Quick! Get the umbrellas! (Gen V RMT)

[Snorelacks]

So, from the title, you probably guessed that this is a rain team. It's my first go at a weather team. It's been working well so far, and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Team Building Process:

Spoiler:

I knew from the start that Politoed was an absolute necessity, but it's really too bad that Game Freak couldn't have given a better Pokemon Drizzle.

Dragonite is one of my all-time favorite Pokemon, and it had a saving grace in the fifth generation: Multiscale. This is a rain Dragonite.

Vaporeon is basically able to give itself a full restore whenever it wants (so long as Heal Block/Taunt isn't in effect) with its DW ability Hydration+Rain+Rest. It was already a renowned Bulky Water in Gen IV.

Metagross is Vaporeon's partner; a wall alongside it. The difference is that Metagross has no recovery (outside leftovers) but makes up for it in raw power. Metagross has attack equivalent to Excadrill. It should not be overlooked.

Thundurus is a strong special attacker alongside Dragonite.Not much else to say here.

Conkeldurr is a beastly and bulky Physical home-run hitter. It gets an incredible STAB combination in Drain Punch/Mach Punch and has a great ability in Guts.

This team in full detail:


Politoed (HairCurlers?) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drizzle
Modest Nature (+SpAtk,-Atk)
Focus Blast
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Hidden Power [Grass]
EVs: 252 SpAtk/252 Spe/4 SpDef

Politoed needs the power of Choice Specs to live up to the awesomeness of its spectacular ability. The EVs maximize sweeping potential as far as a Politoed can go, and the moves are all it has (Granted, they themselves are not that bad).


Dragonite (Storm God) @ Life Orb
Ability: Multiscale
Quiet Nature (+SpAtk,-Spe)
Hurricane
Thunder
Roost
Waterfall
EVs: 228 Atk/252 SpAtk/28 Spe (EV spread, nature, and Waterfall credit to flamehaze94)

My mixed awesome rain sweeper. Hurricane is the best STAB flying attack Dragonite's ever known. Thunder is great for coverage with Hurricane. Roost restores Multiscale (and lessens the Ice weakness and gets rid of the Rock one, as well as giving a resistance to Electric for that turn). Waterfall is there for coverage, and, well, wouldn't want to waste that base 134 Attack.

Vaporeon (WHYamIaWALL?) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
Bold Nature
Scald
Ice Beam
Toxic
Rest
EVs: 252 HP/240 Def/16 SpDef

Stall-wall. As mentioned earlier, it can give itself a full restore whenever it wants, assuming rain. Scald and Ice Beam is the usual combination. Toxic stalls.

Metagross (Crossbones) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
Adamant Nature
Agility
Meteor Mash
Earthquake
Zen Headbutt
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 SpDef

Not much to say here. Agility sets up. Earthquake is coverage. Mash and Headbutt are awesome STAB that sound awesome together. MASH AND HEADBUTT!


Thundurus (WTFGameFreak) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Timid Nature
Nasty Plot
Hidden Power [Ice]
Thunder
Focus Blast
EVs: 4 Def/252 SpAtk/252 Spe

My special sweeper. He... sets up... and then he... uh... sweeps. Yeah. I'm not sure I need to say too much about him.


Conkeldurr (TUFF GUM!) @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
Brave Nature
Bulk Up
Drain Punch
Mach Punch
Payback
IVs: 0 Spe
EVs: 120 HP/252 Atk/136 SpDef

Standard awesomeness. Dark/Fighting gets great coverage, Drain Punch drains, Mach Punch goes first. I could actually use Iron Fist for this to boost Drain Punch and Mach Punch even further, but I went with Guts.

Please tell me what you think!

 

[flamehaze94]

Some descriptions of each Pokemon would be helpful. I can probably guess, but I want to hear (see?) it from your mouth (keyboard?). Overall, it looks like a decent Rain team; able to hold itself against other common threats however, there are some problems.

Dragonite's movepool needs some tweaking. Firstly, Life Orb is the best option for this Dragonite since you'll have great resistances and Roost to stave off any damage and the power offered by LO is immense; scoring you things like a 2HKO on Ferrothorn with Hurricane. HP Fighting is a hilariously weak option especially when you have a nice 134 base attack to work with. The superior options in that slot are either Earthquake or Aqua Tail. Earthquake works well to nail Jirachi or Tyranitar and open up a Thundurus sweep. Aqua Tail is also very strong under rain and with LO can 2HKO counters to Thundurus such as Blissey or Jirachi. Both are more viable options thing HP Fighting. Since you'll be mixed, use the spread 228Atk / 252SpA / 28Spe @ Quiet nature. The speed EVs still let you outspeed Skarmory while you nearly max out both offenses. You'll find the ability to go mixed to break common walls more useful than some extra bulk, I assure you.

Secondly, I find the Scizor fits better in this team instead of Metagross. It gives you the same Steel typing along with powerful priority and recovery. It can set up on a lot of threats in this metagame due to decent bulk and auspicious typing. A specially defensive Scizor set like the following is good: Swords Dance / Bug Bite / Bullet Punch / Roost with the spread of 200HP / 56Atk / 252SpD works wonderfully. Another good option is the standard Choice Band Scizor with U-turn to bring in Dragonite for free against the likes of Skarmory or Gliscor. This can work well to gain momentum and shift things to your favor since Dragonite can beat most of Scizors counters.

Gastrodon looks like it can be a problem especially with it's common partner Skarmory to set up Spikes. This is fixed somewhat if you choose to go Toxic on Vaporeon since Gastrodon can't do anything to it and Skarmory is scared of boosted Scalds. Thundurus looks problematic once it sets up since you'll have to risk a speed tie to beat it. Why not Scarf Politoed to revenge kill it? You'll miss the insane power but a mediation between speed and power doesn't sound bad. It's still pretty strong. That's enough changes for now, since it'll turn out to be my team more than yours!

 

[Snorelacks]

I'm very open to suggestions, thank you.

I'll give a better description as soon as I finish writing this.

I'll give Dragonite LO. I agree with you. I was also noticing HP Fighting was weak, it barely OHKOes stuff like Liepard (not that it's ever used...). I'd sort of prefer Aqua Tail because I'm not using a fire move. Aqua Tail does more damage to EvioChan and Bliss in rain. Is there any chance I could use Waterfall? I prefer not missing to an extra 15 Base Power (assuming rain).

Now that I think about it, Scizor does resist all of Dragonite's weaknesses and vice versa (Well, actually, it's neutral to Rock, which Metagross isn't)...

I sort of prefer the Bulkier set with 252 HP/40 Atk/200 SpDef @ Adamant nature for Scizor. Could I use that instead?
Also, Metagross fits this team pretty well. It acts as a Sandstorm/Sun sweeper to get rid of that Tyranitar/Hippowdon/Ninetales which means I can safely bring in Politoed.

So maybe I will stick to Metagross. Not sure.

I think I will use Toxic on Vaporeon. It works incredibly well as a Staller. The reason I was using Hidden Power [Electric] was to have a reliable late-game counter to Gyarados (and Pelipper and Swanna lol) and other Bulky Waters (Who fear Toxic, while Gyarados doesn't really).

Gastrodon falls to HP Grass in one hit (and Hurricane, possibly, as well as Scald and Drain Punch in two-three hits). It's not that much of a problem, I've found. Politoed revenge kills opposing Thundurus with... what exactly? Hydro Pump? Ice Beam? With Specs it has the power to OHKO it, with Scarf it doesn't but it's faster...
I might stick to specs. But I'll implement the most agreeable changes straightaway. Thanks!

 

[flamehaze94]

While the 90 acc can bite you in the butt sometimes, the power can make a difference especially versus Jirachi and Blissey like I mentioned before. For example, Waterfall only does 43.42% - 51.12% to Bold Blissey and 42.08% - 49.75% to 252HP Jirachi in the Rain. Aqua Tail has a much better chance of defeating the both of them, especially with Stealth Rock support. All in all, Waterfall's power is disappointing when it comes down to it.

Speaking of Rocks, if you're adamant about keeping Metagross, then replace Agility with Stealth Rocks. Thundurus and Conkeldurr are superior set up sweepers and the utility of forcing damage whenever the opponent switches will be handy. Metagross is also one of the best users of Stealth Rocks because it can force many switches such as against Jirachi and Tyranitar.

Timid Scarf Politoed does 91.64% - 108.36% to 4HP Thundurus. That's 46% chance to OHKO and a 100% chance to OHKO after LO damage considering Hydro Pump doesn't miss. It's just another means to give speed to a team slower than molasses in the summer.