Dancing in the Rain (OU Rain Dance Team)

[1337R34P3R]

OP Note: This team used to be a UU team, but after noticing the boosts that rain was giving my STAB water moves, and the sheer power of Kingdra, the temptation to bump it up to OU was just too great.

AT A GLANCE

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IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS (not really)​

Electrode @ Damp Rock
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Moves:
~Thunder
~Rain Dance
~Explosion
~Taunt

Electrode is the fastest taunter in the game, and the last word on rain dance leads. He outspeeds every single other lead out there, with the exception of ninjask and scarf leads. My basic goal is to set up rain dance, and either switch straight to kingdra, or get off a quick explosion or thunder if the opponent is usually a sash lead. I don't usually use explosion, in case i have to set up rain dance again, but it's there as a last resort against ground-types.

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Nature: Modest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Moves:
~Grass Knot
~Hydro Pump
~Ice Beam
~Focus Blast

Ludicolo used to be my main special sweeper, but now plays second fiddle to Kingdra. Still, he's gotten me out of many a tight situation. Grass Knot 2HKO's Gyarados, and OHKO's Swampert. Hydro Pump is a general STAB for anything that doesn't resist it. Ice Beam takes out any dragons that come in to ruin my fun, and Focus Blast is for hitting steels hard.

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moves:
~Aqua Jet
~Waterfall
~Swords Dance
~Stone Edge

My physical Swift Swim Sweeper. If rain's still up, i'll either use waterfall or stone edge as my main attacking moves. Aqua Jet is my failsafe, in case rain runs out and i need to revenge kill. I swords dance up if i have the chance.

Toxicroak @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Moves:
~Substitute
~Focus Punch
~Ice Punch
~Sucker Punch

My pet tank. Sub Toxicroak is a beast in rain, and the flawless type coverage of sucker punch and focus punch are always handy. Ice Punch is to take out any ground types or dragons who try to come in and earthquake.

Gallade @ Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moves:
~Swords Dance
~Close Combat
~Ice Punch
~Leaf Blade

Eh, he's a remnant from my UU days with this team. try to force a switch, and swords dance. if not, close combat for general STAB. Ice Punch for dragons and grass-types, Leaf Blade for bulky waters and grounds. I'm open to suggestions on what to switch him with.

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Nature: Modest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Moves:
~Dragon Pulse
~Hidden Power (Electric)
~Signal Beam
~Surf

The Coup De Grace of my team. Kingdra's my primary sweeper, and with STAB boosted Rain boosted Surf, he rightly deserves the spot. his above average defenses come in handy, and having only one weakness comes in handy all the time, as Kingdra in the rain outspeeds choice scarf variants of every other dragon type pokemon in OU.

Needed
-Threat List
-Advice on EVs for Toxicroak and Electrode
-Potential replacement for Gallade

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[Uchiha]

Lucario can do Gallade`s Job better, so I think you should replace it with the SD set in the analysis.

 

[pokemon]

Uchiha is right. Use SD Luke over SD Gallade considering that you have moved this RMT into OU, so SD Luke is a better option than your Gallade. Check it out in the Strategy Dex. The reasons are that lucario has a better Speed stat and a good typing and a priority move. Its not affected by toxic spikes and resistant to SR. But Gallade does have a better Attack and SpeD and can do more damage with 1 SD under its belt. The only priority move it has is shadow sneak which only has a measly 40 base power, unlike the 80 base power E-Speed. But if you wanna keep Gallade i recommend fitting shadow sneak onto the moveset.

Also half your team is screwed by phazing moves such as roar and whirlwind. It screws over Kabutop, Toxicroak, and Gallade.

Also as an option over Ludicolo, a Sub-Agility-Petaya Empoleon. A STAB, Torrent, +1 SpeA, and Rain Danced Surf does a TON of damage to anything that even resists it. Ice Beam also gives coverage.

 

[ehkay47]

Just a little nitpick but you should try and fit Rain Dance somewhere else on your team as well as Electrode. Even if you do manage to get the first Rain Dance up with him, what about when it stops, or when T-Tar or Hippowdon enters the field.

I would replace Focus Blast on Ludicolo with Rain dance (since Hydro Pump will hit and steels hard enough already), and maybe even make room for it on Kingdra over either Signal Beam or HP Electric. With so much advantage your team has in the Rain, you want to make sure that its pretty much always Raining.

Edit:

I like that idea the below poster made, switching Gallade for Scizor. Either Scizor or Lucario anyways, as both of them have their Fire weakness reduced while its raining.

Pretty much if you dont want Rain Dance on on Kingdra then take the Rain Dance Scizor, but if you do then Lucario will fit nicely.

My 2 cents

 

[mite b cool]

Only having one pokemon to set up rain for a rain dance team is a no no, considering he is dying at the start of the match. Either replace Focus Blast for rain dance on Ludiciolo or get something such as

Scizor @ Damp Rock
Ability: Technician
EVs: 200 HP/56 Atk/252 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Rain Dance
- Roost
- U-turn

Scizor works quite well here as his only weakness is halved in the rain, and when its not raining you have Ludiolo and Kingdra to take fire attacks. Probably a replacement for Gallade he looks pretty dead weight in this team

 

[Towelie]

First of all, Toxicroak and Gallade seem like dead weight.
The two biggest threats to a rain team are:
Tyrannitar
Abomasnow

Scizor helps wear down both of them with Bullet Punch, as well as setting up the rain.
Another suggestion would be Rain Dance over Focus Blast on Ludicolo.
Since Hydro Pump is rain boosted, I don't think Focus Blast is really necessary on that set.
Maybe for kingdra, a mixed set over a Special set?

With either:
Rain Dance, Waterfall, Outrage, and Draco Meteor
or Surf, Draco, Rain Dance, and Waterfall.
Both of them are good at breaking walls and the second set can lead in Blissey and destroy it with a Double Stab boosted waterfall.

Hope I helped ;)

 

[EspyJoel]

Hi.

Considering this has changed from UU to OU, you need to make quite a few changes to work in this tier.

Firstly, on Kabutops run 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe as you don't need the extra Speed ( you still outrun +1 positive base 100s) and this puts you at a Life Orb number and the extra HP may help.

On Ludicolo, I suggest a change to Surf / Energy Ball / Ice Beam / Focus Punch with a Rash nature and 60 Atk / 252 SpA / 196 Spe, the loss of Speed hardly matters, you don't miss out on any important Choice Scarf users that I can think of and this allows you to 2HKO Blissey with Focus Punch + Surf (+ SR - which I will suggest in a spot). Energy Ball hits Vaporeon harder which is important.

Next, on Electrode, change the EV spread to 252 Atk / 28 SpA / 228 Spe as you want to increase the power of Explosion.

Your missing EVs on Kingdra, add 4 to HP.

Now, one Pokemon which I think will really help your team out is Bronzong, its one of the most reliable mid-game Rain Dance set-uppers there are, will give you Stealth Rock and a valuable Dragon-type resist which means you can't easily be sweeped when the rain is down, I'd put it over Toxicroak, here's the set:

Bronzong @ Damp Rock
Impish
Levitate / Heatproof
252 HP / 128 Atk / 128 Def
Rain Dance / Stealth Rock / Reflect / Explosion

Sets up Rain Dance and Stealth Rock for you, also can set up Reflect, you can use Light Screen instead if you'd prefer that screen, then can go out with a bang with Explosion getting a rain sweeper in for free. Leviatate ability means its a nice switch into Ground-type attacks, but since people naturally assume it has Levitate, you can use Heatproof as it allows you to set up Rain Dance on Heatran, Infernape, and Salamence, for example (although if Spikes are up, this is ruined).

In rain, the main idea would just be to set up rain then sweep, so I'd suggest getting rid of Gallade for another rain set-upper. A Thunder abuser would be great to help even more against bulky Water-types (Electrode won't last long to use Thunder). Rotom-W or Zapdos are your best options, they also help you out against Lucario who can sweep you late-game easily if rain isn't up(I'd actually put Heatproof on Bronzong if choosing one of these since this will help your team out as one of these two can take the Ground-type attacks):

Rotom-A @ Damp Rock
Timid
Levitate
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe or 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rain Dance / Thunder / Hydro Pump / Shadow Ball

Gives you some nice Fighting-, Ground-, and Normal-type immunities and also an Electric-type resistance. Can abuse both a 100% accurate STAB Thunder and a boosted Hydro Pump. Shadow Ball hits the Pokemon who resists these two. EVs depend on whether you want more bulk or power - bulk makes it more reliable at setting up rain while power lets it take more advantage of it. It does lack a reliable recovery which Zapdos has though.

or

Zapdos @ Damp Rock
Modest
Pressure
224 HP / 108 SpA / 176 Spe
Rain Dance / Thunder / U-turn / Roost

Gives you a nice Ground-type immunity and an Fighting-type resistance. EVs outspeed Adamant Lucario, give you a lot of power to hurt Water-types, and give eough bulk to survive +2 ExtremeSpeed from Lucario with SR. U-turn is for scouting and against faster opponents, lets you get a rain sweeper in for free. Roost lets it stay alive longer. It lacks some of the nice immunities Rotom-A has, also lacks Hydro Pump and Shadow Ball, but does have reliable recovery.

Hope this helps and good luck with the team!