-The Return-
|A little about me and the team|
After quite taking a long break from pokemon, I decided to come back when I heard about BW2. When I had quit, Thunderus and Excadrill were still OU and SandStorm teams were used almost as much as Drizzle teams were. I always preferred using rain since the offensive option was pretty strong. I understand this team has a lot of flaws; I don't really consider it finished yet. I have hit a wall being stuck on how to improve it. I hope you enjoy it and understand I am just coming back to playing.
|A little about me and the team|
~So far this team has peaked #60 on the PS ladder, which isn't to much of an accomplishment but I am still laddering with it and just wanted to post this team update as soon as possible. It has won 10 matches and hasn't lost any yet.~
The team building process!
When I decided to make a new team, I new that I wanted to use rain. So obviously the first thing I would pick was Politoed.
Since I came back for BW2, I figured I would use one of the new goodies we got. Because I came from the meta where Thunderus ran wild, I decided to go with the new Therian form.
For me the next choice was pretty easy. I needed physical sweeper that works well in the rain and also has good synergy with Volt Absorb. I liked using Gyarados/Jolteon back in the start of gen 4 so I figured he would fit nice and snug in the team.
One of my favorite pokemon to use in rain was CM Latios. Surf with +1 and Life orb in rain will do a lot of damage to a lot of things.
At this point all I needed was a bulky steel type and something that could use stealth rock. Judging by how specially based the team was by this point and lack of checks for set up pokemon, I went with Scizor for my steel type. I also saw that Gliscor could now use Stealth Rock with poison heal so I tried it out.
This team worked alright, but it wasn't doing as well as I would have liked. I really enjoyed how Gyarados was working, being able to sweep most teams with 1 Dragon Dance. Besides Politoed, everything else wasn't really doing their job to what I needed. I wanted to keep my double scout with volt switch and u-turn so when I replaced Thunderus and Scizor I went with Landorus-T and Tornadus-T, both can scout with U-turn amazingly.
Now to replace Gliscor and Latios, I needed a steel type again and a way to get over Ferrothorn. I also needed a strong priority user and a Stealth Rock user. I went with Magnezone and Mamoswine since they fit that description perfectly.
After a lot of thinking and reading some of the comments, I found that a scarfed Keldeo would solve a lot of the teams problems. Plus he could still OHKO Ferrothorn most of the time and always after a small bit of damage. He also was a good check to Mamoswine which was giving me some problems.
Just looking at this team type wise, I noticed it needed some help especially with Rotom-W. I figured Dragonite would be a good check to him, since he is bulky and can hit very hard. So I took out Landorus-T and put in Dnite.
These happened to be the worst 2 changes I had made to the team so far, causing it lose 2 times and have terrible synergy offensively and with typing.
So I went back to having Landorus-T since I missed the U-Turn, I decided to put a scarf on Politoed to check Mamoswine and actually have a fast water type to abuse the rain and put a CM virizion on the team in place of Keldeo. Virizion can counter Rotom-w and beat Ferrothorn.
Since I came back for BW2, I figured I would use one of the new goodies we got. Because I came from the meta where Thunderus ran wild, I decided to go with the new Therian form.
For me the next choice was pretty easy. I needed physical sweeper that works well in the rain and also has good synergy with Volt Absorb. I liked using Gyarados/Jolteon back in the start of gen 4 so I figured he would fit nice and snug in the team.
One of my favorite pokemon to use in rain was CM Latios. Surf with +1 and Life orb in rain will do a lot of damage to a lot of things.
At this point all I needed was a bulky steel type and something that could use stealth rock. Judging by how specially based the team was by this point and lack of checks for set up pokemon, I went with Scizor for my steel type. I also saw that Gliscor could now use Stealth Rock with poison heal so I tried it out.
This team worked alright, but it wasn't doing as well as I would have liked. I really enjoyed how Gyarados was working, being able to sweep most teams with 1 Dragon Dance. Besides Politoed, everything else wasn't really doing their job to what I needed. I wanted to keep my double scout with volt switch and u-turn so when I replaced Thunderus and Scizor I went with Landorus-T and Tornadus-T, both can scout with U-turn amazingly.
Now to replace Gliscor and Latios, I needed a steel type again and a way to get over Ferrothorn. I also needed a strong priority user and a Stealth Rock user. I went with Magnezone and Mamoswine since they fit that description perfectly.
After a lot of thinking and reading some of the comments, I found that a scarfed Keldeo would solve a lot of the teams problems. Plus he could still OHKO Ferrothorn most of the time and always after a small bit of damage. He also was a good check to Mamoswine which was giving me some problems.
Just looking at this team type wise, I noticed it needed some help especially with Rotom-W. I figured Dragonite would be a good check to him, since he is bulky and can hit very hard. So I took out Landorus-T and put in Dnite.
These happened to be the worst 2 changes I had made to the team so far, causing it lose 2 times and have terrible synergy offensively and with typing.
So I went back to having Landorus-T since I missed the U-Turn, I decided to put a scarf on Politoed to check Mamoswine and actually have a fast water type to abuse the rain and put a CM virizion on the team in place of Keldeo. Virizion can counter Rotom-w and beat Ferrothorn.
An in depth look:
Eluvies (Politoed) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Encore
- Ice Beam
Ah Politoed, how you runed the OU metagame <3. I decided to switch from the Bold defensive type to the timid scarfer mainly to have a decent check for Mamoswine. I also didn't have any fast water types that could spam a water type move for late game clean up. I wanted to keep encore because it still helps with Gyarados and Virizion. It's also not that expected on a scarfed one so it gives a bit of suprised and can stop a set up sweep.
What can I say about him? He is the whole point of the team. He is able to support every member on the team, weather it be with moves/typing/ability/offense/defense. He is the heart of the team. Without him, this team wouldn't work nearly as well as it does.
Tubonis (Tornadus-Therian) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
I love this thing so much. U-turn is one of my favorite moves, adding Life orb and Regenerator to it makes it even better. He is able to come in and hit with such great coverage and amazing power of stab Hurricane, and if something comes in he can't handle just U-turn out. I have seen people use Superpower over focus blast, but I haven't gotten around to testing it yet though I assume it is better. He has great offensive synergy with Gyarados and Landorus-T, taking down most things Gyarados can't and being able to U-turn scounting with Landorus-T. Hp Ice is awesome for taking out gliscors and the dragons who can be kind of troublesome for this team.
Pelamis (Gyarados) @ Leftovers
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 56 HP / 248 Atk / 204 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
Once I got to rebuilding the team, I realized Gyarados was the main sweeper. This set is a little different that the normal Sub/Bounce because I feel like with rain, waterfall has enough power that stone edge becomes better coverage. Plus Tornadus-T and Magnezone can usually take out all the things bounce would be needed for. When I first started using Gyarados I noticed that a lot of things people bring in to counter/check it use statuses to stop it, so I felt that sub would be a nice cover(I also noticed that a lot of people run dragon tail, so its a good check to that too). With moxie and Dragon Dance in rain this thing is godly.
Plucas (Virizion) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
<3 Virizion :D. Such amazing power with such amazing natural spdef bulk. After 1 CM Focus Blast can OHKO so much. The main purpose he is on the team is for Rotom-W and Ferrothorn, but does so much more than just that. He can break stall very easily if used properly and can sweep early game killing 2-3 pokes with just +1. Very good poke on the team and happy I picked him.
Humolus (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Superpower
U-turn makes this pokemon so awesome. As I have mentioned before I like scouting moves, so scarf scouter is always a positive helper to the team. Not only does he have amazing attack and speed with a scarf, he also is my main check to other weather teams and set up sweepers. He also has awesome synergy with gyarados and politoed and is a great check to thunderus-t.
Frigus (Mamoswine) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Mamoswine is a monster. Most of the time I don't really bother with stealth rock unless I see something on their team that is crippled by it(like ninetails/thunderus and tornadus/gyarados etc.) Ice shard is amazingly helpful when dealing with dragons and genies. Earthquake also hits extremely hard on most pokemon. I have thought about running Superpower over stone edge but haven't tested it yet. His synergy goes best with magnezone and tornadus-t.
This team obviously has its flaws, but it has potential to be really good. I hope you enjoyed my team and can help me improve it :)
-Updates have been made-
For anyone who wants to test it.
Code:
Eluvies (Politoed) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Encore
- Ice Beam
Humolus (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Superpower
Pelamis (Gyarados) @ Leftovers
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 56 HP / 248 Atk / 204 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
Tubonis (Tornadus-Therian) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Plucas (Virizion) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Frigus (Mamoswine) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
