Rain shtuff

[mood4food77]

I made a new team, after giving up my hope of making a decent Sun team (it's definitely the hardest weather to use) and an all flying team (it's really hard this gen). Definitely not my best team but it's fun to use.

Donphan @ Lum Berry
Sturdy / Impish
252 HP / 96 Atk / 160 Def
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Ice Shard
Stone Edge

I needed a lead that could set up SR and also serve as an anti-lead that has some good synergy with my team. Donphan came to mind as he also has Sturdy (so he can have a focus sash without having a focus sash). He's been pretty decent for me, oh and he can absorb sleep for my team since he's there just to set up momentum. He does his job quite well for my team.

Synergy:
Water: Politoad, Tentacruel, Kingdra, Nattorei
Grass: Nattorei, Gengar
Ice: Politoad, Tentacruel

Politoad @ Choice Scarf
Drizzle / Timid
252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Surf
Ice Beam
HP Electric
Hydro Pump

Scarftoad works surprisingly well. It hits pretty hard with his water attacks because of the rain and with a Choice Scarf added on, he becomes a fairly potent revenge killer, especially with decent neutral coverage between the 3 moves. Hydro Pump is there because of the lack of another good special move and it's pretty strong.

Synergy:
Electric: Donphan, Nattorei
Grass: Nattorei, Gengar

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Rain Dish / Calm
248 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD / 6 Spe
Toxic Spikes
Sludge Bomb
Boil Over
Mirror Coat

The EV spread is better suited for OU play as OU is physically dominant. He's great for team support and covers some of the pokes that this team has some trouble with (like Breloom and other grass Pokemon).

Synergy:
Ground: Gengar
Psychic: Nattorei

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Swift Swim / Naive
80 Atk / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Outrage
Hydro Pump

What's a rain team without Kingdra? I've used this set before to success and it still works. Straight up powerhouse in the rain. He's also my only true sweeper. I do wish sometimes that he got some other move to complete type coverage for stuff outside of hidden power but this is what I have to work with and it's still a beast.

Synergy:
Dragon: Nattorei

Nattorei @ Shed Shell
Iron Barbs / Sassy
252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Curse
Gyro Ball
Leech Seed
Spikes

He's the other supporting group for the rain. His typing is perfect for this team as he resists pretty much every type the other Pokemon are weak to. Curse makes him even bulkier than he already is, Leech Seed is a must as he isn't carrying Leftovers, Spikes are for stalling stuff, and Gyro Ball gets benefit from repeated Curses and no Pokemon are immune to it (unlike Power Whip). Great team support he gives me.

Synergy:
Fire: Politoad, Tentacruel, Kingdra
Fighting: Gengar

Gengar @ Leftovers
Levitate / Timid
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast
Thunder
Substitute

He is my spin blocker. With subsitute, he also becomes a great scout. Thunder in the rain gives him 3 moves with 120 Base Power coming off of a 130 base SpA. He's just a beast.

Synergy:
Psychic: Nattorei
Ghost: Nattorei
Dark: Nattorei

Problems with this team:
The lack of a fire move really hurts this team so I might put HP fire on Gengar or switch him for Shandera. Redundant type coverage is always a problem on Rain teams mostly because you're trying to abuse the rain and it's usually Water Pokemon who do.

I'm open for any criticism. Thank you for your time.

 

[Moozle]

Why is the lack of fire types a problem? It's power is weakened in the rain and they are going to die extra fast, so you're much better using something that can hit just as hard neutrally and isn't hurt by the rain. Maybe a fighting type like Roobushin who can deal with Nattorei would be good, since it seems like Natt is your biggest threat. Breloom could be a good option for taking care of Nattorei since it can absorb leech seed on the switch.

I'd give Gengar Substitute over Giga Drain.

 

[mood4food77]

who would i replace

and sub on a scarf set? or change it to a sub split set?

 

[Moozle]

Sorry I didn't see the scarf. I would suggest Lefties and sub instead of giga drain. I'd say all three attacks are better than pain split, but maybe im just bad at using pain split. Kingdra is kind of all the revenge killing you need.

 

[mood4food77]

i'll give it a shot and see how it goes

 

[xxmoosexx]

1. If this is on Smogon where is Manaphy?
2. If its on PO...SCARF LATI@S HELLO? Unless you reeaallly wanted that spin blockage.
3. Tentacruel is a beast and all but...he won't do as well as he does with Gates' team simply because this is OU.
4. AND Tentacruel resists Fighting. I'd find it pretty beneficial to pump some of those SpDef EV's into Def seeing as how OU leans toward the physical side.
5. Psychic, Ghost, and Dark have colors hard to see. But im all for the colorfullness. But I hear Wave is a hater so beware.

6. And if you ever feel Kingdra is all the RK'ing you need...You could turn Lati@s into a CM set with thunder.


Threats: SANDSTORM. If your fighting against another weather team I find it MOI IMPORTANTE that you change it back. Thats why I created a speedy-ish Politoed. He comes in changes the weather and hits the weather inducer with either-Boil Over-HP Fire- or Ice Beam. I scarfed him and can Revenge Kill Doryuuzu. Although it seems like Donphan can check Dory.


I will post more later if i think of more.

 

[mood4food77]

i'm about to change tentacruel's EV spread to the gen IV spread
as you can see, this is more of a stall team so i really need the spin blocking
and i think i am going to make politoad a scarfer

i'll let you know how the changes come out

okay, after these few changes, this team is about 49330284239034 times better, it's a HUGE difference from before

i'm also on PO, i'm not playing smogon until stuff becomes banned

 

[mood4food77]

what should i use over mirror coat on tentacruel, since rapid spin isn't an option

 

[Gates]

Just use Liquid Ooze and Rapid Spin. Seeders are common in OU, and so is Drain Punch Roopushin.

 

[mood4food77]

i thought about it since that's really what hurts this team

i'll give it a go and see how that does

 

[xLeafybug =D]

At a glance, Nattorei is basically responsible for keeping your entire team alive, he's needed to resist a lot of SE things that would pretty easily OHKO a lot of your team. The problem with this is that you don't really have a way of keeping him alive for extended periods, outside of Leech Seed. I don't play much of Gen V, but it really does seem like your team is heavily dependent on Nattorei.

 

[xxmoosexx]

Im not sure that Nattorei will need the extra care though. Right now I see his Nattorei's role is to setup spikes. And...well...3 layers of spikes. Tbh I'd run Twave over curse but thats just me.

I'd also like to point out that Forretress(One of the most common rapid spinners) will be able to kill gengar with a little SpDef EV's.

And the team isn't dependent on his Nattorei if it is played like it should. Nattorei should be used to setup spikes and create "passive damage" with Iron Barbs.

Politoed is there to start rain.

Donphan is a valuable electric immunity and a dragon check. (Could use Swampert here).

Tentacruel sets up some nice Tspikes and provides a check to Roopushin to an extent. Liquid Ooze and Rapid Spin would be nice. Although these things that are super effective(Electric, Grass, Ice) are all going to be outsped by a Kingdra in the rain and can be juggled between Tentacruel, Donphan, and Politoed.

Now lets think about it. Kingdra takes grass and ice for neutral damage, outspeed in the rain and kill. Politoed can come in on Ice and hit with a SE attack and can RK fairly low HP pokes. Donphan eats the Electric and threaten away with EQ and take a hit on the physical side.

Gengar is fast. I'd like to point out that he has the same spatk and speed as latios. The only difference is he doesnt have the defenses. On the offensive side Gengar basically has the same offensive potential as Latios. Gengar is going to crack open teams and abuse the ability to come in on Rapid spin, fighting moves aimed at nattorei, and ground moves that tentacruel hate to take. Gengar has many options to come in and shoot off some devastating attacks or setup his sub.

Kingdra is just godly in the rain. He isn't a late game sweeper. He isn't a pokemon used to crack open teams. HE WILL **** YOU UP IN RAIN. Your Kingdra should enjoy coming in multiple times to fire off a Hydro Pump or sweep with Outrage. AND...since he is going to recieve a swift sim boost you don't have to pump all 252 ev's into speed. You may want to throw some into attack to beef up his outrage.



So have fun with how his team would work if i was using it.

 

[mood4food77]

i think i'll put t-wave over curse, he doesn't really need the curse boosts

i might change his EV spread also

i haven't played in a few days so i can't comment on the changes

and the reason i'm using donphan is because he has priority, which really helps in some cases but i'll give swampert a try and see how he goes (he's probably a better dragon check)

 

[jreed]

id recommend kabutops w/ swiftswim for r/d top i spec em and he ***** after +1 sd (aka +2) with life orb

 

[Terywj [태리]]

You can't actually use this team on Smogon, can you? Drizzle // Swift Swim shenanigans?

Also, you could always run...Psychic...on Politoed...

 

[ss118]

Run Perish Song for last-pokemon shenanigans, as well as for forcing out those obnoxious Magic Guard pokemon.

You should run Sub, Protect, Seed, Gyro Ball Nattorei. Not even kidding; it keeps it alive for a ridiculous amount of time in combination with the rain.