Hello. My name is Lee Camacho, but you may also know me as raindanceking on Pokemon Showdown. This is my first year competing in VGC, and I have found great success in utilizing rain ever since its rise in popularity a few years ago. After meeting Team Tank Top (Primitive, I Am A Rookie, RastaCharmander, and pimp shrimp) during U.S. Nationals, I began to understand the VGC 2014 format better and was able to create the team that would help me out in the upcoming 2015 Regionals.
Team Building Process
As I had mentioned previously, I am extremely partial to rain, so I decided to build a team around Politoed and Kingdra. I feel very comfortable using these two Pokemon, and I felt as though they were strong contenders against the other weather setters. Once I tested these two with other teammates, I immediately noticed my weaknesses to Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur. With that in mind, the obvious choice for a teammate was Talonflame. These three were a great core that played well together and could win plenty of matches alone. After establishing the core, I wanted to incorporate a Mega Evolution that would be useful in supporting the other three Pokemon. I did some heavy testing with Mawile and Venusaur, but I didn’t feel as though they were very helpful against Mega Kangaskhan. Finally, I concluded that the best way to beat a Mega Kangaskhan was to use one. With Fake Out support, I was able to incorporate more strategy into my team and show off Kangaskhan’s potential now that counters to her are so prominent.
The last two slots were the hardest for me to establish. I tested a lot with the legendary birds, but I didn’t enjoy having so many Pokemon weak to Rock Slide. I noticed that Tyranitar always performed well against my team, and with the rise of Mega Tyranitar, my Rain team was starting to feel the pressure. Knowing that Tyranitar has an overt 4x weakness, I decided that adding a Fighting-type to my team would be the best fit. The only Fighting-type that I enjoyed using during testing was Lucario, and I soon discovered that he helped my team out tremendously with the ability to OHKO Tyranitars AND Kangaskhans, while ignoring Sandstorm damage and flinches. I was so comfortable with the team of five, but I had not established a sixth member in time for Phoenix Regionals, so I threw a Salamence on my team. After going 4-4 in Phoenix, I was absolutely sure that Salamence was not the one for me.
During the Phoenix Regionals, I had noticed that Gothitelle was becoming popular, and it threw off my team with its Shadow Tag ability. My friend, Jesse, suggested that I try a Taunt user to shut it down, so I researched all the users. I came across Gardevoir, which is a Pokemon I had not really cared for. I ran some calculations, and it actually seemed like it would do well on my team if I were to implement this unique spread. After a week of testing, I knew she was the one that would make my team complete.
Team
Politoed (Green Dream) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 12 HP / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
Modest Nature
– Scald
– Psychic
– Ice Beam
– Rain Dance
For the longest time, I ran a bulky Eject Button Politoed in order to keep the rain alive. However, I realized that Eject Button wasn’t the best call for the metagame. Once I discovered Choice Scarf Politoed, I never looked back. With this spread, it outspeeds all non-scarfed Dragons and can OHKO them with Ice Beam. It’s also speedy enough to pull off a Scald on Mega Lucarios and Gengars before they can attack.
I chose Psychic as a coverage move to damage Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur enough for Politoed’s partner to finish the job. Finally, I chose Rain Dance for two reasons: one, I am the raindanceking; two, it helped me surprise Charizards by locking them into Solarbeam after pulling off a speedy Rain Dance.
Kingdra (Fruity Peblez) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
– Muddy Water
– Draco Meteor
– Hydro Pump
– Sleep Talk
Kingdra ended up being my all-star in Texas. It won me several matches by its brute force in the rain. If Kingdra was unable to OHKO a Pokemon, Politoed was always quick enough to finish the job. I chose a bulky spread because I thought investing in Speed was a total waste since Kingdra outspeeds nearly every Pokemon when rain is up. Also, with max EVs in HP, Kingdra was able to survive a Dragon Claw from Jolly Garchomp and a Play Rough from a burned Mega Mawile.
I feel as though Muddy Water and Draco Meteor are pretty standard for Kingdra. Hydro Pump, though inaccurate, is able to OHKO so many Pokemon under the Rain. I ended up choosing it after Michael Fladung (Primitive) suggested the idea on the way to Houston. Lastly, I chose Sleep Talk as a counter to Khan Artist, which works surprisingly well.
Talonflame (Fire OG) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 188 Atk / 68 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
– Tailwind
– Brave Bird
– Overheat
– Protect
This spread was created through a combination of different ideas. My Talonflame was very similar to the one Sejun Park used at Worlds. However, instead of choosing a Naive nature for the speed boost, I opted for the Naughty nature in order to hit harder with Brave Bird. I used this spread because I loved the idea of Overheat wearing down Mega Mawile, especially since Intimidate is everywhere.
Otherwise, I feel this set is pretty standard. I chose Tailwind as a backup strategy to use in case my opponent was running heavy Rain counters, such as Ludicolo and Mega Manectric. Tailwind also allowed Kingdra to devastate the other Pokemon without having to set up Rain.
Kangaskhan (K-Train) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Power-Up Punch
– Return
– Sucker Punch
This is probably one of the most obvious sets on my team. I went for the speedy Kangaskhan in order to win Fake Out matchups. With Fake Out, I was able to set up an easy Tailwind with Talonflame, or I was able to burn powerful physical attackers using Gardevoir.
Lucario (Mad Dawg) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Protect
– Follow Me
– Close Combat
– Bullet Punch
This set is also fairly standard in this metagame. Jolly Lucario is able to check Tyranitar and can OHKO Mega Kangaskhan using Close Combat. Bullet Punch was very useful in discarding pesky Aerodactyls and Choice Scarf Gardevoirs. Follow Me support was useful in setting up Tailwind and in redirecting super effective moves away from Gardevoir.
Gardevoir (Space Queen) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 68 SpA / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
– Ally Switch
– Will-O-Wisp
– Psychic
– Moonblast
Finally, the greatest addition to my team; the one who held the team together – Bulky Gardevoir! After running calculations on Gardevoir, I discovered that she can tank hits pretty well with the right investment:
- 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 164 Def Gardevoir: 144-171 (82.2 – 97.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 164 Def Gardevoir: 141-166 (80.5 – 94.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 20 SpD Gardevoir: 146-174 (83.4 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 20 SpD Gardevoir: 96-114 (54.8 – 65.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ Atk Huge Power burned Mega Mawile Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 164 Def Gardevoir: 147-174 (84 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
This proved to me that Gardevoir was just what my team needed. Once I did some testing, I realized that Taunt didn’t come in handy as much as I had expected, so I replaced it with Ally Switch in order to take some Draco Meteors and Close Combats for Gardevoir’s teammates. Furthermore, with a Modest nature and 68 EVs in Special Attack, Gardevoir was still able to OHKO Garchomp, Salamence, and Hydreigon with Moonblast. Psychic was also useful in providing powerful damage to Mega Venusaur and Amoongus. Lastly, the Will-O-Wisp allowed Gardevoir to weaken all physical attackers.
Common Lead Strategies
Kangaskhan + Talonflame
This pair was my go-to for most situations. I could easily set up a Tailwind with Talonflame, especially with Fake Out support from Kangaskhan. They also often removed rain counters, setting up for my Politoed and/or Kingdra in the back.
Politoed + Kingdra
For the select few opponents that were unprepared for rain, this pair would destroy an entire team with ease. This combo outsped everything it needed to and would put the smackdown on teams that didn’t run Ludicolo.
Kangaskhan + Gardevoir
This lead duo was what I used against teams that ran Gothitelle and Mega Mawile. With Trace, Gardevoir could get a neat Intimdate which eases the pressure Mega Mawile brings. Even better, if Gardevoir received Shadow Tag, she was able to place pressure on Mega Mawile with incoming Will-O-Wisps, or it would allow me a switch that could turn the tides of the battle.
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