ORAS OU Heavy Rain (Peaked #1 on OU Ladder)


Welcome to my first RMT. Basically, it’s a rain team that emphasizes bulk instead of focusing on Speed like most. I’ve been using a variant of this team since the Baton Pass Suspect Test, which I believe was back in March. Since then it has undergone a few reconfigurations, most notably when ORAS was released. It’s a pretty solid team, I think, and I’ve tried to adapt it to as many threats as possible without gutting it and taking it in a completely different direction, but it certainly has a few exploitable weaknesses. Whether these can be mitigated without exposing it to other, more common threats remains to be seen. In any case, let us begin.
Proof of #1:

Teambuilding Process + importables and brief analyses of significant past members:

I had seen very few rain teams in XY OU when I began building this team so I thought it was a good playstyle to experiment with. The first 2 members were Politoed with the same set listed below other than Toxic, which had not yet replaced Hypnosis, and a gimmicky Mega Manectric set featuring Electric Terrain/Magnet Rise, Thunder, Volt Switch and HP Ice. As the team became more serious, I replaced the first move with Flamethrower.

Next, I added Manaphy with the same set as listed below except for Psychic, which had not yet replaced Ice Beam, and Kabutops with a standard rain sweeper set.
Manaphy seemed like a logical choice since it had been kicked to Ubers in Gen 5 for its proficiency in the rain. Not being an Ubers player, I was eager to finally try it. I figured a bulky set would work fairly well since it would give me more opportunities to setup and Rest off damage, especially in conjunction with Mega Man's Intimidate.
Wrath (Kabutops) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge
Kabutops was the ying to Manaphy's yang: a fast physical attacker in the rain that was frail and easily worn down by priority, hazards and Life Orb recoil. I came to love the idea of having an offensive core of these two. Slow, bulky Manaphy dealt with stall and fast, frail Kabutops handled offense.

Albi (Goodra) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower/Muddy Water/Focus Blast
- Rest
To round things out, I added the defensive core of Goodra+Skarmory. Goodra had a bulky attacking set, not a specially defensive one, but with base 150 Special Defense and solid defensive typing, it walled most special attackers anyway, notably Thundurus and Landorus. It also doubled as a potent offensive threat thanks to its solid Special Attack and amazing movepool.

Skarmory (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
Skarmory walled most physical attackers, phazed sweepers, setup Rocks and Defogged hazards away. Rain eliminated Skarm's Fire weakness so it could even wall stuff like Talonflame and Fire Fang Mega Mawile (before it was banned). Rocky Helmet allowed it to damage the things it walled without using up a moveslot. Unfortunately, Keldeo gave the core of Goodra+Skarm trouble with Secret Sword for the former and water STAB for the latter.
First Draft:

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At this point in the teambuilding process, I began to think that this team had great potential, although it still had some major flaws. I liked Mega Man a lot for its switch initiative, STAB Thunder, Fire coverage and Intimidate but I felt it was the least integral member of the team. I tried a few other things such as Toxicroak and Mega Gyarados to underwhelming results before finally settling on Klefki. I won't go into detail about it here since I analyze it fully later on but once Klefki was added to the team, it improved immeasurably. Everything seemed to benefit from Klefki. Suddenly, this team that started as something of a casual experiment was quite competitive. Thus, what I consider to be the first complete version of the team had taken form.
First Complete/Serious Version:


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Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Due to my aforementioned weakness to Keldeo and weaknesses to Breloom and Ferrothorn, I replaced Goodra with specially defensive Mega Venusaur. It gave me crucial immunities to Spore and Leech Seed and something that could switch in and beat Keldeo, Breloom and Ferrothorn. It also gave me a much better answer for opposing rain teams, which seemed to be becoming more common. Unfortunately, Synthesis only restores 25% HP in the rain so I had to use Rest for recovery.
2nd Version:

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The final pre-ORAS change was the most difficult. By this time, Skarm was still good but many of the threats it had checked and countered were either banned (DeoSharp hyperoffense, Mega Mawile) or had become less common (Mega Pinsir). I knew I needed a better answer to Ferrothorn than Venu and Klefki was a respectable physical wall in its own right so I replaced Skarm with Magnezone. I vacillated between Zone and Skarm for awhile, largely because I missed not having Stealth Rock support but I soon found a way to remedy this situation while keeping Magnezone.
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Kabutops was replaced by Mega Swampert, whose natural bulk and superior defensive typing set him apart. Kabutops is still a decent option and I'll discuss this more later on. Obviously, to use Mega Swampert, I had to get rid of Mega Venu. I can't believe it took that to get me to finally consider Celebi. It's simply a far better option than Mega Venu for this team. It walls everything relevant that Venu did, has reliable recovery, Natural Cure and an expansive movepool including Stealth Rock, making the loss of Skarmory pretty inconsequential.
Current Team:




Ollie (Politoed) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Perish Song
- Encore
- Toxic

First up, unsurprisingly, is Politoed. Scald is there for STAB. It hits respectably hard in the rain and the burn chance is lovely. I opted for a specially defensive EV spread. This allows Ollie to switch in and check Calm Mind sweepers such as Clefable, Suicune, Slowbro and Mega Sableye with Perish Song and/or Encore. These two moves are great standalone and work extremely well together, locking something into a move and then forcing a switch. Their utility is increased with the help of another member of this team but I’ll get to that later. Toxic is there for crippling defensive threats, such as Rotom-W and Quagsire.
Edit: I changed Politoed's EVs to give it an odd HP number so it can potentially switch into rocks one more time. This does not have significant impact on the calcs below
Here are some calcs to demonstrate Politoed’s special bulk:

0 SpA Rotom-W Volt Switch vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Politoed: 116-138 (30.2 - 35.9%) -- 31.6% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Politoed: 268-320 (69.7 - 83.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Other Options: I had Hypnosis instead of Toxic for a long time. It is a great option since things switch into Politoed all the time, either because of Encore and/or Perish Song or because it’s not normally perceived as much of a threat. In the end, I replaced Hypnosis simply because I found its low accuracy infuriating.


Splash (Swampert) @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp--> Swift Swim
EVs: 208 HP / 252 Atk / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Mega Swampert is known for hitting like a truck but it also boasts respectable bulk and great defensive typing, granting it 4 resistances and a crucial immunity to Electric at the cost of only one weakness. This set attempts to capitalize on all three of these traits while still giving Splash respectable Speed in the rain. 52 Speed EVs allow him to outspeed max Speed Greninja. 208 EVs in HP allow him to live almost any one hit.
Edit: With Greninja banned, I dropped my Speed investment to 48 EVs, removed the 4 I had in Special Defense and changed my HP investment to 208. With this spread, I maintain an odd HP number and outspeed up to positive natured base 121s (Tornadus-T, Mega Pidgeot) in the rain.
I changed Swampert’s base stats in the calculator to match its Mega’s.

Defensive calcs:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 200 HP / 4 SpD Swampert: 253-300 (64.7 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kingdra Hydro Pump vs. 200 HP / 4 SpD Swampert in Rain: 328-387 (83.8 - 98.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Swampert: 145-172 (37 - 43.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Swampert: 217-256 (55.4 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Swampert: 168-199 (42.9 - 50.8%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO
192+ Atk Pixilate Altaria Return vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Swampert: 186-220 (47.5 - 56.2%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO


In the rain, Mega Swampert steamrolls offense teams. Even offensive mons that resist Waterfall are often 2HKOed by it. Rest/Sleep Talk enable Splash to heal off damage and status while remaining a potent offensive threat. This makes him much more useful against stall and even some balance teams than he otherwise would be. Occasionally, I miss having Ice Punch but there are few relevant OU threats that it helps me against.

Offensive calcs:

252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios in Rain: 144-171 (47.6 - 56.6%) -- 86.7% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latias in Rain: 131-155 (43.5 - 51.4%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragonite in Rain: 124-147 (38.3 - 45.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory in Rain: 136-162 (40.7 - 48.5%) -- 67.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey in Rain: 318-375 (49.5 - 58.4%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-T in Rain: 252-296 (65.9 - 77.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable in Rain: 211-249 (53.5 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Swampert Earthquake vs. 64 HP / 0 Def Altaria: 184-217 (59.9 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Swampert Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 135-159 (38.3 - 45.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Swampert Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kingdra: 208-246 (71.4 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Other Options: HP EVs can be converted to Speed to beat specific threats in the rain at the cost of bulk:

108 EVs outspeeds 252+ Mega Lopunny in the rain

152 EVs outspeeds 252+ Mega Sceptile and Mega Beedrill in the rain

^If you opt for the last spread, consider running a more standard set with Ice Punch and Superpower over Rest and Sleep Talk. There’s not much point in outspeeding Mega Sceptile if you can’t kill it.


Celebi @ Leftovers

Ability: Natural Cure

EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe

Calm Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Stealth Rock

- Healing Wish

- Recover

- Psychic

Celebi walls many threats that would otherwise give this team trouble, such as Keldeo, Breloom, Rotom-W, Mega Sceptile and even Ditto if it copies Swampert or Manaphy mid sweep. Thanks to Natural Cure, it can safely absorb status. It can also slowly but surely wear down Ferrothorn lacking Leftovers (i.e., those with Shed Shell that can’t be trapped by Magnezone) with Psychic thanks to its Leech Seed immunity. It is especially effective at doing this to Ferros that have previously been burned by Scald. Celebi also provides virtually mandatory Stealth Rock support and Healing Wish support to give one of my sweepers or Politoed a second wind, granting my team greater flexibility and an often unexpected ace in the hole.

Other Options: Healing Wish can be replaced with a few things and in some cases, they certainly prove to be better options, though they lack its surprise factor. Ultimately, I’m not sure that there is a single best option to fill this moveslot.

Giga Drain hits Rotom-W, Swampert, Quagsire and other Water types for greater damage while providing recovery.

U Turn or Baton Pass can be used to grant switch initiative. The former does a bit of damage while the latter allows Celebi to escape Pursuit trappers.

Perish Song keeps stuff from setting up and forces switches. It gives this team a much better chance against Baton Pass teams since Celebi is not worn down as easily as Politoed and resists Stored Power.

Heal Bell is great for keeping Politoed healthy and relieving Swampert from having to Rest off status and for waking up it and Manaphy immediately so that the former does not have to rely on Sleep Talk and the latter can keep Resting even if rain is gone.



Manaphy @ Leftovers

Ability: Hydration

EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

Modest Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Scald

- Rest

- Tail Glow

- Psychic

Manaphy is an absolute monster in the rain, landing 2HKOs or less on most of the tier after a single Tail Glow. Hydration allows it to Rest freely in the rain and ignore any attempts to status it. Even uninvested, it outspeeds most mons that would try to wall it. 252 HP EVs grant it enough bulk to live most super effective hits from its common checks and counters. It often singlehandedly destroys stall teams and is a threat to them even outside the rain since many of them lack the offensive presence to kill Manaphy before it wakes up from Rest. For this reason, it works great in tandem with Mega Swampert, which handles offense extremely well. That being said, Manaphy is by no means bad against offense. Scald is my STAB move of choice. Thanks to Tail Glow and the rain, I very rarely miss the extra power granted by Surf and if I did use it, I’m certain I’d miss Scald’s burn chance. Even Ferrothorn fears switching into Manaphy thanks to this burn chance but often, it must anyway, lest Manaphy be allowed to set up. Psychic is mainly there for Mega Venusaur. It OHKOs most variants after a Tail Glow. Psychic also hits Keldeo, Chesnaught, Conkeldurr and Breloom super effectively, and Rotom-W for neutral damage, which is useful outside of the rain.

Defensive calcs:

0 SpA Rotom-W Volt Switch vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 158-188 (39.1 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 374-439 (92.5 - 108.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 258-306 (63.8 - 75.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 192-228 (47.5 - 56.4%) -- 23.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 246-290 (60.8 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 318-375 (78.7 - 92.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Magnezone Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 324-384 (80.1 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Chesnaught Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 272-324 (67.3 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 150-177 (37.1 - 43.8%) -- 99.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 268-316 (66.3 - 78.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 306-360 (75.7 - 89.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
192+ Atk Pixilate Altaria Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 204-240 (50.4 - 59.4%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


Offensive calcs:

+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Psychic vs. 232 HP / 4 SpD Mega Venusaur: 382-450 (106.4 - 125.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-W in Rain: 212-249 (69.7 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-W: 211-249 (69.4 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+6 252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Rain: 366-432 (57 - 67.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Unaware Quagsire in Rain: 253-298 (64.2 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Unaware Clefable in Rain: 195-231 (49.4 - 58.6%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowbro in Rain: 267-315 (67.7 - 79.9%) – guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latias in Rain: 178-210 (59.1 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Thundurus in Rain: 217-256 (72.5 - 85.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 288-342 (75.3 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus: 288-342 (90.2 - 107.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem-B in Rain: 243-286 (62.1 - 73.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y in Sun: 264-312 (88.8 - 105%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria in Rain: 216-254 (70.3 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Other Options: There are a few viable alternatives to Psychic, although I find it to be the most useful overall. Ice Beam hits Dragons and a few other things harder but it leaves you vulnerable to common threats such as Rotom-W outside the rain and Mega Venusaur in or out of the rain. Without Psychic, you’ll need to boost up to +6 in order to 2HKO Mega Venu, assuming it Giga Drains between your attacks. There are, however, 2 threats for which Ice Beam might be worth using: Mega Altaria and Celebi. 64 HP/0 Sp. Def. Mega Altaria is cleanly 2HKOed by Ice Beam but even without it, Altaria is not an insurmountable obstacle (see above calc and threatlist below). Celebi is the single biggest threat to this team, capable of taking multiple hits from anything on it. That being said, it is not nearly as common as threats such as Mega Venu and Rotom-W so I normally opt for Psychic. Energy Ball is an option for better handling Rotom-W, and Mega Swampert but Manaphy can generally muscle past the former without it and the latter does not want to switch into a Scald anyway, nor does Manaphy want to switch into an Earthquake. Finally, Substitute is an option to allow Manaphy to prepare for incoming powerful attackers by using it on defensive threats that cannot break its subs before finishing them off. It also helps to prevent Manaphy from getting Tricked by Gothitelle. In many cases, I found Scald was the only attacking move I needed but without a coverage move, Manaphy is left with no way of getting past Water Absorbers, rare though they are in the current meta, and will have difficulty beating Water resistant Pokemon outside of the rain. You can, of course, convert HP EVs to Speed to outrun specific threats. Some notable examples include:

12 EVs to beat 8 Speed Celebi

108 EVs to beat 252+ Speed Breloom

One instance where Surf’s greater power is appreciated:

+3 252+ SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y in Sun: 296-350 (99.6 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

^compared to Scald’s 25% chance to OHKO under the same conditions. I don’t think it’s worth running Surf just for this, but I thought it was worth mentioning.


Klefki @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Thunder Wave
- Foul Play

After much experimentation, Klefki was the last Pokemon to be added to the first completed version of this team. Upon its addition, my team immediately became more successful and Klefki has been a part of every subsequent version of this team. It does not counter much but it helps to check just about everything. Its defensive typing is excellent and is further bolstered by the rain, which effectively eliminates its Fire weakness, turning it into a solid answer to Talonflame. Dual screens grant Klefki and the rest of my team greater durability, notably allowing Manaphy to set up more easily. Thunder Wave mitigates the slowness of the rest of the team and stops fast setup sweepers in their tracks. It often allows Politoed to Perish Song/Encore on threats that would normally be faster than it. Even against slower, more defensive Pokemon, such as Clefable and Skarmory, it can be used in conjunction with Swampert’s Waterfall to paraflinch them to death, rendering their reliable recovery unreliable and preventing them from wasting too many rain turns. Foul Play hits many physical attackers hard and makes them think twice about setting up. Even so, many will try to Swords Dance to get past Reflect. Foul Play makes them regret this decision.

Defensive Calcs:

4 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Klefki through Reflect: 114-135 (35.8 - 42.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Klefki through Reflect: 135-160 (42.4 - 50.3%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Klefki through Light Screen: 255-302 (80.1 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Mold Breaker Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Klefki through Reflect: 142-168 (44.6 - 52.8%) -- 23.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Klefki in Rain: 180-212 (56.6 - 66.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 12 SpD Klefki through Light Screen: 253-298 (79.5 - 93.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock



Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

I initially put Magnezone on the team to deal with Ferrothorn, which is the only Steel type that gives the rest of my team significant problems. Anything else it traps is a nice bonus but not a selling point in my view. Magnezone’s typing is great, granting it immunities to poisoning and paralysis and fantastic STAB coverage. 240 Speed EVs and a Timid Nature allow Sterling to outspeed Timid Thundurus. Volt Switch and Thunderbolt hit anything that doesn’t resist them and isn’t a dedicated special wall respectably hard. Flash Cannon deals solid damage to most offensive mons that switch in to absorb Electric attacks by virtue of their typing.
Edit: changed EVs to max speed to beat Timid Serperior now that Contrary is released.

Offensive calcs:

252 SpA Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 121-144 (40 - 47.6%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 159-187 (41.6 - 48.9%) -- 17.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 159-187 (49.8 - 58.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus: 159-187 (49.8 - 58.6%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO


Other Options: Thunder is a viable option over Thunderbolt since this is a rain team. The extra damage and higher paralysis chance are great but since Magnezone often functions outside the rain, you may find yourself relying on a 70% accurate move more often than you’d like.

Threatlist:

Celebi: The biggest threat to this team. Takes little damage from anything on the team, heals off any damage with Recover and cures status via Natural Cure.

Well Supported Mega Sceptile: Without proper support, is easily walled by Celebi and worn down from switching into attacks repeatedly

Mega Swampert: Nothing wants to switch in on it without dual screens support.

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Teams with 2 Automatic Weather Setters (typically Charizard Y and Tyranitar): Make it difficult to keep the rain up and do significant damage.

Dragon Dance Mega Altaria: Can DD with impunity in front of Klefki thanks to its Dark resistance and ability to heal off status. Maintaining offensive pressure so that it cannot setup usually prevents it from doing too much damage.


Other options for team members:

I had standard rain sweeper Kabutops instead of Mega Swampert before ORAS was released. It has access to Swords Dance and Aqua Jet which is great but it truly is a glass cannon and is generally less useful against stall than Swampert, which is problematic if Manaphy is eliminated or crippled by Gothitelle. Kabutops is often more effective against offense but nevertheless, Swampert is usually more than sufficient. Kabutops also grants a better matchup with Celebi: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 426-503 (105.4 - 124.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The only thing I have seriously considered swapping out is Magnezone. It’s great for trapping and switch initiative but it’s the least integral member of the team. I had Skarmory in this slot for a long time and it was great for walling, phazing, Defogging and hazard setting and like Klefki, it loses its Fire weakness in the rain. However, Ferrothorn becomes more of a nuisance without Magnezone to stop it and having 2 things that can be trapped and killed by opposing Magnezone is less than ideal. I have tried a few other things in this slot but none have been effective enough to warrant mentioning. Ideally, I could find a Pokemon that takes on Ferrothorn and Celebi fairly well while still synergizing well with the rest of my team.

I believe I’ve written more than enough at this point, so sorry if this has been a bit longwinded. I’ll probably make a few edits later. Maybe I’ll come up with a better name for the team. Anyway, have at it.
Replays:
Versus Reverb: Against a dual weather team which, as mentioned above, gives my team issues
Versus lil manaphy: Shows the trouble this team has with both Celebi and Gothitelle. Skip turns 17-60 to avoid boring part as Goth traps, sets up on and kills Klefki.
Versus qwazz: Interesting battle against another rain team
Versus Portuguese: Pretty one sided battle that does a good job of showing the potential of each team member.

Updates: replays added December 30
teambuilding process + brief analyses of significant past members added on January 5
minor edits to the EVs of Politoed, Swampert and Klefki on January 21
Changed Magnezone's EVs to max Speed to beat Serperior on March 3
Removed Gothitelle from threatlist due to Shadow Tag ban on December 12 2015
Importable:
Ollie (Politoed) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Perish Song
- Encore
- Toxic

Splash (Swampert) @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Healing Wish
- Recover
- Psychic

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rest
- Tail Glow
- Psychic

Klefki @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Thunder Wave
- Foul Play

Sterling (Magnezone) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
 
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Quiet a good team !! Love it, especially Manaphy because of is bulk and threatening tail growth.

Just one question : why is it on your team just one rain dancer ? And no defoger ? Because you can be easily beaten by a toxic/spikes/stealth rock team or by any normal team which force you to switch your politoed / or kill your politoed. rain dance instead of healing wish could be an option.

Be that as it may, i will test it.

PS: sorry for my bad english level, i'm actually french :heart:
 
Really nice team! I would try out a more defensive set on manaphy, since you have the combination of rest + hydration and tail glow gives you such a huge boost in SpAtk.
I'll try that team out later and maybe add something them
 
Quiet a good team !! Love it, especially Manaphy because of is bulk and threatening tail growth.

Just one question : why is it on your team just one rain dancer ? And no defoger ? Because you can be easily beaten by a toxic/spikes/stealth rock team or by any normal team which force you to switch your politoed / or kill your politoed. rain dance instead of healing wish could be an option.

Be that as it may, i will test it.

PS: sorry for my bad english level, i'm actually french :heart:
I find I rarely need another rain setter. It's pretty easy to keep Politoed alive as long as I don't keep it in for long. You have to be sure you can switch in safely if you think you'll need Politoed to set up rain later, even if that means saccing something else. The only time I really miss having a second setter is when I'm facing Gothitelle and even if I did have a second setter, Goth would still give my team issues since it's extremely difficult to play around. Anyway, this team can hold its own fairly well outside of the rain. It's not ideal to lose rain but it's not a death sentence either. That's one of the benefits of not relying on Swift Swimmers that are pretty shit outside of the rain to do most of the damage.

I considered adding "entry hazard heavy teams" to the threatlist but I decided against it since they don't reliably beat this team. Stealth Rock isn't usually a big issue for this team since nothing is weak to it. That being said, Spikes can be problematic but luckily they're not on every team like Stealth Rock and Skarmory and Klefki have trouble getting them up without being set up on or KOed. Chesnaught sometimes can but it fears Psychic from Celebi and Manaphy. Ferrothorn can pretty reliably get them up if it has them but it doesn't want to get trapped by Magnezone or setup on by Manaphy (which can happen with dual screens support or if Ferro is burned or lacks Power Whip). If I keep up offensive pressure, it's usually difficult for my opponent to safely set up Spikes. As for Toxic Spikes, I rarely see them but I can't imagine them being much of an issue since Klefki and Magnezone are immune to them, Celebi has Natural Cure, Manaphy has Hydration, and Swampert has Rest. Plus Tentacruel, the only tspikes setter I ever see, is beaten by both Swampert and Manaphy.
Pls edit the Headline of this thread, CleanerThanRotom-W is #1 on the ladder. :)
It says peaked #1 on the ladder, not currently #1.
 
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Hi, New Light ! Here just to say that I'm using this team on Showdown, and altough I'm at low ladder, it's working great. Congratulations, this team is pretty well built, in my opinion.

Just two things:
1. How do you deal with strong physical attackers, like... Let's say, a M-Loppuny spamming Hi-Jump Kicks around?
2. I know why Magnezone is here... But have you thought about a defog user like Zapdos or something in that space? Did not test it yet, but may help with teams abusing on residual damage, like SR and Spikes.

Peace! :)
 
Hello there! Very nice team you have there! :)
Could you maybe add some replays of this team? I want to see how this team deals with threats.
 
Hey, so I've been playing around with this team for a bit now, though I'm not that great at laddering. One change I made was to replace Psychic on Manaphy with Shadow Ball, which trades super effective hits on M-Venu, Chesnaught, Breloom, Keldeo etc. for hitting Ferrothorn neutrally and super effective hits on Lati@s, Starmie, Celebi and a few others that give this team issues. CM Latias has especially been a problem if Politoed was too weak to set Perish Song, and scarfing Magnezone rather than using Specs means that some variants of Ferrothorn can actually beat it, even outside of the rain (Leech Seed on the switch + Protect). You are more hard pressed to deal with M-Venu, Chesnaught etc, but I really haven't seen them as much.

Things I'm looking at other options for are Volt Switch on Magnezone, which I almost never use because practically every team has a Ground Type and Magnezone forces out very few mons, and Toxic on Politoed because I keep him in so little anyway. Otherwise, really nice team! Manaphy I love particularly because it provides such a convincing wincon against balance and stall.
 
Really nice team! I would try out a more defensive set on manaphy, since you have the combination of rest + hydration and tail glow gives you such a huge boost in SpAtk.
I'll try that team out later and maybe add something them
I've tested a lot of different EV spreads for Manaphy and defensive spreads would certainly come in handy sometimes but I'd really miss being able to beat Chansey and 2HKO unaware Clefable and Quagsire.
Hi, New Light ! Here just to say that I'm using this team on Showdown, and altough I'm at low ladder, it's working great. Congratulations, this team is pretty well built, in my opinion.

Just two things:
1. How do you deal with strong physical attackers, like... Let's say, a M-Loppuny spamming Hi-Jump Kicks around?
2. I know why Magnezone is here... But have you thought about a defog user like Zapdos or something in that space? Did not test it yet, but may help with teams abusing on residual damage, like SR and Spikes.

Peace! :)
1. I try to keep Reflect up. Also, most physical attackers get beaten one on one by something on my team.
2. I used to have Skarmory and ran Defog on it sometimes but I got rid of it for Zone to have a better matchup against Ferro. Like I said in a post above, hazards aren't usually a major issue but they certainly can be at times. Zapdos is on the shortlist of replacements I've considered for Magnezone. Defog is great and I also really like its typing, stats and a few other things in its movepool. Even Pressure comes in handy occasionally for stalling out Stone Edges and such. Maybe I will try it out. Too bad it doesn't get Hurricane.
Hey, so I've been playing around with this team for a bit now, though I'm not that great at laddering. One change I made was to replace Psychic on Manaphy with Shadow Ball, which trades super effective hits on M-Venu, Chesnaught, Breloom, Keldeo etc. for hitting Ferrothorn neutrally and super effective hits on Lati@s, Starmie, Celebi and a few others that give this team issues. CM Latias has especially been a problem if Politoed was too weak to set Perish Song, and scarfing Magnezone rather than using Specs means that some variants of Ferrothorn can actually beat it, even outside of the rain (Leech Seed on the switch + Protect). You are more hard pressed to deal with M-Venu, Chesnaught etc, but I really haven't seen them as much.

Things I'm looking at other options for are Volt Switch on Magnezone, which I almost never use because practically every team has a Ground Type and Magnezone forces out very few mons, and Toxic on Politoed because I keep him in so little anyway. Otherwise, really nice team! Manaphy I love particularly because it provides such a convincing wincon against balance and stall.
I Don't see much point in using Shadow Ball. All of the things you listed as getting hit super effectively by Psychic are bigger threats than anything I'd hit harder with Shadow Ball except Celebi. If I want a coverage move to hit Celebi, I'll use Ice Beam since it has higher power and I like the Ice coverage better overall. I have not had too much trouble with CM Latias but then again, I have not fought many. Klefki handles it fairly well and Swampert outspeeds and hits it for good damage with Waterfall in the rain.
Magnezone almost always beats Ferros it traps outside the rain and even if it doesn't, they are almost always left at extremely low health so they are easily killed by something else. I don't think it is worth losing the Scarf just to have a slightly better matchup with Ferro because Magnezone loses so much of its utility without it. It hardly outspeeds anything relevant without Choice Scarf and so it can't do much damage to offensive mons before they KO it.
Volt Switch is really nice for momentum and I can't think of any other decent coverage move to put there. Once Ground types are eliminated, it's very useful. Toxic on Politoed is definitely replaceable but it does help with stuff like Slowbro, Unaware users and Rotom.
Hello there! Very nice team you have there! :)
Could you maybe add some replays of this team? I want to see how this team deals with threats.
I really do need to add those in, along with a few other features. They may be difficult to track down since I play with many other teams and I don't think I saved many battles while laddering with this team so most of them are probably losses. I'll add a few in right now and maybe some more later. Potentially, I will edit in a teambuilding process section and an archive of past team members as well.

Thanks for all your replies!
Edit: A few replays have been added
 
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Updates:
added a few replays
added a fairly in depth teambuilding process section
I have been trying Pursuit Bisharp in Magnezone's spot to some success, although I have not done any serious laddering with it yet. It's a great help against Celebi and other Psychics and has a surprisingly good matchup against Ferrothorn.
 
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It has been almost 4 days and still no comment so... bump. I'd really appreciate it if someone would say something.
Yeah , it's a very good team and i won't change any mon , but I recommend you to change certain EVs , for example if you put 232 HP on Celebi you'll got max. Lefties recovery and Rocks will do less damage because HP finishes in 9, also run 16 Spe to outspeed BS 70.
You think you can run Pursuit Bisharp , why not? If you want to do this , use this set:

Bisharp (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 44 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
This set is pretty bulky and it's made to outspeed Rotom-Wash , Heatran and that people. If you need more power use the Jolly Black Glasses with SD.

If Mega Altaria and Mega Charizard Y mean problems for your team you should use Scarfed Magnezone to kill them.

Hope I've helped and congratulations for #1 and this amazing team , sorry if my English isn't correct.
 
Yeah , it's a very good team and i won't change any mon , but I recommend you to change certain EVs , for example if you put 232 HP on Celebi you'll got max. Lefties recovery and Rocks will do less damage because HP finishes in 9, also run 16 Spe to outspeed BS 70.
You think you can run Pursuit Bisharp , why not? If you want to do this , use this set:

Bisharp (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 44 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
This set is pretty bulky and it's made to outspeed Rotom-Wash , Heatran and that people. If you need more power use the Jolly Black Glasses with SD.

If Mega Altaria and Mega Charizard Y mean problems for your team you should use Scarfed Magnezone to kill them.

Hope I've helped and congratulations for #1 and this amazing team , sorry if my English isn't correct.
Thanks. I have been a bit lazy with EVs on this team outside of testing a bunch of different spreads for Manaphy and then settling on the one I started with. I was using Blackglasses on Bisharp for the extra power and ability to run SD but AV certainly has its advantages and it fits nicely with the bulky theme of this team. I was also running Swords Dance over Sucker Punch (that's right, a Bisharp without Sucker Punch). It let me beat Ferrothorn one on one and I actually like not having Sucker Punch sometimes since it keeps me from stressing over 50/50s. Everyone assumes I have it anyway, although I guess that will change if they read this post.

Zard Y isn't a big threat alone; it's a problem when paired with Tyranitar. I can usually handle Mega Altaria and Zone isn't much help against it anyway since it can DD to outspeed and then Earthquake. Plus, Timid Zone doesn't even have a chance of OHKOing Bulky DD Altaria. The biggest threat by far to this team is Celebi. It's the entire reason I was trying Bisharp and Pursuit doesn't even OHKO specially defensive variants on the switch. I'd consider running HP Bug on Manaphy just to hit Celebi if not for Mega Venu.
Edit: punctuation error
 
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