hey y'all, so back in 2020 i made a hyper offense rain team based around regieleki. it was super fun to play with and when it won it won hard, but it was inconsistent at times due to regieleki's need for ground-type removal. this was pretty hard given the frequency to which we saw lando-t back then, and it's even harder now. combine this with the struggles hyper offense teams face in the current metagame and i wanted to create a new team based around the concept of rain and rising voltage that was more on the bulky offense side of things. it's been super fun so far and it's gotten me back up into the mid-high ladder after a fall, but as always i'm looking for suggestions. so here it is:
Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Scald
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Roost
pelipper is the rain setter for the team and the lead. while it may be tempting to lead with somebody else predicting that the opponent will lead with a pelipper counter, i'd recommend against it as barraskewda is too important to not have rain up as often as possible. while most pelipper leads are physically defensive, i chose to make this one specially defensive because this team struggles with special powerhouses like tapu lele and dragapult. damp rock is to make rain last as long as possible, and the -spe nature is to get the slowest u-turn possible on mons like defensive lando-t. although you'll be clicking u-turn 80% of the time, scald and hurricane are stabs and roost is for longevity. most pelipper on rain teams are the defoggers; however, given that they can't run heavy duty boots, i've found that this severely limits their longevity, as it requires them to use roost a lot more often, which can disrupt offensive momentum. therefore, i opted for a different defogger, who i'll get to later.
Barraskewda @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flip Turn
- Liquidation
- Close Combat
- Crunch
barraskewda and pelipper are besties! this is a standard rain sweeper set - adamant over jolly because who needs that extra speed in the rain. i'm pretty sure the only thing that outspeeds would be +2 +spe dragapult or +1 regieleki, so if these worry you you could run jolly instead. flip turn is the move of choice - it does a scary amount of damage in the rain and the momentum it offers is great. liquidation is a nice game ender, close combat for coverage (i.e. ferrothorn and melmetal), and crunch for slowbro/slowking and their galarian alts. psychic fangs could be run here but it isn't super necessary since we have other ways of pressuring toxapex. these two mons round out the "rain" part of the team and should be kept healthy at all costs, as they are almost always crucial for winning the game. given that they're susceptible to hazards i needed a defogger...
Tapu Koko @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Defog
- U-turn
- Roost
i originally had a more offensive tapu koko here, but i've been enjoying this supportive variant lately. he's one of the fastest defoggers around; even without max investment, this spread allows him to be faster than weavile. max HP investment keeps him around as long as possible and then the rest is in special attack so that its thunders (100% accurate in the rain) hit as hard as possible. u-turn is to keep up momentum, and boots and roost are to ensure that this guy sticks around. removing hazards usually becomes less of a problem towards the end of the game, especially if pelipper and barraskewda are healthy, but keeping tapu koko healthy for the first half to two-thirds of the game is important. i'm pretty sure i remember tapu koko being a more common defogger back in sm/usum - it's now often cast aside for the longevity that torn-t offers, but i really like tapu koko on this team because in addition to setting up electric terrain for the next mon, it pressures toxapex out of switching in on the defog. toxapex would otherwise be a problem for this team, especially with toxic spikes.
Heliolisk @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rising Voltage
- Volt Switch
- Surf
- Grass Knot/Focus Blast
imo, the three best abusers of rising voltage are regieleki, alolan raichu, and heliolisk, in that order. i originally had alolan raichu on this team, and while it was capable of hitting harder than heliolisk after a nasty plot (and was way faster), it made this team extremely susceptible to dragapult, as well as weavile to a lesser extent. heliolisk's ghost immunity is a huge boon to this team, and its ability to heal off life orb damage thanks to rain support is excellent. rising voltage is very strong with tapu koko's help, and volt switch is for maintaining momentum. surf is for lando-t and any other ground-type switch ins, and grass knot is helpful for water/grounds, namely gastrodon. i'm still undecided on whether focus blast would be better here, because it would allow this team to take on ferrothorn much more easily, but there are other answers to ferrothorn on this team, whereas without grass knot gastrodon would completely wall it.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Knock Off
- Body Press
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
for my defensive core i knew that i would need ferrothorn right off the bat. while physically defensive ferrothorn can fit on practically any team lately, i think it's especially good on this team, where rain halves its glaring fire weakness. i originally had gyro ball on him for tapu lele, but after bringing the next mon on board (spoiler), i switched to knock off, as i had no knock off users without it. body press is for weavile, magnezone, melmetal, etc., and if the opponent is willing, trading ferrothorn for another ferrothorn via body press is great for this team. leech seed for recovery, and it's also the rocks setter of this team.
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
- Swords Dance/Superpower/Knock Off
i've tested a variety of defensive mons in this spot but i've found the most luck as of late with specially defensive scizor. this spread ensures that it won't get 2hkoed by banded kartana's sacred sword, and the rest goes into HP and special defense to make it the specially defensive pivot for this team. without it, tapu lele and clefable would be huge problems, and it's also a great answer to rillaboom, who takes down ferrothorn pretty easily if it has superpower, as well as weavile. if the opponent has a rillaboom, preserve scizor at all costs, and ferrothorn if you're able - otherwise, rillaboom beats this team easily. ferrothorn and scizor together make a good defensive core, and like ferrothorn, its huge fire weakness is halved thanks to the rain. roost and leftovers are for longevity, and swords dance is cool for punching some holes if it gets the opportunity. this doesn't happen very often though, so i'm tempted to switch out swords dance for superpower or knock off - if i keep grass knot on heliolisk, superpower would be helpful for ferrothorn. furthermore, if i put knock off on scizor, maybe i could slap gyro ball back on ferrothorn. just lmk.
that's the team! thanks so much for your help in advance :) i'm mostly looking for advice in the defensive and supportive regions of this team, i.e. koko/ferrothorn/scizor, as pelipper, barraskewda, and heliolisk aren't super negotiable without switching the whole premise of the team. still though, let me know if you think there are better options for any of the 6. thanks!
importable: https://pokepast.es/e0b56ed43df9398b
Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Scald
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Roost
pelipper is the rain setter for the team and the lead. while it may be tempting to lead with somebody else predicting that the opponent will lead with a pelipper counter, i'd recommend against it as barraskewda is too important to not have rain up as often as possible. while most pelipper leads are physically defensive, i chose to make this one specially defensive because this team struggles with special powerhouses like tapu lele and dragapult. damp rock is to make rain last as long as possible, and the -spe nature is to get the slowest u-turn possible on mons like defensive lando-t. although you'll be clicking u-turn 80% of the time, scald and hurricane are stabs and roost is for longevity. most pelipper on rain teams are the defoggers; however, given that they can't run heavy duty boots, i've found that this severely limits their longevity, as it requires them to use roost a lot more often, which can disrupt offensive momentum. therefore, i opted for a different defogger, who i'll get to later.
Barraskewda @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flip Turn
- Liquidation
- Close Combat
- Crunch
barraskewda and pelipper are besties! this is a standard rain sweeper set - adamant over jolly because who needs that extra speed in the rain. i'm pretty sure the only thing that outspeeds would be +2 +spe dragapult or +1 regieleki, so if these worry you you could run jolly instead. flip turn is the move of choice - it does a scary amount of damage in the rain and the momentum it offers is great. liquidation is a nice game ender, close combat for coverage (i.e. ferrothorn and melmetal), and crunch for slowbro/slowking and their galarian alts. psychic fangs could be run here but it isn't super necessary since we have other ways of pressuring toxapex. these two mons round out the "rain" part of the team and should be kept healthy at all costs, as they are almost always crucial for winning the game. given that they're susceptible to hazards i needed a defogger...
Tapu Koko @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Defog
- U-turn
- Roost
i originally had a more offensive tapu koko here, but i've been enjoying this supportive variant lately. he's one of the fastest defoggers around; even without max investment, this spread allows him to be faster than weavile. max HP investment keeps him around as long as possible and then the rest is in special attack so that its thunders (100% accurate in the rain) hit as hard as possible. u-turn is to keep up momentum, and boots and roost are to ensure that this guy sticks around. removing hazards usually becomes less of a problem towards the end of the game, especially if pelipper and barraskewda are healthy, but keeping tapu koko healthy for the first half to two-thirds of the game is important. i'm pretty sure i remember tapu koko being a more common defogger back in sm/usum - it's now often cast aside for the longevity that torn-t offers, but i really like tapu koko on this team because in addition to setting up electric terrain for the next mon, it pressures toxapex out of switching in on the defog. toxapex would otherwise be a problem for this team, especially with toxic spikes.
Heliolisk @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rising Voltage
- Volt Switch
- Surf
- Grass Knot/Focus Blast
imo, the three best abusers of rising voltage are regieleki, alolan raichu, and heliolisk, in that order. i originally had alolan raichu on this team, and while it was capable of hitting harder than heliolisk after a nasty plot (and was way faster), it made this team extremely susceptible to dragapult, as well as weavile to a lesser extent. heliolisk's ghost immunity is a huge boon to this team, and its ability to heal off life orb damage thanks to rain support is excellent. rising voltage is very strong with tapu koko's help, and volt switch is for maintaining momentum. surf is for lando-t and any other ground-type switch ins, and grass knot is helpful for water/grounds, namely gastrodon. i'm still undecided on whether focus blast would be better here, because it would allow this team to take on ferrothorn much more easily, but there are other answers to ferrothorn on this team, whereas without grass knot gastrodon would completely wall it.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Knock Off
- Body Press
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
for my defensive core i knew that i would need ferrothorn right off the bat. while physically defensive ferrothorn can fit on practically any team lately, i think it's especially good on this team, where rain halves its glaring fire weakness. i originally had gyro ball on him for tapu lele, but after bringing the next mon on board (spoiler), i switched to knock off, as i had no knock off users without it. body press is for weavile, magnezone, melmetal, etc., and if the opponent is willing, trading ferrothorn for another ferrothorn via body press is great for this team. leech seed for recovery, and it's also the rocks setter of this team.
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
- Swords Dance/Superpower/Knock Off
i've tested a variety of defensive mons in this spot but i've found the most luck as of late with specially defensive scizor. this spread ensures that it won't get 2hkoed by banded kartana's sacred sword, and the rest goes into HP and special defense to make it the specially defensive pivot for this team. without it, tapu lele and clefable would be huge problems, and it's also a great answer to rillaboom, who takes down ferrothorn pretty easily if it has superpower, as well as weavile. if the opponent has a rillaboom, preserve scizor at all costs, and ferrothorn if you're able - otherwise, rillaboom beats this team easily. ferrothorn and scizor together make a good defensive core, and like ferrothorn, its huge fire weakness is halved thanks to the rain. roost and leftovers are for longevity, and swords dance is cool for punching some holes if it gets the opportunity. this doesn't happen very often though, so i'm tempted to switch out swords dance for superpower or knock off - if i keep grass knot on heliolisk, superpower would be helpful for ferrothorn. furthermore, if i put knock off on scizor, maybe i could slap gyro ball back on ferrothorn. just lmk.
that's the team! thanks so much for your help in advance :) i'm mostly looking for advice in the defensive and supportive regions of this team, i.e. koko/ferrothorn/scizor, as pelipper, barraskewda, and heliolisk aren't super negotiable without switching the whole premise of the team. still though, let me know if you think there are better options for any of the 6. thanks!
importable: https://pokepast.es/e0b56ed43df9398b
Since you aren't running Gyro Ball on Ferrothorn, you should run an Impish nature with 4 Speed EVs instead of the 4 SpD EVs to speed creep other Ferrothorn to which aren't speed invested.
I think you should remove Hurricane and change it to Toxic on Pelipper, as you will almost never click Hurricane. Toxic on the other hand can help cripple many mons that try to switch in on the expected U-turn.
Scizor is a very niche pick here. Scizor actually doesn't check Tapu Lele at all. Even though it can shrug off attacks and Roost up, Bullet Punch does not hit it due to Psychic Terrain blocking priority moves, so maybe something like AV or Leech Seed Celesteela, AV Melmetal, or Scarf Kartana would be a better choice. Scarf Kartana seems esecially good cause your team lacks immediate speed control apart from Skewda in rain. If you decide to run Kartana, changing Ferrothorn to SpD or a mixed defensive set would benefit the team largely. If you choose to run Kartana, Focus Blast is better on Heliolisk, as it allows it to hit steels, and Kartana would be an answer to bulky Ground/Water types.
Ok, so I versed a couple teams on mid ladder at around 1400 ELO, and I was playing against Hydreigon quite a lot, and the team is super weak to it, especially defensive ones. Only Barraskewda can break through it with Close Combat, and Ferrothorn with Body Press (as long as it doesn't have Flamethrower). Melmetal also does a good job against it, but the variants with roost can take a Superpower and Roost up, and then start spamming Dark Pulse. So, Dazzling Gleam on Koko seems like a good idea, being able to hit ground types, and dark types super effectively. Since you have Heliolisk with an incredibly powerful electric move, fairy type coverage benefits the team more than another Electric STAB.
