Some advice with my UU Rain-Dance team please??

sandslash-fanatic

Changes in BOLD

Electrode @ damp rock - Hasty nature - Static [LEAD]
EVs: 252speed - 129sp.atk - 129atk
-Rain dance
-Thunder
-Explosion
-Taunt
Right, yeah, hes my lead, im just gonna set up a quick rain dance as he outpaces everything in the UU tier ill get that in. and then either explode or thunder

Gorebyss@Life Orb - Modest Nature - Swift Swim [SP.SWEEPER]
EVs: 252Sp.A - 26HP - 232Spe
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Psychic
-Rain Dance
My sp. sweeper, get some speed bonus with rain dance, then sweep =]

Hypno@Leftovers/Calm Nature - Insomnia [SP.WALL]
Evs: 252HP - 56Def - 200Sp.D
-T-Wave
-Seismic Toss
-Wish
-Reflect
crippple them with T wave, set up reflect. Use wish to heal Hypno and possibly other team members. and seismic toss for a reliable way to dish out some damage

Kabutops@Life Orb-Adamant Nature - Swift Swim [SWEEPER]
Evs: 80HP - 176Spe - 252Atk
-Swords Dance
-WaterFall
-Stone Edge
-X Scissor
hopefully it will be raining, so that the speed boost taken care of. set up a swords dance then SWEEEEP!! :D

Ludicolo @ leftovers - Calm nature - Rain Dish [ANNOYER]
EVs: 252hp - 76 sp.atk - 180sp.def
-Leach seed
-Toxic
-Protect
-Surf?Ice-Beam?
Just use leech seed then toxic. then just stay put with protect&surf. whilst getting hp back with rain dish, leftovers & leech seed

Shuckle@Leftovers-Carefull - Sturdy [WALL]
Evs: 252HP - 40def - 216Sp.def
-Wrap
-Encore
-Bide
-Stone Edge
Wrap 'em then use encore if its a damaging move, set up bide. but if its not then its an opportunity to switch to a sweeper and they can set up =]

Clefable???@Damp rock- Bold - Magic guard
Evs: 252HP - 125def - 104Sp.atk
-Rain Dance
-Thunderbolt
-Ice beam
-Softboiled


any advice/changes?? all criticism welcome, if the team is cr*p then tell me so i can start again before i raise all these pokemon
 
Refer to rule number 3:

3. Have some actual words in your post beyond your six Pokemon and their moves. Not following this makes your post quite boring to read and rate. All Pokemon should have a good reason for being in your team anyway, so why not post that reason? If you are having trouble with this one, start by giving an explanation for each team member. Why are they there? What role do they serve? How do you get them in? Then, give an explanation of how you would open with the team and how you would go about using it. All of these things help people rate your team and allow us to offer more helpful advice.

This does not mean add one sentence saying "Standard x" or "all-around awesome" after each Pokemon. If you put thought into making the team, you can put thought into posting it.
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I think you could have a better EV distribution with your Kabutops. If you are utilising the swift swim ability then I don't see why you would need to use aqua jet that much, if not at all. Using a raindance team in the OU environment, with swift swim there isn't much that can affect them, apart from other first priority moves obviously. I would suggest removing aqua jet and use something like X-Scissor, to remove pyshics, grass and dark (I do this to counter celebi, but if you are playing UU then this would deal with your bulky grass types)

Your ludicolo works well, I use it as a special sweeper but whatever floats your boat. Do you have problems utilising rain dish if ludicolo is stalling? I suppose you don't need it too much if you've got leech seed working.

If you are using Shuckle for an encore wall and Hypno for status and wish support, may I suggest Clefable. I use a clefable in my rain dance team and it works well, may I also suggest that you have a third pokemon that knows rain dance? I don't find two rain dancers are enough, especially if you are going to play a stalling game as well. Clefable can stall, just check out its smogon page, and you can subsittue one of the moves for rain dance. I find it works well but it's up to you.

I've just woken up so apologies for what might just sound like rambling. Hope it helps :)
 
If you are using Shuckle for an encore wall and Hypno for status and wish support, may I suggest Clefable
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good idea... but who do u think should go if clefable joins the team??

may I also suggest that you have a third pokemon that knows rain dance?
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good point, i think i will ad an extra rain dancer (clefable) or just add it onto an existing pokemon (but who)

3. Have some actual words in your post beyond your six Pokemon and their moves
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urrrrm wtf man? i think theres a fair bit of writing in there?

but thx caradog, brilliant advice!
 
sandslash-fanatic said:
urrrrm wtf man? i think theres a fair bit of writing in there?
Click to expand...

Nah, there really isn't. Compare your amount of writing to RMTs in the RMT Archive and you'll notice quite a difference. Anyway, on to the rate.

Rain Dance is a hyper-offensive strategy, so there is no place for walls such as your Shuckle and Hypno. They seem completely out of place. The only bulky Pokemon that a Rain Dance team really needs is one to set up RD for you, and Shuckle and Hypno aren't doing that. I suggest swapping Shuckle for Claydol, not Clefable and I'll explain why later, and Hypno with a sweeper. If you had more writing to explain what their distinct purposes are, I might understand why they're actually on your team. But you really don't have very much information at the moment, which is hindering raters.

On Kabutops, I'm going to disagree with caradog about Aqua Jet. Keeping it will allow you to take out priority users such as Vacuum Wave Blaziken before they can touch you. Anyway, without Celebi in UU, there is really no reason to run X-Scissor, as anything it can hit can be hit equally hard or harder by STAB Stone Edge.

At the moment, you seem to have problems with bulky Milotic, so I suggest changing Ludicolo to a more offensively based set to fix this. Giving it a Modest nature, max SAtk EVs, Swift Swim ability, and Surf + Grass Knot + Ice Beam will go a long way in helping your team. Ludicolo resists or is neutral to all of Milotic's common attacks, and you can do some major damage back with 120 Base Power Grass Knot.

Claydol is a better option than Clefable for one reason: Stealth Rock. A Rain Dance team needs Stealth Rock to discourage your foe from switching around and stalling out your rain. Claydol doesn't mind having Water and Ice weaknesses, as half your team can sponge those hits off, but its Electric and Ground immunities are welcomed on your team. Claydol can also spin for you, but that isn't necessary as your team really doesn't mind Stealth Rock. I really don't feel like writing up sets today, so here's a link to his analysis, go with the Utility set with RD > Rapid Spin: http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/claydol

Now, as a replacement for Hypno, I suggested going with a sweeper. Toxicroak would be a great addition to your team. He is a threatening offensive force, and he regains HP in the rain, which is a major bonus. Here's a link to his analysis, you can try a LO set (essentially Choice Band -CB and +LO). Choice items are generally discouraged on RD teams since they require a lot of switching, and that stalls out your rain. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/toxicroak

A final word of advice: download ShoddyBattle and use it to test out your team. It really helps you improve your game. Good luck!
 
If Gorebyss is pure offense, then I think you should take out Rain Dance on it and use another offensive move in its place for coverage ie. Hidden Power Electric.

That said, I think you need another Rain Dance user. Once Electrode is out, you will be struggling to get the rain up again. Gorebyss is your only other RD user, but its lack of speed could really hurt its ability to keep the rain up without being maimed in the process.

On top of that, Omastar performs better than Gorebyss IMO. I used Gorebyss in my RD team, and when I went to Omastar I found him to be far more effective.

Omastar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Earth Power

Far better coverage, and he has slightly better stats which helps.

Good luck with the team!
 
I would like to back up Blackhawk11's arguments.

When you use rain, you should have the intention of using a hyper-offensive team, instead of stalling (with Hypno, Shuckle, Clefable or Ludicolo). Your main objectives are to set up rain, switch to a rain sweeper and power through your opponent. You need proper rain setup, as now you only have one Pokemon dedicated to setting up 8 turns of rain, and that is Electrode. If you blow Electrode up you will not have any more Rain Dancers giving you 8 turns of rain. My suggestions are to add more Rain Dancers WITH Damp Rock. You will need Stealth Rock, so adding a Dual Screen/SR/RD Uxie or Registeel would be good. Other options are Ambipom, whose speed allows it to easily get Rain up, Rotom, adding resists to Fighting and Ground as well as STAB on Thunder, or Roserade, which beats Bulky Waters and can sleep troublesome Registeels. Generally, you will use 3 Rain Dancers and 3 Rain Sweepers.

For your sweepers, put Aqua Jet back on Kabutops. You will need it when facing other Pokemon with Priority moves, as it allows you to smack Fake Outers and Sucker Punchers around.

Your Ludicolo should be changed to 252 Sp Atk with Modest with the moveset Surf/Ice Beam/Energy Ball/Focus Punch. Focus Punch deals with Chansey while the other three moves provide coverage. There is not much point stalling during rain as you will waste turns protecting while your rain runs out. You can also add HP Grass/Electric on Gorebyss in place of rain dance because you will have 3 Rain Dancers already. I would keep Gorebyss over Omastar due to its much better typing which leaves it not weak to Mach Punch.
 
:O

*smashes head against wall*

god, this is so complicated!!! :(... so to sum it up;

more rain dancers-more offensive-no stalling-damp rocks.

im a bit confused... so... did i miss anything??
 
-Get rid of walls who aren't setting up Rain Dance (Hypno + Shuckle).

-Add one more dedicated Rain Dance user holding a Damp Rock (Claydol/Clefable/Rotom/etc.).

-Add one more sweeper, preferably physical (Toxicroak/Floatzel/Quilfish/etc.).

-Change Ludicolo to Modest Nature + 252 SAtk EVs + Swift Swim ability, give it Life Orb, and change its attacks to Surf/Hydro Pump + Ice Beam + Grass Knot/Energy Ball + Focus Punch / Rain Dance.

-Give Kabutops Aqua Jet back.

-Change RD on Gorebyss to HP Electric if possible. If that's too hard to breed for, just keep RD though.

-Read or at least skim through this article written by Legacy Raider: http://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/rain_offense

-Download ShoddyBattle if possible/allowed: http://shoddybattle.com/downloads

There's just about everything you need, in convenient bullets ^_^
 
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