UU Team: Rain Dance M-Swampert v.1

Hey guys!!! So I've been playing around in UU these days after I got tired of doing AG and Ubers. I personally like to run fun teams that still can wreck compared to the predictable "All super-powerful" teams like the Arceus spams (spam meaning 4+ Arceus in one team...wow) I see so often in AG and Ubers (oh dear lord those are annoying).

Recently I made a Trick Room M-Ampharos team that has been working nicely (you can find it on Smogon, though edits were made afterwards). This time I made a Rain Dance team (as those seem to be quite rare and I like M-Pert a lot) which has been doing nicely but, I would like to see it being more effective.

Okay enough jibber-jabber, now onto the actual team!

NOTE: Rain Dance will be referred to as RD from now on.

Team-Building Process

1.) Special Sweeper: So I heard that Kingdra is a must for any UU RD team. I have also seen it being played effectively in RD teams during my time in OU. Hence I added Kingdra, which is a phenomenal special sweeper that can also play physical if needed. The Hydro Pump on this mon does a heck of a lot of damage and Draco Meteor can generally take care of other mons that Hydro Pump won't beat. Of course if the mon is a special wall, then go for physical.

2.) Bulky Physical Sweeper: Next up is the star of this team, M-Pert. M-Pert is the bomb.com when it comes to sweeping hard. Its fantastic Atk stat makes it an extremely powerful mon that can OHKO or 2HKO most other mons in the tier. It's also quite bulky which makes it an even more effective sweeper when RD is in play. Just keep swimming M-Pert. Just keep swimming.

3.) Suicide Lead/RD Set-Up: Of course having sweepers is wonderful, but I need a mon to set up RD. I was debating between Tornadus, Aerodactyl (since its the fastest), and Azelf (psychic typing which is not weak to electric). I said no to Aero since its basically a faster Tornadus who is better because of its ability, Prankster. Furthermore, it lacks a move that would allow for momentum in the team. Azelf is great but it lacks priority. Tornadus is fine but then I can't have a trap setter, but RD is more important which is why I went with it. Its Prankster ability will guarantee (usually) a RD which is key to this team. Plus its great Sp.Atk set allows it to take down one or two mons as well. Its great speed (for UU) allows it to be faster than most mons in the game which is always something nice.

4.) Defogger/Trap cleaner: I needed a defogger/trap cleaner in the team which was not slow (as a lot of the other mons are considerably slow) and it needed to be somewhat bulky as well. Who fit the bill? Crobat. Furthermore, crobat is a very fast mon that can hit grass types (which are a threat to all the swift swimmers) and fairy types hard.

5.) Cleric/Backup RD Set-Up: I need someone who can cure my team of annoying status problems and also recover some HP. Who do I call? The best cleric of UU, sylveon. Sylveon is also a fantastic pokemon in terms of both bulkiness and holding her own in terms of offense. Furthermore, due to her bulk she is another RD set-up mon.

6.) Another sweeper: It's always nice to just throw in another powerful sweeper, and who else can we ask other than the classic for RD, kabutops. Kabutops is a powerful mon who, with swords dance, can OHKO/2HKO practically any mon. Personally this is the one mon I am debating on replacing as setting up swords dance is no easy matter due to how fragile kabutops is, but it I can't help but agree that it is very rewarding to see this mon in action once it is ready to roll.

Team Specs

King (Kingdra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 64 Atk / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Rash Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Waterfall

A mixed set for Kingdra which has turned out to make this mon an effective sweeper on both sides. Hydro Pump isn't the most accurate move out there, but the power it has is enough to easily OHKO or deal a ton of damage to a large variety of mons. Draco Meteor is for mons that can't be taken care of well by Hydro Pump. The two physical moves are the best there are for STAB with this mon.

S.W.A.M.P. (Swampert-Mega) (M) @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Rain Dance

The star of the show is designed to hit really hard while keeping its bulk. 96 Spe is enough to outspeed most mons at 400 Spe with RD. Waterfall is STAB that will let this mon hit like a truck with its 438 Atk. EQ is also STAB that does ridiculous amounts of damage to steel, electric, rock, and fire types. Ice Punch takes care of dragons, grass which is the main threat, and flying mons. RD is there as a last resort speed boost or to use when the opponent switches and you run out of rain.

Aeolus (Tornadus) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn

With prankster this mon is probably the most effective RD set-up in the UU meta. Of course there is our friend Whimsicott as well, but Whimsicott isn't able to hold its ground against other mons very well. RD is to set up for other mons to use. Hurricane is a terrific STAB that has potential to confuse opposing mons while also taking care of fighting and bug mons like M-Beedrill or the common Lucario, Cobalion, and the currently rising Machamp. Heat Wave is to take care of annoying steel types like Lucario, Cobalion, and Forretress. U-turn is for momentum and to hit some grass and dark pokes hard while doing so.

Four Wings (Crobat) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Atk / 4 Def / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Cross Poison
- Defog
- U-turn

This mon is bulky but hits hard. Defog is to clear traps while Cross Poison is a great STAB move that will deal with grass and fairy types. U-turn is another alternative for dealing with grass but also has a lot of momentum. Brave Bird is the alternative STAB that will beat up mons as well.

Pixie (Sylveon) (F) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 96 SpA / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Hyper Voice

The cleric of the team is bulky but also SpA boosted enough to make her Hyper Voice shine. Hyper Voice will beat up a variety of mons while RD is there since the cleric is bulky enough to set one up before switching out. Heal Bell is there to cure status and Wish will recover some HP. I could use Florges as well, but its not as balanced and Florges has less HP.

Fast and Furious (Kabutops) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
- Swords Dance

This is the standard Kabutops set for sweeping. Swords Dance boosts Atk to be past 730, so Waterfall can hit really hard, especially as its STAB. Stone Edge will get rid of flying types and fire types. Aqua Jet has priority so Arcanine or Lucario can't spam extremespeed without getting hit hard first.

All right now let's get to the structural problems this team has. I won't cover everything, but these are probably the most noticable things.

Structural Problems

1.) This team lacks a trap setter which will be key to effective sweeping. That's why Azelf and Aero were also potential considerations as the suicide lead. However I hate getting taunted so much and so hard that I went with Tornadus. Perhaps this can be partially solved by putting a mental herb on Aero or Azelf instead of having Tornadus.

2.) This team is quite the RD dependent team. Given, the bulk of the mons let this team last considerably long which is fine, but perhaps I should make Tornadus more bulky (so far its done fine, but this is a concern in the long run in the case that I actually want to use this team for climbing the ladder which is very tempting).

3.) There is a lack of momentum from the sweepers to the RD setters. RD Setters -> Sweep is fine but the other way around isn't very nice. Unfortunately I don't think this can be solved as the Sweepers don't really have any moves that can allow for a nice switch. The overall momentum is fine in the team, but for this team to maximize efficiency there needs to be a way to resolve the momentum issue when going from Sweepers -> RD setters.

4.) The only way to effectively wall break on this team is to hit hard really fast. This team lacks ways to stop walls by using moves like roar. The sweepers on the team hit hard, but not hard enough once some pokes decide to repeatedly use calm mind or work up.
Okay so now let's go to talking about mons that are threats to this team. Again, I probably won't be able to cover all of them.

Threats/Counters

1.) Blissey: There isn't really a solid way to go around this monster with this team as there are no fighting type moves on any of the pokes in this team. I had considered adding power-up punch to M-pert but not sure if that will make the cut.

2.) Suicune: Oh god no, especially roarCune. The bulk on this thing once it uses calm mind is ridiculously hard to stop with this team.

3.) M-Beedrill (Kind of): I've noticed that M-Beedrill has been able to effectively do a lot of damage to this team due to its ridiculously high speed. Poison Jab as its STAB hurts a lot.

4.) M-Sceptile: The only legit ways to get around this mon are either sylveon or RD + kingdra. Or pray that M-pert survives a hit and then kill it with ice punch.

5.) Heliolisk: Heliolisk is a considerably fast electric type that is hard to take care of if RD is not active, specifically RD with M-pert.

6.) Trick Room M-Ampharos: If I hit a Trick Room team with M-Ampharos, I am SCREWED. The only effective counter mon is M-pert.

7.) Swampert/M-Swampert: I really don't have any options to deal with opposing swamperts. Luckily my M-pert will generally be faster due to its Spe EV, but even still I really have no mon to deal with them. I suppose an option is to put grass knot on Tornadus, which may also take care of Suicune as well.

Conclusion

That's all I have for this team. It's really fun to play with, especially since RD teams aren't very common in UU. Any critiques are welcome (please be respectful though)! Thank you!

Edit: Here is version 2 of this team that has been doing very well so far! Link: http://pastebin.com/hYAd7Vr8