OU Soaked Mons

hotaruuu

Politoed, Ferrothorn, Heliolisk, Vaporeon, Tentacruel, Volcarona​

Okay, I didn't play competitively last generation, so I don't know exactly how powerful Rain teams used to be, but this team seems to be pretty powerful. It's also tremendously fun to play, to me. I'm new to competitive battling, so discovering synergies like HydrationRest made me giggle a little bit. That being said, if Volcarona is fainted, this team does not like Rain to end, and it's pitifully weak in the sun.

The Team:
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Politoed (F) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
  • - Scald
  • - Toxic
  • - Protect
  • - Encore

Politoed is my lead. She is the most crucial member of the team. Switching out in time to save her last HP just to suicide one more rain dance is critical. Normally, she'll drizzle three times in a game. Encore is perfect for ruining setups and switching in with my own hazards/setups. Toxic comes in handy around mid-game after the first Rain wears out and the opponent's been made aware of Encore. Scald picks off weakened mons and attempts to burn as a last ditch effort.

Cons: She's a bit of a do-nothing. If I encore a move that deals a lot of damage, switching can be tricky. I think this will be less of a problem when I get a sense of which pokemon she outspeeds, but there were a couple times I hit Protect on a setup move and then Encored the sweeping move. Also, after Encore/Protect/Switching, there isn't a lot of time to set up. My original solution, before I tried Politoed, was Prankster Raindance Klefki, but it often died before or as it set up Rain Dance.​

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Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
  • - Leech Seed
  • - Spikes
  • - Stealth Rock
  • - Gyro Ball

Not much to say about Ferrothorn. Switching it in on a physical attacker and setting up Stealth Rock is mainly what I use this set for. SR and one layer of Spikes is my realistic goal before I either Leech Seed and switch or kill with Gyro Ball. Switching out of Ferrothorn is great when they switch in a fire type to specially take it out, considering the rest of my team douses most fires very reliably.

Cons: Slow. I'm not used to running slow setters, even though he's working wonderfully for me. Also, unexpected fire attacks suck when they predict the switch. I'm not yet sure of the pros and cons vs Gyro Ball and Power Whip, and I almost want to run Leftovers instead of Rocky Helmet to improve longevity.​

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Heliolisk (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
  • - Thunder
  • - Volt Switch
  • - Dark Pulse
  • - Focus Blast

Heliolisk slays any opposing water types with Volt Switch/Thunder. It loves switching in for Volcarona when it's likely to take water damage, then Volt Switching right back out.

Cons: Heliolisk is fragile. It can't take hits nearly as well as the rest of my team, which makes switching him around very difficult. And this team switches A LOT. It also runs into the problem of being choice locked on Thunder vs a ground type, and a lot of my team doesn't like to switch into Earthquake.​

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Vaporeon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
  • - Scald
  • - Ice Beam
  • - Rest
  • - Rain Dance

Vaporeon is my rain WALL. Her bulk allows her to take a hit while setting up Rain Dance and then Rest to full HP, often as the opponent switches out. Scald as her main attack is great. She'll survive quite a few hits, so eventually something is going to get burned. Ice Beam takes out dragon types and grass types, but is rarely used before Scald burns them. Nothing really scares me when Vaporeon's getting rained on. Toxic? Nope. Burn? Lol, nope. My only regrets are that she's a little on the weak hitting side, and she has to sacrifice a move for Rain Dance.

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Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 240 Def / 252 HP / 16 Spd
Bold Nature
  • - Scald
  • - Sludge Bomb
  • - Rapid Spin
  • - Toxic Spikes

I've played at least two Pokemon games from each generation and I've never given Tentacruel a second look until I built this team. Turns out Water/Poison is a great typing for a defensive pokemon. Rapid Spin is necessary to get rid of Stealth Rock for Volcarona, and its poison typing takes out Toxic Spikes, which is great. I like to wait to lay down my own Tox Spikes until I've Scalded or KOed most physical attackers, which is fine because Tentacruel likes the late game, and is one of the few pokemon I don't mind being dry. I'm trying out Sludge Bomb to hit Fairies and possibly to surprise grass type switch ins.

Cons: Like Politoed, he can be a bit of a do-nothing. He absorbs hits very well, but he can't hit back very hard. Despite that, I can't see the team without him. Rain Dish is somewhat underwhelming as well. I'm thinking of changing to Liquid Ooze, just as one more response to Leech Seed users.​

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Volcarona (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
  • - Quiver Dance
  • - Fiery Dance
  • - Hurricane
  • - Roost

It's not really news, but Volcarona is a great fire type for rain teams. She can switch in on a lot of things to set up Quiver Dance, and then Hurricane till it stops raining. Then, Fiery Dance comes out. Roost is to heal after setting up/SR/Life Orb damage puts her at risk of getting KOed.

Cons: After rain, Fiery Dance is her only reliable attack due to Hurricane's accuracy. She's also one of the more fragile pokemon on my team, as I opted for Speed EVs over defensive ones.​

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Overall, I think surprise is the biggest factor in my successes. On non-rain teams, a lot of my pokemon don't hit particularly hard, so getting 2HKOed by a Politoed isn't something on their radar. Leftovers is a problem to face, though. A common scenario is not being able to KO a pokemon without dying, but also not being able to switch or they'll heal back into the green. I'd like a physical attacker somewhere on my team. The last time I won vs Blissey was because I happened to Leech Seed it after it ran out of teammates. I'd love suggestions for pokemon that would compliment the team and be able to attack physically. I'm a bit wary of Swift Swim, because most users are out sped when rain stops. I've also considered Toxicroak, but that would just be one more ground weakness, as would any of the Steel types I've considered. If there's a single one-for-one pokemon swap that will fix this team, it's evaded me, which is why I'm seeking advice. Thanks for reading all this, I'm looking forward to your comments. ^^
 
Is dark pulse any better than surf? Heliolisk is one of the few electric types to get it and not using it especially on a rain team feels criminal. it has dry skin so a life orb might be more viable too. Also swiftswim is allowed with drizzle you know so kabutops/ kingdra are useable. As for a physical attacker you can use mega gyrados over vaporeon. With moldbreaker it can eq rotom wash who might give you trouble. There are other megas as well that you can use
 
kabbes said:
How did you get a Ferrothorn with Spikes, Stealth Rock AND Leech Seed in XY? Or are you assuming Pokebank?
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Ferro can get spikes and leech seed from breeding with cacnea, obtainable thru safari. Stealth rock is obtainable breeding with dweeble

Regarding the team, I also LOVE Rain teams!. I'm no expert, but I can give you some advice:

I suggest running power whip with ferro instead of gyro ball. Also try using twave (or toxic?) instead of spikes. Many things like to set up in front of ferro, and you can screw them with paralysis

Politoed: Instead of toxic, try using either focus blast or rest. You'll need your rain inducer in good shape. That Protect is out of place. Maybe replacing it with rest or perish song would be nice (perish makes 90% of setup lead teams rage quit, believe me).
Heliolisk will love Surf instead of dark pulse. Owning all dem ground switch ins who expect thunder. Also replace focus with hp ice to deal with dragons or grass knot.
Vaporeon could use Wish to keep your politoed and other teammates alive, but idk what to replace
As EJ190 said, you need physical attackers. Mega Gyara, azumarill and kabutops can do the job, otherwise any chansey/blissey/special wall will totally screw your team.
Kingdra and Kabutops are good swift swimmers. Altough I have never used em, they seem pretty good.
Ludicolo is another good choice and a heavily underestimated mon. It serves as an excellent anti smeargle lead, absorbing spore and screwing the subs. I usually use modest swift swim with scald/ice beam/giga drain/focus blast. The item is your choice: Life orb, expert belt, wise glasses (wut), lefties.
Mega Mawile is a good steel/fairy type that would really appreciate the benefits of fire dmg-reducing effect of rain. You can use an adamant play rough/swords dance/ice fang/sucker punch set
 
I would much more prefer the Heliolisk to have a life orb instead of a choice item. Also why not substitute Dark pulse with Surf? It's a much more superior choice :)
 
Yep, I've bred Spi/SR/LS ferros in game, and I did it with Cacnea and a SR Ferro I got through Wonder Trade.

I didn't even realize Heliolisk learned Surf. I switched Life Orb to him, switched Dark Pulse to Surf, and he's spending a lot more time in battle since then.

I switched Leftovers to Volcarona and gave her a more defensive EV spread, so she's more reliant on Quiver Dance to get her speed up to par, but she can sweep like crazy.

Gyarados took the place of Vaporeon in my revisions. Mega with Sub/DD/Waterfall/EQ. If I can get him 2+ Dragon Dances, he's golden, but at +1 Speed he's still pretty slow. I just realized I forgot to set his EVs/Nature in Showdown... Crap. I'll need to re-test him.

Tentacruel is unchanged, and Ferrothorn is now Power Whip/Stealth Rock/Leech Seed/Thunder Wave. Getting T Wave on a fast attacker on the switch is great, and with the speed he gained from not running Gyro Ball, he can actually outspeed some slower paralyzed foes. (Gasp!)

Finally, Politoed. I switched her moveset around to Scald/Focus Blast/Encore/Perish Song. I like Focus Blast, but I'm not really sure about Perish Song. It seems like the three turns plus the turn to use it are more than enough time for leads to get their job done. With Protect, I could forecast a move and then lock it in with Encore.

I miss Vaporeon a lot, but in order to bring her back, I'd need to replace something else with Gyarados or another physical attacker. I'm wary about adding a Swift Swimmer to the team, because the loss of speed after rain stops can be a liability. I think it's safer to to stick with a reliably speedy pokemon, hence Gyarados over Kingrda or Kabutops Still, using Gyarados has been hard for me. All of the suggestions have helped my team a lot though. Thanks. ^^
 
The perish song is to screw setup leads like sub baton pass leads commonly used by scolipede and smeargle (beware of spore). Encore is used to lock stealth rock leads. Focus blast deals with ferrothorn and ttar. But it's just my opinion, let's see what experts say. For a swift swimmer try kingdra or kabutops (ludicolo is fun to use too).
 
I did try Kabutops for a little while. In the couple games I used him, he didn't do much.

I'll need more time to test him, but the next pokemon I'm looking at is Donphan. Like Kabutops, he's a physically offensive rapid spinner with a priority attack, but he's physically bulky. With Donphan/Kabutops, I got rid of Tentacruel and added Vaporeon, because Tenta's main purpose was a spinner. So if I can make a physically offensive rapid spinner work, I can fill two weaknesses at the same time.
 
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