Semi-Creative Rain Team (Reached 1730 on PS)

[spooky96]

What's up guys? How're you doing? Good? Good. So here I am posting another team of mine which has been working excellent for me. It got me till 1730, highest I've ever been on Showdown. So here's my team...

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 152 HP / 216 Def / 140 SDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
- Magic Coat

I usually lead out with my Mixed Wall Jirachi. In my opinion, the best Pokemon we have in OU. So what I basically do is, if enemy leads out with stuff like Ferrothorn, Skarmory or any other Pokemon whom I know will try to set up Entry Hazards/Leech Seed/Taunt on my Jirachi, plus bouncing back the coming SPORE back to Breloom. I just Magic Coat, which is a complete surprise for my enemy, and I spam it until my enemy switches out, because people often think "He won't go for another Magic Coat". So usually Jirachi sets up entry hazards for me. And on the other side its mixed so it can take both physical and special hits. Since its a Steel type so Dragons be careful, and lastly cripple enemies with Thunder Wave+Iron Head. ParaFlinch ^_^

Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 188 HP / 160 Def / 160 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Toxic
- Perish Song

This guy sets up Rain for me, one of the dominant weather in the current metagame. It might look strange at first sight, but the EVs spread given and the move set works excellently. To many people it bluffs that its the "Special Attacker" variant when I use Hydro Pump/Focus Blast on them. Toxic is for annoying the walls/stalls. Perish Song is an excellent move, making sure that I don't get swept by a single Pokemon. It's natural high Special Defense allows it too function as a fair Mixed Wall too.
I've paired it up with Gastrodon, to take on Electric moves.

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 124 HP / 132 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Toxic

One of the most underrated Pokemon in OU, but you can't really blame in a tier where Ferrothorn is everywhere. Anyways, its my Special Wall of the team, taking Draco Meteors from Latios and then Recover-ing to full health. Toxic+Recover is still HP stall out my enemy while Scald and Earth Power are basically to annoy sun Teams Pokemons such as Heatran. Its also for THAT annoying Rotom, who other wise creates a lot of problem. I basically get a free turn when Rotom is forced to switch out. Believe me, give this thing a chance.

Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt

A monstrous Special Attacker for my team and a check and a supporter for my team's main Sweeper. Draco puts a dent to anything that doesn't resist it, Psyshock is another STAB move to kill Poison and Fighting types. Hidden Power Fire is useful against Ferrothorn and Scizor, both of them are either OHKO'ed after some damage, and if at full, its a 2HKO. Thunderbolt rounds off the set for destroying the mighty Water types. Since Sand is very common, I chose an Expert Belt over Life Orb, because Life Orb Latios dies very very quickly.

Toxicroak @ Lum Berry
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch

The sweeper of my team. Yeah, one of the least used Pokemon in OU, but its deadly once he's got a Swords Dance. It can kill faster foes such as Latios and Latias with Sucker Punch. Keldo always finds itself being helpless as it never carries a solid move for it and I can just Drain Punch Keldo to death. Drain Punch has excellent coverage as its a FIGHTING move. Ice Punch is for stuff like Breloom and Gliscor and Landorus-T (Hope that it isn't running Speed EVs and it's the Pivot variant!)
Lum Berry is for ensuring that it isn't crippled by statuses. For example, I SD'ed, Ferro used T-Wave, and then Lum Berry cures me, allowing me to OHKO it with Drain Punch. Its paired up with Latios, because Toxicroak hates Ground and Psychic moves, which Latios can easily take. Earlier I used Hydreigon, but it was slower than Internet Explorer.

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Dark]
- Icy Wind

Keldeo, the Revenge Killer for this team. STAB+Rain Surf is enough to kill many Pokemon after they've taken little damage. Secret Sword is helpful against many types, goes without saying >_>. Hidden Power Dark. Yes, Dark. I don't know why no one uses it. Its for Jellicents who've taken some beating, because even if you put Ghost, it would do the same damage, besides, Dark helps against Psychic types too. Icy wind is a pretty cool move despite it's lower base power. It still kills the Dragons, which is more than enough for me. And often, the speed drop with Icy Wind helps.

So there's the team. Now here's the Pokemons which annoy me:
1) Landorus-T
2) Mamoswine
3) Celebi
4) Scizor (ALWAYS PUTS A DENT TO MY TEAM NO MATTER WHAT ARGH)

Threats which are minor:
1) Ferrothorn
2) Jirachi
3) Rotom-W

So above are the ones whom I've faced trouble taking down. Below is so that you can import:

Hide

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 152 HP / 216 Def / 140 SDef
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
- Magic Coat

Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 188 HP / 160 Def / 160 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Toxic
- Perish Song

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 124 HP / 132 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Toxic

Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt

Toxicroak @ Lum Berry
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Dark]
- Icy Wind

 

[Ballofire]

Looks pretty standard actually. Would change HP fire on Latios to Recover and TBolt to either Surf or Thunder. No point in using HP Fire when running a rain team. Magic coat whilst nice is not that great considering the alternatives- namely wish for the set you're running.

 

[spooky96]

If I don't pack HP Fire then its nearly impossible for me to take out Ferro/Scizor unless I have +2 Swords Dance on Toxicroak, besides run isn't always up - and that's the reason why I'm keeping Bolt instead of Thunder.

I expected better suggestions/comments, slight exaggeration but you get my point. And even in rain Ferro and Scizor take heavy damage from HP Fire.

 

[Professor Birch]

This is pretty standard for a rain team. The only thing that I would really say is to switch Thunderbolt to Thunder on Latios. If you are using it in rain, why not use Thunder and get the 100% accuracy.

 

[TEzeon]

Congrats on breaking your ladder score record with this team! I can already say just by looking at it that this is a very solid team that will find few difficulties. However, few as they may be, there still are difficulties to be had! For instance, Jellicent will prove to be a difficult wall for you to remove. You have no reliable way to kill it save for hitting it with Toxic, but if it does not switch in on Toxic and runs a speedy Taunt set, you will find yourself in trouble. You also mention that you have some issues with Landorus-T, Celebi, Scizor, and Ferrothorn somewhat, so I have a very good choice for you to try out that can handle all of them! I am suggesting that you try out Zapdos in place of Keldeo! Here's my recommended set:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 72 SDef / 184 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunder
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute

This Zapdos will walk all over most Drizzle teams with hardly any effort. They are very pressed to deal with this immediately, but you can safely set up Substitutes against common Drizzle walls like Ferrothorn and then become a serious problem for them. They may also feel pressured by leaving Jellicent or Tentacruel in against Zapdos, which would give you another chance to get up a Substitute and then go to town.

One other issue I have noticed with this team is CM Jirachi. It is free to set up on or threaten your whole roster, so you must take care. But! There is another change you can make on this team that would resolve that issue and provide you with another physical sweeper. I would say replace Gastrodon with Garchomp! My suggested set is:

Garchomp (F) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
- Swords Dance

This is my favorite Garchomp set, and arguably the best one too. The Lum Berry allows you to punish every wall in the game, as they will most likely opt to use a status move first, giving you a free Swords Dance. On top of that, due to Garchomp's high natural bulk, it is practically impossible to OHKO him unless the opponent has very high Sp.Atk, which does not tend to happen when dealing with walls.

These fixes would make one problem apparent with the team, which is speed. The removal of Scarf Keldeo kind of hurts, but the most viable replacement for you would be to use Scarf Latios instead! Your moveset would generally be the same thing you have now, although you may want to add Thunder instead of Thunderbolt and possibly HP Fight instead of HP Fire. I hope that my suggestions work out for you, and good luck!

 

[Laurel]

I'm not the best rater. But how do you deal with Sun + Volcarona? Once it has 1 Quiver Dance and Giga Drain you seem to be 6-0d. I'm not sure if this is a problem, but if it is you should probably add a spin blocker to give it a hard time switching in. I know you love your Gastrodon but it is really outclassed by this pokemon, in my opinion.

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Recover

Just a suggestion, you shouldn't be Rotom-W weak, and if you are, you can replace Jirachi with this poke, but I think Jirachi does well enough Thunder Wave paras it, then you should be fine.

Celebi (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock

I'd suggest Recover somewhere, but this basically does what rachi does. So it seems like a better fit. Also, with U-turn you can grab momentum on something like a tyranitar and begin to destroy with Toxicroak. Celebi also gives you a much better check against Latios, because Life Orb Latios can really dismantle your team with basic prediction.

I hope I helped. :)

 

[spooky96]

This is pretty standard for a rain team. The only thing that I would really say is to switch Thunderbolt to Thunder on Latios. If you are using it in rain, why not use Thunder and get the 100% accuracy.

As I mentioned earlier, the Rain isn't always up as many times winning the weather war is hard, so that's why I've kept Bolt. Maybe since even you are saying it, I might switch to Thunder.

Congrats on breaking your ladder score record with this team! I can already say just by looking at it that this is a very solid team that will find few difficulties. However, few as they may be, there still are difficulties to be had! For instance, Jellicent will prove to be a difficult wall for you to remove. You have no reliable way to kill it save for hitting it with Toxic, but if it does not switch in on Toxic and runs a speedy Taunt set, you will find yourself in trouble. You also mention that you have some issues with Landorus-T, Celebi, Scizor, and Ferrothorn somewhat, so I have a very good choice for you to try out that can handle all of them! I am suggesting that you try out Zapdos in place of Keldeo! Here's my recommended set:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 72 SDef / 184 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunder
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute

This Zapdos will walk all over most Drizzle teams with hardly any effort. They are very pressed to deal with this immediately, but you can safely set up Substitutes against common Drizzle walls like Ferrothorn and then become a serious problem for them. They may also feel pressured by leaving Jellicent or Tentacruel in against Zapdos, which would give you another chance to get up a Substitute and then go to town.

One other issue I have noticed with this team is CM Jirachi. It is free to set up on or threaten your whole roster, so you must take care. But! There is another change you can make on this team that would resolve that issue and provide you with another physical sweeper. I would say replace Gastrodon with Garchomp! My suggested set is:

Garchomp (F) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
- Swords Dance

This is my favorite Garchomp set, and arguably the best one too. The Lum Berry allows you to punish every wall in the game, as they will most likely opt to use a status move first, giving you a free Swords Dance. On top of that, due to Garchomp's high natural bulk, it is practically impossible to OHKO him unless the opponent has very high Sp.Atk, which does not tend to happen when dealing with walls.

These fixes would make one problem apparent with the team, which is speed. The removal of Scarf Keldeo kind of hurts, but the most viable replacement for you would be to use Scarf Latios instead! Your moveset would generally be the same thing you have now, although you may want to add Thunder instead of Thunderbolt and possibly HP Fight instead of HP Fire. I hope that my suggestions work out for you, and good luck!

Firstly thank you! It feels really awesome to break 1700 :D And you mentioning that speedy Jellicnets give me a hard time is true too, I some how forgot to mention it in the topic, and most of the time I had to predict a switch in to Jellicent and Toxic it, otherwise Jelly was a BIG problem to my team. While rare, I encountered 2 SubCalm Mind Jirachi, which again were tough to beat, this certainly tells me you're a good at competitive battling.

Zapdos seems pretty solid here. I can see that it'll really be a hard thing to break against the opposing rain team. However, one thing that it eats me is that Stealth Rock weakness. Most of my team barely cares about Rocks 0 Toxicroak heals off quickly, Keldeo doesn't mind much, neither does Gastrodon. However, I'll see how your Zapdos set works. It really seems amazing.

I'm actually thinking I'll be using this Garchomp for sure. The main thing is that I was looking for a Ground type Pokemon to take incoming Electric moves which as T-Wave and etc, so that's why it was Gastrodon, however Garchomp seems to be the one who can on the side take care of Jellicent and Jirachi at the same time. And basically we all know how monstrous Garchomp can be.

Scarf Latios seems pretty good too when I'm running a Garchomp on my team. However, I'll still pick HP Fire over anything, trust me, it kills me literally when I see a Ferro or a Scizor in my opposing teams. And even in rain it does a hell of a lot. 2HKO at most, often OHKO.

I'm not the best rater. But how do you deal with Sun + Volcarona? Once it has 1 Quiver Dance and Giga Drain you seem to be 6-0d. I'm not sure if this is a problem, but if it is you should probably add a spin blocker to give it a hard time switching in. I know you love your Gastrodon but it is really outclassed by this pokemon, in my opinion.

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Recover

Just a suggestion, you shouldn't be Rotom-W weak, and if you are, you can replace Jirachi with this poke, but I think Jirachi does well enough Thunder Wave paras it, then you should be fine.

Celebi (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock

I'd suggest Recover somewhere, but this basically does what rachi does. So it seems like a better fit. Also, with U-turn you can grab momentum on something like a tyranitar and begin to destroy with Toxicroak. Celebi also gives you a much better check against Latios, because Life Orb Latios can really dismantle your team with basic prediction.

I hope I helped. :)

True again, the Volcarona who carry Giga Drain did stomp me once and created a lot of problems the other time. However, somehow I've always manage that bug. Either with Perish Song or Toxic and stalling it with my defensive cores such as Gastrodon and Jirachi.

Jellicent suggestion is a pretty excellent suggestion to my team, however I'm reluctant to use it because now my team will be extremely weak to Electric, Garchomp was a better suggestion as Water will hit neutral and Electric won't hit at all.

Haha guess what? In the earlier version of this team I use to use a Celebi and Hydeigon instead of Gastrodon and Latios. Excellent suggestion man, and 2 days ago I was actually thinking of running Celebi again. Despite having Natural Cure, it can still be sometimes game-costing if Celebi gets para'ed. That's why I needed a Ground Pokemon somewhere.

I'm rebuilding this team again, with your suggestion however and will see how it works out. Reading suggestions makes me think it should work out pretty good.

Well, looking forward to more suggestions/comments!

 

[RoyalBlue]

Congrats on your success! Obviously your team is very solid already, if not better due to your ladder score but I hope I can help you fix those problems of yours! I'm not the best rater but I'll do my best :)

First off, let's fix those problems you stated. Landorus and Mamoswine honestly don't seem to be too much of a problem for your team. You have 2 ice moves on pokes that outspeed and you have a bunch of water moves that are rain boosted. Obviously you have your reasons so do you mind sharing?

Celebi and Scizor are big problems though since you have no reliable fire coverage. I suggest you try running Infernape over Toxicroak maybe? Fire and Fighting coverage deals with Ferrothorn, Scizor, Jirachi, Celebi and Mamoswine quite easily. Add U-Turn and EQ can help deal with Jirachi and Celebi much better in case you're in the rain. Items kind of up to you but I suggest a Scarf set for surprise factors+extra scarfer in case Keldeo died. Yes it's a fire type but I think that it deals with your threats so well that it might make up for it.

Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- U-Turn
- Earthquake

Rotom-W shouldn't be a problem, no? Gastrodon both STABs and the worst it can do is HP Grass (very rare) or status you.

Yah, that's all I got but ill be back when I come up with some more stuff maybe? Haha, Good Luck!

B) <<RoyalBlue

 

[Halcyon.]

Hey, Spooky. First of all, congrats on beating your record on the ladder! That's always a great feeling!

This team actually seems pretty standard as far as rain teams go, so there really isn't much to add. I definitely agree with most other people that you should use Thunder>Thunderbolt. Thunder is so much more useful on Latios. It's more powerful and has that sexy 30% paralysis chance, which is always nice. It also lets you deal with Jellicent more easily. You might also switch HP Fire to Surf, which, in the rain, does pretty much the same to Scizor, though not Ferrothorn, so that one is really up to you.

Second, you should change the defensive sets on Jirachi and gastrodon to SDef and Def, respectfully. Gastrodon's best set by far is the defensive one. This makes it a sure-fire counter to Keldeo. It then loses to Landorus, but it can still tank a hit and KO back with rain boosted Scald (or you could choose to run Ice Beam over Earth Power). Giving it Ice Beam also makes it a decent check to Dragons like Dragonite and Salamence, since it can take a +1 Outrage and OHKO back with Ice Beam. The most important thing is that Defensive Gastrodon is a great counter to Scizor. You can burn it with Scald, and tank Bullet Punches all day long. The main reason to use Earth Power (actually it should be Earthquake) is to deal with CM Jirachi, but Politoed already has perish Song for that. I would also change Jirachi's set to SDef since that compliments Gastrodon much better. You can keep the same move set if you'd like, or you could use the standard, but Magic Coat seems like a cool addition.

All in all this is a really cool team! I hope I was able to help!

Sets

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Magic Coat

 

[spooky96]

Congrats on your success! Obviously your team is very solid already, if not better due to your ladder score but I hope I can help you fix those problems of yours! I'm not the best rater but I'll do my best :)

First off, let's fix those problems you stated. Landorus and Mamoswine honestly don't seem to be too much of a problem for your team. You have 2 ice moves on pokes that outspeed and you have a bunch of water moves that are rain boosted. Obviously you have your reasons so do you mind sharing?

Celebi and Scizor are big problems though since you have no reliable fire coverage. I suggest you try running Infernape over Toxicroak maybe? Fire and Fighting coverage deals with Ferrothorn, Scizor, Jirachi, Celebi and Mamoswine quite easily. Add U-Turn and EQ can help deal with Jirachi and Celebi much better in case you're in the rain. Items kind of up to you but I suggest a Scarf set for surprise factors+extra scarfer in case Keldeo died. Yes it's a fire type but I think that it deals with your threats so well that it might make up for it.

Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 Spe/ 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- U-Turn
- Earthquake

Rotom-W shouldn't be a problem, no? Gastrodon both STABs and the worst it can do is HP Grass (very rare) or status you.

Yah, that's all I got but ill be back when I come up with some more stuff maybe? Haha, Good Luck!

B) <<RoyalBlue

Landorus-T loves to either threaten Earthquake or either U-Turn before I can do anything.

Infernape while good, seems an excellent addition to my team. However, I would still need a sweeper. And Toxicroak in rain is pretty solid. Besides a Sash Mamoswine still rapes Infernape with EQ. And I think having a Scarf which has a speed of 109 is pointless. Just think how I'll revenge kill a common Scarfer such as Latios. No one for outspeeding it, only Jirachi can paraflinch it to death, otherwise nothing.
However, I'll replace Toxicroak for a while to see how Infernape is working, I love and I hate the fact that there are so many people whining that it isn't good. Haha. Thanks for your suggestions!

Hey, Spooky. First of all, congrats on beating your record on the ladder! That's always a great feeling!

This team actually seems pretty standard as far as rain teams go, so there really isn't much to add. I definitely agree with most other people that you should use Thunder>Thunderbolt. Thunder is so much more useful on Latios. It's more powerful and has that sexy 30% paralysis chance, which is always nice. It also lets you deal with Jellicent more easily. You might also switch HP Fire to Surf, which, in the rain, does pretty much the same to Scizor, though not Ferrothorn, so that one is really up to you.

Second, you should change the defensive sets on Jirachi and gastrodon to SDef and Def, respectfully. Gastrodon's best set by far is the defensive one. This makes it a sure-fire counter to Keldeo. It then loses to Landorus, but it can still tank a hit and KO back with rain boosted Scald (or you could choose to run Ice Beam over Earth Power). Giving it Ice Beam also makes it a decent check to Dragons like Dragonite and Salamence, since it can take a +1 Outrage and OHKO back with Ice Beam. The most important thing is that Defensive Gastrodon is a great counter to Scizor. You can burn it with Scald, and tank Bullet Punches all day long. The main reason to use Earth Power (actually it should be Earthquake) is to deal with CM Jirachi, but Politoed already has perish Song for that. I would also change Jirachi's set to SDef since that compliments Gastrodon much better. You can keep the same move set if you'd like, or you could use the standard, but Magic Coat seems like a cool addition.

All in all this is a really cool team! I hope I was able to help!

Sets

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Magic Coat

Excellent suggestions man! Thanks a lot. I really like the idea of Gastrodon to be Defensive physically. Taking a Secret Sword will be easier. And changing Earth Power to Ice Beam is one sure thing I'm doing. Its an excellent check for the dragons. I dunno why I missed it. EP really wasn't all that helpful.

Running a mixed defensive Jirachi is some what still debatable for me, I want my Jirachi to be as long as possible without running Wish. I'll still see what I'll do, but Gastrodon changes are surely there in my team.