OU Sandstorm Team

[Togelover]

I have been using this team on PO to some success, but it would be helpful to hear some opinions about my team.

Hippowdon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Yawn
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Fang
- Earthquake
Hippowdon functions as my lead Pokemon since she has Sand Stream and she sets up Stealth Rock. She has Yawn to phaze out stat-uppers and also lets me safely switch in either Garchomp or Excadrill, seeing as they are a bit frail. I have Thunder Fang and Earthquake to deal with Politoed and Ninetales respectively.

Cradily (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Suction Cups
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Seed Bomb
Cradily is my secondary set-up 'mon and she actually works really well. After a few Curses there are not a lot of Pokemon that can viably kill it and Suction Cups prevents her from being Roared out. The only problem she has is Pokemon that have good Defense and/or 4x or 2x resists Seed Bomb like Skarmory, Poison Heal Gliscor or Salamence.

Excadrill (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
- Return
Excadrill functions as my back-up sweeper/revenge killer. With Sand Rush and a Jolly nature there are very few things that can out-speed it and with Choice Band it hits like a truck, 1HKOing or 2HKOing most Pokemon. Choice Band might seem like a silly idea on a Pokemon like Excadrill, but it actually works very good.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
- Iron Head
- ThunderPunch
This is just your average Iron Head + 3 Punches Revenge Killer Jirachi. It's just a generally good Pokemon to have on a team since it can out-speed and kill so many Pokemon that my team would otherwise have a tough time against.

Garchomp (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
Oh, Garchomp. What a magnificent troll you are. Garchomp causes more rage-quit than any other Pokemon on my team thanks to Substitute and Sand Veil. After a few Swords Dances she just wrecks teams without a bulky Steel. Skarmory is still kind of a bitch, but I usually manage.

Reuniclus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
Reuniclus is my special sweeper, and a good one at that. After only one Calm Mind he can kill most Pokemon unless Focus Miss decides to do what it does best or if the opponent uses a strong physical Pokemon.

I can see that my team isn't the best in the world, but if there are any obvious flaws that I have overlooked (even though I have used this team on PO for two weeks now) feel free to tell me!

P.S. Don't pay attention to the genders of my Pokemon, it's just a cosmetic choice :P

 

[.:Pendoraah]

Great team in my opinion, only thing that you could consider is slack off instead of yawn on hippowdon :)

 

[Togelover]

Great team in my opinion, only thing that you could consider is slack off instead of yawn on hippowdon :)

I actually had Slack Off instead of Thunder Fang, but then I couldn't hit Flyers/Levitators so I changed it. In my opinion Yawn is more important because it is such a tremendous help for the rest of my team. (Stopping stat-uppers and granting my other 'mons a safe switch-ins)

 

[tackjj]

I actually had Slack Off instead of Thunder Fang, but then I couldn't hit Flyers/Levitators so I changed it. In my opinion Yawn is more important because it is such a tremendous help for the rest of my team. (Stopping stat-uppers and granting my other 'mons a safe switch-ins)

If your going to use yawn in the way you just described, then you don't really need Thunder Fang because you can just force out any flying-types by putting them to sleep. Slack Off really should be on there, it's a pretty important move, especially on Hippowdon.

 

[Togelover]

If your going to use yawn in the way you just described, then you don't really need Thunder Fang because you can just force out any flying-types by putting them to sleep. Slack Off really should be on there, it's a pretty important move, especially on Hippowdon.

True, but I'm just really paranoid so I feel more secure with Thunder Fang. Also, when I laddered with Yawn/Slack Off/Stealth Rock/Earthquake I ran into so many situations where Hippowdon was my last Pokemon against a Flyer. :/

 

[athleteandy1]

True, but I'm just really paranoid so I feel more secure with Thunder Fang. Also, when I laddered with Yawn/Slack Off/Stealth Rock/Earthquake I ran into so many situations where Hippowdon was my last Pokemon against a Flyer. :/

Then if you're going to use a Fang, use Ice Fang because it has better coverage overall and can hit more things (like Gliscor or Air Balloon Excadrill)

 

[Max212]

Hi, Togelover. I have a few suggestions for this team.

Your team could have problems with Bronzong, especially if its running an Hp Ice+Earthquake combo. It can hit almost all of your Pokemon super-effectively and it can shrug off hits with its Levitate+and steel typing. Your Jirachi is a good counter to it, but getting hit by an Earthquake will still hurt. As an extra precaution, I would run Life Orb on Garchomp and replace Substitute with Fire Blast. That would also really help so Garchomp wont get stopped cold by Bulky Steels. This also helps you with your overall steel coverage, since if you lose Jirachi, your screwed by the likes of Ferrothorn.

Reuniclus should have recover. You should replace Shadow Ball with Recover to improve its survivability since it will probably be taking a ton of hits.

I am agreeing with the above posts suggesting that you run Slack Off on Hippowdon. You say Thunder Fang is for Politoed, bit would you really want to take a Specs Hydro Pump in the face? Slack Off improves your survivability since it appears you are running a little bit of stall in this team.

Maybe getting rid of Sleep Talk and replacing it with Rock Slide could help with coverage. Um pretty sure it can survive 2 turns of sleep and then get back at it

 

[Togelover]

Hi, Togelover. I have a few suggestions for this team.

Your team could have problems with Bronzong, especially if its running an Hp Ice+Earthquake combo.I have never seen this set. I have not seen Bronzong either for that matter. It can hit almost all of your Pokemon super-effectively and it can shrug off hits with its Levitate+and steel typing. Your Jirachi is a good counter to it, but getting hit by an Earthquake will still hurt. As an extra precaution, I would run Life Orb on Garchomp and replace Substitute with Fire Blast. I could try that out even though I personally think Sub-Veil Garchomp is a bit better. Still, I fucking hate Ferrothorn, so.....That would also really help so Garchomp wont get stopped cold by Bulky Steels. This also helps you with your overall steel coverage, since if you lose Jirachi, your screwed by the likes of Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn can't do diddly-shit against Reuniclus or Cradily, but I do agree on the Bulky Steel part.

Reuniclus should have recover. You should replace Shadow Ball with Recover to improve its survivability since it will probably be taking a ton of hits. But then I lose a very important move to kill other Psychics. I can see it working, but I don't really feel it. Going to test it regardless.

I am agreeing with the above posts suggesting that you run Slack Off on Hippowdon. You say Thunder Fang is for Politoed, bit would you really want to take a Specs Hydro Pump in the face? I can survive one Hydro Pump, but I agree. Slack Off improves your survivability since it appears you are running a little bit of stall in this team.

Maybe getting rid of Sleep Talk and replacing it with Rock Slide could help with coverage. Um pretty sure it can survive 2 turns of sleep and then get back at it. I want to say no to this, but I might as well test it. (For the record, I usually need to attack while sleeping seeing as I need to use Rest pretty often)

 

[Togelover]

Then if you're going to use a Fang, use Ice Fang because it has better coverage overall and can hit more things (like Gliscor or Air Balloon Excadrill)

Actually I ran Ice Fang until today, but I'm going to change it back now :/