DAY ONE OF RAIN TEAM:
Now that my team was officially registered, I send out a solid half-hour/hour of playing exclusively with my rain team.
The only match I had before today with this rain team was a friendly with one of my friends on my main PS account. He conceded my team was better than his, but he still chalked out a win because he knew beforehand Wakį́yą's only attacking move was thunder, a fact he abused through out the fight with dugtrio. Had he not had a Dugtrio, I probably would had won the match.
Per events today, I won more matches than I lost, which is good. Most of my matches tended to be forfeits, though. Some would outright forfeit on the team preview, but more often than not they would forfeit after Slipply took out their lead, or barring that, after I take out their main gimmick. Granted, 9/10 I probably would had won anyways, but I'd like to have the certainty of actually winning the fight rather than the possibility they could had come back and we'll never know. This is why I personally do not forfeit a match unless it's mathematically clear I can not come back (Like losing a few key players on my psychic mono against dark teams. Literally impossible to win if two-three of my non-suicide lead faints)
Out of the games I did finish, I noticed that most people think taking out Slippy=no more rain, a mentality I like to exploit by sacerficing Slippy to get a better immediate position and then later rain dance when they don't expect (which can be the very next turn depending on the situation). I also noticed that people underestimate the power of water moves in rain. You get stab, and its super-effective on neutral and neutral on resistant. With STAB factored in, even Scald on a non-SpA invested Politoed will hit like a freight train, and the burn will cripple the affected Pokémon, which can straight out make them useless for the rest of the fight.
With that out of the way, some general notes on my team members.
Slippy is a lot bulkier than I expected. I don't know if people forget to invest their Pokémon or what, but she can tank hits I thought he never could. Substitute+leftovers is actually better than damp rock because for some reason on PS drizzle rain lasts 8 turns regardless. People honestly don't expect the substitute, and feel like they can set up on Politoed, in which they get a nasty scald surprise (which I noticed burns a lot).
Gamera is solid. When he's going, nothing can take her out. I've seen her OHKO mega T-tar (I have that replay below). Mega effing T-Tar. People readily underestimate the power she has under his coverage attacks thanks to mega launcher, and he's a solid choice rain or shine. My only problem is that he can't set rain herself, and tbh few people on the low tiers bother with hazards. I don't think rapid spin is a bad choice, especially as I move up and face smarter players, but I can definitely feel a 4MSS with him.
Nightingale is the same as she is on my other teams. Like I said, physically defense chansey is super underrated. Like Gamera, she could easily replace a move (I'm thinking ST, despite then becoming taunt base) for rain dance just to keep momentum moving, but ST will almost always be a better moveslot in the long run (Although rain in a pinch would be great)
Wakį́yą is kind of frail. I don't think she completely carries her weight on this team. Thunder is great because people do not expect her to run it, which means you can hit supposed checks harder than they expected. However, I'm psychologically wary of ever sending her out when there is still a ground on the field, and then her frailty means she needs a sub up ASAP. Then she will want to roost off the sub, and by then its already broken. However, her ability to give off sacrifical rain dances is admittedly a prospect I never considered, either. With the damp rock, she can rain dance, faint, and then I can throw Ruto or Gamera in to revenge kill. So, in a way, she found a niche I never even considered.
Ruto is MVP. She can utterly destroy half a team before the enemy gets a lucky miss or just barely not faint, which by then the game is usually already decided. It's hard to come back when your sweeper, revenge killer, and wall are all hydro pumped into non-consciousness. My one teeny problem is that it involves not getting hurt first. She can not take a hit, which means that despite her ability to give herself rain support, she practically already has to have rain up to sweep. Granted, I wouldn't dream of getting rid of the 252 Spe EVs, because then it would make her completely useless outside of rain rather than mostly useless outside of rain. My friend suggested replacing dragon pulse with flash cannon, but replacing rain dance with flash cannon is another possibility.
Catherine is.... actually pretty decent. It's a WTF choice to begin with, so people have no idea what her set or purpose even
is. Then I pull off the rain dance and scald, or simply switch out. Definitely, her unexpectedness is the only thing carrying her on my team, but I can dig that.
REPLAYS:
My first full out victory that didn't involve a forfeit. Also, GAMERA SMASH (Gamera wiped out almost the entire enemy team)
An example of how Ruto let me win a match I otherwise wouldn't have
SCORE SO FAR:
ou
1163 58.1
1564 ± 90
Please, I would love to hear everyone's comments and criticisms. Don't be shy.
