Shutterspeed - OU Rain Dance RMT

End Fashion · Jul 22, 2009

Shutterspeed

By End Fashion

Contents

1/ Preface

2/ Lineup

3/ Team Breakdown

4/ OU Threat List (under construction)

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1/ Preface

Just a quick introduction and general word about the team. This is my one and only serious attempt at constructing a Rain Dance team for OU play. They are a popular archetype and exist in many various forms. In building the team I have come to realise just how well put together other teams are, and garnered a great deal of respect for those who put them together. That said, I have no hopes or intentions of producing a team that is both original and superior to previous RD teams, since I think the best probably already exists. However, this hasn't stopped me from trying to make something sufficiently functional against the wide range of archetypes out there.

Comments and suggestions are not only welcomed, they are requested. Thanks in advance for checking the team out, and any feedback is muchly appreciated.

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2/ Lineup

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3/ Team Breakdown

Crobat (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 104 HP/152 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Rain Dance
- Taunt
- U-turn
- Brave Bird

Okay, so here is my lead. Crobat has a number of properties which make him a great candidate for the position of RD lead. For one, he is fast. This means he can get the rain pouring on his own accord with little to no threat. Secondly, he can taunt to stop openers who like to set up themselves. This is great against Stealth Rock users, but also importantly against the likes of Ninjask and his speed boosts and passes, and Bronzong's Trick Room. Next is his ability to take out Abomasnow in one hit. This is very important to be since Abomasnow and hail in general really screw me over. Besides Scizor I really have no way to take out the ice giant, and any attempts to set up rain are thwarted time after time. Finally, Crobat's Inner Focus is useful against a lead that made me squirm in my seat a little - Scarfed Jirachi. The thought of being outpaced and flinched to death immediately struck my mind, and Crobat can make life easier for me. U-Turn lets me hit Azelf for some nice damage and bring in Rotom-W in anticipation of an Explosion.

So in summary, it works both as an effective counter and, importantly, opens up the Heavens to support the Swift Swim sweepers. I'll cover the strategy against common openers when I get around to finishing my threat list.

Thanks to gary the gengar for the suggestion, and bloo_of_ACO for making me look for an Inner Focus lead.

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Ludicolo (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 204 HP/104 Spd/76 SAtk/124 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Leech Seed
- Rain Dance
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot

It's a rain dance team... of course Ludicolo is here. I've opted for his more aggressive set although I am "umming-and-ahhing" about whether I should just go with his support set. I found that without a wish user his Leech Seed was kind of helpful for my Life Orb users, although in retrospect probably not often enough to justify it alone. Admittedly I felt far less paranoid about switching in with that set, but I also had lots of trouble with some Pokemon that he can now counter much better. I think for the time being I'll leave him as is, and work more on my strategy and switches rather than blame the Pokemon themselves.

Anyway, most here will get the gist of what he does. He comes in on rain and uses the pace to mash stuff. When rain runs out, he sets up again. In his more defensive form he is more reliable in setting up the rain, whereas now he would prefer to come in to a downpour.

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Omastar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Earth Power

Omastar is the dedicated special sweeper, and does a fantastic job. In the rain Surf is an absolute wrecking ball (I don't trust Hydro Pump's accuracy) and the rest of the moves allow for great type coverage. I was originally running HP Grass on this set, but decided that I basically had it on there for the likes of Swampert who can be safely switched into with Ludicolo anyway. In that case, my sweeping chain is hardly broken as Ludicolo can keep the rain up himself, so Omastar isn't put out too much by this switch at all. Without HP Electric, Gyarados has no trouble coming in and setting itself up. Earth Power does more damage to opposing Tentacruel who can otherwise take hits fairly well from this set (HP Electric is a 3HKO whilst Earth Power has an 83% chance of 2HKO with leftovers factored in), and I don't really want to be wasting precious time in the rain.

Thanks to gary the gengar and Bossnine for drilling Omastar into my head and overriding my stubborness to keep Gorebyss.

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Kingdra (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/240 SAtk/16 Spd
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage

Like Ludicolo, Kingdra practically has a reserved seat in any rain team (unless someone is trying to deliberately leave him out). He has a ton of options at his disposal, however I found this setup to my liking the most. Originally running a fully-blown Life Orb set, I swapped for the Leftovers for added durability since I found I was using him in the mid to late game skermishes rather than busting him out for the quick win. I'm very protective of Kingdra and like to scout things first before I commit to using him.

Yawn and Dragon Dance work wonders with one another. Hit the snooze button, and DD on the switch. If not, DD when they go to sleepy land - rinse and repeat. Of course it's not always as simple as that, but you can play some fun mind games with people late in the game with Yawn alone, whilst building up the safer STAB Waterfall or kimikaze Outrage.

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Scizor (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP/252 Atk/224 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- X-Scissor
- Superpower

Scizor is obviously my second physical attacker/sweeper. I have this space reserved for anything with a powerful priority move, and Scizor does this brilliantly. He can either pick off stragglers or ideally get a Swords Dance boost and get to work. Again, he is a Pokemon who speaks for himself and needs little explination.

EDIT: In writing this, Lucario has jumped into my mind. He possesses some nifty priorities that can hit on both sides of the offensive spectrum. I'll have to test him out. Thoughts?

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Rotom-W (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/136 Def/120 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Rain Dance
- Thunder Wave
- Hydro Pump

CONFESSION: I haven't even used the team with this Pokemon in it.

This space was originally filled by a defensive Spiritomb, but Rotom's defensive capabilities seem adequate in their own right, and basically plug all the holes that I felt I was having trouble with. This final slot was originally reserved for a stable utility to help slow the tempo in tight times and try to restore order by hindering opposing teams with Toxics and Confuse Rays etc., get rain back up, and continue to slog out. This worked sometimes, but not always; what's more I've come to realise that rain dance teams are made to be offensive. Purely and simply offensive. That said, if I run into a team that is better at offense than mine, it would be nice to have something to counter or nullify the threat, so I may turn this into a utility yet. Time and experience will tell, but having faced a few Rotom in my time I know their worth and peskiness to take out unless you are properly equipped.

Defensively speaking, Rotom fits in well here since:

- bug and poison moves scare off Ludicolo
- electric moves were (not so much now) were scary
- earthquake is a general hinderence
- ... as are fighting and steel priorities

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4/ OU Threat List

The list is still under construction, however I've made a start.

Annoying Old Party Man · Jul 22, 2009

I feel that gorebyss is outclassed by omastar as a rain dance sweeper. You say gorebyss has a better movepool, but the only difference is omastar doesnt have psychic, but it has earth power. I would use a set of surf, ice beam, hp electric, and earth power at choice specs/life orb. Its also usefull out of rain to ko scizor and t-tar. Also kingdra's advantage on a rain team is its ability to hit from both sides of the spectrum. Kabutops is a better all physical sweeper. If your gonna keep kingdra, switch its set to hydro pump/surf, draco meteor, outrage and waterfall. It wont have time to dd during the valuable rain.

I also feel that togekiss isnt the best lead for your team. Ive had sucess with crobat with brave bird, rain dance, taunt and u-turn/roost. An electrode with rain dance, thunder, explosion and filler could also work.

I am suggesting all these changes because i had a great rain dance team. So im not a rain dance noob.

Good luck with your team!

Bossnine · Jul 22, 2009

I highly recommend Omastar. It has higher Sp.Att, and most people dont see it coming. The best set i have ever used:

Omastar @ Life Orb
Modest
252 Spe / 252 Sp. att / 6 Def
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-HP [Grass]
-AncientPower

I dont know how many times (over 10) i have used AncientPower to OHKO Gyara to get Stat-Ups. Many times i would get in 2 Stats-ups from AP and sweep lol.

I had 2 undefeated Rain Teams, an UU and OU one:

The UU rain team was 22-0, and then Smogon banned Crobat, and he was an irreplacable Rain Setter on the team, so i can't use that team on the ladder anymore. But anyways, that Omastar set i told you was on this team, and it got 3-4 kills per match, and was by FAR my MVP.

My OU Rain team was 41-0 (yes, really), but i quit Shoddy back in Febuary for 3 months, and when i came back i accidently deleted the team, and i couldn't remember what was on it, so its gone lol.

Anyways, trust me, you'll like Omastar. =D

End Fashion · Jul 22, 2009

gary the gengar said:
I feel that gorebyss is outclassed by omastar as a rain dance sweeper...

Bossnine said:
I highly recommend Omastar. It has higher Sp.Att, and most people dont see it coming. The best set i have ever used:

Omastar @ Life Orb
Modest
252 Spe / 252 Sp. att / 6 Def
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-HP [Grass]
-AncientPower

Okay, so I've (reluctantly on a purely aesthetic basis) made the switch to Omastar, and he's working well. However rather than using AncientPower I'm currently running Earth Power, which still lets me take on any Tentacruel who tries to bully me out.

I'd always been considering Omastar, so thanks for getting him ingrained into my head haha.

I also feel that togekiss isnt the best lead for your team. Ive had sucess with crobat with brave bird, rain dance, taunt and u-turn/roost. An electrode with rain dance, thunder, explosion and filler could also work.

You're right, Togekiss isn't the best. When it works it works, but when I'm outpaced from the outset I have to work much harder to get the ball rolling in my favour. Admittedly I picked him for something different, but now the team is doing really well and I'd like to tweak it for better performance over some sort of 'style'. I tried out an Ambipom for shits and giggles and he worked rather well (Fake Out to take some damage and break sashes, and various other trickery). However it wasn't until I was going over a friend's team that I saw something to make me cringe and take notice of Crobat - that being a scarfed Jircahi. I can see something like that going to town on me with flinching moves, and Inner Focus would negate this. It has also made me look at Lucario again, amongst other reasons.

Something like this:
Crobat (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 124 HP/132 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Rain Dance
- Taunt
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace

Also kingdra's advantage on a rain team is its ability to hit from both sides of the spectrum. Kabutops is a better all physical sweeper. If your gonna keep kingdra, switch its set to hydro pump/surf, draco meteor, outrage and waterfall. It wont have time to dd during the valuable rain.

True, but I've become so fond of Yawn haha. With a DD or two, Kingdra can crash through physical walls as if he were using special attacks. I do this by either forcing switches with Yawn, or taking advantage of the sleep. As I mentioned in the initial post it's not fail-safe, and will fall against a heavy hitter, but it has worked for me more often than not.

Cheers guys. I'll edit my first post accordingly and continue testing. Your contributions have been noted.

Annoying Old Party Man · Jul 22, 2009

for crobat, use this set

Crobat@Damp Rock
Jolly
104 hp 152 atk 252 spe
Brave Bird
Rain Dance
Taunt
U-Turn

End Fashion · Jul 23, 2009

Awesome. Thanks man.

End Fashion · Jul 23, 2009

4/ OU Threat List
Still being completed
Note that most of these analyses assume that rain is active. Without it, the team is screwed.

Aerodactyl - Doesn't fare well in the rain. Outpaced and out-typed across the board.

Azelf - Azelf is usually a lead, who is outpaced and dealt with by Taunting and U-Turning to Rotom with little fuss.

Blissey - Initially met with Scizor. When Scizor comes into Blissey one of two things will happen: I'll get a free Swords Dance as Bliss switches out, or I'll get a Swords Dance and cop a Flamethrower to the face. Either way that usually won't take me out with rain support, and I can still take the Blisster out on the next turn. From then I'll usually spray off boosted Bullet Punches to whittle things down. Dragonite can switch in and use the same method to set up Dragon Dances. I'll usually Yawn in case they try to switch, and DD from there.
Breloom - Crobat can dominate it, and Rotom laughs at its punches. Omastar can survive a Mach Puch without a Life Orb or stat increase, and will 2HKO (just falling short of a guarenteed 1HKO).

Bronzong - As a lead it can be Taunted and tossed over to play with Rotom, and/or become setup fodder for the sweepers.

Celebi - I hate this little bugger and usually rely on Kingdra to get setup and wipe it out. I prefer to face this thing late game. Rotom is probably my best to scare it out, as Omastar can't hurt it without being decimated itself. Ludicolo would probably get stalled to death too. With this in mind, I may sacrifice Roost on Scizor for U-Turn or X-Scissor.

Cresselia - Nothing in particular to take Cressy on, aside from Rotom, but his attacks aren't all that effective. This again hints to the need to put X-Scissor on Scizor.

Donphan - Gets beat up by just about everything bar Crobat.

Dragonite - Ice Beam is on all the special sweepers, and Kingdra outpaces it with Outrage.

Dugtrio - In the rain it is outpaced and beaten up with water. Rotom is probably my best switch-in if it comes to it, with his ground immunity and reisistance to Aerial Ace.

Dusknoir - He's sturdy, but falls to the special sweepers with relative ease. I keep Kingdra and Dusknoir in their Pokeballs for this one.

Electivire - Mostly the Surf attacks in the rain are sufficient, but Omastar's Eearth Power will seal the deal. Otherwise it's up to Kingdra to take a hit and take the chance to power up and sweep.

Forretress - Pretty tough cookie given rain nullifies the usefulness of fire moves and hence I have none. Ludicolo is best suited with STAB surf to attack the weaker SpD whilst taking Gyro Balls better than Omastar would.

Gengar - Kingdra in the rain is faster, and wins.

Gliscor - Special sweepers. Take your pick.

Gyarados - Omastar's HP Electric or Rotom's Thunder. I'll usually try to have Omastar in though.

Heatran - Ludicolo is probably the best switch-in, but Heatran has a nearly impossible time of switching into this team itself.

Heracross - Most of the team can take it out with rain up. If I have to switch in, I'm going for Crobat.

Hippowdon - Ludicolo is preferred, but again the slow ground type is not particularly desirable against a team like this.

Infernape - Rotom-W, Kingdra, Ludicolo, Omastar... if he switches in and it's raining it doesn't matter anyway. As an opener I suppose I'll cop a Fake Out, then Taunt it and unleash the rain. Then I'll probably U-Turn to break the sash and switch to Rotom.

Jirachi -
Lucario
Machamp
Magnezone
Metagross
Porygon-Z
Rhyperior
Salamence
Skarmory
Slowbro
Starmie
Suicune
Swampert
Tangrowth
Togekiss
Tyranitar

Vaporeon - Ludicolo can plod along with Grass Knot, but it's no certainty. Rotom and Omastar have their respective electric attacks. It can also be a good opportunity to bring in Kingdra with little worry and attempt to build up DDs.

Weavile

Weezing
Yanmega
Zapdos

- this was an old tier list, and I dragged these from the then BL section, hence why they are out of order -

Abomasnow - As a rule I hate this Pokemon. Hail teams have always busted my balls, however Crobat's Brave Bird takes it out in one glorious swoop. Failing that Scizor is my only other answer.

Alakazam - If it leads it can be U-Turned and handed over to Rotom. If it's Scarfed then I say "Poo" as I cop a Psychic to the face, bring in Rotom and try to get rain up. That said, they're not particularly common in that form in my experience.

Ambipom

Empoleon

Flygon

Jolteon

Ludicolo

Milotic - Rotom and Ludicolo. Kingdra as a last resort utilising Yawn and DDs, but I am weary of Toxcs wearing him down prematurely. Can be a real pain if it starts to inflict status on the team though.

Ninjask - Taunt it, laugh at it, kill it, rain on its grave.

Scizor - Preferrably Rotom, Kingdra or Ludicolo. Omastar takes a hit from Bullet Punch.

Snorlax - I fear CurseLax and he has been a thorn in my side from early on. Scizor getting in early is one option, and option two is Kingdra with a Yawn. If I can get Crobat to hinder Curse with Taunt then great! But yeah, I usually try to put him to sleep and set up Kingdra.

Spiritomb

Umbreon - Scizor comes in to resist toxic and scare him off with Brick Break. Crobat can Taunt him and make him near useless. Umbreon also typically represents a good time for me to bring in Kingdra and build him up. Unlike CurseLax, an Umbreon using Curse lacks the physical presence to scare me away.

Annoying Old Party Man · Jul 23, 2009

hows crobat working out? btw nice rmt