Drizzle Offensive

This is my basic battling team on Pokemon Online and I'm striving to get this team on my Pokemon White Version. I'm making some progress. Tell me what you think.

The Team:

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Politoed @ Wise Glasses
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 130 HP/ 252 Sp. Att/ 126 Sp. Def
Nature: Modest
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power (Electric)
- Psychic

Politoed's role is obvious here. Set up Heavy Rain, then go for the offensive. Politoed is a nice Pokemon even without Drizzle because of it's nice "bulkiness". Surf gets STAB and a boost from the Rain, and I like it better than Hydro Pump because it's more accurate and has more PP. I know some people prefer Hydro Pump, but that's just me. Ice Beam is for coverage and the occasional Freeze Hax :P. Hidden Power takes care of bulkier Water-types that Politoed would otherwise have trouble with, such as Gyarados. Psychic is just sort of there because it's a nice Special-based attack that can lower Special Defense. Psychic was just sort of on a whim, I kinda wanna take it away for something else. Just dunno what.

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Metagross @ Focus Sash
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Att/ 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Stealth Rock
- Zen Headbutt
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake

Metagross was originally my lead and then I would send out Politoed for the Drizzle. I changed that because with the Rain, it lowers the power of moves that Metagross is weak to. So, Stealth Rock remains, and it can still be used. Zen Headbutt and Meteor Mash are Metagross', in my opinion, its best STAB moves, although I wish they were more accurate. Anyway, Zen Headbutt OHKOs annoying Infernape and Meteor Mash hits Tyranitar and other powerful Rock- and Ice-types. Earthquake is there to abuse Metagross' nice Attack stat and for coverage against Fire-types.

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Raikou @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Sp. Att/ 252 Spe
Nature: Rash
- Aura Sphere
- Thunder
- Weather Ball
- Calm Mind

Yes, this is the event Raikou, and Raikou is one of my favorite Pokemon, Electric being my favorite type. Anyway, the event gave it a kick-ass moveset. Aura Sphere never misses, and hits Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, most Pokemon that have Earthquake, etc. I scrapped Zap Cannon for Thunder, because as opposed to having an extremely low accuracy, Thunder never misses. Weather Ball, in the Rain, has 100 power as opposed to its original 50 and is a Water-type move, which gives excellent coverage against Ground-types and once again, most Pokemon with access to Earthquake. Calm Mind is for boosting Raikou's nice Special Attack stat. Petaya Berry boosts it even more when low on health.

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Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Att./ 152 Def./ 104 Sp. Def
Nature: Adamant
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Ice Punch

Swampert isn't really a sweeper, just an attacker. Its typing allows it to get STAB to two powerful moves, Earthquake and Waterfall, the latter of which can make the opponent flinch. Brick Break destroys Light Screen and Reflect, and is a pretty nice move. Ice Punch is for coverage and takes down annoying Dragon-types. Its EV spread is to make sure that it doesn't get taken out by a Power Whip or Giga Drain.

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Zoroark @ Life Orb
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Sp. Att/ 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Nasty Plot
- Night Daze
- Hidden Power (Ice)
- Focus Blast

Zoroark is a fun Pokemon to use. Nasty Plot gives it amazing attacking power. Night Daze is STAB and can lower accuracy. Beautiful. Hidden Power (Ice) is to hit Ground-types because the Pokemon that it disguises as is a non-levitating Poison-type. Focus Blast beats down Ferrothorn and Tyranitar.

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Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Att/ 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Sucker Punch

This Toxicroak is sort of a staller. With Black Sludge, it has a type-exclusive "Leftovers" and Dry Skin recovers HP every turn due to the everlasting Rain. It also makes it invulnerable to Water-type moves, so with proper predicting, that can be used to my advantage. Swords Dance gives it a boost so Drain Punch can hit harder and heal even more HP, besides Drain Punch's pre-existing STAB. Ice Punch takes out Flying- and Dragon-types, and Sucker Punch is priority coverage.


So that's it, tell me what you think. Constructive criticism appreciated and I'd like some tips to make my team better. ^_^
 
Hypnosis would be a good move to replace Psychic with on Politoed. I used a rain team relatively similar to this on the ladder, and even with its shaky accuracy, the ability to take their answer to Politoed out of commission for pretty much the entire match is incredibly useful.

For Toxicroak, you might want to try a bulkier set. 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def gives you a bulkier spread, and the loss of speed doesn't hurt you so much due to priority Sucker Punch. In addition, you could drop Ice Punch for Substitute and/or Swords Dance for Bulk Up. Substitute lets you either set up in safety or use a sure-fire Sucker Punch, while Bulk Up would help you stall even longer while still increasing your attack.

I have no comments on anything else, this team looks fairly strong. Good luck with improving it!
 
Thanks. I didn't think of adding a bunch of EVs into HP for Toxicroak, even though he's a pseudo-staller. XD The loss of speed I can recover with a Jolly Toxicroak, which is what I actually got off of the GTS, so I don't have to worry about breeding for an Adamant one. I never really liked Substitute because I never used it right, but because of the recovery from Rain and Black Sludge, I think I could use it.

Hypnosis, I hate because of its accuracy. I don't really need to put them to sleep because of Ice Beam being able to freeze, but I guess it could work. I really wanted to scrap Psychic anyway.

Thanks a bunch!
 
There are a few things you should be aware of when trying for this team in-game. Ice Punch and Drain Punch is an illegal combination on Toxicroak, because Ice Punch is a Gen 4 tutor move, while Drain Punch is a Gen 5 egg move (there is a TM in Gen 4 for Drain Punch, but Toxicroak cannot learn it). Petaya berry is currently unreleased, and cannot be found in-game or in Dream World.

Ice Punch/Low Kick/filler/filler or Drain Punch/Sucker Punch/filler/filler are good replacement sets for Toxicroak (put your choice of moves suggested by The Shiny Umbreon in the filler slots). Raikou can benefit from either Leftovers or Life Orb.

Finally, Politoed and Swampert may benefit from a 252 HP/4 Def/252 [attacking stat] EV spread as HP is a key factor in bulk. Alternative items for both sets could be Choice Specs and Choice Band, respectively, as their move sets are both capable of taking advantage of Choice items (only if you are okay with being locked into one move though).
 
Your team is somewhat weak to ground types
and as for Politoed try this set

Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait:Drizzle
Ev Spread:220 HP, 64 DEF, 252 SP. DEF

Moves:
~ Scald
~ Protect
~ Focus Blast
~ Toxic

What this set tries to do is to eliminate all the weather starters in OU. Focus Blast is able to 3hko/2hko Specially defensive 252/252 Tyranitar (depending on the nature) Toxic and Scald act as a pseudo double status and for stab 64 Ev's where added to Def to survive certain hits from certain pokemon Protect is to stall out the burn/toxic and regain the necessary Hp back.

and as for Raikou you could try using
a SubCM because revenge killers can easily get rid of the petaya boost after Raikou has been damaged

Raikou @ Leftovers
Trait:Volt Absorb/Pressure up to you.
Ev Spread:128 HP, 76 DEF, 52 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed
Nature:Timid

Moves:
~ Calm Mind
~ Substitute
~ Thunderbolt
~ HP GRASS/ICE

or

Raikou @ Life orb
Trait:Volt Absorb/Pressure
Ev Spread: 4 HP, 252 SP. ATK, 252 SPEED
Nature:Timid
~Calm mind
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
~HP GRASS/FIGHTING

The second Raikou set is to go All out and the other one preserves bulk but losses power.
 
Jupiter: Ah, I was wondering why P-O wouldn't let me do that. It had the same method of learning, so I thought it was just a bug. Thanks, my alternative is Stone Edge because Dragonite and Salamence are part Flying anyways.

PokeJoe: I have 2 Pokemon with a weakness to Ground and the rest all have moves that can easily take Ground-types down. That's why Zoroark has Hidden Power Ice. When Disguised as Toxicroak, they'll either go for a Psychic-, Ground-, or Flying-type move. Psychic I don't have to worry about, but Ground-types will go down in a flash from a Nasty Plotted Hidden Power, especially if it's a Garchomp.

3 out of the remaining 4 Pokemon that bring weather to the battle via Ability are weak to Water, and Abomasnow can be taken down with a Meteor Mash from Metagross, so that moveset is pointless, especially since Focus Blast has crap accuracy.

Raikou is a sweeper, I hardly use Calm Mind, but when I have an opportunity, I do use it. I usually let Raikou take some hits, and when I get the Petaya boost, Raikou starts to murder.
 
Actually you have three pokemon relatively weak to ground and current threats I see in this team is the Skarmbliss combo and a choice scarf Heatran could actually cause your team to break apart with Earth power and HP Grass.
 
hey your team is pretty nice, and idk what your current set with Politoed is, but it seems insane to keep HP Electric on it. If you want to hit bulky waters you can use HP Grass, which also hits several other pokemon strong (swampert in particular) since you lack a grass type move otherwise. Plus you have STAB thunder on Raikou if you need electric type moves (maybe for skarmory), plus you have several ice moves throughout your team for flying types not named Skarmory.
 
oh and i know that toxicroak is a good set and useful in rain, but ive used Zoroark extensively and he really shines when disguissed as a ghost type, for obvious reasons: it deters bug moves and eliminates fighting attacks, so that zoroark does not take supereffective damage. In fact almost everyone tries to use a dark or ghost type move, both of which Zoroark resists. This gives you plenty of time to nasty plot, and then if your opponent still doesnt realize what is going on, you can hit the possible ghost type enemy for supereffective STAB night daze. And diguissed a gengar or such invites Tyranitar and its pursuit, only to be OHKO'd by focus blast. MAybe you could accomplish this by adding in Jellicent, he adds bulk to your team, and has access to water moves to take advantage of rain. In conclusion i just think you need a ghost type or lose Zoroark.
 
Hidden Power Electric can be used with full IVs in Special Attack, Special Defense, and HP, which are the only stats it needs, while Hidden Power Grass doesn't sport any IV spreads that keep full IVs in Special Attack itself.
 
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