The fiery moth that liked water - The story about Drizzle Volcarona

[MoxieInfinite]

Hi there. And welcome to my second RMT on the Smogon Forums. My first one was a UU team, and you can check it out here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3481826

The story:

One night, stormy it was, I was sitting on Smogon, searching through random sets for Pokémon when I discovered the "Moths like water, not fire" set for Volcarona. At first sight it looked stupid, but when reading a bit about it, it seemed pretty damn good.

(Volcarona Smogon article): http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/volcarona

I then built a team around it, changed it up a bit, and I now have TWO teams, almost alike, made to support my Volcarona. It runs two defensive walls/support Pokémon, and four offensive threats. Now lets look at the team(s).

Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]

This little toad, isn't your standard toad. It's a powerhouse of dimensions. A Hydro Pump in rain with the boost of these fancy glasses does a TON of damage to everything that isn't immune to it, which is mainly Gastrodon. It can even 3HKO most Blissey's after Stealth Rock damage. Other moves are mainly to hit the Pokémon who resist Hydro Pump for super-effective damage. Ice Beam hits Grass and Dragon types, Focus Blast hits mainly Ferrothorn and HP Grass hits Gastrodon.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Power Whip

Ah, Ferrothorn. One of the easiest Pokémon to use, thus also one of the best.
Excellent typing makes it only hit super-effectively by Fighting and Fire moves. The rain makes Fire-moves' power go down, which helps this guy a lot. It puts up entry hazard, it annoys, and it even hits decently hard. This guy is a must on a rain team.

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Superpower
- Earthquake

This mammoth/swine wandered from far away to get to where he is today. He's gone through mountains, ravaged fields, and even ice ages(well protected by his Thick Fat ability). He is mainly on the team to demolish opposing dragons with his priority Ice Shard. He's got almost perfect neutral coverage, and with a Life Orb equipped, this guy hits extremely hard.

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
- Taunt

Jellicent is the special wall on this team, and works very well together with his "bff" Ferrothorn. He burns physical threats that tries to switch in freely, Taunts support Pokémon, hits hard with Shadow Ball, and when times are rough, he just takes a powernap and Recovers back her health. Scald can be used over Will-o-Wisp or Shadow Ball. Shadow Ball is needed to beat the Lati-twins and Starmie.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

"Patrick, is that you?" No, this ain't Patrick, this is Starmie, the coolest starfish around(except from Patrick). It does the job of spinning while still being an offensive threat. Surf can be used over Hydro Pump for more accuracy and PP, but Starmie generally dies too fast to care about PP. With its BoltBeam combo, no Pokémon can feel safe, except maybe Blissey and Chansey.

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Fire Blast
- Quiver Dance
- Hurricane

Volcarona is an absolute monster when it sets up. After one Quiver Dance something usually dies, and after two, nothing can stop it, except from maybe Heatran. Fire Blast in rain sounds stupid but it still OHKO's most Ferrothorn and Scizor. Bug Buzz hits the Grass types in rain, while Hurricane hits many other Pokémon neutrally with high Base Power and a chance to confuse. If the enemy doesn't carry a Heatran or if Stealth Rock isn't on the field, they're gonna have a bad time trying to beat this moth.

Exportable:

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane

Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Superpower
- Earthquake

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
- Taunt

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Power Whip


The biggest threat for my team was clear. Breloom. My team has nothing that wants to go to sleep, and it could do some heavy damage to anything except from Volcarona. So I did something with this.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SDef
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Knock Off
- Protect

I removed Starmie and Jellicent and replaced them with Tentacruel. He works as a specially defensive wall, also capable of spinning. It can't spinblock like Jellicent, and it doesn't have reliable recovery, but he can Rapin Spin much easier than Starmie, and he's very good overrall. I now only had 5 team members, but that was not a problem. I had decided on the sixth, which was made to be the ultimate Breloom counter.

Dragonite @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- ExtremeSpeed
- Waterfall
- Sleep Talk

This thing is, in my opinion, one of the best Breloom counters to date. It switches in on a Spore, And can just Sleep Talk away. Outrage for raw power, Extremespeed for revengekilling purposes and Waterfall gets a big boost in rain. Fire Punch can be used over Waterfall in sun, and Earthquake can be used over Extremespeed if you have enough revengekillers on your team. It has been suprisingly good, catching people of guard, and is only walled by Ferrothorn.

Exportable:

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Fire Blast
- Quiver Dance
- Hurricane

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SDef
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Knock Off
- Protect

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Superpower

Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip

Dragonite @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- ExtremeSpeed
- Waterfall
- Sleep Talk

So yeah, this is the team. Feel free to rate it, and most certainly try it. It still struggles with certain threats, mainly Thundurus-T and sand teams in general. But please leave feedback. Thanks :)

http://www.youtube.com/MoxieInfinite

 

[Frightful]

Hi! Great rain team you have here, it's interesting to see someone utilize Volcarona under the rain (as much as i despise moths in general)
My biggest problem with this team is though you've been able to fix your Breloom problem, you've failed to also counter two other popular fighting type pokemon: Terrakion and Keldeo. Terrakion can come in and punch huge dents even to your best check, Tentacruel, even 2hko with Stone Edge (assuming they hit both times). Keldeo can easily come in on anyone and sweep once Tentacruel is gone. I'm not saying that Tentacruel isn't pulling its weight, it can just only do so much. Another big threat it opposing Mamoswine, everyone takes either neutral or super effective damage with the appropriate move, especially with its duel stabs. To remedy this, I'd recommend Physically Defensive Celebi over your current Ferrothorn. Sure, you lose out on spikes, but I doubt you're always able to stay in for 4 full turns without taking too much damage just to set up hazards, or even getting all of them up at all throughout the match. Celebi is able to come in on Terrakion (and to an extent Keldeo) and threaten it out with a stab Giga Drain. Celebi is also able to check Mamoswine (3hko at best with Life Orb: Mamoswine Adamant Life Orb 252 Atk Ice Shard vs Celebi Bold 252 HP / 236 Def -> 33.4 - 40.6%), being able to switch onto an Ice Shard and heal off the damage with Recover.
Another small nitpick is that since this team is all about supporting rain Volcarona, you'll need as much help as possible. Because now that you lost spikes, Volcarona won't be able to snag all the glorious ohko's. Simply replace Knock Off on Tentacruel with Toxic Spikes. That'll easily stop many walls from being able to stay in too long.
Last thing I have to offer is that Heatran can actually come in on many of your Pokemon and have a field day walling everything. Since Heatran is arguably the ultimate counter to Volcarona, I'd recommend using Hidden Power Ground over Fire Blast on Volcarona. HP Ground also has the added plus of being able to hit Specially Defensive Jirachi in the rain.

Hope I helped, here are the sets, good luck!

Celebi @ Leftovers
Bold
252 hp / 236 def / 20 Spe
~Giga Drain
~Recover
~U-Turn
~Stealth Rock

Knock Off --> Toxic Spikes

Fire Blast --> HP Gound

 

[Azio]

Does a Max Speed and Special Attack Volcarona work well? I've never really used one, I like the more bulky Max HP and Defense set.

 

[MoxieInfinite]

Hi! Great rain team you have here, it's interesting to see someone utilize Volcarona under the rain (as much as i despise moths in general)
My biggest problem with this team is though you've been able to fix your Breloom problem, you've failed to also counter two other popular fighting type pokemon: Terrakion and Keldeo. Terrakion can come in and punch huge dents even to your best check, Tentacruel, even 2hko with Stone Edge (assuming they hit both times). Keldeo can easily come in on anyone and sweep once Tentacruel is gone. I'm not saying that Tentacruel isn't pulling its weight, it can just only do so much. Another big threat it opposing Mamoswine, everyone takes either neutral or super effective damage with the appropriate move, especially with its duel stabs. To remedy this, I'd recommend Physically Defensive Celebi over your current Ferrothorn. Sure, you lose out on spikes, but I doubt you're always able to stay in for 4 full turns without taking too much damage just to set up hazards, or even getting all of them up at all throughout the match. Celebi is able to come in on Terrakion (and to an extent Keldeo) and threaten it out with a stab Giga Drain. Celebi is also able to check Mamoswine (3hko at best with Life Orb: Mamoswine Adamant Life Orb 252 Atk Ice Shard vs Celebi Bold 252 HP / 236 Def -> 33.4 - 40.6%), being able to switch onto an Ice Shard and heal off the damage with Recover.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Bold
252 hp / 236 def / 20 Spe
~Giga Drain
~Recover
~U-Turn
~Stealth Rock

I tried out the Celebi to counter Terrakion, but I often found myself switching in on Terrakion taking a hit, and then the opponent switches to the common Tyranitar, which means I need to U-Turn on the switch, which again means I can't recover, and then I can't take too many hits from Terrakion.

 

[MoxieInfinite]

Does a Max Speed and Special Attack Volcarona work well? I've never really used one, I like the more bulky Max HP and Defense set.

After +1 something almost always die if I've got rocks up(the exception being Heatran). So yeah, it works very well for me.