Flash Flood - OU Rain Dance Team on Wi-Fi

[SlyShady]

First of all, thanks for taking the time to take a look at my thread! I really appreciate it. Now, getting down to business...

The Team

Swampert @ Damp Rock
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP, 128 Defense, 128 Special Defense
Nature: Adamant (+ Attack, - Special Attack)
- Stealth Rock
- Rain Dance
- Earthquake
- Waterfall

Swampert is a fantastic lead. It’s very bulky, has great coverage for leads, and it actually gets benefits from Rain Dance unlike most other leads. It has Damp Rock for extra long RD’s. The EV’s are to bulk it up so it can stay in the game. The nature gives it a nice little attack boost and takes away from a basically unneeded stat. Earthquake and Waterfall provide powerful STAB physical moves.

Kingdra @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Nature: Adamant (+ Attack, - Special Attack)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Rain Dance

This is the core Pokémon of the team. It serves as my physical swift swimming sweeper. Kingdra’s insane in the rain. With doubled speed BEFORE Dragon Dance, Kingdra is a very effective sweeper. With its good defenses and many resistances, it can set up a Dragon Dance or 2 on top of its Rain Dance bonus and just go to town on the enemy team. Even without Dragon Dance, it's more than enough for most teams to handle. Against some particularly ill-equipped teams, this one Pokémon can sweep the entire team. It's also wonderful since it can take on some of OU's biggest threats like Salamence, and just plain destroy them. It also helps that its moveset and EV spread are pretty unpredictable because its balanced stats allow for anything.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Nature: Adamant (+ Attack, - Special Attack)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-Turn
- Pursuit

Scizor is mainly a Revenge Killer.. Bullet Punch and U-Turn are in for obvious reasons as they are basics of Scizor. Superpower is for Pokemon who resist Bullet Punch and U-Turn. And as what may be the best bonus ever, Rain Dance weakens the only type Scizor fears.

Rotom-W @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Defense
Nature: Modest (+ Special Attack, - Attack)
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Shadow Ball

Rotom-W can be a MONSTER in the rain. In the rain, Thunder gets perfect accuracy and Hydro Pump gets boosted power. Shadow Ball is a STAB coverage move and takes down Shedinja which could otherwise wall this team hard. Rain Dance is included, again, for obvious reasons. This Pokemon was mostly put in to counter Gyarados which could otherwise do this team dirty (or at the very least cause some problems), and to back up Ludicolo. Speaking of the sombrero wearing devil…

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Special Attack / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Nature: Modest (+ Special Attack, - Attack)
- Hydro Pump/Surf
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance

This is my Special Swift Swimming sweeper (woohoo alliteration!). Ludicolo’s typing is especially nice since it only has 2 weaknesses, and one isn’t a common offensive type. Hydro Pump and Grass Knot are STAB moves. Hydro Pump has much higher base power, but its less reliable than Surf. Grass Knot is also less reliable than Energy Ball, but I decided to go with Grass Knot since it has a high enough base power against most Pokemon. Ice Beam takes care of pesky Flying and Dragon types. Rain Dance is for keeping the essential rain going.

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP, 252 Defense, 68 Speed
Nature: Bold (+ Defense, - Attack)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf/Roar
- Toxic

Vaporeon is the team healer. It excels at this job because of its great bulkiness. The EVs and Nature are to support it in that area. The combination of Toxic/Wish/Protect and Leftovers allows it to outstall a lot of Pokemon. I considered Roar to replace Surf so I could support the team even more, but first of all, that would leave Vaporeon with no offensive capabilities, and second of all, it would be somewhat of a waste of my Rain Dance (not really an important point, but still). On the other hand, it would allow Vaporeon to force switches constantly, and could rack up some nice indirect damage with Stealth Rock. I’ll see what raters say.

So, what do y'all think of my team? It's performed fairly well on Shoddy, and this is an updated version of a team I used before. In case anyone wants to know, the updates were a change from Azelf to Swampert as my lead since it'll be much more useful on a Rain Dance team, and Kabutops for Vaporeon since Kabutops wasn't performing well on Shoddy and was kinda redundant because of Kingdra (as my Physical Swift Swim Sweeper). The team is mainly for Wi-Fi, but I do use it on Shoddy. Feel free to make suggestions, and thanks again for taking the time to read through and RMT!

 

[SlyShady]

bump...

 

[Forte.EXE]

Okay, first, the Lead. Swampert is, in my opinion, a terrible Lead for Rain Dance teams. It's slow, doesn't take advantage of Rain, and it's easily countered by Grass-type attacks.

My advice would be to use Jirachi or Electrode in its place. I would pick Jirachi personally.

Jirachi @ Damp Rock
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Timid (+Spe) -Atk)
EVs: 252 HP | 80 SpA | 176 Spe

• Rain Dance
• U-turn
• Wish
• Thunder

Jirachi is one of the best Rain Dance supporters and transition Pokémon in the game. The idea is to send in Jirachi on a resisted attack, then Rain Dance on the switch. Not only does this nullify common switch-ins like Heatran, this is exactly the kind of support Kabutops or Kingdra may need. From there, use U-turn to scout the opponent. This is Jirachi's main advantage over Bronzong, and if the opponent switches to Tyranitar to change the weather you can just send in Dugtrio, or any Pokémon that can scare it away and be done with it.

Wish and Thunder are the obvious extra moves on this set. Wish allows Jirachi to support the entire team and possibly even fake a non-Rain set if you're interested in mind games. Thunder OHKOes Skarmory and has a 60% chance (in rain) of paralyzing anything. This is a great way to cripple things like Heatran. Water Pulse is a lesser option in this slot to do damage to Ground-types coming in on Jirachi, but is less useful than Thunder.

As the name states, partners for this set should be those that benefit from active rain. Generally, Water-types with the ability Swift Swim will be the best options. Ludicolo is a good sweeper under the rain with its access to both Water- and Grass-type STAB attacks; Ludicolo can also switch into the Ground-type attacks aimed at Jirachi with relative ease, while Jirachi can switch into Flying-type attacks. Other viable rain sweepers include Kingdra, Kabutops, and Omastar. Kingdra is very deadly with a combination of Rain-boosted Surf or Waterfall and Draco Meteor, allowing it to plow through the opponent; Kingdra also has a 4x resist to Fire-type attacks aimed at Jirachi. Although sharing the same Ground-type weakness, Kabutops and Omastar are very respectable sweepers on the physical and special side respectively.

Other partners to consider are those that can learn Rain Dance and dedicate to setting it up on a Rain Dance Team. Two examples of such Pokémon are Zapdos and Swampert. Zapdos is a good teammate for Jirachi type-wise, switching into the Ground-type attacks aimed at Jirachi while delivering STAB Thunders to the opponent; in return, Jirachi switches into Rock-type attacks aimed at Zapdos. Swampert is another feasable choice as a teammate, as not only can it easily switch into the Fire-type attacks aimed at Jirachi, but it is one of the few viable Pokémon on Rain Dance teams which can directly counter Tyranitar.

Additionally, Swampert can also support the team with Stealth Rock, weakening foes like Salamence and Gyarados each time they switch in.

Keep Scizor, as Scizor is a great check against Tyranitar and Abomasnow, two Pokemon that get rid of Rain Dance's effect on the switch in.

Shedinja is rarely, if ever, a true threat to anything. You have Pursuit on Scizor, and that's more than enough. Shedinja isn't sweeping your team anytime soon, seeing as Shedinja is terrified of Tyranitar in OU. Do keep Shadow Ball though, since it provides decent coverage.

Actually, I'm thinking you should replace Rotom-w all together. It doesn't take advantage of the rain in any way but Thunder, and it's just another Pokemon that's weak to Choice Scarf Tyranitar, something that just loves to stop Rain Dance.

I'm going to suggest you get rid of Vaporeon completely. It doesn't take advantage of Rain Dance, it wastes Rain Dance turns that you could have used for setting up something else, or attacking. Put Electrode in as a lead, get rid of Vaporeon, and put in Jirachi instead.

Electrode @ Damp Rock
Ability: Static
Nature: Hasty (+Spe, -Def)
EVs: 252 Atk | 28 SpA | 228 Spe

• Rain Dance
• Explosion
• Taunt
• Thunder

With an absolutely incredible base Speed of 140 and a quick escape attack in Explosion, Electrode can easily take the title of the best Rain Dance lead in UU. Rain Dance is very beneficial to many sweepers in UU so it is a priority to get Rain Dance up if you plan on using this Electrode.

Obviously, you won't be able to use a Rain Dance set without Rain Dance, but the other attacks are as valuable in keeping your team safe and taking full advantage of the rain. Explosion is a great follow-up attack, OHKOing many other leads or switch-ins to Electrode and sending out a Rain Dance sweeper without the fear of an attack. Taunt is also very valuable on Electrode, allowing it to prevent the use of the move Stealth Rock, as well as other weather moves the opponent may use, which may allow your sweepers more time to attack. Thunder is mostly a filler move but is great for scoring quick kills lategame if Electrode remains alive. Thunder also takes out Drifblim, who is immune to Explosion. As an added bonus, Thunder can also kill Poliwrath, who will absorb Water-type attacks with Water Absorb or block Explosion with Damp, and Golduck, who also sports the ability Damp, as well as the ability Cloud Nine, an ability which stops weather effects.

208 Speed EVs and a Hasty nature will allow Electrode to outspeed Pokemon with a base Speed of 85 that use a Choice Scarf. However, if these Pokemon opt for a Speed boosting nature, Electrode will not be faster. 252 Attack EVs power up Explosion, allowing Electrode to kill much of UU without a problem.

This set is to always be partnered with other Pokemon who use Rain Dance to more effectively sweep such as Ludicolo and Kabutops.
Although Rain Dance itself does not have many weaknesses, Electrode does, the main ones being faster Pokemon who can shut Electrode down, such as Choice Scarf Roserade who can Sleep Powder Electrode before Electrode can Rain Dance. It may be helpful to pair Electrode alongside a Honchkrow with Insomnia as well as your other Rain Dance sweepers. This way, Honchkrow can absorb any sleep moves directed at Electrode and Pursuit the Pokemon to give Electrode another chance.

I also think Ludicolo should be a Mixed set, running Substitute/Focus Punch/Surf/Ice Beam. This way, you're not walled by Blissey, and you have a Substitute up, should anything out-speed you/use Priority attacks.

Kabutops or Qwilfish should take over Rotom-w's vacant slot.

 

[Congratulations]

This is by far one of the worst rain dance teams ive seen [no ofence intended], but it can be fixed. Ok swampert is the worst possible rain dance lead its slow and has few benefits from the rain. Use the rain dance azelf set,

Azelf @ Damp Rock

Nature : Jolly
Ability : Levitate
252 HP / 4HP / 252 Spe
- Taunt
- U-Turn
- Rain Dance
- Stealth Rock

Now change kingdra to the mixsweeper kingdra set with out him you cant break walls, so your gonna have to switch, wich is not good because it waste your RD turns.

Kingdra @ Life Orb

Nature : Naughty
28 Spe / 252 Atk / 240 Sp. Atk
- Rain Dance
- Waterfall
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor

Now with scarftar on the rise you need something to take him out, scarftar just ruins RD teams, but you already have scizor so I suggest just switching the set up a little to this. With this set you can set up rain and scout and you can counter ttar


Scizor @ Damp Rock

Nature : Adamant
Ability : Technician
248 HP / 40 Atk / 220 Sp. Def
-Rain Dance
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Roost


Vaporeon is horrible in rain for many reasons 1) He stalls out your RD turns 2) The whole point of RD is to sweep before the rain runs out not stalling your turns. So switch vaporeon back to kabutops who can also help with ttar because he can also benifit from the SandStorm and ko with a swords dance & aqua jet . So run this set

Kabutops @ Life Orb

Nature : Adamant
Ability : Swift Swim
72HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
- Sword Dance
- Aqua Tail
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet

 

[SlyShady]

how does swampert not get benefits from rain dance? waterfall gets a boost in power. also, its speed isn't too much of a negative because of its bulkiness. taunt of course could mess it up, but it's not used often if my experiences on shoddy have taught me anything. jirachi does seem like a MUCH better lead, but like i said in my post, i'm doing this on wi-fi, and sadly, i don't have a jirachi. electrode IS a fantastic lead, but lacks something crucial. stealth rock support. something that swampert can provide. and as for azelf, i stated in my original post that i've already tried it as my lead, and it didn't do well at all. i just don't see how it functions very well on a rain team. perhaps its fast enough to not get taunted and set up rain dance, then u-turn out, but like i said above, taunt has never been used against me, and its even rarer on wi-fi.

you're right that shedinja isn't a threat to the team, but then again, i never said it was. all i said was that my team didn't really have much to use against it, which could be a significant problem against shedinjas equipped with toxic. then again, with stealth rock support, shedinja is as good as KO'd when it enters. which again, is why swampert is better than electrode in my book. of course, teams with shedinja almost always have rapid spinners which ties into my next point...

rotom-w. it can block rapid spin, and it gets 100% accurate STAB thunder and boosted power hydro pump in the rain, and provides a valuable electric resistance. and yes, it is weak to tyranitar, which is just great since scizor can come in and revenge kill tyranitar after it KO's rotom, removing it as a threat.

and you guys are right, vaporeon does take up valuable rain dance turns. thing is, its the best pokemon i can put in the spot (considering the lack of jirachi and my physical kingdra), and the ability to heal teammates is invaluable. i'll change surf to rain dance. vaporeon loses any benefit it may have received from rain dance, but it makes it function better within the team, since it can replenish the rain. i'll probably change leftovers to damp rock because of this. opinions?

 

[Korali]

Just because Waterfall gains a boost in power doesn't mean Swampert's that beneficial from Rain Dance. :P Unless you're a Cursepert, (which you're not), Swampert is not an attacking Pokemon at all.

If a Rain Dancing SR lead is what you're looking for, look no further than Bronzong. Not only does he bring the SR and Rain Dances, he's also a decent tank, he can set up screens, he can sleep opponents, and he can explode. Look into him if you'd like, although I'd strongly suggest taking the above suggested Jirachi, Electrode, or Azelf leads and ditch Rotom for another sweeper.

You really need to ditch Vaporeon as well, replacing Surf with Rain Dance won't help you at all. In an OU Rain dance team, Kabutops is almost essential as a sweeper. The coverage and damage he deals is crucial. Get him ASAP.

 

[uvwxyz9]

i would change to an electrode lead and ditch vaporeon, her negatives outweigh her positives on you team, you should probably replace her with kabutops, sorry for repeating what every one else said but their right :/

 

[SlyShady]

Alright, Kabutops for Vaporeon. Make enough sense. But again, Electrode can't set up stealth rock, and I don't have access to Jirachi. So Swampert stays until I can get a Jirachi (if I can).

 

[(makeup)]

Chill on Rain Dance users. I would also use a different ludicolo set

Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Evs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~ Seed Bomb
~ Waterfall
~ Ice Punch
~ Swords Dance

Your Ludicolo has 252 Atk evs and a -Atk nature, It also only uses special moves. I think you meant SpA but thats what makes all the difference.

No comment on the rest.

 

[SlyShady]

haha wow, i never noticed that. yes, i did mean to put special attack. thanks for pointing that out.

 

[SlyShady]

actually, i will try out bronzong. he can set up stealth rock which i consider necessary, he can rain dance, he can explode out, he can set up screens, put enemies to sleep, whatever necessary. and his main weakness, fire, gets weakened power because of rain dance, so it's much less of an issue. not bad, not bad...

 

[Onion.]

Just dump Vaporeon altogether. Stick Jolteon in instead.
Vaporeon is just an annoyance and any Safeguard Lapras can rape it.

Jolteon @ Leftovers
Evs: 252 SpA / 4 HP / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Yawn
- Protect/Sub
- Thunder/Charge Beam
- Rain Dance/Button Pass

Of course, Button Pass and Charge Beam go hand-in-hand.