XY UU Kabutops rain sweep

Murogrim

Murogrim

So I decided that OU was boring and that I never wanted to see Talonflame ever again.
Swapped to UU, decided to run a kabutops rain team, but im having some issues, specifically, sharpedo crobat, and jellicent.


Bronzong @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rain Dance
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Bronzong won out over sableeye for two reasons. One, you can't ohko the guy, it just doesn't happen. Two, he has access to rocks, and three, I never liked him. Problem is, he has no method of healing, granted he rarely takes hits. He also blocks toxic stall teams, which is nice.

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Swords Dance
- Low Kick
- Rock Slide

The ringer, with swift swim, you don't outspeed him, and he hits hard, real hard. Low kick is for snorlax because I see him as much as I saw talonflame in OU, Waterfall is solid stab and Rockslide misses less than Stone Edge.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Psychic

I needed a spinner, First thought was blastoise, but I wanted Diversity, and a way to deal with Hydreigon and other toxicroaks, so I went with starmie. I run into the same issue of it just getting knocked around by too many things though.

Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch

The underrated threat. Apparantly people forgot how scary this guy is, because I've run into plenty of people who just let me set up, and then drop their entire team with drain punch. Major threats are starmie and alakazam, who just obliterate him, the latter because some people are still smart enough to sash alakazam. Crobat is also a problem.

Galvantula @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Volt Switch
- Sticky Web
Stickyweb has won me so many battles its hard to get away from, and I wanted something to take out the slew of dark types as well as water types, Galvantula fits the bill pretty well, as he's difficult to outspeed and has a very accurate thunder.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Roost

I picked Hydregion as coverage, he was sort of a random last minute idea and hes done well so far. Draco meteor is for Amphy, fireblast for (insert grass type here) and dark pulse for slowbro and any other annoying stall pokemon that the rest of my team can't bring down too quickly.

I just feel like I really lack wallbreakers here, and that my coverage falls short, so Im wondering if maybe im missing something, maybe I should swap Bronzong for Sableeye, or switch up something else. I am not sure. the Theme is rain, and I'd like to stick by that.
 
Not a bad team, but really seems to struggle against toxicroak- bronzong cant touch it, kabutops gets ohkod by drain punch, galvantula cant switch in due to being ohkod by gunk shot, starmie cant touch it due to sucker punch being a ohko, and hydreigon doesn't want to switch into a drain punch due to ohko. it also benefits from the rain that you are trying to set up :p

My first thought on this issue is- do you actually need a spinner? Your team has two rain abusers and a single rain setter, and no pokemon with stealth rock weakness. Once either bronzong or kabutops goes, your main strategy is gone. What I think would benefit your team to start with is to add in a secondary abuser of rain which works well with kabutops, and give it rain dance so you have 2 setters and 2 abusers. I would suggest swapping out starmie for something else that sets up rain dance.

tornadus.gif

Tornadus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hurricane / Air Slash
- Knock Off
- Grass Knot

So this Tornadus can lead and set up rain dance with help from prankster (allowing you to set up in situations where they lead with a priority taunt pokemon since tornadus outspeeds them all), as well as ohkoing toxicroak with air slash. You also have grass knot here to deal with water types that Kabutops might not want to deal with as well as destroy leads like donphan or hippowdon, although I'm not entirely sure what the best rain dance tornadus set would be this generation.
You also have the option of tornadus-t which would be even better, but will very likely be banned again from the tier soon.

Lastly, I wonder if sticky web Galvantula is the best thing to have on a rain dance team. Its true that he can use thunder both inside and outside of rain as well as offering helpful electric type coverage but you could be setting up another hazard such as stealth rock which helps kabutops sweep, or using a more powerful electric type considering that sticky web has pretty redundant purpose paired with rain dance. You have the option of trying out heliolisk who has both dry skin and surf (and could be another rain setter), as well as scarfed rotom-m or even mega ampharos. If Crobat is a problem for your team, you could even consider jolteon who speed ties with it, and can absorb electric moves aimed at the rest of your team.
 
Thanks for the response, any suggestions other than jolteon? my issue with him is that his movepool is absolutely terrible. Also, any tips for sharpedo? I mean, I guess jolteon is a good answer to that too.
 
I would think your toxicroak deals with it pretty well? It can come in on water type attacks, dark type attacks and also ice beam, and even sucker punch chunks sharpedo for 35%. Drain punch is an easy ohko for you too. Kabutops can avoid the ohko from everything and ohko back with stone edge or even waterfall in rain after sharpedo takes a round of life orb damage, plus in rain kabutops is outspeeding it even when sharpedo is at +1 speed. I think your team is pretty fine to deal with sharpedo especially with starmie not in it.
 
it cant outspeed him, and if hes running earthquake i die, and it happens. But jolteon does outspeed him, so im not too worried about it.
 
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Welcome to UU! Nice team as well! Just a few points...
1. Sableye is definitely a better option than bronzong 100%. Knock off is very much around and you have dedicated pokes like mew with taunt and knock off that screw bronzong everytime. Sableye can run damp rock and has instant recovery. Also, it can WoW physical threats not named darmanitan and victini, who are neutered by rain dance and knock off.
2. Stone edge is definitely preferred over rock slide. The extra power is needed, despite the accuracy. Personally i like aqua jet over low kick for utility outside of rain to check shao, tini and darm to name a few pokes once youre boosted.
3. You definitely need another rain setter and take tornadus i is a great option over starmie or galvantula as somebody pointed out before.hurricane and grass knot demolish the pokes that wall kabutops.
4. Adamant and life orb over jolly and black sludge on toxicroak. Ypu have rain and drain punch. LO and adamant gives you a good chance to cleanly ohko slowbro with gunk shot on the switch after youve boosted with some previous damage.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 328-386 (83.2 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

5. I really hate switching teams too much, but if youre looking for a wallbreaker spot. Galvantula is probably the one to switch out. Specs kingdra or critdra or dd kingdra with iron head fit here perfectly. Im just saying...
6. the only other suggestion i would have is maybe scarf hydra over your current set. It can rk pokes like darm, heracross and nidoking with little ease and it can provide great momentum with u turn to switch to one of your sweepers.
 
I'll try dropping bronzong for Sableeye then, already swapped starmie and galv out for jolteon and tornadus and it made a world of difference. Stone edge, while i hate it because it misses for me more than hydro pump, has proven to be much better as well. Will try scarfing hydra, but ill hold off on kingdra for now, as jolteon is doing well.

Thanks for the help!
 
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