That rain team. [OU]

Question

Because if tiers were channels, OU would only ever tell you about the weather. With this team, however, I wanted to use 2 slightly less seen rain Pokemon: Volcarona and Rotom-C. Both have really great typing (even if one has a x4 Stealth Rock weakness), and are rather unexpected on rain teams, though Volcarona is seeing more use with 100% accurate Hurrcaine as a nice sun counter. With Gen VI looming ever closer, I'm going to miss Gen V... the last 2D Gen. Remember when EVs didn't even exist? Good times.

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Preview

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Synergy & type coverage

Omg full steel resistance (omg who cares).

NB: Rotom-C has a ground immunity in Levitate.

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Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Def, 4 Sp. Atk
Nature: Bold
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic

Winning the award for unoriginality, I went for the standard bulky set on Politoed, mainly because I need to face Sand and Sun threats in OU, in addition to Hurricane and Thunder's accuracy reduction in the other weathers, so keeping my weather starter from fainting is top priority.

Perish Song is great for forcing stat stallers to switch, essentially phasing without Roar or Haze. Scald for some burnhax and attack drop, Toxic for some status stalling, and Protect is self-explanatory. Scald is preferred over Surf simply for that burn chance. I mean, there's a rain boost anyway, so Scald is already doing more damage than it usually is. I also invested EVs into Sp. Def mainly to deal with any non-STAB grass users, like Ninetales and Solarbeam, in addition for Politoed being able to wall fire moves better, since I have 2 fire weaknesses in the team.

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Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP, 160 Atk, 96 Speed
Nature: Jolly
- Meteor Mash
- Substitute
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave

Jirachi can now have Meteor Mash, and therefore a 40% chance of raising its attack. #froths@the mouth

Having only 2 moves that are both steel is not as stupid as it might first appear. While Steel is resisted by a lot of things, there's nothing immune to Steel. The plan with Jirachi is also to stay in and just Meteor Mash-it-up until attack is boosted and STAB Iron Head will do more damage than usual. That's also why there's EV investment in attack for Jirachi, just to let it get past its STAB steel being resisted. The 96 Speed EVs also allow me to outspeed Breloom, so it can't set up Spore on me. Thunder Wave to hit Ghost types, and also because Body Slam was not an option due to being incompatible with Meteor Mash.

There's this rather nagging feeling that Jirachi might be raised into Ubers because of Meteor Mash...

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Volcarona @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Nature: Timid
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Fiery Dance
- Hurricane

Moths like it when it's raining and damp. Right?

Hurricane is the main star of the rain Volcarona set, getting 100% accuracy in the rain and Quiver Dance boost. No Bug Buzz for Volcarona, because Giga Drain is needed to deal with rock types like Terrakion, or any Gastrodon/ Swampert switch ins. Timid Volcarona can also outspeed Scarfed Terrakion after 1 Quiver Dance. Fiery Dance is there to clean up any Sun Chlorophyll sweepers that might be straggling. It's pretty helpful to have a STAB fire move even in rain, mainly to clean up steel types that think you're carrying Bug Buzz/Giga Drain/Hurricane. I'm also not too worried about losing Bug Buzz to Giga Drain, simply because bug is only x2 against Psychic and Dark, so I might as well use Hurricane on most Psychic/ Dark types, with the added confusion chance.

There are better Hurricane users out there, notably Tornadus and Dragonite who both get STAB from it, but I just feel that Volcarona gives a lot of coverage in just three moves, especially its Fire coverage, which a lot of rain teams lack, simply because people think there's no point in having a fire move on a rain team (but really, there is).

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(cont. below)

Comments

That 6 Steel resists.

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Meteor Mash :D Cool!!

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BTW, there is no way that Timid Volcarona can outspeed a Jolly Scarfed Terrakion, since they are both at +1, meaning that Terrakion's base 108 Speed will outspeed Volcarona's Base 100 Speed

#StoneEdge4days

Poke'slash: Edited this post because editing is fun when you do it for no reason :P

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Volcaron will outspeed Terrakion's if it's running Adamant instead of Jolly. Basically dumb luck. |D

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Try this spread for Politoed;
EVs: 204 HP / 240 Def / 64 SDef
It gives slight investment into SDef, while still giving you 62 HP into Lefties recovery, and the rest into Def, to fulfill the role of a 'Defensive Politoed'.

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Blissey walls a good majority of the team. Try a strong Fighting move / type on the team.

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Actually Jirachi can more than handle Blissey & Chansey. O:

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Rachi gets 101 HP Subs, so it's fine, seeing it can get a free turn to Meteor Smash/Iron Flinch the Pink Blobs :P

Answer 1

(cont.)

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP, 180 Def, 76 Sp. Def
Nature: Bold
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Scald

Classic Tentacruel support set. Protect helps with the Rain Dish Black Sludge combo stall; Knock off is great when dealing with walls like Blissey/ Chansey/ Vaporeon; Scald for some physical walling; finally some spin support, esp. for Volcarona who has a double rock weakness.

I debated with which spinner I should use, going through ones like Starmie and Donphan. Starmie has the benefit of being really fast, having a reliable recovery move and Psyshock to get rid of Gengar, but it's also pretty frail. Then there's Donphan who gives an electric immunity and massive def stat, but it's got another grass weakness and an abysmal sp. def stat. Sturdy is also negated if it switches it on any hazards, and Donphan is so easy to KO with a special move. I also have 2 electric resistances in Rotom-C and Ferrothorn, so meh. I thought about Claydol as well, but apart from providing an electric immunity and spike immunity, it's pretty slow and has a water weakness as well, so it's not a good option for facing another rain team.

Tentacruel is probably one of the best spinners, considering that it just absorbs Toxic Spikes before doing any spinning. It also has the really nice Rain Dish ability for Rain teams, though I did consider Clear Body in order to have no stat reductions (like sp. def reduction from Psychic). Poison typing also means that Grass is x1, so Politoed is the only grass weakness on my rain team (which is a really significant achievement). Its EV spread is just to allow it to wall some physical Fighting moves, and a slight sp. def investment to take a grass hit or two if necessary. What can I say? Tentacruel is just good solid team support.

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Rotom-C @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
Nature: Modest
- Trick
- Leaf Storm
- Thunder
- Volt Switch

I got lazy trying to find a decent picture of Rotom-C by itself. Wtv.

Anyway, Rotom-C is the other star sweeper of the team, next to Volcarona. Rotom-C has a really nice typing, with Flying and Ground being x1 (if affected by Mold Breaker), and Electric is now x1/4, meaning it's a electric absorber for Politoed and Tentacruel. Ferrothorn acts as an electric wall as well, but it's nice to have Rotom-C since it can pack a punch too.

This the pretty much the typical Trick Rotom set, Volt Switch to scout & escape, Trick to mess up a moveset, Thunder for 100% STAB in rain, and Leaf Storm is its Mow form STAB. Leaf Storm is also great when dealing with rain team counters like Gastrodon, who is ever so common on Sun and especially Sand teams for its typing and Storm Drain ability.

Usually when something like Ninetales or Hippowdon is out, I'll send out Rotom-C first and Volt Switch on Ninetales & escape to Politoed, or Leaf Storm Hippowdon for a quick OHKO (tested it out Leaf Storm will OHKO a Hippowdon, but not sure about T-Tar). Rotom-C is also adept at dealing with Breloom, since it'll Trick it and basically set it on Spore (as most Breloom users will first do), meaning I get a free switch in with Sleep Clause, but most likely Rotom-C will be asleep for the rest of the match.

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Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
AbilityIron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP, 68 Def, 188 Sp. Def
Nature: Sassy
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Spikes

Because nothing says OU like Ferrothorn. Complete taunt fodder set, but if Ferrothorn was Taunted, I'd just switch out. It's there to competently wall, not do anything else. I was thinking of using this set in-game with N's Ferroseed, but then realised Spikes needed to be bred onto a Ferroseed. :I

Ferrothorn's also my full hazard setter with Rocks, Spikes & Leech Seed, as well as hit absorber, especially with Outrage users like Haxorus. Sp. Def investment to survive Fire Blast. I tested it out, and Ferothorn survived Fire Blast from Heatran in the rain (I don't know what set the Heatran was running though), which let it set up some Leech Seed and switch to Politoed for some healing. All in all, Ferrothorn is good value in the rain, due to its resistances and decreased fire power.

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Replays

http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/oucurrent-46970731 - Volcarona doing some sweeping
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/oucurrent-46973066 - Jirachi paraflinching and dealing with Baton Passers
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/oucurrent-47085035 - Rotom-C sweep

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Importable copy

Politoed (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 Sp. Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Substitute
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave

Volcarona (F) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Fiery Dance
- Hurricane

Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Trick
- Leaf Storm
- Thunder
- Volt Switch

Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 180 Def / 252 HP / 76 SDef
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Scald

Ferrothorn (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 68 Def / 252 HP / 188 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Spikes

Comments

that tentacruel set looks really good, I'm suprised at no Ice Beam

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I don't run Ice Beam... o_o

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And that is pretty much standard except Knock Off > Toxic

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I never run Ice Beam on Tenta, just because Knock Off is more useful. Politoed's already got Toxic as well.

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I never really saw much use in Knock Off. It pretty much wastes a turn that could be used with Ice Beam. No Eviolite Users except the viable Chansey, Choice Scarf/Specs/Band removal only hinders you more. Lefties removal is the only thing you get out of it, but most Lefties Pokes already hurt Tentacruel enough to get it near KO range. It's better used on bulkier Pokes.