By End Fashion
Contents
1/ Preface
2/ Lineup
3/ Team Breakdown
4/ OU Threat List (under construction)
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1/ Preface
Just a quick introduction and general word about the team. This is my one and only serious attempt at constructing a Rain Dance team for OU play. They are a popular archetype and exist in many various forms. In building the team I have come to realise just how well put together other teams are, and garnered a great deal of respect for those who put them together. That said, I have no hopes or intentions of producing a team that is both original and superior to previous RD teams, since I think the best probably already exists. However, this hasn't stopped me from trying to make something sufficiently functional against the wide range of archetypes out there.
Comments and suggestions are not only welcomed, they are requested. Thanks in advance for checking the team out, and any feedback is muchly appreciated.
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2/ Lineup
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3/ Team Breakdown
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 104 HP/152 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Rain Dance
- Taunt
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
Okay, so here is my lead. Crobat has a number of properties which make him a great candidate for the position of RD lead. For one, he is fast. This means he can get the rain pouring on his own accord with little to no threat. Secondly, he can taunt to stop openers who like to set up themselves. This is great against Stealth Rock users, but also importantly against the likes of Ninjask and his speed boosts and passes, and Bronzong's Trick Room. Next is his ability to take out Abomasnow in one hit. This is very important to be since Abomasnow and hail in general really screw me over. Besides Scizor I really have no way to take out the ice giant, and any attempts to set up rain are thwarted time after time. Finally, Crobat's Inner Focus is useful against a lead that made me squirm in my seat a little - Scarfed Jirachi. The thought of being outpaced and flinched to death immediately struck my mind, and Crobat can make life easier for me. U-Turn lets me hit Azelf for some nice damage and bring in Rotom-W in anticipation of an Explosion.
So in summary, it works both as an effective counter and, importantly, opens up the Heavens to support the Swift Swim sweepers. I'll cover the strategy against common openers when I get around to finishing my threat list.
Thanks to gary the gengar for the suggestion, and bloo_of_ACO for making me look for an Inner Focus lead.
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Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 204 HP/104 Spd/76 SAtk/124 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Leech Seed
- Rain Dance
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
It's a rain dance team... of course Ludicolo is here. I've opted for his more aggressive set although I am "umming-and-ahhing" about whether I should just go with his support set. I found that without a wish user his Leech Seed was kind of helpful for my Life Orb users, although in retrospect probably not often enough to justify it alone. Admittedly I felt far less paranoid about switching in with that set, but I also had lots of trouble with some Pokemon that he can now counter much better. I think for the time being I'll leave him as is, and work more on my strategy and switches rather than blame the Pokemon themselves.
Anyway, most here will get the gist of what he does. He comes in on rain and uses the pace to mash stuff. When rain runs out, he sets up again. In his more defensive form he is more reliable in setting up the rain, whereas now he would prefer to come in to a downpour.
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Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Earth Power
Omastar is the dedicated special sweeper, and does a fantastic job. In the rain Surf is an absolute wrecking ball (I don't trust Hydro Pump's accuracy) and the rest of the moves allow for great type coverage. I was originally running HP Grass on this set, but decided that I basically had it on there for the likes of Swampert who can be safely switched into with Ludicolo anyway. In that case, my sweeping chain is hardly broken as Ludicolo can keep the rain up himself, so Omastar isn't put out too much by this switch at all. Without HP Electric, Gyarados has no trouble coming in and setting itself up. Earth Power does more damage to opposing Tentacruel who can otherwise take hits fairly well from this set (HP Electric is a 3HKO whilst Earth Power has an 83% chance of 2HKO with leftovers factored in), and I don't really want to be wasting precious time in the rain.
Thanks to gary the gengar and Bossnine for drilling Omastar into my head and overriding my stubborness to keep Gorebyss.
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Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/240 SAtk/16 Spd
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
Like Ludicolo, Kingdra practically has a reserved seat in any rain team (unless someone is trying to deliberately leave him out). He has a ton of options at his disposal, however I found this setup to my liking the most. Originally running a fully-blown Life Orb set, I swapped for the Leftovers for added durability since I found I was using him in the mid to late game skermishes rather than busting him out for the quick win. I'm very protective of Kingdra and like to scout things first before I commit to using him.
Yawn and Dragon Dance work wonders with one another. Hit the snooze button, and DD on the switch. If not, DD when they go to sleepy land - rinse and repeat. Of course it's not always as simple as that, but you can play some fun mind games with people late in the game with Yawn alone, whilst building up the safer STAB Waterfall or kimikaze Outrage.
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Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP/252 Atk/224 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- X-Scissor
- Superpower
Scizor is obviously my second physical attacker/sweeper. I have this space reserved for anything with a powerful priority move, and Scizor does this brilliantly. He can either pick off stragglers or ideally get a Swords Dance boost and get to work. Again, he is a Pokemon who speaks for himself and needs little explination.
EDIT: In writing this, Lucario has jumped into my mind. He possesses some nifty priorities that can hit on both sides of the offensive spectrum. I'll have to test him out. Thoughts?
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Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/136 Def/120 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Rain Dance
- Thunder Wave
- Hydro Pump
CONFESSION: I haven't even used the team with this Pokemon in it.
This space was originally filled by a defensive Spiritomb, but Rotom's defensive capabilities seem adequate in their own right, and basically plug all the holes that I felt I was having trouble with. This final slot was originally reserved for a stable utility to help slow the tempo in tight times and try to restore order by hindering opposing teams with Toxics and Confuse Rays etc., get rain back up, and continue to slog out. This worked sometimes, but not always; what's more I've come to realise that rain dance teams are made to be offensive. Purely and simply offensive. That said, if I run into a team that is better at offense than mine, it would be nice to have something to counter or nullify the threat, so I may turn this into a utility yet. Time and experience will tell, but having faced a few Rotom in my time I know their worth and peskiness to take out unless you are properly equipped.
Defensively speaking, Rotom fits in well here since:
- bug and poison moves scare off Ludicolo
- electric moves were (not so much now) were scary
- earthquake is a general hinderence
- ... as are fighting and steel priorities
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4/ OU Threat List
The list is still under construction, however I've made a start.
