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Dancin' in the Rain (Name sucks, I know)

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Slegna

The Donphan in the Room
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So, what I wanted to do was to build a team with Pokémon that I liked, but also ones that meshed well together and could work as a cohesive unit. The first thing I started with was my favorite Pokémon, Kingdra. I went through a few of Kingdra's sets on Smogon, and I came to the Rain Dance set, and I thought of how fun it would be to be able to revolve a team around Rain Dance, a move I laughed at when playing Platinum. So here's my team, ending thoughts/known weaknesses are listed after.

Lead

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Jirachi @ Damp Rock
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/56 Spd/200 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- U-turn
- Thunder
- Stealth Rock

Pretty simple. Lead with Rain Dance, U-Turn out. If it's to my advantage, I'll use Thunder (now with 100% accuracy). If I see a Ninjask or Aerodactyl lead opposite me, I assume that they'll Taunt (they also have the speed advantage) so I Thunder immediately. Stealth Rock is there for support if I suspect a switch-out. Can come back in later for Thunder support and/or U-Turn.

Rain Dance Support

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Scizor (F) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Technician
EVs: 104 HP/252 Atk/152 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Rain Dance
- U-turn
- Counter

Much like Jirachi, once the fire types are out, Scizor comes in relatively untouched. Rain Dance with Damp Rock plus STAB U-Turn and STAB Bullet Punch (plus the added Technician bonus) gives me a little flexibility with Scizor. I can never quite find the right time to use Counter though. I'm looking for something else to replace it with.

Special Sweeper Uno

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Kingdra (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Rain Dance
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse
- Signal Beam

If Rain Dance is up, Kingdra sweeps easy. If not, a little turbulence is encountered. STAB Surf and STAB Dragon Pulse are the core of the moveset. A powerful Signal Beam is also there for the stray Azelf, etc. If things aren't going well, Kingdra can Rain Dance out into another sweeper or Jirachi with his Thunder.

Special Sweeper Dos

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Ludicolo (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance
- Energy Ball

Very similar to Kingdra, barring certain specialties. Ludicolo gets two STAB moves as well, and the universal Ice Beam, good for Salamence/Flygon if Kingdra's put away early, as well as potential Flying nightmares like Zapdos.

Physical Sweeper

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Qwilfish (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Poison Jab
- Waterfall
- Explosion
- Rain Dance

Pretty much the Physical version of Kingdra and Ludicolo. Two STAB moves plus Rain Dance. Good for special walls I can't bust. Not bad for a RestTalking Snorlax or anybody big with a lot of HP, just Explode them away.

Wild Card

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Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Rain Dance
- Stealth Rock
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

Can switch in on Heatran and get up a Stealth Rock, as well as set up Rain Dance. Waterfall and Earthquake help give me a second physical sweeper if necessary, or just buy me some time whenever. I've been thinking about changing what Swampert's hold item is though, the Leftovers can be crucial, but if Swampert had a Damp Rock, there would've been quite a few Kingdra/Ludicolo sweeps that wouldn't have been stalled midway thought due to the rain stopping.

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Known counters

Vaporeon - Water Absorb plus the most common set of Wish/Protect/Surf/Toxic kills me. If I don't have Jirachi's Thunder or Ludicolo's Energy Ball left, I'm screwed unless I can somehow Poison Jab or Dragon Pulse him to death.
Heatran - Heatran causes chaos for Jirachi and Scizor, but if I can get a Surf or Earthquake on him, I'm good.
Rotom-H (Shoddy only) - Ditto for Heatran, though I need the Surf to be boosted by Rain Dance in order to OHKO him.
Magnezone - Magnezone with HP Fire owns my two steel types. Surf can and will get him though.
Gyarados - If I don't have Jirachi in there for Thunder or Stealth Rock up to create havoc for him, Gyarados can be a nightmare for me. If he baits me into a Thunder only to switch in Electivire, that doesn't help either.
Tentacruel - Tentacruel can wall me with his resistance to Water, Poison and Grass attacks. Thunder or Earthquake are my counters.
Tyranitar - Sand Stream could very quickly end my sweep, as well as deal residual damage. However, with Tyranitar weak to Water, Grass, Steel, Ground, and Bug, he can usually be taken care of pretty quickly, usually a change to Scizor, Bullet Punch, and then Rain Dance.
Hippowdon - Similarly, Hippowdon can do the same thing. However, I can Rain Dance back up the next turn and take out Hippowdon the next or take out the switch-in.
Walrein - Stallrein can wall me forever and ever. Though, working diligently, using his Protect against him, I can outmaneuver him while setting up for my own team (Stealth Rock/Rain Dance)
Electivire - Electivire can cause problems, especially if I allow him to get Motor Drive going (see Gyarados above). Swampert can help take him out, but a nice boosted Surf works well, too.

Final Thoughts

When I battle using this team, I usually win either 1 or 2 out of every three games, so, not bad, thought I wouldn't mind it getting better. I've been thinking about dropping one of the special sweepers, but if I drop Kingdra, it leaves me open to Salamence/Flygon sweeps if I can't get Ice Beam going for Ludicolo. If I drop Ludicolo, I lose a counter for one of my team's prime weaknesses: Vaporeon.

I have been thinking of running Salamence with Aerial Ace/Roost/Thunder Fang/Rain Dance for support, probably taking Swampert's place. However, I lose valuable Earthquake support for Electivire/Magnezone/Metagross. I could go Earthquake for either Aerial Ace or Roost though.

So there's my team, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Uh, why is an entirely Special-based Kingdra given a Lonely nature?
 
Replace Signal Beam on Kingdra with hidden power electric.
 
You can combine Destiny Bond with Swift Swim, so you'd better replace Rain dance with Destiny Bond on Quilfish. Apart from that, I like your strategy.
 
salamencecommander said:
You can combine Destiny Bond with Swift Swim, so you'd better replace Rain dance with Destiny Bond on Quilfish. Apart from that, I like your strategy.
Click to expand...

Explosion and Destiny Bond on the same set ? Kinda pointless to have both, stick with explosion
 
Yeh having Rain Dance on all 6 is also pointless, give scizor superpower over rain dance. Also maybe swords dance over rain dance. My scizor's set is
252Atk/248Spe/8Hp @ Metronome
~Bullet Punch
~X-scissor
~Swords Dance
~Substitute

X-scissor over U-turn because normally he gets a SD or two up
 
Thanks for all the help. Now, onto business...

Kingdra's nature is now switched to Modest (+SAtk, -Atk). That was just a mistake on my part, or it might've just been left over from when I switched his set to an all special based set, and I forgot to switch the nature. Oh well, thanks for pointing that out.

HP Electric for Signal Beam will work wonders, since I rarely use Signal Beam (just to help clean up on an Azelf or Alakazam, but by that point Rain Dance should boost it enough take them out with a Surf anyway). Gives me something extra for Vaporeon and Gyarados, too.

Definitely keeping Explosion over Destiny Bond.

I want to keep Rain Dance on all of them, since I never know when I have to replenish the rain. What I might do then is drop it from Scizor and make him into a non-Rain Dance supported physical revenge killer. I'm thinking Swords Dance/X-Scissor/Brick Break/Bullet Punch and holding I dunno, Leftovers?
 
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Slegna said:
Thanks for all the help. Now, onto business...

Kingdra's nature is now switched to Modest (+SAtk, -Atk). That was just a mistake on my part, or it might've just been left over from when I switched his set to an all special based set, and I forgot to switch the nature. Oh well, thanks for pointing that out.

HP Electric for Signal Beam will work wonders, since I rarely use Signal Beam (just to help clean up on an Azelf or Alakazam, but by that point Rain Dance should boost it enough take them out with a Surf anyway). Gives me something extra for Vaporeon and Gyarados, too.

Definitely keeping Explosion over Destiny Bond.

I want to keep Rain Dance on all of them, since I never know when I have to replenish the rain. What I might do then is drop it from Scizor and make him into a non-Rain Dance supported physical revenge killer. I'm thinking Swords Dance/X-Scissor/Brick Break/Bullet Punch and holding I dunno, Leftovers?
Click to expand...

Well I'm kinda tired of rating a lot of teams but I'll just say a few things that might be helpful.

-Alakazam and Azelf will most likely be Scarfed, Specs, Sashed or on some rare occasions will have Lefties or a Life Orb. Now the biggest threat can be there SpAtk, which if is boosted by Specs can be deadly. So the best thing to do is predict when there going to come in or revenge kill them, as they both have shitty defenses, HP, and also make sure to carry a priority move somewhere for ALL Sasher's.

-Idk who would suggest Explosion over D-Bond but yeah, keep Explosion.

-Rain Dance DOES NOT, what-so-ever, need to be on ALL six of your Pokemon...NEVER. There is simply no reason for it at all. With Damp Rock, Rain will stay up for 8 turns...if you're facing a wall setting up rain for 8 more turns doesn't seem like a big problem at all. Second, if someone is on a big ass sweep and you really NEED rain, you should switch to a wall/tank(Pert) to absorb the hit as best at he can and then attempt to set up rain once more. Although, honestly, by at least keeping Rain Dance w/ Damp Rock on 3 Pokes (supporters, wall/tank, lead) you shouldn't be worried about loosing it.

-Yes Scizor with SD and Life Orb is definitely deadly. Now Lefties is a good choice, and you could run it I just said Life Orb because it just adds more damage done. But I'd suggest you put on Bug Bite OVER X-Scissor because even thought it's 20 points less damage, when used on Scizzor it's actually stronger because it receives the Technician boost and the STAB boost, as X-Scissor just gets the STAB boost.. Also keep BP, and Brick Break, and if you're carrying Life Orb you could put Roost on it but then you'd have to get rid of either Brick Break or Bug Bite. From my experience if you get up at least 2 SD's you're going to decimate a lot of teams, especially if you're opponent is a bone-head.


Hope this kinda helped.
 
Ok, I just edited my Scizor to run Bullet Punch/Swords Dance/Brick Break/U-Turn and holding Leftovers. I would've put Bug Bite on, but Shoddy isn't updated to have the moves from HG/SS, so I'll live with it for now. I like the flexibility of having U-Turn because I can switch to Jirachi and use Jirachi's U-Turn if I need another Bug move.

Running Life Orb + Roost was an appealing option, but I would've lost one of the two STAB moves, plus Brick Break, which can help get Stallrein or Blissey out of the way, two stallers that own my team hard, especially when they're equipped with Toxic.

It did help lots, thanks a lot.
 
Slegna said:
Ok, I just edited my Scizor to run Bullet Punch/Swords Dance/Brick Break/U-Turn and holding Leftovers. I would've put Bug Bite on, but Shoddy isn't updated to have the moves from HG/SS, so I'll live with it for now. I like the flexibility of having U-Turn because I can switch to Jirachi and use Jirachi's U-Turn if I need another Bug move.

Running Life Orb + Roost was an appealing option, but I would've lost one of the two STAB moves, plus Brick Break, which can help get Stallrein or Blissey out of the way, two stallers that own my team hard, especially when they're equipped with Toxic.

It did help lots, thanks a lot.
Click to expand...
Bug Bite is available on Shoddy.
Also Bullet Punch is Super Effective against Stallrein and Bliss has pathetic Def, which means BP will be able to take it down unless it has Flamethrower..and Toxic doesn't effect Scizor.
 
Ghey, It doesn't show up for me.

And I was referring to Toxic tearing through the rest of my team, since whenever Scizor switches in against Bliss or Stallrein, Heatran or Rotom-H switches back in.
 
Bug Bite is only available on the Smogon server, and if you built your team for the Standard metagame setting, it won't appear. If you want Bug Bite, you have to rebuild the team, and choose the Smogon metagame setting when it prompts you.
 
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