The Rapture

[OMGTFBBQQ]

THE RAPTURE​

†

†

†

†

†

†

†​

As we say goodbye to BW and welcome a new metagame I thought I'd retire this team of mine. This team has been my bread and butter for basically the entire BW metagame, undergoing minor changes as threats came and went. I'm eager to see what others have to say about my team, and any ways to fix weaknesses and issues. All in all I believe this is a solid team, and whilst I don't have many achievements with this team I'm confident in its strength in what was the final product of Gen. V. Possibly the only accolade I have with this team is reaching the first page on the Smogon's and Pokemon Online's server, but only barely.

This team works by wearing down opponents teams through hazards allowing for a late game Jirachi sweep. Swampert plays the role as a wall breaker which catches a lot of opponents off guard. I named the team 'The Rapture' simply because I felt that if you didn't believe in the power of Swampert you'd be left behind to die. Anyway enjoy the team and feel free to give me a

if you think I deserve it!

POLITOED
Item:

Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Nature: Calm (+SDef, -Atk)
Protect | Toxic | Scald |Perish Song​

Politoed's role is simply to provide me the rain this team thrives on. Whilst not the best option, Politoed does do its job thanks to its good bulk and supportive move pool. Protect scouts moves and doubles as a good stalling move in tandem with Toxic. Scald is its STAB of choice, being able to harm a lot of things, especially with the rain boost. The 30% chance to burn is also a nice factor. Finally Perish Song prevents those Calm Minder's that Skarmory can't phaze from sweeping my team, functioning as a psuedo-phaze. Whilst not the most secure option, his optimal special bulk allows him to at least temporarily cut off a sweep until either their team is worn down enough that I can handle it or I can get a few Calm Mind's under my own Jirachi.

FERROTHORN
Item:

Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Nature: Sassy (+SDef, -Spd)
IVs: 0 Spd
Leech Seed | Stealth Rock | Gyro Ball | Power Whip​

Ferrothorn is one part of my trio of field hazards setters. Stealth Rock's are fundamental on almost any team, capable of breaking sashes and just wearing down opponents. He finds no trouble finding time to set up rocks thanks to the abundance of Rotom-W's that are seen in the current metagame. Leech Seed was chosen just to force switches, since losing 12% at times can be a predicament for my opponent. Power Whip and Gyro Ball are just two solid STAB moves which have fair coverage together. A more specially orientated set was chosen to handle Rotom-W and Latios mainly, since Skarmory functions as a physical Dragon resist.

TENTACRUEL
Item:

Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
Toxic Spikes | Rapid Spin | Protect | Scald​

Tentacruel provides two pivotal roles for this team. The first and crucial aspect offered and inevitably the reason it is on the team is its ability to spin hazards off my side thanks to Rapid Spin. The second, whilst not as important, is beneficial if I find the opportunity to find time to throw some Toxic Spikes down. Scald is once again a STAB move for Tentacruel but at times it doesn't work well enough. Whilst I usually run Protect, sometimes I do run a coverage move (Ice Beam, Acid Spray) just to prevent anything from using it as set up fodder. Rain Dish really is the main reason as to why I chose Tentacruel over the likes of Starmie, as a physically defensive set was chosen to compliment Politoed who is working on the special spectrum.

SKARMORY
Item:

Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 4 Spd / 252 HP
Nature: Impish
Spikes | Roost | Brave Bird | Whirlwind​

The final member of the important hazards core. Skarmory is quite possibly the best physical wall in the game. Capable of handling almost all physical threats, Skarmory is a great addition to this team. Spikes are really helpful in wearing down teams, giving me an easier time sweeping. Roost is a solid form of recovery and due to it Skarmory is able to run Shed Shell to stop hyper offense teams and Magnezone's from destroying my team. Brave Bird actually serves as a very good STAB move which can KO fighting type Pokemon before they sweep (Conkeldurr, Mienshao, Virizion sometimes even Volcarona). Whirlwind finally serves to phaze problematic sweepers and just racks up more residual damage, making life easier.

JIRACHI
Item:

Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
Calm Mind | Substitute | Thunder | Water Pulse​

End game sweeper that can really clutch sweep teams. This set, whilst being a viable set, functions as well as it does only thanks to Serene Grace. Moves like Thunder and Water Pulse that shouldn't be haxxing teams as often as it does not only makes my life easier, but also puts a lot of pressure on opponents. Thunder with an improved chance to paralyze and 100% accuracy in rain hits hard and stops sweeps cold. Water Pulse receives the rain boost and functions as a pseudo-parahax set. Not only is the hax annoying, but due to its typing and the help of rain, Jirachi is almost unstoppable. Substitute makes it even harder to stop, especially with the 101 Substitutes that fail to break from Seismic Toss, stopping burn or Leech Seed from cutting sweeps short prematurely. The amount of times I've been left with just Jirachi and swept or relied on a paralysis or confusion to regain momentum and finish a sweep is mind blowing. Hazards are a major plus for Jirachi, wearing down Pokemon and turning 2HKO's to OHKO's. All in all, Jirachi does what is required of it, better than any Pokemon I can imagine.

SWAMPERT
Item:

Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)
Waterfall | Earthquake | Superpower | Ice Punch​

Finally comes the Pokemon that I was really eager to test; Banded Swampert. It's something I've always thought about, but never really gotten around to trying before now. I'm sure were all aware of Swampert's great bulk, but what I was fascinated with was its very good attack stat (the ability to 2HKO physically defensive Skarmory under rain) and its great move pool. Apart from that its great typing also made it a great check to the popular play style that is Volt-Turning. However, the most rewarding thing is that Swampert can cleanly OHKO most weather inducing Pokemon, while the others are still clean 2HKO's.

Damage Calculations

Waterfall vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 58.57% - 69.29% (2 hits to KO)
Waterfall vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 87.14% - 102.86% (18.75% chance to OHKO) [Rain]
Waterfall vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 95.14% - 112.29% (68.75% chance to OHKO)
Earthquake vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 118.29% - 139.71% (Guaranteed OHKO)
Superpower vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 85.94% - 101.56% (12.5% chance to OHKO)
Superpower vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 128.71% - 151.49% (Guaranteed OHKO)
Superpower vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 64.36% - 75.74% (2 hits to KO) [Chople Berry]
Waterfall vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 63.86% - 75.74% (2 hits to KO)
Earthquake vs 252 HP/252 Def

(+Def) : 80.2% - 95.05% (2 hits to KO)

The calculations speak for themselves and as I have said just about every single one of those spreads are unrealistic (with the exception of Hippowdon). Waterfall and Earthquake are two realiable STAB moves which punch holes in team, especially Waterfall in rain. Superpower is predominantly for weather inducers and Ice Punch rounds out the coverage, hitting Dragonite and the likes. Swampert's surprise factor really helps me nab a few free kills which aid immensely, especially in weather wars. More or less I'm going to switch Swampert in after something dies and just spam Waterfall. I guess my aim with Swampert is to bring some versatility to a rather generic era of Pokemon we're in right now, without using stupid shit.

The major threat to my team is

[Choice Band, Double Dance, Sub Swords Dance, LO Swords Dance] and occasionally other fighting Pokemon can become problematic if I play stupidly (namely

[Bulk Up],

[Calm Mind],

[Swords Dance] &

[Dragon Dance]). Also

can be an ass.

Importable

Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Scald
- Perish Song

Swampert @ Choice Band
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Ice Punch

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Protect
- Scald

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Thunder
- Water Pulse

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 4 Spd / 252 HP
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind

 

[Sayonara]

Hi, solid team! The only real problem I see with this team is its inability to deal with Ferrothorn. Swampert's Superpower isn't going to OHKO Ferrothorn if I recall, while Ferrothorn can use Leech Seed to stall you out. Ferrothorn walls all your other teammates. Swampert isn't too useful on this team, so I would replace it by a Substitute + Swords Dance Terrakion.

While Terrakion's presence forces a Ferrothorn switch, you can use Substitute and start a sweep. Swords Dance boosts your attack to incredible heights, strengthening its two powerful STABs - Close Combat and Stone Edge. It's a good stallbreaker, and it helps you deal with Sand and Sun teams. It also helps you deal with Tyranitar. Rock Gem boosts Stone Edge, which normally automatically KOs a lot of opponents that don't resist resist the move. It can also OHKO Gliscor at +2! Cool team, and good luck!

Terrakion @ Rock Gem | Justified
Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
~ Substitute
~ Swords Dance
~ Close Combat
~ Stone Edge

 

[Motagua]

Great team, however it is weak to Double-Dance Terrakion and SD Techniloom. Terrakion can easily set-up Swords Dance on Ferrothorn and it can run completely through your team, while Techniloom can potentially cripple Skarmory if predicted, set up SD and run through your team. To solve this problem, my suggestion is to replace Skarmory with Defensive Gliscor. You got two Steel types already that can take Dragon-type attacks, while Gliscor is able to counter the aftermentioned threats. Fling can catch off-guard a Rotom-W or Tornadus-T switch-in and cripple it seriously with Poison, proceeding to a base 110 powered Acrobatics that will destroy any Breloom on the loose. Since this is now a more fast-paced metagame with new pokemons like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T who are immune to Spikes and wandering around on almost every team, you won´t really have the time to set them up properly. However if you wish to still keep it, you can replace on Ferrothorn, Gyro Ball or Power Whip for Spikes depending on what STAB move could be more useful to you. Below is the set, so I hope this rate helps and good luck.

Defensive Gliscor

Gliscor (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Fling
- Protect
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake

 

[chimpact]

Hide

Your team is 6-0'd by Nasty Plot Thundurus and it can easily set up on a majority of your team with little to fear. Not only that but you are very vulnerable to many fighting sweepers.

I would replace Swampert and Ferrothorn for pokemon that can handle those type of pokemon better. Celebi is an excellent replcement for Ferrothorn because it is able to set up rocks, resist electric moves, and has a reliable recovery. It does however make you more vulnerable to scizor and Tornadus but between your Jirachi/Tenta/Skarmory core you should be able to handle them well.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 236 HP / 96 Spd / 176 SDef
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Seed Bomb / Zen headbutt
- U-turn

You can also just throw in a tornadus as jirachi can help set it up for sweeps or vice versa. Tornadus-Therian @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SAtk / 212 Spd / 44 Atk
Naive Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Heat Wave

You can go for max speed, but I prefer doing a bit more damage with u-turn and ensuring I get some crucial SuperPower KO's. Besides risking the speed tie is meh.

I completely skipped over the intro, didn't realize this was a BW1 team. Sorry about that. But your team still struggles against strong fighting sweepers.

I believe the parashuffler Dnite/Latias set would work pretty well with your team. They're both fighting resists, and paralyzing the team might conflict with toxic spikes, but at the end of the day, any status will help this team.

Hide

Dragonite @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave
- Roost

Latias @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Recover
- Substitute / Dragon Pulse
- Thunder Wave
- Roar

Latias is faster, but Dragonite is much harder to take down due to MultiScale and can actually attack if you don't want substitute on Latias.

 

[Delko]

@ Chimpact, just saying that this isn't a BW2 team, so the Thunderus threat and the Tornadus suggestion aren't really viable.

 

[Bribery]

Very solid team and great presentation. I like the use of the very rare, yet effective CB Swampert.

CB Terrakion is a pretty big threat to this team. If it gets in safely, it threatens to 2HKO your entire team with Close Combat while Tentacruel is 2HKO'd by Stone Edge.

I'd like to second Motagua's Gliscor > Skarmory suggestion, but I think a SD set is more viable for your team. It can be a decent Stall-breaker, especially when paired with CB Swampert. Your team handles SD Gliscor's checks fairly well with Ferrothorn checking Rotom-W, Latios, and Starmie. If you still want Spikes, you could easily stick it on Ferrothorn.

Gliscor (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 176 Def / 88 Spd (or 244 HP / 44 Def / 220 Spd if you want to outrun Adamant Lucario)
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Taunt / Protect

Taunt for breaking stall while Protect gives you a free turn of HP recovery and lets you scout Scarf Rotom-W.

Minor suggestion: Flash Cannon > Water Pulse on Jirachi. Water Pulse is really weak outside of Rain. Flash Cannon is better against Tyranitar and can let you beat Blissey faster with Serene Grace doubling the SDef drop chance. This also means Jirachi isn't completely helpless against Gastrodon.

Luvdisc'd. :)

 

[OMGTFBBQQ]

Hi, solid team! The only real problem I see with this team is its inability to deal with Ferrothorn. Swampert's Superpower isn't going to OHKO Ferrothorn if I recall, while Ferrothorn can use Leech Seed to stall you out. Ferrothorn walls all your other teammates. Swampert isn't too useful on this team, so I would replace it by a Substitute + Swords Dance Terrakion.

While Terrakion's presence forces a Ferrothorn switch, you can use Substitute and start a sweep. Swords Dance boosts your attack to incredible heights, strengthening its two powerful STABs - Close Combat and Stone Edge. It's a good stallbreaker, and it helps you deal with Sand and Sun teams. It also helps you deal with Tyranitar. Rock Gem boosts Stone Edge, which normally automatically KOs a lot of opponents that don't resist resist the move. It can also OHKO Gliscor at +2! Cool team, and good luck!

Terrakion @ Rock Gem | Justified
Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
~ Substitute
~ Swords Dance
~ Close Combat
~ Stone Edge

Thanks for the rate! I know this might sound strange but Ferrothorn is actually set up bait for Jirachi. Whilst it does carry two moves that are resisted by Ferrothorn a +6 Jirachi will inevitably win with or without paralysis/confusion. Also Power Whip and Gyro Ball are both 2HKO's so thats not a problem. It also is pretty easy for Ferrothorn and Skarmory to set up along side it until Tentacruel can get a safe switch-in to Rapid Spin.

Great team, however it is weak to Double-Dance Terrakion and SD Techniloom. Terrakion can easily set-up Swords Dance on Ferrothorn and it can run completely through your team, while Techniloom can potentially cripple Skarmory if predicted, set up SD and run through your team. To solve this problem, my suggestion is to replace Skarmory with Defensive Gliscor. You got two Steel types already that can take Dragon-type attacks, while Gliscor is able to counter the aftermentioned threats. Fling can catch off-guard a Rotom-W or Tornadus-T switch-in and cripple it seriously with Poison, proceeding to a base 110 powered Acrobatics that will destroy any Breloom on the loose. Since this is now a more fast-paced metagame with new pokemons like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T who are immune to Spikes and wandering around on almost every team, you won´t really have the time to set them up properly. However if you wish to still keep it, you can replace on Ferrothorn, Gyro Ball or Power Whip for Spikes depending on what STAB move could be more useful to you. Below is the set, so I hope this rate helps and good luck.

Defensive Gliscor

Gliscor (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Fling
- Protect
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake

Hey Motagua. Just FYI this is a BW1 RMT so Techniloom isn't yet an issue. Indeed my team is weak to Banded/Double Dance/Sub SD Terrakion though and there are very few checks to it (Gliscor is probably still not a surefire check to Double Dance actually).

Damage Calculations

252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Stone Edge vs 252 HP/180 Def Gliscor (+Def) : 44.92% - 52.82% (2-3 hits to KO)
252 +2 Atk Terrakion Stone Edge vs 252 HP/180 Def Gliscor (+Def) : 59.6% - 70.34% (2 hits to KO)
252 +2 Atk Life Orb Terrakion Stone Edge vs 252 HP/180 Def Gliscor (+Def) : 77.4% - 90.96% (2 hits to KO)
252 +2 Atk Rock Gem Terrakion Stone Edge vs 252 HP/180 Def Gliscor (+Def) : 89.27% - 105.37% (37.5% chance to OHKO)

So you can see its still a very shaky 'check'. But it definitely stands a better chance than Skarmory and Tentacruel does. I guess I just can't afford Terrakion setting up and whatever Pokemon is in will have to do as much as it can to it (all of them can actually handle it so long as it isn't +2 yet). So I guess Terrakion will require a bit of luck on my side! Thanks for the rate.

Hide

Your team is 6-0'd by Nasty Plot Thundurus and it can easily set up on a majority of your team with little to fear. Not only that but you are very vulnerable to many fighting sweepers.

I would replace Swampert and Ferrothorn for pokemon that can handle those type of pokemon better. Celebi is an excellent replcement for Ferrothorn because it is able to set up rocks, resist electric moves, and has a reliable recovery. It does however make you more vulnerable to scizor and Tornadus but between your Jirachi/Tenta/Skarmory core you should be able to handle them well.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 236 HP / 96 Spd / 176 SDef
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Seed Bomb / Zen headbutt
- U-turn

You can also just throw in a tornadus as jirachi can help set it up for sweeps or vice versa. Tornadus-Therian @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SAtk / 212 Spd / 44 Atk
Naive Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Heat Wave

You can go for max speed, but I prefer doing a bit more damage with u-turn and ensuring I get some crucial SuperPower KO's. Besides risking the speed tie is meh.

I completely skipped over the intro, didn't realize this was a BW1 team. Sorry about that. But your team still struggles against strong fighting sweepers.

I believe the parashuffler Dnite/Latias set would work pretty well with your team. They're both fighting resists, and paralyzing the team might conflict with toxic spikes, but at the end of the day, any status will help this team.

Hide

Dragonite @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave
- Roost

Latias @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Recover
- Substitute / Dragon Pulse
- Thunder Wave
- Roar

Latias is faster, but Dragonite is much harder to take down due to MultiScale and can actually attack if you don't want substitute on Latias.

Hi. Dragonite will only amplify my Terrakion weakness so I don't think I'll be trying that out unfortunately. However, defensive Latias sounds like a neat idea but I am skeptical on how well it handles the fighting Pokemon its designed to do (BU Conkeldurr, DD Scrafty all beat her 1v1). I'll try it out though, maybe a Specs version with Psyshock or something. Thanks.

Very solid team and great presentation. I like the use of the very rare, yet effective CB Swampert.

CB Terrakion is a pretty big threat to this team. If it gets in safely, it threatens to 2HKO your entire team with Close Combat while Tentacruel is 2HKO'd by Stone Edge.

I'd like to second Motagua's Gliscor > Skarmory suggestion, but I think a SD set is more viable for your team. It can be a decent Stall-breaker, especially when paired with CB Swampert. Your team handles SD Gliscor's checks fairly well with Ferrothorn checking Rotom-W, Latios, and Starmie. If you still want Spikes, you could easily stick it on Ferrothorn.

Gliscor (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 176 Def / 88 Spd (or 244 HP / 44 Def / 220 Spd if you want to outrun Adamant Lucario)
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Taunt / Protect

Taunt for breaking stall while Protect gives you a free turn of HP recovery and lets you scout Scarf Rotom-W.

Minor suggestion: Flash Cannon > Water Pulse on Jirachi. Water Pulse is really weak outside of Rain. Flash Cannon is better against Tyranitar and can let you beat Blissey faster with Serene Grace doubling the SDef drop chance. This also means Jirachi isn't completely helpless against Gastrodon.

Luvdisc'd. :)

Hey Bribery, thanks for the Luvdisc! Anyway I did address CB Terrakion in Mortgua's rate and whilst Gliscor is able to handle Banded Terrakion, he falls short to all SD sets. I'll definitely sample him, but I think I'll also look for a more solid counter, if there is such a thing. Flash Cannon over Water Pulse has been tried before and I just prefer Water Pulse for hax :X. It still does a chunk to specially defensive Tyranitar (20% or something) and the confusion rate is really nice. I don't find Jirachi to actually struggle with Chansey/Blissey actually thanks to the hax. Indeed the major problem is Gastrodon and even Breloom. But if I can get my Toxic Spikes up early the former is handled and if I can get a few CM's under my sleeve the latter is handled. Thanks for the rate!

 

[OMGTFBBQQ]

One quick bump before I get around to testing this stuff.