It's Raining in Pun City

[LordPenguinFan]

So apparently unless you've got a catchy title, you can sometimes be missed. Anyways, I've got a rain team here for you. Please enjoy the puns.

My Team at A Glance

I would include a teambuilding for this team but to be honest other than wanting to make a rain team with jolteon trying to spam thunders, I don't really remember what other versions of this team really looked like.

My Team in Greater Detail

Gyara-Tres (Gyarados) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Stone Edge

Gyarados. A staple in OU and a fierce competitor since the beginning. When you slap a choice scarf on it and give it a jolly nature, it outspeeds the entire unboosted metagame. Gyarados is my late game sweeper. Once the Ferrothorns and Forretresses and Vaporeons have been worn down, Gyarados can come in and throw around waterfalls in the rain. The flinch rate is helpful and with moxie he'll keep getting better. Earthquake is a solid move on any physical attacker and provides good coverage with stone edge. Ice Fang gets rid of pesky dragons that are slower unless they carry scarves themselves. The EV spread maximizes damage and speed, key for a physical sweeper.

Meta-Clean (Metagross) @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Hammer Arm
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch

In the rain, Metagross doesn't worry about his pesky fire weakness. Metagross serves as my bulky sweeper. Priority in bullet punch and trapping in pursuit makes him a great revenge killer. Hammer Arm is key on this team. Seeing that I don't carry a single fire move on my team, Hammer Arm allows me to hit some steels for super-effective damage. Hammer Arm also clears out Blissey + Chansey giving Jolteon free reign to spam thunders. Meteor Mash is for STAB. The attack boosts that I sometimes get are always a plus. Choice Band means that Metagross is hitting like a truck.

Poli-Mario (Politoed) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Ice Beam

How can you have a rain team without this guy? This green toad plays as my defensive anchor as well. Scald and Toxic to throw around status. Perish Song stops set-up sweepers in their tracks. Ice beam for dragons and general coverage. EVs maximize defense allowing him to have a bit of survivability even without recovery.

Virizi-Off (Virizion) @ Light Clay
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Giga Drain
- Taunt

Dual Screen Virizion is great in the rain. Benefiting from the lack of a fire weaknesses, after a light screen, specially based fire attacks won't do to much thanks to Virizion's natural bulk. One of the fastest taunt users, Virizion can easily set up screens on the likes of Ferrothorn or Vaporeon easily. The screens really come in handy considering how frail some of my other pokemon are from the special side. Giga Drain over close combat to give it a chance of possibly setting up screens twice.

Don-Heater (Donphan) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar

Considering that 5 of 6 pokemon on my team are damaged by spikes and 4 of 6 pokemon not liking toxic spikes at all, a spinner was necessary. Although starmie performs the job better in the rain sometimes, I didn't want to carry 3 pokemon weak to electric type moves. Donphan does the job well. With a great ability in sturdy, he can often set up rocks or roar away sweepers when I'm left in a pickle. EVs mean that Donphan is taking physical hit extremely well. Earthquake is STAB and the main source of damage to tank hits. Of course this means that pokes that fly or levitate stop Donphan cold. Gengar takes special mention. I did consider Forretress but the utility of roar was something that I really missed. That being said, I'm open to look at different sets in this slot or being replaced by a different spinner.

Jolt-Second (Jolteon) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball

Ah Jolteon. With a base 130 speed Jolteon is also outspeeding the rest of the unboosted metagame quite like Gyarados. Speaking of which, Jolteon pairs perfectly with Gyarados. Bulky waters such as Jellicent and Vaporeon fear the power that this guy carries. STAB thunders coming from this guy are practically like Jupiter decided Jason Grace wasn't good enough for the quest (had to throw in a reference). Thunderbolt over volt switch mostly because hard switches are sometimes better. Also provides me with a more accurate move in case I lose the weather war. Thundurus isn't fast enough for my taste and would thus have to carry a scarf forcing me to run three choiced pokes.

EDIT: Thanks to Dr. Ciel for recommending sub over thunderbolt. It's been really helpful avoiding status and provides me with the perfect opportunity to spam Thunders with no concern.

Conclusion
This rain team has been incredibly fun to use. I'll post an importable below so you guys can see the team in action. The team's also been on my youtube channel if you want to see some of what it can do.

One of the biggest problems I can't seem to fix is the lack of a fire move. I know it's raining but the only possible moveslot I can see for it is on Jolteon with hidden power. But that gets rid of the boltbeam combination. Anyways tell me what you think of the team and please offer any improvements possible. I'll be sure to respond and try out your suggestions.

Also, if you suggest a change in poke. Try to come up with a pun with the end of the name! If you really can't then don't worried. Hope this post was time well spent.

Importable

Hide

Gyara-Tres (Gyarados) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Stone Edge

Meta-Clean (Metagross) @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Hammer Arm
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch

Poli-Mario (Politoed) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Ice Beam

Virizi-Off (Virizion) @ Light Clay
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Giga Drain
- Taunt

Don-Heater (Donphan) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar

Jolt-Second (Jolteon) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball

 

[Dr Ciel]

Hey there. Pretty solid rain team you got going on there, the puns are excellent and I hope this team is too. Anyways, I have a few changes and suggestions you could try out, making this team even better. Firstly, I really like the Band on Metagross, as it helps dish out some real damage, but I'd give the Agility Metagross set a try. With Agility, Metagross can wipe out a big chunk of the meta with its vast array of Physical moves, also, it benefits greatly from Dual Screens, making it a deadly setup sweeper. Another change that I can suggest is that you could try Substitute over Thunderbolt on Jolteon. It may seem a bit odd at first, but it really helps you avoid status inflicting moves and it has an easier time sweeping when behind screens, which benefit it greatly. Well, that's all I have to say for this team, I hope my suggestions have helped. Have fun and good luck with your team!

Metagross

Metagross @ Air Balloon
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Agility
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

~Dr Ciel~

 

[Shining_Latios]

Hey man, neat team. Hopefully my suggestions can help you out. First off, you seem to have a weakness to Swords Dance Breloom. The only Pokemon on your team that can really handle him is Gyarados and if it gets Spored on the switch it can really cause a lot of damage to your team if you don't have Reflect up. For this reason, I suggest changing your Virizion into a Defensive Celebi.

Celebi

Celebi @ Light Clay
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Defense / 36 Speed
Bold Nature
Moves:
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Giga Drain
- Recover

Celebi fits a nice role on your team. It is able to set up screens just like Virizion did, however Celebi provides your team with a very solid Breloom counter and is bulkier than Virizion. Another thing that's so great about Celebi is that it has access to Recover, meaning if you are low on health but still need screens for your offensive Pokemon, it can easily replenish its health. Celebi also works well with Gyarados in dealing with Breloom. Celebi can come in on the switch and take the Spore from Breloom and then you can switch to Gyarados to check it with Ice Fang. Also, since Celebi's ability is Natural Cure, when you switch to Gyarados, Celebi won't be asleep anymore. That's what makes it so great, it adds a status absorber to your team, which you previously lacked. Good luck with the team and hope I helped.

 

[Asek]

Hey,

Cool Team LordPenguinFan, I like the use of Virizion here. I thought a major weakness was Gastrodon, as besides Virizion none of your team like him at all. He resist's Metagross STAB's as well as being immune to Gyarados's and Jolteons STAB's he can pretty much wall all of your offensive pokemon. Virizion is your only means to hit it hard, and Politoed can try toxic it but Gastrodon will not stay in on Virizion, and Politoed could very well find itself getting Toxic'd itself leaving you a lot more prone to losing the weather war.

First off, your Jolteon set has a lot of potential, but some improvments could be made to your set. First off, Thunderbolt is a very redundant move on Jolteon considering you have the more powerful Thunder to use instead. Try out Volt Switch > Thunderbolt to help get the momentum to your favor and get switch ins for your team mates. You should also test Choice Specs > Life Orb as the 20% increase in power is really noticeable, and Life Orb leaves Jolteon very vulnerable to being revenge killed with residual damage and Life Orb recoil adding up very quickly. Although specs does mean free switch ins if you mispredict so be wary.

Looking at your team, you don't have any real set up sweepers that can abuse the dual screens that Virizion provides. Sure it helps you take hits better, but the purpose of the screens is to aid in a set up that can be harder to stop with the improved bulk of the said set up sweeper. So to give your team the sweeper it so desires, I definitely recommend changing your Gyarados set to a Substitute + Dragon Dance set. This Gyarados is very hard to stop with the support of Dual screens as it can comfortably set up Substitutes and from there boost up without the threat of status. It can be very hard to stop as rain boost's its STAB to monstorus levels and even the gold standards of Physical walls such as Skarmory and Ferrothorn will have trouble getting past his very powerful dual STAB options. Not to mention his intimidate can cause a lot of physical pokemon to become set up opportunities outside of screens too

GL with the team

Hide

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpA)
Trait: Intimidate
EV's: 56HP/ 248Atk/ 204Spe
Substitute/ Dragon Dance/ Waterfall/ Bounce

 

[LordPenguinFan]

Hey there. Pretty solid rain team you got going on there, the puns are excellent and I hope this team is too. Anyways, I have a few changes and suggestions you could try out, making this team even better. Firstly, I really like the Band on Metagross, as it helps dish out some real damage, but I'd give the Agility Metagross set a try. With Agility, Metagross can wipe out a big chunk of the meta with its vast array of Physical moves, also, it benefits greatly from Dual Screens, making it a deadly setup sweeper. Another change that I can suggest is that you could try Substitute over Thunderbolt on Jolteon. It may seem a bit odd at first, but it really helps you avoid status inflicting moves and it has an easier time sweeping when behind screens, which benefit it greatly. Well, that's all I have to say for this team, I hope my suggestions have helped. Have fun and good luck with your team!

Metagross

Metagross @ Air Balloon
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Agility
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

~Dr Ciel~

Thanks for the rate Dr. Ciel. Appreciate it. The agiligross was a great idea. It's been doing really well in battles. I do miss the pursuit sometimes though. This set leaves Metagross really open to paralysis but with some prediction and Jolteon, I should be able to work it out.

And I was really hesitant to using sub on Jolteon but it's been working out great. Namely, I've been able to severely dent ferrothorns in the rain after I set up a sub as they spikes/leech seed. The best part is that nobody expects it.

For the other raters, thanks for the input. I'll be sure to get back to you once I have tested out some of your suggestions.

 

[LordPenguinFan]

Hey,

Cool Team LordPenguinFan, I like the use of Virizion here. I thought a major weakness was Gastrodon, as besides Virizion none of your team like him at all. He resist's Metagross STAB's as well as being immune to Gyarados's and Jolteons STAB's he can pretty much wall all of your offensive pokemon. Virizion is your only means to hit it hard, and Politoed can try toxic it but Gastrodon will not stay in on Virizion, and Politoed could very well find itself getting Toxic'd itself leaving you a lot more prone to losing the weather war.

First off, your Jolteon set has a lot of potential, but some improvments could be made to your set. First off, Thunderbolt is a very redundant move on Jolteon considering you have the more powerful Thunder to use instead. Try out Volt Switch > Thunderbolt to help get the momentum to your favor and get switch ins for your team mates. You should also test Choice Specs > Life Orb as the 20% increase in power is really noticeable, and Life Orb leaves Jolteon very vulnerable to being revenge killed with residual damage and Life Orb recoil adding up very quickly. Although specs does mean free switch ins if you mispredict so be wary.

Looking at your team, you don't have any real set up sweepers that can abuse the dual screens that Virizion provides. Sure it helps you take hits better, but the purpose of the screens is to aid in a set up that can be harder to stop with the improved bulk of the said set up sweeper. So to give your team the sweeper it so desires, I definitely recommend changing your Gyarados set to a Substitute + Dragon Dance set. This Gyarados is very hard to stop with the support of Dual screens as it can comfortably set up Substitutes and from there boost up without the threat of status. It can be very hard to stop as rain boost's its STAB to monstorus levels and even the gold standards of Physical walls such as Skarmory and Ferrothorn will have trouble getting past his very powerful dual STAB options. Not to mention his intimidate can cause a lot of physical pokemon to become set up opportunities outside of screens too

GL with the team

Hide

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SpA)
Trait: Intimidate
EV's: 56HP/ 248Atk/ 204Spe
Substitute/ Dragon Dance/ Waterfall/ Bounce

Thanks for the rate Asek. So I got around to trying out some of your suggestions. The Sub Dragon Dance set is nice but then I find that I'm swept by a LO/Expert Belt Starmie. Since I can't outspeed without a boost, I can't come in on a predicted surf/hydro pump after stamie has taken some previous damage and knock it out with an EQ. Also I opted for sub over Volt Switch meaning that I can't run Choice Specs. Thanks for the rate though.

 

[doughboy]

Loved the RMT! Electric (Jolteon)+ CB Metagross is one of my favorite offensive cores in the metagame and is very underrated.

Anyway looking at your team, it is pretty apparent that Virizion is the weakest link to your team. Without any real set up sweepers you have no real way to take advantage of it. Thus, Virizion is the poke most susceptible to go. Second, you keep talking about your team's lack of fire moves to take on steels. Well on rain teams you replace Fire moves with extremely powerful Water-STAB and fighting moves.

Other people have noted your weakness to Gastrodon, one of the key stops to rain teams. However I would also note that you have a pretty large weakness to Ferrothorn as well. Your best bet against Ferrothorn is to lure it in with a CB Hammer Arm. This can occur, but if you find that Metagross goes down you will be in a load of trouble. Also this would put you in the situation where if you would come in onto Ferrothorn with Metagross, it would surely arose suspicion of being hit hard making it switch out. To remedy both of these, I am going to reccomend SubSeed Breloom with Sp. Def investment over Virizion. Sp. Def Poison Heal Breloom gives you a decent switch in to opposing bulky-water types as well as Ferrothorn. Having a switch in to Jellicent is great because you will find youself doing it a lot if you mispredict with Rapid Spin. Spore will give your team a big advantage and will put the opposing team under a lot of pressure to decide what is more important to check on your team. Lastly, Focus Punch will add another "power hitter on" your team to break down opposing teams as well as take on steels (especially Skarmory) who you say you have problems with.

Breloom (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 56 Atk / 216 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Focus Punch
- Leech Seed
- Spore
- Substitute

Lastly on Donphan, I would suggest Ice Shard with 96 Atk EV's taken out of defense. This will give you a lot more insurance against Dragons and Landorus. Having a Scarfer and pretty powerful priority already in CB Metagross' Bullet Punch means you have ways with dealing with boosted threats that don't require you to sacrifice the health of your spinner. Ice Shard also means Metagross doesn't exclusively have to deal with Dragon hits or sacrificing the health of your Politoed who could be in a weather war. Good luck.