Rain Team Needs a Bit More Coverage

[Shocari]

I've been using a Rain team on Shoddy/PO, and despite the overwhelming power it has(and without Swift Swim, at that!), I find myself completely and utterly walled by Shedinja. I just have nothing to stop it.

Swampert@Leftovers
Relaxed
Torrent
252 HP, 216 Def, 40 SpDef
-Stealth Rock
-Ice Beam
-Earthquake
-Scald

Politoed@Leftovers
Modest
Drizzle
252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 4 Spe
-Scald
-Ice Beam
-HP - Grass
-Encore

Scizor@Leftovers
Adamant
Technician
252 HP, 40 Atk, 216 Spe
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Bug Bite
-Roost

Raikou@Life Orb
Rash
Pressure
252 SpAtk, 252 Spe, 4 SpDef
-Aura Sphere
-Thunder
-HP - Ice
-Signal Beam

Keldeo@Life Orb
Timid
Justified
252 SpAtk, 252 Spe, 4 SpDef
-Hydro Pump
-Icy Wind
-Secret Sword
-HP - Electric

Starmie@Life Orb
Timid
Natural Cure
252 SpAtk, 252 Spe, 4 SpDef
-Psyshock
-Hydro Pump
-Thunder
-Ice Beam

Swampert has been really helpful, even when he gets Tricked with a Choice Scarf(because let's face it, Speed only helps him out here). Politoed's HP-Grass has scored me several key kills against things that I otherwise couldn't do much damage to, and my great prediction with Encore has helped me score many a kill. Scizor does a lot of things, and mauls the Ferrothorn who take neutral damage from Bug Bite. Raikou has also helped in the Ferrothorn department, and has such good power and speed that I can't see much changing on it. After facing a lot of Keldeo with my Sun team, I have come to appreciate its sheer power and fierce speed, and he is quite capable of sweeping entire teams with or without Drizzle. Starmie is as standard as ever, and the extra power from Thunder helps a lot.

I guess what I'm really getting at here is that I don't know who I should slap a Shedinja-smiting move on. At this point, I've put about 50 battles on this team since its creation, and only Shedinja has given me any sort of trouble.

 

[Spartan13]

This team is pretty good as is, but I do not think Raikou needs the Ice Hidden Power, I would get a heart scale and reteach it Bite or Crunch to deal with those Shedinja

 

[KoL]

This team is pretty good as is, but I do not think Raikou needs the Ice Hidden Power, I would get a heart scale and reteach it Bite or Crunch to deal with those Shedinja

Don't make a habit out of helping people make competitive teams Spartan13 because you clearly aren't good at it.

Anyway, your approach at dealing with Shedinja is quite poor here Sho. Sticking HP Fire on a random 'Mon won't help against a smart opponent since Shedinja almost always carries Protect and a Focus Sash to scout out such moves, and if the opponent works out that you only have one 'Mon able to deal with Sheddy then they'll make it their mission to kill that 'Mon first, which leaves you effectively still cornered by the thing.

Right now, the only means you have of dealing with it is Swampert's Stealth Rock, and any Sheddy user will be carrying a 'Mon with Rapid Spin unless they're dumb. So, here's a list of stuff you can use/do to beat Sheddy with a rain team, and from then on it's up to you to take your pick:

- By far the best way to deal with Shedinja is Ferrothorn. Iron Barbs lets you kill Shedinja simply by switching into one of its attacks, and if that somehow doesn't do the trick then you have Leech Seed available too.

- Therian Thundurus with HP Flying is a nice option. HP Fire on a rain team is pretty wasted against any team not carrying Shedinja (and Sheddy is hardly overused) whereas HP Flying on Thundurus is useful regardless of whether the enemy is carrying Sheddy or not.

- Dry Skin Toxicroak is a good addition to a rain team. Also carries Sucker Punch.

- Any Ghost-type will prevent your opponent from Rapid Spinning your Stealth Rock away, making it much harder for Shedinja to get onto the field safely. Jellicent is the most obvious choice but Gengar is a worthy option too.

- You could give Swampert Toxic or Roar possibly.

There's a lot you could do here and one immediate issue I notice with this team is that you have Keldeo, Raikou and Starmie all occupying almost exactly the same role in your team. I don't think you need that many fast Sp.Attack-oriented 'Mons on one team, especially Keldeo and Starmie since they both have similar typing as well. It shouldn't be too hard to make a change to accomodate for slaying Shedinja considering you have three Pokemon all performing near-identical roles who could easily be switched for stuff that gives your team more potential options to play with.

 

[Shocari]

Thanks for all of those options, KoL ^^

I tried out a few, and I think Dry Skin Toxicroak works the best for me. I swapped Raikou out for him because Raikou's performance hasn't been as top-notch as anyone else(I think it's mostly because I'm forced to run Rash on him, so his Speed is keeping him from outspeeding a few things he could otherwise kill).