Scrafty Makes it Rain

[rylau00]

MAKE IT RAIN

Hello Smogon, this is my second RMT. I'm mainly a lurker on the forums, so I'm familiar with standard sets etc. I play both on Pokemon Online and Smogon Servers on PO as well as the rare WiFi battle. Thus far this team has kept me in the 1300 range and is doing surprisingly well at holding that approximate rank.​

I've built teams before but usually I try and avoid weather. Something about it seems to detract from the overall experience of the battle (maybe the fact that it tends to run the battle in a particularly singular direction), but recently I decided I was tired of running a non-weather team attempting to cover all the threats from the rampant weather abusers simultaneously. So here is my rain team. Its slightly different from the norm, to give it more edge, a little more flavor you could say.

Team Building:
So obviously this is a rain team. Thus, by default, Politoed must be on this team.

Next up, I decided on something slightly (but not completely) unconventional. One of my favorite Pokemon, Scrafty.

Because I haven't invested in anything particularly defensive thus far, I decided on putting Ferrothorn on the team, if only to abuse the Fire-effectiveness reduction. I think Ferrothorn is an amazing Pokemon for tanking hits, spreading status and setting up hazards. The main "utility" Pokemon so far.

While running through the thought process of rain-abuse, I happened on an amazing mixed Dragonite in somebody else's thread (I'm sorry but their name has escaped me momentarily) and liked the idea of abusing the extremely powerful Hurricane.

The next Pokemon in the mix was a Dual Screen Latias. The bulk of Latias and her ability to more or less counter sun teams is invaluable to my team.

And finally, the cherry on top: Breloom. This particular Breloom is a little different from the norm as you'll see below. Breloom seemed like a nice final addition to my team, providing nice utility in Spore, amongst other things ;)

The Team:

Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Drizzle
Timid
4HP/252SpAtk/252Spd
Surf
Focus Blast
Ice Beam
Hidden Power Grass

So obvious Politoed is obvious. We have a regular scarf Politoed to revenge kill with its decent coverage. I usually tend not to lead with Politoed in order to allow my opponent to set up their weather before I switch in. The strategy tends to be placing Ferrothorn in on the first turn then allowing either Ninetales or Tyranitar to go for the Flamethrower/Fire Blast while I switch into Politoed to take the hit and possibly KO them with a Surf. Previously I have had too many negative experiences with Hydro Pump despite the power. The lack in accuracy was discouraging and occasionally game-changing so besides suggesting that for this Poke, I'm open to any other set.

Scrafty @ Leftovers
Shed Skin
Jolly
126HP/126Atk/252Spd
Dragon Dance
Drain Punch
Ice Punch
Crunch

Ahhh Scrafty, my favorite little ghetto-lizard. The bane of Sandstorm teams. This is a standard DD set with a little bit more HP invested to take resisted hits better, since I'll be boosting attack regardless. The idea behind this guy is to send him in mid-late game on something that thinks it can status and cripple him such as Jellicent, Ferrothorn or Rotom-W, DD up and proceed to sweep. People tend to overlook Scrafty for some strange reason, but with the amazing boosting moves at his disposal, amazing abilities and perfect coverage, I just can't stop using him.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Iron Barbs
Careful
252HP/56Def/200SpDef
Leech Seed
Stealth Rock
Thunder Wave
Gyro Ball

The standard Ferrothorn. Coming in to tank hits, spread status and set up hazards simultaneously. Outstanding resistances and the reduction of Fire effectiveness in the rain make this Poke an enormously difficult one to take down. I previously had Power Whip in place of Gyro Ball but decided to switch it out due to the insane number of times I was putting Ferrothorn in for obvious parahax. Not much else to say besides utility.

Dragonite @ Leftovers
Multiscale
Mild
4HP/252Atk/252SpAtk
Roost
Hurricane
Extremespeed
Waterfall

This Dragonite set has become my favourite. The high popularity of fighting types in the OU metagame has really facilitated the use of Hurricane, and Dragonite has a modest SpAtk (pun intended) that can be used with its already-good Atk to play the role of a mixed wallbreaker. I opted for Lefties over Life Orb to avoid contradicting Multiscale. Mild is to tank Ice Beams better (Ice Punch is less common, and Ice Shard/Icicle Spear even less common). Extremespeed to give an edge when revenge-killing. Waterfall is chosen of Aqua Tail for better accuracy.

Latias @ Light Clay
Levitate
Timid
252HP/4SpAtk/252Spd
Reflect
Light Screen
Dragon Pulse
Recover

Espeon has been switched out for Latias at the recommendation of Joeyboy, but I've so far decided that I enjoy the Dual Screener more than the Calm Mind set he suggested. The superior bulk and use of reliable recovery give Latias greater durability than Espeon, and its single attacking move has great neutral coverage. Thus far this Latias has worked amazingly for me, as it can set up screens at least 2 to 3 times per match, adding bulk to the entire team.

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal
Careful
236HP/216SpDef/56Spd
Spore
Bulk Up
Drain Punch
Seed Bomb

This thing has served me amazingly on countless occasions, coming in after Espeon gets a Light Screen up, setting up and sweeping. It can tank hits absolutely amazingly after screens are up and has no trouble setting up and beating even DDragonite, DDHaxorus, SDTerrakion, SDGliscor. An irreplaceable team member, Breloom can take care of most of the OU metagame with just its STABs and its just so cute, I could never replace it. =]

Thanks guys for taking the time read my RMT, please comment on any weaknesses you see etc.[/CENTER]

 

[yaysnivy34]

Very original Rain team! Your choices are strange, but nevertheless effective. I really like it! A couple of things though. On Scrafty, I suggest running Hi Jump Kick over Drain Punch. Since you are running Dragon Dance, you don't have bulk on your side anymore and you will want all the power you can get due to Scrafty's average Attack. On Ferrothorn, I suggest getting rid of Thunder Wave and putting Protect. Thunder Wave completely nullifies Gyro Ball's power, so getting rid of that would be helpful. To lower its Speed completely, run 0 Speed IVs and change to a Sassy nature. This next suggestion may seem strange, but I suggest running Baton Pass over Hidden Power on Espeon. You can get out of the field quickly and pass the Screens to someone like, say, Breloom. If you want, you could add more EVs to Dragonites bulk to help him tank hits better. I suggest running the Rain Tank set with those same moves. It should look something like this:

Dragonite-Multiscale
224 HP/32 Att/252 Sp. Att.
Item: Leftovers Nature: Quiet/Mild
Roost
Waterfall
ExtremeSpeed
Hurricane

I hope these suggestions were helpful! Good Luck!

 

[Joeyboy]

Cool team man, you've done a really great job! Man that BU Breloom is making it's rounds huh :D

So the first threats that spring to mind are Lucario and Sun Teams.

With Stealth Rocks up and Ice Punch a +2 Lucario sweeps you right out. Now you don't give it too many changes to set up but Politoed locked into either Ice Beam or Hidden Power Grass is the perfect opportunity.

Sun Teams, especially Sun Teams with Trap support(ie Wobb or Dug) for Politoed removal, pose a huge threat to you. In Sun no one really likes taking those boosted Fire moves.

But I believe I have a fairly small, safe, change that can help in both of those regards. Switch Espeon for Latias. Latias is renowned for it's ability to dismantle whole Sun teams on it's own, and with the proper EVs Latias can also check Lucario fairly well. The set I suggest is:

Hide

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Levitate
Timid
252HP/4SpAtk/252Spd
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power Fire

With those HP EV's Latias will always survive +2 Extremespeed from Lucario and can finish him with Hidden Power Fire. Latias resists many of the common move types Sun teams throw around(Grass and Fire) and is given ample opportunity to set up Calm Minds, Recovering while she goes. Then she can destroy teams with boosted Hidden Powers and Stab Dragon Pulses. Latias also still gives Breloom and Scrafty plenty of opportunities to switch in.

I realize you do lose your screen support and Espeon's Magic Bounce, but I believe Latias will serve you much better 9 times out of 10. Espeon tends to fail its job as it is so frail. It might try to switch in to hazards and met with a powerful attack instead, and setting up Screens can be trouble when your sporting 65/60/95 defenses.

I hope you try the change out, Good Luck!

 

[rylau00]

@ yaysnivy:i tried out your EV spread on dragonite today and it worked out relatively well, although the effectiveness doesnt seem to be significantly increased because the loss in power seems to put me in the position of having to 2HKO with -random attack- plus Extremespeed

@ Joeyboy: I'll try out the latias today, but the addition of a third ice weakness seems deterring to me. Also, the loss of screens support is really hindering to both of my "sweepers" since they rely on multiple set-ups. I might try a screening latis though, so that i only lose a single utility.

thanks for the suggestions guys =]

 

[Joeyboy]

I had thought about suggesting a DS Latias but I feel the Calm Mind set will help your team more in the long run. Also try not to worry to much too much about the Ice Weakness Latias brings; most Ice-types attacks are special based and Latias has plenty of Special bulk and reliable recovery.

 

[rylau00]

testing the DS right now, will try CM later possibly but scrafty and breloom are stilling enjoying that extra bulk :P

 

[Joeyboy]

If your trying the DS one, try Draco Meteor over Dragon Pulse and obviously Light Clay over Leftovers :) Latias should really be hitting and running so Draco is better.

 

[rylau00]

well actually i just beat out a CM latios with this latias using dragon pulse
thus far, the calm mind set has fallen short of being the team player that i'd like to to be and im finding that the following set outclasses it:

Latias @ Light Clay
Levitate
Timid
252Hp/4SpAtk/252Spd
Reflect
Light Screen
Dragon Pulse
Recover

Thanks so much for your suggestions though, they're really helpful =]

 

[rylau00]

bump?

 

[ZoroDark]

Merry Christmas!
I agree with Joeyboy, Espeon is too frail to set up screens effectively. I think you should just use his Latias set, because with your new Latias set you are still as vulnerable to Lucario as before.
Sun teams are also a huge threat to your team so I would recommend changing Ferrothorn with Heatran. He can still set up SR for you, but he will protect you better against sun teams and he can't be trapped by Magnezone (and if you give him Air Balloon neither by Dugtrio).