SS OU Zeraora Rain Advice

Tartempion

After years of using stall on the ladder in 6th and 7th gen and basically losing interest in OU for months, I found out it wasn't a style I enjoyed playing (salty kid on SM OU, I hope you forgive me one day for that 6-0 stall feast). So here I am trying something else, with my first "balanced" team. It is built around a rain core and a Zeraora. Any advice is fine as this is my first balanced try.


Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Volt Switch
- Close Combat
- Knock Off

The mon I want to play the most. Offensive pivot with boots to prevent taking too much damage from hazards. Some friends of mine adviced me to play a fully special offensive set with Thunder, but I feel like it's a waste for that beautiful 112 Atk stat. Maybe they're right though, I don't really know... Plasma Fists for Electric STAB, Volt Switch for momentum, Close Combat for Steel types, Knock Off for item removal.


Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog

The rain setter. Pretty much the only one used since Pelipper gained Drizzle over Politoed in Gen 7. Standard physically defensive set with Scald and U-Turn for pivot. Roost for health and Defog for hazards removal that damage the team way too much otherwise (especially Sticky Web and Stealth Rocks)


Barraskewda @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Close Combat
- Flip Turn
- Aqua Jet

The rain sweeper. It has insane attack and speed under rain. Liquidation is for STAB and pure damage in mid / end game. Flip Turn is for momentum. Close Combat is for Ferrothorn and other water-resisting mons. Aqua Jet is in case you want to kill and the Rain is over, or you have to be faster than your opponent who set up too much.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip

A member of the defensive core. It gets really good bulk under the rain with that softened fire weakness and good hazard support with Spikes. Knock Off is important for item removal. Leech Seed for draining HP slowly and overall gain longevity on the game. Power Whip for raw damage, could be replaced by Gyro Ball but I feel like it hits more threats that Water types cannot check such as opponents' own Water types.


Toxapex @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
- Toxic Spikes

Another member of the defensive core. Once again, it has really good bulk thanks to Regenerator and hazard pressure with the T Spikes. It is a third Water-type though, which maybe is too much even in Rain? Otherwise my experience with it from stall teams has left me with a good impression and the feeling it is one of the best defensive mons for its role of physical wall. I'm going for mainly defensive Toxapex because I already have a more specially oriented wall (Ferrothorn).


Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
- Brave Bird

I'm open for suggestions here. I'm not sure about this one, although I like its access to Defog, Roost and U-Turn. However, it is a second Steel and a second Flying type addition to the team, and I feel like it doesn't really have a purpose over Ferrothorn or Pelliper... I thought about the need of another Rain Dance Setter instead of it, but I couldn't decide which one would work...
 
Last edited:
It seems to me that you are trying to fall back on your stall experience while building this team, but unfortunately in gen 8 OU rain is not a defensive playstyle, and this team seems way too slow. Rain teams are quite formulaic in this meta and they usually consist of:

1. pelipper(obviously non-negotiable)
2. barra(by far the best rain abuser and also non negotiable)
3. second rain abuser of your choice(zapdos,torn-t,thundurus,urshifu-rapid,kingdra...)
4. electric immunity/resist(ferro,again thundurus,thats where your zeraora comes in :D...)
5. fat hazard setter (ferro most commonly, ocassionaly seismitoad or swampert)
6. luxury mon of your choice that isn't too passive(defogger if you dont have pelipper on defog duty or another offensive threat that covers stuff the first two abusers don't)

the stuff that doesn't fit this in your team is pex and corviknight (corviknight could work on rain, but not in tandem with ferro as they share a typing and having both is probably too slow).

So your team checks 1. , 2. ,4. by virtue of having zeraora, and 5. because of ferro, so you need 3. and 6. ;which since your pelipper is on defog duty means a rain abuser and a mon that handles what your other attackers can't.
I'm just going to list out some of those two things here, and you can check what you want to add, and cross reference it with other RMTs here, since well built rain teams tend to look quite samey.

3. rain abusers: nasty plot tornadus-therian,nasty plot thundurus-therian(this double dips into electric immunity, but you already got zeraora for that),kingdra,urshifu-rapid strike,zapdos
6. things that handle stuff your other stuff doesn't: some of the more common mons that are hard for rain to handle are opposing ferrothorn(and fire types dont work here since rain, so you want fighting), sand teams when their weather is up, rillaboom, spectrier out of rain...
So some candidates are:
Keldeo(if you aren't running urshifu), tornadus again, kyurem,dragapult(there are more but I'm tired and blanking RN)

also do note some mons can do more than one of those 6 roles, which is nice, but you don't want them to be spread too thin(so don't make them do more than at most 2 of those things, and preferably 1)
 
Thanks for the reply. As I thought, I don't really need other defensive mons like Corviknight and Toxapex. I am aiming towards Tornadus-T for another Rain abuser and Keldeo for a Ferrothorn check right now.


Tornadus-Therian @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- U-turn


Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind
- Surf


Thanks :)
 
Tartempion said:
After years of using stall on the ladder in 6th and 7th gen and basically losing interest in OU for months, I found out it wasn't a style I enjoyed playing (salty kid on SM OU, I hope you forgive me one day for that 6-0 stall feast). So here I am trying something else, with my first "balanced" team. It is built around a rain core and a Zeraora. Any advice is fine as this is my first balanced try.


Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Volt Switch
- Close Combat
- Knock Off

The mon I want to play the most. Offensive pivot with boots to prevent taking too much damage from hazards. Some friends of mine adviced me to play a fully special offensive set with Thunder, but I feel like it's a waste for that beautiful 112 Atk stat. Maybe they're right though, I don't really know... Plasma Fists for Electric STAB, Volt Switch for momentum, Close Combat for Steel types, Knock Off for item removal.


Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog

The rain setter. Pretty much the only one used since Pelipper gained Drizzle over Politoed in Gen 7. Standard physically defensive set with Scald and U-Turn for pivot. Roost for health and Defog for hazards removal that damage the team way too much otherwise (especially Sticky Web and Stealth Rocks)


Barraskewda @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Close Combat
- Flip Turn
- Aqua Jet

The rain sweeper. It has insane attack and speed under rain. Liquidation is for STAB and pure damage in mid / end game. Flip Turn is for momentum. Close Combat is for Ferrothorn and other water-resisting mons. Aqua Jet is in case you want to kill and the Rain is over, or you have to be faster than your opponent who set up too much.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip

A member of the defensive core. It gets really good bulk under the rain with that softened fire weakness and good hazard support with Spikes. Knock Off is important for item removal. Leech Seed for draining HP slowly and overall gain longevity on the game. Power Whip for raw damage, could be replaced by Gyro Ball but I feel like it hits more threats that Water types cannot check such as opponents' own Water types.


Toxapex @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
- Toxic Spikes

Another member of the defensive core. Once again, it has really good bulk thanks to Regenerator and hazard pressure with the T Spikes. It is a third Water-type though, which maybe is too much even in Rain? Otherwise my experience with it from stall teams has left me with a good impression and the feeling it is one of the best defensive mons for its role of physical wall. I'm going for mainly defensive Toxapex because I already have a more specially oriented wall (Ferrothorn).


Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
- Brave Bird

I'm open for suggestions here. I'm not sure about this one, although I like its access to Defog, Roost and U-Turn. However, it is a second Steel and a second Flying type addition to the team, and I feel like it doesn't really have a purpose over Ferrothorn or Pelliper... I thought about the need of another Rain Dance Setter instead of it, but I couldn't decide which one would work...
Click to expand...


i would def add a ground type, electric really messes with your team, and a scarf lando could super easily take back momentum with u turn, eq, knock off and defog, so say a regieleki is in with specs tbolt, and your ferro is already dead. You kinda get rolled since you would most likely have to sack the pelipper to get rain up and then have Barra go and either force it out, or get the KO on it. Any other ground type would do great tho, my second choice would be a garchomp, with rocky helm and rough obviously.
 
Redchimp said:
i would def add a ground type, electric really messes with your team, and a scarf lando could super easily take back momentum with u turn, eq, knock off and defog, so say a regieleki is in with specs tbolt, and your ferro is already dead. You kinda get rolled since you would most likely have to sack the pelipper to get rain up and then have Barra go and either force it out, or get the KO on it. Any other ground type would do great tho, my second choice would be a garchomp, with rocky helm and rough obviously.
Click to expand...
if regieleki is in with a specs tbolt, my guess is you send in your volt absorb zeraora and laugh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top