Eternal Rain, My First Weather RMT

[Derpinator]

ETERNAL RAIN

I have been searching for a new idea for my new team recently and it hasn't been going too well. First, I posted a team which, when you step back and look at it, is just a bunch of common Pokemon thrown together. My next team was a Baton Pass team and it didn't work out too well either since it had many obvious flaws. So, I decided to try something I had never tried before, a Rain team. This is what I came up with and I think it is better than my last two teams and hopefully you will think so too.

Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Perish Song

The choice of Politoed is pretty obvious since it is the only Pokemon apart from Kyogre who can summon permanent rain. I decided to run the seemingly standard Scarfed Politoed set.
Hydro Pump is its STAB move, hitting Pokemon that don't resist it relatively hard thanks to its large base power, the boost provided by the rain and the STAB it gets.
Ice Beam provides more coverage, hitting Flying-, Grass-, Dragon- and Ground-types for Super Effective. Although it may not OHKO them due to Politoed's lackluster Special Attack, it will definitely put a dent in their team.
Hidden Power Grass allows Politoed to take on opposing Water-types, especially thinks such as Gastrodon and Swampert who only Breloom would be able to counter otherwise. Also, in the case that Politoed outspeeds Rotom-W, HP Grass can came in useful.
Perish Song takes up the final moveslot and it will usually be reserved for specific situations, such as an opponent that I can't counter or will have trouble countering. Also, if Politoed is about to die and I can't kill the opponent, I will use it then too just to buy my next Pokemon some time while the opponent switches out. I can also use Perish Song to abuse hazards if I have them laid by using Perish Song continuously while my opponent switches Pokemon.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Thunder
- Iron Head

Jirachi functions as a great Special wall as it can block many of the rain abusers who would otherwise threaten my team, such as Tornadus-T.
Wish allows Jirachi to stay alive and wall as long as possible. This is especially important since Jirachi is the only Pokemon who can counter certain threats while other Pokemon can only wall it.
Protect works in conjunction with Wish, having Jirachi use wish one turn and receive it the next without taking additional damage.
Thunder is Jirachi's rain-abuse move and the main reason Jirachi is on this team. Common rain abusers of BW2, namely Tornadus-T and Keldeo, shudder at a 100% accurate, Super Effective Thunder in the rain, so Jirachi can serve as an effective counter to them.
Iron Head is Jirachi's only STAB move and it is for use when Thunder isn't needed or as useful. It can also work together with Thunder if the opponent gets paralyzed to use the paraflinch strategy which can be annoying yet effective.

Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs:252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance

Breloom was added into this team for reasons similar to Jirachi, namely its Fire-type weakness. Although Breloom still has four looming weaknesses, Flying, Psychic, Ice and Poison, the rest of the team can aid it in countering them. Mamoswine the Poison-types as well as the Flying-types, which is further covered by Gastrodon, Jirachi and Politoed. Breloom can handle the Ice-types itself but also receives help from Jirachi.
Spore is the main thing that will keep Breloom going. It puts its opponents to sleep, picks up a Swords Dance boost and attacks back with either of its STAB moves, all the while healing up any damage it took using Leftovers.
Mach Punch is devastating with its STAB and Technician bonus and even more destructive after Swords Dance boosts. It is mainly for Pokemon that do not resist it or are too fast for Breloom.
Bullet Seed is Breloom's second STAB move and probably even more devastating that the first. Even without skill link, Bullet Seed can destroy opponents that do not resist it and will probably be used on sleeping opponents over Mach Punch due to the high possibility of it doing more damage.
Swords Dance is key to this set for all the reasons I have mentioned above. It turns Breloom's two Technician-boosted STAB moves into destructive moves regardless of their low base power.

Mamoswine @ Choice Band
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Stone Edge

Mamoswine is key to this team thanks to its enormous Attack stat that becomes sky high with Choice Band. Mamoswine aids in countering Flying-types that threaten Breloom and are cannot be OHKOed with Gastrodon or Politoed's Ice Beam due to the lack of a STAB bonus.
Earthquake is Mamoswine's primary STAB move that is mainly for Steel-types that can OHKO it with Flash Cannon, for example. Mamoswine will probably not be going up against anyone who can possibly have Bullet Punch, namely Scizor, since it probably cannot defeat it. Regardless, Mamoswine's Earthquake can devastate Pokemon that don't resist it and don't have high Defense.
Ice Shard is the main selling point of Mamoswine because Mamoswine's lower than average speed doesn't hinder it as much with this move and can probably guarantee an OHKO on Flying- or Ground-types.
Icicle Crash is mainly reserved for Pokemon that are slower than Mamoswine and cannot threaten it with priority moves such as Bullet Punch. Icicle Crash has a significantly higher base power than Ice Shard and a 30% flinch chance, which makes it a powerful tool against slower Pokemon.
Stone Edge provides more coverage for Mamoswine, allowing it to hit other Ice-types for Super Effective. Also, it provides further coverage against Flying-types, Fire-types and Bug-types, such as Volcarona.

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Toxic
- Scald
- Ice Beam

Gastrodon allows me to counter opposing rain teams, especially Rotom-W, who will be stopped in its tracks if it uses either of its common STAB moves, Hydro Pump and Thunderbolt/Thunder.
Recover allows Gastrodon to gain back health so that it can continue to help check or counter threats to my team, such as Electric-type attack. This also comes in useful for stalling out an opponent who is inflicted with Toxic Poison.
Toxic mainly allows Gastrodon to do something in the face of Pokemon in can't counter but only check. Although Scald's burn may also function in this way, Toxic is a more efficient way to stall my opponent until they die.
Scald is Gastrodon's STAB attack and also allows me to stall out Steel-types who I can't Toxic.
Ice Beam allows for further coverage and gives Gastrodon the ability to counter its only weaknesses, Grass. Ice Beam also gives coverage on Flying- and Ground-type Pokemon, such as the genies (bar Thundurus in its Theorian form) and Gliscor.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Volt Switch

Forretress is absolutely essential in this team since nobody on my team can shrug off entry hazard damage.
Rapid Spin is absolutely essential for the whole team. Breloom cannot attack as much since it will die faster from Life Orb recoil damage after switching in on Spikes. Mamoswine, Breloom and Politoed are both scarred by Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock takes a big toll on them in the long run. So, Forretress is extremely important and isn't hindered by its 4x Fire weakness as muh anymore because the rain makes Fire attacks only do 2x damage.
Spikes can also be very useful for my team. My team can force many switches which takes advantage of extra damage.
Gyro Ball is Forretress's main attacking move that takes advantage of its slow speed as well as the presence of fast or Scarfed Pokemon. Gyro Ball can also come in handy in speeding up how fast Pokemon afflicted by poison die.
Volt Switch is Forretress's only other move and it can come handy in dealing some parting damage when I want to switch it out. It also gives me something, although small in size, against other Steel-types, especially Skarmory, so I can hit them for at least neutral damage.

That's all, thanks for reading and rating my team and I hope it isn't too bad. I appreciate any help I can get since this is my first rain team and I am probably a bit below average in team building skills as I don't see many flaws, so please do point them out.

​

 

[Sayonara]

Hey, cool team Derpinator. I find fast rain threats like Rotom-W and Starmie can be quite problematic for your team. Rotom-W can use Volt Switch to take out Politoed and Vaporeon, while utilizing Hydro Pump to eliminate Lucario, Mamoswine and Forretress. Hidden Power Ice handles Breloom, who isn't quite able to tank hits well. With Thunder and Hydro Pump, Starmie easily runs through Politoed, Vaporeon, Forretress, Mamoswine and Lucario, while using a powerful Ice Beam to take care of Breloom. To help you patch this weakness, I'd replace Vaporeon by a Tank Gastrodon, who plays a similar role but has an auspicious typing to completely wall and defeat Rotom-W and Starmie. It also helps you deal with SubCM Jirachi. A moveset consisting of Scald / Ice Beam / Toxic / Recover would be fine, along with an EV spread of 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe and a Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk), with Leftovers of course. With Storm Drain and a Water / Ground typing, Gastrodon can easily switch-in a Hydro Pump or Thunder, taking a total of 0 damage with its Water / Electric immunity.

Scald is its main STAB, hitting harder in Rain. The 30% burn chance can really come in handy, allowing you to cripple opposing Ferrothorn switch-ins. Like Vaporeon, Gastrodon can use Ice Beam to take down opposing Dragon-types like Dragonite and Salamence, in addition to hitting Breloom hard. Toxic can be used to toxic stall, allowing you to beat opponents like Calm Mind Latias if they don't have Refresh. Recover keeps Gastrodon in good shape, allowing it to continue tanking hits with ease throughout the match. For some minor changes, I'd propose Hidden Power Grass over Scald on Politoed - this change allows your team to deal with opposing Gastrodons with more ease, a mon who can be problematic if Breloom goes down. I'd go with a Jolly Nature on Mamoswine, which allows it to outspeed Jolly Breloom and Ice Shard it before it takes you down with a Mach Punch. This changes also enables Mamoswine to outspeed Timid Heatran and Adamant Dragonite and Lucario, and take them out before they take down Mamoswine first. I don't have much else to add - well-constructed team and good luck! I hope I helped.

 

[Derpinator]

Hey, cool team Derpinator. I find fast rain threats like Rotom-W and Starmie can be quite problematic for your team. Rotom-W can use Volt Switch to take out Politoed and Vaporeon, while utilizing Hydro Pump to eliminate Lucario, Mamoswine and Forretress. Hidden Power Ice handles Breloom, who isn't quite able to tank hits well. With Thunder and Hydro Pump, Starmie easily runs through Politoed, Vaporeon, Forretress, Mamoswine and Lucario, while using a powerful Ice Beam to take care of Breloom. To help you patch this weakness, I'd replace Vaporeon by a Tank Gastrodon, who plays a similar role but has an auspicious typing to completely wall and defeat Rotom-W and Starmie. It also helps you deal with SubCM Jirachi. A moveset consisting of Scald / Ice Beam / Toxic / Recover would be fine, along with an EV spread of 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe and a Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk), with Leftovers of course. With Storm Drain and a Water / Ground typing, Gastrodon can easily switch-in a Hydro Pump or Thunder, taking a total of 0 damage with its Water / Electric immunity.

Scald is its main STAB, hitting harder in Rain. The 30% burn chance can really come in handy, allowing you to cripple opposing Ferrothorn switch-ins. Like Vaporeon, Gastrodon can use Ice Beam to take down opposing Dragon-types like Dragonite and Salamence, in addition to hitting Breloom hard. Toxic can be used to toxic stall, allowing you to beat opponents like Calm Mind Latias if they don't have Refresh. Recover keeps Gastrodon in good shape, allowing it to continue tanking hits with ease throughout the match. For some minor changes, I'd propose Hidden Power Grass over Scald on Politoed - this change allows your team to deal with opposing Gastrodons with more ease, a mon who can be problematic if Breloom goes down. I'd go with a Jolly Nature on Mamoswine, which allows it to outspeed Jolly Breloom and Ice Shard it before it takes you down with a Mach Punch. This changes also enables Mamoswine to outspeed Timid Heatran and Adamant Dragonite and Lucario, and take them out before they take down Mamoswine first. I don't have much else to add - well-constructed team and good luck! I hope I helped.

Thanks for the rate, I updated with all the changes in red.

 

[Lavos]

Hey Derpinator,

Your team is an interesting combination of the defensive and the offensive, where Scarf Politoed and Band Mamoswine meet Forretress and Gastrodon. I like the idea behind it; however, it's notoriously weak to Choice Band Terrakion. Whenever this thing gets a free switch-in, you basically have to let something die. Even Breloom's super-effective Mach Punch will never OHKO when Terrakion is above 87%. The team is also very weak to Tornadus-T, as Gastrodon can't wall it forever, and if it happens to carry Grass Knot you're toast. Sure, Mamoswine can scare it out, but it can always switch in again later. To fix these two big threats, I have a couple suggestions. First, Life Orb > Leftovers on Breloom will ensure a OHKO on Terrakion, no matter its HP level, and will also ensure the OHKO on other big threats like Stoutland and Mamoswine. There's really no reason to use Leftovers on Techniloom, anyways - it's all about power. The other change I'm going to suggest is for you to drop Lucario entirely. You already have a physical sweeper with Fighting STAB in Breloom; Lucario is redundant because of that. Instead, go with a Specially Defensive Jirachi, which will not only stop Tornadus-T from running through your team, but also put an end to powerful special attackers like Choice Specs Latios switching in and spamming Draco Meteors all day. The set is below.

Jirachi

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Protect
- Wish
- Thunder
- Iron Head

This Jirachi can take on Specs Latios, Gengar, and even Tornadus-T, and almost always walks away unharmed. Wish and Protect, when used in tandem, work the same as Recover, but with the added benefit of being able to pass the Wish to any of your Pokemon that are getting low on health. This will help you especially in weather wars - if Politoed is getting low, pass a Wish and voila, it's back to full health. Thunder makes use of both the Rain (which guarantees 100% accuracy for an otherwise 70% accurate move) and Jirachi's ability, Serene Grace (which doubles the chance of Thunder getting a paralysis from 30% to 60%). It's also the same power as Iron Head when you take STAB into account, but hits from the special side, giving Jirachi a variety of options with which to attack. Iron Head can flinch things to death once they're paralyzed, and provides a solid STAB attack for Jirachi to fall back on. Basically, this set is: switch in on a special attack, watch it do under half damage, Wish up to decent health, spam Thunders and Iron Heads. Rinse and repeat. It's foolproof.

Please consider the changes I suggested. Good luck with this team in the future!

 

[MysticNova]

This is not a full rate, but you really need to have some pokemon that benefit from rain. Otherwise, it's just not a rain team-just a team with Drizzle Politoed. While rain helps with Lucario's and Breloom's fire-weaknesses, their frailty means any decently powered move will be able to overpower them. Forretress meanwhile... doesn't do much at all on this team. Both Latios and Terrakion simply run through this team like butter, not to mention that these two are commonly paired with each other.
So in conclusion, try reconsidering what you want to do with this team and try having more pokemon that can actually take a hit.

 

[Superpowerdude]

Hey man nice team!

Firstly i agree with Lavos Spawns suggestion of Jirachi>Lucario Because of the reasons he suggested. Also a physical sweepers in't really needed in Lucario since you have Breloom and Mamoswine.


Due to your team mainly being offensive and the only recovery move being on Gastrodon there isn't really much use for Toxic Spikes on Forretress. Your team doesn't have the ability to effectivly stall and rack up Toxic Spike damage. Also not to mention with the new flying type threats Genesect (Which is steel) and Amoongus who absorbs Toxic Spikes Spikes>Toxic Spikes is the better option. Spikes supports your Breloom in sweeping late game as well as helps Politoed and Mamoswine take out threats easier. It also helps Politoed win the weather war as apposing weather abusers will be taking more damage when switching in. Generally Spike support is much better then Toxic Spike support for offense or balanced teams.

Also regarding your Mamoswine i noticed you are running Stone Edge Superpower>Stone Edge is the more superior option because the Fire-Types Stone Edge hits Supereffectivly Earthqauke hits harder and the same thing goes for Flying-Types Stone Edge doesn't hit as had as Icicle Crash on Mamoswine. Superpower brings more coverage wise as well as damage and accuracy having 20 more base power and a 100% accuracte move. Superpower hits Ferrothorn, Chansey and Blissey Super effectivly even though Breloom does the same job it is good to have this move for extra insurance. Although i don't recomend risking it if you happen be versing other Mamowines Superpower will hit alot harder then any of your other moves. The only thing Stone Edge hits harder is Gyarados who will get taken out by Jirachi's Thunder anyway.

Nice team! I hope i helped

tl;dr

Hide

Jirachi--->Lucario

Forretress
.Spikes--->Toxic Spikes

Mamoswine
.Superpower--->Stone Edge

~Superpowerdude

 

[Derpinator]

Thanks for the help guys here are the things I am changing:

Breloom - Leftovers --> Life Orb
Lucario --> Jirachi
Forretress - Toxic Spikes --> Spikes
Mamoswine - Stone Edge --> Superpower

I was thinking about replacing Lucario with Thundurus-T, Tornadus-T or Keldeo, but Jirachi works too.
Thanks again

 

[Electrolyte]

Hi,

Nice team! The suggestions of the others have made your team a lot stronger- there aren't as many prominent threats that it can't handle. However, with Jirachi being added into the mix, Volcorona in the Sun immediately becomes a massive threat. At +1, it can OHKO Breloom, Jirachi, and Forretress with Fiery Dance. In fact, it doesn't even mind Rain- it hits everyone neutrally with Bug Buzz, ecept for Forretress, which is hit really hard by Fiery Dance. There isn't much you can change right now without throwing your team completely out of balance- but there are some different moves I think you should try.

First of all, Stealth Rock over Volt Switch on Forretress. Stealth Rock really helps your team; it brings Volcorona all the way down to 50% so it is much less of a threat. It also breaks Multiscale and Focus Sashes and deals 25% to Tornadus- so it's very useful. You will lose the ability to pivot, but Stealth Rock will help your team more in the long run.

I actually urge you to retry Stone Edge on Mamoswine. It is one of the few pokemon that can take Volcorona's fire type moves with no sweat, and carrying Stone Edge will let you hit the moth. Superpower actually only hits Air Balloon pokemon and Skarmory/Bronzong harder than EQ, and your team has no problem handling those pokemon. Superpower is also quite easily punished, so going for Stone Edge is probably safer.

Nice team! Good luck!

 

[Derpinator]

Hi,

Nice team! The suggestions of the others have made your team a lot stronger- there aren't as many prominent threats that it can't handle. However, with Jirachi being added into the mix, Volcorona in the Sun immediately becomes a massive threat. At +1, it can OHKO Breloom, Jirachi, and Forretress with Fiery Dance. In fact, it doesn't even mind Rain- it hits everyone neutrally with Bug Buzz, ecept for Forretress, which is hit really hard by Fiery Dance. There isn't much you can change right now without throwing your team completely out of balance- but there are some different moves I think you should try.

First of all, Stealth Rock over Volt Switch on Forretress. Stealth Rock really helps your team; it brings Volcorona all the way down to 50% so it is much less of a threat. It also breaks Multiscale and Focus Sashes and deals 25% to Tornadus- so it's very useful. You will lose the ability to pivot, but Stealth Rock will help your team more in the long run.

I actually urge you to retry Stone Edge on Mamoswine. It is one of the few pokemon that can take Volcorona's fire type moves with no sweat, and carrying Stone Edge will let you hit the moth. Superpower actually only hits Air Balloon pokemon and Skarmory/Bronzong harder than EQ, and your team has no problem handling those pokemon. Superpower is also quite easily punished, so going for Stone Edge is probably safer.

Nice team! Good luck!

Thanks for the help. I thought about it and I decided to keep Mamoswine's Stone Edge and switch Volt Switch to Stealth Rock. I decided this because Forretress is too slow to use Volt Switch effectively, in my opinion. Also, I have enough Water power to cover Volcarona on my team with Politoed OHKOing with Hydro Pump and Gastrodon 2HKO with Scald. Correct me if I messed up somewhere in my math.

 

[Derpinator]

bump for feedback

 

[Jirachee]

Hi

You have no fighting resist. This means that the extremely dangerous and common Fighting types, such as Terrakion, Breloom, Keldeo and even Lucario can really hurt this team badly. Whenever they switch in their are pretty sure to kill something on your team, since whatever you can switch into them isn't bulky enough to tank powerful, Choice Band or Life Orb boosted Close Combats (or Specs Secret Sword in Keldeo's case.) This can be bad considering Fighting is one of the most popular attacking type in OU with its great super effective coverage. While Gastrodon is a fine choice to defend your team against opposing Rain, there are other Pokemon that can do it as good while also having the bulk to tank Fighting attacks. I think that Latias would fit your team very well over Gastrodon. Latias' incredible bulk and Speed makes it a nice, fast check to some of the most popular Fighting Pokemon in the current metagame, while also resisting common popular moves from Rain abusers, most notably Water and Electric attacks. It will also be able to Recover the damage. I think that Latias is much more helpful to your team since it covers much more threats.

Honestly, Forretress without Volt Switch isn't that great. I seriously think you should use Stealth Rock over Superpower on Mamoswine instead, and go back to Volt Switch on Forretress. Sure, Superpower is cool on Mamo, but you can live without it. Forretress, on the other hand, means that you will lose a lot of momentum every time you switch it in considering it's slow and weak, making it easy set up bait. Volt Switch fixes that up while also giving you a tool to escape Magnezone which quite honestly could ruin your plans, since you seem to rely on Forretress a lot to spin away the hazards and setting some of your own, while also serving as your main tool in order to tank the attacks of a physical Dragon.

Anyway that's quite a cool team. Here's the set you should use:

Latias

Latias @ Leftovers
Levitate
Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
~Dragon Pulse
~Psyshock
~Calm Mind
~Recover

Good luck!

 

[Derpinator]

Hi

You have no fighting resist. This means that the extremely dangerous and common Fighting types, such as Terrakion, Breloom, Keldeo and even Lucario can really hurt this team badly. Whenever they switch in their are pretty sure to kill something on your team, since whatever you can switch into them isn't bulky enough to tank powerful, Choice Band or Life Orb boosted Close Combats (or Specs Secret Sword in Keldeo's case.) This can be bad considering Fighting is one of the most popular attacking type in OU with its great super effective coverage. While Gastrodon is a fine choice to defend your team against opposing Rain, there are other Pokemon that can do it as good while also having the bulk to tank Fighting attacks. I think that Latias would fit your team very well over Gastrodon. Latias' incredible bulk and Speed makes it a nice, fast check to some of the most popular Fighting Pokemon in the current metagame, while also resisting common popular moves from Rain abusers, most notably Water and Electric attacks. It will also be able to Recover the damage. I think that Latias is much more helpful to your team since it covers much more threats.

Honestly, Forretress without Volt Switch isn't that great. I seriously think you should use Stealth Rock over Superpower on Mamoswine instead, and go back to Volt Switch on Forretress. Sure, Superpower is cool on Mamo, but you can live without it. Forretress, on the other hand, means that you will lose a lot of momentum every time you switch it in considering it's slow and weak, making it easy set up bait. Volt Switch fixes that up while also giving you a tool to escape Magnezone which quite honestly could ruin your plans, since you seem to rely on Forretress a lot to spin away the hazards and setting some of your own, while also serving as your main tool in order to tank the attacks of a physical Dragon.

Anyway that's quite a cool team. Here's the set you should use:

Latias

Latias @ Leftovers
Levitate
Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
~Dragon Pulse
~Psyshock
~Calm Mind
~Recover

Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback. I will put Stone Edge back onto Mamoswine (because banded Mamoswine can't do too much with Stealth Rock anyway) and Volt Switch back onto Forretress. I will try Latias out over Gastrodon but I think I may replace someone else with Latias because Gastrodon has worked wonderfully for me so far.