Scouting in the rain

S

Shadow Scyther

pkeboch pls
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SCOUTING IN THE RAIN​

by:shadow_scyther​



Hi Pokebeach once again ^_^. I present you my most successful team yet. It has got me to around 1200-1300 points on most servers. Like most of my teams it features weather. This time it is my all time favourite - offensive Rain featuring Politoed and co. You will see some typical OU Pokemon and sets but also some underrated Pokemon from the depths of UU and twists with movesets. I hope you enjoy reading this RMT and hopefully help me make it even better. If you read it please write a sentence or two to help me improve it. Thanks in advance.



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Politoed (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SAtk / 28 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

A good rain team starts with Politoed. Before I made this set I experimented with lots of different sets on lots of my rain teams. First I tried the Scald defensive Toed which is good but not for this type of team. Scarf version seems really mediocre to me, sure the extra speed is nice but it really wasn't that powerful especially when you're locked in a coverage move and it lacks the bulk. I tried the standard Specs Toed which worked fine but like the Scarf version it lacks the bulk so I shifted the speed Evs into HP. I left 28 EVs to outspeed the standard Skarmory. Hydro Pump is obviously the main attack here. It is amazing how powerful this thing is. It OHKOs bulky +1 Volcarona, sp.defensive Scizor, Skarmory, +1 Reuniclus and many other Pokemon my team has problems with. It also dents things like Celebi and Ferrothorn doing about 50% and 45% respectively. Ice Beam is my main coverage move to hit Grass and Dragon Pokemon. Focus Blast is there mainly for Ferrothorn who already can't switch into Hydro Pump if it has taken prior damage because two Hydro Pumps kills it. Hidden Power Grass is there only for Gastrodoon (who is falling rapidly in usage) and Jellicent (who takes it like a boss). It is better to get locked into Hydro Pump when other water types switch in because lots of them have a secondary typing like Ground and others take almost the same damage as supper effective HP Grass. I am currently thinking switching either Focus Blast or HP Grass for Psychic to beat Toxicroak who gives my team troubles.

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Virizion @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs:4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge

Virizion is here to replace Celebi because the Chansey/Blissey weakness was just too big. I tried Breloom but that thing can't switch into Water attacks in the rain and it doesn't have room for Swords Dance. It is a very anti metagame Pokemon and can hit most members of Rain and Sand teams for super effective damage. Its has everything it needs in its two STABs and Stone Edge. Stone Miss takes care of Pokemon that otherwise wall it like DNite or Volcarona. It is great Sp.Def makes switching into Electric and Water type moves easy something Breloom can't brag about. With replacing Celebi I lose Stealth Rocks so any suggestions on something that can bring those to the field will be good. I still use Ferro over it sometimes.

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Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch

The classic Choice Band Scizor is chosen to be be the my first scouter. His amazing typing provides useful resistances and only one weakness which is halved in rain. Pretty straightforward tactic - spam U-turn or Bullet Punch depending on the opponent. Pursuit is to trap stuff like Latios which is very important because I don't like taking Specs. Draco Meteors and nothing can really OHKO it. Quick Attack is an interesting option and I switched it for Superpower to take better care of Volcarona and Thundurus (which is banned now). It is still useful every now and then so I am keeping it for now. Because I don't run Superpower there is no need to speed tie with other Scizor so last 8 EVs went into Sp.Def. 248 HP makes a magic Stealth Rock number and full Attack investment is to hit as hard as possible. Considering switching some of the HP EVs to Sp.Def to take special hits better. Help is appreciated.

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Jolteon (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Thunder

My favourite Pokemon on this team and my second choiced scouter. At first this spot was taken by Scarf Rorom-W. Why I choosed Jolteon: Specs. Jolteon is faster than Scarf Rotom-W, Jolteon is immune to Electric attacks unlike Rotom-W and the raw power of specs Thunder which Rotom can't find a moveslot for. Someone may say that Rotom-W is bulkier. It sure is on the physical side but Rotom can only invest 12 HP EVs in HP because it needs the Sp.Atk EVs to damage something (because it is scarf) and the Speed EVs to be faster than +1 Dragonite so that bulk isn't really worth it. Volt Switch is for scouting and doing some decent damage. Thunder for clean up or if I need to eliminate something that poses a threat. HP Ice for unresisted coverage and Shadow Ball is there for some specific things (remember that resisted Thunder is more powerful than normal Shadow Ball).

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Tornadus (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- U-turn
- Substitute
- Hammer Arm
- Hurricane

My sweeper/scouter Tornadus. It replaced his bro Thundursu when it got banned. And to tell you the big bro from Ubers can be proud. Its ability Prankster doesn't do anything on this set but Tornadus with its Expert Belt sure does prank others in thinking that it runs Specs/Scarf. I run a mixed set with Hammer Arm over Focus Blast because I hate Blissey that much. Hurricane is to Stolen everything in its path and to get a confusion every now and then. U-Turn is for scouting and HP Ice is to get rid of the Dragons more effectively but I am considering replacing it for something better.

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Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Water Pulse
- Thunder

Last but not least, the finisher of my team, Jirachi. I send it when I know nothing else can touch it or I see something that can't touch its Subs. EVs are standard, max speed to speed tie with positive base 100 and max HP to make those giant 101HP Subs so Blissey can't break it. Water Pulse and Thunder have great sinergy together and they work perfectly in rain and with Seren Grace to make the infamous ParaFusion combo to hax the opponent to death. The rain also halves its Fire weakness and makes it week only to Ground moves which Tornadus takes care of.

THE FINAL LOOK:

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I want to thank everybody on Pokebeach for providing a healthy community in which I can develop my competitive battling skills. Special thanks to dragonexpert who got me into competitive battling, Pokebeach and Team Dimensional. Also I dedicate this RMT to Shadow Lugia and his recent promotion to moderator. And sorry for my bad English.
 
shadow_scyther said:
Also I dedicate this RMT to ShadowLugia and his recent promotion to moderator.
Click to expand...

Wow, thank you so much for that! I've never had something dedicated to me before. :p

So, on to the rate. To be honest, it really took me a while to find any problems with this team. Although this is a Rain, team, you face some competition from two common sand sweepers, Landorus and Terrakion. Even though Tornadus and Jolteon can outspeed, Scarfed versions can do damage to most of your teams, thanks to decent bulk and nearly perfect coverage. Since most of your team is specially oriented, I see some problems with Blissey and Reuniclus, both incredible special walls. To deal with the aforementioned Scarf users, Slowbro makes a decent counter, although you should be weary of U-turn and Landbro. Gliscor also walls them quite well, and can easily take care of Blissey, and even Reuniclus if a more offensive set is used, like SubAcrobatic. Your team has great synergy, so what to replace for these additions is something I'm having trouble with. Test them out yourself and see what you think. And you could post a threatlist if you feel it necessary. Again, awesome team man, and thanks for the shout-out!
 
I'll take your advice and test Taunt Skarmory (who walls Landorus, Terrakion and stops Blissey) but I am still thinking what to replace. Reuniclus is easily handled by Scizor.

Anyone else want to rate. Please :)
 
Your team looks a bit similar to mine, with Jolteon and Raikou, Celebi and Ferrothorn (my Skarmory), Tornadus and Latios (Utility) and such. I also think your team could benefit from a Skarmory, Taunt or whatnot. I will give you the benefit of the doubt though, as I can't find anything to take off. Maybe Celebi, but that's a stretch.

And given the outlook of your team, with Tornadus the only one who can take Toxicroak one-on-one, if it can, I think you can lose HP Grass for Psychic on Politoed. Gastrodon doesn't see much play anymore, and you have Celebi for it (Ice Beam...?). Jellicent is an easy handle by Jolteon, and Quagsire takes the same fall as Gastrodon. Toxicroak is seeming to be a more constant switch-in to Rain Teams (Psychic can also take Virizion for a bit if it switches in, the only move in Politoed's set that can take both of them for supereffective).

Other than that, I don't see any fixes. This is just as solid a team as my own, and I love the way you make Pokemon from the lower tiers shine. I tried with Registeel, but you do it better. Raikou is my only success.

~AoH
 
a very solid team, I'd say. but i think maybe too many choice items.perhaps. the opponent could switch out into something that resists it ( or use it to their advantage)so maybe life orbs? and yes for the giga drain question. that will kepp celebi healthy during its work. I like the jirachi idea, its very amusing but it works well. overall very strong balanced team. I give it 9/10. good work!
 
None of the Pokemon that are choiced really want to sweep do they? They appear to be a core of scouters and an amped-up lead. Politoed rarely stays in on Rain teams for more than a turn or two just to set Rain up, and Scizor and Jolteon are scouters that can pick off when they need to. All of them are hit-and-run-esque, so they need the power and survivability. They don't look like the types to switch attacks. (After all, a SD Scizor w/ LO seems a bit detrimental to the team as a whole.)

Am I on any path with this team of yours's strategy, s_s?

~AoH
 
Yes AoH Jolteon and Scizor aren't meant to sweep. They are scouters and most times they use U-Turn/Volt Switch. But Toonnee's advice is ok because 3 choice users is a bit to much, but it doesn't hurt the team if I predict good.

AoH I tried Skarmory and it is good but without Celebi or Virizion (I've been testing it and it works well) I only have one water resist (Politoed) and one electric resist (Jolteon). I've been thinking of replacing HP Ice with Substitute on Tornadus to take better care of Toxicroak because I doubt it can survive +2 Sucker Punch.
 
The team looks amazing. I think to handle your Blissey problem you could put Superpower on Scizor in replace with Quick Attack. Superpower is also a great move just because of the sheer power it has, especially on a Choice Band Scizor. On Celebi, the giga drain you mentioned sounds like a good idea because Leaf Storm will cripple it and because you already have a great revenge killer on your team. The Thunder Wave on Celebi sounds nice, but if you get rid of Leaf storm for Giga Drain Celebi will be lacking attack ability. You might want to make it defensive if you do that and give it all support moves. Other than that, it looks great.
 
I support your switch to SD Virizion and Sub on Tornadus... but where are your entry hazards? Celebi had SR, but that's it.

~AoH
 
I really don't know what to replace to get entry hazards. The team works very good now but Steath Roxks would be good considering half my team uses scouting moves. I could try to fit Stealth Rocks on Jirachi but it wouldn't work the same. Also I was thinking of putting Dnite somewhere on the team (not that Hurricane/Thunder one but DD, Dragon Claw, Aqua Tail)
 
Still an awesome team, through and through. I honestly can't find anything it's too susceptible against, but I'd like to mention that your Tornadus set is very unique. You could replace Hurricane with Acrobatics (along with flying gem), but it's up to you. If you want, I can make a deeper analysis later.

Shadow Scyther Strong
 
Thanks man. I would love a deeper analysis if you have time for it. Arcrobatics is nice but Hurricane is the reason why I am using Tornadus.

And guys what do you feel about this changes:

-Psychic on Politoed over Focus Miss or HP Grass

- Virizion is ok I guess

-Superpower on Scizor over Pursuit or Quick Attack

-Focus Miss over Hammer Arm (now that I have Virizion Blissey isn't that much of a problem and TTar still gets damaged by Focus Blast hard and U-Turn deals good damage)

-Life Orb or some other item on Jolteon

-Fitting Stealth Rocks on Jirachi and if I do that I need to rework the set a bit. Also thinking of replacing it with DNite because now teams are better prepared for Jirachi.

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I think the set you're using for Politoed is fine, even though focus miss isn't always reliable. I'd keep Quick Attack on Scizor; it's an interesting move that can hit some things Bullet Punch can't, at least neutrally. I'd keep Hammer arm on Tornadus as well, I enjoy the surprise factor and always being able to hit some incoming special walls is always appreciated. Specs or Life Orb Jolteon is pretty much preference; it depends how much flexibility you want on of your fastest Pokemon. As for Dnite, you're probably wanting to go with a sub-roost set of some type, if you do decide to replace Jirachi, who is the only one I could see utilizing Stealth Rocks.
 
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