My old team with needed assistance. (Rain Dance)

Venetian Masque

I've always enjoyed the strategy behind Rain Dance teams, as water is most definitely my favorite element (being interested in the classical elements, mythology, and other related subjects), however competitive battling isn't exactly a forte of mine.

I've looked over a few of the Rain Dance RMTs, lately, so much of my inspiration comes from them. Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated, as long as there is no flaming involved. Now, without further adieu...

// The team:

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Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 160 HP / 132 Atk / 216 Spd
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -Sp. Atk)
  • Aerial Ace
  • Hypnosis
  • Rain Dance
  • U-Turn
Ah, Crobat. You were never one of my favorites, really. The chieftain of my nautical tribe, Crobat utilizes its top-notch speed so it can either attempt to shimmy to the melody of drizzling or gyrate its hips in a hypnotic manner. Aerial Ace, mostly for Breloom and other leads that are weak or neutral to it. U-Turn is to GTFO (though, it is too fast to take the hit, which is both a blessing for him and a curse for who comes in next).

I'm not sure if I should replace him for a better suggestion or keep him.

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Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 212 HP / 16 Atk / 136 Def / 144 Spd
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
  • Dragon Dance
  • Stone Edge
  • Taunt
  • Waterfall
Standard bulky Gyarados. You know the drill. It is lacking a pinch of the commonly present tumorous growth for a higher drug content--er, speed stat. As in nimbleness.

As said, I made him less defensive and more speedy. He adds a huge lightning weakness for me, however, which is the reasoning behind Wacan Berry, but still...

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Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 40 HP / 216 Spd / 252 Sp. Atk
Nature: Modest (+Sp. Atk, -Atk)
  • Grass Knot
  • Ice Beam
  • Rain Dance
  • Surf
Better not screw with this amigo, ese. He's one loco mariachi, and he'll cut you like the gringo you most probably are, man. Wake from your tequila sunrise with a dousing of water. Grass Knot is bound to get most things sensitive to it high and vulnerable. Otherwise, you can chill with Ice Beam. (Oh boy, I'll likely get comments on this one, for sure.)

I think this guy is set on the team. Nice coverage, resistances, and neutralities. I'm unsure on the item, though.

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Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 76 Def / 32 Spd / 160 Sp. Def
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
  • Stealth Rock
  • Thunder
  • U-turn
  • Wish
The Djinn of my of team who refuses to grant me anything other than the same wish. Bastard. If I don't like it, I'm greeted with jagged rocks. Also zapping. Finally, it will return to its lamp after stripping me of my pride. :(

Before it had Stealth Rock, it was occupied with Rain Dance for a more reliable Thunder to make use of, but I figured my three swimmers could handle that task.

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Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
  • Rain Dance
  • Brick Break
  • Stone Edge
  • Waterfall
Better than Pterodactyl porn, I suppose? Get down and Jurassic with this boogie King as he dissects its victims by the sinews first, I guess. Brick Break because he hates bricks a lot.

The real reason for Brick Break is to cover Blissey. I haven't found much use in X-Scissor, personally. Also, he seems redundant with Gyarados around, and adds to my three lightning weaknesses. I'm thinking this guy, Gyarados, or Crobat will have to leave. Also, once again, I'm unsure of the item.

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Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 160 Atk / 96 Spd / 252 Sp. Atk
Nature: Mild (+Sp. Atk, -Def)
  • Draco Meteor
  • Hydro Pump
  • Rain Dance
  • Waterfall
My favorite Pokemon and a near-staple on any Rain Dance team. He is known to many as funnel-nose..

I went mixed with an odd spread meant to 2HKO Blissey regardless or not of Stealth Rock. I plan to keep this on my team period but everything else about it is open to suggestion.

// Substitutes (aka possible replacements):

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Ability: Levitate
IVs: 0 Spd (for maximized Gyro Ball damage)
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Atk / 112 Sp. Def
Nature: Sassy (+Sp. Def, -Spd)
  • Earthquake
  • Gyro Ball
  • Rain Dance
  • Stealth Rock
My former lead, now demoted and sent home.

Like Jirachi, he has very useful resistances and a major immunity. The only downside, and ironically its upside, was the horrendous speed. Gyro Ball is an amazing move, but maximizing its power meant that it would be easy to setup on (Taunt, Hypnosis / Spore, etc.). Gyarados especially caused problems for it if I didn't switch.

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Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Spd / 224 Sp. Atk
Nature: Modest (+Sp. Atk, -Atk)
  • Leaf Storm
  • Psychic
  • Rest
  • Thunder Wave
Tinkerbell. I'll tinker you.

An interesting set created by (to my knowledge) Melodius Trueheart, it would come in to hit hard or status, then slumber and switch out when necessary to abuse Natural Cure. Ludicolo took this one's spot.

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Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 120 HP / 80 Atk / 56 Spd / 252 Sp. Atk
Nature: Naughty (+Atk, -Sp. Def)
  • Agility
  • Close Combat
  • Hidden Power [Ice]
  • Shadow Ball
I always liked Lucario. Mixed sets seemed nice.

I personally prefer this set over the Sword Dance. It is meant to take down Blissey with relative ease, and sweep the rest. Nice resistances, too.

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Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 212 Def / 56 Sp. Atk
Nature: Relaxed (+Def, -Spd)
  • Earthquake
  • Hydro Pump
  • Ice Beam
  • Stealth Rock
My lightning rod. No, not that one.

Was used in tandem with Gyarados. He makes a decent Stealth Rock user and overall bulky water, as well.
 
Indeed this team does suffer from a rather large Electric weakness, with no resists. Swampert could fill in for someone, he could also be used to phasing and stealth rock damage, or you could give him stealth rocks and free up a moveslot on Jirachi. Swampert also brings a handy Rock resist. Another replacement could of course be Electivire.

On a separate note, I'm not sure why your threads seem to die :*(
Your post is actually well written and everything comes w/ a reasoning, it's certainly easier to rate than some of the other teams..
 
Thank you for your suggestions!

Swampert will, indeed, provide some much needed stability from those electrical assaults. I might actually remove Crobat in place of him if I choose to lead with my Gyarados. That will make my team's true intentions somewhat of a surprise (after all, Gyarados seems to be the most common lead on just about every team).

I still want to fit Bronzong onto my team, somehow. I realize he could also seize the spot my Swampert would love to claim. Stealth Rocks, with some key resistances and immunities (though, electric isn't one of them) is great. It's just, as the analysis suggests, he suffers from his vast movepool, yet limited moveslot options. Stealth Rock and Rain Dance are what I want on it for sure, while Gyro Ball is a lovely STAB attack, but makes him so very vulnerable to things like Breloom (due to Bronzong's considerably lower speed), forcing me to switch, which sucks when I want to setup. And Earthquake is there to handle Magnezone as I rather not replace Damp Rock for Shed Shell. And then, there is Hypnosis...

EDIT: Actually, I could give Jirachi Rain Dance, instead...
 
I understand that you want to fit in Bronzong, he has some some awesome resists, and it's not like having no weaknesses while in the rain makes him any less appealing.
You could lead w/ Gyarados, replace Crobat w/ Swampert, and replace Jirachi with Bronzong. Swampert could set up rocks, and when Bronzong gets in you can put something to sleep, and then set up rain on the switch, while attacking with Gyro Ball and EQ. The downside is you lose wish support, and both of your U-turners.

Also, I would just like to note that Bronzong can do more to Breloom than you think, most Brelooms that enter will sub expecting you to switch, but a gyro actually breaks that sub. This forces them to Spore your Bronzong, allowing you to switch to your breloom counter after Bronzong is asleep without having to worry about the actual counter being put to sleep. So long as your counter can take the Focus Punch or possible Seed Bomb, then you can at least force the Breloom to switch out.
The reason I suggested having Bronzong stay in and break the sub then take the spore is simply because this is how I deal with him, and works it quite well for me. That said I don't think I've seen anyone else deal with Breloom this way, and doing things like not switching when I probably should suits my play style more. Sorry if my suggestion on dealing with Breloom doesn't help lol.
 
No, that was quite helpful, actually! I occasionally stay in at odd moments as well, but I often panic and switch the rest of the time (curse you, intuition!).

But yes, I would rather keep Jirachi for the Wish support as an insurance. Those Life Orbs aren't gonna be making it any less difficult for me otherwise. Gyarados is also a good tag team partner for Jirachi's U-turn, as they resist/neutralize/are immunes to the other's weaknesses.

I'd try something like this for some trial and error:

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Ability: Levitate
IVs: 0 Spd (for maximized Gyro Ball damage)
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Atk / 112 Sp. Def
Nature: Sassy (+Sp. Def, -Spd)
  • Earthquake
  • Gyro Ball
  • Hypnosis
  • Stealth Rock
And...

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Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 76 Def / 32 Spd / 160 Sp. Def
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
  • Rain Dance
  • Thunder
  • U-turn
  • Wish
All I really did was exchange Stealth Rock and Rain Dance on these two, making Bronzong more of a supporter and less of an e(x/r)otic dancer. Though, I'm sure Swampert could really help this team in his own regard, I am not personally fond of his quadruple grass weakness, especially with Kabutops on my team who shares the same allergic reactions (I do have resistances/neutralities to grass, however).
 
A little insight:

I was recently playing a Rain Dance team similar to yours, minus Crobat and added Gorebyss, and a Kabutops switched in on my last pokemon, a full-health Blissey running a 252 def/252 spdef Bold set (Bliss has enough HP, dontcha think?). It was raining, and Kabutops Waterfalled, with me attempting to SToss it before I died.
Basically:

Kabutops used Waterfall!
93% Damage
Blissey used Softboiled!
Blissey healed 50% of its hit points!

So you may want to grab something that hits a little harder than Kabutops. It may have just been a fluke, but IME it's best to be prepared.

/rant.
 
Thanks for that tip!

Hmm, from what I can tell though, the only way I'd hit that high amount of damage with Waterfall would be with a Choice Band, which I'm not fond of using. Also, Kabutops is the only thing that fits its role of Swift Swimmer with at least 115 base Atk. :(

I'm also going to replace Brick Break on Kabutops because Waterfall hits with more impact in the rain with STAB and Life Orb. Without the Rain, it doesn't quite compare (though it is powerful nevertheless), but Brick Break seems a bit redundant for the types it hits. X-Scissor offers more coverage.
 
A few suggestions : kabutops wants life orb, and ludicolo wants wiseglasses. Wiseglasses are great because they give a 1.1x bonus to all special attacks rather than mystic waters 1.1x boost to only water moves.

Also, what is the berry that gyarados has that looks like a dildo that is half wrapped in gift paper ?


Kabutops can utilize swords dance well, with an edge-break combo covering anything barring claydol and a few others.
 
SirRaven said:
You kind of missed the point, Blissey has shitty Defense and that should have been an easy KO for Kabutops. =/
Click to expand...

Well, going by the most common Blissey that I see, they tend to carry at around 148 HP EVs, usually, unlike your Blissey which is more specialized. So, I'm basically saying, I expect to be 2HKOing a majority of the time (hopefully Stealth Rock is up).

To be honest, I think Blissey is one of Pokemon I'm the least worried about, even if it still walls part of my team. I just don't find it a huge threat. Gyarados, Kabutops, and Kingdra are meant to compete with it one way or another. But...I'll take that into consideration. I was looking for an excuse to slip Lucario or Machamp back into the team again. Thanks!


Porky said:
A few suggestions : kabutops wants life orb, and ludicolo wants wiseglasses. Wiseglasses are great because they give a 1.1x bonus to all special attacks rather than mystic waters 1.1x boost to only water moves.

Also, what is the berry that gyarados has that looks like a dildo that is half wrapped in gift paper ?


Kabutops can utilize swords dance well, with an edge-break combo covering anything barring claydol and a few others.
Click to expand...

Mystic Water actually gives 1.2x damage to waters moves, if I recall correctly. I'll try out those Wiseglasses and see how it turns out.

Gyarados is holding a Wacan berry (the electric damage reducing berry).

Swords Dance is an interesting option. I'm not sure why I didn't think about it before for one of its moveslots. If I can force a switch with Kabutops to whip up a Swords Dance, I can OHKO Blissey if it is Raining or if Stealth Rocks are present. Thank you too!
 
Give Ludicolo Mystic Water. The 20% boost on Surf is compounded and will OHKO a lot more things.

I suggest giving Kingdra Surf over Hydro Pump, Hydro Pump absolutely sucks.

Drop Gyarados and Kabutops, they're electric weakness is bad.

Get Swampert in there somewhere.
 
no.

mystic water is trash, ok? having no boost for GK and ice beam really hamper it's sweeping capabilities. When you run into gyarados and grass
knot fails to 2 hit ko because of no wise glasses you will be pissed.

Swampert would have fun on this team, but electivire would run rampant.

E-vire@ life orb
{mild}
evs: enough attack to 2-hit blissey, 252 special attack, rest in speed.
-Thunder
-Cross chop
-Hp grass
-Fire blast / ice punch

the last slot is iffy. Fire blast is screwed in the rain, ice punch has its only use of obliterating a salamence on garchomp switch in. Fire blast is reccomended though as it still rapes forry who otherwise walls you.
 
You will be more pissed when you fail to OHKO something neutral with surf that you need to. Ludicolo needs the 20% boost of Mystic Water. Grass Knot 2HKOs just about every water in the game except like lanturn. Ice Beam is really only used for Breloom (already KOed), Roserade (won't be OHKOed) and Celebi, who is like 3HKOed.
 
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