The synopsis will be up shortly
Log: http://pastebin.com/HDhk4PH1
This time, we decided to do something simple and make a sand team with Substitute/Swords Dance Drilbur. Right from the start, this meant we would use Hippopotas as well. The final product seems very solid (sand usually is), though it might have problems with opposing sand, and Knock Off Mienfoo might be irritating.
Synopsis: Offensive sand is fairly straightforward in teambuilding. By default, it requires Drilbur and Hippopotas. Drilbur is a fantastic Pokemon in Little Cup with very few counters and checks (this is why its suspect at the time of writing), so
offensive sand teams usually focus on removing Drilbur's few checks, while making sure they have means of handling the standard anti-sand Pokemon and other top threats. McMeghan suggested that instead of using Stealth Rock on Hippopotas like most sand teams do, we use it on another Pokemon that Staryu can't easily switch in and spin against. Our options here were limited, as there aren't many Pokemon that can do that. In fact, it's pretty much limited to Lileep and Ferroseed (I suppose there are other Pokemon such as Turtwig, but Lileep and Ferroseed fit better on a sand team). Lileep is an absolute monster in sand, so we chose to use it for Stealth Rock. Since we weren't using Stealth Rock on Hippopotas, this meant that was could use another move in its place. We chose Rock Slide, because it hit both Murkrow and Snover super effectively, though other options such as Superpower and Crunch were considered as well.
Hippopotas, Drilbur, and Lileep are staples on sand, but they still leave the team open to Snover. Snover is easily the most anti-sand Pokemon in LC, having Snow Warning to negate Sandstream and Grass and Ice STABs that hit most members of a sand team super effectively. Thus, it was crucial that our next few members have some way of combating Snover, otherwise the team would be straight up destroyed by it. There were a few suggestions for the next Pokemon, such as Houndour, Larvesta, Magnemite, and Bronzor. Macle then suggested Munchlax, which was well received by everyone in the chat as it is fairly underutilized in today's metagame. With Thick Fat, ridiculous special bulk, and ways to nail Snover in Fire Punch and Pursuit, Munchlax is a good way of removing Snover.
With those four Pokemon, the team has a solid backbone, but it still has problems with many common metagame Pokemon. Fighting-types such as Mienfoo and Timburr can easily threaten Lileep and Munchlax, and from there the whole team. Additionally, while the team lacks Pokemon weak to Murkrow, it also doesn't have a Pokemon that can comfortably switch in on it, so if any future teammates are Murkrow bait it will become a problem. Furthermore, the team still lacks a reliable way of wearing down Bronzor and Grass-types (the main checks to Drilbur). Larvesta and Staryu were suggested as teammates, but since Larvesta has trouble against Murkrow and Staryu cannot handle it, it wasn't the best idea (Larvesta's form of recovery is also nerfed in sand, which doesn't help). People suggested Shelmet to handle Fighting-types, which doesn't absolutely require Rapid Spin support like Larvesta does. This means that we could dedicate the last Pokemon to being a Pokemon that can tank Murkrow and threaten Bronzor/Grass-types while no longer having to worry about Fighting-types. The obvious choice was Magnemite, who resists Brave Bird and Sucker Punch (and can take a Heat Wave at full health with Eviolite), traps Bronzor, and can switch in on Shroomish and Foongus. It also helps out more against Snover, which is beneficial to the team. This does leave the team with 3 Fighting weaknesses, and perhaps a little shaky against opposing sand, but overall it is still quite solid.
Team: http://pastebin.com/dAxm9SA5
That's it! Rate and enjoy, etc