A bit of a wet blanket - Standard team

[DrunkenSniper]

So I've been playing with a rain team extensively recently (the is Swampert losing its effectiveness? thread and an argument with a 'friend' (he was saying Ninjask was good) got me inspired to make a Mixpert team. So far, it's been pretty successful, but every time a certain pokémon or two show up, something goes horribly wrong. Which is why I'm here to ask for some help to touch up my new favourite team. Plus rain is probably my favourite DP weather.

ProtectGao (Jirachi) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP/76 Def/116 SAtk/76 SDef
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- U-turn
- Rain Dance
- Water Pulse
- Wish

A little status vulnerable, but Jirachi set-up lead, otherwise. May replace the rock for a lum berry.
Sets up rain, then provides a bulky U-Turn and ties tanky heatrans with enough IVs to hit 190 speed.
Rain Dance/U-Turn is so very useful, allowing me to quickly get a hard hitter in.

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GaiGar (Deoxys-e) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 120 Atk/160 Spd/230 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Superpower
- Psycho Boost
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot

Due to a surging hatred for Scarfgar, this is in here. Naive, because that's the nature of the Deoxys I have in my box, and also 'cause I face more physical threats. Ice Beam/Grass Knot are great Revenge Kills/Swamper Lead Kills and anything flimsy (read: Ninjask/Gengar) dies to Psycho Boost. Psycho Boost also cripples most switch-ins that aren't pink, which eats Superpower.
I can see why a lot of nubs think Speed is uber; People have a habit of thinking Sweepers are the way to stop it, lol.

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BrokenGao (Kingdra) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 120 HP/136 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]

As I mentioned with Swampert, STAB Rain Boosted Pump is insane. I can accept the accuracy loss for completely obliterating most switch-ins.
HP Elec due to a recent hate for Vaporeon, though it doesn't really do enough damage. =(
I prefer the special set because I'm a gorebyss fanatic and find the raw power essential.
I also find her handy because water that doesn't care about electric too much, and grass neutrality is nice.
Whilst Kingdra can't switch into Dragons, Dragons have a hard time switching into this team in general.

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GadgetGao (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/120 Def/60 SAtk/78 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunder
- Roost
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roar

Thunder. =D
Rain is love, and so is Bulky Zapdos, my favourite staller. HP Ice has proven to be more useful than Grass or Substitute after a period of testing.
Roar because people think Ninjask is good, and I like the comfort of having it.
Sadly, as much as I love Zappy, there's something lacking about it.
It provides useful switch-in options, which my team sorely lacks.

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SpiralGao (Kabutops) (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 24 HP/252 Atk/232 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- X-Scissor
- Stone Edge
- Rain/Swords Dance

Secondary rain hitter. I hate how Shallow 'tops's movepool is, but I'm just gonna have to grin and bear it. I could put Swords Dance over rain dance, though.
2HKOs Max HP/Def Blissey, though it needs the rain to do so. Not really happy with him just yet.

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StraightGao (Heracross) (F) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Reversal
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn

If u wal dis teem u aer porbablyy hera waek111!1!
Thanks to Rain Dance, I don't need to worry about Hippos, Dinosaurs and Killer Trees ruining Hera's Reversalling fun. I like Substitute because it lets me set up Swords Dance whilst I'm at it, but this also means SR can cause problems, and I can't switch Hera into anything. Lame. =(
Actually, Jirachi can help that a little now. :D
Naturally, he's the late game sweeper for clearing up anything Kingdra doesn't. There are only two issues I have with Hera, and that's that Blissey manages to hang around until then, and this really impairs the effectiveness of my team.

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aaand that's it. 'cause I'm such a Shoddy team builder, I'd thought I'd come here before testing it more extensively (so far it's good, but some pokes feel a little redundant, and I still gets owned by Blissey =( )

I've highlighted the following pokémon as troublemakers:

Blissey, Lucario (SD Variants), Vaporeon, Venasaur.

I'm trying to find a way to eliminate these threats AND keep rain up, and that isn't easy. I'd also probably need some help in tuning up the overall durability/switchability of this team.

Go ahead, tear it apart, and thanks in advance.​

 

[GB_Packers_Ftw]

Consider Damp Rocks on your dancers, and If you dont want to keep Ludicolo might i suggest a rain dance version of Kabutops. It hits pretty hard with a stab rain boosted waterfall, and with swift swim its pretty fast. You might wana look into it :) It also can pack X scizzor for celebi if it takes out your hera (which i doubt bc yours is jolly) But Also can pack brick break for your blissey problems. Kabutops isn't going to be the most durable thing that you have but it does its job. If you want to throw a CB on it im sure it would work, and you could expand your moveset. I think that he will work well in this setting especially with zapdos behind him who covers alot of his weaknesses pretty good. Fighting, Grass, Ground... Otherwise it looks awesome :)

 

[RaikouLover]

Nice team. However, I wouldn't lead with Deoxys, as it's best suited for revenge killing when your rain dies. Your team wants Bronzong desprately, as it is a nice transition switch for rain teams most of the time, can lay down rocks, and provide you with a nice 8 turn rain dance. Jirachi can work as well, and has the benefit of wish and can have a slow U-turn to get kindra in to start fucking shit up.

I would replace Swampert, as he really doesn't add anything to a rain team except an extra celebi weakness. I would change Kingdra to a Mixed varient, as you cannot rely on Heracross to beat blissey, and Deoxys-E isn't reliable as T-wave scares it away.

I would also probably switch Heracross to a Choice Bander, as it can abuse guts and absorb status for the team, because as of right now, Nothing on your team really wants to switch into Blissey.

With all that being said, I would change Ludicolo to a second rain dance abusing sweeper, or add Something like Kabutops to abuse rain on the physical side, while also having the benefit of surviving in the sand, which is something rain needs to be able to do.

 

[DrunkenSniper]

Hm.

I'll try dropping Swampy for Jirachi and leading with that, and switching 'colo out for Kabutops. If it works well, I'll make the amendments in here.