ORAS OU Toads in the rain (mega swampert team peaked 1300+) need help to make it better

[s17mark]

so, i started laddering last season reaching the 1400s and almost 1500, with ORAS i had to make changes to my rain team, making it almost a completely different team. After twisting and tweaking it a lot based on suggestions and battle experience i ended up with the following team, but it still wont go past the 1300s in the ladder and i'd really want to make a good enough rain team to reach the 1500s, with the new megas i added mega swampert because of swift swim, still, i need help and suggestions with the evs and attacks, maybe even change a pokemon or two, anyhow... here we go...

TEAM OVERVIEW

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so..., here it comes, one by one

THE RAIN CALLER

POLITOED @ Damp Rock
ability: Drizzle
nature: Bold
EV spread (248hp, 244 def, 16spD)

- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Encore

it's pretty obvious that Politoed will be in any rain team. On this one, Politoed has significant bulk, as he is the only rain caller, he'll need to be able to take some hits. Politoed will most of the time be the battle opener and switch out immediately to be able to keep rain going throughout the fight, in the best scenario it will be able to start rain 4 or 5 times. The moveset is pretty basic, Scald is the only STAB and the chance to burn is a good extra, Ice beam for coverage for Dragonite, Altaria, Salamence and the likes, focus blast does a good dent on Ferrothorn, which is one of the main hazards to my team, and Encore is handy when facing set ups.

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THE FIRST SWEEPER

KINGDRA @ Choice Specs
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Timid
EV spread (40hp, 220spA, 248spe)

- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Signal Beam

Kingdra is usually the first pokemon i use to try and kill mons, from the other team, Sift swim takes advantage of rain and usually hits first every time, Hydro Pump is a hard hitting STAB that hits for a LOT when boosted by rain, usually 2HKOing hazardous pokemon such as ferrothorn if politoed fails to kill it, Draco meteor is another stab that helps a lot killing RotomW that is also one of the most difficult pokemon for my team to kill, Ice beam again for coverage, and the last move, Signal Beam, was added recently as i noticed that mega slowbro cant take more than 2 hits with Choice specs.

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COVERAGE / Hurricane Abuser

TORNADUS-T @ Assault Vest
ability: Regenerator
nature: Hasty
EV spread (216att, 40spA, 252spe)

- Hurricane
- Knock-Off
- Superpower
- U-Turn

Hurricane is a super move, and under rain it hits 100% of the time, and tornadus is a great hurricane abuser as it gets STAB, on the bad side, Tornadus is very squishy and can die quickly, thats why it's got Assault vest, usually i switch him in when i predict a special attack, and whit its speed it can do decent damage or even kill the attaking pokemon, its hp and physical defense are quite low, so i have to be very carefull when switching him in. Knock-off + Superpower can get rid of Chansey/Blissey in 2 turns, also, superpower is good for ferrothorn when there's no other choice left, U-turn to scout the enemy team and take advantage of regenerator. Tornadus is also a good lead against teams that use Gothitele, with knock off and u-turn he can get rid of that sucker easily.

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THE TANK

FERROTHORN @ Leftovers
ability: Iron Barbs
nature: Bold
EV spread (252hp, 8def, 248spD)

- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Spikes

My team has a serious weakness to Electric, also to grass and ice, so Ferrothorn was the answer, it has evs to make it a mixed tank, with leech seed and leftovers along with protect it has a good recovery rate and its only true weakness which is fire, is muffled down by rain, making him the perfect tank. Ferro's main job on this team is to set up rocks, making him a good option as a lead. Im not so sure if i should keep spikes or change it for Thunder Wave....

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LADY DRAGON

LATIAS @ Life Orb
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
EV spread (4hp, 252spA, 252spe)

- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunder
- Roost

Every rain team needs a thunder abuser and thats why Latias is here, it also fills in the gap to have a decent switch in when about to be hit by electric or grass attacks that can destroy my water sweepers. Draco Meteor is pretty self explanatory, Psyshock as a STAB move for pokemon with high special defenses and also for poison and fighting types which i have little weapons for besides hurricane. Roost just gives her a nice longevity along with her good speed

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BEWARE OF THE TOAD

SWAMPERT @ Swampertite
ability: Damp (Swift Swim)
nature: Jolly
EV spread (196hp, 208att, 104spe)

- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Roar

The real star of the team, with ORAS came the best swift swimmer around, the downside; it has to mega evolve to take advantage of its great ability, thats why i gave him some bulk, to be able to take a hit before transforming in a frog from hell. I noticed my team had no answer to cosmic power users, specially clefable, so i usually switch swampert in and mega evolve at the same time i use Roar to phase them out, then its all upwards, as long as rain is up. Waterfall and earthquake are monstrous hits, specially waterfall, boosted by rain, Ice punch to hit dragons and flyers. I usually try to keep swampert alive and with full hp until i really need him to wipe the last couple of pokemon the opponent may have

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And thats the team, i know it has some flaws, and the worst of all is Bisharp, almost all of my few losses are to a team with Bisharp and Sword Danced Sucker punch, ferrothorn with leech seed is my only real counter to it, but most of the time dies to a close combat, so... whats your opinion? which things could i change to make the team better? i have never got past mid 1300s in the ladder and i'd really like to get to the top with a rain team. Thanks for reading and i look forward to your feedback

 

[Windgrace]

I'd consider Power-up Punch OR Low Kick on Swampert. This will give you something to smack opposing Ferrothorn with as well as Bisharp.

The EV spread I see people recommending for Latias is: 72 HP/184 SpA/252 Spe. This is to survive some important hits without sacrificing important KOs.

I'd also recommend putting Gyro Ball or Power Whip on Ferrothorn over Spikes so you're not total Taunt bait.

 

[AD impish john]

Good rain team but defog would work well with latias as it will get rid of the stealth rocks so tornadus can come and wreck house. And change jolly from swampert to adamant so it can hit harder and sweep, jolly isnt the best since it has swift swim in the rain. Major weakness is magnezone without swampert its GG.

 

[Albacore]

Nice rain team you have here, it does struggle with things that typically beat rain though. Don't run Ferrothorn without an attacking move first of all, it's far too passive and is just a free substitute for almost anything. I would run at the very least Gyro Ball over Spikes to hit MAltaria who completely sweeps you otherwise and I don't really think you need Spikes that badly, and I would also run Power Whip over Protect because this enables you to hit MGyara who can be trouble if it gets a DD up (which it easily does on Swampert and Politoed).

I'm not sure why you're running an offensive set on Politoed since it has a defensive spread, Focus Blast does hit Ferrothorn for some damage (not much though) but Ferro will most likely not be switching in on Politoed fearing Scald burns, especially since it needs to be healthy to take on the rest of your team. I would run Perish Song to phaze out bulky setup sweepers such as Sableye, Clefable and MAltaria, and I would also run Toxic over Ice Beam just to cripple stuff in general. Politoed isn't meant to be hitting stuff for damage, it's purely support so should mostly be running support moves

I guess I can kinda understand Signal Beam on Kingdra since it hits SpD Celebi and SpD Mega-Slowbro, but running Ice Beam alongside it makes little sense since it doesn't actually cover anything (most grass types already take good damage from Draco Meteor, besides Ferrothorn who is hit harder by Hydro Pump). I would run either Scald or Dragon Pulse, Scald is a spammable Water STAB which can potentially wear down the likes of Ferrothorn and Mega-Venusaur by burning them, while Dragon Pulse is a spammable Dragon STAB which doesn't lower your SpA and thus helps you clean weakened teams better. Ice Beam just doesn't seem useful at all, and I can't see myself using Signal Beam either tbh. I also have no idea why you're running so much speed and less than full SpA investment on Kingdra : under rain, a spread of 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe with a Modest nature is enough to outspeed Scarf Latios which is the fastest thing you'll find outside of agility sweepers and post-unburden Hawlucha.

Finally, I would definitely run Low Kick over Roar on Mega-Swampert. Your team is very weak to Ferrothorn and Low Kick helps alleviate that weakness by hitting it for quite a lot of damage, 2HKOing the standard 88 Def spread. Superpower is also an option for dealing with Rotom-W better, but you already have a counter in Latias so I wouldn't worry too mcuh And once again, less speed, max attack : you need all the power you can get to 2HKO most Ferrothorn variants and just deal as much damage as possible in general

As I've already mentioned, you are very weak to Ferrothorn, there's no denying that. You can wear it down a lot but if it gets a free switchin you have no real switchin to it. This can't be fixed without replacing a member of your team, unfortunately, the best you can do is I guess run Trick on Latias to cripple it, but then you lose the flexibility to Healing Wish. A better option I think would be running Focus Blast and full SpA investement on Tornadus-T. Superpower isn't enough to beat most Ferrothorns while Focus Blast does considerably more damage to it, and it makes more sense to power up your main offensive STAB than utility moves, which is what Knock Off and U-Turn are at the end of the day. Also, whether or not you decide to run Focus Blast over Superpower, run a Life Orb on it, this enables you to deal enough damage to Ferrothorn to actually beat it :

252 Atk Tornadus-T Superpower vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 146-174 (41.4 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Tornadus-T Superpower vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 190-226 (53.9 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Tornadus-T Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 231-273 (65.6 - 77.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Keep in mind that Superpower decreases your attack so you can't actually 2HKO it after Leech Seed recovery, even with a Life Orb.

Finally, and this is just a small nitpick, but 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe is the optimal spread for LO Latias since it hits a Life Orb number. If you run Scarf you might as well go for the 252/252 spread though. I would also run Healing Wish on it : this move is great for healing your teammates while getting them if for free, and is crucial for saving rain turns so that you can sweep more efficiently.

sets:

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Perish Song
- Encore

Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Scald / Dragon Pulse
- Signal Beam / Ice Beam / Dragon Pulse

Swampert @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Low Kick / Superpower

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Knock Off
- Superpower

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunder
- Healing Wish

Hope I helped!

 

[Trainer Joey]

Dude run Power Up Punch on Swampert it provides more coverage and also gives that always nice Attack boost.