RMT Romantics [OU Rain Dance]

[Rave]

♫♪♫ - Rain Dance - ♫♪♫
OU So we're clear. ҉҈҉҉҈҉
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Rain Dance Logic:

I basically see most people's Rain Dance logic as:

Make Rain > Sweep > Win/Lose depending on how that worked out.

That is the basic strategy I started with. Because I thought the strategy was somewhat flawed, I made some changes.

I never liked the way that most Rain Dance teams seem to instantly reveal what they are. It really shifts the opponent's play style to conservative rain stalling straight away; giving you little chance to see and/or inflict heavy damage against many teams early on. It also puts any possible Tyranitars, Hippowdons and/or Abomasnows into conservative mode, making them much harder to deal with.

I also never liked the way that most Rain Dance teams are often in chaos at the end of the game. These Rain Dance teams seem to rely on well timed sacrifices and constant, non-faltering offence to succeed. If something goes wrong and the momentum shifts, and even sometimes when it doesn't, finishing the game can become difficult.

My initial conceptions on Rain Dance were probably false, but I came to a strategy that has worked well for me. I basically based my team around:

Scout > Make Rain > Sweep > Clean Up.

Whether or not this is in fact the standard Rain Dance logic for intelligent players I am unsure. Most of what I verse seems play by my initial interpretation. I prefer mine. Anyway; here is my team.

At A Glance:

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The only thing worth noticing at this point is that I lack a viable way to set up Stealth Rock. While I'd love it on my team, I haven't yet found a space for it.
​

Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower
​

Scizor leads my team. Generally CB Scizor has fairly limited uses as a lead, but dedicated leads are overrated. Scizor actually makes a great scout for my team's purposes. It will generally force out one of the opponent's Water / Fire / Electric / Steel-types, allowing Rotom to set up easily. It also forces Tyranitar and Abomasnow leads to retreat, allowing me to take the upper hand against opposing weather teams.
Looking further into the match, Scizor can serve as a good way to check Blissey, Snorlax, Regice, Cressilia, Latias and many other special walls that cause my team's main sweeper, Kingdra, trouble. Scizor's priority also helps me revenge kill frail sweepers that might manage to set up.
224 Speed is there to beat Adamant Max Tyranitar which is important given that my team revolves around Rain Dance. My team does lack Stealth Rock, making Salamence a problem, but Bullet Punch combined with Kabutops' Aqua Jet will (almost always) KO it if Rain isn't falling.

Rotom-w @ Damp Rock
Nature: Modest (+SAtk, -Atk)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SAtk / 152 Spe
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder
​

Rotom is the only member of my team capable of setting up an 8 turn Rain Dance and as such, it is very central to my strategy. Rotom is also a great lure for Tyranitar as with the Rain up, it has a 56% chance to KO Max HP Variants even without Stealth Rock.
Rotom's typing is a blessing too. It takes Electric, Fighting, Ground and Normal attacks which can prove very useful. Thunder, Shadow Ball and Hydro Pump provide excellent coverage and Rotom is frequently able to independently threaten the opponent's team. It can even late game sweep on its own.
Thunder's 30% Paralysis rate is very handy and frequently allows Rotom to cripple at least one member of the opponent's team.
152 Speed Evs allow Rotom to outspeed Jolly Max Tyranitar by 2 points. Rotom is generally my second switch in, and upon seeing a Scizor and Rotom-W, surprisingly few opponents suspect Rain Dance.

Parasect (M) @ Leftovers
Nature: Careful (+SDef, -SAtk)
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 86 SDef
- Aromatherapy
- Spore
- Stun Spore
- Seed Bomb
​

Parasect provides great all-round support for my team and has a very useful typing. Double Powder makes it very versatile while Aromatherapy is amazingly helpful for curing Paralysis and Burn; both of which greatly hinder sweeping attempts. Seed Bomb provides coverage against Swampert and other 4x weaks, which is the only time Parasect is going to be damaging anything.
Parasect's typing provides a similar set of resistances to Rotom, allowing it to be an alternative switch in where a Ghost or Dark attack might be used. This often eases conservative prediction. Being naturally slow, Parasect is also my best candidate to absorb Thunder Wave. For the same reason, Parasect is also my best way to tackle Trick Room teams, which have proven troublesome.
While the 18% recovery under rain is great, it was not the main reason Parasect was chosen. Being immune to Water has proven very useful for dealing with opposing Water-types who benefit from rain, even if most carry Ice Beam or Stone Edge.
The given Evs produce a balanced 317 HP / 239 Def / 238 SpD. While not particularly impressive, they are just high enough to make use of Parasect's handy resistances and possible 18% end-of-turn recovery.

Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Nature: Modest (+SAtk, -Atk)
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 92 HP / 252 SAtk / 164 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Rain Dance
​

Kingdra is my primary Rain Dance sweeper and secondary means of setting up Rain Dance. It is probably the best overall Rain Dance sweeper available and is definitely the best on the special side.
Kingdra's typing pairs well with Scizor and decently Rotom, giving it numerous opportunities to switch in. From there it is able to outspeed and at least 2HKO almost any Pokemon in OU. The combination of HP [Electric] and Draco Meteor will 2HKO almost every standard bulky water, although Stealth Rock is needed to guarantee the kill against some less common threats such as Milotic.
164 Speed Evs allow Kingdra to initially outrun all non-Scarf Magnezone and Tyranitar. Under Rain, Kingdra is able to outspeed anything up to Modest Scarf Gengar.

Kabutops (M) @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 26 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Rock Slide
- Aqua Jet
​

Kabutops is my secondary Rain Dance sweeper. While it does act as a physical counterpart to Kingdra, the main appeal is from its priority Aqua Jet.
Waterfall in the Rain is around 0.7x as strong as Kingdra's Hydro Pump. To put things in perspective however, after a Swords Dance, Waterfall is about 1.5x more powerful.
Kabutops has terrible typing, but it does pair decently with Parasect; giving it occasional chances to switch in. Kabutops is usually forced to come in after something has died though, giving it very few chances at a sweep. It generally takes these as revenge killing opportunities however.
232 Speed Evs will outspeed Modest Max Specs Heatran without Rain and up to Modest Scarf Gengar when Rain is in effect. Rock Slide was chosen because of accuracy issues. After a SD it's powerful enough and the additional speed makes the Flinch effect appealing. The lack of Stone Edge has been felt when dealing with physically defensive Zapdos, but Kabutops really can't afford to miss.

Machamp (M) @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Spe
- DynamicPunch
- Stone Edge
- Payback
- Bulk Up
​

Machamp is primarily my late game sweeper. It also threatens most of Kabutops and Kingdra's major counters, except for Celebi, quite well. Most of the Bulky Waters don't enjoy DynamicPunch but their Rain Boosted surfs can be pretty powerful. Machamp actually gives most walls a hard time thanks to DynamicPunch, allowing it to work in tandem with Kingdra to wear down the opposition quite effectively.
Machamp provides a Rock resist too; further ensuring security against Tyranitar. Stone Edge is mainly there to cover Zapdos, who is very troublesome. Payback adds great coverage, particularly against the ghosts who love switching into DynamicPunch.
The standard 128 Spe Evs were dropped into HP as outspeeding Skarmory isn't a real issue (and many will choose to simply WW my Bulk Ups anyway). Only 6 Spe Evs were needed to let Machamp outpace Blissey.

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Conclusion:

There's my team. It has worked very well for me so far but could use a little tweaking. I hope you enjoyed reading. While not much of my team takes direct advantage of Rain, I have found that the balance made things more managable and added to my overall success. Weather teams that rely completely on the weather can have a difficult time against other weather teams, or so I tell myself.

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[Imran]

First off, I found this RMT a fascinating read, regardless of my opinion of whether this works or not, I really like the ingenuity in your approach, and I shall try to to detract from that too much, I will however start with this disclaimer, so that you can understand my thoughts on this type of team:

In the introduction of the RMT you talked about Rain Dance being a quick set up to sweep that will either fail or not. You are right that this is true, but most Rain Teams try to minimise the possibility of losing through offensive means, and there is a reason to this. Rain Dance is a bugger to set up. You have to work yourself into a position to do so, and then you can get to work, although there are things you can do to help this, it is a sad truth. If you only need to set it up 2 or 3 times, then that is fine, you can sweep through your opponants team, and be done.

If you plan to play more conservativly, seeting up Rain Dance repeatedly becomes harder. If you plan to take a "not quite a fuill Rain dance team" approach as you do, you might sometimes find that the team does not have the power that it needs to break stall, and will be run over quickly by offensive teams. This is an unfortunate truth to all balanced teams, although I feel it will apply even more here, as you will either by getting nowhere against Stall based combinations of Toxic Spikes / Skarmory / Blissey etc... or run over quickly by powerful sweepers before you can get a Rain Dance in. ON that note however, I shall try to rate this team, solve those problems and yet not detract from the original aim of this team.

OK, so the first thing I want to do is deal with Machamp. Bulk up Machamp is a sort of wall breaker I find. It doesn't stick around enough to be classed as long term set-up, and it isn't fast enough to be classed as a sweeper. I don't think this wall breaking is needed here, as you have Kingdra and Kabutops who are prepared to do that if nessecary. I want to turn your Machamp into a version that can more comfortably switch in repeatedly to Tyranitar and Blissey, who will both be problems to this team (well Blissey is mainly a problem to Kingdra, but will be a very annoying one at that.) I think that a ResTalk Machamp might do you a little more good, as the added surviverability to more comfortably switch in to said that threats will be very useful to you:

Machamp @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature / No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
~ DynamicPunch
~ Payback / Stone Edge / Ice Punch
~ Rest
~ Sleep Talk

The EVs can be played around with forever. You can choose to outspeed Skarmory, or you can choose to add more bulk on both sides of the spectrum if you wish (although Defense is preferable.) If you are interested, PM me and I can see what I can do with the EVs. I don't need to exaplin the set, it should be fairly self-explanitory. Payback will hit Ghost-types, Stone Edge will hit Flying-types (100% of the time thanks to No Guard) and Ice Punch will give Salamence a much harder time switching in and hurting things. Confusion may also help to buy you Rain turns etc...

Secondly I do want to question your use of Parasect, I really don't see how much it does for your team. It's resistances can be found elsewhere, and I really do think that you could use something that benefits a little more from the Rain than just 18% HP recovery on a reasonably frail Pokemon anyway. I have a couple of ideas for this spot! Here they are:

• Breloom shares some handy resistances with Parasect, most notably those to Grass, Electric, Ground and Water. This will allow him to switch in on these said types, and with the combination os Spore, Substitute and Leech Seed he will be able to Stall out opponents in the middle game. Toxic Orb provides a Thunder Wave immunity, and he is also a decent counter to Tyranitar and Blissey, this will allow you to free up Tyranitar's spot for something more beneficial to the team. I will come back to this point later!

• Ludicolo can also Sub-Seed, or benefit from the Rain with both Swift Swim, or Rain Dish. He handles some of the resistances of Parasect also, and can also be used to replenish Rain. Either the Sub Seed set can be used to stall in the middle game, or you can use an offensive set to give this team a little more offensive kick. I would reccomend Focus Punch on the offensive set, as Blissey will be able to continually come in on both Ludicolo and Kingdra to stop sweeps.

To me it is Breloom that is the most alluring, he will open up Machamps spot sompletely leaving you free to put something else completely different in there. The only real disadvantage is it's Speed (which Parasect didn't have anyway) and it doesn't really want to be wasting a moveslot with Rain Dance (something else that Parasect didn't have)

Should you choosae Breloom, we will need something for the last slot. Something that still does well enough against Blissey and Tyranitar would be nice, and something reasonably bulky may also be useful in that spot, as Breloom is not "that" bulky. So let's see what we can find. I really think that "a Steel type" could be a good idea here. Somthing that can absorb Outrages will be of incredible use to you, especially if Scizor revenges something else and then get's trapped by Magnezone. If you see Magnezone, you can be sure you will see Salamence! Bronzong also carries some other handy resistances and is a good all-round support Pokemon and can USE STEALTH ROCK!!!:

Bronzong @ Damp Rock
Sassy Nature / Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 86 Atk / 80 Def / 92 SpD
~ Rain Dance
~ Stealth Rock
~ Hypnosis / Gyro Ball / Earthquake / Explosion
~ Gyro Ball / Earthquake / Explosion

Although the last two slots are a bit slashy its really because you have lots of options. Gyro Ball is probably a good idea in one of the slot, so that you can revenge kill Salamence, and generally I prefer Explosion, because it can provide your team with a kill that you need. Hyponis can have a similar effect to Explosion is used correctly, although it's accuracy is more unreliable, it does allow you to hit ghosts!

Well, that was a lot more than I intended to write, but I hope it helped. I think Breloom especially has a lot of potential to free up a whole extra team slot, which could really make this team a success. Test out my idea, see if they work, and be sure to write back saying how it's working out! Best of luck with your team!

 

[Rave]

Secondly I do want to question your use of Parasect, I really don't see how much it does for your team.

• Breloom

• Ludicolo

Breloom that is the most alluring, he will open up Machamps spot completely leaving you free to put something else completely different in there.
Should you choose Breloom, we will need something for the last slot. Something that still does well enough against Blissey and Tyranitar would be nice, and something reasonably bulky may also be useful in that spot, as Breloom is not "that" bulky. Bronzong also carries some other handy resistances and can use Stealth Rock!!!

You do raise some interesting points and I will be sure to test the Breloom+Steel type idea. Bronzong, Metagross and Jirachi seem to be the best choices. Parasect is often seen as a poor man's Breloom because of Spore, and Poison Heal does somewhat cover Dry Skin + Aromatherapy as well. Unfortunately, it misses out on the immunity to Water and ability to use Stun Spore (as it is taking an offensive role). Having a better way to deal with Mence and a way to lay down Stealth Rock is probably more appealing, so I will be sure to test... but Parasect is so damn cool! ;___;

Looking closer at Bronzong, it probably isn't as appealing as Metagross. While Bronzong has Rain Dance and no weakness to Ground-type moves, without Parasect, my team has only 2 Pokemon taking proper advantage of Rain Dance. Having three Pokemon to set it up is then a little redundant. Bronzong also forces Breloom to load up very offensively. If Breloom were paired with a Bronzong, I would need something along the lines of Stone Edge/Spore/Fighting Move/Seed Bomb @ Toxic Orb; the Spore-Puncher which I dislike, to cover the same threats as Machamp and Parasect do. If Metagross were used instead, I could drop Stone Edge on Breloom in favour of Substitute (and Focus Punch) and leave Zapdos to Metagross' Ice Punch.

I think this leaves me with something like:

Metagross @ Leftovers
252 HP / 228 Atk / 12 Def / 16 Spe
Clear Body - Adamant
~ Meteor Mash
~ Stealth Rock
~ Ice Punch
~ Explosion

and

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe
Poison Heal - Adamant
~ Sub
~ Punch
~ Seed Bomb
~ Spore

Both Sets are a little gimmicky, but I think I'll test them first... unless you think I'm crazy.

 

[Imran]

No, feel free to go with Metagross. To be honest I would still want you to go with Sub Seed Breloom, as it will follow Parasects role more truly and also, that Breloom you are running there has poor type coverage and can very very easily be forced out.

I see what you are saying about Bronzong forcing Breloom to play more offensivly, if you pick that Metagross you can easily revert back to SubSeed Breloom, who can do a bit of stalling work mid-game, as I have already allured to. So Metagross will fill that offensive gap, nice idea! Hell, you could even lead with Metagross if you want to, although if you do I would replace Ice Punch with either Earthquake or Bullet Punch to deal with other Gross / 'Rachi, or Azelf / Aerodactyl before they have a chance to hit you back. Also Shuca isn't a bad idea on lead Gross.

This might help, as it will allow Scizor to play a role later in the game. I always found leading CB Scizor is too easily countered, but I guess you want that really, to force out Tar etc... I don't know. Test out those Ideas, I mean, Scizor forces out Tar at pretty much any point in the game lol! And I don't think you're crazy, just creative! Best of luck, tell me how the testing goes!