National Dex Rate this Nat Dex Zapdos + Drednaw rain team

[SJKNOL]

Here's the team:

Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Scald
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Static
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Weather Ball
- Hurricane
- Roost

Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Ice Punch

Slowking-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast

Drednaw @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Liquidation
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- Swords Dance

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock




The general idea behind the team was using Zapdos in rain, to get 100% accurate Thunder/Hurricane + a base 100 Water move in Weather Ball.

I chose Pelipper as the rain setter over Politoed because the (slow) U-turn lets me get Zapdos or Drednaw in much easier.

Zapdos under rain hits really hard and has good coverage. The Weather Ball lets it OHKO a lot of common checks, such as (defensive) Lando-T and Gliscor. The combination of strong Water, Flying and Electric coverage hits almost everything for atleast neutral, and gives you supereffective damage into most of the common walls in the format.

M-Pert is the "standard" rain sweeper, and can be used to punch holes in a lot of teams that don't have a great answer for it. It also provides a much needed electric immunity.

Galarian Slowking provides a super strong special wall, as well as Future Sight support which can help Swampert and Zapdos break past mons that otherwise wall them.

Drednaw is the 2nd rain sweeper, and usually the wincon I try to play towards. These EVs allow it to outspeed Jolly M-Pert, and OHKO it after SD, or if it has taken ~30% chip. It also easily deals with Blissey and Chansey, who both wall Zapdos.

Finally I added Lando-T to the team to give me a 2nd electric immunity, give me Rocks, and a secondary U-turn pivot. The speed lets me outspeed max speed Heatran, although I don't know if that's actually necessary. The Toxic on this set combined with Galarian Slowking lets me beat Slowbro, which walls the team should Zapdos die early.

 

[Noglastica]

Hey SJ(KNOL) I really like your rain team, but I suggest a few changes that you could consider.
Dreadnaw ---> Ash Greninja
Dreadnaw is a good physical sweeper in rain, but you already have the most dominant in the form of Mega Swampert. Also, Ash Gren is just out of Dreadnaw's league. I'd suggest running this standard Ash-Gren set:

Greninja-Ash (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Spikes/U-Turn (I prefer spikes)

I'd also suggest running Ferrothorn over Landorus-T. Lando is a great defensive wall, however, ferro has its greatest weakness in fire halved by rain, and covers most of the weaknesses that the rest of your team can't. I'd suggest this set:

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Def / 232 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed

Another fairly standard set, the 232 SpD+ nature lets it more easily wall ash-gren who you are facilitating even further on opposing teams with your own rain. Moves can be substituted to whatever you prefer, but I like stealth rocks for hazards over spikes, knock off for utility, power whip for bulky waters who sit on you, and leech seed + leftovers for recovery.

 

[adem]

gm SJKNOL , I feel Noglastica already covered most of the parts, except for the fact rain in Natdex needs Manaphy, as if not it is unable to break through a well played stall.

>

Manaphy @ Waterium Z
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 184 HP / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Energy Ball
- Tail Glow
- Rest

This Manaphy set removes Gastrodon consistently for Ash Greninja with Energy Ball, as well as completely delete Stall. The speed on the set is for Modest Heatran, and the dump in HP to improve its already solid bulk. Also GKing doesnt add much to the team that Ferro / Zap already does, as it checks Serp and Kyurem mainly for rain, which those 2 already do.

Furthermore expanding on this rate

snip

Ferrothorn should use max SpDef, as well as either Iron Head > Knock Off, or Body Press > Power Whip, to deal with Kyurem better.
Another cool option you can try is Pursuit on Pelliper, to trap Shedinja so that Manaphy always wins vs all stall. Zapdos should also use Heavy Duty Boots as well as a slightly more defensive spread:


Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
Timid Nature

Finished team: