Purpose:
I've noticed that people are shying away from weather since the weather nerf, and I took the challenge to make a good rain dance team.
The Team consists of a Klefki, Goodra, Ludicolo, Toxicroak, Scizor, and Politoed. Each with unique and abnormal roles that change completely from non rain based teams. So I hope you enjoy the weirdness and effectiveness of this team.
The Rain Starter
Klefki @ Damp Rock
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef
Bold Nature
- Rain Dance
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Foul Play
With this Klefki is the lead. Klefki's role in the game is to set up Rain Dance through the use of prankster which will give it a priority and almost always go first meaning you get Rain on turn 1 that lasts 10 turns. After that you can opt to switch out or if they have a major threat out you can Thunder Wave and move on. Klefki's job is to take hits and to keep the rain coming while dishing out Thunder Wave when it can. Spikes is there for the rare occasion if you manage to have time for it. Foul Play is there so that you have at least 1 damaging move.
The Annoying Heavy - Hitting Lovable Cute Wall
Goodra @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpDef
Calm Nature
-Ice Beam
-Rest
-Draco Meteor
-Thunder
With this Goodra acts as a frightening damage dealer and tank. Goodra has relatively high SpDef which allows it to take hits from Ice Beam. This pokemon can easily sponge more than a normal dragon can when it comes to tankiness. Not only that but Goodra has great damage with the EVs because you don't have to invest in tankiness from the EVs. This allows Goodra to gain that damage boost its missing out on. Rest with Rain Dance allows Goodra to become a force on the the battlefield. With Rest Goodra can fully heal its HP and thanks to Hydration will wake up at the end of the turn. Making Goodra an insanely powerful self healer and damage dealer. Ice Beam is to cover other dragons and grass pokemon. Thunder is there because it has a 100% accuracy in rain and can deal with other water types. Draco Meteor is there to blow up walls.
The Taco Bell Special Sweeper
Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Modest Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Grass Knot
-Ice Beam
-Focus Blast
With this Ludicolo is a an insane sweeper in the rain. As long as rain is up Ludicolo can easily sweep the competition away with little to no effort because of his speed and varied attacks. The downside to Ludicolo especially with this setup is that hes bad when there is no rain which means he will have to be carefully setup and brought out to do his job correctly. But if done he can easily sweep teams with little to no effort. Modest Nature allows him to 2HKO tanky pokemon that would want to try to wall off Ludicolo. Hydro Pump is the standard damage dealing move that does massive damage because of STAB and Rain. Grass Knot is there to counter other Water type pokemon that would get in your way plus it also counts toward your STAB. Ice Beam is to handle grass and other pesky dragons. Focus Blast is there for some variety to deal with steel types and ice types.
The Poison Troll Frog Stall
Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Attack / 120 Def / 4 Speed
Impish Nature
-Drain Punch
-Poison Jab
-Protect
-Toxic
Yeah yeah, I know its such a weird setup for a weird pokemon but work with me here. With this Toxicroak becomes fantastic at stalling. Under Rain with Black Sludge Toxicroak can heal almost 20% his hp a turn and if you add Drain Punch that is easily 25 to even 35% a turn. This is absolutely ridiculous especially on a stall pokemon. Toxic allows you to start the slow bleeding process on pokemon you don't like. Protect is there to give you another turn of free healing and another turn for them to take damage. Drain Punch is there to help you stall out. However why would I have Poison Jab and Toxic? Poison Jab allows you to deal with fairies. Something no other person on this team can do. Poison Jab also acts as a STAB for Toxicroak that can easily handle most fairies. Poison Jab is a physical move hence why I have 132 in Attack to further increase the damage of Drain Punch and Poison Jab. He also has 120 in Defense to help him take a hit more which helps him stall more. Alternatives to this is to drop the 132 attack EVs and put it into Special Defense and instead of getting Poison Jab, you get Sludge Bomb which does more base damage. Another Alternative is to drop Poison Jab for Rain Dance for longer rain stall.
The Bulky Bug Basher
Scizor @ Scizorite
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 HP / 4 Attack
Adamant Nature
-Roost
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn
-Swords Dance
Yeah I know, another weird setup. But with this Scizor can actually sweep and Pursuit handles pesky Ghost and Physic types as well as leaves a dent in those trying to switch away and does massive damage do to Technician. Bullet Punch like for all Scizors is your bread and butter skill that looks low at first but thanks to technician coupled with it being a STAB move can do massive damage on enemies. It also has increased priority which helps it help towards being a sweeper. U-turn for a retreat + amazing damage as its a STAB and Technician boosts the damage. Swords Dance is there for mainly a filler that if you pool off, you can easily wipe a team at that point. Also thanks to bullet punch you get a priority move that can deal with pesky fairies that run rampant in the 6th generation as teams are now starting to use them left and right. Also the Rain helps Scizor by lowering its 4x weakness to fire to 2x which makes him stick around longer than he should. Because 3 of the moves you have are priority you can take away the Speed EVS and replace for Attack EVs which will make you hit even harder.
The Tricky Tadpole
Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Speed
Modest Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Focus Blast
-Surf
As far as I know Drizzle and Swift Swim isn't banned in Gen 6 so that is why Politoed is here. But why isn't he the lead? Politoed is decent at best as a lead since the weather nerf. There really isn't a reason to run him up front anymore unless you are doing a Damp Rock Drizzle Politoed, which I feel his effort is wasted. So here we are going into a more damage focused Politoed who hits hard and switches often. The goal here is to have Politoed act as a pseudo sweeper and a secondary source of Rain. Its goal is to jump in create rain attempt to revenge kill or leave a nasty dent and bail. This setup gives Politoed that sort of hit and run strategy but it can also act as a sweeper in itself. Also by giving it Focus Blast it gives us a chance to deal with steel types which will be more frequent with fairies running around.
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Counters:
Obvious Counters to this are other weather teams. This build is actually good at dealing with other rain teams. However dealing with something like Sand or Sun team, it may have some issues.
Others are also steel type'd and electric heavy teams. Not much here that can actually handle steel pokemon outside of a few abilities thrown throughout and a heavy electric team will make winning with this team quite hard.
Sub-stall teams. Substitution is what I considered to use on a couple of my pokemon. But going against a good Substitute team will slow this team down by a turn or even 2. Which because weather is now limited in turns can greatly slow down my team.
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Alternatives:
This section will cover other builds that you can use as well as alternative pokemon for this strategy.
Scizor @ Scizorite or Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Adamant Nature
-Pursuit
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn
-Roost
This serves as a more offensive version of Scizor that is designed for revenge killing and being able to stay in and take hits thanks to roost. This is the more if you need power or you don't want to take the long stall route like me. However this is still a good and popular alternative that puts fear into your opponents with his priority moves and high damage dealing STABs. If you don't care for the Speed EVs you can easily replace them with HP to give him the ability to take a few more shots.
Rotom-W @ Damp Rock or Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SpA / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Rain Dance / Thunder Wave
-Pain Split / Will-o-Wisp / Thunder Wave
This serves as the alternative to Politoed. Rotom-W Covers some of the teams electric weakness and has 2 STABS he can use effectively. Volt Switch which lets him switch to another rain abuser or Hydro Pump to damage his foes. From here its a choice depending on the role you want Rotom to fill. If you want him to act as the the secondary Rain dancer you will get Damp Rock and Rain Dance with your preferred Support skill. If you want to rely on Klefki being the only Rain Dancer then go Leftovers and grab Thunder Wave to deal with pesky foes and Pain Split or Will o Wisp to chunk down your enemies.
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Update Section
Mainly clean up of grammar and such + pretty-ing things up
Added Pictures to make it more Eye - catching and Blue Text to break up the pokemon and purpose statements.
Added An Alternatives section which covers other possible layouts or builds.
I've noticed that people are shying away from weather since the weather nerf, and I took the challenge to make a good rain dance team.
The Team consists of a Klefki, Goodra, Ludicolo, Toxicroak, Scizor, and Politoed. Each with unique and abnormal roles that change completely from non rain based teams. So I hope you enjoy the weirdness and effectiveness of this team.
The Rain Starter
Klefki @ Damp Rock
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef
Bold Nature
- Rain Dance
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Foul Play
With this Klefki is the lead. Klefki's role in the game is to set up Rain Dance through the use of prankster which will give it a priority and almost always go first meaning you get Rain on turn 1 that lasts 10 turns. After that you can opt to switch out or if they have a major threat out you can Thunder Wave and move on. Klefki's job is to take hits and to keep the rain coming while dishing out Thunder Wave when it can. Spikes is there for the rare occasion if you manage to have time for it. Foul Play is there so that you have at least 1 damaging move.
The Annoying Heavy - Hitting Lovable Cute Wall
Goodra @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpDef
Calm Nature
-Ice Beam
-Rest
-Draco Meteor
-Thunder
With this Goodra acts as a frightening damage dealer and tank. Goodra has relatively high SpDef which allows it to take hits from Ice Beam. This pokemon can easily sponge more than a normal dragon can when it comes to tankiness. Not only that but Goodra has great damage with the EVs because you don't have to invest in tankiness from the EVs. This allows Goodra to gain that damage boost its missing out on. Rest with Rain Dance allows Goodra to become a force on the the battlefield. With Rest Goodra can fully heal its HP and thanks to Hydration will wake up at the end of the turn. Making Goodra an insanely powerful self healer and damage dealer. Ice Beam is to cover other dragons and grass pokemon. Thunder is there because it has a 100% accuracy in rain and can deal with other water types. Draco Meteor is there to blow up walls.
The Taco Bell Special Sweeper
Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Modest Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Grass Knot
-Ice Beam
-Focus Blast
With this Ludicolo is a an insane sweeper in the rain. As long as rain is up Ludicolo can easily sweep the competition away with little to no effort because of his speed and varied attacks. The downside to Ludicolo especially with this setup is that hes bad when there is no rain which means he will have to be carefully setup and brought out to do his job correctly. But if done he can easily sweep teams with little to no effort. Modest Nature allows him to 2HKO tanky pokemon that would want to try to wall off Ludicolo. Hydro Pump is the standard damage dealing move that does massive damage because of STAB and Rain. Grass Knot is there to counter other Water type pokemon that would get in your way plus it also counts toward your STAB. Ice Beam is to handle grass and other pesky dragons. Focus Blast is there for some variety to deal with steel types and ice types.
The Poison Troll Frog Stall
Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Attack / 120 Def / 4 Speed
Impish Nature
-Drain Punch
-Poison Jab
-Protect
-Toxic
Yeah yeah, I know its such a weird setup for a weird pokemon but work with me here. With this Toxicroak becomes fantastic at stalling. Under Rain with Black Sludge Toxicroak can heal almost 20% his hp a turn and if you add Drain Punch that is easily 25 to even 35% a turn. This is absolutely ridiculous especially on a stall pokemon. Toxic allows you to start the slow bleeding process on pokemon you don't like. Protect is there to give you another turn of free healing and another turn for them to take damage. Drain Punch is there to help you stall out. However why would I have Poison Jab and Toxic? Poison Jab allows you to deal with fairies. Something no other person on this team can do. Poison Jab also acts as a STAB for Toxicroak that can easily handle most fairies. Poison Jab is a physical move hence why I have 132 in Attack to further increase the damage of Drain Punch and Poison Jab. He also has 120 in Defense to help him take a hit more which helps him stall more. Alternatives to this is to drop the 132 attack EVs and put it into Special Defense and instead of getting Poison Jab, you get Sludge Bomb which does more base damage. Another Alternative is to drop Poison Jab for Rain Dance for longer rain stall.
The Bulky Bug Basher
Scizor @ Scizorite
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 HP / 4 Attack
Adamant Nature
-Roost
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn
-Swords Dance
Yeah I know, another weird setup. But with this Scizor can actually sweep and Pursuit handles pesky Ghost and Physic types as well as leaves a dent in those trying to switch away and does massive damage do to Technician. Bullet Punch like for all Scizors is your bread and butter skill that looks low at first but thanks to technician coupled with it being a STAB move can do massive damage on enemies. It also has increased priority which helps it help towards being a sweeper. U-turn for a retreat + amazing damage as its a STAB and Technician boosts the damage. Swords Dance is there for mainly a filler that if you pool off, you can easily wipe a team at that point. Also thanks to bullet punch you get a priority move that can deal with pesky fairies that run rampant in the 6th generation as teams are now starting to use them left and right. Also the Rain helps Scizor by lowering its 4x weakness to fire to 2x which makes him stick around longer than he should. Because 3 of the moves you have are priority you can take away the Speed EVS and replace for Attack EVs which will make you hit even harder.
The Tricky Tadpole
Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Speed
Modest Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Focus Blast
-Surf
As far as I know Drizzle and Swift Swim isn't banned in Gen 6 so that is why Politoed is here. But why isn't he the lead? Politoed is decent at best as a lead since the weather nerf. There really isn't a reason to run him up front anymore unless you are doing a Damp Rock Drizzle Politoed, which I feel his effort is wasted. So here we are going into a more damage focused Politoed who hits hard and switches often. The goal here is to have Politoed act as a pseudo sweeper and a secondary source of Rain. Its goal is to jump in create rain attempt to revenge kill or leave a nasty dent and bail. This setup gives Politoed that sort of hit and run strategy but it can also act as a sweeper in itself. Also by giving it Focus Blast it gives us a chance to deal with steel types which will be more frequent with fairies running around.
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Counters:
Obvious Counters to this are other weather teams. This build is actually good at dealing with other rain teams. However dealing with something like Sand or Sun team, it may have some issues.
Others are also steel type'd and electric heavy teams. Not much here that can actually handle steel pokemon outside of a few abilities thrown throughout and a heavy electric team will make winning with this team quite hard.
Sub-stall teams. Substitution is what I considered to use on a couple of my pokemon. But going against a good Substitute team will slow this team down by a turn or even 2. Which because weather is now limited in turns can greatly slow down my team.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alternatives:
This section will cover other builds that you can use as well as alternative pokemon for this strategy.
Scizor @ Scizorite or Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Adamant Nature
-Pursuit
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn
-Roost
This serves as a more offensive version of Scizor that is designed for revenge killing and being able to stay in and take hits thanks to roost. This is the more if you need power or you don't want to take the long stall route like me. However this is still a good and popular alternative that puts fear into your opponents with his priority moves and high damage dealing STABs. If you don't care for the Speed EVs you can easily replace them with HP to give him the ability to take a few more shots.
Rotom-W @ Damp Rock or Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SpA / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
-Volt Switch
-Hydro Pump
-Rain Dance / Thunder Wave
-Pain Split / Will-o-Wisp / Thunder Wave
This serves as the alternative to Politoed. Rotom-W Covers some of the teams electric weakness and has 2 STABS he can use effectively. Volt Switch which lets him switch to another rain abuser or Hydro Pump to damage his foes. From here its a choice depending on the role you want Rotom to fill. If you want him to act as the the secondary Rain dancer you will get Damp Rock and Rain Dance with your preferred Support skill. If you want to rely on Klefki being the only Rain Dancer then go Leftovers and grab Thunder Wave to deal with pesky foes and Pain Split or Will o Wisp to chunk down your enemies.
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Update Section
Mainly clean up of grammar and such + pretty-ing things up
Added Pictures to make it more Eye - catching and Blue Text to break up the pokemon and purpose statements.
Added An Alternatives section which covers other possible layouts or builds.
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