reachzero
the pastor of disaster
With all the hype currently centered around Hail, it's easy to forget about the other powerful weather in UU, Rain. The fact that Rain teams are very easy to build and very difficult to stop means that now more than ever it is important to take Rain into account when teambuilding in UU. Unlike Hail, the Pokemon that can use Rain effectively are not dependent on one or two Pokemon to set it up and then abuse it; it would be very difficult to ban enough Pokemon for Rain to become a non-viable strategy. Rain teams are here to stay, so it's a good idea to figure out now how to handle them.
That being said, the current metagame contains several "new" and controversial Pokemon that actually fit very nicely on a Rain team, and present unique problems to those facing stall. I'm referring, of course, to Froslass and Raikou.
Raikou is the more "obvious" Pokemon for a Rain team, providing a much-needed Electric resistance, and abusing Thunder and HP Water. "ThunderDancing" Raikou with a Damp Rock is one of the early to mid-game Pokemon for setting up Rain.
Froslass' role is less obvious, but it makes more sense when one considers that a common way to "prepare" for Rain is to count on a combination of Stealth Rock and Honchkrow's Sucker Punch. Rain teams are usually quite fragile, so strong neutral priority OHKOs a good chunk of most Rain teams. Froslass, however, is able to use her fast Taunt to keep opposing teams from getting Stealth Rock down, as well as Spiking to gain more KOs. On my Rain team, for example, I'm using Froslass with 252 HP and 252 Speed, Taunt/Spikes/Rain Dance/Destiny Bond as my lead.
Nearly every method used to slow down Rain teams has its difficulties. Honchkrow can be worn down by Kabutops' Aqua Jet and is heavily reliant on Stealth Rock to gain many KOs; bulky waters must beware of Ludicolo, Qwilfish and HP Grass; Toxicroak has to look out for neutral Ice Beams and Earth Power Omastar, though it is likely the safest bet. How is everyone adapting to deal with Rain Dance?
That being said, the current metagame contains several "new" and controversial Pokemon that actually fit very nicely on a Rain team, and present unique problems to those facing stall. I'm referring, of course, to Froslass and Raikou.
Raikou is the more "obvious" Pokemon for a Rain team, providing a much-needed Electric resistance, and abusing Thunder and HP Water. "ThunderDancing" Raikou with a Damp Rock is one of the early to mid-game Pokemon for setting up Rain.
Froslass' role is less obvious, but it makes more sense when one considers that a common way to "prepare" for Rain is to count on a combination of Stealth Rock and Honchkrow's Sucker Punch. Rain teams are usually quite fragile, so strong neutral priority OHKOs a good chunk of most Rain teams. Froslass, however, is able to use her fast Taunt to keep opposing teams from getting Stealth Rock down, as well as Spiking to gain more KOs. On my Rain team, for example, I'm using Froslass with 252 HP and 252 Speed, Taunt/Spikes/Rain Dance/Destiny Bond as my lead.
Nearly every method used to slow down Rain teams has its difficulties. Honchkrow can be worn down by Kabutops' Aqua Jet and is heavily reliant on Stealth Rock to gain many KOs; bulky waters must beware of Ludicolo, Qwilfish and HP Grass; Toxicroak has to look out for neutral Ice Beams and Earth Power Omastar, though it is likely the safest bet. How is everyone adapting to deal with Rain Dance?