Gen 5 Blue Rain.

Jhonx~ · Nov 2, 2020

Art made by me.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Jhonx, although on Pokemon Showdown I’m better known as EG Jhonx. I’m a leader of End Game clan, and I dream a lot about growing my name on Smogon. My goal is to improve and become recognized as one of the best players.

Today I’m sharing a team that I enjoyed building and using, since I find that it is a super solid team in the current metagame. I am not well known on the BW tournament stage, but I want to thank Finchinator for giving me the opportunity to demonstrate what I can do by buying me in the POCL. It was exciting since it was my first tournament in BW. If I had not had that opportunity and without the effort that I have been applying, this team and others that I will share in BW Hub would not have been built.

Speaking of the team, I’m a big fan of rain teams, which are pretty solid in BW and easy to build once you know the metagame and its weaknesses. For example, the rain usually has a bad matchup against DragMag, Rotom + Latios sand, etc. However, this team isn’t as weak against these playstyles. Terrakion is something unusual but very effective in rain, allowing me to have a better matchup against Sand due to the SpD boost. I also want to mention that the original idea of Terrakion comes from EG PkmTrainerBlue- a pretty good BW player and basically my father in that generation, since it was he and CyberOdin who got me into BW. End Game Team has many older players who have been polishing my play and teaching me a lot. Thank you to all of them for teaching me the art of BW and for helping me discover my new main tier.

Lets take a deep look into the team and the teambuilding process.

Teambuilding Process

As you can see, the main thing in a rain team is the rainy weather, that's why I chose Politoed since it is the only Pokemon usable in OU with the ability that places the weather on the field, Politoed also offers many alternatives, you can use it Offensively, as well as defensively, in this case I opted to use it defensively since it can be a tank for many things, I like Politoed also because it can do a lot of things with the correct EV Spreads, allowing me to be faster than things like Jellicent, live a Latios Draco Meteor Specs, enduring a Terrakion Choice Band Close Combat, among other things.

One of the main rules in all Rain teams for me is to use Rapid Spin, Pokemon that abuse the weather and also resistance to Water-type Pokemon, since the rain enhances their attacks, for this role I use Tentacruel, Tentacruel has very good defensive use thanks to its ability Rain Dish, Tentacruel being Water / Poison type allows me to resist common threats like Keldeo, its speed is quite decent which makes Excadrill not a threat, Tentacruel is simply something difficult to defeat, on the other hand we have Thundurus Therian, who abuses Rain quite well, Thunder benefits from having 100% accuracy under Rain and Thundurus have a high special attack base, which allows me to dismantle many Bulky Offense teams, common cores like Tyranitar Excadrill, while also giving me a good matchup against Rain.

Ferrothorn goes here as Latios check, it also gives me the freedom to place hazzards on the opponent's field, dual hazzards is a set that I have been liking lately when playing offensively oriented Rains, Ferrothorn also acts as Water Resist and its defenses are quite good, which allows me to resist many things, Ferrothorn can put a lot of pressure on some Rapid Spinners as well as do constant chip damage.

Latios is essential in the team since it offers me speed control and also a good offensive presence, Latios Scarf simply have a very good matchup vs play styles like Dragmag, other Rain, it offers me a Thundurus check and electric Pokemon in general, Latios abuses of Rain at the same time since it uses Surf and in Rain it is enhanced, on the other hand Terrakion is a good partner for Latios Scarf, since Latios loses a lot of power without Choice Specs, Terrakion offers me the freedom to add pressure to my rival, since Terrakion eliminates Ferrothorn and other common Latios checks, such as Tyranitar, Excadrill, Heatran, etc.

In Depth

Politoed @

Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 56 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Encore
- Protect

Politoed is the main engine of the team, like all rain teams, this Pokemon is a must since it sets up the weather, it have good defensive capabilities, can press a lot with its movepool even causing burns to the opposing Pokemon, if Politoed dies before killing the opponent's climate would become a very complicated game but luckily I will share the best spread that has served me, I think it is the most common, and so is its moveset, Politoed has good defensive potential, with this spread it allows me to live a Close Combat from Terrakion Choice Band after Stealth Rocks, the 56 SpD EVs allow me to hold a Draco Meteor from Latios Choice Specs and the EVs from Spe are to gain speed against Jellicent, Heatran SpD and to Encore Breloom Bulk Up that do not carry EVs in Spe, in terms of moveset the movements are basic, I like Scald because it can burn the opponent, that residual damage is quite good against defensive or balanced teams, Toxic its very good because it allows me to damage things like other Politoed and some common switches like Rotom, Latios, etc, also you beat Jellicent with a fast Toxic, Encore helps you to avoid possible setups or you can also leave some pokemon locked, which allows us to do setup taking offensive advantage when changing Pokemon and Protect is to scout a possible Choice pokemon, in addition to regenerating my life every turn thanks to Leftovers, Politoed is generally very important in these structures since it allows you to defend well against Landorus-Therian, Mamoswine, Sand in general, etc, it is very important to know how to keep this pokemon in a weather war, if the Rain teams do not have Rain in field, they will hardly be able to use Rain full potential.

Tentacruel @

Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 248 HP / 76 SpD / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Protect
- Toxic Spikes

Tentacruel finds its niche as a utility Pokemon on rain teams. Thanks to its good typing, decent stats, and fantastic ability in Rain Dish, Tentacruel is nearly impossible to KO in rain and can check the Pokemon it is supposed to throughout long matches while providing Rapid Spin support and spreading status, thanks to Rapid Spin I can keep healthy Thundurus-Therian and Terrakion when needed, Tentacruel also has a good base speed, allowing it to be faster than threats such as Scarfless Landorus Therian, Excadrill, and whatever that have 309 speed or less, Tentacruel must maintain its item as much as possible during the game and also maintain the rainy weather In order to stay alive most of the game, thanks to its good defensive capacity it also resists Alakazam in certain scenarios which allows you to break its focus sash or simply use rapid spin to clean the field, as moveset I use Scald since it allows you to burn other pokemon and win 1v1 as is the case against Ferrothorn, Ferrothorn if burned you can win the 1v1, if Ferrothorn is not burned it will kill Tentacruel with 3 Power Whip, Scald in rain increases its power and me allows to eliminate Excadrill that does not use bulk, Scald also allows me to punish switch in like Latios, Amoongus, Rotom-Wash and others, since there is always the possibility of burning them allowing me to do more chip damage, Rapid Spin supports Thundurus Therian by removing the rocks, as well as Terrakion as you remove the spikes, Protect helps me recover faster, it makes Tentacruel very annoying and difficult to eliminate, in addition to being able to know what movement the Pokemon that are trapped in Choice Item will make, and the last movement is optional, Toxic / Venoshock / Toxic Spikes can be used, but personally I prefer Toxic Spikes since they allow me to do status against Jellicent, Reuniclus, Gastrodon, Tyranitar , etc, Venoshock is an option in case Breloom Bulk Up is very annoying, in case of being Venoshock it is recommended to use Toxic instead Protect.

Ferrothorn @

Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Power Whip
- Worry Seed
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock

Ferrothorn is a pokemon that is almost always seen in rain teams, its defensive utility is too good and it also puts hazzards in the opponent's field, allowing the team to do as much damage as possible, Ferrothorn also does quite well against rain teams, it presses Pokemon with Rapid Spin quite well such as Excadrill and Starmie, with leftovers it is a switch to Latios and other dragons, it allows me to be a sponge against Rotom-Wash and that is quite good, since the rain teams suffer a lot vs Rotom, Ferrothorn spread is standard, as for the moveset, Power Whip is a must since you need to press or hold the hazzards, you can do 1v1 vs Tentacruel if Tentacruel doesn't burn Ferrothorn, and Worry Seed is a type of lure against Magnezone, also Worry Seed helps to remove the ability of pokemon like Gliscor, Reuniclus, Breloom, and Tentacruel, managing to put against the Toxic Heal and or others abilities like Rain Dish, Magic Guard, etc. Ferrothorn can 1v1 Tentacruel if its not burned, so Ferrothorn have to be played careful when you see one.

Thundurus-Therian @

Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 104 HP / 156 Def / 36 SpA / 212 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Substitute

Thundurus-Therian is a very good pokemon in this type of teams and on rain teams in general, it have a high special attack making it difficult to check, its ability to absorb electric attacks and its type making it a ground inmunity by itself is amazing, Thundurus has different uses but I really like Bulky Substitute, since it can put Substitute against Jirachi or Ferrothorn and it will not break unless Jirachi and Ferrothorn have specific movements like Icy Wind or Gyro Ball, Thundurus has a very good matchup against Sand and bulky teams thanks to Substitute, it eliminates many threats such as Rotom, Amoongus, Tyranitar, Excadrill, Landorus, etc. It also presses other rain teams, Thunder has a paralyzing percentage which is very useful against Pokemon like Latios, which is usually a switch, Thundurus itself is to open and press opposing teams, it is difficult to stop a Thundurus well played and with the proper support, the EV's that I use are so that Substitute does not break against Body Slam Jirachi, Power Whip Ferrothorn and thus be able to maintain the substitute allowing 1-2 kill, the speed is to outspeed Adamant Kyurem Black and finally the 36 SpA EVs are the remaining EVs and they go there to do as much damage as possible.

Latios (M) @

Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Trick
- Recover

If we take a look to Latios analysis, it says that "Latios is one of, if not the, best wallbreakers in the metagame thanks to its insanely strong, nearly unresisted STAB Draco Meteor. It also has a great Speed tier that allows it to outspeed prominent threats like Keldeo, Terrakion, and Garchomp. This makes it a great Choice Scarf user, as it can outspeed all other Choice Scarf users and boosted sweepers. Latios's decent bulk and typing let it check Pokemon like Keldeo, Thundurus-T, Breloom, and Gliscor relatively well, which is made even easier due to its immunity to Spikes. It can even run Recover to aid its ability to check these Pokemon and mitigate sand and Stealth Rock damage. It's also great on rain teams, where it can hit most Steel-types hard with boosted Surf. as for moveset Draco Meteor, even when unboosted, is a powerful attack that can do good damage to offensive Pokemon. Surf synergizes well with potential rain support, can hit Steel-types like Heatran and Excadrill hard, and deals good damage to boosted Volcarona in rain. Trick cripples switch-ins trying to take advantage of the fact that this Latios is weaker and help its teammates break through defensive cores and Recover is an option that gives Latios the ability to more efficiently handle Keldeo and Breloom in the long run, although it should only be used with Trick". In this team Latios fill all these roles and its amazing to have Scarf Latios because it helps agaisnt Dragmag matchup, its the best speed control Pokemon for me.

Terrakion @

Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Protect

Terrakion, a rare pick in rain, you wonder ... Why Terrakion and not Keldeo? Terrakion is a pokemon that is very good in the metagame, since Terrakion has access to Swords Dance and Protect it allows me to break defensive cores like Amoongus Rotom-Wash, with Protect I can know what movement will make a Pokemon with Choice Scarf or some Pokemon locked, allowing me to play with predicts or maintain offensive pressure, Terrakion have a good matchup against Dragmag and Sand in general, as Terrakion takes out Tyranitar, Excadrill, and also quickly wear down Landorus Therian Scarf, Keldeo in rain is super good as it attacks are enhanced by the rain, but Keldeo loses against Breloom SpDef, Jellicent, Rotom, Latios, Tentacruel, Amoongus, Gastrodon, among others, Terrakion presses all those pokemon already mentioned with Rock Gem Stone Edge or Close Combat, helping rain being much more effective eliminating its checks, also Terrakion is favored when we face Sand teams, since Sand enhances its SpDef by being type rock, and unlike Keldeo you are not caught in a single move, since Keldeo is usually used Choice Specs / Choice Scarf, which makes Terrakion a good option, Terrakion in Rain is almost never seen and that helps the surprise factor, and thats good in tournaments specially, since everyone prepares for rain with Keldeo and not Terrakion rain.

I want to add Finchinator and Caetano93 thoughts on Terrakion for Rain.

The main reason to use Terrakion in Rain over Keldeo is to maintain the fast fighting type spot on Rains that are capable of stomaching the assault from Latios in the other five slots without stacking weaknesses with Keldeo. Oftentimes you see 2-3 Water types on Rains and that can lead to specific Pokemon being problematic. For example, Jellicent and Latias can prove troublesome to common Rain structures with Keldeo falling to both, but Terrakion is capable of muscling past both. Keldeo is more common on Rain and overall I feel it is better on most teams, but there are absolutely teams that appreciate Terrakion

I would use terrakion versus players that i know that have very good preparations for rain MUs because terrakion can use the normal keldeo answers to grab momentum and kills. It heavy pressures ferrothorn alongside the fact that breloom and amoonguss doesn't like to enter directly x it. It also heavy damages mons like, jeliscent, gastrodon, rotom-w, seismitoad and slowking that normaly are dificult to deal with tentacruel rain, Terrakion in rain is a nice tech and have potential to be explored more.

Threatlist

Tailwind and Choice Specs set are annoying, since team lacks of switch to Tornadus, it can take a kill per turn or sweep with Tailwind after some chip.

Alakazam can be handled since most things live 1 hit, and Scarf Latios is on the team, but if Latios gets trapped and the team get chipped, Alakazam can sweep in late game.

Agility Thundurus is a threat, because it can outspeed everything and sweep, Latios is very important to keep Thundurus controlled.

Substitute Calm Mind can 6-0, Latios can trick it to stop the sweep, but if Keldeo is under substitute it can easily sweep.

Substitute Focus Punch is hard to beak, because under Substitute it can kill anything and I can't break Substitute easily.

BoltBeam set is annoying, while you can handle it with Trick Latios or Toxic Encore + Worry Seed, Boltbeam can hurt seriously the team, same with Psyshock Focus Blast set.

Bulk Up set can threat sometimes, because Terrakion will not be able to nuke it after 1 boost and BU can take 1 Draco Meteor from Latios at max health, for this you can run Venoshock on Tentacruel.

Substitute Toxic set is annoying, basically nothing stops it, a way to fix that is run Timid Thundurus-Therian but thats a temporary check.

DD in general is a threat, Latios can check DD Dragonite but if Latios dies Dragonite just sweep, the most dangerous set is DD Substitute since it have a lot of bulk.

Life Orb Starmie just KO everything, the team have Ferrothorn and Latios to check it, but Latios can be trapped and Ferrothorn cant check Starmie often due Rain.

Replays

Import
https://pokepast.es/4ab59368949d642f

Shoutouts

PkmTrainerBlue or EG Blue.
Mostly known as End Game Team leader and founder, thanks for every Black and White game we played, You were one of the best BW Players LA ever had, sadly you didnt got known into comunity and not letting you play a single game on WCOP 2019 was a big mistake, I wish you the best in all and thanks for the knowledge you gave to me with all the good ideas and cores, your playstyle is what gave me all I have now.

Finchinator thanks for buy me in POCL, it was the first time someone trusted on me in another tier thats not DPP, and I think I did it decent enough, thanks to you I can continue improving and getting better, your support and advices are truly amazing and helpful.

Caetano93 thanks for all the support and metagame discussion we have, all these tests u helped me out worked a lot, being able to defeat big names I never thought to, we have to continue playing more and more, so maybe someday I can play u in big scenes lol.

FNH for be a good contributor on BW Comunity, even when you didnt have time for write and grammar check, U tried to help me and I apreciate that a lot man <3.

M Dragon for all the testings we had and for giving me good advices, another metagame ideas, etc. Really thanks bro.

End Game Team clan.
thanks for all the support guys, fixing some teambuilding issues, the testings, and all the support u guys give me, best clan.

Gen 5 Blue Rain.

Jhonx~

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