The Rain Team in VGC 2015
A major playstyle in 2014, Rain Teams were thought to be back in force in 2015 with the announcement of Mega Swampert. But as is often the case, practice has proven wrong, with the successive rises of Nymphali and Cresselia causing harm to Tarpaud and his companions. However, the Rain Team still has a bright future ahead of it since the potential of Rain remains extraordinary.
This guide will help you understand the mechanics of Rain, what its strengths and weaknesses are, as well as the Pokémon that make this climate strong.
Rain Team Guide with Bean
How does Rain work?
Rain is one of the 4 weathers in Pokémon and is often considered the most powerful. It can be applied in 2 different ways: with the attack Rain Dance and with the Ability Drizzle.
With the Rain Dance attack, a Pokémon can impose Rain for 5 turns. This poses a significant problem since not only do you have to take a turn with a Pokémon to place it, but it also means that Rain will not be on the field on the first turn.
This is why Rain Teams are all based on Toad’s Drizzle Ability. Drizzle Ability allows a Pokémon to set Rain when it enters the field. In other words, it is possible to impose its weather from the start of the game. Just like Rain Dance, Drizzle imposes Rain for 5 turns.
Its effects are numerous and almost all play a crucial role in competition: the power of Water-type attacks increases by 50% while that of Fire-type attacks decreases by 50%. Sun Lance requires an additional charging turn. Fatal-Lightning and Violent Wind attacks cannot miss their target and even have a 25% chance of going through attacks such as Cover or Detection (this mechanic is particularly unknown, even at high levels). The attacks Synthesis, Aurora and Moonbeam only restore 25% of the caster’s life points.
Several Abilities are affected by Rain: The Ability Dry Skin allows a Pokémon to recover 1/8th of its HP at the end of each turn. The Ability Hydrate cures primary status ailments, namely Burn, Freeze, Paralysis, Poison, and Sleep. Secondary status ailments such as Confusion are not cured. The Ability Sink allows a Pokémon to recover 1/16th of its HP at the end of each turn. Finally, the Ability Slide doubles a Pokémon’s Speed in Rain. This is the major Ability in Rain Team.
Note that the Wet Rock item allows Rain to last 8 turns instead of 5. This item is not used at high levels since fights rarely last long enough to really make the item profitable.
How to play with or against the Rain Team?
For beginners, Rain Team is perfectly suited due to its simplicity. The teambuilding is quite simple, the mechanics are also simple and the weather fight (fight to impose your weather) allows you to progress in the mind game.
There are a few things to remember when playing with a Rain Team: Tarpaud is your centerpiece, but he won’t change the outcome of the fight against every team. It’s important to evaluate Tarpaud’s value right from the team preview to know if his sacrifice is worthwhile.
It is not necessary to send Tarpaud as lead during all your battles. The Tarpaud+Ludicolo lead is so expected that you can take advantage of it to deceive your opponent and lead with a Pokémon capable of boosting itself for example.
Against other climates you will not be able to do without him, however be careful when you bring him on the field. We generally prefer to lead without him against Mega Charizard Y since the latter imposes the sun when it mega-evolves. The scarfer set with Rain Dance is the perfect counter to it.
The Escape Button is a very smart alternative to the many Tyranitars in the metagame. In this case, avoid leading with a Pokémon that fears Ice or Darkness in order to encourage your opponent to use Rock Slide to activate the Escape Button.
Prepare your team so that you can lead safely in the absence of Toad, if you only play Pokémon dependent on Rain you start with a disadvantage.
Whether you’re fighting a weather team or not, if you impose Rain, you’ll need to make holes in the opposing team as soon as possible. Rain Teams often act as a steamroller, but a savvy player will know how to make switches to limit the damage. It’s up to you to anticipate these switches to make holes that will prevent your opponent from getting back into the game.
Teambuilding plays a vital role against Rain Teams. It is necessary to have at least one Pokémon that resists the Tarpaud+Ludicolo duo.
In practice, playing against the Rain Team is quite similar to playing against the Distortion: turn management is key, but the lead becomes much more important.
Rain Teams are pretty easy to anticipate, at least when you know (or guess) the items of your opponent’s Pokémon. From a turn management perspective, the advice is kind of the opposite of what was mentioned above: Tarpaud isn’t necessarily the key to your opponent’s team, it’s often better to deal with Ludicolo first. Thunderbolt is probably the most effective way to neutralize him.
At the lead level, be careful not to get run over by Tarpaud+Ludicolo, if you don’t have Shelter on your Fulguris don’t count on it to paralyze Ludicolo.
Avoid double Shelter on the first turn, not only because the opponent will have easy choices on the next turn, but also because your slow Pokémon may be hit by Toad’s Encore attack.
If you play Mega Kangaroo, you can force the opponent to bluff you and therefore leave you free to place a Tailwind, which will balance the Slide. Beware of the Scald attack, with a 33% chance of burning your Mega Kangaroo could see its power decrease drastically.
If you play Mega Charizard Y, the game promises to be intense. It is best to send the latter as lead, but be careful not to Mega Evolve too quickly: if Tarpaud is not sent as lead then you have the advantage since if you Mega Evolve Charizard when Tarpaud comes into play, you are the winner, the same if he comes into play before.
In any case, once the first 2-3 turns have passed without a hitch, you will often just need to choose your targets carefully. Remember that a Ludicolo with Bluff will never use Shelter (in this case you have the right to question your opponent’s teambuilding…).
