The Quick and the Wet (OU RMT)

[lorddarigarn]

This is my first run at a Rain Dance team, but I think it’s come out reasonably. While it has a fairly good record, it is obvious the team is far from perfect and a good bit of C&C would be appreciated. One weakness I’ve noticed is that since the majority of the team has Life Orb, the damage from stall can quickly mount up. Jirachi is the only one that can really attempt to neutralise this with Thunder, but I’m not certain how to adjust to this.

Azelf @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Impish
- Rain Dance
- U-Turn
- Explosion
- Psychic
Sets up Rain dance, then either U-Turns out to act as a revenge killer and auxiliary rain refresher later in the game, or explodes immediately.

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 52 HP/ 252 Atk/ 204 Spe
Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
- Stone Edge
- Brick Break
My early –game sweeper, Kabutops attempts to open a hole in the first eight turns of rain for the other sweepers to exploit, as well as luring out threats such as bulky waters. With these EVs, he can outrun a Naïve +1 Salamence in the rain.

Jirachi @ Damp Rock
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/ 80 SpA/ 176 Spe
Timid
- Rain Dance
- U-Turn
- Wish
- Thunder
The transition Pokemon, designed to come in mid-game to quickly replenish Rain (possibly against incoming Grass) then switch out, using Wish if needed to restore sweeper if time allows. U-Turn gives a way for sweepers to come in safely. Thunder auto-hits and is nasty against Waters, as well as having a useful 60% chance of paralysing.

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Modest
- Surf
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance
Counters any water types that might prevent a sweep, 2HK0s Gyrados, is neutral to Electric and specially bulky so he can take Thunderbolts. Rain Dance lets him set up later in the game if it runs out. Helps to cover for Kabutop’s weaknesses. Outside of Jirachi, he is also my bulkiest Rain Dancer. If circumstances allow, I would hold him back and use him for a late-game sweep.

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/ 240 SpA/ 16 Spe
Naughty
- Waterfall
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Rain Dance
My mixed sweeper and wallbreaker, Kingdra can blow holes into the enemy team or mop up their remains.

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP/ 252 Atk. 224 Spe
Adamant
- Bullet Punch
- Brick Break
- U-Turn
- Rain Dance
Modified version of the Swords Dance set, most notably without Swords Dance. However, Scizor will still outspeed Tyranitar and 0HKO with Brick Break, and can then freely restore Rain Dance and U-Turn out. Rain Dance is such an unexpected move (assuming people actually remember he can learn it) that it instantly puts them on the off-foot, which usually helps me pull back a match. Pursuit allows me to pseudo-trap fast sweepers such as Scarf Gengar and Bullet Punch allows me to clean up, especially with Ludicolo dealing with Bulky Waters.Groud.

 

[Lord Jesseus]

Hydro Pump isn't really necessary on Kingdra. In the rain, Stab Surf hurts even things that resist it, and sometimes missing with Hydro Pump can mean the difference between winning and losing, say for instance against a Heatran with Dragon Pulse.
Also, Im not really sure it's necessary to have that many Rain Dance users. You may find that using some of the moveslots taken up by Rain Dance could be helpful.

Just one other thing, I've recently been using a Crobat lead on my Rain Team to decent success. It can Rain Dance than U-Turn just like Azelf, but it's notably faster. Superfast Taunting is also helpful. It lacks explsoion, but Brave Bird is quite powerful, and it tears Breloom to tiny pieces.
I'm not sure how it'd compare to Azelf overall, but it may be worth trying.

Finally, don't expect Scizor to survive Fire Attacks in the rain. It has a better chance than normal, but don't rely on it.

 

[garchomp09]

I agree, I think there are one too many rain dancers. Switch the rain dance on Scizor for Roost, and the rain dance on Kingdra for Substitute. I think that's effective, good luck.

 

[Blackhawk11]

I agree, I think there are one too many rain dancers. Switch the rain dance on Scizor for Roost, or the rain dance on Kingdra for Substitute. I think that's effective, good luck.

I changed his reply around a bit. Five Rain Dancers is a bit much, although I'm sure it can really come in handy. Reducing your number of RD users to three is a bad idea, so I suggest only swapping out one RD; if you chose between those two, Kingdra would be the better choice imo. But I think that if you put Focus Punch > Rain Dance on Ludicolo, it would really help you out. In my experience, Blissey loves switching in on Ludicolo, and Focus Punch would take care of her.

Ludicolo does not need that many Speed EVs, change the spread to 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd. That will allow you to outrun +1 Salamence in the rain, which is very handy. If you give Colo FP, switch the nature to Mild and move the HP EVs to Atk.

Kingdra's EV spread looks weird. Any explanation on why you have so little Speed? If you don't, then I suggest giving it 228 Spd EVs then splitting up the remaining EVs between Atk and SAtk. 228 EVs allows Kingdra to outrun Timid Scarf Gengar in the rain.

Lastly, put Stealth Rock > Psychic on Azelf, then change your nature to Jolly and move your SAtk EVs to HP. That will give Azelf some survivability, allowing you to get both SR and RD off.

 

[Snorlaxe]

I changed his reply around a bit. Five Rain Dancers is a bit much, although I'm sure it can really come in handy. Reducing your number of RD users to three is a bad idea, so I suggest only swapping out one RD; if you chose between those two, Kingdra would be the better choice imo. But I think that if you put Focus Punch > Rain Dance on Ludicolo, it would really help you out. In my experience, Blissey loves switching in on Ludicolo, and Focus Punch would take care of her.

Ludicolo does not need that many Speed EVs, change the spread to 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd. That will allow you to outrun +1 Salamence in the rain, which is very handy. If you give Colo FP, switch the nature to Mild and move the HP EVs to Atk.

Kingdra's EV spread looks weird. Any explanation on why you have so little Speed? If you don't, then I suggest giving it 228 Spd EVs then splitting up the remaining EVs between Atk and SAtk. 228 EVs allows Kingdra to outrun Timid Scarf Gengar in the rain.

Lastly, put Stealth Rock > Psychic on Azelf, then change your nature to Jolly and move your SAtk EVs to HP. That will give Azelf some survivability, allowing you to get both SR and RD off.

I think that five Rain Dancers really is a bit many, maybe take it off of Kingdra? Kingdra has a stellar movepool (being a dragon type and all), so you can freely abuse it. I thought that Jirachi's Thunder-With-60-Percent-Paralysis thing was a really cool idea, I thought that I was the only one who used that in my Rain Dance teams.

I disagree with Blackhawk on the Psychic thing, I would keep Psychic...although I would change the nature to Hasty (which is +Speed, -Defense, by the way). The rest all looks good to me, I cant find any other major problems.

Anyway, I hope I helped, and good luck! :)

 

[pikachu25]

I love rain, I'll see if I can help.

Azelf: SR over Psychic. SR gives you many more OHKO's (a notable one being Ludicolo's surf on standard Scizor in rain), and also hurts players that will try to switch-stall out your rain. When you do this, move the 252 Ev's from SpA to HP and switch the nature to jolly. The HP Ev's will give you a slight chance to live through a Metagross Meteor Mash/Bullet Punch and ensure that no Swampert lead will 2HKO you. Don't use Crobat here because Explosion is invaluable, and Crobat screams rain.

Kabutops: Waterfall > Aqua Tail. Waterfall has better accuracy and a flinch chance, so it is the superior option. You might want to consider X-Scissor, for Satrmie, Celebi, and Latias, probably over Brick Break, as BB only hits Blissey and Empoleon, and the former doesn't like any of your attacks. An Ev spread of 32/252/224 might be useful, as this makes your HP a life orb number, and the extra speed lets you outrun other things that outrun +1 +Nature Salamence/Flygon.

Jirachi: Not much to say. Looks good.

Ludicolo: Focus Punch for Blissey and HP bug for Celebi are both viable options over RD. I personally use max speed just to outrun random stuff that wasn't nice enough to fall on a speed tier.

Kingdra: Keep Hydro Pump. It gives you OHKO's on Rotom-A and Machamp that surf misses out on, and the accuracy is not that bad. Hydro Pump can 2HKO a Latias and Celebi with SR up (though the chance on the former isn't great), so when they try to sponge you, they die. It actually takes 232 Ev's to outrun +1 +Nature Gengar/Latias in the rain, and if you wish to keep it mixed, I would recommend this set:

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Swift Swim
Rash
84 Atk/192 SpA/232 Spe
Waterall
Hydro Pump
Draco Meteor
HP Electric/Signal Beam

the Atk Ev's allow you to 2HKO standard Blissey on average with Waterfall with leftovers factored in. The speed has already been mentioned, and the rest goes into Sp Atk. HP Electric/Signal Beam is preference, as HP Electric hit Gyarados/Bulky Waters and Signal Beam hits Celebi.

I also like all-special Kingdra. If you are interested in that, I'll give you the set.

Scizor: I love him and use him, but I use Superpower over Brick Break and U-Turn over Pursuit. If you eliminate RD on Ludicolo or Kingdra, keep it on him. I also recommend going with the Choice Band Ev spread, as it is bulkier.

Overall, not a bad team. As for the number of RD'ers, I use three on my team, and it is sometimes too few. Definitely go to four, and it is ok to go to three to give Kingdra and Ludicolo better type coverage. Bronzong is also worth looking into as a rain replenisher.

 

[EspyJoel]

Alright, I've got a lot of experience with rain dance teams so I will help you out. There isn't too much to change pokemon-wise but some of the movesets could do with refining.

Azelf- This is a great lead however Impish nature is not good, I would make its moveset Rain Dance/Taunt or Stealth Rock/U-turn/Explosion. This is a pretty good lead as you can set up rain dance and either set up stealth rocks which rain dance teams really like or taunt slower leads to prevent them from setting up sr, using spore, etc. U-turn is for scouting while it will break the sashes of the suicide leads or just generally do a bit of damage while you switch to someone better suited at dealing with the opposing lead. Explosion for going out with a bang. Using a Jolly nature and an EV spread of either 220HP/36Atk/252Spd or 252HP/4Atk/252Spd with a Jolly nature work best depending on whether you want a more powerful explosion or a chance to survive a Metagross' Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch. Holding a Focus Sash is recommended to ensure you can survive to set up rain dance.

Kabutops-Firstly drop Aqua Tail for waterfall as the power loss isn't that big but you definitely want a nice reliable attack. I would drop Brick Break for either X-scissor or Aqua Jet as Ludicolo can usually deal with the subpetaya empoleons well enough and X-scissor will allow you to ohko Celebi or you could use Aqua Jet for some useful priority and it means you can finish off weakened Scizors, Lucarios, etc before they hit you with a priority move. Considering the speed of your other sweepers I would use a Jolly nature and an EV spread of 80HP/252Atk/176Spd to outrun Timid Choice Scarf Gengars/Latias' who could otherwise terrorise your team.

Ludicolo-Use an EV spread of 60HP/196Spd/252SAtk to outrun +1 neutral natured base 100s as the extra HP may come in handy in taking Bullet Punches, etc.

Kingdra-I would replace Rain Dance with either Signal Beam or HP Electric as 4 rain dancers is enough and this will allow you to either deal around 75% to Celebi meaning if it switches into Hydro Pump beforehand which they often do, you can take them out or you could use HP Electric to definitely ohko Gyarados with Stealth Rocks up or to possibly ohko them without sr.

I don't really think you want both Jirachi and Scizor as your rain dance set uppers as this means pokemon like CS Heatran and Infernape could give you some trouble setting up rd. I would therefore replace one of them with Starmie with a moveset of Rain Dance/Recover/Thunder/Surf, a Timid nature, Natural Cure and holding a Damp Rock. Its EV spread should probably be 252HP/216Spd/40SAtk as this gives it a lot of speed while also being able to take hits from Infernape and others well and still hitting back hard.

As for the movesets of Jirachi and Scizor since you would obviously want to keep one of them. If you have Stealth Rocks on Azelf then Jirachis moveset is fine however if you don't you would probably want them over either U-turn or Wish depending on whether you'd prefer to keep scouting ability or the healing as stealth rocks are so useful as for example they allow Kingdra to take out Togekiss and Zapdos with Hydro Pump among others.

If you keep Scizor instead or decide your happy with both Scizor and Jirachi I would give Scizor a more supportive moveset rather than the more attackive moveset it has at he moment. A moveset of Rain Dance/Roost/Bullet Punch/U-turn would be best with an Adamant nature, an EV spread of 176HP/100Atk/56Spd/176SDef or 246HP/16Atk/248SDef if you want less attack but be able to take more hits, and holding a Damp Rock as its item.

Anyway, hope this helps and good luck with the team :)