SM OU light-rain / volt-turn variation

[ShekShack17]

Ok so its really a volt/turn team with Mega-Pert and Pelipper thrown on there. Mega-Pert and Pelipper are the backbones of most rain teams for good reason. Already a powerful mon, Mega-Pert becomes possibly the best breaker in the tier under rain. I never calc'd the numbers I just know waterfall OHKOs. The rest of the team is built like a standard volt-turn team; meant to gradually get chip while keeping your sweeper relatively safe. That being said, you may want to throw toxic on rotom-W or Pert.

This team took me into the 1400s which is the highest Ive gotten so far. I think this team is capable of climbing higher but I get bored and forget what buttons i'm clicking.

Would love for some of y'all to check it out and lemme know if its just another Rain Team, a trash Rain Team, or as scary I tried to make it.


Magearna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 108 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Fleur Cannon
- Focus Blast
- Shift Gear

Mag is always a scary mon in the OU tier, and at full HP this shift gear mag should be able to deal with any of the Tapu's. With one KO and shift gear, it can 2-shot most mons in the tier. With 2KOs it'll OHKO just about anything with either stab attack. Z-Fleur Cannon gives you Mag's strongest z move at 195 BP, with a little chip even some resistant mons will go down to this Z. Shift Gear mag works well to check fairy types which can be an issue on this build and act as an end game sweeper.

I've also thrown the bulky Volc with Hurricane instead of roost on this team (yes i'm cherry picking the baddest mons lol) and it works well too. I think mag is just a little better for this team, but quiver dance-hurricane w/100% accuracy Volc is pretty neat.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spe
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock

Hear we just got defensive Lando, meant to play between breaks in the rain. Defensive Lando works well as a lead if you wanna keep Pert stashed, but it also works really well mid game if you want to get pelipper out right away. This Lando is really, only meant to be a difficult mon for your opponent to deal with, letting you knock off a key items and work U-turn for momentum. HP-ice also lets it cripple other Lando's that might be of the offensive variety.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 4 SpD / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Protect

This, like Lando, is your standard EVed Rotom with Leftys, except it might get to hit a Thunder. Hydro Pump, Volt switch and protect let you hide thunder that could become a potential factor if you're losing mons. It also gives a 110 BP stab attack that has 100% accuracy in the rain in case you don't want to miss a boosted hydro-pump. As I said above, you might want to throw toxic somewhere on this rotom as it'd provide more reliable chip for your sweepers. You also might wanna consider defog for Volc, in case Pelipper doesn't get too.

(if any of ya'll do anything crazy to this rotom set in rain, I wanna see lol)

Volcarona @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
- Hurricane

Here we got the bulky Volc with Hurricane instead of roost. This Volc remains the most versatile in my opinion as you can use it mid game or for the end game. Quiver Dancing in the rain you can use Hurricane and Bug Buzz while flamethrower lends you the coverage out of the rain.
Using a quiver dance, hurricane-w/100% accuracy Volc is pretty neat.

Honestly though, I think volc should be switched out for a physical attacker. I think I swapped it out for a dragonite and it worked alright.


Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 36 Def / 224 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Thing just makes it rain.

Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Focus Punch
- Earthquake
- Substitute

Said a lot about Mega-Pert above already, but the idea for this set is to keep a sub when rain is ending and hit that focus bunch to get one more KO before big pert comes out. If I was trying to keep Pert for the end game, I'd switch focus punch with refresh, or possibly ice-punch. But everyone always wants to deal with this thing as soon as possible, and it's so powerful that going up against resistant typings isn't that scary.


Ok so in summation, this is basically a 3 sweeper-Volt/Turn team-with rain synergy. 1 sweeper relies on the rain, 1 sweeper benefits from rain, and 1 sweeper is indiscriminate of rain. The goal with this build was to synergize 3 of the nastiest setup sweepers/breakers in the OU tier while relying heavy on Lando and Rotom to be effectively disruptive.
Welp, here's this team. Like I said above, lemme know if this team is just too standard to be fun, if it's just straight garb, or if it gets the juices flowin'.

 

[Gélido]

Shuca volc is usseless, i mean volcarona its not weak to ground so...

Bulky volc without roost is pretty awful too, if u want to play 3 attacks just go 252/252

 

[ScalchopFren]

Here are some things I noticed (warning: this is a lot of words).

Your Landorus doesn't have STAB, which is a very bad idea. Knock Off is a niche option that can be useful at times, but there's literally zero reason to run it if you don't have Earthquake. I know you already have Ground coverage in the form of EQ on Swampert, but EQ is a necessity on Landorus and forgoing it is not the right idea at all. Lando doesn't really fit well on rain teams either, since you'll be boosting the power of other Water-types like the ridiculously common Greninja.

Alternatively, if you think one Ground move is enough, replace Lando with a different Stealth Rock user. Ferrothorn or Skarmory, perhaps? Check out Smogon's standard sets for both of them here and here (although you can swap Spikes for Stealth Rock on Skarm if you so desire). The former offers you a decent wall against certain physical attackers and several special attackers, while the latter preserves the third Ground immunity you had with Lando. Their normally obnoxious Fire weaknesses are eased by the rain, and they both serve as at least okay checks to opposing Swampert.

Speaking of Swampert, standard rain teams kind of rip you a new one as the team stands. If you lose Rotom and Pelipper gets weakened, Swampert can beat what's left without too much trouble. Tapu Koko and Hawlucha combos are also fairly common both inside and outside of rain teams (Koko sets up Electric Terrain, Hawlucha switches in while it's up and triggers its Electric Seed to make it twice as fast with Unburden), and those two Pokémon together tear through you without your Lando. In an attempt to deal with this, I would suggest replacing your Rotom with a Zapdos. Try Smogon's defensive set listed here. With their focus on physical bulk, it's almost a hard counter to Hawlucha if you keep it healthy, since standard Hawlucha only runs its STAB types as attacking moves (both of which Zapdos resists). Koko can still be annoying for Zapdos, but if you run Ferro as your replacement rocker you can pivot between it and your Swampert to deal with Koko. If you want to continue the rain gimmick you could run Thunder over Discharge on Zapdos, though you'd have to mind its PP a little more.

Since the Zapdos set gives you another Defogger, you could maybe remove Defog from Pelipper in favor of something else. I would recommend one of Hurricane, Toxic, or Knock Off. Hurricane is another strong STAB option, and based on your Volcarona set I'm sure you know how it works with rain up. Toxic can be a useful option to whittle down bulky targets like Tangrowth (which, as a side note, gives your current team hell) or just to cripple potential threats. Lastly, Knock Off can be particularly useful to get rid of Eviolite on Chansey, decreasing its bulk considerably and making it far less problematic for the team.

I respect your creativity, but that Volcarona set is very bad especially on this team. Running bulky sets without recovery is generally not the best idea, so you should keep Roost on a set like that. As Gélido said above me, Shuca is also pretty pointless on Volcarona; a Z Crystal, Leftovers, or a Lum Berry would've been more worth your time for that set (though scrap the Z Crystal idea if you're keeping Fairium on Magearna). Keeping Damp Rock on Pelipper also gives you even fewer chances to use that Fire coverage effectively, since the rain will be up longer. Also, there's never a reason to run Swarm over Flame Body on Volcarona. The significance of a potential burn on your opponent -- however small the chance may be -- far outweighs that of the small boost to Bug moves.

As for what to replace it with, I'm not entirely sure, although my first thoughts were either rain sweeper Kingdra or Choice Specs Ash Greninja. Both of them provide you with disgusting special damage output under rain especially, and can serve as great cleaners once their checks have been weakened. Alternatively you could slap on a Celesteela or a Z-Bounce Gyarados, both of which fit nicely on this team and give you solid ways to force out Tangrowth. Of course you'll have to change Magearna a bit if you go with the Gyarados option, but I think AV Magearna would also be a solid choice as another potential check to pesky Tapus, specifically Lele and non-Wild Charge Koko.

Lastly, the Swampert set. Focus Punch is a neat gimmick that could come in handy for things like Ferrothorn, but the necessity of having Sub along with it means you miss out on one of Swampert's crucial coverage options in the form of Ice Punch. If you really want Fighting coverage on it, I would suggest running Superpower instead (or MAAAAAAAYBE Power-Up Punch, though Swampert doesn't usually need Attack boosts to dish out pain). Alternatively you could give it Stealth Rock, which frees up your Ferrothorn to put down Spikes and whittle away at your opponent's team even more.

Here is a sample version of the team I put together based on everything I just discussed. You can play around with the Gyarados slot if you want, but this will probably bring you a good deal more success.

 

[ScalchopFren]

Couple things I thought of related to the team I posted:

1) For the Ferro set, I think changing Knock Off to something else is better. Option 1: give it Protect. Option 2: make it Sassy Nature instead of Careful, set Speed IVs to 0, and run Gyro Ball.

2) Gyarados’s ability is flexible. Mega Gyarados tends to run Intimidate over Moxie, so you could possibly do that to bluff the mega and invite Tangrowth in. Though if you prefer to be a sweeper that snowballs over time, stick with Moxie.

 

[ShekShack17]

Preciate the feed back and the team. Ill check it out.