First Rain Team

[sly101s]

I was initially running an offensive sand team, which was working relatively well, but I was having a great deal of trouble getting past priority ice shard users - mamoswine and weavile. So I decided to create a team that while still offensive, wasn't as susceptible.

I'm a new player, and this is my first rain team, so any and all advice will be very welcome.

​

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

Ferrothorn is here to lay hazards. That's its main purpose. Thunderwave is there to paralyze any faster threats that come in to kill it, especially if I suspect they're scarfed.

1. 
   Politoed @ Leftovers
   Trait: Drizzle
   EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
   Modest Nature
   - Hydro Pump
   - Ice Beam
   - Focus Blast
   - Hidden Power [Grass]
2. The main weather inducer. Modest specs to deal as much damage as possible before dying. HP Grass for gastrodon, jellicent, and keldeo.
   
   
   
   Breloom @ Toxic Orb
   Trait: Poison Heal
   EVs: 12 HP / 240 Atk / 244 Spd
   Adamant Nature
   - Spore
   - Focus Punch
   - Substitute
   - Seed Bomb
   
   This guy I'm not sure about. Spore is a given, and after that, things get iffy. There are times I miss mach punch, and my team completely lacks priority.
   
   
   
   Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
   Trait: Serene Grace
   EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
   Jolly Nature
   - Iron Head
   - U-turn
   - Ice Punch
   - Healing Wish
3. Utility scarf. There to keep up momentum with u-turn, and if needed sacrifice itself to heal a different pokemon.
   
   
   
   
   Keldeo-Resolute @ Expert Belt
   Trait: Justified
   EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
   Timid Nature
   - Hydro Pump
   - Hidden Power [Electric]
   - Secret Sword
   - Icy Wind
   
   Expert belt keldo is one of the heavy hitters on the team. In rain hydro pump hits very hard, and not being locked into a move is quite helpful. There are times he would appreciate the speed boost from a tailwind though...
   
   
   
   
   Tornadus (M) @ Sharp Beak
   Trait: Prankster
   EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
   Timid Nature
   - Hurricane
   - Focus Blast
   - U-turn
   - Rain Dance

​

The second main sweeper. Once priority ice shard users and scarfers have been eliminated, tornadus is more than capable of sweeping. I use rain dance in case politoed dies prematurely, but as stated above, there are times I wished I had tailwind.




Like I said, all general suggestions are welcome.

The biggest specific concern I have is regarding breloom. Focus punch is nice and powerful, but there are times I miss mach punch. And the entire team in fact totally lacks any sort of priority attack.

Also with ferrothorn, I'm debating replacing spikes or t-wave with gryo ball, but again, am not sure whether that is the optimal choice.

And for tornadus, I'm running rain dance for those situations where I lose the weather war. But tailwind is also appealing, especially for the boost it would offer to expert belt keldeo. Not sure what works best here either.


Edit: I also wanted to ask, is it better to run surf or hydro pump? :)

 

[Im Skalayle]

Edit: I also wanted to ask, is it better to run surf or hydro pump? :)

As you already know Hydro Pump does more damage but has a more terrible accuracy.With that in mind Are you willing to risk a pokemon life to hit a hydro pump or will you use surf which has rain boost so its the nest best thing.

 

[Jolteon Bandit]

Well sly101s, this seems to be a pretty well put together rain team.

Ferrothorn looks good with the standard set, no problem with the tried and true.

On Politoed, I would use a more defensive set since you already have Keldeo as your main Water-type sweeper. This will ensure that 'Toed lasts longer and gives you a better chance of winning the weather war.

You say you're unsure about Breloom, and that's understandable. I personally prefer the Sword Dance set. Basically, you come in, Spore, then Sword Dance. With Technician and +2 attack, Mach Punch gives you awesome priority and Bullet Seed lets you deal with enemies like Jellicent.

I like the idea of CS Jirachi, I'm just not 100% sold on it for some reason. If you wanted to switch it up, you could go with an Offensive Calm Mind set that's adapted to rain. This set would include Calm Mind, Flash Cannon, Thunder, and HP Ground. This gives up the ability to heal a teammate for raw offensive power and allows you to abuse the three things rain abuses (Thunder, Hurricane, and Water).

Keldeo looks fine, especially after my final suggestion...

Personally, I've never run U-turn on Tornadus. In my first RMT on the site, I used a variant that only had 1 attack, Hurricane. The other three were Rain Dance in case Politoed died, Taunt to incapacitate set up sweepers, and Tailwind. Since anything that outspeeds Tornadus will probably outspeed everything else, I used Tailwind when I was about to faint then BAM! any one of my pokemon became a revenge killer. It turns Tornadus into a heavy hitting support pokemon rather than an all out sweeper. Or, you could even use Hurricane and U-turn with Rain Dance and Tailwind.

As for your question, there really isn't much a rain boosted Surf won't KO that Hydro Pump will after Stealth Rocks and at least one layer of Spikes (which you will hopefully have up). I almost always go with Surf, but really it comes down to personal preference.

 

[sly101s]

Thank you for all the helpful suggestions, and please keep them coming. :D

I'll look into a calm mind jirachi for sure.

In fact, if I'm thinking about it, this team is pretty weak to the swords dance toxicroak. Tornadus is my only real "counter", and suckerpunch hits tornadus hard. And should toxicroak manage to get to +2, it's pretty much a OHKO.

So a calm mind Jirachi with HP ground would be a good answer. But I'm really going to miss the added momentum from the scarf set.

Is there perhaps another method of dealing with toxicroak that I'm missing?

 

[Jolteon Bandit]

A popular pokemon for rain teams is Reversal Dugtrio. It can deal with two of the three main weather starters with ease and Hippo is dealt with easily by the rest of your team while TTar and 'Tales are OHKO'd. As to who you would replace, that's up to you. Whoever you think the weak link would be.

Hide

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
-Reversal
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Sucker Punch

 

[dcae]

Hey there, this is a pretty cool Rain team you have here! Nice use of Tornadus also. There a few changes I think we can make to make your team more optimal. Atm, Volcarona is hell to face. Once it gets one Quiver Dance, it is over. Breloom is a troll to face as well, currently beats most of your team as well. Like all Rain teams, there is a weakness to Agility Thundurus T. First of all, tbh, Jirachi is a subpar Scarfer for your team here. I recommend using Scarf Terrakion over it. Scarf Terra is a great revenge killer and easily picks off Volcarona, which is a problem for you. Earthquake is just for Toxicroak, since it gives you problems. The set is standard:

Terrakion @Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide/X-Scissor

This change, however, adds to the Breloom problem. Keeping this in mind, I suggest dropping your Ferrothorn to instead implement back your Jirachi, albeit with a different set. I recommend trying the SpD Rachi set to give you a huge annoyer and a paralysis support. The set is the following:

Jirachi @Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpD / 108 Spe
Nature: Calm
- Stealth Rock
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Wish/U-turn

This set gives you defensive support like Ferrothorn did, except gives flinchhax and can either heal teammates or keep momentum.

Having made these mon changes, there are a few minor changes I would implement. First, on Tornadus, definitely use Superpower > Focus Blast, as it is always a better Fighting move. Using Sharp Beak, you can lure in Ttar and OHKO it with Superpower without risking a miss. Another change I would make is Tailwind > Rain Dance, because now that you are luring and killing Ttar, Rain Dance isn't as important. Also, Tailwind boosts your team's speed, allowing your Expert Belt Keldeo to start tearing gaping holes in the opposing team. Now, I don't understand what set your are running for Politoed. You say in the description Specs, but the mon has Leftovers written. I am going to assume you have Specs, so in that case, I recommend running a different EV spread to outrun key threats. Here it is: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe. Outspeeds 160 Spe Heatran and many threats in general. Overall, this is a really cool team. I hope I helped, and good luck!

Tl;dr

tl;dr

Scarf Terrakion > ScarfRachi
SpD Rachi > Ferrothorn
Superpower > Focus Blast and Tailwind > Rain Dance on Tornadus
New EV spread for Politoed