(I stole this presentation off Dark Pulse. :P)
From the get go I was certain of two pokemon.
The next choice I had to make was which of the rain abusing physical sweepers did I choose. While most people make the obvious choice of Kingdra I decided I’d stick with Kabutops who’d served me so well in previous generations and has superior coverage with physical attack.
Kabutops was in.
I now had the basis of a strong offensive partnership. I wanted to support them with somthing to deal with the fast priority move users that would causes them problems as well as the weakness to Grass and Lightning that was appearing. Ferrothorn seemed perfect and its 4* fire weakness was helped by the presense of rain.
I then flirted with a choiceband weaville and a choice band Scisor as a revenge killer but neither really worked to any advantage. In the end I plumped for Technichan breloom, because nothing else was helpful. As I was to find out this was a far more shrewed move than I realised.
I wont list all of the other pokemon i tried in this slot. The team was struggling to work and their was little synergy between the Pokemon I had. During one phase of testing i decided to change my Ferrothorn for a foretress and stick a Zapdos into the final slot to replace a physically defensive rotom. This proved to be a masterstroke (though I say so myself). The team suddenly had a degres of balance and synergy that was sorely lacking and allowed me to exploit the offensive moster that is Ludicolo.
Kurtz (Forretress) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxd Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin
My favourite lead in Gen 4 and a pokemon with a fantastic typing. Spikes and stealth rock are obvious and allow me to gain a key advantage against many of the defensive threats that would otherwise prove a problem. Rapid spin combined with Relaxed nature works well and allows him to spin against almost anything. (I will add 0 Speed IV’s) Gyro means I still have a way of hurting the opposition. Origionally I used a mixed defensive EV spread but in the end I felt that I wasnt likely to leave him (Actually its a her) in against anything with high special attack anyway, when Politoed can handle anything except grass and electric special attacks and Zapdos can handle both of those. So I had a lead and a solid defensive wall.
Civilian (Politoed) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Protect
- Toxic
Obviously an essential part of the team with drizzle, i origionally ran a choice specs set. While it absolutely demolished enemies who were totally unprepared (particularly ferrothorn who does not like choice specs focus blast) Politoed often died early and a tyranitar would appear as if by magic. The current set up came about in order to allow me to use Politoed as a special wall and balance out the defensive side of my team. Scald is his primary attack (I also use hydro pump which allows me to hit harder but is obviously more of a risk) and icebeam covers dragons and other water resistant pokemon. Toxic/protect allows me to scout opposing attacks (useful against gensect which is often scarfed) and wear down enemies that might otherwise cause problems such as swampert. Again i have tried mixd defnsive sets but taking advantage of his naturaly high special defence has proved more effective in tandem with Zapdos and Forretress.
Willard (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Toxic
- Roost
- Roar
Zapdos. In the last generation the near omnipresence of stealth rock and a weakness to ice (which saw far mor usage) meant that Zapdos, while useful, was not as widely used as its otherwise impressive stats might have allowed it to be. In this team he comes into his own. With rocks rarely a problem with Forretress and permanent rain allowing for 100% accurate thunder, Zapdos comes in to his own despite hisapparently bulky set up switching in to an electric attack allows for over 400 special attack STAB thunder which is fearsome at the best of times. Roost and toxic allow it to out stall almost anything without a super effective move and weaker physical attacker using rockslide will only hit around 30%. Roost also allows Zapdos to avoid the super effective hits for a turn although I have to be earthquake wary.
Roar helps me deal with anything that trys to set up (Breloom, Toxicroak etc) and allows me to Toxic phase effectively. Scouting the oppositions team can be a very effective way of drawing out my biggest threat, hidden weather inducers, and so has proved a valuable addition to zapdos. I was forced, however, to replace hidden power ice which means I am vulnerable to gliscor switching in for free (although it really can’t hurt me so I can just phase it on).
The Key to the first half of this team is their ability to set up rocks and spikes, remove enemy hazards and wear down the opposition in prperation for the onslaught of ludicolo and kabutops. Before that, however, there is one more important teams slot.
Miller (Breloom) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
Breloom is probably the pokemon I am least sure about that has the most impact on my team. With Technichian Brelooms Mach Punch is a fearsome sight to behold and counter many pokemon which would otherwise descimate my team. After a swords dance it can one hit just about anything that is Neutral after stealth rock but more importantly it can always one hit Tyranitar and Doryuuzu. This can be vital during a weather war as sandstormers tend to save those two till last. Bullet Seed allows me to hit slower ghosts who switch in on mach punch. Spore is spore. Its massively aggravating for the opposition and can take out a potential threat.
And then there were two.
Johnson (Ludicolo) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
Ludicolo is my favourite pokemon bar none. Surf in rain with 306 spec attack and a life orb demolishes just about everything, that doesnt have serious special defence investment and high HP. Ice beam covers dragons and a few other water resistant flying pokemon. Giga Drain hits Politoed, Jellicient and Swampert and other bulky waters as well as allowing for recovery of the lif orb damadge. The final slot is a more difficult choice. Focus Blast deals with Ferrothorn and other potentially difficult steels. Hidden Power Electric deals with gyarados and mantine while rain dance allows ludicolo to set up its self and means losing Politoed isn’t terminal. I’ve found that Focus Blast is most effctive at the moment but as the Metagame updates that may change.
Kilgore (Kabutops) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
The final pokemon is Ludicolos Surfing Partner (If anyone get the refernce to their names (A Hint: From a film) I will have a lot of respect). Kabutops insane speed and high attack, along with Stab Waterfall mean it can clobber almost anything in 2 hits. After a swords dance it can kill almost anything in 1. Stone Edge gets Flying types such as Gyarados which is essential if im not running HP Electric on Ludicolo while X-Scissor deals with Psycics with bulk, a suprise weakness for this team until X-Scissors inclusion. Swords Dance isn’t essential and I have been tempted to remove it. Kabutops fears priority moves and no amount of ATK will change that. Superpower is a possibility but it obviously hinders his sweeping potential.
Toxicroak. It just doesnt die. Sub SD sucker punch variations resist everything I have and he is by far the most problematic pokemon for my team.
Breloom. If mispredict and lose Zapdos or its Spored Breloom is a nightmare. My style of play means Forrtress often dies to set up and which can come back to bite me.
Chansey/Blissey. Just plain aggravating. Usually i wear them down a bit and hope they switch into Ludicolo surf on about 60% health. If stealth rock is up the initial hit and then the second will usually deal with them.
I've taken this team to 300 regularly in the ladder but breaking past there is a struggle. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to improve this team?
I could also do with some work on the EV spread on some of these as at the moment they are all fairly rudimentary.
Feel free to use and abuse this team, the exportable text is here.
(Apologies if this is littered with spelling errors and missing "E"s this keyboard is massively broken XD)
My Team At a Glance
The Creation Process
In Gen 4 I had great sucess with a rain dance team which built on the strengths of Ludicolo and Kabutops. With the introduction of Gen 5 I wanted to recreate that team and take advantage of the most obvious new feature for rain dance teams, Politoed.From the get go I was certain of two pokemon.
The next choice I had to make was which of the rain abusing physical sweepers did I choose. While most people make the obvious choice of Kingdra I decided I’d stick with Kabutops who’d served me so well in previous generations and has superior coverage with physical attack.
Kabutops was in.
I now had the basis of a strong offensive partnership. I wanted to support them with somthing to deal with the fast priority move users that would causes them problems as well as the weakness to Grass and Lightning that was appearing. Ferrothorn seemed perfect and its 4* fire weakness was helped by the presense of rain.
I then flirted with a choiceband weaville and a choice band Scisor as a revenge killer but neither really worked to any advantage. In the end I plumped for Technichan breloom, because nothing else was helpful. As I was to find out this was a far more shrewed move than I realised.
I wont list all of the other pokemon i tried in this slot. The team was struggling to work and their was little synergy between the Pokemon I had. During one phase of testing i decided to change my Ferrothorn for a foretress and stick a Zapdos into the final slot to replace a physically defensive rotom. This proved to be a masterstroke (though I say so myself). The team suddenly had a degres of balance and synergy that was sorely lacking and allowed me to exploit the offensive moster that is Ludicolo.
A Closer Look
Kurtz (Forretress) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxd Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin
My favourite lead in Gen 4 and a pokemon with a fantastic typing. Spikes and stealth rock are obvious and allow me to gain a key advantage against many of the defensive threats that would otherwise prove a problem. Rapid spin combined with Relaxed nature works well and allows him to spin against almost anything. (I will add 0 Speed IV’s) Gyro means I still have a way of hurting the opposition. Origionally I used a mixed defensive EV spread but in the end I felt that I wasnt likely to leave him (Actually its a her) in against anything with high special attack anyway, when Politoed can handle anything except grass and electric special attacks and Zapdos can handle both of those. So I had a lead and a solid defensive wall.
Civilian (Politoed) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Protect
- Toxic
Obviously an essential part of the team with drizzle, i origionally ran a choice specs set. While it absolutely demolished enemies who were totally unprepared (particularly ferrothorn who does not like choice specs focus blast) Politoed often died early and a tyranitar would appear as if by magic. The current set up came about in order to allow me to use Politoed as a special wall and balance out the defensive side of my team. Scald is his primary attack (I also use hydro pump which allows me to hit harder but is obviously more of a risk) and icebeam covers dragons and other water resistant pokemon. Toxic/protect allows me to scout opposing attacks (useful against gensect which is often scarfed) and wear down enemies that might otherwise cause problems such as swampert. Again i have tried mixd defnsive sets but taking advantage of his naturaly high special defence has proved more effective in tandem with Zapdos and Forretress.
Willard (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Toxic
- Roost
- Roar
Zapdos. In the last generation the near omnipresence of stealth rock and a weakness to ice (which saw far mor usage) meant that Zapdos, while useful, was not as widely used as its otherwise impressive stats might have allowed it to be. In this team he comes into his own. With rocks rarely a problem with Forretress and permanent rain allowing for 100% accurate thunder, Zapdos comes in to his own despite hisapparently bulky set up switching in to an electric attack allows for over 400 special attack STAB thunder which is fearsome at the best of times. Roost and toxic allow it to out stall almost anything without a super effective move and weaker physical attacker using rockslide will only hit around 30%. Roost also allows Zapdos to avoid the super effective hits for a turn although I have to be earthquake wary.
Roar helps me deal with anything that trys to set up (Breloom, Toxicroak etc) and allows me to Toxic phase effectively. Scouting the oppositions team can be a very effective way of drawing out my biggest threat, hidden weather inducers, and so has proved a valuable addition to zapdos. I was forced, however, to replace hidden power ice which means I am vulnerable to gliscor switching in for free (although it really can’t hurt me so I can just phase it on).
The Key to the first half of this team is their ability to set up rocks and spikes, remove enemy hazards and wear down the opposition in prperation for the onslaught of ludicolo and kabutops. Before that, however, there is one more important teams slot.
Miller (Breloom) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
Breloom is probably the pokemon I am least sure about that has the most impact on my team. With Technichian Brelooms Mach Punch is a fearsome sight to behold and counter many pokemon which would otherwise descimate my team. After a swords dance it can one hit just about anything that is Neutral after stealth rock but more importantly it can always one hit Tyranitar and Doryuuzu. This can be vital during a weather war as sandstormers tend to save those two till last. Bullet Seed allows me to hit slower ghosts who switch in on mach punch. Spore is spore. Its massively aggravating for the opposition and can take out a potential threat.
And then there were two.
Johnson (Ludicolo) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
Ludicolo is my favourite pokemon bar none. Surf in rain with 306 spec attack and a life orb demolishes just about everything, that doesnt have serious special defence investment and high HP. Ice beam covers dragons and a few other water resistant flying pokemon. Giga Drain hits Politoed, Jellicient and Swampert and other bulky waters as well as allowing for recovery of the lif orb damadge. The final slot is a more difficult choice. Focus Blast deals with Ferrothorn and other potentially difficult steels. Hidden Power Electric deals with gyarados and mantine while rain dance allows ludicolo to set up its self and means losing Politoed isn’t terminal. I’ve found that Focus Blast is most effctive at the moment but as the Metagame updates that may change.
Kilgore (Kabutops) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
The final pokemon is Ludicolos Surfing Partner (If anyone get the refernce to their names (A Hint: From a film) I will have a lot of respect). Kabutops insane speed and high attack, along with Stab Waterfall mean it can clobber almost anything in 2 hits. After a swords dance it can kill almost anything in 1. Stone Edge gets Flying types such as Gyarados which is essential if im not running HP Electric on Ludicolo while X-Scissor deals with Psycics with bulk, a suprise weakness for this team until X-Scissors inclusion. Swords Dance isn’t essential and I have been tempted to remove it. Kabutops fears priority moves and no amount of ATK will change that. Superpower is a possibility but it obviously hinders his sweeping potential.
Known Counters/Checks
Sandstorm Teams are difficult, mostly because until I’ve seen all 6 theres the possibility of a second weather inducer. If, however, i can keep breelom alive TTar and friends are generally not a problem.Toxicroak. It just doesnt die. Sub SD sucker punch variations resist everything I have and he is by far the most problematic pokemon for my team.
Breloom. If mispredict and lose Zapdos or its Spored Breloom is a nightmare. My style of play means Forrtress often dies to set up and which can come back to bite me.
Chansey/Blissey. Just plain aggravating. Usually i wear them down a bit and hope they switch into Ludicolo surf on about 60% health. If stealth rock is up the initial hit and then the second will usually deal with them.
I've taken this team to 300 regularly in the ladder but breaking past there is a struggle. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to improve this team?
I could also do with some work on the EV spread on some of these as at the moment they are all fairly rudimentary.
Kurtz (Forretress) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin
Kilgore (Kabutops) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
Johnson (Ludicolo) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
Willard (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Toxic
- Roost
- Roar
Civilian (Politoed) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Protect
- Toxic
Miller (Breloom) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Rapid Spin
Kilgore (Kabutops) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
Johnson (Ludicolo) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
Willard (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Toxic
- Roost
- Roar
Civilian (Politoed) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Protect
- Toxic
Miller (Breloom) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
Feel free to use and abuse this team, the exportable text is here.
(Apologies if this is littered with spelling errors and missing "E"s this keyboard is massively broken XD)
