OU Rain Dance Team

[Oyster]

My Rain Dance team for OU. I'm thinking about using Ludicolo in place of one of my sweepers. Tell me what you guys think.

Crobat w/ Damp Rock
Jolly: 252 HP /6 Atk /252 Spd
Inner Focus
-Rain Dance
-U- Turn
-Brave Bird
-Taunt

My lead. Sets up rain, Taunts, scares away any Celebi and any other Grass types who would try to ruin my fun.

Kingdra w/ Life Orb
Lonely: 252 Atk/240 SpAtk/16 Spd
Swift Swim
-Rain Dance
-Waterfall
-Hydro Pump
-Draco Meteor

My main sweeper. Capable of doing SO much under rain. Swift Swim boosts speed, which means more EVs into both Atk and Sp. Atk.

Kabutops w/ Life Orb
Adamant: 26 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spd
Swift Swim
-Waterfall
-Swords Dance
-Rock Slide
-Aqua Jet

Physical sweeper. OHKOs many would-be threats after a Swords Dance.

Ludicolo w/ Life Orb
Modest: 252 Sp. Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Swift Swim
-Surf
-Grass Knot
-Ice Beam
-Focus Punch

Bulky special sweeper. He's capable of taking out many threats with his great type coverage.

Scizor w/ Choice Band
Adamant: 248 HP/252 Atk/ 10 Spd
Technician
-Pursuit
-Superpower
-Bullet Punch
-U- Turn

My counter killer. Takes care of opposing pokemon that would give my team problems otherwise.

Bronzong w/ Damp Rock
Impish: 252 HP/128 Atk/128 Def
Levitate
-Rain Dance
-Reflect
-Explosion
-Stealth Rock

My rain replenisher. Besides Rain, it also sets up Stealth Rock and Reflect, and explodes when the fun is over.

 

[Channy13]

ever thought about changing the Bronzong a little bit?
stone edge, gyro ball,explosion and reflect worked for me, but mine is a sassy nature
but otherwise everything else is pretty spot on
just one question why waterfall over surf on your kingdra?

 

[Phinocio]

ever thought about changing the Bronzong a little bit?
stone edge, gyro ball,explosion and reflect worked for me, but mine is a sassy nature
but otherwise everything else is pretty spot on
just one question why waterfall over surf on your kingdra?

I'm asuming he used waterfall instead, because of the lonely nature on his Kingdra, which adds attack (waterfall is physical), meaning his attack is higher than his Sp.Atk. Which with STAB + Rain Dance makes waterfall do 160 base damage to Surf's, 190, but the attack is higher, so the difference should even out.....assuming his Kingdra's attack is quite a bit higher than Sp.Atk. Also assuming my math is correct. XD. Anyway, makes sense to me. .

 

[Channy13]

i see your point
the reason i git mine confused is as i use mine a special sweeper,
which brings a personal question to you is Kingdra better as a pysical or special sweeper?

 

[AB2]

This team looks like a pretty standard rain team which is pretty good; however I have a few changes to make.

I would suggest you change your scizor to an offensive SD spread as it can be helpful in finishing off a weakened stall team that Kabutops just blew holes in. Plus Blissey can be an extreme nuisance to rain teams and it is nice to have multiple things that can easily take care of it.

Scizor@Damp Rock
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248Hp/252Atk/8SDef
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
~Bullet Punch
~Swords Dance
~Rain Dance
~Superpower


Also, I would suggest you take out Rotom-W or Scizor for that matter and put Ludicolo. Ludicolo is pretty standard on rain teams for its ability to decimate Bulky Waters, which can easily put a stop to your sweep otherwise.

Ludicolo@Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
60Hp/252SpA/196Spd
~Rain Dance
~Surf
~Ice Beam
~Energy Ball/Grass Knot*

*Energy Ball vs. Grass Knot is more of a preference, if you want to hit vaporeon harder (which can be a huge threat) then use energy ball. If you don't like heavier bulky waters like suicune and gyarados, then just go for grass knot.

I would also suggest that you run 32Hp/252Atk/224Spd > your current spread

This spread gives Kabutops enough speed to outrun +1 neutral nature base 100s while giving it all the attacking power that it will need. Also, as much as you may not seem to like it I would run stone edge > rock slide because otherwise you have nothing to hit Celebi with hard enough, because Crobat with U-turn won't be doing very much to Celebi.

 

[Oyster]

ever thought about changing the Bronzong a little bit?
stone edge, gyro ball,explosion and reflect worked for me, but mine is a sassy nature
but otherwise everything else is pretty spot on
just one question why waterfall over surf on your kingdra?

My Bronzong is a Rain Replenisher and a supporter, he isn't meant to have any offensive moves besides Explosion. And Kingdra is a mixed sweeper, which is why he has Waterfall.

 

[Oyster]

This team looks like a pretty standard rain team which is pretty good; however I have a few changes to make.

I would suggest you change your scizor to an offensive SD spread as it can be helpful in finishing off a weakened stall team that Kabutops just blew holes in. Plus Blissey can be an extreme nuisance to rain teams and it is nice to have multiple things that can easily take care of it.

Scizor@Damp Rock
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248Hp/252Atk/8SDef
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
~Bullet Punch
~Swords Dance
~Rain Dance
~Superpower


Also, I would suggest you take out Rotom-W or Scizor for that matter and put Ludicolo. Ludicolo is pretty standard on rain teams for its ability to decimate Bulky Waters, which can easily put a stop to your sweep otherwise.

Ludicolo@Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
60Hp/252SpA/196Spd
~Rain Dance
~Surf
~Ice Beam
~Energy Ball/Grass Knot*

*Energy Ball vs. Grass Knot is more of a preference, if you want to hit vaporeon harder (which can be a huge threat) then use energy ball. If you don't like heavier bulky waters like suicune and gyarados, then just go for grass knot.

I would also suggest that you run 32Hp/252Atk/224Spd > your current spread

This spread gives Kabutops enough speed to outrun +1 neutral nature base 100s while giving it all the attacking power that it will need. Also, as much as you may not seem to like it I would run stone edge > rock slide because otherwise you have nothing to hit Celebi with hard enough, because Crobat with U-turn won't be doing very much to Celebi.

Hmm, you make some good points, but I can't really say I agree with all of them. The spread Scizor currently has is that of a Counter Killer/Revenge Killer. Using a SD set would reduce it's options and its ability to take out all of the threats I may face. Plus, using Rain Dance on Scizor would mean 5 of my 6 pokeys have Dance, which is just a waste of move space.

If I were to replace Scizor or Rotom with Ludicolo, it would have to be Rotom, because Scizor is just too necessary in here. However, I don't really want to take out Rotom, because he is my only pokey with access to Thunder, Shadow Ball, has an electric resistance, and a ground immunity. I usually don't have a problem with bulky waters, because when they appear, I switch into Rotom and fry them with 100% accurate STAB Thunder. Kabutops is also great against bulky waters, especially Gyara and Vappy. However, I can't deny that Ludicolo has been extremely successful on many Rain teams, so I will consider it further.

As far as Kabutops goes, it's current EV spread is meant to outspeed Modest Scarf Heatran and Gengar in rain, so that won't change. Rock Slide was chosen over Stone Edge because the power difference hardly matters after a SD, but accuracy is still an issue. I usually switch in Scizor when I see Celebi, but if it continues to be a problem, I will replace Aqua Jet on Kabutops with X-Scissor. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[yee]

not to brag, but ive been using rain dance exclusively for 4 months now so i can give some good advice i have used a crobat lead myself, if youre using a bronzong you have a very reliable mid game replenisher so brave bird can help crobat more than roost so it has some form of offense besides u-turn, it is suprisingly powerful and you gives you a REAL reason to max attack.

now, ludicolo is pretty much required. he is just an incredible sweeper and has much better coverage than any other rain sweeper. mine uses this set:

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Modest
252 spA, 252 spe, 4 def
-Rain Dance/Focus Punch
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Energy ball

Focus Punch is a nice suprise to blissey even and will 2hko with minimum attack. You have rain dance on kingdra already so it is defenitely usable is youre tired of getting walled. Usually ludicolo is a late game finisher because he with excellent coverage any previous damage the enemy has taken will be too much. 248 speed allows you to outrun timid yanmega who have had one speed boost and theres no point putting 4 more into defense when you can tie with other ludicolo. if you want, you can drop the evs so that the speed stat is 225 or even 210 and put the rest in hp, 225 is for neutral base 100s at +1 speed (uncommon but they exist) or 210 as the bare minimum for scarftran and one extra speed point for scarfed porygon-z.

Rotom-W and Scizor are support pokemon, i have used rotom and it is very good but not worth a slot over ludicolo. Scizor is a great repleniser and a nice way to stop latias that revenge kingdra. Scizor is my bulky replenisher and runs max special defense and 200 hp evs but you have bronzong for that job so i would recommend this set.

Scizor @ Damp Rock
Adamant (obviously)
200 hp, 56 atk, 252 spD
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Pursuit
-Rain Dance

You really won't need attacking power from scizor, you just need him to get rid of scarfed latias and gengar that will stop all of your swift swimmers (trust me, they can do a lot more than a scizor in the rain). He can easily shrug off a draco meteor or thunderbolt, and then pursuit them leaving latias with 30% health at worst and koing gengar. With u-turn he can set up rain and then just ditch magnezone trying to trap and because of his low speed he can take a hit and get a swift swimmer in unharmed with fresh rain.

Now for the small nitpicks.. you have no swift swimmer that can outrun the fastest choice scarfed threats and nothing to stop toxic spikes mid game so qwilfish over kabutops is defenitely a good option, he needs a swords dance to really sweep but is very good if you can pull one off and wont be revenged.. heres the standard

Qwilfish @ Life Orb
Adamant
252 atk, 4 def, 252 spe
-Swords Dance
-Waterfall
-Poison Jab
-Explosion

Kabutops may have a lot of power and i admit is very fun to use but if you can manage to swords dance qwilfish will be the better option overall. If you want to keep kabutops, change the evs to 52 hp, 252 atk, 204 speed. This lets you outrun naive salamence after a dragon dance in the rain as well as tyranitar that may come in. Also, x-scissor will be better than aqua jet because you get a reliable way of ohkoing celebi that switch in (if your opponent has one they will bring it in asap).

On kingdra, change the nature to naughty. Lonely leaves you open to extremespeed and bullet punch and the pokemon using them will always be some of the first to come in.

If you want to use rotom-w, i did design a good ev spread for him a while ago. Use 140 hp, 140 spA, 228 spe. 228 speed evs lets you outrun opposing kingdra, 140 spA lets you 2hko latias and celebi every time with shadow ball factoring in stealth rock and leftovers, with the rest dumped into hp. I really didn't like how smogon threw a sweeping 252/4/252 set on him even though hes supposed to be a supporter. Rotom-w would go in scizors place if you wanted to use him.

For bronzong, i would personally use light screen over reflect because of the stuff he will usually have to stop or will usually switch into him (latias, gengar, heatran, salamence etc.).

Overall it should be a solid team, I have probably used this variation a couple times myself. Good luck climbing the ladder!

 

[calze6]

Why not brave bird on crobat over roost for extra damage? Ludi colo would help. Perhaps over zong.

 

[Oyster]

not to brag, but ive been using rain dance exclusively for 4 months now so i can give some good advice i have used a crobat lead myself, if youre using a bronzong you have a very reliable mid game replenisher so brave bird can help crobat more than roost so it has some form of offense besides u-turn, it is suprisingly powerful and you gives you a REAL reason to max attack.

now, ludicolo is pretty much required. he is just an incredible sweeper and has much better coverage than any other rain sweeper. mine uses this set:

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Modest
252 spA, 252 spe, 4 def
-Rain Dance/Focus Punch
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Energy ball

Focus Punch is a nice suprise to blissey even and will 2hko with minimum attack. You have rain dance on kingdra already so it is defenitely usable is youre tired of getting walled. Usually ludicolo is a late game finisher because he with excellent coverage any previous damage the enemy has taken will be too much. 248 speed allows you to outrun timid yanmega who have had one speed boost and theres no point putting 4 more into defense when you can tie with other ludicolo. if you want, you can drop the evs so that the speed stat is 225 or even 210 and put the rest in hp, 225 is for neutral base 100s at +1 speed (uncommon but they exist) or 210 as the bare minimum for scarftran and one extra speed point for scarfed porygon-z.

Rotom-W and Scizor are support pokemon, i have used rotom and it is very good but not worth a slot over ludicolo. Scizor is a great repleniser and a nice way to stop latias that revenge kingdra. Scizor is my bulky replenisher and runs max special defense and 200 hp evs but you have bronzong for that job so i would recommend this set.

Scizor @ Damp Rock
Adamant (obviously)
200 hp, 56 atk, 252 spD
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Pursuit
-Rain Dance

You really won't need attacking power from scizor, you just need him to get rid of scarfed latias and gengar that will stop all of your swift swimmers (trust me, they can do a lot more than a scizor in the rain). He can easily shrug off a draco meteor or thunderbolt, and then pursuit them leaving latias with 30% health at worst and koing gengar. With u-turn he can set up rain and then just ditch magnezone trying to trap and because of his low speed he can take a hit and get a swift swimmer in unharmed with fresh rain.

Now for the small nitpicks.. you have no swift swimmer that can outrun the fastest choice scarfed threats and nothing to stop toxic spikes mid game so qwilfish over kabutops is defenitely a good option, he needs a swords dance to really sweep but is very good if you can pull one off and wont be revenged.. heres the standard

Qwilfish @ Life Orb
Adamant
252 atk, 4 def, 252 spe
-Swords Dance
-Waterfall
-Poison Jab
-Explosion

Kabutops may have a lot of power and i admit is very fun to use but if you can manage to swords dance qwilfish will be the better option overall. If you want to keep kabutops, change the evs to 52 hp, 252 atk, 204 speed. This lets you outrun naive salamence after a dragon dance in the rain as well as tyranitar that may come in. Also, x-scissor will be better than aqua jet because you get a reliable way of ohkoing celebi that switch in (if your opponent has one they will bring it in asap).

On kingdra, change the nature to naughty. Lonely leaves you open to extremespeed and bullet punch and the pokemon using them will always be some of the first to come in.

If you want to use rotom-w, i did design a good ev spread for him a while ago. Use 140 hp, 140 spA, 228 spe. 228 speed evs lets you outrun opposing kingdra, 140 spA lets you 2hko latias and celebi every time with shadow ball factoring in stealth rock and leftovers, with the rest dumped into hp. I really didn't like how smogon threw a sweeping 252/4/252 set on him even though hes supposed to be a supporter. Rotom-w would go in scizors place if you wanted to use him.

For bronzong, i would personally use light screen over reflect because of the stuff he will usually have to stop or will usually switch into him (latias, gengar, heatran, salamence etc.).

Overall it should be a solid team, I have probably used this variation a couple times myself. Good luck climbing the ladder!

Wow, that's a lot of good advice. I'll take it all into consideration.

 

[Oyster]

Why not brave bird on crobat over roost for extra damage? Ludi colo would help. Perhaps over zong.

I'll do Brave Bird, but Zong needs to stay. Thanks.

 

[fiberhero]

Zong's only niche on the team seems to be Stealth Rock which may be valuable, but RD Vaporeon can also do a wonderful job, especially with its beastly Sp. Atk stat. Rain Dance/Surf/Wish/Toxic or Protect would be great on a Rain Dance team, which generally has problems with walls. Blissey will switch into Ludicolo and basically waste a turn of Rain, while if it switches in on Vaporeon and gets Toxic'd, you just crippled a wall that would give you problems otherwise.

 

[fiberhero]

EDIT: Sorry for double post, lag

 

[Oyster]

It's cool, don't worry. As for Blissey switching into ludicolo, that's what Focus Punch is for.