Lucario and Friends on a Rainy Day

Hello, and welcome to my first serious RMT. (Also my first b/w 2 RMT)
First off, let me share this teams achievments:
Peaked about 1450 on PO ladder on a couple of different alts
and
Won every tournament it enetered in #Tournaments (not that big an achievment)
Also, was 1700 without losign on Pokemon Showdown before lagged out (this is why i stick to po)
Even though these aren't that hard to achieve I feel this team is certainly worth sharing for everyone to see!

Team Building Process:
It was a few days after the Japense release of Pokemon Black/White 2 and I saw that rain immediatly became more common on the ladder. I felt like I wanted to join in on the fun so, this is a team built around Lucario which uses various rain threats and Dirzzle Toed.

I look at the new Offensive Threats: Tornadus-T, Thundurus-T, Keldeo, Landorus-T, Melotta (just released), and then there are all of the dragons. All of these pokemon share a weakness, hazards + strong priority > them.
Swords Dance Lucario with Extreemspeed overpowers many sweepers especially with vital hazard support.

Well, after adding Lucario, the next step of adding ferrothorn seemed rather obvious; with a good wall or just any bulky steel, you can take on dragon types while setting up hazards with ease. Thus assiting sweepers and adding residual damage making opponents think twice before switching. Then, I went back to my idea about priorty not only does it shut down sweepers, it also enhanced revenge killing, threatens out pokemon who are quick but frail (jolteon, latios, and garchomp if it comes back to ou (hoping it will)) A stab choice banded adamant Mamoswine's Ice shard has a good chance to ohko tornadus-t before rocks and always does after rocks and/or LO recoil, does around 90% to LO Venasaur, and ohko's Latios after rocks usually, dragontie after broken multiscale, salalemce, landorus when not intimidated, alakazam, and other ice weak pokemon. However, if that doesn't cut it, the raw power of earthquake is amazing. 2hko'n ferrohtorn, deoxys-D, and forretress is always helpful! The point is Banded Mamoswine is the star(no offense starmie) of the show on this team.


(LO Starmie and LO Tornadus-T)
Life Orb + Rain + Hurricane/Hydro Pump/Thunder = GG, enough said.

The Team:


Politoed (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Perish Song

So I started with this guy and I see that major threats are beaten by priority, leading to Lucario. However, outspeeding them is just as good as having priority! Speed tying with 30 speed IV hp ice jolteon and outspeeding: non-scarf Thundurus-T, Tornadus-T, Starmie, Rotom-w, Landorus-T, Latios, Latias, All base 108 speeds (Terakion Cobalion Virizion Infernape), +1 Adamant Dragonite, choice scarf adamant Mamoswine, and +1 Speed all bulk invested Volcarona! This means that with the double stab from rain even thought rather wimpy, Politoed is a force to be recon with. The reason I chose Ice Beam/Scald/Hydro Miss/Perish Song is that sclad initially gives opponents a false sense of security that im not scarfed (or choiced in any way) and is more reliable the hydro pump while havign a burn chance unlike surf, Hydro (Pump) Miss is a powerful water stab, Ice beam is for grass/dragon types that otherwise resist all of politoeds attacks, and perish song is usually a last effort move to get rid of baton pass sweepers and other pokemon that will otherwise sweep me forcing them out in a few turns.


(don't burn my ferrothorn)
Ferrothorn (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
Gamefreak has designed nearly 700 pokemon, this is by far the most useful pokemon for hazard setting and stallish teams now that leech seed/stealth rocks/spikes are allowed on the same set as they previously weren't due to breeding complications. I know that hazard stacking usually is innefective because then if you lose that pokemon you will have to suffer a hazardless battle (meaning lucario might have a harder time sweeping however, then I will just put a bit more wait on tornadus-t) but, on an offensive team this is basically my only trace of hazards. Synergetically it works out with lucario helping it sweep and other pokemons ensuring ohko's of things like tornadus-t with ice shard!

Tornadus-T (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Grass] ( for gastrodon and rotom-w)
This is probably one of the biggest threats in OU now, as terrakion was a few months back, this guy threatens to 2hko nearly everything in this meta barring Jirachi in the Rain(specially defensive jirachi) (or in the other weathers assuming heat wave isn't being used) and specially defensive skarmory who still take about 40%! (I'm missing a few other's but, you get the point, bulky steels that aren't hit hard with superpower)


Lucario (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch
This guy sweeps, I don't care if he is close combatting through stall teams or extreemspeeding through offensive teams, the pure power of adamant life orb 110Atk. at +2 if amazing! Im sure the majority of you guys have used this and with hazard support so there isn't much to say because after all this is the standard SD set. One thing is that I run crunch for jellicent and reuniculus who otherwise threaten me.


Mamoswine (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Superpower
Once again, priority > metagame, ice/ground typing + extremely high atk stat > metagame, mamoswine = gg. On a more formal note, this guy is one of, if not the best revenge killer (scizor is better obviously) and also packs a punch. If predicted correctly this guy can pretty much almost 2hko if not ohko everything, an example of this raw power is icicle crash does around 45% to skarmory!



Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
Raw Power, hazard destroyer, rain abuser, recovery user, and speed deemon are just a few names and titles that describe the scrappy star! From doing tons of damage to hitting bulky waters with thunder it also effeiciently spins and synergetically fits in with Lucario and Mamoswine. Adding onto the fact that rain increases hydro misses power and thunder's accuracy!

ALRIGHT, this is my team staring Lucario and Friends on a Rainy Day please leave your opinions along with appropriate rates and opinions on sets and the team overall!
If you have any other questions don't be afraid to find me on PS, PO, or on the forums!

http://pastebin.com/Kp9sKgAU
This link has the import of the team be free to try it out or use this to give you a more in depth look at my team

Threat List: (this wil be a generalization of the biggest threats to me, I won't be covering everything)
Swords Dance Scizor- Big Problem especially if sets up on ferrohtonr
Rotom-w- Beats team effieciently barring ferrothorn
Specs Toed/Starmie- Seems to rip a whole in my team when late game momentum is in my favor, gives them late game edge
Rain Volcarona- This thing always sweepes everyone includign me :/
Thundurus-T after Nasty Plot and Agility- Duo Dance Thundy is an annoyance it usually has decent support so it can come in on per say paralysed ferro or something and if it manages to get 2 turns, not just one, then im done. I tend to assure it doesn't happen tho!
Tornadus-T- After Mamoswine is dead and cannot banded ice shard it I either have to rely on lucario getting it from below 60%, a speed tie from my tornadus-t, or politoed hitting hydro miss. This is more of a late game situational threat, if i play my cards right I'll be fine!

i think your lucario will have a hard time setting up. to stop this change to this spread

lucario @ focus sash
252atk,252spe,4hp
jolly

keep your current moveset

hope i helped and this is ment to be lead lucario

The pictures are a little weird, but I'll rate. On Politoed, running HP Grass would be a good idea over Scald because you are not going to be able to try repeatedly for burns if you are scarf. I think Perish song is good but if you don't run HP Grass, Toxic is a good option for Gastrodon. On Ferrothorn, I love Rocky Helmet as an item but you are going to need Leftovers, even with Leech Seed. Also your spread is sort of weird. To help you take rain boosted hits better, try 88 Def, and 168 Sp. D. I really think your Tornadus would benefit better from Focus Blast over HP Grass incase you don't want to lock yourself into a weak Superpower. On Lucario I think Bullet Punch would be nice over Crunch because your team handles Jellicent well, and Reuniclus doesn't like switching into Rain Boosted Hydro Pumps. Scarf Terrakion does a lot of damage to your team, and this would help a ton. On Starmie, you could use Ice Beam over Recover, and Psyshock over Rapid Spin (I hate Rapid Spin w/ LO, tbh.) Psyshock will help with Amoonguss who troubles many rain teams. Thesynchrohero is right, Lucario will have a hard time setting up. Just a suggestion, try Air Balloon over Life Orb.
Please try the changes I left in bold out. GL with the team.

Hi! Solid team, Finchinator. First off, I would replace Tornadus-T's Hidden Power Grass for Grass Knot, as it hits harder most of the time. Ferrothorn's EV spread is a bit out of shape. I'd recommend 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD as Ferrothorn's EVs, to balance out both defense and special defense, making it an effective wall. I don't have much else to add - cool team, and good luck!

Griff said:

On Politoed, running HP Grass would be a good idea over Scald Toxic is a good option for Gastrodon. On Ferrothorn, you are going to need Leftovers, even with Leech Seed. take rain boosted hits better, try 88 Def, and 168 Sp. D. Focus Blast over HP Grass incase you don't want to lock yourself into a weak Superpower. On Lucario I think Bullet Punch over Crunch because your team handles Jellicent well, and Reuniclus doesn't like switching into Rain Boosted Hydro Pumps. Scarf Terrakion does a lot of damage to your team. On Starmie, you could use Ice Beam over Recover, and Psyshock over Rapid Spin (I hate Rapid Spin w/ LO, tbh.) Psyshock will help with Amoonguss who troubles many rain teams. Thesynchrohero is right, Lucario will have a hard time setting up. Just a suggestion, try Air Balloon over Life Orb.
Please try the changes I left in bold out. GL with the team.

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(This has all been tested over the past hour or so on the ladder)
Alright, I'll start from the top and go to the bottom, I have tested both hp grass and toxic and found that toxic is extremely useful on Politoed and it also helps revealing scarf later giving opponnents late game fast blows.
Next off, on Ferrothorn Rocky Helmet is abused for switching into all priority moves making revenge killers think twice and for rapid spinners so they die as i still have hazards up but I have tried leftovers and that has saved me quiet a bit
I am still testing on that I guess you can say
However, the new spread is certainly better I changed that imediatly
For Tornadus-T I dont no what you mean by lock yourself into superpower, I'm not choiced but i will test out the focus blast rather then superpower because of the overall power increase, for hp grass I might try grass knot!
Lucario is going to keep life orb, it sweeps more efficiently with it but, I am going to give it bullet punch over crunch as thunder on Starmie and ferrothorn beat jellicent and hydro pumps or hurricane's or to an extent
take out Reuniculus barring rare bulky Trick Room sets which I never see. (I've hear they run sp def. but it sound's bad)
On Starmie, Psychock over Recover and I'm going to keep spin as I need it to eliminate toxic spikes and spikes (and SR for nadus even though it has regenerator) because then things like tetacruel still become problematic
Now, I can spin the hazards out and psychock to kill it.
I might either make it a bulky spread or a specs set with trick > spin in the future but that's still in the works!

Expert Physics said:

Hi! Solid team, Finchinator. First off, I would replace Tornadus-T's Hidden Power Grass for Grass Knot, as it hits harder most of the time. Ferrothorn's EV spread is a bit out of shape. I'd recommend 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD as Ferrothorn's EVs, to balance out both defense and special defense, making it an effective wall. I don't have much else to add - cool team, and good luck!

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Grass knot has been added to Tornadus-T, I guess I missed that when going through its movepool initially but, thanks that really helpred me out with gastrodon and the rare CM slowbro!

Ferrothorn has had the ev's changed to that spread as previously suggested by Griff and now suggested by you, it helps it live rain hits better and also keeps it well rounded on the physically defensive side!

Thanks for the rate!

The team is pretty solid, and I really like it. What I can say, is that I recommend Bullet punch over extremespeed on Lucario, since Gengar outspeeds u. A +2 bullet punch will do a heck of a lot anyways, since its STAB and stuff. But it's ur choice. Sometimes it might be better having a priority 2 move.

MetaAngel said:

The team is pretty solid, and I really like it. What I can say, is that I recommend Bullet punch over extremespeed on Lucario, since Gengar outspeeds u. A +2 bullet punch will do a heck of a lot anyways, since its STAB and stuff. But it's ur choice. Sometimes it might be better having a priority 2 move.

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I'm thinking of keeping extreemspeed because it does a ton to dragons http://pokemon.aesoft.org/replay-Finchinator-vs-Evolution--2012-07-16
Skip to turn 13, it is how lucario is suppoused to work, however, bullet punch > crunch will definetly work
Duo priority means we can hit everything quick
and ohko terrakion and gengar!

Lucario Life Orb
Bullet Punch
Swords Dance
Close Combat
Extreemspeed
252 Atk Adamant 252 Speed

Thanks for trying out the rates. I meant locked into a weak Superpower because of the attack drop, it will get gradually weaker.

Griff said:

Thanks for trying out the rates. I meant locked into a weak Superpower because of the attack drop, it will get gradually weaker.

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Oh, then that makes sense, I agree with it
I'm still testing everything out today so I will probably post the final team as an edit to the original version in a few

Finchinator said:

Threat Liste: (this wil be a generalization of the biggest threats to me, I won't be covering everything)
Swords Dance Scizor- Big Problem especially if sets up on ferrohtonr
Rotom-w- Beats team effieciently barring ferrothorn
Specs Toed/Starmie- Seems to rip a whole in my team when late game momentum is in my favor, gives them late game edge
Rain Volcarona- This thing always sweepes everyone includign me :/

Click to expand...

Solid Team Finch, but a question.. Why isn't Slowking on your threat list ;)

ThunderBlunder said:

Solid Team Finch, but a question.. Why isn't Slowking on your threat list ;)

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Because it has less than 1% usage

Hey nice team based around Lucario Flinchinator!

First off I agree with both of Expert Physics suggestions of Grass Knot and Ferrothorns evs because Grass knot hits Tyranitar harder while still being able to OHKO Gastrodon and Qaugsire. While the Ferrothorn ev spread makes him an effective mixed wall.

Aside from that the only other thing I would reccomend changing on this team is Bullet Punch>Crunch on Lucario because Scarf Terakion can out speed and get Super effective hits on all of your team except Politoed. Bullet Punch is an easy way of getting rid of Terakion and a common scenario would be for you to send Lucario out while your opponent switches to Terakion you SD then Bullet Punch. Also Crunch isnt offering to much coverage wise aside from Psychics. Anyway nice team I hope i helped!

Sets

~Superpowerdude

I agree with Superpower/Griff/All others agreeing with duo priority luke, it has been changed and just helpred me beat a team with gengar and terrakion
also, grass know over hp grass has been changed, scored a nice ohko earlier XD

If you want to be Hyper Offense, try specs politoed. It deals 50%-60% to chansey with hydro pump in rain. Its a beast is all that i can say. Moreover, nobody expects it.




Politoed (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Focus Blast

LilOuOn said:

If you want to be Hyper Offense, try specs politoed. It deals 50%-60% to chansey with hydro pump in rain. Its a beast is all that i can say. Moreover, nobody expects it.

Politoed (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Focus Blast

Click to expand...

I'll test it out alongside others, thanks!

Hey finch, great team bro :]

First off TR Reuni looks like a b*tch to deal with, especially late game, to help remedy this I suggest you give ferrothorn a Relaxed nature with 0 Speed IVs so that you outspeed Reuni under Trick Room, this should make Reuni a bit less threatening. This serves a dual purpose as it allows you to move after ferrothorn's trying to rapid spin your hazards away.

My next suggestion is an unusual one to say the least, but hear me out. Scarf Starmie over your current standard set will work absolute wonders, as it helps immensely with almost all of this teams biggest threats, if you look at your current threat list: SD Scizor - Scarfmie can trick him scarf making threat level go Way down, Rotom-W - Scarfmie can outspeed scarf variants giving you a suprise ko on weak Rotom-W's, Starmie - Scarfmie outspeeds all other variants of Starmie and OHKOs, Rain Volc - Scarfmie becomes an extremely reliable revenge killer outspeeding all +1 volc and can hit it hard or trick scarf rendering volc practically useless, Thundurus-t not much of a dif here apart from outspeeding the rare scarf variant and tricking scarf locking it into np / agility, Tornadus-t - Suprise kill on Tornadus-t nuff said. Another big threat I noticed; Scarf Terrakion wasn't included on the threatlist but scarfmie can get a nice surpise kill on him as well. Scarfmie as an amazing surprise / revenge killer and tricking scarf can really help set up lucario sweep late game. Here's the set:



This also frees up Politoed you could make it: Specially Defensive to take on alot of special threats especially volc or Specs to soften teams for luke sweep. There are many other poli options as well but I'll leave it up to what you prefer. Also coul you edit the op with all the changes? It makes it easier to rate and such. Anyway I hope my rate could be of help to you and GL with the team.

The Great Mighty Doom said:

Hey finch, great team bro :]

First off TR Reuni looks like a b*tch to deal with, especially late game, to help remedy this I suggest you give ferrothorn a Relaxed nature with 0 Speed IVs so that you outspeed Reuni under Trick Room, this should make Reuni a bit less threatening. This serves a dual purpose as it allows you to move after ferrothorn's trying to rapid spin your hazards away.

My next suggestion is an unusual one to say the least, but hear me out. Scarf Starmie over your current standard set will work absolute wonders, as it helps immensely with almost all of this teams biggest threats, if you look at your current threat list: SD Scizor - Scarfmie can trick him scarf making threat level go Way down, Rotom-W - Scarfmie can outspeed scarf variants giving you a suprise ko on weak Rotom-W's, Starmie - Scarfmie outspeeds all other variants of Starmie and OHKOs, Rain Volc - Scarfmie becomes an extremely reliable revenge killer outspeeding all +1 volc and can hit it hard or trick scarf rendering volc practically useless, Thundurus-t not much of a dif here apart from outspeeding the rare scarf variant and tricking scarf locking it into np / agility, Tornadus-t - Suprise kill on Tornadus-t nuff said. Another big threat I noticed; Scarf Terrakion wasn't included on the threatlist but scarfmie can get a nice surpise kill on him as well. Scarfmie as an amazing surprise / revenge killer and tricking scarf can really help set up lucario sweep late game. Here's the set:

Hide

Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf / Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Rapid Spin
- Trick

This also frees up Politoed you could make it: Specially Defensive to take on alot of special threats especially volc or Specs to soften teams for luke sweep. There are many other poli options as well but I'll leave it up to what you prefer. Also coul you edit the op with all the changes? It makes it easier to rate and such. Anyway I hope my rate could be of help to you and GL with the team.

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Ok so I'm going on vacation tomorrow but, once I get back I will have thereemon'd this and then I will test this. However, you're right, scarf starmie looks good and also, specially defensive toed to synergetically fit with ferrothorn defensively looks like it wil work.
Thanks for the rate and I'll be back in a bit over a week with how it worked!

Seen this team in action many a time, and it's solid. Only suggestion I would have would be to use Jolly > Adamant on your CB Mamo, it's really unexpected and a great surprise factor especially late game.

I disagree with Jolly over Adamant, you lose way too much firepower and potential OHKOs.

XxpokemonmasterXx said:

Great team dude lucaruo is cool. However, it simply is too slow to thrive on this meta game. May I suggest swords dance terrakion?

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Alright, so first off I'll cover rate by rate so if you see I cover someone elses but not yours, don't worry; I'll be right on it!!
Now, Double dance terrakion is outsped by Tornadus-T, Scarf Landorus, and Scarf Thundurus as the metagame is really powered by these three genees, the strong priority is really needed to completly wipe out teams as Lucario does!

@Lavos and @Avatar,
Tornadus-T is ohko'd a fraction of the time with adamant swine and Thundurus-T is ohko'd all of the time with adamant.
While things like lucario, specs politoed, Dragonite (avoids speed tie) are outsped and killed by +speed swine.
They are both very solid options however, my team needs the revenge killing a bit more then the outspeeding so it will remain adamant!