SAND IN YOUR EYES 2.0

[Daniel OM]

Hello guys, I always loved weather based teams, even with the recent nerf. I'm kinda new to the competitive so this team might have holes (which I trust you guys to point and help!). Let's take a look:

The team got some big modifications !

Old Team

MGarchomp was too slow and Alakazam didn't worked out at all
Excadrill and Greninja were fine, but since the core were remade, in the new core they're not musts
Hippo and Scizor are still in

INSIDE THE SANDSTORM 2.0

Quick Look

GOJIRA - Tyranitar (M) @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
Jolly Nature
252 ATK/252 Speed/4 HP
-Dragon Dance
-Crunch
-Stone Edge/Rock Slide
-Earthquake

In the old team, Garchomp was the mega of choice. Unfortunately, the raw power didn't worked out with that speed. I didn't want to waste a slot on my team with a batton passer or something like this, plus, 2 ground pokes would make me easier to me to be countered. The first ideia of Tyranitar was to use it as a special tank, but I manage to made the team cover his weakness so well that he could be a sweeper. Bye MChomp, Hello MTtar.
With a nice speed and defenses, an okay HP and forcing a lot of switching, isn't hard to Dragon Dance one or two times. My team is more physical oriented, so maybe a mixed mega Ttar can be a better idea. For the moves, no big secret: Classic quake/edge,STAB Crunch and DD. Of course he also works as a sand setter.

Beetlejuice - Gengar (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
252 SAtk/252 Speed/4 HP
-Substitute
-Disable
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast/Sludge Bomb

TYRANITAR'S WINGMAN! He covers EVERY WEAKNESS FROM TTAR (Except water and fairies, but those he can kill with Sludge Bomb). He is imune to fighting, 1/4 for bug and 1/2 for grass and levitate over earthquakes. On the other hand, Ttar is imune to pyshic and 1/2 to dark and ghost, gengar's weakness. The substitute + Disable protect gengar from the common Knock Off or Dark moves that a lot of pokes carry around. Shadow Ball is the main STAB and Focus Blast for covarage, when people send those normal types to "wall" you.
Okay, he takes damage from the sandstorm, yes. Considering the safety sub/disable gives and the recovery from black sludge, he is fine.

Pumba - Hippodown (M) @Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
Careful Nature
252 HP/252 SDef/ 4 Def
-Slack Off
-Stealth Rocks
-Earthquake
-Roar

The second sandstorm setter. Hippodown is a very bulky, mixed wall. He needs to take hard switches here and there so the sandstorm keeps raging. Slack Off ensure his survivability and stealth rocks are nice to have in field. (Gengar also works as a spin-blocker sometimes, but thats not even a role at all since defog in the latest fashion). Roar is great ! Like when you see that Charizard on the enemy's team and roar until he falls on the rocks for 50% HP. Earthquake hits big chunck of the meta, but it is only used when really needed. Hippo usually leads and his job isn't fighting. Sand up, SR up, see you in 8 turns.

Rex - Stoutland (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
Adamant Nature
252 Atk/252 Speed/4 HP
-Retaliate
-Ice Fang
-Wild Charge
-Superpower

"When something dies, the dog barks" (doesn't even rhyme). Stoutland is a sandstorm revenge killer. With a nice speed on sand (518) and immunity to it, a Choice Banded STAB Retaliate is br00tal. He is more of a hit and run poke and really needs the sand to work out. Maybe Life orb is an option here, but lacking recovery moves or wish support (plus the recoil from wild charge) is hard to deal with. Even against neutral targets, all attacks but ice fang hit very hard. He usually comes in battle on a safe switch, but sometimes he saves Gengar's ass from a shadow sneak. "Lost" games often are won by Rex. I switch and sacrifice my weakened pokes to answer with a 140 Retaliate next turn, then switch and sacrifice another...

Red Velvet - Scizor (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Impish Nature
252 HP/252 Def/4 Atk
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Defog
-Roost

In the old team, scizor was my revenge killer. Now he got another job. Scizor is my physical wall and defog support, he is very tanky and often can wall physical sweeper that neutral damage him with roost. U-Turn hurts with life orb and technician, it helps to keep momentum with Rotom W (Turn/Switch) that is my special wall. This way, with the right prediction, is possible to run a very good defensive core. Scizor calls for fire and eletric that Rotom don't mind taking and Rotom send grass attacks to scizor.

Brastemp - Rotom W (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Calm Nature
252 HP/252 SDef/4 Satk
-Will-o-wisp
-Pain Split
-Hydro Pump
-Volt Switch

Rotom is the counterpart of scizor. He is my special wall. I'm finding trouble to maintain it on the sandstorm, but the leftovers heal plus the pain split on new, full life, targets helps his survivability. Levitate renders another immunity to earthquake and will-o-wisp wear down physical sweepers, making possible a volt-switch to Ttar set up DD. I tried the assault vest set, but without leftovers and pain split, Rotom dies faster than its threats. (And honestly, I found more sucess as a special tank in Assault Vest Empoleon for this team, but using two steel types and losing volt-switch made me use Rotom)

Importable

Pumba (Hippowdon) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar

GOJIRA (Tyranitar-Mega) @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Beetlejuice (Gengar) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Disable
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Red Velvet (Scizor) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Def / 200 HP / 56 Atk
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn

Brastemp (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch

Rex (Stoutland) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Retaliate
- Superpower
- Ice Fang
- Wild Charge

The team changed a lot from its start, i'm open to more advices and help !

THREATS SO FAR
-Sleep Powders and Will-O-wispers: No one in my team can absorve powders or WoW. Since my team is pretty much physical, only Rotom can take it "well". It also worns down Gengar, that already has to deal with sandstorm damage.
-Water/Ground pokemon. Big walls and the only weakness is to grass, which I don't have attacks or pokes.

 

[Daniel OM]

Bump, please RMT, i'm about to breed those pokes !

 

[Mangojean100]

Ok, I'm new to competitive too, but a few things. On Greninja, I'd run Rock Slide so you can skip Sandstorm damage for a turn and make it more mixed. For Hippodown, I'd change it to Tyranitar because it pretty much does everything better than it. Also, if you're playing Battlespot, you could run Tyranitar Mega. You might want to Life Orb Scizor and give it Swords Dance, or you can go Mega, give Tyranitar something like Assault Vest and make Scizor your Defensive Wall with Defog. If you take my previous suggestions, you could replace Excadrill with a Special Attacker to make your team more balanced. Alakazam looks good but on Mega Garchomp, you're better off just physical. Although he has a great Special Movepool, if you change Excadrill, you don't need to worry. Lastly, (although I really don't care) your descriptions are too short and the Mods will lock this thread if you don't make them longer. Great team, and good luck using it !

 

[Daniel OM]

Hello, Mangojean100 , thanks for the feedback! Rock Slide on greninja is a great ideia but my team will lose some coverage. I already got 3 rock moves on my team (exca, hippodown [tho i'm currently using ice fang] and MGarchomp). Tyranitar is a great idea, I was thinking on running him like:

Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spdef
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Roar / Dragon Tail

He could Stealth rock and sandstorm just like Hippodown, but the Hippo is bulkier on the physical side, while Ttar is on the special side.
I like the idea of making a defensive core from scizor (tho maybe I wouldn't use a life orb on something I want to take damage.) and ttar, but giving ttar an assault vest would make me lose the stealth rock advantage.

Excadrill can be a great sweeper on the sand, but I agree that if defog scizor can do the anti-hazard role, he is a waste of slot, at least with this build.

What you sugest as a special attacker to be on Excadrill's place, considering those changes. (That are great but i'm not sure until I test it properly)

 

[NotBruceWayne]

Yo. Nice Sand team here. As a person who ran Sand for a while, I think I can give some good suggestions (I hope lol).

• That Tyranitar set you posted above is pretty overkill. Max HP and SDef leave you with barely any offenses which allow your potential targets to live (Pursuit on Lati@s and all that jazz). I'd also discourage the use of Smooth Rock simply because Tyranitar has no reliable form of recovery outside of Leftovers and lol RestTalk. I think a bulky offensive pivot set would be better on your Tyranitar.
  
  Tyranitar

  Tyranitar @ Leftovers
  Ability: Sand Stream
  EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 SAtk
  Sassy Nature
  - Stealth Rock
  - Pursuit / Crunch
  - Stone Edge
  - Fire Blast / Ice Beam
  EVs allow you to OHKO Lati@s on the switch with Pursuit (which means Crunch OHKOs as well). Fire Blast allows you to muscle past Ferrothorn while Ice Beam nails Dragons and Gliscor
• Hippowdon kinda fits your team tbh as it gives your team bulk and is your only willing switch in on powerful attacks. I suggest running the mixed wall variant to allow you to switch in on both physical and special attacks well. Hippowdon's also better if you want long term Sand for your MegaChomp because he can forgo Lefties for Smooth Rock thanks to Slack Off.
  
  Hippowdon

  Hippowdon @ Leftovers / Smooth Rock
  Ability: Sand Stream
  EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
  Careful Nature
  - Earthquake
  - Slack Off
  - Stealth Rock / Toxic
  - Roar
  I'm pretty sure Stone Edge / Rock Slide can fit here to nail those Talonflames and Charizards. You can use the EV spread for reference and fit the moves you think your team needs.
• I'd run Ice Beam > Shadow Sneak and run 252 SAtk / 252 Spd on Greninja if I were you. Gliscor is too much of a thorn in your side to forgo Ice Beam. Shadow Sneak does give you some priority, but it doesn't hit that hard tbh.
  
  Relevant Calcs

  56 Atk Expert Belt Protean Greninja Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 130-154 (43 - 50.9%) -- 3.5% chance to 2HKO
  Pretty low chance to 2HKO while Latios can simple OHKO you with Draco Meteor.
  
  56 Atk Expert Belt Protean Greninja Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latias: 118-139 (39 - 46%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
  Basically the same as Latios, except bulkier
  
  56 Atk Expert Belt Protean Greninja Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 79-94 (24.3 - 29%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
  56 Atk Expert Belt Protean Greninja Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Blade: 182-218 (56.1 - 67.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers
  Doesn't KO after SS in Shield and SS in Blade (96% max). Note that Shadow Sneak is King's Shield-able too.
• Minor changes here but run a spread of 248 HP / 252+ Atk / 8 SDef on Scizor to minimize Stealth Rock damage and change Garchomp's ability to Rough Skin (if evasion clause is still on)

This concludes my lengthy rate. I hope it helped and good luck with your team!!

 

[Mangojean100]

Hello, Mangojean100 , thanks for the feedback! Rock Slide on greninja is a great ideia but my team will lose some coverage. I already got 3 rock moves on my team (exca, hippodown [tho i'm currently using ice fang] and MGarchomp). Tyranitar is a great idea, I was thinking on running him like:

Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spdef
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Roar / Dragon Tail

He could Stealth rock and sandstorm just like Hippodown, but the Hippo is bulkier on the physical side, while Ttar is on the special side.
I like the idea of making a defensive core from scizor (tho maybe I wouldn't use a life orb on something I want to take damage.) and ttar, but giving ttar an assault vest would make me lose the stealth rock advantage.

Excadrill can be a great sweeper on the sand, but I agree that if defog scizor can do the anti-hazard role, he is a waste of slot, at least with this build.

What you sugest as a special attacker to be on Excadrill's place, considering those changes. (That are great but i'm not sure until I test it properly)

I was first thinking Tentacruel as you could Rapid Spin with him if you don't want Defog on Scizor, but now I'm thinking that Rotom W would fit in great (maybe a standard Choice Set?). Also, this may sound silly, but if you alter this team a bit, it could do very well in Doubles. Another reason why Tyranitar might be better than Hippodown is that Rock Types in Sandstorm get +1 Sp. Def, so you might want 1 or 2 Rock Types to abuse that.

 

[Daniel OM]

NotBruceWayne Nice Ttar set, it does everything hippodown did and better, but only one sand inducer (and without smooth rock) is enough to keep the sand up? I can also make a sp defensive ttar with assault vest and leave stealth rock to a impish hippodown, making them the sand supporters and physical and special defense core. I agree that hippodown, on the original team, is better as careful. The team was lacking special tanks. Excadrill got some special bulk and hp, but not enough to call him a tank, scizor and hippo were physical defensive. As I said, with a special defensive ttar, wouldn't be better to stick with impish?

Considering I add Ttar, wouldn't my team be too counterable? 2 ground pokes (exca and hippo) and 2 rocks (ttar and garchomp).

As for the greninja, being without ice beam is being a pain, you are right. But I don't see why run grass knot with such special attack build. This prob should be changed too in this case, any idea for coverage move? U-turn keeps in even without the mixed build? It is nice to keep momentum but won't do any damage.

Mangojean100 Tentacruel sounds nice, sandstorm + toxic spikes would be great for residual damage, even more running roar or whirlwind on hippodown. Defog Scizor still is an option, but I don't think it has a nice synergy with life orb. (I would have a life-loss for nothing in the turn I had to use defog).

Rotom W is an different idea that can work, but which role do you think it fits in a sandstorm? Which poke should leave, greninja?

Im aware about the rock sdef bonus, this is why I'm also trying to fit this little monster on the team:

Tyrantrum@ Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Ability: Rock Head
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Crunch
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

No-recoil head smash with extra defensive bulk on sandstorm. Choice scarf would remedy his speed, that kinda sucks.

 

[NotBruceWayne]

NotBruceWayne Nice Ttar set, it does everything hippodown did and better, but only one sand inducer (and without smooth rock) is enough to keep the sand up? I can also make a sp defensive ttar with assault vest and leave stealth rock to a impish hippodown, making them the sand supporters and physical and special defense core. I agree that hippodown, on the original team, is better as careful. The team was lacking special tanks. Excadrill got some special bulk and hp, but not enough to call him a tank, scizor and hippo were physical defensive. As I said, with a special defensive ttar, wouldn't be better to stick with impish?

Considering I add Ttar, wouldn't my team be too counterable? 2 ground pokes (exca and hippo) and 2 rocks (ttar and garchomp).

As for the greninja, being without ice beam is being a pain, you are right. But I don't see why run grass knot with such special attack build. This prob should be changed too in this case, any idea for coverage move? U-turn keeps in even without the mixed build? It is nice to keep momentum but won't do any damage.

Mangojean100 Tentacruel sounds nice, sandstorm + toxic spikes would be great for residual damage, even more running roar or whirlwind on hippodown. Defog Scizor still is an option, but I don't think it has a nice synergy with life orb. (I would have a life-loss for nothing in the turn I had to use defog).

Rotom W is an different idea that can work, but which role do you think it fits in a sandstorm? Which poke should leave, greninja?

Im aware about the rock sdef bonus, this is why I'm also trying to fit this little monster on the team:

View attachment 12361
Tyrantrum@ Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Ability: Rock Head
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Crunch
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

No-recoil head smash with extra defensive bulk on sandstorm. Choice scarf would remedy his speed, that kinda sucks.

Isn't Rock Head unreleased lol. Anyway, most weather teams would need at least 2 inducers. The only problem with running both Sand setters TTar and Hippo on your team is that they stack weaknesses. Keldeo would blast away on your team, hitting TTar with Secret Sword and Excadill and Hippo with Hydro Pump / Scald / Surf. He would also outspeed Garchomp and hit it with Icy Wind. Scarf variants would also outpace and OHKO Greninja with Secret Sword.

Calcs

against TTar
252 SpA Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 508-604 (125.7 - 149.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
>Even if you run max HP and Def with Impish, Keldeo still has a pretty high chance of OHKOing

against Mixed Hippo
252 SpA Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Hippowdon: 318-374 (75.7 - 89%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
>This is quite impressive actually, but by no means a great switch in.

against Excadrill
252 SpA Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 420-494 (103.7 - 121.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

against MegaChomp
252 SpA Keldeo Icy Wind vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Mega Garchomp: 280-332 (78.4 - 92.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

against Scizor
252 SpA Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Scizor: 214-253 (62.2 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
>Keldeo also resists 3 of Scizor's moves

As you can see, Keldeo is a pretty huge threat to your team. Alakazam is the closest thing to a "check" as could switch in on Specs variants and live with it's Sash but not on on Scarfed ones.

Btw, if you're going to run Sand Rush Excadrill, might as well run more Speed and max Attack with Adamant because Sand is only limited to 6 turns max iirc. 164 EVs puts you ahead of freaking Deoxys-S under the sand. You could run more to outspeed Scarfers I guess but putting you ahead of Deo-S is pretty big. I'd also suggest you try out Life Orb for instantaneous power.

Excadrill

Excadrill @ Air Ballon / Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance / Rapid Spin

Running Sand doesn't mean all pokes you run have to benefit from it (Rock types getting a boost, Ground and Steel types being unaffected) as that leaves you vulnerable to certain threats.

Glad that my previous suggestions helped. Good luck with your team!

 

[Mangojean100]

NotBruceWayne Nice Ttar set, it does everything hippodown did and better, but only one sand inducer (and without smooth rock) is enough to keep the sand up? I can also make a sp defensive ttar with assault vest and leave stealth rock to a impish hippodown, making them the sand supporters and physical and special defense core. I agree that hippodown, on the original team, is better as careful. The team was lacking special tanks. Excadrill got some special bulk and hp, but not enough to call him a tank, scizor and hippo were physical defensive. As I said, with a special defensive ttar, wouldn't be better to stick with impish?

Considering I add Ttar, wouldn't my team be too counterable? 2 ground pokes (exca and hippo) and 2 rocks (ttar and garchomp).

As for the greninja, being without ice beam is being a pain, you are right. But I don't see why run grass knot with such special attack build. This prob should be changed too in this case, any idea for coverage move? U-turn keeps in even without the mixed build? It is nice to keep momentum but won't do any damage.

Mangojean100 Tentacruel sounds nice, sandstorm + toxic spikes would be great for residual damage, even more running roar or whirlwind on hippodown. Defog Scizor still is an option, but I don't think it has a nice synergy with life orb. (I would have a life-loss for nothing in the turn I had to use defog).

Rotom W is an different idea that can work, but which role do you think it fits in a sandstorm? Which poke should leave, greninja?

Im aware about the rock sdef bonus, this is why I'm also trying to fit this little monster on the team:

View attachment 12361
Tyrantrum@ Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Ability: Rock Head
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Crunch
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

No-recoil head smash with extra defensive bulk on sandstorm. Choice scarf would remedy his speed, that kinda sucks.

Personally, I think Rotom W and Greninja work well together, but I honestly don't know what you should replace. By the way, Tentacruel has Rapid Spin if you don't like Defog on Scizor.

 

[Daniel OM]

I'll reformulate the team and put the changes in red soon. Do you guys have any poke to advice me? Anything that can work well with sandstorm. Usefull steel types or for covarage. What do you guys think about empoleon or cradily?

Soon i'll come with more info about the changes i already made !

 

[acam333]

I personally would run eq/ice punch/crunch on ttar. That set gives you flawless coverage and works better than eq/stone edge/crunch imo. It also stops gliscor from walling you and can ohko landorus and garchomp

 

[Mangojean100]

If you're having trouble with WoW, you might want to use a Fire Type like Heatran instead of Gengar. As you already have a couple walls, Heatran could be a Tank or the rare, all attacking Scarf set. It might also work well with Scizor as you could lure someone to go for a Fire move and switch to absorb it.

 

[Daniel OM]

Mangojean100 yes, the problem is gengar matches so well with Ttar and the team. I'm thinking the weak bond here is rotom-w. I need a fire or grass poke for will-o-wisps or spores OR an aromatherapy/heal bell support.

acam333 I'll try! Gengar is dealing well with gliscors so far, with disable on their only attack move and shadow ball until they die.