SS OU My First Team And Its A Rain Team

[xdarxy]

Aight so the first Pokémon on the rain team is the set up. I am gonna run a politoad with drizzle and some coverage with focus blast and psychic and stab water move with scald and hydro pump for the rng spray and pray. You can switch him in every time your rain runs out and I have heavy duty boots on him so he won't be taking and damage from entry hazards. The other set I am running is the damp rock set this is were you send out politoad first and set up rain dance its basically same set but the item is damp rock, the ability is water absorb rather than drizzle and the move hydro pump is switched out for rain dance.

Rare Pepe (Politoed) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drizzle
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Def / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
Or
Rare Pepe (Politoed) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Water Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Def / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Scald
- Psychic
- Focus Blast

The second mon is gonna be a barraskewda. He is running swift swim and a choice band. He is a fast sweeper who is enabled by politoed rain. I am running poison jab for coverage on grass and also for the pesky fairy types like tapu koko. I also am running liquidation for that physical stab with a deadly choice band. Also I put flip turn for those bad match ups and close combat for those annoying rock and steel tanks like melmetal.

Swifty Skew (Barraskewda) @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flip Turn
- Liquidation
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab

Next is hydration Goodra. This thing is a beast. So basically hydration makes it so Goodra immediately heals all status conditions from Goodra when it is in the rain. Basically it is running coverage with life orb for the extra damage and whenever its low just use rest and immediately get up to full health. I am running Draco meteor for that insane stab damage with life orb and hydro pump cause it will be boosted in the rain. Fire blast for coverage and finally rest for the full recovery. I would suggest switching out into politoad and setting up rain whenever rain runs out cause Goodra relies on the rain in this set.

Doomdra (Goodra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Hydration
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 44 HP / 200 Def / 252 SpA / 12 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Rest
- Hydro Pump
- Fire Blast

We also got us a Toxapex for those dangerous mons that you don't know what to do. It is also set up for toxic spikes and can toxic stall pretty well with regenerator for the ability and recover as one of its moves. We also got surf cause of stab and rain dance buff (I would have used scald but it can burn the target and I only wanna poison the target so I can stall). Finally I wanted to run sludge bomb for that boosted stab and for the 30% chance to poison. It is a toxic stall and can set up toxic spikes with regenerator and recover for the extra cheese.

Neurotoxin (Toxapex) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Def / 152 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
- Surf
- Sludge Bomb

I also decided to add Ferrothorn for those entry hazards and for a suicide lead. He can dish out as many spikes and stealth rocks as possible and if possible use a body press or curse up to boost that body press. I have rocky helmet and iron barbs to do major damage to any physical fire types like Cinderace or even a Conkerldur. I would usually use him for my first mon or use him to predict a toxic but I don't really intend for him to survive the first five turns.

Thornios (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Curse
- Body Press

The final mon is gonna be Excadrill. I really am not sure about him but decided to add him any way for a hazard removal and coverage for any electric mons that might try to get my water mons. He is a heavy hitter and pretty fast to. He really doesn't synergize with the team and I don't really know about him. I am running earthquake and iron head for stab and rapid spin for the hazard removal. Also swords dance to boost those stab moves. I put kings rock for the cheese potential.

Staar Nose (Excadrill) @ King's Rock
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

My pokepaste is https://pokepast.es/d181c6e1947052a7

Please post any suggestions to help improve my team in the comments

 

[greenandgrey77]

Suggestions:
1. Pelipper is a better rain setter than politoad. So I think you should run pelipper with scald, defog, u turn and roost. Scald for STAB and it's burn chance, defog to remove entry hazards, u turn for some momentum and to get your barraskewda in safely, and roost for recovery.
2. I don't think you should run goodra with fire blast. Since it's a rain team, fire blasts damage will get weakened in the rain.
3. Give scald and haze to toxapex instead of surf and sludge bomb. Also give it black sludge instead of leftovers so it can do some damage if the black sludge gets tricked.
4. Don't use ferrothorn as a suicide lead. Ferrothorn with rocky helmet and iron barbs can help wear downo pokemon that barraskewda and other pokemon on your team don't appreciate

Also, king's rock doesn't stack with moves that can already flinch.

 

[xdarxy]

I think ima add Pelipper and ima change fire blast with thunder and add haze to Toxapex but I don't know about scald Toxapex cause I wanna only have poison on the opponent. Thank you for the help POG U

 

[Smashburn]

As someone who basicaly always plays weather for fun in the OU, I have some immediate changes that come to mind when seeing this team.

1. Politoed is far outclassed by Pelipper, who's coverage, longevity, typing, and momentum make it a very good utility in the OU. Run that instead, don't forget it should have Defog, U-Turn, Roost, Scald given the changes for Pex.

2. Goodra is another mon who is far outclassed by another superior mon, typically Kyurem. However, this team doesn't need a dragon type and for that matter most Rain teams to begin with don't even think of it in the first place, unless it is Garchomp, who acts as a rock and electric resist.

3. Ferrothorn should never be ran 252 SpD or 252 Def, it should always be ran mixed at 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD. This allows it to perform its job as a tank without you needing to wastefully pick another mon for the SpD tank role in the team, like you have with Goodra. To add, in rain teams, typically I use speed control Ferro because everything hates running into it, and it allows for more setup on threats like Heatran that try to predict Toxic for a switch, also very nice for dealing with Magearna that stay in on it. Of course, this effects its longevity against Stall in the end because you rely on Leech Seed which they can PP stall you out of, but in literally every other MU this thing is a beast. I typically use Twave, Leech Seed, Power Whip/Gyro Ball, and Spikes, however Spikes is only if you have a Rocks setter in the team. If you won't have another mon for Rocks, you will use Rocks on Ferro. If you do run Gyro Ball, don't forget to make its nature Sassy 0 Spe IVs.

4. Toxapex is definitely NOT intended for offensive purposes. Its Atk and SpA stats suck, not even to mention that everything Toxapex is used for is Utility. To add to the last commenter's idea, Pex is used with Scald, Toxic, Recover, and Knock Off for a reason. Scald is to burn incoming offensive mons, and add a small bit of damage to poison, it also allows for a potential chance to chip away at steel and poison types who are immune to its Toxic. Toxic is... Toxic, it speaks for itself. Recover is to shrug off hits it takes, in a team like this it definitely needs that because typically you will have to scout moves a lot since it is risky moving with so many core mons like Pel, Barra, and Ferrothorn. Lastly, Knock Off *AKA arguably the most powerful move in any tier by utility* is an essential to any team. Being able to shut down your opponents mons just with one Knock Off is a very powerful thing, especially when the mon that's doing it can also fill in for status, recovery, and does a great job at keeping offensive mons out.

Pex should also be running 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD, not 104 HP / 252 Def / 152 SpD, I am not totally sure where this set comes from but generally unless it is used in a niche utility for a specific team, it just doesn't work in terms of team-roundness. Also, never Leftovers on Pex, it uses Black Sludge or Rocky Helmet ONLY. The reason for not using Leftover is because if a Switcheroo/Trick mon wants to set up on it, it can take the Leftovers for free recovery, Black Sludge is a polite switch that says **** you to Switcheroo/Trick, and whittles down opponents. Probably my favorite item for Pex given this team, it really hates Scarf / Specs Trick mons like Magearna. You also need to be aware that you aren't switching every time, because Magearna is more likely to Volt Switch or predict Garchomp and use Fleur Cannon than it is to use Trick, typically.

To add to this, I saw some comment about Haze. To sum it up, Haze over one of your moves is typically better.

5. Barra should be running either Poison Jab or Close Combat, not both. Although niche to a degree, Aqua Jet helps in quite numerous ways and can be a way to out-do some less common mons or in general pick up a KO in a very low mon that you want to revenge kill or just pivoted into.

Your set should be Flip Turn, Liquidation, Close Combat/Poison Jab/Psychic Fangs, Aqua Jet. I don't think I should have to explain the choice here, but I probably should. Typically, CC is better for taking out predictive mons like Ferro that hurt Barra, and in general smashes mons like Blissey without Rain for an OHKO. In general, it can also acts as a nice Neutral hit for incoming mons unless you see something like Pex, in which case it is usually better to just predicatively switch out. In your team you have Pex and Ferro, so really, Poison Jab doesn't really even need to be considered. Liquidation hits considerably harder than PJab does on any occation under rain, and typically that's the only time Barra is brought out other than to revenge kill, but again, another situation where Close Combat is much better. Psy Fangs is another thing I shouldn't have to explain, but it's to hit Pex that try to switch into it, and to clear screens, however, you will have a defogger in this team so that makes no sense. Go Close Combat.

So far I have the team changed to Pex, Ferro, Barra, Pel, and Garchomp. The last place is up to you, but it does lead me into my next point.

6. Excadrill is absolute dog water in Rain Teams, and that's a shame because even dog water is better, it's literally water. That's not shaming you for your choice either, it is just a known fact that Exca is awful in rain. It gets checked by Rilla, cannot deal with Zapdos, is terrible at coverage, doesn't get a speed boost in rain, can't even deal with Moltres either like the rest of the team at least has some ability to, it just doesn't match at all.

As for the last slot of your team, I would do another mon that takes advantage of rain. I would recommend either Bulk Up Mystic Water or Scarf Urshifu-RS. Its water typing on rain makes it hard to deal with, and having the ability to use Thunder Punch can help in dealing with bulky water types. For Scarf I would say that you could get away with using U-Turn or Thunder Punch, depending on what you run into. With speed control Ferro you could use CB instead, but I like to lead CS Urshifu-RS with U-Turn or Tpunch to mess with the opponent, and as I have found, scarf mons with momentum make for great Rain partners. Again, its your choice as to what you would want to run and they are all great sets.

[P.S]

Use Rocks on Garchomp with Leftovers instead of LO, it frees Ferro up for spikes which helps with Magearna too, as Magearna hates Spikes.

 

[vNatFly]

Hello, your team looks pretty HAWT ngl... but I feel like Toxpaex doesn't belong on the team tbh. It's attacking stats are hot SHIT aswell as it's coverage. I think there are other Rain abusers that could go on your team. Maybe you could replace Toxapex with Ludicolo. Ludciolo is a pretty good Rain abuser. It's attacking stats are only ok, but a STAB Hydro Pump + LO and RAIN is going to do A LOT of damage on most of the competition, one-shotting and two-shotting most of the competition. Also, Rain doubles Ludicolo's speed which makes it even MORE broken. It will outspeed most of the unboosted metagame. Must I say, it's coverage is also very good it has acess to Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, Focus Blast, Giga Drain (preferred moveset). If you don't want to run Ludicolo, there are other Rain abusers like Kingdra (which is probably the best one). There are other Pokemon that do the "Rain Abusing" job better, WAY better than Toxapex does (SETS DOWN BELOW).



Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast





Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Hurricane
- Flip Turn