VGC ORAS Rain Team -- Successful

[Ben Munroe]

VGC 15 TEAM - No Rain No Gain

Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Scald

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No surprises here with Politoed. Alot of people seem to not like the Toad for the rain since it can be set up through prankster rain dance and in vgc with the re-introduction of cressellia rain dance has become more common. But Poli isn't all bad it has decent special bulk and stab scald boosted in the rain with that nice %30 chance to burn. That scald is a game winner it chunks many things that don't resist. Toxic is just a nice touch for Mega slowbro who walls it to all heck as well as many other tanks that resists its two attacking moves. Ice beam is really the reason i run Politoed, with enough investment in SPATK Poli can 1HKO the ever so meta: Mega salamence. Any suggestions would be welcomed, but poli feels very solid.
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Swampert (M) @ Swampertite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Hammer Arm
- Protect
- Earthquake
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Yes this is another pick that seems so predictable. To be honest i didn't want to use it when building my rain team but it got to a point where it was too good to pass up. Swampy has a mammoth attack stat and bulk that any other sweeper would die for, while still outspeeding most things that would kill it with ease. STAB Waterfall in the rain makes him a monster and with proper support from the rest of the team Mr. Swampy Swamp can nicely sweep teams. Ice punch is something i have heard works on him as it takes out many threats to him but i thought the STAB earthquake with a higher base power hitting both pokes in doubles could be used even better as the next Poke on my team is dedicated to taking out the swampy threats.
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Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
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Goodra or should i say Godra. This god can resist huge super effective hits while still dishing out the damage. A perfect lead into a sun team as Mega Charizard Y does not stand a chance against it. The problem i have with Goodra is - i use it to switch in to grass moves that are 4x effective against Swampy but the grass raises Gooeys attack stat where as here i have it special attacking. I was wondering if anyone out there had any other sets on the Goo Dragon that worked better. (Fire blast is used to take out ferrothorn its 1HKo outside the rain and 2HKO inside the rain nothing else seems to work really)
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Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
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THE CRIPPLER Beware all prankster users, Beware booster sweepers, Beware being locked into moves that make you want to Creme De la Scream. STAB volt switch STAB hydro pump in the rain trick the scarf onto the unwary, and Will-O-Wisp onto the physical sweepers its the perfect pokemon really? anyone else just in awe of its beauty? Pretty tanky too !
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Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Focus Blast
- Taunt

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I really wanted a Hurricane user and really Dragonite wasn't cutting it. While looking for a Pokemon for this slot i was using many fast legos mostly Thunder users. Riakou was one i really liked. It got to a point where i was just getting facerolled by trickroom users and even Rotom-W choice scarf locks where not crippling hard enough. I needed a taunt user and it came to me. Yes the SPATK is high but nothing that isnt wall-able but the STAB Hurricanes threat is not only the the %30 confuse chance but the reliabilty. While many rockslides have missed the Hurricane keeps on spamming. This being said the Focus blast has really let me down but there is nothing i can see to change it for (Superpower isnt available in oras ?) Anyway someone have a good idea? U turn is really for a quick THEY HAVE ROCKS GTFO :D
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Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Substitute
- Fake Out
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Croaky! I love him. People tell me to get rid of him but seriously i will give a Pokemon Ranch Mew if they can tell me a Fairy pokemon that can survive an unboosted gunk shot. I cannot think of any. Healed in the rain - Immune to water - Fake out abuser ITS AMAZBALLS pretty hot too tbh. Sucker punch and Protect where other options over substitute and feel free to argue this but i use toxicroak into teams that look like they will not be able to 1HKO the froggie so once the substitute is set up Drain punch sweep really.
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Thats my team feel free to comment on other options and your opinions id love to hear them thats really why im here - this team is medicore on showdown sitting around 1400 elo but its smashing the in game battle spot so thats why i find it Successful really because it is. Thanks guys bring you updates for this team and some new built teams as they come!

 

[redhatdude2]

My main recommendation is to maybe make the rotom defensive instead of SpD as you dont seem to have a physical tank.

 

[shaian]

Hey there, here are some quick changes that can be made to your team that I think will help it work better.

1. Politoed: Run mixed bulk on the Toed because Politoed has poor physical bulk, and many common physical attacks can easily handle the poor frog. A spread of 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD Calm nature should work for you. The HP + Def EV's always lives an Adamant MKang Return, and the SpD always lives a Timid LO Thundy-T Thunderbolt. As for the move slot options, I think you should run Perish Song instead of Toxic, as this works better against CroBro since it forces it out instead of trying to stall it, and also lets you Perish Trap late game when your opp only has 2 mons (assuming you have more than 2 as well).

2. Swampert: You should probably run Ice Punch instead of Hammer Arm as it gives you a decent response to Grass and Dragon types which have a decent matchup against the team in its current state, and Hammer Arm offers very little use outside of nailing normal types but you already have Toxicroak for fighting stab.

3. Goodra: Running Draco Meteor instead of Dragon Pulse is definitely a better option, mainly because it always ohko's other Dragons (barring Haban variants), and because 2 Draco Meteors does more damage than 2 Dragon Pulses, and in the fast paced and shorter length games of VGC, the greater damage output is much more beneficial than not having a stat drop (this is the reason every VGC team uses D Meteor over Pulse). Also switching Goodra to a spread of 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpA Modest Nature would better help your team, as it helps overcome Goodras poor physical defence. With your current spread, Goodra is susceptible to common moves like neutral Garchomps Dragon Claw and Kangaskhans Return, with the new one you live both of those, and you still keep all your common ohkos and 2hko's. However, if you don't want to switch the EV's, at the very least try out Draco Meteor, as that will drastically improve the team.

4. Rotom-W: The current EV spread isn't very efficient. Try out a spread of 252 HP / 12 Def / 76 SpA / 148 SpD / 20 Spe Calm Nature. This spread always ohkos 4 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame, always lives a Modest Charizard Y's Solarbeam, and always lives an Adamant Kangaskhans Return, and outruns things creeping around 108. Another key one is that it always ohkos standard Scarf Landorus-T, which 4 SpA doesn't. The Kangaskhan stat is honestly the most important one though, because normally Rotom-W mitigates it's physical side with the use of a Sitrus Berry and Protect (which I do think you should run instead), but you're not running that, making you quite susceptible on the defensive end.

5. Tornadus-T: Not much here, though if U-Turn is for purely scouting purposes, you could probably just opt for Timid instead of Hasty, since the loss of bulk is probably more important than the extra damage.

6. Toxicroak: You'd probably get more out of the frog if you ran 148 Spe, as this outruns Adamant Max Mega-Ttar who can pose problems for your team. Other than that, it's a pretty nifty idea, though I'm not sold on the idea of Toxicroak in doubles, but hey, if it works for you that's all that matters.

Good luck, and happy holidays n_n7

 

[Fluze3]

Nice rain team! You have quite standard pokemon that evidently would work well to accomplish the obliteration of the opposing team. However, like most rain teams, some threats are extremely hard to take care of. But, the changes for this team that I recommend are very minor, with one exception:

Firstly, change from Tornadus-T > Tornadus-I. Why do I suggest this? I know that it's slower and all, but it's a lot more powerful. Why's that important? Well, in a Speed Tier of 111, it's able to outspeed the Lati Twins, Terrakion, and Non-mega Gengar at Max Speed, which is a huge feat as it is. With the lack of Greninja in VGC because of its lack of bulk to withstand the tier, it basically outspeeds what it needs to outspeed to be successful in the metagame. Also, with 10 extra points in Special Attack, it's able to dent the opposing side a whole lot harder. Also, it speed ties Thundurus, meaning that it can Prankster Taunt it before it's able to spread paralysis to rain sweepers, which is the main flaw in Rain Teams.

Now, for some minor changes.
1. Replace Hammer Arm > Superpower for Swampert, or to Ice Punch. I disagree with using Ice Punch simply because Ferrothorn can wall you, as well as the rest of your team under Rain. Sure, Toxicroak can take care of him, but Paralysis/Leech Seed will render Toxicroak useless. However, Ice Punch hits Mega-Sceptile, Dragons and Landoge supereffectively, which is neat for coverage. But, in my opinion, Ferrothorn is more important than the latter pokemon.
2. Replace Swampert's IVs to 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe, which gives you some much-needed bulk while making sure you outspeed Mega-Sceptile and below.
3. Replace Focus Blast > Ice Beam on Goodra, to take care of Mega Sceptile and Landoge better, especially if you take up Superpower on Swampert.

Other than those changes, your team is quite solid. Well done.

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Tornadus @ Sharp Beak / Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- U-turn / Protect

 

[Ben Munroe]

Thanks guys ive been working on this team for a while! I love to read your opinions and you guys have helped alot Shaian you brought some really neat ideas that helped out alot and enjoyed working with the different ideas :) Redhatdude2 You raise a good point about the lack of pysical bulk and i did try having pysical tanks on my team but i figured most high pysical damage users i outspeed and cripple anyway the threats to my team where mainly ferrothorn and spattkers so i opted for more SPD but Shaians tweaks on the psyical bulk have kept me alive a bit longer. And finally Fluze3 I did like superpower on Swampy but after trying Ice punch i dont wanna leave it now haha! Tornadus-I has alot more damage and looks Alot more ugly but ill try it. to be honest i liked the speed - i liked regenerator and i feel like if i have prankster i MUST use a utility set but ill try yours ! Thanks guys you are all amazballs!