first rmt/thread (rain team)

[limititations]

I was a little nervous posting this thread as it is my first RMT and post in general on smogon, sorry in advance for any mistakes i may or may not make. While this is my first RMT it is not my first team, I had already made sand and sun teams in the past (both of which could use rates) so I decided why not and started work on a rain team. without going into too many details on how i ended up with this team here it is a glance.

team building process

went from Toxicroak to Breloom, this allowed me to slightly change poli's set as well as give me the ability to better combat Rotom-w who had been giving my team problems. There were other slight variants before this but i don't feel like going into detail. and they only lasted a day at most x).

An in depth look of the team. You will notice that most of the items are either different or have replacements. this is due to me and friends using an item clause when we battle each other.

Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
EVS: 252 Hp 200 Def 52 SpD
Nature: Calm
Toxic
Scald
Protect
Perish Song

Description: Acts as one of 3 leads the team can potentially have based on what i believe the opponent will be using. It brings out permanent rain and serves as a general nuisance. Scald is nice for burning targets, protect is there for scouting the opponents moves, Hypnosis and Perish Song are there to potentially cripple and take out certain threats and make the sweepers jobs of setting up a lot easier. Toxic is used over hypnosis to stall out some opponents as well as make the sweepers job easier. I had originally used zoom lens to buffer Hypnosis horrible accuracy, but decided to go with Mupa97 suggestion and use leftovers to further increase Poli's bulk/longevity.

Starmie @ life orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVS: 4Hp 252 SpA 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Thunder
Ice Beam
Rapid Spin
Hydro Pump

Description: Acts as the teams rapid spinner to make life easier for Dragonite, as well as the teams revenge killer and status absorber since natural cure cures any status upon switching out. Was chosen over Volcarona due to me being completely raped by entry hazards. It also has nice synergy with the team being able to take out any Dragon types that would otherwise be faster than Dragonite. Since i will more or less always have weather up I chose Thunder over Thunderbolt for the nice increase in damage and it compliments Ice Beam very well. Hydro Pump for STAB puts a pretty big dent in anything that doesn't resist it. I chose life orb over leftovers for the damage boost and if Starmie is low on health wish from Jirachi is always helpful.

Dragonite @ Lum Berry/Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
Evs: 252 Hp 44 Atk 210 Spe
Nature: Jolly
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Outrage
Roost

Description: Was a replacement for Ferrothorn as Originally half my team was/had steel typing. He also compliments Jirachi and the rest of the team quite nicely, resisting Fire moves and immune to ground type moves thanks to his typing, and he also resists grass type moves. Roost combined with Multiscale gives it amazing bulk and after a few Dragon Dances Dragonite can start to sweep Mid to Late Game. Changed Waterfall to Earthquake to provide better coverage as well as to take out steel types expecting an Outrage. I had originally had Fire Punch to take out steel types but it proved unimpressive in rain. I'm currently thinking of replacing waterfall with Brick Break as I feel Magnezone would give my team a lot of problems. Changed Dragon claw to Outrage for a stronger STAB which also enabled me to run a jolly nature. because of this move change Lum Berry is the preferred item, enabling me to potentially get off another Outrage if i don't get statused or recover from status and potentially set up another dragon dance.

Jirachi @ leftovers
Abilty: Serene Grace
Evs: 252 Hp 224 SpD 32 Spe
Nature: Careful
Stealth Rock
Body Slam
Iron Head
Wish

Description: This Little guy really should be banned into Ubers, but until this happens he fits the team perfectly. He also acts as the 2nd of the 3 possible leads for my team, being able to function perfectly outside of rain, it can set up stealth rocks and precede to spread Paralysis with Body Slam. it also serves as the teams medic thanks to Wish. Its Psychic/Steel typing allows it to resist any Psychic type moves aimed at Toxicroak as well as any Ice or Dragon moves aimed at Dragonite. Body Slam was chosen for the chance to paralyze the likes of Gliscor and any other Ground type foolish enough to switch into it expecting a Thunderwave. I'm currently thinking of switching Iron Head for Fire Punch as Iron Head sees little use and for fear that Magnezone could come in and completely ruin me with HP Fire otherwise.

Possible Changes: currently testing Thunder over Body Slam

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Evs: 236 Hp 216 SpD 60 Spe
Nature: Careful
Spore
Bulk Up
Seed Bomb
Drain Punch
Description: Replaced Toxicroak to better combat Rotom-w and other bulky waters and electric type pokemon. It still keeps the basic idea behind of What Toxicroak did, allowing it to come in on a resisted attack to activate toxic orb and do a bulk up on the switch. The EV's allow Breloom to take Special attacks more easily while still having as much bulk as possible. Drain Punch is for STAB and to get back lost health along side Poison Heal while Seed Bomb is the other STAB of choice hitting Bulky water types for super effective damage. Spore puts certain threats to sleep and allows Breloom to set up easier.

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
Evs: 252 Hp 232 Def 24 Spe
Nature: Impish
Roost
Spikes
Whirlwind
Brave Bird

Description: Acts as the 3rd potential lead of the team. It's really just the classic Skarmory set that will all love and hate depending on the position we're in. Sturdy ensures that you're able to get atleast one layer of Spikes set up. Whirlwind is used in conjunction with Spikes to rack up residual damage and to get rid of any Physical sweepers who try to set up on me. Shed Shell is the preferred item to get away from Magnezone who already give me enough trouble, as well as the occasional Wobbufett. Brave Bird is nice for STAB and kills off fighting types foolish enough to try to break the Iron Turkey.
Well that's the team if more descriptions are needed on how certain sets were chosen just let me know in your reply's and thank you in advance for taking the time to read my thread and rate my team.

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Politoad (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 52 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, - Atk)
-Toxic
-Scald
-Protect
-Perish Song

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
-Thunder
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin
-Hydro Pump

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spd
Careful Nature(+SDef, -SAtk)
-Stealth Rock
-Body Slam
-Iron Head
-Wish

Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP/ 44 Atk / 216 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Roost

Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs:236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spe
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
-Spore
-Bulk Up
-Seed Bomb
-Drain Punch

Skarmory (M) @ Shed Shell
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def /24 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
-Roost
-Spikes
-Whirlwind
-Brave Bird

importable

 

[Mupa97]

Looks fine to me for the most part. Use Leftovers on Politoed. It increases longevity of that thing which is pretty important. Zoom Lens isn't that great of an item either.

Use Leftovers on Toxicroak too. Sure, it hinders Trick users. For like 2 turns. Then it hinders you for the rest of the match. Nothing stops the Trick user to use Trick against to give the Black Sludge onto another Pokemon on your team, which is deadly on a lot of them. So Leftovers is the better item.

I also suggest using a Ferrothorn over Skarmory since it can take Water and Electric attacks and it's an overall great Pokemon for any Rain team. It also has great type synergy for your team.

Ferrothorn @Shed Shell/Leftovers
Iron Barbs
252 HP, 88 Def, 168 SpDef
Relaxed (+Def, -Spe)
-Spikes
-Leech Seed
-Power Whip
-Gyro Ball

Overall I think it's a pretty good team. It's a lot better than most people's "first RMT". I don't see too many bad weaknesses, and the team covers each other's pretty nicely.

 

[Lemonade]

SubDisable Gengar is a annoyance, hazards compounding the issue, especially for Politoed (it can smack you around until Perish counter is 1), Jirachi (Disable Iron Head and Gengar can fish for SDef drops with Shadow Ball), Toxicroak (using Sub around Sucker Punch), and Skarmory (Gengar can do damage with Focus Blast and doesn't mind getting Whirlwinded out). Starmie can't switch in to Gengar either. The easiest solution is a simple move change on Jirachi. By using Thunder over Body Slam, you can still paralyze, but also smack Gengar with either move. The loss of a paralysis chance on Gliscor and other Ground-types is not huge either, since 1 you have Pokemon that hit super effectively and 2, Skarmory gets to set up Spikes and Whirlwind them out if they try setting up. That's all I can see atm, good luck!

 

[limititations]

Hey thanks for the suggestions, @Mupa97 i actually meant to have those as the switchin items, and just forgot to put them down, Also I had been using that exact Ferrothorn previously granted i had rocky helmet on it, but liked the ability to phaze and reliably heal with roost that skarmory gave better.

@V0x thanks completely forgot about Gengar, you're right he would give my team a lot of problems, i'll try Thunder Wave out and see how it works.

 

[Bestow5000]

Looks like a pretty solid team to me. There's not much to say about it but I guess in my eyes, Celebi can be a little bit of an issue to you if he somehow manages to get up a safe Nasty Plot with Skarm being weakened to the point where HP Fire can kill it even with the rain up, or if Skarm is dead. Anything on your team besides Starmie or Politeod tricked by a choiced items is definitely going to give you problems too, especially if your opponent has 2 trickers.
And I guess that is pretty much all now.

Edit: Bulky Rotom-W is an annoyance too, I forgot to mention. Almost all of your team will not appreciate a Will-O-Wisp and Rotom-W can take any hit from Starmie barring a crit and finish it off with Thunder and then, others just will find a hard time against it as he can do whatever he wants and if you decide to try to send in Toxicroak against it, you'll be forced into doing a risky prediction in order to tell if he'll predict your Sucker Punch and Will-O-Wisp or Pain Split, or predict you to predict him to go for a Substitute, then he will attack you straight with Thunderbolt or Thunder (If your opponent is also using a rain team) or just go for another annoying Will-O-Wisp. Oh, and make sure to have your Jirachi on a good amount of health so you'll still have an easier time to deal with it by paralysing him with Thunder Wave or take the risk with Body Slam.

 

[LUST]

Hey

Welcome to Smogon and nice team, limititations. It seems that you're heading in the right direction if you want to set up for a Dragonite sweep. Although tanking opposing water-type moves especially in rain looks problematic. For instance Rotom-W is really annoying to face, its sets are so versatile which makes it unpredictable. Politoed, Skarmory and Starmie take a shit load of damage from Volt-Switch, Politoed manages to survive pretty low but Skarmory and Starmie are OHKO'd by any set; Dragonite, Jirachi and Toxicroak all fear potential Will-o-Wisp and Trick. Both Gastrodon and Quagsire also damage this team in a similar fashion which really hurts you in the long run. To fix this situation, I would highly recommend replacing Toxicroak for Bulk Up Breloom. It is an excellent Bulk Up user as it hinders common physical walls such as Gliscor, Quagsire, and most stall teams. Especially in rain it's effectiveness reaches a whole another level, annoying it to tank HP Fire with ease. Bulk Up is the crux of this set, boosting Breloom's already massive attack and its mediocre Defense to high levels, which enables Breloom to survive numerous hits. Seed Bomb is it's most strongest attacking move, decimating the likes of Rotom-W, Gastrodon, Starmie, and Quagsire. Drain Punch works extremely well in the conjunction with Poison Heal making Breloom even harder to take down. Spore is very useful, especially with the new BW mechanics. Breloom also easily breaks the Volt-Turn combo utilized by Rotom-W, Scizor and Landorus which is always a bonus. With this mon added bulky-water type are no longer considered as 'big threats' and it is a perfect status absorber once Toxic Orb has been activated.

Bulk Up Breloom

Breloom @ Toxic Orb | Poison Heal
Careful | 236 HP / 212 SpD / 60 Spe
~ Bulk Up
~ Spore
~ Seed Bomb
~ Drain Punch

For some minor changes you should consider running Toxic over Hypnosis (assuming you take the Breloom suggestion). It can be used to soften other walls and tanks such as Jellicent, Latios, and Tyranitar. Hypnosis packs a disappointing accuracy compared to Spore which is definitely something to consider. On Jirachi since you have permanent rain, you should try a different spread with 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef with a Sassy. Thunder > Body Slam, it allows you get a clean 2HKO on standard Skarmory and Slowbro which are potential threats for your Breloom and Dragonite sweep. Thunder is your best option against opposing Starmie as Hydro Pump only 2HKOs. Since Thunder is a relatively strong move, limited special attack investment is required. On Dragonite switch Jolly with an Adamant Nature. More power is always appreciated on this beast as Multiscale + Roost enables him to take hits with an ease. Since you lack Outrage, Dragonite desperately needs Adamant to get a clean OHKO in many critical situations. Overall brilliant team, Good Luck!

Specially Defensive Jirachi

Jirachi @ Leftovers | Serene Grace
Sassy | 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
~ Stealth Rock
~ Thunder
~ Iron Head
~ Wish

 

[limititations]

Hey thanks guys for the rate, and suggestions, I wasn't too worried about Skarmory or Slowbro as I figured Starmie would be able to take care of both of them with Thunder, Breloom over Toxicroak does seem like a good idea though, and i'll be testing it out within the next couple of days.

 

[Rwhite84]

This is impressive for a first but im pretty sure d-nite needs the power difference between adamant and jolly so make it adamant, and give it EQ over waterfall for better coverage

 

[Mupa97]

Hey thanks for the suggestions, @Mupa97 i actually meant to have those as the switchin items, and just forgot to put them down, Also I had been using that exact Ferrothorn previously granted i had rocky helmet on it, but liked the ability to phaze and reliably heal with roost that skarmory gave better.

But as of right now, you have nothing to take Electric attacks. That means any Rotom-W can come in and start gaining momentum on you and will almost always come close to gaining a KO each time it switches in. So you really need something to take those and why I suggested Ferrothorn. However, Mostwanted suggested Breloom that could also be good at soaking up attacks from Rotom-W.

 

[limititations]

yea think i'll be going with Mostwanted's suggestion, will update the RMT after a bit more testing. (i'm a bit slow at breeding pokemon)

 

[limititations]

team has been updated. more rates/suggestions would be appreciated and thank you all who have already put in your input it has been very helpful.

 

[limititations]

made a few more changes to the team. a few more rates would be appreciated :s

 

[Tressed]

You mentioned that you don't use Iron Head on Jirachi much, so I suggest putting Water Pulse in instead. Jirachi will be able to regularily confuse opponents, and then rain gives Water Pulse decent power as well. This will also allow you to nail ground types, who would love to switch into a Thunder for free. Also, you have 32 Speed EVs, what are they for?

Solid team though, good luck.