I've wanted to try Rainless Water in Gen 9 Monotype, and HOME being released means Rainless Water has some new toys to use. The team has done pretty well so far, though I'm curious if I should adjust movesets and EVs. Here is the Pokepaste for an importable version of the team.
Basculegion-F
Basculegion-F (F) @ Metronome
Ability: Adaptability
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Surf
- Shadow Ball
- Ice Beam
I built the team around Basculegion-F since I wanted to try it not only because of Adaptability, but having a Ghost typing lets Basculegion be a spinblocker to prevent teams from using Rapid Spin to remove hazards. Substitute + Metronome Basculegion-F is useful vs Pokemon such as Toxapex, Corviknight, and Forretress, as Substitute can let Baculegion take advantage of the mentioned Pokemon not doing much, allowing Basculegion to spam a STAB move multiple turns, with the moves becoming more dangerous thanks to the Metronome + Adaptability boosts. Ice Beam is used for coverage against Pokemon such as Dragonite, Hydreigon, and Amoonguss.
Samurott-Hisui
Samurott-Hisui @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Knock Off
- Aqua Cutter
- Sacred Sword
Samurott-H is a nice Choice Scarf user due to its Ability to setup Spikes that can't be bounced back. Basculegion and Samurott-H work well with each other, with Basculegion being able to block Rapid Spin to remove the Spikes set by Ceasless Edge. Knock Off is used alongside Ceasless Edge for the Ability to remove items from opposing Pokemon, and being able to remove Heavy-Duty Boots from grounded Pokemon works nice with Ceaseless Edge. Sacred Sword is used for Dark-types such as Kingambit, Chien-Pao, and opposing Hisuian Samurott.
Greninja
Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Extrasensory
- Grass Knot
I chose Greninja since I wanted a fast wallbreaker that has immediate breaking power. Double Water/Dark might sound pointless, but it actually works since Greninja has Protean, which is useful for the Dragon- and Poison-matchup. The moves are the standard moves used on Specs Greninja on Water. Grass Knot is nice for handling Ting-Lu due to how heavy it is. Grass Knot is also useful for Quagsire.
Toxapex
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Recover
- Haze
- Toxic
Toxapex is a fantastic defensive Pokemon due to its typing and Ability Regenerator. I decided to make Toxapex specially defensive since I wanted a specially defensive Pokemon since my Water/Ground is physically defensive. Sludge Bomb lets Toxapex deal chip damage and potentially poison Hatterene. Haze and Toxic are really nice for punishing setup sweepers trying to setup and discourages Pokemon from staying in.
Quagsire
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Recover
Quagsire is my Electric immunity due to its Ability Unaware to blank physical wallbreakers as well as being able to use Toxic to poison Pokemon in order to wear them down. With Samurott-H using Ceaseless Edge, I was able to drop Spikes in order to use Stealth Rock, a hazard that is useful for non-grounded Pokemon.
Quaquaval
Quaquaval @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 60 Def / 164 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Aqua Step
- Rapid Spin
- Roost
Quaquaval is here since it is Water's form of hazard removal. Quaquaval can potentially snowball through teams late-game with speed boosts and Moxie boosts. Quaquaval is quite useful in the Dark matchup. Heavy-Duty Boots are used since not being chipped by hazards is really important since Quaquaval prefers to be as healthy as possible to clear away hazards using Rapid Spin. The EV spread is the standard spread from Smogon, meaning that Quaquaval outspeeds Chien-Pao and non Choice Scarf Flutter Mane after a Aqua Step/Rapid Spin speed boost in addition to being able to OHKO Flutter Mane with Aqua Step after one Moxie boost.
Possible Issue/Concerns:
I find myself rarely, if ever, clicking Ice Beam on Basculegion-F. I'm considering changing Ice Beam to Agility to outspeed faster Pokemon as well as investing some HP EVs to Basculegion-F if I decide to use Agility. Should I make those changes on Basculegion-F? If so, why?
Is using Specially Defensive Toxapex the way to go for this team? It checks special wallbreakers pretty well, but should I change it to Physically Defensive and change Quagsire to Gastrodon. I'd also like an opinion on wheter I should use Sludge Bomb or Poison Jab on Toxapex to deal chip damage.
Electric teams are quite a pain to deal with since this isn't a Rain Water team. I usually end up having to keep Quagsire around for Regieleki in order to have a chance. Is there something that can be done differently, or is that just one of the tough matchups Rainless Water teams have? On the topic of tough matchups, Fairy teams can screw me over due to half of my team being weak to Fairy moves, with the other half being weak to coverage moves that can beat them. Is there a way to reliably win the Fairy matchup, or is it another tough matchup?
That's all for now. Looking forward to improving this team since I really enjoy using it. Thanks for reading!
