Oh hai. This team was designed for an upcoming monotype tourney that I'm taking part in but I've been having so much fun testing it out that I've made it into my full time OU team. Once again I choose poison for the tournement ( I <3 poison) but this time I want to try something different. I've been testing on shiddy against standard OU teams and I've been able to hold my own fairly well. I've already made quite a few changes on the team because of flaws that I noticed during testing but now I'm turning the team over to you so you can help out in anyway possible. Maybe you will notice a flaw or something that is just epic fail. Every little bit helps. So here's the team at a glance.
The strategy behind this is to set up Rain Dance and let Ludicolo come in and crush my opponents walls. Then I sweep with a pumped up surf from Tentacruel and my swift swimming qwilfish with is pumped up waterfall. I shamelessly nicked this format from Lonelyness' from over at the smogon forums. But enough of that stuff. Here's a closer look at the team.
The Lead:
Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP | 252 Spd | 252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Hypnosis
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder
Why?
I needed pokemon that could cripple my opponents lead and Gengar does just that with Trick and Hypnosis. He also covers my ground weakness with his Levitate ability.
The Moveset
Trick allows me to cripple a pokemon that could cause me problems with choice specs. Hypnosis lets me put another threatening pokemon to sleep. Usually I sleep the lead and prevent them from setting up rocks etc. Shadow Ball is for STAB and hits hard with specs and still hits hard even after I've tricked specs to something else. I went with Thunder over Thunderbolt for the added power and the fact that it gets 100% accuracy in rain which I should have set up on nearly every turn.
The EV Spread
The EV's allow me to hit things as hard and fast as possible. It's a standard spread and there isn't much else to explain.
The Set-Up Man:
Muk @ Damp Rock
Ability: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 HP | 86 Def | 172 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Rain Dance
- Explosion
- Haze
- Brick Break
Why?
Muk is my transition pokemon. I needed something big and bulky that could take a few hits so it can set up Rain Dance and then Explode in somethings face.
The Moveset
Pretty straight forward. Set up an 8 turn Rain and then go BOOM. The last two moves are fillerish. There's probably something better I can use then brick break so I'm open to suggestions. Haze is really nice because lots of people have been switching in set up pokes on me so it's always nice to haze away their boosts before I explode.
The EV Spread
The EV spread allows me to be as bulky as possible so I can set up Rain Dance and still have enough HP left to take another hit and explode on someone.
Early Game Sweeper:
Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP | 252 Spd | 252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Energy Ball
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Dark]
Why?
Ludicolo comes in after I set up rain with Muk and just does a great job of cleaning people up early on in the game and preventing them from really ever getting anything set up. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense ^_^
The Moveset
Surf is powered up incredibly high with STAB + Rain Dance + Life Orb and iis my main form of attack. The rest of the attacks are basically just so that I can cover as many things as possible. I'm not sure which Hidden Power would offer the most coverage so I went with dark to cover Psychics and Ghosts. I'm open to suggestions on which HP to use because I'm really not sure.
The EV Spread
The EV spread lets me hit as fast and as hard as possible. There really isn't much else to say. It's pretty straight forward.
The Tank:
Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 220 HP | 38 Atk | 252 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rain Dance
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
Why?
Drapion completely resists psychic so he helps things out in that department and he just generally tanks and what not.
The Moveset
Drapion comes in and sets up more rain if need be. He also phazes people out with Whirlwind. Earthquake and Crunch give me a little bit of coverage that I lack with the rest of my pokemon and allows me to take on tyranitar trying to change the weather on me and messing everything up.
The EV Spread
220 HP EV's allow me to get max recovery from Black Sludge which lets me pump up my attack a little more so I can take on the likes of Tyranitar easier. I have max Def so I can wall physical pokemon easier.
The Sweepers:
Tentacruel @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 4 HP | 252 Spd | 252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Rain Dance
Why?
Tentacruel does the same thing that Ludicolo does but it doesn't need Rain Dance to put the hurt on people so Tentacruel is my insurance policy just iincase I can't get rain set up for some reason. Tentacruel also revenge kills very well.
The Moveset
Again this is straight forward. I wanted to be able to hit as many things as possible. Surf is for STAB and is my main form of attacking. Ice Beam and HP Electric form a nice BoltBeam combo which goes unresisted by virtually everything ftw. Rain Dance is there for lack of a better move and because sometimes it's nice to be able to set up a fast Rain Dance.
The EV Spread
Max speed + choice scarf may be a little redundant but it protects me against anybody who tries to boost their speed. Then I have max Sp.Atk because Tentacruel is a bit lacking in that department.
Qwilfish @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab
- Explosion
- Rain Dance
Why?
Qwilfish is the reason that I decided to make my team a Rain Dance team. If set up right he is just so full of win. Qwilfish is my physical sweeping swift swimmer (forget you kingdra =P).
The Moveset
Waterfall is for STAB and is my main form of attacking. Poison Jab is for added coverage against any grass pokemon I might face in the tourney. Explosion is there so that I can go out with a bang when my HP starts getting to low. Rain Dance is fillerish because Qwilfish doesn't have the best movepool but it lets me set up rain again (duh lol) when its time is up or if somebody changes it.
The EV Spread
Generic physical sweeper spread. Max Atk and speed to do the most damage and outspeed basically everything after a swift swim boost.
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So there's the team. Please don't bother posting one line rates. I want to know how to improve my team and knowing that it's a "solid team" or it's "9/10" doesn't help things at all. I spent a lot of time writing this RMT so the least you can do is spend a little bit of time rating and actually put some thought into it. Together we can make this team the best it can be ^_^
Linear Mode
