The Legend of Thunder!

[LiverpoolFC]

This team is based around a Raikou set I found in Quality Control. I have been tweaking it for a while now and I think that the only changes I can find are the ones that you guys can find. This team boasts some great synergy and has the ability to take on almost any threat to be honest.
It's based on a Sub-CM Raikou and it uses lures in order to pave the way for Raikou to sweep. Anyways, enough babbling, onto the RMT!


The Legend of

Thunder

@ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD
Careful nature (+SpD, -SpA)
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
- Reflect

I'm using Forretress as a lead, as sugested by Super Mario Bro(Thanks!) and it's even better there than midgame when I was previously using it. Before this team, I had never used Forretress before, and I must say, I'm really impressed. Forretress is a great partner for Raikou because it spins away Stealth Rock so I can sub 5 times outside of a sandstorm, it sets up Toxic Spikes to help me beat Blissey if Heatran doesn't explode on it. Payback hits Gengars trying to get free switches, and Reflect lets my team take physical attacks like its a piece of cake. With reflect up and physical attackers burned, Raikou sets up incredibly easily. I chose the specially defensive variant so I could set up on a wider variety of pokemon.
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@ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 Spe
Jolly nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Earthquake

Gliscor with his useful array of moves, nice stats, is essential on this team. Taunt shuts down slower walls and helps me beat the bitch known as stall. Stealth Rock is just... well stealth rock, need I say more? Roost is good for recovery so Gliscor can be around late game to annoy the opponent. Earthquake is stab. 216 Speed and a Jolly Nature means I outspeed all forms of Lucario. 252 Hp gives maximum bulk on both sides of the defensive, and 40 Def is leftovers to take hits better. Gliscor loves taking free switches from Electric and Ground attacks aimed at Vaporeon and Heatran respectively.
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@ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spe/252 SpA
Naive nature (+Spe, -SpD)
- Explosion
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Heatran is here to lure out Blissey and sometimes Swampert. His useful typing really helps out, especially considering how Forretress baits fire attacks, and Gliscor and Vaporeon love free switches on Ground and Electric attacks, respectively. I went with the standard 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe to hit hard and at worst speed tie with opposing Heatran. Explosion is to fuck Blissey up if I can feign a Choice Scarf. Fire Blast hits everything hard, Earth Power for opposing Heatran and anything that resists Fire Blast. HP Grass ohko's swampert.
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@ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/56 SpA
Bold nature (+Def, -Att)
- Thunderbolt
- Reflect
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Rotom is just so damn helpful on any team. His versatility and fantastic typing and good supporting movepool is great. Thunderbolt is my only attack and is stab but it has good coverage even when alone and hits the things I need to, such as Gyarados. Reflect is here to weaken physical attacks because will-o-wisp doesn't work with toxic spikes on the field, except for a few threats. Rest + Sleep talk means Rotom will be around for a while even if Vaporeon goes down early. 252 Hp is for maximum bulk on both defensive spectrums, 200 Def lets me take hits better, and 56 SpA ensures I 3hko Machamp leads meaning I can switch in on a Dynamic Punch, Reflect, then proceed to beat Machamp.
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@ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP/244 Def/12 Spe
Bold nature (+Def, -Att)
- Wish
- Surf
- Roar
- Protect

Vaporeon is here to check DD-Nite because Rotom already has Gyarados covered. Vaporeons water immunity is great. Wish + Protect gives me a total of 62.5% of health whenever I use the combo, or it can be used to replenish my teams health to allow me to combat Stall better and just take attacks in general. Surf is for a reliable stab, Roar is here for me to rack up residual damage which is always helpful and so I can phaze out threats trying to set up on me. 252 Hp is obvious, 12 Spe outspeeds CB Scizor and 244 Def is the remaining EV's so I am ridiculously hard to take down.
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@ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 128 HP/76 Def/252 Spe/52 SpA
Timid nature (+Spe, -Att)
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute

Raikou is the teams MVP, and deservedly so, as the team was made around him. This is a set I saw in Quality Control and I instantly fell in love. With the right support, it is certainy capable of sweeping entire teams in the blink of an eye. I chose HP Ice because luring out and KO'ing Flygon and Gliscor is much more difficult than doing the same to Swampert and it provides better coverage in general. Calm Mind boosts my special defense, and with reflect up, it is very hard to take down my subs so I can get many calm minds. 128 Hp and 76 Defense means Jolly Choice Scarf Flygon's U-turn will never break my sub. 252 Speed means I tie with Starmie and other base 115's, and 52 Special attack. is filler, but combined with a few calm minds and it turns out to be a big increase in my special attack.
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[Super Mario Bro]

The team is very nice (Raikou is AMAZING). There are no apparent weaknesses, but I dislike your placing Will-O-Wisp on Rotom when Toxic Spikes are present. I would support rotating that set entirely with a RestTalk Reflect Rotom, who also gives you some security against Machamp leads.

Rotom-H @ Leftovers
Bold
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/56 SpA
-Thunderbolt
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Reflect

This Rotom works amazingly with Toxic Spikes, as it can just sit there as Toxic Spikes wear down opposing Pokemon. 56 SpA always 3HKOs Machamp leads while the rest of the EVs are spread out in defense to keep Bulky Gyarados from 2HKOing with +1 Waterfall.

Now, switch the positions of Forretress and Gliscor -- Forretress is a horrible Pokemon midgame, while it is actually pretty decent in the lead position. For example: Swampert, Metagross, and Skarmory (without Taunt) are all set up fodder for Forry. Also, Forretress is too slow to effectively set up Reflect. Replace that with Spikes to wear down opposing switch ins.

*Lead*
Forretress @ Lum Berry
Careful
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpD/4 Def
-Spikes
-Toxic Spikes
-Payback
-Rapid Spin

Good luck!

P.S. If Lead Forretress proves to be ineffective, try using Specially Defensive Roserade as a Toxic Spiker (and keep Gliscor as a lead). She helps you handle ground types (including Pert), and also absorbs Toxic Spikes so you don't have to worry about spinblockers (Toxic Spikes is the bane of Raikou). It's also a fairly good counter to LO Starmie as Hydro + Ice Beam fails to 2HKO. Here is the set if you are interested:

Roserade @ Leftovers
Calm
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpD/4 SpA
-Toxic Spikes
-Aromatherapy/Spikes
-Leaf Storm/Energy Ball
-Rest

Note: Leaf Storm is illegal with Spikes, so you would have to use a moveset of: Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Energy Ball, Rest if you decide to use double spikes.

 

[Faladran]

Hello,

Nice team, and it's great to see someone making use of Raikou in OU. Spikes support really helps it to sweep, and you've managed to put together quite a solid combination of Pokemon already.


Notable Threats

• LO Starmie

Obviously a threat to your team because of its offensive prowess and ability to spin away entry hazards. Raikou can check it decently, but will have to rely on a speed tie to kill it, and a LO Hydro Pump deals around 59.8% - 70.8%. You do have Rotom to block Rapid Spin, but be careful about switching it in, as Hydro Pump also does quite a lot of damage to it.

• Offensive Shaymin

An offensive Life Orb variant of Shaymin with Seed Flare, Earth Power, and Hidden Power Fire, which is not uncommon, can sweep through several members of this team. It resists the STAB Electric moves of both Raikou and Rotom, has enough bulk to take hits back, and can Rest off any accumulated damage. Thankfully, you do have Shuca Tran, which should be able to take Shaymin's Earth Power, but even it can still be swept through after some residual damage.

• Lead Machamp

Since the standard Anti-lead Machamp carries Ice Punch, it generally puts Gliscor into a negative lead match-up. All of your other team members struggle in some way against it as well; Rotom can burn it with Will-o-Wisp, but its Lum Berry will protect it once and allow it to get off a Payback, and none of the members can OHKO it, meaning something is taking damage and/or confusion.

Suggestions

• Use Reflect on Rotom

I feel that a useful option over Will-o-Wisp for Rotom would be Reflect. While it doesn't last as long without Soft Clay, Reflect is still useful to support your team and deals much better against Machamp. It also prevents opponents from sending in Heatran to hopefully get the Flash Fire boost from Will-o-Wisp. If you decide to make this change, Reflect will of course be unnecessary on Forretress, and you could change it to a more useful move. Good options are Spikes, which allows you to further assist Raikou in sweeping, or Earthquake / Explosion for coverage and damage, respectively.

• Try Roar on Vaporeon

Your current Vaporeon is set-up bait for Suicune and Kingdra. While these two sweepers are not the biggest threats to your team, I feel that Ice Beam is largely situational and only useful for hitting Dragonite, who your team can handle fairly well, and Grass-types on the switch-in, most of whom are bulky enough to take the attack. Roar would be excellent for phazing and spreading the effects of your entry hazards.


Good luck with your team!

 

[LiverpoolFC]

Updated the OP.

Rotom is now a Rest-Talk Reflect variant, Vaporeon has roar over ice beam, and Forretress is now in the lead position.

I'm currently testing Roserade over Forretress, we'll see how it goes.

 

[WishMaker]

I would suggest a Lead-Roserade over your Forretress for the garuntee that you can remove toxic spikes, rather than hoping your opponent doesn't have a spin blocker when you try to spin with Rotom.

Roserade @ Focus Sash
Timid - 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Toxic Spikes l Sleep Power l Leaf Storm l HP Ground

I know this may be a little to much change, but if you dropped HP Grass for Stealth Rock on Heatran, you could add Starmie to your team in replace of Gliscor so you still are able to spin rocks off the field.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Timid - 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Hydro Pump l Thunderbolt l Rapid Spin l Recover

Starmie is a bitch late game which would help your team and with the loss of Forretress you lose a spinner to rid your team of Spikes and Stealth rock and even Toxic Spikes if you ever lose Roserade too early.

Alternatively you could replace it with a Scarf Flygon if you don't want another Electric weakness or don't want to lose the Ground immunity from Gliscor

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Jolly - 4HP/252Att/252Spe
Outrage l Earthquake l U-Turn l Fire Blast

 

[LiverpoolFC]

I didn't particularly enjoy Roserade over Forretress. Maybe it was the ground weakness or something. However, I will test Flygon --> Gliscor and Stealth Rock ---> HP Grass on Heatran. Since swampert will be maimed by Toxic Spikes anyways.

 

[Darkamber8828]

Roserade isn't weak to ground.

Forry should not have Reflect when it has better options, like Spikes or Stealth Rock.

It's a bit Breloom weak, since it can Spore Vaporeon, set up a sub, and begin killing stuff. Er, maybe throw in Aerial Ace somewhere on Gliscor?

 

[IronBullet]

Hey,

LO Starmie pretty much 6-0's this team with the coverage it gets, as nothing can switch in without being outsped and 2HKOed. Your only hope is surviving the speed-tie with Raikou, which really isn't reliable. I'd second trying out a Roserade over Forretress, but instead I'd recommend using the Specially Defensive set, and move Heatran to the lead spot. Since most Swampert are found in the lead spot, this allows you to dispose of it early. It's also great for dealing with lead Machamp, who can be a bit of a headache for you. The set I'd recommend is the Specs set, with a moveset of Overheat/HP Grass/Earth Power/Explosion, with an EV spread of 40 HP/252 Sp Atk/216 Spe with a Modest nature. Explosion nails Blissey on the switch, while Earth Power can catch opposing Heatran. For Roserade, I'd suggest max Sp Def, max HP and a Calm nature. It provides you with a great check to Starmie, Rotom and Bulky Waters, and forms a valuable F/G/W core for your team. A moveset of Energy Ball/HP Fire/Toxic Spikes/Sleep Powder should work well. Rest can be used for full recovery, but Roserade and Vaporeon have excellent defensuve synergy, so Roserade can easily be passed Wishes. HP Fire also helps deal with Scizor, Forretress, and breaks Gengar's Subs.

Nice team, and gl!