Hey, Expert_Occultist again with something you've probably never seen a million times before: a rain team. But not just any rain team. Behind this seemingly standard team lurks a crazy twist ending that must be seen to be believed! (yeah I'm hyping this up a bit, let's just get this started)
Garbageman (Politoed)
Damp Rock, Drizzle, Bold
252 Hp, 252 Def, 4 SpAtk
Scald
Ice Beam
Toxic
Perish Song
Yeah, every rain team starts with this. It has one job; maintain the rain. Everything else comes secondary. To be fair, it's not totally useless at other things as well. Scald hits surprisingly hard and is tough to switch into. Ice Beam nails things like Dragonite and Garchomp. Toxic helps break down walls such as Slowbro which give this team trouble as well as make Politoed harder to switch into. Perish Song puts a clock on how long a threat can stay out and is fantastic at breaking Baton Pass (yes, it's still around).
The Crusher (Kingdra)
Choice Specs, Swift Swim, Modest
4 Hp, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Hydro Pump
Draco Meteor
Ice Beam
Scald
The main cleaner. Not much can switch into Specs Hydro Pump in the rain. Consequently, it's my main attack outright OHKOing many offensive mons and finishing most weakened defensive ones. Even Chansey has to be careful about switching in if it's received some damage. The other attacks are mostly for show and don't get used much due to their power being dwarfed by Hydro Pump although Scald is more reliable against severely weakened teams.
Human Fly (Kabutops)
Life Orb, Swift Swim, Adamant
4 Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Waterfall
Stone Edge
Aqua Jet
Rapid Spin
So if sand has Excadrill who does rain have? Kabutops! This is a secondary cleaner/hazard remover. It's nice to have both a physical and special sweeper and it's nicer that at least one of them has priority for sweeping outside of rain and beating Thurnderus before it can Thunderwave. Rapid Spin may seem like an unorthodox choice over Swords Dance but every team could use hazard removal, rain being no exception. Besides, we only have a limited time to sweep and due to Kabutops being able to run an attack boosting nature he gets the job done anyway. All of Kabutops' main duties are intact from revenge killing to Talonflame checking. This guy is pretty much mandatory for rain teams by now and it's not hard to see why.
Haulass Hyena (Mamoswine)
Life Orb, Thick Fat, Jolly
252 Atk, 4 Spdef 252 Spe
Earthquake
Icicle Spear
Ice Shard
Stealth Rock
I wanted a Stealth Rock setter that didn't completely kill my offensive momentum. I had Ferrothorn in this slot but it just didn't cut it. While annoying it ended up wasting a lot of rain time. I want to attack not wall. Mamoswine does double duty; setting Stealth Rocks and checking various offensive threats. The biggest advantage it gives me is the mind games factor; people think I'm going to lead with it (and hey, sometimes I do if it's right) and they send in their suicide lead counter only to run into Tornadus or Charizard. Mamoswine doesn't really have that much synergy with rain itself although forcing out Thunderus is certainly helpful. Manectric doesn't like Mamoswine ether.
Surfin' Bird (Tornadus-T)
Damp Rock, Regenerator, Timid
4 Atk, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Hurricane
Heat Wave
U-Turn
Rain Dance
This is my lead %50 of the time. Every rain team should have at least one secondary rain setter (Politoed isn't indestructible) and this is mine. He'll ether set up Rain Dance or U-Turn to a better option. The great thing about Tornadus is that, using Regenerator, it can come in multiple times in the match to ether set up rain or check defensive threats, most notably Venusaur. Heat Wave is great against Ferrothorn outside of rain.
Badass Bug (Heracross)
Heracronite, Guts/Skill Link, Adamant
4 Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Pin Missile
Close Combat
Bullet Seed
Rock Blast
After some awesome suggestions I have settled on Heracross as my mega. It's the best wallbreaker, takes care of my Slowbro and Ferrothorn weakness, and between Cross and Mamoswine they resist both electric and grass.
So there you have it, a rain team that combines traditional elements with some unorthodox choices. Feedback is always appreciated so feel free to rate away :)
Garbageman (Politoed)
Damp Rock, Drizzle, Bold
252 Hp, 252 Def, 4 SpAtk
Scald
Ice Beam
Toxic
Perish Song
Yeah, every rain team starts with this. It has one job; maintain the rain. Everything else comes secondary. To be fair, it's not totally useless at other things as well. Scald hits surprisingly hard and is tough to switch into. Ice Beam nails things like Dragonite and Garchomp. Toxic helps break down walls such as Slowbro which give this team trouble as well as make Politoed harder to switch into. Perish Song puts a clock on how long a threat can stay out and is fantastic at breaking Baton Pass (yes, it's still around).
The Crusher (Kingdra)
Choice Specs, Swift Swim, Modest
4 Hp, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Hydro Pump
Draco Meteor
Ice Beam
Scald
The main cleaner. Not much can switch into Specs Hydro Pump in the rain. Consequently, it's my main attack outright OHKOing many offensive mons and finishing most weakened defensive ones. Even Chansey has to be careful about switching in if it's received some damage. The other attacks are mostly for show and don't get used much due to their power being dwarfed by Hydro Pump although Scald is more reliable against severely weakened teams.
Human Fly (Kabutops)
Life Orb, Swift Swim, Adamant
4 Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Waterfall
Stone Edge
Aqua Jet
Rapid Spin
So if sand has Excadrill who does rain have? Kabutops! This is a secondary cleaner/hazard remover. It's nice to have both a physical and special sweeper and it's nicer that at least one of them has priority for sweeping outside of rain and beating Thurnderus before it can Thunderwave. Rapid Spin may seem like an unorthodox choice over Swords Dance but every team could use hazard removal, rain being no exception. Besides, we only have a limited time to sweep and due to Kabutops being able to run an attack boosting nature he gets the job done anyway. All of Kabutops' main duties are intact from revenge killing to Talonflame checking. This guy is pretty much mandatory for rain teams by now and it's not hard to see why.
Haulass Hyena (Mamoswine)
Life Orb, Thick Fat, Jolly
252 Atk, 4 Spdef 252 Spe
Earthquake
Icicle Spear
Ice Shard
Stealth Rock
I wanted a Stealth Rock setter that didn't completely kill my offensive momentum. I had Ferrothorn in this slot but it just didn't cut it. While annoying it ended up wasting a lot of rain time. I want to attack not wall. Mamoswine does double duty; setting Stealth Rocks and checking various offensive threats. The biggest advantage it gives me is the mind games factor; people think I'm going to lead with it (and hey, sometimes I do if it's right) and they send in their suicide lead counter only to run into Tornadus or Charizard. Mamoswine doesn't really have that much synergy with rain itself although forcing out Thunderus is certainly helpful. Manectric doesn't like Mamoswine ether.
Surfin' Bird (Tornadus-T)
Damp Rock, Regenerator, Timid
4 Atk, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spe
Hurricane
Heat Wave
U-Turn
Rain Dance
This is my lead %50 of the time. Every rain team should have at least one secondary rain setter (Politoed isn't indestructible) and this is mine. He'll ether set up Rain Dance or U-Turn to a better option. The great thing about Tornadus is that, using Regenerator, it can come in multiple times in the match to ether set up rain or check defensive threats, most notably Venusaur. Heat Wave is great against Ferrothorn outside of rain.
Badass Bug (Heracross)
Heracronite, Guts/Skill Link, Adamant
4 Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Pin Missile
Close Combat
Bullet Seed
Rock Blast
After some awesome suggestions I have settled on Heracross as my mega. It's the best wallbreaker, takes care of my Slowbro and Ferrothorn weakness, and between Cross and Mamoswine they resist both electric and grass.
So there you have it, a rain team that combines traditional elements with some unorthodox choices. Feedback is always appreciated so feel free to rate away :)
Last edited: