Raikou/Zapdos attack damage - just the facts ma'am
From this site, true DPS (which takes into account attack stats against a "standardized" defender):
Raikou (TS): 13.33
Zapdos (CB): 11.82
In other words, there is no debate about who does the most electric type damage in the game (barring a change from Niantic, in stats or moves). Zapdos' higher base attack does NOT balance out his weaker move, as has been incorrectly mentioned in previous threads.
I know this has been endlessly debated here, and the typing changes the equation somewhat making the "who's better" debate somewhat moot (for me, attacking Lapras more relevant than attacking Eggy, so Raikou is "better").
With breakpoint damage which is all the rage now, we're happy for a +1 increase, this case illustrates a +2 difference.
Answers
I don't think Zapdos' typing is good on offense. All water defenders have some sort of ice type attack to booby trap Zapdos.
However, do be careful for Thunder Shock Raikou because TS is a weaker move so the appropriate breakpoint is essential. Charge beam is a stronger move so it matters less on breakpoints, but I need to check this carefully on spreadsheets.
Still, I don't see the consensus being Zapdos>Raikou? It's almost always the opposite, bar Zapdos being far cooler.
Y'all are staring at trees and missing the forest.
Zapdos and Raikou are different. Raikou is the strongest classic electric mon, a souped up Jolteon with the best movesets including 2 bar Wild Charge available. Zapdos is a flying/electric mon, with totally different strengths and weaknesses, and a slightly inferior moveset, although with access to the best one bar electric charged move (Zap Cannon).
Ground - Raikou is weak, Zapdos resists.
Ice and Rock - Zapdos is weak, Raikou neutral.
Bug, Grass, Fight - Zapdos resists, Raikou is neutral.
Electric - Zapdos is neutral, Raikou resists.
Both resist steel and flying, and are neutral to other stuff. They're different. It's like arguing about which is better, Poliwrath or Venusaur. They're just different, and for different jobs, one may be better or worse.
It's like arguing about which is better, Poliwrath or Venusaur.
I'm not sure how comparing a water/fighting pokemon vs a grass/poison pokemon relevant analogy.
Much closer would be something like comparing the grass/grass movesets of Victreebel vs Tangela.
Victreebel has higher attack, but is crippled by only Razor Leaf as a grass fast move. Vine Whip is such a better offensive move that Tangela, even with lower attack, actually does more damage. Victreebel has Leaf Blade, which is a nice multibar move, but Tangela has Grass Knot/Power Whip, which is much better and almost as strong as Solar Beam.
Victreebel and Tangela also share some weaknesses and resistances, but have a few differences since Victreebel is also poison which is usually more of a disadvantage for Victreebel.
The amount of damage I can do with Zapdos against Suicune is preferred to the non-existence of Raikou in my region at the moment.
So right now, for the vast majority of the players in this region, Zapdos is the single best Electric attacker into Suicune in the game.
...just another fact, that wasn't considered.
