The Rainy Day Players

This is my first attempt at a rain team. It peaked around the early 1500s on the OU ladder, so it's doing OK, but there's still some room for improvement. Here's what I got (changes are in bold):

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Elder Price (Politoed) (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Hypnosis
- Encore
- Protect

Can't have a rain team without rain! Politoed here is my rain setter, so I usually lead with him. As I've discovered, he also works admirably well in a support role. Encore and Hypnosis are there to disrupt setup sweepers and baton passers, and to provide openings for his more offensively oriented teammates. Since his survival is imperative to my team's success (no Politoed = no rain), I piled all of the EVs into HP and Defense.

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Danny Zuko (Tentacruel) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Toxic
- Haze

Tentacruel is Politoed's partner in crime. Any lead that seems too daunting for Politoed to handle is promptly handed over to Tentacruel. He works well as a bulky spinner, but he also has Haze to prevent Pokemon from setting up on him, and Toxic to punish any Pokemon foolish enough to stay in on him. With his maximized defensive stats and access to passive recovery via Rain Dish and Black Sludge, Tentacruel is designed to outlast all who might oppose him.


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Tracy Turnblad (Kabutops) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- Knock Off

Kabutops is my Swift Swim sweeper. (Say THAT five times fast!) Her role is to quickly dispose of anything that may threaten the rest of my team, be it Zapdos, Greninja, or the ever- troublesome Tyranitar (can't have a sandstorm constantly interrupting my rain, now can we?) The great thing about her is the fact that her speed is practically unparalleled in the rain, allowing her to revenge kill... well... just about anything, really. Mega-Pinsir? Whatever. Mega-Medicham? Piece of cake. A Dragon Dance- boosted Dragonite? No problem (as long as I managed to break its multiscale first). I'm considering replacing Knock Off with Aqua Jet, to give her the leg up on priority users, but speed is rarely, if ever, a concern for me.

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Roxie Hart (Toxicroak) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Poison Jab

Set up Substitute, start bulking up, and let the fun begin. Toxicroak, as I've discovered, actually makes for a nice check to Ferrothorn, since the HP she recovers from Drain Punch (combined with her passive recovery) easily outpaces any damage Ferrothorn could hope to inflict (unless it's packing Gyro Ball, and even then, Toxicroak has little to worry about after she bulks up). She's also a great answer to Azumarill, as she can OHKO her with Poison Jab after a single Bulk Up boost (and she's immune to Aqua Jet, so she's pretty much guaranteed to go first).

Basically, Toxicroak is my bulky attacker. Her defensive stats leave much to be desired, but with her access to Drain Punch and her 18% passive recovery each turn (Dry Skin + Black Sludge), she can be remarkably difficult to take down. She's designed to switch in, set up, dig in her heels and refuse to leave until someone makes her leave.


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Mimi Marquez (Goodra) (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave

Goodra's my trusty special wall, soaking up attacks from the likes of Zapdos and Gengar with impunity. She's an excellent switch-in to Rotom-W, since its attacks barely even scratch her and she doesn't mind getting hit with a Will-O-Wisp (thanks to Hydration). In fact, Goodra is great for switching in on any opponent I can anticipate a status move from. I maximized her special attack to give her the ability to bite back, so that she's not complete setup bait. Believe me, NOTHING'S more satisfying than wiping out a Garchomp with Draco Meteor as soon as it switches in.

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Princeton (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Thunder
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot


I decided to swap out Tornadus-T for Thundurus-T, and honestly, it's been working out great. Now I have someone I can safely switch into whenever I see an electric attack coming, and HP Ice allows me to wipe out the likes of Garchomp and Gliscor with ease (especially since they rarely see it coming).

So whaddaya think?
 
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Why do you have random 30 IV's on Pokemon? Anyway, give Tornadus Focus Blast instead of Psychic. It allows you to hit steels in rain which wall Tornadus anyway. All Psychic does is make you hit Poison types which aren't even a problem for it and Fighting types which Hurricane already covers.
 
Why do you have random 30 IV's on Pokemon?

Whoops! Didn't notice that. I thought Showdown maxed out your IVs by default. Lemme go fix that.

Anyway, give Tornadus Focus Blast instead of Psychic. It allows you to hit steels in rain which wall Tornadus anyway. All Psychic does is make you hit Poison types which aren't even a problem for it and Fighting types which Hurricane already covers.

Duly noted.
 
Hi there! Your team seems to have a lot of Grass and Electric weaknesses. I would change a pokemon to Jolteon or Thundurus-T, as they can switch into Electric-type moves easily and heal a bit of their HP! You can also try replacing Goodra with Dragonite and spam hurricanes or be a rain tank. Jirachi works as well, as it can support the team by spreading paralysis or can wish pass, there are a lot of options. However, rain is only 5-8 turns now, so you can't really base it on a team on weather that last a few turns :/.

Anyway here are the sets

Jolteon (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Volt Change
- Thunderbolt/Thunder
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Thundurus-T (M) @ Choice Scarf/Specs
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt/Thunder
- Hidden Power (Ice)
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot

Dragonite (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 108 SAtk / 148 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Hurricane
- Thunder
- Dragon Tail
- Roost

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 spD / 20 Spd
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Protect / U-turn / Stealth Rock
 
Since your response I decided to take Thundurus-T out for a spin, and it's been working out great. However, I'm still not sure I should swap out Goodra for Dragonite. True, Dragonite gets access to Hurricane, but Goodra's got a bit more power (in terms of special attack) and a lot more special bulk. Plus, I need someone I can safely switch into when I can predict a status move.
 
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