Putting Up a Fight In a Weather Infested OU
I was in the process of building this team right after the Excadrill and Thundurous ban not that long ago. Even with that little mole gone, weather is still every where, probably around 2/3s of the battles I play or watch there is some sort of weather war going on. Naturally I wanted to be a bit unique, and it was either to try Hail, or go weatherless. I think Hail will be for another day, but I decided to go for weatherless. After a lot of testing and adapting, this is what the team is now. It's really developed to be able to deal with some of the most popular pokemon and cores that are out there, and while it does a good job, there is always room for improvement.
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
The revenge killer and usually my lead more often than not, Landorus gets the jump by scouting switch-ins right away with U-turn. Luckily, it is immune to spikes and is neutral to Stealth Rocks, so it can switch around pretty freely. Earthquake and Stone Edge are for STAB and are powered by any Standstorm teams so they can get a taste of their own medicine so to speak. Hidden Power Ice is mainly for Gliscor, which really isn't hit hard by these moves, and allows a safer hit on things like Salamence and Dragonite without that nasty 20% chance of miss from stone Edge. It also revenges Volcarona, which in general is a pain to deal with.
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Love this set. I feel as though the pure offensive Life Orb set has been falling in popularity lately as people vow for a more defensive set including rapid spin, but since everyone but this guy and Jirachi are immune to spikes and nobody but Starmie is affected by Toxic Spikes, which I can just cure through natural cure. Hydro Pump is for STAB and hits Sandstorm and Rain teams hard. Ice Beam is for grass types that like to come in, as well as dragons that think I'm running both Rapid Spin and Recover. Thunderbolt is for waters that I often switch in on, not fearing a scald burn at all. Recover is to heal recoil damage so I won't be stalled out. It can also come in handy against some predicted Protects from pokemon such as Tentacruel and Heatran.
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Pain Split
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
This guy mainly softens up Hyregion's counters for a sweep, or the other way around, both have happened before. This gengar weakens things like Blissey, Jellicent, Tentacruel, and Gastrodon, which Hyregion just can't get passed right away. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast are standard coverage, while Pain Split almost acts as a third, powerful attack that works well in conjunction with Life Orb boosting it's attacks. The Disable set is nice, but it just isn't offensive enough for me and can't wear down specific pokemon as well as this set can.
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SDef / 36 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
The Standard Wish support Jirachi. I really wanted Wish support on this team, as well as assurance against special dragons so I changed Jirachi for this set. Body Slam over Thunder Wave to hit ground types that like to switch in on Jiachi, such as Landorus, and Gliscor that hasn't been toxic'd yet. Wish is really important, as many of my team members rely on the shaky Pain Split for recovery,like rotom, and gives new life to many all my members, and works incredibly well since most of my team is immune to ground. I really want Fire Punch somewhere on here, but I need Stealth Rock because it isn't anywhere else, and to deal with popular Volt-Turn teams.
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
Since many people expect the classic Scarf set, this defensive set works wonders and suprises people a little when they see Will-o-Wisp instead of Volt Turn. Even with no special attack investment, Hydro Pump and Thunderbolt still do some decent damage, and will-o-wisp beefs up rotom's defense even more and can cripple things like Tyranitar and makes walls such as Jellicent and Ferrothorn. I am considering replacing it with Toxic, as it helps more so against things like Jellicent and Gastrodon, the latter being very, very, annoying to this team. Pain Split is for a chance at regaining HP and further helps against pokemon like Blissey who can be troublesome. The Speed EVs allow me to outspeed neutral Breloom. but I feel as if I can lower down on some of the speed EVs.
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SAtk / 192 Spd
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Substitute
Nobody really expects this set, as usually many of them are choiced, or have life orb. And the ones that have expert belt rarely carry substitute. With this set, Hydregion can easily take out previously troublesome pokemon like Heatran, Jirachi, Scizor, and Tyranitar, who are all KO'd or 2HKO'd, even in the rain with expert belt. Fire Blast roasts steels, other than Heatran, Focus Blast gets Tyranitar, Heatran, and other steels, albeit with shaky accuracy. Dragon Pulse is for the solid STAB move, and even with out a choice item it still hits hard. The EVs are to outspeed neutral base 90s, while maxing out Special Attack and putting the rest into HP so things like Scalds do not break the substitute.
Threats: