Hey Smogon. It's been like over a year since I posted an OU team, so I figured why the hell not just post my current one. This team has allowed me to peak at 1994 on the official PS! server and got me voting reqs for Round 9 of the Suspect system, so I'm pretty chuffed with it. Here's the proof:
EDIT1 6/12/12: I've decided to bump my team. I recently got back into playing on the weekends, as during the week I have absolutely no time (I'm a soldier). This team is still an absolute blast to play with, but the metagame has changed quite a bit with the banning of Genesect and the introduction of Cube. I've still not peaked #1 or anything, but I don't aim to since that's impossible when I can only play twice a week. Nevertheless, I have hit the 1900s without too much effort and it still enjoys a very healthy W/L ratio, particularly thanks to my replacing Jolteon with Keldeo.
EDIT2 10/01/13 Yeah, bumped the RMT with my new ladder score, and major changes that can be seen here. The concept of the team has changed dramatically, as I've taken out both of my setup sweepers in Jirachi and Toxicroak. No more turns setting up are wasted, and this suits my style far better. Every Pokemon on my team has become much more flexible and powerful enough to beat opponents one on one without the need to set up, so while I no longer have assured win conditions, the team plays even more agressively than before, and that ultimately lead to more success.
Smallville is MY show at the moment (I know it's old now, but I'm only watching it for the first time, and have fallen in love lol.) Since the team is based off very fast and very powerful creatures (Kryptonians) I guess it could fit. And since if I called it something like "My first OU Rain team, please rate", I know nobody would even take a look at the thread.
I'm really sorry to present you guys with another Rain team. You must really be sick of them by now, but this team is new territory for me. It's very, very fast paced, (generally I'm more of a bulky offensive guy, who loves the Dragon/Steel combo, entry hazards, status conditions and all that crap). This time, I decided to forego status, Dragons (although I do need a Steel, doesn't every team?) and limited myself to only Stealth Rock. This team is all about moving first, and hitting with some very powerful attacks. Rain perfectly suits this kind of playstyle, as it boosts the power of Water-type moves and the accuracy of the devastating Thunder and Hurricane. Keldeo and Tornadus-T are among the fastest Pokemon in OU, and I use both of them. Furthermore, 2 different priority moves really help in guaranteeing that this team won't ever be cleanly swept by Pokemon that boost their Speed. So here you go, rate away, and thanks in advance!
Chloe Sullivan
Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SAtk / 12 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump -
- Ice Beam -
- Focus Blast -
- Psychic -
Everyone knows what Politoed does: it brings the eternal downpour. Another common fact is that Politoed sucks. I respectfully disagree. Sure, it has no awesome typing, or any extraordinary stats, but it DOES present some very nice power (well, Hydro Pump at least) and some quite respectable bulk. I've tried basically every single Politoed variant out there apart from Choice Scarf, since I feel that it's easily Toed's worst set. I initially started off with ResTalk, then Lefties + 3 Attacks, then Water Gem, then physically defensive, then Splash Plate. However, and I don't know why it took me so long, I landed on Choice Specs. A big part of my decision was probably because I removed Specs on Tornadus-T, but I am so, so glad that I did. Specs Politoed is simply an absolute behemoth, 2HKOing Pokemon such as Kyurem-B, defensive opposing Politoed and Tank Latias with Hydro Pump, OHKOing bulkier offensive threats such as Stealth Rock Garchomp and Tornadus-T without any entry hazards, and basically fucking up pretty much anything. Even weaknened pink blobs fall to Hydro Pump, so I'm kinda lost for words when I realized that for such a long time I'd been using Splash Plate of all things... Anyway it's really easy to keep Rain up, partly because it's the most common weather, partly because Toed fucks up Ninetales and Tyranitar to kingdom come, and Hail is always easy to beat thanks to my team members. Hydro Pump can sometimes 2HKO even Ferrothorn with a little bit of previous damage, around 15%. So obviously it's the move that I just spam the most. All the other moves are really niche, but have had their uses. Ice Beam is for Dragonites that think that they can set up on me, and for stuff like Celebi, or Gliscor or something when I don't want to risk a Hydro Pump miss. Focus Blast decimates Ferrothorn, but can easily be replaced since I've taken enough measures that it's simply not a threat to my team anymore. Psychic is there exclusively for Toxicroak, but is also a damn cool move to use against incoming Tentacruel. Toxicroak is easily the biggest, nastiest threat for my team, but Politoed is very, very adept at luring him out. I need to rely on my predictions skills, but so far I've nailed multiple Toxicroak with it, so I'm fairly confident in my ability at doing this. Politoed's bulk is also underappreciated, as it can surive a +1 Outrage from Dragonite, even with only HP investment. My experience this round has convinced me that Choice Specs is simply his best set, and I'm definetly not gonna change it.
Lois Lane
Keldeo-R @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump -
- Surf -
- Secret Sword -
- Hidden Power [Ice] -
My first speed demon, Keldeo is an underrated Pokemon, and is the reason I'm updating this team. I previously had Jolteon in this spot, which formed a cute VoltTurn combo with Tornadus T, but with a different meta I decided a wanted to use a new Pokemon. And boy am I glad I did. See, previously, I had a very offensive Rain team... which completely lacked any Water-type moves apart from on Politoed. I'm not sure how the team managed to be successful with this flaw, but it now simply works even better than before. Keldeo is far faster than Jolteon and is able to revenge kill stuff such as boosted Salamence and Volcarona now, which Jolteon was unable to. The loss of Choice Specs in irrelevant since Keldeo's main moves get boosted by Rain anyway, ergo, Keldeo is my replacement with better Speed, better type synergy and better power. Can't ask for more. I often use it as my late game cleaner. and great check to Scizor and Mamoswine Keldeo is also extremely helpful as a Cloyster counter, which was incredibly annoying for me before. I mean, Jirachi could handle Icicle Spear and Rock Blast, but +2 STAB Water-type moves in the Rain were not fun at all and left my main sweeper crippled. Keldeo on the other hand always outspeeds, OHKOs, and resists every move Cloyster commonly uses.
Oliver Queen
Tornadus-Therian @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Hurricane -
- Focus Blast -
- U-turn -
- Taunt -
Come on, I'm using an offensive Rain team, of course I had to abuse this monster. I'm pretty sure everyone now knows how this guy works, but I'll dumb it down: simply massacre everything in sight with Hurricane. Few teams pack a Flying-resistance, making the move incredibly spammable. I changed this to a Life Orb set mainly because I gave Politoed Choice Specs and I don't like teams with three Choced mons without a spinner. However, the ability to switch moves came with a very, very nice benefit: I can now completely destroy weatherless Heavy Offense if I lead with this guy, thanks to Taunt. Taunt denies Deoxy-D its hazards, and I can then U-Turn on the switch to either brings in a counter to the Pokemon the opponent brings in if he switches, or Politoed to go for the KO with Hydro Pump is it's some weird attacking Deoxys-D. I went with Focus Blast over Superpower on this set simply because I don't need it. Mamoswine and Breloom already crush the pink blobs, and Jirachi and Tornadus-T can beat them as well, just not so directly. I prefer Focus Blast for the stronger hit on Ferrothorn, Magnezone and Heatran, but towards the end I've been using HP Ground. Don't judge me lol, I know that generally the Fighting-type move is the better option, but considering Hurricane already 2HKOs Ferrothorn, I've liked the OHKO HP Ground provides on the Maggy and Tran. It's also damn cool for nailing Ninetales, as it deals 55.14 - 65.73%, which greatly helps in winning the weather war. I've kept Focus Blast in the moveslot for the RMT since it's th move I've used the most. The main real perk of it is KOing Tyranitar though, which is generally more crucial. The team really does laugh at Tyranitar though, as everything can beat it one one one. You guys tell me what move to use here, and I'll probably just end up using it. U-Turn is obligatroy for wearing down his counters and giving me cool momentum after using Taunt on things that then can't hurt it (also finishing off stuff like Starmie, Latios, Celebi and Alakazam is Rain isn't up for some reason).
Lex Luthor
Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Life Orb
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Spore -
- Bullet Seed -
- Low Sweep -
- Mach Punch -
Breloom is the Pokemon that replaced Toxicroak. The latter is undoubtedly a really great Pokemon at the moment (I should know, it's easily the biggest threat to my team), but Breloom just offers me more. The main reason for my change is Spore. With Spore, Breloom can easily remove annoying walls that are outpaced with max Speed, such as Jirachi, Tentacruel, Zapdos, Ferrothorn, etc. I know that the latter can be Low Swept, but they normally switch out of Breloom anyway and at least Spore gurantees that entry hazards won't go up. The synergy behind Low Sweep+Spore is beautiful as well, as I can easily force something like Tyranitar out with Low Sweep, slow down an incoming faster threat such as Zapdos, and the Spore it. The other two moves are just as useful: Bullet Seed is devastating, and with some luck can simply take out Pokemon that resist the attack such as Latios as they switch in on it. It also destroys Pokemon that are bothersome such as Rotom-W, Vaporeon, Jellicent, and other Pokemon neutral to it such as Landorus and Tentacruel. Mach Punch is awesome, awesome priority, and ensures me that stuff like Terrakion will be unable to sweep my team. It's not like it has many setup opportunities, but things can get ugly if it manages to nab a situation like Keldeo being locked into HP Ice, or Mamoswine if he knows he can force me out since he also has a Dragon-type that needs to be revenged. Speaking of Mamoswine, it's really similar to Breloom. Both have awesome priority moves that mean that I basically never get swept by setup Pokemon, multihit moves for breaking Substitutes, and phenomenal power behind them. Both can break down or weaken eachothers counters so that the other can then go on a rampage. Breloom, while frail, also has some pretty nifty resisances that I can abuse.
Clark Kent
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Spe / 252 SpDef
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock -
- U-Turn -
- Thunder -
- Iron Head -
The Man of Steel in person. Previously the SubCM set (this was easily one of the most reliable Pokemon on my team, however, I really needed to put Stealth Rock on Jirachi as Mamoswine wasn't cutting it), HaxRachi now takes its place. While not as lethal as the setup sweeper set, this set's value lies not in its offensive capabilites, as my team hase nough of those. What I needed was a stronge defensive backbone/pivot, that could come in on the metagame's biggest threat and beat them. HaxRachi was the perfect fit. What's unusual about this set is the lack of Wish. I had it for the vast majority of the time, but to be honest rarely found myself actually using it. For the most part, Jirachi was regaining its HP through haxing the oppoenent and benefiting from Leftovers. Wish has on occasion been useful, but more for healing Jirachi than it's teammates. Fac of the matter though, is that Jirachi forces so, so many switches that U-Turn is simply invaluable on it. My Pokemon absolutely adore coming in for free, and that fact has benefited me in the long run far more than the recovery they received from Wish. It lets me completely laugh at incoming Garchomp, as he normally has nothing to lose by coming in on Jirachi. Unfortunately, my Mamoswine has now come in for free and can squeeze off a free powerhit, or Tornadus-T can fire off another free Hurricane. The synergy between U-Turn and my teammates is just invaluable. Oh yeah, and it lets me escape from Magnezone and Dugtrio. That's always cool. Thunder and Iron Head are completely standard, no explanation needed imo. The combo screws over so many Pokemon that I feel bad for using it, but hey, that's Jirachi! Jirachi's typing is a blessing for the team, as is its bulk, which lead to SR going up nigh 100% of the time.
Lana Lang
Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake -
- Ice Shard -
- Superpower -
- Icicle Spear -
Aaaand, last but certainly not least, the rising star of the B2W2 metagame, Mamoswine. Mamoswine was initially chosen because I needed Stealth Rock on a Pokemon that could keep up the offensive pressure. That role has since been relegated to Jirachi, who performs it much better. Now Mamoswine has Superpower, which is excellent as it allows me to lure out and cripple Rotom-W so that Tornadus-T can have a field day. The far more powerful hit on Ferrothorn is also much appreciated, as is the abiliy to crush Balloon Heatran and Magnezone. The OHKO on Blisse is also really nice.. The brilliant STAB coverage means that I don't really need another coverage move. Earthquake is extremely powerful, and easily smashes through walls that don't resist the move. Pokemon that resist or are immune to it are easily picked off by either Ice Shard or Icicle Spear. For my entire DW career I used this same Mamoswine with Icicle Crash over Spear, but I decided to just try it out for the hell of it, and it works fine. Breaking Multiscale, Gliscor and Breloom Subs really is a godsend. Before my edit I had a Jolly nature to break 194 Speed Hydreigon Subs, but since then I've not encountered a single one (WHY guys, it's such an awesome Pokemon ;_;). Therefore, I changed the nature to Adamant cause I saw in a thread that that was the groovy thing to do now. The extra power is pretty cool though, as it's a noticeably bigger hit on stuff like Volcarona, Reuniclus and the blobs, not to mention a more powerful Ice Shard for picking off TT and Chlorophyll sweepers.
So, there's my team. Like any offensive team, I don't hesitate to sac Pokemon if it means that another teammate can pull off a clean sweep. Play aggressively and keep constant pressure on the opponent. This team fares up well against pretty much every teamstyle out there from what I've seen (although I did have some trouble with a certain TR team...). Toxicroak is the biggest threat, since if SR is down, it's Jolly and is at +2, which is really easy for it to pull off, I've probably already lost. This is an offensive team that simply doesn't need Spikes or setup mons, which is quite unique for the playstyle, but it obviously works. If you like the team, I wouldn't mind a Luvdisc :3
