TEAM BUILDING PROCESS
As I am playing Rain, Politoed was auto-in to bring on that torrential downpour.
Earlier, I mentioned that Rain was lacking a lot of its toys. Fortunately, with the last-gen bans gone, it got one back in the form of Swift Swim Kingdra. I decided this was what I would like to build my team around. If Pigeot is at Mach 2 on a normal day, how fast is Kingdra when there is water falling from the sky?
At this point, a partner for Kingdra was desperately needed. I wanted something to tank Dragon-type hits and wreck Fairy-types. I had considered CB or BD Azumarrill, but it did not really work out like I imagined. This is where old, reliable Scizor comes in.
Next, I felt Stealth Rock support would be appreciated. I also knew I would like to have something that can hit hard with Earthquake to check a plethora of threats that would otherwise Dougie all over my face, like Aegislash. Donphan seemed like a really high utility Poké, but it is still lacking Stealth Rock. Mamoswine, on the other hand, does get Stealth Rock and happens to hit a lot harder. Moreover, it can clobber Dragon-types with Ice Shard.
“I really need a Genie!” This is what I kept telling myself, over and over, as I sat bewildered looking for something to round out the final two slots. I went through a who’s who of potential options and I almost settled for Volcarona or a Dragonite as Hurricane support. Frustrated, I looked through the Kingdra article under B/W and noticed that it said Kingdra appreciated Aura Sphere support. I looked up all Pokémon that have access to Aura Sphere and noticed Togekiss. Obviously, that support is much more useful in Ubers, but at least I had something interesting to go with.
As Togekiss is a Flying-type, I felt Rapin Spin support would be very much appreciated. Starmie stood out as the obvious choice as the premier Rain spinner.
Starmie proved rather underwhelming from my testing. Plus, I was mad-jelly of all the other cool kids with their new-flanged Mega Evolutions. This is where Blastoise came in. It also seemed like a much more of a natural fit too, due to its natural bulk and the amount of bulk already present.
IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
Politoed (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 216 HP / 252 SAtk / 40 Spe
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Perish Song
He’s gotta handful of stacks, better grab an umbrella - even if it is for only five turns. That’s right, five. I have no idea how useful Damp Rock Politoad is, but I did not think it would be anywhere as useful as Smooth Rock Tyranitar is in the Sand. I do, however, know how hard Specs Toed can hit. I also tend to lean toward more Offensive teams and felt Damp Rock would be better reserved for something of the opposite. Moreover, if I wanted Damp Rock on this team, I would probably cut Toed for Prankster Klefki and add Rain Dance as an fourth move on Kingdra or some other Pokémon.
As far as moves go, typically I opt for Power over Accuracy. For some reason, I decided to go the other route with this team and I am pretty satisfied. Surf is now only 20 less Base Power than Hydro Pump, instead of 25. They’re both STAB Specs Rain boosted hits. The only question becomes one of 20 less base power or 20 per cent less accuracy. Like I said, I opted for the former to try something different. Ice Beam is pretty standard; it dents and removes Grass-types and Dragon-types. I opted for Psychic over Focus Blast for a few reasons, mainly accuracy, coverage on emerging Poison-types and omnipresent Fighting-types, surprise factor, and it been outclassed by the plethora of other Fighting-type moves I have access to with the rest of the team. Finally, Perish Song ends Baton Pass chains, forces out annoying Pokémon, and gives you an advantage in late-game grinds.
His Grass-type weakness is covered well by Scizor and Togekiss, while his Electric-type weakness is covered by Mamoswine. I bottomed out the unused Attack IVs to migrate turn one SwaggerPlay shenanigans.
Kingdra (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Waterfall
- Substitute
As seahorses are a rather different type of fish, I went with a female gender so pregnancy would not slow her down. For you see, even as a little Horsea, Kingdra had dreams of going fast. Thanks to Swift Swim, it reaches ridiculously high speed when the Rain is up. It also has great typing and coverage, only requiring two attacking moves. Moreover, regardless if the Rain is up, Kingdra succeeds at forcing a lot of switches. It can use this opportunity to set up a Dragon Dance or a Substitute and wreak havoc on the opposition.
The last move slot is really Trainer’s choice, I went with Substitute because Kingdra does not like to be statused. The trade-off is that this reduces HP on top of Life Orb recoil and Kingdra will not be very useful for a quick sweep. Substitute can be replaced by Yawn, Rest, Rain Dance or Draco Meteor. Some of these changes will require a different investment/nature. Life Orb can be replaced by an even wider range of objects.
Her Dragon-type weakness is covered by Scizor and eliminated by Togekiss, while her Fairy-type weakness is also covered by Scizor. There really is not much more to be said, it is a Kingdra after all – it just hits really hard, really fast.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Brick Break
- Thief
Pound-for-pound, Scizor has been one of the greatest Pokémon since Gen IV. He serves as a prime scout thanks to U-Turn and an excellent revenge killer, and just a general cleaner due to its Priority Bullet Punch and a wide movepool for coverage. He may have lost Dark- and Ghost-type resistances, but he replaced it with ability to obliterate the new Fairy-type. This is especially true considering a vast majority of them are bulky on the wrong side of the Defense spectrum.
As I already had a Set-Up Sweeper in Kingdra and another down the line, I opted for a Choice Band set. This allows Scizor to swing heavy without hesitation. Like all of my Pokémon, Scizor carries an odd numbered HP investment to migrate Stealth Rock damage and 8 Speed EVs to outspeed the mirror.
This is a pretty standard set, the only difference being the last two slots filled with Brick Break and Thief over Superpower and Pursuit. The former is obvious as Superpower is not available yet. Thief, on the other hand, had its base power nerfed to 60, making it viable candidate for a Technician boost. As the Eon twins are not present PreBank, I found Pursuit to be less much less useful. Moreover, I have noticed that out of fear of being Pursuit-trapped, those with Dark-type weaknesses sometimes get cocky against Scizor and stay in. This is where the fun begins.
As a final note, Scizor’s only weakness in the form of four-times to Fire-type moves is migrated by the Rain and covered by Politoed, Kingdra, and Blastoise.
Mamoswine (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Ice Shard
Initially, this set ran Focus Sash and Mamoswine’s sole purpose was to setup Stealth Rock, block some electric attacks, and.maybe revenge a Dragon-type. This was before I discovered how unbelievably bulky Thick Fat Mamoswine becomes with a large HP investment. There is also the plethora of opposing Rocks and Sash breakers like Mega Kangashkan present, so I decided to go with Rocky Helmet. Mamoswine can take a lot of neutral hits with this spread and the Helmet helps add up damage. She is not intended to be a sweeper, but that does not mean she cannot.
As I already mentioned, Mamoswine exists on this team to get the Rocks up. Once that task is complete, she transitions in a dangerous threat. Ice Shard is bound to ruin the day of a Dragon-, Grass-, or Flying-type. Likewise, Earthquake is bound to ruin just about anyone’s day. Rock Slide rounds out coverage by hitting anything that does not mind Ice Shard or Earthquake.
Togekiss has Mamoswine’s back in terms of its Fighting- and Grass-type weaknesses, as does Scizor for the latter. Politoed, Kingdra, and Blastoise all cover its Water- and Steel-type weaknesses.
Togekiss (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 176 HP / 80 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Flamethrower
- Baton Pass
I went looking for a Genie and found a Togekiss and I could not be happier. Well, I could be happier, such as having 1-3 extra moveslots. Despite suffering from the absolute worst case of four-move syndrome, Togekiss has slowly but surely found itself as the backbone of this team. Togekiss does not mind taking super-effective hits, and combined with five type weaknesses and insane natural bulk, he becomes a fantastic candidate for Weakness Policy. Weakness Policy combined with Baton Pass enables a lot of shenanigans and interesting sweep situations. Unlike a simple Nasty Plot, you can now pass insane Attack onto Scizor, Mamoswine, or especially onto your resident Usain Bolt, Kingdra. Every game is a new adventure with Togekiss.
Togekiss is by no means a one-trick pony either. It can safely switch into any Dragon attack without fear, eliminate harmful Grass- and Fighting-types, severely dent the opposing side and irritate your opponent to no end Serene Grace boosting Air Slash’s flinch rate boosted to 60. It can even set up Nasty Plot to increase the damage dealt or pass it off to Politoed or Mega Blastoise. A personal favorite opponent recently has been Blaziken. Togekiss does not fear (M-)Blaziken, and (M-)Blaziken does not think it has to fear Togekiss, but it soon finds out the truth.
Flamethrower seems a bit of an odd-ball. My reasoning is that the Rain is not always up and there are A LOT of annoying Steel-types. If you can predict some switches, you can really catch Pokemon that like to come in on Togekiss, like Scizor, by surprise. The reason I do not have Dazzling Dream is because I feel I have enough Dragon coverage in Mamoswine and Politoed. The same goes for Aura Sphere. Roost would be appreciated, but this goes back to the four-move syndrome.
Mamoswine is Togekiss’ bff, covering its Ice-, Electric-, and Poison-type weaknesses. Scizor also covers its Ice- and Posion-type weaknesses. Finally, Politoed and Blastoise cover its Steel and Ice weaknesses. Unfortunately, I have nothing to cover its Rock-type weakness, but as all my Pokémon are fairly bulky, this does not a cause a serious collapse in synergy. As it was with Politoed, I bottomed out the unused Attack IVs to migrate any SwaggerPlay shenanigans.
Blastoise (M) @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SAtk / 8 Spe
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Water Pulse
- Dark Pulse
- Aura Sphere
My first Pokémon was a Squirtle. This is not the one. Mega Blastoise is generally outclassed by the plethora of other Megas, but in this case, I think it found its niche. The only other option I could see would be using Mega Scizor and replacing this slot with a Life Orb or Choice Specs Tentacruel. I suppose there is also the option of Excadrill.
A spinner may seem unneeded in this team, as it does not mind Sticky Web and Togekiss can handle Stealth Rock rather well. This is another area where I have gone outside of my comfort zone, as I typically see Spinning as a wasted 1-2 turns. However, hazards are really irritating and Stall-esque teams still exist that will set up 7 hazards on you in the blink of an eye. That damage really adds up and I have found its best to simply get rid of it.
Originally, this spot belonged to Starmie. However, with the wide coverage I already have, Starmie’s frail body and general lacking in the Trick shenanigans department, Starmie felt really underwhelming. Mega Blastoise has proven itself a wonderful replacement Spinner and even comes equipped with a cannon full of Anti-Spinblock in the form of Dark Pulse. Due to its fantastic bulk and wide coverage, it is not easy dealt with. It really does not mind trading blows with a lot of Pokémon, even those that can hit it super-effectively.
Thanks to Mega Launcher, Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, and Aura Sphere get an appreciated boost. These moves become even more threatening when Blastoise receives a plus-two Baton Pass. Water Pulse gets even further threatening when the Rain is up. The secondary effects of its Pulse moves also only add to the fun.
Much like Politoed, his Grass-type weakness is covered well by Scizor and Togekiss, while his Electric-type weakness is covered by Mamoswine. However, unlike Politoed, I left the Attack IVs so Rapid Spin could scratch a little bit harder.
CONCLUSION
I feel this team strikes a balance between standard fare and creativity. I am really enjoying the PreBank metagame and I am also really proud of what I built here. This is why I felt the need to share it. As you can tell by my post count, I do not contribute a lot, but I have gained so much knowledge from this place that I feel it’s important to give back where I can. If Rain usage increases in the short-time PreBank has left, there are a few quick changes that could work, such as Ferrothorn over Scizor or Mixed Dragonite over Mamoswine to check and abuse the mirror. This may even carry over into PokéBank OU, however, I have not tried that metagame yet. There are a lot of old and new nuisances for Rain in Gen VI, such as Rotom-W, Breloom and M-Kangaskhan, but these can be dealt with. You simply need to slow down and be patient.
From what I have seen and the games I have played, Rain is still very much a dangerous threat. It is also a lot of fun too and I encourage you to try it out for yourself.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge PokémonElite2000, Smogon, Seerbii, Tails19950 (DeviantArt), Snivy101 (DeviantArt), Crank (PSD-Dreams), and HQWallBase for their images, which were used in this post.
Thank you for your time.
IMPORTABLE
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