Hello all :).
I'm new here and have been testing some teams, having reached a peak of 1616 on the Pokemon Showdown Smogon OU ladder with 38 wins and 29 losses. I consider myself something of a noob so any help would be welcome.
The idea of this team is an offensive rain team which muscles past walls and relies on type resistance to sponge hits rather than dedicated bulk. I'm not bothering running Spikes or Toxic Spikes, although Stealth Rock is a given. Forgive me if the team is poor. Anyway, enough chit chat.
First glance:
Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Encore
The nobody from GSC got a real gift from the Dream World, we can all agree. Scarf Politoed is a bit of a troll, and I always let out a smirk whenever somebody comes in with what they believe is a fast Dragon type like Garchomp, only to get OHKOed with Ice Beam. I figured Scald would be plenty powerful in the rain and never misses, so I prefer it over Hydro Pump, and the Burn chance is always nice. Encore is a handy move for when the special walls inevitably turn up and start trying to set up on you. Toxic is probably the least secure move on this set, but it does help occasionally when Politoed wants to stick his middle finger up at the enemy in his dying throes.
Metagross @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Atk / 160 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
Metagross is a sturdy Pokemon whose goal is to set up some rocks. Espeon can't bounce them back because I'll just Pursuit trap her and other frail sweepers without fire moves, like Alakazam or Gengar. Then I just use either Meteor Mash or Earthquake depending on how good my prediction is, which is usually pretty poor.
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Recover
- Psyshock
Tanking some hits with its nice typing, then launching a powerful coverage move is the name of the game here. Rain-boosted Surf hurts a lot, STAB Draco Meteor hits pretty much anything that resists that. Recover helps when predicting a switch to recover Life Orb damage. Psyshock is a fun option against Terrakion and means that you don't get walled all day long by Blissey or her fat younger sister.
Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance
- Spore
- Mach Punch
Breloom likes the rain because it's Fire counters aren't so useful here. This set's pretty standard and unexciting--Spore whatever you can, preferably the foe's most dangerous 'Mon. Swords Dance on the switch, then fire away with Bullet Seed and use Mach Punch to pick off the scraps.
Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
Volcarona's a bit of a strange choice for a rain team, but I'm clearly not bringing it out against Water Pokemon. Hurricane at 100% accuracy in the rain is a fantastic move to spam and provides good coverage when Bug and Fire together can't cut it. Quiver Dance whenever I feel I can set up, then Bug Buzz or Fire Blast when necessary. If the foe has a Sun team, Volcarona doesn't even mind. Gets walled somewhat by Heatran, but if it doesn't have Toxic I usually just spam Hurricane until Confusion sets in.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
- Rapid Spin
Finally, Starmie, much like Politoed but with a few cruical differences. Rapid Spin clears the way for Volcarona, and Thunder takes care of enemy Jellicent who might try to spinblock. Hydro Pump, Ice Beam and Thunder are nice coverage moves, and Hydro Pump is particularly good in the rain.
---
Pokemon I hate seeing:
Terrakion is a bit of a nightmare. Anything that switches in is going to take huge damage, and so I usually try to revenge kill with Poiltoed and Scald. If Terrakion is Scarfed, I'm in trouble.
Choice Scarf Haxorus is faster than my Ice attackers and able to takethem out usually.
If Cloyster gets set up with Shell Smash and has Ice Shard, I'm pretty screwed.
Enemy Lati@s with Calm Mind often find the time to set up, since the Ice Attacks aren't strong enough to kill them. By the time I switch say Starmie in, Ice Beam is doing nothing and they just Roost/Recover off the damage for a full sweep.
Thundurus-T can be a pain to deal with, since my only super-effective attacks come from Ice attacks from Water Pokemon. If it's on an opposing Rain team, Thunder and HP Ice can tear holes in my team.
---
Thanks for taking the time to read my first RMT!
I'm new here and have been testing some teams, having reached a peak of 1616 on the Pokemon Showdown Smogon OU ladder with 38 wins and 29 losses. I consider myself something of a noob so any help would be welcome.
The idea of this team is an offensive rain team which muscles past walls and relies on type resistance to sponge hits rather than dedicated bulk. I'm not bothering running Spikes or Toxic Spikes, although Stealth Rock is a given. Forgive me if the team is poor. Anyway, enough chit chat.
First glance:
Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Encore
The nobody from GSC got a real gift from the Dream World, we can all agree. Scarf Politoed is a bit of a troll, and I always let out a smirk whenever somebody comes in with what they believe is a fast Dragon type like Garchomp, only to get OHKOed with Ice Beam. I figured Scald would be plenty powerful in the rain and never misses, so I prefer it over Hydro Pump, and the Burn chance is always nice. Encore is a handy move for when the special walls inevitably turn up and start trying to set up on you. Toxic is probably the least secure move on this set, but it does help occasionally when Politoed wants to stick his middle finger up at the enemy in his dying throes.
Metagross @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Atk / 160 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
Metagross is a sturdy Pokemon whose goal is to set up some rocks. Espeon can't bounce them back because I'll just Pursuit trap her and other frail sweepers without fire moves, like Alakazam or Gengar. Then I just use either Meteor Mash or Earthquake depending on how good my prediction is, which is usually pretty poor.
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Recover
- Psyshock
Tanking some hits with its nice typing, then launching a powerful coverage move is the name of the game here. Rain-boosted Surf hurts a lot, STAB Draco Meteor hits pretty much anything that resists that. Recover helps when predicting a switch to recover Life Orb damage. Psyshock is a fun option against Terrakion and means that you don't get walled all day long by Blissey or her fat younger sister.
Breloom @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance
- Spore
- Mach Punch
Breloom likes the rain because it's Fire counters aren't so useful here. This set's pretty standard and unexciting--Spore whatever you can, preferably the foe's most dangerous 'Mon. Swords Dance on the switch, then fire away with Bullet Seed and use Mach Punch to pick off the scraps.
Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
Volcarona's a bit of a strange choice for a rain team, but I'm clearly not bringing it out against Water Pokemon. Hurricane at 100% accuracy in the rain is a fantastic move to spam and provides good coverage when Bug and Fire together can't cut it. Quiver Dance whenever I feel I can set up, then Bug Buzz or Fire Blast when necessary. If the foe has a Sun team, Volcarona doesn't even mind. Gets walled somewhat by Heatran, but if it doesn't have Toxic I usually just spam Hurricane until Confusion sets in.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
- Rapid Spin
Finally, Starmie, much like Politoed but with a few cruical differences. Rapid Spin clears the way for Volcarona, and Thunder takes care of enemy Jellicent who might try to spinblock. Hydro Pump, Ice Beam and Thunder are nice coverage moves, and Hydro Pump is particularly good in the rain.
---
Pokemon I hate seeing:
Terrakion is a bit of a nightmare. Anything that switches in is going to take huge damage, and so I usually try to revenge kill with Poiltoed and Scald. If Terrakion is Scarfed, I'm in trouble.
Choice Scarf Haxorus is faster than my Ice attackers and able to takethem out usually.
If Cloyster gets set up with Shell Smash and has Ice Shard, I'm pretty screwed.
Enemy Lati@s with Calm Mind often find the time to set up, since the Ice Attacks aren't strong enough to kill them. By the time I switch say Starmie in, Ice Beam is doing nothing and they just Roost/Recover off the damage for a full sweep.
Thundurus-T can be a pain to deal with, since my only super-effective attacks come from Ice attacks from Water Pokemon. If it's on an opposing Rain team, Thunder and HP Ice can tear holes in my team.
---
Thanks for taking the time to read my first RMT!