most generic rain team ever? probably

[Madvillain]

okay so this is my first post ever and i'm relatively new to competitive playing (only been playing a month or so) and this was the first team i made after i was dumb and erased my history (because i didn't know deleting your cookies erased your teams at the time) and it's pretty much the main one i've been using on ps for the past week or so. I surprised myself with how well this team worked, despite it following the trend of utilizing a lot of tier favorites. all of the sets are pretty standard because i'm still learning how to make sets that are creative and effective. so let's get into it, shall we?

swoosh (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 224 SDef / 252 HP / 32 Spd
Careful Nature
- Wish
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head

Special wall. Ends up being my lead 9/10 of the time because most people immediately assume rain teams always lead with politoed. Because of predictions like this, i've had a ton of games that have started where my opponent lead with Rotom-W, and I lead with swoosh, allowing me a free turn to set up rocks. with the right predicting, also allows Thundurus-T to enter the field with full HP even with rocks up. Can also check and counter the occasional guy who stays in with Alakazam, fishing for SpD drops with Shadow Ball/Focus Blast, only to get back to full with wish and retaliate with Iron Head.

polidro (Politoed) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Protect

Obligatorily. Used to force out anything that trys to sub/set-up mostly. Toxic stalls and burns on occasion. Not much to say about the garden variety physically defensive Politoed.

:( (Tentacruel) (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 240 Def / 252 HP / 16 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
- Ice Beam

Rapid Spinner. Toxic Spikes comes in handy a lot more than i thought it would when i made this team. Completely walls Lucario and Conkledurr, which is nice because i don't have to throw ferrothorn under the bus in an attempt to counter fighting types. can also wall a boosting Scizor for a while whilst fishing for scald burns. I like to use rain dish in tandem with leech seed to force out anything that knows fire blast, only to whip out tentacruel to sponge the hit, come back to full hp, and fish for a burn on the incoming counter or get up a free layer of toxic spikes.

outrage switch-in (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
- Leech Seed

Primary physical wall. I opted into the second STAB of gyro ball over Stealth Rocks or Thunder Wave because I find it to be really useful. too many people underestimate how much bite a ferrothorn with practically no attack investment can have. Keeps away the myriad of garchomp/mence/dragonites locking themselves into outrage (as the name properly suggests), and with leech seed and rain support can take a few good fire blasts/hp fires.

Tom (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Volt Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Grass Knot
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

Primary revenge killer. I picked timid over modest because it hits plenty hard without the nature boost, and the extra speed comes in handy. I'm considering replacing focus blast with volt switch since Keldeo does a fine job with fighting STAB support, and i rarely find myself having/wanting to rely on its shotty accuracy. Grass Knot is a solid check to Gastrodon, should the more-favorable STAB power whip be unavailable for whatever reason.

i hate myself (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Standard Keldeo-R set. You already know what the deal is. The nickname is only because Keldeo is my least favorite poke in all of ou, and i hate myself for having to use him, but damn do i love it when he ends up being the best late-game sweeper a man could wish for. considering replacing hydro pump with surf because the extra power really isn't necessary after one or two calm minds plus rain, and again i don't like to rely on shotty accuracy.

so that's about it. what i've noticed is that this team has a very hard time dealing with other thundurus. Jolteon also poses a big threat, considering the 3 pokes i've got that have an electric weakness. Once Jirachi goes down, anything that knows thunder has a field day. Thanks in advance for the expert advice. Suggestions on how to fix this are welcome, and of course please rate! thanks, and have a good one.

 

[deadflame]

Hey, don't hate on yourself just because it's a bit generic. I can tell you that this team looks pretty good to me. The Electric weaknesses is countered by Ferrothorn and Thundurus-T, so no worries there, not to mention Jirachi can take a Thunder pretty well.

Why not split the EV's on Ferrothorn between Special Defense and Defense? Standard Ferrothorn EV's with Relaxed Nature, 252 HP, 88 Def, 168 SpD. Still has a ton of Defense, and this also allows it to take Draco Meteors and HP Fires in Rain a lot better.

For the love of god, never change Grass Knot on Thundurus-T. You need it for Gastrodon. I would also keep it for Hippowdon and Mammoswine, as well as Donphan, a clean 2HKO thanks to Sturdy.

I would consider HP Ghost on Keldeo over HP Ice, just because I see Jellicient doing good against your team once Ferrothorn and Thundurus-T are gone. You might also want to consider HP Electric for bulky waters so there's less pressure on Thundurus-T. Just nitpicky things, really, and it depends on preferences and what you want to hit.

Looking over at your team once more, I see Celebi being a problem to your team. No real answer to Celebi other than Hax from Jirachi, so I would change HP Ice on Keldeo to HP Bug. This destroys Celebi, especially offensive variants.


Overall, a very nice team, and best of luck to you.

 

[Madvillain]

I switched up HP Ice to HP Bug and Keldeo and it's working great so far. Psychic types never see it coming, and Reuniuculus is OHKO'd after two calm mind boosts, able to live an unboosted psychic with about 30%

thanks for the advice

 

[Azrael Alexander]

Ha, I battled you today and you beat me. :p It was a fun match, pretty close if I remember. Tom messed my day up. Nothing wrong with a standard team if it works! Wish I had some more constructive advice. Since you have HP Ice on two other Pokemon, maybe run protect instead of Ice Beam on Tentacruel? I've always used it to great effect with the Jellyfish, as it allows a free turn of Black Sludge/Rain Dish recovery while Toxic/Burn/Leech Seed whittles away at the opponent.