The Riftworm Cometh (Peaked 1861 ACRE)

[S0L1D G0LD]

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(Pretty much this but not purple and without eyes.)​

Well, here we are again. This is a team I built after being inspired by the smog's article on gyrados. I know it was for ubers, but it motivated me to try a pokemon who has rarely ever worked for me before, never when I was hyper-competitive. But, instead of prattling on and I know pics are better, I will let the teambuilding process do the rest.

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First is gyrados of course, as after all this team is built around him.

I originally thought that a dual-weather team was the way to go, so Politoed and Tyranitar were added.

I needed a strong spinner who could function well under either weather, and he provides some ok synergy with ttar, so Tentacruel was next.

I needed a special wall, a steel type, and A way to supply my own hazards, so Ferrothorn looked pretty appealing at this point.

Lastly I wanted a rocker, and a reliable attacker/revenger of slower threats. Garchomp fit the bill to a tee.

At this point I needed a special attacker, and ttar was a bit of dead weight, plus my team functions better as pure rain, So gold old Torny-t (I, not T I lied.) Fills in my team.

The Team:

Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 56 SAtk / 240 HP / 212 SDef
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Protect
Politoed is my rain setter, pretty much standard. He can hit a little harder with his satk ev's, and helps against the ever frustrating baton chain team that doesn't carry mr. mime (but alas, which are those anymore?) or set-up sweepers like toxicroak or gyrados who think they can simply come in after a sac and set up. Toxic helps to stall out walls, and protect allows me to stall the perish count, rack up some residual damage, or simply gain lefties hit points t help try to live an incoming attack.

Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 40 Spd / 252 HP / 216 Def
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Sludge Wave
- Toxic
Tentacruel provides valuable spin support, and Is a common switch in to tank attacks that would cripple any other member of my team. Sludge bomb allows me to check breloom, and also function slightly well against the few pokemon anyone ever uses that resist scald and aren't immune to poison.

Tornadus (M) @Sharp Beak
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 SDef / 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- U-turn
Tornadus is usually my lead, and is a valuable support pokemon all around, in addition to hitting harder then nearly anyone else in the tier thanks to STAB Hurricane, which can OHKO even more pokemon, many that resist it when the gem activates. It also allows me to feign being choiced until I switch up my moves or start off with taunt.

Riftworm
(Gyarados) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 164 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
Gyrados himself, the kingpin of setup sweepers. Intimidate buys me many a safe switch-in and allows to cripple some offensive threats and then switch to a pokemon better equipped to handle a hit from it. I use stone edge as my coverage move because it allows me to hit Pokémon who otherwise causes problems for me, although toxicroak gives him major problems. Plus I hae never found bounce to be too reliable or efficient, and I am abrasive to the possibility of using a two-turn attack not named sky drop, and even then just for a gimmick.

Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 88 Def / 252 HP / 168 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 2 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Ferrothorn provides some much needed resistences for the team, and the name of the game here is residual damage. Thunder wave has always been my move of choice on ferrothorn, and albeit it cripples gyro ball and prevents it from being useful, the mighty pros outweigh the cons, as many scarfers and set-up sweepers fall to its wrath. Leech seed provides some healing and transforms gyrados from an annoyance that needs to be defused ASAP to the biggest pain in the ass for physical attackers out there. The speed values are so I am slower then Forry and other common spinners, but faster then any other ferrothorn running reduced speed, even those that try to speed creep with one speed iv.

SKORGE
(Garchomp) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 240 Atk / 252 Spd / 16 HP
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Outrage
Garchomp is probably the weakest link of the chain that is my team; he and ferrothorn make it hell for physical attackers or in fact anyone who carries a physical attack. I can bluff scarf with his item, and it weakens threats to the point where they can easily be diffused by the other members of my team, mainly tornadus, or lets gyrados switch in safely.

So this is my team, I hope you can taske the time out of your busy schedule to drop a like, rate or other comment, I applaud you for sticking it out, and I do have a picture proving my rank but I can not upload it as I am not a member of any photo uploading site.

And, one last goodies for all you loyal readers, the exportable (Keep the nicks, or not, either is cool.)

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Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 240 HP / 56 SAtk / 212 SDef
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Protect
Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Sludge Wave
- Toxic
Tornadus (M) @ Sharp Beak
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- U-turn
Riftworm (Gyarados) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 164 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 2 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
SKORGE (Garchomp) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 16 HP / 240 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Outrage

 

[tcr]

Hey man! I like this team, as gyarados is one of my favorite pokemon :] Plus, you aske me to rate it, and I hope this team gets more rates than your last one.

One thing I see is a massive weakness to Agility Thunderus-t, more so if they carry Focus Blast. If it sets up its pretty much either good game or youre losing one or two mons just to take it out. It can set up on tentacruel and ferro very easily, as rain boosted scald only has like a 6% chance to 2hko, so unless you get a burn, it completely wrecks you late game.

Now, im not all that much a fan of tentacruel tbh. I think Bulky Starmie would be a better fit to your team. Hydro pump ohkoes in rain IIRC and psyshock also catches things like keldeo, allowing you an effective "counter." It also puts alot more pressure in your opponent

Honestly, Bounce is probably better for gyarados. What are you trying to hit lol? Also, try Psychic>Perish Song on politoed. Right now toxicroak really gives a doodoo to your team as well, and its starting to rise as antimeta.

For tornadus, try a sharp beak>flying gem. Just a suggestion. Ill probably expand on this later :)

 

[Harsha]

You have a solid rain build, but there are aspects you can improve upon, changes that you can make to stay true to your original build while maximizing each Pokemon's potential. My biggest worry is your lack of a nature on the Pokemon you want finishing the game: Gyarados. I assume you wanted to use a Jolly nature given that EV spread, as it outpaces Jolteon at +1. Additionally, on Gyarados, you're really not covering much with Stone Edge. Right now, plenty of Pokemon just sit there and threaten you while you can't do much back, such as Keldeo who has the potential to 2HKO your Gyarados, and your entire team should it get good rolls, Toxicroak who takes a pittance from Stone Edge, Ferrothorn who simply laughs at your attempts to break it while you're forced to take Iron Barbs damage, and plenty of other common Pokemon that threaten your team as a whole. Go with Bounce, as it provides a STAB move and it optimizes your coverage. You're trying to sweep late-game, but you really won't be able to with Stone Edge.

On Tornadus, the immediate power of Flying Gem might be alluring, but it doesn't provide you the hole-punching capabilities that you'll want for the long run. I'd use a Sharp Beak in its place, as you retain the ability to bluff a Choice item, you still buff your Hurricane, and you get consistent power throughout the game. Tailwind over Taunt is another option to consider, as you have a very good spinner in Tentacruel and don't necessarily need to prevent hazards early on. Certainly preventing the early Stealth Rock or hindering the Custap Skarmory can come in handy, but you'll break through Skarmory pretty easily, and Tentacruel is extremely hard to spinblock, so I wouldn't worry too much with Taunt. Tailwind gives you a ton of insurance late-game, especially because Gyarados's Waterfall is already pretty powerful when rain-boosted, so you won't even need to set it up if you can find the right time to sac your Tornadus. This will give you a little bit of extra insurance against unsuspecting Thundurus-T, though against smart players the damage will already be done if you allow it to set up. Consider running a Naive nature on Tornadus so that you don't unnecessarily power down your Superpower and U-turn, as you won't be taking very many special hits with Tornadus.

By the way, I'd try Sludge Wave on Tentacruel, as the little bit of oomph it provides over Sludge Bomb will nab you a better chance of an OHKO on Breloom, and it's much more effective on Nasty Plot Celebi. There are some smaller weaknesses that I won't be able to patch up, as all rain teams suffer from them (e.g. Agility Thundurus-T), but smart play can nullify this threat. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid team, and I'm sure you'll do well with it in the future. I hope I helped.

 

[S0L1D G0LD]

Update, I incorporated harsha's changes, they work excellently. replay to see it in action: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/oucurrent-46484457
Anything else guys?

also now I peaked at 1948.