Save it for a Rainy Day [UU Rain Dance RMT]

[Acai]

ON A RAINY DAY
[UU RAIN DANCE RMT]​

INTRO: So, recently I made a Sunny Day UU team. However, I realize that the benefits one reaps from Sunny Day are probably inferior to the ones gleaned from Rain Dance, so I've decided to make a Rain Dance team. I want to see how the two compare. If you don't mind, take a look at my other team as well, because I'm looking to decide which one I should use for competitive play.

My Serebii Sunny Day RMT:
http://www.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?t=421746

(These two are different links to the same RMT.)

My Smogon Sunny Day RMT:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62231

~+~​

AT A GLANCE:​

THE TEAM ITSELF:





THE SEARING SPHERE

ELECTRODE @ Damp Rock
Soundproof
Hasty
252 Atk / 48 SpA / 208 Spe

~ Rain Dance
~ Explosion
~ Taunt
~ Thunder


WHY ELECTRODE? Electrode is arguably the best UU Rain Dance lead out there. With blazing speed, it can get the Rain up before anything else. However, I'll also consider other leads like Ambipom.

THE EV'S: 252 Atk for an Explosion that can take out almost anything. 48 SpA for a Thunder that wreaks havoc. And 208 Speed EV's for extra Rain Dance insurance.

THE ITEM: Damp Rock for eight solid turns of rain.

THE MOVESET: Rain Dance to get the ball rolling and support the rest of the team. Taunt for slower leads whom I think may try to set up Stealth Rock, Spikes, etc. With a %100 accuracy in the rain, Thunder is a beast. But Explosion is the crux of the matter. Electrode is almost guaranteed to do at least one of the following: stop someone from setting up, get it raining, or cause severe or fatal damage to a Pokemon.







THE RAPACIOUS REGI

REGISTEEL @ Leftovers
Careful
252 HP / 100 Atk / 156 SpD

~ Earthquake
~ Rain Dance
~ Stealth Rock
~ Toxic

WHY REGISTEEL? Registeel is my all-time favorite UU wall, and I think it really shines in a Rain Dance team. Its Fire weakness is covered well by the rest of the waters, and 80/150/150 defenses are nothing to sneeze at.

THE EV'S: Max HP to bolster that average stat, and SpD 156 to take hits. 100 Atk for Iron Head or Earthquake, whichever I decide to use.

THE ITEM: Leftovers gives extra durability to this tank.

THE MOVESET: My second Rain Dance setter-upper. Iron Head for reliable STAB. Steath Rock because I needed a Stealth Rocker on the team. Toxic for some lovely stalling. I adore Toxic. It's won me several matches.








THE FEROCIOUS FISH

GOREBYSS @ Life Orb
Modest
36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe

~ Surf
~ Ice Beam
~ Hidden Power Grass
~ Psychic

WHY GOREBYSS? With a Special Attack stat only one point lower than Omastar's and with a superior set of resistances, Gorebyss has earned a place as my Swift Swim special sweeper.

THE EV'S: Speed and SpA for good sweeping potential. The HP EVs are for the Life Orb recoil.

THE ITEM: Life Orb for power.

THE MOVESET: Gorebyss is a pretty intense sweeper. Surf for a STAB Rain-boosted attack. Ice Beam and Psychic for coverage. Hidden Power Grass to hit those pesky Quagsire, Omastar, Kabutops, etc.





THE FEARSOME FOSSIL

KABUTOPS @ Life Orb
Adamant
Swift Swim
72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe

~ Swords Dance
~ Waterfall
~ Stone Edge
~ Aqua Jet

WHY KABUTOPS? What Rain Dance team doesn't have a Kabutops? With spectacular Attack, the Swift Swim ability, and a good movepool, Kabutops is a very respectable fighter.

THE EV'S: Speed and Attack for sweeping potential. The HP EVs are to help with the Life Orb recoil.

THE ITEM: Life Orb for power.

THE MOVESET: Kabutops is my Gorebyss counterpart. Stone Edge and Waterfall provide excellent coverage, especially with Waterfall boosted by the rain. Waterfall over Aqua Tail for the better accuracy at the cost of ten base power. Stone Edge in case I need something really powerful as a last resort. After even a single Swords Dance, Kabutops is nigh unstoppable. Aqua Jet for a backup priority.







THE TERRIBLE TIGER

RAIKOU @ Shuca Berry
Timid
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

~ Thunder
~ Shadow Ball
~ Hidden Power Ground
~ Rain Dance

WHY RAIKOU? I've wanted to have a UU team with a Raikou as a sweeper for a long time, and now that Raikou has been dropped from BL, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

THE EV'S: Speed and Attack for max sweeping potential.

THE ITEM: Shuca Berry saves Raikou from a potentially fatal Ground attack.

THE MOVESET: The reason Raikou is on my team is Thunder. A STAB %100 accuracy 120 base power Thunder is going to be eating a lot of things alive. Shadow Ball is mainly for Rotom and other ghost types like Mismagius. Hidden Power Ground for coverage, and Rain Dance to keep the weather alive.








THE FIERCE FLOWER

VENUSAUR @ Leftovers
Bold
Overgrow
252 HP/4 Spd/252 SDef

~ Sleep Powder
~ Leech Seed
~ Energy Ball
~ Sludge Bomb

WHY VENUSAUR? Originally I had Phione for the Rain Dance/Rest/Hydration strategy, but a rater suggested Venusaur instead. Though they don't serve anything near the same purpose, Phione was in grave danger from the many Grass/Electrics running around UU.

THE EV'S: Max HP and max SpD for tank support.

THE ITEM: Leftovers for durability.

THE MOVESET: Sludge Bomb for those pesky Grass Types. Energy Ball for a great STAB move. Sleeping Powder is really useful when aiming for a switch, and Leech Seed can bring some health for my two Life Orb sweepers.




Thanks for reading, and please rate my team!

 

[Acai]

*bump*

 

[Blackhawk11]

This is no doubt a decent RD team for UU, but there are a few tweaks I would make.

On Registeel, definately go with Leftovers. You will rarely need three Damp Rock users on one team, so giving Registeel some healing would be nice. Another option is to give Registeel Damp Rock and Electrode Focus Sash, almost guaranteeing that you get RD + Explosion off. Your call here.

On Kabutops, you will very likely want Aqua Jet > Return. Priority is great to have as a back up in case the situation is dire, for example when you are running low on health and a Gallade or Blaziken comes in threatening Shadow Sneak or Vacuum Wave, respectively, and Return doesn't really merit a spot. You say that it covers Quagsire and Poliwrath, but neither are very common in UU. (I've been playing UU quite a lot in the last week or so trying to get my CRE up, and I haven't seen a single one of either.) Also, Aqua Jet will help you when the rain runs out by hitting fast Pokemon who would kill you otherwise. In the end, its very beneficial to have STAB priority.

Second thing on Kabutops: Waterfall > Aqua Tail. This one is a no-brainer, because Aqua Tail has a respectible, yet imperfect, accuracy of 90%, while Waterfall hits 100% of the time (assuming no weird evasion stuff like Snow Cloak Froslass) while only sacrificing 10 base power. Plus, when you're faster than 90% of the Pokemon in UU (factoring in Choice Scarfers), the flinch rate is amazing. Rock Slide > Stone Edge also falls into this category, but Stone Edge is much more powerful, so that one is a bit tougher decision.

On Raikou: Choice Specs is NOT the best option. Here's a hypothetical situation that is actually very likely to occur.
Raikou uses Thunder to KO opponent. Opponet switches in Ground-type (Nidoking/queen, Dugtrio, Steelix, Donphan, etc.). You have to switch out due to being locked into an Electric-type move. You just wasted a very valuable turn of rain.
So on Raikou I would suggest swapping Choice Specs for 1) Leftovers, 2) Life Orb, or 3) Shuca Berry. Right now I'm liking Shuca, but that's your choice. Then, put Rain Dance > Extrasensory, as non-STAB Psychic is not a beneficial attacking type. Now you have a great team supporter, and a dangerous sweeper rolled into one.

To summarize my suggestions, sans-reasoning:
Registeel/Electrode
- Leftovers > Damp Rock or Focus Sash > Damp Rock

Kabutops
- Aqua Jet > Return
- Waterfall > Aqua Tail
- Rock Slide > Stone Edge (less definate)

Raikou
- Shuca Berry/Life Orb/Leftovers > Choice Specs
- Rain Dance > Extrasensory

*In case you don't know, > is used to mean "in place of."

Good luck with your team. Remember everything I said here is a suggestion as to what I would likely have and should not be taken as absolutely necessity.

 

[End Fashion]

Hello again HummingFish!

So, recently I made a Sunny Day UU team. However, I realize that the benefits one reaps from Sunny Day are probably inferior to the ones gleaned from Rain Dance, so I've decided to make a Rain Dance team.

Traitor!

I was going to rate this team a while ago, but I never got around to posting it.

Firstly, I have to echo the sentiments of Blackhawk regarding Raikou and Kabutops. The very first thing I noticed when testing this team was how much it got the run-around (ie forced switches) due to Raikou's scarf. This really hurts a team that carries a lot of the same type, since the synergy of the team is often overlooked somewhat in favour of Pokemon who function best in their respective weather. I tested with Life Orb and Rain Dance as mentioned above, and had much better results.

In testing the other thing I did immediately was switch to Aqua Jet over Return. It gives you a powerful priority move that you can use if you run out of rain, and to beat the Mach Punches and Sucker Punches that you may encounter.

Kabutops (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 72 HP/252 Atk/184 Spd
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Aqua Jet
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail / Waterfall

I made three other changes to the team which I will not go into too much detail about since along the way I started to make my own RD team haha. Firstly I went with Omastar over Gorebyss since it has better defenses to take Fake Outs and Sucker Punches (although it is weak to Mach Punch; also you have given your reasons for why you chose Gorebyss over Omastar and I respect your decision, so I'm not going to shove it down your throat haha), I used Pelipper for a rain setter just to be different (lulz), but importantly I brought in Venusaur. Venusaur is a very potent roadblock and in fact can cause this team trouble. At the moment it can switch in to Phione and Raikou relatively easily and start to break you down with Sleep Powder and Leech Seed. Gorebyss fails to OHKO with Ice Beam since it is not STAB and Venusaur is bulky on the special side. Pair Venusaur with a good defensive partner like Slowbro and you are having issues with being statused etc. and eventually broken down. I put Venusaur in over Registeel, running the standard set:

Venusaur (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/4 Spd/252 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Bomb

It gives you a defensive pivot, allows you to put an opposing Pokemon to sleep, which eases switching for you, and Leech Seed can offer some healing for the Life Orb users. Speaking of defensive, I'm not entirely convinced of Phione's usefulness given the amount of electric and grass Pokemon in UU. Venusaur may even go over Phione.

I think you have formed a solid base to work from with this team. I just think you need to work out some kinks with the synergy so you can sweep more fluently. Some slight crafting and a nice polish will really make this team shine :)

 

[YaM]

Here is where I am in agreement with what Blackhawk11 and End Fashion said:

Kabutops
- Aqua Jet > Return
- Waterfall > Aqua Tail

Raikou
-Life Orb > Choice Specs
- Rain Dance > Extrasensory

Now, you might want to follow End Fashion's suggestion of a Venusaur replacing Registeel. After all, Registeel is setup bait to Gallade in UU. If you're not changing Registeel, take out Iron Head for Rain Dance. But if Venusaur were to replace Registeel, I suggest running Sleep Powder/Rain Dance/Earthquake/Power Whip @ Damp Rock instead to have another rain setup while retaining physical power to whack Raikou (and Milotic is a bonus), who is a major threat to the team.

You might want to keep HP Ground on Raikou to hit other Raikous, but I think the better option is HP Water which gets a 1.5x Boost in the Rain and hits Grounds super-effectively.

 

[Acai]

Thanks for the help, guys! Sorry I've been out of commission for a while. My life got crazy busy. But I'm back and I'm working on this team once again.

 

[EspyJoel]

Hi.

I have a few suggestions.

Firstly, I'm really not getting the point of Venusaur on this team, rd is meant to be a very offensive style and Venusaur just doesn't fit in with offensive rain. What I suggest is another rd sweeper, Ludicolo would be your best option, I would suggest either the special sweeper with Focus Punch or the SD set as this team does have some trouble with Blissey who walls a decent amount of your team while also doing well against bulky Water-types. Here's the sets:

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Rash
Swift Swim
60 Atk / 252 SpA / 196 Spe
Surf / Grass Knot / Ice Beam / Focus Punch

or

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Adamant
Swift Swim
60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Swords Dance / Waterfall / Seed Bomb / Ice Punch

Both sets are great in rain, the idea behind the SD one is to get in on something you scare away as they likely switch to Blissey or something else which likely won't be able to handle the SD set, and after a SD it wreaks havoc, while special Ludicolo is very strong and Focus Punch hits Chansey switch-ins.

Next, put Damp Rock on Registeel and Raikou, they are rd supporters, although Raikou is also a sweeper on this team, so this 3 extra turns of rain is so useful for your team in sweeping.

Lastly, I suggest Explosion over Toxic on Registeel since when its close to fainting, its useful to go out with a bang and well timed Explosions are very useful on rd, keeping the momentum on your side.

Thats all I've got to say, hope this helps and good luck!