TEAM SOFT RAIN

Idea: The traditional rain dance team has been perfected, so I turn to create a new kind of rain dance team that blends rain and heavy offense.
Goal: Utilize one suicide rain lead and one swift swimmer to start an offensive chain against the opponent.
Justification: Full rain dance teams suffer exaggerated weaknesses to certain pokemon and strategies. By utilizing only one suicide dancer and swift simmer I translate seamlessly into heavy offense play without any further rain dance weaknesses.


THE LEAD

Azelf @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Spd
Naive nature (+Spd, -SpD)
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Rain Dance
- Psychic
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Azelf is the most reliable suicide dance lead. It feigns a normal set, so until I rain dance I needn't worry about proliferation against rain. Damp rock to give my Kingdra more turns to sweep.
Priority #1: Rain dance
Priority #2: Stealth rock
Priority #3: Explosion / psychic
Rain dance because it is essential to my strategy.
Stealth rock because it helps me sweep.
Explosion to suicide, and psychic to attack ghost pokemon.
252 HP EVs to help it achieve more of its goals.

Against a lead that shuts Azelf down I switch to Scizor or Rotom-H and look for an opportunity to get Azelf back in.

If Azelf is put to sleep then I start my sweep and let him be a sleep carrier / free switch for the duration of the match.
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THE OFFENSIVE THREESOME

Kingdra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Dragon Pulse
- Signal Beam
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The single most powerful rain dance sweeper. I send in Kingdra as soon as Azelf dies.

Surf for reliable STAB.
Hydro pump gets the OHKO on some things.
Dragon pulse for secondary STAB and dragon types.
Signal beam for Celebi.

Life orb, modest, and max SpA EVs for maximum damage possible.

Main counters: Bulky waters and Blissey.
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Empoleon (M) @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 24 Def/232 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Substitute
- Surf
- Grass Knot
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Empoleon comes in primarily on bulky water pokemon that kill Kingdra. Standard set, and grass knot is here to better handle bulky water pokemon.

Main counters: Blissey
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Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Crunch
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Lucario comes in primarily on Blissey who kills Kingdra. It will then swords dance or close combat, depending on whether I think Blissey will switch out or not.

Close combat and extremespeed are standard.
Crunch to handle Rotom-A and any bulky ghosts or psychics.

Jolly nature to get the speed jump on some pokemon.

Main counters: Gliscor
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THE UTILITY CORE

Rotom-w @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Will-o-wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
++++++++++

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
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These two are the metagame utility pair. They handle all kinds of threats and are the backbone of my team. Rotom-W is used because hydro pump is useful against Tyranitar and Gliscor. Scizor set is standard and effective. These two are serve as a go-between while I look for an opportunity to sweep with Empoleon or Lucario.
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Threat List:
Blissey: It walls 75% of my team. Lucario will scare it off, but after that the game turns into a damage race.
Scizor u-turn against Blissey.
Blissey switches to X.
I u-turn to Y.
Y ---> Blissey
X ---> Scizor
Scizor u-turn against Blissey.
Repeat until I'm dead or Blissey is their only pokemon left, at which point Scizor takes the win for me.
Gliscor: Walls Lucario, so if it is paired with Blissey chances are I won't win.
Tyranitar: Ends rain but dies if it doesn't switch out before hydro pump or surf. Empoleon can often set-up on it.
Gyarados: None of my sweepers OHKO it. Kingdra beats it if it has enough health to stand one attack. Rotom-W is my standard counter to it.
Various offensive pokemon: Offense is a defense. My goal is to sweep my opponent before they get time to set up a coherent sweep of their own.




I tried to make this RMT concise and easy to read. Let me know what you
think about it. This team is pretty cool. It uses three of the most
deadly pokemon in the metagame. Most teams aren't Lucario weak, but
lots of players struggle against Empoleon and Kingdra. In other words
this team outright wins against lots of teams just because they weren't
prepared for such an assault.

Post your team on my forum :). Well, either way, give rain dance to rotom, scizor and/or kingdra. Also, take out surf/hydro pump for waterfall so it is mixed. I might rate more once you join my forum.

I'll sign up tomorrow or something and post it there, then I'll comment. Thanks for the invite.