Pokémon Rate My Team
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Primarina @Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: HP: 252 / Sp.Atk: 252 / Sp.Def: 4
Modest Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Moonblast
-Psychic
-Ice Beam
Normally Primarina is outclassed by Tapu Fini in Gen 7, but Primarina does have a much higher Sp.Atk than Tapu Fini does, so I went with a Choice Specs set to fully make use of it. Hydro Pump and Moonblast are of course STAB, then I have Psychic for Poison types and Ice Beam for Grass types.

Pelipper @Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: HP: 248 / Def: 252 / Sp.Def: 8
Relaxed Nature
-Scald
-U Turn
-Defog
-Roost
To further help Primarina get KOs, I decided to go with a rain team, and thus, I added Pelipper. Scald is reliable and can get annoying burns, U Turn let's me pivot into my attackers, Defog removes Hazards, and Roost keeps Pelipper alive.

Xurkitree @Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: Sp.Atk: 252 / Sp.Def: 4 / Spd: 252
Timid Nature
-Thunder
-Energy Ball
-Hidden Power (Ice)
-Volt Switch
I was looking at OU Electric types to add to the team, but then I noticed Xurkitree. I tested it and it performed well, so I chose it as my Electric attacker of the team. Thunder over Thunderbolt because of rain, Energy Ball and HP Ice handle Ground types, and Volt Switch is to pivot.

Garchomp @Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: HP: 252 / Sp.Def 4 / Spd: 252
Jolly Nature
-Earthquake
-Dragon Tail
-Toxic
-Stealth Rock
Garchomp's place on the team is to punish pivoting and add some Hazards, with Skin and Helmet dealing a nice chunk to U Turn users, and completely stopping Volt Switch. Earthquake is the main damage source, Dragon Tail racks up Rocks damage and stops non Fairy set up sweepers. Rocks are Rocks, and Toxic also helps with set up sweepers.

Jirachi @Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: HP: 248 / Sp.Def: 188 / Spd: 72
Careful Nature
-Wish
-U Turn
-Iron Head
-Protect
With a decent amount of bulky pokemon, Wish Jirachi seemed like a nice slot in to keep them alive. Wish let's me heal any of my pokemon, and U Turn helps me get into them safely. Iron Head can get annoying Flinchs, and Protect let's Jirachi get more Leftovers recovery and heal up from its own Wishes.

Mega Gyarados @Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: Atk: 252 / Sp.Def: 4 / Spd: 252
Jolly Nature
-Waterfall
-Crunch
-Substitute
-Dragon Dance
I was thinking of adding Mega Swampert at first, but when I looked at my team, I decided Mega Gyarados would fit better. Waterfall and Crunch are STAB, Substitute can help Gyarados stay safe while setting up, and Dragon Dance let's Gyarados set up. I am Considering running Earthquake aswell, probably over Crunch or Sub.

Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/8fbd1641253f9273

by
edited by
What is this team trying to be? What's the gameplan of this team? I think you should decide on what that is before you start building.
This team has Pelipper but most of the other pokemon on this team don't benefit that much from having rain. Basically, I will make this into more of a dedicated rain team with my changes.
1. I think Mega Swampert is way better than Mega Gyarados here because of its Swift Swim ability and devastating power under rain.
2. I'd replace Xurkitree with Tail Glow + Rest Manaphy here. It's really deadly against slower defensive teams because it can boost up with Tail Glow to break walls and heal up to full in one turn with Rest under rain.
3. I'd run Stealth Rock/Iron Head/U-Turn/Healing Wish on Jirachi here. This is more suited to an offensive team. It brings in pokemon with slow U-Turn, checks threatening fairy and psychic types and can give your Mega Swampert another chance to sweep after being weakened early on.
4. Lastly, I'd replace Garchomp with bulky Tornadus-Therian. Torn keeps off rocks, can bring in other pokemon with U-Turn and along with Ferrothorn it gives the team a solid defensive backbone to fall back upon.
I will post a full RMT later.
Pokepaste with my proposed changes: https://pokepast.es/76d09f78989e6b76
I did try to make this a Rain team, but ig I didn't pick the correct pokemon for doing it.

2 Answers

2 votes
 
Best answer

What is this team trying to be? What's the gameplan of this team? I think you should decide on what that is before you start building. This team just seems all over the place, the pokemon on it don't really synergise at all.
This team has Pelipper but most of the other pokemon on this team don't benefit that much from having rain. Pelipper is really weak on its own and you can't justify having it on your team unless you have strong rain abusers like Swampert and Manaphy. Basically, I will make this into more of a dedicated rain team with my changes.

List of changes
1. Mega Swampert is way better than Mega Gyarados here because of its Swift Swim ability and devastating power under rain.
2. Replaced Xurkitree with Tail Glow + Rest Manaphy here. It's really deadly against slower defensive teams because it can boost up with Tail Glow to break walls and heal up to full in one turn with Rest under rain.
3. Jirachi moveset changed to Stealth Rock/Iron Head/U-Turn/Healing Wish. This is more suited to an offensive team. It brings in pokemon with slow U-Turn, checks threatening fairy and psychic types and can give your Mega Swampert another chance to sweep after being weakened early on.
4. Garchomp replaced with bulky Tornadus-Therian. Torn keeps off rocks, can bring in other pokemon with U-Turn and along with Ferrothorn it gives the team a solid defensive backbone to fall back upon.
Pokepaste with my proposed changes: https://pokepast.es/76d09f78989e6b76

ago by
selected ago by
–3 votes

Imo this team is very lackluster. Not to mention, Primarina actually has a very bad set here as well. (Something I personally wouldn't run.) There can be some pretty good synergy going on here, but it really depends on being able to spot niches.

I already said it, but I might as well say it again: my biggest issue is the Primarina set. It's not uncommon/unusual to run Primarina with specs, but Primarina does not have enough utility to actually utilize the choice specs as efficiently as other Pokemon. Recently, they introduced the Metronome held item. You can use that to your advantage instead of choice specs. Primarina also has access to echoed voice which increases in base power the more you use it. See where I'm going? Pair this with metronome and you get double base power boosts, and just after two echoed voices your echoed voices will have 100+ base power without stab. By the third or fourth, 200 power without stab, with stab is 400. Now imagine that in rain where water types get boosted. Primarina is also definitely not outclassed by Tapu Fini, Primarina can get much stronger as the battle progresses while Tapu Fini does not have the same wall breaking power Primarina has. Just for reference, I was able to take out a ferrothorn, toxapex, and hydrapple with an echoed voice while hiding behind a substitute. Chansey and Blissey were a bit more difficult, but not impossible with enough Calm Mind setups. Mind you, Ferro, Hydrapple, and Toxa all resist water type moves. I would usually run Echoed Voice, Draining Kiss, Calm Mind, and Substitute, but in your case Calm Mind and Draining Kiss are replaceable. Substitute is also replaceable, but when you're a tanky Pokemon who is gradually building up power with Echoed Voice, it's suggested. Draining Kiss also benefits from the Metronome which allows for more recovery and more damage, thus why I used Draining Kiss. Substitutes were never an issue whenever I had draining Kiss, but you're free to decide. I often ran this with Trick Room instead of rain, but you're free to choose, again. The priority lies in what you want to center your teams around. I build off balanced teams all the time because I refuse to use weather based or terrain based teams, Trick Room was a one time exception when I got too bored. Also because I only like using teams which include Pokemon I like, not too much of a meta slave. I often ran Primarina as a damage sponge to better balance my team. (Never rlly worked out tbf, it only ever hard countered rain teams.)

Gyarados was an optimal choice, but you would want to use Swampert in a rain team. Especially since you're considering to run EQuake.

Other answer also suggested a better Jirachi set, their answer was great.

Xurkitree can also definitely be better, look at the other answer for that better set. There are also better swap outs if you wouldn't prefer that.

Garchomp is... an odd pick. You can also go through the safe route with Tornadus, but I personally had a blast using odd sets in rain. Never favored rain teams, but I did once pair Goodra with Archaludon. The priority was to make Archaludon a sweeper, but it was never fast enough to steal kills and just two strong fighting type moves took it out. Then came Goodra, whom I originally used as a rain setter, who clutched. With Hydration and EXTREME special bulk, I was able to spam rest and wake up the next turn without taking much damage. You can pair this with Sludge Wave, thunder, and draco meteor and you've got yourself a decent damage dealer with extreme tank capabilities. If you'd rather it be some kind of stall Mon, that always works too. Toxic, protect, and another move of choice is great. I personally ran Sludge Wave cause I often played Nat Dex and Tapu Lele is an extremely common Pokemon within that format. Goodra was able to tank about a good three moonblasts before being taken out by a specs lele, but that leaves you with two free turns to deal damage and spam rest.

ago by
This is a Gen 7 OU team, half the things mentioned in this answer are straight up irrelevant. Also Metronome + Echoed Voice has no immediate power, so it's a much worse breaking tool than Specs
I think you should have a better understanding of top level play before giving advice, anecdotes about how you won ladder games with this niche set are fine but you're ignoring the standard sets for Primarina completely while telling someone their team is bad.
The Primarina set you gave is not good at all in gen 7 OU against halfway competent players. It requires 3 turns of setup to be an offensive threat- which is almost impossible to get in gen 7 OU. Tapu Fini can also do most of the same stuff as this SubCM Primarina set with Taunt/Calm Mind/Scald/Moonblast while also having some defensive utility.
I've experimented wih Primarina a lot in gen 7 OU and one its biggest flaws is that most Primarina teams would just be better off running either Tapu Fini or Ash-Greninja.