RMT OU Rain-oriented team

So Zetta Slow

This is my first team in a long time, and considering the fact that I'm a noobie doesn't help, so here's the team.
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Roserade
@ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Grass Knot
- Weather Ball
- Toxic Spikes
- Rain Dance​
I chose a Roserade as my lead for the ability to setup not only the rain, but also toxic spikes. Roserade also counters incoming fire-types who are expecting a grass attack with weather ball, once it's raining of course. The focus sash prevents my Roserade from being OHKO'd by my enemy, and guarantees that I'll have Rain dance activated and at least one layer of Toxic Spikes also. I don't expect my leading Pokémon to last very long, but it should be there for what I need to start my team. ​
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dpmfa009.png

Blastoise
@ Choice Band
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 66 HP/252 Atk/192 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide​

Why should a Blastoise be physical? Because it will be a huge surprise to an unsuspecting trainer. I wanted the choice band using Blastoise mainly for the options that a Special attacking Blastoise wouldn't have at its disposal, like earthquake, or Rock Slide. The other main reason was that he is not a flimsy Pokémon that will be taken down easily. And Blastoise is a classic.:naughty:​
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Spr_4p_479W.png

Rotom-w
@ Damp Rock
EVs: 252 HP/6 Def/252 Spd
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]​

This Pokémon’s move set is the reason I decided to create this Rain-based team, for it is a true threat to those whom rely on types that are weak to Water or Electric attacks due to Thunder having 100% accuracy in the rain. This set was going to be more defensive, but I happened to breed a Rotom with a modest nature and an IV spread of 31,4,24,31,31,23, giving it a Hidden Power type of Ice and at 66 power. Not bad right?​
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dpffa430.png

Honchkrow
@ Life Orb
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Sucker Punch
- Drill Peck
- Superpower
- Pursuit​

The main reason I wanted the Honchkrow on this team was for the power it had and its movepool. The power is quite great, at the cost of defensive ability. Most of its counters like Skarmory might be afraid to come into play because of a threat of a thunder from a Pokémon like Rotom-W. His movepool is something that I find quite interesting because it can perform well on the two side of the attacking spectrum, like most of the well used sweepers in the OU environment. So it could be a welcome addition to my team.​


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dpmfa437.png

Bronzong​

@ Damp Rock​

Ability: Levitate​

EVs: 252 HP/128 Atk/130 Def​

Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)​

- Rain Dance​

- Explosion​

- Stealth Rock​

- Hypnosis​

Even though a Bronzong is kind of cliché, but I see it as the best option for the placement of stealth rock and the on-going of my rain that this team is based on. The other reason I chose him is that I felt I needed more bulky Pokémon on my team, and since he is a common mixed wall I find Bronzong as the best option I have for this team.​

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dpmfa297.png

Hariyama​

@ Leftovers​

Ability: Thick Fat​

EVs: 80 HP/172 Atk/252 Def/6 Spd​

Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)​

- Force Palm​

- Stone Edge​

- Whirlwind​

- Knock Off​

He maybe a non-common choice of the OU environment, but he is one of the best counters to Tyranitar, as well as an excellent counter or check to Weavile, two Pokémon I think I should watch out for.​

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And that's my team, I'm not that sure on weather or not to keep Honchkrow, and/or Hariyama, or weather or not to just change their movesets. Any advice you can give would be nice, and if not that just a simple rating out of ten on the coverage of the team and/or the weakness of aswell.​
And thank you for taking the time to rate this team.​

-So Zetta Slow​
 
I'm looking at this team and wondering where the swift swimmers are. You do not have any pokemon that utilize the rain's full potential. Yes, 100% accurate thunders, weather ball, and boosted STAB Waterfall are powerful, but you need much, much more to get your rain team up in the ranks. Rain teams should be played offensively and should rely totally or almost totally (one poke working out of rain is a max) on the rain being up. Check out some other rain RMT's and see how they do it.

joel22's RMT (really good): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58537

My RMT (not the best, but still experienced rain): http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59784

I would also recommend reading the Rain Offense Guide found here: http://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/rain_offense

After reading those, we may be able to help you more.
 
Umm swift swimmers?
Heres a good one for ya
Kingdra@ lumberry Ability:Swift Swim (Duh)
Dragon Dnace
Substitute
Outrage
Hydro pump

This guy really pwns and has the potential to wreak haVak on your opponet's team.

Heres another good swift swimmer
Ludicolo@ Life orb ability: Swift swim
Modest 252spa 252 speed 6hp
Grass knot
Surf
Hp Electric
FALCON PUNCH (focus punch)

Good Luck :)
(sorry for the crappy haVak referance)
 
I will start by apologizing for being rude in my first post. You didn't have what rain is supposed to use, and I overreacted a bit (ok... a lot). I would personally advise against a set-up Kingdra on a rain team, use something that just shows up and sweeps, such as mixed Kingdra. A decent set for that is:

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Swift Swim
Rash
84 Atk/192 SpA/232 Spe
Waterfall
Hydro Pump/Surf
HP [Electric]/Signal Beam
Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor

This Kingdra poses an immediate threat to teams. The Atk Ev's allow you to 2HKO a standard Blissey over half of the time, the speed allows you to outrun +1 Timid Latias/Gengar. The rest is put into special attack for some power. Hydro Pump is generally superior, as it picks up OHKOs on Skarmory, Rotom-A, and Machamp with SR and rain factored in. HP gets Gyarados, Signal Beam hits Celebi. Dragon Pulse gets all KOs that Draco Meteor gets bar defensive dragonite and latias. This set has done me well in the past.

That Ludicolo set is nice, but I recommend Ice Beam over HP [Electric] as Grass Knot is a 2HKO on Gyarados anyway.

Good luck with the team!
 
For a Rain Dance team, you have very few answers to (ironically) opposing Rain Dance sweepers. Your standard Mixed Kingdra can 2HKO basically everything on this team once Rain is activated, and Substitute + Dragon Dance Kingdra can easily take the time to set-up on things such as Blastoise's Waterfall and even Honchkrow's Sucker Punch. Tyranitar also gives this team a tough time, as no recovery on Hariyama means Tyranitar can continously spam Stone Edge until it either lands a critical hit, or until it kills Hariyama. Bronzong and Blastoise can take one good hit from it, but the sheer fact that Sandstorm ruins Rain Dance means you should focus your attention on Tyranitar primarily, and then Hippowdon if you feel the need to. I'm going to reccomend you make quite a bit of changes to this team, so please review them.

Without Sleep Powder, I don't understand why Roserade is leading. You just end up losing to Metagross, Heatran, etc...more easily. I don't really see the need for Toxic Spikes on an offensive team such as this, because honestly, that is what Rain Dance is. Sheer offense, something this team sorely lacks. For this reason alone, I reccomend you ditch this Roserade lead, and instead, lead with your Bronzong. It still makes for a very good lead even now in the metagame, setting up on Metagross easily and effectively walling Scarf Jirachi (you can always have a Trick buffer).

With Roserade out, you have an extra slot open for another sweeper. I suggest you try out Kingdra (the one pikachu25 posted is fine). Kingdra can dismantle all sorts of teams without even boosting its stats via Dragon Dance. Hydro Pump and Waterfall KO the majority of offensive teams, and Hidden Power Electric makes short work of Gyarados (did I mention that Gyarados gives you an insane amount of trouble once it has set-up?). You can fit Outrage there for Latias if you feel the need to, Draco Meteor's side effect kind of sucks on Kingdra anyway.

If you want a real competative team, Blastoise has got to go. Seriously. If you want an unexpected yet powerful hard-hitter, you can use Choice Band Swampert, who is not only a lot stronger but also has a STAB Earthqauke to decimate opposing Water-types. Swampert actually isn't that bad, as it provides an Electric and Rock resist, and gives you a switch-in on Tyranitar (excluding Choice Band Crunch). Something along the lines of:

Swampert @ Choice Band
Adamant nature (+ Atk, - SpA)
104 HP / 204 Atk / 100 Def / 100 Spe
~Waterfall
~Earthquake
~Stone Edge
~Ice Punch

Will provide a strong physical force that is pretty unexpected (though I will admit, Blastoise is more unexpected...not that that matters ;() I don't know what Honchkrow does for this team other than provide a Stealth Rock weakness and inability to handle things like Skarmory. I would reccomend a Ludicolo here, but if you find it to work, be my guest and use it. I do suggest you at least test Ludi, since it really is a powerful Rain sweeper. The Patriot's can work, though Ice Beam > HP Electric and maybe even Rain Dance > Focus Punch can be beneficial.

Cheers and good luck =)
 
ThePatriot said:
Umm swift swimmers?
Heres a good one for ya
Kingdra@ lumberry Ability:Swift Swim (Duh)
Dragon Dnace
Substitute
Outrage
Hydro pump

This guy really pwns and has the potential to wreak haVak on your opponet's team.

Heres another good swift swimmer
Ludicolo@ Life orb ability: Swift swim
Modest 252spa 252 speed 6hp
Grass knot
Surf
Hp Electric
FALCON PUNCH (focus punch)

Good Luck :)
(sorry for the crappy haVak referance)
Click to expand...

Well, I didn't get the joke. So, yeah.
Thanks for the idea, I have always wanted to try a Kingdra.

pikachu25 said:
I will start by apologizing for being rude in my first post. You didn't have what rain is supposed to use, and I overreacted a bit (ok... a lot). I would personally advise against a set-up Kingdra on a rain team, use something that just shows up and sweeps, such as mixed Kingdra. A decent set for that is:

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Swift Swim
Rash
84 Atk/192 SpA/232 Spe
Waterfall
Hydro Pump/Surf
HP [Electric]/Signal Beam
Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor

This Kingdra poses an immediate threat to teams. The Atk Ev's allow you to 2HKO a standard Blissey over half of the time, the speed allows you to outrun +1 Timid Latias/Gengar. The rest is put into special attack for some power. Hydro Pump is generally superior, as it picks up OHKOs on Skarmory, Rotom-A, and Machamp with SR and rain factored in. HP gets Gyarados, Signal Beam hits Celebi. Dragon Pulse gets all KOs that Draco Meteor gets bar defensive dragonite and latias. This set has done me well in the past.

That Ludicolo set is nice, but I recommend Ice Beam over HP [Electric] as Grass Knot is a 2HKO on Gyarados anyway.

Good luck with the team!
Click to expand...

You weren't rude in my oppion, infact that's what I needed to understand that there was more to rain teams then thunder and weather ball. (I forgot about Swift Swim).

Valantaro said:
For a Rain Dance team, you have very few answers to (ironically) opposing Rain Dance sweepers. Your standard Mixed Kingdra can 2HKO basically everything on this team once Rain is activated, and Substitute + Dragon Dance Kingdra can easily take the time to set-up on things such as Blastoise's Waterfall and even Honchkrow's Sucker Punch. Tyranitar also gives this team a tough time, as no recovery on Hariyama means Tyranitar can continously spam Stone Edge until it either lands a critical hit, or until it kills Hariyama. Bronzong and Blastoise can take one good hit from it, but the sheer fact that Sandstorm ruins Rain Dance means you should focus your attention on Tyranitar primarily, and then Hippowdon if you feel the need to. I'm going to reccomend you make quite a bit of changes to this team, so please review them.

Without Sleep Powder, I don't understand why Roserade is leading. You just end up losing to Metagross, Heatran, etc...more easily. I don't really see the need for Toxic Spikes on an offensive team such as this, because honestly, that is what Rain Dance is. Sheer offense, something this team sorely lacks. For this reason alone, I reccomend you ditch this Roserade lead, and instead, lead with your Bronzong. It still makes for a very good lead even now in the metagame, setting up on Metagross easily and effectively walling Scarf Jirachi (you can always have a Trick buffer).

With Roserade out, you have an extra slot open for another sweeper. I suggest you try out Kingdra (the one pikachu25 posted is fine). Kingdra can dismantle all sorts of teams without even boosting its stats via Dragon Dance. Hydro Pump and Waterfall KO the majority of offensive teams, and Hidden Power Electric makes short work of Gyarados (did I mention that Gyarados gives you an insane amount of trouble once it has set-up?). You can fit Outrage there for Latias if you feel the need to, Draco Meteor's side effect kind of sucks on Kingdra anyway.

If you want a real competative team, Blastoise has got to go. Seriously. If you want an unexpected yet powerful hard-hitter, you can use Choice Band Swampert, who is not only a lot stronger but also has a STAB Earthqauke to decimate opposing Water-types. Swampert actually isn't that bad, as it provides an Electric and Rock resist, and gives you a switch-in on Tyranitar (excluding Choice Band Crunch). Something along the lines of:

Swampert @ Choice Band
Adamant nature (+ Atk, - SpA)
104 HP / 204 Atk / 100 Def / 100 Spe
~Waterfall
~Earthquake
~Stone Edge
~Ice Punch

Will provide a strong physical force that is pretty unexpected (though I will admit, Blastoise is more unexpected...not that that matters ;() I don't know what Honchkrow does for this team other than provide a Stealth Rock weakness and inability to handle things like Skarmory. I would reccomend a Ludicolo here, but if you find it to work, be my guest and use it. I do suggest you at least test Ludi, since it really is a powerful Rain sweeper. The Patriot's can work, though Ice Beam > HP Electric and maybe even Rain Dance > Focus Punch can be beneficial.

Cheers and good luck =)
Click to expand...

Okay a Bronzong lead, I have found sucess on my other teams with Roserade, but it did have Sleep Powder. So, you're right it is useless. Oh, and thanks for the Swampert Moveset, he has always been my favorite pokemon.

I thank all of you for taking the time to rate and/or offer movesets in place of the other members of my team.

-So Zetta Slow
 
If you haven't already, read the articles Pikachu posted; then come back armed with knowledge and make a new team. 2 out of six are OU and the rest are UU/NU. I would really put some time into playing a team on ShoddyBattle before you post it because I have a hard time believing you could win at all with team. Here's what I would do if you're serious about making an OU Rain Dance team:

-Read the Offesive Rain Dance guide article. This will allow you to understand the format of the other Rain Dance RMTs better

- Read Rain Dance RMTs like Joel's and Pikachu's. This will show you which pokemon are good in OU rain as well as get some basic team building tips.

-Make a new team. Start from scratch. Use OU pokemon and Swift Swimmers, armed with your new knowledge you should be able to make an at least decent team.

-Play it on ShoddyBattle. Play a good 30-50 rounds with it to get a feel for you teams strengths and weaknesses. This will allow you to fix gaping problems in your team's offense and defense before you even post your new RMT

-Post a new RMT. This one should be much better. Since you've played with your team you can what its strengths and weaknesses are. If you can tell us what you have problems with, we can help you out better then just speculating what you might have troubles with.
 
Hi! Finally replying to your PM.

Okay, so Rain Dance huh? For a rain dance team you lack many elements that make a rain dance team effective. To be honest this team needs a rather extensive revamp to be a good Rain Dance team, since only Rotom, Bronzong, and maybe Hariyama make sense on this kind of team. Therefore, I'm going to have to suggest replacements for most of your team.

An initial no brainer is adding an offensive core to your team that takes advantage of the blinding speed acquired via Swift Swim. Mainly, Ludicolo and Kingdra. I've seen a lot of success utilizing a pure special Kingdra and an offensive SD Ludicolo, especially because those roles are usually reversed. These are the sets I recommend:

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
-Swords Dance
-Ice Punch
-Waterfall
-Seed Bomb

Kingdra @ Life Orb/Damp Rock
Swift Swim
EVs: 92 HP, 252 SpA, 164 Spe
-Rain Dance
-Surf/Hydro Pump
-Dragon Pulse
-Signal Beam

On Kingdra any set could work, Mixdra and Double Dance being very effective. In this case I like Special Kingdra for the ability to dominate Celebi with Signal Beam.

As for your lead, I would utilize something like a Lead Jirachi with Rain Dance. This set in particular is effective:

Jirachi @ Damp Rock
Serene Grace
Timid
EVs: 252 HP, 80 SpA, 176 Spe
-Rain Dance
-U-turn
-Thunder
-Water Pulse/Wish

I would be more inclined to use water pulse simply because of the hyper-offensive nature of Rain Dance teams, the ability to hit Swampert leads, and parafusion via Serene Grace.

As for Hariyama.....I feel like a more offensive set would help you out as far as posing an actual threat when you switch in on Tyranitar goes. However, "offensive" and "Hariyama" usually don't mesh well. I would consider a Bulk Up Machamp or SD/Bulk Up Breloom to help you here. Bulk Up Machamp is severly underrated in today's metagame, especially considering the fact that Psychic and Flying moves really aren't very common attacking moves in OU. Not to mention it rips Stall a new asshole as long as you predict Rotom switch ins (Lum Berry would fix that issue).

Anyway, with these changes your team should look like RDJirachi, RDBronzong, RDRotom, SD Ludicolo, Special Kingdra, and Bulk Up Machamp. Hopefully your team should see a lot more success.
 
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