Having taken a looooong break from playing competitive Pokemon (mainly just screwing about with Nuzlocke challenges, or not playing at all) I've decided to return, and with the metagame having changed a fair bit, especially with the bans of Excadrill and Thundurus while I've been away, I really need some help finding my footing again.
I absolutely hated weather teams. Whenever I built teams in the past, they were always non-weather, and I always tried to counter other weather teams by putting dedicated counters to the usual abusers in (e.g HP Ice Bronzong for sand teams). However when I tried again to replicate this, it didn't work, so I decided to have a shot at building my first BW rain team.
This team has worked OK for me, but rather than trying to identify flaws with my noob's eye, I decided to post this RMT to let better players point them out.
Politoed @ Leftovers
252HP / 252SpA / 4SpD
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Modest
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power (Electric)
-Perish Song
Well, I used to hate him... that was before the Swift Swim/Drizzle ban. Now of course he is the most important member of the team, setting up infinite rain. I chose the hard-hitting bulky set because it gave me a reliable mix of strength and sponging ability. Hydro Pump in the rain is no joke. HP Electric was a replacement for Focus Blast after I had a nasty encounter with a Taunt+DD Gyarados which then proceeded to demolish my team. Now Politoed can spring a surprise when Gyarados gets a bit greedy with Dragon Dances. Perish Song is excellent, forcing out dangerous setup sweepers that could seriously hurt the team.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
252HP / 84Atk / 80Def / 92SpD
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Sassy
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
Standard Bronzong. This spot was previously occupied by Skarmory and Forretress, but I decided to go back to my favourite Zong set. He's my Stealth Rocker (obviously) and my go-to to tank the Dragons that are roaming the metagame. This is why I have HP Ice on the set, because Gyro Ball simply doesn't hit Dragonite or Gliscor hard enough. I'm considering replacing Gyro Ball with Toxic, after a fifty turn stall war with a Gastrodon (which I eventually won). Earthquake lets me hit other Steels hard, like Jirachi and Heatran (who will often just go for Stealth Rocks after switching into Bronzong, and EQ puts a huge dent in it).
QUESTION: Should I modify the set to fit in Toxic?
Toxicroak @Leftovers
244HP / 252Atk / 12Def
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
As the only strong physical attacker on the team, Toxicroak is rather important. He handles Scizor brilliantly, setting up on Choice-locked variants. Sucker Punch is absolutely perfect for revenging things like Latios, opposing Starmie and Gengar. Substitute protects it from status, and the HP used up to make one is almost completely negated by Dry Skin + Leftovers recovery. This in combination with Drain Punch's recovery makes it extremely durable. He also removes the deadly Toxic Spikes from the field upon switching in.
Volcarona @ Leftovers
252SpA / 4SpD / 252Spe
Ability: Flame Body
Nature: Modest
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
Drizzle Volcarona is good, don't get me wrong. It smashes VoltTurn into little pieces (Bug Buzz 2HKOes CS Rotom-W, Fire Blast fries Scizor, even in the rain) as well as hurting Ferrothorn etc, but if there is a better alternative then I would love to know, because the vulnerability to hazards is a liability and forces me to run a spinner, which is a pain. I could try to run a bulkier EV spread, but I'll need some suggestions...
QUESTION: Should I modify the EV spread on this thing, or replace it completely?
Shaymin @ Leftovers
252HP / 76SpA / 180Spe
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Modest
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
To sponge the Grass and Electric type attacks that put dents in Politoed and Starmie, I elected to use SubSeed Shaymin, which is sturdy and has the deadly Seed Flare to take chunks out of bulky Waters and Gastrodon. Earth Power is to murder Heatran, mainly. I'm looking at various candidates to replace Shaymin though. Celebi seems like an attractive proposition, with better support moves in its arsenal.
QUESTION: Should I replace Shaymin with something else, maybe Celebi? If so, which set would be most effective?
Starmie @ Leftovers
252SpA / 4SpD / 252Spe
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
- Rapid Spin
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
I'll be honest, Starmie's only on the team because I wanted Bronzong over Forretress and I needed a spinner that would function well in rain. Starmie gets the nod for rain-boosted STAB Hydro Pump and 100% accurate Thunder. He's a great spinner and revenge killer, but if I remove Volcarona from the team, the rest of the bunch don't really require a spinner, as I have no other SR-weak Pokes. If Volcarona is removed, Starmie goes with it - but I will need another revenge killer, probably a Choice Scarf user.
QUESTION: If Volcarona goes, which revenge killer would work best with the rest of the team?
Thanks for reading - answers to the questions, prominent threats to the team, and improvements in general will all be appreciated and taken into account.
I absolutely hated weather teams. Whenever I built teams in the past, they were always non-weather, and I always tried to counter other weather teams by putting dedicated counters to the usual abusers in (e.g HP Ice Bronzong for sand teams). However when I tried again to replicate this, it didn't work, so I decided to have a shot at building my first BW rain team.
This team has worked OK for me, but rather than trying to identify flaws with my noob's eye, I decided to post this RMT to let better players point them out.
Meet the team
Politoed @ Leftovers
252HP / 252SpA / 4SpD
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Modest
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power (Electric)
-Perish Song
Well, I used to hate him... that was before the Swift Swim/Drizzle ban. Now of course he is the most important member of the team, setting up infinite rain. I chose the hard-hitting bulky set because it gave me a reliable mix of strength and sponging ability. Hydro Pump in the rain is no joke. HP Electric was a replacement for Focus Blast after I had a nasty encounter with a Taunt+DD Gyarados which then proceeded to demolish my team. Now Politoed can spring a surprise when Gyarados gets a bit greedy with Dragon Dances. Perish Song is excellent, forcing out dangerous setup sweepers that could seriously hurt the team.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
252HP / 84Atk / 80Def / 92SpD
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Sassy
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
Standard Bronzong. This spot was previously occupied by Skarmory and Forretress, but I decided to go back to my favourite Zong set. He's my Stealth Rocker (obviously) and my go-to to tank the Dragons that are roaming the metagame. This is why I have HP Ice on the set, because Gyro Ball simply doesn't hit Dragonite or Gliscor hard enough. I'm considering replacing Gyro Ball with Toxic, after a fifty turn stall war with a Gastrodon (which I eventually won). Earthquake lets me hit other Steels hard, like Jirachi and Heatran (who will often just go for Stealth Rocks after switching into Bronzong, and EQ puts a huge dent in it).
QUESTION: Should I modify the set to fit in Toxic?
Toxicroak @Leftovers
244HP / 252Atk / 12Def
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
As the only strong physical attacker on the team, Toxicroak is rather important. He handles Scizor brilliantly, setting up on Choice-locked variants. Sucker Punch is absolutely perfect for revenging things like Latios, opposing Starmie and Gengar. Substitute protects it from status, and the HP used up to make one is almost completely negated by Dry Skin + Leftovers recovery. This in combination with Drain Punch's recovery makes it extremely durable. He also removes the deadly Toxic Spikes from the field upon switching in.
Volcarona @ Leftovers
252SpA / 4SpD / 252Spe
Ability: Flame Body
Nature: Modest
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
Drizzle Volcarona is good, don't get me wrong. It smashes VoltTurn into little pieces (Bug Buzz 2HKOes CS Rotom-W, Fire Blast fries Scizor, even in the rain) as well as hurting Ferrothorn etc, but if there is a better alternative then I would love to know, because the vulnerability to hazards is a liability and forces me to run a spinner, which is a pain. I could try to run a bulkier EV spread, but I'll need some suggestions...
QUESTION: Should I modify the EV spread on this thing, or replace it completely?
Shaymin @ Leftovers
252HP / 76SpA / 180Spe
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Modest
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
To sponge the Grass and Electric type attacks that put dents in Politoed and Starmie, I elected to use SubSeed Shaymin, which is sturdy and has the deadly Seed Flare to take chunks out of bulky Waters and Gastrodon. Earth Power is to murder Heatran, mainly. I'm looking at various candidates to replace Shaymin though. Celebi seems like an attractive proposition, with better support moves in its arsenal.
QUESTION: Should I replace Shaymin with something else, maybe Celebi? If so, which set would be most effective?
Starmie @ Leftovers
252SpA / 4SpD / 252Spe
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
- Rapid Spin
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
I'll be honest, Starmie's only on the team because I wanted Bronzong over Forretress and I needed a spinner that would function well in rain. Starmie gets the nod for rain-boosted STAB Hydro Pump and 100% accurate Thunder. He's a great spinner and revenge killer, but if I remove Volcarona from the team, the rest of the bunch don't really require a spinner, as I have no other SR-weak Pokes. If Volcarona is removed, Starmie goes with it - but I will need another revenge killer, probably a Choice Scarf user.
QUESTION: If Volcarona goes, which revenge killer would work best with the rest of the team?
Thanks for reading - answers to the questions, prominent threats to the team, and improvements in general will all be appreciated and taken into account.
