So I've been toying around with weather recently, more specifically with rain teams. I've been testing a lot of different combinations on pokemon online and I've found a few combinations I like. I was having trouble deciding if I wanted to go with Drizzle and rain healers, or Rain Dance and Swift Swim users. I've made both teams the drizzle one is really good, but this team is just really awesome and fun to play. I'll go into more detail as we get more into the team it self.
So the basic idea was to make a team that utilizes swift swim and rain dance. I've been testing it on pokemon online for the better part of a week now and it does quite well with some prediction but there are some key threats that completely shut it down.
Team Building Process
So that's how the team was build (If you read that part). I've been doing quite well on Pokemon Online, and with good prediction this team can handle almost any threat. I really enjoy playing it and I'm looking for some constructive feedback, maybe some ideas for getting past my counters. Electivire helps with with my team's big weakness to ice types and hail teams, which is great but I'm still looking for feedback so PLEASE COMMENT!
Threats
#1 Starmie
Starmie is speedy, deadly, and packs with it a move pool that is super effective against most of my team. The Bolt Beam combo it usuially uses beats everything on my team except Scizor and even he has trouble against Starmie because Bug Bite, while super effective is not priority so Starmie usually gets at least 1 big hit in on him. If I know a Thunderbolt is coming Electivire can handle Starmie, but it's still a tough pokemon for my team to take on.
#2 Jellicent
Jellicent interestingly enough was a pokemon I considered for this team but did not end up choosing because it didn't have access to Rain Dance. It seems ironic that it would be one of my team's biggest problems. While I can kill it with pokemon like my Garchomp, and Scizor it's the impending burn that it has that really shuts me down. All too often my counter to it just ends up getting crippled by a burn and it continues to wall my team. Since adding Electivire to my team I feel a little less worried about the jelly ghost, but it's still fairly threatening.
#3 Hippowdon/ Tyranitar
The fact that both of these pokemon are weather changers is bad enough, but on top of that they both pack super effective moves that can ruin my team. Hippowdon often carries Ice Fang which really hurts a lot of my team, and with people running Mixed Tar more and more I see T-Tars with Ice Beam a lot which is a big problem for my team, couple that with people running specially defensive sets and again I'm left out in the cold, unless I can really predict what's going to come next.
#4 Swampert
This pokemon became much more of a threat after removing celebi from my team. I have plenty of neutral coverage against this pokemon and Azumarill walls it pretty well, the fact remains that it's only weakness is grass type moves of which I have none right now. This isn't as big a deal as some of my other threats because Swampert is seeing a lot less play this generation but he is still threatening when I see him.
Wrap Up
I really like this team. It can be a real powerhouse against teams that are not expecting it, and with good prediction I can really put my opponents in their place. I still feel like wish support would really help but the team is in a really good place right now so I'm not sure. And any and all other suggestions to help take this team from good to great would be appreciated. Thanks for your time and PLEASE, I welcome any and all ideas so leave some feedback.
Team at a Glance
So the basic idea was to make a team that utilizes swift swim and rain dance. I've been testing it on pokemon online for the better part of a week now and it does quite well with some prediction but there are some key threats that completely shut it down.
Team Building Process
So I started with Kabutops. I've though he was really cool since I was 8 and saw him for the 1st time in Pokemon Red. He's a bad ass water Scyther from the past. What more do you want. On top of just being cool he's a really good pokemon. Having it's awesome base 115 Atk Stat coupled with Swift Swim and life orb is ridiculous. Almost nothing bar a heavily physically defensive pokemon can stop him, which is why he was my first pick for this team.
The next thing I needed was a Rain Dancer. I had recently been using Thundurus on a Drizzle team and was having a lot of success with him. It was this that made me consider Tornadus. I considered using Thundurus again but was wanting to try something different and Tornadus seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The combo of priority Rain Dance and 100% accurate Hurricane seemed to be what I was looking for.
Next I decided to get some type coverage. I picked Celebi because of it's versatility. I needed a pokemon who could take a hit and dish one out as well. This combined with it's grass psychic typing, good move pool, and access to Rain Dance made me pick Celebi
My next move was choosing another water type. I wanted one with some bulk and have always been interested in Azumarill, but never really had a spot on a team for him so this seemed like the perfect opurtunity. A great ability, good move pool and access to stab water attacks that could be boosted by the rain made me choose it.
My next pick was Scizor. I've always known he was really good but never really used him before. But this team seemed like it needed him. I found early on this team benefits a lot from priority attacks because truthfully it's got a lot of weaknesses. Scizor's bullet punch helps me deal with a lot of threats other pokemon on my team can't handle because of their speed and typing and it was this fact which led me to pick him.
Initially in my last slot I ran Latios. At the time it seemed like a great idea. Access to Draco Meteor, and Thunder seemed awesome, that coupled with great speed and special attack made it seem like a perfect choice for the team.
After playing this team for a little while, it became increasingly apparent that Latios was not the dragon I was looking for. I have to preface this next section with this. For the longest time I hated Garchomp. I thought he was the cheapest excuse for a pokemon ever. It seemed stupid to me that someone could just throw Garchomp onto a team and win games just because they had him. More recently I've realized there are plenty of counters to Garchomp and have come to appreciate his strengths and his weaknesses. Specifically on this team I chose him over Latios because of his awesome bulk, ability to set up stealth rock, and his immunity to electricity. He rounds out the team quite nicely and fits into a nice little niche on this team.
So after playing more extensively on PO I felt celebi was not pulling it's weight. Don't get me wrong it was a good pokemon, but I needed something with a little more umph and some different weaknesses. Initially I thought Eelektross would be perfect due to his bulk and awesome special attack. His type coverage and lack of weaknesses seemed like the perfect choice. After playing a few games with him it became increasingly apparent that he was not the pokemon I was looking for. The biggest problem I had with him was his inability to really handle hits from strong special attackers. Even against a thunder from lati@s or a hydro pump from Rotom-W Eelektross would often find himself OHKOed. So I decided I needed something both stronger and faster.
Enter Electrivire! Motor Drive solves my problems with many of the counters of my team. Switch in on a predicted electric attack, get the speed boost and respond with the appropriate super effective attack!
And there it is, now on to the fun part!
The next thing I needed was a Rain Dancer. I had recently been using Thundurus on a Drizzle team and was having a lot of success with him. It was this that made me consider Tornadus. I considered using Thundurus again but was wanting to try something different and Tornadus seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The combo of priority Rain Dance and 100% accurate Hurricane seemed to be what I was looking for.
Next I decided to get some type coverage. I picked Celebi because of it's versatility. I needed a pokemon who could take a hit and dish one out as well. This combined with it's grass psychic typing, good move pool, and access to Rain Dance made me pick Celebi
My next move was choosing another water type. I wanted one with some bulk and have always been interested in Azumarill, but never really had a spot on a team for him so this seemed like the perfect opurtunity. A great ability, good move pool and access to stab water attacks that could be boosted by the rain made me choose it.
My next pick was Scizor. I've always known he was really good but never really used him before. But this team seemed like it needed him. I found early on this team benefits a lot from priority attacks because truthfully it's got a lot of weaknesses. Scizor's bullet punch helps me deal with a lot of threats other pokemon on my team can't handle because of their speed and typing and it was this fact which led me to pick him.
Initially in my last slot I ran Latios. At the time it seemed like a great idea. Access to Draco Meteor, and Thunder seemed awesome, that coupled with great speed and special attack made it seem like a perfect choice for the team.
After playing this team for a little while, it became increasingly apparent that Latios was not the dragon I was looking for. I have to preface this next section with this. For the longest time I hated Garchomp. I thought he was the cheapest excuse for a pokemon ever. It seemed stupid to me that someone could just throw Garchomp onto a team and win games just because they had him. More recently I've realized there are plenty of counters to Garchomp and have come to appreciate his strengths and his weaknesses. Specifically on this team I chose him over Latios because of his awesome bulk, ability to set up stealth rock, and his immunity to electricity. He rounds out the team quite nicely and fits into a nice little niche on this team.
So after playing more extensively on PO I felt celebi was not pulling it's weight. Don't get me wrong it was a good pokemon, but I needed something with a little more umph and some different weaknesses. Initially I thought Eelektross would be perfect due to his bulk and awesome special attack. His type coverage and lack of weaknesses seemed like the perfect choice. After playing a few games with him it became increasingly apparent that he was not the pokemon I was looking for. The biggest problem I had with him was his inability to really handle hits from strong special attackers. Even against a thunder from lati@s or a hydro pump from Rotom-W Eelektross would often find himself OHKOed. So I decided I needed something both stronger and faster.
Enter Electrivire! Motor Drive solves my problems with many of the counters of my team. Switch in on a predicted electric attack, get the speed boost and respond with the appropriate super effective attack!
And there it is, now on to the fun part!
So that's how the team was build (If you read that part). I've been doing quite well on Pokemon Online, and with good prediction this team can handle almost any threat. I really enjoy playing it and I'm looking for some constructive feedback, maybe some ideas for getting past my counters. Electivire helps with with my team's big weakness to ice types and hail teams, which is great but I'm still looking for feedback so PLEASE COMMENT!
Meet The Team
Kabutops
@Life Orb (Swift Swim)
Adamant; Hp 40/ Atk 252/ Spe 216
Sword Dance
Waterfall
Aqua Jet
Stone Edge
Kabutops is the bread and butter of this team. I've won most of my games by switching him in late game just after setting up rain and sweeping 1/2 of the opponent's team. That said Waterfall is his main choice Stab attack for dealing with everything that does not resist water. Even neutral damage with the rain and life orb is enough to OHKO many enemies, and I like the chance to flinch this move gives as well. Stone Edge makes a great combo with Waterfall. The fact that it's stab combined with it's awesome power and type coverage makes it an obvious choice, the only issue I have with it is it's accuracy, because if it misses Kabutops is left wide open and can usually be OHKOed by my opponent. Aqua Jet is my third move and works well against enemies that could potentially out speed Kabutops, or if the rain stops and I need to score 1 more hit for a KO. Finally there's Sword Dance. Honestly I have trouble finding opportunities to use this move. The attack boost would be great but because Kabutops is so frail I often try to go for the kill rather than risk being killed while I try to set up.
The chosen EV spread and nature are pretty straight forward. Full 252 in atk to maximize damage output. The 40 EVs I put in HP are for that little extra boost to survivability as well as providing more food for life orb during a sweep, and finally 216 is speed to maximize Swift Swim's capabilities to out speed anything I come up against. Overall I like this spread, part of me wishes it could be bulkier so it had some more survivability but at the same time I don't want to sacrifice any sweeping power.
As far as working with the team goes Kabutops is there to mop up at the end after the rest of his teammates have weakened the opposing team and set up the rain for him, once that's done he can come in and sweep through with impunity.
Tornadus
@Leftovers (Prankster)
Timid; Def 4/ Sp.A 252/ Spe 252
Hurricane
Hidden Power (Ice)
Rain Dance
Taunt
The wind genie was a good choice for this team for a few reasons. The first of which is his ability. Prankster gives me the ability to stop my enemies from setting up entry hazards and subs with priority Taunt, and the ability to get a guaranteed rain dance off so I can switch to one of my water types. The other reason he is good for this team is his 100% accurate hurricane in the rain. This combo gives me a good shot at shutting down opposing fighting types that want to come in, bulk up, and sweep. Hidden Power Ice is my last move because coupled with Tornadus' great speed it can effectively counter Dragons and Gliscor, often getting a OHKO on them.
Again this EV spread is pretty straight forward. Max out Sp.A and Spe with 252 in each. The 4 in Def are for that once in a while when it might save me from a potential KO. I used to run Hammer Arm and Naive Nature instead of HP Ice and Timid nature, but Hammer Arm didn't have the damage output I was looking for, and the nature gave him some big survivability issues so hopefully the switch will provide better results.
Tornadus fills a very important support role on my team. He works well at helping my 2 main attackers Azumarill and Kabutops get into and out of the game safely. Rain Dance boosts both of their water moves, and Taunt stops entry hazards that would cripple both of them from coming into play. That combined with the ability to get rid of threats like Gliscor make him invaluable.
Scizor
@leftovers (Technician)
Adamant; HP 4/ Atk 252/ Spe 252
Sword Dance
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Rain Dance
Scizor is a great member of this team for a few reasons. First is his Steel typing which provides a lot of good resistances. Couple that with his ability Technician, access to a priority Stab move, and Rain Dance, and you've got a powerhouse that can also support my team. Sword Dance was an obvious choice for my first move. The +2 bonus it gives to Atk makes bullet punch absolutely ridiculous, and coupled with leftovers I almost don't mind taking that hit because a lot of the time I end up gaining the lost health back. I almost feel silly explaining this but Bullet Punch is my 2nd move. It's Scizor, it's Bullet Punch, it's a great Stab with priority nuff said. Bugg Bite is my 3rd choice because it's a secondary Stab that's also boosted by technician and a good counter to psychic types my opponent may try to use against me. Finally Rain Dance rounds out the set. I chose this because I don't want to ever run into the problem of not being able to set up rain.
Another straight forward EV spread. Initially I was running the Bulky Sword Dance set Hp 252/ Atk 40/ Spe 216 but after a few matches I realized that because i wanted Rain Dance to be my 4th move and I had to give up roost Scizor had a really hard time setting up. That set is really effective if you can get a sword dance or 2 up but without a recovery move it's tough to do because even with the bulk Scizor would take a sizable amount of damage and only last an extra turn or 2 at best. That's why I decided to switch to the more offensive EV spread. My thought process was if I can get kills faster with him I don't need to worry about recovery. It's worked a lot better than the other set, but I feel like there might be a way to meet in the middle I just haven't figured it out yet.
As far as team synergy goes I like the way Scizor fits into my team. He is one of the few pokemon who can switch into an outraging Dragon (Even a Garchomp) and survive, and then score a OHKO with Bullet Punch. His typing allows me to get boosts off on resisted moves and scare away pokemon who wall other parts of my team. Finally he is another Rain Dance user which is always welcome.
Garchomp
@Leftovers (Sand Veil)
Jolly; HP 252/ Sp.D 196/ Spe 60
Stealth Rock
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Rain Dance
I never thought I'd see the day I'd be using a Garchomp, but I have to say he fits nicely into my team with this set. Early on in my team creation I realized I needed entry hazards, I also knew I needed a Dragon for the obvious benefits (Resistances, Bulk, and Power). Enter Garchomp, he quickly became an obvious choice because of his access to Stealth Rock, which coupled with his speed almost always goes off. Dragon Claw is a reliable Stab attack and even without investment in Atk and combined with Earthquake it makes quite a threatening combo. The final slot is used again for Rain Dance.
Garchomps EV spread is a little bit unorthodox. The main idea here is that I wanted to run a bulky set and I needed it to be able to survive the inevitable Ice Beam that always seems to come Garchomp's way. So I maxed out his HP with 252, and pumped up his Sp.D. This makes most Ice Beams only take him down to 1/2 health and allows me to counter the pokemon trying to stop Garchomp with an Earthquake or Dragon Claw, or get off a much needed Rain Dance. The 60 Speed EVs are to bump up Garchomp's already good speed and get the jump on some of it's counters.
As far as a team player goes I really like the way Garchomp fits into my team. He sets up entry hazards, and rain and under the right conditions can decimate opponents even without an Atk investment. He also has a complete immunity to Electricity which is important because 1/2 of my team is weak to it. So I can switch him into a predicted electric move and return the favor with a super effective earthquake on electric types. Over all a great addition to the team and a pleasant surprise seeing as I used to hate this pokemon.
Azumarill
@Choice Band (Huge Power)
Adamant; Hp 232/ Atk 252/ Spe 12
Aqua Jet
Waterfall
Superpower
Ice Punch
What can I say, the water bunny is a bad ass. It's Ability, plus Choice Band, plus rain boost, plus Stab, plus Atk EVs make it's 2 water moves almost impossible to survive unless they're resisted and even then they'll take a chunk out of most opponents bar extremely physically defensive ones. Waterfall is a great choice if I know a move i can handle is coming, but when speed is a concern Aqua Jet gets the job done. Couple that with Superpower which owns unsuspecting normal type walls like the Proygon forms and Blissey. Finally Ice Punch rounds out the set with good type coverage that hits both grass types and dragons. Overall Azumarill is a powerhouse and bulky to boot and with the rain is pretty great at revenge killing and dealing with lots of threats.
The EV spread here is meant to maximize power and bulk. The 232 Hp helps survive attacks so it can retaliate with it's choice band boosted moves. and the 252 Atk makes it do max damage. The speed EVs are there to give it the jump on pokemon that have similar stats and are expecting a full investment in HP, it allows me to out speed those slower opponents that think they're going to get the first hit.
Azumarill fits into my team as a powerful offensive player as well as a much needed wall breaker and revenge killer. The boost it gets from the rain just adds to it's already rediculus power even though it can function perfectly well without the rain. I've considered running a life orb instead of the choice band to afford me better coverage via move switching and possibly allow Azumarill to stay in play longer but the choice band works just fine too.
Electivire
@Life Orb (Motor Drive)
Mild; Atk 40/ Sp.A 252/ Spe 216
Cross Chop
Thunderbolt
Flamethrower
Hidden Power (Ice)
After my switch to Electivire I knew there was no going back. This thing's a speedy powerhouse. The biggest thing I was looking for was something that could switch in on an enemy thunderbolt and bounce back. The speed boost Electivire receives when it does so is exactly what I wanted. On top of that the mixed set with cross chop gives me nice double coverage to break walls like blissey and snorlax if for some reason Azumarill can not. It can hit steel types hard too which was something I needed as well. Finally HP Ice gives me something unexpected for those dragons that think they can get the jump on this pokemon. It works especially well against Lati@s because 9 times out of 10 I switch into them using thunder on one of my water or flying types, get a motor drive boost off them and then punch back with HP ice.
The EVs here are to maximize power and speed. 40 in Atk give my Cross Chop a nice boost so I can take on normal types and special walls. The rest of the EVs are used to boost my Sp.A to crazy levels, and 216 in speed give me a nice base to go off of and with a motor drive almost nothing out speeds me. The set as a whole functions as a wall breaker/Sweeper and helps deal with a lot of things that used to give my team trouble.
Team synergy is the name of the game with Electivire. It's unreal how awesomely he works together with Azumarill. People realize Azu is choice banded pretty quickly, and they think they can get a free shot in by switching to an electric type (usuially rotom-W), I can then switch in Electivire and get my boost and rock anything they try to throw at me. He also takes out a bunch of the counters for the rest of my team such as steel types that wall scizor and kabutops, and water types that wall Azumarill.
Kabutops
@Life Orb (Swift Swim)
Adamant; Hp 40/ Atk 252/ Spe 216
Sword Dance
Waterfall
Aqua Jet
Stone Edge
Kabutops is the bread and butter of this team. I've won most of my games by switching him in late game just after setting up rain and sweeping 1/2 of the opponent's team. That said Waterfall is his main choice Stab attack for dealing with everything that does not resist water. Even neutral damage with the rain and life orb is enough to OHKO many enemies, and I like the chance to flinch this move gives as well. Stone Edge makes a great combo with Waterfall. The fact that it's stab combined with it's awesome power and type coverage makes it an obvious choice, the only issue I have with it is it's accuracy, because if it misses Kabutops is left wide open and can usually be OHKOed by my opponent. Aqua Jet is my third move and works well against enemies that could potentially out speed Kabutops, or if the rain stops and I need to score 1 more hit for a KO. Finally there's Sword Dance. Honestly I have trouble finding opportunities to use this move. The attack boost would be great but because Kabutops is so frail I often try to go for the kill rather than risk being killed while I try to set up.
The chosen EV spread and nature are pretty straight forward. Full 252 in atk to maximize damage output. The 40 EVs I put in HP are for that little extra boost to survivability as well as providing more food for life orb during a sweep, and finally 216 is speed to maximize Swift Swim's capabilities to out speed anything I come up against. Overall I like this spread, part of me wishes it could be bulkier so it had some more survivability but at the same time I don't want to sacrifice any sweeping power.
As far as working with the team goes Kabutops is there to mop up at the end after the rest of his teammates have weakened the opposing team and set up the rain for him, once that's done he can come in and sweep through with impunity.
Tornadus
@Leftovers (Prankster)
Timid; Def 4/ Sp.A 252/ Spe 252
Hurricane
Hidden Power (Ice)
Rain Dance
Taunt
The wind genie was a good choice for this team for a few reasons. The first of which is his ability. Prankster gives me the ability to stop my enemies from setting up entry hazards and subs with priority Taunt, and the ability to get a guaranteed rain dance off so I can switch to one of my water types. The other reason he is good for this team is his 100% accurate hurricane in the rain. This combo gives me a good shot at shutting down opposing fighting types that want to come in, bulk up, and sweep. Hidden Power Ice is my last move because coupled with Tornadus' great speed it can effectively counter Dragons and Gliscor, often getting a OHKO on them.
Again this EV spread is pretty straight forward. Max out Sp.A and Spe with 252 in each. The 4 in Def are for that once in a while when it might save me from a potential KO. I used to run Hammer Arm and Naive Nature instead of HP Ice and Timid nature, but Hammer Arm didn't have the damage output I was looking for, and the nature gave him some big survivability issues so hopefully the switch will provide better results.
Tornadus fills a very important support role on my team. He works well at helping my 2 main attackers Azumarill and Kabutops get into and out of the game safely. Rain Dance boosts both of their water moves, and Taunt stops entry hazards that would cripple both of them from coming into play. That combined with the ability to get rid of threats like Gliscor make him invaluable.
Scizor
@leftovers (Technician)
Adamant; HP 4/ Atk 252/ Spe 252
Sword Dance
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Rain Dance
Scizor is a great member of this team for a few reasons. First is his Steel typing which provides a lot of good resistances. Couple that with his ability Technician, access to a priority Stab move, and Rain Dance, and you've got a powerhouse that can also support my team. Sword Dance was an obvious choice for my first move. The +2 bonus it gives to Atk makes bullet punch absolutely ridiculous, and coupled with leftovers I almost don't mind taking that hit because a lot of the time I end up gaining the lost health back. I almost feel silly explaining this but Bullet Punch is my 2nd move. It's Scizor, it's Bullet Punch, it's a great Stab with priority nuff said. Bugg Bite is my 3rd choice because it's a secondary Stab that's also boosted by technician and a good counter to psychic types my opponent may try to use against me. Finally Rain Dance rounds out the set. I chose this because I don't want to ever run into the problem of not being able to set up rain.
Another straight forward EV spread. Initially I was running the Bulky Sword Dance set Hp 252/ Atk 40/ Spe 216 but after a few matches I realized that because i wanted Rain Dance to be my 4th move and I had to give up roost Scizor had a really hard time setting up. That set is really effective if you can get a sword dance or 2 up but without a recovery move it's tough to do because even with the bulk Scizor would take a sizable amount of damage and only last an extra turn or 2 at best. That's why I decided to switch to the more offensive EV spread. My thought process was if I can get kills faster with him I don't need to worry about recovery. It's worked a lot better than the other set, but I feel like there might be a way to meet in the middle I just haven't figured it out yet.
As far as team synergy goes I like the way Scizor fits into my team. He is one of the few pokemon who can switch into an outraging Dragon (Even a Garchomp) and survive, and then score a OHKO with Bullet Punch. His typing allows me to get boosts off on resisted moves and scare away pokemon who wall other parts of my team. Finally he is another Rain Dance user which is always welcome.
Garchomp
@Leftovers (Sand Veil)
Jolly; HP 252/ Sp.D 196/ Spe 60
Stealth Rock
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Rain Dance
I never thought I'd see the day I'd be using a Garchomp, but I have to say he fits nicely into my team with this set. Early on in my team creation I realized I needed entry hazards, I also knew I needed a Dragon for the obvious benefits (Resistances, Bulk, and Power). Enter Garchomp, he quickly became an obvious choice because of his access to Stealth Rock, which coupled with his speed almost always goes off. Dragon Claw is a reliable Stab attack and even without investment in Atk and combined with Earthquake it makes quite a threatening combo. The final slot is used again for Rain Dance.
Garchomps EV spread is a little bit unorthodox. The main idea here is that I wanted to run a bulky set and I needed it to be able to survive the inevitable Ice Beam that always seems to come Garchomp's way. So I maxed out his HP with 252, and pumped up his Sp.D. This makes most Ice Beams only take him down to 1/2 health and allows me to counter the pokemon trying to stop Garchomp with an Earthquake or Dragon Claw, or get off a much needed Rain Dance. The 60 Speed EVs are to bump up Garchomp's already good speed and get the jump on some of it's counters.
As far as a team player goes I really like the way Garchomp fits into my team. He sets up entry hazards, and rain and under the right conditions can decimate opponents even without an Atk investment. He also has a complete immunity to Electricity which is important because 1/2 of my team is weak to it. So I can switch him into a predicted electric move and return the favor with a super effective earthquake on electric types. Over all a great addition to the team and a pleasant surprise seeing as I used to hate this pokemon.
Azumarill
@Choice Band (Huge Power)
Adamant; Hp 232/ Atk 252/ Spe 12
Aqua Jet
Waterfall
Superpower
Ice Punch
What can I say, the water bunny is a bad ass. It's Ability, plus Choice Band, plus rain boost, plus Stab, plus Atk EVs make it's 2 water moves almost impossible to survive unless they're resisted and even then they'll take a chunk out of most opponents bar extremely physically defensive ones. Waterfall is a great choice if I know a move i can handle is coming, but when speed is a concern Aqua Jet gets the job done. Couple that with Superpower which owns unsuspecting normal type walls like the Proygon forms and Blissey. Finally Ice Punch rounds out the set with good type coverage that hits both grass types and dragons. Overall Azumarill is a powerhouse and bulky to boot and with the rain is pretty great at revenge killing and dealing with lots of threats.
The EV spread here is meant to maximize power and bulk. The 232 Hp helps survive attacks so it can retaliate with it's choice band boosted moves. and the 252 Atk makes it do max damage. The speed EVs are there to give it the jump on pokemon that have similar stats and are expecting a full investment in HP, it allows me to out speed those slower opponents that think they're going to get the first hit.
Azumarill fits into my team as a powerful offensive player as well as a much needed wall breaker and revenge killer. The boost it gets from the rain just adds to it's already rediculus power even though it can function perfectly well without the rain. I've considered running a life orb instead of the choice band to afford me better coverage via move switching and possibly allow Azumarill to stay in play longer but the choice band works just fine too.
Electivire
@Life Orb (Motor Drive)
Mild; Atk 40/ Sp.A 252/ Spe 216
Cross Chop
Thunderbolt
Flamethrower
Hidden Power (Ice)
After my switch to Electivire I knew there was no going back. This thing's a speedy powerhouse. The biggest thing I was looking for was something that could switch in on an enemy thunderbolt and bounce back. The speed boost Electivire receives when it does so is exactly what I wanted. On top of that the mixed set with cross chop gives me nice double coverage to break walls like blissey and snorlax if for some reason Azumarill can not. It can hit steel types hard too which was something I needed as well. Finally HP Ice gives me something unexpected for those dragons that think they can get the jump on this pokemon. It works especially well against Lati@s because 9 times out of 10 I switch into them using thunder on one of my water or flying types, get a motor drive boost off them and then punch back with HP ice.
The EVs here are to maximize power and speed. 40 in Atk give my Cross Chop a nice boost so I can take on normal types and special walls. The rest of the EVs are used to boost my Sp.A to crazy levels, and 216 in speed give me a nice base to go off of and with a motor drive almost nothing out speeds me. The set as a whole functions as a wall breaker/Sweeper and helps deal with a lot of things that used to give my team trouble.
Team synergy is the name of the game with Electivire. It's unreal how awesomely he works together with Azumarill. People realize Azu is choice banded pretty quickly, and they think they can get a free shot in by switching to an electric type (usuially rotom-W), I can then switch in Electivire and get my boost and rock anything they try to throw at me. He also takes out a bunch of the counters for the rest of my team such as steel types that wall scizor and kabutops, and water types that wall Azumarill.
Threats
#1 Starmie
Starmie is speedy, deadly, and packs with it a move pool that is super effective against most of my team. The Bolt Beam combo it usuially uses beats everything on my team except Scizor and even he has trouble against Starmie because Bug Bite, while super effective is not priority so Starmie usually gets at least 1 big hit in on him. If I know a Thunderbolt is coming Electivire can handle Starmie, but it's still a tough pokemon for my team to take on.
#2 Jellicent
Jellicent interestingly enough was a pokemon I considered for this team but did not end up choosing because it didn't have access to Rain Dance. It seems ironic that it would be one of my team's biggest problems. While I can kill it with pokemon like my Garchomp, and Scizor it's the impending burn that it has that really shuts me down. All too often my counter to it just ends up getting crippled by a burn and it continues to wall my team. Since adding Electivire to my team I feel a little less worried about the jelly ghost, but it's still fairly threatening.
#3 Hippowdon/ Tyranitar
The fact that both of these pokemon are weather changers is bad enough, but on top of that they both pack super effective moves that can ruin my team. Hippowdon often carries Ice Fang which really hurts a lot of my team, and with people running Mixed Tar more and more I see T-Tars with Ice Beam a lot which is a big problem for my team, couple that with people running specially defensive sets and again I'm left out in the cold, unless I can really predict what's going to come next.
#4 Swampert
This pokemon became much more of a threat after removing celebi from my team. I have plenty of neutral coverage against this pokemon and Azumarill walls it pretty well, the fact remains that it's only weakness is grass type moves of which I have none right now. This isn't as big a deal as some of my other threats because Swampert is seeing a lot less play this generation but he is still threatening when I see him.
Wrap Up
I really like this team. It can be a real powerhouse against teams that are not expecting it, and with good prediction I can really put my opponents in their place. I still feel like wish support would really help but the team is in a really good place right now so I'm not sure. And any and all other suggestions to help take this team from good to great would be appreciated. Thanks for your time and PLEASE, I welcome any and all ideas so leave some feedback.
