Rain Semi-Stall

[Oyster]

Hey everybody. I'm trying to get into the game for the first time, and after lurking for a while, making a rain team sounds pretty attractive to me. The general idea is that I use Toxic Spikes, Scald, and the like to inflict my opponent with status and then proceed to wear them down with bulky, self-recovering pokes who benefit from the rain.

That being said, I have NO experience with pokeymanz, so you guys are going to need to be very generous with your analysis and fixes. The team is my first one, and I've only just begun using it.


Anyways, here's the team:

Politoed​

Drizzle w/ Leftovers
Bold: 252 HP/ 252 Def / 4 SpD​

-Scald
-Toxic
-Perish Song
-Protect​

Duh. What would any rain team be without this guy? Since I decided I wanted this to be a more slow paced team with an emphasis on outlasting opponents, I went with the bulky set. He lacks any form of self-recovery, but I digress. EV's are pretty straightforward, maximizing HP and defense.

Scald serves as the set's attacking move should I attempt to deal some damage with this guy, and the burn chance is nice. Toxic is the go-to move for the set, providing me with a means of outlasting the foe. Perish Song is for stallbreaking, should the need arise, and Protect is for scouting.​

Jellicent​

Water Absorb w/ Leftovers
Calm: 252 HP/ 36 Def / 220 SpD​

-Scald
-Recover
-Toxic
-Ice Beam​

Toxicroak was originally in this spot, but I switched it out for Jellicent because I needed a spinblocker and a special wall. Jellicent performs both of those roles well, as well as forming the Ferrothorn-Jellicent defensive core. The given EV's maximize special bulk while allowing me to avoid a 2HKO from Starmie's Psyshock.​

Scald is my STAB attacking move, Recover is for self-recovery, and Toxic is my win condition. Shadow Ball provides me with coverage against opposing ghost-types, Celebi, Reuniclus, and the like, but I may switch it out for Ice Beam.​

Tentacruel​

Rain Dish w/ Black Sludge
Bold: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD​

-Toxic Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Scald
-Protect​

Ideally, this guy should be providing me with my win condition most of the time. Toxic Spikes poisons every non-steel type pokemon upon switching in, and from that point on I just need to outlast them. Rain Dish is nice, although not quite as nice as Dry Skin, so he'll be getting 1/8 of his max HP back per turn when combined with Black Sludge. Like the others, these EV's maximize bulkiness, with an emphasis on physical defense.​

Toxic Spikes is the key move, with every opposing pokemon barring steel-types being badly poisoned after two layers. Rapid Spin helps out my sweepers, but it's not crucial since I don't have a glaring weakness to Stealth Rock. Scald provides me with an attacking move, and Protect is for getting a free turn of poison damage.​

Dragonite​

Multiscale w/ Leftovers
Calm: 248 HP / 108 SpA / 148 SpD​

- Thunder
-Hurricane
-Roost
-Dragon Tail​

Rotom-W was originally in this spot, but it was changed to Dragonite as per BTzz's suggestion. Dragonite fills several roles for the team, providing an answer to threats such as Volcarona, Venusaur and Breloom. He also works well as a phazer with Dragon Tail, and has the bulk to stall out the opponent using Roost and Multiscale.​

Thunder hits a lot of threats for massive damage, most notably Skarmory and SubCM Jirachi. Hurricane takes care of the Grass types who would have a field day with this team otherwise. Roost serves as his self-recovery, and combos well with Multiscale for stalling. Dragon Tail allows Dragonite to function as a phazer, preventing threats such as Jirachi from setting up and forcing opponents into Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes.​

Ferrothorn​

Iron Barbs w/ Leftovers
Relaxed: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 168 SpD​

-Spikes
-Stealth Rock
-Power Whip
-Bulldoze​

We all know this guy, so I'm not going to put too much into the explanation. Pretty standard on most rain teams, and perhaps the majority of teams in the OU tier. His main job is to check threats to the team such as Tyranitar, Latios, and opposing water types looking to profit from the rain. EV's maximize health, and enable him to take both physical and special hits well, as well as deal some damage.​

Spikes and Stealth Rock give him somethig to do while he's walling, and are nice when paired with Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes. Leech Seed was originally in Stealth Rock's spot, but was replaced upon BKC's suggestion to allow me to better handle threats such as Tornadus. Power Whip is his main attacking move. Gyro Ball was originally in the last slot, but I changed it to Bulldoze as per BTzz's suggestion in order to cover threats such as SubCM Jirachi. I also changed the Def EV's to Atk in order to break Jirachi's subs.​

Scizor​

Technician w/ Choice Band
Adamant: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD​

-U-Turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit​

The idea behind Scizor is to kill everything that normally poses a threat to rain teams, such as Virizion, Breloom, and once again, Tyranitar. It is also an excellent revenge killer, knocking out most opposing sweepers with a single STAB Bullet Punch provided they don't resist it.​

U-Turn allows me to scout out my opponent's pokes and send in an appropriate counter, and Bullet Punch is my main STAB. Superpower allows him to take on his usual counters, such as Heatran and Magnezone, as well as some other steel-types who give this team trouble. Pursuit ensures the KO against weakened pokes that I predict will switch out.​

So, there you have it. Keep in mind once more that this is my first competitive team, and I will be humble about the vast changes that are probably necessary.​

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

That being said, I have NO experience with pokeymanz, so you guys are going to need to be very generous with your analysis and fixes. The team right now is pure theorymon.

The mods will probably lock this thread for violation of Rule #16, seeing that you haven't battled with this team. However, let's disregard that for this rate.

16. Play with your team before putting it up for rate. We as a community cannot emphasize this enough. No one wants to rate the team that you freshly created while eating breakfast or the gimmick you randomly put together. We as a community want teams that have been battle tested so that the obvious flaws have been hammered out.

This is particularly because just by playing with a team, you yourself can figure out what is wrong with your team. You don't need other people to help you quite yet - and to be blunt, you're just being lazy or have the wrong idea of what the RMT forum is if you're posting teams you spent fifteen minutes creating.

This team has issues with SubCM rain abuser Jirachi, who can waltz in easily on your Scizor spamming Bullet Punch or Ferrothorn laying Spikes, set a Substitute up, and boost up to +6. From there, it can spam Water Pulse and Thunder, decimating your team quite easily. It's situational, but it is a threat. To deal with it, I'd recommend Gastrodon over Rotom-W. Unlike Rotom-W, who really isn't doing much for this team, Gastrodon can handily wall SubCM rain abuser Jirachi.

Also, Landorus looks like quite a threat for your team to deal with, seeing that none of your team members bar Rotom-W look eager to switch in on an Earthquake. Sub Landorus with Smack Down is especially deadly to your team, seeing that it can just use Smack Down on Rotom-W and KO it with Earthquake. From there, it can chew your team apart with its powerful Earthquakes, while protecting itself from death attempts with Substitute. It's probably something you've tried out before, but I'd recommend using Scarfed Rotom-W again.

Good luck with your team, if this thread doesn't get locked.

 

[Oyster]

I tried the team for the first time tonight, so I suppose it's technically tested now. I'll edit the OP.

So, to clarify, would you reccomend that I switch Rotom to Gastrodon, or give it the Scarf set?

 

[BTzz]

Hey man solid rain team. You could face some problems against sun teams; Growth Venusaur and Volcarona are the biggest threats under sun. Venusaur can beat Toxicroak as it can just boost as Toxocroak attempts to Sucker Punch not fearing a Drain Punch and Scizor's Bullet Punch doesn't OHKO. Volacarona I'd also tricky as it can sweep your team even in rain (provided it has HP Gound for Tentacruel), Toxicroak can't beat Volcarona either. Bulk Up Breloom is also a huge threat, as it is able to take a hit from your whole team after 1 BU, and 2HKOing everyone after 2. At that point your only hope is Politoed's Perish Song.

Using an M Dragonite could patch up all these issues as you have spin support to keep its Multiscale intact. It can take Fire- and Grass-type attacks, while phazing out set-up sweepers such as Volcarona and Venusaur. Dragonite also demolishies Breloom with its STAB Hurricane. I'd say using it over Rotom-W is the best option as replacing Toxicroak leaves you weak to Ferrothorn. Dragonite over Rotom-W keeps things the same type synergy wise for the most part, it doesn't hit as hard as Rotom-W, but it can still deal a good amount of damage.

Substitute + Calm Mind Jirachi also looks annoying to your team as sets up on BP locked Scizor or Ferrothron, and can proceed to sweep as you have nothing that can break its sub after +2. Ferrothorn can take hits, but it will eventually gets haxed out as it can't break the sub. However you shouldn't over prepared for a single set so a simple change of Bulldoze over Gyro Ball on Ferrothorn will suffice. Gyro Ball won't be missed too much as you have Scizor's Bullet Punch. Remember to move Ferro's def EVs into Attack so you can actually break the sub though!

Dragonite | Multiscale | Leftovers
Calm | 248 HP / 136 SpA / 148 SpD
Thunder | Hurricane | Roost | Dragon Tail

Hope this helps. Good luck with the team!

 

[Oyster]

That Dragonite sounds like a great idea, especially since I've been looking for a good phazer. I'll give Bulldoze a shot on Ferrothorn, too. It's unorthodox, but it sounds like it could work well. Thanks for the imput!

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

I tried the team for the first time tonight, so I suppose it's technically tested now. I'll edit the OP.

So, to clarify, would you reccomend that I switch Rotom to Gastrodon, or give it the Scarf set?

Both of them, separately, to see which one fits your team better.

 

[BKC]

you really need stealth rock...it's the best move in the game for a reason, as it really cripples flying/levitating threats (such as specs tornadus, who can be hell for this team to face if it starts spamming hurricane). i'd ditch ferrothorn's leech seed to make room for sr, since unfortunately sr + spikes + leech seed is illegal, and i think the residual damage of spikes is more valuable than psuedo-recovery for ferro, since in my experience using him, he's got plenty of longevity with just leftovers. other than that, btzz covered everything. nice team, hope this helped, gl

 

[Oyster]

Both of them, separately, to see which one fits your team better.

Ok, thanks, I'll test them both out.

you really need stealth rock...it's the best move in the game for a reason, as it really cripples flying/levitating threats (such as specs tornadus, who can be hell for this team to face if it starts spamming hurricane). i'd ditch ferrothorn's leech seed to make room for sr, since unfortunately sr + spikes + leech seed is illegal, and i think the residual damage of spikes is more valuable than psuedo-recovery for ferro, since in my experience using him, he's got plenty of longevity with just leftovers. other than that, btzz covered everything. nice team, hope this helped, gl

Thanks for the rate, man. I'll give that a shot.

 

[Oyster]

Considering my heavy reliance on entry hazards, I'm thinking about adding a spinblocker (namely Jellicent), but it seems to me that all of my current pokes are more important to the team than a spinblocker would be, so I don't know what to replace. Thoughts on this?

 

[Subtrude]

Jellicent would be a great addition to your team but if you want a more offensive mon. Gengar would be a great fit. the sub disable set might be a sure fit.

 

[Oyster]

Gengar doesn't really fit with the strategy of my team, since it's based on bulk and wearing down the opponent with residual damage. If I was going to use a spinblocker, I'm pretty sure it would be Jellicent. The real problem is figuring out if I need a spinblocker enough to replace an existing team member, which I think would probably be Scizor if anyone. Thanks for the advice regardless.

 

[Oyster]

Updating. After testing, I decided to switch out Toxicroak for Jellicent, as he needed way too much setup to have any kind of longevity and therefore was hurting the team more than helping it. Also, the title is now incorrect, since this is now a full-blown rain stall team, rather than semi-stall.

 

[AB2]

Nice team, it seems pretty solid from a first glance but there are some options that I would really like you to try out. At the moment, jellicent is probably the weakest link in this team. Although it provides you with a pretty good spin blocker, I think that it is not entirely necessary for this team. Your team would appreciate a way to trap annoying threats such as blissey, tyranitar, and some forretress as defensive teams seem like they could be a huge pain at the moment. Especially due to the fact that threats such as opposing skarmory and forretress spike on most of this team with ease, and even though you have tentacreul it is not going to be breaking opposing jellicent anytime soon. This is why a dugtrio would be a great option over jellicent. Dugtrio can trap threats such as tyranitar and blissey with ease allowing you to destroy defensive cores with little to no problem. If you manage to trap threats such as these, you will have less problems against stall teams. I'd recommend a set of substitute / hone claws / earthquake / reversal on dugtrio. A simple spread of maximum attack and speed with a jolly nature and a focus sash will do really well on this team. With this, you should easily be able to trap and ko more defensive threats and even attempt to boost on them making dugtrio a potent offensive threat.

Although dugtrio can trap some defensive threats pretty easily, you are still going to have a problem with opposing ferrothorn. Running a substitute + toxic tentacruel over your current version can easily remedy this problem. This team does not benefit from toxic spikes a whole lot, so you can easily run a set of scald / substitute / toxic / rapid spin and win one on one versus opposing ferrothorn. Scarfing politoed is probably a good idea too. You have trouble against some threats such as sub cm jirachi and other boosting sweepers. If you can run a scarf politoed with hydro pump / ice beam / encore / perish song, then you have a 'mon that has access to a fast encore and is an effective revenge killer as well. Perish song is obviously extremely useful for something such as jirachi which your team can't touch under a substitute.

 

[Oyster]

As far as Jellicent goes, I think I'm going to keep him in for now, because I literally just added him today and I want to give him a fair shot at the position. I don't typically have any trouble with Tyranitar or Chansey/Blissey, but I do see what you mean about steel types like Forretress. If I have trouble with them in the future, I may switch Jellicent for Magnezone, or the Dugtrio set you recommended.

Switching Tentacruel's moveset sounds like an interesting idea. I'll test it out and see how it works.

Scarfing Politoed doesn't really seem necessary to me, especially since Dragonite already checks boosting sweepers like Jirachi.