downpour
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Proof of #1ness:
Rain has always been a really potent playstyle, but it has been really underrepresented as of late. ORAS introduced Mega-Swampert, the most potent rain sweeper in the game. This is my take on ORAS rain that uses Mega-Swampert. Part of this team's success relies upon surprise factor, using several unexpected sets to catch the opponent off guard. Klefki has been a pokemon that I have been championing for awhile now and I am glad that it is now getting the recognition it deserves. I started using it on this team during the Mega-Mence era to use as a secondary rain inducer and a Mega-Salamence check. Poison Heal Breloom is another Pokemon that I use that catches defensive teams off guard. I've always liked using weird stuff on my teams and I am happy to say that this team does just that while still being very effective against offensive and defensive teams. Here is some music. Let's get started:
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notes on downpour:
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Proof of #1ness:
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So here a couple of things that I kept in mind when building and playing with this team
- Politoed is too pressured to keep rain up alone
- Politoed can't handle keeping rain up all alone, otherwise the opponent can just target it and pressure it with entry hazards. Let Politoed open Rain early game instead of Klefki so that you don't have to waste a turn using Rain Dance. Then in the mid-game let Klefki set up Rain Dance so Politoed can set up rain late game without sacrifcing momentum to the opponent when it counts
- Use Swift Swimmers for Offense + Priority Thunder Wave
- You have doubled speed right off the bat, but it doesn't mean you should use it. Let Breloom, Thundurus, and Klefki weaken the opposing team and then bring out the swift swimmers. Save at least one Swfit Swimmer for full health late game if the opponent has priority. Klefki's Thunder Wave can be used to get Swampert opportunities to Mega-Evolve and to let Breloom + Thundurus get better strikes on the opponent. It also prevents sweeps by opposing DD's and Agility users
- Use Thundurus + Breloom for defensive teams + Spikes
- The doubled speed isn't going to help much here, so rain is not as much of a priority in this matchup. Focus on getting as many layers of Spikes up as possible with Klefki and on activating Breloom's Toxic Orb safely. Thundurus can open up a lot of holes early game, so try to get that out before they set up SR.
- Almost all my moves have a 100% accuracy
- I'm a real stickler about using stuff that isn't 100% accurate, I just hate missing that much. Seriously it can't be a late game cleaner if it can fall flat on its face 30% of the time (looking at use Focus Blast users). So almost every move on this team has a 100% accuracy in rain, outside of Kingdra's Hydro Pump and Draco Meteor.
- No choiced attacks
- I hate choiced attacks because they can telegraph my moves to my opponent and it can give my opponent set up opportunities.
- Swampert as an SR user is telegraphed to the opponent
- Unfortunately, Swampert is the only pokemon that can learn SR on this team. So the opponent will try to keep Swampert off the field to prevent SR. Try to paralyze something with Klefki to see if Swampert can get the oppurtunity to switch in safely and SR+Mega Evolve
the team
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the rain inducer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald - Primary STAB that can cripple opponents with burn
- Ice Beam - Secondary coverage that stops Dragons from setting up
OR Rest - Helps Politoed stay in the game longer and absorb status
- Toxic - Status to wear down bulky Waters
- Encore - Essential move to stop setup sweepers
It should be no surprise that Politoed is on this team. First I'll talk about the set details. Damp Rock is necessary to extend rain turns so that my offensive pokemon do not have to switch in and out more frequently. Scald + Ice Beam is standard bulky water coverage. Hopefully when I throw out Scald it burns the opponent. Ice Beam is to make sure I can punish Dragon and Grass type switchins (ex. Latios and Breloom). Toxic makes sure I can put opposing Water-types on a timer, such as a switched in Rotom-W and Slowbro. This can aid my Swift Swimmers immensely. Encore is really important for set up sweepers. 248 HP is to minimize SR damage, which is important because Politoed needs to switch in to reset rain a lot. Politoed is normally specially defensive, but Gunk Shot Greninja can 2HKO Sp. def Politoed, so I run physically defensive to check Greninja. 8 Speed EV's let's me outspeed 4 Spe Skarmory so I can encore it.
Politoed is necessary to bring out rain on the field immediately without sacrificing momentum by wasting a turn using Rain Dance. Even though Politoed isn't much without Drizzle, it still pulls weight on my team. Politoed is one of my team's pivots switches, along with Klefki. While Klefki has priority Thunder Wave to stop DD and Agility sweepers, Politoed has Encore to stop CM users. Encore+Toxic let's me stop Unaware CM Clefable and CM Mega-Slowbro reliably. It also stops Substitute Mega-Gyarados from wrecking my team. Essentially, Politoed's job is to bring out rain on the field as frequently as possible and check a few setup sweepers with Encore.
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swift swimmer #1
Swampert @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall - Primary Water-STAB that can flinch opponents
- Earthquake Primary Ground-STAB
- Ice Punch - Coverage to hit Dragon and Grass types
- Stealth Rock - Essential entry hazard
Swampert is one of my favorite Pokemon and I am glad that ORAS made him viable again with its new Mega-Evolution. The on-site spread suggests to use a spread of 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe, but I went with a 252 Atk / 252 Speed spread. Without max speed Swampert is unable to outspeed Scarf Landorus-T, which is pretty important because it is like the #1 used set in the metagame lol. By using max speed I can outspeed Scarf Lando-T, Scarf Kyurem-B, and tie at worst opposing Mega-Swampert. An Adamant nature is used for the extra power. The attacking moves are pretty self-explanatory: two-power dual STAB's and coverage for Dragon and Grass-types. Unfortunately, I had to shoehorn Stealth Rock on to Mega-Swampert. It's only an alright SR setter with its decent bulk, but I open up a lot more options on my team by putting it on Mega-Swampert. It is worth sacrificing the extra coverage of Low Kick.
Swampert is my team's primary sweeper against offensive teams. His dual-STAB's have high base power (120 under rain and 100) and perfect accuracy, making it a great late game sweeper. Ice Punch is pretty weak on its own, but stuff that is weak to it have low defense (ex. Latios) or 4x weak to it. Swampert has pretty good bulk to, so it can tank a strong priority hit late game. A lot of teams use priority Thunder Wave to stop sweepers, but Swampert is immune to that. Swampert is also this team's primary check to electric-types, which normally trouble rain teams. Basically Swampert is here to sweep late game, check electric types, and set up SR.
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swift swimmer #2
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs:
Rash Nature
- Outrage - physical STAB that hurts Grass-types
- Waterfall - physical STAB that hurts Chansey
- Draco Meteor - Special nuke move to hit Slowbro and Grass-types hard
- Hydro Pump - Most powerful Water-STAB
Kingdra is the most potent rain-sweeper next to Mega-Swampert. Kingdra has a great high-base power dual-STABs and it is the fastest pokemon on this team. Outrage and Draco Meteor are Kingdra's highest base power Dragon-STAB's, while Waterfall and Hydro Pump are the strongest Water-moves on each side of the spectrum.
Previously I used fully special Kingdra, but I made the switch to mixed Kingdra. With a mixed set, Kingdra can pretty much get past almost all conventional Water-type resits outside of Azumarill and Ferrothorn. For example, with SR and one layer of Spikes, Waterfall can 2HKO Chansey. The combination of Draco Meteor + Outrage can do huge damage to Rotom-W and Mega-Venusaur. Kingdra can also revenge kill a lot of Pokemon due to its boosted speed under rain. Mixed Kingdra can be used to lure in counters to Mega-Swampert. For example, I can do huge damage to Slowbro with Draco Meteor after it brings itself in on a Waterfall. Kingdra's is here to help Swampert sweep offensive teams and to lure in bulky waters on defensive teams.
Even with the drop in power, 228 Spe EV is worth the trade to perform better against offense. 228 Spe EV's lets you outspeed Scarf Keldeo and Scarf Latios in rain, while outside rain you can outspeed positive base 70's.
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utility / greninja check
Klefki @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpA OR 248 HP / 150 Def / 100 SpD
Bold Nature
- Dazzling Gleam - STAB that hits Dragons and Mega-Sableye decently hard
OR - Foul Play - Allows Klefki to handle Mega-Pinsir, Talonflame, and Lando-T switchins
- Thunder Wave - Cripples opposing set up sweepers regardless of boosts
- Spikes - Hazards that aid weakening Steel-types and defensive teams
- Rain Dance - Support for Swift Swimer users and Thundurus
Klefki is in my opinion, the most underrated Pokemon in the metagame. Klefki brings a lot of utility to the table. Damp Rock and Rain Dance are to keep rain on the field as much as possible. Because Klefki has priority Rain Dance, if it is alive it pretty much guarantees rain is going to be up. My EV spread is pretty weird on Klefki. I use a defense boosting nature and EV's in defense to check Latios and Mega-Altaria more reliably than a specially defensive spread. Klefki is actually one of the few hazard setters that can beat Mega-Sableye. With a 136 SpA EV's I will always 2HKO Mega-Sableye with STAB Dazzling Gleam. It also allows me to have a chance of 2HKO'ing 252 HP Mega-Altaria. Even though Klefki doesn't have the best bulk, its great defensive typing let's met check a multitude of threats such as Latios, Weaville, Bisharp, etc. and makes it my team's primary pivot switch.
Thunder Wave and Spikes are Klefki's two standard utility moves. Priority Thunder Wave is extremely helpful against offensive teams, especially because of all the new and improved Mega-DD users in OU. Unlike Thundurus, Klefki doesn't die immediately when it uses Thunder Wave. It has enough bulk to survive one hit and to be used latter in the game to paralyze more stuff. Thunder Wave also let's me cheese through opponents sometimes with Swampert's and Kingdra's paraflinching Waterfall. Spikes is useful against my team's matchup against defensive teams. Steel-types, especially Ferrothorn and Jirachi, are broken down much more quickly with the help of Spikes. In addition, priority Spikes makes sure I don't have to deal with stray Focus Sash users on offensive teams.
If you use Foul Play the attacking EV's are unnecessary and you can put them all in bulk. The 100 Sp. Def EV's lets you live a Hyper Voice + Focus Blast from Gardevoir and check Greninja better. The rest is put into physical bulk.
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wallbreaker
Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt - Thundurus' most reliable STAB. Helps check Smogon Bird outside rain
- Hidden Power [Ice] - Coverage for Grass, Dragon, and Ground-types
- Knock Off - Removes items and let's me beat Chansey + Lati@s
- Superpower - Coverage to beat TTar, Chansey, and Ferrothorn
Mixed Thundurus is the big powerhouse on this team and is my team's fastest Pokemon outside of rain. Mixed Thundurus catches opponents off guard and is useful in both offensive and defensive matchups. I went with Defiant Thundurus because I already have priority Thunder Wave with Klefki. In addition I can get Defiant boosts from Defog from teams trying to remove my Spikes. 76 Attack EV's let me OHKO Latios after SR and speed is maxed out to let me beat base 110's. The rest is dumped into special attack so Thunder is as strong as possible.
Mixed Thundurus was put on the team to help against defensive teams because my Swift Swimmers don't perform very well against stall on their own. Thundurus has a couple of things going for it over other wallbreakers. First, Thudurus has higher speed than the majority of the metagame. It still outspeeds all the newly introduced base 110's like Mega-Gallade, Mega-Diance, and Mega-Metagross outside of rain. Second, it hits most Defoggers super-effectively and it can dissuade opponents from Defogging because of a potential Defiant boost. This makes my Spike-stacking more effective. Lastly, it can beat opposing Water-resits really easily for my Swift Swimmers. Chansey is lured in and killed by a combination of Knock Off + Superpower and most water-types are smoked by Thunder.
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stallbreaker and glue
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs:
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance - Boosting move that let's me beat Mega-Sableye and stall
- Seed Bomb - Grass STAB that hurts Rotom-W, Quagsire, and Mega-Sableye
- Superpower - Most powerful Fighting STAB that hurts Ferrothorn and Skarmory
- Facade - High base power move that beats Grass-types
Meet Poison Heal Swords Dance Breloom. Poison Heal Breloom hasn't seen much usage ever since BW2 gave us Breloom Technician, but because of some newly introduced Pokemon it has a useful niche in the metagame. Seed Bomb and Superpower are my two most powerful STABs. Seed Bomb is important to get past Quagsire and Sableye. Meanwhile, Facade hits Grass-types and Lati@s extremely hard.
This set here is the ultimate glue-mon on my team and it patches up quite a few holes, especially against defensive threats. Breloom practically 6-0's most stall teams on its own and it patches up my weaknesses to Rotom-W, Mew, Mega-Sableye, Ferrothorn, and Landorus-T. The key is that Poison Heal with Toxic Orb blocks Will-o-Wisp. Since Poison Heal blocks Will-o-Wisp and Scald burns, Breloom is free to boost up in most passive stallmon's faces. Facade is a 140 base power move, which is actually stronger than Seed Bomb against neutral targets! This means after +2 Breloom can do some hefty damage against Grass-types that would annoy my Swift Swimmers and Thundurus. Here are some calcs that show how hard Breloom hits some of its "counters" after an SD:
+2 252 Atk Breloom Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 222-262 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Breloom Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Mega Venusaur: 192-226 (52.7 - 62%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Breloom Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Altaria: 206-243 (58.1 - 68.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Breloom Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye: 160-190 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Breloom Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Mega Venusaur: 192-226 (52.7 - 62%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Breloom Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Altaria: 206-243 (58.1 - 68.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Breloom Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye: 160-190 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I changed the EV spread from 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe to 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe because 12 HP reaches 264, a Poison Heal Number. Becuase the HP is divisible by 8, I get the maximum recovery from Poison Heal. I don't lose any important KO's moving 8 EV's from Attack into HP.
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conclusionSo this team has been one of my favorite teams to play with that has one of my favorite mons (swampert). It performs well against both stall and offensive teams alike. I hope that this team shows you how potent Klefki and Poison Heal Brealoom are and how potent rain is right now. Thanks for reading!
importable
original version
Code:
Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Encore
Swampert-Mega (F) @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 64 Atk / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Rash Nature
- Outrage
- Waterfall
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
Klefki @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpA
Bold Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Rain Dance
Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Seed Bomb
- Superpower
- Facadechanges include
- rest > ice beam on politoed
- 228 Spe Kingdra to outspeed scarf keldeo and scarf latios in rain and +spe base 70's outside rain
- 12 HP EV's on Breloom for a Poison Heal number
- optional: foul play on Klefki to allow it to have better bulk and play against mega pinsir better. 100 Sp. Def lets it always live Hyper Voice + Focus Blast from Timid Mega Gardevoir.
Code:
Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rest
- Toxic
- Encore
Swampert @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 64 Atk / 216 SpA / 228 Spe
Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Hydro Pump
- Waterfall
Klefki @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Rain Dance
Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Seed Bomb
- Superpower
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