Its raining cats and... Pixies? Offfensive Rain!

[Shurtugal]

Hello Smogon, I figured since we got a new ban list, that I am more than overdue for a new team. Please rate, and give me a fair rating!

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Team Builder:

I wanted to use my favorite Pokemon, and with the new Thundurus ban he gets a big time to actually show off his power. So the first Pokemon I chose was Raikou.

I was thinking of good Pokemon that can support Raikou. It got me thinking, how deadly would 100% acc. specs Thunder be like?! So I knew then that I has to make this a rain team, so I decided to add Politoed!

I decided that I wanted this to be offensive team, and I wanted ground support. Levitate and Flying Pokemon sound good. I hate Skarmory, so thats one idea shot. Air Balloon Raikou? No thanks. Staraptor? I decided after that thought I wanted it to abuse rain. So I came up with a solid Pokemon to use. So I decided to put Latios in there.

With all the special attacking involved, I decided I wanted some physical support not named Toxicroak/Scizor. I couldn't really decide (and no, Gyrados is like gay, I hate him). I decided on Lucario. I'm not sure how his potential stands on this team, so I am looking for suggestions, but I decided his name is not Toxicroak/Scizor so lets give him a try!

I decided that this team is already quite offensive, so I went looking for a solid walls (or tanks). I first thought some Special Defense support is important, not named Vaporeon (in my opinion it doesn't ever hold its own). I decided on a pixie known as Jirachi. This isn't your everyday Iron Head/T-Wave/Fire Punch/Wish(Sub/T-Punch) set. Those are usually offensive. No, I play my own Cosmic Power Jirachi, (which at +2 Def/Sp.Def it can take an EQ from Gliscor and wish to tell the tales <yeah, more than one EQ>)

What to do for my last Pokemon? Isn't it obvious? I need a physical tank to tank EQ hits. I was thinking about Gliscor, but I kinda hate using it and since Excadrill is gone (for now, I wouldn't mind seeing him back but eh) Gliscor is no longer a priority. So, I decided that a rain abuse wall that can tank EQ should be the one I pick (not named Skarmory). I decided that Ferrothorn would be the best as it tanks physical hits, and can set up some hazards.

Team Preview:

The Team:

Politoed @ Leftovers
Nature: Calm
Effort Values: 210 HP/180 SpD/130 Def

~ Toxic
~ Rest
~ Surf
~ Protect/Ice Beam

<Politoed sets up Rain for my team, which is pretty much why hes here. I made him bulky to survive longer in Weather Wars, and so I can perform a Toxic Stall. Most steel types take average damage from water type attacks (not in rain though) and I thought I never get scald burn, I always miss Hydro Pump, so I figured Surf was the choice attack for Politoed's STAB attack. Rest helps it stall out poison/weather war. Just b/c I can't wake up the first round does not mean that it can't be a move that can't be used here. I can't decide between poison stall protect, or Ice Beam. Fill in with suggestions here please :)>

Raikou @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Effort Values: 252 SpA/252 Spe/4 Hp

~ Thunder
~ Volt Switch
~ Extrasensory
~ Hidden Power (Ice)

<Raikou is beast in rain. Specs Thunder, STAB, from Raikou does a fuckton to anything that tries to take it. Volt Switch gives me a switch advantage, and a specs boosted attack. Extrasensory is the only good attack that doesn't require Rash to use. Hidden Power Ice hits DNite hard, and other opposing Dragons. His natural speed, and his nature in speed, almost ensure he outspeeds most in the metagame.>

Latios @ Expert Belt
Nature: Timid
Effort Values: 252 SpA/252 Spe/4 Hp

~ Surf
~ Thunder
~ Draco Meteor
~ Recover

<Latios has levitate, guarding him from attacks such as EQ. He can abuse thunder as well, with all the type coverage attacks Expert Belt is a great item to utilize here! Since he isn't specs, and HP fire is nullified by rain, I decided Recover was a good filler move for him. Thunder is 100% acc., but am willing to replace that for T-Bolt. D-Meteor is my choice of STAB, which again does a fuckton, especially the DNite. Surf is rain boosted, and so Latios has earned a place on this team!>

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Nature: (+SpD -SpA)
Effort Values: 210 Hp/180 SpD/130 Def

~ Wish
~ Cosmic Power
~ Iron Head
~ Body Slam

<Cosmic Power is a great move on Jirachi. Boosting both defenses, and just after 2 it can eat Earthquake from Gliscor? It can wish to?! The reasons for using Jirachi are now obvious. Cosmic Power + Wish have great synergy. Iron Head is my choice of STAB with serene graced Flinch rate. Body Slam for the paralysis, and to hit anything Iron Head can't. Jirachi main problem are Gliscor, but this team is well equiped to handle him.>

Lucario @ Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
Effort Values: 252 Atk/252 Spe/4 Hp

~ Swords Dance
~ Close Combat
~ Extreme Speed
~ Ice Punch

<Lucario is my only physical offense on this team. I am more than happy to take suggestions to replace him, but he is pretty good so I am testing it out on this team. SD used on switched, CC everything that doesn't resist it. Extreme Speed is cool as it guarantees kill when he is +2. Ice Punch hit GLiscor and co. hard. I figured he looks useful so why not :)>

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Nature: (+Def/-Spe)
Effort Values: 210 Hp/180 Def/130 SpD

~ Power Whip
~ Gyro Ball
~ Spikes
~ Stealth Rock

<Ferrothorn can eat EQ's all day, and sets up my well-needed hazards. Gyro Ball/Power Whip are my dual STAB's and Ferrothorn is really here to tank hits. Honestly, I hate using Gliscor or Skarmory everytime!>

Please leave a fair rating, thanks!
Anthonias
<Threat List Coming Soon>

 

[skyhigh256]

Dude you have a plethora of fire and ground weaknesses. A well-played sun team will troll your entire team as only latios is the true pivot against sun. Lucario is great but really really frail.

With the advent of conkeldurr and other strong priority users, I would suggest another fighting type such as bulk up conkeldurr instead of lucario. It may even help alleviate the sun stress to a certain extent by bashing up heatrans, whatever.

Cosmic power jirachi seems interesting but you really shouldn't stay in on a gliscor. Just wish pass to something else lol. Additionally, I'd suggest perish song on politoed, just to put an end to BP teams.

 

[Mr Tempest]

I don't think spikes and stealth rock are legal on the same set with ferrothorn. i might be mistaken.

Yeah you are slightly mistaken, they are legal on the same set :p

First thing your EV's on Politoed add up to 520, which is over the 510 cap, so you might want to fix that. And also on Toed changing Rest for Perish song/HP grass might not be such a bad idea. With Lucario running Ice punch can work to give you nice coverage, however running crunch would probably be slightly better. You could give Latios ice beam over Thunder/Recover as Raikou already has that. If you wanted to keep two thunder users however, put it on Jirachi over Body slam, as they both have a 60% chance to paralyse with Serene Grace. Once again with Rachi you have a 520 EV total as with Ferrothorn. ( 210+180+130 = 520)

With Latios running Draco can be quite nice to bluff specs, however because you are using an Ebelt you will probably want to be staying in, so perhaps try running dragon pulse over it so you still have the option to stay in, thats completely up to you though.

On Politoed protect can be useful for scouting what your opponent is planning to do, however ice beam can be very nice for hitting GLiscor/dragons hard. If you decide to run ice beam on Latios however, I'd recommend protect on toed. Also Scald over surf could be a good option as only 15 less BP gives you a 30% chance to burn, and in rain they're both going to hit hard anyway. Theres nothing better than burning a physical sweeper on a switch in.

Just a few things you might want to look in to ;)

 

[RhyssaFireheart]

OK a huge threat is Landorus because basically OHKO or 2HKO everything in your also stone edge can 3HKO latios or even 2HKO


You have no real counter but Raikou can maybe OHKO it with HPice but be careful because scarfed variants cannot be handled by you. Carry Hp Grass on politoed it OHKO Gastrodon
and helps you with other rain leads,
and good luck

 

[Shurtugal]

@ Skyhigh

I am liking Conkeldurr, because I do notice I am frail against Sun. Also, perish song is good, but I'm stalling poison and resseting poison damage is not what I am aiming for. So I'll go for hp grass. Also, I do plan on staying in on Gliscor, just an ex that I can eat EQ.


@ Mr Temptedt

Sorry, I meant 120 over 130. Latios run ice beam over thunder? Ice hits ground dragon flying hard and thunder hit water hard, dragon covers the rest, and surf for ground. Running expert belt, I need a lot of type support on Latios. I am gonna run D-Pulse instead though. Thunder on Jirachi isn't all bad, so I'll try that. Politoed is better with hp grass.


@Fireheart

Landorus is usually banded scarfed. I can play around that. LO sets handled by Raikou, scarfers by Politoed (bulky and SCALD might burn.) Latios can come in on locked EQ.


Thank you guys, although I am open to more suggestions,
Anthonias

 

[orbpom123]

Very well covered team. Only problem i see if a stall skarm. Surely raikou can take it down, but a very common scarfed t-tar can easily EQ that thing down. Then all your down to take it down is lucario, but is still a 3hko with CC. And when your setting up SD or spamming CC, he will whirlwind you out.

 

[RhyssaFireheart]

Choice Banded Landorus can cause problems.

 

[XcRunner]

If you want to replace Lucario and still want a beast physical attacker in the rain then definitely use Azumarill. So underrated, but so amazing.

Azumarill@choice band
Adamant
EV's: 252 hp/252 att/4 spe
-Aqua Jet
-Waterfall
-Ice Punch
-Superpower

over 600 attack with huge power and choice band, and then rain boosted waterfalls/aqua jets w/ STAB does tons of damage. Aqua Jet keeps priority that Luke had, and because Azumarill is water type, you lose a fire weakness and gain a resist.

 

[Shurtugal]

T-Tar EQ? Ferrothorn will scare it out, set up some hazards. Latios can also come in and take scarfed EQ. I am thinking and I am going to add Gyrados over Luvario for EQ coverage, and to take fire.

Banded Landorus will never outspeed Raikou. Scarfed Landorus can be handled around scouting locked move and acting accordingly.

 

[orbpom123]

Fantastic azumarill set, deadly with rain and unexpected. Run with sap power in case infernape wants to grass knot you, or completely stop venusaur and offensive grasses. One weird thing is only 2 of your pokemon will benefit from rain, so why not run another rain benefiting poke?

 

[Shurtugal]

Actually, Raikou gain Thunder, Latios thunder and surf, Jirachi and Ferrothorns fire weakness lowered, and Gyradosfor bigger STAB. Azumarill is obvious, and Gyrados can support me better. Politoed can dealwitheven grass knot ape, So can Latios.


Gyrados @ Life Orb
Moxie
N: Adamant
E: 252 Atk/252 Spe/4 Hp

~ DDance
~ Waterfall
~ Earthquake
~ EDIT: T-Wave

What do you think Smogon?

 

[orbpom123]

Liking the gyarados set, but since your other pokes are already running ice moves for dragons/ gliscor, why not run a status? Thunder wave is amazing for gyarados as it can set up a D-dance with no fear of getting outsped by latios, latias, and rotom-w. Plus from parahax it can set up all day. So i would run that set with T-wave instead of fang.

 

[Reiko]

Okay
First you only have one physical attacker. If he goes down you've pretty much lost if they have any special defensive wall. So I'd use Gyarados over Raikou

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Gyarados@Leftovers
Evs: 252Atk/252Speed/4Hp
Trait: Moxie
Nature: Adament(+Atk -SpA)
Moves:
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake/Substitute
-Waterfall
-Bounce

This can really help considering your massive Ground and Fighting weakness
Also I'd attempt to use your rain a bit more then you are so I'd use either Wish CM or Sub CM rachi

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Jirachi@Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
Evs: 252Hp/208Def/44Speed
Nature: Timid
Moves:
-Wish/Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Water Pulse
-Thunder

Here your getting the Parafusion combo. Annoying and very effective. This can help setting up Lucario and Gyarados.
Hope I helped! Good Luck!

 

[Reiko]

Wait. I didn't see you had gyarados. Lol. Here switch Raikou for Zapdos

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Zapdos@Leftovers
Trait: Lightningrod or whatever its called
Nature: Timid
Evs: 252 Special Attack/252 speed/4Atk
Moves:
-Thunder
-Agility
-HP Ice
-Volt Switch/Toxic

This sets better then Raikou imo

 

[Shurtugal]

Water Pulse on rachi sucks, and I like my set anyhow as it's job is walling over sweeping. As I said in my last post, Gyrados>Lucario. Raikou is to important to me, and I am not to worried about special walls. Jirachi I have which has thunder over bodyslam can deal with them if needed. Raikous natural bulk in Spd can deal with some sp attacks, zapdos is not neccesary.

 

[orbpom123]

He said he wants raikou because its his fav poke. Zapdos can't legally have lightningrod YET, so nah. You get a ground immunity, but jolly banded landorous or scarfed beats the timid zapdos. Raikou is faster plus its a beast, so i wouldn't use the zapdos.

 

[Iconic]

You have a pretty bad Volcarona weakness even for a rain team, since it's free to set up on Ferrothorn and after a Quiver Dance you're kinda screwed. I think you could probably get by with replacing Lucario with a better Volcarona check. Azumarill is a fairly good idea because it can revenge kill Volcarona really nicely with Aqua Jet, and replacing Lucario means you alleviate some of the Fire-type weakness that your team previously had. Aqua Jet is also a good way of checking Landorus and Terrakion, who always tend to give these kinds of offensive teams troubles.

Ferrothorn and Jirachi kind of overlap in terms of defensive coverage, so you should probably just max out Ferrothorn's Special Defense and then change Jirachi up or replace it completely. Max Special Defense is really important on Ferrothorn to help with eating Starmie's Hydro Pumps or Specs Latios's Draco Meteors. Since you're plenty Toxicroak weak, giving Jirachi Wish and Calm Mind and maxing out its Defense wouldn't be a bad idea at all. Giving Jirachi Calm Mind will help a lot against Nasty Plot Celebi, but as extra insurance you might want to give Raikou Shadow Ball over Extrasensory.

 

[Shurtugal]

I'm gonna put Azumarill over Lucario/Gyrados. Since your right as it helps me fight off many different pokemon. Raikou and shadowball, seems good against Reuniclus. Also,
I am gonna give Ferro a +spd nature a (180 spD/130def/200 hp) and reverse for Jirachi. I find running an almost even bulk spread on jirachi and ferrothorn work out, since jirachi cosmic power cover physical EQ and flamethrower is like no problem in rain. Thanks for the suggestions everyone, and if you notice otherflaws please tell me!
Anthonias


@ Evire
I didn't think about that, but your right, as I will be pursuit trapped in a (probably Sp.Def T-Tar) so thunderbolt will be a good move to put over it.

 

[Evire]

Slashing Thunder for Thunderbolt on Latios would be a very good idea, considering Tyranitar is one of its most common switch ins Thunder isn't very accurate.

 

[New World Order]

As already pointed out, your team has trouble against Volcorona and sun teams it general. It seems that Jirachi is the weak link of this team. Most of its roles are already being performed by Ferrothorn, so you wont miss it too much. I suggest using a DD Waterfall Dragonite in its place. Rather than being set up on by Volcorona, Dragonite sets up on Volcorona. In the sun, Outrage hits opponents more than hard enough. While in the rain, Waterfall basically gets a STAB to allow you to pummel through the likes of Jirachi and Reuniclus. Dragonite also serves as a check to Reuniclus and gives you that all important fighting resist. Currently, Latios is your only fighting resist, who isn't very reliable due to its low physical defense.

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Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Multi Scale
Adamant
252 Hp/ 44 Atk/ 212 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Waterfall
- Roost

Another thing I noticed is the team's lack of a way to beat DD dragons. Azumarill wont be hitting them hard enough with Aqua Jet, while Ferrothorn is not going to be enjoy taking Earthquakes over and over. 4Drag2Mag teams will be troublesome since you don't have the means to revenge kill them. I suggest replacing SD Lucario with a Double Dance Terrakion or Choice Scarf Terrakion. With a Choice Scarf, Terrakion can also act as a Volcorona check, while revenge killing all the DD dragons including Gyarados. With Double Dancer, Terrakion can come in after Magnezone takes out Ferrothorn, set up Rock Polish, and proceed to annhilate the opposing team. Double Dance Terrakion also has the added benefit of being able to maul Hyper Offense teams Excadrill style. You have a new sweeper in Dragonite already, so you may want to go with the safe revenge kill. But if you feel Lucario's sweeping potential is too valuable, go with a Double Dancer Terrakion to fulfill its role. Play around with both sets and see which is a better fit.

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Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Justified
Jolly
252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 Hp
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissors

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Terrakion @ Life Orb
Justified
Jolly
252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 Hp
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge

GL

 

[Shurtugal]

I like the idea of using Terrakion (especially since I can take advantage of some sand teams) Dragonite is better than Jirachi, so I will give that a spin. Also, Smogon, should I run a special defensive Ferrothorn, or the Ev spread I am using? Since he is my only form of walling (bar Politoed-ish-)

Thank You guys as this team is much better now, I will post the update of my replacing attacks/Pokemon above.

 

[New World Order]

I like the idea of using Terrakion (especially since I can take advantage of some sand teams) Dragonite is better than Jirachi, so I will give that a spin. Also, Smogon, should I run a special defensive Ferrothorn, or the Ev spread I am using? Since he is my only form of walling (bar Politoed-ish-)

Thank You guys as this team is much better now, I will post the update of my replacing attacks/Pokemon above.

I say go with a Relaxed 252 Hp/ 88 Def/ 168 SpD spread. This set allows it to survive a 2HKO from +1 Haxorus' Earthquake and retaliate with Gyro Ball. The Defense EVs are desgined to hit a magic number, while the rest are dumped into SpD to better take Draco Meteors. As you've already stated. Ferrothorn is basically your form of defense besides Politoed and to an extent, Dragonite. As a result, you want it to be the best mixed wall possible and that EV spread gives you optimal defensive capabilities in both spectra.