VGC 2013 Rain Team

[Polifroeg]

Ive been on smogon a while studying and I decided to put together a team any constructive criticism is appreciated

Politoed
Ivs:30 Atk 30 SpA
Evs:4HP 252 SpA 252 Spd
Ability: Drizzle
Nature:Timid
Item:Choice Scarf
Moves:
Surf
Ice beam
HP Grass
Focus Blast

Politoed will switch in and out to control the weather. It's STAB's are Hydro pump and Surf, I'll use surf when pared with Ludicolo or Toxicroak, but if one enemy benefits from surf (example an enemy with dry skin)or if I do not have Ludicolo or Toxicroak out I will use the more powerful Hydro Pump.

Ludicolo
Evs:4HP 252SpA 252 Spe
Ability:Swift Swim
Nature:Modest
Item:Absorb Bulb
Moves:
Fake Out
Ice beam
Giga Drain
Hydro Pump

Ludicolo will be paired with politoed he can use fake out on a threat to politoed while politoed boosts his special atack while using surf and hitting 2 enemies.

Kingdra
Evs:4 HP 252 SpA 252 Spe
Ability:Swift Swim
Nature:Modest
Item:Life orb
Moves:
Surf
Ice beam
Draco meteor
Hydro pump

Kingdra has Draco meteor instead of dragon pulse cause most dragon types have x4 weakness to ice beam and It can use Surf as his STAB as well as helping toxicroak, Draco meteor will be used as his STAB when I am not able to use Surf (If his partner doesnt have protect, x4 resistance or ability to absorb water) or If im faced with a dragon type without the x4 weakness to ice.

Toxicroak
Evs:252HP 252Atk 4Spe
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature:Adamant
Item: Black Sludge
Moves:
Fake Out
Sucker Punch
Drain Punch
Substitute

Toxicroak can heal substitute easily with its 2 dry skin benefits drain punch and black sludge. Fake out can stall threats when it first switches in and Sucker Punch can hit fast beating ghost and psycic types it has trouble with.

Dragonite
Evs:204HP 252SpA 52Spe
Ability:Multiscale
Nature: Modest
Item: Yache berry
Moves:
Dragon pulse
Thunder
Hurricane
Protect

Though his atack is higher he has a decent special atack and with STABs like Draco Meteor and Hurricane and also Thunder he can do great on rain teams.

Gastrodon
Evs:252HP 252Def 4SpD
Ability:Storm Drain
Nature:Bold
Item: Rindo Berry
Moves:
Surf
Ice Beam
Earth Power
Protect

Gastrodon is another who benefits from surf and with water atacks been drawn too it. One of the reasons I chose him is to defeat Metagross who could do damage 2 my team in a weather war against sand.

 

[M. Rock]

Hi, welcome to Smogon! You should probably add more meat to your descriptions; they are rather lacking. Also, have you tested this team yet? Generally people test teams before posting them so they have a better idea of what gives them trouble, thus it makes it easier for others to help them.

Not going very in-depth, but your team suffers from common problems that generic rain teams often have:
- Your offensive coverage is rather redundant; you're relying mostly on Water and Ice moves.

- Offensive balance isn't great, too many special attacks

- Only two of your Pokemon have Protect. You have no good way to defend yourself or scout out the opponent. All Pokemon you have should have protect unless it's holding a Choice item or a dedicated support Pokemon like Cresselia. This brings me to my next point:

- Your team has no defensive backbone. It's all pure offense. People are running bulkier teams now with things like Cresselia and Intimidate Hitmontop for support; Pokemon like than can paralyze your team and lower their attack, among other things. So I would replace one of your Swift Swimmers with a Cresselia for support, it's moveset catered to your needs (really it's that diverse, there's no real 'standard' set for it). You do not need two Swift Swimmers.

- Your team is absolutely murdered by Trick Room because you rely mostly on speed. Also, most TR teams (and most standard teams) carry a Tyranitar, who can change the weather. You will have trouble if this happens, because your team is too rain-reliant. Also, you have no super-effective attacks to hit Abomasnow, who has little trouble with most of your team. Cresselia can shut of TR and Scizor/Metagross poses a huge threat to both weather starters.

- You have two dragons, but no dragon resist (i.e. a Steel-type). Thus, other dragon types will plow through most of your team with strong Draco Meteors. I think Dragonite should be replaced with either a Scizor or a Metagross, your team could use some more physical offense. Scizor gives you extra assurance against opposing Cresselia, but Metagross can run a Lum Berry and have Cress use Swagger on him for big power. Which road you choose it up to you.

- The EVs focus purely on speed and offense, and little in the way of bulk. This article is a long read, but it's worth it: http://nuggetbridge.com/articles/making-good-ev-spreads/

- Focus Blast is an awful move to rely on because of how inaccurate it is. It's an okay coverage move in single battles but way too risky in doubles. Politoed now gets Helping Hand, Encore, and Icy Wind, among other things. Although since you are going for a less bulky, more offensive build I would recommend Protect.

That's all the stuff that jumped out at me. This looks like a rather 'beginner' team, so you have two options if you want to get better quickly: jump in on the next season of Battling 101 if you can (they have a VGC program in addition to Singles), and read some of the helpful beginner articles at this link: http://nuggetbridge.com/beginners/

Hope I helped. Good luck =)

 

[Jirachee]

Hi

Your descriptions need to be improved. About 3 lines should be enough. Talk about the role of each Pokemon on your team, the reason why you picked them, etc. so the raters can actually know what they're rating. Read the RMT rules.

Locking this for now, PM me with the improved descriptions and I'll unlock.