Holy Rain - Rain Dance Team

[Alphacme]

I built this team a while ago with someone of experience, and we both thought
it would be pretty solid. However, curiously, the team haven't worked much,
which is strange. That's why I would like help and opinions from more people
of the community, just to see if there's a way to fix the team.

Jirachi

Ability: Serene Grace
Item: Damp Rock
Nature:Impish

HP: 252
Speed: 176
Spc. Attack: 80

-Rain Dance
-Thunder
-U-turn
-Wish

Jirachi is the lead of the team. The main idea is to set up rain on the first
turn and see what the opponent does. If you're in a good situation or if there's no need
to switch, Thunder is there to deal some damages. U-turn to get out otherwise.
Later on the match, Jirachi can use Wish to heal itself or someone else on the team.

Rotom-W

Ability: Levitate
Item: Damp Rock
Nature: Bold

HP: 252
Defence: 104
Spc. Attack: 152

-Rain Dance
-Reflect
-Shadow Ball
-Thunder

Rotom-W is on the team for support. It can take most hit and often be
a good Pokemon to cause switches, by making them believe that you have
Will-o-Wisp or Hydro Pump. Rain Dance is self explanatory; use it if you need
rain to be up. Reflect is to help other Pokemon on the team takes physical hits.
Shadow Ball and Thunder hits the opponent. Thunder replaces Hydro Pump
because the team have enough water-type attack, and also for the chance of paralyzing.

Scizor

Ability: Technician
Item: Life Orb
Nautre: Adamant

HP: 32
Attack: 252
Speed: 224

-Brick Break
-Bullet Punch
-Sword Dance
-U-turn

Scizor is on the team for taking care of two specific Pokemons: Tyranitar and Abomasnow.
Bullet Punch will take either of them down, thanks to Life Orb and Technician.
If the opportunity is there, Sword Dance can be used, which gives Scizor a
chance to take down some Pokemons (Blissey can be countered by Scizor too).
Brick Break can break screens and is more "reliable" than Superpower.
U-turn is useful to scout or dealing damage to Celebi, WHILE switching, for example.

Kingdra

Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Naughty

Attack: 252
Speed: 16
Spc. Attack: 240

-Draco Meteor
-Hydro Pump
-Rain Dance
-Waterfall

Kindra is a mixed sweeper (and probably the most important sweeper of the team).
With Rain Dance activated, Kindra is really fast, even if it doesn't carry much speed Evs.
Waterfall is the primary attack of the the set, but, if need be, Hydro Pump and Draco Meteor
can also be used. Also, the special attack drop means Waterfall is still at full power.
Draco Meteor is a really strong attack, but Hydro Pump, in rain, is devastating.

Qwilfish

Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant

Attack: 252
Defence: 4
Speed: 252

-Explosion
-Poison Jab
-Sword Dance
-Waterfall

At first, Toxicroak was used instead of Qwilfish... but since it never really
did anything, Qwilfish took his spot instead. The idea is to Sword Dance,
whenever given the chance, and use Waterfall and Poison Jab as main attacks.
When death is certified, Sword Danced Explosion will cause quite a bit of damage
to the opponent. Swift Swim allows Qwilfish to be faster than most of it's opponents.

Ludicolo

Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Modest

Speed: 252
Spc. Attack: 252
Spc. Defence: 4

-Energy Ball
-Ice Beam
-Rain Dance
-Surf

Ludicolo have two task: sweep and setup rain. With Energy Ball, Ice Beam and Surf,
Ludicolo's coverage is quite interesting. Rain Dance also allows it to change
the weather and Swift Swim, to gain a lot of speed. Energy Ball is used instead of
Grass Knot because of Vaporeon; Energy Ball does a lot more damage to Vaporeon than Grass Knot,
possibly making a 3HKO become a 2HKO. Since Water Absorb, Vaporeon ability is
a big problem to the team, it's a wise choice to sacrifice a bit of power against
other threats to take care of Vaporeon more easily.


Feel free to comment, rate and maybe even help!

 

[EspyJoel]

Hi.

I just a few suggestions which I feel would help this team.

Firstly for lead Jirachi, use Timid nature, the extra Speed will be helpful, and put Stealth Rock in over Wish or U-turn as you really need it somewhere. You also might want to consider using Rain Dance/Stealth Rock/Iron Head/Thunder as its moveset instead for a more offensive approach at the start with 252 Atk / 80 SpA / 176 Spe and Naive or Hasty nature but thats just an option. I do highly suggest the Timid and Stealth Rock one or at least just Stealth Rock as you need it somewhere.

On Rotom-W, I feel you should change it to be still bulky but more Speed - Timid 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe is a good one I use a while ago. I would also change Reflect to Hydro Pump as it gives you another nice attack to abuse in rain.

I would definitely make Scizor a Rain Dance supporter, you can still make it offensive, but this will seriously help your team out. I suggest 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD with Rain Dance/Swords Dance/Bullet Punch/Superpower or Brick Break or U-turn, holding a Damp Rock. Its very reliable at getting up the rain and in OU a 3rd bulky rd set-up user is so useful.

On Kingdra, I would change Rain Dance to Signal Beam as you have serious trouble with Celebi if Qwilfish is gone and your Scizor is weakened or no rain up which will likely be the case. I would also run 192 Atk / 240 SpA / 76 Spe to outrun neutral +1 base 100s as this is very useful and the Attack loss is hardly important, you still 2HKO the important Pokemon.

Lastly, I would put Hidden Power Electric over Rain Dance on Ludicolo to give you an easier time against Gyarados. I would also run 60 HP / 252 SpA / 196 Spe as you still outrun +1 neutral base 100s but the extra HP could be important, that Speed is of little use anyway.

Anyway, hope this helps and good luck with your team.

 

[Alphacme]

Hi.

I just a few suggestions which I feel would help this team.

Firstly for lead Jirachi, use Timid nature, the extra Speed will be helpful, and put Stealth Rock in over Wish or U-turn as you really need it somewhere. You also might want to consider using Rain Dance/Stealth Rock/Iron Head/Thunder as its moveset instead for a more offensive approach at the start with 252 Atk / 80 SpA / 176 Spe and Naive or Hasty nature but thats just an option. I do highly suggest the Timid and Stealth Rock one or at least just Stealth Rock as you need it somewhere.

On Rotom-W, I feel you should change it to be still bulky but more Speed - Timid 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe is a good one I use a while ago. I would also change Reflect to Hydro Pump as it gives you another nice attack to abuse in rain.

I would definitely make Scizor a Rain Dance supporter, you can still make it offensive, but this will seriously help your team out. I suggest 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD with Rain Dance/Swords Dance/Bullet Punch/Superpower or Brick Break or U-turn, holding a Damp Rock. Its very reliable at getting up the rain and in OU a 3rd bulky rd set-up user is so useful.

On Kingdra, I would change Rain Dance to Signal Beam as you have serious trouble with Celebi if Qwilfish is gone and your Scizor is weakened or no rain up which will likely be the case. I would also run 192 Atk / 240 SpA / 76 Spe to outrun neutral +1 base 100s as this is very useful and the Attack loss is hardly important, you still 2HKO the important Pokemon.

Lastly, I would put Hidden Power Electric over Rain Dance on Ludicolo to give you an easier time against Gyarados. I would also run 60 HP / 252 SpA / 196 Spe as you still outrun +1 neutral base 100s but the extra HP could be important, that Speed is of little use anyway.

Anyway, hope this helps and good luck with your team.

It's true that Stealt Rock would be a necessity... I don't remember the reason why we left it out, since it's been almost half a year, but the meta game must have changed since then, and we can't let it out anymore... would be nice if I remembered why, though.

Anyway, I'm thinking if it would be worth removing Sword Dance on Scizor and use Rain Dance/Superpower/Bullet Punch/ U-turn... not sure about that, but I just think that a fighting-type move could come in handy.

Another thing is that I've always felt like putting a Lum Berry on Kingdra, because of annoying statuses... I'm not sure if loosing the Life Orb would hurt me more, though. Even with rain, Life Orb might help for many KOs.

Lastly, you suggested HP Electric for taking care of Gyarados... is Ludicolo a good counter to Gyarados? I know it could take one hit, but if it's more than that or if it's alredy damaged, it could be hard to counter it... what do you think about that?

 

[EspyJoel]

If you don't use Swords Dance on Scizor then I'd use Adamant 200 HP / 56 Atk / 252 SpD with Rain Dance / Roost / Bullet Punch / U-turn as that allows it to stay alive longer to support your team.

You need Life Orb for important OHKOs and 2HKOs, Lum Berry isn't worth it.

Its not about countering Gyarados, if the rain is up which it shouldn't be too hard to keep up, your faster and can just OHKO it.

Good luck!