no Rain, no Gain - McMeghan     
IntroductionEverything started with the last WCup we had on Smogon. The Benelux team was formed and as a member, I needed to build a great team to make the best out of the tournament. I wanted something that corresponds to my playstyle in BW OU. I really like to play Rain, particulary offensively. Also, I really like to maintain momentum during a game and I want to impose my rhythm on the opponent. I'm a huge fan of Toxicroak in Rain. He has a lot of opportunities to set-up, has a great typing (on the offensive and the defensive side), i used to play the one with bulk up and substitute until I one day met Mynism, a great member of our benelux team. He told me that Toxicroak with Sword Dance, a Life Orb and Ice Punch would be a beast in the current metagame filled with Gliscor and he hits really hard with Cross Chop and Ice Punch, so i gave it a try. This thing was just amazing. And that's how i found my base to build a team around. Also, i wanted to use a Rain team where Tyranitar can't just come in on any Pokemon to put the Sand up. Finally, i ended with the team you can see above. I got a 3-0 score in Wcup (unfortunatly, Benelux didn't get to Round 2). I used it in a lot of Smogon OU Tournaments (Crew, No Johns, Team Trials, etc...) and it performed really well against great opponents (particulary in Crew). Also, I sent it to some people here who used the team in some Tourneys (Earthworm in Wcup, Bloo in Crew for example) and they told me the team was really great and they liked playing it with success. The Team
Politoed @ Choice Specs Since it's a Rain Team, it seems quite logical to use Politoed in it. SpecsToed is a beast, and I wanted him because I can run a bulky spread on it, which is really great to keep it alive as long as possible to win the weather war. Also, SpecsToed was needed because i wanted momentum, and with his power, he can make some holes in the opposing team if he doesn't have any water-imminuties or solid water-resistance. I don't hesistate to double switch with him a lot (unless there are Rocks on my side of the field) just to put the rain up or because I want the momentum, so I send it on the field to frighten the opposing mon. Depending on the opponent's team, i could play more risky with Politoed since all my team member are not ultra rain-dependant. When there are no more water-immunities on the opposing team or if the water-resistants are weakened, it's Pump Time. Regarding to the moveset, it's pretty classic. I use Focus Blast for Ferrothorn and Tyranitar, and Hidden Power Grass is needed to hit Jellicent and Gastrodon hard enough. I put 20 EV's in spd because i wanted to outspeed other Politoed and Scizor. He could be the lead against sandstorm teams if I don't see any Rotom-W in it. He is generally the lead against Sun Teams thanks to his low speed comparing to Ninetails and the pressure he puts on those team.
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf I think everyone knows how awesome Rotom-W is this gen, with its typing and its power. Rotom-W is a key member of the team. First of all, he's the choice scarfer of the team, so the main Revenge Killer against things like Landorus, Thundurus, Tornadus, Terrakion, Excadrill, etc. HydroPump under Rain with Scarf makes Rotom-W an awesome sweeper when the weather war is won and when the water-imminuties/resistants are down/weakened. I said i wanted momentum in the team, and Rotom-W provides me what i want. With Volt Switch, i can grab momentum and deal some damage. it makes a good core with Scizor (weakness coverage/threat covered) and i can abuse the duo Scizor/Rotom-W to keep the momentum, deal some damage and find a way to set up with Thundurus or Toxicroak. Regarding to the moveset, I needed HP Ice to kill the strong CB Dragon who are locked into Outrage, especially since Thundurus hasn't got that move. Also, it's a 100% accurate move against Gliscor/Landorus. It also does some damage to Celebi. Trick is used to dump on some mon like Ferrothorn, Gastrodon or even Jellicent if it comes in on a predicted hydropump. Moreover, it helps me to have a setup fodder with Toxicroak/Thundurus. Regarding the spread, I needed a good bulk on Rotom-W since it's a good check to a lot of threats to the team. It reaches 363 with the scarf, which allows it to outspeed Starmie and all the other pokemon who are under its speed tier. It provides me a lot of bulk, and it has saved me a lot of times.
Scizor @ Choice Band The good old Scizor, still as useful in Gen5 as it was before. Scizor was an obvious choice to the team. It keeps the momentum with U-Turn and forms an awesome scouting core with Rotom-W. These two guys are awesome together, and I can just spam u-turn/volt-switch against some team until I find a way to set up a mon or something else. I use Scizor because it's great against some antiRain-mon like Latias or Celebi (but I have to be careful with HP Fire). Also, Scizor is a Steel Pokemon, and I wanted at least two Steel to have something good against those pesky dragon teams. Moreover, Scizor is very useful because of its Bullet Punch which helps me finish off some things when they are weak enough (Dragons, Venusaur, Mamoswine, Thundurus, Landorus). Pursuit is a key-move for the team, allowing me to remove Celebi (Rain must be up), Latias and Latios and thus opening the way for Thundurus. Also, I can Pursuit Jellicent to death if I have the opportunity since Pringles is one hell of a bitch to the team. I put some EVs in speed to outspeed other Scizor and Superpower them to death (they are annoying to Croak). I also put more Special Defense bulk because he has to remove the Lati@s with efficiency. It also helps against Specially Defensive Celebi. I'm still considering putting more EV's in Spd to reach 190. I would outspeed Skarmory and especially Taunt Jellicent. I'm still hesitating to use Quick Attack somewhere to have a reliable RK move against Volcarona who is also a huge threat to the team.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers Yeah, Ferrothorn, one of the most useful 5th Gen pokemon in the metagame. Well, Ferrothorn fits perfectly in the team. Why ? I needed a generic wall that provides me with the ability to support the team and taking some hard hits in thebeginning of the game. With its steel typing, I have my second Dragon-resistance, something I wanted. So, Ferrothorn is used to put Stealth Rock on the opposite field. The sooner they are put up, the better because with SR up, I can use Rotom-W and Scizor with a great efficiency. They force the opponent to switch a lot, taking hits, and it could be a great way to weaken the opponent's team with Hazard damage + Uturn/Vswitch. Also, Ferrothorn is a switch to some threats like Starmie or Rotom-W, and it provides me the Electric-resistance I needed. Also, it can cripple some switch-ins with T-wave, which is pretty great to the team since Politoed, Scizor and Toxicroak aren't that fast. Ferrothorn is generally the pokemon I sacrifice in middle/late game to have a free switch-in since its role is to take hits at the start of the battle. I put Spikes because its job is to help Scizor and Rotom-W doing their job, and one layer of Spikes+SR is just awesome with the scoutcore. Also, it's a good move to use against those SubChargebeam Magnezone. Power Whip is the move I chose to deal some damage to Starmie, Jellicent and Rotom-W. Rotom-W is here to take care of the Dragons with HP Ice, so GyroBall isn't a must-have move.
Thundurus @ Leftovers Thundurus is one of the greatest sweepers we can use in the game, especially in a Rain Team. So Thundurus is usually my mid-game Sweeper. He can use Nasty Plot quite easily, and Substitute is there to help it set up. It's a really good move to use against Choice-Users, status moves or Sucker Punch, it gives me the opportunity to scout the choiced move or to start setting up/attacking behind the Sub. Also, it could be used against paralyzed mon or confused ones to have a free turn. As I already said before, Thundurus is generally my mid-game sweeper, he comes after Rotom-W/Scizor and their ability to deal some damage with SR on the field. Since I'm not using HP Ice, I rely on Scizor to kill the Lati@s to open the path of destruction (lol). Thunder is used because the power is greatly appreciated against Celebi without Psychic, Scizor or some other mon who isn't weak to Electric or Fight. Speaking of which, Focus Blast, with Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes on the field, is a clean 2HKO on Gastrodon at +2. Also, Sub is useful against Scarf Landorus to scout which move he will be using, and it's funnier when my opponent predicts the switch out with U-Turn. Of course Thundurus could be my late game sweeper depending on the opposite team or how the game was played. Even if Sub is an awesome move on him (and easy to hide), I sometimes really miss Hp Ice or even Thunder-Wave, and I'm still considering these options.
Toxicroak @ Life Orb Here we are, the key member of this team, the base of the build, the MVP of most of my games. This Toxicroakis just a deadly sweeper. Depending on the opposite team, he can do his job at the beginning, the middle or the end of the battle. Toxicroak performs really well against TSS and Rain, he's my main answer against Stall team without Quagsire or Jellicent. He is able to 6-0 RainStall teams quite easily. Even in the Sun, his Sucker Punch at +2 is really useful. By the way, Toxicroak removes Toxic Spikes from my side of the field, which is very helpful for Politoed. Toxicroak has a lot of set-up fodder (water move, Virizion, Politoed, Ferrothorn, Conkeldurr, Foretress, Breloom, Tentacruel, Recover Celebi) and it's really easy for him to Swords Dance. He has the ability to take a U-Turn and check some mon like ScarfTerrakion, Virizion, Breloom who would otherwise be a huge pain.Life Orb is the best item we can use with it since Dry Skin provides a 12% recovery every turn, not allowing the opponent to try hard prediction to make you kill yourself with life orb damage. Also, it's a good recovery during the setup. Its coverage, Ice/Fight/Dark, is just perfect in the current metagame, allowing to hit almost everyone for at least neutral damage. Sucker Punch acts as a pseudo-priority move, allowing him not to be RK'd by some mon like Tornadus, Thundurus, Starmie or Latios. Of course again, Toxicroak may be really useful even without a Sword Dance since he's hitting hard with a 342 attack + Life Orb. Surely one of my favorite mon to use. Importable |