Dragonite with Hurricane
I just raided an Exeggutor with Extrasensory/Seed Bomb, the best raid defensive moveset. Auto select chose my level 31 DB/Hurricane Dragonite as the first Pokemon, and level 30 FS/OH Flareon as second.
I was surprised by how well Dragonite did. She took down Exeggutor's HP to 40%, for Flareon to finish him up.
I dodged some of the Seed Bombs. Dragonite's performance was probably partially because of how easy it is to dodge with Dragon Breath.
While Flareon ate Exeggutor's HP bar faster, Dragonite was very steady, because of double resistance to Seed Bomb.
The same DB/Hur Dragonite also performed unexpectedly well in a Machamp raid I did 2 weeks ago (coincidentally, at the same gym I just did the Exeggutor raid).
So, why do people still want DB/Outrage so much, that they even gamble with TMs on Hurricane?
Answers
Against neutral Targets DT/DB+Outrage is a bit stronger and that's what the most ppl are looking at.
A Hurricane Dragonite is definetely a solid choice against Exeggutor and Machamp Raids, but in case of Exeggutor a Scizor is doing a better job. And since Lugia Release Dragonite has a serious rival at that slot, too.
That's why a lot of player look for the neutral targets and there Outrage is better by a small amount.
lugia is well below dragonite in any of the simulators were you would even consider it and the personal reports back up people who successfully solo machamp with dragonites as anchors failing when trialing lugia in the same position due to lack of dps, so I wouldn't consider lugia a rival (have only just assembled my squad and have been to busy doing tier 5 raids to try them out)
Poor Lugia defensive mon who can't be used for defense and will never be an A grade psychic attacker esp with mewtwo expected.
scizors usefulness is so niche that you wouldn't power any more then one up (he fails when i sub him into alakazam solo raids)
DT/outrage only really gets a show against odd combinations like solar beam ho-oh and mewtwo with focus blast and even then the difference is marginal and if you manage even a couple of dodges reverses.
the long and short of it is unless you have a lopsided collection people probably shouldn't waste tm's (I had 2 hurricane and evolved a third so did change it) unless to get rid of Hb which is a dud.
and yes i realize that the tone of your post is that you probably don't think it is worth it either.
Never simulated Dragonite and Lugia vs. Machamp tbh. For me Lugia felt way more stable against machamp, but yeah, damage was never an issue against machamp atleast for me. With 3 2500cp+ Alakazam and a 2500cp+ espeon in the back my "main problem" are the fast dying glascannon.
Scizors usefullness is indeed very niche. Still hoping for a decent performance against Mewtwo, but failing Alakazam Solo Raids is not a good sign.
All in all you might be right, that my assumptions do not apply to a wide variety of player. For me personally Lugia works perfect in that Machamp Squad and for the rare case I do a Exeggutor my Scizor is melting it's face all on his own. With different Pokémon available you have to do different decisions.
Dragonite with or without Outrage/Hurricane is a solid option in a lot of situations, but i feel like after reaching a certain point where you have enough resources to level up niche Attacker like Scizor there is most of the time a better choice than Dragonite.
