The Untouchable

[StairFall]

Here is a rain team that I've been working on. it centres around para-fusion Jirachi with sub and defeating the few things that can stand up to it. Jirachi himself has been extremely successful but the team has been falling apart in most of my matches, mostly because I'm constantly having trouble winning the weather war.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
Quiet nature
252hp/252spatk/4spdef
-thunder
-iron head
-water pulse
-substitute

This Jirachi is a total ass under rain, on top of having enough hp for his sub to survive seismic toss and losing his fire weakness he has a 120 bp move with a 60% paralysis chance, a pseudo stab on water pulse which has a 40% chance of confusion and of course iron head is a decent stab with a 60% chance to flinch. He gets a sub up ridiculously easily because of his great bulk and steel typing. Assuming he gets a paralysis with his thunder which he's likely to do the opponent only has a 75% chance to move. If he's confused he only has a 75% chance to move divided by 2, and if I'm using iron head take that and subtract 60%. It only gets worse if they're using a less than 100% accurate move and/or can't break my sub with 1 attack. His attacks also have decent synergy with each other and special attack investment means I deal decent damage while haxing the opponent.

Politoed @ choice specs
drizzle
modest nature
252hp/252spatk/4spdef
-hydropump
-focublast
-hidden power [grass]
-ice beam

Politoed brings the rain and provides some immediate power to the team, he does a good job forcing out all the other weather starters assuming he comes in on them and can nail 3 of the 4 with a super effective coverage move as they come in. Hidden power grass mess up water grounds like gastrodon as well as lanturn who mess Jirachi's shenanigans up. He also does decent damage to Ferrothorn who also walls Jirachi, especially since iron barbs hurts more than iron head. he also just barely survives standard genesect's thunderbolt even at +1 and KOs back with hydropump.

ferrothorn @ leftovers
iron barbs
sassy nature
252hp/88def/168spdef
-power whip
-stealth rocks
-leech seed
-protect
Ferrothorn is a boss, no questions asked. I added him to better take dragon attacks because of his wonderful mixed defences. I run leech seed for the passive damage and recovery and protect to exploit it, the one extra turn can often make the difference in a match and the nice little boost from seeds gives me a bit of leeway for his replacement when he switches out. I elected to run only stealth rocks because I would rather be able to set up quickly and it's better if for me because they hit every pokemon not just grounded ones. I also didn't have to be very centred on my spin blocking because it's easy to set them up again and again. Power whip has slightly better coverage than gyro ball and gives me an additional way to break bulky waters.

Jellicent @ leftovers
water absorb
calm nature
252hp/36spatk/220spdef
-surf
-shadow ball
-ice beam
-recover
Jellicent joins with Ferrothorn to create the famed ferrocent defensive core of hazard laying and spin blocking, resisting 15 of the 17 types together. because Jirachi excels with paralysis support a status spreading Jelli would clash with that, instead I run a 3 attacks + recover bulky attacking tank. Surf and shadow ball are stabs while ice beam is simply a phenomenal attacking type in general and pairs nicely with water to hit the grass types that resist it. Jelli's also great at tanking special attacks and provides a useful fighting immunity.

Rotom-Wash @ leftovers
pressure
modest nature
184Hp/4def/144Sp/176Spe
-hydro pump
-volt switch
-pain split
will-o-wisp
Rotom-Wash pairs with FerroCent quite nicely, resisting flying and being immune to ground- the two types that hit Ferrothorn and Jellicent both neutrally make it a great partner. It does sadly give this team a third grass weakness however with 3 resists, two of them being double resists it's nothing that can't be dealt with with smart switching. Rotom also provide utility in volt switch however he has no u-turner to join with. He does decent damage and covers other rain teams, specifically by taking on the therians. Even though I don't run scald on jelli for the sake of Jirachi spreading and haxxing with paralysis I do run it on rotom because he's immune to the ground types which Jirachi can't paralyse, and burning Chomp or Lando is very important to me. pain split allows me to deal and damage and recover giving him better longevity and synergising well with his low hp.

Salamence @ choice scarf
moxie
hasty nature
252atk/4spatk/252spe
-dragon claw
-outrage
-earthquake
-fire blast
Salamence cleans up Jirachi's mess with ease. Most faster scarfers end up either paralysed, paralysed and confused or even outright dead when he hits the scene. The only things he really has trouble with are Thundurus-T and ScarfChomp. Even Ferro is 2hko'd by outrage at +0 when under half. Despite being in the rain Fire blast OKHOs standard genesect after two rounds of rocks or one round of rocks and Ferro's iron barbs if he u-turns on him. Moxie allows him to be both a late game sweeper and a mid-game revenge killer because he only needs one move to sweep, therefore the scarf isn't a hindrance. because he only really switches in once or twice a match and ideally sand storm won't be present rapid spinning can be forgotten. mence's greatest enemy is residual damage and priority, because he'll be coming in at the end to clean up there isn't a lot of opportunity to stop him. Choice Band Scizor's bullet punch deosn't OHKO even after rocks and he resists both aqua jet and mach punch. Mamoswine is a problem but he can be worked around with the rest of the team, especially rotom's burn support.

All rates are appreciated.

 

[StairFall]

Thank you! I'd been doing a lot of testing with 'rachi both on and off rain teams lately and I found that it does just enough damage with its moves un-boosted to act as a decent stall breaker, the low chance of action on the opponents end and its own power however low it was could muscle past bulky attackers just fine. However I'll definitely try out Sub CM, I'll probably modify the spread to 252hp/252def/4spdef bold as well. Iron head didn't see much use anyway outside of flinching specially bulky things to death after they became typically became confused on the switch. My only concern is that it will be limiting attacking from only one end of the offensive spectrum but hey that's what play testing is for right?

Tornadus-T sounds nifty, there's a reason he's top ten (last time I checked anyway, haven't seen him on the ladder that much surprisingly). I'm concerned he won't be as helpful winning the weather war though, hurricane is innaccurate in outside of rain and non of his coverage moves hit Tales or Hippo super effectively. He will give the team much more offensive pressure though and gives rotom an volt-turn partner which is always nice.

Scarf Keldeo though is where I'm most sceptical. While he is faster and gets a power boost on his Water STAB in the rain he's also more easily walled, at least that's how I find him when I play against him. The fact that he doesn't have moxie is another big thing too. 'Mence has been working great for me so far because I can snowball offensive and defensive pokemon alike late game. Steel types became little problem after being worn down by my defensive core and hazards and acquiring boosts is what lets me break a lot of things that otherwise wall me. However the speed and extra initial power of Keldeo may prove helpful and with the offence boost from Tornadus I may not need the boosts anyway. Thanks for the advice, I have to start laddering again.

Edit: After trying this out recently I can definitely say that Ttar sand teams have become much easier to defeat while Hippo sand teams are more of a problem than ever. Another one of my problems is that without a ghost I no longer have a defensive pokemon resistant to bug attacks, my only resists are Tornadus and Keldeo but they're both offensive pokemon who I shouldn't have taking hits early game. Genesect spam has made a bug resist in the current metagame important and a lack of one is letting u-turn walk all over me. Keldeo has been a mixed bag, dishing out a lot of damage but falling short because his uses fighting and water attacks for a sweep, Jellicent and vaporeon are beaten by hp grass but they're often the only pokemon on the opposing team who are. I just don't think he has enough power despite the rain backing him. Mence was working because nothing outside of Shedinja is immune to his STABs and moxie lets him muscle through steels, Keldeo can't do that.

 

[Electrolyte]

Hey,

Cool team! Undisputed's suggestion of SubCM is certainly a good one, though I'd run a spread of 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe Timid(or Bold). Max speed is definitely going to be useful, as it outpaces many threats that SpDef can't, including Mamoswine, Deoxys-D, and RP Genesect. 252 HP allows you to make 101 HP Subs and troll the heck out of Blissey Chansey, though even at +6 Thunder still only does 40% iirc.

Your team itself looks pretty solid, though there are some minor changes I would make. Your team is more Rain stall focusing on FerroCent and hazards to deal damage, so keeping that core strong and bulky would benefit your team the most, since the secondary sponge most people put Politoed to use for can not function that way for your team. To help keep your team together, I highly recommend you make Jellicent the Utility counter set.

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Bold / 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Scald / Toxic / Taunt / Recover

This set suits your team best. For one, it helps you win weather wars by walling Rain, Sun, and Hippo, and then Toxic stalling with Taunt and Recover. Hippo goes down quickly to Jellicent, as Toxic will take advantage of Hippowdon's favor of staying in, while Taunt prevents any stealth rocks or Slack Off shenanigans. Scald is a great way to hit and a great STAB in general, and the burn is really useful vs Tyranitar and other physical sweepers. Max HP and Def give you as much physical bulk as possible- allowing you to tank multitudes of hits and Recover quickly. Recover keeps you nice and healthy, so you can continue to support your team by preventing set up.

Due to a slight weakness to Genesect and strong special attackers in general, I think it is a good idea to switch your Rotom-W to the Specially Defensive set.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Calm / 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Volt Switch / Hydro Pump / WiloWisp / Pain Split

The moveset is the same, but the evs are much different. They give Rotom-W sky high Special Defense so it can obliterate sun and opposing rain, as well as wall special Sand like Landorus-I. Rotom also deals with Genesect nicely, burning it to cripple it and cause residual damage, and weakening it's U-Turns so Jirachi doesn't have as much to be scared of. HPump still hits pretty hard, nailing things that it hits SE for decent damage. Volt Switch lets you pivot, as well as keep your opponent on their toes, where hazards hurt the most. Pain Split is great for Recovery, but of course everything from Thunder to HP Grass can be used as well, it all depends on you.

Other than that, the team looks ok. Good luck!

 

[StairFall]

Thanks for the rate again! Specially defensive rotom has been doing wonders for me and him and The new Jelli definitely help block out Tales and hippo and the toxic puts them on a timer. The max speed Jirachi spread however has not been working out, it doesn't have the immediate power of my old spread nor the sheer initial bulk of the physically defensive spread. I think the spread I will be using is a phyically defensive with enough speed to beat max speed techniloom so I can avoid the spore with substitute and get the jump on bulkier dragonite as well.