ORAS OU My first Team. A RAIN TEAM. Could use some advice

[Beer]

Hi guys, I would appreciate some advice on how to improve this team. English is not my first language so i apologize in advance for any errors.
Lets get started.

Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Hydro Pump
- Rest
- Toxic
As politoed is the only ou pokemon with drizzle he is staple on a rain team. With encore and toxic to annoy settup and stall pokemon. I chose a defensive ev spread together with rest to keep him alive as long as possible to be able to switch in multiple times during a battle. Hydro pump as the most powerful STAB move to at least have some damage output.

Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Waterfall
- Low Kick
Swampert is the physical sweeper of this team. Max attack, max speed for maximum sweeping potential. EQ and Waterfall as STAB and ice punch for coverage. Low kick is mainly for ferrothorn switch ins.

Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Ice Beam
Kingdra is in my opinion the best special sweeper in rain. His dragon typing makes him neutral to a lot of water weaknesses. Enough speed to outspeed most meta pokemon in rain. With the rest of its EV's in hp. Of course the full 252 in SpA and a choice specs for max damage. Draco meteor as strongest dragon STAB, Hydro pump for when risks are neccesary. Scald as reliable STAB and ice beam for coverage. (mainly grasstypes)

Magnezone @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
Magnezone offers great typing (fairy/dragon resist are the most important) and solid damage against watertypes trying to take advantage of the rain, mainly azumarril. He also is great against flying types, which are very prevalent in the meta. His fire weakness is also diminished due to the rain. Max SpA en Spe for optimal use of its potential. Thunder as it never misses in rain, volt switch to gain momentum, flash cannon for fairy types and substitute to keep him in the game for longer.

Volcarona @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Quiver Dance
- Roost
Volcarona's main job is to cover swamperts ultimate weakness: Grass. His 100% accuracy hurricane and 4x grass resistance make it very suited for that job. As quiver dance helps against specially offensive opponents, flame body together with rocky helmet make it also tough on a physical opponent to take it out. Max SpA and Spe in order to be able to get rid of the likes of venusaur and serperior. Bug buzz as STAB against psycich and dark mon, and against grass when the rain is down. Hurricane is already explained. Quiver dance because it is amazing. Roost to keep it going for longer.

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 240 HP / 216 SpD / 52 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic
- Knock Off
Finally, Mandibuzz was the final pokemon i added to the team. Max HP and SpD, (a little bit in Spe to outspeed some critical mons) in order to serve as switch in against gengar, sableye etc. The psychic, dark and ghost pokemon in the meta. As without him this team would have no resistant pokemon to them. He also serves as a ground switch in. As excadrill can be really annoying once he is switched in. Roost to support his defensive role, toxic does this as well. Defog to clear the field, mainly for Volcarona. Knock off as utility and STAB move.


Well then, as it is my first competitive team, I am sure there is plenty of room for improvement.

To name a few considerations I already made:
Thunderus and ludicolo as a replacement for magnezone. Because they both can counter water. But since tunderus does nothing against fairy types, which are horrific against kingdra, and ludicolo weak is to flying, i sticked with magnezone.
Scizor or forretress instead of mandibuzz, because of the hazards and rapid spin of forretress, and the amazing potential scizor offers with a max def/hp set, priority bullet punch and sword dance. But the gap they leave for the psychic, ghost and dark types is just to large in my opinion.


I would love to hear your opinions on these considerations and of course on the team itself. I hope to get some nice improvements.

 

[minuteman2000]

I would switch Volcarona for Kabutops and go with a standard set. I think this change is needed because since Swampert is your only physical attacker, special walls or tanks stop most of your team especially if Swampert has been KO'ed.

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet / Low Kick

Run Adamant if you want the attack boost and Jolly if you want to outspeed nearly everything. Waterfall and Stone Edge as the primary STAB moves with SD to get OHKOs on almost anything. Aqua Jet is there for anything that you suspect to be scared or Low Kick if you want to deal with Ferrothorn. I realize that this overlaps with Swampert a lot, but there are other option like Knock Off or X-Scissor for Dark and Psychic types.

Anyway I hope I helped :)

 

[Beer]

Thanks for the new idea. I will definitely try it out. My only concern with replacing volcarona with kabutops is the doubling of the already present grass weakness. And with no way to counter it. But maybe the grass resistances of magenzone and mandibuzz are sufficient to cover that.

 

[minuteman2000]

My problem with Volcarona is any water type beats it so it becomes entirely useless as long as rain is up. A couple of examples are:

252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Volcarona in Rain: 678-800 (217.3 - 256.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Scald vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Volcarona in Rain: 564-666 (180.7 - 213.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Volcanion Steam Eruption vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Volcarona in Rain: 566-668 (181.4 - 214.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

These are 3 fairly common pokemon to see in OU Magnezone can check all of these pokemon so maybe it isn't as big a problem as I thought, but imo Kabutops is still better than Volcarona.
Also you could give Kabutops Aerial Ace and Magnezone HP Fire to cover your weaknesses.

 

[Beer]

I will most definitely give it a try. Aerial ace on kabutops sounds great. HP fire is worth a shot, altough i am not sure of its effectiveness in rain. But together with his steeltype it might work well on grass.

 

[GindarasonPillows]

I agree with MinuteMan about Kabutops.

However, if you WERE going to use Volcarona, Fiery Dance would be better than Hurricane. I know it gets weakened thanks to rain, but you have a Quiver Danced Bug Buzz with a STAB that could take care of Grass Types, even if it were a Grass/Poison.

 

[Beer]

Alright, if i were to go with kabutops. Maybe change defog on mandibuzz into brave bird? (maybe then i wont even need aerial ace) As volcarona was the main reason stealth rocks were a problem.

 

[minuteman2000]

Brave Bird sounds awesome since it almost never runs it and I think it would suprise most people when they get hit with a Brave Bird.

 

[GindarasonPillows]

However, you still need something to counter Hazards. Maybe replacing Toxic would be good, as Defog and Brave Bird can only be countered by Protect while Toxic could be countered by Steel Types and Aromatherapy.

 

[minuteman2000]

I didn't mention it on my set, but Kabutops can learn Rapid Spin and while in Rain is an excellent spinner.

 

[GindarasonPillows]

Defog seems more trustable because it can't be countered by Ghosts.

 

[Beer]

Hmm, either defog on mandibuzz or kabutops with rapid spin. I might try rapid spin instead of aerial ace first, as i use toxic a lot.