Rain Team

[derdoktorernst]

Illumise
Damp Rock - Prankster
Timid, 252 Spe, 252 SpA, 4 HP
Rain Dance
Tailwind
Roost
Bug Buzz

I prefer Illumise over Volbeat because she has a higher Special Attack and Bug Buzz does ~95% to Liepards.
Tailwind is for Swana to set up a sweep
Roost to keep her around when I can predict things like switches or being status fodder.

Altaria
Damp Rock - Natural Cure
Calm, 252 SpD, 252 HP, 4 SpA
Rain Dance
Rest
Roar
Dragon Pule

Another Damp Rock rain maker, only being 4x weak to Ice and 2x weak to Rock and Dragon, Altaria is pretty safe in the metagame of NU so she's a great Special Wall.
Rest is for Natural Cure
Roar for when people try to set up on me with a sub/calm mind/bulk up etc
Dragon Pulse so I'm not taunt fodder.

I've considered using Draco Meteor instead as Altaria is mainly for switching in, setting up rain, taking a special hit or roaring out a substitute.

Meganium
Leftovers - Overgrow
Impish, 252 Def, 252 HP, 4SpD
Synthesis
Leech Seed
Aromatherapy
Seed Bomb

Synthesis and Leech Seed give Meganium a huge recovery pool, combined with Leftovers, I can come in on Ice Punches from Banded Sawk, anything that Golurk wants to throw at me, Meganium takes Facades from Guts attackers FOR DAYS. BUT - if there is a better physically defense rain wall, I'm very open to suggestions.
Aromatherapy is more for my sweepers than Altaria or Illumise.
Seed Bomb because Meganium's base Attack is higher than its SpA

Seismitoad
Life Orb - Swift Swim
Modest, 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Stealth Rock
Surf
Earth Power
Sludge Wave

Since Seismitoad is my fastest, non choiced Swift Swimmer, I gave him rocks. If this is a bad set, sue me, at least I can get rocks up for ice-typed threats.
Not much else to say except that I'm only outsped by Zebstrika's using a choice scarf that demolish me with a single HP grass

Swanna
Life Orb - Hydration
Timid, 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Rain Dance/Ice Beam(?)
Hurricane
Surf
Roost

I havent decided if I want Rain Dance or Ice Beam on Swanna, her health isnt very good and if I cant outspeed whatever I'm coming in on, Swanna cant do her job of blasting hurricanes on everything within the 5-6 turns of Rain I have left up. Tailwind from Illumise definitely helps.
Swanna also learns Tailwind and I've also considered running it rather than Rain Dance or Ice Beam.

Armaldo
Choice Scarf - Swift Swim
Adamant, 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Stone Edge
X-Scissor
Earthquake
Superpower

Here is the pride and joy of super effective destruction on my team. Since Armaldo's base attack is already 125 I decided that I'd sacrifice power for speed for threats like Zebstrika and other fast pokes that are weak to Armaldo's set.
I've been able to switch in on ice beams that only knock me down by around 30% and Facades by around 30% as well.

So far this team has worked really well for me, as long as I dont lose my Damp Rock users (or get them knocked off) my threats can swoop in and destroy anything and everything, I am aware of the large ice and grass weakness, but it can be fixed.

Suggestions? Comments?

 

[watashi]

you have the right idea but honestly some of your decisions when it comes to choosing pokemon aren't the best for this type of team. altaria and meganium really cut down the momentum this team has and don't have many redeeming qualities that benefits this team. i would replace the former with rain dance rotom-s who can also set up rain but can take advantage of it with thunder and can pivot in and out with volt switch which could get one of your sweepers in safely, although it is rather fast. meganium could be taken out for ludicolo, which can act as a secondary swift swim sweeper if seismitoad goes down early. it will also pick up the slack offensively after the next change that i'm going to suggest.

seismitoad is has a lot of pressure on it as it has to function as a supporter and sweeper at the same time. i would use damp rock with rain dance over sludge wave on it to help it do the latter better, especially since you not have ludicolo to as a fast sweeper. having more rain dance users is always a good thing since your whole team doesn't really function without weather up.

armaldo is not the best pokemon to use with a choice scarf. it's easily walled and not very strong. you could try a life orb set with rapid spin to support rotom-s and swanna. armaldo in the rain can put a dent in every spin-blocker except for misdreavus, who takes a huge chunk from aqua tail, meaning it can pull off a spin easily.

your illumise set is wonderful at providing rain, but it can't get anything in safely. you should change it a bit and use a set of u-turn|rain dance|encore|thunder wave in order to perform a slow u-turn and get one of your sweepers in safely. thunder wave is more of an emergency move in case the opponent has a rampaging sweeper. the spread should be max special defense.

Hide

Illumise (F) @ Damp Rock
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave
- Rain Dance
- Encore

Rotom-Fan @ Damp Rock
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Rain Dance
- Thunder
- Air Slash

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance

Seismitoad @ Damp Rock
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Hydro Pump
- Stealth Rock
- Rain Dance

Armaldo @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Aqua Tail
- Rapid Spin

 

[WhiteDMist]

FLCL is absolutely spot on about everything. The only additional suggestion I would give is the fact that you should have Hidden Power Electric over Rain Dance/Ice Beam on Swanna. Mantine can wall half your team and Rotom-S cannot afford to switch in on a possible Rain boosted Scald/Hydro Pump. Other than that, this is a pretty standard Rain team.

 

[derdoktorernst]

I have Ice Beam on Ludicolo and Stone Edge for SpD Matine (which is the general set)

I've played around with this new team that FLCL suggested and it lacks defense, I might work around it a little more and get rid of Illumise for Mantine.

 

[WhiteDMist]

Ice Beam barely does more than Giga Drain, while Armaldo cannot switch in at all. More importantly, Rain teams generally do not care about defense very much. They are mostly super offensively based because you only have 7 turns of Rain at most. You cannot afford to waste valuable Rain turns taking defensive measures, because you sacrifice offensive pressure that lets you force the opponent to switch around and take damage. The few defensive/support turns you should take are: setting up Rocks, setting up Rain, perhaps a turn to Roost with Swanna. Anything else simply wastes time and lets your opponent Stall out your Rain turns. If you want Mantine, I think replacing Swanna would be the more effective choice, since you end up overwhelming your team with Water-types.