OU. My first Rain Team.

I've been annoyed with weather teams, so I decided to make one myself.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 224 SDef / 36 Spd
Calm Nature
- Thunder
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Roar


Specially Defensive Zapdos. Great bulk, great offense. This guy takes special attacks greatly. It works well with Rain Teams (with Thunder abuse) and it is a great defensive pivot. Works well with Gastrodon, Cobalion, Toxicroak, and Politoed.

Istariray (Starmie) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Trick

My dedicated annoying lead. It screws Pokemon laying entry hazards, set-up Pokemons (Gyarados, Conkeldurr, etc), and a lot of other stuff. Everytime they see 'toed, they lead with Ferrothorn and this guy just screws Ferrothorn so much. It just doesn't 'Trick,' the sheer fire (water) power of this thing is wtf strong. A glass cannon indeed.

Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Hypnosis
- Perish Song
- Toxic

Defensive 'toed. A must for a Rain Team. It was usually Def move + 3 attacks for almost all other 'mons. This time, it's 3 annoying moves + 1 Attack. Perish Song is for pHazing, Hypnosis is for things like Venusaur, Toxicroak, and other Poison and Metal types. Toxic is for almost everything that isn't metal or toxic.

Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 244 HP / 132 Atk / 132 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Fake Out
- Ice Punch

BU Toxicroak. Bulky and powerful. It really lasts long with Black Sludge and Dry Skin.


Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 4 SAtk / 252 HP / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Counter
- Earth Power
- Surf
- Recover

Physically Defensive Gastrodon. It helps a lot in stalling. If it absorbs a Water-type attack, a +1 Surf/EP can pose a threat.

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Spd / 228 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock

Mixed Cobalion. Spam CC if applicable, Volt Switch to escape anything that doesn't outspeed it or trap it (Dugtrio).


Any comment/criticism would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

I know this may be an obvious thing, but make sure Politoad is leading.

It may also be good to get a back-up rain dancer just incase the rain fades away.

I'm no master at the new 5th gen competitive play (well I guess its not so new nowadays xo ), but those are my tips from the judgement I see here.

Scald has more utility than Hydro Pump on Politoed, as the burn chance is useful. Hydro Pump's low PP is a detriment on defensive 'mons.

If you don't mind my asking, why Counter on Gastrodon?

SchwarzRozen said:

I know this may be an obvious thing, but make sure Politoad is leading.

It may also be good to get a back-up rain dancer just incase the rain fades away.

I'm no master at the new 5th gen competitive play (well I guess its not so new nowadays xo ), but those are my tips from the judgement I see here.

Click to expand...

Yea, the Rain backup sounds good. However, leading with Politoed isn't always the plan here. I try to shutdown walls/stalls with Starmie first or get a chunk out of something with Cobalion.

PlatinumDude said:

Scald has more utility than Hydro Pump on Politoed, as the burn chance is useful. Hydro Pump's low PP is a detriment on defensive 'mons.

If you don't mind my asking, why Counter on Gastrodon?

Click to expand...

Although lovely 30% burn rate for Scald sounds awesome, it just overlaps with Toxic and Hypnosis (which I removed and replaced with Protect). I might go with Scald again though since I realized I've been having problems with things like Gastrodon and Swampert. Gastrodon having Counter is a gimmicky strategy; it surprises a lot of opponents with it. I recently made Gastrodon a Specially Defensive 'mon and replaced it with Mirror Coat. It helps with stuff like Gengar and Alakazam.