OU Playstyles - Week #03 [Rain Offense]

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LilOu

PO poopyhead
Approved by Haunter, Birkal and Huntofthelion​
OU Playstyles
By LilOu. With no collaboration of Stoned RG. Special thanks to Shurtugal.

Welcome to the OU discussion of the different playstyles! The main purpose of this thread is to choose a playstyle every week (I'll choose it) and you, (yes, you), are going to be able to comment, give your opinion and suggest pokemons that should be considered when making a team around the style [posting teams is also allowed, just keep in mind that this is not the RMT forums, so if you want to post a team try to make it short and use sprites of pokes, explain how does the team work and post replays if possible]. Obviously, your comments must have connection with the chosen style, as well as solid arguments of why your comment(s) are valid. With this, newer players can decide what playstyle they like most and, of course, more experienced players can also expand their knowledge. Remember to be friendly with other people; if you disagree with someone's opinion don't slam with an aggressive response, just let everyone know what you think in a kind way. The links to discussions of each playstyle will be posted in the OP so everyone can read it at anytime!

Don't be afraid of posting! If you have a great offense, stall, etc team, just think about what to say and go for it! Don't forget that participating in this kind of threads gives you opportunity to earn that awesome Community Contributor badge! Be careful of what do you post! Quality posts will be rewarded, but mediocre comments will be infracted. Do your best and I hope that you like to contribute this thread!


Summary of the rules (Must read):
  • Make quality posts. No one-lined posts.
  • Your comments must be about the weekly playstyle chosen.
  • No gimmicks. If you decided to post a team (or pokemon) don't suggest using pursuit Tauros to trap Celebi or Latios while there is an overall better option named Tyranitar.
  • Comment how the chosen style affects the current metagame and how it fairs in it.
  • Support your team's posts with replays if possible. Explanation of them are a must.
  • Having a wide point of view is needed. Don't post that stall sucks because you always lose to it.
  • Your new ideas must have strong arguments of why them should be considered.
  • This one is important: We don't want this to become a debate of: "this metagame is stale and has no diversity due to weather". This thread is here to make a discussion about the different playstyles, not to discharge all your hate against weather. Please, incoherent posts will be deleted and possibly penalized, so think about what are you going to write.


Past Discussions:



Week #03: Rain Offense


Drizzle. Politoed was blessed by Kyogre and now found it's place in OU. By far, Rain is the main weather here, boosting the power of some moves to infinite levels, giving full accuracy to devastating attacks and minimizing the weaknesses of walls such as Ferrothorn. What do you think about this playstyle?

***Guys, what I want to see here is discussion. It's ok to post sets, but posting sets is not the main purpose. If you want to suggest a Pokemon, I strongly recommend to first give your thoughts about the topic and THEN post your suggestion.
 

LilOu

PO poopyhead
Archive:


Keldeo-R @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVS: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power Ghost / Hidden Power Ice


Calm Mind Keldeo is great candidate when using Rain Offense. After setting up a Calm Mind Hydro Pump hits like several trucks. Secret Sword helps you take on Specially Defensive pokes like the pink blobs or things that resist Water moves. Hidden Power Ghost allows you to hit Jellicent who completely walls any Keldeo set while Hidden Power Ice gives you coverage against Dragons. Another option is using SubCM you would then drop Hidden Power Ghost or Ice for Substitute. However you are then stone walled by Jellicent so having something to deal with Jellicent would then be ideal.

Author: BlackRussian



Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 136 Spd / 120 HP / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Surf


Spec hydro pump hit incredibly hard that is difficult to switch in if you don't have strong resistance to water. The other moves are coverage in order to deal with some common switch in like ferro, latias, gastrodon, rotom-w...
The Ev's are to outspeed specially defensive rotom-w so you can 2KHO him with hp grass and open a way for your other rain sweepers. You can also use 4 hp / 252 spatk / 252 spd Timid if you want to outspeed breloom, dragonite, jolly scizor... and OKHO them before they kill you.

Author: Cyredax



Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Thunder
- Psyshock


Now, I find Latios to be a very effective option in Rain offense as well. Draco Meteor is a very powerful attack in general. The rain powers up Surf and gives him perfect accuracy on Thunder. He can either be a powerful wallbreaker or a speedy revenge killer. Watch out for Tyranitar, and he can prove to be very deadly.

Author: Polywrath



Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Ice Punch
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Cross Chop


A classic Swords Dance set, with Max Attack and an Adamant Nature, and Max Speed for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, Dry Skin is an excellent ability as I said before, allows you to recover the Life Orb recoil. Ice Punch allows you to KO all unboosted Dragons including Dragonite and Haxorus. Sucker Punch is a necessity on this set as you are otherwise OHKO'd by Reuniclus and the Lati twins otherwise. I prefer using Cross Chop instead of Drain Punch, as despite its shaky Accuracy, it can put a dent in a lot of Pokemon, especially Jirachi.

Author: Dr Ciel



Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunder
- Psyshock / Water Pulse / Flash Cannon


Peharps Jirachi is one of the best sweepers for rain teams because he is able to setup on many Pokémon like non-Perish Song specially defensive Celebi, as well as Latias (and almost always win the CM war against her due to Jirachi's double resistance to Psyshock) and even the uncommon Alakazam. Although rain diminishes Jirachi's Fire-type weakness, it makes Water-type attacks hurt a lot more, so be very wary of trying to use bulky Water-types as setup fodder. Thunder is very powerful and hurt a lot on rain, and has amazing neutral coverage with the second attacking move. It also comes with a huge chance to paralyze; that means that even if your opponent is not hurt that much by this move, it will at least cripple the opponent. Psyshock is the recommended secondary move to win CM wars, to defeat most special walls, and to easily deal with Toxicroak and Breloom, both which are surprisingly difficult opponents for rain teams. Water Pulse does not have good coverage with Thunder, but comes with a 40% chance to confuse, as well as coverage against the Ground-types that are immune to Thunder (with exception of Gastrodon). With confusion and paralysis, your opponent will be hard pressed to have a chance to sucessfully attack. Flash Cannon does not have the same properties that Psyshock have, but at least hits some things that neither Psyshock nor Thunder can hit neutrally, such as the Lati twins, and Celebi. It also defeats Tyranitar, which is a pain to deal with if Jirachi does not have many boosts.

Author: Dark Fallen Angel



Ferrothorn @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD | 0 Spe IVs
Relaxed Nature
~ Spikes
~ Leech Seed / Stealth Rock
~ Gyro Ball / Protect / Thunder Wave
~ Power Whip


Straight from the analysis. While Ferrothorn does not scream "offense" by any means; it's great typing and defenses can grant any team a sturdy defensive backbone. It quad-resists grass and resists electric, two types that rain teams usually struggle against; and its crippling weakness to fire attacks is lessened while raining. Spikes are always useful, especially on a 'mon that can repeatedly come in and set them up like Ferro. On top of that, he can act as a pseudo spin blocker with Rocky Helmet, stripping off an astounding 29% HP off an enemy if they rapid spin. Leech Seed provides Ferrothorn some recovery, and turns him into an annoyance to face. Gyro Ball is very powerful for a defensive poke; with STAB, 120 BP and coming off Ferro's 94 base attack. Protect can grant him an additional 18% health combined with seeds and leftovers, just don't be too obvious. Thunder Wave prevents set-up sweepers from ruining your day. Power whip ruins bulky waters that could give rain teams trouble, like Gastrodon.

Author: ClubbingSealCub



Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SDef
Calm Nature (+SpDef,-Atk)
- Scald
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
- Ice Beam


This is pretty much the best Jellicent set for handling rain, as it easily walls Keldeo and offensive Politoed variants. Ice Beam should generally be used over Shadow Ball to ht Dragons. Scald and Recover are fairly obvious, while the choice between Toxic and WoW is preference really. You should generally run WoW, however, as Toxicroak has his way with you if you run Toxic.

Author: Organization Member XIV



Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect


I know I post this thing everywhere, but Sharpedo really is quite an effective sweeper, despite not being OU. Due to Sharpedo's blistering speed after a few turns, once priority users are removed (which is pretty easy to do with a Gothitelle, who can also remove the few counters Sharpedo actually has), you pretty much have to rely on something that can tank a hit then KO back, but that's easier said than then when you're up against an Adamant, base 120 Pokemon, with a Life Orb boosted, rain boosted Waterfall, which also has a flinch chance. This set just has dual STABs for obvious reasons, Protect grabs you an extra speed boost, and Zen Headbutt is for Keldeo, Toxicroak, etc.

Author: The Great Mighty Doom



Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) / Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spd
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb / Facade


Although it doesn't directly benefit from rain, SubPunch Breloom enjoys the ability to live weaker fire moves and it synergies well with common rain Pokemon. (Think Offensive synergy - Politoed is weak to Electric but, resists Ice. Breloom is weak to ice but, resists electric.) Not only does this Pokemon, in general, fit in on Rain, but SubPunch Poison Heal Breloom has the capabilities to single-handedly beat some stall teams or clean late game, once some quicker threats / status absorbers have been eliminated, thanks to a few good team supporters. Also, the surprise factor - because everyone thinks Technician Breloom - is overwhelming. This is why I have facade listed. It does a ton to Thundurus-T, Dragonite, Lati@s, Amoonguss, and Venusaur (although it is left vulnerable to ghost types.) Once it gets a sub up, or predicts a switch, it can 2HKO / heavily cripple most, if not all, of its usual counters / checks (I suppose it is kind of like running Stone Edge on Technician Breloom but, it has more power - 140 > 100. An example is, with +spd and Facade, Breloom outspeeds and 2hkos Dragonite - with rocks (or any prior damage as long as it doesn't switch in on Multiscale. It also does about 65% to incoming Latioses.)
All in all, a heavy hitter, annoyer, stallbreaker, and great poke - in general - SubPunch Breloom definetly deserves a mention amongst Rain offensive (surprise) threats!

Author: Finchinator



Feraligatr @ Mystic Water / Lum Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua jet
- Superpower / Crunch


gator is a monster. in rain, he's extremely powerful. but in rain with torrent activated, it's just unfair. with a swords dance under his belt, there's almost nothing that can actually stop him, especially with a couple hazards under your belt. ev spread, nature, and moveset are all pretty standard. i prefer having both waterfall and aqua jet at my disposal, the latter is definitely necessary, but if you wanted to get cute i guess aqua jet / crunch / superpower would also work for the last two moveslots. there are good arguments on both sides for superpower vs crunch, but what it really comes down to is whether you want to kill ferrothorn or jellicent. take your pick. item is kind of arbitrary, as long as you're not one of the people who runs life orb you're fine. mystic water gives a nice little power boost to 2/3rds of your attacks, but lum berry can be a savior in the right scenario. what's really nice about 252 hp gator is that almost everything gets it into torrent range but not much kills it. terrakion cc, keldeo ss, and landorus eq all put gator somewhere between 0% and 33% after rocks. good stuff, especially when you really need torrent activated for a sweep.

Author: Lavos Spawn



Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Substitute


sub DD gyara has been a huge asset to my offensive rain teams. When its counters are down you can bring in this beast. sub prevents walls such as ferrothorn, gastrodon, and jelicent from crippling you with status along with a one-use "shield". After that, you can proceed to dance as many times as possible then plow through everyone while getting more attack boosts after you take out a pokemon. Waterfall becomes gyara's tool of destruction that will deal tons of damage to most non-defensive pokemon even if they resist it(salamence and even Hydreigon take their share of damage). bounce is that special pre-evolution move that gyara has as his only flying STAB(unless you're an ADV guy who uses HP flying). While it doesnt destroy as much as waterfall, it can be used to hit things that gyara can't use waterfall to kill(Celebi, ferrothorn if you have attacks boosts or its its low).
Leftovers is there to get some recovery to make it harder to be revenged by priority attacks though you can swap it out for another item like a lum berry(double status wall!) or a muscle band or something like that. As I said earlier sub DD gyara mows through teams like Rotom-C if the opportunity is given. Sadly, its completely countered by pokemon who can wall it before it gets boosts and then phaze him out. Skarmory is the prime example of that(hippo and donphan can do the job ok but not after a few boosts). 2 other counters include: Toxicroak(can abuse the immunity to waterfall and can sub the bounce) and Vaporeon(bulky and can abuse protect and even roar!).

Author: Zeta5



Azumarill @ Choice Band
Trait: Huge Power
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Ice Punch
- Waterfall
- Superpower
- Aqua Jet


If you're looking for a Pokemon that is an amazing revenge killer in rain and one that has tons of raw power, look no further than Choice Band Azumarill. This bunny may not look like much, but trust me, that 654 Attack stat is no joke. The EV's are near standard, as the 44 Speed EV's are to outspeed 0 Speed Blissey, which can otherwise hit him with a nasty status move. Ice Punch is to hit dragons such as Haxorus, Salamence and has a 78% chance to OHKO standard Dragonite with Multiscale intact. Waterfall is the crux of this set, hitting everything that doesn't resist it for tremendous damage when factoring in STAB and Rain. Superpower is for getting past that annoying Ferrothorn which otherwise walls this set cold. Finally, Aqua Jet is for picking off weakened Pokemon.

Author: Dr Ciel



Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 152 HP / 252 SAtk / 104 Spd
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Agility
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]


Double Dance Thundurus-T is one of the deadliest boosting sweepers. He can use Agility to outspeed offensive teams and sweep with a Modest nature base 145 Special Attack stat. He can use Nasty Plot to sweep defensive teams as +2 Thunder has a chance to 2HKO even Blissey if Stealth Rock are on the field. If he's able to get up both boosts, then it's not looking to good for the opponent. Thunder is tremendously powerful and can be spammed with 100% accuracy under rain and Hidden Power Ice is the suggested coverage move to form the BoltBeam combination. The 152 HP EVs given Thundurus-T some surprisingly decent bulk and the Speed isn't that necessary as Agility will alleviate those Speed issues. I use Leftovers for a bit more longevity and an easier time setting up but you can opt for Life Orb if you want to go for a stronger albeit more reckless option.

Author: Novaray



Gastrodon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 124 HP/252 SAtk/132 SDef
Nature: Modest
-Surf
-Earth Power
-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power Grass


Gastrodon provides a niche that nobody else can really fill on a rain team, and that is the ability to take on the boosted water type attacks coming at you, along with preventing the opponent from getting momentum by constantly volt switching all around. Gastrodon stops Rotom-Wash dead cold, unless it's packing the very rare Hidden Power Grass (Most that run hidden power run ice in order to check dragons), and with a +1 from a storm drain, Rotom-W will be 2hko'd by HP Grass. You can opt to use life orb on offensive Gastrodon, but the best ev spread for that would probably be 104 Hp/252 SAtk/152 SDef in order to have a life orb number. Defensive Gastrodon is able to check one of the biggest rain sweepers, Thundurus-T. In my opinion, Gastrodon, especially an offensive variant, is a great member to have on a rain team, and one to prepare for when building a rain team, just because of how much it screws over other rain teams, and how much it can screw yours over.

Author: Zork



Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin


Starmie used to be one of the poster boys of Rain Offense in BW1,being used in the most successful teams of this playstyle in the metagame,such as Stone Cold's Reflections,BKC's Art of Ruin,Iconic's Eriatika and such.In BW2 the introduction of Torn-T and Keldeo gave stiff competition to Starmie which hurt it's popularity as well as Genesect's U-turn spamming.But with torn-t and Gene now banned,Starmie is once again a threatning Rain sweeper.It has some notable advantages over it's rival Keldeo,notably the extra base speed with lets Starmie outspeed Latios,Latias,Tornadus in addition to outspeeding base 108's comfortably.It makes up for the lack of power compared to Keldeo by elemental coverage moves such as Thunder and Ice Beam and the ability to provide spin support.
 


Keldeo-R @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVS: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power Ghost / Hidden Power Ice

Calm Mind Keldeo is great candidate when using Rain Offense. After setting up a Calm Mind Hydro Pump hits like several trucks. Secret Sword helps you take on Specially Defensive pokes like the pink blobs or things that resist Water moves. Hidden Power
Ghost allows you to hit Jellicent who completely walls any Keldeo set while Hidden Power Ice gives you coverage against Dragons. Another option is using SubCM you would then drop Hidden Power Ghost or Ice for Substitute. However you are then stone walled by Jellicent so having something to deal with Jellicent would then be ideal.
 
Rain offense are a very poweful playstyle because they can take advantage of their Water-type moves boosted from the rain and because they can use Hurricane and Thunder, which are a great move with 120 of base power with 100% of accuracy. Keldeo, Thundurus-T and Tornadus are all fantastic pokèmon to use on a Rain Offense, the combination of Keldeo + Tornadus is really common nowadays and they have usually Choice Specs Politoed to lure Keldeo and Tornadus' check; Choice Specs Politoed can weaken Rotom-W and then Tornadus can sweep easily, for example. An underrrated choice for Rain Offense teams is Azumarill which has a great priority move called Aqua Jet and it's a really good revenge-killer for threats such as Volcarona, Terrakion, Landorus and so on and it's a good late game sweeper too when its counters and checks are dead or weakened. A good support for Rain Offense is Dugtrio because it can trap and kill Tyranitar and Ninetales which are quite annoying for any Rain Offense with their ability called Sand Stream and Drought respectively and because it supports some sweepers which are common on a Rain Offense too, it traps and kills Jirachi to support Tornadus for example. Since Tornadus-T is banned probably Rain Offense teams have lost much fire power but Tornadus-I is an available choice too with its high statistic of Special Attack, it has also some useful support moves such as Taunt, Rain Dance and Tailwind which with Prankster are all very good to support other sweepers. In short, Rain Offense is a good typology of team even if the powerful Tornadus-T is banned from OU now since it has still very good sweepers and wall-breaker such as Keldeo, Thundurus-T, Tornadus-I, Garchomp, Toxicroak and so on. As last thing, I'd like to post some nice set for a Rain Offense team:


Tornadus (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Tailwind / Rain Dance


Keldeo-R @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Ice]


Thundurus-T (M) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 156 HP / 252 SAtk / 100 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]


Garchomp (F) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
 
You can't have rain offense without this frog :


Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 136 Spd / 120 HP / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Surf

Spec hydro pump hit incredibly hard that is difficult to switch in if you don't have strong resistance to water. The other moves are coverage in order to deal with some common switch in like ferro, latias, gastrodon, rotom-w...
The Ev's are to outspeed specially defensive rotom-w so you can 2KHO him with hp grass and open a way for your other rain sweepers.
You can also use 4 hp / 252 spatk / 252 spd Timid if you want to outspeed breloom, dragonite, jolly scizor... and OKHO them before they kill you.


Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Perish Song / Encore

An other set for rain offense is scarf toed. Hydro pump + surf give you the choice between power or accuracy, when ice beam is here to kill breloom, dnite and other dragons.
Perish song / Encore stop any set up pokemon and bp chain if you are in trouble.
 
On most Keldeo sets I generally find icy wind to be much more useful than HP ice. Hitting faster pokemon on the switch and slowing them down to be hit again is very useful.

Now, I find Latios to be a very effective option in Rain offense as well. Draco Meteor is a very powerful attack in general. The rain powers up Surf and gives him perfect accuracy on Thunder. He can either be a powerful wallbreaker or a speedy revenge killer. Watch out for Tyranitar, and he can prove to be very deadly. An expect belt bluffing set like the following is very useful mid game to get surpise kills and useful late game a a sweeper as well:



Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Thunder
- Psyshock

The choice scarf set would look extremely similar, except with a choice scarf instead of a Expert Bely obviously.

I think Rain Offense is a very popular play style because of the fast and powerful sweepers it brings that really don't need much set up to be effective. Its also a very fast paced play style which makes it fun to play with.
 
Ooh, time to buck the trend. No sets with this post, just want to get my thoughts out there.

Rain is the best playstyle in the game right now. Its abusers (Keldeo, Tentacruel, Ferrothorn, Thundurus-T) are incredibly powerful before rain, they get access to awesome stuff like Rain Dish (the only equivalent is Ice Body), and you can run the two best defensive types in the game, Steel and Water, with Steel losing one of its few weaknesses (Bronzong in the rain is only hit neutrally at any time outside neutralizing Levitate) and Water-types get double STAB. It's a testament to how much better rain is that we banned Swift Swim + Drizzle but not Sand Rush + Sand Stream or Chlorophyll + Drought.

And no, not because "Swift Swim has better abusers." Compare Kingdra, Kabutops, and Ludicolo to Venusaur, Lilligant, and Sawsbuck. The Chlorophyll abusers have better stats, boosting moves, and attacking movepools, for the most part. Heatran and the blobs are the lone checks to Venusaur and Lilligant, but they're only checks because mixed Venusaur exists and both Venusaur and Lilligant carry Sleep Powder and very powerful boosting moves in Growth and Quiver Dance. Skarmory and Bronzong exist to check Sawsbuck, but boosted Jump Kick hurts.

Meanwhile, Ferrothorn is serious trouble for every Swift Swimmer, with only Focus Blast for Ludicolo and Low Kick or Superpower for Kabutops to get rid of it by itself. Jellicent doesn't like boosted Stone Edges Giga Drains, or repeated Draco Meteors, but otherwise completely shuts down every Swift Swimmer. Toxicroak doesn't care about anything but Draco Meteor, and can set up with Swords Dance, Bulk Up, and Substitute to take advantage of them.
 

Dr Ciel

Banned deucer.
Rain offense is a very interesting concept indeed and I believe one of the best one out there is Swords Dance Toxicroak. Swords Dance Toxicroak is an excellent choice for Rain offense teams and should always be considered when using teams like these. Dry Skin is an excellent Ability, which I shall explain in much further detail later in this post. Here is the set.​


Toxicroak @ Life Orb Lv. 100 -- Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant - EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Ice Punch
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Cross Chop​

A classic Swords Dance set, with Max Attack and an Adamant Nature, and Max Speed for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, Dry Skin is an excellent ability as I said before, allows you to recover the Life Orb recoil. Ice Punch allows you to KO all unboosted Dragons including Dragonite and Haxorus. Sucker Punch is a necessity on this set as you are otherwise OHKO'd by Reuniclus and the Lati twins otherwise. I prefer using Cross Chop instead of Drain Punch, as despite its shaky Accuracy, it can put a dent in a lot of Pokemon, especially Jirachi.​
 

Deluks917

Ride on Shooting Star
I find there is a big tension in agressive rain teams. On one hand you want to use specs/scarf politoed since it presents offensive pressure. But defensive toed is much better at keeping up rain (scarf toed especially si really frail). This is espeically important if you run hurricane/thunder on your other mons.

Ferrothorn also is obviously very good at setting up hazards and is strong overall. But ferrothorn can definitely cause you to lose offense momentum. These sort of tensions make building a truly offensive rain team challenging imo.
 
don't forget about gyarados. the subdd and scarf sets both hit like trucks under rain, especially if they've got a moxie boost. gyara's got great synergy with another underrated rain abuser, jolteon, meaning that jolt can pass it subs very easily.
 

Dark Fallen Angel

FIDDLESTICKS IS ALSO GOOD ON MID!

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunder
- Psyshock / Water Pulse / Flash Cannon

Peharps Jirachi is one of the best sweepers for rain teams because he is able to setup on many Pokémon like non-Perish Song specially defensive Celebi, as well as Latias (and almost always win the CM war against her due to Jirachi's double resistance to Psyshock) and even the uncommon Alakazam.

Although rain diminishes Jirachi's Fire-type weakness, it makes Water-type attacks hurt a lot more, so be very wary of trying to use bulky Water-types as setup fodder. Thunder is very powerful and hurt a lot on rain, and has amazing neutral coverage with the second attacking move. It also comes with a huge chance to paralyze; that means that even if your opponent is not hurt that much by this move, it will at least cripple the opponent. Psyshock is the recommended secondary move to win CM wars, to defeat most special walls, and to easily deal with Toxicroak and Breloom, both which are surprisingly difficult opponents for rain teams. Water Pulse does not have good coverage with Thunder, but comes with a 40% chance to confuse, as well as coverage against the Ground-types that are immune to Thunder (with exception of Gastrodon). With confusion and paralysis, your opponent will be hard pressed to have a chance to sucessfully attack. Flash Cannon does not have the same properties that Psyshock have, but at least hits some things that neither Psyshock nor Thunder can hit neutrally, such as the Lati twins, and Celebi. It also defeats Tyranitar, which is a pain to deal with if Jirachi does not have many boosts.

--------------------

I like rain offense as it is very popular and enable you to more effectively use Pokémon that other weathers, like sun or sandstorm, are hard pressed to fit on their team, such as Breloom or Thundurus-T. However, rain offense has flaws that make me prefer other playstyles like sand offense. For obvious reasons, Rain cannot effectively use Fire-types, except a few that have special things that enable them to be used on rain (such as Moltres and Volcarona, but both have a crippling weakness to Stealth Rock) - this is the same reason why rain teams do never use Fire-type attacks on their non-Fire-type Pokémon. This means that there are some threats that are difficult for rain teams to deal with, such as Celebi or Ferrothorn, and some threats like Scizor, must be dealt with by rain-boosted Water-type attacks. Gastrodon is also painful threat to rain, which is a shame because Gastrodon is an awful Pokémon otherwise.

This is not to say that rain offense is a bad playstyle, as it is actually one of the best, if not the best. Water-type attacks have amazing neutral coverage, and doubling their power makes them so deadly that even many Pokémon that resist them take heavy damage. Also, many Pokémon that resist Water will be worn down in the long run. With this boost, as well as being able to use other-wise innacurate, but powerful attacks, such as Thunder and Hurricane, makes Rain the easiest and one of the best playstyles to run.
 

Chou Toshio

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Swift Swim users are more fearsome than Chlorophyll ones because Water is an amazing STAB type where as Grass is a crappy one. Grass is resisted by half the types in the game, and no matter what it pairs, can't get even close to perfect coverage with just 1 other coverage move.

Of course, there's the fact that Sun doesn't boost Grass attacks, which is huge. However, SS being better than Chloro isn't just about Rain > Run, but that Water is one of the best offensive STAB types in the game, where as Grass one of the crappiest.

Grass is great as a hidden power or situation-specific coverage move for non-grass types that need to kill ground/water pokes. As a main attacking STAB, it's probably inferior Steel, and only a bit better than Poison (if at all better).
 

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
Iron Barbs
252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD || 0 Spe IVs
- Relaxed
~ Spikes
~ Leech Seed / Stealth Rock
~ Gyro Ball / Protect / Thunder Wave
~ Power Whip

Straight from the analysis. While Ferrothorn does not scream "offense" by any means; its great typing and defenses can grant any team a sturdy defensive backbone. It quad-resists grass and resists electric, two types that rain teams usually struggle against; and its crippling weakness to fire attacks is lessened while raining.

Spikes are always useful, especially on a 'mon that can repeatedly come in and set them up like Ferro. On top of that, he can act as a pseudo spin blocker with Rocky Helmet, stripping off an astounding 29% HP off an enemy if they rapid spin. Leech Seed provides Ferrothorn some recovery, and turns him into an annoyance to face. Gyro Ball is very powerful for a defensive poke; with STAB, 120 BP and coming off Ferro's 94 base attack. Protect can grant him an additional 18% health combined with seeds and leftovers, just don't be too obvious. Thunder Wave prevents set-up sweepers from ruining your day. Power whip ruins bulky waters that could give rain teams trouble, like Gastrodon.
 

Chou Toshio

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^absolutely. Ferro is a needed check against Kingdra, and its spikes/SR do for rain offense what Deo-D's do for hyper offense.
 
Two supporters that are key to rain offense are ferrothorn and donphan. Donphan sounds weird but many skilled rain offense players will agree it is practically indispensable. Using a toxicroak is usually next in line followed by a dragon, or thats how I do it. The top 5 water sweepers are feraligatr, keldeo, starmie, gyarados, azumarill respectively. However specs gastrodon, empoleon, crawdaunt, Swampert, Subsplit/specs Rotom-w, vaporeon, and sharpedo can work as well. I always include a bulky ground type in rain teams or any teams. Donphan or landorus-t are the primary choices, but hippowdon can work sometimes with massive physical defense. Removing ferrothorn is very helpful to many water types, although they carry fighting moves. Toxicroak, breloom, keldeo, conkeldurr, etc. can remove him. Jolteon and thundurus-t are the only usable electric types, jolteon is really neat because it can pass subs to gyarados on earthquakes and it can volt absorb rotom's volt switch. Both struggle with ferrothorn though. SubCM jirachi is kind of a noob mon with garchomp running around. Stealth rock users are ferrothorn, jirachi, skarmory, donphan, forretress, landorus-t, garchomp, hippowdon, terrakion, bronzong. Double dance thundurus is a very good rain sweeper also, because it can beat SpD rotom-w, latios, and ferrothorn. Also tornadus is good and deserves more usage- get it out of UU! It hates SpD rotom though and those are everywhere. I have found it works well with breloom, particularily subpunch variants.I think ultimately the water type chosen defines the team. Then add a steel type, a fighting type, a dragon, a ground type and you're good to go!

My rain teams are:
Politoed/Ferrothorn/Donphan/Gyarados/Hydreigon/Toxicroak
Politoed/Skarmory/Feraligatr/Donphan/Toxicroak/Latios
Politoed/Tornadus/Breloom/Ferrothorn/Donphan/Thundurus-T
and more of the same build.
 
When talking about fighting Rain Offense, Jellicent is another great Pokemon to use, and is a great partner for Ferrothorn. Both form a very solid defensive core against Rain Offense, as things are needed to wall common Rain Pokes such as Keldeo.

Jellicent@Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
252 HP, 36 Def, 220 SpDef
Calm Nature (+SpDef,-Atk)
Scald
Recover
Will-O-Wisp/Toxic
Ice Beam

This is pretty much the best Jellicent set for handling rain, as it easily walls Keldeo and offensive Politoed variants. Ice Beam should generally be used over Shadow Ball to ht Dragons. Scald and Recover are fairly obvious, while the choice between Toxic and WoW is preference really. You should generally run WoW, however, as Toxicroak has his way with you if you run Toxic.
 

Joeyboy

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I have a dual opinion of Rain offense.

On one hand its awesome! The passive boost Drizzle gives is almost incomparable to anything else in the game of Pokemon, even without Swift Swim. Boosted Water-type attacks become insane nukes and the Pokemon wielding them almost always have tons of other fun toys that allow them to wreck havoc on the metagame. Plus Thunders and Hurricanes become serious business, especially for non-weather teams who can't rely on simply changing the weather.

Now on the other hand, you have to run Politoed. Now I know it gets said a lot but Politoed isn't very good, an argument can be made that he's decent but theres no argument that the only reason to run him is for Drizzle. But not only is Politoed a mediocre Pokemon, by running it you severely cripple your overall team building; plus your team then tends to focus on Politoed's Drizzle as a linchpin strategy. When you add Drizzle to your team you're adding a pure Water-type Pokemon with very average stats onto your team, a team that then tends to want at least one other Water-type on it. This is where Rain Stall runs into its problem, ideally it'd want both Tentacruel and Jellicent as Rapid Spinner and Spin Blocker respectively, but with Politoed on the team a decision must be made that usually ends with Rain Stall not running a Spin Blocker. :/ I know I just talked about Rain Stall but I just brought it up to prove a point, a point thats clear in Rain Offense too. With Rain Offense you need Politoed, but then you have to choose between Gyarados or Keldeo or maybe Starmie? You're choosing a subpar Pokemon in Politoed over others for the benefits it brings. But those benefits aren't guranteed. Other players may bring over weathers, thats when Politoed's "averageness" shows. All of a sudden your team doesn't look like a team of six deadly Pokemon but five deadly Pokemon and a Politoed. Sure maybe it might revenge a Dragonite, tank a Bullet Punch, or fire off one big ol' Hydro Pump but can anyone tell me that they'd not rather run Keldeo over Politoed's spot? Of course you would! Keldeos great, Politoeds really not.

I find that Offense really needs all six of its Pokemon to be on the ball and relying on Politoed is a huge buzz kill for me. That said, I do and will still continue to use Rain Offense as I always have, but I gotta say that I honestly find weatherless offense teams like Smurf.'s recent RMT to be stronger and more useful over the long haul. Typical Rain Offense just plain loses to good Sand Stall and that just stinks!
 

Electrolyte

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Now on the other hand, you have to run Politoed. Now I know it gets said a lot but Politoed isn't very good, an argument can be made that he's decent but theres no argument that the only reason to run him is for Drizzle. But not only is Politoed a mediocre Pokemon, by running it you severely cripple your overall team building; plus your team then tends to focus on Politoed's Drizzle as a linchpin strategy. When you add Drizzle to your team you're adding a pure Water-type Pokemon with very average stats onto your team, a team that then tends to want at least one other Water-type on it. This is where Rain Stall runs into its problem, ideally it'd want both Tentacruel and Jellicent as Rapid Spinner and Spin Blocker respectively, but with Politoed on the team a decision must be made that usually ends with Rain Stall not running a Spin Blocker. :/ I know I just talked about Rain Stall but I just brought it up to prove a point, a point thats clear in Rain Offense too. With Rain Offense you need Politoed, but then you have to choose between Gyarados or Keldeo or maybe Starmie? You're choosing a subpar Pokemon in Politoed over others for the benefits it brings. But those benefits aren't guranteed. Other players may bring over weathers, thats when Politoed's "averageness" shows. All of a sudden your team doesn't look like a team of six deadly Pokemon but five deadly Pokemon and a Politoed. Sure maybe it might revenge a Dragonite, tank a Bullet Punch, or fire off one big ol' Hydro Pump but can anyone tell me that they'd not rather run Keldeo over Politoed's spot? Of course you would! Keldeos great, Politoeds really not.

I find that Offense really needs all six of its Pokemon to be on the ball and relying on Politoed is a huge buzz kill for me. That said, I do and will still continue to use Rain Offense as I always have, but I gotta say that I honestly find weatherless offense teams like Smurf.'s recent RMT to be stronger and more useful over the long haul. Typical Rain Offense just plain loses to good Sand Stall and that just stinks!
Although I agree with your statement that weatherless offensive is a lot more flexible and powerful, I think Rain offense is just as potent, and I disagree with your comment that Politoed is subpar and that Rain isn't as great as non weather because it must focus around such a subpar pokemon. One pf the reasons why Rain is such a dominant force in the metagame is because despite the fact that Politoed is just an average pokemon, it still has better stats / typing than Ninetales, and a type / power advantage over most Sand teams. All you need to do is subdue the opponent's weather, and your advantages will soar. That's another reason why Rain is still a good field effect to build offense on- because Rain's water type boost gives it an advantage against Sand and Sun, it is not very hard for Rain offense to win weather wars, and more than not Politoed does not drag the team down.

And against non weather, Rain really shines. Sure, politoed may be subpar but the boost it gives to even just two or three pokemon more than make up for this. (thank god it's not Ninetales too.) The ability to spam 120 BP moves with awesome side effects without drawbacks. The ability to muscle past even resistors utilizing the water type boost Rain gives. The ability to overcome fire type weaknesses. All of these things make Rain a very dangerous weather as well as a very viable way to run offense.
 
Outside of Ferrothorn, how do you guys deal with opposing Kingdra used to counter Rain? I've only ever built one good Rain team and even with Ferro, Kingdra gave me issues and made me afraid to set up my own Rain until it was weakened sufficiently.

Another thing that gave me surprising amounts of trouble was SpDef Sunny Day Ninetales. It was surprisingly bulky, and tough to switch into if Sun was up and Politoed was already out. Nothing really likes switching into a Will-o-Wisp on Rain teams, and you can't negate the possible Solar Beam because Politoed is already out. Ferrothorn can't switch in for obvious reason, unless you're feeling particularly ballsy. The most important thing for me in this situation is getting rid of Xatu/Donphan so that I can get/keep my Rocks up. Landorus-T doesn't really have issues with either, because Donphan's Ice Shard barely 3HKOs at -1. I used a mixed set with HP Ice, Earthquake, U-Turn and Stealth rock combined with a Weavile which usually led to me keeping Rocks up, and having a much better chance at winning the weather war. Weavile is also a very nice last-resort check to Chlorophyll sweepers.
 
You know, everybody here is basically implying that all rain teams must have Politoed, but it is actually not true. Rain teams can function without Politoed, provided that there are two or three reliable Rain setters on your team. Of course, against Politoed teams, you are saved a great deal of setup, and can just begin plowing through the opponent's team with Swift Swim sweepers.

Here is one of my favorite non-Politoed rain setters:

Deoxys-D @ Damp Rock
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk/0 SpA
Nature: Calm
-Rain Dance
-Recover
-Magic Coat
-Taunt/Stealth Rock

Deoxys-D has a great movepool, and with other Deoxys formes banned, this is the only Deoxys forme that can use it in OU. Rain Dance + Damp Rock allows Deoxys-D to reliably set up rain, especially since very little can OHKO it. Recover is a must since Leftovers are absent, and is a great move in general. Magic Coat reflects back Toxic, entry hazards, Taunt, and Roar/Whirlwind, which is very useful provided you can predict correctly. Taunt blocks the effectiveness of many opposing leads, but also must be used with top prediction. Alternatively, Stealth Rock can be used to guarantee getting entry hazards up (outside of Magic Coat/faster Taunt/Magic Bounce).

Tornadus (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Atk/252 SpA/252 Spe
Nature: Naive
-Rain Dance
-Hurricane
-Focus Blast
-U-turn

Unlike Deoxys-D, this is a very offensive rain setter. It has a +1 Rain Dance, which allows it to set up rain before being KOed (bar a OHKO Extremespeed, Fake Out, etc.). Hurricane allows Tornadus to abuse the rain itself immediately, with high speed and special attack, with perfect accuracy and a 30% confusion rate. Focus Blast can be used to hit Ferrothorn, Tyranitar (on the switch), Skarmory, and so on. Just watch for the 70% accuracy (if only Aura Sphere had better distribution). Lastly- U-turn serves multiple functions: one, it lets Tornadus be mixed. Second, it allows Tornadus to scout for a predicted switch (e.g., U-turn to Toxicroak/Breloom/Scizor on an expected Tyranitar switch). Third, it allows Tornadus to switch directly to a rain sweeper such as Kingdra while dealing damage.

There are many others, but those are two of the best. One final note: the only real reason to use Rain Dance over auto-rain is to be able to abuse Swift Swim with Kingdra, Seismitoad, Kabutops, etc. Politoed's pure power in the form of STAB Hydro Pump is still enough reason to keep using it for auto-rain.
 

Dr Ciel

Banned deucer.
Outside of Ferrothorn, how do you guys deal with opposing Kingdra used to counter Rain? I've only ever built one good Rain team and even with Ferro, Kingdra gave me issues and made me afraid to set up my own Rain until it was weakened sufficiently.

More content coming when I get the time.
Well, one Pokemon I like to use is Special Defensive Gastrodon against opposing Kingdra. Gastrodons massive Special bulk and access to Toxic can cripple every Kingdra set, bar the Substitute + Dragon Dance one. Storm Drain completely shuts down Kingdras Water STABs, while it can take on its Dragon STABs quite nicely, and it also has access to Recover, an excellent move to help Toxic-Stall it out. Another one is Special Defensive Rotom-W, who can cripple the Sub + DD sets and can handle the Specs set nicely with it's great natural bulk. Lastly, there are the always obvious bulky Grass types, such as Amoonguss, which can Spore the non DD variants, Celebi, which can cripple with Thunder Wave and hit it with a STAB Leaf Storm, Giga Drain. However, they have to be wary of a Specs/LO Draco Meteor, as they do a ton of damage.
 

TGMD

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There's not much to comment on when it comes to rain offense, it's clearly one of the best playstyles in the current metagame. There are a ton of amazing rain abusers out there, far more options out there than there is for sun, and while sand and weatherless have more diversity, they obviously lack the great benefits that come with rain.


Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect

I know I post this thing everywhere, but Sharpedo really is quite an effective sweeper, despite not being OU. Due to Sharpedo's blistering speed after a few turns, once priority users are removed (which is pretty easy to do with a Gothitelle, who can also remove the few counters Sharpedo actually has), you pretty much have to rely on something that can tank a hit then KO back, but that's easier said than then when you're up against an Adamant, base 120 Pokemon, with a Life Orb boosted, rain boosted Waterfall, which also has a flinch chance. This set just has dual STABs for obvious reasons, Protect grabs you an extra speed boost, and Zen Headbutt is for Keldeo, Toxicroak, etc.
 

Finchinator

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There's not much to comment on when it comes to rain offense, it's clearly one of the best playstyles in the current metagame. There are a ton of amazing rain abusers out there, far more options out there than there is for sun, and while sand and weatherless have more diversity, they obviously lack the great benefits that come with rain.


Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect

I know I post this thing everywhere, but Sharpedo really is quite an effective sweeper, despite not being OU. Due to Sharpedo's blistering speed after a few turns, once priority users are removed (which is pretty easy to do with a Gothitelle, who can also remove the few counters Sharpedo actually has), you pretty much have to rely on something that can tank a hit then KO back, but that's easier said than then when you're up against an Adamant, base 120 Pokemon, with a Life Orb boosted, rain boosted Waterfall, which also has a flinch chance. This set just has dual STABs for obvious reasons, Protect grabs you an extra speed boost, and Zen Headbutt is for Keldeo, Toxicroak, etc.
Personally love Sharpedo. Special Sharpedo deserves a mention, too. Hydro Pump / Ice Beam / (Dark Pulse, HP Grass, HP Fire, etc.) / Protect (I have seen people run sub, who are ballsy.)

Anyway,

Jajajaja (Breloom) @ Toxic Orb
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) / Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spd
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb / Facade

Although it doesn't directly benefit from rain, SubPunch Breloom enjoys the ability to live weaker fire moves and it synergies well with common rain Pokemon. (Think Offensive synergy - Politoed is weak to Electric but, resists Ice. Breloom is weak to ice but, resists electric.)
Not only does this Pokemon, in general, fit in on Rain, but SubPunch Poison Heal Breloom has the capabilities to single-handedly beat some stall teams or clean late game, once some quicker threats / status absorbers have been eliminated, thanks to a few good team supporters. Also, the surprise factor - because everyone thinks Technician Breloom - is overwhelming. This is why I have facade listed. It does a ton to Thundurus-T, Dragonite, Lati@s, Amoonguss, and Venusaur (although it is left vulnerable to ghost types.) Once it gets a sub up, or predicts a switch, it can 2HKO / heavily cripple most, if not all, of its usual counters / checks (I suppose it is kind of like running Stone Edge on Technician Breloom but, it has more power - 140 > 100. An example is, with +spd and Facade, Breloom outspeeds and 2hkos Dragonite - with rocks (or any prior damage as long as it doesn't switch in on Multiscale. It also does about 65% to incoming Latioses.)
All in all, a heavy hitter, annoyer, stallbreaker, and great poke - in general - SubPunch Breloom definetly deserves a mention amongst Rain offensive (surprise) threats!
 

Lavos

Banned deucer.

chomper? (feraligatr) @ mystic water / lum berry
trait: torrent
evs: 252 hp / 252 atk / 4 sdef
adamant nature
- swords dance
- waterfall
- aqua jet
- superpower / crunch

gator is a monster. in rain, he's extremely powerful. but in rain with torrent activated, it's just unfair. with a swords dance under his belt, there's almost nothing that can actually stop him, especially with a couple hazards under your belt. ev spread, nature, and moveset are all pretty standard. i prefer having both waterfall and aqua jet at my disposal, the latter is definitely necessary, but if you wanted to get cute i guess aqua jet / crunch / superpower would also work for the last two moveslots. there are good arguments on both sides for superpower vs crunch, but what it really comes down to is whether you want to kill ferrothorn or jellicent. take your pick. item is kind of arbitrary, as long as you're not one of the people who runs life orb you're fine. mystic water gives a nice little power boost to 2/3rds of your attacks, but lum berry can be a savior in the right scenario. what's really nice about 252 hp gator is that almost everything gets it into torrent range but not much kills it. terrakion cc, keldeo ss, and landorus eq all put gator somewhere between 0% and 33% after rocks. good stuff, especially when you really need torrent activated for a sweep.

try the set
 

Terror (Gyarados) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Substitute

sub DD gyara has been a huge asset to my offensive rain teams. When its counters are down you can bring in this beast. sub prevents walls such as ferrothorn, gastrodon, and jelicent from crippling you with status along with a one-use "shield". After that, you can proceed to dance as many times as possible then plow through everyone while getting more attack boosts after you take out a pokemon. Waterfall becomes gyara's tool of destruction that will deal tons of damage to most non-defensive pokemon even if they resist it(salamence and even Hydreigon take their share of damage). bounce is that special pre-evolution move that gyara has as his only flying STAB(unless you're an ADV guy who uses HP flying). While it doesnt destroy as much as waterfall, it can be used to hit things that gyara can't use waterfall to kill(Celebi, ferrothorn if you have attacks boosts or its its low).
Leftovers is there to get some recovery to make it harder to be revenged by priority attacks though you can swap it out for another item like a lum berry(double status wall!) or a muscle band or something like that. As I said earlier sub DD gyara mows through teams like Rotom-C if the opportunity is given

Sadly, its completely countered by pokemon who can wall it before it gets boosts and then phaze him out. Skarmory is the prime example of that(hippo and donphan can do the job ok but not after a few boosts). 2 other counters include: Toxicroak(can abuse the immunity to waterfall and can sub the bounce) and Vaporeon(bulky and can abuse protect and even roar!).

Even with its faults, if you teambuild well, Gyara can be super strong presence that can win you games. Give it a shot!
 
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