RMT: Rain Dance Erosion (UU)

[Isaac0501]

Hi, Lately I've been playing around with a Rain Dance team I made on Shoddy. Well I've been winning my fair share of battles, but something just doesn't feel right. Anyways here is my team.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Team at a Glance:

Team in Depth:​

My Shocking Lead

Electrode @ Damp Rock
Nickname: DOOMS-DAY
Static
Hasty 252 Atk / 228 SpA / 28 Spe
-Taunt
-Rain Dance
-Thunder
-Explosion
Description: Why is Electrode my lead? Simply because he is the fastest Taunter in the game and can set up quite quickly.​

Move Selection:
Taunt: My very first move, stops my foe from setting up, and is the first Taunt used in the GAME!
Rain Dance: This is the whole strategy behind my team. It allows Thunder to become 100% accurate.
Thunder: Provides stab for for Electrode, as well as being 100% accurate.
Explosion: When my Electrode is about to die, it can go off in one final bang and insure massive DAMAGE! (Hint: this is why he is called DOOMS-DAY)​

Swimming Sweepers

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Nickname: Crawdad
Swift Swim
Adamant 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
-Swords Dance
-Stone Edge
-Waterfall
-X-Scissors
Opinion: My 1st physical sweeper. Even with Kabutops' horrible typing, he makes an excellent sweeper with Rain + Swift Swim + Swords Dance = PWNAGE!​

Move Selection:
Swords Dance: This Increases my attack by a tramendous amount allowing me for a nice clean sweep.
Stone Edge: It's accuracy makes Stone Edge occasionaly annoying, but critical-hits are common and has stab.
Waterfall: Waterfall becomes a terror with stab + Rain Dance + Swords Dance.
X-Scissors: This hits all those extremely annoying grass types that just love to switch in and take me out.​

Qwilfish @ Life Orb
Nickname: Spike
Swift Swim
Adamant 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Swords Dance
-Waterfall
-Poison Jab
-Explosion
Opinion: My 2nd physical sweeper. Qwilfish is a lesser extent of Kabutops except... For the fact that Qwilfish has better typing, can explode, and can resist those pesky grass types.

Move Selection:
Swords Dance: Swords Dance increases Qwilfish's attack by a very good amount.
Waterfall: Waterfall provides stab and does what it did for Kabutops
Poison Jab: This is where Qwilfish starts to part ways with Kabutops. Poison Jab provides stab and gets rid of Grass types.
Explosion: Qwilfish low in health? Well like Electrode go out in a bang and take the other pokemon out to.

Omastar @ Life Orb
Nickname: Shell Fish
Swift Swim
Modest 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Ice Beam
-Surf
-Earth Power
-Hidden Power Grass
Opinion: My 1st and only special sweeper. Omastar is great at getting the job done. He isn't mean't to stay for a long time but he can do some nice damage while he's there.

Move Selection:
Ice Beam: A powerful Ice move and can take down Grass types.
Surf: Provides stab and with Rain Dance, can defeat many of my enemies.
Earth Power: Another good special move resisted by very few.
Hidden Power Grass: This can defeat some of my fellow water types

Rain Dancers

Porygon2 @ Damp Rock
Nickname: Cyber Duck
Trace
Calm 252 HP / 40 SpA / 216 Def
-Rain Dance
-Thunder
-Thunder Wave
-Recover
Opinion: Porygon2 is my 1st "Rain Dancer" he sets up Rain Dance, uses Recover when needed, and fires away with Thunder and Ice Beam.​

Move Selection:
Rain Dance: This provides support for the rest of my team, not much else to say.
Thunder: With 100% accuracy in the rain and a 30% chance for paralysis I decided to slap this down on Porygon2.
Thunder Wave: I decided I needed a for sure paralizing move to ensure survivabilty.
Recover: Recover heals Porygon quite well, with 50% of it's max HP.​

Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Nickname: Lilipad
Swift Swim
Calm 204 HP / 76 SpA / 124 SpD / 104 Spe
-Rain Dance
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Leech Seed
Opinion: Ludicolo's typing helps my team alot. No Grass or Electrick weaknesses helps my team out alot, it can also do some decent damage.​

Move Selection:
Rain Dance: Rain Dance supports my team and speeds up Ludicolo
Surf: Surf provides stab and has increased power with rain
Ice Beam: Another powerful move, it takes down flying who threaten me with stab flying moves like Aerial Ace.
Leech Seed: Helps heal Ludicolo and the rest of my team, this also makes ludicolo more bulky so I can holdon to my Rain Dancers.​

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for any possible rates you can give me :D​

 

[Isaac0501]

Threat List

Threats:
Laparas - Lapras has water absorb allowing her to switchin fairly easily and get some extra health.

Poliwrath - Poliwrath can easily counter my Kabutops and and Omastar with Water Absorb and having a nice stab fighting move.

Quagsire - can switchin on my sweepers thanks to Water Aborb, but I cant take him out with an HP Grass.

Toxicroak - One of my biggest threats, times like this make me want to have Gorebyss. Toxicroak heals up with rain and water attacks

Golduck - Not the biggest threat, cloud Nine does stop the Rain but I can take it out with HP Grass, or Thunder

Mantine - Is a large problem because of its huge SpD and its Water Absorb Ability. Thunder should take care of him.

Shedinja - A rare but the largest threat here. None of my pokemon can kill it, it could completley desomate my team.

Parasect - Like Toxicroak, Parasect can become a large problem with Dry Skin. But I should be able to beat it with a Poison Jab or Ice Beam

*More Comming Soon...

 

[SixthGrayX]

CRAP. I JUST REALIZED THIS WAS FOR UU. Dx I'll keep my post here, though, so you can see what I wrote. I'll take it off once you have read it.

About The Rain Dancers :

While Electrode is definitly fast, keep in mind that the always-common lead Jirachi carries Choice Scarf and can easily hax Electrode to death before it gets a chance to set up a Rain Dance. The same goes for the other Rain Dancers. Dewgong is weak to Iron Head and will cost you one pokemon if you insist on getting Rain up right off. Clefable also would have to get lucky to get in and then try not to instigate a Fighting-pokemon switch, seeing how your team could get smashed by something fast enough with a fighting move.

About The Sweepers :

Well, the sweepers are all standard issue for a Rain Dance team. However, keep in mind that many people carry Kingdra as a stand-alone sweeper. They could come in during the rain and rampage provided you don't kill it with the right Pokemon. I Also suggest using Aqua Jet on Kabutops because you'll need the priority move at some point. Swift Swim boosted speed won't get you through everything. *cough* Scizor who switches in on Kabutop's Swords Dance *cough*

Overall, it's a good team. I do suggest Kingdra, maybe, over Qwilfish just because it is a staple on Rain Dance teams for its ability to break walls that could otherwise smash your team to pieces. Jirachi could also work over Clefable or Dewgong as a Rain Dancer with this team. Maybe even Mantine could work as a special wall?

 

[Isaac0501]

I'll try Mantine and Laturn out. And this is UU so I do't have to worry about Kingdra, Scizor, or Jirachi.

Thanks for the rate.

 

[d2m]

Ludicolo is a better (if more fragile) special sweeper than Omastar. He hits harder and has extremely good defensive typing, not to mention a grass STAB to help with enemy waters.

 

[Shizzle]

Yeah ludicolo is a beast in the rain, USE HIM!

Umm, you kinda get screwed over by flinch and flee ambipom.

I dont see the need for both your physical sweepers to have swords dance, and i dont see why you need 3 pokes @ damp rock.

IMO, replace dewgong with ludicolo @ Life Orb / Leftovers and give him grass knot, surf/hydro pump, ice beam, rain dance.

 

[Isaac0501]

Should I put Azumarill or Toxicroak in here?
Should I get rid of Qwilfish or Omastar for Ludicolo?

Testing:
*Ludicolo over Qwilfish.
*Ludicolo and Gorebyss over Omastar
*Lanturn and Porygon2 over Clefable.

Thanks for the rates. Looking for more Rates.

Results: Replacing Clefable with Porygon2.
Results 2: FAILS! Keeping Omastar and Qwilfish.

 

[Isaac0501]

Bump

 

[LonelyNess]

I'd like to point out not only a few problems with your team, but a few problems with the rates you've gotten. If only so that you know not to use their advice.

All right, a few things in which I shall number problems I see

1. I see a large weakness to LO Shaymin. Those are very common in UU, so beware. A swift swim can outspeed it, however, but probably not OHKO. Maybe switch out Qwilfish for a SD Ludicolo.

Umm, I'm not entirely sure what SD Ludicolo does to eradicate the problem of Shaymin. You need a turn of set up before you do anywhere near respectable damage, and even with the Swords Dance, you're not exactly OHKO'ing anytime soon. Not to mention, you told him to get rid of one of the best checks he has to Shaymin... Poison Jab from Qwilfish. -_-

Though he is right, Shaymin can be absolutely murder for your team once you've run out of Rain Dance. The easy solution to this? Don't run out of Rain Dance. You're currently using Focus Sash on your Electrode, but I have to wonder why? You're not getting OHKO'd by anything without you first getting a Rain Dance off, period, so there's no risk of -not- getting the Rain Dance. I suppose you could make a case that it lets you get a "free" Taunt in, but really... what are you so worried about your opponent getting up, Stealth Rock? The only user of Stealth Rock that would be able to OHKO you if you didn't have Sash would be Steelix, and you ought to be rejoicing if your opponent is leading with Steelix because it means that your Rain Sweeper is going to absolutely murder it when your Electrode dies. So anyway, don't use Focus Sash on your Electrode, use Damp Rock. It'll give you more turns of Rain, at the cost of... nothing.

4. Omastar. Although it can survive one hit, it would quickly get 2HKO'd while doing little damage to most any grass type. The same with Kabutops, although I have not looked much on Kabutops, a Roserade would kill them both with Leaf Storm very fast. And with Omastar choiced, it could be stuck on a Surf while a Ludicolo is SDing. Any other RD team would be happy to let you try to surf them while they set up moves. But, you said it ran and didn't stay in long, so that shouldn't bring much of a problem.

Little damage on Grass types? You're talking about a potential Choice Specs Ice Beam to the face...

Although I do agree with him about Omastar being stuck on surf... It could potentially be disasterous. You really want a Life Orb on that Pokemon. Not only is the difference in power negligable, but the ability to switch between moves on a Rain sweeper is imperative to its success. You're talking about losing vital turns of Rain by being forced to switch out. You simply can't afford to be doing that. Your moveset is fine, and should probably be the same, just get rid of the Specs and go with Life Orb. You'll be glad you did.

5. Electrode. It seems to have a weakness to any Fake out or anti-lead. If using Rain Dance first, an Arcanine could potentially 2HKO, maybe OHKO it with Extremespeed. Not to mention any EQing Registeel. It can easily suck up Explosion and can live through many thunders while setting up SR, or EQing.

Simply... wrong. First off, who the hell cares about Fake Out leads? Sure, you take the Fake Out... and then you Rain Dance turn 2 because you're faster than ALL FAKE OUT USERS. So you don't get to boom... so what? You still achieved Electrode's main purpose, and that is to get Rain Dance off for the team. Second, Arcanine isn't OHKO'ing anything with Extremespeed... ever. Also, who cares about Registeel? You Taunt, you Rain Dance, then you boom for a free switch to your Rain Dance sweepers. Seems like a pretty solid opening exchange. I don't see any Registeel stopping your Electrode from doing its job, at all.

6. Qwilfish. Truthfully, like before, even with a swift swim, most any Arcanine with Extremespeed could kill it while it's SDing. Then, a Roserade or Shaymin could sweep your team. It is good to make then run, but Shaymin normally carry Psychic... Most priority move users are water, I do admit, but the occasional scarfed Espeon or Gardevoir would make quick work of Qwilfish. Maybe bring in Pursuit

Wrong, Arcanine isn't OHKO'ing Qwilfish ever. And you're also assuming that Arcanine is already in when you bring in Qwilfish... in which case, yeah it'll 2HKO, but why the hell would you bring in Qwilfish into Arcanine if Arcanine is already out? You'd be better off bringing in Omastar or Kabutops who resist both of its main options... The only time Arcanine vs. Qwilfish is happening is if Arcanine switches in on Qwilfish, in which case it has an SD already, isn't OHKO'd by Extremespeed, and promptly kills Arcanine with Waterfall.

7. Any cursing Registeel could cause you a LOT of problems. Omastar and Kabutops are the only ones who could dent it, and they usually carry some kind of recovery move, and knock out your team with stalling Toxic. Either that, or a HP grass, although extremely uncommon on Regi's. Also, Lanturn could do some damage. Volt Absorb stops Thunder's, meaning only a good Earth power or two from Omastar, if it gets one, or an Explosion could take it out. Maybe exchange explosion for Payback...?

Once again... wrong. No Cursing registeel is going to be able to outdamage Life Orb Omastar. It's a 3HKO guaranteed under the rain. And considering that Registeel has crap offenses, even a +1 Earthquake isn't going to break Omastar any time soon. This threat isn't even an issue against this team.

Ludicolo is a better (if more fragile) special sweeper than Omastar. He hits harder and has extremely good defensive typing, not to mention a grass STAB to help with enemy waters.

Blatently false. You're talking about base 90 SpA (Ludicolo) versus 115 SpA (Omastar). There is no way that Ludicolo "hits harder" than Omastar, ever. You are right about the Grass STAB though.

Which is why I do recommend putting Ludicolo on your team. As a Rain Dancer to replace Dewgong. I don't really see much of what Dewgong is bringing to the table, aside from HydroRest (which is meh at best). Ludicolo with the following moveset would be far more benificial to the team:

Ludicolo (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- Surf
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam

It can set up Rain for itself, or the other members of your team. It's all in all far superior to Dewgong in nearly all areas.

Other than that, it's a good team. I'm sure it will be able to compete quite nicely in the tier.

 

[Isaac0501]

THANK YOU!
I was told to put focus sash on Electrode (didnt really like it).
Ludicolo in my testing is crap for a sweeper at least in UU (Legacy Raider does know what hes talking about).
All the Arcanines that switched in did it because they were forced to, via last pokemon or better then the rest.
I taunted the hell out of a Registeel anyways.
I tested Ludicolo over Dewgong and it needed to be replaced so...
THANK YOU!

Edits will be made soon

 

[Isaac0501]

After teasting Ludicolo, I've found a bulkier version works better.

Anyother Rates before I start making this team?