Rain Offense Guide Full Revamp [on-site]

[YaM]

Uxie's bulk and decent Speed allows it to be a very effective Choice Scarf Tricker.

Uxie without Damp Rock on a Rain Dance team is rather counterproductive.

Ludicolo: Also, Grass Knot is recommended as only Vaporeon is hit harder by Energy Ball

It hits Azumarill for 60BP too, don't know if you consider it a big enough threat for inclusion.

Claydol *****? I would give it 4, I can't ignore the shared weakness to Grass and the extra weakness to boosted Water attacks, Roserade and Milotic eat Claydol up easily. Same goes for Grass-weak Lanturn, but he isn't weak to Water so I'd leave him alone.

Honchkrow - Honchkrow is scary for the same reason as Absol - Suker Punch - but it lacks Swords Dance so is not as scary. With Sucker Punch priority, Honchkrow can easily finish off a weakened Rain Dance team as most members take 50%+ from Sucker Punch. However, when Kabutops uses Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch will fail, and after a Swords Dance, Aqua Jet will OHKO Honchkrow.

Add in a sentence that smart players with Honchkrows at high amounts of health will expect the Aqua Jet and thus Superpower Kabutops.

Because of Hitmontop, its usually not a good idea to have too many Water- / Rock-type Swift Swim sweepers. Uxie can do very well against it, only fearing Sucker Punch, while hitting back with Psychic. Aqua Jet priority from Kabutops can be useful but don't except it to OHKO,

expect

 

[EspyJoel]

Added that stuff in. As for Uxie, I've just put a mention that its more in OU where the TrickScarfer is useful. You may think its counter-productive, but as long as you have two other Damp Rock users, its pretty effective so I'll keep the TrickScarf thing in for the moment.

 

[EspyJoel]

Bumping just to check if anyone can think of anything else that needs to be sorted out or to add. I've added in an example team for both OU and OU. I tried to make them quite simple overall. I've also added in the links to each Pokemon to their analysis.

 

[Kaxtar]

Under Ludicolo in the example UU Team.

It also lures in Blissey (I think you mean Clafable) and takes it out with Focus Punch + Surf allowing it an easier time at sweeping.

Looks great. Only problem I found while reading this over.

 

[EspyJoel]

Thanks, I meant Chansey, changed.

 

[YaM]

Qwilfish got Aqua Jet in HGSS. Add that into his description?

 

[EspyJoel]

I don't think we're yet meant to put HG / SS moves in, but anyway Aqua Jet is hardly worth much of an option on Qwilfish as its one of the most obvious ways to compare it to Kabutops who has higher Attack to make much better use of it. Best for Qwilfish to stick to using moves such as Explosion which differentiate it. I'll probably put it in right at the end of the options once its said that its ok for HG / SS moves to be included but until then no.

 

[iss]

Agreed, AJet on Qwilfish just isn't worth it. It deserves a mention, but really, what are you gonna hit with it?

 

[EspyJoel]

I will be editing out Roserade from UU into OU, and any references to it in UU as well. Also, will put Umbreon as a UU threat at some point. Will also edit Yanmega out of UU now its banned.

 

[The Plant]

Agreed, AJet on Qwilfish just isn't worth it. It deserves a mention, but really, what are you gonna hit with it?

Lucario

 

[EspyJoel]

Edited in UU and OU tier changes.

 

[EspyJoel]

Added in HG / SS moves which deserved a mention, I think this is ready for HTMLizing now.

 

[Thorns]

You should mention that in UU, SD Toxicroak is one of the best counters to Milotic, who is a threat to Rain teams. I can't count the number of times Milotic has tried to stop my sweep, only to be destroyed by Toxicroak.

 

[Fireburn]

I'd like to point out that there is no Ubers section of this guide.

I and several others on IRC (Bojangles, Jibaku and Theorymon mainly) feel that it needs a Ubers section. With Kyogre and its Perma-rain being the #1 most used Pokemon in Ubers, as well as having the highest usage percentage of any pokemon in the game currently, I feel that such a section should definitetly be implemented. There are plenty of good ways to abuse rain in Ubers (Thunder/Manaphy/Palkia/Kingdra/Kabutops/Ludicolo/Removing Fire-type weakness from steels, etc.), and it is a major and threatening strategy in this metagame.

Besides, the Sunny Day and Trick Room guides have Ubers sections, so I do not see why this shouldn't have one.

I want to and will gladly write this part for you. I have good experience using Uber rain teams.

Edit- I see that joel22 seems to be away. Would a Mod/Admin/person in charge who reads this please give me an opinion on it if Joel22 does not have time to look at this?

 

[Legacy Raider]

I'd say go for it, though do it as a separate section altogether. What I mean is instead of adding a paragraph about Kingdra's uses in the Uber tier to its description in the Rain Sweepers section, have an entirely separate "Rain in Ubers" section after the Example Teams section. If you people who are knowledgeable in Ubers get this written up, joel22 can add it to the guide once it's done and you will get credit for your parts as well.

 

[Fireburn]

Since LR has given me the go-ahead I will begin work on this ASAP. (Thank you. ^_^)

Also would adding an example Ubers team be a good idea? It would help give people an example to follow when making their own squads.

 

[Colonel M]

Yes, please add an Ubers example team to reflect this.

Being a person who's played Ubers, I too approve of this. I'll add it in if joel is "absent".

 

[Fireburn]

Ok, this is what I've done. Joel can add this in wherever he sees fit. Please comment/make corrections.
__________________________________________________________________

Ubers

Rain Offense in Ubers is a completely different ball game than in the other tiers. The main difference is the existence of Kyogre and its Drizzle ability, providing everlasting rain to your team and eliminating the need for additional Pokemon being tasked to set up the rain. This frees up more Pokemon that can be used on your Rain team, such as having more sweepers or supporters for your sweepers. However, as Kyogre is your only source of rain and with the existence of Groudon with its debilitating sun and Rayquaza with its weather nullifying abilities, whoever controls the weather will most likely control the match. Having a solid team and good prediction skills is important to fully utilizing Rain in Ubers, as the threats to rain teams are far harder to stop than in OU and UU. Generally, you will want the following on your team:

• Kyogre for its permanent rain.
• A Stealth Rock user to aid your sweepers.
• A Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar counter. A counter to opposing Kyogre is also very helpful. Anything that can get rid of your rain is a huge threat.
• Resistances to Ghost-, Dark-, Dragon-, Grass-, and Electric-type attacks. (Ubers rain teams tend to be very vulnerable to these attack types.)
• Rain abusers. These are best left to Swift Swimmers, powerful Water-types, or just a powerful special attacker that can take advantage of firing off 100% accurate Thunders in the rain.

Kyogre is an obvious choice; you would be best off using a physically defense set with Rest and Calm Mind. This allows Kyogre to remain an offensive threat while also giving it staying power, so it can come back in to set up the rain repeatedly. It is also capable of stopping Groudon and Tyranitar with this defensive spread. (It can even stop Rayquaza if you give it enough Defense and Ice Beam.) If you just want to hit hard, a Choice Specs set is perfectly useable as well. The next thing you will want to decide on are your rain abusers. Generally, you will want at least two or three of them. Kingdra is probably the best rain abuser in Ubers there is. With Swift Swim, it gains well over 500 Speed, with outruns even Choice Scarfed Pokemon. Kingdra is blessed with an amazing dual STAB-type combination, so it can literally devastate many teams with a Dragon Dance or a Mixed set. Palkia also works well with a Mixed set. It is not as fast as Kingdra, but it is stronger, bulkier, and has a much wider movepool, so it may have an easier time against Stall teams than Kingdra. Kabutops can easily abuse Swords Dance with its Swift Swim ability to rip open many Ubers teams once Groudon is out of the way. Manaphy can abuse its ability, Hydration, with Rest to restore all HP at will, enabling it to easily use Tail Glow to boost up for a lethal sweep. Ludicolo works well on teams that are more defensive, as it can abuse its Rain Dish ability, essentially restoring 18.5% of its health in the rain every turn (factoring in Leftovers), to stall out many opponents with Leech Seed and Substitute. So as you can see, there are many rain abusers that are still viable in Ubers.

However, your sweepers will find their lives difficult if you do not have any supporters to help them do their jobs. To best pick your supporters, you decide on the Pokemon that will give your team trouble. Generally, there are a few specific Pokemon notorious for giving Ubers rain teams issues. As mentioned before, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar are obviously problems because of their weather changing abilities, and will likely be your biggest threats. Special attackers such as Mewtwo frequently carry Thunder and will not hesitate to use it on your mostly Water-type team. Latias also likes to have Thunder and will stop Kyogre, Palkia, and Manaphy, three common Pokemon on an Ubers rain team, very easily. Dialga’s many resistances, including those to Water and Electric, can prove to be troublesome, and Dialga is also extremely bulky to boot, so taking it down can be hard. Blissey is annoying as always, walling most of your special attackers with great ease. Shaymin-S is frail, but it can easily cause some damage with its Seed Flare, a 120 Base Power STAB Grass-type move that will likely OHKO the majority of your sweepers. Finally, Forretress is not a direct threat, but it can set up the dreaded Toxic Spikes, which will likely ruin the majority of your sweepers. Your best shot at stopping Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar is using a very physically defensive Kyogre set, as Kyogre is very bulky and can handle these threats with strong super effective Water- and Ice-type strikes. Scizor can easily take on Latias, Mewtwo, Blissey, Rayquaza (While it is locked into Outrage), and Shaymin-S with its powerful Bullet Punch, U-turn, or Pursuit. Metagross can also work at this role. It has a few advantages over Scizor, such as being a better check to Dialga with its much lesser Fire-type weakness and greater bulk. It can also lure Groudon in, only for the Rock Titan to die to a Choice Band Explosion. A Latias of your own provides useful resistances to Grass- and Electric-type attacks. It checks Shaymin-S very well and also stops people from spamming Thunder against your team. Forretress is easily handled by your rain sweepers and Kyogre. Wobbuffet, though it doesn’t directly counter anything, can use Encore and Safeguard in tandem with its Shadow Tag ability to buy precious time for your sweepers to come in and set up to sweep.

Lastly, now that your sweepers and supporters have been decided, it is time to pick a lead. You are preferably going to want something that can set up Stealth Rock reliably and easily. Dialga is an excellent choice because it can set up Stealth Rock, provide valuable resistances to Grass- and Electric-type attacks, and it can easily destroy Groudon leads with Draco Meteor, as they tend to actually stay in on Dialga. Deoxys-A can also maim Groudon while setting up Stealth Rock and even Spikes. Forretress is another good choice because it can set up all three entry hazards as well as having Rapid Spin to remove the enemy’s entry hazards from the battle.
_________________________________________________________________

Ubers Rain Team Example

This is simply a sample team to get you started on eventually making your own team. It covers all of the basics of a good Ubers rain team.

Dialga @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk/6 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Thunder
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock

Dialga provides valuable resistances to Ghost-, Dark-, Grass-, and Electric-type attacks while also setting up Stealth Rock, which is vital to your team’s success. Dialga also serves as a nice early game opener. Chesto Berry and Draco Meteor ensure that Darkrai will not stop you from getting Stealth Rock up. Groudon leads also like to stay in on Dialga, only to be 2HKOed by Draco Meteor, meaning that one of Ubers rain’s biggest threats will be dead from the start. Thunder destroys Lugia, Manaphy, and Kyogre. Flamethrower OHKOes Forretress so it can’t spin away your Stealth Rock. Dialga’s heavy Speed investment also allows it to outspeed and OHKO Adamant Rayquaza and Lucario before they have a chance to sweep your team.
---
Kyogre @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP/176 Def/82 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Rest

Kyogre obviously provides your rain. It also stops Darkrai, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar from causing mayhem with this team and from changing the weather. Kyogre will often find many chances to set up with Calm Mind, so it can still be a major offensive threat while being defensive. Ice Beam is used over Sleep Talk so Giratina-O and Rayquaza can’t set up on you. Rest and Chesto Berry bring you back up to full HP so you can keep controlling the weather. The super defensive EV spread is very important. It allows Kyogre to handle attacks from Groudon and Tyranitar as well as always surviving an Adamant LO Dragon Claw from Rayquaza after one Swords Dance.
---
Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 76 Atk/180 Spd/252 SAtk
Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor

Kingdra is just an awesome force to behold in Ubers rain team. It can easily tear apart defensive teams with just its STAB moves alone, and it can easily take advantage of its Swift Swim boosted speed to become your main revenge killer as well. Hydro Pump will OHKO legions of Pokemon; pretty much anything that doesn’t resist it will fall to it. Draco Meteor 2HKOes Groudon, so it can no longer come to haunt you, as well as OHKOing Palkia. Outrage 2HKOes Blissey and Latias very easily, two major defensive threats to your team, very easily. Waterfall 2HKOes Blissey without having to have Kingdra locked into Outrage. The Speed EVs allow you to outrun most Groudon variants (Particualrly most Rock Polish Groudon before a boost), as well as Choice Scarf Garchomp when the Rain is active.
---
Latias (F) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Thunder
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse

Latias provides this team with important Grass- and Electric-type resistances. It also stops enemy Kyogre, Palkia, Shaymin-S and Manaphy from being used against you in evil ways, as well as checking most Groudon variants. Calm Mind and Recover allow it to become a very sturdy tank and sweeper, as well as do some rain abusing of its own with Thunder. Dragon and Electric provide unresisted coverage in Ubers.
---
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 210 HP/140 Atk/160 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Explosion

Metagross is very important to this team for a number of reasons. It provides very important resistances to Dragon- and Grass-type attacks. It also stops Latias, Shaymin-S, Rayquaza, and Mewtwo from totally destroying this team, and can also act as a Groudon lure thanks to its powerful Explosion. The rain also eliminates Metagross’ Fire-type weakness, letting it check Dialga very nicely as well. Metagross can easily survive even a boosted Outrage from Rayquaza and will OHKO it with Meteor Mash after Stealth Rock damage. Pursuit ensures that Latias, Mewtwo, and Shaymin-S will never plague your team again. Earthquake is mainly for Dialga. In short, Metagross takes care of the threats that are the bane of most Ubers rain teams.
---
Kabutops (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Low Kick

Kabutops is meant to be the late-game sweeper. Boasting Swift Swim, Swords Dance, the highest Attack of the rain abusers, and great type coverage, it is easy to see how it would get this role. As Latias often falls to Pursuit, Kabutops can easily switch in on those for a Swords Dance. Don’t sweat it if you cannot set up however, as Kabutops is powerful enough to sweep without it. The only Uber that resists Water/Rock is Dialga, who is easily destroyed by Low Kick. Low Kick is also Kabutops’ strongest attack against Groudon.
---

 

[EspyJoel]

Thanks for this Fireburn. I'll add it in and make any grammar corrections if needed later today, got to sleep now.
EDIT: Put those sections in, yet to give them a proper proofread.

 

[vashta]

General proofread.

Ubers

Rain offense in Ubers is a completely different ball game than in the other tiers. The main difference is the existence of Kyogre and its Drizzle ability, providing everlasting rain to your team, and eliminating the need for additional Pokémon being tasked to set up the rain. This frees up more Pokémon that can be used on your rain team, such as having more sweepers or supporters for your sweepers. However, as Kyogre is usually your only source of rain and with the existence of Groudon with its debilitating sun and Rayquaza with its weather nullifying abilities, whoever controls the weather will most likely control the match. Having a solid team and good prediction skills is important to fully utilizing rain in Ubers, as the threats to rain teams are far harder to stop than in OU and UU. Generally, you will want the following on your team:

• Kyogre for its permanent rain.
• A Stealth Rock user to aid your sweepers.
• A Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar counter. A counter to opposing Kyogre is also very helpful. Anything that can get rid of your rain is a huge threat.
• Resistances to Ghost-, Dark-, Dragon-, Grass-, and Electric-type attacks. (Ubers rain teams tend to be very vulnerable to these attack types.)
• Rain abusers. These are best left to Swift Swimmers, powerful Water-types, or just a powerful special attacker that can take advantage of firing off 100% accurate Thunders in the rain.

Kyogre is an obvious choice; you would be best off using a physically defense set with Rest and Calm Mind. This allows Kyogre to remain an offensive threat while also giving it staying power, so it can come back in to set up the rain repeatedly. It is also capable of stopping Groudon and Tyranitar with this Defensive spread (it can even stop Rayquaza if you give it enough Defense and Ice Beam). If you just want to hit hard, a Choice Specs set is perfectly useable as well. The next thing you will want to decide on are your rain abusers. Generally, you will want at least two or three of them. Kingdra is probably the best rain abuser there is in Ubers. With Swift Swim, it gains well over 500 Speed, and is able to outrun even Choice Scarfed Pokémon. Kingdra is blessed with an amazing dual STAB-type combination, so it can literally devastate many teams with a Dragon Dance or a mixed set. Palkia also works well with a mixed set; it is not as fast as Kingdra, but it is stronger, bulkier, and has a much wider movepool, so it may have an easier time against stall teams than Kingdra. Kabutops can easily abuse Swords Dance with its Swift Swim ability to rip open many Ubers teams once Groudon is out of the way. Manaphy can abuse its ability, Hydration, with Rest to restore all HP at will, enabling it to easily use Tail Glow to boost up for a lethal sweep. Ludicolo works well on teams that are more defensive, as it can abuse its Rain Dish ability, essentially restoring 18.5% of its health in the rain every turn (factoring in Leftovers), to stall out many opponents with Leech Seed and Substitute. So, as you can see, there are many rain abusers that are viable (remove "still") in Ubers.

However, your sweepers will find their lives difficult if you do not have any supporters to help them do their jobs. To best pick your supporters, you decide on the Pokémon that will give your team trouble. Generally, there are a few specific Pokémon notorious for giving Ubers rain teams issues. As mentioned before, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar are obviously problems because of their weather changing abilities, and will likely be your biggest threats. Special attackers such as Mewtwo frequently carry Thunder and will not hesitate to use it on your Water-type dominant team. Latias also utilizes Thunder, which can shut down the most prominant of Pokémon found on Uber Rain Dance teams: Kyogre, Manaphy, and Palkia. Dialga’s many resistances, including those to Water and Electric, can prove to be troublesome, and as Dialga is also extremely bulky to boot, taking it down can be hard. Blissey is annoying as always, walling most of your special attackers with great ease. Shaymin-S is frail, but it can easily cause some damage with its Seed Flare, a 120 Base Power STAB Grass-type move that will likely OHKO the majority of your sweepers. Finally, Forretress is not a direct threat, but it can set up the dreaded Toxic Spikes, which will likely ruin the majority of your sweepers. Your best shot at stopping Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar is using a very physically defensive Kyogre set, as Kyogre is very bulky and can handle these threats with strong super effective Water- and Ice-type strikes. Scizor can easily take on Latias, Mewtwo, Blissey, Rayquaza (while it is locked into Outrage), and Shaymin-S with its powerful Bullet Punch, U-turn, or Pursuit. Metagross can also work at this role. It has a few advantages over Scizor, such as being a better check to Dialga with its much lesser Fire-type weakness and greater bulk. It can also lure Groudon in, only for the Rock Titan to die to a Choice Band Explosion. A Latias of your own provides useful resistances to Grass- and Electric-type attacks. It checks Shaymin-S very well and also stops people from spamming Thunder against your team. Forretress is easily handled by your rain sweepers and Kyogre. Wobbuffet, though it doesn’t directly counter anything, can use Encore and Safeguard in tandem with its Shadow Tag ability to buy precious time for your sweepers to come in and set up to sweep.

Lastly, now that your sweepers and supporters have been decided, it is time to pick a lead. You are preferably going to want something that can set up Stealth Rock reliably and easily. Dialga is an excellent choice because it can set up Stealth Rock, provide valuable resistances to Grass- and Electric-type attacks, and it can easily destroy Groudon leads with Draco Meteor, as they tend to actually stay in on Dialga. Deoxys-A can also maim Groudon while setting up Stealth Rock and even Spikes. Forretress is another good choice because it can set up all three entry hazards as well as having Rapid Spin to remove the enemy’s entry hazards from the battle.
_________________________________________________________________

Ubers Rain Team Example

This is simply a sample team to get you started on eventually making your own team. It covers all of the basics of a good Ubers rain team.

Dialga @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 SpD
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Thunder
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock

Dialga provides valuable resistances to Ghost-, Dark-, Grass-, and Electric-type attacks while also setting up Stealth Rock, which is vital to your team’s success. Dialga also serves as a nice early game opener. Chesto Berry and Draco Meteor ensure that Darkrai will not stop you from getting Stealth Rock up. Groudon leads also like to stay in on Dialga, only to be 2HKOed by Draco Meteor, meaning that one of Ubers rain’s biggest threats will be dead from the start. Thunder destroys Lugia, Manaphy, and Kyogre. Flamethrower OHKOes Forretress so it can’t spin away your Stealth Rock. Dialga’s heavy Speed investment also allows it to outspeed and OHKO Adamant Rayquaza and Lucario before they have a chance to sweep your team.

---

Kyogre @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 82 Spe
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Rest

Kyogre obviously provides your rain. It also stops Darkrai, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar from causing mayhem with this team and from changing the weather. Kyogre will often find many chances to set up with Calm Mind, so it can still be a major offensive threat while being defensive. Ice Beam is used over Sleep Talk so Giratina-O and Rayquaza can’t set up on you. Rest and Chesto Berry bring you back up to full HP so you can keep controlling the weather. The super defensive EV spread is very important. It allows Kyogre to handle attacks from Groudon and Tyranitar as well as always surviving an Adamant Life Orb Dragon Claw from Rayquaza after one Swords Dance.

---

Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 Spe / 252 SpA
Mild nature (+SpA, -Def)
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor

Kingdra is just an awesome force to behold in Ubers rain team. It can easily tear apart defensive teams with just its STAB moves alone, and it can easily take advantage of its Swift Swim boosted speed to become your main revenge killer as well. Hydro Pump will OHKO legions of Pokémon; pretty much anything that doesn’t resist it will fall to it. Draco Meteor 2HKOes Groudon, so it can no longer come to haunt you, as well as OHKOing Palkia. Outrage 2HKOes Blissey and Latias very easily, two major defensive threats to your team, very easily. Waterfall 2HKOes Blissey without having to have Kingdra locked into Outrage. The Speed EVs allow you to outrun most Groudon variants (Particualrly most Rock Polish Groudon before a boost), as well as Choice Scarf Garchomp when the Rain is active.
---
Latias (F) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Thunder
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse

Latias provides this team with important Grass- and Electric-type resistances. It also stops enemy Kyogre, Palkia, Shaymin-S and Manaphy from being used against you in evil ways, as well as checking most Groudon variants. Calm Mind and Recover allow it to become a very sturdy tank and sweeper, as well as do some rain abusing of its own with Thunder. Dragon and Electric provide unresisted coverage in Ubers.

---

Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 210 HP / 140 Atk / 160 SpD
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Explosion

Metagross is very important to this team for a number of reasons. It provides very important resistances to Dragon- and Grass-type attacks. It also stops Latias, Shaymin-S, Rayquaza, and Mewtwo from totally destroying this team, and can also act as a Groudon lure thanks to its powerful Explosion. The rain also eliminates Metagross’ Fire-type weakness, letting it check Dialga very nicely as well. Metagross can easily survive even a boosted Outrage from Rayquaza and will OHKO it with Meteor Mash after Stealth Rock damage. Pursuit ensures that Latias, Mewtwo, and Shaymin-S will never plague your team again. Earthquake is mainly for Dialga. In short, Metagross takes care of the threats that are the bane of most Ubers rain teams.

---

Kabutops (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Low Kick

Kabutops is meant to be the late-game sweeper. Boasting Swift Swim, Swords Dance, the highest Attack of the rain abusers, and great type coverage, it is easy to see how it would get this role. As Latias often falls to Pursuit, Kabutops can easily switch in on those for a Swords Dance. Don’t sweat it if you cannot set up however, as Kabutops is powerful enough to sweep without it. The only Uber that resists Water/Rock is Dialga, who is easily destroyed by Low Kick. Low Kick is also Kabutops’ strongest attack against Groudon.
---

In HTML:

<h2><a name="ubers">Ubers</a></h2>

  <p>Rain offense in Ubers is a completely different ball game than in the other tiers. The main difference is the existence of Kyogre and its Drizzle ability, providing everlasting rain to your team, and eliminating the need for additional Pokémon being tasked to set up the rain.  This frees up more Pokémon that can be used on your rain team, such as having more sweepers or supporters for your sweepers. However, as Kyogre is usually your only source of rain and with the existence of Groudon with its debilitating sun and Rayquaza with its weather nullifying abilities, whoever controls the weather will most likely control the match. Having a solid team and good prediction skills is important to fully utilizing rain in Ubers, as the threats to rain teams are far harder to stop than in OU and UU. Generally, you will want the following on your team:</p>

<ul>
<li>Kyogre for its permanent rain.</li>
<li>A Stealth Rock user to aid your sweepers.</li>
<li>A Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar counter. A counter to opposing Kyogre is also very helpful. Anything that can get rid of your rain is a huge threat.</li>
<li>Resistances to Ghost-, Dark-, Dragon-, Grass-, and Electric-type attacks (Ubers rain teams tend to be very vulnerable to these attack types).</li>
<li>Rain abusers. These are best left to Swift Swimmers, powerful Water-types, or just a powerful special attacker that can take advantage of firing off 100% accurate Thunders in the rain.</li>
</ul>

 <p>Kyogre is an obvious choice; you would be best off using a physically defense set with Rest and Calm Mind. This allows Kyogre to remain an offensive threat while also giving it staying power, so it can come back in to set up the rain repeatedly. It is also capable of stopping Groudon and Tyranitar with this Defensive spread (it can even stop Rayquaza if you give it enough Defense and Ice Beam). If you just want to hit hard, a Choice Specs set is perfectly useable as well. The next thing you will want to decide on are your rain abusers. Generally, you will want at least two or three of them. Kingdra is probably the best rain abuser there is in Ubers. With Swift Swim, it gains well over 500 Speed, and is able to outrun even Choice Scarfed Pokémon. Kingdra is blessed with an amazing dual STAB-type combination, so it can literally devastate many teams with a Dragon Dance or a mixed set. Palkia also works well with a mixed set; it is not as fast as Kingdra, but it is stronger, bulkier, and has a much wider movepool, so it may have an easier time against stall teams than Kingdra. Kabutops can easily abuse Swords Dance with its Swift Swim ability to rip open many Ubers teams once Groudon is out of the way. Manaphy can abuse its ability, Hydration, with Rest to restore all HP at will, enabling it to easily use Tail Glow to boost up for a lethal sweep. Ludicolo works well on teams that are more defensive, as it can abuse its Rain Dish ability, essentially restoring 18.5% of its health in the rain every turn (factoring in Leftovers), to stall out many opponents with Leech Seed and Substitute. So, as you can see, there are many rain abusers that are viable in Ubers.</p>

<p>However, your sweepers will find their lives difficult if you do not have any supporters to help them do their jobs. To best pick your supporters, you decide on the Pokémon that will give your team trouble. Generally, there are a few specific Pokémon notorious for giving Ubers rain teams issues. As mentioned before, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar are obviously problems because of their weather changing abilities, and will likely be your biggest threats. Special attackers such as Mewtwo frequently carry Thunder and will not hesitate to use it on your Water-type dominant team. Latias also utilizes Thunder, which can shut down the most prominant of Pokémon found on Uber Rain Dance teams: Kyogre, Manaphy, and Palkia. Dialga’s many resistances, including those to Water and Electric, can prove to be troublesome, and as Dialga is also extremely bulky to boot, taking it down can be hard. Blissey is annoying as always, walling most of your special attackers with great ease. Shaymin-S is frail, but it can easily cause some damage with its Seed Flare, a 120 Base Power STAB Grass-type move that will likely OHKO the majority of your sweepers. Finally, Forretress is not a direct threat, but it can set up the dreaded Toxic Spikes, which will likely ruin the majority of your sweepers. Your best shot at stopping Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar is using a very physically defensive Kyogre set, as Kyogre is very bulky and can handle these threats with strong super effective Water- and Ice-type strikes. Scizor can easily take on Latias, Mewtwo, Blissey, Rayquaza (while it is locked into Outrage), and Shaymin-S with its powerful Bullet Punch, U-turn, or Pursuit. Metagross can also work at this role. It has a few advantages over Scizor, such as being a better check to Dialga with its much lesser Fire-type weakness and greater bulk. It can also lure Groudon in, only for the Rock Titan to die to a Choice Band Explosion. A Latias of your own provides useful resistances to Grass- and Electric-type attacks. It checks Shaymin-S very well and also stops people from spamming Thunder against your team. Forretress is easily handled by your rain sweepers and Kyogre. Wobbuffet, though it doesn’t directly counter anything, can use Encore and Safeguard in tandem with its Shadow Tag ability to buy precious time for your sweepers to come in and set up to sweep.</p>

 <p>Lastly, now that your sweepers and supporters have been decided, it is time to pick a lead. You are preferably going to want something that can set up Stealth Rock reliably and easily. Dialga is an excellent choice because it can set up Stealth Rock, provide valuable resistances to Grass- and Electric-type attacks, and it can easily destroy Groudon leads with Draco Meteor, as they tend to actually stay in on Dialga. Deoxys-A can also maim Groudon while setting up Stealth Rock and even Spikes. Forretress is another good choice because it can set up all three entry hazards as well as having Rapid Spin to remove the enemy’s entry hazards from the battle.</p>

           <h2><a name="uber_team">Ubers Rain Team Example</a></h2>

<p>This is simply a sample team to get you started on eventually making your own team. It covers all of the basics of a good Ubers rain team.</p>

  <p>Dialga @ Chesto Berry<br />
   Ability: Pressure<br />
   EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 SpD<br />
   Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)<br />
   - Draco Meteor<br />
   - Thunder<br />
   - Flamethrower<br />
   - Stealth Rock</p>

<p>Dialga provides valuable resistances to Ghost-, Dark-, Grass-, and Electric-type attacks while also setting up Stealth Rock, which is vital to your team’s success. Dialga also serves as a nice early game opener. Chesto Berry and Draco Meteor ensure that Darkrai will not stop you from getting Stealth Rock up. Groudon leads also like to stay in on Dialga, only to be 2HKOed by Draco Meteor, meaning that one of Ubers rain’s biggest threats will be dead from the start. Thunder destroys Lugia, Manaphy, and Kyogre. Flamethrower OHKOes Forretress so it can’t spin away your Stealth Rock. Dialga’s heavy Speed investment also allows it to outspeed and OHKO Adamant Rayquaza and Lucario before they have a chance to sweep your team.</p>



  <p>Kyogre @ Chesto Berry<br />
   Ability: Drizzle<br />
   EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 82 Spe<br />
   Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)<br />
   - Calm Mind<br />
   - Surf<br />
   - Ice Beam<br />
   - Rest</p>

<p>Kyogre obviously provides your rain. It also stops Darkrai, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Tyranitar from causing mayhem with this team and from changing the weather. Kyogre will often find many chances to set up with Calm Mind, so it can still be a major offensive threat while being defensive. Ice Beam is used over Sleep Talk so Giratina-O and Rayquaza can’t set up on you. Rest and Chesto Berry bring you back up to full HP so you can keep controlling the weather. The super           defensive EV spread is very important. It allows Kyogre to handle attacks from Groudon and Tyranitar as well as always surviving an Adamant Life Orb Dragon Claw from Rayquaza after one Swords Dance.</p>

  

  <p>Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb<br />
   Ability: Swift Swim<br />
   EVs: 76 Atk / 180 Spe / 252 SpA<br />
   Mild nature (+SpA, -Def)<br />
   - Waterfall<br />
   - Outrage<br />
   - Hydro Pump<br />
   - Draco Meteor</p>

<p>Kingdra is just an awesome force to behold in Ubers rain team. It can easily tear apart defensive teams with just its STAB moves alone, and it can easily take advantage of its Swift Swim boosted speed to become your main revenge killer as well. Hydro Pump will OHKO legions of Pokémon; pretty much anything that doesn’t resist it will fall to it. Draco Meteor 2HKOes Groudon, so it can no longer come to haunt you, as well as OHKOing Palkia. Outrage 2HKOes Blissey and Latias very easily, two major defensive threats to your team, very easily. Waterfall 2HKOes Blissey without having to have Kingdra locked into Outrage. The Speed EVs allow you to outrun most Groudon variants (particualrly most Rock Polish Groudon before a boost), as well as Choice Scarf Garchomp when the Rain is active.</p>

  
  
<p>Latias (F) @ Soul Dew<br />
   Ability: Levitate<br />
   EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe<br />
   Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)<br />
   - Calm Mind<br />
   - Thunder<br />
   - Recover<br />
   - Dragon Pulse</p>

<p>Latias provides this team with important Grass- and Electric-type resistances. It also stops enemy Kyogre, Palkia, Shaymin-S and Manaphy from being used against you in evil ways, as well as checking most Groudon variants. Calm Mind and Recover allow it to become a very sturdy tank and sweeper, as well as do some rain abusing of its own with Thunder. Dragon and Electric provide unresisted coverage in Ubers.</p>



  <p>Metagross @ Choice Band<br />
   Ability: Clear Body<br />
   EVs: 210 HP / 140 Atk / 160 SpD<br />
   Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)<br />
   - Meteor Mash<br />
   - Earthquake<br />
   - Pursuit<br />
   - Explosion</p>

<p>Metagross is very important to this team for a number of reasons. It provides very important resistances to Dragon- and Grass-type attacks. It also stops Latias, Shaymin-S, Rayquaza, and Mewtwo from totally destroying this team, and can also act as a Groudon lure thanks to its powerful Explosion. The rain also eliminates Metagross’ Fire-type weakness, letting it check Dialga very nicely as well. Metagross can easily survive even a boosted Outrage from Rayquaza and will OHKO it with Meteor Mash after Stealth Rock damage. Pursuit ensures that Latias, Mewtwo, and Shaymin-S will never plague your team again. Earthquake is mainly for Dialga. In short, Metagross takes care of the threats that are the bane of most Ubers rain teams.</p>

  <p>Kabutops (M) @ Life Orb<br />
   Ability: Swift Swim<br />
   EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe<br />
   Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA)<br />
   - Swords Dance<br />
   - Stone Edge<br />
   - Waterfall<br />
   - Low Kick</p>

<p>Kabutops is meant to be the late-game sweeper. Boasting Swift Swim, Swords Dance, the highest Attack of the rain abusers, and great type coverage, it is easy to see how it would get this role. As Latias often falls to Pursuit, Kabutops can easily switch in on those for a Swords Dance. Don’t sweat it if you cannot set up however, as Kabutops is powerful enough to sweep without it. The only Uber that resists Water/Rock is Dialga, who is easily destroyed by Low Kick. Low Kick is also Kabutops’ strongest attack against Groudon.</p>

 

[EspyJoel]

Thanks for that Vashta.