This is a UU rain team designed for UU alone. Currently 8w 2l in shoddy smogon UU ladder, this team has been moderately working for me. In those 5 matches, I've noticed that Omastar gets outsped even with Swift Swim, that those 8 turns of rain dance are too short, and I need to remember that neutral STAB + rain water moves can be more powerful then SE moves depending on the situation. Omastar generally goes down extremely early game, so I need to focus on keeping him alive. With the addition of Gardevoir over my original Uxie, I lost SR, which is not good, but I can't seem to find a good place to put it in.
On with the team.
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Spiritomb @Damp Rock
Careful | Pressure
252 HP / 140 Atk / 116 SpD
Sucker Punch / Rain Dance / Taunt / Pain Split
This is my starter, psychic counter, and anti-setup all in one. Not only that, but he sets up rain dance. Damp Rock goes hand in hand with Rain Dance. The EVs are from smogon, and supposedly Sucker Punch has a chance of OHKOing Azelf.
Sucker Punch helps make up for his pathetic speed. Pain Split works wonderfully with his low HP to provide fairly good recovery. Taunt works well against psychics who attempt to set up on him, and can be an effective anti-trick room, which I noticed rips this team apart.
Ludicolo @Leftovers
Adamant | Swift Swim
4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Swords Dance / Waterfall / Seed Bomb / Ice Punch
Yes, a physical Ludicolo. Why? Because I have an exceedingly effective special sweeper that can abuse a higher special attack, and no one expects it. Swords Dance is the main reason this set is more useful then a special set as with quick setup and rain, he'll outspeed most threats and have an extremely powerful aresenal of moves.
My Rain Dancers should be enough to make it so rain dance isn't a necessity on this set. Waterfall and Seed Bomb are powerful STABs, and Ice Punch gives excellent coverage against dragon types such as Altaria that might pose a threat with CB or DD Outrage to his mediocre defense stat.
Main strategy with him is to only leave him out with rain. If I'm getting stalled, switch him out ASAP because without Swift Swim he has virtually no realistic use. Swords Dance and abuse Swift Swim to sweep. Lack of priority moves in UU makes this set work wonders.
Gardevoir @Damp Rock
Calm | Trace
252 HP / 120 SpD / 136 Spe
Rain Dance / Memento / Will-o-wisp / Focus Blast
The use of this set over Uxie is fairly obvious.
Firstly, it can actually attack. Thats nice. Focus Blast adds a fighting type move to this team, which is great as a counter to a lot of pokemon, and enables Gardevoir to have an extremely powerful attacking move that can deal a lot of damage to common switch-ins.
Secondly, Gardevoir can cripple incoming physical sweepers with Will-o-wisp. The use of that is obvious.
Finally, the Rain Dance - Memento combo. Probably one of the reasons I chose this set. Lategame, it can be hard to find a niche for a sweeper to set up. Ludicolo is too frail to find a good turn to switch in and set up in the lategame. Gardevoir can switch into a special attacker and set up 8 turn Rain Dance, which is crucial to the function of a sweeper Ludicolo. Then, she can use Memento to suicide and dramatically reduce the usefulness of any pokemon, which almost guarantees a switch. And even if the opponent doesnt switch, the damage will be minimal. This almost guarantees that Ludicolo will have an opportunity to set up Swords Dance and proceed to (hopefully) sweep and enjoy the lack of priority moves in the UU metagame.
Issues with this set is that I now entirely lack Stealth Rock, which means Sashers will be troublesome.
Omastar @Life Orb
Modest | Swift Swim
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rain Dance / Surf / Ancientpower / Hidden Power [Grass]
Omastar is my Special Sweeper. He also is the third and final Rain Dance setup-er on this team. Rain Dance is extremely important for him as without it he can't really be effecive. Surf is for STAB. Its his main attacking move and will do the bulk of his damage. Ancientpower is a needed rock type move on this team which can do a good job taking care of Ice and Bug types that come in expecting Ice Beam. HP Grass covers fellow water types and ground types.
The strategy here is to come in with Rain Dance and sweep. He can set up Rain Dance if the opponent is almost guaranteed to switch. Essentially, abuse Surf STAB + Rain to the fullest with the occasional Ancientpower. Use HP Grass when nessesary.
Drapion @Scope Lens
Jolly | Sniper
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Swords Dance / Night Slash / Earthquake / Cross Poison
Drapion is my second physical sweeper, but his nearly polar opposite typing and moveset make him a perfect compliment to ludicolo. Swords Dance is an obvious choice, and with his excellent typing, its fairly easy to find a niche for him to use it. Night Slash and Cross Poison are obvious STABs, while Earthquake is for coverage. Scope Lens is to allow more Sniper abuse and is a perfect compliment to Night Slash and Cross Poison's high critical hit rate.
The strategy here is to abuse his many resistances and excellent defense to come in easily, Swords Dance, and abuse Sniper and Scope Lens to the fullest. He can easily take care of Psychics and Grass types that my team has no realistic counter for. Ice Fang is possibly a better choice over Cross Poison, but the Sniper abuse is very appealing and my team has Ludicolo with an alternative Ice attack.
Luxray @Choice Scarf
Jolly | Intimidate
252 Atk / 216 Spe / 40 HP
Spark / Ice Fang / Giga Impact / Crunch
Luxray's low speed makes Choice Scarf a viable choice. Choice Scarf brings his Speed to 384, allowing him to outspeed all Swellow variants and OHKO with Spark. Spark is for physical STAB, and was chosen over Thunder Fang for accuracy. Ice Fang functions as the second Ice move on this team and works well with the revenge killer ideal of this set. Giga Impact is a very weird move, I agree, but its 150 base power is so much more useful then Return in that it can OHKO most anything thats defensively mediocre and doesnt resist it, and it can be invaluable in the endgame. Crunch for coverage.
On with the team.
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Spiritomb @Damp Rock
Careful | Pressure
252 HP / 140 Atk / 116 SpD
Sucker Punch / Rain Dance / Taunt / Pain Split
This is my starter, psychic counter, and anti-setup all in one. Not only that, but he sets up rain dance. Damp Rock goes hand in hand with Rain Dance. The EVs are from smogon, and supposedly Sucker Punch has a chance of OHKOing Azelf.
Sucker Punch helps make up for his pathetic speed. Pain Split works wonderfully with his low HP to provide fairly good recovery. Taunt works well against psychics who attempt to set up on him, and can be an effective anti-trick room, which I noticed rips this team apart.
Ludicolo @Leftovers
Adamant | Swift Swim
4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Swords Dance / Waterfall / Seed Bomb / Ice Punch
Yes, a physical Ludicolo. Why? Because I have an exceedingly effective special sweeper that can abuse a higher special attack, and no one expects it. Swords Dance is the main reason this set is more useful then a special set as with quick setup and rain, he'll outspeed most threats and have an extremely powerful aresenal of moves.
My Rain Dancers should be enough to make it so rain dance isn't a necessity on this set. Waterfall and Seed Bomb are powerful STABs, and Ice Punch gives excellent coverage against dragon types such as Altaria that might pose a threat with CB or DD Outrage to his mediocre defense stat.
Main strategy with him is to only leave him out with rain. If I'm getting stalled, switch him out ASAP because without Swift Swim he has virtually no realistic use. Swords Dance and abuse Swift Swim to sweep. Lack of priority moves in UU makes this set work wonders.
Gardevoir @Damp Rock
Calm | Trace
252 HP / 120 SpD / 136 Spe
Rain Dance / Memento / Will-o-wisp / Focus Blast
The use of this set over Uxie is fairly obvious.
Firstly, it can actually attack. Thats nice. Focus Blast adds a fighting type move to this team, which is great as a counter to a lot of pokemon, and enables Gardevoir to have an extremely powerful attacking move that can deal a lot of damage to common switch-ins.
Secondly, Gardevoir can cripple incoming physical sweepers with Will-o-wisp. The use of that is obvious.
Finally, the Rain Dance - Memento combo. Probably one of the reasons I chose this set. Lategame, it can be hard to find a niche for a sweeper to set up. Ludicolo is too frail to find a good turn to switch in and set up in the lategame. Gardevoir can switch into a special attacker and set up 8 turn Rain Dance, which is crucial to the function of a sweeper Ludicolo. Then, she can use Memento to suicide and dramatically reduce the usefulness of any pokemon, which almost guarantees a switch. And even if the opponent doesnt switch, the damage will be minimal. This almost guarantees that Ludicolo will have an opportunity to set up Swords Dance and proceed to (hopefully) sweep and enjoy the lack of priority moves in the UU metagame.
Issues with this set is that I now entirely lack Stealth Rock, which means Sashers will be troublesome.
Omastar @Life Orb
Modest | Swift Swim
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rain Dance / Surf / Ancientpower / Hidden Power [Grass]
Omastar is my Special Sweeper. He also is the third and final Rain Dance setup-er on this team. Rain Dance is extremely important for him as without it he can't really be effecive. Surf is for STAB. Its his main attacking move and will do the bulk of his damage. Ancientpower is a needed rock type move on this team which can do a good job taking care of Ice and Bug types that come in expecting Ice Beam. HP Grass covers fellow water types and ground types.
The strategy here is to come in with Rain Dance and sweep. He can set up Rain Dance if the opponent is almost guaranteed to switch. Essentially, abuse Surf STAB + Rain to the fullest with the occasional Ancientpower. Use HP Grass when nessesary.
Drapion @Scope Lens
Jolly | Sniper
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Swords Dance / Night Slash / Earthquake / Cross Poison
Drapion is my second physical sweeper, but his nearly polar opposite typing and moveset make him a perfect compliment to ludicolo. Swords Dance is an obvious choice, and with his excellent typing, its fairly easy to find a niche for him to use it. Night Slash and Cross Poison are obvious STABs, while Earthquake is for coverage. Scope Lens is to allow more Sniper abuse and is a perfect compliment to Night Slash and Cross Poison's high critical hit rate.
The strategy here is to abuse his many resistances and excellent defense to come in easily, Swords Dance, and abuse Sniper and Scope Lens to the fullest. He can easily take care of Psychics and Grass types that my team has no realistic counter for. Ice Fang is possibly a better choice over Cross Poison, but the Sniper abuse is very appealing and my team has Ludicolo with an alternative Ice attack.
Luxray @Choice Scarf
Jolly | Intimidate
252 Atk / 216 Spe / 40 HP
Spark / Ice Fang / Giga Impact / Crunch
Luxray's low speed makes Choice Scarf a viable choice. Choice Scarf brings his Speed to 384, allowing him to outspeed all Swellow variants and OHKO with Spark. Spark is for physical STAB, and was chosen over Thunder Fang for accuracy. Ice Fang functions as the second Ice move on this team and works well with the revenge killer ideal of this set. Giga Impact is a very weird move, I agree, but its 150 base power is so much more useful then Return in that it can OHKO most anything thats defensively mediocre and doesnt resist it, and it can be invaluable in the endgame. Crunch for coverage.
