Dune Walkers, featuring Sandslash (#67 on Showdown)

DUNE WALKERS


Hey there, I'm ClubbingSealCub, and I welcome you to this RMT!

This team began with me wanting to test out Genesect, and slowly evolved into an offensive sand team featuring Sandslash as the star of the show. I've been using this team since Genesect's release (a little more than a month, I guess) and after much testing and adjustments I believe I have created a solid, offensive-based sand team. Right as I type, this team has peaked #67 on the OU ladder with 1834 rating.



EDIT: This team has also peaked a Bronze rating in the Dark Horse Project. Go Sandslash! (individual post here)

This RMT was created with two main purposes in mind:

First, showcasing sand's potential - maybe it's just me, but I feel the ladder on PS is ruled over by Rain and Sun teams.
Hopefully this RMT can spark some interest about sand, and maybe some battlers will decide to try it out.

Second, and perhaps most important - proving that lower tier mons are not necessarily bad and should not be underestimated.
In this team, Sandslash rises from the RU tier, aided by his teammates to carry on Excadrill's Sand Rush sweeping legacy and prove his worth.

Said shortly, this team focuses on weakening Sandslash's checks and counters via VoltTurning, well-placed spores and powerful choiced attacks while retaining weather control.

BUILDING THE SKELETON
TEAM BUILDING PROCESS
As I said before, this team started with Genesect - I wanted to build a team around him and test him out due to his release.


Since I wanted to test out Scarf Genesect in particular, I decided to use him with Rotom-W to create a strong VoltTurn core.
A defensive Celebi was added as a check to Terrakion/set up sweepers and to add another U-turn user.


I then noticed a pretty big weakness to weather teams - sun teams in particular. I added Ttar as a means to
check other weather inducers and Heatran because my Gene-Rotom-Celebi core was pretty weak to Venusaur

I then realized that, being a Volt-turn team, I would need a spinner. Huge plus if it benefitted from sand in some way.
My first thought was Excadrill (or would have been, weren't he banned) I settled for Sandslash, since his DW ability had been released.


After several hours of testing, Celebi was getting destroyed by Terrakion thanks to X-scissor.
I swapped Rotom-W out for Slowbro for a more reliable check and Celebi went full offensive.
Sandslash exceeded my expectations as a sweeper, so I decided to keep testing and making adjustments around that role, not as a spinner.


Slowbro was absolutely killing my offensive momentum (I even tried a choice specs set!) so I went back to Rotom-W.
After testing a lot of mons (Skarmory, Hippo, Breelom, Forretress - special shoutout to Sigilyph for being a boss), I decided
to use a physically defensive Amoonguss to check Terrakion and other physical threats. Turns out Spore is godly on offensive teams!
This is the finalized version of the team

ONE GRAIN AT A TIME
A CLOSER LOOK​

Kabutops 2.0 (Genesect) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Download
EVs: 8 Atk / 248 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Genesect acts as an offensive pivot for the team. His powerful Download-boosted moves, speed and unpredictability make it a great lead, revenge killer and cleaner in one shiny, purple package. U-turn is, obviously, for scouting and hurting Dark and Psychic types. Thunderbolt and Icebeam form the fabled "BoltBeam" combination, which allows Genesect to snipe a wide variety of targets. Flamethrower completes the coverage, melting steel-types not named Heatran that dare cross Genesect's path.

The EVs surely need no explanation - almost max SpA for powerful elemental blasts, max speed to make sure not even scarf Hydreigon and those other Genesects that run 94 Atk EVs outspeed / tie me and the remaining 8 in attack for a (ever so sightly) stronger U-turn. These 8 EVs in attack allow Genesect to nab an additional point for free when Download boosts it, so i'm effectively trading 1 SpA for 2 Atk (Thanks to Ban Volturn / Nysyr for sharing this drop of knowledge with me).

Against rain teams, Genesect tends to be my lead. Thanks to his ability, I can find out what set Politoed is running (Specs/Scarf or Defensive) before it even makes a move, which is a massive benefit.



Excadrill Lite (Sandslash) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Shadow Claw / X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance

Sandslash - the star of the show - was originally introduced to the team as a bulky rapid spinner. However, due to his awful special defense and less-than-stellar defensive typing, by the time I got a chance to bring him into play safely it was time to SD and clean up anyway. For this reason, I decided to try a full-sweeping set with X-scissor instead of Rapid Spin, and boy, was it worth it.

Swords Dance is the crux of this set, letting Sandslash reach 598 attack after a boost. Earthquake and Stone Edge create the well-known "EdgeQuake" combination, providing solid coverage and power. Shadow Claw provides great coverage, hitting the Lati twins, Gengar (who is a massive bitch to this team) and other psychic types hard (Thanks to The Great Mighty Doom for the suggestion). X-scissor can be used instead of Shadow Claw to nail Hydreigon and Celebi harder.

The Speed EVs allow Sandslash to outspeed up to +2 bulky QD Volcarona, which means he's only going to be outsped by Scarf Terrakion, Scarf Latios, and the ever-so-rare Stoutland (and perhaps scarf Keldeo, but I only see this in the suspect ladder). Terrakion and Stoutland are beaten one-on-one (something Excadrill can't do, by the way) thanks to Sandslash's impressive 110 physical defense (which also allows him to take a Mamoswine Ice Shard and KO back!) and Latios is rarely a problem thanks to Tyranitar's trapping prowess.

Soft Sand was initially chosen because of the great power boost it granted to Earthquake without LO's recoil, but the 30% added damage bonus is just too juicy to pass up - especially considering Gengar isn't OHKOed by Shadow Claw at +0 without it (did I mention he's a bitch to this team?).

Sandslash may not be as powerful as Excadrill, but he pulls his job off flawlessly.



Super Shroomish (Amoonguss) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 232 Def / 28 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Giga Drain (previously Seed Bomb)
- Spore
- Clear Smog
- Hidden Power Ice

Now you may be thinking - "Physically defensive Amoonguss? Why?" The answer to that question is, simply, Terrakion. Amoonguss never takes more than half from any of Terrakion's moves nor is he OHKOed at +2, so as soon as the fungus comes in, something's getting put to sleep (hopefully Terrakion). Forretress was once used in this spot, and he did a great job, but due to this team's offensive nature he didn't always find time to both set spikes and spin, so Amoonguss got the nod because of Spore to incapacitate key threats and Regenerator, which keeps him healthy enough to tank hits all match long.

Amoonguss' prowess at taking Terrakion's hits should be enough proof of his physical bulkyness; but even with almost no investment he can still take the ever-prevalent water attacks from rain teams comortambly. Specs Politoed deals 30/40% (Surf / Hydropump) and around 50% with ice beam - which means I can switch in, smack it with a Giga Drain / put it to sleep if it used a water move, or go out to Rotom to take the ice beam and force it out. He wouldn't be able to take on a Tornadus-T Hurricane even with SpDef investment, so meh. Another benefit of being physically defensive is being able to sometimes survive +0 CM Latias Psyshocks who think they can OHKO me and put 'em to sleep. Speaking of bulk, man, regenerator is broken on this thing. It can just get in there, tank a hit, spore something and get out and maybe he's lost 20% HP in the process. What a boss.

Those 28 SpA EVs may seem a little unorthodox, but they're very helpful against SuBCM Keldeo. Thanks to the investment, I can reliably break its substitute unless Keldeo gets to +3. Spore pretty much forces the enemy to sacrifice one of his pokes, and thanks to Amoonguss' bulk and RotoSect VoltTurns, my dear mushroom always finds opportunities to come in and put something to sleep, which is a huge benefit for an offense-oriented team like this one. Clear Smog beats set-up mons, most notably Toxicroak and Conkeldurr, who think they can just get in my face and Bulk Up because I've already put something to sleep. HP Ice lets me deal great damage to Landorus, Gliscor and some Dragonites.




Yoshi (Tyranitar) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Providing my team with sandstorm and packing a mean punch, here's CB Tyranitar. T-tar don't play no games - his massive 603 attack stat means that nothing is going to want to take a neutral Stone edge, Crunch nor Superpower. Even Skarmory is 2HKOed by Stone edge (assuming it hits twice in a row, anyway). Pursuit is, not surprisingly, the most important move. One of the Latis shows its face? Pursuit. Espeon came in on Amoonguss to reflect his spore? Pursuit. Something's low on health and it wants to run away? Pursuit. This is particularly important because, as mentioned in Sandslash's description; Scarf Latios (and Latias, I guess) is the only poke that can successfully put a stop to Sandslash's sweep so getting him out of the picture is always amazing. Getting Tyranitar in safely to bring up sand and smack something hard is nothing particularly hard with this team - Amoonguss' Spore and RotoSect's VoltTurns provide great opportunities for T-tar to come in for free.

The EVs chosen allow T-tar to reach max attack, which is a great aid in winning the weather war. Neither Toed nor Ninetales want to switch into a Stone Edge - offensive Toeds are OHKOed and defensive ones take around 80% damage. Tales is always KOed, even if T-tar is burned. The 112 speed EVs let T-tar outpace several threats. Mainly, Skarmory (so that I can outspeed it and kill it before it can roost-stall my stone edge), other Ttars and Toeds with no speed investment, so I can kill them before they kill me. The HP EVs allow T-tar to survive a Duggy EQ after rocks, giving it a chance to come out on top (if I had rocks when he got in) or at least get him down to sash so he's not a problem for Sandslash later.



Frogger (Heatran) @ Shed Shell
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Calm Nature
- Magma Storm
- Protect
- Toxic (Previously Roar)
- Stealth Rock

Heatran provides my team with the oh-so-necessary stealth rock and a great answer to sun. Shed Shell has replaced Air Balloon to have a solid answer to the Gene-Trio teams. HP Ground Volcarona can be an issue, but Sandslash outspeeds and can OHKO offensive versions at 1 QD and bulky ones at 2 QD so it's alright.

Perhaps the only move that needs to be explained in this set is Magma Storm - the main reason I use it instead of Lava Plume is Genesect+Dugtrio. Killing Dugtrio regardless of Focus Sash is a blessing - especially since the rise of Genesect/Dugtrio/Xatu/Victini *cough*damnyoulavosspawn*cough*. The other benefits are forcing my opponent to attack, preventing double switches and the residual damage. This is especially useful in tandem with Protect, which allows me to scout out which move choiced users are going to bust out (most notably SpecsToed and Latios) and switch accordingly, see if Blissey's packing ThunderWave, and other good stuff; while also dealing 12% combined residual damage thanks to sandstorm + the magma burn pretty much for free. Preventing double switches is amazing when combined with T-tar's strong-ass Pursuit, for example when cheeky Espeons think they can come in and bounce back my hazards, or if I want to put one of the pink blobs in a tight position. Toxic adds up to Magma Storm's and sandstorm's residual damage, which is incredibly useful in weakening chansey/blissey that get trapped in with protect.

The 0 Atk IVs are to minimize confusion damage, since Heatran is my best answer to WoW / Confuse Ray Sableye.



Bosch (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Bosch has undergone a few changes (thanks to JoeyBoy's great suggestion!) and is now a lot bulkier on the special side. Volt Switch and Hydro Pump serve the same purpose as before (Rotom doesn't hit as hard now, but he still gets the job done), but the new EVs allow Rotom to reliably deal with special attackers that Amoongus and Heatran just can't (most notably, Sheer Force Landorus).

Will-O-Wisp provides a source of status, a way to check physical attackers and residual damage, which is always helpful. Pain Split helps Rotom-W stay around longer.


DESERT RAIDERS
THREATS

As of right now, the main threats to this team are Sub-Disable Gengar (Dangerous behind a sub, but it can't stop Sandslash now), Rock Polish Sheer Force Landorus (Rotom-W handles this one more reliably now) and Flame Orb Conkeldurr (straight up buttfucks my team with Drain Punch / Ice Punch and can't be put to sleep). It's impossible to check every single threat in the OU metagame, and I decided that SubDisable Gengar, RP Special Lando and Status Orb Conkeldurr are not common enough to guarantee a counter for them on the team. Most of the other main OU threats can be played around, but these three can destroy my team if I don't play properly. Any improvements that may make dealing with these three easier without opening me to some other common threat (or less common threats that I may have missed during playtest) fall beyond my teambuilding capabilities and knowledge of the metagame, so any suggestions are more than welcome.

TREASURES FROM THE SAND
IMPORTABLE​