Azelf(Rain Dance and Dual Screen)

[manav95]

Azelf
[SET]
name: Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Light Screen
move 3: Reflect
move 4: Taunt/Explosion
item: Damp Rock/Light Clay
nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
Why this set deserves to be on site:
A combination of Rain Dance and Screens can be beneficial to a Rain Dance team
There is no Rain Dance Azelf set analysis
Is faster than most leads
Most effective as a lead
Additional comments:
Not very many opponents can take it on when screens are up
Explosion helps take out anything that stops a Rain Dance sweep like Vaporeon whereas Taunt helps against those trying to set up on Azelf
Teammates and Counters:
Dragon Dance Kingdra and DD Gyara are the best teammates as both can DD behind screens and can use the rain to jack up the power of their Waterfall. DD Dragonite is also helped with the screens. LO Starmie appreciates the boost its water STAB gets and the more bulk. Generally many Pokemon that like to set up and don't have Fire attacks benefit from it.
Hippowdon and Tyranitar are the major ones as they activate sandstorms.
Choice Scarf Jirachi is another one as they can just Iron Head to victory. Metagross can also dent Azelf greatly with Bullet Punch.

 

[Chillarmy]

Azelf's leading capabilities can also shine in setting up Rain Dance or Sunny Day on weather based teams.

Rain Dance and Sunny Day are already mentioned in OC and the set in the OP is incredibly similar to the DS set on site, so I don't see why this deserves its own write-up. I mean, it doesn't take much thought to set up Rain Dance and explode on shit then switch in a Rain Dance sweeper. Furthermore, this set is wasting too many turns setting stuff up because no matter what the item choice is, you're going to be wasting two out of 5 possible turns of support. IMO, I don't see why a simple combination of Azelf + Bronzong wouldn't be just as effective, if not even more effective, than this set. Azelf can just Taunt, get Rain Dance and Stealth Rock up while Bronzong can get dual screens up at any other point in the game; both Pokemon can just explode and punch holes for Rain Dance sweepers to benefit from.

EDIT: And it's not like there's much variety in Swift Swim sweepers (Ludicolo, Kabutops, Quilfish, and Kingdra are the only ones that immediately come to mind as threatening in OU) so there's almost always enough room to fit in another Rain Dancer if that's an issue.

 

[Phantom_IV]

While Azelf works well with RD or Dual Screens, it doesnt do well with both because it can only hold one item. 3 turns of rain/screens is not enough for a proper sweep. Not to mention most Rain teams don't need screens and most DS teams aren't centered around rain.

 

[kokoloko]

Unless "Damp Clay" exists, this set is not worth it. It tries to do too much.

 

[manav95]

Any suggestions to make it better?

 

[Fatecrashers]

Any suggestions to make it better?

There's really no way to make this set itself better. Either stick with the Dual Screen set in the analysis or go for a pure Rain Dancer with a set like Rain Dance/Explosion/Taunt/Stealth Rock or U-turn. Either way running both screens and Rain Dance on Azelf doesn't work.

 

[remlabmez]

rejecting for obvious reasons as already stated in this thread

QC REJECTED (1/3)

 

[Seven Deadly Sins]

rejecting for obvious reasons as already stated in this thread

QC REJECTED (2/3)

 

[Setsuna]

I agree. We already have a Double Screen Azelf on the site, and the other moves mentioned in the OP of this thread have its space in OC. There's really no need to write a whole set just to underline a few different details. Locking.