In and out of Puddles (DW Rain Dance)

[phoenix_master]

I would like to start this RMT off with a little joke.


A duck walks in to a bar, and introduces himself to the barman as Huey.
The Barman says "You look happy, what did you do today?" And the duck Answers, "Oh I was in and out of Puddles". Then the duck leaves.
Later another duck walks in and introduces himself to the Barman as Dewey.
Again the Barman says, "You look happy, what did you do today?"
And once again the duck answers "I was in and out of Puddles".
Then the duck leaves. Later a third duck walks in, and the Barman says
"Oh, you must be Louie". And the duck answers, "No, my name is Puddles"

Hopefully one or two of you laughed at that.
(Wait, that's not too lewd to post here right? If so, tell me and I'll take it down...)

So let's get to the team.

Politoed (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Boil Over
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Hypnosis


So obviously i'm going to need this guy to start the rain off.
I decided to go with the bulky variant because it does what Politoed is Supposed to do best, setting up Rain. EV's for maximum special bulk so he Can switch in to odd special attack's aimed at my other pokes.
Hypnosis is a bit of a gamble, but I feel that it's worth it,

Basically taking another poke out of the game if it hits.

And Perish Song of course so i can discourage set up sweepers comming in to set up on him.

Kingdra (F) @ Choice Specs Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SAtk / 228 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fighting]


Someone to take advantage of the rain that Politoed sets up is also a given.
I went with specs Kingdra for a number of reasons.
First of all i feel it doesn't have the bulk to be that much of an efficient set Up sweepers. And also the whole point of Swift Swim + Rain is that you can Come in and hit hard and fast without needing any set up.
And I think Specs Kingdra is deffinately the most capable in that regard.

Surf and Draco Meteor of course the powerfull double stab, hitting pretty Much everything bar Nattorei.
Dragon Pulse there if i know what he has left, and want a reliable way of Cleaning up.
And HP-Fighting mostly as filler and to hit the obvious Nattorei switch ins For at least some damage.

Nattorei (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed

Right there you've got 50% of pretty much any Rain team.

I know he's really stock, but he's almost a necessity imo.
EV'ed specially deffensive because he's mainly there to take stuff like
Specs Latios Draco Meteors ect. Also obviously because he completely Shuts down opposing Rain teams.

Stealth Rock because he's the only poke on my team who can set it up.
Thunder Wave to really annoy his switch ins
(most of them really dont like beeing hit by a T-wave),
And Leech Seed because he's a real bitch to take down once he gets that up.
Side note: I play on the Beta Server, where Shandora is currently banned on DW, so Shed Shell is not needed.

Toxicroak (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch
- Substitute
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Before this I had Roobushin in this slot, but I found I had a very big Kerudio weakness. So I swapped Roob for this guy.
And also he helps as a counter to Breloom and Nattorei, who otherwise sweeps/walls this team if Zapdos goes down.
Although one problem with this guy is, he doesn't counter Dory like Roobushin would, so I might have a bit of a weakness there.
But he's just such a beast in the rain, and so far I like him better than Roobushin.

Max attack obviously so i can hit stuff hard before and after a Swords Dance. Max speed so he can outspeed stuff like Breloob, and Go for the kill with a boosted Drain Punch. Sucker Punch obviously to hit stuff like Gengar and the Lati@s twins, who would otherwies KO him. And Substitute to block status vs things like Nattorei, giving me ample time to set up a Swords Dance or two.

Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower


So at this point i really do have a bit of a Rankurusu/Psychic Gengar Problem. None of my pokes bar Nattorei (who doesn't like Focus Blast) can Really switch in to either of those

(or just strong Psychic attacks in generall).
Scizor serves to mitigate that problem. Comming in on his plethora of Resitances, and threatening to to either finish off a weakened opponent With Bullet Punch, or dent the switch in with U-turn.
And of course he serves as a hard counter to the ever so widespread Lati@s twins.Shrugging off their Dragon attacks, and Persuit trapping them.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 196 HP / 60 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost


Now i dont have that big of an Electric weakness (only Politoed beeing Weak to it), but I did need a good Fighting counter (especially Breloom).
Usually when Breloom comes in (mostly on Nattorei), i'm going to have to Sacrifice at least one Poke to Spore, after that i'll switch in Zapdos to take Whatever Breloom wants to dish out . Although Stone Edge hurts, variants That carry it are decidedly rare nowadays

(most Looms beeing of the Technician Variety).

Plus he's just great at comming on T-waves, nabbing the Attack boost in The process, and then sweeping fools. And i've got to have at least one Pokemon taking advantage of the 100 % accurate Thunder xD


Max Speed and Timid so that he can take advantage of the Lightningrod Special attack boost. HP EV's for soem bulk so that he can actually survive The things he's meant to switch in to, and the rest in special attack to hit The things he's meant to counter hard.




So that's my team. I know Rain teams are a Dime a Dozen right now, but I've loved Rain teams since last gen, and untill Drizzletoed is banned,

I'm going to take advantage of it damnit!

 

[kc4444]

Not going to rate your team because i think it is pretty solid, but i love the joke.
Too bad i've heard it before.

 

[COCKBLOCK]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL YO REAL TALK DAT JOKE WAS OFFDACH AIN IM DRUNK SO SHUT UP

 

[ChaosNebula]

You only have one Swift Swimmer. Try popping another one to abuse the rain

 

[phoenix_master]

I find actually that one Swift Swim user is enough. Once it's counters are taken care Of, Kingdra is able to sweep through pretty much any team on it's own. And also i Wouldn't Know which pokemon to take out for another Swift Swimmer. Each of those Pokemon is in There to counter something specific, and if i took any of them out i Would have a tough Time vs those Pokemon. And besides, I dont want to be too Reliant on the Rain.
If I lose the weather war, I want to be able to hit them hard anyway.
Although I guess Zapdos is the most expendable member of my team, however if I took Him out, I'd have a big Breloom weakness.

 

[Adrianpwns]

dude, love the team. Have a similar one. Have you considered using scyther instead of scizor since it takes focus blast like the pro and does not need priority. And scizor is way too predictable. Try this
scyther@evostone/ choice band
Jolly
Uturn
Bug bite
Aerial ace
Double hit/knock off

A great switch in and only 2x to fire which is neglected now.

 

[pikachu26134]

Decent team there,
Would preferably run dragonite over Roobushin with a lead set because i find it really works with eq and general coverage - perhaps bar the fireblast and stick in something else. 4hp/252atk/252spe would actually work

I know its paining me to say it but i do think kabutops would do you SOME good in this team, perhaps also over Roobushin and my internet's too slow for me to look something up but use a generic set - People expect something else to be there im finding but if theres nothing new then mistakes are to be made

All the best and excuse my lack of making a lot of sense

 

[KnivesNPistols]

I think you are a bit exposed to Randorosu sweep. If Politoed goes down SD variant can easily destroy every single one of your pokemon in the sand. You might want to run Hydro Pump over HP Fighting on Kingdra cus it does about the same to Nattorei and there's no question about in which of those 2 moves you would rather be locked into. Hypnosis sucks so I would replace it with Toxic on your Politoed.

 

[Forte.EXE]

I think the EVs for Specs Kingdra should be changed to the standard 4 HP | 252 SpA | 252 Spe. With your current spread, you're losing to any other Kingdra that runs a Neutral nature with 252 Spe EVs (basically, every other Specs Kingdra). Hidden Power [Fighting] isn't that great, and something you don't want to get locked into often. Hydro Pump is a 3HKO on Nattorei, about the same as Hidden Power [Fighting].

I also think you should replace Scizor with a Scarf Genosekuto. Genosekuto deals with Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Abomasnow, and other Politoed, Lati@s, has decent Defenses, same exact typing as Scizor, Download, a faster U-turn, and can take advantage of Rain with Thunder, while also taking a lot of pressure off of Roobushin and Nattorei to deal with those threats.

Personally, I think that Scarf Politoed would be a better choice for an Offensive Rain team because it's a good check against Doryuuzu and can beat Tyranitar/Hippowdon with Scarf Hydro Pump, with or without Rain being up.

 

[phoenix_master]

I think the EVs for Specs Kingdra should be changed to the standard 4 HP | 252 SpA | 252 Spe. With your current spread, you're losing to any other Kingdra that runs a Neutral nature with 252 Spe EVs (basically, every other Specs Kingdra). Hidden Power [Fighting] isn't that great, and something you don't want to get locked into often. Hydro Pump is a 3HKO on Nattorei, about the same as Hidden Power [Fighting].

I also think you should replace Scizor with a Scarf Genosekuto. Genosekuto deals with Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Abomasnow, and other Politoed, Lati@s, has decent Defenses, same exact typing as Scizor, Download, a faster U-turn, and can take advantage of Rain with Thunder, while also taking a lot of pressure off of Roobushin and Nattorei to deal with those threats.

Personally, I think that Scarf Politoed would be a better choice for an Offensive Rain team because it's a good check against Doryuuzu and can beat Tyranitar/Hippowdon with Scarf Hydro Pump, with or without Rain being up.

I'll try your suggestions. Question is, should I keep Poli as a lead? Or Change Geno to my lead?

Oh and also I'm torn between Toxicroak and Roobushin. While Roobushin does have that smexy attack stat right off the bat, and is Bulkier, Toxicroak would provide me with a another welcome Breloom counter (who I'm having quite some trouble with atm).
Thoughts?

 

[phoenix_master]

After some testing i decided to go with Toxicroak over Roobushin, because he Helps patch up my Kerudio weakness, while simultaneously keeping a Nattorei Check.

Still testing Geno over Scizor.