I Dream Of The Rain

Chaos Jackal

Legend of the Past
Member
I have used numerous rain teams in the past. I've tried many styles and did lots of stupid stuff with them. All this experience has been gathered into this final form. All I need is a few more advice from you. So I present you my VGC Double Battle team, I Dream Of The Rain!

The strategy is quite simple. I bring the rain, and I use it to sweep anything that dares to stand in my way. Not something different than most offensive rain teams.

The Pokemon:

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Politoed
Ability: Drizzle
Item: Wacan Berry/Shed Shell
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 4SpDef
Moves:
Surf
Ice Beam
Protect
Hydro Pump/Scald/Focus Blast
The Rain inducer. Its EVs give it the ability to hit hard with its STAB water moves, while also providing it with some bulk in order to survive some attacks. Surf is there for a powerful STAB that also activates Kingdra's Absorb Bulb, Ice Beam provides coverage against Grass and Dragon types and Protect allows for some more survivability. The last slot is debatable. Hydro Pump is the most powerful Water move Politoed can learn, but its 80% accuracy isn't great. Scald is a decent option as it can burn opponents, but it's less powerful than Surf. Focus Blast doesn't allow Politoed to run a second water move that doesn't hit allies and its accuracy is even worse than Hydro Pump's, but it allows hits against Ferrothorn and potentially OHKOs Tyranitar. Another thing I'm unsure about is the item slot. Wacan Berry protects the frog from the (rather predictable) Thunders and T-Bolts, while Shed Shell gives the chance for a free switch and some momentum, but risks an Electric move hit. So I'll need some help with these two things.

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Kingdra
Ability: Swift Swim
Item: Absorb Bulb/Haban Berry/Wide Lens
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
Moves:
Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse
Muddy Water
Protect
Ice Beam/Hydro Pump
No introduction is needed here. Kingdra is the undoubtable master of Rain. It hits an impossible number of almost 600 Speed at Lvl 100 under Rain, a number that's more than this of most, if not all, Scarfed Pokemon. This specific Kingdra focuses on Special Attack, utilizing Absorb Bulb and the Rain to punch holes through my enemies. Haban Berry is another item choice, but I feel it's inferior for Double Battles. Muddy Water provides excellent STAB and accuracy reduction and it doesn't hit allies, its only negative compared to Surf being its 85% Accuracy. Draco Meteor can kill even the most specially defensive Latias after Absorb Bulb and provides a second powerful STAB. However, its recoil makes the appearance of the much weaker, but more stable, Dragon Pulse debatable. I'd like some help here. A notice: since Draco Meteor has 90% accuracy, there is a possibilty of running Wide Lens, although not very high. Protect is for survivabilty. The last move slot is again debatable. Ice Beam provides type coverage, but Hydro Pump is much stronger than Muddy Water and can prove useful, although here there is no question regrading allies as in the case of Politoed, since Muddy Water doesn't hit them. What's your opinion?

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Rotom-W
Ability: Levitate
Item: Rindo Berry
Nature: Modest
EVs: 168 Def, 172 SpAtk, 168 SpDef
Moves:
Hydro Pump
Thunder
Thunder Wave/Will-o-Wisp
Pain Split/Substitute
Rotom is often seen as a Rain counter. However, it also makes an excellent abuser. With its two STABs in Thunder and Hydro Pump, Rotom can literally exterminate many Pokemon. Thunder Wave is a great supporting move, useful for crippling enemy sweepers, although Will-o-Wisp also has some potential for this. Pain Split is good healing tool, utilizing the low HP of Rotom as a method of healing. Substitute is another option for survivability. This set also has a somewhat-weird EV distribution. However, this distribution allows for very good bulk, which, combined with the fact that Rotom's only weakness are Grass attacks, which are nullified by Rindo Berry, make the wash machine stay in the field for a surprising amount of time. The remaining EVs combine with Modest Nature to let Rotom use its offensive capabilities to the full.

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Dragonite
Ability: Multiscale
Item: Yache Berry
Nature: Mild
EVs: 76 Atk, 252 SpAtk, 180 Spd
Moves:
Hurricane
Thunder
Extremespeed
Roost
Dragonite is an excellent Rain Sweeper. Its better-than-average 100 base SpAtk allow it to use both the powerful Hurricane and Thunder with destructive results. Multiscale and Yache Berry pretty much cover Dragonite's weaknesses, and Roost allows for the potential reuse of Multiscale, making the dragon very bulky. Extremespeed allows for quick finishes. The EVs are mainly focused on SpAtk, with a few going for Extremespeed's boost and the rest to the rather lacking speed of Dragonite.

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Tornadus-T
Ability: Regenerator
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Rash
EVs: 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd
Moves:
Hurricane
Heat Wave
U-Turn
Focus Blast/Superpower
Newly introduced in Ubers, Tornadus-T's main attraction is its incredible base 121 Speed and the Regenerator ability. While U-Turn might seem more viable in Singles, the number of switches in Doubles, especially concerning weather teams, is quite high, thanks to the weather war. So U-Turn helps maintain momentum and triggers Regenerator. Thanks to that, Tornadus-T can run Life Orb to make up for its lacking offensive stats (compared to Tornadus-I). This allows for incredibly powerful Hurricane spam. Heat Wave, although it might seem a bad option for Rain, is huge trouble for Ferrothorn, which presents huge trouble for my team, and other annoying Steel types such as Bronzong or Metagross. The last slot is occupied by the rather standard Fighting move for beating stuff like Tyranitar or, if Heat Wave isn't enough, Ferrothorn. Focus Blast uses Tornadus-T's higher Special Attack, but has low accuracy. On the other hand, Superpower sports an 100% accuracy but is based on Tornadus's lower Attack stat, while also having a rather annoying recoil. Note though, that this recoil can be removed with U-Turn. I need some help making this choice.

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Ferrothorn
Ability: Iron Barbs
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP, 108 Def, 148 SpDef
Moves:
Power Whip
Gyro Ball
Thunder Wave
Protect/Stealth Rock/Leech Seed
Ferrothorn is the thing that my team lacks. An unbreakable tank. Its amazing defensive stats of 74/134/116 combined with its nature, EVs and typing allow for some good survivability from all sorts of attacks. Leftovers just makes things even harder, while Rain nullifies Ferrothorn's biggest weakness, Fire. To make things even worse, Ferrothorn also has a satisfying (for a tank) base 94 Atk that allow for some Strong Power Whips and Gyro Balls. Ferrothorn counters or checks most of Rain's counters, namely Rotom-W, Gastrodon, Jellicent and opposing Swift Swimmers such as Kingdra. Even Lati@s find it hard to beat Ferrothorn, although the steel-type can't harm them much either. However, such dangerous sweepers are crippled with Thunder Wave and turned into easy prey for my Kingdra or Dragonite. The last slot is debatable. Protect is an obvious choice, but I feel it's rather lacking versatility. Leech Seed is another option, more versatile than Protect. Stealth Rock is not very common in VGC, but it damages annoying guys such as Volcarona while it also breaks Focus Sashes, Sturdies and Dragonite's Multiscale. I need some help with the last move.

And there you have it! My team is complete! All it needs now is your wisdom!
Thanks for your help!
 
I'd give the Politoed Scald for burn damage. It would be a great wall takedown, like Haxourus and Salamance. You could make it more defensive with Ferrothorn:
[animate]politoed[/animate]
EVS: 252HP, 252DEF, 4SPE
Ability: Drizzle
Item: Leftovers/Wacan Berry
Nature: Modest (still a little offensive) / Bold (much more defensive)
Moveset:
-Scald
-Hypnosis/Refresh
-Ice Beam
-Protect
 
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