RMT: Fellow Raikou fans I need your Help!

I have decided to make a team around one of my favorite pokes, Raikou, who is declining in usage which is a shame. Please help me accomplish this task of making a great Raikou team because I feel like I have done a poor job.

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Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
Nature: Adamant/Jolly (+ , -Sp Atk)
EV: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
-Aerial Ace
-Sucker Punch/Night Slash
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake

Revenge kills shit and takes out Heatran, Magnezone, Electivire, Blissey and Tyranitar. Very nice, not too sure about nature. If I go Adamant, I will probably use Sucker Punch, but with Jolly I outspeed Starmie, so maybe I should use Night Slash so I don't get PP stalled when it is using Recover.
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Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Hasty (+Spd, -Atk)
EV: 136 Atk / 252 Spd / 124 Sp Atk
-Hypnosis
-Explosion
-Focus Blast
-Shadow Ball

My favorite set. Hypnosis is an amazing move since it can disable counters, or give me a free switch if something like Blissey comes in to sponge my attacks. Explosion to take out Blissey, and Ballblast covers everything type wise.
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Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EV: 64 HP / 252 Spd / 96 Sp Atk / 96 Sp Def
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-HP Ice
-Thunderbolt

Completely underrated special sweeper. This thing sweeps teams easily with proper support. Seismic Toss Blissey beats the crap out of this, but then again, Gengar will get free switch ins to put it to sleep. HP Ice>Grass because it hits more pokes that resist Thunderbolt, compared to HP Grass which hits Swampert and Rhyperior harder.

Counters-ST Blissey, Swampert, Mamoswine, Electivire, Tyranitar(obviously Sandstorm plays a part), Toxic Spikes, Steelix, Dugtrio.

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Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Relaxed (+Def, -Spd)
EV: 252 HP / 162 Atk / 96 Def
-Rapid Spin
-Toxic Spikes
-Earthquake
-Gyro Ball

Clears the field of Toxic Spikes and other annoying spike moves, while setting up Toxic Spikes so Raikou can sweep more efficiently. Counters Weavile quite nicely too.

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Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp Atk)
EV: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Sp Def
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Pursuit
-Body Slam

Pretty basic set up here. Resttalking Snorlax designed to beat up Blissey by Resting off the Seismic Toss damage and putting a hurting with Pursuit/Body Slam. This pretty much wrecks Gengar, Azelf and Mismagius.

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Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Calm (+Sp Def, -Atk)
EV: 204 HP / 104 Spd / 76 Sp Atk / 124 Sp Def
-Rain Dance
-Ice Beam/Grass Knot
-Leech Seed
-Surf

Gives the team some Leech Seed support which is especially useful if Raikou is worn down a bit from Subseeding. Provides weather support so Tyranitar/Hippowdon don't get any smart ideas. Not sure if I should use Ice Beam for those damn dragons, or Grass Knot since this is my most reliable bulky water counter.
 
I really don't like Qwilfish in te last slot, spikes ruins it, and it doesnt do anything for your team, I suggest a dugtrio in its slot, as it gets rid of blissey, since weavile isn't that reliable.
 
I am a Raikou fan, and it works unbelievably well for me. What I use is Toxic Spikes, which enable for Raikou to beat almost all Bliss 1 vs 1. Dugtrio can also work, but it needs residual damage for the kill. Qwilfish probably beats bliss aswell, as nobody knows what the fuck it does :).
 
I love Raikou, and I have run a lot of Dragonite-Suicune-Raikou combos that can destroy teams. I would put in a Heracross over Weaville, and put in a StealthRock/Spiker on your team, like Fortress, which can help Raikou sweep efficiently.
 
I would like to see max speed on Weavile, if only to possibly win the speed tie against other Weaviles. I also don't see the point of Raikous EV spread. I realize that it's the analysis standard, but I could never really figure out what those SpDef EVs for. I would either pump Raikous HP or SpAtk more, and drop the SpDef.

A few things that Raikou really benefiets from are Toxic Spikes, and/or Stealth Rock and Spikes. You also need a way to take out Blissey. Consider adding Explosion and Life Orb to Gengar, and changing the EVs to 136 Atk / 126 SpAtk / 252 Speed. It's a very effective way of taking Blissey out of the game. Wide Lens really isn't worth it honastly, since it boosts the accuracy of Hypnosis and Focus Blast from 70% to 77%. Not really a big enough boost to make much of a difference.

As Brawlex mentioned, Dugtrio is also an option to take out Blissey, and can also get rid of pokemon like Tyranitar and Heatran, both of which give Heatran problems.

If you want a weather changer instead of Qwilfish, try out Ludicolo. The rain helps him a ton anyways, and Ludicolo can give your team Leech Seed support. This will also let you have the possibility of subbing out Tangrowth for something like Forretress, which can lay down Toxic Spikes for you.

Keep these things in mind, as Raikou is a huge threat but needs support to be as effective as he was in ADV. Good luck.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I think I will go with Ludicolo>Tangrowth/Quilfish, and I will put Forretress in the other spot.

I will try Explosion on Gengar since currently I have been relying on Tangrowth /Snorlax to beat Blissey, which is rather boring since they don't have a ton of attack and they are sleeping most of the time.

Dugtrio will finally go over Weavile. Should I go with Adamant or Jolly tho?
 
good question. it;s all about preference. jolly boosts it's already high speed, but adamant boosts its ok attack. id go with adamant choice band sucker punching dugtrio.
 
To have a shot at 2HKOing Blissey, you need an Adamant nature. However, if you don't plan on taking out Blissey with Dugtrio, Jolly (or even a Scarf) will work just fine.
 
You copied my idea, put whatever, my team is patented by killing have of Jabba's team :P (Don't get pissed Jabba).....

Also, adjust the EV Spread of Raikou, I would go with 6 HP / 252 SpA and Speed. That EV Spread has worked wonderfully well for me, but it's your call. You'd do more damage and you really don't need to put that many EVs into Sp. Defense and HP. If you switch Raikou in on a Zapdos' Thunderbolt (what you should be doing) it only receives 11-13% damage. HP EVs aren't needed because Raikou isn't never going to actually survive an EQ.

Qwilfish is mostly dead weight replace it for Dugtrio, Adamant nature so that you can 2HKO Blissey. Weavile will do the job as well but will be killed before you show Raikou to the opponent, it is OHKO'd be a Gyarados' Waterfall, will you won't be able to much damage at all.

You also can't take Heatran that well without it killing half or more of your team.

P.S. If you want to test your Raikou Team against mine, feel free to PM me.
 
I would like to see max speed on Weavile, if only to possibly win the speed tie against other Weaviles. I also don't see the point of Raikous EV spread. I realize that it's the analysis standard, but I could never really figure out what those SpDef EVs for. I would either pump Raikous HP or SpAtk more, and drop the SpDef.
Its to survive more special attacks so that after a calm mind, fewer things break your sub so you can set up on the majority of special attackers. The hp EV gives a leftover number I believe.
 
I would run a 252/252 spread on Raikou, since he's not meant to do any tanking. He's meant to be fast and strong. Also, leftover numbers are useless. Recovering that extra one HP will almost never help. When's the last time you rememeber having somone hit you down to one HP? Btw, if you have a HP Ice Raikou, would you mind trading me one for somthing?
 
Some Special Defense EVs on Raikou help its Substitutes survive Surfs after a single Calm Mind, so defensive EVs aren't entirely useless.

I can see big trouble with Gyarados if it comes into something like a Dugtrio Earthquake. Most Gyarados with Waterfall are EVed with enough Speed to outrun Raikou after a Dragon Dance, so your best hope would be trying for a paralysis with Snorlax or hope for it to have Earthquake and beat it with Ludicolo. Unfortunately, if that doesn't work, you basically lose; the fact that Ludicolo has no reliable recovery doesn't help much either. HP Electric or Zap Cannon on Forretress can help counter Gyarados.

That Dugtrio, who is weak defensively, is your only Rock resistance doesn't bode well for your chances against Tyranitar. Yes, Dugtrio can revenge kill it, but if it comes into one of your other Pokemon, something is guaranteed to die if a Choice Banded Stone Edge connects; even Forretress is 2HKOed, or OHKOed with a critical hit. SubSeed Abomasnow is annoying for you to face too; for my Raikou team, I used Magma Storm / Explosion Heatran to simultaneously beat Abomasnow and make sure Blissey doesn't escape from Explosion.
 
Its to survive more special attacks so that after a calm mind, fewer things break your sub so you can set up on the majority of special attackers. The hp EV gives a leftover number I believe.

I realize that SpDef EVs increase your SpDef, and allow you to take Special hits better. What I don't see however, is what those SpDef EVs allow you to survive / not break your sub after 1 CM.

Great Sage said:
Some Special Defense EVs on Raikou help its Substitutes survive Surfs after a single Calm Mind, so defensive EVs aren't entirely useless.

Still wondering what those Surfs are coming from. Don't mean to be troublesome or noobish, just wondering, as I can't really think of anything.
 
I realize that SpDef EVs increase your SpDef, and allow you to take Special hits better. What I don't see however, is what those SpDef EVs allow you to survive / not break your sub after 1 CM.



Still wondering what those Surfs are coming from. Don't mean to be troublesome or noobish, just wondering, as I can't really think of anything.
They would probably be coming from Swampert for most of the other Bulky Waters are OHKO'd by a Thunderbolt, and that's the only thing I can think of. The majority of Swamperts I faced with my team used Surf, yes I know, but most of them didn't break my Substitute after 1 CM, and most of the time you can get 2 in.
 
Completely underrated special sweeper. This thing sweeps teams easily with proper support. Seismic Toss Blissey beats the crap out of this, but then again, Gengar will get free switch ins to put it to sleep.

With natural cure, I can't help but find this redundant. Blissey switches out, raikou switches in, blissey switches in, and a cycle begins.
 
With natural cure, I can't help but find this redundant. Blissey switches out, raikou switches in, blissey switches in, and a cycle begins.


That was a very useful post.

Anyways, the whole point to that was Blissey would Seismic Toss Raikou, but instead I would switch to Gengar and take no damage. I can then Explode on it or put the incoming poke to sleep.
 
Swampert would just use Earthquake.

Then I agree with you, most Bulky Waters wouldn't get the chance and the only one that wouldn't die would be Swampert, which would use EQ, which would need Defense EVs (don't even try it), which would do nothing overall.

In this case, go with the EV Spread I recommended:
6 HP / 252 SpA & Speed
 
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