Hi everyone, I've been out of competitive pokemon since 4th gen and for my first team back I decided to give rain a shot. First off here's the team
Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Not much to say about this, its the standard specs Politoed. It gets the rain up and can hit surprisingly hard. HP Grass is for any water types, especially Gastrodon, while focus blast is for Ferrothorn and the odd Abomasnow. If there is no weather inducer on the opponent's team I will usually lead with it as well.
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Ice]
I went with choice scarf keldeo since it seems like every team needs at least one choice scarfer and keldeo hits hard even without it. Hydro Pump is for killing everything, secret sword stops Blissey/Chancey from walling it and is also its best move against Ferrothorn. HP Ice is to help revenge kill dragons since if Mamoswine dies I can be vulnerable to stuff like DD Dragonite. Keldeo can be an excellent late game cleaner once the opposing team is weakened and its counters are gone since it will usually outspeed everything and is quite powerful. I usually avoid bringing it in until either I have to use it to revenge kill something or I can sweep. There are times I have come back from 4-1 down since they are too weak to withstand it.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
This is a nice check to opposing rain teams, dragons, Jellicent and pokemon choice locked into a resisted move. Once I bring it in I can start setting up spikes, which can really help Keldeo sweep late game, or stall with leech seed and leftovers. I'm running two attacking moves to cover the two main things it counters, water and dragons.
Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Crash
This was my last pokemon added since I wanted a stealth rocker to free up a slot on Ferrothorn as well as some priority. It is the best revenge killer for most dragons and can also pick off weakened Celebi. The electric immunity provides good synergy with my water types, especially by switching into Volt Switch which can often give me a free turn for SR. Icicle Crash is for when I don't need priority and the flinch can come in handy.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Will-o-Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt
I needed a spin blocker to support Ferrothorn and Mamoswine and since this was a rain team Jellicent seemed like the best choice. It also hard counters most Jirachi variants, which can be incredibly annoying otherwise and with a Bold nature can counter things like Landorus. Scald and Will-o-Wisp may seem to contradict but sometimes I want the assured burn to guarantee the counter. Taunt helps prevent it from being setup bait for things such as Ferrothorn means it can beat Blissey 1v1.
Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Trick
Specs Latios is a great wallbreaker which helps Keldeo clean up late game. Draco Meteor is ridiculously strong and psyshock stops Blissey/Chancey walling it. Surf gets pseudo stab in rain and gives me something to hit steels. Finally trick is extremely useful to cripple a stall pokemon, especially Ferrothorn which could otherwise give me some problems. Similar to Keldeo, Latios can also sweep late game and so I usually try and preserve its HP as much as possible. Latios and Keldeo are actually commonly my last two pokemon and together they can clean up weakened teams fairly well.
General Comments: Since this was my first team this gen I wasn't sure about some of the sets, mainly if scarf is the right item for Keldeo and Jellicent's moveset. I'm also not sure about Mamoswine, I mainly chose it for SR but I could give that to Ferrothorn and replace it. I am considering replacing it with a spinner since if Ferrothorn gets in on the wrong 'mon it can set up a few layers of spikes which can really add up. This team can also be vulnerable to other weather teams if Politoed faints, which has happened a few times due to my inexperience.
Thanks for any help
Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Not much to say about this, its the standard specs Politoed. It gets the rain up and can hit surprisingly hard. HP Grass is for any water types, especially Gastrodon, while focus blast is for Ferrothorn and the odd Abomasnow. If there is no weather inducer on the opponent's team I will usually lead with it as well.
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Ice]
I went with choice scarf keldeo since it seems like every team needs at least one choice scarfer and keldeo hits hard even without it. Hydro Pump is for killing everything, secret sword stops Blissey/Chancey from walling it and is also its best move against Ferrothorn. HP Ice is to help revenge kill dragons since if Mamoswine dies I can be vulnerable to stuff like DD Dragonite. Keldeo can be an excellent late game cleaner once the opposing team is weakened and its counters are gone since it will usually outspeed everything and is quite powerful. I usually avoid bringing it in until either I have to use it to revenge kill something or I can sweep. There are times I have come back from 4-1 down since they are too weak to withstand it.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
This is a nice check to opposing rain teams, dragons, Jellicent and pokemon choice locked into a resisted move. Once I bring it in I can start setting up spikes, which can really help Keldeo sweep late game, or stall with leech seed and leftovers. I'm running two attacking moves to cover the two main things it counters, water and dragons.
Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Crash
This was my last pokemon added since I wanted a stealth rocker to free up a slot on Ferrothorn as well as some priority. It is the best revenge killer for most dragons and can also pick off weakened Celebi. The electric immunity provides good synergy with my water types, especially by switching into Volt Switch which can often give me a free turn for SR. Icicle Crash is for when I don't need priority and the flinch can come in handy.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Will-o-Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt
I needed a spin blocker to support Ferrothorn and Mamoswine and since this was a rain team Jellicent seemed like the best choice. It also hard counters most Jirachi variants, which can be incredibly annoying otherwise and with a Bold nature can counter things like Landorus. Scald and Will-o-Wisp may seem to contradict but sometimes I want the assured burn to guarantee the counter. Taunt helps prevent it from being setup bait for things such as Ferrothorn means it can beat Blissey 1v1.
Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Trick
Specs Latios is a great wallbreaker which helps Keldeo clean up late game. Draco Meteor is ridiculously strong and psyshock stops Blissey/Chancey walling it. Surf gets pseudo stab in rain and gives me something to hit steels. Finally trick is extremely useful to cripple a stall pokemon, especially Ferrothorn which could otherwise give me some problems. Similar to Keldeo, Latios can also sweep late game and so I usually try and preserve its HP as much as possible. Latios and Keldeo are actually commonly my last two pokemon and together they can clean up weakened teams fairly well.
General Comments: Since this was my first team this gen I wasn't sure about some of the sets, mainly if scarf is the right item for Keldeo and Jellicent's moveset. I'm also not sure about Mamoswine, I mainly chose it for SR but I could give that to Ferrothorn and replace it. I am considering replacing it with a spinner since if Ferrothorn gets in on the wrong 'mon it can set up a few layers of spikes which can really add up. This team can also be vulnerable to other weather teams if Politoed faints, which has happened a few times due to my inexperience.
Thanks for any help
