Fatties on the Beach

[Axa]

It wouldn't be wrong to call this a Rain team - indeed, 3 of the Pokemon here use Swift Swim, and I usually try to set up Rain early on in the game. Still, it lacks many of the common Pokemon found on such teams, such as Gorebyss or Ludicolo - a decision which was originally based on just choosing Pokemon I liked, but eventually graduated to liking where each of these Pokemon ended up. A more common ideal would be bulky offense, as every Pokemon on the team runs HP EVs to some degree. I still wouldn't call it a dedicated Rain team, since I think it functions decently outside it, but either way, I've had a lot of fun with playing it so far, reaching about 1500 recently.

Team at a glance:

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The Team

Seismitoad@Damp Rock
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 140 HP/252Sp. Atk/116 Speed
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock

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While not my favourite froggy Pokemon (for alas, Poliwrath is in RU), Seismitoad has been pulling his giant toad weight decently and is my usual lead of choice, usually managing to get up rain or rocks thanks to his fat bulk, either sacrificing himself valiantly afterwards to pave the way for Mantine and Beartic, or to start releasing a torrent of water or mud. His very obvious achilles' heel is still Grass types, as I couldn't justify giving up Rocks for Sludge Wave just yet. I knew I wanted a bulky Rain setter that could also abuse it, and I picked Seismitoad over Carracosta because of the latter's slow speed and weaker Water STAB, and over Ludicolo because our favourite pineapple can't summon floating rocks.
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Serperior@Leftovers
Trait: Overgrow
Modest Nature
EVs: 252 HP, 4 Def, 252 Speed
- Giga Drain
- Calm Mind
- HP Rock
- Substitute

Serperior to the rescue! While the grass snake isn't lauded for his offense, he's my go-to Pokemon to handle Alomomola as well as Amoonguss who lack Sludge Bomb. Serperior happily finds many opportunities to set up Calm Minds or Subs on switches, especially if an opponent switches in a Water type upon seeing Seismitoad set up Rain Dance. Serp even takes on Eggy decently, setting up Calm Minds quickly to staunch the pain of Psychic till he can Sub in safety. I've managed to get +4 or higher easily in several matches. A nice fat HP means stronger Subs and an easier time getting into Overgrow range, while blistering Speed allows him to set up Subs near unchallenged.
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Beartic@Choice Band
Trait: Swift Swim
Adamant Nature
EVs: 196 HP, 252 Attack, 60 Speed
- Icicle Crash
- Stone Edge
- Night Slash
- Superpower

Sadly, my least used of my 3 Rain Abusers, which is a shame because polar bears are awesome. Beartic's angry attack stat soars to the havens with an Adamant nature and a Choice Band, crashing down in a barrage of ice. Unfortunately, polar bears seem to lumber around a bit even in the rain, as he only runs enough speed to outrun Raichu, anything else requiring too much effort away from his decent bulk. I've been finding Night Slash to be a bit superflous, rarely using it. And while Ice is a rocking STAB, the popularity of Emboar and Water-types means Beartic doesn't get as many chances to show it off as he'd like. He might have to go back to the Arctic to make way for another Pokemon, but hopefully not one that would compound a Grass weakness.
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Beheeyem@Life Orb
Trait: Analytic
Modest Nature
EVs: 252HP, 252Sp. Atk, 4Sp. Def
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Signal Beam
- Recover

Bzzt bzzt! Beheeyem is here to zap you with that monstrous 383 Sp. Atk backed up with a Life Orb and the Analytic powers of a little alien. Beheeyem packs serious power, and because he can function most powerfully when going second, why not dump the other EVs into HP, allowing him to tank weak hits like random Drain Punches aimed at Beartic, or survive a nasty hit at high health and turn the opponent into jerky afterwards with a powerful Psychic? Recover might seem an odd choice for a slow Pokemon using Life Orb, but occasionally Beheeyem runs into a Pokemon that can't really hurt it to the point of death - like Monferno, or something, allowing Beheeyem to recuperate valuable health and offset Life Orb recoil. I've also managed to sneak in a Recover as opponents fled at the sight of Beheeyem, getting him back up to speed in the blink of an eye. Powerful physical attacks still threaten him dearly though, especially pesky Dark-types like Absol and Skuntank if he can't hit them with Signal Beam on the switch.
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Liepard@Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
Timid Nature
EVs: 252HP, 4 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed
- Encore
- Foul Play
- Snarl
- Thunder Wave

Sneaky Liepard is who I turn to in case I run into a troublesome fast opponent, or something with monstrous attack but is a lumbering slowpoke. Liepard is also the fastest Prankster in NU, allowing her to outpace Volbeat and Murkrow as well, though she can't exactly do much to the latter. She especially enjoys coming in to Musharna and rendering them useless, or coming in after Golurk stomps one of her teammates and swatting it down easily with Foul Play. Even Snarl has its uses, softening up a foe or two and making it even easier for Serperior or Seismitoad to set up. While I wish she was a bit more sturdier, and I've considered giving her a Sash once or twice, she's surprised me by taking a hit or two once.
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Mantine@Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
Timid Nature
EVs: 64 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 192 Speed
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam

Mantine probably is in a race against Serperior to see who's been getting more kills so far. While not the most conventional Swift Swimmer, Mantine enjoys several benefits that few Pokemon gain. Firstly, Mantine scoffs at Ludicolo, who roadblocks many other Water-types. Secondly, Mantine's fanatastic range of offensive attacks means anything is going to be hurt hard by its attacks, and even with only 80 base Sp. Atk, a Rain boosted Life Orb'd STAB Hydro Pump is guaranteed to hurt. And unlike Swanna, Mantine actually has the bulk to take a hit or two, even renewing its own Rain for a while if necessary. Also, while Swanna has Hurricane, it can't Hydro Pump. :) Mantine has sliced through numerous Pokemon with ease thanks to its power and bulk, and it's always fun to see an opponent getting multiple Pokemon falling from a Mantine.

Weaknesses:
Cincinno: If the mouse is in the lead, Bullet Seed threatens to KO Seismitoad from the get-go. Her speed means very little on my team can outpace it unless it's in the rain, forcing me to sacrifice Liepard to Thunder Wave it before I can bring it down.

Sawsbuck: Perhaps more than Cincinno, the deer causes me a lot of trouble. Serperior can't keep taking its physical attacks, and while Mantine and Beheeyem could take it down, they'd take heavy damage in the process. Substitute Sawsbuck are a major pain for me.

Miltank: The giant cow is truly the queen of fatties, being extremely hard to take down and fast enough to outpace all but Serperior and Liepard outside of the rain. Only Beartic can deliver a truly strong hit, but that's not even a guaranteed KO.

Fast physical sweepers in general: With Liepard being the only one who can slow them down, seeing multiple Pokemon like that on the opponent's team, like Tauros, makes me aware it could be an uphill battle.

Hazards: Rocks chip away 25% of Beartic and Mantine's health, and Serperior and Beheeyem dislike Toxic Spikes.
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[ticklegrowth]

Nice team in general, and I'm not very used to NU, but here are some tips.

Your team seems kind of weak to entry hazards, as you said, and one way to patch up this problem would be offensive rapid spin armaldo. It can be a decent physical sweeper like beartic, can still check grass types alright and could either supply rocks, allowing seismitoad to be switched to ludicolo or just use sludge wave, or be a set up sweeper with SD. I love the way it gets swift swim through dream world so it fulfills the same sort of role as well

Also, just an idea, but your serperior set could be changed to a physical one (maybe a coil sweeper set with leaf blade/ substitute/ something like dragon tail), as you have more special attackers than physical ones, and this would maintain balance.

I would change your liepard set to one that really annoyed me in the past: swagger + foul play. This allows you to stilll beat almost all physical attackers, and I don't think you really need the paralysis with 3 swift swimmers.

Sets:

Hide

Armaldo @ leftovers
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/ 4 Def/ 252 Spe
-Rapid Spin
-Stealth Rock/ Swords Dance
-Stone Edge/ Rock Blast
-X-Scissor

This set needs some tweaking but it would probably work quite well on your team. If you want seismitoad to be able to use sludge wave, go with rocks, but for a more offensive approach SD is available. Rock Blast means you can break something like braviary's subs while stone edge has better BP.


Liepard@ leftovers
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Atk/ 4 SpD
-Substitute
-Swagger
-Foul Play
-Fake Out/Encore/Thunder Wave

This can hit so many things hard, and you have prankster sub and swagger to abuse. This means after one turn of set up, you have a STAB move with tons of base power, and the opponent is confused. The last slot is really up for grabs. Fake out means you can weaken everything but ghosts which are hit super effectively by Foul Play. Encore and Thunder Wave work more support-y and you still can cripple fast sweepers or counter musharna really well.

TL;DR

Hide

Beartic ---> Armaldo
Liepard ---> Swagger + Foul Play
Optional: Serperior ---> Swords Dance

 

[WhiteDMist]

Interesting Rain team! I'm calling it a Rain team since it DOES has 3 Rain sweepers, which qualifies it as Rain. I don't know why you think a Rain team NEEDS a Pokemon like Ludicolo or Gorebyss to be considered Rain, but that's your business.

The only major change I suggest would be to replace Beartic with Swords Dance Armaldo. With its new Swift Swim active, it can outspeed every Ghost in the tier and break them, allowing it to Rapid Spin unhindered. It also provides you with a way to break past the special walls that keep you at bay, especially Regice.

Liepard would be much more efficient if it replaced Snarl with Rain Dance and you gave it Damp Rock. Priority Rain is not a laughing matter, and you are the fastest user of Rain Dance in the tier. The 4 SAtk EVs can be moved to a defensive stat too. As a rule, I (and probably most other team raters) do not recommend using luck moves like Swagger, since it is unreliable and can easily backfire. Plus, I tend to encourage the reliance on skill instead of luck in all my rates (excluding Scald and such).

For Beheeyem, remember to make the IVs 17 so you underspeed most of the tier, but outpace Amoonguss. Serperior would usually prefer a Timid Nature to make the most of its unique Speed tier, and Calm Mind makes the power drop unimportant. For Mantine, it really needs a Modest Nature in order to have the power to beat the bulkier mons that you want to beat. If you don't want max Speed to at least Speed tie Modest Ludicolo and Scarf Adamant Tauros, you can lower it to outspeed certain Speed tiers as well. 228 EVs lets you outpace +2 Jolly Torterra in the Rain, while you can reduce it down to 112 EVs to outpace +1 Timid Electabuzz.

I'm leaving Seismitoad alone since I don't understand what the Speed EVs are meant to outpace (incidentally, that addition would bring a nice layer to your descriptions as well).

Changes:

Armaldo>Beartic
Liepard: Rain Dance>Snarl; Damp Rock>Leftovers
Serperior: Timid>Modest
Mantine: Modest>Timid (Speed creeping is optional)

Set

Armaldo @ Lum Berry
Trait: Swift Swim
128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail

Good luck and I hope I helped!

 

[Axa]

I like the suggestion of Armaldo, I might try that. Would I require a third attack, like X-Scissor? Or would a Swords Dance'd Aqua Tail/Stone Edge be enough for all its purposes?

I do tend to use Snarl on Liepard for situations where Foul Play would do very little (like say, Miltank), but I might give Damp Rock/Rain Dance a try.

As for Seismitoad, the given EVs allow it to outspeed neutral max speed Torterra, as well as 24 Speed Misdreavus. Under the rain, it speed ties with max speed Braviary and Altaria, and outspeed Rock Head Relicanth and 216 Spe Electrode. Regarding Mantine, it can outspeed neutral max speed Samurott, and Miltanks that don't run speed, but I'm open to suggestions, and Modest is something I've been thinking of trying as well.

Perhaps another thing I've noticed is that I lack a reliable 'pivot' or healer; for instance, Serperior is my 'only' answer to Alomomola, my team struggles against Tauros with Liepard gone (though that may change with Armaldo). Mantine gets worn down rather quickly thanks to SR and LO, and Sap Sipper Miltank still rolls over everything but maybe Beheeyem.

Thanks for all the help so far!

 

[Gengan]

If you're using a Serperior on a Rain Team and not using Aqua Tail on it, you're doing that wrong. I'd take everyone's suggestions about going to a physical variant with Aqua Tail, since it has something to use under rain and still functions well outside of it. Coil also leviates the pressure from Sawsbuck since it boosts defense.

Serperior @ Leftovers
Trait: Overgrow
Modest Nature
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Coil
- Leaf Blade
- Aqua Tail
- Dragon Tail