Introduction
Taking a fresh breath out of other Smogon sections. I need to take a break
Actually doing this for my 700th post.
Saying hi for the sake of formality. Probably you'll see me spamming content creation section most of the time but I decided to come back here because I love cartridge things!!! Sometimes I need some time to go back and take a break from competitive 'mons.
What makes rain fall downward is gravity. What made rain teams fall downward in USM generation are the likes of Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini, Kartana, and pre-existing Mega Salamence and Ferrothorn. For those who were BW fanatics, I'd like you all to take a brief moment of silence to recall the joy of using rain teams back then. Politoed was a frogoat that won you so many games just by not playing dumb. Every new generation pretty much served as a bad news for rain fans - while rain teams are definitely more viable than stuff like sand or TR teams in Battle Spot Single format in my honest opinion it surely has declined a lot to the point where I just decided to archive my a little outdated team.
Try to not press X while reading this.
Construction
Big surprise plebs rain team has Pelipper.
Politoed is still somewhat usable over Pelipper because of distinct stuff like being a fat Eject Button user / Perish Song to throw a finger to EvoPass teams / etc but Pelipper covers Grass-types by itself with Hurricane / has U-turn so it secures its spot in the team.
Waterium Z Kingdra is some hot shit I used to like because it saves me from ruining my day by preventing me from missing Hydro Pump but AV Bulu and Tapu Fini makes it really hard to use nowadays. Mega Swampert remains as my rain boi who throws a fat yeet against many offensive teams.
My Mega Swampert runs Substitute over Superpower because Mega Salamence just sets up on this thing after Superpower drop + Intimidate. This makes Kartana my third Pokemon that threatens Tapu Bulu and Ferrothorn - also wins against Mega Salamence 1v1 with Normalium Z and SD. Press X against any Mega Salamence with special move if you don't have anything else.
Serperior is technically a rain abuser because its checks like Heatran and Mega Charizard's are discouraged to show up after seeing the team preview and Ferrothorn can be lured or be dealt by teammate. The moveset is for lead but Leaf Storm can be scary against teams lacking proper Grass-resists and rely on stuff like Tapu Bulu. Serperior in general prevents weird stuff from going on with Taunt and sets screen for the next two 'mons I am going to address.
Tapu Koko is there so that my team actually has a special attacker and has a room to breathe due to 4 of my team dealing with Ground-types. Mega Charizard is there because it benefits from rain archetype from drawing in most of its checks. Tapu Fini is commonly seen but Serperior leads in that case most of the time so it will be fine.
Okay I'll stop being a chad and actually get to the point. Writing this up at midnight while watching anime on the split screen isn't that easy.
Team
Press f to pay respect to BW Politoed
Pelipper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Scald
- Icy Wind
Leading rain teams. Pelipper lessens the team's reliance on other Pokemon to deal with Grass-types and and it does surprisingly a lot of damage without boosting item or anything. Nothing much to say here in all honesty. Icy Wind sadly takes place over other useful moves like Hydro Pump / Tailwind / Ice Beam because having Mega Gyarados setting up from Turn 1 is quite depressing. Also Icy Wind lets Pelipper slow down opposing Charizard so that it can do something next turn after it turns out to be whether Mega X or Mega Y. Cute cry when enters / dies in battle.
Qwillfish hates him
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Substitute
Rain abuser #1. The first 3 moves are obvious but I'll go over them for the sake of following RMT subforum rules and not having IB murder this thread. Waterfall and Earthquake are STAB moves that 2HKO good portion of the tier and has good coverage against common threats. Ice Punch is there for Grass-types and Mega Salamence. Substitute might seem like the weirdest choice here but I swear it works. Switching around things to stall out rain turns is how most people defensively react to this team and nothing really punishes that shenanigan better than Substitute does. Not to mention that Substitute alleviates matchup against Celesteela and blocks Intimidate if it was set appropriately. Not to mention that blocking Mimikyu's Lets Snuggle Forever and other status moves is the key here as well.
Pre-mega ability is Damp because Mega Swampert will have Swift Swim anyway. Things like Landorus-T and Bronzong like to suicide with Explosion after suicide leading with Stealth Rock so it does have a situational use.
Press f to pay respect to Duckymomo Senior
Kartana @ Normalium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Giga Impact
Kartana's importance in this comes from its ability to threaten Ferrothorn, Tapu Bulu, and most notably, win 1v1 against non-special Mega Salamence and OHKO Mega Charizard Y. The first three move essentially deals with most fat things - hitting Snorlax through Curse boosts is another hot feat because without Kartana Snorlax rolls over this team when I don't have Serperior. +1 Breakneck Blitz should OHKO most Mega Salamence spreads and Kartana survives Double-Edge from 98% of Mega Salamence variants so that's a relief. Breakneck Blitz is also useful with dealing with Mega Venusaur and Mega Charizard Y which can cause serious problem to Kartana. Kartana also comes in handy vs fat teams because it can just auto-win as a last Pokemon and just sweep instead of forcing me to go dicey and go for flinch with Mega Swampert against things like Mega Sableye and other things.
Tournament Players' Inner Portrait
Serperior @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Contrary
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 12 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Reflect
- Taunt
- Synthesis / Glare
For those who don't play Battle Spots they might go 'wtf is this' but trust me this is one of the most goat lead 'mon. When I don't use rain team this thing deters Hippowdon / Swampert leads and just keeps Tapu Fini in check. Things that rain teams generally bait in team preview struggle dealing with this 'mon because most opposing leads have to choose between letting Serperior gain boosts with Leaf Storm or giving turn to Reflect and take some helmet damage - this situation applies a lot to things like Landorus-T that like to appear after seeing Charizard in team preview. Afaik there are like 5 EV spreads that exist for this 'mon but max HP and max Speed is what I'd prefer.
Press f to pay respect to Zeraora in OU
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot
- U-turn / Volt Switch
Rain abuser #2. This thing is hella slept on in Battle Spots. Specs Thunder is capable of straight up blowing through offensive Mega Salamence and bs-ing through stuff like Mega Venusaur by 2HKOing them with some chip and puts significant dents on any non-resists. Mamoswine / other Swampert / occasional Gastrodon get dunked by Grass Knot and other Ground-types have horrendous matchup against rain in general so Tapu Koko gets to shine quite a bit. Moveset is subject to change but Thunder and HP Ice are non-negotiable. Maybe some builds can fit Dazzling Gleam but HP Ice is there because of boltbeam and etc.
People still kill me with SC chomp omfg
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 212 Atk / 28 Def / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flame Charge
- Flare Blitz
- Outrage
Probably this thing is a masterpiece from the metagame infested with fragile teams believing in Landorus-T. While this team discourages Landorus-T from being used in the first place, Mega Charizard X was optimized to deal with most Landorus-T variants well. Pretty much any variant not running something close to max HP & Defense drops to +1 Flare Blitz after minimal chip which is easy to suffice with Tapu Koko's U-turn.
EV spread is set to live some important hits. 220 Speed means that Mega Charizard will outspeed neutral base 95 Speed Pokemon (aka Landorus-T and Tapu Lele) so it hopefully won't be revenged by either of them if it sets up. If you are running Jolly scarf Landorus-T you are dum and occasional Timid SC Lele fails to revenge this from full HP:
252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 44 HP / 0 SpD Charizard-Mega-X in Psychic Terrain: 133-157 (83.6 - 98.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Also some HP & Defense investment is meant to improve matchup vs. Porygon2 because the rest of the team has quite hard time overloading it. After Mega Charizard X SD's on switch and Porygon2 copies Tough Claws with Trace and hopes to OHKO back this happens:
0- Atk Tough Claws Porygon2 Foul Play vs. 44 HP / 28 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 134-158 (84.2 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Breaking down fat Steel- or Grass-types and being a general wallbreaker / anti-sash offense Pokemon. That's what Mega Charizard X essentially is for.
Threatlist
- Porygon2 + Trick Room: If you let Trick Room go up this team is going to have some hardships with dealing with Mega Mawile and Alowak. Mega Swampert blanket checks them both but if they SD on switch you can press X.
- Ferrothorn for rain core: Kartana is the only answer to this but if it gets hit by Thunder Wave on switch things get way worse here. This means that Kartana might be cheesed through Mega Salamence and won't really lure + KO Charizard formes.
Importable
Shoutouts
curiosity yeet - buriosity (ily)
Jordy yote - thicc (ily)
lyd yate - what the fuck was that pregnant woman on zygarde check lmfao (ily)
Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) post your Magcargo RMT already. Let's get OM C&C rollin'
pazza carry your ducky senpai's Kartana with honor
Lux92 hope irl goes well for you man. Things have ups and downs and so do raindrops - rain falls downward but the moist goes upward. Wait for the moist and you'll find happiness.
Peace the fuck out to everyone who knew me but got banned from websites. Sorry man but that's how it is and I still feel terrible about it.
It's night so I don't really have an energy to tag more people. You all know who you are. I love you all unless you use Glalie or hypnogar on BSS
Not tagging people from my main tier because I literally see them / bother them / piss them in Discord everyday
Conclusion
Good night - thanks for reading.