ORAS OU Just throw in some sand

Hello and today I've got myself another HO team. It is a Sand team I guess, in that it employs Sand Rush Excadrill as a key offensive threat. But the rest of the team focuses more on providing offensive partners to Excadrill instead of stressing sandstorm synergy.

Team at a Glance
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Set Details

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Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance / Rapid Spin

Ah, Excadrill, the face of sand offense. Excadrill is simply a must on a sand offense team. Period. Earthquake and Iron Head are its STABs. Rock Slide forms the pseudo Quake-Edge coverage with Earthquake to hit the likes of Mega Charizard-Y, Talonflame, Thundurus... anything that flies. I'm really torn on the last move though. Swords Dance allows Excadrill to sweep much easier, and pressures its checks and counters a lot more so they can be broken through by a teammate. However, Rapid Spin is still valuable despite Excadrill being frail and the move costing momentum, because there is a member on this team that's 2x weak to Stealth Rock. Someone please convince me one way or another whether that member's SR weakness justifies Rapid Spin over SD.


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Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Return
- Power-Up Punch

Mega Lopunny actually synergizes with Excadrill pretty well IMO. Power-Up Punch is a part of Lopunny's standard repertoire, but this actually serves as a decent lure set to heavily damage things like Hippowdon, Rotom-Wash and Slowbro for Excadrill to break through. Fake Out helps Lopunny safely Mega Evolve and does chip damage. By revealing Fake Out in this set, we give the opponent a false sense of predictability, so that they're more willing to send in their physical walls to sponge the predicted Fake Out, only to get hit by PUP on the switch and suddenly find themselves in big trouble. High Jump Kick and Return are its standard, powerful, unresisted STABs. With Mega Lopunny's blazing speed, it can often find itself cleaning up weakened teams with these two STAB moves outside of sand.


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Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off

Azumarill is one of best offensive Fighting type checks, which is valuable since we have quite a few team members weak to it. Azumarill enjoys Mega Lopunny luring in and weakening Rotom-Wash and Mega Venusaur (+1 Return can usually 2HKO). Furthermore, Mega Lopunny can also dispose of Ferrothorn, one of CB Azumarill's hardest checks. But more importantly, it's the follow-up that will switch in to things like Hippowdon, Gliscor and Slowbro after they've taken damage from either one of the first two, to force them out before they can use a recovery move. The set itself is standard. I feel Knock Off is a better move in general on Azumarill, because it's low risk, as things that resist Dark don't really want to switch in on Azumarill, and Knock Off does decent damage to most things while removing their items (removing Leftovers is a great way of pressuring checks so that they get worn down more easily). Last but not least, Azumarill can also find itself sweeping occasionally with CB boosted Aqua Jet.


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Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Stone Edge
- Bulldoze

So we have three Pokemon that's checked by bulky Water types and physical walls. Let's add another! The point of the team isn't to have an answer to every single threat in the meta. Instead, they serve to pressure and weaken those common checks they share, so that one of them might eventually break through. I really hate Entei for robbing Ho-Oh (my favorite Ubers Pokemon) of its signature move, but there is no denying that it's a significant buff. Entei baits out those bulky Waters and those physically defensive Hippowdons and Garchomps, and spreads burn on them, so that they get worn down much more easily. Because of the ridiculous burn chance, Sacred Fire is a pretty safe move for Entei to spam. Extreme Speed is also a fantastic move that could use a bit more distribution. It's a great move for Entei to bypass its mediocre speed tier in order to revenge kill or even clean up. Stone Edge hits Fire types that can switch into Sacred Fire without a fear of getting burned. Bulldoze hits Heatran (Entei doesn't learn EQ rip).


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Chesnaught @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Drain Punch
- Spikes
- Wood Hammer

We do still need something to switch in and break those bulky Waters though. Also, wearing down common checks can be done a lot easier if we have entry hazard support. Finally, the whole thing thus far is a little Ground weak. This is where Chesnaught comes in. It can come in on a multitude of physical attackers (especially a few that really trouble sand teams, namely Breloom, Azumarill and Keldeo) and set up Spikes. Leech Seed synergizes almost perfectly with Spikes, as it forces switches, which means more entry hazard damage and more free turns to set up more layers of Spikes. Drain Punch is a decently powerful STAB move that helps Chesnaught stay healthy. Wood Hammer is the move to hit bulky Water types hard, and it makes Chesnaught less passive than otherwise it'd be if using Spiky Shield. The overall goal of Chesnaught is to be annoying, force residue damage on the opposing team so that our offensive attackers can break them more easily.


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Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam
Finally, before we forget, let's add sand to our sand team. Tyranitar supports Excadrill immensely in providing sand for Sand Rush. It also supports it by luring in Landorus-T and Gliscor, and seriously damaging both with Ice Beam. Stealth Rock is a must on pretty much every team, and Tyranitar is a great user as it beats all common Defoggers. Stone Edge and its Rock typing allows it to check birds, such as Talonflame, Thundurus and Zapdos. Pursuit traps the Lati twins, and their removal is great news to Mega Lopunny, Entei and Chesnaught.

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Return
- Power-Up Punch

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off

Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Stone Edge
- Bulldoze

Chesnaught @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Drain Punch
- Wood Hammer

Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam
 
Just a small nitpick, but you should change Chesnaught's spread to 252HP / 112 Def / 148 Speed in order to outspeed 252 speed adamant azumarill and KO with Wood Hammer after a small bit of damage. It doesn't compromise that much physical bulk, and speed invested BellyJet Azumarill can potentially 6-0 you if it sets up (unless you want to sack 4 mons so lopunny can fake out it to death). Otherwise the team looks pretty solid, good job in that respect.
 
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Hey Roonil Wazib! This is a very well written RMT, and I quite like the way you've constructed everything. I've always hated playing against Sand, since it usually means sacking something to Excadrill (and possibly more) if I misplay and get a bad matchup. This looks like quite an exciting team, so I'll get to it right away!

First off, I'd like to point out that every single Pokemon you have on your team is a physical attacker. Although it may sound like it, by no means is a Hyper Offense team strictly limited to physical attackers. Leaving yourself with no special attackers renders your whole team vulnerable to Mons that carry Will-o-Wisp like Rotom-W, Stallbreaker Talonflame, and Sableye. It also means you will get quickly shut down by common Physical walls like Garchomp, Skarmory, and Slowbro.


Your Excadrill Set looks quite standard and very effective, so there's nothing I can really suggest to make it better. Honestly, I'm also a bit torn on whether or not you should keep Rapid Spin or Swords Dance on your Excadrill. Your team (bar Entei) doesn't look particularly weak to SR, and it looks like it can put a great deal of pressure on hazard setters. Swords Dance will allow you to OHKO Defensive Slowbro over Rocks, and if you wear down your opponent's team enough, it will make Excadrill's role as a win-condition even more substantial. However, having a Rapid Spinnner might help your team in its own right; if something happens to your Entei, you won't have much for Defensive Skarmory, which can set layers upon layers of SR and Spikes onto your side. It won't be fun getting a third of your HP chopped off as soon as you send something in. This decision is really up to you- you can do a few test runs with either move on your Excadrill and try to find out which one works best for you when you play.

Although Superpower can slap around Ferrothorns that try to come in on Azumarill, Knock Off wasn't so bad of a choice on your Azumarill since you have plenty of ways to take care of Ferrothorn. One thing I would suggest is running a different EV spread on your Azumarill. I would consider taking a few EVs off HP and investing 96 EVs in Speed instead of 84, so that you will be able to outspeed the uninvested Support Tyranitars similar to yours that roam OU. Otherwise, the set you're currently running looks fine.


Although there's no rule that says you can't do this, I'm a bit concerned since you have two banded Pokemon on your team. Your opponents can really take advantage of you when you're locked into a move, and things can get pretty sketchy if Azumarill and/or Entei are the only remaining Mons that you have. However, your current moveset looks as standard and tested as it gets, so I can't do much to change it. This is a mon that I may consider replacing; I'll get back to you on this.


As for your Chesnaught, I do agree with Mango Smoothie's suggestion of changing your Chesnaught's EV spread. Azumarill can really mess your team up (especially when it's speed invested), so taking those EVs in Defense and investing 148 EVs in Speed can really be beneficial to your team in the long run. Chesnaught is naturally bulky anyway, so you won't need to worry too much about losing those extra EVs.

EDIT: So I played a total of 15 matches with your team. At around match 4 I decided to replace Entei with Scarfed Heatran, since Heatran plays a similar role to Entei and your team could really make use of some more speed control in case something happened to Tyranitar. Heatran was also a great win condition in late-game, when most of my opponent's mons were weakened. In the end my WLR was 14:1, my Elo was 1348, and my GXE was 75. I think I could have kept pushing higher, but I was a bit tired at that point. I used a SD Excadrill over Rapid Spin, and I applied all of the changes stated above. Have fun!

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
 
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Just a small nitpick, but you should change Chesnaught's spread to 252HP / 112 Def / 148 Speed in order to outspeed 252 speed adamant azumarill and KO with Wood Hammer after a small bit of damage. It doesn't compromise that much physical bulk, and speed invested BellyJet Azumarill can potentially 6-0 you if it sets up (unless you want to sack 4 mons so lopunny can take-out it to death). Otherwise the team looks pretty solid, good job in that respect.
Yeah I think this would be a great change, thanks for pointing it out.

iMack (I won't quote you cuz your post is so long)

I didn't set out to make a full team of only physical attackers lol. I just put the pieces that I saw fit together, and turns out everything is a physical attacker lol. I'm not too concerned about everything being physical, and I probably won't change anything based on this reason alone. In any case, having no special attackers means I don't care a single bit about special walls, and opposing physical walls will face immense pressure trying to handle 6 attackers at once. That being said, if a special attacker turns out to be a better fit, then I have no problem against changing.

Regards to Excadrill and Lopunny: there were situations where I'd run one move and missed the other. I'm currently using Rapid Spin, and I feel if using RS on Excadrill then PUP on Bunny is a must. If running SD, then I think changing PUP to Ice Punch might not be too bad. But currently I really enjoy PUP's lure potential.

Azumarill: speeding up seems good. Do you think it's worth it to go up to 164 to outspeed uninvested Skarmory?

Entei: I don't think I need to explain that a Fire type is needed here. I picked Entei because people really wouldn't hesitate much to switch in their Rotoms and Garchomps and Hippowdons into it, and attacking them for a good chunk of health while leaving them with a burn is something no other OU fire types can do. I mean Talonflame can bait and WoW, but there is no room for it on an offensive set. Heatran can Lava Plume, but it's a weaker move, has less chance to burn, and more fitting for a defensive set.
 
Hey man. I like this team a lot, as it uses some of my favorite elements in sand and bulky offence to pressure the opponent into submission. With that said, I have a few little standar and unauthadox changes that I think would help this team out a significant amount. I however won't be dewling on what has already been said that I agree with. Anyway, let get into the rate, shall we?

First thing I wanted to address is how annoying Bulky Chomp and Landorus-T
are to your team. The recoil Chomp hurts everything badly on your team baring your T-Tar, which gets out sped and hurt badly by an earthquake. Your best means of taking down Lando is with azumarill, which can be worn down easily and T-Tar which gets out sped again and hit hard by Earthquake. That's why I think that a lure was in need to drag these two Pokemon in and hit them for huge damage. After thinking about the perfect lure that could fit on your team, I realised that you already had a Pokemon with this potential in Entai. Natural Gift + Ganlon Berry on Entai, is something that I have used to great success verse awesome players like -Snow and Escavalier to catch them by surprise and claim there Garchomps life's. I think using these over Choice Band and Bulldoze, would be more optimal, as having two choice locked team isn't very optimal for a team that can't allow any free switches and that you already have three solid checks to Heatran.

The next thing I noticed, was the great opportunity, to weild both a spinner and a way to effectively have boosts on excadrill. I think this potential is awesome, as despite what has been said, your team really doesn't appreciate any form of hazard stack, as the Pokemon you have, have no reliable recovery and will only perish faster with hazards. On the other hand, being able to threaten your opponent with a boosted excadrill and potentially create sweeping opportunities is also awesome to have. That's why I think should run Baton Pass on Loppuny. With Loppuny's great speed tier it will easily be able to pass off the boosts to Excadrill and with Excadrill resisting three of four of Loppuny's weakness, you can expect a lot of relatively free passes. The only down side to this is losing Fake Out, but a lot of opponents will expect you to have it and will switch out there threats regardless.

Final thing I kind of wanted to confirm? I think is the best way to put it, is this comment made by you:
Azumarill: speeding up seems good. Do you think it's worth it to go up to 164 to outspeed uninvested Skarmory?
You should indeed make this this chabge. Although it might not seem that great to outspeed something that can eat your hits, but with waterfalls chance to flinch you can nab the kill or simple prevent it from roosting back up when low.

That all I have to input at this moment, but I hope you consider trying out some of these and seeing how they go. I also wish you best of luck with the future development and success of this team!

Edit: Hope the grammer is alright, first time navigating an android and it's a lot harder than I thought.
 

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