Yes, another vgc rain team

Which member of my team is the weakest link?

  • Total voters
    14
S

Slowbro

Aspiring Trainer
Member
After kind of giving up on tcg, I decided to turn my efforts to the video game. Singles was fun, but I noticed doubles introduces a lot more strategy into the game. Also, doubles is the only battling type with premier events, so I really have no choice if I want to compete in official pokemon events. I thought weather is really strong in VGC, so I decided to go with that. I decided rain because it has the most abusers and can drastically change the course of a battle. So, please rate! Thanks!

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Politoed (F) @ Wacan Berry
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Protect

Politoed is my rain setter. Most games, I will lead with Ludicolo and Politoed. First turn, Politoed uses surf, hitting both the opponents for STAB and rain boosted damage, while Ludicolo uses fake out on whatever I think is a greater threat. Absorb Bulb activates at Ludicolo's special attack rises to scary levels. The EV's maximize hp, increasing Politoed's durability. I also invested max sp. attack EV's to increase damage done by Politoed's attacks. Surf is STAB, rain boosted and hits both the opponents, as well as activating absorb bulb or dry skin. Ice beam is extra coverage against grass types that can threaten me such as Amoonguss, those pesky dragons, (I'm looking at you, Latios), and various flying types. Hidden power grass is extra coverage, specifically against Gastrodon, which could really shut down my team with storm drain. Protect is a staple in doubles.

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Ludicolo (M) @ Absorb Bulb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fake Out
- Giga Drain
- Protect
- Hydro Pump

Ludicolo is one of my two usual leads. As explained above, I start with surf and fake out, giving Ludicolo +1 Special attack from absorb bulb and +2 speed from swift swim. Fake out neutralizes any opposing fake outs, as well as shutting down my opponent's strategy for a turn. Giga Drain is STAB, as well as having the bonus of boosting my hp. Hydro pump does insane damage after STAB, rain boost and absorb bulb. Protect is almost mandatory in doubles, protecting Ludicolo while its teammate can neutralize a threat. The EV's chosen maximize Ludicolo's sweeping potential.

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Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Kingdra is my second swift swim abuser. Surf is fairly obvious, providing STAB coverage, as well as getting a boost from the rain and hitting both my opponents. Dragon pulse is more STAB, and is only resisted by Steel. Ice Beam is even more coverage, taking out dragons that are 4x weak, as well as bulky grass types such as Amoonguss. Protect is a staple in VGC, giving me a free turn to scout or kill a threat. Like Ludicolo, the EV's maximize Kingdra's ability to sweep.

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Thundurus (M) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Substitute

Thundurus is deadly under rain. A STAB perfect accuracy Thunder is just scary. Thundurus can abuse prankster with thunder wave and substitute. Hidden power flying is Thundurus's only flying STAB, which sucks, but whatever. The EV's maximize speed and special attack, fairly obvious.

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Toxicroak (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch
- Fake out
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

I haven't used Toxicroak much, but he's pretty good. Drain punch is STAB and can help me survive more hits. Fake out is for good disruption. Sucker punch is good priority, and protect is extremely useful on a doubles team. The EV's maximize hp and attack to keep it around longer, but still be able to dish out the hurt. Dry skin complements my team perfectly, as I restore hp in rain and get my hp restored from surf.

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Metagross @ Normal Gem
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Explosion

Metagross is the glue keeping my team together. He has two STAB moves, one extremely strong and the other priority. Earthquake hits all my opponents, but it also hits my teammate as well. Luckily, Thundurus is immune and my other pokemon can use protect. Explosion is a final ask resort, because with normal gem, adamant nature, and max attack eve's, it can effectively turn a 4v4 battle into a 3v2 battle, with me having the advantage. Metagross has low speed already, and also has a priority move, so 4 speed ev's are enough. Max attack makes metagross hit like a truck, and max hp ensures he can take a few hits before dishing them back out or exploding.

THREATS:
Amoonguss: I haven't done that many VGC battles, but the ones I have done, Amoonguss can really screw me over with spore spamming.
Opposing Weather: If the opponent gets up their weather after me, It's very hard to come back because switching is usually impractical in doubles.
I will add more threats as I play with this team more.

Conclusion: I know the VGC rules will probably change, but this will give me time to get used to doubles before they announce the rules for the 2013 season. After that, I will feverishly build a new team, breed the pokemon, and train them before the NoCal fall regionals!
Please post below and thanks!
 
Maybe you could add an intro, the process of your team building, a threat list, and a conclusion? That would get you some more views. Plus Worlds is over so this team will have to be changed a lot when we get the new VGC rules. Consider those as reasons your RMT hasn't been getting rates.
 
I'll add an intro, but a team building process won't be much of a help since I thought of the basic vgc rain core, then added two pokemon. I'll also add some generic threats for this team, but there really isn't a specific pokemon giving me trouble. As for the VGC rules, I'm mainly posting this so I have something to get me more experienced for doubles until they announce the rule changes. Would you be willing to rate what I have so far? Thanks.
 
I guess I can.

Politoed looks good, but I'd like to know your IV spread you have for it. A preferable IV spread is 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 3 Spe, so you can be as slow as possible when going up against Trick Room teams, while still maintaining a Base 70 HP Grass. But 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 31 Spe is also good to out speed other Pokemon like Scizor and Scrafty because you're using a Modest nature (instead of a Quiet one). You also might want to consider Scald over Surf to avoid giving free SpA boosts to Storm Drain users and opposing Absorb Bulb Ludicolo, but it's up to you.

Consider Ice Beam over Protect on Ludicolo to get rid of Dragon types who would otherwise wall Ludicolo. I know you have Kingdra to deal with dragons, but it's good to have extra coverage when it's one on one. Looks good other than that.

Kingdra looks good, but a Haban Berry is another good option so you don't lose one on one to special walls due to Life Orb recoil, and it also helps against opposing Kingdra.

I'm going to suggest a set change to Toxicroak because a Fake Out Lead is kinda redundant due to having Ludicolo fill the spot. Try a bulkier Toxicroak, like this set:

Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Nature: Adamant
-Rain Dance/Fake Out
-Drain Punch
-Sucker Punch
-Substitute/Protect

Rain Dance is the superior option because it doesn't seem that you lead with Toxicroak very often, and if Politoed dies, then you have a back up Rain setter. The set utilizes the usefulness of Black Sludge and Dry Skin to make Toxicroak bulky and annoying. You can use Protect or Substitute to act as a safeguard so it can stay on the field longer with its solid recovery. It also maxes out its Attack so it can threaten Cresselia who tries to hit it with a Psychic.

Metagross is good, but Protect is a good idea so you don't get crippled by Fake Out. Seems like a generic Metagross, but a Choice Scarf set is a little more unpredictable and can throw off your opponent. It's up to you, though.

So that's a really rough rate, but I think I covered almost anything. Again, a threat list would be nice so replacements can be more necessary (and I highly doubt this team has no issues). But other than that, good luck with the team.
 
Thanks! By having a small threat list, I didn't mean this team has no issues, I just meant i haven't played enough to single out too many pokemon yet. I think my IV's for politoed are 30/30/3, but I'll have to check. I'll consider scald over surf, but I really like to lead with politoed and ludicolo, T1, surf and fake out. This makes Ludicolo a beast. I'll also change Toxicroak to rain dance, but I'm confused about what you said about substitute maxing out its attack against Cresselia. All in all, thanks for the rate!
 
I didn't say Substitute maxed out its Attack; if it came off that way, I meant the set in general, with a Attack boosting nature and 252 Atk EVs. Toxicroak needs that power so it can hit Cresselia hard enough with Sucker Punch. Speaking of Cresselia, any support set seems to be a problem for your team, because you have no users of Taunt and Reflect versions will make Toxicroak struggle. Actually, Taunt on Thundurus would be a good idea to stop Cress in its tracks before it can cause too much trouble. You could try it over Substitute.
 
Oh, ok. Yeah, usually adamant and 252 atk ev's is the best. I will try taunt over sub, thanks. That should shut down cresselia pretty well, which from what I've heard is pretty popular in VGC.
 
Not a VGC player but I can try.

Fake Out over Rain Dance on Toxicroak.

As I see you have Thundurus and Metagross you could make them a deadly duo. Transform Thundurus into a specialy defensive version (252HP/252sp.def) with Sitrus Berry. Moves hould be Thunder Wave, Swagger, Thunder and Taunt. On Metagross replace Explosion for Protect or Zen Headbutt and give it Lum Berry. The goal of this combo is getting a Swagger boost on Metagross. Thundurus can prevent other set ups with its Taunt as well as Paralyze stuff that are faster than Metagross.
 
Wouldn't tailwind be better on thundurus to immediately speed up metagross? I'll have to try that out though, thanks!
Also, if you vote on the poll, please explain! Thanks!
 
well, I said Toxicroak because your set seems kind of scattered. Toxicroak doesn't have the speed or bulk to pull off Rain Dance. Run Fake Out.
 
I don't get what you mean by "weakest link", whether it pertains to the frailest member or the member who doesn't mesh very well with the team. And yeah, use Fake Out over Rain Dance.
 
As you said,an Amoongus can spam you with spore and defeat your Pokemon easily...So,maybe if you use any Vital Sprit Pokemon?Like...Lillipup?I haven't found any Water Type with Vital Sprit as your team is a Rai one....I guess,Ludicolo is the weak one.It's Grass.A Emboar can endure atleast 1 Water Move and as I see...Ludicolo's Sp.Def isn't so good...However,is your team...you choose what to do...
That's my opinion.

Thanks for your time,
~Sandvich
 
Sandvich said:
As you said,an Amoongus can spam you with spore and defeat your Pokemon easily...So,maybe if you use any Vital Sprit Pokemon?Like...Lillipup?I haven't found any Water Type with Vital Sprit as your team is a Rai one....I guess,Ludicolo is the weak one.It's Grass.A Emboar can endure atleast 1 Water Move and as I see...Ludicolo's Sp.Def isn't so good...However,is your team...you choose what to do...
That's my opinion.

Thanks for your time,
~Sandvich
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I'm not exactly sure what you are saying. Do you think you could reword it and maybe use less "...'s"? Thanks.
 
I think he's saying Amoonguss is a threat to your team, and you need a counter for it. It isn't really a huge problem since you have Prankster Thundurus who can block Spore with a Sub, but it's up to you whether you want to give Kingdra a Lum Berry instead. Maybe I interpreted it wrong?
 
The Yoshi said:
I think he's saying Amoonguss is a threat to your team, and you need a counter for it. It isn't really a huge problem since you have Prankster Thundurus who can block Spore with a Sub, but it's up to you whether you want to give Kingdra a Lum Berry instead. Maybe I interpreted it wrong?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I thought it had something to do with amoonguss. It just confused me when he suggested lillipup and talking about the rai one? He's also talking about emboar, which also confused me. Amoonguss is pretty annoying, but as you said, I have thundurus, so it shouldn't be a problem.
 
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