I used to have an offensive rain team, but then Thunderus got banned.

[Guitar]

I used to have an offensive rain team, but then Thunderus got banned.

(Yes, the tittle is based on that overused Skyrim meme 'I used to be an adventurer, but the I got an arrow to the knee, lame, I know!) Anyways, what's up Smogon, today I'm bringing you guys a preview for my Bulky rain team I've been trying out, I haven't had that many games with it, so I'm not really sure what it's able to counter and whatnot, but I have been arranging some things to try to get the best coverage as possible, It's been working so far, but I kinda need some help to make it better, since this team is going to be used for a tourney, the down side is, you can't change the team once it's been entered, meaning I need to make as flawless as possible before entering.

So, this is the second take of my rain team; It used to be a purely offensive rain team, until Thunderus got banned, I tried to replace him with loads of things, such as Latios, Zapdos, Tornadus, etc. But none of those would work right, so, what I decided to do is, start fresh! I want to keep using rain, but since offensive variety isn't really working for me, I'm going to make a bulky one. Some of the guys are the same, but the move sets are different, but I'll get to that in just a second.



The squad:

A Closer look:

Storm
Politoed
Trait : Drizzle
Item: Leftovers
Calm nature (+Sp.D / -Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp.D / 6 Sp.A

Movesets:
-Scald
-Ice Beam
-Protect
-Toxic

Now, Politoed is obviously the most important member of this team, since my whole team revolves around weather, I run a specially defensive set because I find it a lot more useful, why? you ask, well it's simple: the entire OU metagame revolves around weather (well, not entire, but most of it), meaning I will face off against a lot of weather teams! & in a weather war, the one who has their rain user for the longest wins, and I find that bulky Toed's survivability is a lot better, meaning he can stay around for longer / take more hits, which in a weather war is pretty much everything. Now as for the movesets, it's pretty obvious, Scald for some rain boosted damage, Toxic to cripple special walls that would otherwise wall me, Protect is there to stall some toxic / scout & Ice beam is there for dragons, since it can take a hit, unless it's like Banded Outrage from a Dnite, it should be able to live & OHKO with Ice beam.

Kraken
Tentacruel
Trait: Rain Dish
Item: Black Sludge
Calm Nature (+Sp.D / -Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp.D / Sp.A

Movesets:
-Toxic Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Protect
-Hydro Pump

Ahh yes, Mono-attacking Tentacruel, this set is just great! It can set up Toxic Spikes, since this is a stall team, it kind of revolves around some hazards, Protect is a must, since after 2 turns of Black Sludge + Rain Dish, you should be back at a pretty good range of HP, now, you're probably wondering, why the hell are you using Hydro Pump? Well, it catches people off guard to be honest, and even without any investments Tentacruel reaches 198 Sp.A, and a STAB Hydro in the rain hurts. Not really that much to say about this guy, despite the fact of it being my special wall & being there to take Ice type moves directed to Gliscor / Virizion.

Gaia
Virizion
Trait: Justified
Item: Leftovers
Modest Nature (+Sp.A / -Atk)
Evs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp.A / 6 HP

Movesets:
-Focus Blast
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Giga Drain
-Calm Mind

Virizion is such a monster in this team, not to mention it's one of my favorite Pokemon ever, it's main goal in this team is to take care of Pokemon such as Rotom-W, Terrakion, Gliscor, Landorous, T-Tar & other common threats, since Virizion is a very bulky pokemon with 129 base Sp.D, it can take HP ice from Rotom, Landorous, Ice fangs from Gliscor, Fire blast / Ice beam from T-Tar & processed to take him out. I'm running a special Virizion just for the fact of Giga Drain, so it can get some nice HP back with Lefties, makes it a pain to take out, HP Ice is great for all dragon types & ground types, such as those mentioned above & Calm mind allows it to take hits even better & hit a little bit harder, just FYI, Virizion reaches 294 Sp.D & 324 HP without any investments, so you can tell how much of a beast it is.

Overkill
Scizor
Trait: Technician
Item: Choice Band
Adamant Nature (+Atk / -Sp.A)
Evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 HP

Movesets:
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Superpower
-Pursuit

Ahh yes, this is the CB Scizor we all know & hate facing, it's always a pain, the main reason why I added Scizor to this team was because of Reuniclus, it could set up all over my team & sweep, but not with Scizor there, it can resist Psychic / Shadow ball & take it very nicely due to Max HP & CB Bug Bite is a easy 1 hit K.O on any type of Reuniclus, even the Bold Max Def + Max HP set. It also gives a threat to T-Tar with the Superpower & being in the rain means it can take at least one Fire Blast, Pursuit is algo great for taking out Gengars / Latios / Latias. & Of Course, Bullet Punch for that late game sweeping. Also a great move to revenge kill. Scizor is a boss, just saying.

Captain
Gliscor
Trait: Poison Heal
Item: Toxic Orb
Impish Nature (+Def / -Sp.A)
Evs: 252 HP / 42 Defense / 216 Speed

Movesets:
-Substitute
-Protect
-Thunder Fang
-Earthquake

'LOL, what? This is such a weird Gliscor set, what the hell are you doing man?' Admit it, you said those words on your head while seeing this set, why yes, it's a custom set, and let me tell you one thing! It works pretty damn well, what's the point of this set? for one, Gyarados, it has just enough speed to outspeed Lucario, Gyarados & Rotom-W, If it's a bulky Rotom, it wont have HP Ice, if it's a Specs one, then If it looks itself into Hydro Pump, I can PP stall it with Sub + Protect, Lucario will die to and EQ & If the Gyarados wants to set up a DD, I can take it out, or if it just wants to attack, I can kill it either way with that 4x super effective Thunder Fang, Gliscor is pretty fast & It can Toxic Stall a lot of things with high speed, & it also has a pretty good bulk to take hits fairly nicely! It's a great Pokemon to have since it makes great synergy with Tentacruel, but yeah, that's pretty much Gliscors job, to take down Gyarados & to Toxic / PP stall.

Hax
Jirachi
Trait: Serene Grace
Item: Leftovers
Bold Nature (+Def / -Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd

Moveset:
-Wish
-Stealth Rock
-Thunder
-Iron Head

So, I don't really have much to say about Jirachi, it's there to act a Physical wall & to counter Tornadus, since I bring my own rain, it's kinda dangerous to face, and Jirachi does a great job at walling it, It's also my Stealth Rocker & my Wish Passer, and It can be a pain with that whole Para / Fusion with Serene Grace too! But yes, pretty standard set :]


So yeah, that's pretty much the conclusion for my team, a rating would be apreciated.

 

[TheFirstAsianBoy]

Hey new to Smogon here, but I've got some RMT experience :)

One thing you oughta change in this RMT is the fact that your Scizor has 258 EV's invested in HP. Also, many people run U-Turn over Bug Bite. Although there is a power drop, U-Turn can give extremely useful switch initiative, and is still very powerful on a CB Scizor.

Also, you might want to opt for Protect over Power Whip on Ferrothorn for scouting purposes. Gyro ball with Min speed will do decent damage to anything fast and doesn't resist. Power Whip also has a shaky accuracy.

I'm really liking the custom Gliscor set, seems awesome ^^

Personally I hate low(er) accuracy moves, but that's just me. If you like more power, then it's all you.

Hope this kind of sort of maybe helps? :3

 

[Pallas Athena]

Hey, it's been a fairly long time since I've done much in RMT, and I'm on a cell phone, so forgive me if this is a bit poor.

Rain stall is my personal favourite playstyle, and you do seem to have a fairly good grasp on what you're doing, which helps tremendously. In fact, I can only point out a few things that you could fix to improve things a little.

You are correct in that defensive Politoed is the correct way to go in a rain stall team, but I think you have the wrong approach. You already have Tentacruel as a specially defensive water type, and I find that the two are similar enough as to redundant. While I can recognise the value of having special bulk to deal with Ninetales, it becomes obvious after a little more thought that Ninetales will never stay in while rain is up, and if sun is up you can't do much to the fox either.

Therefore, I would recommend that you use a physically bulky set instead of a specially bulky one to take Tyranitar Pursuits and sponge up hits that a bulky water can absorb but Tentacruel can not given his fairly low physical bulk. This will also give you a better Tyranitar check, as you can outstall a weakened Tyranitar if needed and have more chances to burn with Scald.

I also second the suggestion of Protect over Power Whip on Ferrothorn. Virizion is already the bane of most OU Water Types, and Protect+Leech Seed Ferrothorn walls DD Gyarados very well, and can even harm it if it carries Taunt. Gyara's best moves against Ferrothorn are Earthquake, Bounce, and Ice Fang. Bounce variants hate Ferrothorn with a passion if they don't also carry taunt, and Earthquake or Ice Fang users can be outstalled by Leech Seed, Protect, and Gyro Ball. Speaking of which, even if they Taunt, Gyarados usually aren't taking Gyro Balls very well after a Dragon Dance, and can usually be revenges by Scizor after one or two hits from an uninvested Gyro Ball.

With Gyarados minimised as a threat, you can use another move over Thunder Fang on Gliscor. If you're still Gyarados paranoid, you could do for Stone Edge. Taunt or Swords Dance could also work, but keeping an attacking move to break balloons is usually helpful.

Also, is it a bit irrelevant that you can take a Tyranitar Fire Blast in the rain, since Tyranitar's presence suggests sand...

Either way, good start to a rain stall team.

 

[Nachos]

Sup, there's a couple of minor things that I think need changing with this team. The first is to make Politoed a Bold nature with 252 HP and 252 Def EVs rather the nature and EVs you have on it now. Reason being, this allows Politoed to switch into Tyranitar and Hippowdon better and winning the weather war is important. The next change is to make Virizion a Timid nature instead of Modest, as this lets it tie with Terrakion, and outspeed non-Scarf Landorus, as well as tie with other Virizion. Thirdly, you should change Hydro Pump to Scald on Tentacruel as Tenta isn't gonna be sweeping any time soon, and you need a more reliable move, and it'll annoy Physical sweepers trying to come in on your lower physical defense. Next, I suggest you change Bug Bite on Scizor to U-Turn and use EVs of 248 HP | 252 Attack | 8 SDef. U-Turn from CB Scizor hurts a ton, and it still KOes Reuniclus regardless, whilst giving you momentum. The EV spread let you take less damage from entry hazards provided you have a 31 HP IV.

Gliscor doesn't really stop Gyarados even with Thunder Fang, as Waterfall will destroy it, especially with the EVs you've given it and the fact that it's boosted by Rain. It's only purpose that I can see on here is to beat Terrakion and act as a second line of defense against Conkeldurr, which is admittedly very important. I suggest you use an EV spread of 252 HP | 180 Def | 76 Spd with an Impish nature, with a moveset of Earthquake/Ice Fang/Taunt/Toxic instead, as this'll allow you to take those hits better, and physical moves in general.

One thing I've noticed is that you're incredibly Tornadus weak, as you currently only have Scizor's Bullet Punch for it really. My suggestion is to switch out Ferrothorn for Jirachi who can handle Tornadus easily. The only problem with this is that it makes you really liable to Gyarados sweeping you, so I suggest you try out this set:

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder
- Protect

You still keep Stealth Rock, but now you also have an answer to Tornadus who previously could give you a lot of trouble. Thunder takes advantage of Serene Grace and the Rain, kills Gyarados and is just an annoying move on Jirachi in general. With Wish and Protect, you can take hits from Tornadus and other random attacks and heal up safely, but if you're ever concerned about Stuff like Landorus setting up on you (although I think with Virizion, Gliscor and Scizor you're covered), then Water Pulse or Flash Cannon is definitely an option over Protect.

Good luck with your team and tourney!

 

[The Silent Storm]

As stated above, give U-turn to scizor, trust me, it's the ''essency'' of cbzor.

Latios and Tornadus are sadly, a problem for this team, but you can stop them by using Special Defensive Jirachi>Ferrothorn

Jirachi helps you against them, and also can wishpass to its teammates (mostly Virizion, Scizor and Tentacruel) to help them stand up, also can abuse Serene Grace thanks to Thunder and Iron Head
Set:

Hide

Jirachi @ Leftovers Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 34 Atk / 224 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Wish
- Thunder
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head

Hope it helped, good luck!
Edit: Ninja'd
​

 

[Guitar]

Hey new to Smogon here, but I've got some RMT experience :)

One thing you oughta change in this RMT is the fact that your Scizor has 258 EV's invested in HP. Also, many people run U-Turn over Bug Bite. Although there is a power drop, U-Turn can give extremely useful switch initiative, and is still very powerful on a CB Scizor.

Also, you might want to opt for Protect over Power Whip on Ferrothorn for scouting purposes. Gyro ball with Min speed will do decent damage to anything fast and doesn't resist. Power Whip also has a shaky accuracy.

I'm really liking the custom Gliscor set, seems awesome ^^

Personally I hate low(er) accuracy moves, but that's just me. If you like more power, then it's all you.

Hope this kind of sort of maybe helps? :3

Hmm, you kinda have a Point there, but due to the lack of power of U-Turn, It can't OHKO Reuniclus if it's running a Bold Max Defense / HP set.

Also, Jirachi sounds good, I really should try it out, I'll add it in a sec, I'm on my phone ATM, thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Guitar]

-Bump- Any more recommendations? :)

 

[whitesocks]

First off I would like to say you have the potential of a great team here, I would like to help you get it to that state.

I agree with the suggestions of changing U-Turn over Bug Bite, its pretty self-explanatory why.

• U-Turn may not be a 100% OHKO on Reuniclus all the time but Reuniclus will NOT be staying in on Scizor anyway if you think about it
• Since Reuniclus will (normally) not be staying it, U-Turn allows you to switch into an appropriate check to your opponent's switch-in
• Jirachi already handles all versions of Reuniclus with ease due to Thunder paralyze + Iron Head flinching so its not that big of a deal

I would now like to bring up your Gliscor set, not saying its bad (maybe a bit unconventional but w/e), its just your reasoning behind it makes no sense.

what's the point of this set? for one, Gyarados, it has just enough speed to outspeed Lucario, Gyarados

You are not outspeeding Gyarados after a DD, which most Gyarados open up with. Since you are most likely SWITCHING IN to Gyarados, it will normally already have a DD up making your effort to Thunder Fang it futile. Plus you have Rain on your team, making Gyarados even stronger.

What I recommend is changing your Gliscor into a Rotom-W and here is why.

• Rotom-W resists Gyarados' main STAB and can force it out with a x4 Super Effective electric move
• Washtom benifits from the Rain and can aid your team in taking out threats with powerful rain-boosted Hydro Pumps
• You would then have the infamous "Volt-Turn" core on your team, which is never a bad thing considering how powerful it is, possibly even metagame defining

Here is the set I'd recommend:

Rotom-W

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SAtk / 144 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Next give Tentacruel a Bold Nature with 252 Def EVs and 4 Spd EVs and then keep the HP EVs the same. Your team does not have a safe answer to Terrakion otherwise, with this change you can safety switch into a Close Combat and threaten it out with a Rain-boosted water move (I recommend changing Hydro Pump into Scald by the way, much better for a defensive Pokemon like Tentacruel).

On a final note, change Jirachi's EV spread and Nature. Your team desperately needs an answer to strong Special attacking threats (like Latios for example), just move the Defense EVs into Special Defensive while also changing its Nature to Careful. A much better spread for your team, as you can see many other people agree.

There are some other small changes you could make but nothing worth making a big deal over, I seriously recommend you to implement these changes, they will make your team much better.
___
Skyrim... :]

 

[Guitar]

First off I would like to say you have the potential of a great team here, I would like to help you get it to that state.

I agree with the suggestions of changing U-Turn over Bug Bite, its pretty self-explanatory why.

• U-Turn may not be a 100% OHKO on Reuniclus all the time but Reuniclus will NOT be staying in on Scizor anyway if you think about it
• Since Reuniclus will (normally) not be staying it, U-Turn allows you to switch into an appropriate check to your opponent's switch-in
• Jirachi already handles all versions of Reuniclus with ease due to Thunder paralyze + Iron Head flinching so its not that big of a deal

I would now like to bring up your Gliscor set, not saying its bad (maybe a bit unconventional but w/e), its just your reasoning behind it makes no sense.
You are not outspeeding Gyarados after a DD, which most Gyarados open up with. Since you are most likely SWITCHING IN to Gyarados, it will normally already have a DD up making your effort to Thunder Fang it futile. Plus you have Rain on your team, making Gyarados even stronger.

What I recommend is changing your Gliscor into a Rotom-W and here is why.

• Rotom-W resists Gyarados' main STAB and can force it out with a x4 Super Effective electric move
• Washtom benifits from the Rain and can aid your team in taking out threats with powerful rain-boosted Hydro Pumps
• You would then have the infamous "Volt-Turn" core on your team, which is never a bad thing considering how powerful it is, possibly even metagame defining

Here is the set I'd recommend:

Rotom-W

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SAtk / 144 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Next give Tentacruel a Bold Nature with 252 Def EVs and 4 Spd EVs and then keep the HP EVs the same. Your team does not have a safe answer to Terrakion otherwise, with this change you can safety switch into a Close Combat and threaten it out with a Rain-boosted water move (I recommend changing Hydro Pump into Scald by the way, much better for a defensive Pokemon like Tentacruel).

On a final note, change Jirachi's EV spread and Nature. Your team desperately needs an answer to strong Special attacking threats (like Latios for example), just move the Defense EVs into Special Defensive while also changing its Nature to Careful. A much better spread for your team, as you can see many other people agree.

There are some other small changes you could make but nothing worth making a big deal over, I seriously recommend you to implement these changes, they will make your team much better.
___
Skyrim... :]

Alright, I switched U-Turn, but... you sure I should make a Physcally bulky Tentacruel? It's my special wall, since my Jirachi is more Physical.

 

[whitesocks]

Trust me, Rachi makes for a MUCH better special wall than Tentacruel.

Since you are in Rain, Rachi's fire weakness is halved making it even better at handling common metagame threats (Heatran, Dnite with Fire Punch, etc.)
Tentacruel needs the physical investment or else it will easily go down to strong fighters (Like Terrakion for example).

Seeing Terrakion isn't uncommon my any means, so your team needs the defensive backbone Tentacruel offers.

 

[Guitar]

Trust me, Rachi makes for a MUCH better special wall than Tentacruel.

Since you are in Rain, Rachi's fire weakness is halved making it even better at handling common metagame threats (Heatran, Dnite with Fire Punch, etc.)
Tentacruel needs the physical investment or else it will easily go down to strong fighters (Like Terrakion for example).

Seeing Terrakion isn't uncommon my any means, so your team needs the defensive backbone Tentacruel offers.

Even with Bold 252 defense Tentacruel can't take an EQ from Terakkion. Also, as much as I love the Volt - Turn thing, if I take out Gliscor my team gets swept by Terakkion (If Scizor is dead.)