OU Rain Team

[Appelmoes101]

Dont really know if this the right place to post this but here we go. Need some constructive criticism on my rain team.

Politoed Lead

Ability: Drizzle

Nature: Bold EV: 252 HP/252 DEF/ 4 SPD Item: Leftovers

Moves:
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
- Encore

Running it as lead get the Rain up. Protect is basicly to scout his moves and Encore is for if they try to set up on it to lock them into the set up, or just to lock them into a move for a safe switch.

Ferrothorn

Ability: Iron Barbs

Nature: Relaxed EV: 252 HP/ 88 DEF/ 168 SPD Item: Leftovers

Moves:
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Protect

Basicly to stall and get spikes and leech seed up, also pritty good against Special walls as Chansey/Blissey. Not sure if i should run Power Whip or Gyro ball. (think it doesn't mather all to much in my team)
Also great to switch in agains dragon types.

Raikou

Ability: Pressure

Nature: Rash EV: 252 SPA/ 4 SPD/ 252 SPEED Item: Life Orb

Moves:

- Thunder
- Weather Ball
- Aura Sphere
- Calm Mind

Running Thunder and Weather Ball in the rain is pritty obvious. Calm Mind so i can set up if possible, Basicly my main Special Attacker.
Weather ball can even come in handy vs Sun teams (which are runnign alot of grass pokés)

Blastoise

Ability: Rain Dish

Nature Bold EV: 252 HP/ 252 DEF/ 4 SPD Item: Leftovers

Moves:

- Rapid Spin
- Protect
- Dragon Tail
- Scald

Baicly for rappid spinning. Also running Dragon Tail for rouletting his pokémon (Can come in handy when spikes are up). I am runnint protect to scout moves.
Blastoise also quite bulky and whit Rains Dish and Leftovers and Protect/Dragon Tail it can be hard to take down.

At First I was running Tentacruel as my rapid spinner (also to put up toxic spikes). Whit Rain Dish/Leftovers.

But replaced it for Blastoise since I am also running Toxicroat and Raikou, and my team would become to venerable to ground attacks.

(Was running Ice Beam on Tentacruel) Since i replaced it I am lacking Ice attacks.

I could run Ice Beam instead of Dragon Tail. (think Dragon Tail is the better choice).


Dragonite

Ability: Multiscale

Nature: Calm EV: 252 HP/ 108 SPA/ 148 SPEED Item: Leftovers

Moves:

- Hurricane
- Thunder
- Dragon Tail
- Roost

Bulky Dragonite main treath in my team, Hurting the enemy whit strong attacks like Thunder and Hurricane in Rain. Roost just to stall again, and keep it alife longer. Dragon Tail is to Roulette his pokémon, Leftovers because im running a bulky set and it can really make the diffrence sometimes in getting 1 more turn to roost off.

Toxicroak

Ability: Dry Skin

Nature: Jolly EV: 148 HP/ 252 ATK/ 108 SPEED Item: Leftovers

Moves:

- Bulk Up
- Substitute
- Sucker Punch
- Drain Punch

I am running Bulk Up over Sword dance so its harder to break, try to get him in against walls and set up. Also running Drain Punch over Crosschop because i like to keep it alife and since the base power is raised from 60 to 75 Its a great replacement in my opinion. Sucker Punch is just a strong hit and great to take out pokés like psychic/ghost types. (


I think im lacking Ice moves for dragon type's, but im not sure where to add them or if they are even needed.

Running alot of Leftovers/HP regaining attacks/abillity's just to keep my pokémon alive. (Dunno if this is a great a idea or not maybe i should run some choice specs.)

Thnx in Advance.

 

[Avatar Korra]

Hey dude :) Interesting team you have.

It's nice that you have a central theme to follow. You wanted a rain dance team and made sure almost all your guys benefited from rain. That's good!

However, I feel like this team won't be able to handle many of the powerful threats in OU. How much have you play tested this team? Play on Pokemon Online or something like that and you can see for yourself what Pokemon pose a problem.

I would talk more about some problem Pokemon (Dragon types in particular will give your team trouble), but I have to go now, sorry! I promise to get back on you however.

PS I recommend you lengthen your descriptions on your Pokemon. Just so it's easier to understand your thought process on why you chose those guys and moves :)

 

[Electrolyte]

Hi! Nice team, and I'm glad you added some descriptions. Here are a few things I think you should change:

-Ferrothorn's set. This is what you should change it to:

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Bold nature
-Spikes
-Stealth Rock
-Protect
-Leech seed

This ferrothorn is a master of Stall and really loves taking resisted physical hits for you. With it's awesome ability, coupled with a rocky helmet, your opponent will be taking 28% damage every single time they try to touch you. Coupled with Leech Seed, you opponent will be losing 40% health every turn they try to launch a physical attack, making spinning a huge risk for your opponent. Because phazing is so important for your team, you'd want both SR and Spikes. Power Whip is a great attacking move but Ferro already has his hands full.

2. Just one small tidbit for Raikoo- try Hidden power ice instead of Aura sphere. It forms a psuedo bolt beam core, and handles your Dragon problem nicely.

3. Blastoise doesn't really have much of a use in OU anymore- it's just way too easy to set up on. I think you should replace it with Jellicent:

Jellicent @ Leftovers
248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Bold Nature
-Scald
-Taunt
-WiloWisp
-Recover

Jellicent is the perfect partner for Ferrothorn- it covers its weaknesses well and prevents the opponent from spinning away its hard earned hazards. It also burns the opponent, which cripples them and allows you to take hits easier. Scald is the main STAB, boosted by rain. Taunt stops set up sweepers in their tracks, while Recover extends your longetivity.

4. Toxicroak needs a minor move chanage- switch Bulk Up with Ice Punch and switch Drain Punch with Focus Punch. Ice punch hits dragons hard and also nails Gliscor. Focus punch hits way harder than drain punch, and you don't really need recovery besides Dry Skin and Black Sludge.

That's all I have for now. Good luck!

 

[Appelmoes101]

Hey dude :) Interesting team you have.

It's nice that you have a central theme to follow. You wanted a rain dance team and made sure almost all your guys benefited from rain. That's good!

However, I feel like this team won't be able to handle many of the powerful threats in OU. How much have you play tested this team? Play on Pokemon Online or something like that and you can see for yourself what Pokemon pose a problem.

I would talk more about some problem Pokemon (Dragon types in particular will give your team trouble), but I have to go now, sorry! I promise to get back on you however.

PS I recommend you lengthen your descriptions on your Pokemon. Just so it's easier to understand your thought process on why you chose those guys and moves :)

I tried the team quite a bit, i tend to have the most problems against dragon types. Since i lack ice typing in my team.

I dont have all to much problems whit poké that try to set up on me, since i can lock em into it whit politoeds encore and dragon tail them out whit blastoise/dragonite

also i tend to have some problems againts the Landorus-T version. This is because they are mostly running stone edge and earthquake.

This poké covers 3 guys in my team (Raikou/Dragonite/Toxicroak) and because of his base 145 ATK. Likes as politoed/blastoise still take alot of dammage from it.


also a physical Electivire is a treat to my team.

Hi! Nice team, and I'm glad you added some descriptions. Here are a few things I think you should change:

-Ferrothorn's set. This is what you should change it to:

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Bold nature
-Spikes
-Stealth Rock
-Protect
-Leech seed

This ferrothorn is a master of Stall and really loves taking resisted physical hits for you. With it's awesome ability, coupled with a rocky helmet, your opponent will be taking 28% damage every single time they try to touch you. Coupled with Leech Seed, you opponent will be losing 40% health every turn they try to launch a physical attack, making spinning a huge risk for your opponent. Because phazing is so important for your team, you'd want both SR and Spikes. Power Whip is a great attacking move but Ferro already has his hands full.

2. Just one small tidbit for Raikoo- try Hidden power ice instead of Aura sphere. It forms a psuedo bolt beam core, and handles your Dragon problem nicely.

3. Blastoise doesn't really have much of a use in OU anymore- it's just way too easy to set up on. I think you should replace it with Jellicent:

Jellicent @ Leftovers
248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Bold Nature
-Scald
-Taunt
-WiloWisp
-Recover

Jellicent is the perfect partner for Ferrothorn- it covers its weaknesses well and prevents the opponent from spinning away its hard earned hazards. It also burns the opponent, which cripples them and allows you to take hits easier. Scald is the main STAB, boosted by rain. Taunt stops set up sweepers in their tracks, while Recover extends your longetivity.

4. Toxicroak needs a minor move chanage- switch Bulk Up with Ice Punch and switch Drain Punch with Focus Punch. Ice punch hits dragons hard and also nails Gliscor. Focus punch hits way harder than drain punch, and you don't really need recovery besides Dry Skin and Black Sludge.

That's all I have for now. Good luck!

Thnx for your help, Ill try those changes out and see how it works out.
you'lle hear from me.

edit:

The HP ice works out great on Raikou it does counter my dragon problem.

Also the set with the on ferrothorn works great, switching him in against heavy attackers and make them kill them self or switch out.

im not that happy whit switching Blastoise for Jellicent, dont get me wrong Jellicent is a great pokémon but i mis a spinner on my team.

 

[Nova]

Hi Appelmoes101

Interesting rain team you have here, I like your use of an under appreciated Pokemon in Raikou. Now looking at your team, Dragon types such as Dragonite and Salamence can really give you trouble. After a Dragon Dance, these threats are able to outspeed your entire team and hit hard with Outrage and use Fire Punch/Earthquake to handle Ferrothorn. Another weakness your team has is to the new Therian formes, specifically Tornadus-T and Thundurus-T. Nothing can switch into Tornadus-T as he is able to outspeed your entire team and 2HKOs every member with Choice Specs Hurricane, even Raikou due to his Rash nature reducing his Special Defense. Thundurus-T can also really threaten your team, especially the Nasty Plot who can OHKO every member with the appropriate coverage move after a boost. For these threats, I suggest replacing Toxicroak with a Life Orb Mamoswine with a moveset of Ice Shard / Icicle Crash / Earthquake / Superpower. Mamoswine is one of the best Dragon type checks in the metagame as well as a check to the new Therian formes due to his access to a powerful STAB priority Ice Shard. There's even more reason to use him in Black and White 2 as his Thick Fat ability now gives him a neutrality to Fire type attacks and a resistance to Ice. Mamoswine also lets you beat Techniloom as he is faster and so his Ice Shard "outspeeds" Breloom's Mach Punch despite both being priority attacks. Superpower is used in the last moveslot for Super Effective damage on Ferrothorn and Air Balloon Heatran as well as having a way to hit Rotom-W for neutral.

Now for some smaller changes. First I would replace Protect on Ferrothorn with Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock is very useful in this metagame as it cripples many top offensive threats such as Dragonite, Salamence, Volcarona, and the new Therians who are all weak to Rock. Having both Stealth Rock and Spikes on Ferrothorn allows you to rack up the entry hazard damage your opponent takes on switchin and complements the phazing that Blastoise and Dragonite will do. Lastly, I would move the 4 Special Defense EVs on Politoed into Speed. This allows you to outspeed other Bulky Politoeds that aren't investing any EVs in Speed, allowing you to Toxic them before they can do the same to you.

Hope I helped and good luck with your team!


Set:

Hide

Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
-Ice Shard
-Icicle Crash
-Earthquake
-Superpower

tl;dr

Hide

Toxicroak ----> Life Orb Mamoswine
Protect on Ferrothorn ----> Stealth Rock
4 Special Defense EVs on Politoed ----> 4 Speed EVs

 

[Appelmoes101]

Hi Appelmoes101

Interesting rain team you have here, I like your use of an under appreciated Pokemon in Raikou. Now looking at your team, Dragon types such as Dragonite and Salamence can really give you trouble. After a Dragon Dance, these threats are able to outspeed your entire team and hit hard with Outrage and use Fire Punch/Earthquake to handle Ferrothorn. Another weakness your team has is to the new Therian formes, specifically Tornadus-T and Thundurus-T. Nothing can switch into Tornadus-T as he is able to outspeed your entire team and 2HKOs every member with Choice Specs Hurricane, even Raikou due to his Rash nature reducing his Special Defense. Thundurus-T can also really threaten your team, especially the Nasty Plot who can OHKO every member with the appropriate coverage move after a boost. For these threats, I suggest replacing Toxicroak with a Life Orb Mamoswine with a moveset of Ice Shard / Icicle Crash / Earthquake / Superpower. Mamoswine is one of the best Dragon type checks in the metagame as well as a check to the new Therian formes due to his access to a powerful STAB priority Ice Shard. There's even more reason to use him in Black and White 2 as his Thick Fat ability now gives him a neutrality to Fire type attacks and a resistance to Ice. Mamoswine also lets you beat Techniloom as he is faster and so his Ice Shard "outspeeds" Breloom's Mach Punch despite both being priority attacks. Superpower is used in the last moveslot for Super Effective damage on Ferrothorn and Air Balloon Heatran as well as having a way to hit Rotom-W for neutral.

Now for some smaller changes. First I would replace Protect on Ferrothorn with Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock is very useful in this metagame as it cripples many top offensive threats such as Dragonite, Salamence, Volcarona, and the new Therians who are all weak to Rock. Having both Stealth Rock and Spikes on Ferrothorn allows you to rack up the entry hazard damage your opponent takes on switchin and complements the phazing that Blastoise and Dragonite will do. Lastly, I would move the 4 Special Defense EVs on Politoed into Speed. This allows you to outspeed other Bulky Politoeds that aren't investing any EVs in Speed, allowing you to Toxic them before they can do the same to you.

Hope I helped and good luck with your team!


Set:

Hide

Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
-Ice Shard
-Icicle Crash
-Earthquake
-Superpower

tl;dr

Hide

Toxicroak ----> Life Orb Mamoswine
Protect on Ferrothorn ----> Stealth Rock
4 Special Defense EVs on Politoed ----> 4 Speed EVs

Thnx for your reply, I think the 4 Speed EV's on politoed are a great idea. I will try ur recommondations out, and i'll tell u how it goes.

Thnx for the help.

 

[lousy918]

We have several good spinners in OU over Blastoise, most notably Tentacruel. Tentacruel benefits from rain (Rain Dish), thus healing 1/8 of its max hp every turn with Lefties. Starmie is blazingly fast, while Forretress can set up other hazards. But you have Ferrothorn for that, while Tentacruel can also set up Toxic Spikes. Also, your Ferrothorn has 0 SpD, I don't understand.

 

[Appelmoes101]

We have several good spinners in OU over Blastoise, most notably Tentacruel. Tentacruel benefits from rain (Rain Dish), thus healing 1/8 of its max hp every turn with Lefties. Starmie is blazingly fast, while Forretress can set up other hazards. But you have Ferrothorn for that, while Tentacruel can also set up Toxic Spikes. Also, your Ferrothorn has 0 SpD, I don't understand.

I Have explained why am running blastoise over tentacruel in the above.
and i runned it over starmie because i prefer a bulkier spinner.

didn't think off forretress hower, he could be a good replacement for blastoise (if i want to run a spinner)

it should have been 168 spd eddited*

 

[lousy918]

Actually:

- Tentacruel is much bulkier specially
- Forretress, physically
- Blastoise, mixed
- Starmie can be offensive as well, screwing over spinblockers (Gengar dies to anything, while Thunderbolt is super effective against Jellicent)

Also, note that Forretress has the slowest recovery (1/16), while Starmie has access to Recover.

 

[Appelmoes101]

Actually:

- Tentacruel is much bulkier specially
- Forretress, physically
- Blastoise, mixed
- Starmie can be offensive as well, screwing over spinblockers (Gengar dies to anything, while Thunderbolt is super effective against Jellicent)

Also, note that Forretress has the slowest recovery (1/16), while Starmie has access to Recover.

forretress also has acces to pain split.

and its impossible to run tentacruel in my main team, or i will be to vulnerable to ground attacks.