Team Retirement: "Rain Blitz" - A Top 50 Regular

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RaikouLover

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I'm off to college at the end of the week... I am an Engineering major at one of the best Engineering schools in the US. Therefore, I'm happy to take a break from Shoddy and focus on my school work until break. Therefore, this week I will be retiring my two ladder teams, since it will be some months since I get back into the metagame. Rate / Hate / Steal... Behold: The Rain Blitz!

At a Glance:
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Background:

This is the older of the two teams I will be posting. I made it back in February when I was sick of all the Tyranichomps and Sandstreamish and Celebi on every team.... ugh that Metagame made me sick! But its done well over the months and I've only had to make a few changes to keep it current. As far as success goes, It has virtually a 100% win rate against the popular hyper-offensive teams of late, but on a whole isn't as consistent as my other team. For those of you who recognize this team, I use it on the ID KingdraLover... which peaked around 1600ish... but lately has just been chilling in the upper 1500s and only falls off because I don't battle as much as I used to. So without further ado.... here it is!


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Deoxys-E @ Damp Rock
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
*Stealth Rock
*Rain Dance
*Taunt
*Superpower

I lead with Deoxys-E.... who wouldn't? This used to be Azelf's slot, but the rise in Aerodactyl and Deoxys-E leads forced me to switch. But this lead has three objectives that ensure the success of the team:

1) Set up Stealth Rock
2) Set up an 8 turn Rain Dance
3) Pick off Lead Tyranitars that are stupid enough to stay in-- this worked to my advantage recently, because nearly every Deoxys-E lead is incapable of attacking, and Tyranitars always stay in expecting a Reflect.

Now, my Azelf lead that I used to use would Explode first on Tyranitar, because they would always pursuit for the OHKO. Exploding allows me to bring in the next member so I can Surf to victory!

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Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
*Earthquake
*Stone Edge
*Pursuit
*Sucker Punch / Toxic*

This is my insurance policy against other weather teams. Once something dies, Dugtrio can revenge that annoying Abomasnow or Tyranitar which gives me superiority over other weather teams. In fact, this teams win ratio against sand teams is pretty much 100% thanks to this guy... they just drown in water after Tyranitar falls. But what about Hippowdon? Well, the hippo doesn't pack enough offense to threaten my sweepers and he won't bother to switch into a water attack, so every time he comes in... I just have them Rain Dance again and continue their path of destruction. Now because Dugtrio is a necessity on the team, I gave him a 2nd responsibility: The annihilation of Blissey! I ran Jolly Dug a while back when ScarfTar was all the rage, but Adamant is almost always better, so that is what I am currently using. Pursuit is a rather interesting option on Dugtrio, but if you can get him in on a Scarfgar Thunderbolt (which is easy on this team), then your guarenteed a KO. Dugtrio complements water pokemon quite well, and lets me trap and kill Toxic Spiking Tentacruels, Thunderwaving Blisseys, Thunderwaving Lanturns, Thunderpunching Metagross, Thunderbolting Jirachi's and anything else I can get my hands on...

Oh yeah, Sucker Punch is usually never used, but I have it now where I used to have Toxic. Toxic helped me in the early days of the team when Wob was all the rage. I could trap and kill that thing by toxicing it while it sat there and did nothing... I know you remember that IPL!


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Bronzong @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Atk / 108 SpD
*Rain Dance
*Hypnosis
*Stealth Rock
*Explosion

I said in my peer edit that Bronzong is THE best transition pokemon in the game, and I stand by that. Bronzong gives me a great switch in after the initial 8 turn rain party is over. I can proceed to set up my dance and boom out of there, using hypnosis if I don't want to boom too soon. You may ask why I have stealth rock? Well, back when I was running Azelf, I had to explode immediately on all Tyranitars, and I couldn't go without Stealth Rock, so I needed TWO stealth rockers for that plan to work. Even as I switched to Deoxys-E, people still manage to spin the rocks, and I end up putting their spinner to sleep and laying rocks again. We all know the importance of that residual damage, but for a Rain team that wants to end battles in 15 turns or less, that damage is invaluable.


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Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest
EVs: 32 HP / 8 Def / 216 Spe / 252 SpA
*Surf
*Energy Ball
*Ice Beam
*Rain Dance

Ludicolo is usually my first swimmer out and usually probes a team by Energy Balling the switch-in to their water type. I chose Energy Ball along time ago because contrary to popular belief it IS better than Grass Knot. When you compare the two, both of them will 2HKO Gyarados, Milotic, and Suicune after Stealth Rock, but Energy Ball has the bonus of doing nearly 80% to Vaporeon, significantly outpacing her Wish + Protect cycle. In fact, Vaporeon IS the sole reason why I ended up permanantly using Energy Ball. The EV spread looks a bit whacky, but I wanted minimum Life Orb recoil, enough speed to outrun ScarfChomp, and max special attack. Ludicolo is pretty deadly in the rain, but doesn't have the sheer power that Kingdra or Quilfish has. Ludicolo's damage is done with its type coverage and supremacy over water types.


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Kingdra [The Great Kingdra] @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest
EVs: 72 HP / 188 Spe / 248 SpA
*Surf
*Dragon Pulse
*Signal Beam
*Rain Dance

Mixdra was supposed to be assigned to this spot, but I started using special Kingdra in my rage against Celebi, figuring that Dugtrio, Quilfish, and Bronzong's Explosion would be enough to bring down or weaken Blissey. This is the exact set I mentioned for Special Kingdra when I posted the Peer Edit. If you don't think this set works, go try it for yourself. Surf manhandles anything non-resistant, and does a fair bit to even resists. Dragon Pulse allows for an easy OHKO on Garchomp (although Surf OHKOs it after Stealth Rock most of the time anyway), and Surf + Dragon Pulse hits all but Empoleon for neutral damage. In fact, Surf will 3HKO Empoleon in the rain, and Hidden Power Electric will also 3HKO Empoleon (go figure). Signal Beam has worked beautifully, doing near fatal damage to Starmie and OHKOing all Bold Celebis after Stealth Rock. It also OHKOs non-Sassy Abomasnows switching in to take my rain away from me (also with the help of Stealth Rock, why I stress its importance). And again, EVs allow for minimum recoil damage. So when I look at this version of Kingdra and I look at Mixdra there are a few pros and cons:

  • Special Kingdra beats Celebi, Mixdra beats Blissey.
  • Special Kingdra is bulkier (surviving DD Life Orb Gyarados' Stone Edge / EQ after Stealth Rock with enough HP to attack, and taking less than 80% from a +2 Extremespeed from Luke). Thanks to Kingdra's deceivably high base defenses, any HP that you tack on makes noticeable improvements in its ability to take hits.
  • Special Kingdra also allows me to run a hell of a lot more Speed EVs, beating Deoxys-E to the punch in the Rain, and outrunning some key threats without Rain.
So yeah, Kingdra is my go-to-guy on this team, and the only one I ever nicknamed...


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Qwilfish @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
*Waterfall
*Poison Jab
*Rain Dance
*Explosion

Qwilfish is the MVP of this team. Period. If you read this thread and are interested in making your own Rain Dance team there is 1 rule: EVERY RAIN DANCE TEAM NEEDS QWILFISH. Why? He is one of the most gamebreaking pokemon in the game, and will clear the field of Toxic Spikes aimed to slow down your sweepers. Here is why he is gamebreaking: Water + Poison is surprisingly good coverage, as Qwilfish does roughly 65%ish to Bold Celebi with Poison Jab, and OHKOs nearly every other Grass (not Grass / Poison) pokemon he will encounter. Double STABed Waterfalls boosted by Life Orb are nothing to laugh at, especially because they can flinch your ass if your lucky enough to survive... Oh and one more thing... you have a 412 Attack Explosion and 538 Speed at your disposal. Yeah... gamebreaking. I cannot remember a game where Qwilfish didn't net me 2 kills...


So this was my winning rain team. WARNING: It is very reckless... very fast... and battles usually dont last more than 15-20 turns... (my record is 8 when Azelf was on the team!) If you're looking for a cool hyper-offensive team to win you some quick battles... take some notes and try these tactics out for yourself.
 
Hella nice team man. I'm surprised you never got swept by a Lucario, but I guess the fast-pace this team provides doesn't let it set up.

You have inspired me to make a Rain Dance team lol. I only have 1 doubt though, what do you do if Tyranitar leads, SR or Superpower? Seeing as you have Dugtrio, and if I'm not mistaken, SuperPower will not OHKO.

Also, how did you beat pokemon such as Cresselia or Suicune?
 
Thanks! I have been swept by lucario... but if the rain dies they usually try to stat up, and a Life Orbed Surf without rain claims about 80% of his HP, so at that point he can't kill too much.

If Tyranitar leads, I go for the kill with Superpower. That is the whole point of Stealth Rock also on Bronzong. Dugtrio will revenge if it fails to KO. Either way, Tyranitar won't be ruining my fun anymore.

Bold Cresselia is 2HKOed by Surf from Kingdra or Ludicolo. If that fails I usually blow up on it.

Suicune takes nearly 50% from Energy Ball even after a Calm Mind, so Ludicolo usually beats it or forces it out... when all else fails... Boom. Suicune is usually a pokemon switching in, and switching into a Surf while its raining is still a heavy hit.
 
stealth rock on bronzong is kinda meh when you look at his other options. I mean, you could be putting up a screen or something rather than insuring residual damage, which deoxys will usually get up.
 
Psh. Engineering, go all out and do physics. Anyway. You sound like you ladder like me, occasionally but not consistently. That said, I've played this team a few times so I guess I should comment.

Minor nitpick, but do you need this many Pokemon with Rain Dance? I've had a rain team and I never had trouble keeping the rain up and I found no reason to run it on everyone, especially since 2 Pokemon have Damp Rock, with the exception of Dugtrio. I'm thinking Qwilfish could run Sword Dance instead or Kingdra could run Draco Meteor in the case it needed it. To each their own.

Now, Deoxys-S. My rain team lead with the same guy except Superpower doesn't OHKO 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar which bothered me so I went Adamant, 244 HP / 180 Atk / 84 Spe. It still outruns most leads and it's nice to get T-Tar out of the way right then and there.

I know it's an outdated walling team and isn't commonly used but what about SkarmBliss? I'm not sure how you could possibly take it out. Maybe making Ludicolo a sub-seeder. Skarmory is worn down by basically every else and Ludicolo can Sub-Seed Blissey.

Anyway. That's it. Nice to see Energy Ball > Grass Knot and nice to see some speed EVs on Kingdra, it really needs it.
 
Stealth Rock should be kept, it will help out Kingdra sweep better and possibly OHKO many pokemon. I really like this team, but don't you think having too many Rain Dancers is really this necessary? I mean if you want to keep the Rain Dancers it's allright, but maybe taking Rain Dance off Kingdra for another move, for something like Ice Beam or Draco Meteor, and possibly on Squilfish too. Nothing much to say, I'm really digging this team.
 
Well guys, I've faced that question a lot. In fact, Justinawe did his own version of it and removed Rain Dance from a few pokemon. Rain Dance is needed for a few reasons:

What if Bronzong is dead? Then the team dies.

What about Hippowdon? Hippodown can come in after something dies.... make it sandy again... then immediately switch out. Having a lot of Rain Dancers ensures that won't happen.

Other options... What other moves could Kingdra, Ludicolo, or Qwifish possibly need to accomplish their goals? Kingdra is hitting everything neutral except empoleon with its 3 moves. Ludicolo is hitting EVERYTHING neutral with its 3 moves, and Qwilfish gets again... everything neutral with Water / Poison / Normal (Empoleon is as rare as his typing is wierd).

So the question really is... why should I remove Rain Dance? It has always worked for me having it on all of them for convenience and insurance. Qwilfish with Swords Dance sounds good... but it rarely has time to use it given his frailty.. Its almost always better off just smashing the switch in. AND isn't fast enough to sweep when the rain ends which kills its point of setting up. I've seen some of my friends make their own editions of this team and use less rain dance... but they get caught in situations where it is needed on one of the sweepers.

I see your point about using Adamant to beat 252 HP Tyranitar... but then I lose the speed tie with Deoxys :-(.
 
Haha, i've been trying out this team and it's pretty solid. The only problems i can see are priority moves after LO recoil, especially technician top, and people predicting with zapdos, blissey, and celebi together. Great team ; )

EDIT: wow i didn't notice how well toxicroak counters qwilfish
 
Love the team.
A rain dance team that isn't completely littered with waters.
Definitely one of the better rain dance teams I've seen.
 
I didn't use it, but what I noticed from having it on Deoxys-E is that it allows Bronzong to be that strong transition switch when the first wave of rain dies. Before I would just use Bronzong to set up Rain and Explode on out and be kind of on a timer... and if the rain died against a Garchomp I would be in trouble. So having that Rain Dance on something other than Bronzong really helps for transition purposes, and I would highly recommend using it on Azelf or whatever lead you plan on using.
 
thanks. I set my azelf up like this...

Azelf @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Naive
EVs: 58 Atk / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
*Stealth Rock
*Psychic
*Explosion
*Rain Dance

But maybe I should use a focus sash instead??
 
Good team! Have a fun time in college, don't drink and get caught, that would suck. -.- Really though good luck irl. xD (I always wanted to say irl)
 
redletters said:
I had to soft reset for 4 hours but i finally got a naive one with 31/31/29/30/31/30
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Holy shit dude. That's...incredible. It's hard to believe you did SR (as opposed to hacking it) for it given how good it is.

Wait a second...if that's HP/Atk/Def/Spe/SpA/SpD that's an impossible IV combination. And if it's HP/Atk/Def/SpA/SpD/Spe it's still impossible. Which means...
 
Ah, nice to see a Rain Dance team which isn't mine xD
As most RD-teams you have an incredible hard Agility-Empoleon weak, because Kingdra can't do anything to his impressive bulkyness and Ludicolo will have trouble too... Duggy it to slow after one Agility and Deoxys fails to OHKO, while Stab-Torrent-Petaya-Rain Surf may OHKO ;) I would put HP Electric > Rain Dance on Kingdra or/and Ludicolo, as you have too many RD inducers anyway (imo). This helps with Gyarados too, who can mae some trouble if it gets a setup, which can be easy on Duggy. On Duggy I'd suggest Life-Orb, as every turn of Set-Up for your oppenent may be your death... especially on Agility-Sweepers, such as the mentioned Empoleon =)
But anyways, great team.
 
Ah, nice to see a Rain Dance team which isn't mine xD
As most RD-teams you have an incredible hard Agility-Empoleon weak, because Kingdra can't do anything to his impressive bulkyness and Ludicolo will have trouble too... Duggy it to slow after one Agility and Deoxys fails to OHKO, while Stab-Torrent-Petaya-Rain Surf may OHKO ;) I would put HP Electric > Rain Dance on Kingdra or/and Ludicolo, as you have too many RD inducers anyway (imo). This helps with Gyarados too, who can mae some trouble if it gets a setup, which can be easy on Duggy. On Duggy I'd suggest Life-Orb, as every turn of Set-Up for your oppenent may be your death... especially on Agility-Sweepers, such as the mentioned Empoleon =)
But anyways, great team.
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Maybe you should read over the team first before posting. I don't mean to sound like an asshole, but I explained everything. Life Orbed Dugtrio won't OHKO Tyranitar after Stealth Rock, and certainly won't help defeat Blissey, so its out of the question.

Agility Empoleon isn't exactly threatening to this team and heres why: Surf or Waterfall from my 3 sweepers is a 3HKO in the rain... meaning Empoleon can switch in, Agility up, and is still outsped and killed before attacking. Second of all, what is it going to hit? Kingdra and Ludicolo have respectable special defense, and Surf is resisted 4Xs. Sure he can hit them with a Petaya boosted Grass Knot or Ice Beam, but that certainly isn't a one hit KO, which gives them each two turns to kill him. So in other words, he can't switch in and will lose anyway.

Gyarados is pretty threatening to the team, but assuming he comes in on dugtrio... my initial switch is usually Bronzong... who merely needs to take the hit and intiate rain. If rain is already up, then it isn't a problem because Kingdra will beat it one on one even after it DDs. Dragon Pulse does nearly 60% to an offensive Gyarados, so when he comes in on Stealth Rock, he gets roughly two attacks to do something. If all else fails, Quilfish can explode on it. As long as the rain is out or if I get the rain out, the team stands a chance. The only time I've really had trouble with Gyarados has been a Waterfall flinch on Zong for 2HKO, and Stone Edge critting on Kingdra right after...

In situations like that, that is the reason Rain Dance is used on so many of my pokemon. If you think I have to many dancers I ask you... How will you deal with Hippowdon?
 
yeah sure it's easy to defend a pokemon weakness when EVERYTHING IS IN YOUR FAVOR. god forbid you just revenge killed something with dugtrio using something else other than eq, now what? are your water pokes still faster? are they getting the better hits if you have rain up? what if you can't even break empoleon's sub as it has 'respectable defense' as well, or would you be wasting time setting up rain dance while it gets an additional free hit?

this goes back to how you attempted to defend against saying lucario only has 20% left. any single time you use any move on dugtrio that's not eq, you are giving away a free sd and esentially a sweep

not to mention, i'd probably worry more about teams in general as certain pokes. an offensive team would probably oblierate this team. honestly, bronzong takes care of gyarados like you said? let's say your dugtrio catches a lucario on a double switch, now out comes ddmence and now proceeds to sweep the entire team

but then again i'm only nitpicking cause you came off as an asshole so if the team works for you, then it works
 
Ive tested out the team on shoddy and it works very well. Only modification I did was give HP Electric too Ludicolo since I was getting a surprising amount of empoleon's against me. Best Rain Dance set up ive tried yet (and ive tried a few). Thumbs up.
 
Originally Posted by Fat Aeroblacktyl

this goes back to how you attempted to defend against saying lucario only has 20% left. any single time you use any move on dugtrio that's not eq, you are giving away a free sd and esentially a sweep

not to mention, i'd probably worry more about teams in general as certain pokes. an offensive team would probably oblierate this team. honestly, bronzong takes care of gyarados like you said? let's say your dugtrio catches a lucario on a double switch, now out comes ddmence and now proceeds to sweep the entire team
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Its ok, its good to nitpick since this thread is rate my team. The thing about using it is not to get overzealous with Dugtrio. In fact, I only seem to ever use Stone Edge on Abomasnow, and every other time Duggy is Earthquaking. But to be honest, aside from beating Tyranitar and trapping and killing some Blisseys, Dugtrio really doesn't see to much action other than taking a predicted hypnosis or Explosion or something.

Lucario does in fact, obliterate this team. But you know better than anyone else that offensive teams are about tempo and don't really care about countering and shit. That's why I'm so adamant about emphasizing rain. Rain gives the team that natural tempo.

I say Bronzong is the answer for DDers because Dugtrio does use up his Earthquake in the early game, and Bronzong is my only switch. He takes the hit, sets up rain and dies. Now I outspeed the DDers and OHKO Salamence or cripple Gyarados.

But the team's success / failure is the opposite of what you said. It abuses hyper offensive teams but can have trouble getting by difficult stall combos without the necessary prediction (I've seen Vaporeon, Celebi, Blissey, Cresselia combo... which is UGLY for this team).
 
We are a dying breed erik. I always considered you to have the greatest battle ideas. You know what will kill other pokes and how to do it. If your weak to 3 pokes so what, you still win most the time. Thats what makes you such a great battler. Good Luck.
 
Empoleon is frequently used as a late-game sweeper (Agility...). So you just can't say, that it's easy to wall a 100% Emp with a 50% Kingdra.
In situations like that, that is the reason Rain Dance is used on so many of my pokemon. If you think I have to many dancers I ask you... How will you deal with Hippowdon?
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I throw STAB'ed Surfs at him and laugh at him, while he is switching in. I know that Life-Orbed Duggy can't OHKO Tar, but a ~20% Tyranitar can't switch on anything in your team. Gyara is able to kill Zong. Especially in the rain, where you can't easily revenge it, because of a lack of electric moves, and you can't counter it with Bronzong... I'd suggest HP [Electric] over RD on either Kingdra or Ludicolo, then put an LO on Dugtrio, if ur opponent gets a freeturn with Lucario, Gyara or something like this it's just gg.
 
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