weather war early as most Ninetales would just expect you to U-turn out, not willing to chance a 50% Hurricane, but gets promptly 2HKO’ed by Air Slash. In desperation, the flinch chance from Air Slash can also help hax the way to victory. I chose Choice Specs as I wanted the extra power over Life Orb and despite Regenarator, I still do not want Tornadus-T to take LO recoil as some prior damage opens the door for Scizor to revenge kill with Choice Band Bullet Punch. Tornadus-T doesn’t mind being locked into a move also because it’s usually just U-turning out or spamming Hurricane. A Timid nature is required to maximize its Speed and to maintain bulk which is more important than increasing damage from U-turn.
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Substitute
Tentacruel is one of the best Rapid Spinners for a Rain team as well as one of the best walls. I chose the Sub+Toxic set over the standard Toxic Spikes set to more easily beat things such as Ferrothorn and other Tentacruel which the Toxic Spikes set struggles with. Toxic Spikes is also not very viable in the current metagame due to the prevalence of Tentacruels and Venusaurs that can come in and absorb them and the multitude of Steel, Flying, and Levitate Pokemon that are immune to Toxic Spikes. As previously mentioned, Scald is a great attack with the Rain boost and burn chance while Toxic helps wear down walls and cripple Special attackers that do not mind burn. Substitute is essential on this set as it protects Tentacruel from status moves and also Scald burns. With Rain Dish+Black Sludge, Tentacruel acts similarly to Toxic Stall Gliscor, being able to heal most of the lost HP from Substitute every turn while withering away at the opponent’s HP with burn or poison. Rapid Spin is just to clear away the entry hazards and possibly free Tentacruel from Leech Seed. The Speed investment is so that Tentacruel can outspeed Sub+DD Gyarados and Adamant Dragonite, being able to hit both with Toxic and limiting their survivability.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SDef / 40 Spd
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
With the prevalence of Tornadus-T and Keldeo and the threat they pose, almost every team needs a solid Special wall and my choice is Specially Defensive Jirachi.. Jirachi can take attacks from these threats as well as from things such as Latios and Hydreigon and proceed to paralyze them with Body Slam and then Iron Head them to death with paraflinch. The paralysis support that Jirachi provides is also extremely helpful for Breloom and Mamoswine as they can now outspeed and take out things they normally would not be able to. Jirachi is also my Stealth Rock setter which is essential on almost every team as well to check things such as Salamence, Dragonite, and Volcarona. Wish helps regain lost HP and to also help heal up her teammates. It’s a great move to restore Politoed’s HP and help me win the weather war. With the start of SPL, a lot of players have been using Healing Wish on Jirachi and I have experimented with the move which sacrifices Jirachi to give another Pokemon essentially a Full Restore, healing back all lost HP and removing status. This makes it so opponent’s will basically have to beat Tornadus-T or Breloom or Mamoswine twice, which is very difficult for a team to do. However, I have stuck with Wish for the time being as it provides more consistent recovery throughout the course of a battle.
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Closing Comments
I would like to thank Benelux for giving me support in all my Pokemon endeavors. You guys are some of the nicest people I know and it has really been a pleasure to know you guys. McMeghan, Vinc2612, and Hugendugen are always wet dudes. I must thank Delko for being a great tutor when I first started on Smogon and taught me a lot of what I know about battling and teambuilding and also being a good person in general. I must also give a big thank you to my bro badabing for helping me maximize the potential of this team. You’re a great person and always willing to help me or talk about whatever I want. Also I want to thank some of the RMT people: Sayonara, Jirachi, Jimbon, Superpowerdude, harsha, Trinitrotoluene, tab, Shining_Latios, and undisputed. You guys are all great people and team raters and have fueled my love for team rating and team building.
As I mentioned, this team is my favorite BW2 and is the team I am most confident in using. I will soon be retiring it as the days of Tornadus-T in OU may be limited and I would like to share it with everyone.
Importable:
Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Perish Song
Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Low Sweep
- Bullet Seed
Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Substitute
Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Air Slash
- U-turn
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SDef / 40 Spd
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Perish Song
Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Low Sweep
- Bullet Seed
Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Substitute
Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Air Slash
- U-turn
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SDef / 40 Spd
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
- Body Slam
- Iron Head