NASCAR in rain

[hooplahp]

After testing team after team after team, I finally reached one where I could play comfortably with, as well as successfully with. As you can see by the title, I use a rain team, and if you dig in to your inner brain and use some English class skills (or if you scroll down), you can find out that I use 3 scarfed Pokemon, hence the name NASCAR. I've been on an 18 game win streak so far, and I've peaked #5 on the ladder of the Amethyst server. I would love to hear some constructive criticism, but keep in mind the points I mention below.

AT A GLANCE​

TEAM BUILDING​

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as I began to think what to revolve my team around, and after reading lots of RMTs, I realized that scarfed Keldeo was a huge threat to a lot of teams, so I based my team off this bad boy.

Next I figured that in rain, Keldeo would do even more damage, and it would stop the sun from crippling my Keldeo's sweeping power, so thats where my main man politoed comes in.

So after putting rain in, I put in ferrothorn, one of the most annoying pokemon in existence. In rain it's pretty much guaranteed stealth rocks, unless the opponent leads with a banded Terrakion, which hasn't happened so far.

At first I had a Wobbufet, to help me win the necessary weather war, but afterwards I decided that it does diddly-squat against Tyrannitar, Hippowdon could just whirlwind it out, and Ninetails could simply set up a sub (depending on the set), so I replaced it with Thundurus-T who does work in the rain.

What team isn't complete without a dragon? I chose Latias over the other dragons because of It's insane special bulk, as well as it's ability to sweep. I tested Latios for a while but it just couldn't take hits like Latias, and I didn't need another choice user.

After all the special attackers I had on my team, I decided I needed a physical attacker. A fighting type preferably because Keldeo's secret sword just didn't cut it. That's why I chose Terrakion, It's base 129 attack and base 108 speed make it excellent for sweeping. It's decent defenses keep it alive for a few hits. And it's resistance against sr doesn't hurt either.

IN DETAIL​

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Surf

Standard EV spread, but the move set is a little different. Keldeo has a horrible special move pool and it really annoys me but I just have to put up with it. I used to have a hydro pump instead of icy wind but I never used it because it's accuracy has let me down countless times. I replaced it with icy wind as a filler move. Hidden power grass instead of hp ice, so I could actually deal some damage to Jellicent, who pisses me off so much. Keldeo has done a great job sweeping with surf late game, after my other Pokemon get rid of the Keldeo counters.

Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]/Hidden Power [Electric]
- Perish Song/Focus Blast

So obviously Politoed is for rain, and one of my scarfed Pokemon. The scarf is meant for sweeping, it does a significant amount of damage to Ninetails, even in the sun, and can deal a healthy amount of damage to specially defensive T-tar. Perish song and focus blast are both viable moves. Perish song to stop sub setters, and focus blast for Ferrothorn and other steel types that thrive in the rain. hidden power grass/electric is meant for Jellicent, and Vaporeon, and other water absorb users.

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 200 HP / 56 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: null Atk / 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 SDef / 30 Spd
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Roost/recover
- Surf

Ah, Latias, Why couldn't your sibling be as good as you. So, as you can see I have max speed on this Latias, and despite it's EV spread, it is one of my main sweepers. It'll come into a special choice user, set up a few calm minds and with it's almost outmatched speed, it will sweep. Thunder Wave is quite crippling if they have a physical attacker on their team, but if all the physical threats are removed and Latias already set up a calm mind, it's good game. So obviously roost/recover is there to give Latias the room for more calm minds, and for practical recovering reasons. Surf is for the extra power in the rain, and dragon pulse for STAB. Draco Meteor isn't an option, with two calm minds, dragon pulse is more than enough. Really the only thing that walls Latias is Ferrothorn.

Ferrothorn (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip

Ferrothorn, is such a thorn in the butt, I once had a 143 turn battle because Ferrothorn was the only pokemon left on both teams. I ended up losing. Ferrothorn is usually my lead, as I prefer to get rocks up, before I attempt to sweep with Politoed. The Leech Seed is there for obvious reasons, and the protect to annoy the shit out of my opponent and get some recovering time. Power Whip is absolutely a necessity for this team, because despite the main purpose of thorns here, getting rid of an unsuspecting Jellicent early game is always a nice thing. Ferrothorn can live two fire blasts in the rain, and Garchomp's fire fang doesn't do shit, making stealth rocks an almost given, as long as there's no taunting involved.

Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Thunder

Thundurus does work in the rain. Something on the other team will die because of Swag-T here. I'm positive nothing outspeeds Thundurus at +2 speed, (except for maybe scarfed Crobat), which further heightens Thundurus' sweeping power. It's resistance to both Bullet Punch, and Mach Punch, allows it to KO Breloom, and Scizor without dying, even after stealth rock damage. Focus Blast is for Ferrothorn, and hp Ice is for Gliscor, Salamence, Garchomp, etc. The expert belt is for the wide amount of coverage Thundurus has with it's move pool (7 out of 16 types).

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Quick Attack

Terrakion, my only physical attacker. I tend to save him for mid to late game unless I'm dealing with a Ferrothorn or the opposing team just doesn't have any physical walls. It has a standard EV spread, and 3 cliche moves. Quick Attack is my only priority move on this whole team, and it is very useful for sashes. I've considered replacing it with earthquake but losing my only priority move would be quite painful. I used to have Stonewall Jackson here banded, but after 5 late game encounters with scarfed Kyurem-B, I decided that Terrakion had to be my third scarf.

THREATS​

Scarfed Ninetails- it is quite uncommon, but I've seen it and it makes the weather war 10x harder, because my main man toed can't keep up with it, and it dies to solar beam. this is only if the sun is up though. It's easy to take care of if it's rain.

Jellicent-So even though I've taken so many precautions, Jellicent always finds a way to land a status or a scald, because hp grass only does around 30%, I have to switch into Thundurus who ends up taking a hit.

Hazards-I do a lot of switching in with this team, so if the opponent gets 2 or 3 layers of spikes up, it hurts me a lot. It allows Breloom to KO Keldeo with a mach punch, and makes my team so much more vulnerable to priority moves in general.

Breloom-Early game it's not a problem but if it comes down to my Terrakion versus a Breloom I can say goodbye. Sometimes I get lucky, and loom doesn't carry mach punch but anyone would be stupid not to.

Rotom-H lead- I usually lead with with Ferrothorn so rain isn't up at the beginning. It all comes down to prediction, I usually stay in with my Ferrothorn cause I'd much rather lose my Ferro than my toed. But it's always sad to see your most annoying Pokemon to pass away.


IMPORTABLE

I did add nicknames to this version, just to be clear

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Ferrari (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Surf

v12 smart car (Politoed) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Perish Song

the better child (Latias) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 200 HP / 56 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: null Atk / 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 SDef / 30 Spd
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Roost
- Surf

Thorn in the butt (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip

T-Swag (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Thunder

Rolls Royce (Terrakion) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Quick Attack

 

[Soullem]

Sorry its not much of a rate but why do some of your pokemon have 30 IVs?

 

[hooplahp]

I think if it says 30 IVs it means that the rest of the IVs have 31. Thats what I believe, but don't worry they do have all the IVs they need

 

[dice]

'sup higglybiggly. Congratulations on your current ladder ranking and win streak! This is a fairly solid rain build; however, there are a few things holding your team back from being as effective as possible in terms of threats and redundancy. To begin with, the biggest problems your team has stem from the fact that you have three Choice Scarf'rs. Having so many Pokemon equipped with a Choice Scarf does make your team very fast, yes; however, this also means that Pokemon on opposing offensive teams have a set-up opportunity if you are locked into the wrong move, and your stall matchup is nigh on impossible to overcome since Choice Scarf'rs can't get past solid walls. You only need one Choice Scarf'r as a dedicated revenge killer for opposing threats because otherwise your team will suffer from weaknesses that come from having 3 Scarfs. Additionally, your team also has a few threats that it struggles with. First of all, SubCM Latias can set up on almost any Pokemon on your team and proceed to 6-0 you. Its Substitute cannot be broken from Power Whip on Ferrothorn, and you literally cannot do anything to it. Specially Defensive Celebi walla a good portion of your team and you lack a move or lure to nail it supereffectively. Opposing Terrakion hit your whole team for neutral damage, and you don't even have a Pokemon to revenge kill it easily. Trick Room Reuniclus, Alakazam, Gengar, and other offensive Psychic or Ghost-type Pokemon are threatening as well due to the fact that Ferrothorn is your sole steel and cannot beat many Psychic or Ghost-type Pokemon due to the fact that they often have Focus Blast as a coverage move. Due to these weaknesses, I definitely recommend you make a few changes to your team. For starters, definitely try out a Choice Specs Politoed. This gives your team some wallbreaking power to break through Water-resistances for your Keldeo to sweep, and it can nail Ferrothorn with a timely Focus Blast. Turn your Keldeo into a Timid varient to outspeed things like +1 Salamence and Volcarona and definitely use Hidden Power Ice with Hydro Pump. Hidden Power Ice's power is too crucial to not use, and Hydro Pump can help break past resistances if your opponent's team is somewhat healthy. Lastly, try out a Scizor instead of Terrakion. Band Scizor solves your problems with Terrakion, Psychic and Ghost-type Pokemon, and it can nail Celebi with a Pursuit or a U-turn depending on the situation. This gives your Keldeo and Thundurus-T an opening to a sweep. Lastly, why are you using 30 IV's on some Pokemon like Terrakion if it lacks a Hidden Power? Definitely revert all your IV's to 31 unless you have a special reasoning.

I hope I helped. Good luck.

 

[hooplahp]

I appreciate the criticism a lot. I'll definitely take into consideration switching politoed to choice specs, and I'll try switching terrakion to scizor. Terrakion has done its job however quite well. Sub CM Latias does pose a problem as rare as it is now a days. However terrakion can defeat it with x-scissor. Se goes with celebi, but I'll definitely try it out. I don't know what went on with the IVs, I think it was just a copy paste error, but I definitely have all my IVs on my pokemon.

 

[hooplahp]

I tried the Scizor instead of Terrakion and it works great, it's definitely beneficial for my team, and I'm going to keep it. However specs Politoed just doesn't have the same sweeping potential as scarfed Politoed. It's outsped by max speed Magnezone, and dies too early in the game. With scarf, it has less power than specs, but with the rain boost, surf can easily OHKO Magnezone, and Scizor at 75ish percent health.

 

[Hopkinc1]

Hey man, the team is a solid looking team, but it could use a bit more coverage. It's a rain team, you got two pokemon weak to Electric Type, and no way to effectively counter it (such as a ground move for coverage).

That being said, Keldeo to me looks fine, what you might want to do with Politoed is make him a defensive set. This will give you a bit more liveability. Here is what i would use:

Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
Nature: Bold (+Def -Att)
EV's: 252 Health, 252 Def, 4 Sp. Def
Ice Beam
Scald
Toxic
Protect/Perish Song

I know it's a really standard set, but the standard sets usually work. Ferrothorn, I would change up the EV's a little bit to be more of a mixed defender. This is because his biggest weakness (fire) is mostly special moves. Another status inducer like THunder Wave would be good as well. There, I would use:

Ferrothorn @ leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
Nature: Impish/Calm (+Def, - Sp. Att/+Sp. Def, -Sp. Att)
EV's: 252 HP, 68 Def, 168 Sp. Def
Stealth Rock
Leech Seed/Spikes
Power Whip
Gyro Ball/Thunder Wave

Latias I would use Wish over Recover and Roost. It isn't the instant recovery but it can potentially save your teammates that need it. Plus, I'm not 100% sure if Latias can learn Roost. But roost is more helpful on a dragonite since it takes away the x4 weakness to ice (Roost takes away the flying typing for 1 turn on a bird type)

Your Thundrus is fine, but if you want a pokemon that can still take a hit and still abuses the rain (and can still rip through sun teams) I would use Volcarona. Volcarona does have a niche on a rain team since he can learn Hurricane, and although it's accuracy is knocked to 50% in the rain, a Hurricane could tear through any Chlorophyll Sweepers. And a Majority of them won't be able to touch you. You can choose any Volcarona set you want and just change out the fire move for Hurricane; however, I enjoy using a Bulky Chesto Resto Version (a set i came up with). Here is that:

Volcarona @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Flame Body
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Att)
EV's: 192 HP/ 252 Def / 60 Spd
Bug Buzz
Quiver Dance
Hurricane
Rest

Rather, if you want a pokemon that uses thunder AND Hurricane, you can go for a mixed Dragonite. I'm not entirely sure what the set is for that, I've never personally used it. But in the rain, bulky dragonite with thunder and hurricane does serious work.

Finally, Terrakion. Band him. He is much more useful banded, as all his attacks will get a 50% bonus.

Hope any of that helps :)

 

[hooplahp]

Hi, Hopkinc, I appreciate the advice. I used to have the bulky politoed set, when I had the Wobuffet. The two have a great synergy, but after changing Wobuffet, the only thing Politoed could do was take a hit. On the Ferrothorn, I used to have thunderwave, but Protect is much more useful to me, since with Leech Seed Ferrothorn can go from 2% to 40% in two turns and then be saved to switch into Outrage later. I prefer the Thundurus-T over Volcarona, because I needed electric coverage to sweep bulky water types (most specifically Vaporeon, and Jellicent). Even though Volcarona does have the same sweeping power, It takes even more damage from sr than Thundurus, and It'll take 4 quiver dances to neutralize the rain weakness. I ended up switching Terrakion to Scizor, but thanks for the set anyways. The Evs on Ferrothorn look interesting and I'll give that a try.

 

[dice]

Instead of the onsite EV's for Specs Politoed, definitely try out a Timid max speed varient. It outspeeds Adamant Breloom, Magnezone, Adamant Dragonite, most Rotom-W, etc. and it's still rather strong. You seem to like speed, so try that! It may not be as speedy as a Scarf'd varient, but it works.