UU Rain Team

[Asrodrig]

The UU tier is the tier that interests me the most, mainly because of the wider variety of Pokemon that appear in it. As well, I love weather-based teams, so I decided to whip up a Rain Dance team. Let me know what you think!

Lead: Electrode @ Damp Rock
Ability: Static
Nature: Hasty
EVs: 28 Attack/252 SpAttack/228 Speed

• Rain Dance
• Explosion
• Thunder
• Light Screen

Attacker: Kabutops @ Muscle Band
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 72 HP/252 Attack/184 Speed

• Swords Dance
• Waterfall
• Stone Edge
• X-scissor

Support: Lanturn @ Damp Rock
Ability: Volt Absorb
Nature: Calm
EVs: 40 HP/216 SpA/252 SpD

• Rain Dance
• Surf
• Thunder
• Ice Beam

SpAttacker: Ludicolo @ Wise Glasses
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpAttack/252 Speed

• Surf
• Ice Beam
• Energy Ball
• Toxic

Tank: Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP/252 Defense/8 Speed

• Surf
• Ice Beam
• Rest
• Sleep Talk

Attacker: Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Ability: Dry Skin
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 8 HP/252 Attack/248 Speed

• Substitute
• Focus Punch
• Stone Edge
• Poison Jab

Critique away!

 

[jkriall]

Give Kabutops life orb for 30% improved damage(10% really won't change much), plus Aqua jet over x Scissor. Coverage is nice, but Aqua jets priority is way more useful imo, adamant lo +2 Kabutops in the rain 1hkos 252hp Registeel every time, so yea its not exactly weak.
Life orb > wise glasses for Ludicolo aswell, but if u really want no recoil, use expert belt. Plus, I doubt you use toxic much on Ludicolo, so try sub or hp something instead.
Milotic seems like a random addition to your team, while its a good wall, it doesnt have much synergy with the others. I would replace it for support Registeel:

Registeel@ Leftovers / damp rock
Careful
252hp 252spD 4def
~ Stealth rock
~ Explosion
~ Seismic Toss / Shadow Claw
~ Rain Dance / T wave

 

[scizor007]

Hp water is a good option on electrode in the rain rather than Light screen.You can also keep taunt.I'd suggest Thunderbolt> Thunder simply because of Kabutops leads(U can kill it first and then set up rain). Rain Dance>Toxic on Ludicolo.Give Lanturn Charge Beam/Substitute rather than Rain dance.SD+Cross chop is better on toxicroak than Sub-punch.

 

[Asrodrig]

Give Kabutops life orb for 30% improved damage(10% really won't change much), plus Aqua jet over x Scissor. Coverage is nice, but Aqua jets priority is way more useful imo, adamant lo +2 Kabutops in the rain 1hkos 252hp Registeel every time, so yea its not exactly weak.

Don't you think, with the investment in Speed, plus with Swift Swim, Aqua Jet becomes a bit redundant? Maybe someone can crunch some numbers to find out what Kabutops is outspeeding and what he should be outspeeding, but I almost think he'll be going first most of the time anyways. And if Aqua Jet can OHKO Registeel, then Waterfall certainly can as well. I'm a bit keen to keep X-scissor, just to make any Grass-Type switching in suffer.

Life orb > wise glasses for Ludicolo aswell, but if u really want no recoil, use expert belt. Plus, I doubt you use toxic much on Ludicolo, so try sub or hp something instead.

I'm always a little scared of killing my own Pokemon with Life Orb, since I can barely keep them alive with only the enemy doing damage to them. I'll give Ludicolo Expert Belt, since he seems to have pretty good coverage, and I'll see if I can't get HP Ground on him as well.

Milotic seems like a random addition to your team, while its a good wall, it doesnt have much synergy with the others. I would replace it for support Registeel:

Registeel@ Leftovers / damp rock
Careful
252hp 252spD 4def
~ Stealth rock
~ Explosion
~ Seismic Toss / Shadow Claw
~ Rain Dance / T wave

Hm, I see how Registeel would be a good addition to my team. The only problem is that I don't have a lot to counter any Fighting Types that could ruin his day. If I can get my hands on a Registeel, I'll try it out.

Hp water is a good option on electrode in the rain rather than Light screen.You can also keep taunt.I'd suggest Thunderbolt> Thunder simply because of Kabutops leads(U can kill it first and then set up rain).

I see your point with Thunderbolt over Thunder, but I think I'll stick with Thunder for now, just to give it a little bit of a kick. HP Water is a good idea, though, especially with the rain boost. I'll have a lot less trouble with opposing Ground-types that way.

Rain Dance>Toxic on Ludicolo.

Maybe you're right. I do need another Dancer, and I just threw Toxic in because I had an empty move. As jkriall suggested though, HP Ground would be a good option as well, particularly with an Expert Belt, since that would give me some way of hitting opposing electric types.

Give Lanturn Charge Beam/Substitute rather than Rain dance.

I think I'll leave Lanturn as is, since my main plan for him is to switch in on predicted Electric attacks, keep the Rain going while the opponent switches out, and then attack away with STAB Thunderbolt and Surf, and Ice Beam for those pesky Grass-types.

SD+Cross chop is better on toxicroak than Sub-punch.

With Rain happening, Dry Skin + Black Sludge is just too tempting to pass up. Think of it this way: Toxicroak puts up a Substitute, which costs him 25% of his HP. Then Dry Skin heals 12.5%, and Black Sludge heals 6.25%, for a total of 18.75% of his health, which is three quarters of what he lost by making the Substitute. As long as the Substitute lasts for more than one turn, and as long as the rain keeps pouring, Toxicroak can stick around for quite a while.

 

[Dark Azelf]

Electrode wants Taunt somewhere to avoid being utter Spikes and set up bait which is one of the things that wrecks rain. Put it over Light Screen.

 

[PlatinumDude]

For Toxicroak, it might want to have Sucker Punch somewhere in there to deal with Psychics and Ghosts (maybe over Poison Jab). Sucker Punch, along with Substitute and Focus Punch, can confuse your opponent (if you have a Sub up, your opponent will have to decide between attacking, setting up and switching; if they attack (which is likely), they'll eat a Sucker Punch or if they set up, switch or break the Sub with an attack, they may take a Focus Punch).

 

[Dark Azelf]

Also dont ever use HP Ground on Ludicolo ever. STAB Surf hits HARDER even when HP Ground is Super effective. -_-

 

[Alternative]

I have no idea why you're using Black Sludge on Toxicroak. All it takes is a Trick and you've been crippled. Replace with Life Orb/Leftovers. Croak also does want Sucker Punch >> Poison Jab since it provides with a reliable move which gives priority and doesn't lose coverage.

I'd advise giving Electrode a Focus Sash so you can at least get in a Rain Dance and a Taunt before going boom.

You do seem to have a bit of an EQ weakness as well, and Milotic can't be taking hits forever. I'd replace that with something.

 

[Asrodrig]

I think you have Black Sludge confused with some other item. Just to refresh your memory, it does exactly the same thing as Leftovers, but only to Poison-type Pokemon. All other types receive damage from it. So with that in mind, I think I'll keep it, since it helps me out a little if someone does Trick it away.
Sucker Punch over Poison Jab is an interesting suggestion though. Personally, I'm not a fan of a move that's not guaranteed to hit, but with good prediction, I suppose it could be better.
You're also right about the EQ weakness - I hadn't even noticed that. I think I might do some switching up to even things out a bit. Perhaps I'll swap Milotic for a Claydol, since that would help with my EQ weakness, as well as my Electric-type weakness. And you mentioning Trick gave me an idea for what I think might be a better Lead than Electrode:

Lead: Ambipom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Technician
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Attack/252 Speed

• Switcheroo
• Fake Out
• Rain Dance
• U-turn

Sure his Rain doesn't last as long as it would with Damp Stone, but I think he could potentially cause a lot more trouble than Electrode. Since he does have a shorter Rain Dance, then the aforementioned Claydol could look like this:

Tank: Claydol @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/144 Defense/114 SpAttack

• Rapid Spin
• Earth Power
• Rain Dance
• Rest

What do you think? Better?

 

[Cycle]

No no no. The reason he says that is it encourages them to just trick it on to another pokemon of yours, which is very bad for you.
Oh by the way, Electrode's a better rain dancer than Ambipom. If you want Ambipom that bad, take off the scarf for lefties/damp rock.
Rest without sleep talk is meh, especially since Claydol has so many weaknesses.