Pokémon Black & White - Autumn Friendly - Rain Team

[labarith]

Politoed @ Iron Ball - Drizzle - Quiet 252 HP/252 Sp. A/4 Sp.D
Surf
Ice Beam
Encore
Protect

The "core" of the team, Politoed's Iron Ball lets me win weather wars. Also serves as a decent foil for TR teams, as he can "outspeed" many TR mainstays after a TR. Protect lets him wear out a TR or let his partner get in a kill. Encore really messes with TR, Sleep Talk, and pumpers... sometimes I miss having a strong HP, but Politoed isn't there for attacking... while Surf will occasionally take out both opponents, it also too often hurts my own team mates. Ice Beam, sadly, doesn't seem like enough to take out very many dragons on it's own... but with a fakeout or swiftswim support it can usually do it's job.

Evs let it take quite a hit, often times surviving thunderpunches and strong STAB neutral attacks.

Thundurus @ Focus Sash - Timid - 252 Sp.A, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Thunder
Hidden Power Ice
Thunderwave
Taunt

My 2nd lead against suspected TR or Terrakion beatup teams, a good taunt counters Tailwind and the like. Thunder's the main attack - very useful for the mirror. HP Ice hit flying and dragon and there's not much to say about it. Thunderwave is something I'm not used to using, but Prankster Thunderwave's a great way to get in a last minute "hit" against something and cripple it.

Ludicolo @ Grass Gem - Modest - Swift Swim - 252 Sp.A /252 Speed/ 4 HP
Hydropump
Gigadrain
Fake Out
Ice Beam

Banned in OU, but OK in Autumn Friendly comes the brokenness of Swiftswim + Drizzle. Ludicolo outspeeds most of my opponents in the rain, and fakeouts to counter a move I don't really want to hit on the first turn. This takes Thundurus's place against anything that Taunt doesn't shut down. Hydropump hits hard. Gigadrain hits OK, fixes health, and kills anti-rain team Lanturns and Gastrodons. Ice Beam hits dragons, flying, and generally is a good thing to have. I like it's reliable accuracy over Hydropump as an option against some of their coverage overlap.

Note: Previously, I've used Absorbing Bulb w/ this set... but I've moved away from a Surf-centric team (think triples) - should I go back to it? Should I equip something else?

Garchomp @ Life Orb - Sand Veil - Jolly 252 At/252 Sp/4HP
Outrage
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Protect

Again, banned in OU thanks to being boss, Garchomp is a nice beatstick to bring in when expecting electric attacks against politoed, and a nice "swap" for when Tyranitar gets brought in to weather-up.
Outrage is self-explanatory, EQ is nice - but only has synergy with Thunderus and, to a lesser extent, Ludicolo.
Rockslide is there to hit both opponents and still has a good flinch rate.
Protect lets me avoid Ice Beam/etc. for a turn, letting me scout good switchins or take out an opponent while he waits.

Mienshao @ Rock Gem - Regenerator - Jolly 252 At/252 Sp/4HP
Drain Punch
Rock Slide
Fake Out
Wide Guard

This was supposed to be doubles tech, and while I still like Fakeout and this guy, I find myself worrying about the miss rate of Rock Slide. Wide Guard gives it some synergy with EQ and Surf, but that's not saying much. Drain Punch gives it some longevity...

Rotom @ Damp Rock - Modest - 252 Sp/252Sp.A/4 Sp.D
Leaf Storm
Volt Switch
Will-O-Wisp
Rain Dance

In theory this is my "2nd rain dance"/surprise to help win weather wars... which I'm supposed to win anyways. Basic set, nothing special, haven't had a chance to see how it plays in doubles yet.
Question: Should I replace this? If so, what? And if I don't, should I go with a modest or timid Politoed?

 

[TheMantyke]

Hi. You have a pretty decent Rain Team on your hands at the moment, but I think you can make a few changes to up its game a little.

First of all, consider replacing Taunt with Rain Dance. Taunt gives you an extra layer of defense against Trick Room and Tailwind, but you already have Fake Out dealing with a majority of Trick Room and Tailwind inducers and you have the strength with Rain to just double target an inducer and wipe them out. With Rain Dance, you still have an option to keep your Rain up in an instant and throw off your opponents game when they're Tyranitar or Abomasnow switch in still keeps them in your weather.

I notice you complained about Politoed damaging your own team mates have you considered just scrapping Surf and opting for Scald or Hydro Pump? You don't have anything benefitting from Surf like a Gastrodon, so it might be a good move to swap it out.

On Garchomp and Ludicolo, consider giving Garchomp a Yache or Haban Berry and Ludicolo a Life Orb. Garchomp doesn't make much use out of the boost of power and added fragility Life Orb brings but loves its weaknesses shielded, if only for a turn. Ludicolo is frail as it is already is and loves wailing on opponents with Life Orb and Rain boosted Hydro Pumps. You could also switch back to an Absorb Bulb, but you'll be working with a terribly weak Ludicolo without Politoed by your side.

I really don't like the look of Meinshao on this team. It's primary roll as a Fake Out user is already fulfilled by Ludicolo and its not lending much to the team in terms of defensive synergy. Instead I would recommend a Metagross for a couple of reasons.

• It has phenomenal Defensive synergy with the rest of the team. It resists pretty much all the team's weaknesses beyond Electric and Bug.
• It gives you an excellent defense against common anti-weather options like Tyranitar, Abomasnow, and Latios.
• It gives you another strong hit against Cresselia, who you currently have no super-effective moves against.
• Under rain, it has a lone weakness to Ground, and with common Earthquake users being so predictable, it's an easy weakness to work around.

Something like...

Metagross @ Shuca Berry / Steel Gem
Admant
252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Speed
-Meteor Mash
-Zen Heabutt / Hammer Arm
-Bullet Punch
-Protect

...should do the trick. Pick Zen Headbutt if you want a strong neutral hit against enemy Water-types. Pick Hammer Arm if you don't like how the Ferrothorn match up is looking at this point.

Finally, your Rotom-C set looks a little funky. It seems unnecessarily stally for something as offensive as a Rain team. I would recommend revising your set to something like:

Rotom-C @ Grass Gem
Modest
252 HP / 252 SpAtk / 6 Speed
-Leaf Storm
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power Ice / Thunder
-Protect

Hope my advice helped!

 

[Lucifers Pride]

From personal experience, using Surf Politoed + Absorb Bulb Ludicolo is a very effective strategy. Ludicolo can easily outspeed every Fake Out user and ensure that it will be at +1. You don't need Grass Gem to guarantee the KO on Terrakion and other common foes when the +1 Special Attack acts as Choice Specs.

 

[labarith]

Thanks for your comments!

I've found Ludicolo is surprisingly resillient as outside of STAB supereffective bug or flying, which people rarely have, not much can OHKO him... save, maybe obtusely strong close combat or outrage/dragon meteor (although, even then from the twins...).

Should I try to make it more surf-compliant? I've actually had a few OHKOs from water attacks on about half of my team... which doesn't seem right.

Rotom's an easy out, doubling up on E+G typing, and Mienshao's not aces (although I'm considering swapping it out for a more traditional U-Turn variant)

* Toxicroak (although slow) has both Suckerpunch and Fake Out... but it's a slow fakeout, useful for mid-game.
* Jellicent has a similar water absorbing power, and hits hard.
* Cresselia could also take a surf (I know, I've seen my opponents do it nicely) - I could get icy wind support and psychic backup out of it... but not much else.
* Gastrodon also offers a nice response to any rain team not spamming ludicolo at me.
* Tornadus could come in as my prankster Raindancer/Tailwinder... giving me 3 weaknesses against ice beam (although, to be fair, only Thunderus would show up for the mirror)... but allowing me to keep Thundurus's absurdly powerful taunt.


A few things that WORK WELL in my team:
* Prankster - Taunt. Even Quiet Politoed can't ice beam a Whimsicott to death after a Fakeout; Taunt shuts it down. Whimsicott/Terrakion, I think, is one of ~ a half dozen consistent archetypes for this format. It also stops Ghosts dropping TR. Yes, if Politoed is slower I can encore away Trickroom, but they can pull out their TRer in response leaving me cold.

* Prankster Thunderwave - the ability to do something with Thundurus when he's at 1 life and not going to outspeed the opponent's priority move is a blessing.

Of course, the Thunder/HP Ice is non-negotiable as well, so Thundurus has earned his place (and earned his banning from OU).