SM OU Rain Team (ft. Mega Swampert)

[RegisZDB]

Introduction​

Hey everyone this is my first RMT! Just a little bit of background info, Swampert has always been my favorite pokemon and I always tried to shape my team around him, when his mega stone was introduced I believed a rain team would be the best way to utilize his talents and have changed/rearranged many different teams to find what works. This is probably my 4th revision but there is always room for improvement so I hope I can get some help! :)

Swampert @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Power-Up Punch
​

Mega Swampert in this set is the primary sweeper, Waterfall when placed in rain does a ton of damage with the given EV spread, Earthquake is used to touch most of the other pokemon that Waterfall can't, Ice Punch is to hit pesky dragon or grass types, the latter which swampert is more susceptible to, and Power-Up Punch is an easy way to increase Swamperts damage output when a pokemon is already at a low enough health, I considered superpower for this slot but I believe Power-Up Punch is more viable since I find a lot of free turns from pokemon switching out.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
​

Ferrothorn's typing is great and fire-type moves won't be able to hit as hard. (HP Fire) The EV Spread is questionable and I am open to changes, I am looking for a bulky ferrothorn but wasn't sure what to look for. I found that this was decent but may have room for improvement on this team. I ran leech seed in order to gain health back while sapping away from the opponent, Knock off is support to help other pokemon out by getting rid of items, stealth rock is meant to chip damage away whenever I have a free turn, and Power Whip is a way to attack Keldeo and is good for doing damage. I have looked into running Gyro Ball a little bit, I am open to suggestions on whether I should use it or not.

Xurkitree @ Psychium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 HP / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hypnosis
- Energy Ball
- Thunder
- Signal Beam
​

Xurkitree is meant to be either a sweeper (Psychium Z / Hypnosis) or a pokemon that gets rid of many of the problems my team has, This is the main pokemon that I believe needs some adjusting since it doesn't seem to fit a specific role so I am open to suggestions, with Psychium Z and Hypnosis it allows Xurkitree to sometimes get a free turn while boosting its stats, Energy Ball is meant for getting rid of bulky water types, Thunder in rain can do a lot of damage and gives a large damage output, and signal beam is a strong way to get rid of bulky grass types that swampert may have a problem with. I have considered replacing it with Tapu Koko or having Tapu Koko on my team to support with electric terrain, but I am unsure how to fit it on my team successfully. Modest nature is preferred since Psychium Z gives off +1 in speed. Tail glow was considered, but I am still open to options.

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Blizzard
- Draco Meteor
​

Kingdra is a secondary sweeper taking advantage of swift swim, scald is used to burn pokemon that it has trouble with, Hydro Pump and Draco Meteor are main stab moves, and Blizzard is meant for getting rid of Dragons and Grass types again. Modest nature increases the damage output a lot, my main concern is the item. I have used Choice Specs but the locking into one move has hurt me on multiple occasions where I was forced to switch out. Because of this, I switched to life orb which misses a lot of power. I currently use this as a late game sweeper but am not sure if that strategy is good or not.

Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 230 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Scald
- Roost
​

The stereotypical rain setter, but does a great job at it. Pelipper (My lead) uses Damp Rock to increase rain turns, I run defog as a method of getting rid of hazards that the opponent setup, U-turn is a way to pivot out, its weakness to electric is crucial since I can switch into Swampert and get a free turn out of it, Scald allows it to burn pokemon and support teammates, and roost is meant to regenerate health since it's crucial for my rain team to function.

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn
​

Also taking advantage of rain, Tornadus-Therian is my main pivot pokemon besides Pelipper since it has regenerator and u-turn, the given EV spread allows it to do a decent amount of damage while remaining fairly bulky, Hurricane gets 100% accuracy in rain and is strong, Superpower is meant to get rid of ferrothorn which is a threat, and knock off is meant to support like Ferrothorn. Assault Vest also contributes to bulk.

Conclusion​

As you can see, my team definitely needs some work as there are many concerns that I have but I am unsure to address. I have tested this set in battle multiple times, some problems that I find are going against a Skill Link Cloyster, although it isn't seen often in the OU Tier I have had trouble with it on the occasions that I did run against it and need suggestions on countering it. Once it uses Shell Smash I am in deep trouble. Belly Drum Huge Power Azumarill is also a problem for this team. Overall, I spent a lot of time making this team but I really hope that we can make some needed improvements!

Importable

Swampert @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Power-Up Punch

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rocks
- Power Whip

Xurkitree @ Psychium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 HP / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hypnosis
- Energy Ball
- Thunder
- Signal Beam

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Blizzard
- Draco Meteor

Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 230 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Scald
- Roost

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn

 

[StepC]

What a coincidence, build a rain team I really like it. I hope to give you some useful advice.

I fully agree to use MPert with that set, along with pelipper which is a great mate, but on kingra I would have some tricks to do.
I'd put AshNinja

in its place, with Icium Z to hit tangrow and tapu bulu, two fearsome sweep checks for Swampert.
I sacrificed the choice specs for this reason, plus the stab

take a nice boost given by the rain.
Why deprive yourself of the offensive power of the rain teams and look for speed with z hipnosys, you would lose a turn and is essential to guarantee momentum.
Tapu Koko

on Xurkitree is the most plausible solution,in addition to better use the slot for the z, you have the speed to outpeak almost all the cores in the usum ou excluding the scarfer.
Sd kartana would have created many problems, pushing revenue on torndus-t.
Roost can give it more durability, considering that in midgame koko will make revenue, but at the same time it does not have to go in mpinsir range (if it is manageable), lucha.

It will be mainstream, but the best companion for Koko is Tornadus>Hawlucha

(

) .
The reason why it is preferred to Tornadus is that it is stallbreaker for chansey or steel types in general, against the stall and final sweeper, which without the possible wall as Clefable, Zapdos, often also Alomomola, grants the win to those who use it becoming almost unstoppable.

The sensible change over Ferrothorn affects the instrument: Chople Berry is definitely more used on rain teams, with the foresight not to get trapped by magnezone.
Gyro Ball allows revengekill lele, wasting the z fight, and sd bulu even if the latter has lost usage.

following changes

Greninja-Ash (M) @ Icium Z
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Hawlucha @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Roost

Ferrothorn @ Chople Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

 

[RegisZDB]

What a coincidence, build a rain team I really like it. I hope to give you some useful advice.

I fully agree to use MPert with that set, along with pelipper which is a great mate, but on kingra I would have some tricks to do.
I'd put AshNinja

in its place, with Icium Z to hit tangrow and tapu bulu, two fearsome sweep checks for Swampert.
I sacrificed the choice specs for this reason, plus the stab

take a nice boost given by the rain.
Why deprive yourself of the offensive power of the rain teams and look for speed with z hipnosys, you would lose a turn and is essential to guarantee momentum.
Tapu Koko

on Xurkitree is the most plausible solution,in addition to better use the slot for the z, you have the speed to outpeak almost all the cores in the usum ou excluding the scarfer.
Sd kartana would have created many problems, pushing revenue on torndus-t.
Roost can give it more durability, considering that in midgame koko will make revenue, but at the same time it does not have to go in mpinsir range (if it is manageable), lucha.

It will be mainstream, but the best companion for Koko is Tornadus>Hawlucha

(

) .
The reason why it is preferred to Tornadus is that it is stallbreaker for chansey or steel types in general, against the stall and final sweeper, which without the possible wall as Clefable, Zapdos, often also Alomomola, grants the win to those who use it becoming almost unstoppable.

The sensible change over Ferrothorn affects the instrument: Chople Berry is definitely more used on rain teams, with the foresight not to get trapped by magnezone.
Gyro Ball allows revengekill lele, wasting the z fight, and sd bulu even if the latter has lost usage.

following changes

Greninja-Ash (M) @ Icium Z
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Hawlucha @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Roost

Ferrothorn @ Chople Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

Thank you. So far this team has worked out for me decently, the Tapu Koko & Hawlucha combo has been really good because of the stat boosts, this team is in danger defensively when Ferrothorn is taken out, so should I use Ferrothorn late game or only in advantageous situations? Sometimes I find myself having to rely on it when I am in a bind.