So there have been two things I have really wanted to play with in gen5 that I haven't really been able to do well up to this point. Use a Thundurs and use a rain team. While my quest with this team started with Thundurus, it eventually turned into rain to make a pretty decently done team.
Team Building Process:
I first off wanted to use a Thundurus, personally I think it should've been banned last suspect round because of how annoying it can be, but I still wanted to play around with it. Decided to go with the standard NP set and work around that.
I was in a skype call with a few friends, and I said I was team building, and one of them jokingly said to use a Breloom. I've never been much of a fan of Breloom myself, but looking at how it could be worked and played, it seemed like it would serve to be a wonderful asset to Thundurus.
Now looking at the weaknesses presented by Thundurus and Breloom, I needed to think of some cushions to cover them so they could run rampant. At first, a water type seemed like the best coverage, then find another poke to handle the electric problem of the water. First task at hand was the water. Thinking about it, since it would give me access to Thunder, and cover up a fire weakness on Breloom, and lure some things out, Politoed seemed like a good choice for the bulky water.
Next to help out with that electric resist for Politoed. Looking at what I had, I felt I also needed a more solid way to deal with Excadrill and a few other noteable physical threats, including a Toxicroak in opposing rain teams. Gliscor, while odd in rain but becoming slowly standard, seemed like a great choice. The standard defensive SD seemed like it would help support my team and be able to carry out secondary sweeps when needed.
With only two slots left for my team, I saw I had no stealth rocker yet, which can be a bit problematic. Since I used the standard Politoed spread, I didn't exactly have any dedicated special wall, especially nothing to deal with Latios. Since Jirachi excells as a special wall this generation and lays up rocks well, plus with my want to use one of these too, he seemed like a perfect fit in the team. I also chose him over Ferrothorn for the paralyze support, although Ferrothorn could do the same, I felt Jirachi might be better for it, but I could be wrong. The Wish support is pretty appealing for Politoed too, which may sway my feelings.
With my final slot, I decided to look back and see what I had. From my perspective, I had not fully abused the rain as well as I could have, and could accomplish a bit more with it. Since I had enough physical attackers in my mind, I was looking at something on the special side to do something. I decided that I should just complete one of the most common cores in the game and use a Rotom-W. My choice was to go with the standard spread, although I am considering scarf for lack of speed on this team. I gain a bit of bulk and speed with this set, and have maximum attack power to hit hard what may threaten my team. This also provides some extra resistances for my team so I have an extra cushion lying around.
So the general gameplan with this team is to obviously lead with the weather unless there is a more promising situation, then work from there to clear the way for Thundurus to get an edge in and get a sweep going. Since I have a small lack of speed, I try and rely on Jirachi, Rotom, and Breloom to try and cripple the opponents sweepers as quick as possible so that everyone can have an easier time running around to do their job.
Well, that is my team. It has been working pretty nicely. The only true problems are speedy pokemon. The fastest poke on my team is Thundurus, and I have no scarfers, and can't always rely on getting the paralyze. So once he is gone, I get destroyed by fast threats, but not really sure what to do. Thanks in advance for rating and hope you enjoy.
Team Building Process:
I first off wanted to use a Thundurus, personally I think it should've been banned last suspect round because of how annoying it can be, but I still wanted to play around with it. Decided to go with the standard NP set and work around that.
I was in a skype call with a few friends, and I said I was team building, and one of them jokingly said to use a Breloom. I've never been much of a fan of Breloom myself, but looking at how it could be worked and played, it seemed like it would serve to be a wonderful asset to Thundurus.
Now looking at the weaknesses presented by Thundurus and Breloom, I needed to think of some cushions to cover them so they could run rampant. At first, a water type seemed like the best coverage, then find another poke to handle the electric problem of the water. First task at hand was the water. Thinking about it, since it would give me access to Thunder, and cover up a fire weakness on Breloom, and lure some things out, Politoed seemed like a good choice for the bulky water.
Next to help out with that electric resist for Politoed. Looking at what I had, I felt I also needed a more solid way to deal with Excadrill and a few other noteable physical threats, including a Toxicroak in opposing rain teams. Gliscor, while odd in rain but becoming slowly standard, seemed like a great choice. The standard defensive SD seemed like it would help support my team and be able to carry out secondary sweeps when needed.
With only two slots left for my team, I saw I had no stealth rocker yet, which can be a bit problematic. Since I used the standard Politoed spread, I didn't exactly have any dedicated special wall, especially nothing to deal with Latios. Since Jirachi excells as a special wall this generation and lays up rocks well, plus with my want to use one of these too, he seemed like a perfect fit in the team. I also chose him over Ferrothorn for the paralyze support, although Ferrothorn could do the same, I felt Jirachi might be better for it, but I could be wrong. The Wish support is pretty appealing for Politoed too, which may sway my feelings.
With my final slot, I decided to look back and see what I had. From my perspective, I had not fully abused the rain as well as I could have, and could accomplish a bit more with it. Since I had enough physical attackers in my mind, I was looking at something on the special side to do something. I decided that I should just complete one of the most common cores in the game and use a Rotom-W. My choice was to go with the standard spread, although I am considering scarf for lack of speed on this team. I gain a bit of bulk and speed with this set, and have maximum attack power to hit hard what may threaten my team. This also provides some extra resistances for my team so I have an extra cushion lying around.
So the general gameplan with this team is to obviously lead with the weather unless there is a more promising situation, then work from there to clear the way for Thundurus to get an edge in and get a sweep going. Since I have a small lack of speed, I try and rely on Jirachi, Rotom, and Breloom to try and cripple the opponents sweepers as quick as possible so that everyone can have an easier time running around to do their job.
The Team:
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Ice Beam
The start of any good rain team will always be Politoed, unless there are some random circumstances. But anyways, while the team wasn't meant to be rain to start, it evolved quite well with the addition of it. Politoed not only provides the important rain, but also serves to be quite the wall for my team. I chose to go with the bulky variant as opposed to scarf because I felt that the resistances that Politoed brought to the field would benefit Breloom and Thundurus more as a wall than a scarfer. Scald for STAB and burn chance, Toxic is my prefered status as I have more reliable sleep on the team, and wearing down other walls comes in handy, Perish Song helps prevent set-up sweepers from wanting to stay in for long, allowing me to counter them later, and Ice Beam to help deal with dragons and grass types as with rain, opposing water types can be dealt with easily enough, especially with Toxic support.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SpDef / 36 Spd
Careful Nature (+ SpDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
- Body Slam
Since the team really has no way to deal with Latios or a few other key special attackers, Jirachi seemed like a sound choice to use as a special wall. Since I also need SR, since its the most important move in the game, and paralyze support though Body Slam to make up for the general slow pace of my team, Jirachi felt like a sound choice, especially with the other members support to go with it. Iron Head for the obligatory STAB and flinch to go with the para, SR since its the most important move in the game, Wish to heal and provide a bit of extra health across the rest of my team, especially to Thundurus and Politoed, and Body Slam to have another damaging move that also has a nice chance to paralyze instead of straight having Thunder Wave. I also run 4 extra speed EV's from Sp Def because I am weird like that and at the most random times like to always have that extra point of speed when going for the 244 mark to outspeed anything at that speed point.
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Protect
- Swords Dance
Even though Politoed is invested in defense and tries to spread burn around, its not exactly the best equipt to deal with physical threats. Even though Gliscor and rain may not look like the best of combinations, it works well provided the right synergy, since it can help beat a few threats to rain, and a couple of important physical threats. Earthquake for STAB, Ice Fang provides the best coverage at this moment, Protect to scout and heal a bit extra because of Poison Heal, Swords Dance to sweep when presented with an opportunity, and give another theat to worry about offensively and defensively for the opponent.
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 248 SAtk / 148 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom helps round out one of the most commonly used cores in this current metagame, and provide some more defensive and offensive support the team needs. Since I felt like one more rain abuser would round out the team, Rotom-W, being an in general massive threat in the metagame, felt like a very good choice. With the small amount of HP investment, it adds bulk to his huge attack power to be able to cushion a few hits for the team but hit back twice as hard. You may notice the extra 4 speed EV's from special attack, well its for the same reason as Jirachi. I opted for the standard set at first to try and rely on the paralyze from Thunder along with Jirachis Body Slam to try and make up for the lack of speed, but its been hurting a bit lately, so this might be something to change. So Thunder for STAB to abuse the weather and try to spread some paralyze, Hydro Pump for STAB and to further abuse the weather to hit very hard, Will-O-Wisp to burn some physical threats that would be better off burned then paralyzed, and since its rain, HP Fire seemed redundant, and Pain Split to recover a bit of HP back.
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Focus Punch
- Spore
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
The first part of the main focus of this team, the annoyance himself, Breloom. Although it was kinda a joke when presented to me, I looked at what it could do with Thundurus, and it seemed like they could provide an interesting yet effective core. With the rest of my team, I can lure in Ferrothorn and a few other slow walls to get Breloom set-up to either damage and kill them or lure in other threats to kill with my other guys properly. Spore puts stuff to sleep, Substitute to have something for if they switch or to take advantage of the first turn sleep, Seed Bomb for STAB, Focus Punch to abuse the sub.
Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Thunder
And the star of the team, this rounds only current suspect, one of the most dangerous sweepers out there, Thundurus. Once I get rid of the few things that outspeed or take this things hits, Thundurus comes in to clean up the field and wreak havoc. Just get a Nasty Plot up and nothing can really take a hit from this thing. NP to boost for the sweep, Thunder instead of Thunderbolt to take advantage of the rain to get the extra boost for some extra power to kill stuff, HP Ice for the psuedo BoltBeam, Focus Blast helps deal with Ferrothorn and things that can take Thunder well.
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Ice Beam
The start of any good rain team will always be Politoed, unless there are some random circumstances. But anyways, while the team wasn't meant to be rain to start, it evolved quite well with the addition of it. Politoed not only provides the important rain, but also serves to be quite the wall for my team. I chose to go with the bulky variant as opposed to scarf because I felt that the resistances that Politoed brought to the field would benefit Breloom and Thundurus more as a wall than a scarfer. Scald for STAB and burn chance, Toxic is my prefered status as I have more reliable sleep on the team, and wearing down other walls comes in handy, Perish Song helps prevent set-up sweepers from wanting to stay in for long, allowing me to counter them later, and Ice Beam to help deal with dragons and grass types as with rain, opposing water types can be dealt with easily enough, especially with Toxic support.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SpDef / 36 Spd
Careful Nature (+ SpDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
- Body Slam
Since the team really has no way to deal with Latios or a few other key special attackers, Jirachi seemed like a sound choice to use as a special wall. Since I also need SR, since its the most important move in the game, and paralyze support though Body Slam to make up for the general slow pace of my team, Jirachi felt like a sound choice, especially with the other members support to go with it. Iron Head for the obligatory STAB and flinch to go with the para, SR since its the most important move in the game, Wish to heal and provide a bit of extra health across the rest of my team, especially to Thundurus and Politoed, and Body Slam to have another damaging move that also has a nice chance to paralyze instead of straight having Thunder Wave. I also run 4 extra speed EV's from Sp Def because I am weird like that and at the most random times like to always have that extra point of speed when going for the 244 mark to outspeed anything at that speed point.
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Protect
- Swords Dance
Even though Politoed is invested in defense and tries to spread burn around, its not exactly the best equipt to deal with physical threats. Even though Gliscor and rain may not look like the best of combinations, it works well provided the right synergy, since it can help beat a few threats to rain, and a couple of important physical threats. Earthquake for STAB, Ice Fang provides the best coverage at this moment, Protect to scout and heal a bit extra because of Poison Heal, Swords Dance to sweep when presented with an opportunity, and give another theat to worry about offensively and defensively for the opponent.
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 248 SAtk / 148 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom helps round out one of the most commonly used cores in this current metagame, and provide some more defensive and offensive support the team needs. Since I felt like one more rain abuser would round out the team, Rotom-W, being an in general massive threat in the metagame, felt like a very good choice. With the small amount of HP investment, it adds bulk to his huge attack power to be able to cushion a few hits for the team but hit back twice as hard. You may notice the extra 4 speed EV's from special attack, well its for the same reason as Jirachi. I opted for the standard set at first to try and rely on the paralyze from Thunder along with Jirachis Body Slam to try and make up for the lack of speed, but its been hurting a bit lately, so this might be something to change. So Thunder for STAB to abuse the weather and try to spread some paralyze, Hydro Pump for STAB and to further abuse the weather to hit very hard, Will-O-Wisp to burn some physical threats that would be better off burned then paralyzed, and since its rain, HP Fire seemed redundant, and Pain Split to recover a bit of HP back.
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Focus Punch
- Spore
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
The first part of the main focus of this team, the annoyance himself, Breloom. Although it was kinda a joke when presented to me, I looked at what it could do with Thundurus, and it seemed like they could provide an interesting yet effective core. With the rest of my team, I can lure in Ferrothorn and a few other slow walls to get Breloom set-up to either damage and kill them or lure in other threats to kill with my other guys properly. Spore puts stuff to sleep, Substitute to have something for if they switch or to take advantage of the first turn sleep, Seed Bomb for STAB, Focus Punch to abuse the sub.
Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Thunder
And the star of the team, this rounds only current suspect, one of the most dangerous sweepers out there, Thundurus. Once I get rid of the few things that outspeed or take this things hits, Thundurus comes in to clean up the field and wreak havoc. Just get a Nasty Plot up and nothing can really take a hit from this thing. NP to boost for the sweep, Thunder instead of Thunderbolt to take advantage of the rain to get the extra boost for some extra power to kill stuff, HP Ice for the psuedo BoltBeam, Focus Blast helps deal with Ferrothorn and things that can take Thunder well.
Well, that is my team. It has been working pretty nicely. The only true problems are speedy pokemon. The fastest poke on my team is Thundurus, and I have no scarfers, and can't always rely on getting the paralyze. So once he is gone, I get destroyed by fast threats, but not really sure what to do. Thanks in advance for rating and hope you enjoy.
