Rain Moth
Introduction
With the release of B/W 2, i've taken this team to a side, and I feel like it needs more love. This is a solid (imo) semi-stall team that I made with my tutor Grind Pantera a couple of months ago. It consists of a 4-member defensive core which removes all of Volcarona's counters and sets up / removes hazards to help Volcarona sweep. It also contains a Volcarona, which is my late-game sweeper, and a revenge-killer to counter the threats that could threaten the team. The team contains Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes and a spinner. Finally, a slight amount of surprise rounds the team off.
At A Glance
In Depth
Politoed (M) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Encore
- Rest
This set is a very interesting Politoed set, and my favourite defensive Politoed set by far. Politoed, as we all know, is pretty much a necessity on any rain team due to its ability Drizzle. With this set, I try to use Politoed to the best of my ability. Then purpose of it is to counter as many pokémon as I can with a single set. This is also the 1st part of my defensive core. Firstly, the EV's are the standard for any defensive wall; max HP and Defense. Bold Nature is also to increase the physical bulkyness of Politoed a bit more. Firstly, Scald is a STAB move, and lets me burn those pesky physical powerhouses (see what I did there), Ice Beam is used to check those threatning dragons (as I usually find that less experienced players switch their dragons on Toed), Encore is to check set-up sweepers which could trouble the whole team, and finally the combination of rest and a Chesto Berry basically gives Politoed a second life, making it way easier to win a weather war. It also makes Politoed a great status abstorber.
Bronzong (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
0 Speed IV's
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Atk / 80 Def / 92 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Bronzong definetely was one of the most underrated pokemon of BW. It can easily counter any dragon not named Haxorus under the rain, its amazing bulk from both sides of the spectrum lets it tank dozens of hits, its levitate ability lets it have a ground immunity that every other steel would love and it is one of the best Stealth Rock setters in the game. Plue, due to its low speed, a STAB Gyro Ball can do lots of damage, and it is a steel type that isn't complete Magnezone bait! What else could you want? (except reliable recovery, one of its few flaws). This is the second member of my defensive core, and helps Volcarona immensly as it sets up Stealth Rock and removes some of Volcarona's biggest counters; Dragons and Landorus. The EV's are designed to get both physical and special bulk, while also getting some nice attacking power for Gyro Ball. The sassy nature and the 0 Speed IV's also make Gyro Ball even more powerful, as these make Bronzong slower. Stealth Rock is used for the reasons posted earlier, Gyro Ball is the main STAB move here, and can do a lot of damage to many faster threats. Earthquake is a great coverage move, as it deals with opposing steels, mainly Magnezone. Finally, I use Toxic to cripple Walls and slow sweepers alike. I prefer Toxic to HP Ice since I personally feel like HP ice doesn't do enough damage.
Tentacruel (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Protect
Of course, any kind of team appreciates a spinner, and this team isn't an exception. Having one of these is especially useful when your main sweeper is a Pokemon that is Stealth Rock weak, like Volcarona. In rain, Tentacruel is a very viable wall as it has some great bulk and, with its ability Rain Dish, it can recover about 17% each turn, which is great! This guy also sets up Toxic Spikes, which is extremely useful not only for Volcarona to sweep, but to deal with Stall teams easily. He's the third member of my defensive core. Not only it puts up Toxic Spikes, but it also removes them due to its poison typing, which could be problematic for Volcarona. The EV's are the standard EV's for Tentacruel. 252 HP EV's, 240 Defense EV's and a Bold Nature are for getting the most physical bulk possible, as well as getting some special bulk with the HP EV's. Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin are pretty much necessities on any defensive Tentacruel set, and for goot reason, as explained earlier. Scald is the main STAB attacking move, and is pretty much a necesssity on any set of a Bulky Water. As I said earlier, it can cripple many Pokemon as Scald has a 30% chance of burning. Finally Protect is used mainly to get more health from Leftovers + Rain Dish, but can also be used to scout what more the opponent could have, or scout what item the opposing Pokemon has.
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
This guy is probably the most valuable member of the team, and the second best member of the team imo. Its niche typing gives me some great resistances to multiple types that could hinder my team (especially Water), and lets me counter many Pokemon and playstyles that could also trouble my team (mainly offensive Volt-turn) it also resists both of my water type pokemon's primary weaknesses, grass and electric. Plus, it is a great rain user, as the rain neutralizes its ground weakness. This guy has multiple purposes, it can set up Bulk-Ups and act as a mid-game Finally, it's ability, combined with a Toxic Orb lets me recover a nice chunk of damage, while also serving as a great status absorber, though I have to watch out when switching this guy in for the first time, as the opponent can easily Scald/Will-o-Wisp me with the water types that Breloom loves to switch into. The EV's are the standard fare for defensive Brelooms. Since i'm already boosting my physical defense with Bulk Up, I can spend all of my EV's on special Defense and HP. With this investment, Breloom can surprisingly take many Special hits, which is great, especially against those rain boosted Surfs/Scalds. Spore is the main move on the set, as it practically renders one pokemon on the opposing team useless (due to the new BW Sleep Mechanics), which is extremely useful. Bulk Up is a great move. and lets Breloom act as a Mid-game cleaner, as well as getting a nice +1 boost in Defense which lets it take hits from the likes of Terrakion or Dragonite. Drain Punch and Seed Bomb are the main STAB attacking moves, and offer decent neutral coverage outside of flying-types (which Bronzong can deal with no problems). Drain Punch also has that nice boost of recovering some health when you use it.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Technitian
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 244 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
Scizor is what i'd call the "glue" of the team, it removes most of the counters that could case trouble for the team, like Terrakion or Starmie. Otherwise, this member is my main revenge killer and is pretty much the biggest "susprise" of the team. Even without a Band, a U-turn (which is the move that I primaraly use, as Scizor doesn't need priority as often as other sets) does a really decent amount of damage (it actually does OHKO a standard offensive Starmie). Except for the Scarf, this is your standard Scizor set. Technitian is an extremely useful ability as it lets Scizor have a great 90 BP Bullet Punch, as well as a 140 BP Bug Bite, making it the best physical Bug option for it. The EV's are quite simple; 252 EV's are invested in Attack to do the most damage possible without an Adamant nature, 244 EV's and a Jolly Nature and invested into Speed to outspeed base 120's as well as +1 Gyarados and Tyranitar, and finally, the remaining EV's are placed into HP and Defense since they are the remaining EV's that we don't need invested into the stats mentioned earlier. Bullet Punch and U-turn are staples on any Scizor set. The former is the priority move, and helps me revenge-kill other priority users, Pokemon who have boosted their speed or have a naturally high base speed and Pokemon that resist U-turn. U-turn is the most important move on the set. Since, unlike the CB set, Scizor is much faster, it normally doesn't get attacked first, making the use of U-turn much less risky. It also gets me have the switch advantage, which can be sometimes the crutial switch to Volcarona that starts the sweep. Superpower is the powerful coverage more, that I primarily use against steels that resist my STABs. Finally, Bug Bite offers me the chance to have a reliable STAB move, and gives Scizor the opportunity to late-game sweep if Volcarona fails. I don't use Pursuit as I feel like it's way to weak.
Volcarona (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 180 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
Here it is. The star of the team. This guy is incredible. It's great typing, given that rocks are not up, lets it easily switch in on many OU threats, mainly most steels. Its good natural defenses also lets it set up on multiple walls that won't do too much damage to the moth, that Special Defense boost from the Quiver Dance also helps against special threats. With the appropiate counters gone, and the proper hazard support, this guy is a monster. Its ability to counter many threats in the OU metagame is incredible, and its lack of real counters when this moth sets up only one Quiver Dance lets it sweep whole teams incredibly easily. I often use Leftovers for the item, as there are scenarios where the opposing rocks aren't spinned, and the recovery from this item lets me recover some health from the 50% taken from rocks. Flame Body can be a useful ability at times if i'm lucky, as a burn can be very nice on physical threats. The EV's are quite standard for an offensive Volcarona set; 252 EV's are invested in Special Attack to get as much power as possible without using a Modest nature, 180 EV's are invested into speed to outspeed 176 Speed invested Jirachis and Salanences, as well as Max Speed Lucario. The remaining EV's are invested into HP since we don't really need more speed EV's to speed tie with only two threats, max speed opposing Volcarona and Salanence I much prefer getting a bit more bulk. Quiver Dance is an amazing move. With only one up, it can easily destroy teams with the proper team support. Bug Buzz is the main move here as it is benefited with STAB and in general does a lot of damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Hurricane is amazing with rain support, as it gives Volcarona a great attacking move, and eliminates a lot of threats, such as Virizion, Breloom or Terrakion. The 30% confusion chance helps, too. The final move is Fire Blast, which still does some nice damage to Steel-types. It also gives me a great answer to sun-teams, which could otherwise destroy my team is I lose the weather war.
Conclusion
So yeah.... that's the team. Again, I wanna say thank you to my old tutor Grind Pantera for making this team with me and for teaching me many things. Any constructive rates are appreciated and maybe you guys can rate how can I adapt this team to the BW2 metagame. Also it would be awesome if you guys lovedisc'ed this thread... this is the third time that i've been trying to post this thread due to connection problems, and writing this shiz up three times did take a lot of time... Anyways, hope that you enjoyed the team.
Importable
Politoed (M) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Encore
- Rest
Bronzong (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
0 Speed IV's
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Atk / 80 Def / 92 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Tentacruel (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Protect
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
Scizor (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Technitian
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 244 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
Volcarona (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 180 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Encore
- Rest
Bronzong (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
0 Speed IV's
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Atk / 80 Def / 92 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Tentacruel (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Protect
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
Scizor (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Technitian
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 244 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
Volcarona (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 180 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
One Last Glance