Rain Dance

lilwartz

Hey all!

I haven't played Pokemon competitively in over 4 years, and I just recently got back into it thanks to the new battle sim. Here's my crack at an offensive rain dance team.

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Politoed @ leftovers
Drizzle
200 HP/56 Def/252 SpA
Modest
-Surf
-HP Grass
-Ice Beam
-Perish Song

Politoed is a staple on rain teams, pretty generic build, decided to go a bit more offensive since a modest rain boosted surf does a pretty good amount of damage. Perish Song is there to combat any baton pass chains and as a way to finish off the opponent's last pokemon. I usually don't have any trouble with opposing weather inducers, as Politoed hits all of them super effectively. I considered a more defensive ev spread/nature, but Politoed doesn't seem to die too easily, and I always have Tornadus as a backup weather inducer.

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Tornadus-T @life orb
Regenerator
4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe
Naive
-Hurricane
-U-turn
-Superpower
-Rain Dance

Tornadus is an absolute animal in the rain with 100% accurate stab hurricane. I run superpower over focus blast because I hate the miss chance, and it allows me to beat up specially defensive Heatran and Chansey/Blissey more easily. Rain dance is a filler, and useful in case Politoed goes down in a weather war. With a blazing fast speed that outspeeds almost everything non-boosted in OU, Hurricane and U-turn are invaluable. U-turn allows for amazingly easy switches, and the life orb + Regenerator combo makes Tornadus a very hard hitter that is hard to take down.

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Ferrothorn @Leftovers
Iron Barbs
224 HP/32 Def/252 SpD
0 speed IV
Sassy
-Spikes
-Stealth Rock
-Power Whip
-Gyro Ball

Ferrothorn is great for entry hazards and as a rock/electric resist, which most of my team is weak to. The double entry hazard allows me to set up easily versus defensive teams, and I didn't find much use with leech seed on an offensive team. I'm pretty good with prediction, and people often try to switch in an Espon or another fast pokemon like Latios, and a gyro ball puts a huge dent into them. I went specially defensive becuase I'm more afraid of strong electric moves (which are almost always special.) However, outrages do tend to be a problem, so I may end up going physical.

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Azumarill @Choice Band
Huge Power
252 HP/252 Atk/ 4 Spe
Adamant
-Aqua Jet
-Super Power
-Ice Punch
-Waterfall

I simply love using Azumarill. I can't count the amount of times having a double stab'd priority move coming off of 600+ attack has won me matches. Azumarill punches holes in everything in the rain, even tanks like Skarmory. Azumarill is also surprisingly bulky, and he is a good glue piece on my team. The only problems I have when I use Azumarill is Jellicent and Vaporeon. Ice Punch gives great coverage against many water absorbers (Dragonite, Celebi, etc.) and Super Power absolutely destroys Chansey and Blissey.

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Starmie @Life Orb
Natural Cure
4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Thunder
-Rapid Spin

Starmie does a surprising amount of damage coming from a base 100 SpA. Hydro Pump smashes through even things that resist it, and Bolt/Beam coverage is priceless. I do feel like this Starmie is too squishy and often dies very quickly, so I might switch out spin or Bolt/Beam for recover. I needed a spinner on my team since I use both genies very often. Starmie also pulls its own sweeps with its good speed and SpA.

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Thundurus-T @Choice Scarf
Volt Absorb
4 Def/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid
-Thunder
-Volt Switch
-HP Ice
-Focus Blast

I figured I would put in a strong abuser of Thunder since it's a rain team. Volt Switch is extremely useful, but it can be hard to use given all the ground types running around. Thundurus also goes down pretty quickly especially if there are rocks on the field or a sandstorm is raging. I often lead with an HP Ice just so Gliscor and the like don't get a free switch-in. It's nice to have a fast revenge killer, but Thundurus hasn't been absolutely amazing for me. I also put it in because I figured I needed more electric resists on the team. I'd definitely be willing to switch this thing out for a specially defensive Latias or something else.

Other options I've considered using for this team include:
choice scarf Terrakion
calm mind Keldeo
specially defensive Jirachi
specially defensive Latias
trickscarf Lati@s
Dragonite
Dugtrio
CB Scizor

Thanks a lot for any tips and checking out my rain team! Cheers
 
Hey dude, your team looks interesting, but I HIGHLY recommend you lengthen your descriptions after all your Pokemon. It helps us raters understand their role and why you chose them better ;)

I recommend at least 5 lines per Pokemon.

EDIT: Also, I agree with the user below me. Keldeo could really benefit this team, and help with some of the problem pokes you're encountering.
 
Just a suggestion

your team looks pretty weak against special walls if Azumarill goes down. I suggest a strong Fighting type. Either Terrakion or Keldeo will do the job. Here are the sets:

Terrakion@Choice Scarf/Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
Moveset:
~Close Combat
~Stone Edge
~X-Scissor
~Rock Slide / Sacred Sword

Solid check to special walls. You don't have to worry about Gliscor etc you already have too much special attackers for that. Moves and evs are generic for a Terrakion. It can replace Thundurus if you think that a revenge killer is necessary. This guy is better at checking opposing ferrothorns that Keldeo. You can go for CB if you think that Tornadus is fast enough.

Keldeo@Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Moveset:
~Calm Mind
~Hydro Pump
~Secret Sword
~Hidden Power Ghost / Electric

Performs the same job as Terrakion but then in form of a "mixed attacker" thanks to Secret Sword hitting the physical side. HP Ghost for Jellicent and for Lati@s. Electric for Gyarados and Jellicent. It also doesn't have trouble against physical walls unlike Terrakion. Performs like Starmie but then in a more offensive way. Can't say much due to limited coverage :/

Anyway, for Starmie, I'd say go for Leftovers since Life Orb would kill you if you rapid Spin. As for Ferrothorn, go for Leech Seed somewhere. Ferro will die quickly since it has no recovery. Starmie could be replaced anytime soon if you get rid of Thundurus. Tornadus doesn't need Rapid Spin support since it is virtually immune to all hazards thanks to Regenerator recovering more health than the damage done by stealth rock.


One last thing. These days, teams with Politoed are called Drizzle/Rain Teams. Rain Dance Teams usually refer to teams focusing on Swift Swimmers. And also, good luck with your time adjusting to the new metagame.
 
Thanks for the replies guys!

@Avatar Korra
I added about 2-3 sentences to each analysis so it's easier to see their roles.

@pwnage77
Great suggestions! Surprisingly enough, I don't have any problems with the common special walls (Heatran, ChansBliss, Celebi, Jirachi) since a hurricane + superpower from Tornadus or tanking too many boosted water attacks can usually take them down. I do like both Terrakion and Keldeo on the team, but again I'm deathily afraid of electric attacks and neither can take the hit.

Lefties on Starmie is very nice, but the raw damage from a boosted hydro pump is too hard to pass up. It does suck taking 10% of my health from a rapid spin, but I feel like I need the spin and it's hard to give up life orb's damage.

Ferrothorn does die fairly quickly, and he is a very integral check on my team. However, both attacking moves are very important to keep, and the spikes and stealth rocks together is so useful against defensive teams. Leech seed is too slow for my taste.

Although it's true that Tornadus gains life from switching in and out, with one attack taking 10% of my health and me taking weak attacks, it's a lot nicer being able to come back into the fight with 25% more health than with rocks on the field.

If I were to include Keldeo or Terrakion, who should I take out? I would love to take out Thundurus but it leaves my team extremely vulnerable to electric attacks.
 
hey, cool team. i find that starmie plays an important role on your team - utilizing rapid spin to get rid of hazards like stealth rock which annoys thundurus-t and tornadus-t; however, its survivability is a concern, as it loses 10% of its health anytime it uses a move. when spinning against ferrothorn, you lose 10% of your health due to life orb, in addition to 12.5% lost due to iron barbs, which means starmie will often go down easily. that's why i'd highly recommend leftovers over life orb. while you do lose a slight amount of power, your starmie's survivability increases, which allows it to spin without having to lose health each time. hydro pump and thunder in rain already hit hard without the life orb boost anyways. i don't have much else to recommend - cool team, and good luck! hope i helped.
 
Hi

This is a great team however there are a few things that you could change. Stall teams could give you a headache because you have a lot of Pokemon without any form of recovery which means they will faint quite quickly because of Entry Hazards, since stall teams cause so much switches. This could play against you since you have Politoed which is such an easy bait for Ferrothorn to come in and set up a ton of Spikes, and sometimes Stealth Rock with it. I really think you could use Recover over Ice Beam for Starmie and keep the Life Orb. Starmie's role as a Rapid Spinner is much easier with Life Orb Thunder as it allows it to get past most Jellicent who try to spinblock it quite often. Recover allows Starmie to not die when it hits Ferrothorn with Rapid Spin or just from Hazards+LO recoil in general. Furthermore, you don't really need Ice Beam since you can revenge most Dragon Dancers quite easily with Thundurus-T and Ferrothorn can tank Outrages very well. It sucks that you lose the ability to hit Celebi on the switch but you can live with that. Starmie isn't your main sweeper anyway so you are still able to clean up late game very easily with Tornadus-T.

Then priority sweepers, Swords Dance Lucario and Swords Dance Toxicroak in particular, could be very problematic for your team to deal with. Lucario can proceed to set up on Ferrothorn pretty easily and then beat the rest of your team with boosted Close Combats and ExtremeSpeeds. Toxicroak is a very tough match up because you have no way to change the weather, pretty much negative its Life Orb recoil and it can set up extremely easily on Water types, and it OHKOes Tornadus-T with Sucker Punch after Stealth Rock, which could become an issue. I think you could run a Gliscor in the place of Azumarill. Gliscor is an amazing Pokemon in the BW2 metagame as it can tank many Fighting attacks with its Flying typing and amazing bulk, it can set up Stealth Rock, which is definetly useful since it can open up a moveslot for Ferrothorn to use something else, like Leech Seed to increase its lifespan. Gliscor also has pretty good synergy with Tornadus-T since it is the ultimate switch-in to its arch-nemesis, Specially Defensive Jirachi, as long as Poison Heal is active. Gliscor is also a pretty good check to both Lucario and Toxicroak because it outspeeds them and can OHKO both with Earthquake. You also lose something that Toxicroak easily sets up on for it, which is nice. While losing priority from Azumarill is somewhat bad, it still remains a good way to break through Stall teams with Taunt and can check plenty of attackers that Azumarill also checked such as Terrakion (watch out for CB Stone Edge though!). I don't think that losing offensive power is a big loss for this team as it has plenty of it and Gliscor is a nightmare for most Special walls to face anyway.

Otherwise cool team I really like it. Here's the set you should use:
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Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal
Jolly
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
~Earthquake
~Taunt
~Stealth Rock
~Roost

Good luck!
 
@Jirachi
Thanks for the response! I usually don't have much trouble with stall teams at all, since my sweepers are all heavy hitters and it's easy for me to predict switches to "counters." Starmie has actually been a pretty powerful sweeper for me (post Blissey/Ferrothorn dead) and the Ice Beam coverage gives me a backup option to take down grass pokemon/dragons in case Thundurus goes down (he's super squishy.) I have however considered switching out rapid spin for recover, as I've been wanting increased longevity and rarely find opportunities to rapid spin.

Lucario hasn't been a problem for me with Azu, as I can take a boosted extremespeed and revenge it in the rain with aqua jet/waterfall. I have faced some issues with Toxicroak, and my best bet is usually to have Tornadus revenge kill (sucker punch doesn't ohko.)

I love using Gliscor (I use it on my other team) but I can't find a place for it on this one. I badly need a strong physical attacker to punch holes in the other team, which is why I use Azumarill. (Usually Blissey and Chansey, but it can 2hko Skarm and other "walls" fairly easily in the rain.) Using Gliscor leaves me very weak to Terrakion, as consecutive stone edges kill me. I find it hard using a taunt set, as the only way I could beat a terrakion is using protect and sub, and I then suffer from four moveslot syndrome. (Roost is illegal with poison heal)
I simply find it near impossible for me to give up Azumarill, as it really is the glue of my team. I can't count the number of times an aqua jet has been clutch for me, plus it can tank a hit quite well with 100/80/80 defenses.
 
Hey man neat team, but I have some suggestions. First off, use Toxic > HP Grass. Toxic can help cripple opposing weather inducers which will help in keeping rain up. HP Grass didn't seem to be doing much anyways considering Gastrodon gets nailed by Hurricane and Ferrothorn can come in on any of Gastrodon's attacks and proceed to set hazards up or just Power Whip, although you do have to be careful of getting burned by Scald. Rotom-W also looks a bit annoying. Celebi looks like a nice addition to this team. Maybe try running it over Tornadus-T? Celebi can take any of Rotom-W's attacks and also provides a Fighting-type resist. Celebi also helps against one of the metagame's biggest threats, Breloom. A Bulky Nasty Plot set could work well considering this is a offensive team.

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Celebi @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Defense / 62 Special Attack / 62 Special Defense / 36 Speed
Bold Nature
Moves:
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Earth Power

The given EVs should help you take hits both of physical and special attacks, namely from Breloom and Rotom-W. Psychic is for the many used fighting-types in BW2 and Earth Power is to hit Heatran and other Fire and Steel types. Leftovers because the Giga Drain recovery sometimes isn't always enough and I didn't put Recover in that set just to have the most possible coverage. If you think you need the extra punch and Celebi isn't dying quickly from Life Orb recoil, feel free to use it. Hope I helped dude.
 
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