By [staff]Bippa[/staff], [member]AoH[/member] and [smod]TPO3[/smod]
Introduction
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If you guys know me at all, you know I love building rain teams. You’re also probably aware of the Tornadus-Therian and Keldeo suspect test, both of which are near staples on rain teams and, by extension, most teams that I make. So when I heard that they were getting suspected, I was a little annoyed. I’ve enjoyed using them for so long that going without them just seemed uncomfortable. This motivated me to try laddering for suspect requirements, to save two of my favorite Pokemon and two Pokemon that I really find it difficult to label them as broken. This is the team I used, with help of AoH and TPO3. You might notice, there’s no weather to be found here. No rain, no sun, no sand and no hail. Yep, this is the first successful weatherless team I’ve managed to build in the BW2 metagame. Ultimately, while I did get quite high (I landed in the 1700s), I didn’t get the requirements to vote.
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[staff]Bippa[/staff]
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[member]AoH[/member]
Hey, Pokébeach, remember me? I used to be such a lurker around here (this specific section), but, over the past few months, I have come to enjoy participating in such a great gaming community. In terms of how I play, OU rain offense has always been my style, featured primarily in my Radioactive team from Oct-Dec. I'm not much of a ladderer, but I love to theorymon, come up with odd sets (exp- SalacCrustle/Carracosta, SubSalamence, AgilityZapdos, WeakArmorSDKabutops, and everything else), and just have fun. When I heard that two of my favorite rain sweepers were being suspected, I started a thread here to discuss it, and somehow Bippa and I started making a team together. Bippa let TPO3 in in turn, and I met someone named choiscarf on PS! whom I thought was Bippa in the first place. That mystery person introduced me to my favorite part of this team: the T-Wave/Pursuit lock.
This team is one of the few weatherless teams that suit my style well, since I will never play stall or sun or hail. Just balance, offense, sand, rain or weatherless. What I enjoyed most was that this team has a gameplan for every common threat in OU except some lesser ones (Alakazam, Toxicroak, as mentioned later on). Coverage and featuring six of my favorites. No doubt, this is my type of team. Since I only laddered about half the time that Bippa did, I made it to around 1500 before stopping. Thank you for everything, guys.
[/td][/tr][/btable]This team is one of the few weatherless teams that suit my style well, since I will never play stall or sun or hail. Just balance, offense, sand, rain or weatherless. What I enjoyed most was that this team has a gameplan for every common threat in OU except some lesser ones (Alakazam, Toxicroak, as mentioned later on). Coverage and featuring six of my favorites. No doubt, this is my type of team. Since I only laddered about half the time that Bippa did, I made it to around 1500 before stopping. Thank you for everything, guys.
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Hello PokéBeach! Most of you know me as a player that likes the UU tier a lot more than OU. I just never really liked the OU metagame as much. Anyways, with the recent talk on smogon, most people were pretty sure Drizzle was finally going to get tested. Unfortunately, however, Pride called it from the start with the following chat quote:
[22:43]<Pride> Smogon won't suspect rain
[22:43]<Pride> they'll just suspect everything that makes rain broken
[22:43]<Pride> Like Keldeo
I chuckled a little bit when he said that, only to find that it actually happened. Tornadus-T and Keldeo had been suspected, much to the displeasure of a plethora of battlers. I never really planned to ladder for reqs, as I'm not the most fantastic OU battler, but I did like the team that Bippa and AoH came up with. I decided to ladder a bit with it myself, and found that even I could peak up above 1750 with little to no effort at all. I feel this team just happened to reflect my style pretty well. Bippa and AoH showcase a great teambuilding effort with Fortissimus Unus, and I am very happy they decided to include me.
[/td][td][22:43]<Pride> Smogon won't suspect rain
[22:43]<Pride> they'll just suspect everything that makes rain broken
[22:43]<Pride> Like Keldeo
I chuckled a little bit when he said that, only to find that it actually happened. Tornadus-T and Keldeo had been suspected, much to the displeasure of a plethora of battlers. I never really planned to ladder for reqs, as I'm not the most fantastic OU battler, but I did like the team that Bippa and AoH came up with. I decided to ladder a bit with it myself, and found that even I could peak up above 1750 with little to no effort at all. I feel this team just happened to reflect my style pretty well. Bippa and AoH showcase a great teambuilding effort with Fortissimus Unus, and I am very happy they decided to include me.
[smod]TPO3[/smod]
Teambuilding Process
[btable][tr][td] [animate]rotom-w[/animate][animate]latias[/animate]
I began the team with a core of Specially Defensive Rotom-W and Life Orb Latias. This is a fantastic anti-metagame core, due to how well they shut down anything representing rain offense. Tornadus-T meets Rotom-W, while Keldeo is hard countered by Latias, as is Thundurus-T. The big three rain titans are already checked by a two Pokemon defensive core. They did other things too, like beating Mamoswine and Breloom. In fact, the only rain threats that this team couldn’t beat were Toxicroak and Dragonite, and both of them can be beat by one Pokemon.
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[staff]Bippa[/staff]
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[animate]rotom-w[/animate][animate]latias[/animate][animate]garchomp[/animate]
Meet ScarfChomp, a Pokemon who beats any remaining rain threat that Latias and Rotom-W can’t. With a great speed tier and excellent dual STAB coverage, Garchomp was a natural fit for the team. I believe that any team benefits from a Choice Scarf Pokemon, and my team was no exception. It also provided a secondary way to check non-Agility Thundurus-T.
[/td][td]Meet ScarfChomp, a Pokemon who beats any remaining rain threat that Latias and Rotom-W can’t. With a great speed tier and excellent dual STAB coverage, Garchomp was a natural fit for the team. I believe that any team benefits from a Choice Scarf Pokemon, and my team was no exception. It also provided a secondary way to check non-Agility Thundurus-T.
[staff]Bippa[/staff]
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[animate]rotom-w[/animate][animate]latias[/animate][animate]garchomp[/animate][animate]terrakion[/animate][animate]scizor[/animate][animate]heatran[/animate]
Here’s where AoH stepped in, and he pretty much finished off the team in one fell swoop. Scizor was a natural option due to the amazing synergy with Rotom-W, while also beating Kyurem-B with Bullet Punch, and generally being a solid revenge killer and scouter in one package. Terrakion is a fantastic Pokemon who can pretty much benefit any team due to how offensive it is, and my team is pretty good at eliminating the threatening Scizor and Breloom. Heatran fit well due to stopping Venusaur, a Pokemon which really threatens weatherless teams, and it gave me Stealth Rock support as well.
[/td][td]Here’s where AoH stepped in, and he pretty much finished off the team in one fell swoop. Scizor was a natural option due to the amazing synergy with Rotom-W, while also beating Kyurem-B with Bullet Punch, and generally being a solid revenge killer and scouter in one package. Terrakion is a fantastic Pokemon who can pretty much benefit any team due to how offensive it is, and my team is pretty good at eliminating the threatening Scizor and Breloom. Heatran fit well due to stopping Venusaur, a Pokemon which really threatens weatherless teams, and it gave me Stealth Rock support as well.
[staff]Bippa[/staff]
In-depth Analysis
[animate]latias[/animate]
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
Draco Meteor | Psyshock | Surf | Recover
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
Draco Meteor | Psyshock | Surf | Recover
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Many people don’t tend to associate Latias with a Life Orb attacker, usually thinking Latios is better at any offensive set, and they tend to be right most of the time. However, Life Orb Latias is the exception to that rule, and it’s a beautiful exception. This set gets rid of a lot of Latias’ flaws, such as a vulnerability to Trick and two move coverage that tends to leave it walled one way or another – the trade is less durability, but it still lets Latias beat what I want it to beat. Draco Meteor hits hard, and provides great neutral STAB. Psyshock is for Breloom and Keldeo, while Surf is mostly filler, but it’s the best option available to hit Steel-types due to how badly this Latias set cannot afford to be outsped by Latios and Gengar, which it would be if it ran Hidden Power Fire. Recover heals off Life Orb recoil, while keeping Latias healthy for most of the game. It’s an obvious staple on nearly everything that gets it. The 72 HP EVs from SAtk give it a Life Orb number and decent amount of bulk.
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[staff]Bippa[/staff]
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Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Bullet Punch | U-Turn | Superpower | Pursuit
[btable][tr][td]Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Bullet Punch | U-Turn | Superpower | Pursuit
[member]AoH[/member]
When you see a Scizor on a team, you are facing down one of the most consistent and dominant players in OU. Due to its versatility, power, and utility, Scizor has great synergy with every member of this team. Using its gold-standard Choice Band set, this powerhouse can destroy or dent so many things. Bullet Punch is what makes it what it is - one of the best priority users in the game. Bullet Punch rips apart frail foes (some require Stealth Rock), Terrakion, weakened dragons like Salamence, Kyurem(-B), and Tyranitar. One of the two irreplacable moves this set uses is this one, the other being U-turn, which makes Scizor the only common priority user with access to a momentum-earning attack. U-turn scouts early game, gets in counters to opposing team responses, KOs, and starts the infamous Volt-turn chain with its partner, Rotom-W. Superpower is a standard third slot pick due to the ability to hit opposing Scizor neutrally and Tyranitar, Heatran and Ferrothorn supereffectively. It may garner an attack and defense loss, but switching solves that. Finally, Pursuit allows Scizor to trap common threats like Lati@s, Gengar, and Celebi, ensuring their demise. Those threats in particular annoy the whole rest of the team in one way or another, so Scizor is a pivotal player here indeed.
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Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SAtk / 228 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
Volt Switch | Hydro Pump | Will-O-Wisp | Pain Split
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SAtk / 228 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
Volt Switch | Hydro Pump | Will-O-Wisp | Pain Split
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Rotom-W is a fantastic Pokemon in this metagame, being quite a bit of an anti-metagame Pokemon in its own regard. It’s great at breaking through Landorus, Tornadus and Scizor, all of which are amazing Pokemon in OU. It has an amazing defensive typing, which I think makes it a great candidate for a defensive set. Flying, Fire, Water and Ice are all great resistances to have. Volt Switch forms the second half of our Volt Turn pressure core, while being a very tough move to punish without a Ground-type. Hydro Pump is a great STAB attack, and is fantastic at eliminating troubling Ground-type Pokemon. Will-o-Wisp and Pain Split both keep Rotom-W bulky, with Will-o-Wisp patching up its uninvested defense, and Pain Split keeping it healthy.
AoH's set: I use Thunder Wave over Will-O-Wisp and a spread of 248 HP / 52 Def / 28 SAtk / 176 SDef / 4 Spd. Thunder Wave is one of my favorite changes in that it ensures that Scizor gets the Pursuit trap KO on a paralyzed Lati@s or Gengar. I don't find myself using V=WoW nearly as much either, The 52 Def EVs allocated from SDef on my spread ensure that Scarf Keldeo's Secret Sword can't OHKO after SR damage is applied, allowing me to T-Wave it so that Latias can outspeed it.
[/td][td]AoH's set: I use Thunder Wave over Will-O-Wisp and a spread of 248 HP / 52 Def / 28 SAtk / 176 SDef / 4 Spd. Thunder Wave is one of my favorite changes in that it ensures that Scizor gets the Pursuit trap KO on a paralyzed Lati@s or Gengar. I don't find myself using V=WoW nearly as much either, The 52 Def EVs allocated from SDef on my spread ensure that Scarf Keldeo's Secret Sword can't OHKO after SR damage is applied, allowing me to T-Wave it so that Latias can outspeed it.
[staff]Bippa[/staff]
[animate]garchomp[/animate]
Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
Outrage | Dual Chop | Earthquake | Stone Edge
Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
Outrage | Dual Chop | Earthquake | Stone Edge
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Choice Scarf Garchomp is a very underrated threat in today's metagame. I was really happy with the inclusion on it for this team, because it fits well into the purpose of beint an anti-meta Pokémon. Garchomp reaches the most trollsy speed in the game, coming in at base 102, just edging out Landorus at base 101, and everything at base 100. This is very important, as Garchomp will outspeed Salamence, Haxorus, and Dragonite. With a Choice Scarf, Garchomp is sure to outspeed them at +1, which is great for checking Dragon Dance Dragonite, Haxorus, and Salamence, all versions of Latias, all non-scarfed versions of Latios, as well as Choice Scarf variants of Haxorus and Salamence. Garchomp can net a couple of other KOs against set up or scarf Pokémon, like QD Volcarona, Scarf Jirachi, Scarf Hydreigon, and Rapid Spin Starmie. Rough Skin is used obviously because Sand Veil is banned, however, it can be a bit useful to get a bit of extra damage on priority attacks.
The EV spread is very simple. Maximum speed is necessary to tie other random Scarf Garchomps, but also to make sure you outspeed base 100 and 101 Pokémon. Maximum attack is to hit as hard as possible. The moveset is also pretty basic, but it serves its job perfectly. Outrage is your main STAB attack. It locks you in for three turns, but it is a very powerful move to be using, at base 120. Earthquake is another STAB option for the times you do not wish to be locked in, and it also has great coverage with Outrage, hitting Steel-types like Heatran and Jirachi for super effective damage. Stone Edge forms the infamous EdgeQuake combination, and has its uses as a coverage move as well, cleanly OHKOing Volcarona, Tornadus-T, and Thundurus-T. Dual Chop is used over Dragon Claw in the last slot. Dual Chop allows you to bypass Pokémon that use Substitute, like Breloom or the odd Kingdras you might see. Dual Chop also gets past Focus Sash on extremely frail Pokémon, like Alakazam or Dugtrio. Overall, Garchomp is one of the more valuable teammates whenever I play with this team, and Scarf Garchomp is, as stated earlier, often overlooked, and very underrated.
[/td][td]The EV spread is very simple. Maximum speed is necessary to tie other random Scarf Garchomps, but also to make sure you outspeed base 100 and 101 Pokémon. Maximum attack is to hit as hard as possible. The moveset is also pretty basic, but it serves its job perfectly. Outrage is your main STAB attack. It locks you in for three turns, but it is a very powerful move to be using, at base 120. Earthquake is another STAB option for the times you do not wish to be locked in, and it also has great coverage with Outrage, hitting Steel-types like Heatran and Jirachi for super effective damage. Stone Edge forms the infamous EdgeQuake combination, and has its uses as a coverage move as well, cleanly OHKOing Volcarona, Tornadus-T, and Thundurus-T. Dual Chop is used over Dragon Claw in the last slot. Dual Chop allows you to bypass Pokémon that use Substitute, like Breloom or the odd Kingdras you might see. Dual Chop also gets past Focus Sash on extremely frail Pokémon, like Alakazam or Dugtrio. Overall, Garchomp is one of the more valuable teammates whenever I play with this team, and Scarf Garchomp is, as stated earlier, often overlooked, and very underrated.
[smod]TPO3[/smod]
[animate]heatran[/animate]
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) (AoH: Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk))
Fire Blast | Earth Power | Hidden Power Ice | Stealth Rock
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) (AoH: Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk))
Fire Blast | Earth Power | Hidden Power Ice | Stealth Rock
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[member]AoH[/member]
When I use Heatran, the two sets that come to my mind are the offensive and defensive. That is all. Here, you can see that we use the former. I have used Offensetran here because of its walling ability in tandem with Latias and Rotom-W - between the three, they can wall almost any special attacker - and ability to remain a huge offensive threat. Air Balloon helps Heatran immensely when laying down Stealth Rocks, allowing him to set them up on Choice-locked Landorus, Garchomp and sometimes Terrakion (any Earthquake). SR is here as the teams hazard of choice, keeping Dragonite, Volcarona and friends in check and helping to score KOs. Fire Blast is Heatran's STAB of choice, better than any other choices due to its consistently high damage output. Earth Power deals with Jirachi in the rain, other Heatran (without Balloons of their own), Tyranitar, and all manner of Ground-weak threats. Last is HP Ice, which KOs dragons like Salamence locked into Outrage that Heatran can switch into and tanks hits from. It also gets by Gliscor and the Landorus formes. I prefer a Timid nature to the others' Modest nature because I love KOing or tying opposing Heatran, possibly popping their Balloon before I am KOd. This also helps with Jolly Breloom attempting to set up and Spore me that don't Mach Punch (however rare that is).
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Terrakion @ Salac Berry
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
Substitute | Swords Dance | Close Combat | Stone Edge
Terrakion @ Salac Berry
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
Substitute | Swords Dance | Close Combat | Stone Edge
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SubSalac Terrakion made me question this team when I first looked at it, however it is quite the surprising Pokémon when played correctly. First, not holding either Leftovers or Life Orb actually lets me bluff the popular Rock Gem set, which is notorious for being able to OHKO Gliscor at +2. Substitute only makes this bluff look even more legitimate. At base 108 Speed, Terrakion has enough speed to consistently set Substitute up to the point where Salac Berry kicks in, allowing it to potentially run through the entire opposing team. At +1, Terrakion will now outspeed several key Pokémon that it was unable to before, such as Latios, Starmie, and Tornadus-T. This, combined with Terrakion's massive base 129 Attack makes it a very effective cleaner, even without a Swords Dance boost. If you are fortunate enough to grab a Swords Dance in addition, you're pretty set as long as you don't miss. Close Combat and Stone Edge are really the only coverage Terrakion needs. The only other real coverage option you have is X-Scissor, but I don't find that very useful, as most of the Pokémon it hits (Latios, Starmie, Reuniclus, etc.) are going to be taking a massive amount of damage from Stone Edge anyways. Overall, Terrakion @Salac Berry is an extremely threatening sweeper, and the surprise factor it possesses has been enough to turn entire matches around for me.
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[smod]TPO3[/smod]
Threats
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To me, two Pokemon stand out as very threatening to this team: Alakazam and Toxicroak. We lack a switchin for either one, resulting in a required revenge kill from Garchomp to beat them. Garchomp outspeeds Alakazam and breaks its Focus Sash with the first hit of Dual Chop, and then finishes it off with the second hit. Garchomp can’t take Ice Punch from Toxicroak, but it can live a boosted Sucker Punch and retaliate with an Earthquake. We also lack a dedicated sleep absorber to combat Breloom. Cloyster is also threatening if Rotom-W is weakened.
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[staff]Bippa[/staff]
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[member]AoH[/member]
Toxicroak is public enemy #1 here, with fast psychics like Alakazam next in line. Garchomp and smart Latias play are the only ways to get rid of this beast, as it sets up on the rest of the team except for my version of Heatran. Breloom seems like a headache here, but it depends on the set. Sub versions (Sub versions of anything really) are problems due to their ability to take a hit and often times OHKO back. I also found that Agility Thundurus-T combined with Scizor is a real pain. Thundurus-T at +2 outspeeds everything and OHKOs most of the team except Rotom-W and Latias, the former of which is dominated by the aforementioned Scizor. Alakazam is only a threat due to its coverage and ability to survive two hits guaranteed save Garchomp, but that is our only option. Thankfully, many threats here are sorely underplayed by the masses of PS!
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Toxicroak, like Bippa said, immediately jumps out to me. I have to play extremely carefully if I see one on the opposing team. Garchomp is a safe way to revenge kill it, but short of that, this team doesn't have many stops. If I can prevent it from getting to +2, Latias can live a Sucker Punch, and KO with either Draco Meteor or Psyshock, but again, I have to play very carefully. When played properly, SubPunch Breloom can be problematic for this team. It can substitute as I switch out, and proceed to Spore whatever I send in, or just Focus Punch away. I have to be sure Latias doesn't take Spore, because if it does, I'm in for problems. Thankfully, with Technician being so popular, I don't see it very often. Technician Breloom can also be a problem for this team, but to a much lesser extent. Rock Polish Landorus can also be problematic for this team. This one is a bit easier to play around with Specially Defensive Rotom, Latias, and Scizor on this team. The only reason I list it here is because it actually does hit that hard. Focus Blast with just a bit of residual damage can 2HKO Rotom-W. While Latias can take an HP Ice, it preferrs not to. If Latias is gone, this Pokémon becomes immediately more threatening, as Scizor's Bullet Punch does 62.5% max. I have to find some way to make it take a hit before sending in Scizor to revenge kill.
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[smod]TPO3[/smod]
Closing
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Honestly, I find myself building teams very rarely as of late. Maybe it’s because I want to try something new, and I’m not quite sure how so the team I come up with ends up being a disaster zone. So for me, having a team that was this successful is absolutely amazing! I never would’ve imagined that I made it this high on the ladder with a team that was built in just over 20 minutes. Using this team was a blast, and building it with two of my friends was an extra bonus as well. =)
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[staff]Bippa[/staff]
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[member]AoH[/member]
As I say all too often, building teams is a very fun experience that is unique every time I do it. This time is unique in that it was a co-op building. I had/have a lot of fun using this team, and while nobody had voting reqs, it made its mark on the competitive scene so far. I look forward to using this team later on, as I have built nothing but rain and one sand team in the BW2 era before this. All hail this crazy but effective creation. Thanks to Bippa, TPO3, and choiscarf for their awesome effort, advice and whatnot. You rock!
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To close, I would just like to say that although I may not have participated as much in the actual building process, I still had a ton of fun with this team. It is one of the first weatherless teams I have used in this weather-infested metagame, and it has by far been the most successful. I find that this team's strongest matchups are actually against opposing weather teams. I will definitely be using this team in the future, and who knows? Maybe somebody, whether one of us, or one of you readers, can find a way to make it even better. Maybe this can be a team we use to try and get reqs for futures suspect tests. If not, this team is still a blast to use, and I think it showcases the teambuilding skills of the creators very well. Bravo once again for creating such a great team that is equally fun to use.
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[smod]TPO3[/smod]