My team at a glance:
I've been using this team on Pokemon Showdown for a while now, and it has brought me great success. Here are the two ladders I've tested it on:
Ubers (Suspect Test)
Score: 1928
Rank: 98
Record: 102-28-0 (Win-Lose-Tie)
GXE: 87
Glicko2: 1989 ± 43
Ubers
Score: 1927
Rank: 94
Record: 50-7-0 (Win-Lose-Tie)
GXE: 88
Glicko2: 2012 ± 60
As you can see, laddering is a process that's built on luck, but that's only to a point. Some people will play for 10+ hours a day and rack up thousands of battles in the span of a month or two, and I just don't have the time for that. Others will make some alt accounts with good teams, play until they get very high on the ladder, then switch accounts and never play with that account again, constantly occupying a place on the ladder that they got by luck. I don't put too much stock into the ladder system when it comes to skill. I like to play against another player and determine his or her skill level for myself. Losing to a really good player is sometimes better than winning against a bad player since you learn and improve your strategies for future battles. After much testing, nothing has gone to waste in putting this together. Anything you see that is in gray is what used to be there before I decided otherwise.
Thundurus (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch Grass Knot
- U-turn
- Hammer Arm
At first glance, this set looks a bit unconventional, but each move serves a purpose. Thunder Wave is there to paralyze, obviously, and that's why I have Prankster as its ability. At a negative nature with no EV investment, Thundurus will 2-3KO Groudon, usually 2KO. You're probably wondering why this is important, but you'll see later on. U-turn is great against Espeon thinking it can get the jump on me and Deoxys/Mewtwo trying to use Magic Coat. It also provides a way to escape in case I need to switch out from a Ground type. Hammer Arm OHKOs Tyranitar, which cripples the usually Excadrill that follows once I switch the weather. It also OHKOs Blissey if it has no EV investment in defense, but even if it does, I do a good number on it. Finally, Focus Sash allows it survive Stone Edge, Ice Beam, and anything else that will OHKO it to get it an extra attack.
I used to have Volt Switch on him to get extra coverage, but with two of my Pokemon already knowing electric attacks, it felt a bit silly. Grass Knot has served me much better.
Kyogre @ Wacan Berry
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef
Modest Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Surf
This Kyogre set is pretty much an anti-Specs Kyogre set. Kyogre will usually switch into another Kyogre, get Thunder'D, take less damage due to Wacan Berry, paralyze the other Kyogre, and then proceed to Thunder it. If the other Kyogre is still alive, it's usually set-up fodder for my Arceus. Ice Beam and Surf are for coverage.
Jirachi @ Occa Berry Light Ball
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SDef
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Thunder Wave Fling
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Protect
This is a set that can really only work well in Ubers. I used to have Jirachi with 252 EVs in SDef and an Occa berry, but, way more often than not, I've noticed people will usually switch in Groudon or another Ground type to either Earthquake Jirachi or set-up instead of going for a direct kill with a Fire move. With max investment in HP and Def, Jirachi can withstand an Earthquake from an Adamant, 252 Att Groudon with Stealth Rock damage. If the Groudon chooses to Earthquake Jirachi, I paralyze it and proceed with taking as much of its HP down as possible with paraflinch. If it chooses to Swords Dance or Rock Polish, I paralyze it and do the same thing. Either way, a paralyzed Groudon isn't all that threatening. Wish and Protect are there to heal Jirachi in stall wars when I'm getting my opponent's HP down. I can pass a Wish to one of my Pokemon, but I have to be careful that my opponent doesn't predict that or he might use a different attack. I don't know why, but for some odd reason, people rarely switch out when their Pokemon is paralyzed and getting paraflinched to death.
Groudon @ Rindo Berry Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
This is a standard Groudon set for the most part. The EVs could probably go more into HP and less into Spd, but it hasn't been much of a problem. Rock Polish is to speed up. Fire Punch is to take down Ferrothorn who otherwise thinks I'll need to 2-3KO it with Earthquake. It also helps against Skarmory who otherwise sits there and sets up. Dragon Tail is great against Arceus-Normal. Earthquake is there for obvious STAB coverage. I used to have Rindo Berry on him over Leftovers, but Leftovers just works so much better. Since I have Kyogre to use Surf and Kyurem-B to use Stone Edge, I don't really need a third Pokemon to counter Ho-oh, and Dragon Tail just works so much better on Latios, Latias, Rayquaza, and any other Pokemon who thinks it will get a free set-up turn.
Kyurem-B @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sleep Talk
- Stone Edge
- Fusion Bolt
- Outrage
I still don't understand why this is in OU. Personally, I have way more problems with Scarfed Kyurem-B than Kyurem-W, Scarfed or not. Stone Edge is there mainly to deal with Ho-oh, although I usually just Fusion Bolt it if it is low enough in HP. Fusion Bolt is for dealing with Kyogre, Manaphy, Ho-oh, Lugia, etc. Outrage is there for obvious reasons. Sleep Talk has been an excellent Darkrai counter, especially against Darkrai leads. If there is a Darkrai lead, I'll switch out Thundurus for Kyurem-B. If Darkrai uses Dark Void, I use Sleep Talk the next turn and either OHKO him with Outrage or 2KO him with the other two moves. If Darkrai uses Dark Void and misses, I use Outrage. If Darkrai uses anything else, I use Outrage unless the opponent's team has a steel type, and at that point, I have to use my best judgment to figure out what to do next.
Arceus @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Shadow Claw
- ExtremeSpeed
Arceus is one of the reasons why paralysis plays such a big part in my team. Giratina, Lugia, Groudon, Arceus-Ghost, and Choice Scarf Terrakion are the five main counters I have seen people try to use against it. Pokemon is like a game of Chess. You do everything you can to increase your odds of winning with each and every move. By paralyzing the likes of Giratina or Lugia, I have a chance at 2KOing them after a Swords Dance (provided Lugia is not at full HP with Multiscale). However, these two like to Roar or Dragon Tail me out all the time. If they fail and are paralyzed, I can get rid of them, but even if they aren't, there's a good chance that whatever is brought in will do finish off the job. Kyurem-B can finish off Giratina with Outrage and Lugia with Fusion Bolt, Kyogre can do decent damage with Ice Beam to Giratina and usually finish off Lugia (again, not including Multiscale), Groudon can Dragon tail either Giratina or Lugia, Thundurus can paralyze them, and Jirachi can paraflinch them to death.
As far as Groudon goes, I usually have it down to close to half of its HP by using Thundurus and Jirachi as bait. If it's a Def-oriented Groudon, it will have taken more damage from Grass Knot, and if it's a SDef-oriented Groudon, it will take more damage from Extremespeed, so after a Swords Dance, it's usually enough to finish it off.
It is absolutely imperative, if possible, to paralyze Arceus-Ghost (or any Arceus that is on the opponent's team, for that matter). I don't know why, but I rarely see the opponent's Arceus use Lum Berry. If Arceus-Ghost is paralyzed, I can usually 2KO it after a Swords Dance. If Arceus-Ghost tries to use Will-o-Wisp, the Lum Berry takes care of it. If somebody tries to use Toxic or Thunder Wave on Arceus, the Lum Berry gets rid of it. I run into very few opponents that have an Arceus with a positive speed nature, so I run max speed EVs so that it at least has a chance to outspeed the opponent's Extremespeed Arceus (Normal, Ghost, or otherwise) in the speed tie.
When going against Choice Scarf Terrakion, there's really not much you can do without a Ghost type. It's going to hit hard no matter what. However, users of Terrakion might be tempted to send it in against Jirachi, which is a critical error. Jirachi survives its Earthquake/Close Combat and paralyzes it, leaving it pretty much useless. Terrakion's only purpose in Ubers is to revenge kill (namely Arceus), so if you see an Arceus on your opponent's team and you send out Terrakion before Arceus is on the field, you lose a valuable Arceus counter. The worst case scenario is that I get off an Extremespeed on Terrakion, taking away a decent amount of health despite the resistance, get KO'D, and send out Groudon to Rock Polish and Earthquake it or Jirachi to withstand a Close Combat and paralyze it or paralyze the next thing that comes in. With Iron Head being super-effective to it, even if they pull a double switch, Jirachi will still survive the Earthquake and usually finish off the job getting rid of it.
With the way my team is set up, there aren't really any credible threats to it as long as I play it out right. I usually lose when I play too much or I make a couple of errors. You could make one single wrong move, and the entire game could be lost. Also, there are times when paralysis doesn't activate (I've had it happen around 10 times in a row before), the opponent gets critical hits, etc. It's very rare that the opponent is able to outplay me when I'm playing an almost perfect game, but when it happens, it's usually just a 0-1 or 0-2 loss. On the other hand, I don't get many 6-0 victories since my team supports itself. I focus more on using Thundurus and Jirachi to weaken the opponent's HP and paralyzing them, Kyogre and Groudon to KO a few things and damage some others (with Kyogre also paralyzing), Kyurem-B to quickly sweep after the Steel/Rock types are gone, and Arceus to finish the job.
I have put together a list of Pokemon that I see the most in ubers (including all Arceus forms despite not seeing a lot of them). I have ranked them from 1/10 - 10/10, showing how much of a threat they are to my team:
Arceus-Bug - 1/10
Arceus-Dark - 3/10
Arceus-Dragon - 2/10
Arceus-Electric -4/10
Arceus-Fighting - 6/10
Arceus-Fire - 1/10
Arceus-Flying - 1/10
Arceus-Ghost - 7/10
Arceus-Grass - 5/10
Arceus-Ground - 5/10
Arceus-Ice - 1/10
Arceus-Normal - 9/10
Arceus-Poison - 1/10
Arceus-Psychic - 1/10
Arceus-Rock - 4/10
Arceus-Steel - 5/10
Arceus-Water - 3/10
Blaziken (with Speed Boost) - 4/10
Blissey - 3/10
Celebi - 3/10
Darkrai - 4/10
Deoxys - 2/10
Deoxys-A - 2/10
Deoxys-D - 1/10
Deoxys-S - 2/10
Dialga - 5/10
Excadrill (in Sandstorm with Sand Rush) - 6/10
Ferrothorn - 3/10
Garchomp (in Sandstorm) - 4/10
Genesect - 3/10
Giratina - 8/10
Giratina-O - 4/10
Groudon - 6/10
Ho-oh - 5/10
Kabutops (in Rain with Swift Swim) - 6/10
Kingdra (in Rain with Swift Swim) - 5/10
Kyogre - 5/10
Kyurem-W - 4/10
Kyurem-B - 6/10
Lucario - 2/10
Lugia - 9/10
Manaphy (in Rain with Hydration) - 6/10
Mew - 2/10
Mewtwo - 4/10
Omastar (in Rain with Swift Swim) - 4/10
Palkia - 5/10
Palkia (Choice Scarf) - 6/10
Rayquaza - 7/10
Registeel - 3/10
Reshiram - 3/10
Scizor - 2/10
Shaymin-S - 5/10
Skarmory - 4/10
Terrakion (Choice Scarf) - 7/10
Thundurus - 4/10
Tornadus-T - 2/10
Tyranitar - 2/10
Venusaur (in Sun) - 3/10
Victini - 4/10
Victreebel (in Sun) - 2/10 (It KO'D my Arceus once, lol)
Zekrom - 4/10
As you can see, Giratina and Lugia are at the top despite my efforts, but those two always annoy everybody, so I do what I can. I can usually come out on top against them, but I sometimes have to go 50+ turns trying to out-stall or out-predict them.
Rayquaza is really annoying if the opponent plays it well, so I have to be careful. It's important to pay attention to what moves it uses to try and see how to counter it. I usually try to trap it in Outrage and have Jirachi paralyze it, but that all depends on whether it has Earthquake or Extremespeed. If I can predict a V-Create, I'll switch into Kyogre and either paralyze it or get KO'D, bring out Thundurus, have it survive with its Focus Sash, paralyze it, get KO'D, bring out Jirachi, and paraflinch it to death. However, I do my best to try to prevent it from stat boosting. What I do all depends on the situation.
Arceus-Normal is a major threat to this team, but then again, it is to every team. The best way to counter it is to not let it use Swords Dance twice by getting rid of it either with Groudon using Dragon Tail or Jirachi paralyzing it and then flinching it so it is forced to try two 2KO Jirachi with Extremespeed. There's a reason I, along with so many others, use Arceus-Normal. It is just that good.
Well, until Dream World Shadow Tag Chandelure gets released and people equip it with a Choice Scarf. Hopefully, I'll be lucky enough to have Rain on the field when that happens.
I'm open to any suggestions, especially EV spreads. I like having Thundurus have plenty of speed so it can still outspeed opponents after using Hammer Arm, but I could also invest more EVs in SAtt so I can hit Groudon harder. I'd rather not reduce its Att at all since I want to hit Ferrothorn and other Steel or Rock types as hard as I can since it comes in handy. Groudon's EVs are what I'm really curious about, so if you have a good suggestion with an explanation as to why your EV spread is better and what are its benefits, that would be great.
I've been using this team on Pokemon Showdown for a while now, and it has brought me great success. Here are the two ladders I've tested it on:
Ubers (Suspect Test)
Score: 1928
Rank: 98
Record: 102-28-0 (Win-Lose-Tie)
GXE: 87
Glicko2: 1989 ± 43
Ubers
Score: 1927
Rank: 94
Record: 50-7-0 (Win-Lose-Tie)
GXE: 88
Glicko2: 2012 ± 60
As you can see, laddering is a process that's built on luck, but that's only to a point. Some people will play for 10+ hours a day and rack up thousands of battles in the span of a month or two, and I just don't have the time for that. Others will make some alt accounts with good teams, play until they get very high on the ladder, then switch accounts and never play with that account again, constantly occupying a place on the ladder that they got by luck. I don't put too much stock into the ladder system when it comes to skill. I like to play against another player and determine his or her skill level for myself. Losing to a really good player is sometimes better than winning against a bad player since you learn and improve your strategies for future battles. After much testing, nothing has gone to waste in putting this together. Anything you see that is in gray is what used to be there before I decided otherwise.
Thundurus (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch Grass Knot
- U-turn
- Hammer Arm
At first glance, this set looks a bit unconventional, but each move serves a purpose. Thunder Wave is there to paralyze, obviously, and that's why I have Prankster as its ability. At a negative nature with no EV investment, Thundurus will 2-3KO Groudon, usually 2KO. You're probably wondering why this is important, but you'll see later on. U-turn is great against Espeon thinking it can get the jump on me and Deoxys/Mewtwo trying to use Magic Coat. It also provides a way to escape in case I need to switch out from a Ground type. Hammer Arm OHKOs Tyranitar, which cripples the usually Excadrill that follows once I switch the weather. It also OHKOs Blissey if it has no EV investment in defense, but even if it does, I do a good number on it. Finally, Focus Sash allows it survive Stone Edge, Ice Beam, and anything else that will OHKO it to get it an extra attack.
I used to have Volt Switch on him to get extra coverage, but with two of my Pokemon already knowing electric attacks, it felt a bit silly. Grass Knot has served me much better.
Kyogre @ Wacan Berry
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef
Modest Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Surf
This Kyogre set is pretty much an anti-Specs Kyogre set. Kyogre will usually switch into another Kyogre, get Thunder'D, take less damage due to Wacan Berry, paralyze the other Kyogre, and then proceed to Thunder it. If the other Kyogre is still alive, it's usually set-up fodder for my Arceus. Ice Beam and Surf are for coverage.
Jirachi @ Occa Berry Light Ball
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SDef
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Thunder Wave Fling
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Protect
This is a set that can really only work well in Ubers. I used to have Jirachi with 252 EVs in SDef and an Occa berry, but, way more often than not, I've noticed people will usually switch in Groudon or another Ground type to either Earthquake Jirachi or set-up instead of going for a direct kill with a Fire move. With max investment in HP and Def, Jirachi can withstand an Earthquake from an Adamant, 252 Att Groudon with Stealth Rock damage. If the Groudon chooses to Earthquake Jirachi, I paralyze it and proceed with taking as much of its HP down as possible with paraflinch. If it chooses to Swords Dance or Rock Polish, I paralyze it and do the same thing. Either way, a paralyzed Groudon isn't all that threatening. Wish and Protect are there to heal Jirachi in stall wars when I'm getting my opponent's HP down. I can pass a Wish to one of my Pokemon, but I have to be careful that my opponent doesn't predict that or he might use a different attack. I don't know why, but for some odd reason, people rarely switch out when their Pokemon is paralyzed and getting paraflinched to death.
Groudon @ Rindo Berry Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
This is a standard Groudon set for the most part. The EVs could probably go more into HP and less into Spd, but it hasn't been much of a problem. Rock Polish is to speed up. Fire Punch is to take down Ferrothorn who otherwise thinks I'll need to 2-3KO it with Earthquake. It also helps against Skarmory who otherwise sits there and sets up. Dragon Tail is great against Arceus-Normal. Earthquake is there for obvious STAB coverage. I used to have Rindo Berry on him over Leftovers, but Leftovers just works so much better. Since I have Kyogre to use Surf and Kyurem-B to use Stone Edge, I don't really need a third Pokemon to counter Ho-oh, and Dragon Tail just works so much better on Latios, Latias, Rayquaza, and any other Pokemon who thinks it will get a free set-up turn.
Kyurem-B @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sleep Talk
- Stone Edge
- Fusion Bolt
- Outrage
I still don't understand why this is in OU. Personally, I have way more problems with Scarfed Kyurem-B than Kyurem-W, Scarfed or not. Stone Edge is there mainly to deal with Ho-oh, although I usually just Fusion Bolt it if it is low enough in HP. Fusion Bolt is for dealing with Kyogre, Manaphy, Ho-oh, Lugia, etc. Outrage is there for obvious reasons. Sleep Talk has been an excellent Darkrai counter, especially against Darkrai leads. If there is a Darkrai lead, I'll switch out Thundurus for Kyurem-B. If Darkrai uses Dark Void, I use Sleep Talk the next turn and either OHKO him with Outrage or 2KO him with the other two moves. If Darkrai uses Dark Void and misses, I use Outrage. If Darkrai uses anything else, I use Outrage unless the opponent's team has a steel type, and at that point, I have to use my best judgment to figure out what to do next.
Arceus @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Shadow Claw
- ExtremeSpeed
Arceus is one of the reasons why paralysis plays such a big part in my team. Giratina, Lugia, Groudon, Arceus-Ghost, and Choice Scarf Terrakion are the five main counters I have seen people try to use against it. Pokemon is like a game of Chess. You do everything you can to increase your odds of winning with each and every move. By paralyzing the likes of Giratina or Lugia, I have a chance at 2KOing them after a Swords Dance (provided Lugia is not at full HP with Multiscale). However, these two like to Roar or Dragon Tail me out all the time. If they fail and are paralyzed, I can get rid of them, but even if they aren't, there's a good chance that whatever is brought in will do finish off the job. Kyurem-B can finish off Giratina with Outrage and Lugia with Fusion Bolt, Kyogre can do decent damage with Ice Beam to Giratina and usually finish off Lugia (again, not including Multiscale), Groudon can Dragon tail either Giratina or Lugia, Thundurus can paralyze them, and Jirachi can paraflinch them to death.
As far as Groudon goes, I usually have it down to close to half of its HP by using Thundurus and Jirachi as bait. If it's a Def-oriented Groudon, it will have taken more damage from Grass Knot, and if it's a SDef-oriented Groudon, it will take more damage from Extremespeed, so after a Swords Dance, it's usually enough to finish it off.
It is absolutely imperative, if possible, to paralyze Arceus-Ghost (or any Arceus that is on the opponent's team, for that matter). I don't know why, but I rarely see the opponent's Arceus use Lum Berry. If Arceus-Ghost is paralyzed, I can usually 2KO it after a Swords Dance. If Arceus-Ghost tries to use Will-o-Wisp, the Lum Berry takes care of it. If somebody tries to use Toxic or Thunder Wave on Arceus, the Lum Berry gets rid of it. I run into very few opponents that have an Arceus with a positive speed nature, so I run max speed EVs so that it at least has a chance to outspeed the opponent's Extremespeed Arceus (Normal, Ghost, or otherwise) in the speed tie.
When going against Choice Scarf Terrakion, there's really not much you can do without a Ghost type. It's going to hit hard no matter what. However, users of Terrakion might be tempted to send it in against Jirachi, which is a critical error. Jirachi survives its Earthquake/Close Combat and paralyzes it, leaving it pretty much useless. Terrakion's only purpose in Ubers is to revenge kill (namely Arceus), so if you see an Arceus on your opponent's team and you send out Terrakion before Arceus is on the field, you lose a valuable Arceus counter. The worst case scenario is that I get off an Extremespeed on Terrakion, taking away a decent amount of health despite the resistance, get KO'D, and send out Groudon to Rock Polish and Earthquake it or Jirachi to withstand a Close Combat and paralyze it or paralyze the next thing that comes in. With Iron Head being super-effective to it, even if they pull a double switch, Jirachi will still survive the Earthquake and usually finish off the job getting rid of it.
With the way my team is set up, there aren't really any credible threats to it as long as I play it out right. I usually lose when I play too much or I make a couple of errors. You could make one single wrong move, and the entire game could be lost. Also, there are times when paralysis doesn't activate (I've had it happen around 10 times in a row before), the opponent gets critical hits, etc. It's very rare that the opponent is able to outplay me when I'm playing an almost perfect game, but when it happens, it's usually just a 0-1 or 0-2 loss. On the other hand, I don't get many 6-0 victories since my team supports itself. I focus more on using Thundurus and Jirachi to weaken the opponent's HP and paralyzing them, Kyogre and Groudon to KO a few things and damage some others (with Kyogre also paralyzing), Kyurem-B to quickly sweep after the Steel/Rock types are gone, and Arceus to finish the job.
I have put together a list of Pokemon that I see the most in ubers (including all Arceus forms despite not seeing a lot of them). I have ranked them from 1/10 - 10/10, showing how much of a threat they are to my team:
Arceus-Bug - 1/10
Arceus-Dark - 3/10
Arceus-Dragon - 2/10
Arceus-Electric -4/10
Arceus-Fighting - 6/10
Arceus-Fire - 1/10
Arceus-Flying - 1/10
Arceus-Ghost - 7/10
Arceus-Grass - 5/10
Arceus-Ground - 5/10
Arceus-Ice - 1/10
Arceus-Normal - 9/10
Arceus-Poison - 1/10
Arceus-Psychic - 1/10
Arceus-Rock - 4/10
Arceus-Steel - 5/10
Arceus-Water - 3/10
Blaziken (with Speed Boost) - 4/10
Blissey - 3/10
Celebi - 3/10
Darkrai - 4/10
Deoxys - 2/10
Deoxys-A - 2/10
Deoxys-D - 1/10
Deoxys-S - 2/10
Dialga - 5/10
Excadrill (in Sandstorm with Sand Rush) - 6/10
Ferrothorn - 3/10
Garchomp (in Sandstorm) - 4/10
Genesect - 3/10
Giratina - 8/10
Giratina-O - 4/10
Groudon - 6/10
Ho-oh - 5/10
Kabutops (in Rain with Swift Swim) - 6/10
Kingdra (in Rain with Swift Swim) - 5/10
Kyogre - 5/10
Kyurem-W - 4/10
Kyurem-B - 6/10
Lucario - 2/10
Lugia - 9/10
Manaphy (in Rain with Hydration) - 6/10
Mew - 2/10
Mewtwo - 4/10
Omastar (in Rain with Swift Swim) - 4/10
Palkia - 5/10
Palkia (Choice Scarf) - 6/10
Rayquaza - 7/10
Registeel - 3/10
Reshiram - 3/10
Scizor - 2/10
Shaymin-S - 5/10
Skarmory - 4/10
Terrakion (Choice Scarf) - 7/10
Thundurus - 4/10
Tornadus-T - 2/10
Tyranitar - 2/10
Venusaur (in Sun) - 3/10
Victini - 4/10
Victreebel (in Sun) - 2/10 (It KO'D my Arceus once, lol)
Zekrom - 4/10
As you can see, Giratina and Lugia are at the top despite my efforts, but those two always annoy everybody, so I do what I can. I can usually come out on top against them, but I sometimes have to go 50+ turns trying to out-stall or out-predict them.
Rayquaza is really annoying if the opponent plays it well, so I have to be careful. It's important to pay attention to what moves it uses to try and see how to counter it. I usually try to trap it in Outrage and have Jirachi paralyze it, but that all depends on whether it has Earthquake or Extremespeed. If I can predict a V-Create, I'll switch into Kyogre and either paralyze it or get KO'D, bring out Thundurus, have it survive with its Focus Sash, paralyze it, get KO'D, bring out Jirachi, and paraflinch it to death. However, I do my best to try to prevent it from stat boosting. What I do all depends on the situation.
Arceus-Normal is a major threat to this team, but then again, it is to every team. The best way to counter it is to not let it use Swords Dance twice by getting rid of it either with Groudon using Dragon Tail or Jirachi paralyzing it and then flinching it so it is forced to try two 2KO Jirachi with Extremespeed. There's a reason I, along with so many others, use Arceus-Normal. It is just that good.
Well, until Dream World Shadow Tag Chandelure gets released and people equip it with a Choice Scarf. Hopefully, I'll be lucky enough to have Rain on the field when that happens.
I'm open to any suggestions, especially EV spreads. I like having Thundurus have plenty of speed so it can still outspeed opponents after using Hammer Arm, but I could also invest more EVs in SAtt so I can hit Groudon harder. I'd rather not reduce its Att at all since I want to hit Ferrothorn and other Steel or Rock types as hard as I can since it comes in handy. Groudon's EVs are what I'm really curious about, so if you have a good suggestion with an explanation as to why your EV spread is better and what are its benefits, that would be great.
