Intro
I was on the ladder, playing some skillful (Ha! Not really) gameplay with some sample teams, and I had an epiphany. "Who wants to make predictions?", I thought, when I could just spam moves? So, I was building a rain team and then I realized that my entire team was weak to freeze-dry Kyurem, Raging bolt, plus a lot of other common special attackers. The logical thing to do was to use the undisputed number one best special wall in the entire game, and my personal favorite 'mon. Blissy can go sulk in a corner somewhere. Who wants to use a blob when you can use goodra??
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Dragon Tail
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
The team mascot, he needs no introduction. Goodra is here to check things such as Raging Bolt, Freeze Dry Kyurem, Darkrai, Ogerpon-Wellspring who would otherwise be a pretty big problem, ect. Goodra's lack of longevity is offset by the fast-paced nature of rain teams and Goodra provides some valuable defensive backbone and consistency to a team that would otherwise struggle to deal with threats. Thunder is here to hit flying and water types that would otherwise be problematic and combines with Ice Beam for good coverage. Flash cannon just hits a lot of things for neutral damage and really helps against fairies. Dragon tail is there for phazing against pokemon that think they can try to set up. Tera flying is here for ground immunity and fighting resistance, which lets you win against things like Big Tooth
in an emergency. Plus a well-timed tera lets you beat Garchomp, Landorus-T, Gliscor, Dragonite if it's chipped, ect.Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Roost
- Surf
Pelipper is here to set rain and is probably the second most important member of the team. Surf is used over the standard knock off because I ended up not using Knock that much and surf is just good damage in a pinch, and leaves Pelipper feeling less passive. U-turn is there for obvious reasons, providing easy pivoting into rain abusers. Roost is there for healing. The set is pretty standard all things considered, and Tera ground is there just in case you need it.
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Weather Ball
- Draco Meteor
- Flip Turn
- Hurricane
Kingdra is the primary rain abuser, here to spam weather ball and kill everything. Draco Meteor is here for big damage. Flip turn helps pivot on the switch, but pretty much everything gets 2HKO'd anyway, so why bother? Hurricane is here to hit Wellspring but Draco Meteor will usually OHKO anyway... So there's really not much point. I might switch it out for Hydro Pump in case I really need the 10 extra power. Kingdra is used over Barraskewda for the same reasons Landorus-T has started running earth power--There are just so many physically defensive 'mons that get hit hard on the special side.
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ivy Cudgel
- Power Whip
- Play Rough
Ogerpon-W is here for secondary rain abuse, hitting really hard with Ivy Cudgel and being able to set up against slower teams. This is just the standard set, Cudgel+Whip for STAB, and Play rough to hit Dragons. Plus, Wellspring is able to bypass common bulky waters like Alomomomola with complementary grass stab.
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Defog
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
Scizor is here for strong priority and hazard control. Scizor also really likes having This is definitely an... unconventional set, with leftovers providing better longevity, although I might switch them out for Heavy Duty boots to alllow Scizor to get in and clear hazards more easily. Swords dance is here for setup, as Scizor gets a surprising number of those. U-turn is here for pivoting. Defog is the most important tool, as Scizor provides great hazard control which would otherwise be lacking-Iron treads has a good typing, but felt too passive, and Great tusk was a bad fit for the team.
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 8 HP / 240 Atk / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
Landorus is here for hazards with a side of offense. Stealth rock is nice to have, plus intimidate and a ground immunity make it a great switch in to common threats. Just hope nobody has ice coverage. Earthquake hits things like Pecharunt and Slowking-G for big damage, plus it just provides good damage all around. Stone edge hits those pesky flying types and U-turn provides even more pivoting to get scary rain threats in.
Threats:
Priority in general is scary, but two big 'mons I hate to face are
Don't let him get off a swords dance. Just don't. If you do, sucker punch will sweep your team. Your best bet is switching in Landorus and hoping the balloon is popped.and
Two dragon dances enables a sweep. Like Kingambit up above, there's really no good answer for him. Scizor works pretty well, resisting Extreme Speed and being able to bullet punch for decent damage. If you have a terrible matchup, and Dragonite comes in against a healthy Kingdra, you have a guaranteed 2HKO on Dragonite in rain with tera water weather ball.Bonus section: I hate Lokix. Try to get rid of it when it switches in. Otherwise, you will have to switch out and play around it. Landorus works pretty well for this with intimidate and can usually force a switch out and u-turn for momentum.
Also hazards. Even just stealth rock is scary, as most of the team is taking 12 and 25% damage from it. Probably should have a better hazard remover than Scizor, but I feel it works okay... most of the time. If you recognize you're in a hazard matchup, try to overwhelm them with offense before they can get up too many hazards, and keep Scizor healthy.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2401624995-qsbfol0odmk6aiarpgmdmx32xf9edntpw (First match that got me above 1600, new personal best) I'd also like to point out that on turn 22 I used defog instead of U-turn. This just goes to show that if someone more skilled played this team, Goodra would get high on the ladder. Are you a skilled player? Use this team and use Goodra.
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