Hi
SWAMPERGATOR! I think the front half of this team has the right idea going, but as
HeatEdgeSword correctly pointed out, there's a lot of optimisations you could still make to the team to transform it from a somewhat low-ladder team to a truly successful team. I'll be agreeing with his rate a lot, so you may notice some similarities between what I'm going to say and his rate, but I hope to more clearly explain why making each of these changes would help your team out.
Firstly, Protect is indeed an important move in Doubles. While it's not immediately obvious, Protect has a lot of applications, like stalling out opposing Tailwind or Trick Room (both of which are significant vulnerabilities on Rain), or even preserving your key Pokemon while your opponent wastes their turn targeting it (thereby letting your ally get important damage in).
With that out of the way, here's a quick before-and-after showing what I'll be doing with your team. Most of the suggestions are the same as HeatEdgeSword's, but again I'll be explaining everything a bit more (and I'm suggesting a different Kyurem-B).
1.
Pelipper
There's not many changes to make here. Firstly, I'd suggest using Protect over U-turn; in general, U-turn doesn't really do much, since Pelipper isn't bulky enough and doesn't have a very good defensive typing so it can't act as a strong defensive pivot. If you need to preserve Pelipper to bring the Rain again later in the match, you could realistically just switch it straight out. There's not much else to change about this set, so good job! :) One thing you could consider is Hydro Pump over Scald, but if you don't want to miss out on a crucial hit, Scald is good enough for most purposes.
2.
Ferrothorn
On Rain teams, Toxic isn't really a good move because you're aiming to OHKO or 2HKO most things anyway, so Toxic is only adding another 6-18% damage at most, which isn't a ton. Against Pokemon which you could realistically stall out late-game, Leech Seed is sufficient to stall them out, so Toxic isn't really necessary. Instead, here's a more standard Ferrothorn set:
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed / Stealth Rock
- Protect
Unlike with your set, I'm using Power Whip Ferrothorn; this is actually pretty good because Rain teams easily get walled by Water-types like Tapu Fini and Rotom-Wash, and sometimes Gastrodon, which even has Storm Drain to soak up your Water-type hits. Power Whip easily 2HKOs all these threats, which is extremely valuable on a Rain team. On the other hand, Gyro Ball lets Ferrothorn do consistent damage, and can also help to break through other defensive threats like Kyurem-B and Tapu Bulu. Leech Seed and Stealth Rock are both helpful on Ferrothorn; the former is good for those one-on-one late-game scenarios where you can just stall out opposing teams, while Stealth Rock is good chip damage to break potentially troublesome Focus Sashes before your Swift Swim users break through a team. You could even drop Protect to use both of these moves, though obviously that makes it harder to effectively play Ferrothorn since you lose that option of stalling a turn for Leech Seed recovery. Let me know what works for you!
3.
Mega Swampert
I think you have the right idea with Mega Swampert as a strong Rain sweeper, but unfortunately your moveset doesn't really benefit it. Body Slam isn't a very powerful move, and it doesn't hit anything that Mega Swampert can't hit harder with its other three moves; similarly, Avalanche provides a strong Ice-type move, but it has a
decreased priority, which means that despite Swampert's extremely high speed after Swift Swim, it'll be moving last, which kind of defeats the purpose of a Swift Swim sweeper. Therefore, I'm recommending this set to better take advantage of Mega Swampert's extreme power and speed:
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Damp
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Superpower / Ice Punch
- Protect
This set is pretty self-explanatory, with the only big choice being on the third slot. Superpower gives you a way to nail Ferrothorn with an extremely strong hit, dealing about 70% to most variants. This is important because the rest of your team doesn't really have great ways to hit Ferrothorn, while it can Power Whip most of your Water-types for strong damage, which makes it a big threat. On the other hand, Ice Punch is always a good form of coverage, but unlike Avalanche it doesn't make Swampert move last, so you can outrun and snipe targets like Mega Salamence and Zygarde.
4. Ludicolo -->
Kingdra
Rain Dish Ludicolo doesn't really fit in with the rest of the Rain archetype; healing yourself every turn with the Rain isn't very helpful when (a) Ludicolo isn't very bulky, and (b) Ludicolo isn't really doing much damage to the opponent each turn. This means that you can't really make much progress in the battle, so Ludicolo isn't really doing much for you. Rather, I think having a secondary Swift Swim user could be strong here, as it means you can afford to play each one a bit more aggressively.
That said, if we're going offensive, Kingdra is definitely a stronger Pokemon than Swift Swim Ludicolo, as it can hit marginally harder but also has a much better move—Muddy Water hits both members of your opponent's side, so it makes prediction a bit easier as you don't have to decide what to hit, or try to play around Protect. You can just click Muddy Water most turns and deal a lot of damage, as long as you play around Wide Guard. This also lets you play around Storm Drain, which is a big pain for most Rain teams. Here's a sample set:
Kingdra @ Waterium Z
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump / Substitute
- Protect
The Waterium Z means that if needed, Kingdra can turn its Muddy Water into a single-target move, which is ideal for dealing a huge burst of damage to a single target; for example, if you're up against a Wide Guard Aegislash, you can use Hydro Vortex to take it out of commission while it tries to Wide Guard expecting a Muddy Water. As for the third move, Hydro Pump is a strong option for a single-target move you can use repeatedly, and it also makes Hydro Vortex stronger; on the other hand, Substitute is pretty good if you can predict correctly—Kingdra tends to force a lot of Protects as your opponent struggles to get into a good position, so you can use those free turns to set up a Substitute to make your position even better.
5. Goodra -->
Kyurem-B
The thing about Goodra is that while it's really good at soaking up hits, it's not very strong when hitting in return. Furthermore, Rain teams generally aim to hit hard and fast, overpowering opposing defensive cores with sheer damage, and as such Goodra kind of gets in the way of your own team and eats up your own "momentum". Kyurem-B, on the other hand, isn't as bulky, but it hits really, really hard. Rain teams tend to struggle with strong Grass-types like Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss, both of which are absolutely mauled by Kyurem-B's strong Ice Beams; it also has a generally strong matchup against Charizard-Y, which it can OHKO with Fusion Bolt, and it can just deal generally strong hits with Draco Meteor. Here's the specific set I'm suggesting:
Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 20 Atk / 252 SpA / 12 SpD / 224 Spe
Rash Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
This set:
- OHKOs Tapu Bulu and most non-Sassy Amoonguss with Ice Beam
- OHKOs Celesteela most Tapu Fini in Electric Terrain (see Tapu Koko) with Fusion Bolt
- Outspeeds Adamant Landorus-T and OHKOs it (duh)
- is never OHKO'd by a Tapu Fini Moonblast, unless it's used Calm Mind or has Choice Specs
6. Vaporeon -->
Tapu Koko
You already have three other Water-types on your team, so adding Vaporeon is pretty irrelevant. Like I said with Goodra, the aim of Rain teams are to get out damage fast and hard, and having a cleric in Vaporeon is more of a Singles concept, since you can realistically end a game fast enough that Heal Bell or Wish won't be necessary. In this case, I've suggested Tapu Koko for two reasons: firstly, you can take advantage of your Rain to hit with extremely powerful Thunders, and secondly, Tapu Koko's Electric Surge combines very well with Kyurem-B's Fusion Bolt, letting it put that immense Attack stat to even better use. Fusion Bolt boosted by Electric Terrain is really strong, and it's capable of OHKOing bulky Pokemon like Celesteela and Tapu Fini, as well as a lot of Pokemon which aren't even weak to it like Tapu Lele and Volcarona. Here's a strong Life Orb set for you:
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt / Volt Switch
- Protect
You'll notice the third move is either Taunt or Volt Switch—I think Tapu Koko is a good pivot and can thus use Volt Switch effectively due to its naturally high speed, which lets it come in again later to apply more offensive pressure. However, I think Taunt is also very, very strong here, as it makes your Trick Room matchup a bit easier by potentially denying Trick Room on some setters.
Unfortunately I've suggested two legendary Pokemon here, despite your wish to minimize the number of legendary Pokemon. My personal philosophy is that the term "legendary Pokemon" is just an arbitrary label and that there's nothing really special about them, especially when it comes to a competitive setting—they're just Pokemon, like the other hundreds of Pokemon, and they all play their own role, there's nothing really setting them apart from the other Pokemon. If you really don't want to include legendary Pokemon, that's fair enough, but just be aware that I think Kyurem-B and Tapu Koko are the best at playing these specific roles on your team. Anyway, good luck with your team, and feel free to drop a reply if you need more advice on anything specific!
