So back when ORAS was first implemented on to the Showdown servers, I like everyone else started testing out the new toys ORAS would eventually bring us. Trying to stay away from the more popular stuff since I didn't need to test those to see how they worked, I started to focus on Mega-Swampert.
At first I was a full blown hater, I thought it would suck and sap sipper would make it infinitely better. Well after building a team, I was so wrong it wasn't even funny.
Flufflykins (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
The second half of my defensive core. Ferrothorn loves the rain and rain loves Ferrothorn. Eating spores and grass moves for dinner is exactly what I felt I needed. I was always a fan of specially defensive Ferrothorn over mixed/fully defensive and in this case it was the perfect spread. Power whip to hit Rotom-W, opposing Mega-Swampert/rain abusers. Leech seed to give my team some passive recovery. Rocks for well rocks. Then I choice T-wave over Gyro Ball because I wanted my team to not suck ass speed wise out side of the rain. Spamming T-wave helps ensure even if rain is down, my team isn't slow as balls. I decided upon sassy over Impish for the rare case I run into a trick room team. I thought to myself its speed is so shitty anyways might as well utilize anything boost I can.
Him (Scizor) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Scizor was my offensive grass move absorber and provides much desired priority. Choice band is used to give Bullet Punch the most power it can get. Superpower is for Heatran/Ferrothorn. U-Turn is so I can safely get in Swampert in in order to get a safe mega off. Knock Off is to make sure Rotom-W doesn't just willy nilly switch in like it owns the place. Won't be OHKOing it but I'll make sure it'll miss them lefties. The EV spread was chosen so that Scizor didn't have play as many prediction games with Heatran. Just enough speed to outspeed SpDef Tran and Specs Magnezone and OHKO with Superpower. Also double checking Scizor's speed tier with its current speed spread, I realized I'm using more speed than is necessary. I feel like it was intentional to KO a threat that I am not remembering at the moment.
Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
Now for the rain abusers. I wanted a special attacking swift swimmer to use. Originally I used Ludicolo but Ludicolo failed to impress me. Since I run rest on Politoed, I opted out of making Kingdra a back up Rain Dancer and swift Rain Dance to Ice Beam and the original Life Orb to Choice Specs for even more power. Overall Kingdra is a hit or miss. Sometimes its the MVP of the match, sometimes its worth little more than switch fodder. I also found that the decision to move away from Kingdra being a back up rain dancer helped it take on Mega-Altaria much better. No longer can Mega-Altaria freely switch into Kingdra and set up. As an added benefit, the opponent now has to focus on Scizor/Swampert/Kingdra in order for a Altaria sweep to occur. EVs are admittedly copy/pasted straight from the Smogon analysis with the ATK EVs being put into HP. I felt that since I wasn't using Waterfall in my original set and using Choice Specs, the ATK EVs are much better suited for HP to give a little extra bulk.
Above is my baseline team, I've made some considerable changes and thought anyone looking might want to see my thought process of the suggestions that were given.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
Starting off with my changes. I took Charlilax's suggestion and replaced Kingadra with Goodra. For a time Goodra worked amazingly well. But the higher up on the ladder I got I realized that even' with Goodra's bulk, Latios ran through my team like a hot knife through butter. Nothing wanted to switch into a Life Orb Draco. I could always switch in Politoed to pivot into Mega-Swampert, but that also meant my intentions were usually telegraphed and Latios would switch out and wreck havoc later on. So I figured well I wanted something to take special hits and Clefable popped into mind. I had replaced Ferrothorn for Amoongus and for a time I really considered running both Thorn and Moon. But I thought that the two of them couldn't effectively handle Talonflame by themselves, so I traded in T-Flame bait for Clefable. As a HUGE HUGE plus, Clefable gets access to Stealth Rocks, something I was dearly missing in my team with Goodra/Moon.
1 Up (Amoonguss) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Sludge Bomb
When I made the original RMT I had already been considering replacing Ferrothorn for Amoongus. Regenator just seemed so damn amazing and it solved what I perceived to be a lack of bulk on my team. Sludge bomb is to hit Mega-Sceptile and Serperior and to make sure Mega-Venasaur can't shit on my team. Mega-V still shits on my team but hey now its not laughing its ass off. Spore was something I didn't realize how much I would love it on a Rain Team. All them free switches and Pseudo KOs :3. Giga drain for stab to deal with opposing Mega-Perts, Keldeos, and just recovery. Hidden Power Fire seems kinda odd to be on a rain team, but without it I've lost a very good check in Scizor. Sure Amoongus is 3HKOing on a good day, but it does certainly scare em out. Which lets me take advantage with Spore usually. Max Hp and Defensive is to eat up Lando's attack and force it out with the threat of spore. Plus it lives non Choice Band BB at full and has a slim slim chance to eat up a BB from a CB Flame. Damn impressive considering its shitty ass base defense. Plus if it lives, Regen just mitigates so much of that damage. Sure as shit seems like Captain America to me.
Rawr Ferocious (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
I had replaced Scizor's slot with Thundurus, with credit to Houndoomite giving me the idea. I did originally try out a prankster rain dance set. However I didn't find any need for it. Sacking and Politoed being able to come in multiple times a match meant Rain Dance was a wasted slot. I played around with a T-wave/Taunt set that I really enjoyed. But then a problem I noticed was that without Nasty Plot, I only had T-Bolt and HP Ice to spam and while they hurt, those two moves don't have the power I desired. Plus Mega-Venasaur still shits on the team without Psychic. I decided to swap out Incarnate for the Therian form for the extra power. 145 base Sp Atk means I do have an oh shit fuck me check to Zard Y that doesn't need the rain to do anything. Plus on another positive note. Psychic 2HKO's Mega-Venasaur which means its no longer and auto-win condition. Hidden power ice is there for coverage against Lando's on the switch. I thought about HP Flying but Psychic hits exactly the same targets and with the same power. But HP Flying meant I can't run HP Ice so that had to be changed real fast.
To be honest, Thundurus suffers the same problems Kingdra does. It serves its purposes and serves them well but its still what I feel to be the weakest part of the team.
Snoop Dog (Politoed) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Rest
- Scald
Can't have a rain team without ye' old toad. Obviously when I decided I was going to use Mega-Swampert I realized that I'd pretty much need a rain team. When I decided upon the EVs, I already had a defensive core in mind. So I made Politoed physically defensive. Scald for rain STAB, ice beam to catch a stray Thundurus on a switch in or even the rare Amoongus/Breloom. Toxic is to pressure Mega-Slowbro since my team has problems with stall in general. Rest is so I can keep switching in Politoed to reset the rain. Generally Politoed isn't doing much other than setting rain so I have no problems with it eating status and taking hits and then resting up to repeat the process again.
Half Shell (Kabutops) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
Taking a cue from the birdspam from the X/Y meta I decided to follow that trend with Rain Abuse. Standard EV spread. The combo of Kabutops/Mega-Swampert means that if one can't finish a sweep, the other almost certainly can. Rapid Spin is used over Swords Dance because while my team isn't bothered by Stealth Rocks, it is extremely bothered by Spikes and Toxic Spikes. In order to defeat Stall I need to be able to switch around a lot and any layer of spikes limiting the amount of switches I can make aren't what I want or need. I use Aqua Jet over Low Kick because its only real use is to hit Ferrothorn and Ferrothorn is covered by Swampert/Sczior.
Still won't run Swords Dance/Low Kick over Rapid Spin. Thundy really hates them pesky pebbles and the rest of the team, especially Amoonguss certainly don't appreciate spikes. The goal isn't to get a dedicated sweep with Kabutops, its to pick off faster threats, straight up take on Heatran 1 vs 1, check Talonflame, and spin away hazards. Yes sweeps do happen and Kabutops has won me the game many times, but all easily done without Swords Dance.
Hulk Up (Swampert) @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Superpower
The star of the team, Mega-Swampert. EVs are to outspeed Mega-Beedrill/Sceptile by 1 point in the rain and rest dumped in bulk. Moves are chosen for optimal coverage and power. Generally Swampert is used to end the game once the defensive threats like Rotom-W/Ferrothorn/Slowbro are dealt with.
Swampert continues to impress me and its won so many games by itself with so little actual support from the rest of my teams (minus rain of course, shits always important). I thought about adding more speed to OHKO scarf Lando, but it doesn't scare me anymore. Annoying as fuck sure but definitely not scary.
At first I was a full blown hater, I thought it would suck and sap sipper would make it infinitely better. Well after building a team, I was so wrong it wasn't even funny.
Flufflykins (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
The second half of my defensive core. Ferrothorn loves the rain and rain loves Ferrothorn. Eating spores and grass moves for dinner is exactly what I felt I needed. I was always a fan of specially defensive Ferrothorn over mixed/fully defensive and in this case it was the perfect spread. Power whip to hit Rotom-W, opposing Mega-Swampert/rain abusers. Leech seed to give my team some passive recovery. Rocks for well rocks. Then I choice T-wave over Gyro Ball because I wanted my team to not suck ass speed wise out side of the rain. Spamming T-wave helps ensure even if rain is down, my team isn't slow as balls. I decided upon sassy over Impish for the rare case I run into a trick room team. I thought to myself its speed is so shitty anyways might as well utilize anything boost I can.
Him (Scizor) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Scizor was my offensive grass move absorber and provides much desired priority. Choice band is used to give Bullet Punch the most power it can get. Superpower is for Heatran/Ferrothorn. U-Turn is so I can safely get in Swampert in in order to get a safe mega off. Knock Off is to make sure Rotom-W doesn't just willy nilly switch in like it owns the place. Won't be OHKOing it but I'll make sure it'll miss them lefties. The EV spread was chosen so that Scizor didn't have play as many prediction games with Heatran. Just enough speed to outspeed SpDef Tran and Specs Magnezone and OHKO with Superpower. Also double checking Scizor's speed tier with its current speed spread, I realized I'm using more speed than is necessary. I feel like it was intentional to KO a threat that I am not remembering at the moment.
Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
Now for the rain abusers. I wanted a special attacking swift swimmer to use. Originally I used Ludicolo but Ludicolo failed to impress me. Since I run rest on Politoed, I opted out of making Kingdra a back up Rain Dancer and swift Rain Dance to Ice Beam and the original Life Orb to Choice Specs for even more power. Overall Kingdra is a hit or miss. Sometimes its the MVP of the match, sometimes its worth little more than switch fodder. I also found that the decision to move away from Kingdra being a back up rain dancer helped it take on Mega-Altaria much better. No longer can Mega-Altaria freely switch into Kingdra and set up. As an added benefit, the opponent now has to focus on Scizor/Swampert/Kingdra in order for a Altaria sweep to occur. EVs are admittedly copy/pasted straight from the Smogon analysis with the ATK EVs being put into HP. I felt that since I wasn't using Waterfall in my original set and using Choice Specs, the ATK EVs are much better suited for HP to give a little extra bulk.
Above is my baseline team, I've made some considerable changes and thought anyone looking might want to see my thought process of the suggestions that were given.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
Starting off with my changes. I took Charlilax's suggestion and replaced Kingadra with Goodra. For a time Goodra worked amazingly well. But the higher up on the ladder I got I realized that even' with Goodra's bulk, Latios ran through my team like a hot knife through butter. Nothing wanted to switch into a Life Orb Draco. I could always switch in Politoed to pivot into Mega-Swampert, but that also meant my intentions were usually telegraphed and Latios would switch out and wreck havoc later on. So I figured well I wanted something to take special hits and Clefable popped into mind. I had replaced Ferrothorn for Amoongus and for a time I really considered running both Thorn and Moon. But I thought that the two of them couldn't effectively handle Talonflame by themselves, so I traded in T-Flame bait for Clefable. As a HUGE HUGE plus, Clefable gets access to Stealth Rocks, something I was dearly missing in my team with Goodra/Moon.
1 Up (Amoonguss) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Sludge Bomb
When I made the original RMT I had already been considering replacing Ferrothorn for Amoongus. Regenator just seemed so damn amazing and it solved what I perceived to be a lack of bulk on my team. Sludge bomb is to hit Mega-Sceptile and Serperior and to make sure Mega-Venasaur can't shit on my team. Mega-V still shits on my team but hey now its not laughing its ass off. Spore was something I didn't realize how much I would love it on a Rain Team. All them free switches and Pseudo KOs :3. Giga drain for stab to deal with opposing Mega-Perts, Keldeos, and just recovery. Hidden Power Fire seems kinda odd to be on a rain team, but without it I've lost a very good check in Scizor. Sure Amoongus is 3HKOing on a good day, but it does certainly scare em out. Which lets me take advantage with Spore usually. Max Hp and Defensive is to eat up Lando's attack and force it out with the threat of spore. Plus it lives non Choice Band BB at full and has a slim slim chance to eat up a BB from a CB Flame. Damn impressive considering its shitty ass base defense. Plus if it lives, Regen just mitigates so much of that damage. Sure as shit seems like Captain America to me.
Rawr Ferocious (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
I had replaced Scizor's slot with Thundurus, with credit to Houndoomite giving me the idea. I did originally try out a prankster rain dance set. However I didn't find any need for it. Sacking and Politoed being able to come in multiple times a match meant Rain Dance was a wasted slot. I played around with a T-wave/Taunt set that I really enjoyed. But then a problem I noticed was that without Nasty Plot, I only had T-Bolt and HP Ice to spam and while they hurt, those two moves don't have the power I desired. Plus Mega-Venasaur still shits on the team without Psychic. I decided to swap out Incarnate for the Therian form for the extra power. 145 base Sp Atk means I do have an oh shit fuck me check to Zard Y that doesn't need the rain to do anything. Plus on another positive note. Psychic 2HKO's Mega-Venasaur which means its no longer and auto-win condition. Hidden power ice is there for coverage against Lando's on the switch. I thought about HP Flying but Psychic hits exactly the same targets and with the same power. But HP Flying meant I can't run HP Ice so that had to be changed real fast.
To be honest, Thundurus suffers the same problems Kingdra does. It serves its purposes and serves them well but its still what I feel to be the weakest part of the team.
Snoop Dog (Politoed) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Rest
- Scald
Can't have a rain team without ye' old toad. Obviously when I decided I was going to use Mega-Swampert I realized that I'd pretty much need a rain team. When I decided upon the EVs, I already had a defensive core in mind. So I made Politoed physically defensive. Scald for rain STAB, ice beam to catch a stray Thundurus on a switch in or even the rare Amoongus/Breloom. Toxic is to pressure Mega-Slowbro since my team has problems with stall in general. Rest is so I can keep switching in Politoed to reset the rain. Generally Politoed isn't doing much other than setting rain so I have no problems with it eating status and taking hits and then resting up to repeat the process again.
Half Shell (Kabutops) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
Taking a cue from the birdspam from the X/Y meta I decided to follow that trend with Rain Abuse. Standard EV spread. The combo of Kabutops/Mega-Swampert means that if one can't finish a sweep, the other almost certainly can. Rapid Spin is used over Swords Dance because while my team isn't bothered by Stealth Rocks, it is extremely bothered by Spikes and Toxic Spikes. In order to defeat Stall I need to be able to switch around a lot and any layer of spikes limiting the amount of switches I can make aren't what I want or need. I use Aqua Jet over Low Kick because its only real use is to hit Ferrothorn and Ferrothorn is covered by Swampert/Sczior.
Still won't run Swords Dance/Low Kick over Rapid Spin. Thundy really hates them pesky pebbles and the rest of the team, especially Amoonguss certainly don't appreciate spikes. The goal isn't to get a dedicated sweep with Kabutops, its to pick off faster threats, straight up take on Heatran 1 vs 1, check Talonflame, and spin away hazards. Yes sweeps do happen and Kabutops has won me the game many times, but all easily done without Swords Dance.
Hulk Up (Swampert) @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Superpower
The star of the team, Mega-Swampert. EVs are to outspeed Mega-Beedrill/Sceptile by 1 point in the rain and rest dumped in bulk. Moves are chosen for optimal coverage and power. Generally Swampert is used to end the game once the defensive threats like Rotom-W/Ferrothorn/Slowbro are dealt with.
Swampert continues to impress me and its won so many games by itself with so little actual support from the rest of my teams (minus rain of course, shits always important). I thought about adding more speed to OHKO scarf Lando, but it doesn't scare me anymore. Annoying as fuck sure but definitely not scary.
Last edited:
