PlatinumDude
Nyeh?
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- Age 31
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- Seen Aug 1, 2020
I was kinda hoping they'd balance out Sceptile's offenses but they focus on Sp. Attack again which disappointed me since it has a more shallower special movepool compared to physical, but at least we have Sword Dance for that. That Speed and Sp. Attack pretty much shows its role is mainly a speedy special attacker and given that it blocks a huge threat in Thunder Wave its major threats are looking to be Talonflame, and also anything carrying Ice moves that can either outspeed or take a hit, or has Ice Shard.
Swampert on the other hand got a massive Attack boost while backing it up with boosts in both the defensive stats as well so yeah gonna be hard to take down without a Grass move which is the only weakness it even has. Moveset will likely be entirely physical-based but with Swift Swim patching up its low Speed it's pretty much what I agree with you, hard to revenge kill in rain. Thankfully Ice Punch should now be easier to get now that Move Tutors will be in OR/AS.
That being said, Brave Birds from Talonflame still hurt (Swampert's stats tweaked to match up with the Mega on Showdown's calculator):
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Swampert: 217-256 (63.6 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Swampert: 159-187 (46.6 - 54.8%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO
Of course, Mega Swampert has to be healthy if it wants to ever have a shot against Talonflame. But still, that bulk is ridiculous.
On the other hand, I can't help but imagine a core of Mega Steelix + Sand Rush Stoutland in sandstorm. Both have to be used with Sand Stream support from Smooth Rock Hippopotas. Assuming you can keep sand up, Mega Steelix breaks things in half with Sand Force-boosted attacks, while Stoutland can come in and clean up afterward. I highly doubt this core has effectiveness in OU, so that's why I mentioned Hippopotas instead of Tyranitar or Hippowdon.