Hello again ladies :)
Since my last team ( http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/first-sand-offense.3583618/ ) apparently didn't raise too much attention, let's try again with another weather team (yeah, I really like those :P), this time I went for a Hyper Offense Rain Team.
I'll structure this thread the same way I did my last, so hopefully everyone will be able to comprehend my thought process behind the team :)
1) Unlike Sand, Rain doesn't have that ONE designated sweeper, but instead boosts several different sweepers, so this time, my first Pokemon was the weather setter right away, and since the only OU Pokemon with Drizzle is Politoed, here we go:
I went for a full support set and spread instead the offensive choice specs one you see sometimes, since imo it's more important for Politoed to come in multiple times to set Rain, instead of adding yet another, rather half-assed, sweeper to the team. Damp Rock for max rain turns, Rest for recovery, encore and Toxic to cripple some opponents.
2) Now on to the actual sweepers. In Rain you usually want one physical and one special swift swimmer, and on the physical side, there are only 2 viable options: Kabutops and Mega-Swampert. I chose Kabutops, since that still left me open with a Mega slot on my team, which you'll see later on.
Life Orb and maxed out Atk to make him hit as hard as possible, Waterfall and Stone Edge as Stabmoves. The last 2 slots were a bit more tricky though: At first, I didn't know if I wanted Swords Dance or Rapid Spin, so I left it open, and when I finished my team, I realized I don't have any pokemon weak to SR, so I went for SD. Aqua Jet was chosen over Low Kick because I added another check for Ferrothorn later and Aqua Jet does not only help me outside of Rain, but will also allow me to out-priority other Pokemon :P
3) For my special sweeper I chose Kingdra, mainly because of his ridicoulosly high damage output, but also because his Dragon offtype neutralizes the nasty Grass and Electric attacks that give rain teams so much trouble.
Hydro Pump and Draco Meteor hit like a motherf***ing truck, Ice Beam is used as Coverage, and Scald is a more reliable option later in the game, and can also burn switchins. EVs and choice specs are selfexplaining :)
4) Now, with the rain core covered, my next choice was a steel type, since they benefit MASSIVELY from fire attacks being weakened by rain. M-Scizor came naturally because of that, and because he's able to power through Ferrothorn, one of the worst things you can meet as Rain
Full offensive set, SD to set up on defensive pokemon like Ferrothorn that often switch in to Rain, Technician Bullet Punch hurts. A lot ;)
5) Next thing on my list was a check for Thundurus, since that Pokemon alone can dismantle rain teams on it's own. I thought about Manectric for a while, but since I already had a mega evolution, I went for Kyurem-B instead. He's a great powerhouse and wallbreaker, that can sometimes beat stall teams alone.
I basically just went for the hardest hitting attacks I could get on this one, lol. Ice Beam and Outrage are stab, Fusion Bolt and Earth Power not only hit hard anyways, but also cover a lot of things I need checked for my rain sweepers.
6) Now as my last Pokemon, I tried and tried to find something fitting... I really wanted to incorporate Tornadus for those nasty 100% accuracy Hurricanes, but with the team being Hyper Offense, my choice actually fell on a suicide lead instead. Azelf has a great movepool and can Skill Swap with Mega Sableye to prevent it from bouncing back rocks.
Focus Sash to get guaranteed Rocks, Explosion to prevent defogging for a turn, Skill Swap as mentioned above for the omnipresent Sableyes. The last slot was tricky... I thought about Rain Dance to maybe be able to save Politoed for later, but in the end felt like Taunt was just a lot more flexible. I might change that one again later though.
---
As always, let me know what you think of the team, and if you found anything I could improve :)
Since my last team ( http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/first-sand-offense.3583618/ ) apparently didn't raise too much attention, let's try again with another weather team (yeah, I really like those :P), this time I went for a Hyper Offense Rain Team.
I'll structure this thread the same way I did my last, so hopefully everyone will be able to comprehend my thought process behind the team :)
1) Unlike Sand, Rain doesn't have that ONE designated sweeper, but instead boosts several different sweepers, so this time, my first Pokemon was the weather setter right away, and since the only OU Pokemon with Drizzle is Politoed, here we go:
Politoed (F) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 164 SpD / 96 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Encore
- Rest
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 164 SpD / 96 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Encore
- Rest
I went for a full support set and spread instead the offensive choice specs one you see sometimes, since imo it's more important for Politoed to come in multiple times to set Rain, instead of adding yet another, rather half-assed, sweeper to the team. Damp Rock for max rain turns, Rest for recovery, encore and Toxic to cripple some opponents.
2) Now on to the actual sweepers. In Rain you usually want one physical and one special swift swimmer, and on the physical side, there are only 2 viable options: Kabutops and Mega-Swampert. I chose Kabutops, since that still left me open with a Mega slot on my team, which you'll see later on.
Kabutops (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
Life Orb and maxed out Atk to make him hit as hard as possible, Waterfall and Stone Edge as Stabmoves. The last 2 slots were a bit more tricky though: At first, I didn't know if I wanted Swords Dance or Rapid Spin, so I left it open, and when I finished my team, I realized I don't have any pokemon weak to SR, so I went for SD. Aqua Jet was chosen over Low Kick because I added another check for Ferrothorn later and Aqua Jet does not only help me outside of Rain, but will also allow me to out-priority other Pokemon :P
3) For my special sweeper I chose Kingdra, mainly because of his ridicoulosly high damage output, but also because his Dragon offtype neutralizes the nasty Grass and Electric attacks that give rain teams so much trouble.
Kingdra (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Scald
- Ice Beam
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Scald
- Ice Beam
Hydro Pump and Draco Meteor hit like a motherf***ing truck, Ice Beam is used as Coverage, and Scald is a more reliable option later in the game, and can also burn switchins. EVs and choice specs are selfexplaining :)
4) Now, with the rain core covered, my next choice was a steel type, since they benefit MASSIVELY from fire attacks being weakened by rain. M-Scizor came naturally because of that, and because he's able to power through Ferrothorn, one of the worst things you can meet as Rain
Scizor-Mega (F) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
Full offensive set, SD to set up on defensive pokemon like Ferrothorn that often switch in to Rain, Technician Bullet Punch hurts. A lot ;)
5) Next thing on my list was a check for Thundurus, since that Pokemon alone can dismantle rain teams on it's own. I thought about Manectric for a while, but since I already had a mega evolution, I went for Kyurem-B instead. He's a great powerhouse and wallbreaker, that can sometimes beat stall teams alone.
Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Outrage
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Outrage
I basically just went for the hardest hitting attacks I could get on this one, lol. Ice Beam and Outrage are stab, Fusion Bolt and Earth Power not only hit hard anyways, but also cover a lot of things I need checked for my rain sweepers.
6) Now as my last Pokemon, I tried and tried to find something fitting... I really wanted to incorporate Tornadus for those nasty 100% accuracy Hurricanes, but with the team being Hyper Offense, my choice actually fell on a suicide lead instead. Azelf has a great movepool and can Skill Swap with Mega Sableye to prevent it from bouncing back rocks.
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 Def / 28 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Skill Swap
- Taunt
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 Def / 28 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Skill Swap
- Taunt
Focus Sash to get guaranteed Rocks, Explosion to prevent defogging for a turn, Skill Swap as mentioned above for the omnipresent Sableyes. The last slot was tricky... I thought about Rain Dance to maybe be able to save Politoed for later, but in the end felt like Taunt was just a lot more flexible. I might change that one again later though.
---
As always, let me know what you think of the team, and if you found anything I could improve :)
