Hey guys! Thanks for taking the time to see (and hopefully rate) my team. This is my first team on Smogon, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Rain is my favorite weather, and is my favorite playstyle after Trick Room (which sadly doesn't work out that much.) I wanted to base my team off a DDrest Lapras with Hydration. I've seen quite a bit of success with this team so far, though admittedly during my couple hours of testing I haven't really seen many of this tier's top threats. Since I'm still kinda new it any suggestions are appreciated.
Team Building Process
I wanted to base my team off DDRest Lapras, who is in my opinion a very underrated threat. Of course, to use her Hydration ability, I needed rain, which inevitably brought me to Politoed.
Next, I wanted a strong defensive core to use in the rain, and I decided to use Ferrothorn and Tentacruel. Both cover each other's weaknesses reasonably well, and have access to hazards and rapid spin, respectively.
Then, I wanted a strong attacker who could abuse the rain. I decided on Hurricane Volcarona, another uncommon set due to the nullification of his STAB fire moves. However, after a few Quiver Dances, he becomes a very big threat.
Finally, I needed a good revenge killer, preferably a dragon type with some power. I chose ScarfChomp over ScarfMence as Chomp is faster, and his STAB Earthquake really comes in handy a lot.
However, after some testing I saw my team being wrecked by boosting Fighting type pokemon, due to the fact that Tentacruel and Volcarona were my only resists, and with Volcarona being extremely frail I needed a bulkier resist to help. I settled on Dragonite, who can still abuse the rain due to access to both Hurricane and Thunder, as well as a great ability in Multiscale and reliable healing in Roost.
Lapras (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Waterfall
- Ice Shard
Meet Lapras, the star of the team. She comes in on a wall and starts boosting. Because of her good HP stat and immunity to status, it's hard to shut her down one she gets going. She's swept teams pretty much every game that I've been able to get her in safely. DDance and Rest are self explanatory to abuse the rain. Waterfall is a great STAB that is boosted by rain, and also comes with a handy flinch chance. Ice Shard is a STAB priority move, which is nice since Lapras is still relatively slow after a boost. Unfortunately, this set is walled by opposing water types, so they need to be eliminated before she can set up and sweep.
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Protect
- Perish Song
- Toxic
The rain inducer. I chose defensive Politoed because this gives it much more survivability, letting me win weathers wars. Scald does decent damage under rain, and has a good chance of burn, shutting down physical threats. Protect gives me a free turn of leftovers recovery, as well as scouting the opponent. Perish Song lets me force out opposing boosters, and is carried by baton pass as well. Finally, Toxic lets me spread poison against pokes that don't mind a burn.
I'm considering changing him to a Specs Toad, though, since right now the only real damage dealers are Lapras and Garchomp, and I don't really want my team to be that defensive. Specs Toad is also not that common, and can catch opponents who think they have set-up bait off guard.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
Evs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Ferrothorn is a great defensive pokemon under rain, as it mitigates his 4x Fire weakness. He is my hazard setter, and can cripple common threats on the switch with Thunder Wave, or set up Leech Seed and stall with Leftovers recovery. Power Whip prevents him from becoming useless under taunt, and does decent damage to opposing Water and Ground types.
Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Protect
I've always liked this jellyfish. Under rain, she has great recovery from Rain Dish, and has good utility as a spinner. She also absorbs Toxic Spikes, which while not all that common is still great. Scald is used for the burn chance, discouraging physical attackers from switching in. Rapid spin spins away hazards, especially Stealth Rock, which does nasty damage to Lapras. Toxic lets it defeat common spinblockers under rain (bar Gengar) and deals with pokes that don't mind burn. Finally, Protect is run to ensure a free turn of Black Sludge + Rain Dish healing.
Dragonite (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
- Hurricane
- Dragon Tail
- Thunder
- Roost
The veteran dragon from RBY, Dragonite's new ability Multiscale greatly improves his already impressive bulk. The set I run abuses the rain while allowing him to phaze opposing boosters. Hurricane is a STAB 120 base power move with 100% accuracy under rain. It also comes with 30% confusion, which is nice. Dragon Tail lets me phaze boosters while dealing some damage. Thunder is another 120 base power 100% accuracy move under rain, and has a 30% paralysis chance, letting him potentially shut down faster threats. Finally, Roost greatly extends him longevity, lowering his 4x Ice weakness as well as restoring Multiscale.
Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
Arguably one of the best scarfers, the former Uber joins the team. Chomp provides an electric immunity, something that helps out the waters on my team greatly. With his high speed and attack he can effectively revenge most pokemon with ease. Earthquake is a great STAB move that hits most pokemon for good damage. Dragon Claw is chosen over Outrage since I dislike the lock, but the power drop is noticeable. Stone Edge finished the EdgeQuake combo and hits flying types hard, while Aqua Tail gains pseudoSTAB under the rain.
Well, here's my team. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Any comments/suggestions are welcomed, as since it's my first team there's bound to be ways to improve. Hope you liked it!
Team Building Process
I wanted to base my team off DDRest Lapras, who is in my opinion a very underrated threat. Of course, to use her Hydration ability, I needed rain, which inevitably brought me to Politoed.
Next, I wanted a strong defensive core to use in the rain, and I decided to use Ferrothorn and Tentacruel. Both cover each other's weaknesses reasonably well, and have access to hazards and rapid spin, respectively.
Then, I wanted a strong attacker who could abuse the rain. I decided on Hurricane Volcarona, another uncommon set due to the nullification of his STAB fire moves. However, after a few Quiver Dances, he becomes a very big threat.
Finally, I needed a good revenge killer, preferably a dragon type with some power. I chose ScarfChomp over ScarfMence as Chomp is faster, and his STAB Earthquake really comes in handy a lot.
However, after some testing I saw my team being wrecked by boosting Fighting type pokemon, due to the fact that Tentacruel and Volcarona were my only resists, and with Volcarona being extremely frail I needed a bulkier resist to help. I settled on Dragonite, who can still abuse the rain due to access to both Hurricane and Thunder, as well as a great ability in Multiscale and reliable healing in Roost.
Lapras (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Waterfall
- Ice Shard
Meet Lapras, the star of the team. She comes in on a wall and starts boosting. Because of her good HP stat and immunity to status, it's hard to shut her down one she gets going. She's swept teams pretty much every game that I've been able to get her in safely. DDance and Rest are self explanatory to abuse the rain. Waterfall is a great STAB that is boosted by rain, and also comes with a handy flinch chance. Ice Shard is a STAB priority move, which is nice since Lapras is still relatively slow after a boost. Unfortunately, this set is walled by opposing water types, so they need to be eliminated before she can set up and sweep.
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Protect
- Perish Song
- Toxic
The rain inducer. I chose defensive Politoed because this gives it much more survivability, letting me win weathers wars. Scald does decent damage under rain, and has a good chance of burn, shutting down physical threats. Protect gives me a free turn of leftovers recovery, as well as scouting the opponent. Perish Song lets me force out opposing boosters, and is carried by baton pass as well. Finally, Toxic lets me spread poison against pokes that don't mind a burn.
I'm considering changing him to a Specs Toad, though, since right now the only real damage dealers are Lapras and Garchomp, and I don't really want my team to be that defensive. Specs Toad is also not that common, and can catch opponents who think they have set-up bait off guard.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
Evs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Ferrothorn is a great defensive pokemon under rain, as it mitigates his 4x Fire weakness. He is my hazard setter, and can cripple common threats on the switch with Thunder Wave, or set up Leech Seed and stall with Leftovers recovery. Power Whip prevents him from becoming useless under taunt, and does decent damage to opposing Water and Ground types.
Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Protect
I've always liked this jellyfish. Under rain, she has great recovery from Rain Dish, and has good utility as a spinner. She also absorbs Toxic Spikes, which while not all that common is still great. Scald is used for the burn chance, discouraging physical attackers from switching in. Rapid spin spins away hazards, especially Stealth Rock, which does nasty damage to Lapras. Toxic lets it defeat common spinblockers under rain (bar Gengar) and deals with pokes that don't mind burn. Finally, Protect is run to ensure a free turn of Black Sludge + Rain Dish healing.
Dragonite (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
- Hurricane
- Dragon Tail
- Thunder
- Roost
The veteran dragon from RBY, Dragonite's new ability Multiscale greatly improves his already impressive bulk. The set I run abuses the rain while allowing him to phaze opposing boosters. Hurricane is a STAB 120 base power move with 100% accuracy under rain. It also comes with 30% confusion, which is nice. Dragon Tail lets me phaze boosters while dealing some damage. Thunder is another 120 base power 100% accuracy move under rain, and has a 30% paralysis chance, letting him potentially shut down faster threats. Finally, Roost greatly extends him longevity, lowering his 4x Ice weakness as well as restoring Multiscale.
Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
Arguably one of the best scarfers, the former Uber joins the team. Chomp provides an electric immunity, something that helps out the waters on my team greatly. With his high speed and attack he can effectively revenge most pokemon with ease. Earthquake is a great STAB move that hits most pokemon for good damage. Dragon Claw is chosen over Outrage since I dislike the lock, but the power drop is noticeable. Stone Edge finished the EdgeQuake combo and hits flying types hard, while Aqua Tail gains pseudoSTAB under the rain.
Well, here's my team. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Any comments/suggestions are welcomed, as since it's my first team there's bound to be ways to improve. Hope you liked it!
