Feast of the Bullfrogs - an RMT with Halcyon of Light and Gary2346

Gary

Can be abrasive at times (no joke)
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Feast of the Bullfrogs



Introduction


Blue: Comments made by Gary2346
Red: Comments made by Halcyon of Light

Welcome, to the greatest RMT ever created. Nah just kidding, but seriously, this team is easily one of the most successful teams I've ever built. After the success of my last RMT, I decided to make another one. Anyways, I've wanted to build a team around Toxicroak so bad ever since I got my ass handed to me by one a long time ago. I've always heard how amazing it is when partnered with Politoed because of its ability Dry Skin, giving it two turns of Leftovers recovery every turn as long as rain is in play. Because I'm a scrub when it comes to building rain teams, I decided to ask my good friend Halcyon of Light for help, seeing as he's made some pretty successful rain teams in the past. In the end, we just decided to team up and make a kickass team together, and we succeeded in doing just that! After testing out the Bulk Up set, I decided to try out the infamous Swords Dance set that has swept me so many damn times. Not to my surprise, it's absolutely fantastic. Dry Skin gives it an extra +2% recovery each turn factoring in Life Orb recoil, so technically speaking, it's impossible to stall out Toxicroak as long as rain is in play, which is fantastic. It also learns neat moves like Drain Punch and Sucker Punch, letting it sweep even when Latias and Starmie are still alive. With Toxicroak's useful immunity's, and resistances, Halcyon and I wanted to pair the Frog up with something that appreciates its coverage and resistances. We finally decided on Sharpedo, because of its ability to abuse rain. Little did we know, Sharpedo has become one of the most valuable members on our team, easily sweeping late game once Toxicroak beats Ferrothorn. It's a little core that we like to call SharCroak, and it needs to become a thing, because it's one deadly ass core. For the team itself, we decided to lean towards a more offensive oriented team with more sweepers and less dedicated walls in order to have as many checks as possible against opposing weathers. Both of us have peaked decently high with this team, Halcyon with a fantastic 21-0 record while I had a decent 17-0 record. We love everything about this team, and we hope you will too.
Hey guys! Welcome to my (technically) fourth Rate My Team! I had just finished posting my King K. Rool team when Gary2346 asked me to do a collaboration with him. Well obviously I was gonna say yes. Who could say no to that pretty face? When I asked him what he wanted to build the team around, he immediately told me that he was adamant we use Toxicroak. This surprised me, since Gary hates weather teams, but I have no problem building them. I've used Toxicroak a few times in the past, and he's always been really good when I have, but I knew that with the two of us working on this team, it would blow all of my others out of the water. Rain teams are usually no trouble at all. Politoed, Tentacruel, Ferrothorn, and then three filler 'mons and you're done! But no, not this time. This time we decided it was more important to focus on Toxicroak's specific weaknesses as well as his assets to see which team members would be best (you know, how you're SUPPOSED to make teams). first we had to decide specifically which Toxicroak set to use. Bulk Up has given me trouble in the past (a few of my teams are pretty weak to it), so that was tempting. But I just couldn't deny the sheer power of the Swords Dance set. Beating things like Jirachi (which Toxicroak can't beat even at +2), Jellicent, Lucario, etc. were our top priority. Another nifty thing Toxicroak brought our team was a practical immunity to Keldeo as well as other Hydro Pump spammers. Our friend Don Honchkrorleone wouldn't stop suggesting Sharpedo, so we told him to fuck off...but then we realized that with something to reliably deal with Keldeo and Breloom, Sharpedo could actually do work! Plus, it took care of Jellicent. It could punch holes in the opponents teams if we needed it to, or it could wait until the late-game and sweep with its decent coverage. Plus, since we had Toxicroak, we could run Ice Fang over Zen Headbutt! What a nifty little core we found! Anyway, I'm rambling. The team has been pretty successful. I went 21-0 before losing cause I missed two Thunders in a row outside of rain and peaked at number 60 on the OU ladder as TheHOL. Gary also had some great success, getting to 17-0 himself. Well, we just can't get enough of posting on this forum, so we decided we would share our Feast of the Bullfrogs with the rest of you! Enjoy!

At a Glance




Team Breakdown





Kermit ( Politoed) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Perish Song

There's a reason why I avoid building rain teams, and this fucker right he IS the reason. Gamefreak decided to give Sand Stream to an amazing Pokemon, but they just had to give Drizzle to one of the worst Water-types ever created. Why couldn't they have given Drizzle to Poliwrath? It's so sub par everything. It's stats are just so balanced that is pisses me off. It doesn't really succeed at anything, nor is it terrible to the point of being completely useless outside of its ability, unlike Ninetales. I know that everyone goes on and on about how amazing the Specs set is, but honestly, it's so outclassed by Keldeo that I just can't bring myself to use it. However, the Defensive set is actually quite fantastic, especially when Politoed can learn some pretty nifty support moves such as Encore and the rare Perish Song, and the fact that its got some decent bulk. The offensive Politoed sets lack any sort of utility, and because of this it's often hard at times to win the weather war. Defensive Politoed on the other hand, is quite difficult to kill. Scald is completely self-explanatory on Defensive Politoed, because there's no reason not to use Scald on a defensive water-type; that burn chance being so hard to pass up on. Toxic is to cripple those sneaky Jellicent that try to get some extra health back from Scald, and to also slowly weaken down the opponents offense, defense, and best off all, opposing weather starters. Protect is mostly for scouting and getting that extra turn of Leftovers recovery, which can sometimes mean life or death for the green menace (hardly). Perish Song is actually the crux of this set, because without it, special sweepers like CM Latias and any dangerous sweeper with Substitute can have its way with our team. It's also a great suicide move to use on the opponent if they only have one Pokemon remaining. Overall, Politoed sucks, but without it, this team would be shit, so I guess I gotta hand it to him.
Politoed, Politoed, Politoed. Honestly, what can be said about this thing that hasn't already been said a million times? Politoed is absolutely necessary to the team. Using Toxicroak or Sharpedo without rain is like making a team with only four Pokémon. The question was not whetherto use Politoed, rather which Politoed to use. At first, Specs seemed the most appealing, since we were planning for this to be a completely offensive team at first. After a while, though, it became clear that we needed some defensive Pokémon to fall back on. Defensive Politoed is a great utility 'mon. It singlehandedly deals with most setup Pokémon thanks to Perish Song. Things like BU Toxicroak, Sub DD Gyarados, Sub CM Latias, and many others are forced to switch out, stopping their sweeps cold. Toxic puts a timer on defensive Pokémon like Jellicent and Rotom-W that might give our sweepers trouble. It also wears down weather starters, especially Ninetales, which hates having poison damage on top of SR. This is especially important because our team struggles to win against sun if we lose the weather war. Protect is useful for scouting choice-locked Pokémon as well as getting extra leftovers recovery which might let Politoed live an extra hit or survive another SR switch-in. Scald is one of the most broken moves in the game. An effectively 120 base power attack with a 30% chance to burn is just too good to pass up. Any Pokémon that switches into Politoed has to be wary of Scald in case they get burned and NO Pokémon wants to be burned. Gary might not like Politoed, but I absolutely do. The team would fall apart if it weren't for him, and not just because of Drizzle either.




Venom (Toxicroak) @ Life Orb
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 228 Spd / 28 HP
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Sucker Punch

I had no idea what to expect going into this, but surprisingly Toxicroak actually managed to meet my expectations and then proceed to soar above whatever my expectations were. No joke though, why this thing isn't used on every offensive rain team beats me. Maybe because most rain teams run Keldeo and Toxicroak would just provide redundant coverage? Who knows. Anyways, the Bulk Up set is cool and all, but the Swords Dance set is where it's at. The fact that not even the Lati twins or Starmie for that matter can revenge kill this thing is absolutely insane. Toxicroak is 4x weak to Psychic-type moves, and ironically he shits all over every Psychic-type in the tier with Sucker Punch. That's what's so amazing about Toxicroak's SD set compared to Lucario; it can run both priority and a Dark-type move on the same set, without forgoing Ice Punch. Other than the fact that Toxicroak has one of the coolest designs for a Fighting-type Pokemon, Toxicroak is pretty damn dangerous when partnered with Politoed. Dry Skin gives it two free turns of Leftovers recovery, and even with Life Orb recoil, it still manages to heal more than it's losing, preventing anything with Substitute from stalling out Life Orb recoil. Not only that, but Toxicroak has an amazing defensive typing, capable of checking every variant of Keldeo and Terrakion, while allowing Croak to setup on Water-type moves. Swords Dance increases its Attack stat to a whopping 684 after just one boost, more than enough to KO half the metagame. Drain Punch is a very nice STAB move to have, because combined with Dry Skin, Toxicroak is rather hard to take down. Although Cross Chop is extremely powerful at +2, Drain Punch never misses, and it's health regain effect gives it much more of a reason to use it. Ice Punch is for coverage against Gliscor, Landorus-T, Celebi, Dragonite, and sometimes even Gyarados. Sucker Punch is the reason why this set is so damn deadly, because now Latias, Latios, Alakazam, and Starmie are unable to revenge kill Toxicroak, even at +0. Not only that, but it's easy to spam late game once everything is weakened, because a +2 Sucker Punch is quite powerful. The EV spread is to outrun Adamant Mamoswine and most importantly Jolly Breloom. All in all, I'm very happy that I came up with the idea to use SD Toxicroak, because this thing is just so damn good. Definitely an underrated Pokemon that deserves a bit more usage.
Toxicroak is an interesting Pokémon. There are a few Pokémon who can use Life Orb and not take any damage from it. Things like Alakazam, Nidoking, Darmanitan, and the late Landorus have shown us just how good Life Orb can be when the user takes no recoil from it. However, only one Pokémon in OU can use Life Orb and actually gain health at the end of the turn. With max attack, an Adamant nature, Life Orb, and a Swords Dance boost, teams had better be careful or they will feel the sting of Toxicroak's weird hand-horn things. When looking at a team to make sure a sweep is possible, Toxicroak is also unusual in that only Pokémon in a certain speed tier are dangerous, and they're mostly considered pretty slow by normal standards. Keldeo, Terrakion, Lati@s, Alakazam, Starmie, Jolteon, Thundurus-T, Salamence, Gengar, and other faster threats either can't touch Toxicroak, or are easily handled with Sucker Punch at +2 (sometimes after Rocks), whereas slower things like Ferrothorn, Tentacruel, Adamant Dragonite, Breloom, non-invested Landorus-T, Tyranitar, and others are setup bait. It's only things like Lucario, Infernape, Mamoswine, and Ninetales that give our favorite poison frog trouble. Anyway, we chose Drain Punch over Cross Chop for the reliability and the extra healing, which is crazy helpful since Toxicroak isn't the bulkiest of Pokémon out there. It's a great fighting STAB move that OHKOs Ferrothorn at +2, which would otherwise be a pretty annoying threat to the team. Sucker Punch lets it KO Lati@s and Starmie even without a boost, and they always seem to forget that it runs it, which is no skin off my nose! Finally, Ice Punch lets it kill Breloom, Landorus-T, and Dragonite, as well as nailing Gengar on the switch (plus, I will admit, the freeze chance is always nice). The EVs let us outspeed Jolly Breloom, which is helpful to have gone so Sharpedo can have his day in the sun rain. Toxicroak is the reason we made the team, and he does not disappoint. I've swept teams plenty of times.



Smaug (Garchomp) @ Salac Berry

Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage

It's so hard to believe that Garchomp was once deemed too broken for OU even without the Sand Veil ability, because it's quite obvious that Garchomp fits perfectly in this metagame, unlike Kyurem-B for example. Honestly though, Garchomp is by no means a slouch. It can run a myriad of sets to great success, and combined with its decent speed and bulk, Garchomp is a force to be reckoned with. Garchomp was actually one of the last members we chose, because before Garchomp our team was incredibly weak to any variant of Jirachi. Toxicroak needed Jirachi dead before it could sweep, and even Sharpedo enjoyed the coverage that this guy brings. To tell you the truth, before making this RMT, I didn't even realize that Sub Salac Garchomp was a thing. I heard of people using Sub Salac Terrakion, but Garchomp? Makes sense I guess. Well, if it wasn't for Halcyon's curiosity, we would have never found out about this amazing gem of a set here. Garchomp is absolutely terrifying at +1 Speed and +2 attack, and not much can stop this beast from sweeping. All it needs to do is come in on something like Forretress, Jirachi, Ferrothorn, or choiced Stone Edge/Thunderbolt, and it's pretty much GG. Substitute protects is from status and makes it much easier for it to get into Salac range. Swords Dance boosts its Attack stat to terrifying levels. Earthquake hits extremely hard, and it pairs very well with Outrage. Honestly, this set is extremely self-explanatory, and it helps form the offensive core of the team. Without Garchomp, our team is useless against pretty much any variant of Jirachi.

I always knew Garchomp was an amazing Pokémon, but I had never used the Sub Salac set before. I have never been more impressed by a Pokémon before. I also don't think I've ever had a Pokémon cause more forfeits without actually doing anything. I will admit that it does have some trouble setting up at first If Garchomp has the chance to set up to +2 behind a sub, prepare to have something die. Even worse if he gets to +2/+1 behind a sub. At that point, almost nothing can survive a Garchomp rampage. Part of what makes this set effective is that people don't know it exists. Rotom-W will almost always try to Will-O-Wisp when I send in Garchomp, only to be disappointed when I Sub up at get a free Swords Dance boost and then fish for Hydro Pump misses. Outrage and Earthquake make a deadly combination as only Skarmory and Bronzong escape with minimal damage done to them. At +2, though, they'll take quite a bit more than they would have wanted.




F-16 (Latias) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Trick

If any of you know me well, you'll know how much I love using Latias. Fuck what everyone says about Latios outclassing her, Latias is SO much better in the current metagame than Latios. She's got enough bulk to take hits, and just enough power to deal back hits. With the metagame becoming more and more offensive, bulky offensive Pokemon such as Latias are ignored for more offensive Pokemon, but ironically, Latias fits perfectly in the metagame. We're using yet another unorthodox set (unintentionally of course), and even though I doubted scarfed Latias at first, I was quickly slapped across the face for that. Our team was incredibly weak to sun before we decided to switch Thundurus-T for Life Orb Latias, but than our team became incredibly weak to Ferrothorn and Jellicent in particular. To remedy that, we decided to make the best of both worlds by giving her a Choice Scarf, so she can still check sun while also crippling walls. Even though Latias lacks a ton of power, her surprise factor and coverage make up for it. No one ever expects Latias to Trick their Ferrothorn a Choice Scarf, and everyone always sends in their Salamence on Latias thinking that they can outspeed Latias. Draco Meteor hits so fucking hard, even with Latias' lesser power. It's great to just come in and kill something with it, or surprise Scarf Garchomp/Salamence with. Surf is for coverage against sun teams and Heatran, who walls this set to death. Psyshock is to revenge kill Breloom, Terrakion, Conkeldurr, Toxicroak, Venusaur, etc. Trick is to cripple walls like Ferrothorn and Blissey who normally switch into Latias expecting to take a Draco Meteor.

Latias is easily one of the most useful Pokémon in the tier right now. If only it weren't for that pesky weakness to dark...oh well. This slot was originally an Expert Belt Thundurus-T, but we needed something that could somewhat reliably check Venusaur if we somehow lost the weather war. After that we tried LO Offensive Latias, which was doing pretty well, but we noticed the team still had some trouble with certain bulkier Pokémon like Ferrothorn, and our Scarfer was (in my opinion) unreliable and didn't fit the team very well. We still wanted something bulky to help with sun teams, but we decided to change Latias into a Choice Scarf set. I think it does much better than the LO set. It has better survivability because it doesn't have to take constant LO damage, and it also is faster than Modest Venusaur (which apparently people STILL run) so it can take on sun teams much more reliably. However, the main selling point has to be the ability to Trick a Scarf onto the many walls that try to come in on predicted Psyshocks or Draco Meteors. Plus, nobody expects Latias to be Scarfed, so the surprise factor is really helpful in making sure we can cripple the walls we need to. The moves themselves are pretty cut and dry. Draco Meteor for awesome STAB, Psyshock to revenge kill Keldeo, Breloom, and other Fighting types, and finally Surf to hit Heatran and weakened Tyranitar on the switch.




Highlander (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Thunder
- Wish

No offensive rain team is complete without the help of Jirachi. Whether it's the specially defensive set or the CM set, Jirachi is well known for it's amazing utility and resistances it brings to rain teams. Our team used to be extremely weak to the likes of Latios, Latias, and Alakazam, but now with Jirachi, our team couldn't care less about them. Although Protect would be greatly appreciated on this set to give it a reliable method of healing with Wish, our team desperately needs Stealth Rock to be effective. Without it, Sharpedo and Toxicroak can't nab specific KOs, and threats like Dragonite and Volcarona would be that much more of a problem to our team. Iron Head is a staple on any Jirachi set, capable of flinching the opponent to death in combination with paralysis. Thunder has the advantage of being both powerful and having a 60% chance of paralyzing the opponent, which is awesome. Paralysis support actually goes a long way for our team, Toxicroak in particular, because Sucker Punch will no longer be required to take out faster Pokemon when they're paralyzed, like Kyurem-B or Salamence. It's mostly used as lethal weapon against bulky Water-types, and to try to nab the paralysis on switch-ins that try to check Jirachi. Wish is a very important move on this set, because it allows Jirachi to pass wishes to the rest of the team, Politoed in particular, helping us win the weather. The EVs are to outspeed Adamant Breloom and Magnezone.
Jirachi and Politoed are probably the only Pokémon on the team that isn't an underrated set/Pokémon. Nope, Jirachi is about as standard as they come. We needed something to set up Stealth Rock and tank Draco Meteors/Outrages. Well, our little Wish Maker does that and more. Because we're running a rain team, Jirachi has the luxury of being able to use the powerful Thunder instead of Body Slam. Though it can't paralyze things like Garchomp and Thundurus-T anymore, it can hit much harder and reliably deal with things like Scizor locked into Bullet Punch and the like. The ability to spread paralysis is huge, especially since it means that Toxicroak won't have to rely on Sucker Punch as much, Garchomp can set up more easily, and Sharpedo won't have to waste a turn on Protect to set up. Even Jirachi itself can flinch-hax things to death with a little bit of luck, and as we all know, 70%=100% when Jirachi is on the field. Another awesome benefit of running Jirachi is that it can pass wishes to the rest of the team in a pinch. Wishing and then switching into Toxicroak on a predicted Water move or a switch can turn entire games around. Same goes for Politoed, which needs to win the weather war for our team to be effective and really appreciates being given over half its health back if it's in a pinch. Jirachi is essentially the defensive backbone of the team, and the team would be lost without it.





Don (Sharpedo) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Protect

Oh my god. This thing....is amazing. Again, why this thing sees little to no usage on offensive rain teams blows my mind into a million pieces. It's paper thin frail, but who cares? It's extremely powerful and fast after a +1 speed boost, which is pretty much impossible not to achieve unless you're a moron. Thanks so much to my friend Don Honchkrorleone for recommending a Pokemon that I underestimated my entire time playing OU. If you're wondering why Sharpedo is named Don, now you know. The goal of Sharpedo is to come in mid-late game once all of its counters are taken care of, such as Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Skarmory. Basically, anything that can't be killed in one shot. Toxicroak pairs very well with Sharpedo for a number of reasons, mostly because both of them together have near perfect coverage, and Toxicroak can beat out almost every single Pokemon that gives Sharpedo problems, like Keldeo and Ferrothorn. We decided on going with the physical set, because the Mixed set isn't nearly as powerful as the all-out physical set, and I really don't see a point in using it to be honest. Waterfall is Sharpedo's most powerful physical Water STAB, and it hits like a truck in the rain. Crunch is especially important for Latios, Latias, Alakazam, and pretty much anything that resists Waterfall, like Gyarados. Ice Fang is weak, but it's very important in KOing Salamence, Landorus-T, Dragonite, and Gliscor. Protect is probably the most important move on this set, because it guarantees that Sharpedo gets a free +1 speed boost. Although it would be nice to run EQ in this slot to beat Jirachi, Protect is just too important to pass up on.

If this team weren't based around Toxicroak, the title of this RMT would definitely be something shark related. Sharpedo is an absolute monster and is definitely one of the more underrated Pokémon out there. The team's ass has been saved so many times by a late-game Sharpedo sweep it's not even funny. With decent attack and an ability that constantly increases its speed, Sharpedo is a force to be reckoned with. There was some question about whether to use the mixed set or the physical one. Eventually, we settled on the physical one since the idea of splitting Sharpedo offensive potential was very unappealing. It needs fully invested attack to get the job done. Life Orb is necessary to make sure he has as much attacking power as possible. Waterfall is a great reliable STAB and has great synergy with Speed Boost since it means after two turns we have a 20% chance to flinch the entire metagame. Crunch is its secondary STAB and helps hit things like Lati@s, Alakazam with its Sash broken, Reuniclus, Starmie, Gengar, and Jellicent for a ton of damage (mostly OHKOs too). We chose Ice Fang as the last move over something like Zen Headbutt because Toxicroak already takes care of Keldeo for us, and we needed something that could take out Dragons more reliably. It also lets Sharpedo OHKO Landorus-T even after the attack drop and outside of the rain. Protect is useful since it gives us a guaranteed boost in speed, and if we can kill something before they send in their Scarfed Pokémon, or attack on the switch, it makes sure we can out-speed them on the next turn and take out their revenge killer. People need to know just how powerful Sharpedo can really be. After everything else has been weakened sufficiently, Sharpedo comes in and makes sure the opponent's Pokémon are sleeping with the fishes tonight.


Notable Threats

Kingdra: For a Pokemon who's sole purpose is to check opposing rain teams, it sure does one hell of a good job at man handling ours. Other than carefully playing around it and taking advantage of its -2 SpA drop from Draco Meteor, there's only one thing on our team that can somewhat properly handle Kingdra, and that's Jirachi. Although it takes a fuck ton from Hydro Pump, it has one shot at paralyzing it with Thunder, and if it succeeds, then Kingdra is no longer a problem. If not though....oh boy. Albeit very rare, it's still a threat that's worth mentioning, but I don't feel that it really needs to be addressed or anything. It's too rare to make any huge changes.

Mamoswine: Other than Kingdra, Mamoswine is probably the biggest threat to our team, accept unlike Kingdra, Mamoswine is MUCH more common. Thankfully, our team handles Mamoswine a lot better than it handles Kingdra, but it's still a bit of a problem sometimes. The Adamant variants aren't that big of a problem because Toxicroak can outspeed and KO with Drain Punch, but the Jolly variants can be a bit more problematic. Politoed is our teams best answer to Mamoswine, while Sharpedo is the best check to it. Notable threat, but not that big of a deal.




Garchomp: It's a similar case to Mamoswine, as most of our team can't take the combination of Ice, Ground, and Dragon. The Choiced sets are easy to play around, but the SD variants can be quite a problem, especially Sub SD. Thank god hardly anyone uses Sub Salac Chomp, because if it was common, than we'd probably have to retire this team.

Kyurem-B: This thing is broken, so it's automatically a threat to our team. The Choice Banded sets can sometimes 2HKO Jirachi, and the Mixed sets with EP can destroy our team with paralysis support. How can something with 170/120 offenses not be a threat?


Conclusion

First off, I'd like to thank my good friend Halcyon of Light for having the courage to team up with me and build a team together (I tend to be picky). I doubt I could have made such a successful team without him, and because of him, I feel a lot more comfortable using the rain play style, so thanks for that! I'd also like to thank my other good friend Don Honchkrorleone for giving us moral support throughout the team building process, and most importantly for recommending us trying out Sharpedo, who ended up being one of the best Pokemon on the team. Last but not least, I'd like to thank you guys for sticking around and reading this massive wall of an RMT. I hope to collaborate with other people in the future, and I hope to possibly build another team with Halcyon in the future as well. Thanks guys!


A lot of the time, people put a big emphasis on how well a team functions and how it handles the top threats of the metagame. One aspect of playing Pokémon that I think is often forgotten is simply having fun with it and enjoying yourself when you use it. This is one of the most fun teams I have ever made. I mean, we use all sorts of underrated sets and Pokémon from Toxicroak to Sharpedo, from Sub Salac Garchomp to Scarf Latias, there are plenty of interesting new elements in this team for me to try out, and it's been a blast. In particular, I love Toxicroak and Sharpedo. Both of these Pokémon have insane sweeping potential, and I think they deserve a lot more usage than they get. Obviously they're both very rain-dependent, but it's honestly worth it. Anyway, I'd like to thank Gary2346 for asking me to do a collaboration and Don Honchkrorleone for giving us the idea to use Sharpedo. We've had great success with the team and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do! Thanks for your time!

Code:
Name (Politoed) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Perish Song

Name (Garchomp) (M) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage

Name (Latias) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Healing Wish
- Psyshock
- Trick

Name (Toxicroak) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 228 Spd / 28 HP
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Sucker Punch

Name (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Thunder
- Wish

Name (Sharpedo) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Protect
 
Last edited:

Scotti

we back.
WOW this is a great team. I can barely think of anything that can help this team because it is so good. I had a feeling that someone was going to post an RMT about Toxicroak because of how good it is in the current metagame, It is really something. The only thing i can think of is maybe run Thunder Wave over Thunder if you want to have a 100% chance to paralyze Kingdra. Though i can see that if Kingdra has a Lum Berry it is a problem. Thats the only suggestion i have and i can't really think of changing something with out messing with something important in this team. Though you may want to take 60 Ev's out of attack in put in SpDef it allows you to live Modest Kingdra Draco Meteor. Though if you add 108 Ev's out of attack and add them to SpDef you can live a Draco Meteor even after Stealth Rock, but thats probably taking too much attack out of Toxicroak, but these are only suggestion.

Anyway Great Team =)
 

Shurtugal

The Enterpriser.
is a Tiering Contributor
Hello Guys!

I don't have a big rate coming or anything because this team is honestly really solid. I have a few changes you can try, however.

DD Dragonite with EQ is probably the biggest threat I can think of. Latias can get the surprise KO for sure, but it's bound to bring a lot of things down with it and it doesn't have too much difficulty setting up. Mind you, it's minor, but really annoying. Another annoying Pokemon for this team has got to be Toxicroak, since Garchomp technically can't switch into it thanks to Ice Punch and Latias is technically countered from Sucker (you can trick, but if predicted Latias eats an Ice Punch to the face and also can't switch in).

So I recommend the following:

1. Politoed should try out Icy Wind over Toxic. This will instantly stop the likes of Dragonite from successfully setting up on him (you could perish, but I'd bet you'd toxic or scald first to get rid of the multiscale, especially when you have PROTECT slashed with SR *fix this immediately to just SR* And got forbid it has like +1 and Latias is in Espeed KO range and you go to toed to Perish force it out when getting the Icy Wind off allows things like Toxicroak *I think your spread outpaces* can come in for the kill). Icy Wind can slap a few other random Pokemon too that like to switch into it like Breloom and actually outpace it with 0 speed investment for the 2hko.

It's not a huge change, but I feel that all toxic is really doing is hitting Rotom-W when Latias and Toxicroak hard-core stop it.

2. I'd replace Iron Head for Psychic on Jirachi. Hitting opposing Toxicroak is important, as well as hitting Amongus considering Latias doesn't want to play choice / trick games with sand stall (most Amos are ran in sand). Losing the flinching games probably sucks, but I wouldn't considering it a huge loss. Hitting Breloom is good too so it doesn't get a spore on the switch.


That's it, really. You can play around both threats but I find that these minor switches should help. Let me know how it goes. I really like this team thanks for sharing! :) I especially like the Sharpedeo + Toxicroak core.
 

shrang

General Kenobi
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Hi. This looks like a pretty cool looking team. Just to address your main weaknesses, have you considered running Ferrothorn over Jirachi? It counters Kingdra a lot better, as well as not being as weak to the other threats you have listed. The only thing you're missing out on is Wish, which isn't too bad because none of your Pokemon really need it. Just the standard Ferrothorn with Stealth Rock / Leech Seed / Gyro Ball / Power Whip or something would work nicely.
 

soulgazer

I FEEL INFINITE
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
You could change the ev spread on Jirachi to outspeed positive base 80 ( Which is 96 speed wv with a Jolly nature, I believe) while keeping the rest in special defense. It would let you outspeed all those non-scarf Mamoswine and finish them off after some prior damages, while still being able to tank hits from Alakazham & Co.
 

Halcyon.

@Choice Specs
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Ok well I have some time so I might as well respond to these.


WOW this is a great team. I can barely think of anything that can help this team because it is so good. I had a feeling that someone was going to post an RMT about Toxicroak because of how good it is in the current metagame, It is really something. The only thing i can think of is maybe run Thunder Wave over Thunder if you want to have a 100% chance to paralyze Kingdra. Though i can see that if Kingdra has a Lum Berry it is a problem. Thats the only suggestion i have and i can't really think of changing something with out messing with something important in this team. Though you may want to take 60 Ev's out of attack in put in SpDef it allows you to live Modest Kingdra Draco Meteor. Though if you add 108 Ev's out of attack and add them to SpDef you can live a Draco Meteor even after Stealth Rock, but thats probably taking too much attack out of Toxicroak, but these are only suggestion.

Anyway Great Team =)
Hey thanks for the praise! I'm really really against taking out attack EVs from Toxicroak mainly because it needs all the power it can get. I already hate that we can't have Drain Punch AND Cross Chop, since the latter is a OHKO on Jirachi at +2, while the former isn't :[ so making him even weaker is not very appealing, especially since Kingdra is such an uncommon Pokémon that it really doesn't affect the team too much. Thunder Wave over Thunder is definitely an option. I appreciate being able to do pretty significant damage to things like Scizor, though, so I'm leaning towards keeping it as is. Still, I really appreciate the rate, and the kind words! Thanks!

I gotta say this team could beat mine in a flash
;):D:cool::D;)

Hello Guys!

I don't have a big rate coming or anything because this team is honestly really solid. I have a few changes you can try, however.

DD Dragonite with EQ is probably the biggest threat I can think of. Latias can get the surprise KO for sure, but it's bound to bring a lot of things down with it and it doesn't have too much difficulty setting up. Mind you, it's minor, but really annoying. Another annoying Pokemon for this team has got to be Toxicroak, since Garchomp technically can't switch into it thanks to Ice Punch and Latias is technically countered from Sucker (you can trick, but if predicted Latias eats an Ice Punch to the face and also can't switch in).

So I recommend the following:

1. Politoed should try out Icy Wind over Toxic. This will instantly stop the likes of Dragonite from successfully setting up on him (you could perish, but I'd bet you'd toxic or scald first to get rid of the multiscale, especially when you have PROTECT slashed with SR *fix this immediately to just SR* And got forbid it has like +1 and Latias is in Espeed KO range and you go to toed to Perish force it out when getting the Icy Wind off allows things like Toxicroak *I think your spread outpaces* can come in for the kill). Icy Wind can slap a few other random Pokemon too that like to switch into it like Breloom and actually outpace it with 0 speed investment for the 2hko.

It's not a huge change, but I feel that all toxic is really doing is hitting Rotom-W when Latias and Toxicroak hard-core stop it.

2. I'd replace Iron Head for Psychic on Jirachi. Hitting opposing Toxicroak is important, as well as hitting Amongus considering Latias doesn't want to play choice / trick games with sand stall (most Amos are ran in sand). Losing the flinching games probably sucks, but I wouldn't considering it a huge loss. Hitting Breloom is good too so it doesn't get a spore on the switch.


That's it, really. You can play around both threats but I find that these minor switches should help. Let me know how it goes. I really like this team thanks for sharing! :) I especially like the Sharpedeo + Toxicroak core.
Thanks for the awesome rate Shurtugal! I'm hesitant to try Icy Wind over Toxic since being able to hit Gastrodon/Rotom-W/Jellicent/Ninetales on the switch is pretty useful. That being said, the ability to fuck over Dragonite. Besides, it's really easy to set up Stealth Rock with...wait WHAT? Gary, when did we slash Protect with Stealth Rock?!? Man, I have no idea where that came from. I've always used SR. Anyway, my main question is why Icy Wind over Ice Beam? Is the speed drop really that useful? Especially since it won't ever be able to get more than one boost, after which Latias can revenge. Still, some Ice move might be useful to revenge Dragonite with Earthquake (though only Jolly ones out-speed Toxicroak without a boost). ground type moves in general give us trouble. Ground/Dragon and Ground/Ice coverage is a bitch. Psychic over Iron head sounds fantastic, as I almost never use Iron Head at all anyway, and the ability to hit Breloom and Toxicroak seems pretty great to me. I'll be sure to try those changes out as soon as possible. Thanks for the rate!

Hi. This looks like a pretty cool looking team. Just to address your main weaknesses, have you considered running Ferrothorn over Jirachi? It counters Kingdra a lot better, as well as not being as weak to the other threats you have listed. The only thing you're missing out on is Wish, which isn't too bad because none of your Pokemon really need it. Just the standard Ferrothorn with Stealth Rock / Leech Seed / Gyro Ball / Power Whip or something would work nicely.
I feel like there was a reason we used Jirachi over Ferrothorn when we built the team, but I'm at a loss because I can't remember why. So I'll be sure to try Ferrothorn>Jirachi since right now it seems like a pretty obvious and great change. Though Latias and Politoed will definitely miss the Wishes being passed from Jirachi. Still, it's worth a test. Thanks Shrang!

Thank you all for your help! Keep the rates coming!
 

Gary

Can be abrasive at times (no joke)
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Besides, it's really easy to set up Stealth Rock with...wait WHAT? Gary, when did we slash Protect with Stealth Rock?!? Man, I have no idea where that came from. I've always used SR.

Oh me too. I just slashed SR just in case somebody recommended we use SR on something else so we could use Protect on Jirachi. I was just noting how much Jirachi wants to use Protect, but it has to use SR.
 
Your team is actually quite surprisingly weak to Rain Volc if it gets a +1 after latias goes to -2 after killing something with DM.

You may wish to consider Aqua Jet over protect on sharpedo for that, since most good players see protect coming a mile away on sharpedo.
 

Nova

snitches get stitches
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Hey Halcyon of Light and Gary2346. This a really solid rain offense team; I really like your use of some things that can surpsie your opponent like Sub Salac Garchomp and Scarf Latias. To help improve the team, I agree with Shrang in trying out Ferrothorn over Jirachi. I would use of set of Stealth Rock / Gyro Ball / Power Whip / Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave is really useful for your team as it slows down your opponents which allows for Toxicroak to sweep more easily as he isn't that fast. It's also gonna be useful for the paralysis chance that will let Garchomp get up a free Sub. Ferrothorn is one of the best answers to Kingdra and he also gives you some options to beat the other threats you mentioned. On Politoed, I would use Encore over Protect. Encore can lock your opponent into a move and let's you bring in Toxicroak or Garchomp in on a non threatening move and start setting up. It might seem a bit strange to run both Encore and Perish Song on Politoed but the moves work in different ways for your team. Encore is to allow one of your sweepers to get that turn they need to set up while Perish Song is to prevent opponent's set up sweepers from doing too mich damage. With the right prediction, you can also use Encore to beat opposing sweepers. On Latias, try out Healing Wish over Surf. The main reason for Surf is to hit Heatran, but you've already got Politoed, Garchomp, and Sharpedo who can beat Heatran. Healing Wish is a nice move to heal back one of your sweepers. Not many teams will enjoy facing Sharpedo or Toxicroak twice so it can shift the game in your favour when you need one of those Pokemon again. Hope I helped and good luck with the team!
 

PDC

street spirit fade out
is a Team Rater Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Four-Time Past WCoP Champion
That is one cool Latias gif you got there.

Alright, this is already a pretty solid team, and there really isn't too much to add / fix, but the weakness to things like Mamoswine, Kyurem-B, and Kingdra are all notable as you have stated. My first real suggestion is changing up Sharpedo a bit. This means using Zen Headbutt over Ice Fang. I feel Ice Fang is just not giving you anything valuable, and for the most part you're getting killed by dragons anyway, as Dragonite can just ExtremeSpeed you to death because of how fragile you are. Zen Headbutt is here for Keldeo, which can stop your sweep cold. Even though Toxicroak does a great job at beating Keldeo, you still don't want Sharpedo being stopped, and its not like Ice Fang is really helping you out so much. I suppose it comes in handy for Garchomp, but it probably is going to be a bit weakened in the first place.

My second suggestion might be a bit hurting, but I really feel it is the best way to go about things. Yeah, its standard and not that thought out, but really it will fix some of your weaknesses to Kyurem-B, Mamoswine, and Kingdra by a lot. Jirachi is cool on Rain and all, but things like Starmie are annoying as hell to face and can really put you in some tougher situations. I really think you should at least try out Ferrothorn over Jirachi. A staple on offensive Rain, Ferrothorn really does help you a lot with some of your biggest problems. Not much else to suggest here as the team is pretty solid on its own.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave / Gyro Ball

Good luck!
 

Gary

Can be abrasive at times (no joke)
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Hey Halcyon of Light and Gary2346. This a really solid rain offense team; I really like your use of some things that can surpsie your opponent like Sub Salac Garchomp and Scarf Latias. To help improve the team, I agree with Shrang in trying out Ferrothorn over Jirachi. I would use of set of Stealth Rock / Gyro Ball / Power Whip / Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave is really useful for your team as it slows down your opponents which allows for Toxicroak to sweep more easily as he isn't that fast. It's also gonna be useful for the paralysis chance that will let Garchomp get up a free Sub. Ferrothorn is one of the best answers to Kingdra and he also gives you some options to beat the other threats you mentioned. On Politoed, I would use Encore over Protect. Encore can lock your opponent into a move and let's you bring in Toxicroak or Garchomp in on a non threatening move and start setting up. It might seem a bit strange to run both Encore and Perish Song on Politoed but the moves work in different ways for your team. Encore is to allow one of your sweepers to get that turn they need to set up while Perish Song is to prevent opponent's set up sweepers from doing too mich damage. With the right prediction, you can also use Encore to beat opposing sweepers. On Latias, try out Healing Wish over Surf. The main reason for Surf is to hit Heatran, but you've already got Politoed, Garchomp, and Sharpedo who can beat Heatran. Healing Wish is a nice move to heal back one of your sweepers. Not many teams will enjoy facing Sharpedo or Toxicroak twice so it can shift the game in your favour when you need one of those Pokemon again. Hope I helped and good luck with the team!
That is one cool Latias gif you got there.

Alright, this is already a pretty solid team, and there really isn't too much to add / fix, but the weakness to things like Mamoswine, Kyurem-B, and Kingdra are all notable as you have stated. My first real suggestion is changing up Sharpedo a bit. This means using Zen Headbutt over Ice Fang. I feel Ice Fang is just not giving you anything valuable, and for the most part you're getting killed by dragons anyway, as Dragonite can just ExtremeSpeed you to death because of how fragile you are. Zen Headbutt is here for Keldeo, which can stop your sweep cold. Even though Toxicroak does a great job at beating Keldeo, you still don't want Sharpedo being stopped, and its not like Ice Fang is really helping you out so much. I suppose it comes in handy for Garchomp, but it probably is going to be a bit weakened in the first place.

My second suggestion might be a bit hurting, but I really feel it is the best way to go about things. Yeah, its standard and not that thought out, but really it will fix some of your weaknesses to Kyurem-B, Mamoswine, and Kingdra by a lot. Jirachi is cool on Rain and all, but things like Starmie are annoying as hell to face and can really put you in some tougher situations. I really think you should at least try out Ferrothorn over Jirachi. A staple on offensive Rain, Ferrothorn really does help you a lot with some of your biggest problems. Not much else to suggest here as the team is pretty solid on its own.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave / Gyro Ball

Good luck!

Hey you two thanks a ton for the awesome rates! As Halcyon stated, there was a very specific reason as to why we didn't run Ferrothorn over Jirachi in the first place (Ferrothorn was originally going to be used over Jirachi) and that was because of three key threats; NP Thundurus-T, Gengar and Alakazam. The latter being the biggest bitch of them all, Jirachi has the advantage of walling all three of those nicely, especially Gengar and Alakazam, but Ferrothorn on the other hand gets fucked by Focus Blast from all of them, and is setup fodder for Thundurus-T. Don't worry, we will definitely test out Ferrothorn over Jirachi to see if we can work around these threats, but as of now, I think we'd rather be weaker to Mamoswine and the rare Kingdra than three very common and dangerous Pokemon. We will try out Ferrothorn though. Thanks guys!

Oh, and we'll also try Zen Headbutt out. Ice Fang is nice because Sharpedo can KO Garchomp, non E-Speed Dragonite, and Salamence at +2, which Sharpedo gets more often than you think. Our team is extremely well prepared for Keldeo as well. It's a hard choice, but we'll test out Zen Headbutt and see if we ever find ourselves missing out on Ice Fang.
 
Instead of testing ferro over Jirachi, replace garchomp with standard ferro. This allows you to change jirachi to a Sub CM set which covers the aforementioned weaknesses, while also allowing you to set up on Jirachi. Obv run 252 hp and then just run enough speed to beat jolly Mamo, and dump the rest of the EVs in special attack. As for the coverage move, I think psychic would work best for your team to ohko breloom and opposing croaks, while still hitting Mamo. Flash Cannon is a possible choice as well since it hits cube and Mamo supereffectively.

So yeah, gl;hf and sorry for the terrible format. #iPadStruggles
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top