[X] My Assistant

[Checkmate098]

Rain is often something that in the competitive metagame is often overlooked. I think that rain dance teams are something that should be appreciated more. this is a team was created to fully take advantage of all the aspects of rain. However, I have been running into some problems, as this team was constructed a few months ago, the metagame in general has been changing quite a bit, and it's causing a less than desirable amount of losses. This is where you guys come in.

A closer look:

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Azelf @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly ( + Speed) ( - Special Attack)
EVs: 252 Speed; 252 HP; 4 Defense
- [Rain Dance]
- [Stealth Rock]
- [Taunt]
- [Explosion]

Ah, Azelf; the most overused lead in history. This Azelf plays only a slightly different role.

This guy's job is to set up rain and rocks, and then explode. What a depressing job.

Since I must run Damp Rock, I can't have a Focus Sash, so I must have as much bulk as possible in order to use both Rain Dance and Stealth Rock.

Taunt is to prevent the opposing lead from setting up rocks, something my team doesn't like. It occasionally can be used in different situations, but most of the time it is used as Anti-Stealth Rock.

Running only one form of offense on this Azelf was a tough decision to make. An Azelf like this can't use Fire Blast properly if it is to set up rain, so that limited me a little. In the end, I wanted Rain Dance, I wanted Stealth Rock, and I wanted Taunt. Only one move was to chosen, and Explosion just fit the role perfectly, as it can do massive damage to anything not named a ghost type, something Psychic and Thunderbolt fail to do. I also figured it was the appropriate move because Azelf never has a ton of HP left after I set up, so suicide doesn't really do much harm.

Jolly is to maximize my speed potential to the fullest.

At this point I'm not sure if running just Explosion for my offense is working. I often contemplate if I should remove Taunt for Thunderbolt, and Psychic over Explosion, seeing as Stealth Rock is pretty inevitable. Also, the most common Stealth Rockers are either as fast as or faster than me.

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Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest ( + Special Attack) ( - Attack)
EVs: 252 Special Attack; 140 Speed; 116 HP
- [Surf]
- [Energy Ball]
- [Ice Beam]
- [Focus Blast]

Ladies and Gentlemen: I give to you the most destructive member of my team. No, wait – the most destructive member of any team I have ever made. This is truly the VIP of my team. Under Rain, ludicolo only fears Blissey, whom is now horribly uncommon.

The EVs were created by yours truly. They allow me to outspeed a standard Scarf'd Zapdos (according to Smogon) by two points. The rest is dumped into HP, to give the already bulky Ludicolo some survivability.

Surf is my main move. It is an already powerful STAB move that gets STAB again under rain, so essentially Surf on this Ludicolo under rain has 218.5 power, almost as much Explosion. That will give you just a little idea of just how devastating it is.

The rest of its moves serve the purpose of killing off whatever counters Surf. Ice Beam covers those silly Dragon types I may face, while Energy Ball takes care of Bulky Waters. Just because Energy Ball isn't STAB'd by the rain doesn't mean you should underestimate it. ON the contrary, Energy Ball does about 75% to the average Suicune, while it can't do much to me.

Focus Blast may seem weird, but it does serve two very important purposes: it takes care of Tyranitar and Empoleon, Ludicolo's top two switch-ins.

Life Orb makes me even more powerful with a small price to pay. It is preferred over Leftovers due to the fact that I may have trouble with Bulky waters and Walls in general if I don't. With it, I blow right past them, shaving off more HP than they can recover.

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Bronzong @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Impish ( + Defense) ( Speed)
EVs: 252 HP; 24 Attack; 136 Defense; 96 Special Defense
- [Rain Dance]
- [Hypnoses]
- [Gyro Ball]
- [Explosion]

The second out of three rain abusers. Bronzong brings a great quantity of Defense and Special Defense onto my team. Plus, Bronzong has no weaknesses under rain.

Once again, this EV spread was created by me, so feel free to bash it all you want. I focused a little more on Defense than most Bronzongs normally do. Zapdos is there to absorb physical hits.

Hypnoses may seem like an unreliable move, but with its defenses, It's bound to hit at least once, which is a huge benefit to my team.

Gyro ball lets me KO some things that would normally set up on me, for instance, subbers that would substitute on the explosion.

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Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Adamant ( + Attack) ( - Special Attack)
EVs: 252 Attack; 116 Speed; 140 HP
- [Sward Dance]
- [Waterfall]
- [Aqua Jet]
- [Stone Edge]

This, like Ludicolo, is absolutely devastating. If I get a Sward Dance under rain, your hopes of victory are extremely low. With a Sward Dance boost, Kabutops almost KOs about everything in one hit, assuming Stealth Rock is down.

I was stumped when it came down to how much speed EVs I would invest in. I couldn't find any Pokemon that would be faster than this while at the same time posing a great threat to my team overall, any Pokemon but one. I noticed that a Choice Scarfed Celebi poses both a great threat to Kubatops and to my whole team, so I gave it just the right amount of speed EVs to outspeed a Modest, 252 Speed Celebi. But hold on one second, if I want this to outspeed Scarf'd Celebi, why don't I run X-scissor? The decision wasn't easy, but I concluded that running Stone Edge would prove to me more useful then X-scissor. Besides, Stone Edge OHKOs a Scarf'd Celebi after a Sward Dance, and does tons of damage to a regular one.

Aqua Jet isn't really for things faster than me; rather it's for Pokemon with priority moves, something that can easily ruin Kabutops' fun.

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Zapdos @ Damp Rock
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Bold ( + Defense) ( - Attack)
EVs: 252 HP; 220 Defense; 36 Special Attack
- [Rain Dance]
- [Roost]
- [Hidden Power Ice (70)]
- [Thunder]

Zapdos is my third and final member of my team whose role is to set up some good ol' rain. Zapdos is here because it counters Scizor, somewhat of a threat to my team, and it can abuse Thunder's 100% accuracy.

I felt absolutely no need for any Speed EVs, so I put some in Special Attack instead. It beefs up Thunder's power a little so it can do some damage itself. Occasionally I find myself sweeping a team before I even bring one of my sweepers in. That I like. Thunder also has a 30% chance of paralysis, which is a status my team can greatly benefit from.

Overall, Zados has great survivability when Roost is on the equation, but at the same time, it can deal some huge damage with Thunder.

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Kingdra @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Adamant ( + Attack) ( - Special Attack)
EVs: 252 Attack; 252 Speed; 4 HP
- [Dragon Dance]
- [Waterfall]
- [Outrage]
- [Substitute]

Kingdra's main job is to clean up a team after sweeping with Ludicolo / Kabutops, however, I will bring it in early in a match if I find a good opportunity to set up 'n' sweep,

Substitute and Lum Berry together may seem odd, but it is effective. The Lum Berry's role is to knock me out of confusion so I can use Outrage some more, while Substitute blocks Status.

Like my other sweepers, not much can stand up to Kindgra. It is a beast, to say the least.

Waterfall, STAB'd twice, has 160 power, meaning I am only stopped by Skarmory, even then do I do massive damage to it.

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Overall Opinion:

Notice that I choose three Rain abusers, and three sweepers, so I can start rain, do massive damage, start rain, do massive damage, start rain, and do massive damage. Such a form of battling is very intimidating, and catches most opponents off guard.

I am currently unsure why I have these little losing streaks; it could be completely my fault, or my team is somehow flawed. That is what I ask you to find for me.

Anyway, rate at will. The more the better. I appreciate comments as well.

[Red Veist]

Zapdos @ Damp Rock
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Bold ( + Defense) ( - Attack)
EVs: 252 HP; 220 Defense; 36 Special Attack
- [Rain Dance]
- [Roost]
- [Hidden Power Ice (70)]
- [Thunder]

In my Swim team I've been using Raikou over Zapdos although they both have 580 Base stat, Raikou has higher Sp. Def, higher speed and is also only week to ground over Zapdos's 2x Rock 2x Ice.



- Rain Dance
- Crunch / Rest / Substitute
- Hidden Power Ice / Crunch / Rest / Substitute
- Thunder

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For move 2 and 3 you have allot of options, I personally bring Crunch and Substitute.
Crunch as its good against a ghost type you may switch into
And Substitute to stall as you do extra DMG before the switch


Just my take on your team, but the team itself without improvement still looks solid

[Stratospheric Co...]

This team is great. I really see no need for improvement beside what was mentioned above.

[Wildivlax]

I say, don't have substitute without a move to go with it, like Focus Punch. And don't have Explosion. It may be the most powerful move ever, but it makes an easier win for your opponent if their Pokemon don't faint. And give Zapdos a Chesto berry. No Life Orb. It may make attacks more powerful, but I believe I remember it takes some HP to attack.

[Black Ice]

Substitute is to block status. Explosion is to get rid of powerful threats. Zapdos can use Life Orb because it has Roost.

Breeder Drew, don't post if you have nothing useful to say.

[Stratospheric Co...]

Substitute is to block status. Explosion is to get rid of powerful threats. Zapdos can use Life Orb because it has Roost.

Breeder Drew, don't post if you have nothing useful to say.

Ah okay. Thanks for the warning.

Okay here's what I would put for Raikou.

Raikou@Leftovers 252SPA 252SPE 4 HP modest

Substitute
Shadow Ball
Thunder
HP Grass

Substitute to set up for damage.
SB for sweeping.
Thunder for accuracy abuse
HP grass for any ground types slower then Raikou. Other then that switch out. That's all I have to say here. Good luck with it.