Hey there
Having just got into competitive battling after the drizzle and swift swim ban I decided to make a rain team to see what all the fuss had been about. It has been a fairly successful team and peaked 81st on the pokemon online server ladder with a rating of 1414, However after starting to use the smogon server which has a higher level of skill I realised there were a few flaws in my team that needed solving which is why I have come here, I could really use some help with this team to make it better, so enjoy:
Having just got into competitive battling after the drizzle and swift swim ban I decided to make a rain team to see what all the fuss had been about. It has been a fairly successful team and peaked 81st on the pokemon online server ladder with a rating of 1414, However after starting to use the smogon server which has a higher level of skill I realised there were a few flaws in my team that needed solving which is why I have come here, I could really use some help with this team to make it better, so enjoy:
The team:
Politoed @ choice specs
Trait: drizzle
Nature: Modest (+spa - atk)
Evs: (252 spa/ 252 hp/ 4 spd)
-hydro pump
-hidden power (grass)
-ice beam
-focus blast
This is my rain inducer and staple of any rain team as he brings infinite rain. I usually lead with him unless i see a ferrothorn lead in which case i go for toxicroak or sometimes i lead with garchomp if they have a ninetales or a tyranitar. Choice specs is for the most power and he does not disapoint doing ohkoing most tyranitar with focus blast and ohko ing hippowdown with hydro pump. I play him quite aggresively as he can ohko ninetales tyranitar and hippowdown and remove them as a threat. Under rain nothing without water absorb or a 4x water resist can safely switch into hydro pump as even ferrothorn is 3 hkoed and so are some blissey. Hp grass is so jellicent does not wall me and for the occasional gastrodon or quagsire and ice beam is for dragons. This guy really is key to the team but sometimes he dies to quickly as i play him aggresively i could really use some suggestions on an effective bulky set as i am reluctant to give up choice specs as he is one of my 2 special attackers and skarmoury would wall me.
-hidden power (grass)
-ice beam
-focus blast
This is my rain inducer and staple of any rain team as he brings infinite rain. I usually lead with him unless i see a ferrothorn lead in which case i go for toxicroak or sometimes i lead with garchomp if they have a ninetales or a tyranitar. Choice specs is for the most power and he does not disapoint doing ohkoing most tyranitar with focus blast and ohko ing hippowdown with hydro pump. I play him quite aggresively as he can ohko ninetales tyranitar and hippowdown and remove them as a threat. Under rain nothing without water absorb or a 4x water resist can safely switch into hydro pump as even ferrothorn is 3 hkoed and so are some blissey. Hp grass is so jellicent does not wall me and for the occasional gastrodon or quagsire and ice beam is for dragons. This guy really is key to the team but sometimes he dies to quickly as i play him aggresively i could really use some suggestions on an effective bulky set as i am reluctant to give up choice specs as he is one of my 2 special attackers and skarmoury would wall me.
Garchomp @ choice scarf
Trait: Sand veil
Nature: jolly ( +spe -spa)
Evs: 252 atk/ 4 hp/ 252 spe
-outrage
-earthquake
-stone edge/dual chop
-aqua tail
-earthquake
-stone edge/dual chop
-aqua tail
Garchomp is my revenge killer and dragon killer. Scarfchomp is a beast and kills any non scarfed non +1 dragons and can clean up late game with his fantastic stabs coming off base 130 attack. Stealth rock is because he forces a lot of switches and if i predict right i can get off rocks which help a great deal against sun teams, however as i usually mispredict i end up losing a key player. I am running jolly so i can outspeed and ko other scarfed and +1 dragons except the lati twins and threats like +1 volcarona. Aqua tail gets a boost under rain and can do some damage to gliscor who walls this set. Stone edge is for the genies but its 80% accuracy has cost me a few games and i am considering dual chop for sub breaking especially whimsicott who subseeds this entire team and laughs.
Azumarill@ choice band
Trait: huge power
Nature: adamant (+atk - spa)
evs: (248 hp/252 atk/ 8 spe)
-aqua jet
-waterfall
-return
-superpower
-waterfall
-return
-superpower
This guy is a behemoth under the rain with 654 attack and dual stab aqua jet which can revenge kill destroy sand teams and do a chunk to a lot of pokes. Under sand he always ohko's excadrill which is handy as when i see him on team preview the opponent is essentially playing with 5 pokemon unless they play very cleverly around azumarill. waterfall will do a large chunk to anything and superpower is for tyranitar and ferrothorn ohkoing both. return is mostly for consistent power on things that resist water but it means jellicent walls the hell out of this set. He is the first form of priority on this team one of my big physical hitters.
Toxicroak @ Black sludge
Trait: Dry skin
Nature: adamant
Evs: (248 hp/252 atk/ 8 spe)
-Bulk up / swords dance
-drain punch
-sucker punch
-substitute
-drain punch
-sucker punch
-substitute
This guy is a very underrated threat however i have been seeing a lot more or him recently. I put him in to replace thundurus after being 6-0 ed by one and he is great. He sets up on ferrothorn and easily dispatches it with sub blocking thunder wave and after boosting a few times he is only countered by other toxicroaks which is why i am running 8 speed evs to make sure he wins those match ups. Drain punch and sucker punch provide almost perfect coverage and sucker punch has priority to combat his low speed and when i am at +3 attack sucker punch koes reuniclus who tries to kill me with a 4x effective psychic. He also absorbs toxic spikes which is a bonus as this team has no spinner. With dry skin and black sludge i regain 3/16 of my health every turn under rain and with drain punch i can go from red to full health in one turn. I originally ran bulk up then switched to swords dance for more immediate power and am now running bulk up again specifically to beat gliscor who walls the swords dance set unless i am at +6 but i have found that most gliscor tend to carry taunt or swords dance so i could use some advice on which one to run.
Tornadus@ sharp beak
Trait: Prankster
Nature: timid (+ spe -atk)
evs: (252 spe/252 spa/ 4 hp)
-hurricane
-grass knot
-tailwind
-hammer arm
-grass knot
-tailwind
-hammer arm
My main special sweeper this guy is a juggernaut with 100% accuracy hurricane under rain which destroys anyone who doesnt resist it. Grass knot can hit the ttar switch in for 50% and also handles quagsire and gastrodon who can be very hard to kill. Hammer arm is a nice move to kill tyranitar without the very shaky accuracy of focus blast which can make or break a game. I used to run life orb but sharp beak is better as it only has 10% less damage and can bluff a choice item, which is great as someone brings in their tyranitar to absorb a choiced hurricane and recieve a hammer arm to the face. Tailwind is a nice option to give me some extra momentum but i am thinking of changing it for either taunt or rain dance for dealing with other weather and whimsicott respectively.
Scizor @ leftovers
Trait: technician
Nature: adamant ( + atk - spa)
evs ( 8 spe/ 248 hp/ 76 atk/ 176 spd)
-bullet punch
-swords dance
-bug bite
-roost
-swords dance
-bug bite
-roost
This is my third form of priority and my only dragon resist i usually switch him in on outrages or draco meteors and then swords dance and do some damage with my stabs. Under rain he only has a 2x fire weakness which is very handy. I used to run superpower but now run roost for the longevity as i have 4 other team members with fighting moves. This guy fulfills a lot of rolls checking latios and latias reuniclus and all other dragons, being the only steel type gives him a handy set of resistances but also means he takes a lot of punishment as i switch him in to absorb resisted attacks, which is the main reason im running roost.
TEST MEMBER
here is a team member i am currently testing out over garchomp and he is doing very well indeed and will probably replace garchomp in the near future.
Deoxys-S @life orb
Trait: Pressure
Nature: Naive (+ spe -spd)
Evs: 252 spe/252 spa/4 hp
-Psycho boost
-superpower
-ice beam
-thunder
This is deoxys-s but i could only find a deoxys sprite. He is my new revenge killer and sometimes lead replacing garchomp as i only had 2 special attackers. A rather unorthodox set he surprises some people when he grabs a ko instead of spiking and he absoultely rapes offensive teams as most of the time there fastest poke is a scarfchomp who this guy handily outspeeds. Superpower absolutely destroys tyranitar getting a ohko as they try to pursuit me thinking im a lead set. psycho boost is great for taking out fighting and poison types and also does 70% roughly to rotom w who really is a pain in this teams side. Ice beam is a great move on this set as this guy outspeeds scarfchomp and all other scarfed base 100's and ohko's and also takes out most +1 dragons who are 4x weak to ice. Thunder is a great move with 100% accuracy in rain and takes care of skarmoury gyarados and jellicent all who otherwise caused me problems. Overall this guy is grabbing at least one maybe 2 ko's per match and is well on his way to replacing garchomp.
This team has a lot of flaws which i could use some help with firstly status moves wreck this team and i have no absorbers or status spreaders on the team. I also get ruined by stall as i have no spinner and my opponent can switch between skarmoury and blissey endlessly to wall me. Another pet hate i have is gliscor especially ones running protect as they can lock my azumarill into a move and switch into a resistor. Rotom w also is a great threat to this team and i usually have to sack a pokemon either politoed or garchomp to deal with it. Specially defensive jirachi can also take politoeds hydro pump and tornadus' hurricane and begin spreading paralysation through this team which is really annoying. I also think that this team could slot in a calm mind virizion somewhere as i feel he would solve some of my issues and provide another special attacker as tornadus dies quickly. Overall i would really like some help with this team and a rate is much appreciated i will put in an importable below if you would like to try out the team.
Thanks for viewing I hope you enjoyed the team, have a good day.
Thanks for viewing I hope you enjoyed the team, have a good day.
Ps
Thanks to aragornbird for the sprites
Thanks to aragornbird for the sprites
Politoed @ choice specs
Trait: drizzle
Nature: Modest (+spa - atk)
Evs: (252 spa/ 252 hp/ 4 spd)
-hydro pump
-hidden power (grass)
-ice beam
-focus blast
Trait: drizzle
Nature: Modest (+spa - atk)
Evs: (252 spa/ 252 hp/ 4 spd)
-hydro pump
-hidden power (grass)
-ice beam
-focus blast
Garchomp @ choice scarf
Trait: Sand veil
Nature: adamant ( +atk - spa)
Evs: 252 atk/ 4 hp/ 252 spe
-outrage
-earthquake
-aqua tail
-stone edge
Trait: Sand veil
Nature: adamant ( +atk - spa)
Evs: 252 atk/ 4 hp/ 252 spe
-outrage
-earthquake
-aqua tail
-stone edge
Azumarill@ choice band
Trait: huge power
Nature: adamant (+atk - spa)
evs: (248 hp/252 atk/ 8 spe)
-aqua jet
-waterfall
-return
-superpower
Trait: huge power
Nature: adamant (+atk - spa)
evs: (248 hp/252 atk/ 8 spe)
-aqua jet
-waterfall
-return
-superpower
Tornadus@ Sharp beak
Trait: Prankster
Nature: timid (+ spe -atk)
evs: (252 spe/252 spa/ 4 hp)
-hurricane
-grass knot
-tailwind
-hammer arm
Trait: Prankster
Nature: timid (+ spe -atk)
evs: (252 spe/252 spa/ 4 hp)
-hurricane
-grass knot
-tailwind
-hammer arm
Toxicroak @ Black sludge
Trait: Dry skin
Nature: adamant
Evs: (248 hp/252 atk/ 8 spe)
-Bulk up / swords dance
-drain punch
-sucker punch
-substitute
Trait: Dry skin
Nature: adamant
Evs: (248 hp/252 atk/ 8 spe)
-Bulk up / swords dance
-drain punch
-sucker punch
-substitute
Scizor @ leftovers
Trait: technician
Nature: adamant ( + atk - spa)
evs ( 8 spe/ 248 hp/ 76 atk/ 176 spd)
-bullet punch
-swords dance
-bug bite
-roostTrait: technician
Nature: adamant ( + atk - spa)
evs ( 8 spe/ 248 hp/ 76 atk/ 176 spd)
-bullet punch
-swords dance
-bug bite