[Overview]
<p>With the BW buff to Storm Drain, Game Freak threw a veritable lifesaver to its two original recipients, Gastrodon and Lumineon. While Gastrodon slowly climbed up from the bottom of the barrel, Lumineon, characterized by a barren movepool, mediocre bulk, average Speed, and terrible offenses, did not benefit in the slightest as a result. It still wallows at the bottom of the NU tier, sucked into the storm drain with the trash. Lumineon is so held down by its poor stats that there is little it can do aside from a bland set with Rain Dance and Swift Swim. At the very least, Lumineon does outspeed a large portion of the metagame when rain is up.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Surf
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: U-turn
item: Damp Rock
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 24 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Lumineon's usefulness is limited to a simple Rain Dance set. Essentially, Lumineon strives to set up weather and switch out to a sweeper as fast as possible. Lumineon's strongest STAB move is Surf, which packs a slight punch in the rain. Hidden Power Grass prevents Lumineon from becoming total setup fodder to any Water-type that approaches it. After Lumineon changes the weather, its usefulness is roughly equivalent to that of a bee without its stinger; U-turn allows it to do a bit of damage as it flees from its (likely stronger) opponent.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The Damp Rock lengthens the amount of time that rain lasts, which is a necessity for any rain team. The EV spread maximizes Special Attack and gives Lumineon just enough Speed to outspeed Choice Scarf Rotom in the rain; the rest are dumped into HP for added bulk; if you want to, a few more EVs can be added to Speed to outspeed Choice Scarf Jynx. Ice Beam can be used instead of Hidden Power Grass to hit Grass-types such as Tangela, but it won't do too much to them either way. Obviously, one should pair Lumineon with Pokemon that work well under rain. For example, Swift Swim Gorebyss and Swift Swim Armaldo both enjoy a boost in Speed that makes them far more dangerous. Electric-types gain the ability to use a perfectly accurate Thunder, something to be feared from the likes of Rotom-S. Lightningrod Raichu also deserves mention for its ability to take Electric-type moves aimed at Lumineon. Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Sap Sipper Miltank that can easily switch in to Grass-type moves meant for Lumineon are also valuable teammates. Swanna is a veritable monster in rain, able to launch off 100% accurate Hurricanes and boosted Surfs.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>An offensive set with Life Orb and Storm Drain can be used, but is risky; after getting a boost and KOing the opposing Water-type, Lumineon is forced to clean sweep its opponent or be relegated to death fodder for the rest of the match. Even worse, a smart opponent can avoid using Water-type moves and ensure that Lumineon remains a useless fish. Toxic and Scald allow Lumineon to status its opponents, giving it a more consistent form of damage. Waterfall runs off of an equivalent attacking stat, but has lower Base Power than Surf, and Hidden Power Electric hits Mantine harder than Hidden Power Grass, but gives Lumineon nothing to do against Quagsire. Charm allows Lumineon to set up a teammate by weakening its opponent. Soak allows Lumineon to use Toxic on any Pokemon it desires—even Steel- and Poison-types—but is fairly ineffective overall</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Anything that can Taunt Lumineon before it has a chance to set up is a fairly reliable counter, as a Lumineon that fails to set up rain is a sitting duck. Anything that has higher Speed and Substitute, such as Calm Mind Serperior, can take advantage of Lumineon and waste the turns of rain while it sets up itself. Although Swellow must be wary when it switches in, it outspeeds Lumineon outside of rain and OHKOes. Most Pokemon with Thunder Wave can happily spam the move until Lumineon U-turns out, meaning that they nail a sweeper as its teammate flees in terror. Jynx is faster than Lumineon outside of rain and enjoys the weather condition in general, but takes an embarrassingly large amount of damage from U-turn, meaning that one should use it only to check Lumineon. Although most Water-types can beat it, they cannot do much to prevent it from setting up. Mantine and Regice generally cause problems for rain teams, but must be wary of what Lumineon switches into. Golduck can either ignore the rain or abuse it with Swift Swim.</p>
<p>With the BW buff to Storm Drain, Game Freak threw a veritable lifesaver to its two original recipients, Gastrodon and Lumineon. While Gastrodon slowly climbed up from the bottom of the barrel, Lumineon, characterized by a barren movepool, mediocre bulk, average Speed, and terrible offenses, did not benefit in the slightest as a result. It still wallows at the bottom of the NU tier, sucked into the storm drain with the trash. Lumineon is so held down by its poor stats that there is little it can do aside from a bland set with Rain Dance and Swift Swim. At the very least, Lumineon does outspeed a large portion of the metagame when rain is up.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Surf
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: U-turn
item: Damp Rock
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 24 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Lumineon's usefulness is limited to a simple Rain Dance set. Essentially, Lumineon strives to set up weather and switch out to a sweeper as fast as possible. Lumineon's strongest STAB move is Surf, which packs a slight punch in the rain. Hidden Power Grass prevents Lumineon from becoming total setup fodder to any Water-type that approaches it. After Lumineon changes the weather, its usefulness is roughly equivalent to that of a bee without its stinger; U-turn allows it to do a bit of damage as it flees from its (likely stronger) opponent.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The Damp Rock lengthens the amount of time that rain lasts, which is a necessity for any rain team. The EV spread maximizes Special Attack and gives Lumineon just enough Speed to outspeed Choice Scarf Rotom in the rain; the rest are dumped into HP for added bulk; if you want to, a few more EVs can be added to Speed to outspeed Choice Scarf Jynx. Ice Beam can be used instead of Hidden Power Grass to hit Grass-types such as Tangela, but it won't do too much to them either way. Obviously, one should pair Lumineon with Pokemon that work well under rain. For example, Swift Swim Gorebyss and Swift Swim Armaldo both enjoy a boost in Speed that makes them far more dangerous. Electric-types gain the ability to use a perfectly accurate Thunder, something to be feared from the likes of Rotom-S. Lightningrod Raichu also deserves mention for its ability to take Electric-type moves aimed at Lumineon. Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Sap Sipper Miltank that can easily switch in to Grass-type moves meant for Lumineon are also valuable teammates. Swanna is a veritable monster in rain, able to launch off 100% accurate Hurricanes and boosted Surfs.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>An offensive set with Life Orb and Storm Drain can be used, but is risky; after getting a boost and KOing the opposing Water-type, Lumineon is forced to clean sweep its opponent or be relegated to death fodder for the rest of the match. Even worse, a smart opponent can avoid using Water-type moves and ensure that Lumineon remains a useless fish. Toxic and Scald allow Lumineon to status its opponents, giving it a more consistent form of damage. Waterfall runs off of an equivalent attacking stat, but has lower Base Power than Surf, and Hidden Power Electric hits Mantine harder than Hidden Power Grass, but gives Lumineon nothing to do against Quagsire. Charm allows Lumineon to set up a teammate by weakening its opponent. Soak allows Lumineon to use Toxic on any Pokemon it desires—even Steel- and Poison-types—but is fairly ineffective overall</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Anything that can Taunt Lumineon before it has a chance to set up is a fairly reliable counter, as a Lumineon that fails to set up rain is a sitting duck. Anything that has higher Speed and Substitute, such as Calm Mind Serperior, can take advantage of Lumineon and waste the turns of rain while it sets up itself. Although Swellow must be wary when it switches in, it outspeeds Lumineon outside of rain and OHKOes. Most Pokemon with Thunder Wave can happily spam the move until Lumineon U-turns out, meaning that they nail a sweeper as its teammate flees in terror. Jynx is faster than Lumineon outside of rain and enjoys the weather condition in general, but takes an embarrassingly large amount of damage from U-turn, meaning that one should use it only to check Lumineon. Although most Water-types can beat it, they cannot do much to prevent it from setting up. Mantine and Regice generally cause problems for rain teams, but must be wary of what Lumineon switches into. Golduck can either ignore the rain or abuse it with Swift Swim.</p>
