CloudBurst, A Team To Fear

Darkartisan

Darkartisan

After my search for the perfect team ending in flames, I was pretty down. After analyzing other teams, it seemed that Rain Dance could rip through many pokemon, although I will admit, setting up Rain Dance didn't seem appealing to say the least, until I came up with this.

CLOUDBURST
When it rains, it pours...
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Intro: So, I know what you're thinking. Standard rain dance team. Well, not exactly. 3 Steels, one Ground immunity, triple Toxic spike immunity, and Stealth rock doesn't hurt my pokemon too badly. ​

Strategy: The priority is to get Rain Dance up T1, and then proceed to sweep, although priorities change depending on the opponents assault. Stealth Rock is such a blessing due to the fact that anything with a sash is now not getting past, and OHKO'd. Most of my wins are 4-0s, although close games come down to 2-0s. Most bulky pokemon are 2hkod by Hydro Pump in the Rain, and frail sweepers dont get the chance to show their stuff. Enough chit chat, let's get on with the show!​

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Zapdos (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Def/252 SpA/6 Hp
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Thunder
-Roost
-Hp Grass
-Rain dance​

The suggestion of Zapdos over Bronzong really hit me. I needed something to explode on my counters, and I took a hard look at Jirachi. He didn't do much besides set up SR occassionally and Rain dance. Big deal, he may have gotten some lucky Paralyzations, but other than that, he wasn't much. Zapdos as a lead is really disgusting. The EV spread I decided to run is working perfectly. I don't need the speed because I can take hits. Many Scizor Leads expect me to Heat Wave them and switch to Heatran, as I get the free Rain Dance and can start spamming moves. Thunder is really great to hit through ninjask leads' Protect, it's great to see a newb say "Hey! Hax!"​

Key points:​
  • Sets up an 8 turn Rain dance​
  • Generally a bulky sweeper, gets through almost everything.​
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Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/16 Spd/240 SAtk
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Waterfall
- Signal Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump

Kingdra functions as my main wall breaker. He knocks down everything, whether it be Blissey, Skarmory, or Cresselia. He can also wrench those frail sweepers into mush. As long as Rain Dance is up, Kingdra will be sweeping. Signal beam is an overspecific way of taking out Celebi, I like this version the best.

Key Points:
  • Kingdra rips through everything
  • Also works as a stat up sweeper.
  • Takes out that nasty little punk Celebi
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Ludicolo (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA/252 Spe/6 Hp
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Energy Ball
- Ice Beam

The dancing duck. Ludicolo is my second Rain dancer. I went with a Modest nature because I needed maximum firepower, but the fact that I can't get around Blissey is starting to annoy me. Switching to Kingdra, taking a hit, losing a turn of Rain Dance, that's unacceptable. The nice thing about Ludi is that he is bulky, and usually is on the random number generators good side. With the help of thechocolatebunny, and Panamaxis, I decided to use the offensive, he fires bombs now. Thanks guys!

Key points:
  • Sets up an 8 turn Rain Dance
  • Gets around a key counter; Vaporeon
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Kabutops (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge

If Kabutops happens to switch into something that it scares, and gets the Swords Dance boost, it might as well be GG. A Life Orbed Kabutops hits 469 attack, and with STAB Aqua Jet, it wrecks everything, lest forget Swords Dance. Stone Edge is a great move against pokemon such as Vaporeon that resist my other moves. Aqua Jet is a nice Priority, and Waterfall is to prey on those slow Bulky pokemon and walls. The possibility of Stone Edge seems better though, not sure about this one. The threat of Toxic Spikes isn't as bad as it was in the last week, i'll be switching Qwilfish and Kabutops frequently, so bear with me.

Key Points:
  • 938 attack after an SD, factored with a priority move
  • Destroys walls, and when the rain is done, he usually has a Swords Dance.
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Bronzong @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/148 Atk/108 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Hypnosis
- Rain Dance

I'll be quite honest with you. The lack of an offensive move besides Explosion scares me, especially with the fact that Rotom H completely counters it. My third Rain Dancer almost always gets his job done, and I do love Hypnosis on him, the 60% accuracy isn't as bad as I would've thought. Stealth Rock was put in place of Reflect for obvious reasons.

Key points:
  • Bronzong sets up an 8 turn Rain dance
  • Explodes on counters
  • Often renders others useless with Hypnosis
  • Sets up Stealth Rock
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Scizor (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 30 HP/252 Atk/224 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Superpower

We finally come to the end. A double Priority Scizor. I don't think that I have to elaborate on the power of him, but I will explain my thoughts of this moveset over others. Bullet Punch is a great priority move, but many pokemon resist it, such as the fire pokemon that like to come in on me with 50% health. This is where the usefulness of Quick attack factors in. Quick attack gets rid of them, without having to switch, which is invaluable to this team. I originally ran Focus Sash Scizor, but it was quite gimmicky on this team due to the fact that fire moves are reduced 50%, they never OHKO'd me. Legacy Raider suggested a bulkier spread, and I liked it. It works well, especially with fire moves at 50% negative.

Key Points:
  • Scizor gets two priority moves to hurt everything
  • A great tech pokemon, especially late game to rid me of all those lucky pokemon that weren't OHKOd by my rain beasts.
Retired:

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Jirachi (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Thunder
-Water Pulse
-Rain Dance
-Stealth Rock

Yes, I have decided to retire my star. He was the reason Bronzong was bored and had nothing to do. Now Bronzong can set up Stealth Rock and Explode. He just didn't have the general bulkiness, and the fact that he was a lead weak to Ground attacks really tore him apart. My new lead is honestly classier as a Rain dance lead.
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Qwilfish (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab
- Explosion

Qwilfish is both a tech pokemon(meaning utility), and a sweeper. Qwilfish hits 412 Atk, and with a Swords Dance, he is now at 824 Atk, which is still potent. He also absorbs Tspikes, which can actually be a helath risk for all of my pokemon that get touched by it. Poison jab still OHKOs Celebi also. Thanks LR!

Key Points:
  • 824 attack after an SD
  • Destroys walls, and when the rain is done, he usually has a Swords Dance.
  • Absorbs Toxic Spikes
 
Offensive Threat List
Updating in a couple hours, switched to Qwilfish.

Aerodactyl: Usually a lead, Jirachi loves these.

Alakazam: Scizor gets around it, along with Kingdra.

Azelf: I get the setup, take the flmaethrower at 50%, and i'm fine.

Breloom: I've always hated this stupid pokemon, but Kingdra gets around it as long as someone takes the sleep.

Dragonite: He doesn't even get an attack...

Dugtrio: Kabutops aqua jet drowns his hopes.

Electivire: Even in the Rain, kingdra deals around 87% to him, he gets a free hit, and I finish him off. Nothing other than a pest.

Empoleon: If it sets up, I could be in for it. Jirachi and Ludicolo can stall it, hope for the knockout.

Flygon: See Dragonite

Gengar: Not a problem, none of my team is weak to any of its attacks.

Gyarados: In the rain, Jirachi gets the Thunder knockout.

Heatran: It's a rain team...

Heracross: Scizor can usually deal with it when it's hit by SR, Kingdra knocks it out with Hydro Pump.

Infernape: See Heatran

Jirachi: Can't stand it. Flinchhax is horrible, and Kingdra can get the 2hko, but depends on the flinching.

Jolteon: He's usually specced, which is when I can bring in Kingdra and knock it out, Tbolt doesn't do much to Kingdra.

Kingdra: Could Prove lethal...

Latias: See Dragonite

Lucario: Too frail to do anything.

Machamp: I have to revenge it.

Magnezone: The nonbulky choice scarf versions don't do anything to me, the bulky version could get the paralysis, but that's all I worry about against it.

Mamoswine: Waterfall his face in.

Metagross: again, Kingdra gets the 2hko.

Porygon-Z: Knocked by Kabutops, Kingdra, Ludicolo...

Rhyperior: Nothing to my team at all, OHKOd by Kabutops, Kingdra, Ludicolo...

Salamence: See Dragonite...

Scizor: Too frail to do anything.

Starmie: Signal beam wrecks it.

Togekiss: Flinchhax suck, but at worst I 2hko it.

Tyranitar: Scizor OHKOs with bullet punch.

Weavile: Scizor, and again, he's too frail to do anything.

Yanmega: Scizor can cocounter it, takes the air slash like a "bug man" and wrecks it.

Defensive Threat List:

Blissey: Ridiculously annoying, Kingdra gets the 2hko, although Softboiled is soo annoying.

Bronzong: 2hko from Ludicolo

Celebi: Kingdra gets the OHKO with Signal Beam, Kabutops gets the OHKO with X scissor.

Cresselia: Kingdra and Kabutops will wear it down, 3hko at WORST

Donphan: Rain dance team, Ludicolo counters it

Foretress: The only concern here is when it's going to explode.

Gliscor: Rain Dance team

Skarmory: Kingdra OHKO's with Hydro Pump.

Snorlax: Scizors Superpower.

Suicune: I hate this thing. I always have to explode on it and finish it with Ludicolo.

Swampert: 2hko with Kingdra.

Tentacruel: Just takes a while, but I can wear it down and tear it apart.

Vaporeon: Ludicolo counters it.

Zapdos: See Tentacruel.
 
Team building:

I wanted a team that could get around the common OU threats and OHKO,and 2hko them. I ended up choosing rain dance. Fire wasn't going to be doing anything in the rain, so steel pokemon seemed like the best candidates to set up for me.

I started with an Azelf lead, but it died too quickly @ Damp rock, and TTar negated it when it was sashed. I also tested Bronzong, but found him to be much better late game. I ended up choosing Jirachi, he gets the paralyzation, confusion, and he sets up RD and Stealth rocks.
So now I needed a couple abusers of Rain dance. Kingdra is a staple, so I decided with it. I started with a special set, but went against it when I was constantly switching from Blissey., and chose a Mixdra.]

Now I needed a Physical sweeper, and I wanted priority. I started with Qwilfish, but I found that he was just used for explosion, so I decided to test Kabutops, who I loved using. Swords Dancing and then ripping everything apart was the best.
Ludicolo is another Rain Dance staple, I saw the Physical version, but it seemed too gimmicky. I went with the standard rain support but switched to a modest nature for a bit more attack power. Ludi was bulky enough at the moment.

I saw Bronzong when I was against another Rain Dancing team, and I was awestruck when I saw it switch in on me and set up rain dance, cripple me, and then knock out my Kingdra, I had to have one for myself. As for my last sweeper, Scizor had only one weakness, and that was reduced 50% by Rain Dance. I saw the opening and he just fit perfectly.

That's how I ended up using this team
 
I faced you a few times today under various alts, and so I think I can give quite an experienced rate, having seen what your team can do first hand.

I saw you were testing Qwilfish in the slot that Kabutops currently occupies. Personally, I think this is a good choice. You may have 3 Toxic Spikes immunities on your team, but they are all on your supporters, and your sweepers themselves are very vulnerable to Toxic Spikes. By running a SD Qwilfish over Kabutops, you retain the ability to sweep with a dangerous physical attacker, the power to OHKO Celebi (with an SD Poison Jab), and a strong Explosion to boot. Rain teams always have trouble with opposing stall teams, and especially teams that run Toxic Spikes. Right now, an opposing sashed Roserade lead would mean that you pretty much lose there and then, as your sweepers won't be able to stay alive long enough to do anything significant. The Qwilfish set I think you should use is:

Qwilfish @ Life Orb
Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab
- Explosion

The STAB combo of poison and water is only resisted by Tentacruel and Empoleon, and you can blow up on both to take them out. Like I said, its poison type will be invaluable in soaking up Toxic Spikes, and will help you out against stall teams immensely.

Bronzong doesn't need Stealth Rock in that slot, and you can use it to set up a Light Screen or Reflect instead of having a redundant SR. Jirachi is a reliable lead and will get the rocks up more often than not. I would go with Reflect in that slot, allowing your sweepers to take priority attacks better. It will afford your Qwilfish some protection as it SDs up.

Scizor is running 2 priority attacks, so it really doesn't need all that speed. Magnezone will be faster than a max speed Adamant Scizor if it tries to trap you, so all your speed EVs won't help you there. I suggest you go with a 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe spread, putting you faster than Skarmory and everything that EVs to outspeed it (CB Tyranitar, CB Machamp, Metagross, etc). The HP EVs will also help you take weak attacks like Scarf Magnezone's HP Fire in the rain, as well as things like Zapdos' Heat Wave and Thunderbolt.

Good luck with your team.
 
Ahh, another excellent rate. Right after I posted this, I went 4 battles and lost 1 to a Tspike frenzy, you were right, My kingdra lasted all but 3 turns. The Life Orb and Tspike damage stacks >.>
I'll change Stealth Rock to Reflect, great idea there. I'll also post a more "bulky" scizor spread.

The whole Qwilfish vs Kabutpos thing is quite intriguing.

Kabutops:
  • Priority move to stop my odd lead Charizard weak
  • Stronger yet slower
Qwilfish:
  • Absorbs Toxic Spikes
  • Explosion to stop counters
  • Faster yet Weaker
Chose Qwilfish, the Tspike factor was too much to give up.
 
To be honest, this is a great team so I can only suggest minor changes. I'd suggest give ludicolo max sp. atk so he can dish out as much damage as possible, this is especially crucial on rain teams as you can't waste turns. If blissey is really troubling you with ludicolo, you could add focus punch > rain dance and use a different nature. Then you could use rain dance over signal beam on kingdra. RaikouLover uses this same team with azelf over jirachi and he told me that hydro pump + Draco Metoer will kill celebi, so signal beam is not needed.

Anyway, nice team sorry i couldnt give a more indepth rate, this team is that good.
 
Thanks alot for the rate, it was a request so I really appreciate it. I can see Ludicolo with Max Sp Atk, that would work out really well. I like the idea of Focus Punch over Rain Dance, but Ludicolo is such a great rain dancer, that I dont think that it would be worth it.

I gave Raikoulover that team, lol. Yeah, Azelf isn't as good a lead imo because he is too frail. I also had a discussion with him about this team, although the problem is that Celebi isn't OHKO'd, which means that I will get crippled, and it will lead down to me being screwed in the long run.

Anyways, I really appreciate the rate.
 
i agree with panamaxis, change ludicolo to an offensive set

you can still keep RD only for 5 turns, still a 306 spA + LO ludicolo with STAB surf/hydropump and a grass move to take down waters is extremely dangerous, ludicolo also outspeeds +1 adamant salamence which kingdra can handle and bronzong can explode on but when I ran the offensive set I found many salamence users where unaware that ludicolo would be faster
 
Generic rain team- not much sets it apart from others. Not that that's a problem.
Do this:

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Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk/16 Spd/240 SAtk
Naughty nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Hydro Pump

Honestly, i can't believe you even considered signal beam. You've really paid attention to your celebi weak- so congratulations, you no longer have a celebi problem.
Waterfall is physical STAB and abuses rainy dragon dances. Outrage as well. Hydro Pump seems superfluos, extra, and stupid, but its not. With Hydro Pump your Skarm fears melt away like a Vaporeon in water. Aaaah, what a relaxing image.
Ludicolo handles your special stuff, Qwilfish the physical. Here's your mix.
Destroys anybody unprepared. Hits everything at least neutral except Empoleon and Shedinja. But I'm not about to say you have a Shedinja weakness.

GL with your generic rain team =). <---- mole or period?
 
Hmm, i'll have to test that Kingdra set, I was thinking of running a double dancer, but I didn't want to take away from my ability to sweep. I saw the opening for Dragon dance, it looks great. Thanks alot, looking forward to tesing it.
 
This looks a lot like my OU Rain Dance team, only Jirachi is probably a better lead than my Azelf.
Either way, DD Kingdra is the way to go. Outrage is a last stand kind of move IMO, so I run Ice Beam over Hydro Pump, as +1 Atk Orbed Waterfall in the Rain 2hkos Skarm anyway, and being able to hit Celebi for a good 35-45% without locking yourself in is a plus. Honestly, Celebi is 100 times the threat to a Rain Dance team that Skarm is. Also KOs other Grasses like Breloom, and disposes of Mence, all while still being able to switch.
The rest of the team looks pretty solid, Rain Dance rocks.
 
To all the people who are suggesting darkartisan run Dragon Dance on Kingdra... honestly, in a rain dance team, you have no need for it. This is the set I would recommend, and I'll explain why afterwards:

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Naughty
252 Atk / 240 SpA / 16 Spe

- Waterfall
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor

This is a rain dance team, and Dragon Dance Kingdra has very little use in it. DD Kingdra is a decent sweeper outside the rain, but when you have this excellent beneficial field effect on your side, it becomes very redundant indeed. MixDra is definitely the way to go darkartisan =). Think about it - Dragon Dance over Rain Dance here will increase the power of... Waterfall, yes. DD gives +1 to waterfall and +1 to Kingdra's speed; Rain Dance gives +1 to Waterfall, +1 to Hydro Pump, and +2 to Kingdra's speed. It also supports the rest of the team, as they can use the rain that Kingdra provides, and vice versa. Signal Beam doesn't have much use here, because as somebody pointed out, as Hydro Pump + Draco Meteor will take Celebi out, as will SR + Waterfall + Draco Meteor on average.

Why would people waste time DDing up and using Outrage when Waterfall is just as strong in the rain? Make the most of it and go mixed ^_^.
 
Right, i'll edit it now. Signal beam is gone, i'll switch to Rain dance. I hjave found that Life Orb damage on Ludicolo really hurts it more than it helps it, so I switched to Damp Rock. At the moment Bronzong seems like dead weight, besides the explosion nothing happens. His hypnosis misses too much to even think of me using it, looking for a replacement. Any suggestions?
 
I could test Zapdos, although the fact that explosion on Bronzong is a huge factor there. I am still unsure about running Rain Dance Kingdra, it really doesn't do much because he's too slow to get the free setup.

I could run this:

Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 188 Atk/252 SpA/64 Spe
Rash Nature
- Waterfall
- Hydro Pump
- Dragon Dance
- Draco Meteor/Ice Beam

It seems like it would work. Zapdos seems like an option, i'll have to test it tomorrow, unless someone could do the dirty work for me *shuffles hands*
 
I really don't like the idea of a fire move on a Rain team, especially when Zapdos only uses Heat Wave for steels, and in this case Thunder is more than enough to suffice. This allows you to run Roost to keep atleast one Rain Dancer alive, as one Explodes and the other doesn't have recovery. Zapdos is also going to be the only thing you want switching into Scizor, so it helps with that as well.

Another problem I see is when you run into the diverse Blissey set with Thunder Wave, as every single one of your pokes is vulnerable to it. She gets free switchins to Zapdos and Ludicolo, forces them to switch out, then paralyzes whatever comes in. Granted, you can just keep switching in the same pokemon, but residual damage + Seismic Toss is going to hurt this team, especially with all of the Life Orbs and lack of recovery.

I think a CB Dugtrio could work well on this team, trapping Tyranitar and Blissey, the two pokemon who could cause this team some trouble. The former mainly due to its ability, but the latter will paralyze a lot of stuff before going down. If you haven't had trouble with these pokemon, then omit what I just said about Dugtrio, lol.



Overall, it looks like an effective team and if you aren't having problems with Blissey / Celebi / Zapdos Thunder Waves, then omit what I
 
imo, Heat Wave on Zapdos isnt really helping. that is unless you plan to try to take on Bronzong with it at the start of the battle, since you plan to have rain going as often as you can. I'd replace it with either Roost, to take on opponents later, since your Zapdos is a little bulky, or U-Turn to cause some damage and scout after a Rain Dance.
 
Wow, you're raped by just about everything it seems. I fail to see why everyone is giving you all these amazing rates. Okay, well take it from the top I guess. First off your lead is somewhat odd. It's a bulky slow Dancer, which is great as a back up dancer, but not as effective as a lead. You get screwed over by CB Tars, as they will either take out your lead, while you get a Rain Dance in. Or they will force a switch, and then get the upper hand when you switch to your bronzong.

I'd reccomend that you run a fast lead, Azelf prefferibly as a rain dancer. Slap in your Zapdos as a defensive wall over Scizor so you're not totally fucked by Lucario/Gallade/ any fighter??? That's the thing that really stands out, you have 1 fighing resist, and absolutely 0 pokemon that can actually outspeed and take a +2 Close Combat. And jesus christ, throw roost in on your zapdos, you don't need Heat Wave or HP grass on it. Your Ludicolo rapes every ground pokemon out there, it's pointless on Zapdos. HP Ice would benefit you a lot more imo, it'll be a decent switch into Choiced Flygon/ and DD Mence and Gyarados who can screw you up as well. If you say you outspeed with Rain Dance, I'll say simply say, "They have a Tyranitar."

For your Kingdra, I would say go with a purely Sp. Attacking Kingdra. Assuming you know how to play this game your Bronzong should take out blissey no problem, and if worst comes to worst, your Qwilfish/Kabutops can. All out Sp. kingdra is probably the best pokemon when it comes to abusing rain. Trust me from experience, I got to second with RaikouLovers rain dance team, it's a fucking monster. It can absolutely tear teams up. Life Orb + Rain + all that Sp. Attack will really screw up many teams.

As for your Ludicolo, slap a life orb on it. You have 2 Damp Rock users, and 4/5 Rain dancers. There is no need for this to be on it. Life Orb will get you that much needed power, and it's a great way to help free up the game for Ludicolo and Qwilfish. Ice Beam/ Energy Ball/ Surf will be a great moveset on him, and he is probably gonna be getting the most kills for you.

Drop Kabutops for a Qwilfish imo. Who cares if you have immunities when all your sweepers are fucked by it. That's just stupid logic in my opinion. If you're gonna run a Rain Team, you win your games by hitting harder than they can take it, for that to happen you need to set up the game in your favor, which means, basically no T Spikes, no T-Tar or Hippo on other team, no Blissey. You have very few ways to accomplish any of those, and probably 0% chance at doing that all toghether right now. Qwilfish will absorb TSpikes, take out bliss, screw up Tar, and can take out Hippo with Explosion or Waterfall which ever you feel like really. But the thing that will help you the most is him absorbing the toxic spikes. That is really the only thing that can beat this team 100%. You can play around Tar and Bliss, but you CAN'T play around TSpikes without that.

That's basically it. I'll check back in later, it's late right now so this rate might be a bit off. Good Luck
 
I'd suggest changing zapdos's defence evs into HP, you lose a little bit of defensive bulk, but you gain a lot of special defensive bulk.

Seconding changing kabutops into qwilfish.
 
Thanks alot for the rate SOT, Panamaxis, and Jigokujin. SOT, You make a good point about special Kingdra. I'll just have to keep testing.

CBDugtrio sounds good, but I don't think I have a spot for him. The thing about it is that if I do use Dugtrio, I will use Special Kingdra. The reason I have been losing often is due to the fact that Blissey and Tyranitar screw my gameplan, my team is really done when I get Twaved. Machamp has also been giving me trouble, which is why Azelf seems appealing. If I switch Zapdos over Scizor, I wouldn't lose much coverage as I used him mainly for Tyranitar.

Kabutops gives me priority, which has saved me in tight situations. Not sure what to do...

EDIT: Tested Special Kingdra. It sucks. Bliss comes in on it, if I switch I get twaved, if I don't I can't hurt it. I am going to test it with Dugtrio, to see if this will actually work, although I have to see who to replace...

I really like Dugtrio, but I am still unsure whether to Choice Band him or Scarf him.

It seems that Azelf dies the first turn, as Tyranitar leads Pursue or Crunch, Metagross rape it with Meteor Mash, etc. Then I have Dugtrio, who is good and all, but is so damn frail that he can't take a hit. Then Special Kingdra, the only thing good about him is that he outspeeds other Kingdra, which Mixdra can do if I modify the evs a bit.

I really really like Signal Beam on Kingdra. It gets around a key counter; Celebi, which is gamechanging. The thing I liked about my original team was that it was fast and bulky, but with Dugtrio and Azelf, my team loses all that bulkiness. My idea of Rain dance would be to be able to take hits and then OHKO back, but in this case, it's OHKO and run to something that can take a hit, and when that bulky wall dies, it's practically a loss every game.
 
Interesting thread, as I am testing out various rain-themed teams myself. First, I recommend Roost over Heat Wave (After writing this whole thing I realized that two people have already made this suggestion). Everyone expects Heat Wave Zapdos, so what do you do when they you ACTUALLY use Heat Wave instead of Rain Dance on the Heatran switch you mentioned? If you never do, then it's useless. If you do use Rain Dance first, then Heat Wave, well, sucks. It adds some of the desired bulk you were talking about, and may let you play around some of the slow times when you aren't sweeping with Swift Swimmers.

Secondly, I'd put Rain Dance over Dragon Dance on Kingdra. Now that his only physical move is Waterfall, and he mainly operates in the rain, DD's usefulness is reduced. You could add Outrage over Draco or Hydro Pump and keep DD, which is nice for a quick setup out of rain or something, or you could remove DD for Rain Dance for a quick speed+attack increase and some team support.

This is a well-thought out, yet fairly typical Rain Dance team.
 
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