Doubles Rain Team: Please Rate and Review!

[Apollo77]

Doubles Rain Team

I put this team together for a tourney I joined, and wanted to get some feedback on it before I started to train it. I’m looking for a team with all-around good synergy with each other that can use each other’s abilities to do the most damage to the opponent. So, here goes! (Note, this isn’t for any specific tier, but the only rules are no Arceus and only 2 legendaries on a team.)

Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 Sp. Def
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Toxic
- Encore
- Protect

For almost any great rain team, you need a permanent rain inducer. Unfortunately, I do not have any means to get a Kyogre in the near future, so my only other option is Politoed. Politoed is more than enough to fill this role on my team though, for it has decent bulk that can keep the rain in play for my team to use.

To prolong the rain for as long as possible, I’m using a very defensive set here. Surf is its main form of attack, since it’s boosted by STAB and the rain. Toxic is to stall out other bulky waters like Vaporeon and to do some damage while trying to keep Politoed alive. Encore is to stop any boosting sweepers from setting up, for they could pose a big threat to Politoed if left unchecked. Lastly, Protect is to scout out opponents’ moves and keep Politoed alive, ensuring that rain will come down for another turn.

Ludicolo @ Absorb Bulb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk/4 Def/252 Speed
Nature: Modest (+Sp. Atk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Energy Ball Changed to Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast

Swift Swim sweepers are ever-popular on offensive rain teams, and I felt that had to include at least one. Ludicolo has always been one of my favorite Pokémon, and it makes a perfect sweeper to make use of Politoed.

I gave Ludicolo four strong attacking moves to provide the most coverage, as I never know what Pokémon my opponent will send out as a lead. Thanks to Swift Swim and its Speed EVs, I’m almost sure Ludicolo will strike first and eradicate threats before they can do any damage. I also gave it an Absorb Bulb to give it a Sp. Atk boost from Politoed’s Surf, assuring it has the power to take out glass cannons with one hit.

Scizor (changed from Gyarados) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Speed
Nature: Admant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Brick Break
- Pursuit

I changed this to Scizor because Gyarados's Earthquake was too unusable when I had Volcarona, Toxicroak, or a damaged Raikou out with it. Scizor's moveset too can take down a variety of types, and has amazing power in a priority move that can function exactly how I need it to.

Choice Band gives this thing amazing power, and with STAB and Technician boosted Bullet Punch I don't have to worry about not hitting first. U-Turn works great in tandem with Rotom's Volt Switch and provides a good escape from switching into a bad matchup. The other two moves are for coverage, with Brick Break grat for taking down Blissey and Pursuit good for catching runaway Gengars and the like.

Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Speed
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
- Fake Out Changed to Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Substitute

Toxicroak doesn’t exactly have the best defensive stats, so it may a bit odd to see as a bulky attacker. But with tons of healing every turn from up to three different sources, I think it’ll work pretty well.

To make up for Toxicroak’s weak defenses, it needs to heal quite a bit to remain on the battlefield for a while. With Dry Skin as its ability, Black Sludge as its item, and Drain Punch as its primary STAB move, it definitely has enough opportunities to do so. Fake Out and Sucker Punch are useful priority moves, though conditional, and Substitute gives Toxicroak immunity to a crippling burn or paralysis, as well as protection from dangerous Psychic moves.

Volcarona @ Life Orb
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk/4 Sp. Def/252 Speed
Nature: Modest (+Sp. Atk, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast

Yes. Volcarona. On a RAIN team. I didn’t believe this when I saw it, but when looking around Smogon, I found this set. It seems like it can throw almost any opponent for a loop, so I thought it would perfect for my team.

One or two Quiver Dance boosts should be enough to make Volcarona hit first and hard every turn. Bug Buzz becomes its strongest STAB move, with Fire Blast being rain-weakened but still very useful against opposing Ferrothorn or Forretress. Hurricane also has a nifty 100% accuracy in rain, so It makes a nice move to have as well.

Rotom-W (changed from Raikou) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Hp/252 Sp. Atk/252 Speed
Nature: Modest (+Sp. Atk, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Volt Switch

Raikou just wasn't living up to expectations, so I decided to give Rotom-W a try. Better typing and moveset give it great flexibility on my team.

Thunder is obviously the move of choice here, with 100% accuracy and 180 power after STAB. Hydro Pump is even stronger, boosted by both STAB and the rain. Trick is a nice move than can totally screw with a wall or anything attempting to set up, and is necessary when Rotom is the last one left and using one move just won't cut it. Lastly, Volt Switch is great in tandem with Scizor's U-Turn and allows for a quick getaway when necessary.

So, there’s my team, tell me what you think!

 

[redcharzard]

Perish song on Politoed can force Switches.

Scald on Politoed and Ludicolo can Burn.

Fiery dance on Volcarona can provide extra s.atk boost.

Just some option you can try.

Rotom-W/C
Nature: Modest/Bold/Timid/Calm
EVs: 252 s.atk 252 speed 6 hp
Item: Choice scarf
Moves:
-Volt switch/Will-o-wisp/Pain split/Thunder wave
-Thunder
-Hydro pump/Leaf storm
-Trick

Use rain to boost Thunder's accuracy and Hydro pumps power(Rotom-C gets Leaf storm so only Thunder benifits.) Rotom-W gets rain boosted Hydro pump while Rotom-C can handle Gastrodon which is a major threat to all rain teams. This can replace Raikou if you want.

Tornadus(Genie/Incarnate form)
Nature: Timid
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 speed 252 s.atk 6 hp
Moves:
-Taunt/Focus blast
-Hurricane
-Tailwind
-U-turn/Focus blast

Tornadus can set up Tailwind to double the speed of your entire team for the three turns after its use and it also gets 100% accuracy with stab Hurricane in the rain(basically a Flying type Thunder that can confuse.) U-turn is to switch out to something that resist Ice beam, Thunder, and/or Rock slide/Stone edge and Taunt is to stop Trick room. Focus blast is another option to hits Steel and Rock types for more damage.

Scizor
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technicion
Item: Choice Band
EVs: 252 Hp 252 atk 6 s.def
Moves:
-Brick break/Superpower
-Pursuit
-Bullet punch
-U-turn

Standered Scizor it hits hard with any of its attacks and has a lot of resistances. it works great with Rotom-W with U-turn.

 

[Apollo77]

Thanks for the reply!

I actually happen to have a Scizor just like that that I used for another team. I never considered adding it, thanks for reminding me. I think I'll keep that and the Rotom-W in rotation. I'll have to test a lot on Pokémon Online to see what works best. As for Tornadus, I really just don't like using Tailwind because it only lasts for 3 turns, and other than that, it doesn't have much use as a sweeper compared to my others.

Again, thanks!

 

[Patri25]

I suggest you, switch the energy ball (80 attack power) by Giga Drain (75 attack power).Also with Giga Drain recover HP.

 

[redcharzard]

Thanks for the reply!

I actually happen to have a Scizor just like that that I used for another team. I never considered adding it, thanks for reminding me. I think I'll keep that and the Rotom-W in rotation. I'll have to test a lot on Pokémon Online to see what works best. As for Tornadus, I really just don't like using Tailwind because it only lasts for 3 turns, and other than that, it doesn't have much use as a sweeper compared to my others.

Again, thanks!

I use Tornadus as a supporter after Tailwind(and/or Taunt to counter trick roomer which can wreck faster offensive teams) and rain are up I either switch in a sweeper that resist it's weaknesses or attack until it faints and set up Tailwind as needed. In one flat rule wifi battle I sacrificed Tornadus and politoed with Perishsong ot KO 1 of my opponents pokemon and bring in my two sweepers to finish off the opponents pokemon with the Tailwind boost(I use a specail based Rain Dragonite, Scizor, Politoed, and Tornadus for my main team and 4 other pokemon that I randomly swap in to test.) Tail wind is weak in singles but in doubles it is a lot stronger.

Patri25 Is right Giga drains healing effect is worth the power loss.

 

[[Kingdra]]

If Drizzle + Swift Swim isn't banned under this format, then you might be better off selecting Kingdra instead of Ludicolo as your swift swim abuser.

Kingdra @ Chesto Berry / Lum Berry
EVs: 144 HP / 160 Atk / 40 SpD / 164 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)
~ Rest
~ Dragon Dance
~ Outrage
~ Waterfall

OR

Kingdra @ Life Orb
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Nature: Modest (+Atk, -SAtk)
~ Signal Beam
~ Hydro Pump / Surf
~ Dragon Pulse
~ Draco Meteor

 

[Apollo77]

Hmm, I didn't realize Giga Drain was an egg move for Gen 5, I thought I could only get it through a Gen 4 TM, which I can't do because I can't migrate. I'll definitely use that.

As for Kingdra, I like Ludicolo only because of his ability to take down Gastrodon with Energy Ball/Giga Drain, along with having super-effective moves on every permanent weather user in the game. Unless i took out Raikou for Rotom-C, in which case I would have Leaf Storm to do so. I definitely like that second set as an option though.

Thanks!

 

[[Kingdra]]

Also Toxicroak will benefit more from having Bulk Up in place of Fake Out. Toxicroak can be hard to get rid of, especially in the rain, after you set up a Bulk Up - then it gives you the option to Sucker Punch if they try a Psychic type to take you out, and most anything else will take a chunk of damage from Drain Punch.

Also I assume by legendaries you mean Ubers, which if you are allowed to have two on your team I don't see any reason not to include them.

 

[Apollo77]

Ooh, that sounds like a good idea. I already have priority in Sucker Punch, so I guess having Fake Out as well is a bit superfluous. Bulk Up should work well in tandem with Substitute. Thanks for that!

 

[[Kingdra]]

I also noticed that Gyarados has Earthquake, which seems like a pretty bad idea on a doubles team.

 

[redcharzard]

Also Toxicroak will benefit more from having Bulk Up in place of Fake Out. Toxicroak can be hard to get rid of, especially in the rain, after you set up a Bulk Up - then it gives you the option to Sucker Punch if they try a Psychic type to take you out, and most anything else will take a chunk of damage from Drain Punch.

Also I assume by legendaries you mean Ubers, which if you are allowed to have two on your team I don't see any reason not to include them.

I also noticed that Gyarados has Earthquake, which seems like a pretty bad idea on a doubles team.

Ubers are banned from the double battle metagame on smogon with the exception of the four non-legendary pokemon they have in their uber tier which are Blaziken, Excadrill, Thundurus,and Garchomp. Apart from that only a few legendaries are even useful in rain teams due to problems with their typing, move pool or predicability.

Fake out is an important move in doubles as it allows you to protect an important pokmeon that is needed to counter a specific threat or is needed to set up certain attacks. It can also allow you to stop trick room from being set up the first turn along with other annoying moves.

Earthquake is good in doubles as long as your pokemon can survie it or are immune to it.

 

[[Kingdra]]

The only thing immune to it is Raikou, and that's assuming it hasn't taken any damage.

 

[Apollo77]

Having done some testing, I've decided that I'm going to replace Gyarados and Raikou with Scizor and Rotom-W. It just seems to gel better.

 

[Ghosts of the Forums]

if you use perish song, you have to switch out both your pokes or else they will both die.

 

[redcharzard]

if you use perish song, you have to switch out both your pokes or else they will both die.

Its for a late game finish and for forcing switchs(mainly to force out the odd stat boosting pokemon such as Sword's dance Excadrill.) After you defeat the first 2 pokemon(2 if its the tournament rules that Nintendo/Gamefreak use 4 if its a full battle) you can use Perish song to secure the win. You can also sacrifice one of you pokemon to allow another one to come in safley to counter a pokemon that threatens your team.