VGC Mega Swampert rain team - suggestions?

[swamps567]

Hey everyone. I am making one of my first competitive teams. It is a rain team, and I plan on playing in VGC I am asking for help, suggestions, or comments on my team.


Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 76 SpA / 36 SpD / 4 Speed
Scald
Icy Wind / Ice Beam
Helping Hand
Protect

Defense rain setter. The EVs and nature increase its physical and special bulk. 76 Special attack EVs secure a OHKO on 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T. Scald is main STAB. Icy Wind is better for support but Ice beam is for more power. Not sure about which one to do. Helping hand is an awesome support option for its teammates. Protect is the stable VGC move. Damp rock increases the amount of rain turns.


Thundurus-I @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Speed
Thunder
Focus Blast
Thunder Wave
Protect

Fast and powerful Thundurus. Thunder is main STAB and perfectly accurate in rain, Focus Blast is nice coverage as it covers his two weaknesses along with Ferrothorn, who is a pain for rain teams. Thunder wave utilizes prankster to shut down faster threats who then can be killed by a partner, and it shuts down potential swift swim users. Life orb maximizes damage, and Timid nature makes Thundurus as fast as possible. Protect is a given.

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Att / 68 Def / 140 SpD
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Roost
Protect

Bulky Scizor. EVs and nature increase both physical and special bulk. The rest of the EVs are put into attack for more power. Roost is reliable recovery and keeps scizor healthy in conjunction with leftovers. Bullet Punch and Bug Bite are technician-boosted STAB moves, and Bullet Punch has priority. Protect obviously.


Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Att / 4 Speed
Gunk Shot
Drain Punch
Sucker Punch
Protect

This set revolves around recovery. Black sludge, dry skin recovery, and drain punch all keep Toxicroak around for a while. Gunk shot is main STAB. Drain punch is secondary stab with recovery. Sucker punch is for priority and coverage on psychic types. EVs and nature maximize its bulk and power.


Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Telepathy
Nature: Timid / Modest
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Speed
Moonblast
Psychic
Shadow Ball
Hidden Power (Ground)

I’m not too sure about this one. I want a strong special attacker and something fast but idk if this is too good. Feel free to change this set a lot or even change the pokemon. Moonblast and Psychic are STABs, shadow ball is coverage against ghost types, and hidden power ground is coverage on steel-type pokemon such as Heatran. EVs maximize power and speed, not sure about the nature. Choice scarf allows Gardevoir to revenge kill maybe? Telepathy is for avoiding Earthquakes from my next pokemon because it lacks protect.


Swampert @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim (Torrent before Mega Evolving)
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Att / 148 Speed
Waterfall
Earthquake
Ice Punch
Protect

The king of this set. With swift swim and EV investment, Swampert outspeeds everything up to positive natured based 145s like Mega Sceptile. With 252 Attack EVs and an Adamant Nature, this thing hits like a truck. Waterfall and Earthquake are strong STAB attacks, and Waterfall is even more powerful in rain. Ice punch is coverage on grass types. Protect because yeah



Again, I ask for recommendations and suggestions for this team. I know it's not perfect, but I feel like I have a good start. Thank you!

 

[DaAwesomeDude1]

Hey man, this is a really cool team! Rain is definitely one of my favorite playstyles and Mega Swampert is a pretty underrated mega. The team is pretty solid, however, there are a few Pokemon on your team who are a bit outclassed in VGC 2015. There are also a few minor things I would change. One minor thing I would change is to run Taunt over Thunder Wave on Thundurus. You already have speed control in the form of Icy Wind, so having Thunder Wave is kind of redundant. A major threat to Rain teams is Trick Room, and running Taunt can allow Thundurus to stop Trick Room from being set-up. Another major thing that Taunt stops is Spore from Amoonguss. Amoonguss is already a pain for most Rain teams, as it is able to tank most attacks that common Swift Swim Pokemon are carrying and then put it to sleep, running Taunt can put a stop to that.

Another is to run Sitrus Berry over Damp Rock on Politoed. Damp Rock is cool but there aren't many times you would need all 8 turns of Rain (plus weather is pretty popular this year so there are bound to be many times where you have to switch Politoed out to reset the Rain). Sitrus Berry provides Politoed with the recovery it desperately needs and can increase its longevity so that you can win the weather wars.

Bulky Scizor is pretty cool but that's honestly more of a singles kind of thing; Scizor would much rather be able to hit hard in VGC. In that sense, I suggest running Swords Dance over Roost and Lum Berry over Leftovers. Roost doesn't really do anything for Scizor in VGC to be honest; unlike in singles where Roost can provide longevity, VGC games are fairly fast paced so you would much rather take out your opponent fast. Passive recovery, such as Leftovers, is more appreciated on naturally bulky Pokemon, such as Zapdos and Suicune, so it is generally not the best item for an offensive Pokemon like Scizor. Lum Berry can allow it to potentially Swords Dance up without worrying about being crippled by Will-o-Wisp or Spore. I'm not sure what goal the Scizor spread accomplishes (it would be great if you can tell me!) but I would suggest just running 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD with an Adamant nature. An Adamant nature with maximum Attack investment ensures that Scizor hits as hard as possible and because 52 Atk Scizor misses out on a lot of crucial KOs/2HKOs:

52 Atk Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 126-150 (87.5 - 104.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 162-192 (112.5 - 133.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

52 Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 236 HP / 204+ Def Cresselia: 90-108 (40 - 48%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 236 HP / 204+ Def Cresselia: 114-134 (50.6 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

52 Atk Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 108+ Def Clefable: 92-110 (45.5 - 54.4%) -- 49.6% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 108+ Def Clefable: 116-140 (57.4 - 69.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Running maximum Speed EVs instead HP can be used so that Scizor can outspeed 0 Speed Rotom-W and hit it with a Bug Bite.

While running Dry Skin in conjunction with Black Sludge may seem good on paper, it doesn't perform as well in battles. Toxicroak is pretty frail (and doesn't hit that hard) to begin with so the recovery from Dry Skin + Black Sludge wouldn't really benefit it that much. I suggest running Virizion over Toxicroak. Virizion gives your team an easier way of dealing with Mega Kangaskhan while also being able to check Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, and Gastrodon, all of which threatens your team.

Instead of Gardevoir, I suggest running Latios instead. Unfortunately we do not have many good splashable Psychic-types in the meta but Latios is a great Pokemon for that slot. Latios has Levitate as its ability, so that allows Swampert to Earthquake freely without worrying about damaging its partner. Ground-types already work really well with Latios since they are able to get rid of Steel-types and Bisharp, both of which Latios hates. Latios also allows you to hit Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur for super effective damage, both of which are a nuisance for Rain teams. I opted for Choice Specs Latios over Life Orb because:
1) Life Orb is already taken haha
2) Specs Latios with Trick can allow you to cripple defensive Pokemon such as Ferrothorn while the Choice Specs guarantees an OHKO on standard Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur

Hope I helped man and good luck with the team!!! :]

Sets

Politoed @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 76 SpA / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Helping Hand
- Protect

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
- Protect

Scizor @ Lum Berry
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Protect

Virizion @ Expert Belt (Life Orb is taken but Expert Belt ensures that Virizion gets roughly the same KOs)
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Stone Edge
- Protect

Latios @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Dragon Pulse
- Trick