I was thinking of going into UU a bit more, or going into Ubers, but then I was thinking and realised that I'd never gone into weather based teams before, so I decided to do a Rain Dance team. Now usually I don't do very well, but the last few matches I've done have turned out great. So I'll post the team and then you can see what you all think.
Without further ado...
Raining!
(Figured a rainbow would look good as it's a rain team :) I'll get on with it...)
Overview
This team was built mainly using Legacy Rider's guide to Rain Dance teams (Which is great btw). Using this guide I realised I needed:
~ 3+ pokemon able to set up Rain Dance, 1 of which being a suicide lead and at least one other being bulky and able to set up again mid game, both using Damp Rock so that Rain lasts as long as possible.
~ 3+ Pokemon able to take advantage of the RD, either through Swift swim, nullifying their Fire weakness, or by using the move Thunder.
~ A supporter pokemon, able to get rid of Tyranitar and Abomasnow, so auto weather is no longer a problem.
~ A purely physical sweeper able to take advantage of the rain and beat Blissey 1 vs 1, so that my special sweepers can attack freely.
~ Stealth Rock, so that I can get as many OHKO's as possible and to help breaking walls.
So with all that in mind here are the sets of my team, in detail...
In depth Changes are in Grey
Azelf @ Damp Rock
Levitate Ability
EVs - Hp 252, Atk 6, Spd 252
Jolly Nature
~ Rain Dance
~ Stealth Rock
~ Explosion
~ Taunt
This is my lead (well obv). He's here to get the "Suicide lead" position filled and for a great Rain setup. If I sense my foe will set up then I Taunt and stop them in their tracks. If I sense an attack I can survive and outspeed then I set up SR. If it's an attack that will OHKO, then I just go straight for the Rain Dance. Best situation is where I have SR, Rain and I have taken down a 'mon with Explosion. Rain Dance is obvious in this team and SR is to make sure I can get all my required OHKO's.
Azelf sort of glues my team together. He gets off an incredibly fast RD, provides great support for the rest of the team, and can be a kamikaze attacker for any set uppers. A great 'mon, and makes a great lead.
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Swift Swim Ability
EVs - Atk 252, SpAtk 240, Spd 18
Naughty Nature
~ Draco Meteor
~ Hydro Pump
~ Waterfall
~ Rain Dance
It's a Rain Dance team, what did you expect? The first of my Swift Swim 'mon. Hits 247 Spd, enough to outpace a +1 Jolly 'Mence in Rain and OHKO with Dragon Pulse. Hydro Pump was chosen over Surf, because I use Kingdra mid game, so the PP and Acc drop isn't so bad. Signal Beam is only for Celebi.
Kingdra is my early / mid game sweeper. With Hydro Pump's 120 power getting STAB + Life Orb + Rain, something is in for a lot of hurt. Not that Kingdra can't perform amazingly late game, but I prefer to save Ludicolo for later, as he can hit with better coverage and with Surf's better Acc and PP over Hydro Pump. He's also able to survive a few neutral hits, as 314/226/226 defenses is by no means bad.
Changed the EVs and nature for more Atk and changed Rain Dance to Waterfall. This allows me to 2HKO even max/max Bold Blissey with SR.
More changes made, in detail in my post further down :) Mainly just changed it to MixDra, better for early game nuking.
Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Swift Swim Ability
EVs - Def 6, SpAtk 252, Spd 252
Modest Nature
~ Surf
~ Energy Ball
~ Ice Beam
~ Rain Dance
Once again it's another staple for rain teams. Ludicolo works excellently at any time of the match, though I like to save him til last as a cleaner. Water + Grass + Ice gives great coverage and with them all boosted by LO Ludicolo becomes a great force late game. Water / Grass is a great defensive typing too and Ludicolo can also survive a strong special attack or two.
As I've said, Ludi is my late game cleaner. He has very few weaks and he can outspeed everything up to Scarf Modest Gengar, who he ties with.
Grass Knot is now Energy Ball.
Floatzel @ Life Orb
Swift Swim Ability
EVs - Hp 6, Atk 252, Spd 252
Adamant Nature
~ Waterfall
~ Ice Punch
~ Crunch
~ Brick Break
My final Swift Swim + Life Orb user. Floatzels already huge Spd means only 24 EVs are needed to outspeed Timid Scarf Azelf, so the rest can max Atk and go into Hp. Waterfall's flinch rate can sometimes come handy with such great Spd. Waterfall gets STAB + rain boost, Ice Punch hits any Dragon-types or Grass-types and Crunch is for Starmie, Slowbro etc.
Floatzel is the required physical sweeper for beating Blissey. His great Spd means he can revenge kill almost anything, and with a STAB, rain and LO boosted 80 BP attack, he doesn't have much trouble doing so.
Changed Rain Dance to Return, for more neutral coverage. Decided against using CB over LO, because Floatzel is more of a sweeper than a hit & run attacker. Also I didn't want 2 CBers on one team.
Changed Return to Brick Break to prevent AgilitySubPetaya Empoleon raping me.
Zapdos @ Damp Rock
Pressure Ability
EVs - Hp 252, Def 220, Spd 38
Bold Nature
~ Thunder
~ Roost
~ U-Turn
~ Rain Dance
I was torn between Zapdos, Swampert and Bronzong for the slot of bulky set up. Swampert's and Bronzong's SR was already taken up by Azelf and I liked the idea of a bulky set up with 100 base Spd, so Zapdos was my choice. I went with the physically bulky spread, because I don't need much or any SpAtk on this thing, seeing as he's meant to be U-Turning the rain to another 'mon. So I decided to go as bulky as possible, but have enough Spd to beat Tyranitar. Thunder is for STAB, for the 100% Acc in rain and for the fact that I didn't want Taunt to force me to U-Turn. Rain Dance + Damp Rock means I can have a 'mon who can consistenly switch in and set up 8 turns of rain. Stealth Rock hampers this consistency a little, but hopefully Azelf will Taunt / Explode on the opponents setup. U-Turn is to pass around the inevitable rain, to cause a little damage and to prevent my sweepers being OHKO'd on the switch in.
Zapdos fills the bulky setup role on my team. He is mainly used un my battles just for the rain, but he can deal a fair bit of damage with STAB 100% Acc Thunder too. His SR weakness is solved somewhat by Azelf, if he stops a set up. His Ice weakness is obviously no problem in a team full of water types. U-Turn and Rain Dance make him great for team support.
Decided to change Roost to HP [Grass] to be able to hit Swampert, as only Ludicolo can hit him SE otherwise. I never use Roost anyway, it's mainly filler as I set up Rain and U-Turn out.
Changed HP [Grass] back to Roost, as Swampert is sorted by boosted Surfs etc, and Roost is useful so that Zapdos can come in to repeatedly set up Rain.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician Ability
EVs - Hp 252, Atk 252, Spd 6
Adamant Nature
~ Bullet Punch
~ U-Turn
~ Superpower
~ Pursuit
This is the supporter, he can beat Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Blissey and Celebi, all of which are major threats to Rain teams. Although most people seem to spam BP, I find myself using U-Turn more often than not, to scout around and to give my other 'mon chance to set up rain. BP is for STAB and Technician and it hurts a lot with CB. U-Turn also gets STAB and helps for scouting. Superpower is mainly for Heatran, as BP maims Tyranitar anyway. Pursuit is for Blissey etc who flees from Scizor.
Scizor brings together the few weaknesses presented by my first 5 members and stops them. He's always been great and being the only choice user in my team helps a lot too. His Fire weakness is helped out in rain too, so with his high Hp investment he may be able to survive a stray HP [Fire].
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So that's it. I've had a few tests and I'm going to carry on doing so. Any help etc would be appreciated greatly, because I really like this team and would love to improve it further.
Cheers.
*Made a few edits*
*More edits yay*
Without further ado...
Raining!
(Figured a rainbow would look good as it's a rain team :) I'll get on with it...)
Overview
This team was built mainly using Legacy Rider's guide to Rain Dance teams (Which is great btw). Using this guide I realised I needed:
~ 3+ pokemon able to set up Rain Dance, 1 of which being a suicide lead and at least one other being bulky and able to set up again mid game, both using Damp Rock so that Rain lasts as long as possible.
~ 3+ Pokemon able to take advantage of the RD, either through Swift swim, nullifying their Fire weakness, or by using the move Thunder.
~ A supporter pokemon, able to get rid of Tyranitar and Abomasnow, so auto weather is no longer a problem.
~ A purely physical sweeper able to take advantage of the rain and beat Blissey 1 vs 1, so that my special sweepers can attack freely.
~ Stealth Rock, so that I can get as many OHKO's as possible and to help breaking walls.
So with all that in mind here are the sets of my team, in detail...
In depth Changes are in Grey
Azelf @ Damp Rock
Levitate Ability
EVs - Hp 252, Atk 6, Spd 252
Jolly Nature
~ Rain Dance
~ Stealth Rock
~ Explosion
~ Taunt
This is my lead (well obv). He's here to get the "Suicide lead" position filled and for a great Rain setup. If I sense my foe will set up then I Taunt and stop them in their tracks. If I sense an attack I can survive and outspeed then I set up SR. If it's an attack that will OHKO, then I just go straight for the Rain Dance. Best situation is where I have SR, Rain and I have taken down a 'mon with Explosion. Rain Dance is obvious in this team and SR is to make sure I can get all my required OHKO's.
Azelf sort of glues my team together. He gets off an incredibly fast RD, provides great support for the rest of the team, and can be a kamikaze attacker for any set uppers. A great 'mon, and makes a great lead.
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Swift Swim Ability
EVs - Atk 252, SpAtk 240, Spd 18
Naughty Nature
~ Draco Meteor
~ Hydro Pump
~ Waterfall
~ Rain Dance
It's a Rain Dance team, what did you expect? The first of my Swift Swim 'mon. Hits 247 Spd, enough to outpace a +1 Jolly 'Mence in Rain and OHKO with Dragon Pulse. Hydro Pump was chosen over Surf, because I use Kingdra mid game, so the PP and Acc drop isn't so bad. Signal Beam is only for Celebi.
Kingdra is my early / mid game sweeper. With Hydro Pump's 120 power getting STAB + Life Orb + Rain, something is in for a lot of hurt. Not that Kingdra can't perform amazingly late game, but I prefer to save Ludicolo for later, as he can hit with better coverage and with Surf's better Acc and PP over Hydro Pump. He's also able to survive a few neutral hits, as 314/226/226 defenses is by no means bad.
Changed the EVs and nature for more Atk and changed Rain Dance to Waterfall. This allows me to 2HKO even max/max Bold Blissey with SR.
More changes made, in detail in my post further down :) Mainly just changed it to MixDra, better for early game nuking.
Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Swift Swim Ability
EVs - Def 6, SpAtk 252, Spd 252
Modest Nature
~ Surf
~ Energy Ball
~ Ice Beam
~ Rain Dance
Once again it's another staple for rain teams. Ludicolo works excellently at any time of the match, though I like to save him til last as a cleaner. Water + Grass + Ice gives great coverage and with them all boosted by LO Ludicolo becomes a great force late game. Water / Grass is a great defensive typing too and Ludicolo can also survive a strong special attack or two.
As I've said, Ludi is my late game cleaner. He has very few weaks and he can outspeed everything up to Scarf Modest Gengar, who he ties with.
Grass Knot is now Energy Ball.
Floatzel @ Life Orb
Swift Swim Ability
EVs - Hp 6, Atk 252, Spd 252
Adamant Nature
~ Waterfall
~ Ice Punch
~ Crunch
~ Brick Break
My final Swift Swim + Life Orb user. Floatzels already huge Spd means only 24 EVs are needed to outspeed Timid Scarf Azelf, so the rest can max Atk and go into Hp. Waterfall's flinch rate can sometimes come handy with such great Spd. Waterfall gets STAB + rain boost, Ice Punch hits any Dragon-types or Grass-types and Crunch is for Starmie, Slowbro etc.
Floatzel is the required physical sweeper for beating Blissey. His great Spd means he can revenge kill almost anything, and with a STAB, rain and LO boosted 80 BP attack, he doesn't have much trouble doing so.
Changed Rain Dance to Return, for more neutral coverage. Decided against using CB over LO, because Floatzel is more of a sweeper than a hit & run attacker. Also I didn't want 2 CBers on one team.
Changed Return to Brick Break to prevent AgilitySubPetaya Empoleon raping me.
Zapdos @ Damp Rock
Pressure Ability
EVs - Hp 252, Def 220, Spd 38
Bold Nature
~ Thunder
~ Roost
~ U-Turn
~ Rain Dance
I was torn between Zapdos, Swampert and Bronzong for the slot of bulky set up. Swampert's and Bronzong's SR was already taken up by Azelf and I liked the idea of a bulky set up with 100 base Spd, so Zapdos was my choice. I went with the physically bulky spread, because I don't need much or any SpAtk on this thing, seeing as he's meant to be U-Turning the rain to another 'mon. So I decided to go as bulky as possible, but have enough Spd to beat Tyranitar. Thunder is for STAB, for the 100% Acc in rain and for the fact that I didn't want Taunt to force me to U-Turn. Rain Dance + Damp Rock means I can have a 'mon who can consistenly switch in and set up 8 turns of rain. Stealth Rock hampers this consistency a little, but hopefully Azelf will Taunt / Explode on the opponents setup. U-Turn is to pass around the inevitable rain, to cause a little damage and to prevent my sweepers being OHKO'd on the switch in.
Zapdos fills the bulky setup role on my team. He is mainly used un my battles just for the rain, but he can deal a fair bit of damage with STAB 100% Acc Thunder too. His SR weakness is solved somewhat by Azelf, if he stops a set up. His Ice weakness is obviously no problem in a team full of water types. U-Turn and Rain Dance make him great for team support.
Decided to change Roost to HP [Grass] to be able to hit Swampert, as only Ludicolo can hit him SE otherwise. I never use Roost anyway, it's mainly filler as I set up Rain and U-Turn out.
Changed HP [Grass] back to Roost, as Swampert is sorted by boosted Surfs etc, and Roost is useful so that Zapdos can come in to repeatedly set up Rain.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician Ability
EVs - Hp 252, Atk 252, Spd 6
Adamant Nature
~ Bullet Punch
~ U-Turn
~ Superpower
~ Pursuit
This is the supporter, he can beat Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Blissey and Celebi, all of which are major threats to Rain teams. Although most people seem to spam BP, I find myself using U-Turn more often than not, to scout around and to give my other 'mon chance to set up rain. BP is for STAB and Technician and it hurts a lot with CB. U-Turn also gets STAB and helps for scouting. Superpower is mainly for Heatran, as BP maims Tyranitar anyway. Pursuit is for Blissey etc who flees from Scizor.
Scizor brings together the few weaknesses presented by my first 5 members and stops them. He's always been great and being the only choice user in my team helps a lot too. His Fire weakness is helped out in rain too, so with his high Hp investment he may be able to survive a stray HP [Fire].
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So that's it. I've had a few tests and I'm going to carry on doing so. Any help etc would be appreciated greatly, because I really like this team and would love to improve it further.
Cheers.
*Made a few edits*
*More edits yay*
