Monotype Marine~ Bulky rain offense team (Peaked #10, 1730+ ELO)

[Atiultra]

Art by A-drago destroyer

Hello folks! My name is Atiultra or Delusion of Mind and I present you my very first RMT for SS Monotype. I've always wanted to experiment weather based teams and I found bulky rain offense to be very fun to build and play with. This team also performed pretty well on the ladder. So without further ado, let's get started

Since the concept of this team is based on rain, we start with a rain setter and defogger that is Pelipper.

Nextly, we need a powerful swift swim pokemon that can make use of the rain turns efficiently in the form of Barraskewda. It perfectly fits in the role of being an excellent sweeper and wallbreaker and is undeniably one of the most valuable pokemon in the team.

Urshifu-r is a great addition to the team due to it's high attack stats and coverage. The switch ins to close combat+future sight are very limited in the meta. It can also pick up some revenge kills with aqua jet.

Any offensive team like this obviously needs good support and synergy. Tapu fini fulfills this role in addition to being the main dragon check of the team. It is the glue of team and chips down foes so that they can be OHKOed later.

Slowbro is the main sp def wall of the team and helps gain momentum by safely bringing offensive pokemons into action. It can tank hits and set up future sight to add to the offensive pressure of the team.

Last but not the least, we have Swampert to provide electric immunity to the team and also serve as a stealth rocker and utility pokemon. Flip turn ensures that Swampert does not become passive and does the job of being a pivot.

Pelipper @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 22 Spe
-

Hurricane
-

Scald
-

Defog
-

Roost

To start off, we have Pelipper which is the driving force of the team as it sets up the rain to enable offensive pokemon to take advantage of the on-field conditions. Scald is the primary stab move to punish switch-ins with the 30% burn chance. Hurricane hits grass types and water absorb threats like Araquanid super-effectively. Moreover, it can also be replaced by slow u-turn if momentum is preferred over coverage. It also helps in hazard removal as it can safely switch in due to heavy duty boots, take multiple hits with it's defensive nature and defog the hazards away. Roost is a reliable recovery option to keep Pelipper healthy.

Barraskewda @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-

Waterfall
-

Flip Turn
-

Crunch
-

Close Combat

Nextly, we have Barraskewda which is the source of most of the offensive power of the team. It's high attack stat and choice band combined with swift swim makes it a powerful rain abuser. It outspeeds almost the entire unboosted metagame in rain. It also runs a wide pool of coverage moves to break pokemons that resist it's STAB. Barraskewda outspeeds and OHKOs fast electric pokemons like Regieleki, Alolan Raichu in electric terrain etc. Waterfall is used over liquidation to flinch down threats while flip turn can be used to chip down defensive threats like Rotom-w and Zapdos and maintain momentum. Crunch helps to wear out psychic and ghost types while close combat targets bulky steel types like Ferrothorn and Melmetal. Poison jab is an alternate option to cripple incoming fairy or grass types.

Notable calcs

252+ Atk Choice Band Barraskewda Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 188-222 (47.7 - 56.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Barraskewda Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini: 190-224 (55.2 - 65.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Barraskewda: 199-235 (75.6 - 89.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Barraskewda: 209-247 (79.4 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Life Orb
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-

Close Combat
-

Surging Strikes
-

Aqua Jet
-

Ice punch

Urshifu-R's high attack stat and access to high base power STAB moves like close combat and surging strikes makes it a powerful wall breaker when paired with Slowbro's future sight. Surging strikes is particularly helpful in breaking through Mimikyu's disguise and substitute/sash/sturdy users. Life orb is favoured over choice band to prevent predicting against the steel immunity core. Moreover, pokemons like Ferrothorn or Aegislash cannot use protect or king's shield to scout for it's moves, thanks to it's ability unseen fist. Aqua jet provides the much needed priority move to revenge kill faster pokemons like Volcarona. Ice punch hits pokemons like Dragonite, Dragapult and Celebi that resist it's dual STAB.

Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
-

Trick
-

Grass Knot
-

Hydro Pump
-

Moonblast

The most common Tapu Fini set is the one with calm mind and draining kiss. However, I prefer using scarf fini because of the team's fragility against dragon types. It's timid nature helps it to outpace and OHKO/2HKO almost every dragon type except Dragalge, which can be chipped using future sight. Hydro pump is a strong STAB move. Tapu fini also acts as a support for the other offensive pokemons in the team like Barraskewda and Urshifu-r by protecting them from status moves, especially burn and paralysis due to it's misty terrain and by tricking slower and bulky pokemons like Toxapex and Slowbro, hence making them easier to break. Trick is also helpful when it comes to dealing with set-up sweepers like calm mind Hatterene or belly drum Azumarill. Grass knot targets Gastrodon or Seismitoad in ground matchups which can otherwise be very difficult to handle.

Slowbro @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
-

Future Sight
-

Scald
-

Slack Off
-

Teleport

Now as we move on to the more defensive side of the team, we start with a spdef Slowbro. Heavy duty boots allow it to safely switch in without worrying about hazards. Due it's high hp and spdef stats it can tank multiple hits easily and set up future sight which can be very crucial especially to break solid cores like in the case of poison stall matchups and teleport next turn to bring offensive pokemons safely and regenerate it's health back at the same time. Slowbro takes advantage of it's negative speed to move last against other regen users and gain momentum. Scald is the primary STAB move, useful for it's 30% burn chance. Slack off ensures that Slowbro remains healthy and is able to absorb more hits.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
-

Stealth Rock
-

Earthquake
-

Roar
-

Flip Turn

In addition to shielding the team from electric moves, Swampert also acts as a special wall and has great utility. Leftovers are used to overcome the problem of it's lack of reliable recovery to a certain extent. Earthquake is the STAB move that helps against electric and poison matchups. It's also the stealth rocker of the team to chip foes on switch-ins which could be beneficial in the long-run. Slow flip turn helps Swampert to pivot and gain momentum, which is absent in it's counterparts like Quagsire and Seismitoad. Roar is a great way to take advantage of stealth rock and control set-up sweepers. It's hp and spdef investments allows it to tank grass knots from specs Tapu Koko and Alolan Raichu and revenge kill them with earthquake after stealth rock chip. I've used the standard set here but you can also replace it with rindo berry+mirror coat to get surprise kill on foes like grass knot Thundurus-T, but this will drastically reduce Swampert's longevity due to the lack of leftovers recovery.

Of all the matchups, grass is the most difficult to beat due to the lack of a reliable grass-check in the team like Toxapex or Mantine. Also, the moves that hit grass types super-effectively are limited, hence making the team heavily dependent on Pelipper or Urshifu-R to possibly break through. Banded Rillaboom's grassy glide has no switch-ins while Rotom-mow and Celebi can be equally threatening if they get a nasty plot up. Overall, this matchup can be considered almost unwinnable assuming the opponent does not throw the game.

Electric matchup is comparatively better for the team. However, one needs to be very careful around fast and offensive pokemons like Tapu-koko and Alolan raichu as they carry both electric and grass moves. Static Zapdos has a chance to paralyze Barraskewda, thus preventing it to become a potential threat while defensive Rotom-w with leftovers can be hard to break. Rain turns are very crucial and pivoting safely to Barraskewda is the key to win such a matchup.

In ice matchups, freeze dry users like Kyurem can overwhelm the team, especially with it's 30% freeze chance. Ninetales-alola can also set up aurora veil and make way for Arctozolt to come in and spam freeze dry and bolt beaks. You have to pivot really well and wait for the hail turns to end in this case. The team is also insanely weak to specs Lapras with water absorb.


Other threats
The team struggles against set-up sweepers that carry giga drain. Comfey's ability traige means that giga drain's priority is +3 and Barraskewda cannot outspeed and OHKO it. After a single calm mind only Slowking and Tapu fini can take a hit from Comfey but they can't do anything back to kill it. Hatterene's magic bounce means that Swampert will no longer be able to roar and it can safely set up calm mind and trick room. Shell smash Polteageist and quiver dance Volcarona are also some big threats to watch out for.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1480210227 vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1519666761-mrs9dnyw8w73h9vefs2aj2se0eux4rspw vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1505447314-0izbgavhj9uuqezgc1rxbm0yxmf6yndpw vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1500143313-cbv731r08ud7j8znyu1d6e6n5e776yrpw vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1528237850-o10c9onsgsvf88xctyo4oxnf81au6eepw vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1471067087-lvuygvpr7kv9jzq9yo7gbue0uhpgxe5pw vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1383048219-goo451p6l38eia6grktlegjfebi63xnpw vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1371456083-p2k38ck825k2q4qhunrb9lbiuwj98p1pw vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1535422977-lgctha1d1isnc4u5hw6q4s8squn7utupw vs.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1535425488-eona6rjpbaqqmr9wgengi4kbxu6s1hqpw vs.

Import

https://pokepast.es/b71f806885c688a8

Special thanks to style.css for helping with ideas and inspiration. Thanks to everyone who supported and encouraged me,
I really appreciate you all! ​

 

[plunder]

Hello!

Great work with the team, it seems great especially since you've been able to get a really high ELO with it. Here are some changes I think that could make it even better:

new set

Slowking @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Teleport
- Scald
- Slack Off

Sp def slowbro is a cool concept, but from experience, Slowking is just more reliable overall. It can help you a bit as well in the ice mu since future sight breaks the sub vs kyurem (allowing urshifu to come in and cc it) or just go into barraskewda for ninetales. Overall Slowking will just be a bit more reliable in general (is also nicer in the poison mu).

new set

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Mystic Water / Life Orb
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- Aqua Jet
- Thunder punch

I'm a huge fan of mystic water urshifu as I don't like the lo recoil, and prefer it to not be choice locked. I've gone with Thunder punch > Ice punch mainly for mantine, you can usually lure it in with surging strikes once, then thunder punching on the switch in / the next turn after it's in.

new set

Pelipper @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Hurricane
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn

Just added u-turn for momentum, overall in rain teams it's hard to hard switch into ur main breakers safely, having a slow u-turn allows you to do that. Super simple change but its gonna allow more longevity for ur mons.

These were the main changes. I hope they work well for you. Good luck!

 

[style.css]

Hey there, great looking RMT and thanks for the shout out!

Building off what Plunder said I have a couple other minor changes I'd suggest and some considerations for set options if you like.


I see what you're doing with 22 Spe IVs but you actually should be Relaxed with 21 IVs. This ensures you're slower than mixed defensive Celesteela's that also run a negative speed nature so you can U-turn after they click Leech Seed.


If you're struggling a lot with Electric, one thing that can help ease this match up is to make Barraskewda Jolly. This means that without Rain you are faster than Tapu Koko. You can lead with Barraskewda against their Tapu Koko lead and Flip Turn out which provides you more momentum and better chances of avoiding the dreaded Thunderbolt Grass Knot 50/50. Another minor difference is changing Waterfall to Liquidation. At first glance it's only a 5 BP difference, but if you consider other factors it turns out to be much more. If you include STAB (x1.5) and Rain (x1.5) you have Waterfall's BP at 180 and Liquidation's BP at 191.25 which can make a considerable difference in game.


I agree fully with Plunder on this one. Mystic Water is amazing at bluffing Choice as well as maintaining HP. You could consider U-turn instead of Aqua Jet if you want to prioritize momentum over priority. This is more of a personal preference choice; there is no option that is strictly better than the other.


Grass Knot is a great coverage option here without question. Other common choices are Ice Beam (for Grass and Flying) and Knock Off (to remove Scarf from other potential threats so you can outspeed them in the late game). A more cheeky option that I personally use is Calm Mind. The idea being that you generally get away with just Water/Fairy coverage but if you Trick your Choice Scarf away you can take advantage of Calm Mind to set up after. Extra points if you can Calm Mind up then Trick your Choice Scarf back to yourself.


Only change here is to make your nature Sassy and your Speed IVs 0. This is so that if you're against another Slow(bro/king) you will Teleport out last (assuming they aren't minimum speed, otherwise it's a speed tie). This can be helpful so you can bring in the answer to whatever they Teleport to rather than the reverse.


You can actually do the same thing on Swampert that you did on Pelipper. By just changing Swampert's nature to Sassy, your Speed becomes 1 point lower than a negative natured 0 EV Celesteela so you now have two pivots out of Celesteela without risk of Leech Seed on whatever you bring in.

These are all pretty minor changes but I wanted to give you the information and options to make the most informed choices in your team. Everything else looks great and congrats on top 10 on ladder!