Hello! I'm relatively new to competitive battling (and this forum in general), and I've always loved rain teams as a play-style. I've created this team as offensive as possible, and have had some success with it climbing the Showdown ladder. I'm not entirely certain if my decisions are very good however, so I'm hoping I can get some help improving this team. I've never been good at figuring out competitive games on my own, so forgive me if some of these sets seem a illogical.
++The Team++
Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hurricane
- Scald
- U-turn
- Tailwind
I've chosen Pelipper as my main rain setter, as he is the only pokemon with Drizzle in the entire gen. His purpose beside setting up rain is to set up Tailwind for my two non Swift Swimmers to help them outspeed their targets, as well as assist in damaging the opposition. With Modest nature he can reliably 2HKO Rillaboom, or take him out in one turn with support from other damage dealers, which helps since Rillaboom is one of the strongest grass types in the gen as far as I can tell. Scald is there for a water stab and lucky burns on dangerous physical attackers like Ferrothorn. U-Turn is currently the only move I'm thinking of replacing as so far I rarely use it, although that might just be because I'm bad. I've tested him with Focus Sash but with the shown EV spread it rarely makes the difference, so I gave him a damp rock to keep rain up longer.
Barraskewda @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Close Combat
- Psychic Fangs
- Poison Jab
My main win con and physical sweeper is Barraskewda. This thing is a powerhouse moving super fast in rain, outspeeding every pokemon in the gen. I gave him Life Orb over Choice Band as I personally think Band is stronger on Ferrothorn (my next pokemon), but its something I'm open to changing if people really think Band is better on the fish. I'm running Waterfall over Liquidation, as even though its 5 less base power, the flinch can really save my life sometimes, especially when dealing with Orb recoil. Close Combat and Psychic Fangs are pretty standard, and I took Poison Jab over Aqua Jet as I personally feel he rarely has use for Jet, and Poison Jab gives him synergy with my special attackers during Dynamax on top of more coverage. EV's are fairly standard, seeking to outspeed and deal as much damage as possible.
Ferrothorn @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Atk / 4 Def / 228 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Iron Head
- Power Whip
- Knock Off
- Gyro Ball
One of my personal favorites on this team, Ferrothorn is an utter powerhouse with Choice Band. Even with just 28 Atk EVs, he's at least 2HKO'ing most pokemon that are weak to him in the tier, especially fairies. Hatterenne, and Gardevoir are both exploded by Iron head, while Alcremie gets vaporized by Gyro Ball. I tried a set that had Bulldoze to deal with opposing Steel types, but it didn't really help at all so I moved to Gyro Ball. Power Whip 2HKO's Rotom-W who tends to be hard to get rid of for me, as well as just being an insanely strong STAB move. Knock Off is used against Psychic types and pokemon with items I want gone. The EV spread is to maximize survivability without sacrificing his ability to eliminate the targets he needs to.
Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Fake Out
My special sweeper as well as co-lead with Pelipper most games. A fairly standard set once again, with Hydro Pump giving him the damage he needs to blow things up. Giga Drain for longevity and a grass type STAB. Ice Beam helps with things like Dragapult, who otherwise I wouldn't have a really good answer for. Fake Out helps Pelipper set up Tailwind early, or helps disrupt later on if he ends up swapping in. I'm running Assault Vest as I have 4 attacks anyway, as well as making him that much stickier. EV situation is the same as Barraskewda, looking to outspeed and kill things as best I can. I will admit, he's mainly on this team because he is in fact my favorite pokemon.
Raichu @ Focus Sash
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 188 HP / 76 Def / 220 SpA / 8 SpD / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Volt Switch
- Fake Out
- Encore
My main support pokemon, Raichu is here to help everyone else do their job. Focus Sash allows him to stick as best he can, with Lightning Rod doing the same while also giving me a way around opposing electric types. Thunder over other electric moves as normally if he's attacking its early on to deal with Flying types, which normally means I have rain up. Volt Switch for some pivot potential, although I don't use it as often as I maybe should. Second Fake Out in the team in case I want to open with him instead of Ludicolo, as well as being just as disruptive in the mid to late game. Encore is here to nullify certain threats that would otherwise tear me apart, most setup sweepers get shut down by it as well as certain Trick Room abusers like Snorlax. EV's are a little all over the place but for, in my opinion anyway, good reason. His speed has just enough infestment to outspeed Braviary pre-boosts, as well as outspeed it when it has +1 Speed during my Tailwind. The SpA allow it to OHKO Braviary before they Dynamax, or 2HKO during. The rest are to help it stay alive as much as it can against general attacks, to just help it be an overall nuisance. It may be better to just invest into SpA and Speed, but I'm not certain about it.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Transform
Ditto is here as a sort of flex pick. There are plenty of setup sweepers in this gen from what I've played so far, and Ditto can take their buffs and use them against them. Choice Scarf allows him to grab an enemy sweeper, and always outspeed them to begin sweeping himself. Another purpose he can serve is to help against trick room, albeit only slightly. My hope is to use him to grab an enemy trick room setter and undo their setup to allow my pokemon to eliminate them, thus denying trick room entirely. Good on paper, really hard to execute from my experience thus far. Other than that he has purely defensive EV's to help him not die if Imposter fails somehow.
Overall I feel this team is actually pretty strong in the newest gen. Rain at least seems like it will be a strong archetype, thanks to pokemon like Barraskewda and the overall slowness of the gen. Now with all that said, this team gets bent right over by Trick Room teams even with all my efforts of countering them. I don't lose every game, but its definitely under a 50% winrate against them. However overall I believe I've managed around a 60% winrate on Showdown, although I'm not sure how to figure that out so that's really just a crude estimate. Any feedback or ideas to improve is GREATLY appreciated! If people know of some ways to get better at playing Rain, or even pokemon in general as well, I'm really interested in getting good at this game.
++The Team++
Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hurricane
- Scald
- U-turn
- Tailwind
I've chosen Pelipper as my main rain setter, as he is the only pokemon with Drizzle in the entire gen. His purpose beside setting up rain is to set up Tailwind for my two non Swift Swimmers to help them outspeed their targets, as well as assist in damaging the opposition. With Modest nature he can reliably 2HKO Rillaboom, or take him out in one turn with support from other damage dealers, which helps since Rillaboom is one of the strongest grass types in the gen as far as I can tell. Scald is there for a water stab and lucky burns on dangerous physical attackers like Ferrothorn. U-Turn is currently the only move I'm thinking of replacing as so far I rarely use it, although that might just be because I'm bad. I've tested him with Focus Sash but with the shown EV spread it rarely makes the difference, so I gave him a damp rock to keep rain up longer.
Barraskewda @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Close Combat
- Psychic Fangs
- Poison Jab
My main win con and physical sweeper is Barraskewda. This thing is a powerhouse moving super fast in rain, outspeeding every pokemon in the gen. I gave him Life Orb over Choice Band as I personally think Band is stronger on Ferrothorn (my next pokemon), but its something I'm open to changing if people really think Band is better on the fish. I'm running Waterfall over Liquidation, as even though its 5 less base power, the flinch can really save my life sometimes, especially when dealing with Orb recoil. Close Combat and Psychic Fangs are pretty standard, and I took Poison Jab over Aqua Jet as I personally feel he rarely has use for Jet, and Poison Jab gives him synergy with my special attackers during Dynamax on top of more coverage. EV's are fairly standard, seeking to outspeed and deal as much damage as possible.
Ferrothorn @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Atk / 4 Def / 228 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Iron Head
- Power Whip
- Knock Off
- Gyro Ball
One of my personal favorites on this team, Ferrothorn is an utter powerhouse with Choice Band. Even with just 28 Atk EVs, he's at least 2HKO'ing most pokemon that are weak to him in the tier, especially fairies. Hatterenne, and Gardevoir are both exploded by Iron head, while Alcremie gets vaporized by Gyro Ball. I tried a set that had Bulldoze to deal with opposing Steel types, but it didn't really help at all so I moved to Gyro Ball. Power Whip 2HKO's Rotom-W who tends to be hard to get rid of for me, as well as just being an insanely strong STAB move. Knock Off is used against Psychic types and pokemon with items I want gone. The EV spread is to maximize survivability without sacrificing his ability to eliminate the targets he needs to.
Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Fake Out
My special sweeper as well as co-lead with Pelipper most games. A fairly standard set once again, with Hydro Pump giving him the damage he needs to blow things up. Giga Drain for longevity and a grass type STAB. Ice Beam helps with things like Dragapult, who otherwise I wouldn't have a really good answer for. Fake Out helps Pelipper set up Tailwind early, or helps disrupt later on if he ends up swapping in. I'm running Assault Vest as I have 4 attacks anyway, as well as making him that much stickier. EV situation is the same as Barraskewda, looking to outspeed and kill things as best I can. I will admit, he's mainly on this team because he is in fact my favorite pokemon.
Raichu @ Focus Sash
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 188 HP / 76 Def / 220 SpA / 8 SpD / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Volt Switch
- Fake Out
- Encore
My main support pokemon, Raichu is here to help everyone else do their job. Focus Sash allows him to stick as best he can, with Lightning Rod doing the same while also giving me a way around opposing electric types. Thunder over other electric moves as normally if he's attacking its early on to deal with Flying types, which normally means I have rain up. Volt Switch for some pivot potential, although I don't use it as often as I maybe should. Second Fake Out in the team in case I want to open with him instead of Ludicolo, as well as being just as disruptive in the mid to late game. Encore is here to nullify certain threats that would otherwise tear me apart, most setup sweepers get shut down by it as well as certain Trick Room abusers like Snorlax. EV's are a little all over the place but for, in my opinion anyway, good reason. His speed has just enough infestment to outspeed Braviary pre-boosts, as well as outspeed it when it has +1 Speed during my Tailwind. The SpA allow it to OHKO Braviary before they Dynamax, or 2HKO during. The rest are to help it stay alive as much as it can against general attacks, to just help it be an overall nuisance. It may be better to just invest into SpA and Speed, but I'm not certain about it.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Transform
Ditto is here as a sort of flex pick. There are plenty of setup sweepers in this gen from what I've played so far, and Ditto can take their buffs and use them against them. Choice Scarf allows him to grab an enemy sweeper, and always outspeed them to begin sweeping himself. Another purpose he can serve is to help against trick room, albeit only slightly. My hope is to use him to grab an enemy trick room setter and undo their setup to allow my pokemon to eliminate them, thus denying trick room entirely. Good on paper, really hard to execute from my experience thus far. Other than that he has purely defensive EV's to help him not die if Imposter fails somehow.
Overall I feel this team is actually pretty strong in the newest gen. Rain at least seems like it will be a strong archetype, thanks to pokemon like Barraskewda and the overall slowness of the gen. Now with all that said, this team gets bent right over by Trick Room teams even with all my efforts of countering them. I don't lose every game, but its definitely under a 50% winrate against them. However overall I believe I've managed around a 60% winrate on Showdown, although I'm not sure how to figure that out so that's really just a crude estimate. Any feedback or ideas to improve is GREATLY appreciated! If people know of some ways to get better at playing Rain, or even pokemon in general as well, I'm really interested in getting good at this game.
