OU Playstyles - Week #03 [Rain Offense]

[Dr Ciel]

Azumarill @ Choice Band Lv. 100 -- Huge Power
Nature: Adamant - EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spd
- 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. I definitely recommend trying him out, you won't be disappointed.​

 

[Nova]

tiger (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.

Overall, I think rain offense is the most effective playstyle in OU. It may also seem to be very standard but I believe that it is actually the most versatile (other than possibly weatherless) as evident in this thread as there are a number of underrated Pokemon such as Feraligatr and Sharpedo that are extremely threatening under rain. Not only is this limited to offensive Pokemon but defensive Pokemon such as Quagsire and Sub Leech Seed Ludicolo also thrive under the rain and can be hard for unprepared teams to break.

 

[Lavos]

feraligatr > azumarill if anyone was wondering (for more info on the former, refer to the bottom of page 1!)

 

[Kidogo]

Well gatr is a better sweeper but azu is a stronger revene killer.

 

[ReshiRampage]

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.

That set works very well with choice specs as well. I've been using it on my latest rain team and it works really well. And I agree, Rain Offense is awesome. It's my favorite playstyle right now

 

[ReshiRampage]

This is a very uncommon rain abuser, but a very dangerous one.

Raikou @ Life Orb
EVs: 4 SDef 252 SAtk 252 Spe
Trait: Pressure
Rash Nature

Weather Ball
Thunder (Obviously in rain)
Aura Sphere
Calm Mind / Hidden Power Ice / Shadow Ball

Raikou is very fast and powerful. He's slower than Jolteon but he packs more of a punch. It's unfortunate that you have to use a Rash Nature to use Weather Ball and Aura Sphere, but you still outspeed positive natured base 100s. Life Orb is the primary item in my opinion, but Leftovers works too. Leftovers should be used if you're using Calm Mind in the last moveslot.

 

[LilOu]

@ReshiRampage:

Thanks for posting! However, I find that using a Rash nature really cripples Raikou's awesome speed tier. If you are going to run rash, I'll strongly recommend to use Thundurus-T instead. He has an incredible 145 base special attack and even with a neutral nature like timid he reaches 389 SAtk, this is more than Raikou with a positive nature that reaches 361.

With this you can outspeed base 100 pokemons like Jirachi with Jolly and still have the sheer power of a Life Orb thunder. He also has access to Agility and Nasty Plot, two incredibly helpful moves like Novaray explained.

Oh, I almost forgot. Please, don't double post. If you want to say something else. you can always use the Edit button.

 

[Explorer]

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.

More often I see Earthquake or Ice Beam in the Zen Headbutt slot, but this is a great cleaner. Mamoswine would be a great partner for Sharpedo (and for rain teams in general), because it has Earthquake for Electric-types (outside of Thundurus), Ice Shard for Breloom/Dragons, and Superpower for Ferrothorn, plus it can abuse Sash + Endeavor + Ice Shard:

Mamoswine (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Thick Fat (always use this ability)
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
-Ice Shard
-Endeavor
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock/Icicle Crash/Superpower

Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
-Icicle Crash/Stone Edge
-Superpower

Earthquake is likely the single best STAB out there, and any Mamoswine should have it. Ice Shard is the beloved priority for its coverage. Icicle Crash is a stronger STAB, but Stone Edge can be used to hit Volcarona on a switch-in expecting Ice Shard--this is not very realistic however, but it's the only other decent option (besides gimmicks like Attract). Superpower is a must for Ferrothorn.

 

[Sork]

I'm actually quite surprised nobody has mentioned one of the single hardest counters to rain teams, along with something that usually gives rain teams trouble in the form of rotom-Wash, which is Gastrodon.

Gastrodon @ Leftovers.
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP/84 Def/172 SDef
Nature: Calm
Earth Power
Scald
Toxic
Recover

For those of you that want to keep up offensive pressure

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.

 

[Bryce]

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.

 

[LilOu]

Yay, i could connect so the new thread is up, check it out!