Rate my Surprise Drizzle Team

[Black Sharpedo]

I've been playing with the weather and I've tried to build a team for each one of the weather conditions. So far I've only tested my Drizzle team and I'd like to get some feedback on it.

SURPRISE DRIZZLE TEAM​

Spiegel (Wobbuffet) @ Leftovers
Shadow Tag | Timid
200 Def, 56 Sp Def, 252 Spd
~Mirror Coat
~Counter
~Destiny Bond
~Encore

Since weather leads are common and I don't want my rain stopped by one of them, I start with Wobbuffet. The idea is to have him trap the weather starter and knock it out so I can then start with my surprise rain.
It also works well with other leads and it can go suicidal agianst Eelektross, using Encore to let it set up with Coil and then Destiny Bond to die with him.

Grenouille (Politoed) @ Choice Scarf
Drizzle | Timid
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
~Hydro Pump
~Ice Beam
~Hidden Power Grass
~Focus Blast

Once the opponent's lead has been dealt with, it's time to set up the rain. I switched defensive Politoed to the Scarf Politoed WildFireXIII suggested for me. He's now got STAB Hydro Pump, sitll has Ice Beam, and now gets Hidden Power Grass and Focus Blast for type coverage. I admit I am really not used to choice items, so this will be an interesting Pokémon for me to use.

Zeus (Raikou) @ Expert Belt
Pressure | Rash
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Sp Def
~Thunder
~Weather Ball
~Aura Sphere
~Hidden Power Ice

Pretty fast and powerful. It gets perfect accuracy STAB Thunder and a really powerful Water-type Weather Ball. Fighting and Ice moves round its moveset pretty well. Since it can hit most types super effectively, I decided to give him Expert Belt instead of Life Orb so he doesn't get recoil damage.

Füjin (Tornadus) @ Expert Belt
Prankster | Naïve
224 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 32 Atk
~Hurricane
~Hidden Power Ice
~Hammer Arm
~U-Turn

Perfect accuracy STAB Hurricane and is fast enough to hit with Hidden Power Ice or Hammer Arm other Pokémon with moves that threaten my genie. I was still unsure about Taunt so I replaced it with Toxic and then again with U-Turn.

Mazzafrusto (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Iron Barbs | Relaxed
252 HP, 48 Def, 208 Sp Def
~Leech Seed
~Toxic
~Protect
~Gyro Ball

A good Pokémon for stalling. Rain helps against it's Fire weakness. It's a pretty standard Ferrothorn so I don't know how much I can say that's not already known. Since I rarely got to use Spikes but usually found myself in the need to speed up Ferrothorn's slow means of torture, I traded Spikes over Toxic.

For my sixth Pokémon, I tried Dry Skin Toxicroak with Bulk Up, Substitute, Drain Punch and Sucker Punch, but I already have two Pokémon with a Fighting-type move (far better moves on far stronger Pokémon) and I just feel like he gets knocked down pretty easily, doesn't bring anything good to the table and doesn't really help at all, so I'm looking for a replacement.

I've also found that this team has nothing to counter Electric types and Water/Grounds like Swampert and Quagsire, so I think a Grass-type could be good. My first initial options were:

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Tosaerba (Rotom Mow) @ Expert Belt
Levitate | Timid/Modest
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
~Leaf Storm
~Thunder
~Hidden Power Ground
~Dark Pulse

Not a standard Rotom but I think he may be what I'm looking for. He can resist Electric, Grass, Steel and Water and is immune to Ground. Leaf Storm hits Swampert/Quagsire with super effective STAB damage and with Life Orb is powerful enough to make even neutral hits devastating. One of the few Grass types that benefit from rain (I thought of Ludicolo at first but Rain Dish Ludicolo and Ferrothorn with pretty much the same strategy in the same team sounded kind of rdundant) since he gets perfect accuracy STAB Thunder.
Hidden Power Ice or Fire is recommended for this set, but I already have three Pokémon with Ice moves I can switch in in case of trouble (and with the Special Attack drop that comes with Leaf Storm I'll need to switch anyways) and a Fire type move is definitely out of the question in rain. Instead, HP Ground can deal with Electrics (which I have no way to deal with). I also noticed I have nothing against pure Psychic or Ghost types except for a lucky Mirror Coat/Counter from Wobbuffet, so Dark Pulse could be a good addition here.
Cons: Leaf Storm means having to switch in and out, but it's function is to get rid of specific threats this team can't counter, so that might not be a problem. It can't do anything against Bugs, Dragons and Ice types but Thundurus and Raikou take care of most of them.
I am also torn between a Timid and a Modest nature. Which is best for this Rotom?

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Gecko (Sceptile) @ Expert Belt
Overgrow | Adamant
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
~Leaf Blade
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide
~Protect

He resists Electric, Grass, Water and Ground; he can hit Swampert/Quagsire with STAB super effective damage and Electric types with a powerful Earthquake. Sceptile is also one of the few Grass types fast enough to work in rain instead of sun.
Protect can help against Ice Beam/Hidden Power Ice these specific threats may carry and Rock Slide hits supper effectively all of Sceptile's threats except Poison-types, which are downed by Earthquake. I know a Dragon type move is often suggested, but Politoed, Raikou and Tornadus already pack Ice Beam/Hidden Power Ice so it kind of seemed redundant to me and I find Protect a far better option.
Cons: It doesn't really benefit much from rain.

Now I'm trying a Breloom WildFireXIII kindly suggested:

Bellum (Breloom) @ Life Orb
Technician | Jolly
252 Atk, 244 Spd, 12 HP
~Bullet Seed
~Mach Punch
~Spore
~Worry Seed

I began using a Breloom with the standard Spore+Substitute+Focus Punch and Seed Bomb set, but then I decided to go in a completely new direction and went with Technician Breloom. I love it! STAB+Technician+Life Orb+Double Hit = an amazing Bullet Seed with at least 146 BP (more if my guy scores over 2 hits), instead of the 120 BP I got with merely STAB Seed Bomb. STAB+Technician+Life Orb+Priority = a 117 BP priority Mach Punch instead of the two-turn Focus Punch. Spore is Breloom's main suportive move and Worry Seed is to give Gliscor (who otherwise walls this set) quite a surprise. Swords Dance could possibly fit here but Breloom is frail and not particularly fast, so I don't see him getting too much opportunity to set up and hit.

A final question: when is it better to use Life Orb and when is it better to use Expert Belt? I really don't like recoil damage but maybe I'm screwing up with Expert Belt and I don't see it.

So this is my Surprise Drizzle Team. All feedback will be greatly appreciated. After I get some tips to improve this team, I'll try my luck with other weather teams and let you know.

Thanks for your help. :D

 

[NickiMinaj]

Your team has seven pokemon in it xD

 

[WildfireXIII]

For the grass type, I recommend you try Breloom. Rotom-W can be rather annoying for you, and plus you seem to be rather stall-weak, so this set can possibly help with both of those problems. Be careful of Will-o-Wisp if Toxic Orb hasn't activated yet though.

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb

You should probably also switch Politoed to a Choice Scarf set so that it better helps you check things like Excadrill (You can't always rely on Wobbuffet to beat Tyranitar; for example, Choice Band Tyranitar OHKO's with Crunch).

Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spd / 4 HP
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power Grass
-Focus Blast

I hope this was helpful!

 

[Black Sharpedo]

That Politoed looks pretty good, thank you. Is there a move I can use instead of Focus Blast? I don't like this move's lousy accuracy.

As for Breloom, it still only hits Electric-types neutrally, and I'd like something that knows something super effective agianst them, since I some of my Pokémon won't like a super effective Thunder/Thunderbolt thrown at their direction.
What about Torterra? Could that work?

 

[WildfireXIII]

I'd stick with Focus Blast. If you decide to use HP Fighting, you lose HP Grass and the ability to dent Jellicent and Gastrodon. You want Focus Blast for hitting Ferrothorn.

I can think of three important Electric types in OU: Rotom-W, Thundurus, and Magnezone.

Breloom does fairly well against Rotom-W, and you can use Choice Scarf Politoed (and Raikou to a lesser extent) to check Thundurus. Magnezone can't really do anything to Raikou. You shouldn't really worry too much about needing Ground moves on your team.

 

[Black Sharpedo]

I'm trying the changes you suggested on Pokémon Online and they're really helpful, thank you very much. :D

I'm also trying running Toxic on Tornadus and Ferrothorn since I rarely used their Taunt and Spikes.

Oh, and I still have the question about whether it's actually a good idea replacing Life Orb with Expert Belt.

 

[spweasel]

While it's a matter of preference, I'd go 12 HP/252 Attack/244 Speed Jolly on Breloom. The most important aspect of Breloom is what you outspeed, and that extra Speed means you will outspeed all neutral-natured Base 80s.

You don't really need those extra 8 Speed EVs (Adamant Gyarados is the only thing they help with), and putting 12 EVs in HP puts you at a better Poison Heal number. The slight drop in damage isn't a huge deal; I can't think of a single Pokemon where the difference in Attack is the difference between a KO and a forced switch.

Consider Stealth Rock for Ferrothorn. It's much easier to use than Spikes and Breloom loves entry hazards (since it forces switches). They also make the Sun matchup easier, which is good because Sun is often a struggle for Rain teams.

I'd go Life Orb over Expert Belt. Expert Belt is rarely ideal, and is mostly used to fake a Choice Scarf/Band. Since you often cannot guarantee you will be able to hit a weakness, it's better to just take the extra damage most of the time.

 

[CheezyMoon]

I just copy pasted this from the DP item list:

One of the biggest advantages of using Life Orb over another boosting item is its reliability - the holder is guaranteed a 30% increase in its attack strength regardless of what attack it uses, and has the freedom to switch attacks around if you mispredict. Choice Specs and Choice Band grant a larger power up, but they only boost a single attacking stat and have the problem of only allowing the holder to use one attack at a time. While Expert Belt, the Arceus Plates, and the type-boosting items give almost the same power boost as Life Orb does, Expert Belt will only give this for super effective attacks, and the Plates and type-boosting items only for a single attacking type. Muscle Band and Wise Glasses provide a reliable and flexible boost for a single attacking stat, but the boost is quite small. Life Orb's ease of use, reliability, and power often makes it a primary choice over these other boosting items, and means the recoil damage can often be forgotten altogether in lieu of the benefits provided.

while this is from the Expert Belt of DP:

Expert Belt is normally held by Pokemon who either want to bluff Choice items or add an extra kick to their attacks without the recoil of Life Orb (or both!). Fast sweepers with varied attacking types greatly benefit from Expert Belt

When using Expert Belt, it is usually recommended to use all four moveslots for attacks. This way, your Pokemon can have the widest range of types it can hit for super effective damage possible.

Hope this helps. And I noticed your team doesn't have Stealth Rock, so I recommend you take off Toxic/Protect off Ferrothorn and replace it. Anyways, I love how you chose different pokemon from a regular Drizzle team

 

[Lady Alex]

Replace surf with hydro pump on politoed. Surf seems underwhelming on a scarf set and the extra power is well worth sacrificing some accuracy.

Get rid of expert belt for specs or life orb on tornadus. most of the things you'll be hitting with hurricane aren't going to be super effective and the things you'll be hitting with hp ice are either already going to be 1hko'd or are still only going to be a 2hko. If you go with specs, replace toxic with u-turn to bait switches.

 

[Alpha Wolf]

Since you have Toxic on your Ferrothorn, why not go with a U-Turn on Tornadus ? It might be helpful to either switch in to another pokemon, or to hit Psychic types like Espeon for a decent amount of damage. Other than that, I must say you have a very capable rain team. I'll keep looking at it, and if you want a rating still just let me know

 

[Black Sharpedo]

Yeah, Toxic on Tornaus wasn't really working, so I replaced it with U-Turn, and I also switched Surf for Hydro Pump.

Though Stealth Rock support is really tempting, I'm sticking with Toxic because Leech Seed-Protect-Toxic is doing wonders for my Ferrothorn.

So that's the final version of my team. I've been playing around with it and it's doing a great job. If there's any more feedback you have on this, I'll be happy to read it.

A possibly silly question: how can my lead Wobbuffet deal with lead Cloyster?

 

[Sadgasm]

on the politoad, i'd recommend a choice specs over a scarf because he wont be hitting very hard...

 

[Black Sharpedo]

I've been alternating between Scarf and Specs and every time I wish I had use the one I didn't. Either I get outspeed before I can super hit or I hit first but with not a strong enouth move. Having said that, I think I do better with boosted speed but I still haven't decided.

On a completely different note, I completely changed Breloom's moveset, I switched from Poison Heal to Technician and I'm having a lot of fun with it. Here's the set and the explanation is in the main post, I'd love to read your feedback on it.

Bellum (Breloom) @ Life Orb
Technician | Jolly
252 Atk, 244 Spd, 12 HP
~Bullet Seed
~Mach Punch
~Spore
~Worry Seed