Rain's Reign
Introduction:
Hello Smogon!
I've been playing competetively for about 2 years now (though with long breaks in between). I started in late gen 4 and have learned much since then. I would like to emphasize that English is not my first language so I apologise in advance if I made any mistakes.
Anyway, OU has a very centralised metagame right know. It is very hard to come up with both a creative and effective team at the same time. Unfortunately, that kinda takes a lot of the fun out of playing OU atm, which is why I have been spending more time in UU lately. Regardless, I have always liked OU and I still enjoy to play it sometimes.
Weather (all 4 kinds) simply offers too many advantages for you to pass on it. Not using it puts you in unfavourable position more often than not against those who utilise it (for example Venusaur under Sun is a monster and can even put his counters to sleep). This is my personal opinion and reasoning behind using a Weather team myself.
This is going to be a pretty simple RMT, since the team is pretty straight forward itself. I will first explain a little bit about the team building process and then go over each member in standard fashion. In the end I will probably mention some notable threats, so that you can hopefully help me find suitable solutions. Enjoy.
The Team:
(sprites are taken from pokecheck.org)
Team building process:
I wanted to try out Specs Gastrodon. I really did. I had pretty decent success with Specs Empoleon in UU and that is probably what encouraged me to try something similar in OU. A "defensive threat" that tears through opposing teams.
I picked him so that Gastro could be used to its fullest potential as well as to have my Weather inducer which is pretty important IMO as I have already stated in the introduction.
Wanted another Rain abuser and this one is a serious threat to almost any team as it has very few counters. His main one, Jirachi, is covered by Gastrodon pretty well so I also took that into account.
&
These 2 benefit from the rain and also help to hold the team together. Together they provide some well needed resistances, priority and Rocks. The latter are incredibly important for this team to hurt all those switches I force and help Gastro get more KOs.
A much needed revenge killer in today's metagame where otherwise some threats can sweep with only +1.
In depth:
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Protect
- Toxic
- Perish Song
Your standard defensive Politoed here. I tried pretty much his every set since gen 5 came out. The only one that I don't recall using much is Specs. Anyway, this variant does the job for me. You would think that Politoed is useless for anything else than setting up Rain but that is far from the truth. This little annoying frog can help against many threats. The most notable that I have in mind right know is Mamoswine, whose usage has skyrocked when BW2 came out. Scald is there as his only attack and it does good damage since it's rain boosted. The 30% burn chance can mean pain for a lot of pokes (e.g. Breloom with unactivated Toxic Orb) to switch in. Toxic poisons opposing walls and other switchins which is great for wearing down opposing teams. I love Perish Song as it prevents Politoed from being a setup fodder. Can be used against Mence and Gyarados for example. Protect is great for a couple of reasons. Scouting, Lefties recovery and stalling out Toxic, Perish Song and Burn turns. What I love about the defensive variant is that it's so resilient when played correctly and can be a pain to take down in a Weather war. Hazards can be a pain if a Weather war drags on for too long though.
Gastrodon-East (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]
My favourite Pokemon on this team. This thing really does hit hard and is unexpected by a lot of players, as the defensive set is far more common. As with most Specsers, Gastro is here to soften up teams. That can make the job much easier for Tornadus in late game. Gastrodon provides an extremely nice set of resistances for a Rain team and can abuse that to come in. Stealth Rock resistance also helps. She is a pretty good check for Starmie and Rotom, who could otherwise run through the team. This set requires prediction though. And you have to be in the mood to predict when playing with this thing. But it's still suprising how many teams struggle to switch in. Storm Drain boost is also appreciated when it happens as Gastro can the have 699 SpA just by switching in. She can pretty much break through everything that wants to come in in at that point as even Gastro and Blissey have issues tanking her moves. Surf, Ice Beam and Earth Power have near perfect coverage together and are obvious choices. Recover is really odd on a choiced set but it can work from time to time when you predict a switch and want to get back to higher health to help counter a certain poke later in the game. HP Grass was tested but never used as it is only really good for opposing Gastros and Rotoms. Both are hesitant to stay in or switch in anyway as one is usually walled (screw you HP Grass Rotom) and the other one fears Toxic.
If I do decide to retest HP Grass I would also want to run 4 to 8 Spe EVs to outspeed other Gastros. Current spread allows it to tank hits pretty well, it is just bulky enough to take 2 LO Gengar Shadow Balls.
Changed Recover to HP Grass and invested 4 EVs in speed to outspeed other Gastros and KO them. Comes in handy.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
I don't have to explain the CB Scizor itself much, do I? Powerful priority in Bullet Punch is a life saver just so many times. U-Turn is to scout and do amazing damage. I actually run the move on 4 Pokemon on this team and that REALLY helps to keep the offensive momentum which this team, being so offensive, greatly appreciates. Superpower is a must for coverage and can kill Blissey, Chansey and Ferro. That is important, because those 3 can be sometimes problematic for this team. Pursuit is awsome in my opinion and I wish I could use it better and more agressively to not just trap those obvious baits like Lati@s and Gengar but also pokemon that aren't weak to it and damage them for good amount of damage if you know what I mean.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
I am really used to using this Pokemon in OU. It just does some things that others cannot. It is one probably one of the only two reliable counters to Tornadus-T (the other one being CB Metagross with Pursuit which I also considered for the team). It does great against those Alakazams and Espeons too and that paralysis is just so good as it cripples a large number of threats. Stealth Rock is probably the most important here as it aids the entire team (e.g. Gastro can get more KOs with it). Unfortunately Spinners are quite common but there isn't much I can do about it. I mean who can reliably spinblock against Starmie? Iron Head works fantastic after the target is crippled. Body Slam over Thunder? Well yes this way I am slightly less dependent on the Rain and can better counter Thundurus-T (who is still a threat). Also handy for ground types who love to switch in. Finally I don't need to run a wierd Sassy Nature which puts me in a better speed tier. No Wish? I absolutely hate to use Wish when I don't run Protect at the same time. With Protect I love it but without it's just not reliable. And I need Rocks so there is no room for the combo of the 2 sadly. Instead I gave it U-Turn to further help the scouting and get appropriate switches for Gastro. It is also nice to use when opponent has a Magnezone or a Dugtrio since it makes it much harder for them to trap Rachi.
Tornadus-T (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Rain Dance
A nice little threat we have here. Only has 2 real attacking moves but can seriously hurt almost the entire metagame. I found he shines best in the lategame, when opponent has already been weakened by that Specs Gastro, Toxic, Burn, Para, U-Turning, Rocks etc. However, thanks to Regenerator, this beast isn't limited to doing work just at that time of the match. That incredible ability severly reduces his weakness to Rocks and also helps with LO recoil. Still, he can be worn down quickly if you are not careful at all. Hurricane hurts and it sometimes gets that nasty confusion that can turn into ParaFusion if Jirachi has crippled the target. Superpower covers those steels like Heatran, Ferrothorn and Magnezone as well as Tyranitar, Blissey and Chansey. Though most of them won't get OHKOd when at full, so again, they should be slightly weakened. Focus Miss would be better for Ferro who is sort of annoying, but I really don't need to explain why I hate that move so much. U-Turn scouts and gets me out of bad match-ups, surprised? The last slot has many options but I am mostly interested in 2. Currently I run Rain Dance to aid my prefered Weather and hopefully take some pressure off Politoed in those weather wars. Also, Hurricane really sucks in the Sun as it only has 50% accuracy I believe. I considered Heat Wave to fry those Ferrothorns and do more damage to Jirachi when outside of rain.
Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
The revenge killer of choice. Face it, this team is offensive and I can't just cover every threat by switching in the right counter. But it is possible to check a good number of those threats with Landorus. His troll-like base 101 speed puts him in the perfect spot for a nice Scarf user as it can outspeed everything up to base 100s who are at +1. Nice examples are of course Volcarona and Salamence. I also needed to cover DD Dragonite and Haxorus. Originally I had this guy's new form in this spot to take on Terrakion better (another threat). But other than that, Lando-T is a completly inferior Scarfer compared to this one. Those 10 points in speed make all the diffrence in the world. Sand Force is still useful against Sand teams. Earthquake is the STAB of choice and of course necessary for revenge killing. Rock Slide deals with a +1 Volcarona and can also be useful against certain flyers and levitators. 30% flinch can be excellent I suppose. Stone Miss could be used instead and would probably help against Gyarados but it always lets you down when you need it most. Not saying Rock Slide is perfect though. HP Ice revenges Dragons that I have already mentioned. U-Turn makes sense on choiced pokemon if they have access to it.
Conclusion:
That basically wraps it up for this RMT. I haven't posted one in almost 2 years so i hope I haven't made too many screw ups. Either way I would be very grateful if you could rate the team and suggest me how to improve it.
I realise that there obviously are certain flaws to this team. I am aware of some but definetly not all so you can try pointing them out. Constructive criticism is welcome. Thank You for reading.
Importable:
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Protect
- Toxic
- Perish Song
Gastrodon-East (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SAtk / 16 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Recover
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Tornadus-T (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Rain Dance
Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Last glance:
Introduction:
Hello Smogon!
I've been playing competetively for about 2 years now (though with long breaks in between). I started in late gen 4 and have learned much since then. I would like to emphasize that English is not my first language so I apologise in advance if I made any mistakes.
Anyway, OU has a very centralised metagame right know. It is very hard to come up with both a creative and effective team at the same time. Unfortunately, that kinda takes a lot of the fun out of playing OU atm, which is why I have been spending more time in UU lately. Regardless, I have always liked OU and I still enjoy to play it sometimes.
Weather (all 4 kinds) simply offers too many advantages for you to pass on it. Not using it puts you in unfavourable position more often than not against those who utilise it (for example Venusaur under Sun is a monster and can even put his counters to sleep). This is my personal opinion and reasoning behind using a Weather team myself.
This is going to be a pretty simple RMT, since the team is pretty straight forward itself. I will first explain a little bit about the team building process and then go over each member in standard fashion. In the end I will probably mention some notable threats, so that you can hopefully help me find suitable solutions. Enjoy.
The Team:
(sprites are taken from pokecheck.org)
Team building process:
I wanted to try out Specs Gastrodon. I really did. I had pretty decent success with Specs Empoleon in UU and that is probably what encouraged me to try something similar in OU. A "defensive threat" that tears through opposing teams.
I picked him so that Gastro could be used to its fullest potential as well as to have my Weather inducer which is pretty important IMO as I have already stated in the introduction.
Wanted another Rain abuser and this one is a serious threat to almost any team as it has very few counters. His main one, Jirachi, is covered by Gastrodon pretty well so I also took that into account.
These 2 benefit from the rain and also help to hold the team together. Together they provide some well needed resistances, priority and Rocks. The latter are incredibly important for this team to hurt all those switches I force and help Gastro get more KOs.
A much needed revenge killer in today's metagame where otherwise some threats can sweep with only +1.
In depth:
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Protect
- Toxic
- Perish Song
Your standard defensive Politoed here. I tried pretty much his every set since gen 5 came out. The only one that I don't recall using much is Specs. Anyway, this variant does the job for me. You would think that Politoed is useless for anything else than setting up Rain but that is far from the truth. This little annoying frog can help against many threats. The most notable that I have in mind right know is Mamoswine, whose usage has skyrocked when BW2 came out. Scald is there as his only attack and it does good damage since it's rain boosted. The 30% burn chance can mean pain for a lot of pokes (e.g. Breloom with unactivated Toxic Orb) to switch in. Toxic poisons opposing walls and other switchins which is great for wearing down opposing teams. I love Perish Song as it prevents Politoed from being a setup fodder. Can be used against Mence and Gyarados for example. Protect is great for a couple of reasons. Scouting, Lefties recovery and stalling out Toxic, Perish Song and Burn turns. What I love about the defensive variant is that it's so resilient when played correctly and can be a pain to take down in a Weather war. Hazards can be a pain if a Weather war drags on for too long though.
Gastrodon-East (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]
My favourite Pokemon on this team. This thing really does hit hard and is unexpected by a lot of players, as the defensive set is far more common. As with most Specsers, Gastro is here to soften up teams. That can make the job much easier for Tornadus in late game. Gastrodon provides an extremely nice set of resistances for a Rain team and can abuse that to come in. Stealth Rock resistance also helps. She is a pretty good check for Starmie and Rotom, who could otherwise run through the team. This set requires prediction though. And you have to be in the mood to predict when playing with this thing. But it's still suprising how many teams struggle to switch in. Storm Drain boost is also appreciated when it happens as Gastro can the have 699 SpA just by switching in. She can pretty much break through everything that wants to come in in at that point as even Gastro and Blissey have issues tanking her moves. Surf, Ice Beam and Earth Power have near perfect coverage together and are obvious choices. Recover is really odd on a choiced set but it can work from time to time when you predict a switch and want to get back to higher health to help counter a certain poke later in the game. HP Grass was tested but never used as it is only really good for opposing Gastros and Rotoms. Both are hesitant to stay in or switch in anyway as one is usually walled (screw you HP Grass Rotom) and the other one fears Toxic.
If I do decide to retest HP Grass I would also want to run 4 to 8 Spe EVs to outspeed other Gastros. Current spread allows it to tank hits pretty well, it is just bulky enough to take 2 LO Gengar Shadow Balls.
Changed Recover to HP Grass and invested 4 EVs in speed to outspeed other Gastros and KO them. Comes in handy.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
I don't have to explain the CB Scizor itself much, do I? Powerful priority in Bullet Punch is a life saver just so many times. U-Turn is to scout and do amazing damage. I actually run the move on 4 Pokemon on this team and that REALLY helps to keep the offensive momentum which this team, being so offensive, greatly appreciates. Superpower is a must for coverage and can kill Blissey, Chansey and Ferro. That is important, because those 3 can be sometimes problematic for this team. Pursuit is awsome in my opinion and I wish I could use it better and more agressively to not just trap those obvious baits like Lati@s and Gengar but also pokemon that aren't weak to it and damage them for good amount of damage if you know what I mean.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
I am really used to using this Pokemon in OU. It just does some things that others cannot. It is one probably one of the only two reliable counters to Tornadus-T (the other one being CB Metagross with Pursuit which I also considered for the team). It does great against those Alakazams and Espeons too and that paralysis is just so good as it cripples a large number of threats. Stealth Rock is probably the most important here as it aids the entire team (e.g. Gastro can get more KOs with it). Unfortunately Spinners are quite common but there isn't much I can do about it. I mean who can reliably spinblock against Starmie? Iron Head works fantastic after the target is crippled. Body Slam over Thunder? Well yes this way I am slightly less dependent on the Rain and can better counter Thundurus-T (who is still a threat). Also handy for ground types who love to switch in. Finally I don't need to run a wierd Sassy Nature which puts me in a better speed tier. No Wish? I absolutely hate to use Wish when I don't run Protect at the same time. With Protect I love it but without it's just not reliable. And I need Rocks so there is no room for the combo of the 2 sadly. Instead I gave it U-Turn to further help the scouting and get appropriate switches for Gastro. It is also nice to use when opponent has a Magnezone or a Dugtrio since it makes it much harder for them to trap Rachi.
Tornadus-T (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Rain Dance
A nice little threat we have here. Only has 2 real attacking moves but can seriously hurt almost the entire metagame. I found he shines best in the lategame, when opponent has already been weakened by that Specs Gastro, Toxic, Burn, Para, U-Turning, Rocks etc. However, thanks to Regenerator, this beast isn't limited to doing work just at that time of the match. That incredible ability severly reduces his weakness to Rocks and also helps with LO recoil. Still, he can be worn down quickly if you are not careful at all. Hurricane hurts and it sometimes gets that nasty confusion that can turn into ParaFusion if Jirachi has crippled the target. Superpower covers those steels like Heatran, Ferrothorn and Magnezone as well as Tyranitar, Blissey and Chansey. Though most of them won't get OHKOd when at full, so again, they should be slightly weakened. Focus Miss would be better for Ferro who is sort of annoying, but I really don't need to explain why I hate that move so much. U-Turn scouts and gets me out of bad match-ups, surprised? The last slot has many options but I am mostly interested in 2. Currently I run Rain Dance to aid my prefered Weather and hopefully take some pressure off Politoed in those weather wars. Also, Hurricane really sucks in the Sun as it only has 50% accuracy I believe. I considered Heat Wave to fry those Ferrothorns and do more damage to Jirachi when outside of rain.
Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
The revenge killer of choice. Face it, this team is offensive and I can't just cover every threat by switching in the right counter. But it is possible to check a good number of those threats with Landorus. His troll-like base 101 speed puts him in the perfect spot for a nice Scarf user as it can outspeed everything up to base 100s who are at +1. Nice examples are of course Volcarona and Salamence. I also needed to cover DD Dragonite and Haxorus. Originally I had this guy's new form in this spot to take on Terrakion better (another threat). But other than that, Lando-T is a completly inferior Scarfer compared to this one. Those 10 points in speed make all the diffrence in the world. Sand Force is still useful against Sand teams. Earthquake is the STAB of choice and of course necessary for revenge killing. Rock Slide deals with a +1 Volcarona and can also be useful against certain flyers and levitators. 30% flinch can be excellent I suppose. Stone Miss could be used instead and would probably help against Gyarados but it always lets you down when you need it most. Not saying Rock Slide is perfect though. HP Ice revenges Dragons that I have already mentioned. U-Turn makes sense on choiced pokemon if they have access to it.
Conclusion:
That basically wraps it up for this RMT. I haven't posted one in almost 2 years so i hope I haven't made too many screw ups. Either way I would be very grateful if you could rate the team and suggest me how to improve it.
I realise that there obviously are certain flaws to this team. I am aware of some but definetly not all so you can try pointing them out. Constructive criticism is welcome. Thank You for reading.
Importable:
Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Protect
- Toxic
- Perish Song
Gastrodon-East (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SAtk / 16 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Recover
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Tornadus-T (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Rain Dance
Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Last glance:
