Rain in XY UU

[mertyville]

Approved by kokoloko

(Notable) Effects of the Rain:
-The Base Power of Water-type moves is increased by 50 % while the Base Power of Fire-type moves is decreased by 50 %
- Hurricane and Thunder have 100 % accuracy
- Weather Ball becomes a 150 Base Power Water-Typ move
- Synthesis, Moonlight and Morning Sun recover 25% of the user's HP
- Pokemon with the Ability Swift Swim have their Speed doubled
- Pokemon with the ability Hydration have all status healed during the rain
- Pokemon with Dry Skin gain 12.5% HP per turn
- Pokemon with Rain Dish gain 6.25% HP per turn

Overview:
Rain has always been a very threatening because there are a lot of Pokemon that benefit from it. With a Metagame filled with many Fire-typs and pokemon that are weak to that typ, Rain can weaken those threats and make Fire weak pokemon more viable.
But the main threats of Rain Teams are the powerful and fast Water Typ who get their STAB boosted and even their speed, in case they have Swift Swim as an ability.
Though, Hippowdon and Abomasnow can summon Sand and Hail by simple switch-ins, the Rain has a lot of allies which can take on those threats.

Rain Summoner (Damp Rock):
A weather summoner should be able to get out the weather as reliable as possible. The lack of reliable recovery and passive recovery might be lost, but bringing out the weather and asure a safe switch-in of a Rain Abuser is far more important than that. In case of fearing the need to bring up the Rain again, even with more than one Rain Summoner, a Wishpasser can be added to keep it and the other team mates healthy.

Liepard
Typing: Dark
Notable Abilities: Prankster
Stats: 62 / 88 / 50 / 88 / 50 / 108

Liepard

Thanks the Prankster Ability, Liepard is able to immidiatly bring out the Rain. While being frail, they can support the team with moves like Encore, Taunt and Thunderwave. While Liepard has the good Dark Typing which is really useful defensivly. U-Turn allows it to gain momentum and Fault Play can be used as an offensive move, to deal a good amount of damage, without investing in attack at all.

Uxie
Typing: Psychic
Notable Abilities: Levitate
Stats: 75 / 75 / 130 / 75 / 130 / 95

Uxie

Uxie is a good addition to Sun and Trick Room Teams thanks to its great bulk and supporting movepool. So why not use it as a Rain Dancer as well? Aside from great defensive stats, it has respectible 95 speed to even get the sun out faster.
Uxie can use Dual Screen, Thunder Wave, Yawn to force switches or support the team with Stealth Rocks.
Uxie has access to U-Turn to switch safely in a Water-type or a Swift Swimmer, but can use Memento to make sure that it is a guarantied safe switch at all.

Bronzong
Typing: Steel/Psychic
Notable Abilities: Levitate/Heat Proof
Stats: 67 / 86 / 116 / 79/ 116 / 33

Bronzong

Bronzong is one of the most reliable Rain Dancers because it tanks almost anything. Though, it is now weak to Ghost and Dark Typing, it can work around its other two weaknesses with either ability and with Rain, Fire Weakness is non-existent. It can set up Stealth Rock and/or Dual Screens or it can cripple opposing Pokemon with Thunder Wave. Explosion is a good move to safely bring in a Swift Swimmer.

Tornadus
Typing: Flying
Notable Abilities: Prankster
Stats: 79 / 125 / 70 / 115 / 80 / 111

Tornadus

Unlike the other Rain Summoner, Tornadus can not only support the team or just make sure to switch in a Rain Abuser, but he himself can abuse the Rain. Tornadus has great mixed offense and is already really fast, even without his Pranster ability. Hurricane in Rain hits always and even the bulkiest Pokemon doesn't want to get confused by it. Great coverage for its special attack are Hidden Power Ice, Focus Blast and Heat Wave (just for hitting outside the rain or for something with four times weakness like Abomasnow) and for its physical side it has Superpower, U-Turn (for scouting) and the fearsome Knock Off. Tornadus' movepool is a great addition to Rain Teams because of offensive and supportive options being able to deal with auto-weather summoners like Abomasnow (Heat Wave, Focus Blast or Superpower) or Hippowdon (Grass Knot). The only thing, that makes one consider to use the other Rain Dancers is using Tornadus-T as an offensive Pokemon on the team instead.

Sableye
Typing: Dark/Ghost
Notable Abilities: Prankster
Stats: 50 / 75 / 75 / 65 / 65 / 50

Sableye

While it does have Prankster and access to Rain Dance, Sableye can be considered inferiour to other Rain Summoner, because of not having something to safely bring in a Rain Abuser and bad overall stats. However, Sableye has reliable recovery and Will-O-Wisp to increase its bulk. Sableye is more effective for Rain Teams that rely their Rain Summoner to be alive like Rain Stall.

Swift Swimmer:

Kingdra
Typing: Water/Dragon
Notable Abilities: Swift Swim
Stats: 75 / 95 / 95 / 95 / 95 / 85

Kingdra

It can be argued if Kingdra is or is not the King of Swift Swimmers. It has great offenses and bulk, but the main thing using it over other Swift Swimmers is the great 85 base speed. Though, it is not the fastes threat under the rain, Kingdra is insanely threatening under rain. It checks opposing Swift Swimmer with double resistants agains Water and won't be checked by Grass-Typs that easiely. Kingdra's offensive movepool seems not really impressive but it gains STAB from both sides, making it a great mixed attacker. Kingdra can even abuse Dragon Dance to even boost speed and attack even further, allowing to play it with less investment into speed and add those evs into bulk instead. Kingdra can even summon the Rain reliablily for itself or for the team, when it plays a dedicated special attacking set for instands. Kingdra is difficult to counter and even check under Rain, why it is almost a must to run it.

Omastar
Typing: Rock/Water
Notable Abilities: Swift Swim
Stats: 70 / 60 / 125 / 115 / 70 / 55

Omastar

One of the slower Swift Swimmer, one would wonder why to use this thing. Omastar has impressive sweeping capabilities thanks to having access to the boosting move Shell Smash which increases offenses and speed immensive. +2 Hydro Pump under Rain is more than impressive but it doesn't end there. Omastar comes with a large selection of special moves like Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Earth Power, STAB AncientPower, Hidden Power and Scald. Omastar won't take much advantage of its physical attack, but it still can run Knock Off to remove items from opposing Pokemon.

Kabutops
Typing: Rock/Water
Notable Abilities: Swift Swim
Stats: 60 / 115 / 105 / 65 / 70 / 80

Kabutops

Kabutops acts as a physical counterpart to Omastar. Though, it doesn't have Shell Smash, Kabutops prefers using the Rain to boost its speed and Swords Dance to boost its attack. Kabutops has access to STAB priority in Aqua Jet and very powerful other STAB moves like Stone Edge, Rock Slide or Rain Boosted Waterfall. While that sounds impressive already, Kabutops has access to Knock Off to remove items, Brick Break, X-Scissor, Rapid Spin (when no space of a Defogger is found), and when it needs to, Superpower.

Gorebyss
Typing: Water
Notable Abilities: Swift Swim
Stats: 55 / 84 / 105 / 114 / 75 / 52

Gorebyss

Gorebyss is the slowest viable swift swimmer alongside with Huntail. Gorebyss is more specially orientated. Gorebyss has a lot of boosting moves, but as Rain Abuser using the most important boosting move is important, which is Shell Smash. Though, it competes on a team slot with Omastar who is faster, hits harder, has better coverage and better offensive typing, Gorebyss shines by having access to Baton Pass, allowing it to pass the boost to another Pokemon.

Huntail
Typing: Water
Notable Abilities: Swift Swim
Stats: 55 / 104 / 105 / 94 / 75 / 52

Huntail

Huntail is with Gorebyss the slowest viable swift swimmer. It competes against Kaputops on a team slot, but like Gorebyss against Omastar, Huntail has access to SmashPass allowing it to pass the insane boost to offense and speed to another team mate. However, Huntail does have better sweeping capabilities, because with decent special attack, it is able to go mixed. Huntail has access to great moves like Waterfall, Scald, Surf, Ice Beam, Sucker Punch, Crunch and Ice Fang.

Ludicolo
Typing: Water/Grass
Notable Abilities: Swift Swim/Rain Dish
Stats: 80 / 70 / 70 / 90 / 100 / 70

Ludicolo

Ludicolo is blessed with great typing and coverage moves consisting Giga Drain, Scald, Surf, Hydro Pump, Focus Blast and Ice Beam. Ludicolo can even reliabily summon the Rain as well thanks to its good special bulk.
Aside form that, Ludicolo has another usable ability in Rain Dish making it difficult to take down form the special side, while the Rain is up. That allows it to run a pretty good SubSeeding set as well. When considering adding a team mate, Ludicolo is the one to consider first, thanks to its ability to fullfill multible roles from being a sweeper to an annoyer up to a Rain Summoner.

Seismitoad
Typing: Water/Ground
Notable Abilities: Swift Swim/Water Absorb (HA)
Stats: 105 / 95 / 75 / 85 / 75 / 78

Seismitoad

Looking at its stats, its offenses look underwhelming compared to the others. However, Seismitoad has ever so useful Water/Ground Typing, which leaves it with only one weakness and great offensive typing. Seismitoad is forced to go special or mixed because of its limited offensive movepool which consist Scald, Hydro Pump, Surf, Earthpower, Earthquake, Drain Punch, Grass Knot, Ice Punch, Focus Blast and the always welcome Knock Off.
Seismitoed can even take a supporting role by giving up its Swift Swim ability for Water Absorb, to reliabily switch into opposing Electric or Water Typs and put up Stealth Rocks or use Toxic stalling opposing teams.

Floatzel
Typing: Water
Notable Abilities: Swift Swim
Stats: 86 / 105 / 55 / 85 / 50 / 115

Floatzel

The fastest Swift Swimmer has to be on the list. Thanks to a good base 105 Base Attack, Floatzel can dish out some hits. Aside from great coverage in Waterfall, Crunch, Brick Break and Ice Punch, it access to priority Aqua Jet, can trap Pokemon with Pursuit and great support moves Taunt. It is fast enough to set up the Rain by itself and start sweeping.

Water Typs:

Starmie
Typing: Water/Psychic
Notable Ability: Natural Cure
Stats: 60 / 75 / 85 / 100 / 85 / 115

Starmie

Starmie is a newcomer to UU after five Generations of OU. With great speed and good special attack make Starmie a notable threat. One still would wonder, why not just use a powerful Swift Swimmer over Starmie?
Starmie has a vast amount of offensive and support moves, not relying much on the Rain that much. Moves like Scald, Hydro Pump and Ice Beam might seem not much impressive compare to others, but Starmie can even use Thunder under the Rain, Dazzling Gream (checking Dragons and Fighting typs instead of wasting two moveslots for Ice Beam or Psychic), Grass Knot, Rapid Spin and Psyshock. Starmie can run a pretty good 3 attack+recover Life-Orb set but work as a great offensive spinner as well.
Starmie can use its decent speed to set up Dual Screens as well as the Rain, but even cripple opposing pokemon with Thunderwave. Starmie can absorb status thanks to Natural Cure and heal up by a simple switch. Through this, Starmie can even take advantage of moves like Rest and remove sleep status by simply switching out.
It is no wonder, why it was in OU for so long and definitivly worth a team slot.

Suicune
Typing: Water
Notable Abilities: Pressure
Stats: 100 / 75 / 115 / 90 / 115 / 85

Suicune

Under Rain, Suicune can run a really good offensive Calm Mind set. With one boost and the power of the Rain, the sheer power of moves like Hydro Pump and Ice Beam can heal huge amount of damage. While Suicune run a defensive Calm Mind set as well, the disadvantage of using CroCune is, it needs to boost a lot to hit really hard, making the Rain Turns run out, before it can take advantage of it. But Suicune doesn't mind the rain being gone, because it can just boost and sweep the team, after the main obsticals are gone.

Swampert
Typing: Water/Ground
Notable Abilities: Torrent
Stats: 100 / 110 / 90 / 86 / 90 / 60

Swampert

Swampert is a great physical Tank who can increase its special bulk with Assult Vest. A great number of offensive moves like Ice Punch, Avalanche, Earthquake, Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, Waterfall but it can turn into a mixed tank using its rather inferious special attack as well with Ice Beam and Scald. A mixed thank allows Swampert to compete with other Water/Ground typs who can fullfill the same roles but better. However, a physical defensive set with Stealth Rock, Toxic and Scald is still a viable option for Swampert.

Gastrodon
Typing: Water/Ground
Notable Abilities: Storm Drain
Stats: 111 / 83 / 68 / 92 / 82 / 39

Gastrodon

Gastrodon is a great Check and Counter to Water and Electric typs being immun to them thanks to typing and ability. Gastrodon is insanely bulky and can use both attacking stats, making it a great mixed tank. Though, it defense seems pityful, thanks to its high HP and access to Scald to spread burns, it can tank hits very well. Gastrodon gets a great selection of good moves like Toxic, Waterfall, Surf, Earthquake, Earthpower, Ice Beam, Stone Edge and has reliable recovery in Recover.

Lapras
Typing: Water/Ice
Notable Abilities: Water Absorb/Hydration (HA)
Stats: 130 / 85 / 80 / 85 / 95 / 60

Lapras

It has the same abilities as Vaporeon but with worth special offense and the famous bad ice typing. But Lapras still has a few advantages over Vaporeon. Offensively speaking, Lapras can run a number of powerful attacking sets thanks to boosting moves like Curse and Dragon Dance. Lapras has priority in Ice Shards, allowing it to check Dragons relativly easy. But on the special side, Lapras is blessed with something better than just its infamous BoltBeam set, Freeze Dry. With this move combined with Water STAB, Lapras has the best two move coverage in the game, which is just resisted by Thick Fat Ice/Water Typs, Shedinja and Jynx. In other words, with Freeze Dry and Hydro Pump/Surf it hits almost the entire meta game for neutral damage, allowing to run a simple RestTalk set and under the Rain just run it with rest and save a moveslot for something like AncientPower.

Alomomola
Typing: Water
Notable Abilities: Hydration/Regenerator (HA)
Stats: 150 / 75 / 80 / 40 / 45 / 65

Alomomola

It doesn't have the best defenses or attacks but its large HP makes up for it. Alomomola has two great abilities in Hydration, making Rest a reliable recovery in Rain, and the ever so useful Regenerator, which heals 1/3 of your HP by just switching out. Thanks to the second highest HP in UU, right after Blissey, Alomomola is a great Wishpasser. It can cripple opposing pokemon with Scald or annoy them with Toxic instead. Alomomola has access to the ever so useful Knock Off, to remove opposing 'mon's items. It fights against Vaporeon for a spot who has better offensive presents and access to Heal Bell.

Jellycent
Typing: Water/Ghost
Notable Abilities: Water Absorb
Stats: 100 / 60 / 70 / 85 / 105 / 60

Jellycent

Great Bulk and great Special Attack makes Jellycent not only a great wall but even a great tank as well. Spinblocking got less relevant thanks to the addition of the move defog and the increase of Dark and Ghost Typ moves hurt its viability but the tier is still filled with a lot of viable spinners such as Forretress and Starmie. Jellycent can Counter or Check most opposing Water Typs thanks to Water Absorb and access to Energy Ball. Jellycent can cripple opposing pokemon with Will-O-Wisp, but running Scalt might be more benefical in addition to Toxic. Not to mention, it has reliable recovery in Recover. As a Ghost Typ, Jellycent can spam Shadow Ball with less to no worry, but Ice Beam to check Dragons might be more usefull.

Empoleon
Typing: Water/Steel
Notable Abilities: Torrent
Stats: 84 / 86 / 88 / 111 / 100 / 60

Empoleon

Empoleon has great typing, good bulk and good special offense. It can run a number of great sets namely acting as Defogger, Stealth Rocker or just a great Special Attacker.

(Mega-)Blastoise
Typing: Water
Notable Abilities: Rain Dish (HA) -> Mega Launcher (ME)
Stats (Base): 79 / 83 / 100 / 85 / 105 / 78
Stats (Mega): 79 / 103 / 120 / 135 / 115 / 78

Blastoise

Rain Dish gives Blastoise an extra recovery and last generation, Blastoise did a great job acting as a hazard remover. Now with competition of Defog users, one might reconsider to even use it. However, Blastoise gained a Mega-Evolution as well with better offensive and defensive stats. Mega-Blastoise is the only spinner that can remove hazards without fearing a Ghost switch in. For a good reason, because Blastoise has now access to Dark Pulse which gets boosted by Mega-Launcher. Water Pulse turns through that ability into a 90 base power Water moves which is now more reliable as Surf.

Lanturn
Typing: Water/Electric
Notable Abilities: Voltabsorb
Stats: 125 / 58 / 58 / 76 / 76 / 67

Lanturn

Great Typing and Ability makes it a great option for a Rain Team. Lanturn doesn't have the best offensive stats but it still can be threatening with rain boosted Hydro Pump and with STAB Thunder. It can support the team as a cleric. Though no reliable recovery holds it back, Lanturn does its job well enough. Access to Volt Switch, Scald and Thunder Wave are reason enough to add it into your team

Tentacruel
Typing: Water/Poison
Notable Ability: Liquid Ooze/Rain Dish (HA)
Stats: 80 / 70 / 65 / 80 / 120 / 100

Tentacruel

Tentacruel came to the Waters of UU to become the Ruler of Rain Stall. Rain Dish makes it very difficult to take down in combination with Leftovers or Black Sludge and having access to Gigadrain, which allows it to check opposing Water Typs, but Luquid Ooze is a great alternative to annoy SubSeeders or pokemon that use absorbtions moves like Gigadrain. Tentacruel has good bulk, good speed, good defensive typing and access to Rapid Spin to remove entry hazards at the same time, able to set up Toxic Spikes.
It's movepool has more to offer than just that. With Scalt, it can increase its physical bulk by crippling opposing Pokemon and with Knock Off it can remove their items as well.
Like Vaporeon, it has access to Haze as well to remove status boosts.
Overall, Tentacruel is a great supportive pokemon to have in a Rain Team.

Non-Water Typ Supporters:

Dugtrio
Typing: Ground
Notable Abilities: Arena Trap
Stats: 35 / 80 / 50 / 50 / 70 / 125

Dugtrio

Dugtrio might sound insane at first, because it doesn't gain anything from the Rain. However, it can trap and kill most Electric Typs that are threatening Water Typs in the Rain Team.

Azelf
Typing: Psychic
Notable Abilities: Levitate
Stats: 72 / 125 / 70 / 125 / 70 / 115

Azelf

Besides having great offensive stats and speed, Azelf's main purpose is to act as a suicide lead by setting up Stealth Rocks and allow a save switch in by exploding. However, U-Turn allows Azelf to switch out and come in later to try setting up rocks again, when needed.

Celebi
Typing: Psychic/Grass
Notable Abilities: Natural Cure
Stats: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100

Celebi

It acts as a check to opposing Water and Electric Typs. Under Rain, because Fire weakness is removed, Celebi can fullfill its roles even more effectivly. Be it as a Cleric, SubSeeder, Booster, Baton Pass or just a all out attacker, makes Celebi a really threatening Pokemon. Dark and Ghost weakness unfortunatly holds it back

Mew
Typing: Psychic
Notable Abilities: Synchronize
Stats: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100

Mew

The most flexible Pokemon in the tier. Mew can do so much things like act as a Defogger, Screen Supporter, Cleric, Staller, Baton Passer etc. Mew makes a great addition to any team, even Rain Teams. Dark and Ghost weakness might hinder it, but since most of them are physical, Mew can cripple them with Will-O-Wisp, increasing its physical bulk. Mew can go offensively as well, besides a standart boosting and coverage set, it can use Rain Boosted Water Typ moves like Scald, Surf or Waterfall or it can just spam Thunder.

Jirachi
Typing: Psychic/Steel
Notable Abilities: Serene Grace
Stats: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100

Jirachi

Jirachi came down to UU with weakness to Ghost and Dark which are spammed everywhere. Though, it can still be a great addition to Rain Teams, having its weakness to Fire removed and being able to spam Thunder that will paralyse almost always thanks to its ability. Jirachi can run Water Pulse as well and a decent Calm Mind set to start sweeping. Defensivly on the other hand, Jirachi has access to Wish to keep the Team healthy. With Thunderwave it can cripple opposing teams or just support the own team with Dual Screens. Jirachi even access to Stealth Rocks and can scout with U-Turn or Protect.

Parasect
Typing: Bug/Grass
Notable Abilities: Dry Skin
Stats: 60 / 95 / 80 / 60 / 80 / 30

Parasect

Outclassed by Amoonguss normally who has better typing and access to Spore as well, Parasect does shine in the Rain even more. Not only is the Fire Weakness halfed, Parasect can now abuse its ability to the fullest with Dry Skin. It can recover of its health every turn while it's raining, and Parasect can further health itself with Leech Seed and Leftovers. Since it has very low HP, Parasect can heal up a larger portion of HP, allowing it to Sub and heal up the HP for making it right back up. With it's good physical attack and access to Swords Dance, Parasect can take on opposing Water, Grass and Electric Typs, that threaten the team and take them down with STAB X-Scissor or Seed Bomb.

Trevenant
Typing: Ghost/Grass
Notable Abilities: Harvest (HA)
Stats: 85 / 110 / 76 / 65 / 82 / 56

Trevenant

Trevenant has overall great bulk and it can increase its weaker physical bulk by crippling opposing pokemon with Will-O-Wisp. With the increased amount of Rapid Spinner in the Tier, Trevelant can easiely act as a spin blocker. It can pull of a great SubSeed set which is more reliable thanks to the mentioned Will-O-Wisp and moves like Phantom Force which allows to stall the turns of Harvest. Unlike other Ghost Typs, Trevelant can pull of a really viable Curse set, which drains 1/4 of the opposing pokemon health by getting ride of 1/2 of Trevenant's maximum HP, allowing Sitrus Berry to heal 1/4 or its HP. When stall is not working out well, Trevenant can take advantage of its great physical attack and hit back really hard.

Forretress
Typing: Bug/Steel
Notable Ability: Sturdy/Overcoat (HA)
Stats: 75 / 90 / 140 / 60 / 60 / 40

Forretress

Forretress has great physical bulk and access to three of four entry hazards, Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes and Spikes. Forretress main purpose would be to remove Hazards from your side while putting some on opposing sides on the field. Forretress has access to Pain Split, which allows it to support the team more often. Its abilities are useful too. Sturdy can be used in case one need to get ride or out hazards on something that would otherwise one shot, but Overcoat is usually the ability to go for, because it gives Forretress immunity to Spore-Moves and Hail. Lastly, Forretress does hit really hard from its physical attack with Gyroball or Earthquake but it can use Volt Switch to gain momentum or a safe switch into a sweeper.

Non-Water Typ Sweeper/Offensive Threats:

Metagross
Typing: Steel/Psychic
Notable Abilities: Clear Body
Stats: 80 / 135 / 130 / 95 / 90 / 70

Metagross

Like Jirachi and Bronzong, it got nerfed being threatened by Dark and Ghost Typ moves. Metagross is able to run a number of sets and use different items with each. Meteor Mash being a strong signatur move which boost sometimes its already high attack and access to a number of great coverage moves like Earthquake, Thunderpunch and Ice Punch makes it difficult to switch into it. Metagross has access to Stealth Rocks which it can use while having a offensive presents. Agility is an option to prepare for a sweep, however, increasing its bulk and just run Assult Vest to take Thunder and special Water Typ moves, is much more benefical. Ballon is a great item as well, since Metagross gains immunity to Ground, allowing it to switch-in without much fear.

Toxicroak
Typing: Poison/Fighting
Notable Abilities: Dry Skin
Stats: 83 / 106 / 65 / 86 / 65 / 85

Toxicroak

Aside having immunity to Water Type moves, with Dry Skin, Toxicroak gets health back under the Rain. Toxicroak takes down Faries and Grass Typs that can threaten the team. Swords Dance boosts Toxicroak's attack stat allowing it to hit even harder. Aside from STAB Drain Punch and Poison Jab, it gains priority in Sucker Punch and has access to Earthquake and Ice Punch. Toxicroak has Nasty Plot to run a special set, but it is outdone by the physical set already.

Tangrowth
Typing: Grass
Notable Abilities: Regenerator (HA)
Stats: 100 / 100 / 125 / 110 / 50 / 50

Tangrowth

The mixed Tank aka. Tangrowth can tank even with its pityful defenses special hits like nothing, thanks to the new intruduced item, Assult Vest. With Rain, Tangrowth is now allowing to check and even counter Fire Typs thanks to its great selection of coverage moves including AncientPower and Earthquake. Thats not all, because with both of its great attacking stats, allows Tangrowth to fully take advantage of any offensive move like Gigadrain, Power Whip, Focus Blast, Hidden Power Ice/Fire, Rock Slide and more. But one of the most dangerous moves it has is the access to Knock Off, making the opponent think twice, before switching in a counter.
Tangrowth is a great user of Assult Vest because of Regenerator to reliabily heal 1/3 of its health by just switching or use Gigadrain to heal up.

Virizion
Typing: Grass/Fighting
Notable Abilities: Justified
Stats: 91 / 90 / 72 / 90 / 129 / 108

Virizion

Virizion did not get has much attention than it deserved this generation. In OU Breloom took its spot as offensive Grass/Fighting Typ and now Chesnaught is trying to do the same. However, Virizion has still something going for it. Virizion can run a special, physical or a mixed set thanks to the boosting moves: Work Up, Calm Mind and Swords Dance. The special set takes advantage of Virizions overall bulk and boost it even further with Calm Mind while it hits with Giga Drain which health some of its HP and has the great Ice and Fighting coverage in Hidden Power Ice and Focus Blast.
The physical set is less bulky but hits way harder, since Virizion can switch into Dark Typ moves and get a free boost. Swords Dance rapidly increases the damage output by the high powered physical moves, Virizion has access to like Leafblade, Close Combat, Stone Edge and maybe Zen Head Butt or Aerial Ace. A Work Up set would combine the best out of both sets like Giga Drain, Hidden Power Ice and Close Combat. Virizion acts mostly as a check against Crawdaunt but still does Check other Water Typs as well.

Rotom-C
Typing: Electric/Grass
Notable Abilities: Levitate
Stats: 50 / 65 / 107 / 105 / 107 / 86

Rotom-C

Rotom-C checks Electric and Water Typs. Physical attackers have no reason to switch in, because of Rotom having access to Will-O-Wisp. It takes down Gastrodon with Leaf Storm, that is threatening most team mates rather easiely and shut down Walls/Supporters with TrickScarf Set. Rotom can use Volt Switch to scout or just spam Thunder right away. Rotom can even use Pain Split as pseudo-recovery.

Jolteon
Typing: Electric
Notable Abilities: Voltabsorb
Stats: 65 / 65 / 60 / 110 / 95 / 130

Jolteon

Jolteon is fast and powerful. Under Rain it can spam Thunder without much worry. Unfortunalty, Jolteon's moveset is rather limited, but it still can work as a fast Rain Setter or go right away offensive with Hidden Power, Thunder, Volt Switch or Shadow Ball.

Raikou
Typing: Electric
Notable Abilities: Pressure
Stats: 90 / 85 / 75 / 115 / 100 / 115

Raikou

Raikou seems inferious to Jolteon at first because of lower speed, but it does have higher special attack and bulk. Aside from running typical moves like Volt Switch, Thunder, Hidden Power Ice or Shadow Ball, Raikou has access to Aurasphere and Weather Ball. Under Rain, Weather Ball turns into a 150 Base Power Water Typ move, allowing Raikou to hit really hard with a Life Orb set. Unfortunatly Aurasphere and Weather Ball can only be played with Rash Nature Shiny Raikou, but that same pokemon has access to priority Extremespeed, so adding the remaining EVs to Attack can be useful.
Raikou can run a Calm Mind set, but adding Thunderbolt over Thunder is more suitable, instead of being almost helpless when the Rain turns run out. On that note, Substitute allows Raikou not being crippled by opposing pokemon

Heliolisk
Typing: Normal/Electric
Notable Abilities: Dry Skin
Stats: 62 / 55 / 52 / 109 / 94 / 109

Heliolisk

Heliolisk is almost made just to be used in weather with all its abilities. However, Dry Skin is even outside the Rain a really useful ability, adding immunity to Water Typ moves and allowing to check most of them easiely. Under Rain, Dry Skin heals a portion of Heliolisk health every turn. Looking at its stats, Speed and Special Attack are high, but seem to outclassed by other Electric Typs, however, the great number of coverage moves and access to Surf seperates them from the others. Aside from Volt Switch, it can scout with U-Turn as well, which hits every pokemon.
Heliolisk is a way to deal with opposing Rain Threats as thanks to its ability to switch-in easy on water moves and destroy them with STAB Thunder or Grass Knot and even deal with opposing Ground Typs with Rain Boosted Surf, while Hidden Power Ice can add more coverage, Focus Blast won't allow something like Magnezone to freely switch in.

Mega-Ampharos
Typing: Electric -> Electric/Dragon (ME)
Notable Abilities: Statik -> Mold Breaker (ME)
Stats (Base): 90 / 75 / 85 / 115 / 90 / 55
Stats (Mega): 90 / 95 / 105 / 165 / 110 / 45

Mega-Ampharos

Being blessed with a Mega-Evolution and Dragon Typing, Ampharos becomes a great tank for any Rain Team. Mold Breaker allows it to hit anything that isn't Ground Typ with Thunder making it a good answer to the likes of Jolteon, that want to abuse that move to heal up their HP. From that immense Special Attacking stat, Ampharos can fire off Dragon Pulse and Focus Blast which are great coverage moves for Ampharos. Thanks to its low speed, which is normally an issue, Mega-Ampharos can safely switch out with Volt Switch, when it needs to. It even has access to Heal Bell, when a cleric is needed. Ampharos can even pull out a decent Agility set and outspeed relevant threats without scarf.

Heracross
Typing: Bug/Fighting
Notable Abilities: Guts/Moxie (HA)
Stats: 80 / 125 / 75 / 40 / 95 / 80

Heracross

Heracross is a very reliable physical attacker. Guts allows it to absorb Burn and boost its attack instead of dropping it. While Moxie is an option as well, in a Metagame full of Burn flying around, that is a great option to have. Heracross checks opposing Grass Typs, who are threatening Rain Abusers. Besides STAB Megahorn, Heracross has the great Fighting Typ allowing it to go through anything that doesn't resist with Close Combat. Heracross has access to Knock Off to remove items, Stone Edge/Rock Blast, Bullet Seed against opposing Water Typs, Earthquake and Aerial Ace against other Heracross, Chesnaught or Virizion

Escavalier
Typing: Bug/Steel
Notable Abilities: Overcoat (HA)
Stats: 50 / 135 / 105 / 60 / 105 / 20

Escavalier

Under Rain Scizor was the number one used pokemon along side with Genesect while it was unbanned last generation. Escavalier is basicly the UU version of those two making it a great addition to Rain Teams. Overcoat makes it immun to Spore-like moves and Hail. It has access to STAB Megahorn and Iron Head and can boost its already high attack with Swords Dance. On the supporting side, Escavalier has great speed on both sides, making a Toxic Stall set an option. It has access to Pursuit to trap opposing 'mons and Knock Off to just remove their item.

Cobalion
Typing: Steel/Fighting
Notable Abilities: Justified
Stats: 91 / 90 / 129 / 90 / 72 / 108

Cobalion

Cobalion is one of few Steel Typs that can tank Dark Typ moves. With Justify, Cobalion can even switch into Knock Off getting a free attack boost. While it can run a Swords Dance set, Work Up or Calm Mind set, a mixed non-boosting set with Volt Switch is usually more useful to gain momentum. It has great coverage on both attacking sides, but taking advantage of physical or mixed set allows its ability not to go to waste.

Moltres
Typing: Fire/Flying
Notable Abilities: Pressure
Stats: 90 / 100 / 90 / 125 / 85 / 90

Moltres

At first glace, one would question adding a Fire Typ into a Rain Team. Moltres has the purpose to check and counter Grass Typs. Along with that, Moltres has access to Hurricane which it can spam during the rain very reliably.
Aside that, Moltres has great bulk allowing it to spread burns with Will-O-Wisp and has access to reliable recovery in Roost, allowing it to act as a team supporter.
Moltres can even support the team with Rain Dance as well and even, like mentioned before, abuse it for itself.
Though it comes with a cost, being easier OHKOed in the Rain by Water Typs or Thunder, Moltres is still a notable threat to look out for.

Vivillon
Typing: Bug/Flying
Notable Abilities: Compoundeyes
Stats: 80 / 52 / 50 / 90 / 50 / 89

Vivillon

Rain support allows Vivillon not only to spam reliabily Hurricane more often but its weakness to Fire gets removed. Vivillon should not be taken lightly, because with just a few Quiver Dances, it can destroy opposing teams with ease. Even when the rain is gone, Hurricane will hit its mark thanks to Compoundeyes ability. Besides checking or countering Grass Typs, Vivillon can spread sleep status to opposing pokemon with Sleep Powder or cripple fast threats with Stun Spore.

Conclusion

A lot of pokemon benefit from the Rain. While Water Typs get insane boosts, Grass, Steel and Bug Typs benefit losing the Fire weakness which increases their viability. Electric and Flying typs can rely on a move that is usually not reliable at all, making them more threatening than they need to be.

What are your thoughts on Rain Teams in UU? Are they less viable because of Sand and Hail being easier to summon or is it still a threat like last Generation?

 

[Toljik]

Due to the time limit on Rain, I think Pokemon that can hit as hard and fast as possible would do best on a Rain team, like Kingdra, Ludicolo, Kabutops and Omastar. Rain stall is pretty much dead.

 

[GenjiHyuuga]

Would it better to have a fast rain-setter or a bulky long-living rain setter?

An example would be: Liepard vs. Bronzong

Pros of Fast Setters:

• They set up...quickly...? ;________;
• After they set up, they can often still get a single hit off or leave something nasty (burn or paralysis) before they die

Cons of Fast Setters:

• Frail, die almost as quickly as they set up
• Because weather is so limited, it'll be imperative to keep it alive which requires intense support

Pros of Bulky Setters:

• Can live multiple hits without support, meaning usually a second role as a wall or staying alive through the entire game
• Slower, so if the opponent is also running a weather(rare) you can change it in your favor

Cons:

• Sometimes too slow for their own good, and get KO'd before they can set up
• Pokemon can set-up on them

 

[DiscoDucky]

HO is the only way to go on Rain. Pivot + 2 Rain setters + 2 Swift Swimmers + Wallbreaker is what I usually run.

 

[mertyville]

* Just a small fix, Mega-Blastoise has 135 special attack, not 105.

Thanks, I edited it.

 

[mertyville]

I was going to post a similar thread on Fryday but whatever. Good work on all sections but i just want to point out that almost all water types are good rain setters. Vaporeon particularly can use Rest+Hydration removing the need of leftovers so it can use Damp Rock as well. Also Tornadus can heavily damage if not OHKO other auto wheater summoners with Grass Knot and Heat Wave (i haven't calc'd Superpower and Focus Blast but they should 2HKO Abomasnow with some investment if you don't want a move which is almost useless in rain) which is always nifty. Also you have written Cobalium instead of Coballion but it is not that important.

True, I edited the important stuff in you mentioned. Guess I mixed up a bit the German writting for Cobalion with the English one xD

 

[mertyville]

With Keldeo, Zapdos, Chansey and Zapdos being OU now, I removed them as well as any reference from the Thread as well as from the "Sun in XY UU"-Thread. If anyone has a suggestion to what should be added instead, should feel free to do so.

 

[mertyville]

I have added Starmie, Tentacruel, Forretress and Trevenant to the list and edited Jellycent a little. With all the rapid spinner in the tier, I think spinblocking is still viable.

 

[EonX]

Yeah, spinblocking is a lot more relevant now since we lost two of the best Defog users in the tier (Latias and Zapdos)

May be crazy on this, but Salamence may not be a terrible addition to Rain teams. 4x Grass resistance and access to Hydro Pump and Aqua Tail give it options in Rain for sure. Also effectively 4x resists Fire-type moves under Rain and a natural resistance to Water to keep from taking too much from bosoted Water-type moves.

 

[mertyville]

Yeah, spinblocking is a lot more relevant now since we lost two of the best Defog users in the tier (Latias and Zapdos)

May be crazy on this, but Salamence may not be a terrible addition to Rain teams. 4x Grass resistance and access to Hydro Pump and Aqua Tail give it options in Rain for sure. Also effectively 4x resists Fire-type moves under Rain and a natural resistance to Water to keep from taking too much from bosoted Water-type moves.

Actually thats a great idea. I will add Mence into the OP. But I am not sure if Moxie is viable anymore.

 

[asgdf]

I can imagine UU newcomer Klefki working as a moderately bulky Prankster Rain dance setter with a good typing, as a compromise between fast-and-frail and slow-and-bulky.

On another note, you have Levitate as notable ability on Huntail. Flying fish confirmed

 

[EonX]

mertyville , Moxie shouldn't be used. The basic MixMence set should probably be used with Hydro Pump / Aqua Tail over the Fire-type move it typically runs. That said, the DD set could use Aqua Tail as a pseudo-STAB to avoid locking into Outrage until absolutely necessary.

 

[mertyville]

I can imagine UU newcomer Klefki working as a moderately bulky Prankster Rain dance setter with a good typing, as a compromise between fast-and-frail and slow-and-bulky.

On another note, you have Levitate as notable ability on Huntail. Flying fish confirmed

I can't believe I didn't notice that. I was keep reading "Huntail has Levitate as an ability now" and didn't take your comment seriously. Thx xD

I guess Klefki does have a lot going for it. I wasn't considering on putting it on the list, because it does lack things like U-Turn or Explosion to bring in a sweeper safely or even reliable recovery, but I guess it can work as an overall supporter with spikes and dual screens.

 

[LightningLuxray]

Sableye is a another newcomer who works well as a Rain Setter, due to it's access to Rain Dance, Prankster and Recover. It does have some slight 4MSS, but it's not really all that big of a deal to forgo something like Taunt in place of Rain Dance.

 

[mertyville]

So, I added Klefki, Sableye and Flygon...I am thinking about adding more Swift Swimmer.
But besides Qwilfish, I don't see any viable ones :/
Any thoughts on Qwilfish or even Poliwrath and non-Water Typ Swift Swimmers?

 

[Jvasss]

minor nitpick, in the trevenant section you say that sitrus heals 30 hp, that was true in gen 3, now it heals 1/4

 

[EonX]

So long as it's allowed on the ladder, Thundurus-T is a huge threat for Rain teams to use. Volt Absorb makes it immune to Electric-type moves and it has the strongest Thunders in the entire game. I wouldn't add it to the OP since no official decision on it has come down, but it's certainly worth considering for a Rain team, if only during this test phase.

 

[mertyville]

So I removed hopefully everything that is banned from UU.

So long as it's allowed on the ladder, Thundurus-T is a huge threat for Rain teams to use. Volt Absorb makes it immune to Electric-type moves and it has the strongest Thunders in the entire game. I wouldn't add it to the OP since no official decision on it has come down, but it's certainly worth considering for a Rain team, if only during this test phase.

I agree, I see no reason for Thundurus to stay as of right now in UU. With Agility it can outspeed the entire Metagame and with Nasty Plot it can almost 2HKO everything with its BoltBeam Coverage and Focus Blast, not to mention, it still can go mixed.

 

[WebBowser]

I would like to posit an argument that HO is NOT necessary for rain teams and that a balanced rain team is viable (rain stall is almost certainly dead unless goodra comes down, and even then GL). If I understand this correctly, the idea of rain teams is to send out a "rain summoner", sac him for fast momentum, and then attempt to sweep with kingdra or kabutops. So here's an idea, how about instead of sacing the rain summoner, we use a rain summoner with a slow switch move AND reliable recovery? This will allow the rain maker to come in repeatedly, set up rain, and safely bring in a wall breaker like tornadus to do some work. This has several advantages over the HO mentality of rain teams.

1. The most obvious one is that because you are not sacing a mon, you have the potential to have multiple sweeping opportunities. This alone makes the team a lot more flexible

2. Because you are building your team to come in and set up rain repeatedly, you have the option to forgo damp rock for another item like lefties, eviolite, or maybe even a mega stone(?) to help increase the longevity of your walls.

3. Virtually any pokemon can learn rain dance, so it is entirely possible to build a very strong defensive core of rain dancers.

A few obvious mons come to mind. Rotom-mow and vaporeon are both mons capable of taking advantage of the rain themselves (thunder for the former and restration and scald for the latter) and can slow switch to a more offensive rain abuser to deal major damage to the enemy team. Both rotom-mow and vap are known for their bulk, so coming in repeatedly should pose no problems. For more reliable recovery, you could try running something like sp defensive mew, Eviolite Golbat, or even amoonguss (rain dance, then spore, then swap safely to rain abuser)

 

[Liarliarpantsonfire]

I would like to posit an argument that HO is NOT necessary for rain teams and that a balanced rain team is viable (rain stall is almost certainly dead unless goodra comes down, and even then GL). If I understand this correctly, the idea of rain teams is to send out a "rain summoner", sac him for fast momentum, and then attempt to sweep with kingdra or kabutops. So here's an idea, how about instead of sacing the rain summoner, we use a rain summoner with a slow switch move AND reliable recovery? This will allow the rain maker to come in repeatedly, set up rain, and safely bring in a wall breaker like tornadus to do some work. This has several advantages over the HO mentality of rain teams.

1. The most obvious one is that because you are not sacing a mon, you have the potential to have multiple sweeping opportunities. This alone makes the team a lot more flexible

2. Because you are building your team to come in and set up rain repeatedly, you have the option to forgo damp rock for another item like lefties, eviolite, or maybe even a mega stone(?) to help increase the longevity of your walls.

3. Virtually any pokemon can learn rain dance, so it is entirely possible to build a very strong defensive core of rain dancers.

A few obvious mons come to mind. Rotom-mow and vaporeon are both mons capable of taking advantage of the rain themselves (thunder for the former and restration and scald for the latter) and can slow switch to a more offensive rain abuser to deal major damage to the enemy team. Both rotom-mow and vap are known for their bulk, so coming in repeatedly should pose no problems. For more reliable recovery, you could try running something like sp defensive mew, Eviolite Golbat, or even amoonguss (rain dance, then spore, then swap safely to rain abuser)

The idea of a Rain team is to overwhelm the opponent with powerful wallbreakers and sweepers that benefit from Rain... Thus it is in your best interest to try and end the game as soon as possible just so you don't have to setup Rain multiple times per match. That's why Klefki and Tornadus do really well on Rain teams; thanks to Prankster they are guaranteed to setup Rain no matter what. That's all you need really. Don't waste time with "reliable recovery" when you could be sweeping through the opponents team. The main problem with your idea is that the offensive core of Rain teams can't switch in (think Kabutops, Ludicolo, Kingdra). You can try to argue that you're gonna bring them in safely with a slow U-turn/Volt Switch every single time, but in reality we all know that's not going to happen. I also get the idea that this post is all theorymon and that you haven't actually tried using this "balanced rain team" playstyle.

The best you're gonna get as a bulky Rain setter is Uxie. It's arguably the best SR user on dedicated Rain teams, and for that reason alone it should always be considered. It also has access to a relatively slow U-turn and Magic Coat to block Taunt/SR. I also want to point out that Damp Rock is non-negotiable for Rain Dance supporters. It's absolutely needed because otherwise your sweeps are going to end abruptly over and over and you'll be forced to waste turns setting up Rain much more often than you'd like.

 

[WebBowser]

Liarliarpantsonfire

The idea of a Rain team is to overwhelm the opponent with powerful wallbreakers and sweepers that benefit from Rain...

agreed

Thus it is in your best interest to try and end the game as soon as possible just so you don't have to setup Rain multiple times per match.

So I guess smeargle is a better rock setter then hippo because smeargle is pretty much guaranteed a layer of SR before dieing? If you can set rain multiple times throughout a match and still bring in your rain boosted wallbreaker safely, that puts a lot less stress on your team to end a match quickly. It also gives you an upper hand against opposing weather teams.

That's why Klefki and Tornadus do really well on Rain teams; thanks to Prankster they are guaranteed to setup Rain no matter what. That's all you need really.

For HO rain teams, absolutely. I am not arguing against HO rain's effectiveness, I am arguing that there are other viable ways to do so.

Don't waste time with "reliable recovery" when you could be sweeping through the opponents team.

A lot of rain setters can recover prior to setting rain.

The main problem with your idea is that the offensive core of Rain teams can't switch in (think Kabutops, Ludicolo, Kingdra). You can try to argue that you're gonna bring them in safely with a slow U-turn/Volt Switch every single time, but in reality we all know that's not going to happen.

So running darmantian or mienshao is a bad idea on non-HO teams because they can't swap in? News to me. For the former, I have used banded darmantian to great success on my volt turn team, but he never stays in for more then 2 turns, max, due to easily being revenged. Rain boosted sweepers, especially when choiced, have much more speed and comparable power, if you can take out one vital wall / tank per safe swap in, you are already winning, simple as that.

I also get the idea that this post is all theorymon and that you haven't actually tried using this "balanced rain team" playstyle.

Nope, experimented with this a fair bit early gen 6 OU and late gen 5 NU. Might actually pick it up again just because I'm more experienced now.

The best you're gonna get as a bulky Rain setter is Uxie. It's arguably the best SR user on dedicated Rain teams, and for that reason alone it should always be considered. It also has access to a relatively slow U-turn and Magic Coat to block Taunt/SR.

Uxie is definitely an option, but far from the only one.

I also want to point out that Damp Rock is non-negotiable for Rain Dance supporters. It's absolutely needed because otherwise your sweeps are going to end abruptly over and over and you'll be forced to waste turns setting up Rain much more often than you'd like.

As stated earlier, you are not going to sweep the entire team with a single safe swap in. With all the high ranking bulky waters, most teams carry at least 2 bulky water resists, almost all of whom are capable of forcing out the sweeper. You can nail one of the switch in and probably kill him, but the other will get a free swap in and you will either have to sac your sweeper or swap to your wall. In my experience, the force out usually happens in about 2-3 turns after getting in your wall breaker, so a 5 turn rain is just enough to accomplish this.

Feel free to pick apart my post, but in the meantime, I will go ahead and build a balanced rain team as a proof of concept. If I can maintain my 1.4K elo ranking or increase it, I'd call it viable at the very least.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

I've found the best rain team to be two setters (a suicide lead and a bulky, more reliably setter,) two or three swift swimmers, and then one or two bulky pokemon who can sponge hits and pivot in the swimmers, and who ideally also benefit from rain, either from removal of a fire weakness or from accurate Thunders and the like.

One non-water pokemon that's just fantastic on a rain team, I've found, is Mega Ampharos. 100% accurate thunders of off 165 base SpA (modest too) hurt, and Mega Sheep's typing and bulk allow it to switch in to grass and electric attacks aimed at swift swimmers, and rain teams will have no shortages of Ice resistances. Furthermore, it can absorb Klefki's priority Thunder Wave, which has been a bit of a problem I've found ever since it got unbanned. Be careful of smartasses that use a Fairy STAB on it.

Jirachi is also super good, with Thunders that have a 60% PAR chance, Healing Wish to completely restore your indispensable Swift Swimmers, the bulk to set up with Rain Dance, as well as being a good counter to Florges who can serve as a roadblock to Kingdra.

Feel free to pick apart my post, but in the meantime, I will go ahead and build a balanced rain team as a proof of concept. If I can maintain my 1.4K elo ranking or increase it, I'd call it viable at the very least.

I don't know what a successful balanced team would look like; as you said, Rain Stall is kind of dead, even in OU where Drizzle is allowed. Swift Swim sweepers are by and far the best win condition for a rain team which right away makes good rain teams pretty offensive to start with. tbh I don't see the point in using stuff like Vaporeon, who just sort of wastes turns of rain doing very little to pressure the opposing team (it does have Rain-boosted Water STABs but without investment or a boosting item it pales in comparison to stuff like Specs Kingdra or +2 Kabutops and Omastar. It's also going to prefer using Scald.)

I don't know. It's just that, with the timer on rain, I often feel really pressured to only use stuff that has some sort of significant offensive presence, whether it be a Swift Swimmer with STAB Surf/Hydro Pump or powerful Electric or Flying types with Thunder/Hurricane: an exception is made for rain setters, because they're obviously important.

Go ahead and try to make a balanced rain team though, I'd love to see what you come up with.

 

[Gamer4Life]

Very good primer!
Was just wondering why Dragonite (rain build) didn't get mentioned?

Also it seems like you guys are talking about a team of 6,are there good builds for double s?

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

Very good primer!
Was just wondering why Dragonite (rain build) didn't get mentioned?

Also it seems like you guys are talking about a team of 6,are there good builds for double s?

Dragonite is OU.

For Rain in Doubles go here. There isn't a thread but you can probably ask in Q&A thread.

 

[Kushalos]

Why is Parasect there lol