Them New Threats
Introduction:
Hey there smogon, I've been having some decent luck with this team, but I wanted some feadback on where I could make some improvements. Been really loving the new metagame and all the new formes and sets.
Hey there smogon, I've been having some decent luck with this team, but I wanted some feadback on where I could make some improvements. Been really loving the new metagame and all the new formes and sets.
Team at a glance:
Team Building Process:
I had a really good idea of what I wanted my team to look like right from the start.
Politoed's spot is pretty obvious. Being that this is a brand new game, the allure of using the new pokemon is just a bit too strong. Thunderus-T and Tornadus-T are both great new rain abusers, with different niche's then their regular forms.
Politoed's spot is pretty obvious. Being that this is a brand new game, the allure of using the new pokemon is just a bit too strong. Thunderus-T and Tornadus-T are both great new rain abusers, with different niche's then their regular forms.
I needed rapid spin support badly. Stealth Rocks destroys Thunderus and even though Tornadus can take them a bit better with Regenerator, it is still a problem. I considered starmie, but decided to go with Tentacruel because he can take out toxic spikes just by switching in, plus he is the better bulky water and I already have keldeo for the powerful hydropump.
I decided I needed a powerful physical sweeper so I went with Haxorus thanks to it's new move Aqua Tail, giving him a good rain abusive move.
After taking another look at the team, I realized just how weak I was to electric attacks. Once Thunderus was taken out, all I would have to rely on to take them is Haxorus. Not a good idea.
It was a hard choice, but I decided other than Hurricane, Tornadus' coverage was a bit redundant so I replaced him. I considered Gastrodon over Ferrothorn because immune is always better then resist, but I really wanted stealth rock support with the new pokemon smell of the Therians and the prominent Dragon/Flying pokemon, stealth rocks may be even more important then it ever was before.
Decided to siwtch out Keldeo for Tornadus-T. I had water coverage on Tentacruel and Politoed and Superpower has the same purpose of Secret Sword. Donphan replaced Ferrothorn because I was having trouble with Dragonite/Mence after a few Dragon Dances so Donphan was the obvious choice with Ice Shard while still letting me set up Stealth Rocks and take electric hits. Since I have superpower on Tornadus and earthquake on Donphan, along with all the ice coverage I have, Haxorus just lost all usage. Lucario was a great choice because it gave me a strong physical sweeper that also gave me much needed coverage against Psychics and Ghosts.
It was a hard choice, but I decided other than Hurricane, Tornadus' coverage was a bit redundant so I replaced him. I considered Gastrodon over Ferrothorn because immune is always better then resist, but I really wanted stealth rock support with the new pokemon smell of the Therians and the prominent Dragon/Flying pokemon, stealth rocks may be even more important then it ever was before.
Decided to siwtch out Keldeo for Tornadus-T. I had water coverage on Tentacruel and Politoed and Superpower has the same purpose of Secret Sword. Donphan replaced Ferrothorn because I was having trouble with Dragonite/Mence after a few Dragon Dances so Donphan was the obvious choice with Ice Shard while still letting me set up Stealth Rocks and take electric hits. Since I have superpower on Tornadus and earthquake on Donphan, along with all the ice coverage I have, Haxorus just lost all usage. Lucario was a great choice because it gave me a strong physical sweeper that also gave me much needed coverage against Psychics and Ghosts.
Detailed Analysis:
Sup(Politoed) @Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Drizzle
EV's: 252hp/252def/4SpD
Move 1:Scald
Move 2:Ice Beam
Move 3:Rest
Move 4:Sleep Talk
Politoed has one job and one job only. Get the rain up and keep it up. Originally I had hypnosis and encore, but hypnosis misses WAY too much to be counted on. I decided to go with rest talk to make sure he has the staying power I need. There are a good number of pokemon that would think twice about trying to set up on this sleeping pokemon like DDnite or DD moxie-mence for fear of the Sleep Talked Ice beam or a scald burn.
Sup(Politoed) @Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Drizzle
EV's: 252hp/252def/4SpD
Move 1:Scald
Move 2:Ice Beam
Move 3:Rest
Move 4:Sleep Talk
Politoed has one job and one job only. Get the rain up and keep it up. Originally I had hypnosis and encore, but hypnosis misses WAY too much to be counted on. I decided to go with rest talk to make sure he has the staying power I need. There are a good number of pokemon that would think twice about trying to set up on this sleeping pokemon like DDnite or DD moxie-mence for fear of the Sleep Talked Ice beam or a scald burn.
ShiningArmor(Keldeo) @Leftovers
Nature: Modest
EV's: 4hp/252SpA/252spe
Move 1:Hydro Pump
Move 2:Secret Sword
Move 3:Calm Mind
Move 4:Substitute
Twilight's BBBFF. I decided on a sub/calm mind set over the others. The idea is to bring him in on anything fearing his rain boosted hydro pump and set up a sub on the switch(or making that fat pink you know what switch out in fear of secret sword) Calm mind and then destroy all. Even without specs boosting him his Hydro Pump is really powerful. With the sub up, Keldeo can 2 hit ko those it would normally OHKO with specs plus giving him the potential to beat those who would normally plan on tanking a hit and then KO-ing back.
Lion-O(Thunderus-T) @Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
EV's: 4def/252SpA/252spe
Move 1:Thunder
Move 2:Hidden Power Ice
Move 3:Focus Blast
Move 4:Volt Switch
Ah Thunderus, so beast he managed to find a way to break back into OU. I went with the choice specs version because Thunderus' new forme is all about that huge new special attack. Thunder is the obligatory rain stab move, while Hidden Power Ice and Focus Blast are for coverage. Volt Switch is the all important scouting move most choice users need. He can punch through walls, possibly even better than the old Thunderus
Hax-R-us(Haxorus) @Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability:Mold Breaker
EV's: 36hp/252atk/220 spe
Move 1:Outrage
Move 2:Earthquake
Move 3:Superpower
Move 4:Aqua Tail
Haxorus is the physical powerhouse partner of Thunderus-t. It is the standard set with the addition of Aqua Tail to give him a good, rain abusing move. A banded Outrage from an Adamant max attack Haxorus will completely destroy anything that doesn't resist it. Earthquake is quite the handy move for some of the fire types sun packs as well as some of the strong sand sweepers. Superpower is for those Ferrothorns who think they can come in and take his outrage.
Ecchi(Tentacruel) @Black Sludge
Nature: Bold
Ability: Rain Dish
EV's: 252hp/236def/20SpD
Move 1:Toxic
Move 2:Rapid Spin
Move 3:Scald
Move 4:Protect
Just the standard Tentacruel set. I use Toxic over Toxic spikes because I really don't like using the multi-turned setup hazards when I don't have a spin blocker on the team. Protect is for that extra Rain Dish + Black sludge recovery and speaking of which, I always prefer using Black Sludge on poison pokemon for those tricky(hah!) situations.
Umad?(Ferrothorn) @Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
EV's: 252hp/88def/168/SpD - 0 spe IV
Move 1:Stealth Rock
Move 2:Leech Seed
Move 3:Gyro Ball
Move 4:Power Whip
The standard Ferrothorn set with Stealth Rock over spikes for the reason's given above. I'm running Power Whip over protect for the grass coverage. I'm considering changing leftovers for Shed Shell since I potentially have leech seed recovery. As I said in the team building process, he is here to plug up the teams electric weakness once Thunderus-T is gone as well as being able to tank hits from other rain teams.
Alternate Team Members:
LoLPidgey(Tornadus-T) @Life Orb
Nature: Naive
EV's: 4hp/252SpA/252 spe
Move 1:Hurricane
Move 2:Superpower
Move 3:Hidden Power Ice
Move 4:Substitute
Tornadus takes the place of Keldeo. He may have lost some of his power, but that speed boost he got was a godsend imo. Hurricane is amazing on Tornadus, 100% accurate in the rain, 120 base power stab move with a 30% chance to confuse opponent. Superpower is there in place of Focus miss to make up for the lack of Keldeo's physical fighting move support. HP ice takes advantage of his amazing speed to come in and revenge kill some of those pesky dragons. Behind a sub, Tornadus-T is pretty much guaranteed to get a kill, being able to 2 hit ko those he would miss an OHKO on because of the offensive power drop and even those who the original Tornadus would miss the kill on.
Misty'sBFF(Starmie) @Life Orb
Nature: Timid
EV's: 252 SpA/4SpD/252spe
Move 1:Hydro Pump
Move 2:Thunderbolt
Move 3:Psyshock
Move 4:Rapid Spin
When running Tornadus-T over Keldeo I switch out Tentacruel for Starmie. You really need a powerful hydro pump on any rain team as far as I'm concerned. I run Psyshock over Ice Beam since I have more than enough ice coverage with Hidden Power Ice on the Therians and Ice Beam on Politoed. Rapid spin is even more important on this version of the team since now I have two pokemon weak to Stealth Rocks. Thunderbolt is used over thunder because honestly, having 2 thunder users on the same team is a bad idea imo because if rain isn't up, you are more likely to miss those key kills on those x/flying types. With hurricane on the team as well, I didn't want 3 of my sweepers relying on the rain to be at max effectivenes.
Detailed Analysis:
Sup(Politoed) @Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Drizzle
EV's: 252hp/252def/4SpD
Move 1:Scald
Move 2:Ice Beam
Move 3:Rest
Move 4:Sleep Talk
Politoed has one job and one job only. Get the rain up and keep it up. Originally I had hypnosis and encore, but hypnosis misses WAY too much to be counted on. I decided to go with rest talk to make sure he has the staying power I need. There are a good number of pokemon that would think twice about trying to set up on this sleeping pokemon like DDnite or DD moxie-mence for fear of the Sleep Talked Ice beam or a scald burn.
Sup(Politoed) @Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Drizzle
EV's: 252hp/252def/4SpD
Move 1:Scald
Move 2:Ice Beam
Move 3:Rest
Move 4:Sleep Talk
Politoed has one job and one job only. Get the rain up and keep it up. Originally I had hypnosis and encore, but hypnosis misses WAY too much to be counted on. I decided to go with rest talk to make sure he has the staying power I need. There are a good number of pokemon that would think twice about trying to set up on this sleeping pokemon like DDnite or DD moxie-mence for fear of the Sleep Talked Ice beam or a scald burn.
LoLPidgey(Tornadus-T) @Life Orb
Nature: Naive
EV's: 4hp/252SpA/252 spe
Move 1:Hurricane
Move 2:Superpower
Move 3:Hidden Power Ice
Move 4:Substitute
Tornadus takes the place of Keldeo. He may have lost some of his power, but that speed boost he got was a godsend imo. Hurricane is amazing on Tornadus, 100% accurate in the rain, 120 base power stab move with a 30% chance to confuse opponent. Superpower is there in place of Focus miss to make up for the lack of Keldeo's physical fighting move support. HP ice takes advantage of his amazing speed to come in and revenge kill some of those pesky dragons. Behind a sub, Tornadus-T is pretty much guaranteed to get a kill, being able to 2 hit ko those he would miss an OHKO on because of the offensive power drop and even those who the original Tornadus would miss the kill on.
Lion-O(Thunderus-T) @Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
EV's: 4def/252SpA/252spe
Move 1:Thunder
Move 2:Hidden Power Ice
Move 3:Focus Blast
Move 4:Volt Switch
Ah Thunderus, so beast he managed to find a way to break back into OU. I went with the choice specs version because Thunderus' new forme is all about that huge new special attack. Thunder is the obligatory rain stab move, while Hidden Power Ice and Focus Blast are for coverage. Volt Switch is the all important scouting move most choice users need. He can punch through walls, possibly even better than the old Thunderus
Lucario @Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
Ability:Justified
EVs:4hp/252atk/252 spe
Move 1:Swords Dance
Move 2:Close Combat
Move 3:Extreme Speed
Move 4:Crunch
Lucario does everything I needed Haxorus to do, plus more. Justified lets me get boosts while take 4x resisted Dark hits as well as being able to take weak grass hits that Haxorus helped me with. E-speed gives Lucario a good priority to abuse after a Swords Dance. Crunch gives me some much needed coverage against Psychics and Ghosts.
Nature: Jolly
Ability:Justified
EVs:4hp/252atk/252 spe
Move 1:Swords Dance
Move 2:Close Combat
Move 3:Extreme Speed
Move 4:Crunch
Lucario does everything I needed Haxorus to do, plus more. Justified lets me get boosts while take 4x resisted Dark hits as well as being able to take weak grass hits that Haxorus helped me with. E-speed gives Lucario a good priority to abuse after a Swords Dance. Crunch gives me some much needed coverage against Psychics and Ghosts.
Ecchi(Tentacruel) @Black Sludge
Nature: Bold
Ability: Rain Dish
EV's: 252hp/236def/20SpD
Move 1:Toxic
Move 2:Rapid Spin
Move 3:Scald
Move 4:Protect
Just the standard Tentacruel set. I use Toxic over Toxic spikes because I really don't like using the multi-turned setup hazards when I don't have a spin blocker on the team. Protect is for that extra Rain Dish + Black sludge recovery and speaking of which, I always prefer using Black Sludge on poison pokemon for those tricky(hah!) situations.
Donphan @Leftovers
Nature:Adamant
EV's: 252hp/252atk/4def
Move:Earthquake
Move:Stealth Rocks
Move:Stone Edge
Move:Ice Shard
All I wanted out of Ferrothorn was to take electric attacks and get Stealth Rocks up, but Donphan does that better and helps plug some other weaknesses of my team. Donphan is my answer to chlorophyll sweepers and those DD dragons thanks to Ice Shard. Stone Edge is because I realised I had a lack of any offensive rock coverage. Earthquake is Donphan's best stab move and let's me wreck alot of fire pokemon. Stealth Rocks is for opponents therians and dragon/flyings. Donphan is probably the best anti-sun pokemon in the entire game having coverage for almost every standard sun abusing pokemon.
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Ice Beam
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Ice Beam
Tornadus-T (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute
Thundurus-T (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch
Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Protect
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Protect
Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Ice Shard
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Ice Shard
Tyranitar @Lum Berry
Nature:Jolly
EV's:4hp/252Atk/252spe
Move:Dragon Dance
Move:Thunderpunch
Move:Stone Edge
Move:Crunch
Standard DD Tyranitar with thunderpunch for those smart*** Politoeds and other water types who want to switch in on him.
Politoed @Choice Specs
Nature:Modest
EVs:252spA/4spD/252spe
Move:Hydro Pump
Move:Ice Beam
Move:Focus Blast
MOve:Hidden Power Grass
Standard Specstoed
Donphan @Leftovers
Nature:Adamant
EVs:252hp/252atk/4def
Move:Earthquake
Move:Stealth Rock
Move:Stone Edge
Move:Ice Shard
Hey Dragonite, Salamence, Genies and Therians, I would like you to meat my Adamant max attack Ice Shard.
Tornadus-T @Flying Gem
Nature:Naive
EVs:180atk/76spA/252spe
Move:Heatwave
Move:Superpower
Move:Hurrican
Move:Acrobatics
Now hold on, I know what you're thinking. Tornadus is my Duel weather pokemon. Superpower obviously works in the Sand or the Rain, Heatwave is for use during sand. Now his stabs are where the innovation lies. Acrobatics is Tornadus-T's best physical flying move and all other special flying moves are kind of garbage. The flying gem will boost both the Hurricane and the Acrobatics on the first use, either way I get Acrobatics to full power.
Lucario @Choice band
Nature:Adamant
Ability:Justified
EVs:4hp/252atk/252spe
Move:Close Combat
Move:Crunch
Move:Bullet Punch
Move:Extreme Speed
Adamant max attack Lucario with Choice Band and double priority is a true monster. Close combat is obvious fighting stab and crunch is for cocky Ghosts and Psychics.
Rotom-W @Leftovers
Nature:modest
EVs:112hp/252spA/144spe
Move:Volt Switch
Move:Hydro Pump
Move:Thunder wave
Move:Pain Split
I wanted something else to abuse the rain, without being completely dependant on it. Rotom-W seemed like a good choice since it's Hydro Pump will hit hard in sand and harder in rain. Thunder Wave over will-O-wisp because since this team is offensive, I would rather slow down threats than flat out weaken them.
This is my first ever attempt at running duel weather. It's gone pretty good so far, but I know I need work. Posted it here because it's a side project I'm testing along side the main rain team. Let me know what you think.