[RATE MY TEAM] Rain Team featuring Lucario [VGC]

[Jumpstick]

Introduction

Hey, this is my first thread here. And this is also my first VGC competitive Team. I just recently got into VGC and thought of it as a lot of fun, so i made some teams, but this team is the first i wanted to get rated. I only tested it on pokemonshowdown, because i want to optimize it and then start breeding. At first i had a Rain Team build around Mega-Swampert, which worked quite well, but it seemed to dependent on the Rain. So i thought of a Mega, that has benefits from the rain, but also can stand alone. At first i saw Scizor and Mawile, but Mawile seemed too slow, and Scizor didn't feel right. It has 4x weakness to fire and even the rain can't deal with that in most of the cases. So in the end my eyes fell upon Lucario. Personally i really like Lucario and wanted to build a team around him anyway. Well, enough said, let's get to the team.

The Team

Politoed @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Drizzle  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 0 SpA / 180 SpD / 0 Spe  
Calm Nature  
- Scald  
- Icy Wind  
- Helping Hand  
- Protect  

Well there is not much to say about this guy. The classic Rain-Setter. With 252 EV in HP and 180 EV SpD it survives modest Expert Belt Zapdos Thunder 75% of the time, offensive Mega-Venusaur Giga Drain 100% of the time and Life Orb Venusaur Giga Drain 100% of the time. Scald is his STAB with 30% burn chance. Icy Wind to speed controll a little bit and Helping Hand to boost the attacks of Kingdra, Sylveon and Lucario. And of course Protect to protect.

144+ SpA Expert Belt Zapdos Thunder vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Politoed: 173-204 (87.8 - 103.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Politoed: 104-126 (52.7 - 63.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Politoed: 120-143 (60.9 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Kingdra @ Life Orb  
Ability: Swift Swim  
Level: 50  
EVs: 76 HP / 216 SpA / 220 Spe  
Modest Nature  
- Draco Meteor  
- Muddy Water  
- Protect  
- Disable  

Kingdra is my Rain-Sweeper. Swift Swim makes it faster than anything in the rain. 76 Ev in HP to survive Return from Mega-Kangaskhan and 220 Ev into Spe to be faster than opposing Kingdras. The rest of the Ev comes into SpA to deal Damage. I really like Kingdra. It hits really hard with helping Hand of Politoed and often KOs two Pokemon at once with Muddy Water. I took Muddy Water over Surf because it does not hit my own team. With Draco Meteor it has a powerful Dragon-STAB, which can OHKO almost everything with support of Politoed. Disable comes in handy because i can protect and disable opponents moves afterwards, if it has no priority. And protect of course.

252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 76 HP / 0 Def Kingdra: 135-159 (84.3 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
216+ SpA Life Orb Kingdra Helping Hand Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 220-261 (99.5 - 118%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
216+ SpA Life Orb Kingdra Muddy Water vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion in Rain: 211-250 (126.3 - 149.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO



Lucario-Mega @ Lucarionite  
Ability: Inner Focus  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Atk / 252 Spe  
Timid Nature  
- Aura Sphere 
- Flash Cannon  
- Feint  
- Detect  

Yes, this is a SpA-Lucario. At first i had a mixed set, but i liked the idea of giving a damn about burn. Aura Sphere as Fighting-STAB, which has the nice bonus to never miss. Flash Cannon as Steel-STAB. Feint for Priority, and to destroy Protects and Detects, cannot hit Ghost-types tho. Detect over Protect, because it could happen that somebody runs Imprison. I know it's rare but it could happen. Pre-Mega-Ability is Inner Focus, so that Lucario can ignore Fake Out. It has a Timid Nature and 252 Ev into Spe to outspeed most of the meta and 252 Ev in SpA to get the most out of his attacks. Last 4 points are dumped into Atk.  Lucario's role in this team is to deal as much Damage as possible with or without the rain.



252 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 176 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 184-220 (97.8 - 117%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 196-232 (108.2 - 128.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
52 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 114-136 (51.5 - 61.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4- Atk Adaptability Mega Lucario Bullet Punch vs. 108 HP / 124 Def Gardevoir: 88-108 (56 - 68.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 188 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon: 156-188 (80.4 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO



Sylveon @ Pixie Plate  
Ability: Pixilate  
Level: 50  
EVs: 188 HP / 68 Def / 252 SpA  
Modest Nature  
- Hyper Voice  
- Shadow Ball  
- Psyshock  
- Protect  

I chose Sylveon because it has a nice synergy with Lucario. If both of them are out on the Field they put a lot of pressure on the opponent, but they also cover each others weaknesses. Lucario covers Poison-types and Steel-types while sylveon can check Fighting-types. It's a standard Sylveon set. I use Pixie Plate over Choice Specs because i want the ability to switch between my moves. Hyper Voice as Pixilate-boosted STAB, Shadow Ball because i don't want to be completely walled by Aegislash. Psyshock as coverage for potentiall Poison-types such as Gengar or Amoonguss. Sylveon has also a nice synergy with Kingdra, since Kingdra's only weaknesses are Fairy and Dragon. So Sylveon can switch in to catch a Draco Meteor.

252+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 192-228 (114.9 - 136.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 88-105 (48.6 - 58%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 192-228 (112.2 - 133.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO



Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles  
Ability: Levitate  
Level: 50  
EVs: 200 HP / 88 SpA / 220 Spe  
Modest Nature  
- Thunderbolt  
- Overheat  
- Will-O-Wisp  
- Protect  

Rotom-H has a lot of possible jobs in this team. He covers Lucario because he is immun to Ground-types adn resists Fire. He can also cover Sylveon against Steel-Types and Kingdra against Fairy-types. With it's Safety Goggles, it is a perfect counter to Venusaur and Amoonguss, but can also hit Water-types hard with his Thunderbolt. With his Will-O-Wisp he can cripple physical attackers and helps my team to endure more attacks and also damages the opponent over time. 200 Ev in HP so he can even survive some Water-attacks. 220 ev in Spe so he can outspeed jolly Breloom and Bisharp and burn them. Rest is put into SpA to deal decent damage.

88+ SpA Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 76+ SpD Amoonguss: 182-216 (82.3 - 97.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
88+ SpA Rotom-H Overheat vs. 232 HP / 4 SpD Venusaur: 182-216 (98.9 - 117.3%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
88+ SpA Rotom-H Thunderbolt vs. 236 HP / 0 SpD Milotic: 104-126 (52 - 63%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Landorus-T Stone Edge vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Rotom-H: 128-152 (85.3 - 101.3%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO



Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest  
Ability: Intimidate  
Level: 50  
EVs: 164 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SpD / 92 Spe  
Careful Nature  
- Earthquake  
- Rock Slide  
- U-turn  
- Knock Off  

Landorus-T adds two Immunities to my team and an Intimidater. Intimidate is great for this team, because it weakens the opponents Atk and adds some bulk to my team. Earthquake as Stab and Rock slide for Charizard and Talonflame, and because it can make the enemy flinch. Knock Off for coverage and to get rid of the the opponents Items. U-turn to switch and deal some damage and trigger the Intimidate later again. I chose a bulkier set for my Landorus so it can even survive some Ice attacks like Modest Suicunes Ice Beam. Landorus-T covers great for Politoeds Electric-Weakness and Lucarios Ground- and Fighting-Weakness.

Last Words

So as you can see i am pretty unexperienced and still rely much on Smogon and stuff. So if you have suggestion, ideas or tipps how i can make the team better, i am happy to read your comments. Sorry for my bad english, i am from germany.Thx for reading and taking time to help me!  

http://www.teammagma.net/teambuilder/#?186|230|448m|700|645|479h

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/vgc2015-279839400

[ShinyLuigi]

Overall this seems like a very balanced team. It's built around speed and weakness control. I like the idea of a special Lucario to, as you said, not be so shaken by Intimidates or burns.

About the Kingdra, I would personally run Disable instead of Ice Beam, although the 4x damage on many major threats such as M-Salamence and Landorus-T is tempting. Kingdra does have moves to cover both of those two though. You might have to try that Kingdra out and see how it works for you, to see which move would come in more handy!

If you want to check the Politoed EVs with a calculator, I would suggest checking how it survives a Giga Drain from Mega Venusaur (both defensive and offensive) as well as Thunderbolt from a Life Orb or Expert Belt Modest Zapdos. Seeing a Politoed in the team preview can easily lure in Zapdos - especially if they're running Thunder (which isn't all that common, but could happen). That could be a good reference Pokémon to start from.

[Jumpstick]

Hey thx for your suggestion, i will try it out.

[ShinyLuigi]

If you battle with this team (and maybe get some Disable action going on), I'd love to see the battle videos!

[Jumpstick]

I will do some Battles on pokemon showdown and update the Team, i thought of maybe switching Landorus-T for Thundorus to have a prankster.