Mr. T Pities the Foo who don't use Raikou (An OU RMT)

[Radio]

Intro: Hey everyone . After seeing a couple more Raikous on Shoddy and how good they can be, I decided to build a team around SubCM Raikou. In limited matches thus far I've yet to lose, but that's not a very good indicator of how good the team is as its only a few matches. Anyway, I think its a pretty good team with a few problems I don't know how to fix. This team is heavily special based with 4 out of 6 Pokemon using special attacks. Thus far though it hasn't been too much of a problem as I have ways of dealing with the most common special walls - Blissey, Latias, Snorlax, etc. Well, now on to the team.

At a Glance:

Changes will be in Red.

Testing:
ResTalk Machamp over Scizor
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Gliscor @ Leftovers

Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/32 Def/224 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
• Taunt
• Stealth Rock
• Earthquake
• U-turn
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Comments:
Gliscor has exceptional speed so he can taunt quite a bit of the common leads such as Metagross, Swampert, etc. Stealth Rock is always a great move, breaks sashes, etc. you know how it works. Earthquake is a good strong move it can 2HKO Lead Metagross occasionaly which is always helpful. U-turn helps Gliscor get out of tight situations and can also hit an incoming Starmie for good damage as they are a very common switch-in to Gliscor.

EVs:
Max HP for good durability. 224 Spd Evs with a +Spd nature outruns all Lucario and 176 Spd +nature Jirachi. Leftover EVs are placed in Def.

Starmie @ Life Orb

Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
• Hydro Pump
• Thunderbolt
• Rapid Spin
• Ice Beam
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Comments:
This is an offensive Rapid Spin Starmie, the set was suggested to me by a friend and it has performed very well. STAB Hydro Pump and Life Orb is sure to put a dent into just about anything and lets Starmie be an excellent check to Infernape. Thunderbolt hits Gyarados and other fliers for super effective damage. Rapid Spin to spin away those pesky Stealth Rock, Spikes, & Toxic Spikes which can especially hamper Raikou's late game sweep. Ice Beam in the last slot for coverage.

EVs:
EVs are simple, Max SAtk and Spd to deal the most damage and to tie with other base 115's.

Scizor @ Choice Band

Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
• Bullet Punch
• U-turn
• Pursuit
• Superpower
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Comments:
Choice Band Scizor is an extremely good revenge killer / powerhouse. Bullet Punch gets STAB, a Technician boost, and Priority, making it a great move on Scizor. U-turn can be used to scout for opposing Magnezones, or just to scout in general. Superpower is to hit Blissey & other things that are weak to it. Pursuit is also a really helpful move, trapping and killing certain Pokemon like Latias, Gengar, Celebi, etc.

EVs:
The Evs are pretty standard here. Max Atk for maximum killing potential, 248 HP for bulk and allows minimal damage taken from Stealth Rock, and seeing how being slower than opposing Scizor can aid in scouting I decided to run no Spd EVs. The slower Scizor also wins in a 1v1 Matchup if both use Superpower.

Latias @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
• Draco Meteor
• Surf
• Thunderbolt
• Trick
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Comments:
Trick Scarf Latias is my main revenge killer, a very good one at that. Draco Meteor is a great STAB move and deals huge amounts of damage. Surf can be used to KO Infernape, Heatran, etc. and is also a 2HKO on Scizor I believe. Thunderbolt is to cover mainly Gyarados as Latias with Choice Scarf can outrun many Gyarados after a Dragon Dance and 1HKO with Thunderbolt. Trick is used in the last slot and is extremely helpful. Trick allows me to cripple things such as Blissey who come in expecting to absorb one of Latias attacks, and basically makes Blissey useless for the end of the match. Trick can also be helpful against set-up sweepers as I can lock them into a stat boosting move, forcing them out, and also limiting their use.

EVs:
EVs are once again simple, 252 SAtk and 252 Spd for the same reasons as Starmie.

Heatran @ Expert Belt

Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 56 HP/200 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
• Substitute
• Fire Blast
• Earth Power
• Hidden Power [Grass]
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Comments:
This is kind of a weird SubTran that I made. The purpose of this guy is to act as a lure to some of Raikou's counters and KO / Cripple them. Substitute is great as it gives me a free attack if the opponent switches. Fire Blast is basic STAB and the likes. Earth Power allows me to hit other Heatran and just provides good coverage overall. Since Heatran is good at luring out Swampert, I decided to go with Hidden Power [Grass], with the Expert Belt its a guaranteed OHKO on Swampert which is nice for Raikou, seeing how Swampert is one of his biggest counters. Expert Belt also allows me to bluff a choice item and can get me some surprise KO's once in a while. So, with all that said, this thing has been working out great and has been doing its job very well often clearing the way for Raikou.

EVs:
Max SAtk for the damage and also to guarantee I can OHKO Swampert with HP [Grass] and Expert Belt. 200 Spd EVs with a +Spd nature outruns max Spd Jolly Breloom & others below it such as Scizor. The rest of the EVs are put into HP for a little survivability.

Raikou @ Leftovers

Ability: Pressure
EVs: 188 HP/252 Spd/68 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
• Substitute
• Calm Mind
• Thunderbolt
• Hidden Power [Ice]
---
Comments:
Here he is, the star of the show, SubCM Raikou. This thing should be used way more in my opinion. After you eliminate his counters he can absolutely tear through a team. Substitute allows Raikou a free turn of setup and also protects him against status. Calm Mind boosts his already good SAtk and SDef, allowing Raikou to sweep, blah, blah, blah. Thunderbolt is Raikou's main form of attacking and hits quite a bit of things, and after a few CMs its awesome. HP [Ice] completes a pseudo BoltBeam combo and gives Raikou nice coverage along side Thunderbolt and takes out Grass types, Dragons, Fliers immune to Thunderbolt.

EVs:
252 and a +Spd nature allows Raikou to outrun quite a bit of threats and lets him speed tie with other base 115's. For the rest of the EVs I know I wanted some nice bulk so I went iwith 188 HP EVs which hits a leftovers number for Raikou and the rest were put into SAtk to boost up his power a bit.

Well thats the team, Rates appreciated.

 

[Puffern]

Hi 36chambers ^_^ (You told me this team in our random battle.)

I don't really have the time right now to look at your team in Depth, but it looks like your team is extremely weak to Offensive Gyarados running Ice Fang and Earthquake. If you already tricked your scarf onto something, Gyarados can come in on Scizor, get a Dragon Dance up and sweep your entire team.

Earthquake vs Your Starmie:
99.62% - 117.18%

Ice Fang vs. Your Latias
107.62% - 126.82%

Your Latias can check offensive Gyarados, but if it is dead for some reason, or already tricked its scarf onto something, you can't stop it. I'm sorry, but I can't think of how to change something to fix it at the moment.

 

[xWOLFYx]

Do you actually get to use Recover on Starmie often? I find that Ice Beam is more useful in that slot as Grass pokes and Latias will both resist Water / Electric and in today's hard hitting metagame, it seems that you're better off just firing off attacks and having better coverage than staying in to Recover while the opponent gets in a free switch. Especially with no HP / Def EVs and Life Orb recoil, I just don't see this Starmie getting off too many Recovers but maybe you've had better luck. Also losing 10% of your health on a Rapid Spin always sucks. :p Have you tried Expert Belt on the Starmie?

 

[macle]

Rapid spin is a waste on Starmie for your team. No pokemon is sr weak and only raikou is not immune to toxic spikes. Ice Beam would be better on it since it can help deal with dragons.

Next 4 of your pokemon is walled by Blissey with Scizor and Gliscor being a bad switch in if Blissey has flamethrower and ice beam. Scizor seems to not be helping your team out a ton since latias does the revenge killing. Changing Scizor to a tyranitar seems like a good choice. The Boah set will work since you can break walls with it can still beat latias.

 

[Radio]

Hey,

@Puffern: Thanks for pointing at the Gyarados weak, I havn't really faced too many and usually always had Latias w/ her scarf still. I'll probably be more cautious about Trick and try and see if I can lure out Gyarados maybe a bit earlier in the battle with Scizor.

@Wolfy: I've used Recover a fair bit, but I'll test out Ice Beam as like you said, I run no HP / Def EVs so Starmie is frail. The only times I've been able to use Recover is say against a non-stab weak attack I switched into or similar. Ice beam could also help with Latias like you said as if Scizor goes down Latias can become a problem. I've only gotten to use Rapid Spin a couple times as I don't see Stealth Rock hindering Raikou nearly as much as Spikes / Toxic Spikes so I usually don't bother. When I start using it more I'll definitely test out Expert Belt.

@Macle: Your right, Scizor isnt doing too much and Boah does sound like a good fit, but I'm hesitant because of sandstorm. Leftovers recovery is very helpful on Raikou when I'm setting up and I'd rather not lose that. Tyranitar would also give me 3 ground weaknesses which is no good with Earthquake being the most popular move. Any other wallbreakers you would suggest?

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

EDIT: Just saw Macle's post.

 

[XxJohny2haixX]

For your lead, if the "Swampert" does decide to attack with say, Ice Beam, or Hydro Pump, then your lead would be KOed, with nothing done. But having lead down Stealth Rock.