Enter the Sandman (Peaked 1400s)

Enter the SandmanA sandstorm team by Motagua

Hello guys, this is my 3rd RMT in Smogon. Unfortunately, I can´t ladder as much as before because my parents decided to change the cable provider (in my country these companies provide TV, internet & phone services), but unfortunately the new one sucks and the internet always goes away when I am in the middle of something. It also makes PO lag horribly and I am unable to keep the previous rate I had on ladder.

Anyways although the people who know me, knows that I play with weatherless teams, Sandstorm is a reckoned force to fear. Sandstorm has the most powerful sweepers like Terrakion & Landorus, and Tyranitar is the best of the 3 weather summoners because he only depends by himself to defeat the others.

This sand team focuses on supporting its two main sweepers: Gliscor & Terrakion. Terrakion is already well known for his ability to muscle through every team with his amazing dual STAB combination. On the other hand, Gliscor is such an underrated threat, so much that he can even sweep unprepared teams by himself. To make matters worse, Gliscor has Sand Veil which means that he can evade attacks like Stone Edge & Hydro Pump making other users ragequit. This team is one the best I made and it has a really long history. Although they are similiar sand teams, its purpose is different from the other whored sandstorm teams (T-tar/Celebi/Landorus/Scizor/Rotom-W/Terrakion).


The team:


Havoc (Tyranitar) (M) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 168 HP / 60 Atk / 64 SAtk / 92 SDef / 124 Spd
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
Moves:

• Crunch: Tyranitar's strong STAB move dealing a lot of damage to the pokemons that doesn't resist it. It 2HKOs Reuniclus and OHKOs most Psychic & Ghost-types.
• Fire Blast: Excellent coverage move that OHKOs Forretress & Scizor while it 2HKOs Ferrothorn & Skarmory.
• Superpower: After SR, this move owns Terrakion and it 2HKOs Heatran.
• Stealth Rock: My only hazard needed to break MS and keep Volcarona out.

Why this pokemon?
Overall, a very unique set that fulfills the roles of both Sp.Def & Mix sets while bringing the essential sandstorm to the team. He also eliminates a carefree Scizor expecting to outspeed Tyranitar.
EVs, Item & Nature
This Tyranitar was inspired from "omg wombo combo"'s unique mix T-tar set he used on his team, but I used a Brave nature instead. 168 HP EVs and 92 Sp.Def EVs still allow T-tar to shrug off most special attacks like Latios' Draco Meteor. Also with the Chople Berry, Reuniclus Focus Blast will never OHKO Tyranitar. 60 Atk EVs gives Tyranitar an excellent 350 Attack stat allowing him to OHKO a Terrakion switch-in with Superpower after SR, and 2HKO bulky Heatran. The standard 64 Sp.Atk EVs allows Tyranitar to OHKO Forretress and Scizor with Fire Blast and 2HKO Ferrothorn. The surprise of this set relies on the 124 Speed EVs which, even with a Brave nature, they allow Tyranitar to outspeed the standard CB Scizor and score the surprise KO on him. Tyranitar will also be able to 2HKO Jellicent first before it burns him.


R.A.P.E. [Rampaging Acrobat Punished Everyone](Gliscor) (M) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Moves:

• Substitute: Gliscor avoids status and scouts it switch-ins with this move while abusing Sand Veil's 20% evasion to its fullest. Under a Sub and with Sand Veil evasion, it gives Gliscor high chances to set-up.
• Acrobatics: This move is Gliscor's most strong STAB move. With the boost of Flying Gem and Acrobatics doubling its power in the moment when the Gem is consumed, it is strong enough to OHKO Slowbro, Rotom-W and opposing Gliscor after a SD boost.
• Earthquake: Gliscor's second STAB move able to murder the Steel, Rock & Fire-type pokemon plaguing the metagame while having a good coverage with Acrobatics.
• Swords Dance: This move raises Gliscor's Attack to insane levels murdering anything with its Acrobatics. Under the Sub, you get a free chance and if you are lucky, you get more chances factoring Sand Veil's evasion rate.

Why this pokemon?
Fuck Garchomp. Lol. I got this shit with Gliscor and its the MVP of this team, who was built around him. This pokemon is meant to sweep the foe's team once his counters are eliminated or pave the way for Terrakion.
EVs, Item & Nature
Max Attack and Speed to surpass neutral-speed Lucario, Dragonite and Rotom-W, while dishing out the most damage possible with an Adamant nature. Flying Gem is what allows a boosted Acrobatics to eliminate usual counters like Rotom-W, Gliscor & Slowbro paving the way for Terrakion if he is needed to sweep.



Whirlpool (Rotom-W) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) *suggested by ShakeItUp
Moves:

• Trick: It cripples a Gastrodon or a pink blob switch-in trying to wall Rotom-W.
• Volt Switch: It gives some momentum to the team while being an effective STAB-move threatening Water & Flying types.
• Hydro Pump: Rotom-W's secondary STAB hitting Ground-types that expect to take Volt-Turn and it murders Heatran & Tyranitar.
• Hidden Power [Ice]: It allows Rotom-W to check DD Dragonite and OHKO him after SR. It also hits Grass-types for some good damage.

Why this pokemon?
I needed an efficient Scarfer to eliminate DD Dragonite. This pokemon proves to be able to create havoc on Rain-teams and its my main counter to Mamoswine. It also scares Skarmory who would be a problem on Gliscor's sweep.
EVs, Item & Nature
Standard set overall with a Timid nature for more revenge kill purposes and a secondary check to Rain teams.



Latias (F) @ Life Orb *suggested by moswanted
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 152 HP / 176 SAtk / 180 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
Moves:

• Surf: This move is mainly used for coverage. It 2HKOs Heatran who would otherwise wall this set and it hits Tyranitar for consistent damage.
• Recover: It allows Latias to recover damage from the beatings in Sun & Rain. With her natural bulk, she is able to stay in the field for much longer.
• Psyshock: Now, the beauty on this move is that it hits Chansey, Blissey and Gastrodon harder than what her other special attacks would do. It also murders Breloom, Toxicroak & Virizion if they get troublesome.
• Draco Meteor: Latias´ strongest STAB move in her arsenal. It will OHKO or 2HKO anything that does not resist it.

Why this pokemon?
Originally suggested by mostwanted, this Latias performs the same function as Celebi did in countering Rain. What made Latias more viable is her more numerous & useful resistances while being able to take down Sun Teams. Venusaur in Sun can´t touch Latias and this allows me to switch T-tar less. To add more, Psyshock prevents her from being walled by Blissey and score a 2HKO on that bitch. She has the bulk and power to wreck havoc!
EVs, Item & Nature
152 HP EVs increases her overall bulk and increases her longevity. 176 Sp.Atk EVs and a Modest nature allows her to hit as hard as possible, boosted by the raw power of the Life Orb. 180 Speed EVs allows her to outspeed Sunny Day Ninetales, Hydreigon & Haxorus.




Hachibi (Terrakion) @ Choice Band
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
Moves:

• X-Scissor: It hits the Psychic-types like Reuniclus for huge damage, even more than Stone Edge, expecting to switch into Close Combat.
• Stone Edge: This move is a piece of shit, but neverless it is a strong STAB move that dents anything trying to switch into Close Combat.
• Quick Attack: I hate this move because it is so fucking weak -_- Neverless it is some sort of priority that takes that 20% left from pokemon that managed to set-up.
• Close Combat: Terrakion's main and strongest STAB move. So strong that it even 2HKOs Skarmory!

Why this pokemon?
This guys complements with Gliscor so well, they're like real bros :'). Terrakion 2HKOs Skarmory while Gliscor is able to eliminate Slowbro, Tangrowth, and defensive Gliscor after a boost. They complement perfectly by eliminating each other's counters and if Gliscor was not able to sweep, this guy can do it :).
EVs, Item & Nature
Jolly nature to speed-tie Infernape and the other musketeers. I don't really have to explain a lot about CB Terrakion rather than its synergy with Gliscor.



Estrella (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 164 HP / 168 Atk / 176 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
Moves:

• Iron Head: Jirachi's main STAB move flinching slower pokemon with a 60% rate thanks to Serene Grace.
• Fire Punch: A really good coverage move that hits the Steel-types that resist Iron Head. After a Def drop from Close Combat, Lucario gets OHKO'd and Scizor gets OHKO'd after SR or an Iron Head flinch.
• Substitute: This move allows Jirachi to scout most switch-ins while safely spreading paralysis and avoid opposing status.
• Thunder Wave: It is a very reliable way to spread paralysis because it never fails against anything vulnerable to it.

Why this pokemon?
Jirachi is so excellent in spreading paralysis that it saved my life so many times against HO teams since he can survive a Banded Close Combat from Terrakion and paralyzes back. Did I mentioned those epic moments when you paraflinch a Scarf Rotom to death, the surprise KO on Scizor or troll a Sub-Charge Beam Magnezone with Fire Punch? :D.
EVs, Item & Nature
164 HP EVs gives the necesary bulk to avoid a 2HKO from Gengar's Shadow Ball while Landorus is unable to break the Sub with U-turn. 168 Attack EVs still gives Jirachi the same necesary OHKOs or 2HKOs he would have with max Attack. 176 Speed EVs to surpass positive-base 90 Speed pokemons like Lucario.


Final Thoughts:
I had a good time playing with this team, mainly because it is different from the other paper-cut sand teams. I just laughed at the inmense quantity of ragequites every time Gliscor evaded an attack and sweep the foe completely. Although most people don´t like using "haxors" like Jirachi & Gliscor, whenever I wanted to take a break from Volt/Turn or the other repetitive weather teams, I played with this team.

I don´t really mind if someone else uses this team, I just want some criticism. However, if you ever make a higher peak with this team, I would really appreciate if you share it or send me a pm since I´m unable to ladder a lot. I will ensure to give credit :). I would like to give a shout-out to Walrusman mainly because he was the one who introduced me to use Acrobat Gliscor. Thanks pal, I would never made before this team if you didn´t showed me how funny & effective it was to use. I would like to give another shoutout to mostwanted for suggesting Latias. Thanks bro, that really work out! Another shoutout goes to ShakeItUp for suggesting Timid nature on Rotom which made dealing with Haxorus & Hydreigon easier.

¡¡Thank You For Your Attention!!​

Here is an exportable version of the team:

Threat List:


Offensive Threats

Defensive Threats

Nice to see a break from voltturning in sand.

My 2 cents, I think a LO Terrakion would be a better sweeper that your CB one since you will be able to switch up moves. I understand the raw power CB Terrakion have but LO Terrakion can ease your predictions on what will come into any Terrakion attacks and if you outspeed, you can go for the kill. Here's the set.

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Quick Attack
- Protect

Protect is more of a scouting move for pokes like Latios, Scizor, anything choiced. You can choose to switch Quick Attack to X-Scissor if you feel its better. Hope you think about this set, I really works great in some situations.

Hey

Got the request, solid team Motagua. It seems you're heading in the right direction, if you want to set-up for an Acrobat Gliscor sweep. Although sun teams with bulky chlorophyll sweepers posses big threat, especially Venasaur. Special Growth variant finds many opportunities to switch in safely like on Rotom-W's Hydro Pump and wreck havoc. Venusaur is a monster under sun, capable of running through your team since it isn't fully prepared for it, +2 LO Energy Ball OHKO's Tyranitar, Gliscor, Terrakion and Rotom-W; Hidden Power Fire boosted by Life Orb demolishes Celebi and Jirachi. To fix this situation, I would highly recommend replacing Celebi for Life Orb Tank Latias. This set mainly focuses on eliminating your potential weaknesses yet being an immediate offensive threat. Draco Meteor is Latias's strongest move and deals heavy damage to anything that does not resist it. Psyshock provides secondary stab, capable of decimating the likes of poison and fighting-type mons such as Breloom and Tentacruel. Recover significantly increases Latias's survivability and gets rid of the Life Orb recoil. Relatively Jirachi takes care of the infamous Volt-turn combo utilized by Rotom-W and Scizor thus Surf seems like an excellent option for the last slot, it also helps Latias with her Pursuit weakness and hits Heatran and bulky ground-type mons harder. Hidden Power Fire is a possible option over Surf if Volt-turn gets out of hand. After this change chlorophyll sweepers and fighting-type mons become so much easier to handle with. The lack of status absorber won't be missed too much and if you want to take on Rain teams better Thunderbolt is a great alternative over Surf.

For some minor changes, you could potentially try Thunder Wave over Superpower on Tyranitar. Acrobat Gliscor and CB Terrakion really appreciate the occasional paralysis support as it just makes their sweeping excelling. I also second ImperialD's suggestion on changing Terrakion's role. Protect + 3 attacks and Life Orb enables this beast to destroy many well balanced teams with less predictions which is always beneficial. X-Scissors provide solid coverage over Quick Attack, destroying bulky psychic-type mons with ease. Overall brilliant team Porta, Good Luck!

Very well done Team.
I advice you to change the set of Gliscor in something more lasting, or if you just need him as sweeper , to help him with another para-spammer which can be Rotom-w simply replacing HP ice (I know its useful for DDnites, but Twave too...) whit Twave.
So you can "lower" the average speed of your opponent's Team, to let him really sweep, and who knows, probably also do a sub helped by SandVeil+Paralisys :)

@mostwanted: I will definitely try LO Latias over Celebi. Although Venusaur was never a problem because most of my team outspeeds him without Sun, Celebi was mainly used to counter Rain-stall. Latias seems a decent alternative and it handles Venusaur if I ever lost a weather war! Thanks man I really appreciate it and I will hit you up with the results :). The only problem I got on dropping Superpower on T-tar is that LO Heatran becomes harder to deal with since he can tank Earth Power.

@ImperialD: You suggested an interesting set and mostwanted backed it up. I will definitely test Protect + LO Terrakion, although my main concern is that Terrakion fails to 2HKO Skarmory and CB was mainly an asset for that since I don´t run Magnezone on this team. However, being able to ditch out most of the prediction required by CB Terrakion is something. Thanks for that excellent idea :D.

@_AlexiS_: If I drop HP Ice on Rotom-W, Dragonite becomes a threat if he gets a chance to set-up. Jirachi is already a reliable paralysis inducer since he can cover himself under the Substitute and spam paralysis. Neverless, thanks for the rate and the compliment :).

Gr8 team bro, I don't really have much to suggest here other than agreeing with imperialD that LO terra would do better than CB terra in this team :]

@The Great Mighty Doom: Thanks bro, and I am already testing LO Terrakion & Latias on the team :]

Hey, great team.

I've made a list of possible checks that your team might have, comments at the right: http://pastebin.com/NYNMxMrw

Now, you could do two things: Either change Jirachi's spread to a more defensive one, or you could change Jirachi altogether to Balloon Tran, but if you do that, you'll be even weaker to CM Virizion, but it isn't so common. Though if you do decide to change it, remember to change Stealth Rock on T-tar for a move of your preference.

Good luck!

Exellent team :]

I have 2 suggestions:

I've been using faster Tyranitar for a while now, just for scizor, and I've found this spread to be the best:
252 HP / 180 SDef / 76 Spd Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
It way seem weird to have a SAtk reducing nature with Fire Blast, but it'a still a clean OHKO on max HP Scizor. You might have trouble with specially defensive forretress though. (82,49% - 98,31%) You also keep a lot more bulk this way.
If you really want that extra power for crunch I would recommend this:
252 HP / 64 Atk / 116 SDef / 76 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Replace quick attack on Terrakion with rock slide (when you need accuracy over power), or earthquake. Quick attack is just terribly useless in my opinion.

Hey,

Yeah pretty good random team. Random cuz it's exactly the kid of sand team you see 20 times a day on PO.
But you quiete have horrible match-up against sun team as 99% of them contains duggy and it will quiet easily trap tyranitar, letting a free sweep to venausaur that actually nearly wreks the rest. ( Jirachi won't do anything as venausaur won't stay in if jirachi is at full hp and will just go for his ninetales to take it).

Going to latias is definitively the better choice to do as it set-ups quiet easily against sun teams even though venausaur can sleep powder it.

That's all for the moment, yeah it's a solid team but i just have a sensation of déjà vu as it's the typical sand team that most of the players run actually.

The presentation is pretty though, good job !

@lapras6666: Venusaur is a threat on Sun. Although Jirachi outspeeds Haxorus and he can flinch him to death, he becomes trouble if he gets a chance to set-up. Gengar is not a threat because Jirachi isnt 2HKO´d by Shadow Ball so it makes him an excellent counter, and to add Tyranitar has a Chople Berry. Same applies to Tornadus and Alakzam, while CM Virizion can just be paralyzed since Jirachi lives +1 LO Focus Blast and flinch him to death. I already made a threatlist although your format looks really interesting! Thanks :].

@Basti: Made some calculations with the Adamant Tyranitar you recommended. It still OHKOs Bulky SD Scizor doing (92.1% - 108.5%), and it almost do the same with Forretress. It also 2HKOs Ferrothorn doing (55.7% - 65.9%). It still does what I recquire on Tyranitar although I will still play with the EVs to make more damage on Scizor and try to avoid those ugly 1% HP left situations -_-. Thanks bro for the fantastic rate :D!

@Nelson-X: I play very carefully with T-tar when I see Dugtrio on the team preview, by double switching. To add more, most Sun Teams dont have a reliable answer to SD Gliscor since +2 Acrobat pretty much OHKOs stuff like Tangrowth, Donphan and common defensive walls that Sun requires to beat Sand. Gliscor can easily set-up on Ninetales since he outspeeds most variants. However, Venusaur is a problem if he wins a weather war and that is why I am testing Latias instead of Celebi. Lol you got a feeling of deja vu probably because I use 4/6 pokemons seen on Volt/Turn in Sand, although this team´s function is different. Thanks bro, you actually gave me more reasons to run Latias :]. Really appreciate your suggestions :D!

Hey Motagua, solid team. I have to agree that Celebi is the most replacable member. We talked in PM for a few minutes about this, and I think the 2 best replacements for Celebi are mostwanted's Latias and CM Virizion. You told me that the biggest threat to this team is Expert Belt Landorus, which Virizion beats quite easily. It might not like sun teams, but its the best suggestion I've got :S.

Great team. It's an excellent teambuild but as all teams, you can do changements.

I recommand try Timid on Rotom-W for outspeed Jolly Nite and Jolly Gyara with the classic repartition :
Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Also, try Sacred Sword over Quick Attack for Baston Pass or maybe Rock Slide for hax.

Otherwise, I love your team so I puted a luvdisc. I love your Gliscor and your Jirachi, It's excellent ideas.

This is a lovely team, and I'm really interested in that Gliscor, which I will now definetly want to try out. Just throwing out a suggestion here, but why not try Wish on Jirachi over Substitute? All of your Pokemon resist either one or both of Jirachi's weaknesses and would really like that extra healing, since they're all also relatively bulky but lack reliable recovery of their own. It also helps in dealing with entry hazards.

Hey guys! Thank you for all the Luvdiscs, I never expected you to like this team so much considering most Sand teams, as I said before, are very repetitive. I tested most of your suggestions and I should say the team was very inconsistente, while hax trolled me :s.
Anyways I would like to share my experiences with you:
-Latias: The best change on the team. She was really amazing by handling Venusaur on Sun if I lost a weather war, in fact I could even keep T-tar healthy! She also brought more useful resistances than Celebi had previously, while hitting hard without settinf up. She was a beast and I will update the RMT with Latias replacing Celebi.
-3 Attacks + Protect Terrakion: I expected a lot from this boy but unfortunately he didn't workout as I expected to be. Although the freedom of moves was amazing and Protect scouted Scarfers & Scizor, he lacked the power to get through Stall-teams and with LO recoil, he died too fast. Choice Band Terra stays mainly because he can get the 2HKO on Skarmory which is highly appreciated on this team.
-Thunder Wave on Tyranitar & Rotom-W: They failed because Landorus was a really common switch-in to T-tar and my strategy was blown in that moment. Rotom-W didn't had the time to use it, because he was mainly scouting & attacking.
-New EV spread on T-tar: Didn't workout as I expected because most Scizors survived Fire Blast and they could easily KO back. My custom set was able to OHKO any Scizor without SR, but the set suggested by Basti needed Rocks to gain the KO.

I will test now Timid Rotom considering it can outspeed neutral Haxorus & Hydreigon which is something. Neverless, I am still accepting any suggestion you got guys :]. Thank you everyone for the rates and the Luvdiscs :).

Hey there. Solid team man, not much to say.

However, DD Haxorous can cause this team major problems. It can destroy your whole team after a Dragon Dance, and can easily set up on Rotom-W (locked into Hydro Pump) or Tyranitar. An easy way to fix this is simply to run a Timid nature on Rotom-W. This will allow it to easily outrun Haxorous and slay it with Hidden Power Ice; this spread also lets Rotom-W outrun threats such as +1 Jolly DD Dragonite, Hydreigon and +1 Jolly DD Gyarados.

Good luck.

Idk what those EV's on Ttar have to do, you know, the speed EV's while it's Brave nature? Seem's pointless to me, but nice team.

@ShakeItUp: Thanks bro, I updated that detail. Haxorus & Hydreigon are now easier to deal with :].

@Duece: Read Tyranitar´s description please.

Drought teams are actually kind of problematic. Double switching with Tyranitar to avoid Dugtrio is a decent strategy but what if it's your opponent who double switches on you and leaves your weather inducer trapped? Latias is awesome against Sun but she can't fend off an entire team by herself unless you use a CM set. Taking some pressure off her would really help this team out, so I recommend using a Shed Shell on Tyranitar, which allows you to escape from Dugtrio's trapping ability. Chople Berry looks like it's there for Reuniclus and Tornadus, but you've got a counter to them in Jirachi, so it's not the biggest loss. Being able to change the weather at your leisure, without fear of being trapped, will make fighting sun alot easier.

Also, try out Body Slam > Thunder Wave on Jirachi; the ability to paralyze Landorus is greatly appreciated because Lando is not fun for this team to face at all. Crippling him also removes one of Gliscor's checks if he doesn't have a Sub up. Speaking of Gliscor, he should run a Jolly nature to act as an emergency check to Hydreigon / Haxorus. Other than that, mostwanted covered pretty much everything, like T-Wave Ttar, which could be cool if you wanted to go for more of a paralysis theme to really abuse Gliscor; if you do this, I'd go with Adamant Terrakion since extra power is cool and the lack of speed is made up for by the abundant paralysis. Cool team, gl.

@BKC: Now Shed Shell is something really interesting. I think it will greatly benefit the team, but my only concern will be that I leave some extra pressure on Jirachi since he counters Special Attackers and most Volt/Turn. I ran before Body Slam on Jirachi, and trust me, it really pissed me off that it didn´t get the para when I needed it the most. That´s a mayor reason why I am running Thunder Wave now because it is more reliable. T-wave on Tyranitar was not really enjoyable because switch-ins like Landorus & Gliscor shut it down. Adamant is run on Gliscor because +2 Acrobatics will OHKO Slowbro, Rotom-W and opposing Gliscor after SR. Neverless I think that Tyranitar deserves a second test shot with Body Slam on Jirachi. Thanks for your interesting suggestions :D!

this team is really good, do you mind if I use it? =)

@EmeraldGoblin: I don´t really mind if you use it. Feel free to do so :].