Will Rain

[freedom2]

Will Rain​

Hello smogon! I'm freedom2. What can I say about me? Well, I've been playing since June of 2010, and I deeply enjoy this game. For the past 8 months, I've been trying to create a Rain team that I find enjoyable to use, and that can be effective at the same time. This team is what approaches the most with I've been wanting to craft. I know it's pretty standard, but I'm not a very innovative player. This team is kinda of a offensive team.

This team is based on rain support so I can fight other weathers, which are very common in OU these days. With rain support, Rotom-W Hydro Pump becomes very powerful, Ferrothorn and Scizor lose their x4 fire weakness, and Toxicroak appreciates the extra health every turn. I use Ferrothorn as my main wall, and SR user. Rotom-W as a bulky attacker, thanks to it's great typing and ability it can switch into lots of Pokemon and start killing stuff. Toxicroak is a great Pokemon, I usually use him to clean up in the late-game. However, if his counters are elimnated and I manage to Sword Dance, it's usually GG. Scizor is my main priority user. I use VolTurn strategy to gather momentum and weaken my opponent's team, with the help of Stealth Rock. At the end, I try to sweep my opponent's weakened team. I'll explain below how every member of the team contributes to win.

However, this team has serious issues with some Pokemon. I'll list them in the threats section. That's why I'm posting this here, I have been thinking of ways to deal with them, but I'm not very sure. Hope I can find ways to deal with those threats!

Without nothing much to add, let's begin with this team. The title is "Will Rain" because this is a Drizzle team.

Politoed (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Politoed. He has become over the time one of my favorite Pokemon. He is the guy who summons rain to support the rest of the team. I originally used a Scarf set here. Then I changed it to the Specs variant. However, Gastrodon was a pain to battle with. I have been using this set with great success, most of people think it's a ScarfToed when they see Hydro Pump. They switch to Gastrodon just to get 2HKOed by Hidden Power Grass. Ice Beam to predict things on the switch, and Focus Blast is only there to damage Ferrothorn. The bad accuracy isn't something I enjoy about Focus Blast. The evs are fairly simple, max attacking power and max overall bulk. Politoed is overall a pretty good Pokemon. However, I have to play cautiosly with those Ninetales carrying Sunny Day. Also, if my opponent has a Rotom-W and decides to lead with it, I have to play very carefully.

Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch

Rotom-W. What can I say here? I decided to put him on the team for some reasons. First of all, his Hydro Pump gets boosted on the rain to hit like a truck. Second, his typing and decent bulk are extremely useful for my team. Third, Volt Switch, which let's me to grab momentum. And last, he revenge kills dangerous stuff, that can ve very dangerous for my team. Standard moveset.

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Recover

Latios. In my opinion, is the coolest of dragons, in every tier. He is a monster when played correctly, he adds to my team some electric, grass, fire and water resistances, they are very useful. I decide to go offensive here, with a LO set, which is very helpful against common threats to rain. For example, Tentacruel. I decide to not use Draco Meteor because I hate the SAtk drop. Surf let's me to hit Gliscor and Skarmory, some Pokemon that can stop Toxicroak sweeping.

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

Ferrothorn is one of the most used mons this gen, and for good reason. His typing let's him to swith into electric and water type attacks, which s very useful in my opinion for any rain team. The moveset is fairly standard, Stealth Rock is a must for almost every team, and it let's me to abuse the VolTurn strategy even more, since it forces a lot of switches. He is my switch-in answer to Outrages, Draco Meteors, Thunderbolts; Hydro Pumps, etc.

Toxicroak (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Cross Chop
- Ice Punch
- Sucker Punch

Aww, Toxicroak. How should I start? This Pokemon is a beast. After one Swords Dance, he can sweep weakened teams with very ease. The moveset is very standard, but it's so strong. Usually, if I send him early in the game for some reason, I just try to predict whatever my opponent will bring in. My main way to help this monster sweep is via eliminating his counters.

Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower

In conjunction with Rotom-W, this guy finishes the infamous VolTurn strategy. Again, the moveset is extremely standard. But extremely useful. U-turn because it's a great move to abuse, it forces a lot of switches and it weakens my foes pretty fast in conjunction with Stealth Rocks. I have to use Pursuit and Bullet Punch very carefully, since being locked in any of those moves can mean gg if my opponent has a Lucario. Superpower is used mainly for FERROTHORN, who otherwise is a pain in the ass. He is my main way to deal with Celebi. I have to play carefully tough, since Celebi can 1HKO him after one Nasty Plot on the rain with Hidden Power Fire.

Threats.

Terrakion

Aww, I have no safe switch-ins to this monster, especially the Choice Band variant. Thanks to god that I can revenge kill it with Rotom-W/Scizor/Latios.

Lucario

After one Swords Dance, it's game over. The good news for me is that he can't setup on any Pokemon, except on Scizor locked into Bullet Punch or Pursuit.

Jellicent

Oh god. The demon. Can't touch it, while he can cripple Toxicroak and Scizor. My safest way to deal with it is via crit. Latios does a decent job, however, if Jellicent is paired with Tyranitar is a hell to face.

Skarmory

He isn't very threatening, however, he walls Toxicroak and Scizor, and he can stack spikes on my side of the field, which are very annoying.

Jirachi

Specially defensive variant and SubCM rachi are extemely annoying to face. Specially defensive Jirachi can stop Toxicroak, cripple Latios, Politoed and Rotom-W. I usually beat him with Latios Surf. SubCM can 6-0 me if he has Thunder+Water Pulse.With that, I think I'm finished. Hope can find ways to make this team better, and to destroy his weaknesses! Any help is appreciated. P.S. Sorry for any horrible grammar/spelling mistakes. English is not my mother language.

Toxicroak

If he is a sub+Bulk Up variant, I'm doomed.
​

 

[BTzz]

Hey freedom, cool team. The biggest threat to your team I think is Swords Dance Lucario as your only wall is weak to fighting and your two resist are both fairly frail. It also resist Sucker Punch and Bullet Punch, your only two forms of priority. I suggest a Phsyically Defensive Quagsire. Quagsire is a great check to Lucario thanks to Unaware nulifying any stat boost. Also, despite being physically deffensive, Quagsire also makes a decent check to Sub-CM Jirachi as it is immune to Thunder and Jirachi's unstab'd, unboosted weaksauce Water Pulse won't to much to it. Sure Quag isn't the best check to CB Terrakion, but you have Scizor to revenge kill it and Quagsire can check Double Dancing variants. I would personlly use Quagsire over Toxicroak. Toxicroak is a great sweeper, but I think Quag brings much more to the table. Finally, Perish Song over Ice Beam on Politoed would be generally useful. With Perish Song you'll have some insurance vs set-up sweepers. Politoed losses coverage on Dragon- and Grass-types, but Latios / Rotom's HP Ice deal with opposing dragons and Scizor is a great check to most grass types.

Suagsire

Quagsire | Unaware | Leftovers
Relaxed | 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Scald | Earthquake | Recover | Yawn

hope I helped :)

 

[freedom2]

Hey freedom, cool team. The biggest threat to your team I think is Swords Dance Lucario as your only wall is weak to fighting and your two resist are both fairly frail. It also resist Sucker Punch and Bullet Punch, your only two forms of priority. I suggest a Phsyically Defensive Quagsire. Quagsire is a great check to Lucario thanks to Unaware nulifying any stat boost. Also, despite being physically deffensive, Quagsire also makes a decent check to Sub-CM Jirachi as it is immune to Thunder and Jirachi's unstab'd, unboosted weaksauce Water Pulse won't to much to it. Sure Quag isn't the best check to CB Terrakion, but you have Scizor to revenge kill it and Quagsire can check Double Dancing variants. I would personlly use Quagsire over Toxicroak. Toxicroak is a great sweeper, but I think Quag brings much more to the table. Finally, Perish Song over Ice Beam on Politoed would be generally useful. With Perish Song you'll have some insurance vs set-up sweepers. Politoed losses coverage on Dragon- and Grass-types, but Latios / Rotom's HP Ice deal with opposing dragons and Scizor is a great check to most grass types.

Suagsire

Quagsire | Unaware | Leftovers
Relaxed | 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Scald | Earthquake | Recover | Yawn

hope I helped :)

Hi. Thanks a lot for the rate man. I'll try out Quagsire over Toxicroak, it seems that it can have nice results :)

 

[-Tsunami-]

Hey there.

Volcarona is a major problem for this team, being able to destroy it easily and set up on Pokemon such as Scizor and Rotom-W choice-locked into HP Ice. As you mentioned, Lucario, Terrakion, and Jellicent are also major problems. You could also use a rapid spinner, especially since you have CB Scizor and need to win the weather war with Politoed. An easy way to fix this is by simply running a Tentacruel over Toxicroak. The loss of Toxicroak isn't too big of a deal since Scizor can hit hard anyway. Tentacruel can provide Toxic Spikes support for your team as well, crippling the opposition greatly and stopping Jellicent from being as much of a problem. Tentacruel can also serve as your physical wall, tanking hits with the help of Rain Dish and Leftovers in tandem with Protect. It can also retaliate relatively hard with Scald in rain, which also give it a chance to burn physical sweepers and the like.

Hide

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold nature
-Scald
-Toxic Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Protect

Solid team. Hope I helped, and good luck!

 

[freedom2]

Hey there.

Volcarona is a major problem for this team, being able to destroy it easily and set up on Pokemon such as Scizor and Rotom-W choice-locked into HP Ice. As you mentioned, Lucario, Terrakion, and Jellicent are also major problems. You could also use a rapid spinner, especially since you have CB Scizor and need to win the weather war with Politoed. An easy way to fix this is by simply running a Tentacruel over Toxicroak. The loss of Toxicroak isn't too big of a deal since Scizor can hit hard anyway. Tentacruel can provide Toxic Spikes support for your team as well, crippling the opposition greatly and stopping Jellicent from being as much of a problem. Tentacruel can also serve as your physical wall, tanking hits with the help of Rain Dish and Leftovers in tandem with Protect. It can also retaliate relatively hard with Scald in rain, which also give it a chance to burn physical sweepers and the like.

Hide

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold nature
-Scald
-Toxic Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Protect

Solid team. Hope I helped, and good luck!

Thanks for the help. I'll try it out, since I need someone to spin those annoying hazards!

 

[LUST]

Hey

Interesting team, freedom2. It seems you're heading in the right direction, but I think that there are a few areas that could be improved upon. Like you mentioned in your threat list; you essentially have no safe switch-ins for Terrakion, a Choice Band variant literally OHKOs your team members every time it manages to switch in safely which could be really problematic; if it has substitute and swords dance together in the same set the condition becomes even worse considering the amount of sacrifices you would have to make to revenge Terrakion. On the other hand +2 Lucario sweeps you cold, your only chance against it would be Scizor's bullet punch after the defense drops. Basically Toxicroak sets up on more than half of your team which is definitely not a good sign. If it manages to get the boost to a certain level, knocking it out won't be an easy task. To fix these situations, I would highly recommend replacing Toxicroak for Toxic Stall Gliscor. This set is extremely effective and fits in well within your balanced team. The main purpose for Gliscor would be to outspeed and kill strong fighting-type mons who otherwise would posse a big threat. Earthquake is its only attacking move which decimates the likes of steel, fire, poison and rock-type mons. Toxic is used for stalling purposes and works efficiently in the conjunction with substitute and pairs up incredibly well with in it's solid typing and coverage. Protect is used to scout your opponent, racks up toxic damage and provides with consistent poison heal recovery. Taunt is an excellent alternative over both protect and toxic as it puts an end to set-up sweepers such as Breloom and Dragonite and most namely Skarmory. For the looks of this team, I'd use it over protect as predictions and scouting aren't an issue and Toxic benefits you in the long run. After this change strong fighting-type sweepers such as Lucario and Toxicroak are considered as minor threats. Furthermore Gliscor also has the potential to survive an unboosted scald from Jellicent except in rain and importantly hit toxic to make it unusable. Magnezone lacking Hidden Power Ice also falls to Gliscor's superior typing which is really beneficial.

Toxic Stall Gliscor

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb | Poison Heal
Impish | 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 Spd
~ Substitute
~ Earthquake
~ Toxic
~ Protect / Taunt

For some minor changes, Draco Meteor seems like a reasonable replacement for Dragon Pulse. It vitally hits harder than Dragon Pulse and is a perfect way to murder Jellicent. Draco Meteor always scores an instant OHKO on CM HP Fire Latias who is an other under-estimated threat where Dragon Pulse does shitty amount. Latios is not complete with its main stab, without DM he loses the ability to punch holes in many well constructed teams. I definitely agree with user BTzz to add Perish Song on Politoed instead of Focus Blast. FB has a terrible accuracy which mostly disappoints than being beneficial. With perish song added smash pass teams and mainly set-up sweepers like Jirachi no longer presume threats. Overall brilliant team, Good Luck!