Shark attack!

[clail]

Hey! I'm new to smogon, but not so new to competitive battling. Seeing that rain was so dominant. I figured if i couldn't beat them I'd join them. My team did surprisingly well and i peaked at around 1350 on pokemon online. looking for some help moving forward.

Politoed (drizzle)
(leftovers)
252hp/252 def/4spdef(bold)
scald
perish song
protect
toxic

as suggested by Novaray
a bulky politoed is really a much better fit for this team... needed him for the rain obviously. with this spread he can switch in on opposing weather starters (barring hail) and threaten with a super effective scald. checks terrakion as well which never hurts.

*considering ice beam to check dragon types as well

Jirachi (serene grace)
(leftovers)
252hp/136sp/122def (hardy)<help?
stealth rock
thunder
iron head
wish

I needed something to take the dragon attacks that every other pokemon on my team is hit neutrally by and a pokemon to set rocks, so jirachi was my answer.

stealth rock to break the sashes and multi scale. thunder over body slam because i wanted an okay check to tornadus-t. iron head for flinch. wish for recovery and potential healing of a teammate

thundurus-t (volt absorb)
(expert belt)
252spa/252sp/4hp(hasty)
superpower
volt switch
thunder
hp ice

my go to guy against other rain teams. usually lead with him. many people are convinced i am scarfed which is nice. switches in on obvious electric moves on my water types. can only really switch in on ground and electric moves due to his weakness to stealth rock and my lack of a spinner.

superpower for ttar/ bolt beam coverage and volt switch is great to bluff scarf and catch other weather starters.

Conkeldurr (guts)
(flame orb)
252hp/252att (adamant)
drain punch
mach punch
facade
ice punch

Had a bulk up set but replaced it with flame orb as recommended by PlatypusVenom

I try to switch him in on a weak attack to get the orb activated. added to my team so i wasn't walled by chansey/blissey and more importantly ferrothorn. my switch in to status once i get orb activated. also my best shot at gastrodon. takes care of opposing ttar and checks scarf terrakion.
facade is the most powerful move on the set, but i often find myself using drain punch in spite of myself. mach punch to revenge. and ice punch for gliscor/landorous

salamence (moxie)
(choice scarf)
252sp/252att (jolly)
outrage
earthquake
dragon claw
aqua tail

i play on pokemon online or i would try garchomp (tired of relying on tie). switches in on obvious d dances and revenges other dragons. also can switch in on ground and the mach punches aimed at my sharpedo. once steels and ice sharders are removed/ weakened he can sweep on his own.

outrage and earthquake give me great coverage. dragon claw can let me switch. aqua tail can take out heat ran even with balloon and gets pseudo stab from rain

Sharpedo (speed boosts)
(life orb)
252spa/148att/108sp (mild)
protect
hydro pump
ice beam
crunch

my favorite member of the team. would be a top threat if it had any bulk at all. usually can only come in after a death due to its pathetic bulk. but still awesome answer revenge killer to certain threats, but must be careful of potential scarf users. Speed boosting pokemon require me to be careful with protect. evs allow me to outspend tornadus-t after a speed boost and kill with hydro pump. special because hydropump>>>waterfall.

protect to gain a turn for speed. hydro pump for stab. ice beam for dragons. crunch for a physical move and a nice way to hit the latis


Well thats the team!

 

[PlatypusVenom]

If you want Conkeldurr to become a stronger link, try running a CB set or Flame Orb w/ Facade. Additionally, if possible, try to keep Perish Song away from Choice items so that you can keep attacking for a few more turns (or just get rid of Perish Song). Whatever works for your playing style and team synergy. Hope I helped!

 

[clail]

ill try flame orb. gives me a switch in to spore.
the only other move i could see on the scarf set is hp grass. (for gastrodon)

 

[Prinz]

Hello,

At first, I suggest you to use Jirachi with Careful nature, Body Slam in place of Thunder to paralyze ground types and Thundurus-T and with this EV spread: EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spd. Then, I found a little weakness to Gastrodon so I'd use Grass Knot in place of Volt Switch on Thundurus-T, with Grass Know you can eliminate easily Gastrodon and Volt Switch is the most useless move on your Thundurus-T, in my opinion, because you haven't others U-Turn / Volt Switch users and so you can't create the famous volturn. Finally, I'd change Focus Blast on Politoed with Encore because Focus Blast doesn't hit very hard anything (Ferrothorn has Leech Seed and Focus Blast's damage isn't enough on it). Encore, conversely, can be a useful move to block the opponents' setupper and send out the right counter. Hope I helped, good luck :)

 

[clail]

i will try body slam and the suggested ev spread. i only liked thunder for hitting tornadus-t really. and i really think volt switch is necessary as it fakes choice scarf well.
i might try encore, but i feel like one non attack on a scarfed pokemon is enough.

 

[FallenFoliage]

Hello there,

First off, let me recommend fixing your RMT to be more appealing to other players, thus resulting in more replies and help.
Secondly, nice team! I could see it leaning towards the standard rain team, but also why it could be surprising.
Now, you are going to need a reliable Grass Knot user (Jirachi?) in order to make short work of the most threatening Rain Team counters, namely: Gastrodon and Swampert.

You also have two choice Scarf users, which isn't very recommended. Politoed isn't going to be countering anything that your team doesn't already have covered. And, Expert Belt Thundurus isn't going to be dealing much damage with an optimal BoltBeam neutral coverage.
I recommend stripping Politoed of his Scarf and handing it to Thundurus, and relying for it to be your Dragon Revenge Killer, as it is very well equipped for the task(with Stealth Rock support.
That Expert Belt can then be handed to one of the most feared Scarf users in the metagame: Salamece. Take advantage of its infamy to catch your opponent off guard.


The set goes as follows:
Salamence @ Expert Belt
Ability: Moxie
Nature: Naive
252 ATK/ 4HP/ 252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast/Dragon Claw
-Outrage
-Stonde Edge/Earthquake

After Steel types and Ice Shard abusers have been removed this set is guaranteed to demolish unprepared teams.
Being so: I recommend Choice Specs on a Modest Politoed.
Smashing hard with Hydro Pump is going to help clear the way of hard-shelled Steely types for Mence,and let's not forget about the focus of this team> Sharpedo.

If you truly doubt Confeldurr's purpose on this team, I recommend even further to add Magnezone. It is really going to be enjoying of the rain for a veil against Fire attacks, as well as its flying teammates to dodge nasty Earthquakes. In turn, it will make shorter work of the hardest counter I see for ths team: (Ferrothorn).

Welcome, and sorry if I came off seeming mean, I hope I helped!
GL and HV!;)

 

[Nova]

Hi Clail

Welcome to Smogon! First off, interesting rain team you have built here. I really like your use of an underrated Pokemon such as Sharpedo and underrated sets such as Mixed Jirachi and Expert Belt Thundurus-T. Now looking at your team, a major threat to it is Sun teams with Chlorophyll Venusaur. Due to you running an offensive Scarfed Politoed, he won't have the best survivability and will have a hard time winning the weather war. Chlorophyll Venusaur outspeeds your entire team under sunlight and can hit every member hard with its standard coverage of Giga Drain and Hidden Power [Fire]. The only Pokemon who resists these attacks is Salamence who won't be surviving much either way due to his Stealth Rock weakness and your lack of a Rapid Spinner. Another threat to your team is Choice Scarf Terrakion who outspeeds your entire speed team unless Sharpedo can get to 2 Speed Boosts, and can fire off powerful STAB attacks. For these threats, I recommend replacing Choice Scarf Salamence with a Choice Scarf Latios with a moveset of Draco Meteor / Thunder / Surf / Psyshock. Scarf Latios is one of the best revenge killers in the meetagame with its awesome speed, high special attack, and great coverage. Scarf Latios outspeeds Modest Chlorophyll Venusaur under sunlight as well as Scarf Terrakion, finishing off both of them with a STAB Psyshock. Surf and Thunder take advantage of rain with the former receiving pseudo-STAB power boost and the later receiving 100% accuracy. You can opt to try Trick over Psyshock to have the ability to cripple a wall by Tricking it a Choice Scarf and Draco Meteor already has enough power to eliminate Venusaur and Terrakion with some proir damage.

Another change I recommend is replacing Choice Scarf Politoed with a Physically Defensive Politoed with a moveset of Scald / Toxic / Perish Song / Protect. Having 2 Scarfers on a balanced team is quite redundant and a bulky Politoed will help you win the weather war which is essential as your team very much depends on it. Burns from Scald helps to cripple physical attackers and Toxic wears down walls. This set still carries Perish Song, limiting the number of turns set-up sweepers can stay in and helps close out your opponent's last Pokemon. Protect helps to scout Choice-locked moves, racks up residual damage, provides an extra turn of Leftovers recovery, and stalls out a turn of Perish Song. Finally, I suggest using a Careful nature for Jirachi that increases her Special Defense while decreasing Special Attack. This boosts her special defense, allowing her to more easily take powerful special attacks such as Hurricane and Draco Meteor and helps form a solid Physical/Special Defensive core with Politoed. Negatively, this decreases damage output of Thunder but the attack is not overly strong without STAB and its main function first and foremost is to provide paralysis support.

Hope I helped and good luck with your team!


Sets:

Hide

Latios @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
-Draco Meteor
-Thunder
-Surf
-Psyshock


Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Scald
-Toxic
-Perish Song
-Protect

tl;dr

Hide

Choice Scarf Salamence ----> Choice Scarf Latios
Choice Scarf Politoed ----> Physically Defensive Politoed
Hardy Nature on Jirachi ----> Careful Nature

 

[clail]

wow! thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to try out the bulky politoed and the specs version to see which one works. as for latios, i don't really like being forced out after draco meteor.

and i might replacing conkeldurr for magenzone. but i fear it may leave me weak to tyranitar.
i will definitely be trying that salamence in the near future

also flame orb has worked much better for me on conkeldurr and its my best way to stop gastrodon at the moment.

 

[BKC]

Your descriptions are currently in violation of RMT rules, please expand them or I'll have to lock this thread.

 

[FallenFoliage]

Oh, as for Specs Politoed try this spread:
@Choice Specs, Modest
252 SpA/ 4 Def/ 252 HP
-Scald
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Grass
The above work like a charm, be sure to keep in mind Hydro Pump deals heavy damage to just about anything. You can fire away safely as soon as Ninetales is off the field. Try it out, I personally dislike the weather channel thing going on in OU, and prefer simply carrying counters for them, but when I have utilized a rain team, I haven't touched a better Politoed. (And trust me, I've had a hard time finding one that can do a lot more than just summon rain).
-J out.

 

[alamaster]

Hey there, looks like a strong team, hopefully I can make it even stronger :)

• For Jirachi, you should use the standard Specially Defensive EV spread. 252 HP | 224 SpD | 32 Spe with a Careful nature will give you a lot more opportunities to switch in on stuff like Tornadus-T. Politoed can handle the majority of physical threats, and Jirachi can still check Dragon types effectively with 252 HP EVs.
• On Thundurus-T, I would change Volt Switch to Agility. The momentum gained from Volt Switch is nice, but the chance to sweep with one of the most threatening pokemon in the game is just too good to pass up.
• You mentioned you don't use Facade much on Conkledurr, so you should try out Bulk Up over it. This will give you extra power for Drain Punch, allowing you to recover even more HP. Now that you have Bulk Up to increase your Physical bulk, use this EV spread: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef with Adamant nature. This lets you take Special Attacks better while keeping Max Attack.
• I'm not entirely convinced on Special Sharpedo, since it has a much higher Attack stat and Waterfall hits stuff like Tyranitar and the Blobs better. Missing with Hydro Pump really sucks too. Just something to think about.

Well I hope I helped a bit, best of luck with your team! Merry Christmas! :D