Mad Season

[Dr Ciel]

Mad Season​

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Introduction

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Hello Smogon Forums & welcome to my tenth RMT on these hallowed & excellent forums! As most of you may know, I am Dr Ciel, creator of an RMT called The Dawn Of Kyurem, which happened to be one my most successful teams on these forums. I come to you now with this RMT, which I hope can exceed the expectations of my previous RMT's, including the most successful one that I mentioned to you folks just a while ago. Anyways, this team is based around an RU Pokémon that needs much more love than it deserves ( No, it's not Feraligatr ). What is this Pokémon you say? It's none other than Agility Moltres, my dear readers. Now, you may have wondered why I chose Moltres to be the star of my team. Well, just take a look at Moltres: a base 125 Special Attack, which puts it right up there with the likes of Volcarona, a base 90 Speed stat, which is known to be under average in OU, but Agility fixes that up. Oh, & did I mention that Moltres dual STAB combo is resisted by only 3 Pokémon in the OU metagame? This means that if you don't have a resist, Moltres is going to absolutely slaughter your team, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction behind it. This team has no real peaks, but I did hang around the 1750 - 1850 ACRE range, which I consider to be well above average for a consistent person on the ladder, just like myself. The team is named Mad Season, which happens to be my favourite song from the band Matchbox Twenty, & hope that you guys listen to this song while reading this RMT. This team is based around the Volt Turn Combo of Rotom-C, Scizor & Raikou, as well as the revenge killing of Raikou himself in order to let Moltres get that huge setup sweep as soon as the opportunity becomes available. Anyways, let's get going with the team before this introduction gets much too long. So, sit back, relax & enjoy this Mad Season!​

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Team At A Glance

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In Depth Look

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Long Day

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Long Day (Politoed) @ Water Gem

Trait: Drizzle​

EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd​

Modest Nature​

- Hydro Pump​

- Ice Beam​

- Hidden Power [Grass]​

- Perish Song​

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Up first on my team, is everyones favourite little frog, the famous & infamous Pokemon, our best friend, my Bulky Attacker Politoed. You can't have a rain team without Rain, & obviously, Politoed is the only Pokemon that can summon permanant rain, which my team relies on oh so very much. The EV spread is relatively simple, with maximum investment in HP for it to survive some hard hits, while the maximum investment in Special Attack is obvious, to do tonnes of damage to opposing threats. Water Gem is an excellent item for Politoed, as it can easily bluff a choiced set & obliterate something with a Water Gem, STAB Rain boosted Hydro Pump, which absolutely shocks the opponent. Anyways, let's move on to the moveset. Hydro Pump, obviously is the STAB move on Politoed, boosted by Water Gem & Rain, doing ridiculous amounts of damage to the opponent. Next up in the moveset, Ice Beam, is used to KO Dragonite, Hydreigon & practically any Dragon type that thinks it can setup on Politoed. Up next on this set is Hidden Power Grass, which provides coverage against both Gastrodon & Rotom-W, if they dare switch into this frog. Finally on the set, Perish Song is used to shut down every single setup sweeper in the metagame.​

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If I Fall

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If I Fall (Raikou) @ Choice Scarf

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Trait: Pressure​

EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd​

Timid Nature​

- Thunder​

- Hidden Power [Ice]​

- Signal Beam​

- Volt Switch​

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When taking a look at Raikous stats, sporting base Speed & Special Attack stats of both 115, it's not a surprise that this Tiger-Cat is my bulky Revenge killer for this team. Raikou is incredibly underrated in the current meta, usually outclassed by the likes of both Jolteon & Thundurus-T, but Raikou is more bulky than the both of them, so it's only natural that I chose him to be my revenge killer. Max Special Attack for raw attacking power & max Speed to outspeed the likes of Scarf Keldeo, Latios, Garchomp, & so many more Scarfed Pokémon in the current OU meta. Now, allow me to review the moveset for the legendary tiger-cat. Up first is Raikous strongest move, in Thunder, a base 120 power STAB move, this allows him to hit the likes of every bulky water type in the metagame, while also getting good damage on most flying types in the meta, such as Gyarados, especially. Up next on the set is HP Ice, which helps Raikou OHKO the likes of most Dragon types in the tier, as well as getting the KOs on Gliscor & Landorus-T. Up next is a really odd choice here, as I use Signal Beam in order to hit the Psychic types in the tier, such as the Lati twins, Reuniclus & many others. The final moveslot goes to Volt Switch, which is mainly used for getting damage & stealing momentum.​

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Unwell

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Unwell (Terrakion) @ Focus Sash

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Trait: Justified​

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd​

Jolly Nature​

- Stealth Rock​

- Taunt​

- Stone Edge​

- Close Combat​

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Next up on my team is the legendary Pokémon that nobody likes to switch in to, Terrakion. I usually use this guy as my lead in order to get Stealth Rocks up early in the game, so they can help me immensely later in the game. The max Attack is to power up his two strongest STAB moves in Stone Edge, as well as Close Combat, while Max Speed is used to outspeed most other leads, such as Custap Skarmory, to prevent them from getting rocks up on my side of the field. Now, allow me to explain the moveset of this legendary beast. Up first on the set, is Stealth Rock, which this guy got from a BW2 tutor, which is fantastic, as SR should always be setup early game in order to seal the win late in the game. Up next, Taunt helps me in more ways than one, but it's usually to prevent the likes of Ferrothorn, Skarmory & others from getting up some hazards of their own. Stone Edge is an extremely strong STAB move, as it hits the likes of Gyarados, Salamence, Dragonite, & many others for some really solid damage early in the game. Close Combat is arguably Terraks best move, getting ridiculous amounts of damage on anything that doesn't resist it.​

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If You're Gone

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If You're Gone (Scizor) @ Choice Band ​

Trait: Technician​

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef​

Adamant Nature​

- U-turn​

- Bullet Punch​

- Superpower​

- Pursuit​

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Up next on my team, the second part of the most infamous Volt-Turn core in the current metagame, everyone's favourite metallic Bug, the devastating Choice Band Scizor. Scizor is the backup revenge killer on this team, as with it's excellent STAB moves, access to strong moves in U-Turn & Technician & sky high Attack stat, it's no surprise that Scizor found it's way onto my team. I went with 248 HP EVs, which gives me an extra opportunity to switch into Stealth Rock, meanwhile the 252 Attack EVs are for absolute destruction of the opposition. The first move on the set, is obvious, U-Turn, grabbing the momentum, racking up entry hazard damage & also getting a favourable matchup, much like Rotom-W does the same. The next move on the set is Bullet Punch, Scizors most powerful STAB move, which allows it to revenge kill Pokemon that Rotom-W can't such as Terrakion, Latios, & many other Pokemon that may be a threat to my team. Superpower is used for nailing Heatran, Magnezone, & Ferrothorn, especially if the former 2 dare to switch in to this absolute monster of a Pokemon. The final moveslot goes to Pursuit, which nails Pokemon trying to switch out of Scizor.​

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Disease

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Disease (Rotom-Mow) @ Leftovers

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Trait: Levitate​

EVs: 28 HP / 228 SAtk / 252 Spd​

Timid Nature​

- Leaf Storm​

- Volt Switch​

- Thunder Wave​

- Hidden Power [Ice]​

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Up next on my team, is Rotom-W's little brother, the one that gets no love, my offensive scout on this team, the legendary Rotom-Lawnmower. As I said, this is my offensive scout, & it does a damn good job at doing what it's supposed to do. The EV set may be a bit unorthodox, but I'll make them much more clearer as I explain them. The 228 Speed EVs coupled with a Timid nature ensure that Rotom-C will outspeed Acrobatics variants of Gliscor and 2HKO them due to maximum investment in Special Attack. The rest of the EVs are jumbled in HP to give Rotom-C a little more bulk than usual. Now, allow me to explain this little guys moveset. Up first is Leaf Storm, which allows it to nail the many bulky waters that are infesting the OU tier, especially the likes of Gastrodon, which is swiftly eliminated after a single Leaf Storm. Up next, Volt Switch provides the momentum that this team needs, as well as putting pressure on the opposing Pokémon. Thunder Wave is usually used to cripple many attackers in the OU tier. Finally, I like to use Hidden Power Ice as my Pokémon team is ravaged by Dragon types otherwise.​

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Mad Season

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Mad Season (Moltres) @ Life Orb

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Trait: Pressure​

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd​

Modest Nature​

- Agility​

- Hurricane​

- Fire Blast​

- Roost​

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Well, here we are at the end of another one of my RMT's. Ladies & gentlemen, please meet the Pokémon that needs to be used much more than it's supposed to, the legendary, the devastating Agility Moltres. Moltres is easily the star of the show, as it's excellent dual STAB is resisted by only 3 Pokémon in the OU tier. The EV spread is rather straightforward, with maximum investments in Special Attack & speed in order to absolutely destroy anything that may come across this legendary Pokémon's path of destruction. Now, allow me to explain the moveset that will revolutionize the current OU metagame. First up, Agility boosts Moltres subpar speed to sky high levels, allowing it to outspeed even the fastest Choice Scarf users. Hurricane is Moltres' main STAB move, as it deals some real immense damage to anything that doesn't resist it, as well as having a nice confusion chance, which is also fantastic for Moltres. For those pesky Steel types that think they can switch into a Hurricane, Fire Blast will absolutely roast them to a crisp, as even in the Rain, the power is completely overwhelming. Finally, Roost gives Moltres better survivability, allowing it to have better presence in early- and mid-game, and eases setup against Pokemon that Moltres walls, making any attempt of those Pokemon to stay in and wear Moltres down futile.​

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Importable

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(Please keep the nicknames when using the team)​

Long Day (Politoed) @ Water Gem
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Perish Song
 
If I Fall (Raikou) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Signal Beam
- Volt Switch
 
Unwell (Terrakion) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
 
If You're Gone (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
 
Disease (Rotom-Mow) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP / 228 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
 
Mad Season (Moltres) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
- Roost

Conclusion

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Well guys, this is the end of my 8th RMT on the Smogon Community forums. Shoutouts to all you OU players out there, I hope you use Moltres more, I really want to see it rise in usage. Shoutouts to all my friends for supporting me along the way. Also, shoutout to you guys for reading this RMT. I hope you liked it, so please feel free to rate and please leave a like.​

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Final Glance

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[Halcyon.]

Wow. Just wow. This is honestly one of the coolest teams I've ever seen on this forum. I mean, it uses Rotom-M, Raikou, and Moltres to their fullest. Good job Dr. Ciel!

It seems like the goal of this team is to shuffle the opponent around, wearing them down with VoltTurn, possible paralyzing some faster threats before finally cleaning up with Moltres. The team definitely has a clear strategy, one which seems easy enough to execute given how well the individual team members works together. There's only one big issue I can see with the team, and that is that you only have Taunt Terrakion to prevent hazards from getting up. Now, I want to make it clear that this is not only a problem because of Moltres. Yes, having a x4 Stealth Rock weak Pokémon with no spinner is detrimental, but I think that, with Roost, you could manage. No, the reason you need to keep hazards away is that this team uses Volt Turn AND has to try to keep rain up. That means each of your Pokémon will constantly be switching in and out, whether it's because of a Tyranitar that switched in, or Raikou Volt Switching out.

To fix this (in case you haven't already guessed), I suggest you add a spinner to the team. Terrakion can stop things like Custap Skarmory from settin gup, it's true, but other than that, things like Ferrothorn, Forretress, Garchomp, etc., will scare you out and set up anyway. It really kills me to suggest this, because I honestly don't want to get rid of any of your team members, but I would suggest running Starmie over Rotom-M. I know that Rotom-M provides useful utility in Thunder Wave, and also a helpful Water resist, but Starmie can do the latter, while also keeping hazards off the field. Rotom-M's role is also somewhat similar to Raikou (they're both strong Electric attackers with Volt Switch), so I feel like you might not miss him as much as other members. Starmie has the advantage of being able to beat all the spin blockers in the rain. You have the luxury of being able to run Thunder to beat Jellicent, and Hydro Pump easily OHKOs Gengar. With hazards gone, you'll find it much easier to wear the opponent down without getting worn yourself.

Hope I was able to help! Sorry it took me so long, but I honestly didn't know who to replace :/ Good luck with the team!

Set

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Analytic
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin

 

[Jirachee]

Hello

That team appears to be extremely weak to offensive Water types, especially Starmie and Keldeo (and Politoed). Your first Water resist, Politoed, falls apart to their secondary STAB / coverage move (Secret Sword, Thunder, etc.) and generally has better things to do than come in and tank Water attack, especially against Sand teams that carry Keldeo. Your second Water resist is an offensive Rotom-C, who is not only slower than most offensive Water types but also very frail and will often fall to Surf / Hydro Pump + Ice Beam / Secret Sword. Your team also appears to be in crucial need of a Rapid Spinner since quite frankly Terrakion has a hard time stopping most hazard Pokemon that aren't leads. The first change I'd recommend would be swapping your own Terrakion for a SubToxic Tentacruel. This gives you probably the most reliable Rapid Spinner for Rain teams as it's nearly impossible to wear down and it handily beats most Jellicent and Gengar, the tier's most common spinblockers (and it will beat shit like Golurk anyway). Tentacruel will also ease your time against the threatening Fighting types which appear to be hard for your team to deal with, considering your only resist is Moltres, a late game sweeper.

That however doesn't exactly fix your weakness to offensive Starmie, and also leaves you without Stealth Rock. By the way, your team appears to be quite weak to Latios. Your only real switch in to it is a Choice Band Scizor which takes an absolute ton of damage from Draco Meteor and outright loses if it switches into Surf ONCE, and your team doesn't exactly pressure Latios very well so you might lose your Scizor to it quite often. I think that a good round up change here would be swapping your Rotom-C for a Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn is much bulkier and it's not weak to Ice Beam, as well as providing a reliable Dragon resist, allowing you to switch into Starmie and Latios quite nicely. It also sets up Stealth Rock which used to be carried by Terrakion.

Regardless of these changes, I think that your team might actually have big issues getting rid of Heatran for Moltres to sweep. I think you could change Moltres' set around a bit to make it a more effective sweeper. I think you're currently wasting a lot of EVs since Moltres doesn't need all that Speed. A spread of 72 HP / 248 SpA / 188 Spe hits a Life Orb number and outspeeds all the relevant scarfers at +2, making Moltres a bit bulkier while still maintaining the ability to outspeed everything after you set up, so I don't think you lose anything from this change. Furthermore, I'd try out Hidden Power Ground on Moltres over Roost to make sure you can sweep even if the opponent has an Heatran. Roost doesn't look like it's extremely useful since Moltres will usually come late game anyway and it'll just wreck everything assuming you've set up correctly, and doesn't need to heal to clean the opponent. The more coverage you get, the more effective it'll be.

Here are the sets you should use:

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Scald
- Substitute
 
 
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Gyro Ball

 

[Dr Ciel]

Hey, thanks for the rates both of you! I'll be sure to test out the changes that both of you suggested. ( As soon as PS is up & running again )

 

[Style_Dota]

Offensive Rain looks like a bitch, Bulky Offensive Sun with Heatran looks like a bitch, Drag Mag looks like a bitch, HO looks like a bitch, yeah, a lot of things look really threatening to you.

I highly recommend the changes that Jirachi said, as the Tentacruel and Ferro suggestions really do help with a lot of problems with your team. One thing I would consider is maybe adding a Rain Volcarona over Rain Moltres, but if you want the Agility Boost instead, then that's up to you. Also, maybe consider changing HP Grass to Rest and Water Gem to Chesto Berry. I don't really think HP Grass is worth it too much for hitting Rotom-W on the switch, and you have things that can deal with Gastrodon if you play them correctly. Let's be real though, how common is Gastrodon in today's meta?

Good luck.