This is my first RMT so any format improvements would be greatly appreciated,
This all started with the Idea of having a support Drilber with sealth rocks and rapid spin, so I go to PO and, FACE PALM! Drilber does not get stealth rocks, but I realized that Sandslash did and of course if your using a sand rush-er you have to have T-Tar and I went with the standard scarf set. Since I was all ready in the dream world teir and already using sand I thought hey why not use Excadrill. After this my naivete really started to show and I just slapped on three big dream world threats on in the form of Breloom, Chandelure, and Ditto. But before I even had my first battle I changed my Sandslash to a Excadrill clone and changed my T-Tar to a specially defensive variant with stealth rocks.
So the team looked like this:
After a little play testing I decided to make my Sandslash a little bulker so it could take two Breloom mach punches and still out speed +1 Gyra and +1 Chandalure and gave it lefties to complement this new found bulk. I also gave Exctadril Air Balloon instead of life orb. After more play testing I did not see the point of Breloom anymore because it died to passive damage so quickly and therefor switched it out for SD/sub Garchomp but then I started getting rolled by rain so i switched it back. But during that play test I found Garchomp to be very successful so I decided that I would rather have it than chandie and made that switch too. I also gave Sandslshe lum to help it beat will-o-wisp and spore.
So this is the team that I got two #4 on the Dream world ladder with:
Mrs. T (Tyranitar) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stealth Rock
- Superpower
Sets up rocks and Sand Storm nothing much more to say. Unless they have a different weather inducer I just let it die so I can get a sweeper in for free and because of ditto I don't even care if they set up on me. Also, this team is so offensive that the opponent rarely finds and opportunity to spin away the rocks and nor are they that important to the success of this team just very help full in general so I don't need to keep her Alive for re-setting the rocks up. The reason I choose this move pool as opposed to the standard one is because dark and fighting have near perfect coverage and pursuit is very necessarily to beat key threats like Chandelure.
Breloom (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance
- Spore
It is my rain counter and a very good one at that, see a more detailed description of how it functions as this later on in the post, as it has swept through almost entire rain teams by itself. In fact it prefers the rain to the sand. Aginst non-rain teams or when I have won the weather war it is used very sparingly as a stall-"braker", as in it comes in on something slow it threatens spores hoping they will switch SD's up and then goes on a sweep that sadly and quite often ends, not because they kill it, but because sand and life orb do but this is unavoidable as with out life orb I find Breloom lakes the power it needs.
Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide
2.0 I mean
untameable (Sandslash) (M) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Def / 192 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Return
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Rest
These two Need to be described in tandem as they serve the same role, set up then KILL!! Excta works by coming in on practicly anything as it has many resistances the SD's up and destroys pretty much the whole of the metagame.I chose to go with balloon because I find the Life orb recoil to be more annoying than the 1.3 multiplyer was worth, and chose Balloon as it also give him one more thing he can switch in to. But there are counters and seeing that Excta is such a huge threat and the counters are no slouches themselves these counters are very common. Gliscor, Skarm, and Breloom are the most common of the counters and I will therefore describe to you how Sandslash, whose job is to beat them, beats those three, in order. First Gliscor, I let T-tar die then switch in Sandslash and SD up which attract Gliscor, which takes SR and toxic orb activates. Next turn I return as they either SD up expecting me to switch or toxic and they then take 37.5% minimum, after which they almost always protect which allows me to get up to +4 and the best they can do is 73% with a +2 Earthquake and if they are very lucky they will survive the +2 and +4 but there is no way they could take another +4. Skarmory was much more difficult because of superior bulk, roost and whirlwind and I use to treat it like a Gliscor but have Since added Heatran so this is no longer a problem. To beat Breloom, I find a good time to send in Excatdrill then x-scissor on the switch and then switch to Sandslash who takes the mach punch then, if I'm lucky they go for bullet seed thinking that they will out speed and kill, or if I'm unlucky Sandslash takes a second mach punch and then kills as this build survives two mach punches with 2 HP minimum, often much more. Also Sandslash has pulled many a quad of five sweep so it it is not just Excta's little Brother. Before I added Heatran I use to carry lefties and stone edge to help beat Skarm but Have since switched to a resto-cheso set as earthquake return is usually sufficient coverage now and allows Sandslash to extend his sweep.
Heatran (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Overheat
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
I used most commonly as a general physical wall counter, especially those with Will-o-Wisp. I chose Heatran for This spot because it is the only competitively viable fire type that is Immune to sand, and chose scarf because This team is very much based around speed and also because I needed A Pokemon that wouldn't immediately lose to Impostor Ditto. Also as previously mentioned makes a great Skarmoury counter which was something my team greatly need when I had Garchomp in this spot.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
IVs: 30 Spd
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Transform
This is my insurance policy that makes sure that no one can set up on my T-Tar and the sweep my team as it turns there sweep against team and have in fact found many instances where where I have intentionally let someone set up just so I could use Ditto them. The reason I use one less speed Iv is because it gives me HP Ice if I happen to mimic a Pokemon with an HP and the EV spread is desined, firstly to maximize health as that is the only stat that dose not get copied and then Defense in case I happen to get in a random struggle battle with opposing Ditto.
What I do against apposing weather teams:
My plan To counter sun teams is lead with Tyranitar and set up the rocks as most sun teams are incredibly weak to them then, depending on what they do with their Nine tales I either pursuit expecting them to switch or go into Sandslash / Heatran to take the incoming attack and kill with earthquake/power. Usually they will just switch their Ninetails out, but that still accomplishes the task of wearing down the Ninetails with sand damage and steath rocks so that the next time they switch in Ninetails I then switch switch n T-tar and pursuit because they can't do enough damage to kill me and are there for forced out switch and two SR switch ins, a couple turns of sand, and a pursuit is enough to take down any nine tails I have encountered. From that point Excadrill or Sandslash will easily find a time to set up and sweep.
Against rain teams I lead with Breloom as unless they are max speed or are scarfed their Politoad won't out speed me and I will spore the toad which will force them out and pretty much seal the deal because with enough sand and offensives power the Toad will die and all I have to do is keep T-tar safe. IF they switch out instead of letting my Breloom spore their Toad my Breloom gets a free SD and will cripple their team so badly, that it won't matter if they win the weather war.
This all started with the Idea of having a support Drilber with sealth rocks and rapid spin, so I go to PO and, FACE PALM! Drilber does not get stealth rocks, but I realized that Sandslash did and of course if your using a sand rush-er you have to have T-Tar and I went with the standard scarf set. Since I was all ready in the dream world teir and already using sand I thought hey why not use Excadrill. After this my naivete really started to show and I just slapped on three big dream world threats on in the form of Breloom, Chandelure, and Ditto. But before I even had my first battle I changed my Sandslash to a Excadrill clone and changed my T-Tar to a specially defensive variant with stealth rocks.
So the team looked like this:
Mrs. T (Tyranitar) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stealth Rock
- Superpower
untameable (Sandslash) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Return
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide
Chandelure (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Transform
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stealth Rock
- Superpower
untameable (Sandslash) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Return
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide
Chandelure (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Transform
After a little play testing I decided to make my Sandslash a little bulker so it could take two Breloom mach punches and still out speed +1 Gyra and +1 Chandalure and gave it lefties to complement this new found bulk. I also gave Exctadril Air Balloon instead of life orb. After more play testing I did not see the point of Breloom anymore because it died to passive damage so quickly and therefor switched it out for SD/sub Garchomp but then I started getting rolled by rain so i switched it back. But during that play test I found Garchomp to be very successful so I decided that I would rather have it than chandie and made that switch too. I also gave Sandslshe lum to help it beat will-o-wisp and spore.
So this is the team that I got two #4 on the Dream world ladder with:
Mrs. T (Tyranitar) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stealth Rock
- Superpower
Sets up rocks and Sand Storm nothing much more to say. Unless they have a different weather inducer I just let it die so I can get a sweeper in for free and because of ditto I don't even care if they set up on me. Also, this team is so offensive that the opponent rarely finds and opportunity to spin away the rocks and nor are they that important to the success of this team just very help full in general so I don't need to keep her Alive for re-setting the rocks up. The reason I choose this move pool as opposed to the standard one is because dark and fighting have near perfect coverage and pursuit is very necessarily to beat key threats like Chandelure.
Breloom (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance
- Spore
It is my rain counter and a very good one at that, see a more detailed description of how it functions as this later on in the post, as it has swept through almost entire rain teams by itself. In fact it prefers the rain to the sand. Aginst non-rain teams or when I have won the weather war it is used very sparingly as a stall-"braker", as in it comes in on something slow it threatens spores hoping they will switch SD's up and then goes on a sweep that sadly and quite often ends, not because they kill it, but because sand and life orb do but this is unavoidable as with out life orb I find Breloom lakes the power it needs.
Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide
untameable (Sandslash) (M) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Def / 192 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Return
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Rest
These two Need to be described in tandem as they serve the same role, set up then KILL!! Excta works by coming in on practicly anything as it has many resistances the SD's up and destroys pretty much the whole of the metagame.I chose to go with balloon because I find the Life orb recoil to be more annoying than the 1.3 multiplyer was worth, and chose Balloon as it also give him one more thing he can switch in to. But there are counters and seeing that Excta is such a huge threat and the counters are no slouches themselves these counters are very common. Gliscor, Skarm, and Breloom are the most common of the counters and I will therefore describe to you how Sandslash, whose job is to beat them, beats those three, in order. First Gliscor, I let T-tar die then switch in Sandslash and SD up which attract Gliscor, which takes SR and toxic orb activates. Next turn I return as they either SD up expecting me to switch or toxic and they then take 37.5% minimum, after which they almost always protect which allows me to get up to +4 and the best they can do is 73% with a +2 Earthquake and if they are very lucky they will survive the +2 and +4 but there is no way they could take another +4. Skarmory was much more difficult because of superior bulk, roost and whirlwind and I use to treat it like a Gliscor but have Since added Heatran so this is no longer a problem. To beat Breloom, I find a good time to send in Excatdrill then x-scissor on the switch and then switch to Sandslash who takes the mach punch then, if I'm lucky they go for bullet seed thinking that they will out speed and kill, or if I'm unlucky Sandslash takes a second mach punch and then kills as this build survives two mach punches with 2 HP minimum, often much more. Also Sandslash has pulled many a quad of five sweep so it it is not just Excta's little Brother. Before I added Heatran I use to carry lefties and stone edge to help beat Skarm but Have since switched to a resto-cheso set as earthquake return is usually sufficient coverage now and allows Sandslash to extend his sweep.
Heatran (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Overheat
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
I used most commonly as a general physical wall counter, especially those with Will-o-Wisp. I chose Heatran for This spot because it is the only competitively viable fire type that is Immune to sand, and chose scarf because This team is very much based around speed and also because I needed A Pokemon that wouldn't immediately lose to Impostor Ditto. Also as previously mentioned makes a great Skarmoury counter which was something my team greatly need when I had Garchomp in this spot.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
IVs: 30 Spd
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Transform
This is my insurance policy that makes sure that no one can set up on my T-Tar and the sweep my team as it turns there sweep against team and have in fact found many instances where where I have intentionally let someone set up just so I could use Ditto them. The reason I use one less speed Iv is because it gives me HP Ice if I happen to mimic a Pokemon with an HP and the EV spread is desined, firstly to maximize health as that is the only stat that dose not get copied and then Defense in case I happen to get in a random struggle battle with opposing Ditto.
What I do against apposing weather teams:
My plan To counter sun teams is lead with Tyranitar and set up the rocks as most sun teams are incredibly weak to them then, depending on what they do with their Nine tales I either pursuit expecting them to switch or go into Sandslash / Heatran to take the incoming attack and kill with earthquake/power. Usually they will just switch their Ninetails out, but that still accomplishes the task of wearing down the Ninetails with sand damage and steath rocks so that the next time they switch in Ninetails I then switch switch n T-tar and pursuit because they can't do enough damage to kill me and are there for forced out switch and two SR switch ins, a couple turns of sand, and a pursuit is enough to take down any nine tails I have encountered. From that point Excadrill or Sandslash will easily find a time to set up and sweep.
Against rain teams I lead with Breloom as unless they are max speed or are scarfed their Politoad won't out speed me and I will spore the toad which will force them out and pretty much seal the deal because with enough sand and offensives power the Toad will die and all I have to do is keep T-tar safe. IF they switch out instead of letting my Breloom spore their Toad my Breloom gets a free SD and will cripple their team so badly, that it won't matter if they win the weather war.
