My 5th Gen Rain Team (I am new here)

Jarvan

Hi, this is my first post on this forum and my first slight competitive team. I've been a casual player, and still learning. This is the first team that I've had some success with, but I feel like it can still be improved. I am still slowly learning about competitive battling so any advice would be appreciated.

Galitroll (Deoxys-D) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Magic Coat

Deoxys-D is usually my lead, to taunt slower pokemons setting up and then lay my own or to magic coat faster taunters. However, if I see Xatus or Espeon I lead with Politoed. Deoxys is often used to suicide lead to get up as many hazards as possible. However, if I see any spinners, I start with either Toad or Zapdos depending on their team comp due to the fact that I have no blocker. ( Used to have Dusknoir as the blocker, but replaced with Haxorus, will be explained later )

KogMaw (Politoed) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hydro Pump

This is one of the core pokemon of this team. As you can probably guessed, this is used to set up eternal Rain. I go with choice scarf so it has some offensive power if I decide to lead with it.

Trollporeon (Vaporeon) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 188 HP / 220 Def / 100 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Scald
- Toxic
- Roar

This Vaporeon trolls all day. It is one of the MVP of my team, along side Politoed. With the ability to Phaze and Toxic and Scald, along side with Hydration Rest, its staying power is amazing and often annoys the crap outta my opponent.

TheFkIsThis (Haxorus) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Dual Chop

This Haxorus acts as a late game sweeper as well as Dragonite counter on my team, which I found DD nite was wrecking me. So often I find my Toad locked into a move while Dragonite sets up a DD. I am forced to switch into Vaporeon when that happens, and if he DD's again then lucky me as I would Phaze it out, but if Dnite goes for the outrage Vaporeon is usually OHKO'd. Back when I had Dusknoir, there was nothing my team could do against +1 Dnite, as most of them usually carry Lum Berry nowadays, Will-O-Wisp does nothing to stop that Dnite. Which I then decided to switch Dusknoir for Haxorus. With choice scarf, Haxorus is able to outspeed +1 Dnite, and thanks to Mold Breaker rendering Multiscale useless, I can OHKO it with Dual Chop.

Tornadus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Grass Knot
- Focus Blast
- Hurricane
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Tornadus is somewhat a filler Pokemon on this team. I chose Tornadus because of its STAB Hurricane hitting 100% in the Rain and its ability to dent Dratgons with HP Ice. Grass Knot is used for Bulky Water like Swampert and Gastadon. Focus Blast for Steel pokemons.

Huehuehuehah (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Roost
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Heat Wave

Zapdos is an awesome member which I feel like its close to a core on this team. Thunder hits 100% in Rain, and with full SP Atk EV, Zapdos dents alot of stuff with Thunder. Hidden Power Ice is for those pesky Flying types and Dragon types. Now, Heat Wave might look out of place on a rain team because of losing 50% damage, but with this EV spread, it can 2-3 hit Ferrothorn and 1-2 hit Scizors in the rain. And it was important for me to find a check to Ferrothorn as it was walling my Vaporeon hard.

So yeah, any advices on how to improve this team will be greatly appreciated.
 
Hey

Welcome to Smogon, and cool team man. Although Choice Specs Latios seems to be the biggest threat to this team. It has the ability to tear apart teams lacking a steel-typing mon, which could result in your one mon to faint everytime it switches in. I would recommend running Specially Defensive Jirachi instead of Zapdos. Zapdos clearly isn't doing much for you at the moment except for increasing your potential weaknessess. While Jirachi performs almost the similar role as Zapdos, abusing Thunder efficiently under Rain. It shuts down mons like Hydregion, Latios, Latias, Celebi, Reuniclus which are all threatening to face. This set utilizes Jirachi's access to multiple support moves and superb defensive typing, given Jirachi has just one weakness and a huge number of resistances under rain, most importantly against Dragon-type moves. With investment in HP and Special Defense, Jirachi can cushion various special attacks with ease, while providing all-round support with paralysis and a 202 HP Wish. Specially Defensive Jirachi can sponge nearly all neutral or resisted hits below this specific attack, one of the most threatening in OU. Jirachi's high HP stat means that it can pass very big Wishes to rest of it's teammates and keep them healthy. Jirachi is unique when compared to other paralysis-inducers thanks to its ability, Serene Grace, alongside Thunder and Iron Head. With Thunder Jirachi could easily paralyze an entire team, which basically opens up opportunities for your Tornados. Serene Grace doubles Thunder's chance to paralyze to a reasonably consistent 60%, allowing Jirachi to paralyze a threat most of the time thanks to its great bulk. Another trait that Jirachi has over other support Pokemon is Iron Head; this move is complementary with paralysis and Serene Grace, as Jirachi can slowly chip away at an opponent, weakening it for another Pokemon to KO. Iron Head may also allow Jirachi a free turn for Wish healing, provided the opponent flinches. Protect provides Jirachi with a way to scout for incoming attacks, and allows it to heal safely after using Wish. U-turn is an other viable option used over Protect to decimate Psychic-type mons especially Celebi. Jirachi can also easily defeat both Trick Room and Calm Mind Reuniclus's who could be really problematic with proper support.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 20 SAtk / 236 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Thunder
- Iron Head
- Wish
- U-turn / Protect
Now your team gets slaughtered by Electric-Type moves. To fix this issue a ground type mon is essential. You also lack Rapid Spin support, thus Claydol or Donphan are the most appropriate candidates since they both pack Stealth Rocks. Claydol seems like the perfect replacement for Deoxys-D. Thanks to its high defensive stats, Claydol can effectively support its teammates with both Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. It gives you insurance against Terrakion which can literally shit on your team. Earthquake is a nice STAB move for Claydol to use, if attacking is needed, providing good and consistent power. Ice Beam is mostly used for coverage, hitting Grass, Ground and Dragon types harder than Earthquake, as well as hitting Flying-types. Claydol serves almost the similar role as Deoxys-D but better except for not laying Spikes and Taunting opposing mons. Entry Hazards can easily wear you down if you don't play it smart and in order for your Tornados to sweep properly spinning them away is a must. Claydol's natural immunity to Toxic Spikes comes in handy where Donphan fails to qualify. It takes less damage from the hazards itself making its survivability longer paired with Jirachi's wish. Overall solid team, Good Luck!

Claydol @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
 
Jarvan, your team is perplexing, because you have various elements of playstyles merged in this team. You have an offensive playstyle with your Deoxys-D and offensive mons, but then you have Scarfers and a bulky Vaporeon seen in balanced teams, thereby losing the offensive pressure. I believe it is an easier fix to make this an offensive team versus a bulky balanced team, so my suggestion would be taking an offensive approach.

First, lose Politoed's Scarf. You already have a revenge killer in Haxorus, and having many scarfers can provide too many opportunities for the opponent to set up their Sweepers or entry hazards. I prefer a non-choiced utility Politoed that can facilitate the sweep of your offensive mons:

KogMaw (Politoed) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hypnosis
- Encore

Hypnosis & Encore are both great moves to disrupt an opponent's set-up and allow free switch-ins to your hard-hitters. Ice Beam prevents Dragonite / Haxorus from setting up on Politoed without any consequences
Secondly, Deoxys-D's main trouble is Starmie and Tentacruel spinning away its hazards. Rotom-W is the best way to punish Starmie and Tentacruel for removing hazards. Rotom-W earns a free switch-in while they Rapid Spin, you could then Volt Switch on them to gain offensive momentum. Although you lose your hazards, you are still in a favorable position this way. Rotom-W can also lure and destroy Gastrodon, which will facilitate a sweep from your other sweepers. With Rain-boosted Hydro Pumps and perfect accuracy Thunders, Rotom-W itself can clean floors for the team.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 140 SAtk / 116 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Rain-boosted Hydro Pump from Rotom-W would hurt. Thunder is there to finish off mons like Gyarados, Tentacruel, and Politoed, who may decide to stay in to throw in another attack. With its current SAtk investment, Rotom-W 2HKOs Gastrodon w/ Rocks, doing 50% min. The rest of its EVs are invested into its special bulk to absorb HPumps and +1 Bug Buzz from Volcarona
I am gonna suggest trying out Jolteon over Zapdos's spot. This substitution achieves 2 things. It provides the team useful Speed to not only enhance its sweep, but to revenge kill important threats, such as Starmie, Tornadus, +1 Adamant DDNite, and +1 Adamant Gyarados. It also provides this team with a nifty Electric immunity, which originally plagued this team. With Jolteon, you get to keep Zapdos's Electric special offense while receiveing many perks. I have 2 sets you can try out:

Jolteon (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Fake Tears
- Volt Switch / Shadow Ball

OR

Jolteon (F) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Charge Beam
- Baton Pass

Both Jolteon does a good job at abusing entry hazards by forcing switches with Fake Tears and Baton Pass, respectively. The difference between the two sets is Fake Tears vs Charge Beam. Fake Tears provides immediate -2 Special Defense drop, allowing to inflict heavy damages much more quickly. Not many mons can survive a hit from LO Jolteon, and with Fake Tears even the specially defensive mons would quickly fall to Jolteon's assults.

Unlike Fake Tears, the boost of Charge Beam is kept even after a switch or a kill, often allowing for a snowball sweep. However, it only raises Jolteon's SpA by one stage, so it will be much tougher to break Special walls. Life Orb should not be used on this Jolteon, since losing 10% for Charge Beam would be a waste of health. Expert Belt provides Jolteon just enough power to OHKO Gliscor and Dragonite (w/ MutiScale broken) with HP Ice. Being able to Baton Pass its special attack boosts to Rotom-W / Tornadus / Politoed is another major benefit to consider.
Although Jolteon can outrun and knock out +1 Dragonite and Gyarados, it cannot do the same with +1 Salamence / +1 Haxorus. Your own Scarf Haxorus is also a shaky check to opposing +1 Haxorus, risking a speed tie. Scarf Haxorus also compounds your problem of being walled by Ferrothorn. I suggest SD Scizor to help you revenge kill those Dragons, as well as providing you with a Sweeper that can set up and remove Ferrothorn from the picture.

Scizor (F) @ Metal Coat
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
- Superpower

Metal Coat provides Bullet Punch with an additional 20% revenge-killing power. U-turn allows Scizor to rack up further hazards damage by countering their switch-in to Scizor, forcing the counter out. It's a good way to wear down the opposing team and maintain a favorable match-up until it can sweep with SD.

Summary:
~ Lose Scarf on Politoed, and provide it some utility moves
~ Rotom-W > Vaporeon
~ Jolteon > Zapdos
~ SD Scizor > Scarf Haxorus

Hopefully these changes will make this team work more cohesively. Feel free to give input on my rates if you try out my suggestions.
 
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