Sand in Yo Shorts

[ITSU]

Hi guys. I've been posting RMTs left and right because i dont think im a very good battler, but i think im decent at team building, and want to showcase some of my teams. I've had some help with the first version of this team from #Ratemyteam on Smogon's IRC chat, and then i changed some of the other pokes up to what I think the team struggled with. The first version was more of a bulky Offense type team, which struggled against many defensive and offensive threats alike. Im not really good with writing RMTs either so lets get right to it!

Black Santa (Tyranitar) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 16 SAtk / 240 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
- Crunch


Ah Tyranitar, he's such a pro for SandStorm teams. He has SandStream, which starts up my sandstorm. He is also a very nice special wall, with 240 Special Defense EVs invested, plus the SandStorm boost, he can be pretty reliable at sponging special attacks. Tyranitar sets up rocks, and has the attacking stats to run a mixed set very well, which is great for breaking stall teams. Fire Blast hits many steel types such as Skarmory or Ferrothorn, and Ice Beam hits many Dragons such as Dragonite or Salamence. Finally, i have Crunch for a STAB move, since it hits like a truck with a decent 304 attack stat with no investment.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Protect


Jirachi is another special wall. I decided to throw in Jirachi since my team loses to Specs Latios if Tyranitar gets Knocked out. It's also not entirely bad to have Jirachi on your team either, since he walls many other special threats, and he renders many pokemon useless with Body Slam. Iron Head also makes Jirachi a really annoying pokemon, taking out many pokemon with a ParaFlinching strategy, which is easy with Serene Grace. Finally, Wish and Protect are there for some reliable healing for not just Jirachi, but for my entire team as well if it's needed. Jirachi is an amazing pokemon, even if some people think it's really nooby and takes no skill.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SAtk / 24 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earth Power


Okay, so Celebi is my special attacking sweeper, and he helps with some walls and core's that really get me annoyed, such as BKC's core, which consists of Skarmory, Heatran, and Gastrodon. Each one of them are hit for SuperEffective Damage, and after just one Nasty Plot, it can OHKO all of them, and more threats. Here is a damage calculation list for many common pokemon in this metagame.


252 SpA Modest Celebi vs. 252 HP 252 SDef Calm Gastrodon: 87.32-102.82 [15.38% Chance to OHKO] [+2=100% Chance to OHKO]


252 +2 SpA Modest Celebi vs. 252 HP 252 SDef Calm Heatran: 128.5%-152.33 [100% KO]


252 SpA Modest Celebi vs. 252 HP Skarmory: 111.98%-132.34%


So as you can see, this Celebi breaks that core that gave me quite a bit of trouble, and it's growing in popularity. I put in Earth Power over Recover since i have Giga Drain if i need to recover. Other than that, this is the standard Nasty Plot Celebi set.

mencemeat (Salamence) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Brick Break
- Fire Blast
- Roost


Salamence is one of the pokemon that was really good in 4th gen [When it wasnt in Ubers :D], but doesnt get as much attention as it should. Mixmence is still really good, as it can break many stall teams and walls, such as a tyranitar coming in on a Draco Meteor, than KOing with Brick Break, or Chansey coming in on a Draco to get KOd by Fire Blast, for example. Salamence also takes U-Turns from Choice Band Scizor and Infernape, the two most common U-Turners in this metagame. Salamence is really good at this because he can roost off the damage he takes, resists U-Turn, and he has the intimidate drop on his side to boot! This should show that Mixmence is still a viable threat in today's metagame.

FlyingCarpet (Rotom-W) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SAtk / 144 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Pain Split
- ThunderBolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp


Rotom Wash is a common pokemon to see in today's metagame, and is very good if used correctly. With great defensive and offensive typing, good coverage in Water and Thunderbolt STABs, and access to many status' such as Will-O-Wisp and ThunderWave, why wouldnt you want to use him. Rotom Wash also has access to Pain Split, which, when coupled with his low health, really help him with reliable recovery. Not to much to say about Rotom since the set is the standard set, and the EVs, and most people know what he's capable of already!

Oil Spill (Excadrill) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance


Again, Excadrill is on a very large portion of SandStorm teams, since he gets the ability Sand Rush, which gives him an automatic Rock Polish in the SandStorm. This set is also a standard set, which consists of a STAB Earthquake, and a Pseudo Stab Rock Slide since we're in the SandStorm. Rapid spin is to clear away hazards such as spikes, Stealth Rock, and Toxic Spikes. Earthquake is for STAB, and Swords Dance is my setup move here, which makes it so dat Eurf does a ton of damage no matter if the depending pokemon resists it or not.






Thank you for reading my RMT! Please give a rate, or just say that you like this team if you want.

 

[ITSU]

Reserved for Threatlist. I'll post synergy and stuff up when i have the time. Just dont expect it to look pretty like Tab :D

 

[IronGross]

Rock moves aren't boosted by Sand...
Anyway, why not try a Regirock? Rock Slide/T-Wave/Rest/Sleep Talk will aid your sweepers alot, as both Celebi and Salamence will appreciate Paralysis support.
(I apologize for the deleted posts here)

 

[jle1076]

why in the hell would you run a Calm rachi over a Careful with that moveset?..

 

[Bowl Cut]

Nice team you have here. You might have some troubles with certain Pokemon though, specifically Excadrill. Now you may be thinking that Rotom-W can just take it on, but most of the time good players will make you switch in and out with Rotom-W, taking both sand and Stealth Rock damage. At around about 70%, if Excadrill manages to get a Swords Dance boost, you will only have a mere 50% chance to hit Hydro Pump, much less with Will-O-Wisp to cripple it, and if you get flinched or miss, your team is swept pretty much, assuming it is running X-Scissor. Same thing with Terrakion, except it will outspeed every member on your team after a single Rock Polish, and if it manages to get a Swords Dance up, you have no hope of winning. If you are to reliably take on Excadrill, I suggest you use a Gliscor over Salamence, as they both can break stall, except it requires more prediction rather than pummeling your foe, and Gliscor can take on Excadrill and Terrakion reliably. Here's the set:

Hide

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb l Impish Nature l 244 HP / 176 Def / 88 Spe
Moves: Swords Dance l Taunt l Earthquake l Ice Fang

One other thing you have to watch out are sun teams. You'll have to predict around them a lot as replacing one team member might be the bane of you against most teams.

Overall nice team, good luck.

 

[-Tsunami-]

Hey there.

I agree with the above suggestion to use Gliscor over Salamence, as Excadrill is way too big of a threat to not have a counter for, especially since most Excadrils run Return to screw over Rotom-W after some prior damage.

24 speed evs on Celebi is too little, run 44 instead. This will allow you to outspeed Gliscors that run 80 evs speed, and also will allow you to outspeed most wall Celebis. Outspeeding these pokemon is much more important than an extra 5 HP points.

On Tyranitar, run the standard 252 HP / 180 Special Atk / 76 Special Defense spread. It is much more efficient than the spread you have now, allowing you to make full use of the ability to use Fire Blast and Ice Beam.

Overall though, solid team.

 

[BKC]

Sun teams are a major threat, as are powerful physical attackers such as Air Balloon Terrakion and Excadrill. The former can use Ninetales to burn Tyranitar before it attacks, wearing it down easily, and then Chlorophyll sweepers will walk all over you. Exca / Terra can set up Swords Dance as Jirachi switches out and (in Exca's case) then sweep you clean if they are also Jolly and win the second speed tie after you have each popped each other's balloon. In Terrakion's case, it doesn't even need to rely on winning a speed tie, as it'll just KO with Close Combat as you pop the balloon.

To alleviate the issue with sun, I highly recommend using Choice Scarf Tyranitar over your current set. With the high speed this set has, you will be able to switch in on Chlorophyll users or Ninetales, eliminate the sun, and then score an easy KO. This set also checks Lati@s, Thundurus, Tornadus, SD Terrakion, and Nasty Plot Celebi. A simple 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe spread with a Jolly nature will do, running Crunch / Pursuit / Superpower / Rock Slide as the moveset. RS is chosen over Stone Edge due to its higher accuracy and ability to flinch, which Tyranitar can abuse with its newfound speed.

That fixes the problems with sun, but Excadrill and Terrakion are still highly problematic. Gliscor would work extremely well in Salamence's place; they have similar typing and Glis can still go on the offensive, but he provides some much-needed defensive backbone. With the rest of your team, he also forms the infamous Rachi/Scor/Rotom-W core that handles so many of the metagame's top threats. Max defense and Protect are both necessary for tanking the aforementioned physical threats as well as possible. Facade is chosen in Ice Fang's place for its ability to weaken Rotom-W switchins so Gliscor can eventually sweep. It also outdamages Ice Fang unless the former is 4x super effective. Here's the set -

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb | Impish | Poison Heal | EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Swords Dance | Protect | Earthquake | Facade

One last change - definitely try Stealth Rock over Protect on Jirachi. By running Scarftar, you lose SR, and Jirachi is extremely reliable at setting it up thanks to its great typing giving it many free switchins. Body Slam+Iron Head's para-flinching techniques are reliable enough techniques for recieving your own Wishes, and they can even get you some big amounts of Leftovers recovery in a pinch. With these changes, I think your team will peform very well, good luck.

 

[IronBullet]

Hey,

So this is a pretty solid team, but as BKC said you have a big weakness to fast sand sweepers such as Excadrill, Terrakion and Landorus, seeing as you can't rely on Rotom-W to check them all. So, you can go with Gliscor over Salamence, but the fact is that Salamence is your only stall-breaker, and replacing it with Gliscor makes you very weak to opposing stall. So, if you do decide to use Gliscor, I would highly recommend running Taunt over Protect, and giving a few defense EVs to Rotom-W in order to check Excadrill better. Namely, an EV spread of 252 HP | 212 Def | 44 Sp Atk and a Modest nature.

Another option would be to keep Salamence and replace Rotom-W with a Slowbro. Slowbro is an excellent counter to all forms of Excadrill, Terrakion and Landorus, and a myriad of other physical attackers, and does not care about switching in repeatedly to absorb their attacks thanks to its fantastic ability, Regenerator. It also forms a potent defensive core with specially defensive Jirachi, almost nothing can break through this core. Slowbro suffers from slight 4 MSS, but I would suggest running a moveset of Scald | Psychic | Thunder Wave | Slack Off with EVs of 252 HP | 252 Def | 4 Sp Def and a Bold nature.

Scarf Tyranitar is a solid option over your current one to deal with sun better, but if you find yourself struggling against Volcarona, you can keep your current set and instead replace Ice Beam with Rock Slide. Rock Slide is an easy 2HKO on Volcarona, while Volcarona never 2HKOs Tyranitar with two Bug Buzzes, and never OHKOs at +1. Scarf Tyranitar still has a reasonable chance to survive a +1 Bug Buzz, and it will definitely help you out greatly against Tornadus, Thundurus and other special sweepers. Both sets have their props, so it's up to you.

I like the idea of Earth Power on Celebi, but in order to guard yourself against rain teams better I really would suggest running Recover. Heatran itself doesn't bother this team too much with Jirachi luring it in and paralyzing it, and the rest of your team handling it quite easily. Recover will go a long way in increasing its survivability, especially if you replace Rotom-W with Slowbro.

Good luck!

 

[San_Pellegrino]

Hello,

IronBullet covered a lot of it, so I'll just nitpick and reinforce. I really recommend trying out the Slowbro IB mentioned over Rotom-W. It will be invaluable in defending against strong physical attackers, with solid recovery. Haxorus is a problem as well, but with smart play, it should leave you relatively unscathed. As a nitpick, Jirachi has a calm nature, which you may need to fix to Careful if you
exported this out from PO.

Good Luck.

 

[ITSU]

Thanks for the comments guys! Ill definately use Gliscor, since he seems to work well in Mence's place. Scarftar is also a beast, its all i ever used, and figured i would try something different. On the celebi issue, its not Heatran that gives me a problwm, its the core that BKC made up. Ill definately try Slowbro as well.

 

[Jirachee]

Hey there,

Pretty cool team, except Dragonite will threaten it a lot. Dragon Dance versions with Roost and Fire Punch (the standard eh) will require a lot of conditions to take down, and you'll probably have to sack something to break Multiscale so Excadrill is able to revenge kill it. (and still, without Multiscale it can't OHKO, it does approximately 64.8% - 76.7%, so you'll need SR + SS damage, and most Dnite users have a spinner). BKC's Gliscor set is pretty cool since it can tank mostly everything Dnite has to throw at it, but nothing to fight back. I suggest you swap Facade for Ice Fang, as it helps you dealing with Dragons and has good coverage with Ground STAB in general (even though it lacks a bit of power).

 

[ITSU]

Thanks for the rate Steeli :D

Sorry i havent reqlly updated this thread. Just got an Iphone 4, so ill tryout the suggestions tommorow