There was a whole lot of hubbub when we first found out that weather abilities only created weather for five turns in gen VI. People were quick to proclaim that weather was LITERALLY DEAD, while others were concerned that the nerfs didn't go far enough. For the XY beta on showdown, Swift Swimmers were unbanned... but after that, rain seems to have completely vanished from the public consciousness.
And uh... I really have no idea why. People remember early (pre-Aldaron's proposal) B/W, don't they? Surely someone remembers how silly Swift Swim was back then. Power has crept in this gen, sure, and rain now lasts 'only' eight turns...but that hasn't changed the fundamentals of Swift Swim. Swift Swimmers in the rain are faster than all your Pokémon, and are going to hit you very hard. Rotom-W isn't going to help you, Talonflame can't check it, the vast majority of popular Pokémon are ineffective or an active liability against Swift Swim rain sweepers. It's not so much 'people are underprepared for rain' as much as 'people are literally not even considering rain when making their team'. That's the only possible excuse for running a team with one water resist, Scarf Rotom-W. After using this team, I'm convinced that rain can't remain a hidden threat for long: sooner or later, someone is going to blow the lid on things, and I'm perfectly content to be the blabbermouth that says 'rain is good'.
The aim of this team is simple enough: Deoxys-e brings the hazards, Politoed brings the rain, Latios and Bisharp poke holes in the other team's defences, and my Swift Swimmers clean up whatever's left. While Politoed and Deoxys-e are obviously dedicated setup Pokémon, once their duties are out of the way the team needs no setup. No team member uses statup moves; each one is capable of performing its duties, be they wallbreaking or sweeping, 'neat'. When you consider that rain is essentially a free Shift Gear for every Swift Swimmer, that isn't surprising.
The teambuilding process
Politoed is irreplaceable, of course, since she makes it rain.
I wanted two Swift Swimmers- just one isn't enough, since you need Life Orb to sweep and that just makes you vulnerable to being worn out before you finish the sweep. After experimenting I feel the best combination is special Kingdra + Kabutops. Physical Kingdra is pretty bleh and going double special means you're always likely to have Chansey/Blissey issues (special Kingdra's Waterfall isn't enough); that pretty much restricts you to using Kabutops. Tops is pretty amazing though: Water/Rock and respectable defence makes you resistant to most forms of priority, you have Aqua Jet to outspeed other priority, you're fast enough with a +atk nature to outspeed most common scarfers (including Gene) and you hit incredibly hard.
I opted for Kingdra as my second Swift Swimmer. Kingdra's main advantages over Omastar and Ludicolo are his high speed (outspeeds scarf base 110s in the rain) and his Dragon STAB, which is just great for taking chunks out of most common water resists. Between them, Kingdra and Kabutops can ignore most team's attempts at revenge killing- Kabutops resists most common priority, while Kingdra outspeeds almost every Choice Scarfer (and can generally eat the MegaLuke Vacuum Waves that scare Kabutops)
Deoxys-e does what it's always done- sets hazards and stops the other team from setting them up on you. Hazard advantage is important to this team since it has no Rapid Spin/Defog of its own and it's also pretty unpleasant to Spin/Defog against: just Stealth Rock is fine, really, but if you can pick up Spikes as well that's wonderful.
The last two slots were much more difficult to fill and I went through a whole bunch of combinations trying to see what worked. Gothitelle was pretty great since it could trivially trap and either KO or cripple a lot of things that hardwalled Kingdra and Tops like Gastrodon and Ferrothorn, but it was often dead weight against more offensive teams. Genesect is pretty much the default filler in today's OU- if you don't know what to put on a team, Gene can only make it better, or at the very least not make it any worse. I ran the special Rock Polish set with Giga Drain, and while good it didn't have a lot of synergy with the team.
I'd say the two biggest problems with this team were:
1) no electric resist or decent switchin. While all electric types can be handled once I have rain up and a rain sweeper in, I looked at several replays of this team where Gene/Goth accomplished nothing because I had to throw them in the path of a Volt Switch- that's clearly not ideal.
2) Aegislash. Rain is on an absolute turn limit, so simple King's Shield Aegislash gives me a whole lot of trouble: if it spams King's Shield there's not much I can do, I'm forced to wait it out as the precious rain drips away. Nothing on the team can really eat a Shadow Ball and tbh nothing on the team even wants to revenge Aegislash. It's gross.
To try and fix these problems, I made a quick double switch:
Bisharp replaces Genesect. Bisharp really troubles Aegislash since it trivially comes in on anything except Sacred Sword and always OHKOs with Knock Off. Thanks to Defiant, it doesn't have to play the King's Shield game, it can just plow right on through. Bisharp also discourages people from trying to Defog Deoxys-e's hazards.
Latios replaces Gothitelle. As much as I loved Gothitelle for making an already easy-to-use team even easier, Latios provides a bunch of nice resists and some incredible wallbreaking potential. Its high speed tier also lets it revenge kill a bunch of grody dragons like Kyurem-B and Garchomp that are so bulky they can trouble any team. It is Gene-bait which is a touch upsetting since I don't have a decent U-Turn soak on the team, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Mango Sentinel (Deoxys-Speed) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Magic Coat
Deoxys-e always gets up Stealth Rock and stops your opponent's setup with Taunt. Pranksters and other Deoxys see their own Taunts reflected with Magic Coat. There's not much more you can ask for in a hazard lead. Skill Swap lets Deoxys-e set up Stealth Rock through Magic Bounce but I'm not particularly worried by Xatu/Espeon thanks to Bisharp and I'd rather not lead Skill Swap Deoxys-e against MegaAbsol since it might setup Swords Dance and start attacking (+2 Sucker Punch is scary). I don't really care enough about Genesect to run Fire Punch, though it's incredibly fun that Fire Punch Deoxys-e has become popular: people sometimes lead Gene and switch straight to Heatran while I placidly sit there spamming hazards.
Beyonzo (Politoed) (F) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Encore
Politoed brings the rain. A defensive spread seems a little out of place on what is otherwise a very offensive team, but Damp Rock is absolutely necessary for the team to function and Politoed's offensive presence without Choice Specs is terrible. There are a lot of games where Toed does very little except switch in, change the weather, and switch out again (or stay in as death fodder), but that's fine. If Toed HAS to stay in, then Scald and Ice Beam make for a decent pair of attacks. Fishing for burns with Scald is a little cheesy but it can really help wear down things that try and switch into Toed. Ice Beam generally OHKOs x4 weak Pokémon after hazard damage though its damage output against stuff like Latios is dreadful. That's one of the main reasons you want to keep Toed out if you can, there's nothing on this team that enjoys eating Specs Draco Meteors but Toed obviously isn't able to soak them.
Perish Song and Encore are useful moves to discourage 'gimmicky' setups like Baton Pass or Magic Guard CM or Magic Guard Cosmic Power/Stored Power or just to force Klefki to go the fuck away. When you're deathfoddering Toed for your last rainfall, Encore can stop people from setting up in your face instead of KOing Toed. I've tried Rest but generally, I didn't find it all too helpful: since Toed's so important, by the time he's about to die you've usually exhausted your other resources, and the potential extra rainfalls would just go to waste.
My team lineup always has Politoed in the first slot and for some reason this makes people assume I'm leading with Toed. That's great, it means Deoxys-e is often left facing something totally ineffective like Scarf Rotom-W instead of something that can actually threaten me or limit me to one hazard.
Gucci Belt (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
Aegislash is pretty unpleasant for this team to handle since it hits really hard, comes in fairly easily on Latios, and can stall out rain turns using King's Shield. Bisharp goes a long way to making Aegislash manageable: while it can't come in on a Sacred Sword, it can come in on any other move and force Aegi out, crippling whatever comes in with that stupidly strong Knock Off. This really restricts the Aegislash player's choices: every move has to be made carefully and deliberately. That's good (if you do predict a Sacred Sword, you often have to go into Toed, though fortunately most Aegi's SS won't hit Toed too hard). Bisharp's other main use is discouraging Defog, which is pretty important for a team using a hazard lead. Bisharp obviously can't stop Defog from happening, but it does present a clear opportunity cost to what would otherwise be an obvious move.
I feel an all-out attacking set is the most effective use of Bisharp on this team. Everyone knows how vile Knock Off is coming from this guy, and Sucker Punch offers an (unreliable) priority move. Low Kick hits greedy Lucario trying to nab a Justified boost and also helps vs. Ferrothorn (important, since Bisharp is really the only member of the team that can come in on Ferrothorn). Iron Head hits Clefable and Azumarill, two Pokémon I don't have reliable switchins for. I think having access to both is more important than Swords Dance or Substitute.
EVs outspeed 0 speed Rotom-W which is the only Rotom-W I'm vaguely worried about (fast Rotom-W isn't bulky enough to even try to take on Kingdra/Kabutops)
SOULFISTSOULFISTSOULFISTSO (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
Latios is still a great Pokémon and Jirachi and Tyranitar are less popular than they were last gen. This makes Latios great at picking holes in people's teams: Draco Meteor or Psyshock 2HKOs almost everything in the meta and rain-boosted Surfs are also pretty dangerous. The main thing Latios brings to the team is a reasonably solid Electric resist; Latios's special bulk is a respectable 80/110, so even with no investment he can soak STAB Electric attacks and HP Ice from most electric types. Latios also makes me a little less vulnerable to water-types looking to exploit my own rain like Manaphy and Keldeo.
Brokemon (Kabutops) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Low Kick
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
Kabutops in the rain is a force of nature. Kabutops hits incredibly hard:
252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory in Rain: 149-177 (44.6 - 52.9%) -- 85.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Jellicent: 192-227 (47.5 - 56.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 172-203 (48.8 - 57.6%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Venusaur: 134-160 (36.8 - 43.9%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock <- this one’s much less impressive when you consider that MegaVenusaur is never coming in on this thing clean since rain breaks Synthesis and if it comes in totally fresh it’ll still be regular Venusaur
Pretty much the only things that wall you are Gastrodon and Toxicroak, both increasingly uncommon sights in OU. What really takes Kabutops over the top though is that it has so few effective revenge killers; Kabutops resists most common forms of priority, including Talonflame Brave Bird and Extremespeed from MegaLuke/Dragonite, and it’s so fast that it’s only outsped by incredibly fast Scarfers- Keldeo and Lati@s (Scarf Gengar actually has a chance to be OHKOed clean by Aqua Jet after rocks). If you don’t run one of these and you don’t run fighting-type priority, Tops is going to rip you to pieces.
Hax is both Kabutops’s greatest weapon and its greatest weakness. Waterfall has a gross 20% flinch rate that can let Kabutops force its way through things that would otherwise be able to survive and maybe revenge kill. Stone Edge has a gross 20% miss rate that can ruin your sweep.
Aqua Jet seems a bit of an odd choice on Tops but it’s actually pretty legit: it outspeeds Talonflame’s Brave Bird so you don’t have to take that damage, it does 57.6 - 68% to Thundurus-I so with a bit of prior damage you can avoid the T-Wave, and it lets you net the guaranteed KO on Scarf Terrakion even though it would otherwise outspeed you.
Dissappointment (Kingdra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Waterfall
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Rain Dance
At a mere base 95 special attack, Kingdra is a disappointingly weak rain sweeper when compared to its main competitor Omastar. Fortunately, Kingdra more than makes up for it with its good defensive typing, respectable bulk, dragon STAB, and impressive speed. Surf is the main STAB move, reliable and powerful, while Draco Meteor hits almost every water resist for intense damage, even off Kingdra’s low base special attack. Water + Dragon coverage is resisted by very few Pokémon so there’s not much need for extra coverage; Waterfall doubles up with Surf to enable Kingdra to beat fragile or water weak Pokémon even after the Draco Meteor SpAtk drop kicks in. Rain Dance generally doesn’t see much use unless the other team has a weather changer, in which case it can be a valuable tool that stops you shifting into Toed too often.
You’ll definitely want to keep Kingdra alive if you think your opponent has fighting priority since Kabutops simply can’t take it. In particular, Kingdra beats special MegaLuke, something that can usually scare Kabutops out: scouting MegaLuke’s set is pretty important for this team and is something you should really try to do early on so you know which Swift Swimmer is too valuable to lose, as without the Swift Swimmers the team crumples to MegaLuke pretty dang fast.
Problems for this team:
There’s a threatlist below, but other than that the main problem with this team is its lack of longevity. Four members of the team are using Life Orb, one’s a suicide lead, and one has no recovery whatsoever: it’s just not going to be able to last very long. Deoxys-e goes a long way to keeping hazards off the field, but even mid-lategame Stelath Rock cuts into the team's survivability, and Toxic Spikes are a total nightmare (particularly in conjunction with Protect spam).
8 turns of rain is plenty of time to get an offence started and it’s more than enough time to cleanup in the lategame, but Protect spamming can be pretty annoying since it majorly cuts into the time you can spend sweeping. Fortunately, most common Protect users like Heatran and Gliscor are very water weak, and I have Bisharp to keep tabs on Aegislash. Make sure Politoed’s Damp Rock doesn’t get Knocked Off! If you need something to soak a Knock Off throw Bisharp at it, don’t leave it to Toed.
While there aren’t a lot of Pokémon that are individually a threat to the team, the Pokémon that are threatening often congregate together. Like, you’ll find the one guy who didn’t receive everyone else’s memo about gen VI, so they’re still using a team of Tyranitar/Ferrothorn/Gastrodon/Chansey, and you just sort of sigh and roll your eyes since you’re not going to get to push the Waterfall button and watch things fall over.
I’ve noted the main threats to the team in the threatlist below but I feel the really big problem is Toxicroak. I just can’t figure out a way to beat Toxicroak that doesn’t involve psyching it out with Roost so it doesn’t Sucker Punch, then KOing it with Latios. Fortunately, Toxicroak is incredibly rare this gen and in these past two months I’ve literally only seen one.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading this team! Considering how simple team was to build and how easy and fun it is to play, I've been amazed at the success I've had using it (though ofc the ladder is too inflated to derive any real value from the high ratings), and I hope this encourages other people to try and make rain work. I can't speak for how effective sun and sand are in gen VI, but rain is still a top tier threat that seems to have gone completely under the radar. Beta stats are beta stats, but Politoed doesn't belong anywhere near UU- it may take a while, but I'm confident Politoed will regain her rightful place as King of OU.
Threat list:
Abomasnow:
Abomasnow can't really come in on anything and is trivial to revenge with Tops even in the hail.
Absol:
MegaAbsol gives me quite a bit of trouble since I can't set up hazards and my Swift Swimmers are threatened by that powerful Sucker Punch. I tend to lead with Politoed if I see a MegaAbsol in team preview. MegaAbsol has to stay in turn one so it can megaevolve and stop Deoxys-e from setting hazards; Toed's Scald hits it for a lot of damage and has the 30% chance for a burn, totally crippling him. Still, MegaAbsol is a Problem!
Aegislash:
All variants have trouble with Bisharp except Autotomize. Autotomize is trivially outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops in the rain.
Aerodactyl:
Lead Aero struggles with Deoxys-e. Mega Aero is trivially outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops in the rain.
Aggron:
Kingdra outspeeds in the rain, even after a Rock Polish, and revenge kills with Surf
Alakazam:
Focus Sash revenge kills Kingdra/Tops though both of them carry Waterfall so they can fish for hax. An already transformed MegaKazam could potentially steal Swift Swim and try something, perhaps, but rain boosted Aqua Jet from Tops does 73.4 - 86.5% and I have Bisharp's Sucker Punch to fall back on too.
Azelf:
Deoxys-e beats lead Azelf.
Azumarill:
Azumarill gives me a bit of trouble since it's vaguely bulky, benefits from my rain, resists water, and I have no fairy resists on my team. That said, it can't switch into anything on my team except Toed, it's never threatening to sweep with Belly Drum since Kingdra x4 resists water, and it's rather easy to wear down even with resisted attacks.
Barbaracle:
After a Shell Smash it's still slower than Kabutops and Kingdra and gets revenge killed.
Breloom:
Breloom's pretty annoying since Latios is the only thing that can really switch in on him but first you need to have something soak a Spore. Latios always revenge kills, at least.
Celebi:
Bisharp beats variants without Earth Power, Latios can generally handle more offensive variants.
Charizard:
Y-zard is a weather changer so I obviously have to think about it a little more than usual. If I have hazard advantage it can't switch into things at all so my usual gameplan is to switch into Latios/Kingdra to soak a Fire Blast, then bring Toed back in to force Zard out. He can't easily come in again once he's been forced out since he's comparatively slow and if he tries to come in as a revenge killer I can just go straight to Toed.
XZard is pretty gross but as long as it doesn't get to +2 I can revenge with Kingdra and Tops.
Clawitzer:
Easily revenge killed by Latios (or Kingdra/Tops if it's scarved) and is pretty much never going to switch in although if it does come in I don't have anything that can really take a hit from it.
Cloyster:
Slower than Tops and Kingdra, even after a Shell Smash.
Conkeldurr:
Latios needs to watch out for Knock Off/Ice Punch but can come in on any other move and always KOs with Psyshock. I see a lot of AVConk leads since they limit Deoxys-e to one hazard layer: switching straight to Latios when you have a 1HP Deoxys-e, eating a weak Mach Punch, is sometimes a good way to handle it. Otherwise it gives me a bit of trouble just because it has fighting priority.
Deoxys-S:
Magic Coat gives me the edge against leads that aren't carrying it. The cleaner is hilariously ineffective against this team since it's slower than Tops and Kingdra.
Diggersby:
Trivially revenge killed by Tops. Kingdra doesn't really appreciate Quick Attack but it can take one if it has to.
Ditto:
Can give me a bit of trouble by copying my rain sweepers. Kingdra's x4 water resist is pretty invaluable here since it forces Ditto to use a non-water move, limiting its ability to sweep my team.
Dragalage:
An uncommon threat that can't really get much done against Bisharp until they release Adaptability.
Dragonite:
If MultiScale is broken I can revenge with Tops/Kingdra. Dragonite can't really come in on anything and if worst comes to worst it's usually worth saccing what's currently in to break MultiScale for the next thing to score the KO.
Dugtrio:
Duggy doesn't have much fun since I almost always have hazard initiative and everything on my team either outspeeds, shrugs off its weak attacks, isn't grounded, or has access to priority that OHKOs.
Espeon:
Bisharp is my main way of handling it though it's obviously a pain as it prevents me getting hazards up turn one.
Excadrill:
A bit of a liability against this team, Excadrill has a hard time finding the chance to spin and if it tries to start anything it's revenge killed by Latios/Kingdra/Tops
Galvantula:
Sticky Web means you have to do math. Kingdra and Tops are really, really fast in the rain; even after Sticky Web, Kingdra outspeeds base 110s and Kabutops is only outsped by base 108s. I look at my opponent's team and judge if I need to Taunt or not: generally Sticky Web is meant to help Pokémon that are slower than base 108, so you can often get away with ignoring Galvantula completely. Sticky Web also fails to affect Latios, and gives Bisharp a free +2 from Defiant...so yeah, Sticky Web, everybody.
Garchomp:
Tops and Kingdra outspeed the scarf version so it doesn't revenge them, they can also revenge kill every other variant of Chomp along with Latios
Gardevoir:
Kabutops checks it always. It's a little annoying to switch in on since I have no fairy resist.
Genesect:
A decent threat. Shift Gear and Rock Polish sets outspeed Tops and Kingdra even in the rain, though it doesn't have much fun trying to setup. A healthy Tops or Toed can take a hit and revenge kill Shift Gear, a healthy Kingdra can take a hit from Rock Polish, if worst comes to worst then I do have Aqua Jet and Sucker Punch which each do >50% so if Gene was weakened it's not likely to sweep. Scarf troubles Latios a little though as it takes hazard damage everytime it comes in it's not terribly effective and it's also outsped by Kingdra/Tops. Kabutops can eat Extremespeeds from the CB set and revenge kill that set, too.
Gengar:
Gengar doesn't have much fun against this team since it's either outsped or forced to speed tie with everything except Bisharp.
Gorebyss:
Doesn't have much of an opportunity to setup on anyone but I suppose it's a decent threat if it passes to something that outspeeds Kingdra/Tops. Incredibly uncommon though.
Goodra:
Goodra gives me a bit of trouble, depending on its set. Bisharp can come in on most moves and deals great damage with Knock Off/Iron Head, and any variant except Assault Vest is going to get revenge killed by Latios.
Gothitelle:
Please don't trap Politoed early on :( Gothitelle can't really trap anything else effectively so I just need to play carefully early on with Toed, making sure not to switch it into U-Turns or whatever. Annoying but uncommon, I don't recall seeing any Gothitelles except for when I ran it earlier in the teambuilding process.
Greninja:
Outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops, doesn't really do a lot of damage so Toed can soak a hit and deal >50% with neutral Scald, Kingdra is sometimes a nice switch in.
Gyarados:
Outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops
Hawlucha:
Can cause me trouble since after Unburden it's faster than Tops/Kingdra. Fortunately, Hawlucha is pretty rare, and without Flying Gem it has a bit of a hassle triggering Unburden without dying.
Haxorus:
Outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops
Heatran:
Heatran is an absolute liability vs. this team, it loses to every single member, can't set up Stealth Rock, and actively gives away turns if it tries to soak a Draco Meteor since it's a free switch in for everything including Toed. Best case scenario, it Toxics something and Protects to waste a few turns of rain.
Heliolisk:
Vaguely annoying since it's immune to water but it can't actually beat any of my rain sweepers and it's slower than Latios without a scarf.
Heracross:
Heracross is super bulky which is really annoying but Latios can revenge kill it and it has an unpleasant time against Kingdra/Tops as well.
Houndoom:
If it uses Sunny Day it's annoying but it also kills itself super fast between Solar Power and rocks. If it doesn't have Sunny Day it's irrelevant.
Hydreigon:
All variants are outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops, Latios outspeeds all bar the scarf version.
Jirachi:
Bisharp generally beats this Pokémon unless it's running a super wacky set and it's uncommon anyway. If it comes in on Latios then it'll usually be weak enough to be revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops
Keldeo:
Pretty gross but can be revenge killed by Latios and Kingdra (in the rain).
Kingdra:
I need to speed tie enemy Swift Swim Kingdra with my own which kinda sucks. Sniper Kingdra is totally irrelevant and outsped by Latios/Kingdra in the rain.
Kyurem:
Outsped and revenge killed by Latios/Kingdra/Tops, can't come in on anything
Kyurem-B:
Outsped and revenge killed by Latios/Kingdra/Tops, can't come in on anything
Landorus-T:
Rock Polish/Double Dancer outspeeds Kingdra/Tops in the rain but takes 85.4 - 102.1% from Aqua Jet. Other sets are easily outsped/revenge killed by Latios, Kingdra, and Tops.
Latias:
Has trouble with Bisharp and is always outsped by rain Kingdra for the revenge kill.
Latios:
Latios is pretty scary and nothing can really switch in on it (Bisharp resists dragon but is specially frail) but Kingdra outspeeds all variants in the rain and gets a revenge kill.
Lucario:
Luke gives most teams trouble, doesn't he? Ultimately the issue here is determining the set: Kabutops handles physical sets since he resists physical priority and KOs with Waterfall, Kingdra can take a Vacuum Wave from the special set and Kos with Surf. Still yeah Luke is gross, please ban it.
Magnezone:
I have no steel types except Bisharp and Bisharp gives Magnezone some trouble. I'm not really worried by DragMag since I don't use steels to handle dragons; FairyMag might be a little trickier I guess.
Malamar:
Uh I guess Trick Room could hypothetically cause me some trouble though I can't say I've seen it or was even aware Malamar got Trick Room before reading it here.
Mamoswine:
Deoxys-e normally beats the lead though you need to set hazards rather than try to Taunt so you don't get Quake + Ice Sharded and this means Mamo sometimes gets hazards of his own. If you switch out your 1HP Deoxys-e into Toed for the Ice Shard and Scald as he Quakes, then send in 1HP Deoxys-e to die, you can get Tops in early vs. 1HP Mamo. I guess that gives me a little trouble.
Offensive Mamo doesn't accomplish that much really.
Mawile:
Revenge killed by yadayadayada. Bisharp is pretty good at handling him too with the dark resist.
Medicham:
Kinda dysfunctional vs. this team since it has no walls to break. Latios/Kingdra/Tops revenge kill.
Mew:
Mew's unpredictability and bulk are annoying but leads don't get to play the game they want to thanks to Deoxys-e.
Mienshao:
Kingdra/Tops/Latios
Noivern:
Scarf outspeeds Kingdra/Tops in the rain and can hit Bisharp through the rain with Focus Blast which is p. annoying. Other variants are outsped and revenge killed by Tops/Kingdra.
Pinsir:
Kabutops resists Quick Attack and outspeeds in the rain for the revenge kill.
Politoed:
Kingdra x4 resists water, other Pokémon can come in on other moves, I guess it needs some prediction though really what is this thing coming in on.
Reuniclus:
Bisharp gives both variants of Reuniclus some major trouble: Sucker Punch harasses Trick Room, and Knock Off threatens CM.
Rotom-W:
Not that much of an issue though it's obviously tricky to directly counter since it's just going to Volt Switch out. Ultimately, though, it can only really come in when it's on full HP to revenge kill Kabutops; Politoed is never going to stay in to give it the free switch in, and everything else gives it trouble 1v1. Specially defensive is probably the biggest hassle.
Salamence:
Outsped and revenge killed by Tops/Kingdra
Scolipede:
Full Baton Pass is really gross though between Taunt, Encore, and Perish Song I'm better equipped to handle it than most. I have a replay with a baton pass team here:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74552048
Not the best replay as we both make mistakes, but cut me some slack, full BP is really rare. Perish Song/Encore Toed just gives BP a whole mess of trouble; Mr. Mime constantly has to guess if I'm going to Encore it (if it stays in) or Perish Song if it Baton Passes out, and if it guesses wrong I win.
Scizor:
Not too dangerous since Kingdra and Kabutops outspeed and don't take too much from Bullet Punch
Smeargle:
Leads tend to have trouble with Deoxys-e though as Magic Coat is rare on Smeargle I'm probably going to Taunt and run headfirst into Magic Coat if Smeargle is running it.
Starmie:
Revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops/Bisharp
Stoutland:
If I lose the weather war I've pretty much lost already, Stoutland is irrelevant.
Sylevon:
Bisharp
Talonflame:
Revenge killed by Kabutops. Technically Talonflame is hardcountered by Tops in the rain, too, but I'd usually rather go for the revenge kill since Tops takes >50% from Band Talonflame.
Terrakion:
Lead loses to Deoxys-e, most variants are outsped by Tops and Kingdra, Kingdra outspeeds Scarf. Rock Polish can give me a bit of trouble as they outspeed Tops/Kingdra though Politoed can take a hit and KO with Scald.
Thundurus:
Gives everyone trouble I think. Thundurus doesn't do much to Latios but it can paralyze it which is annoying. If it takes a little prior damage + rocks it can be taken out with Aqua Jet.
Thundurus-T:
Latios is my best bet against it.
Togekiss:
Bisharp can handle slow variants, Tops revenge kills fast variants. Scout for Life Orb with Stealth Rock since most fast variants don't run Leftovers.
Tornadus:
Revenge killed by Tops/Kingdra
Tornadus-T:
Revenge killed by Tops/Kingdra but it's really annoying since it never gets worn down and has the cheek to benefit from my rain. Can't switch in on anything at least.
Tyranitar:
Probably one of the biggest annoyances to this team, offensive Tyranitar hits hard, traps Latios and ruins my weather. MegaTyranitar is even worse since he gets two weather activations and you can't simply 'solve' him by sending in Politoed. Fortunately, things aren't completely hopeless, since Kingdra can setup his own rain (and outspeeds MegaTyranitar) while Bisharp outspeeds regular Tyranitar, resists his stabs, and scares him off with Low Kick. Still not a pleasant Pokémon to face and I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the guy is running a defensive set instead.
Victini:
Rain.
Virizion:
Latios
Volcarona:
Kingdra/Tops
Weavile:
Does OK against the team since it can trap Latios and harass others but struggles vs. Kingdra/Tops
Zygarde:
Latios is tough enough to beat Coil, Kingdra is my best bet vs. Dragon Dance. It can't set up 2 boosts against anything so I should be OK!
Standard OU Defensive Threats
Abomasnow:
Substitute + Leech Seed -
Ampharos:
Slow and weak to dragon.
Amoonguss:
Spore is a nuisance but Bisharp and Latios both stonewall it and beat it.
Avalugg:
I have a special attacker, several of them in fact, including Scald Toed.
Banette:
Banette is really bad.
Blissey:
Bisharp doesn't really care about being statused so he's the go-to man. Note that Blissey can't come in and reliably wall anything on my team except Toed.
Bronzong:
Can take the odd hit but can't accomplish much, gets wrecked by Bisharp.
Celebi:
Most defensive versions of Celebi don't run Earth Power so they struggle with Bisharp and Latios.
Chansey:
Bisharp really scares Chansey since it threatens to Knock Off its Eviolite. If it loses its item or if it's even slightly worn down Latios 2HKOs. If it doesn't carry Thunder Wave I can fearlessly send in Tops to beat it.
Chesnaught:
Handled by Latios.
Cresselia:
Bisharp gives it some trouble.
Crobat:
Doesn't accomplish much vs. this team and is hopefully scared off Defog by Bisharp.
Deoxys-D:
Bisharp Bisharp Bisharp, leads are usually beaten by Deoxys-e.
Empoleon:
Kind of a problem since nothing can switch in. Tops and Bisharp can beat it but neither wants to come in on a Scald, everything else has trouble with it. It's fortunately rare.
Espeon:
Bisharp.
Ferrothorn:
Bisharp is the best way to handle it. if it gets to 50% then Kabutops KOs with Low Kick, so I try and weaken it early. Becoming less popular since it's setup bait for a lot of nasty stuff this gen.
Florges:
Bisharp.
Forretress:
Not really threatening.
Gastrodon:
Marked as a threat since it's immune to water but Latios doesn't have a horrible time with it.
Gliscor:
It protects to waste a few turns of rain. That's pretty much it, it's not threatening so much as it is annoying.
Gourgeist-S:
I normally go for Latios though Bisharp does an OK-ish job too. Technically I might have trouble with this since it can do an OK job of damaging Latios but in practise I've not been too worried.
Gyarados:
Defensive Gyarados can't really handle Latios.
Heatran:
Liability.
Hippowdon:
Probably the least threatening weather setter since it can't come in on anything and Toed can come in on it a few times.
Jellicent:
Jellicent is pretty annoying since it has water absorb but Bisharp and Latios both do pretty well against it.
Jirachi:
Bisharp.
Klefki:
fuck Klefki
Latias:
Defensive variants can be handled by Bisharp.
Mandibuzz
Scared off of Defog by Bisharp, it's also OHKOed by Kabutops after rocks and in general it can't actually wall anything on this team which is pretty bad for a Pokémon that's so passive.
Mew:
Will-o-Wisp is pretty gross since it beats Bisharp but Latios/Kingdra can often brute force it without being too afraid of burns.
Politoed:
Latios and Kingdra are only vaguely scared of Toxic and Scald burns from defensive Toed and uh, I kinda like the rain.
Porygon2:
Bisharp is my go-to mon since it resists Normal and can Knock Off the Eviolite.
Quagsire:
Latios and Kingdra can overpower it, if Quaggy tries to setup with that gross Stockpile/Curse + Unaware set then Politoed can force it out with Encore or Perish Song.
Rotom-W:
Hard to pin down due to Volt Switch but it's not beating Latios.
Sableye:
Vaguely annoying but not too threatening, it struggles to switch in and the lead is vulnerable to Magic Coat.
Scolipede:
Deoxys-e beats Scolipede usually though it might actually get off hazards just because I'm used to seeing it Baton Pass.
Skarmory:
Kingdra is my go-to answer though it again has a hard time coming in as Kabutops 2HKOs in the rain.
Slowbro:
Slowbro has a hard time putting out enough damage to threaten Latios so it's vulnerable to Draco Meteor. If I predict anything besides Scald, Bisharp can come in and hit it pretty hard too.
Starmie:
Probably gets off the spin but it lets Kingdra in for free.
Sylevon:
Bisharp
Tangrowth:
Something has to eat Sleep Powder, then Latios or Kingdra handle it. Kinda annoying since it has Regenerator and Knock Off.
Trevenant:
Bisharp can come in on anything except Will-o-Wisp and OHKO, Draco Meteors do a lot.
Tentacruel:
Thankfully most don't run Rain Dish anymore. Tentacruel has some trouble with Bisharp/Latios and doesn't enjoy switching in but Toxic Spikes are horrible for this team.
Toxicroak:
Aaaaa Toxicroak gives me a whole mess of trouble. It's incredibly uncommon but I don't really have many options to handle it beyond Latios (who gets wrecked by Sucker Punch). Definitely one of the threats I have the biggest trouble with.
Tyranitar:
Tyranitar is probably the most annoying weather changer but defensive variants aren't too bad, they're a little toothless. If it comes in on anything besides Toed I'll bring in Toed, if it comes in on Toed I generally go to Kingdra and try to setup Rain Dance manually.
Vaporeon:
Water Absorb again, gross, though Latios and Bisharp again do a pretty good job of handling it.
Venusaur:
Really not that threatening, partially because rain nerfs Synthesis so it's worthless. Sleep Powder sets are annoying but once it's popped its sleep Latios can always come in and scare it off; even lategame I'm not scared of Venusaur since with borked Synthesis it just gets worn down really fast by any offensive pressure.
Wobbuffet:
Not as bad as Gothitelle but still pretty annoying, I can't afford to lose things like Politoed.
Xatu:
Bisharp and curse the guy who invented Magic Bounce.
Zapdos:
Has a hard time getting much done vs. this team since I generally have rocks up and it loses to every offensive Pokémon I run.
Zygarde:
Incredibly passive sets can be handled with Perish Song if I don't want to risk bringing Latios/Kingdra in on a Dragon Tail.
Importable:
Some replays:
And uh... I really have no idea why. People remember early (pre-Aldaron's proposal) B/W, don't they? Surely someone remembers how silly Swift Swim was back then. Power has crept in this gen, sure, and rain now lasts 'only' eight turns...but that hasn't changed the fundamentals of Swift Swim. Swift Swimmers in the rain are faster than all your Pokémon, and are going to hit you very hard. Rotom-W isn't going to help you, Talonflame can't check it, the vast majority of popular Pokémon are ineffective or an active liability against Swift Swim rain sweepers. It's not so much 'people are underprepared for rain' as much as 'people are literally not even considering rain when making their team'. That's the only possible excuse for running a team with one water resist, Scarf Rotom-W. After using this team, I'm convinced that rain can't remain a hidden threat for long: sooner or later, someone is going to blow the lid on things, and I'm perfectly content to be the blabbermouth that says 'rain is good'.
The aim of this team is simple enough: Deoxys-e brings the hazards, Politoed brings the rain, Latios and Bisharp poke holes in the other team's defences, and my Swift Swimmers clean up whatever's left. While Politoed and Deoxys-e are obviously dedicated setup Pokémon, once their duties are out of the way the team needs no setup. No team member uses statup moves; each one is capable of performing its duties, be they wallbreaking or sweeping, 'neat'. When you consider that rain is essentially a free Shift Gear for every Swift Swimmer, that isn't surprising.
The teambuilding process
Politoed is irreplaceable, of course, since she makes it rain.
I wanted two Swift Swimmers- just one isn't enough, since you need Life Orb to sweep and that just makes you vulnerable to being worn out before you finish the sweep. After experimenting I feel the best combination is special Kingdra + Kabutops. Physical Kingdra is pretty bleh and going double special means you're always likely to have Chansey/Blissey issues (special Kingdra's Waterfall isn't enough); that pretty much restricts you to using Kabutops. Tops is pretty amazing though: Water/Rock and respectable defence makes you resistant to most forms of priority, you have Aqua Jet to outspeed other priority, you're fast enough with a +atk nature to outspeed most common scarfers (including Gene) and you hit incredibly hard.
I opted for Kingdra as my second Swift Swimmer. Kingdra's main advantages over Omastar and Ludicolo are his high speed (outspeeds scarf base 110s in the rain) and his Dragon STAB, which is just great for taking chunks out of most common water resists. Between them, Kingdra and Kabutops can ignore most team's attempts at revenge killing- Kabutops resists most common priority, while Kingdra outspeeds almost every Choice Scarfer (and can generally eat the MegaLuke Vacuum Waves that scare Kabutops)
Deoxys-e does what it's always done- sets hazards and stops the other team from setting them up on you. Hazard advantage is important to this team since it has no Rapid Spin/Defog of its own and it's also pretty unpleasant to Spin/Defog against: just Stealth Rock is fine, really, but if you can pick up Spikes as well that's wonderful.
The last two slots were much more difficult to fill and I went through a whole bunch of combinations trying to see what worked. Gothitelle was pretty great since it could trivially trap and either KO or cripple a lot of things that hardwalled Kingdra and Tops like Gastrodon and Ferrothorn, but it was often dead weight against more offensive teams. Genesect is pretty much the default filler in today's OU- if you don't know what to put on a team, Gene can only make it better, or at the very least not make it any worse. I ran the special Rock Polish set with Giga Drain, and while good it didn't have a lot of synergy with the team.
I'd say the two biggest problems with this team were:
1) no electric resist or decent switchin. While all electric types can be handled once I have rain up and a rain sweeper in, I looked at several replays of this team where Gene/Goth accomplished nothing because I had to throw them in the path of a Volt Switch- that's clearly not ideal.
2) Aegislash. Rain is on an absolute turn limit, so simple King's Shield Aegislash gives me a whole lot of trouble: if it spams King's Shield there's not much I can do, I'm forced to wait it out as the precious rain drips away. Nothing on the team can really eat a Shadow Ball and tbh nothing on the team even wants to revenge Aegislash. It's gross.
To try and fix these problems, I made a quick double switch:
Bisharp replaces Genesect. Bisharp really troubles Aegislash since it trivially comes in on anything except Sacred Sword and always OHKOs with Knock Off. Thanks to Defiant, it doesn't have to play the King's Shield game, it can just plow right on through. Bisharp also discourages people from trying to Defog Deoxys-e's hazards.
Latios replaces Gothitelle. As much as I loved Gothitelle for making an already easy-to-use team even easier, Latios provides a bunch of nice resists and some incredible wallbreaking potential. Its high speed tier also lets it revenge kill a bunch of grody dragons like Kyurem-B and Garchomp that are so bulky they can trouble any team. It is Gene-bait which is a touch upsetting since I don't have a decent U-Turn soak on the team, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Mango Sentinel (Deoxys-Speed) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Magic Coat
Deoxys-e always gets up Stealth Rock and stops your opponent's setup with Taunt. Pranksters and other Deoxys see their own Taunts reflected with Magic Coat. There's not much more you can ask for in a hazard lead. Skill Swap lets Deoxys-e set up Stealth Rock through Magic Bounce but I'm not particularly worried by Xatu/Espeon thanks to Bisharp and I'd rather not lead Skill Swap Deoxys-e against MegaAbsol since it might setup Swords Dance and start attacking (+2 Sucker Punch is scary). I don't really care enough about Genesect to run Fire Punch, though it's incredibly fun that Fire Punch Deoxys-e has become popular: people sometimes lead Gene and switch straight to Heatran while I placidly sit there spamming hazards.
Beyonzo (Politoed) (F) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Encore
Politoed brings the rain. A defensive spread seems a little out of place on what is otherwise a very offensive team, but Damp Rock is absolutely necessary for the team to function and Politoed's offensive presence without Choice Specs is terrible. There are a lot of games where Toed does very little except switch in, change the weather, and switch out again (or stay in as death fodder), but that's fine. If Toed HAS to stay in, then Scald and Ice Beam make for a decent pair of attacks. Fishing for burns with Scald is a little cheesy but it can really help wear down things that try and switch into Toed. Ice Beam generally OHKOs x4 weak Pokémon after hazard damage though its damage output against stuff like Latios is dreadful. That's one of the main reasons you want to keep Toed out if you can, there's nothing on this team that enjoys eating Specs Draco Meteors but Toed obviously isn't able to soak them.
Perish Song and Encore are useful moves to discourage 'gimmicky' setups like Baton Pass or Magic Guard CM or Magic Guard Cosmic Power/Stored Power or just to force Klefki to go the fuck away. When you're deathfoddering Toed for your last rainfall, Encore can stop people from setting up in your face instead of KOing Toed. I've tried Rest but generally, I didn't find it all too helpful: since Toed's so important, by the time he's about to die you've usually exhausted your other resources, and the potential extra rainfalls would just go to waste.
My team lineup always has Politoed in the first slot and for some reason this makes people assume I'm leading with Toed. That's great, it means Deoxys-e is often left facing something totally ineffective like Scarf Rotom-W instead of something that can actually threaten me or limit me to one hazard.
Gucci Belt (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
Aegislash is pretty unpleasant for this team to handle since it hits really hard, comes in fairly easily on Latios, and can stall out rain turns using King's Shield. Bisharp goes a long way to making Aegislash manageable: while it can't come in on a Sacred Sword, it can come in on any other move and force Aegi out, crippling whatever comes in with that stupidly strong Knock Off. This really restricts the Aegislash player's choices: every move has to be made carefully and deliberately. That's good (if you do predict a Sacred Sword, you often have to go into Toed, though fortunately most Aegi's SS won't hit Toed too hard). Bisharp's other main use is discouraging Defog, which is pretty important for a team using a hazard lead. Bisharp obviously can't stop Defog from happening, but it does present a clear opportunity cost to what would otherwise be an obvious move.
I feel an all-out attacking set is the most effective use of Bisharp on this team. Everyone knows how vile Knock Off is coming from this guy, and Sucker Punch offers an (unreliable) priority move. Low Kick hits greedy Lucario trying to nab a Justified boost and also helps vs. Ferrothorn (important, since Bisharp is really the only member of the team that can come in on Ferrothorn). Iron Head hits Clefable and Azumarill, two Pokémon I don't have reliable switchins for. I think having access to both is more important than Swords Dance or Substitute.
EVs outspeed 0 speed Rotom-W which is the only Rotom-W I'm vaguely worried about (fast Rotom-W isn't bulky enough to even try to take on Kingdra/Kabutops)
SOULFISTSOULFISTSOULFISTSO (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
Latios is still a great Pokémon and Jirachi and Tyranitar are less popular than they were last gen. This makes Latios great at picking holes in people's teams: Draco Meteor or Psyshock 2HKOs almost everything in the meta and rain-boosted Surfs are also pretty dangerous. The main thing Latios brings to the team is a reasonably solid Electric resist; Latios's special bulk is a respectable 80/110, so even with no investment he can soak STAB Electric attacks and HP Ice from most electric types. Latios also makes me a little less vulnerable to water-types looking to exploit my own rain like Manaphy and Keldeo.
Brokemon (Kabutops) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Low Kick
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
Kabutops in the rain is a force of nature. Kabutops hits incredibly hard:
252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory in Rain: 149-177 (44.6 - 52.9%) -- 85.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Jellicent: 192-227 (47.5 - 56.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 172-203 (48.8 - 57.6%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Venusaur: 134-160 (36.8 - 43.9%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock <- this one’s much less impressive when you consider that MegaVenusaur is never coming in on this thing clean since rain breaks Synthesis and if it comes in totally fresh it’ll still be regular Venusaur
Pretty much the only things that wall you are Gastrodon and Toxicroak, both increasingly uncommon sights in OU. What really takes Kabutops over the top though is that it has so few effective revenge killers; Kabutops resists most common forms of priority, including Talonflame Brave Bird and Extremespeed from MegaLuke/Dragonite, and it’s so fast that it’s only outsped by incredibly fast Scarfers- Keldeo and Lati@s (Scarf Gengar actually has a chance to be OHKOed clean by Aqua Jet after rocks). If you don’t run one of these and you don’t run fighting-type priority, Tops is going to rip you to pieces.
Hax is both Kabutops’s greatest weapon and its greatest weakness. Waterfall has a gross 20% flinch rate that can let Kabutops force its way through things that would otherwise be able to survive and maybe revenge kill. Stone Edge has a gross 20% miss rate that can ruin your sweep.
Aqua Jet seems a bit of an odd choice on Tops but it’s actually pretty legit: it outspeeds Talonflame’s Brave Bird so you don’t have to take that damage, it does 57.6 - 68% to Thundurus-I so with a bit of prior damage you can avoid the T-Wave, and it lets you net the guaranteed KO on Scarf Terrakion even though it would otherwise outspeed you.
Dissappointment (Kingdra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Waterfall
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Rain Dance
At a mere base 95 special attack, Kingdra is a disappointingly weak rain sweeper when compared to its main competitor Omastar. Fortunately, Kingdra more than makes up for it with its good defensive typing, respectable bulk, dragon STAB, and impressive speed. Surf is the main STAB move, reliable and powerful, while Draco Meteor hits almost every water resist for intense damage, even off Kingdra’s low base special attack. Water + Dragon coverage is resisted by very few Pokémon so there’s not much need for extra coverage; Waterfall doubles up with Surf to enable Kingdra to beat fragile or water weak Pokémon even after the Draco Meteor SpAtk drop kicks in. Rain Dance generally doesn’t see much use unless the other team has a weather changer, in which case it can be a valuable tool that stops you shifting into Toed too often.
You’ll definitely want to keep Kingdra alive if you think your opponent has fighting priority since Kabutops simply can’t take it. In particular, Kingdra beats special MegaLuke, something that can usually scare Kabutops out: scouting MegaLuke’s set is pretty important for this team and is something you should really try to do early on so you know which Swift Swimmer is too valuable to lose, as without the Swift Swimmers the team crumples to MegaLuke pretty dang fast.
Problems for this team:
There’s a threatlist below, but other than that the main problem with this team is its lack of longevity. Four members of the team are using Life Orb, one’s a suicide lead, and one has no recovery whatsoever: it’s just not going to be able to last very long. Deoxys-e goes a long way to keeping hazards off the field, but even mid-lategame Stelath Rock cuts into the team's survivability, and Toxic Spikes are a total nightmare (particularly in conjunction with Protect spam).
8 turns of rain is plenty of time to get an offence started and it’s more than enough time to cleanup in the lategame, but Protect spamming can be pretty annoying since it majorly cuts into the time you can spend sweeping. Fortunately, most common Protect users like Heatran and Gliscor are very water weak, and I have Bisharp to keep tabs on Aegislash. Make sure Politoed’s Damp Rock doesn’t get Knocked Off! If you need something to soak a Knock Off throw Bisharp at it, don’t leave it to Toed.
While there aren’t a lot of Pokémon that are individually a threat to the team, the Pokémon that are threatening often congregate together. Like, you’ll find the one guy who didn’t receive everyone else’s memo about gen VI, so they’re still using a team of Tyranitar/Ferrothorn/Gastrodon/Chansey, and you just sort of sigh and roll your eyes since you’re not going to get to push the Waterfall button and watch things fall over.
I’ve noted the main threats to the team in the threatlist below but I feel the really big problem is Toxicroak. I just can’t figure out a way to beat Toxicroak that doesn’t involve psyching it out with Roost so it doesn’t Sucker Punch, then KOing it with Latios. Fortunately, Toxicroak is incredibly rare this gen and in these past two months I’ve literally only seen one.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading this team! Considering how simple team was to build and how easy and fun it is to play, I've been amazed at the success I've had using it (though ofc the ladder is too inflated to derive any real value from the high ratings), and I hope this encourages other people to try and make rain work. I can't speak for how effective sun and sand are in gen VI, but rain is still a top tier threat that seems to have gone completely under the radar. Beta stats are beta stats, but Politoed doesn't belong anywhere near UU- it may take a while, but I'm confident Politoed will regain her rightful place as King of OU.
Threat list:
Abomasnow can't really come in on anything and is trivial to revenge with Tops even in the hail.
MegaAbsol gives me quite a bit of trouble since I can't set up hazards and my Swift Swimmers are threatened by that powerful Sucker Punch. I tend to lead with Politoed if I see a MegaAbsol in team preview. MegaAbsol has to stay in turn one so it can megaevolve and stop Deoxys-e from setting hazards; Toed's Scald hits it for a lot of damage and has the 30% chance for a burn, totally crippling him. Still, MegaAbsol is a Problem!
All variants have trouble with Bisharp except Autotomize. Autotomize is trivially outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops in the rain.
Lead Aero struggles with Deoxys-e. Mega Aero is trivially outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops in the rain.
Kingdra outspeeds in the rain, even after a Rock Polish, and revenge kills with Surf
Focus Sash revenge kills Kingdra/Tops though both of them carry Waterfall so they can fish for hax. An already transformed MegaKazam could potentially steal Swift Swim and try something, perhaps, but rain boosted Aqua Jet from Tops does 73.4 - 86.5% and I have Bisharp's Sucker Punch to fall back on too.
Deoxys-e beats lead Azelf.
Azumarill gives me a bit of trouble since it's vaguely bulky, benefits from my rain, resists water, and I have no fairy resists on my team. That said, it can't switch into anything on my team except Toed, it's never threatening to sweep with Belly Drum since Kingdra x4 resists water, and it's rather easy to wear down even with resisted attacks.
After a Shell Smash it's still slower than Kabutops and Kingdra and gets revenge killed.
Breloom's pretty annoying since Latios is the only thing that can really switch in on him but first you need to have something soak a Spore. Latios always revenge kills, at least.
Bisharp beats variants without Earth Power, Latios can generally handle more offensive variants.
Y-zard is a weather changer so I obviously have to think about it a little more than usual. If I have hazard advantage it can't switch into things at all so my usual gameplan is to switch into Latios/Kingdra to soak a Fire Blast, then bring Toed back in to force Zard out. He can't easily come in again once he's been forced out since he's comparatively slow and if he tries to come in as a revenge killer I can just go straight to Toed.
XZard is pretty gross but as long as it doesn't get to +2 I can revenge with Kingdra and Tops.
Easily revenge killed by Latios (or Kingdra/Tops if it's scarved) and is pretty much never going to switch in although if it does come in I don't have anything that can really take a hit from it.
Slower than Tops and Kingdra, even after a Shell Smash.
Latios needs to watch out for Knock Off/Ice Punch but can come in on any other move and always KOs with Psyshock. I see a lot of AVConk leads since they limit Deoxys-e to one hazard layer: switching straight to Latios when you have a 1HP Deoxys-e, eating a weak Mach Punch, is sometimes a good way to handle it. Otherwise it gives me a bit of trouble just because it has fighting priority.
Magic Coat gives me the edge against leads that aren't carrying it. The cleaner is hilariously ineffective against this team since it's slower than Tops and Kingdra.
Trivially revenge killed by Tops. Kingdra doesn't really appreciate Quick Attack but it can take one if it has to.
Can give me a bit of trouble by copying my rain sweepers. Kingdra's x4 water resist is pretty invaluable here since it forces Ditto to use a non-water move, limiting its ability to sweep my team.
An uncommon threat that can't really get much done against Bisharp until they release Adaptability.
If MultiScale is broken I can revenge with Tops/Kingdra. Dragonite can't really come in on anything and if worst comes to worst it's usually worth saccing what's currently in to break MultiScale for the next thing to score the KO.
Duggy doesn't have much fun since I almost always have hazard initiative and everything on my team either outspeeds, shrugs off its weak attacks, isn't grounded, or has access to priority that OHKOs.
Bisharp is my main way of handling it though it's obviously a pain as it prevents me getting hazards up turn one.
A bit of a liability against this team, Excadrill has a hard time finding the chance to spin and if it tries to start anything it's revenge killed by Latios/Kingdra/Tops
Sticky Web means you have to do math. Kingdra and Tops are really, really fast in the rain; even after Sticky Web, Kingdra outspeeds base 110s and Kabutops is only outsped by base 108s. I look at my opponent's team and judge if I need to Taunt or not: generally Sticky Web is meant to help Pokémon that are slower than base 108, so you can often get away with ignoring Galvantula completely. Sticky Web also fails to affect Latios, and gives Bisharp a free +2 from Defiant...so yeah, Sticky Web, everybody.
Tops and Kingdra outspeed the scarf version so it doesn't revenge them, they can also revenge kill every other variant of Chomp along with Latios
Kabutops checks it always. It's a little annoying to switch in on since I have no fairy resist.
A decent threat. Shift Gear and Rock Polish sets outspeed Tops and Kingdra even in the rain, though it doesn't have much fun trying to setup. A healthy Tops or Toed can take a hit and revenge kill Shift Gear, a healthy Kingdra can take a hit from Rock Polish, if worst comes to worst then I do have Aqua Jet and Sucker Punch which each do >50% so if Gene was weakened it's not likely to sweep. Scarf troubles Latios a little though as it takes hazard damage everytime it comes in it's not terribly effective and it's also outsped by Kingdra/Tops. Kabutops can eat Extremespeeds from the CB set and revenge kill that set, too.
Gengar doesn't have much fun against this team since it's either outsped or forced to speed tie with everything except Bisharp.
Doesn't have much of an opportunity to setup on anyone but I suppose it's a decent threat if it passes to something that outspeeds Kingdra/Tops. Incredibly uncommon though.
Goodra gives me a bit of trouble, depending on its set. Bisharp can come in on most moves and deals great damage with Knock Off/Iron Head, and any variant except Assault Vest is going to get revenge killed by Latios.
Please don't trap Politoed early on :( Gothitelle can't really trap anything else effectively so I just need to play carefully early on with Toed, making sure not to switch it into U-Turns or whatever. Annoying but uncommon, I don't recall seeing any Gothitelles except for when I ran it earlier in the teambuilding process.
Outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops, doesn't really do a lot of damage so Toed can soak a hit and deal >50% with neutral Scald, Kingdra is sometimes a nice switch in.
Outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops
Can cause me trouble since after Unburden it's faster than Tops/Kingdra. Fortunately, Hawlucha is pretty rare, and without Flying Gem it has a bit of a hassle triggering Unburden without dying.
Outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops
Heatran is an absolute liability vs. this team, it loses to every single member, can't set up Stealth Rock, and actively gives away turns if it tries to soak a Draco Meteor since it's a free switch in for everything including Toed. Best case scenario, it Toxics something and Protects to waste a few turns of rain.
Vaguely annoying since it's immune to water but it can't actually beat any of my rain sweepers and it's slower than Latios without a scarf.
Heracross is super bulky which is really annoying but Latios can revenge kill it and it has an unpleasant time against Kingdra/Tops as well.
If it uses Sunny Day it's annoying but it also kills itself super fast between Solar Power and rocks. If it doesn't have Sunny Day it's irrelevant.
All variants are outsped and revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops, Latios outspeeds all bar the scarf version.
Bisharp generally beats this Pokémon unless it's running a super wacky set and it's uncommon anyway. If it comes in on Latios then it'll usually be weak enough to be revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops
Pretty gross but can be revenge killed by Latios and Kingdra (in the rain).
I need to speed tie enemy Swift Swim Kingdra with my own which kinda sucks. Sniper Kingdra is totally irrelevant and outsped by Latios/Kingdra in the rain.
Outsped and revenge killed by Latios/Kingdra/Tops, can't come in on anything
Outsped and revenge killed by Latios/Kingdra/Tops, can't come in on anything
Rock Polish/Double Dancer outspeeds Kingdra/Tops in the rain but takes 85.4 - 102.1% from Aqua Jet. Other sets are easily outsped/revenge killed by Latios, Kingdra, and Tops.
Has trouble with Bisharp and is always outsped by rain Kingdra for the revenge kill.
Latios is pretty scary and nothing can really switch in on it (Bisharp resists dragon but is specially frail) but Kingdra outspeeds all variants in the rain and gets a revenge kill.
Luke gives most teams trouble, doesn't he? Ultimately the issue here is determining the set: Kabutops handles physical sets since he resists physical priority and KOs with Waterfall, Kingdra can take a Vacuum Wave from the special set and Kos with Surf. Still yeah Luke is gross, please ban it.
I have no steel types except Bisharp and Bisharp gives Magnezone some trouble. I'm not really worried by DragMag since I don't use steels to handle dragons; FairyMag might be a little trickier I guess.
Uh I guess Trick Room could hypothetically cause me some trouble though I can't say I've seen it or was even aware Malamar got Trick Room before reading it here.
Deoxys-e normally beats the lead though you need to set hazards rather than try to Taunt so you don't get Quake + Ice Sharded and this means Mamo sometimes gets hazards of his own. If you switch out your 1HP Deoxys-e into Toed for the Ice Shard and Scald as he Quakes, then send in 1HP Deoxys-e to die, you can get Tops in early vs. 1HP Mamo. I guess that gives me a little trouble.
Offensive Mamo doesn't accomplish that much really.
Revenge killed by yadayadayada. Bisharp is pretty good at handling him too with the dark resist.
Kinda dysfunctional vs. this team since it has no walls to break. Latios/Kingdra/Tops revenge kill.
Mew's unpredictability and bulk are annoying but leads don't get to play the game they want to thanks to Deoxys-e.
Kingdra/Tops/Latios
Scarf outspeeds Kingdra/Tops in the rain and can hit Bisharp through the rain with Focus Blast which is p. annoying. Other variants are outsped and revenge killed by Tops/Kingdra.
Kabutops resists Quick Attack and outspeeds in the rain for the revenge kill.
Kingdra x4 resists water, other Pokémon can come in on other moves, I guess it needs some prediction though really what is this thing coming in on.
Bisharp gives both variants of Reuniclus some major trouble: Sucker Punch harasses Trick Room, and Knock Off threatens CM.
Not that much of an issue though it's obviously tricky to directly counter since it's just going to Volt Switch out. Ultimately, though, it can only really come in when it's on full HP to revenge kill Kabutops; Politoed is never going to stay in to give it the free switch in, and everything else gives it trouble 1v1. Specially defensive is probably the biggest hassle.
Outsped and revenge killed by Tops/Kingdra
Full Baton Pass is really gross though between Taunt, Encore, and Perish Song I'm better equipped to handle it than most. I have a replay with a baton pass team here:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74552048
Not the best replay as we both make mistakes, but cut me some slack, full BP is really rare. Perish Song/Encore Toed just gives BP a whole mess of trouble; Mr. Mime constantly has to guess if I'm going to Encore it (if it stays in) or Perish Song if it Baton Passes out, and if it guesses wrong I win.
Not too dangerous since Kingdra and Kabutops outspeed and don't take too much from Bullet Punch
Leads tend to have trouble with Deoxys-e though as Magic Coat is rare on Smeargle I'm probably going to Taunt and run headfirst into Magic Coat if Smeargle is running it.
Revenge killed by Kingdra/Tops/Bisharp
If I lose the weather war I've pretty much lost already, Stoutland is irrelevant.
Bisharp
Revenge killed by Kabutops. Technically Talonflame is hardcountered by Tops in the rain, too, but I'd usually rather go for the revenge kill since Tops takes >50% from Band Talonflame.
Lead loses to Deoxys-e, most variants are outsped by Tops and Kingdra, Kingdra outspeeds Scarf. Rock Polish can give me a bit of trouble as they outspeed Tops/Kingdra though Politoed can take a hit and KO with Scald.
Gives everyone trouble I think. Thundurus doesn't do much to Latios but it can paralyze it which is annoying. If it takes a little prior damage + rocks it can be taken out with Aqua Jet.
Latios is my best bet against it.
Bisharp can handle slow variants, Tops revenge kills fast variants. Scout for Life Orb with Stealth Rock since most fast variants don't run Leftovers.
Revenge killed by Tops/Kingdra
Revenge killed by Tops/Kingdra but it's really annoying since it never gets worn down and has the cheek to benefit from my rain. Can't switch in on anything at least.
Probably one of the biggest annoyances to this team, offensive Tyranitar hits hard, traps Latios and ruins my weather. MegaTyranitar is even worse since he gets two weather activations and you can't simply 'solve' him by sending in Politoed. Fortunately, things aren't completely hopeless, since Kingdra can setup his own rain (and outspeeds MegaTyranitar) while Bisharp outspeeds regular Tyranitar, resists his stabs, and scares him off with Low Kick. Still not a pleasant Pokémon to face and I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the guy is running a defensive set instead.
Rain.
Latios
Kingdra/Tops
Does OK against the team since it can trap Latios and harass others but struggles vs. Kingdra/Tops
Latios is tough enough to beat Coil, Kingdra is my best bet vs. Dragon Dance. It can't set up 2 boosts against anything so I should be OK!
Standard OU Defensive Threats
Substitute + Leech Seed -
Slow and weak to dragon.
Spore is a nuisance but Bisharp and Latios both stonewall it and beat it.
I have a special attacker, several of them in fact, including Scald Toed.
Banette is really bad.
Bisharp doesn't really care about being statused so he's the go-to man. Note that Blissey can't come in and reliably wall anything on my team except Toed.
Can take the odd hit but can't accomplish much, gets wrecked by Bisharp.
Most defensive versions of Celebi don't run Earth Power so they struggle with Bisharp and Latios.
Bisharp really scares Chansey since it threatens to Knock Off its Eviolite. If it loses its item or if it's even slightly worn down Latios 2HKOs. If it doesn't carry Thunder Wave I can fearlessly send in Tops to beat it.
Handled by Latios.
Bisharp gives it some trouble.
Doesn't accomplish much vs. this team and is hopefully scared off Defog by Bisharp.
Bisharp Bisharp Bisharp, leads are usually beaten by Deoxys-e.
Kind of a problem since nothing can switch in. Tops and Bisharp can beat it but neither wants to come in on a Scald, everything else has trouble with it. It's fortunately rare.
Bisharp.
Bisharp is the best way to handle it. if it gets to 50% then Kabutops KOs with Low Kick, so I try and weaken it early. Becoming less popular since it's setup bait for a lot of nasty stuff this gen.
Bisharp.
Not really threatening.
Marked as a threat since it's immune to water but Latios doesn't have a horrible time with it.
It protects to waste a few turns of rain. That's pretty much it, it's not threatening so much as it is annoying.
I normally go for Latios though Bisharp does an OK-ish job too. Technically I might have trouble with this since it can do an OK job of damaging Latios but in practise I've not been too worried.
Defensive Gyarados can't really handle Latios.
Liability.
Probably the least threatening weather setter since it can't come in on anything and Toed can come in on it a few times.
Jellicent is pretty annoying since it has water absorb but Bisharp and Latios both do pretty well against it.
Bisharp.
fuck Klefki
Defensive variants can be handled by Bisharp.
Scared off of Defog by Bisharp, it's also OHKOed by Kabutops after rocks and in general it can't actually wall anything on this team which is pretty bad for a Pokémon that's so passive.
Will-o-Wisp is pretty gross since it beats Bisharp but Latios/Kingdra can often brute force it without being too afraid of burns.
Latios and Kingdra are only vaguely scared of Toxic and Scald burns from defensive Toed and uh, I kinda like the rain.
Bisharp is my go-to mon since it resists Normal and can Knock Off the Eviolite.
Latios and Kingdra can overpower it, if Quaggy tries to setup with that gross Stockpile/Curse + Unaware set then Politoed can force it out with Encore or Perish Song.
Hard to pin down due to Volt Switch but it's not beating Latios.
Vaguely annoying but not too threatening, it struggles to switch in and the lead is vulnerable to Magic Coat.
Deoxys-e beats Scolipede usually though it might actually get off hazards just because I'm used to seeing it Baton Pass.
Kingdra is my go-to answer though it again has a hard time coming in as Kabutops 2HKOs in the rain.
Slowbro has a hard time putting out enough damage to threaten Latios so it's vulnerable to Draco Meteor. If I predict anything besides Scald, Bisharp can come in and hit it pretty hard too.
Probably gets off the spin but it lets Kingdra in for free.
Bisharp
Something has to eat Sleep Powder, then Latios or Kingdra handle it. Kinda annoying since it has Regenerator and Knock Off.
Bisharp can come in on anything except Will-o-Wisp and OHKO, Draco Meteors do a lot.
Thankfully most don't run Rain Dish anymore. Tentacruel has some trouble with Bisharp/Latios and doesn't enjoy switching in but Toxic Spikes are horrible for this team.
Aaaaa Toxicroak gives me a whole mess of trouble. It's incredibly uncommon but I don't really have many options to handle it beyond Latios (who gets wrecked by Sucker Punch). Definitely one of the threats I have the biggest trouble with.
Tyranitar is probably the most annoying weather changer but defensive variants aren't too bad, they're a little toothless. If it comes in on anything besides Toed I'll bring in Toed, if it comes in on Toed I generally go to Kingdra and try to setup Rain Dance manually.
Water Absorb again, gross, though Latios and Bisharp again do a pretty good job of handling it.
Really not that threatening, partially because rain nerfs Synthesis so it's worthless. Sleep Powder sets are annoying but once it's popped its sleep Latios can always come in and scare it off; even lategame I'm not scared of Venusaur since with borked Synthesis it just gets worn down really fast by any offensive pressure.
Not as bad as Gothitelle but still pretty annoying, I can't afford to lose things like Politoed.
Bisharp and curse the guy who invented Magic Bounce.
Has a hard time getting much done vs. this team since I generally have rocks up and it loses to every offensive Pokémon I run.
Incredibly passive sets can be handled with Perish Song if I don't want to risk bringing Latios/Kingdra in on a Dragon Tail.
Beyonzo (Politoed) (F) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Encore
SOULFISTSOULFISTSOULFISTSO (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
Gucci Belt (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
Mango Sentinel (Deoxys-Speed) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Magic Coat
Brokemon (Kabutops) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Low Kick
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
Dissappointment (Kingdra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 40 Atk / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Mild Nature
- Waterfall
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Rain Dance
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Perish Song
- Encore
SOULFISTSOULFISTSOULFISTSO (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
Gucci Belt (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
Mango Sentinel (Deoxys-Speed) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Magic Coat
Brokemon (Kabutops) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Low Kick
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
Dissappointment (Kingdra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 40 Atk / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Mild Nature
- Waterfall
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Rain Dance
Some replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73698926
An entertaining little weather war back when I was trying Tornadus-T > Latios. Dual weather setters is an interesting tack and it forces me to make some odd moves.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74647158
This is kinda what I mean when I'm talking about winning the game at team preview. I'm sure this guy's team is wonderful and has great momentum and synergy and *buzzwords*, but in the Year of Our Lord 2014 he's running one water resist and it's Scarf Rotom-W. I control the game from turn 1 and the guy's only real glimmer of hope is when I stupidly sac Latios before Conkeldurr dies; fortunately, he's running the piss-weak AV set instead of Life Orb, so even the supereffective Mach Punch tickles Kabutops.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74645739
This replay showcases the best and the worst of Bisharp: at his worst, he's a slow, ungainly Pokémon with difficulties switching in and atrocious special defence. At his best, he's an absolute nightmare to switch into: it's kinda strange to think someone using Bisharp would create such a Bisharp-weak team, but really nothing he has can come in comfortably on him.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74552048
Vs. full Baton Pass, an entertaining enough game where we both make some bad misplays. Ignore my rambling in the chat, I don't think my plays vs. Mr. Mime mattered at all.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74551178
Vs. a team with three whole water resists! Bisharp tends to prompt people to switch into MegaVenusaur/stay in with MegaVenusaur but in the rain Venusaur can't realistically keep up. The crit eases things along but come on, each Iron Head has a 30% flinch rate and MegaVenusaur's (limited pp) Synthesis heals 25%. It's not a remotely favourable matchup: worst case scenario, Bisharp kills itself to bring Venusaur to half HP, at which point I bring in Latios, scare it off, and Tops/Kingdra can trivially KO with coverage moves later in the match.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74210769
No seriously, please don't use Scarf Rotom-W as your only water resist.
An entertaining little weather war back when I was trying Tornadus-T > Latios. Dual weather setters is an interesting tack and it forces me to make some odd moves.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74647158
This is kinda what I mean when I'm talking about winning the game at team preview. I'm sure this guy's team is wonderful and has great momentum and synergy and *buzzwords*, but in the Year of Our Lord 2014 he's running one water resist and it's Scarf Rotom-W. I control the game from turn 1 and the guy's only real glimmer of hope is when I stupidly sac Latios before Conkeldurr dies; fortunately, he's running the piss-weak AV set instead of Life Orb, so even the supereffective Mach Punch tickles Kabutops.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74645739
This replay showcases the best and the worst of Bisharp: at his worst, he's a slow, ungainly Pokémon with difficulties switching in and atrocious special defence. At his best, he's an absolute nightmare to switch into: it's kinda strange to think someone using Bisharp would create such a Bisharp-weak team, but really nothing he has can come in comfortably on him.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74552048
Vs. full Baton Pass, an entertaining enough game where we both make some bad misplays. Ignore my rambling in the chat, I don't think my plays vs. Mr. Mime mattered at all.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74551178
Vs. a team with three whole water resists! Bisharp tends to prompt people to switch into MegaVenusaur/stay in with MegaVenusaur but in the rain Venusaur can't realistically keep up. The crit eases things along but come on, each Iron Head has a 30% flinch rate and MegaVenusaur's (limited pp) Synthesis heals 25%. It's not a remotely favourable matchup: worst case scenario, Bisharp kills itself to bring Venusaur to half HP, at which point I bring in Latios, scare it off, and Tops/Kingdra can trivially KO with coverage moves later in the match.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74210769
No seriously, please don't use Scarf Rotom-W as your only water resist.
