I have a bit of a thing for making teams that 100% follow a particular gimmick rather than partially follow it. I really just threw together six pokemon with a vague sense of cohesion but the strategy has been far more effective than I had initially anticipated with not a lot of effort (1400 ladder points), making me wonder if there's some real potential in it. The basic idea behind this strategy was to do something similar to "birdspam" where instead of running a team with a variety of different coverages/roles/whatever, I rely on sheer brute force to punch through the answers people have to rain.
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Weather Ball
- Hurricane
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
Kingdra seems to have somewhat fallen out of favour for rain, but it has actually been quite valuable. I recently changed specs out for life orb after noticing that Kingdra's main objective often ended up being taking on dragon and grass types while still having threatening water moves. I considered swapping weather ball out for Hydro pump, but the consistency is nice and I don't know if I have missed many benchmarks in switching from specs to life orb. Hurricane nails threats like Ogerpon and Rillaboom, Draco deals with Dragapult and serves as good neutral damage, while ice beam is a nice way to threaten un-terraed dragonite without dropping my stats. I pretty much never use Tera which makes me wonder if I should perhaps run dragon pulse + dragon tera to answer rillaboom more effectively and deal with raging bolt. Life orb has also been semi-problematic since the added chip can put me in range of things I would rather not be, but Specs feels like it undermines Kindra's great coverage and pairs poorly with Meteor.
Basculegion-F @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Flip Turn
- Shadow Ball
I had considered running Basculeigon M, but F stuck out to me for being a swift swim user with the highest special attack, as well as having stab ghost coverage that Basculeigon M lacks. Ice beam is also fantastic coverage for hitting grass or dragon types on switchin. Surf generally gets the job done to the point where I do not see myself running hydro. Similar to Kingdra specs can feel like it undermines the coverage provided by shadow ball, but I also think it'd probably end up too weak to pose a proper threat without the boost. I have yet to use Tera for this mon, and I honestly feel like Ghost might be a better Tera than Water if I do. This mon is also fantastic for not losing to espeed dragonite which is great.
Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 224 Def / 36 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Surf
- U-turn
- Roost
- Hurricane
I'm not really a Pelipper enthusiast so I just copied the reccomended set from the OU analysis. The main use I have found for it is as a way to check Rillaboom, but it has otherwise just been as a lead. Politoad generally has more utility in most other situations.
Barraskewda @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Flip Turn
- Aqua Jet
- Close Combat
Despite its reputation and former OU status, this mon still surprised me with how much utility and raw power it brings to the table. The majority of the time this mon' ends up being my Tera of choice, as the rest of my team is usually able to weaken and remove anything capable of dealing with water moves. Jet is absolutely amazing for finishing off mons like Gambit, Bolt, and low HP Rillaboom. Close combat actually ends up not being used most of the time, simply because it is usually better to pivot into a 'mon than deal damage to the switchin.
Overqwil @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Crunch
- Liquidation
- Swords Dance
I was expecting it to be a bit of a meme pick that i'd swap off the team, but Overqwil has been a legitimately great 'mon. Resisting dark type moves means weakening gambit into range of aqua jet isn't hard at all, and not being weak to thunderclap and resisting grassy glide is also great. Liquidation is surprisingly good coverage even without tera. Crunch is a nice stab that covers a lot of 'mons. Gunk shot is the main one that kind of frustrates me, as I often find the miss to be far too risky for the power it provides. If I had to make one complaint about overqwil it is that it has less longevity than I would probably like from it. Getting a swords dance off is usually quite easy, but the LO recoil quickly puts me in range of priority that I am supposed to be resistant to. I am considering putting lefties on it instead but it is hard for me to judge how much qwil is actually relying on LO.
Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Encore
- Rest
This one felt like a complete joke pick to me but it has genuinely been one of the most important team members. With gambit being absolutely everywhere, it is invaluable to have a pokemon that can reliably deal with it, and encore politoad does this superbly. Either the gambit is a fast set and thus lacks the bulk to adequately deal with Skewda and friends, or it is a slow variant and gets encored into sucker or SD. Rest seemed like an unsuitable pick for OU, especially with no sleep talk, but the ability to restore status and keep toed's HP up have ended up pivotal on multiple occasions and is great for dealing with mons like toxapex. Toed is also great to have because it allows me to sacc my other weather setter to provide a switchin opportunity for one of my sweepers, and makes Ninetails and Torkoal much more tolerable to deal with. I have never terra'd Toad, but I'm not sure which Tera type to pick for it. I am thinking perhaps Terra ground could make me less weak to raging bolt and allow me to force it out with encore so it has to switch into whichever one of my SS mons is threatening to sweep their team.
My current assessment of the team is that it is a lot better at doing its job than I had initially anticipated it to be. Despite lacking both a hazard setter and remover, most teams seem to simply lack the ability to deal with this many water type attackers, as they rely on one of two checks, or use a check that cannot deal with something more unorthodox like Overqwil. I am currently thinking it could be nice to try to refine this into something more reliable, but it is hard for me to figure out what changes to make without damaging the effectiveness of the team. Toed/Pelipper seems overkill on paper, but in practice it eases prediction and makes it harder to punish switching in rain setters on random pokemon. Leigon can feel uneeded in many battles, but the stab shadow balls can be fantastic at weakening water resists, and the failsafe vs espeed is also very nice to have. Kingdra's coverage can absolutely tear apart teams that rely on dragon or grass types to not get swept by water attacks. Overqwil's typing is great for a pokemon that is still able to fill the fast SS sweeper role, and Skewda is a great wincon that is enabled by the good traits the other mons possess. I would prefer to keep this dynamic somewhat intact if at all possible.
Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Weather Ball
- Hurricane
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
Kingdra seems to have somewhat fallen out of favour for rain, but it has actually been quite valuable. I recently changed specs out for life orb after noticing that Kingdra's main objective often ended up being taking on dragon and grass types while still having threatening water moves. I considered swapping weather ball out for Hydro pump, but the consistency is nice and I don't know if I have missed many benchmarks in switching from specs to life orb. Hurricane nails threats like Ogerpon and Rillaboom, Draco deals with Dragapult and serves as good neutral damage, while ice beam is a nice way to threaten un-terraed dragonite without dropping my stats. I pretty much never use Tera which makes me wonder if I should perhaps run dragon pulse + dragon tera to answer rillaboom more effectively and deal with raging bolt. Life orb has also been semi-problematic since the added chip can put me in range of things I would rather not be, but Specs feels like it undermines Kindra's great coverage and pairs poorly with Meteor.
Basculegion-F @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Flip Turn
- Shadow Ball
I had considered running Basculeigon M, but F stuck out to me for being a swift swim user with the highest special attack, as well as having stab ghost coverage that Basculeigon M lacks. Ice beam is also fantastic coverage for hitting grass or dragon types on switchin. Surf generally gets the job done to the point where I do not see myself running hydro. Similar to Kingdra specs can feel like it undermines the coverage provided by shadow ball, but I also think it'd probably end up too weak to pose a proper threat without the boost. I have yet to use Tera for this mon, and I honestly feel like Ghost might be a better Tera than Water if I do. This mon is also fantastic for not losing to espeed dragonite which is great.
Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 224 Def / 36 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Surf
- U-turn
- Roost
- Hurricane
I'm not really a Pelipper enthusiast so I just copied the reccomended set from the OU analysis. The main use I have found for it is as a way to check Rillaboom, but it has otherwise just been as a lead. Politoad generally has more utility in most other situations.
Barraskewda @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Flip Turn
- Aqua Jet
- Close Combat
Despite its reputation and former OU status, this mon still surprised me with how much utility and raw power it brings to the table. The majority of the time this mon' ends up being my Tera of choice, as the rest of my team is usually able to weaken and remove anything capable of dealing with water moves. Jet is absolutely amazing for finishing off mons like Gambit, Bolt, and low HP Rillaboom. Close combat actually ends up not being used most of the time, simply because it is usually better to pivot into a 'mon than deal damage to the switchin.
Overqwil @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Crunch
- Liquidation
- Swords Dance
I was expecting it to be a bit of a meme pick that i'd swap off the team, but Overqwil has been a legitimately great 'mon. Resisting dark type moves means weakening gambit into range of aqua jet isn't hard at all, and not being weak to thunderclap and resisting grassy glide is also great. Liquidation is surprisingly good coverage even without tera. Crunch is a nice stab that covers a lot of 'mons. Gunk shot is the main one that kind of frustrates me, as I often find the miss to be far too risky for the power it provides. If I had to make one complaint about overqwil it is that it has less longevity than I would probably like from it. Getting a swords dance off is usually quite easy, but the LO recoil quickly puts me in range of priority that I am supposed to be resistant to. I am considering putting lefties on it instead but it is hard for me to judge how much qwil is actually relying on LO.
Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Encore
- Rest
This one felt like a complete joke pick to me but it has genuinely been one of the most important team members. With gambit being absolutely everywhere, it is invaluable to have a pokemon that can reliably deal with it, and encore politoad does this superbly. Either the gambit is a fast set and thus lacks the bulk to adequately deal with Skewda and friends, or it is a slow variant and gets encored into sucker or SD. Rest seemed like an unsuitable pick for OU, especially with no sleep talk, but the ability to restore status and keep toed's HP up have ended up pivotal on multiple occasions and is great for dealing with mons like toxapex. Toed is also great to have because it allows me to sacc my other weather setter to provide a switchin opportunity for one of my sweepers, and makes Ninetails and Torkoal much more tolerable to deal with. I have never terra'd Toad, but I'm not sure which Tera type to pick for it. I am thinking perhaps Terra ground could make me less weak to raging bolt and allow me to force it out with encore so it has to switch into whichever one of my SS mons is threatening to sweep their team.
My current assessment of the team is that it is a lot better at doing its job than I had initially anticipated it to be. Despite lacking both a hazard setter and remover, most teams seem to simply lack the ability to deal with this many water type attackers, as they rely on one of two checks, or use a check that cannot deal with something more unorthodox like Overqwil. I am currently thinking it could be nice to try to refine this into something more reliable, but it is hard for me to figure out what changes to make without damaging the effectiveness of the team. Toed/Pelipper seems overkill on paper, but in practice it eases prediction and makes it harder to punish switching in rain setters on random pokemon. Leigon can feel uneeded in many battles, but the stab shadow balls can be fantastic at weakening water resists, and the failsafe vs espeed is also very nice to have. Kingdra's coverage can absolutely tear apart teams that rely on dragon or grass types to not get swept by water attacks. Overqwil's typing is great for a pokemon that is still able to fill the fast SS sweeper role, and Skewda is a great wincon that is enabled by the good traits the other mons possess. I would prefer to keep this dynamic somewhat intact if at all possible.