Sandy

The Team:

Hippowdon usually starts things off, despite having an unfortunate match up against a lot of Ubers leads. The reason for this is that sand will always be up, courtesy of Hippowdon being so slow. If they lead with Deo-S you can lead with Hippowdon then go straight to Excadrill so they only get one layer, or none, if they taunt. Darkrai is handled similarly, foddering something to sleep then using Excadrill to revenge it, Earthquake has never failed to KO an 88% (two turns of Sandstorm) Darkrai, and has even OHKOed one from full HP (I think that's a low-ish chance). Kyogre is reliably, albeit predictably, dealt with by Gastrodon, and the sand damage that accrues on the whale is very useful in eventually winning the weather war. If you're up against Groudon, rejoice, you can use Toxic or set up an early Stealth Rock willy nilly.

As for the moveset and EVs: I picked Toxic over Roar because I already have a Skarmory and Toxic is really useful for all the Mewtwo, Darkrai, Deo-A, Kyogre, etc. switch ins. Maximum Physical defense 'cos you need it for Groudon and ExtremeKiller if Skarmory is down, and for Zekrom.

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This thing is really good. I do not exaggerate when I say that late-game you can set up a win condition; with several rounds of hazard and sandstorm damage Outrage will tear through a weakened team. I mean, really 90% of the time you'll be using Outrage, I've never even used Fire Blast since if you predict a Skarmory switch in Salamence shouldn't be on the field by your choice anyway (unless you're revenge-killing DDQuaza or something of course).

The EVs and moveset are pretty self explanatory I hope.

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You really shouldn't be using any other Excadrill set apart from this one. This is THE Excadrill Ubers set. Excadrill will reliably revenge kill almost everything under sand, and can also sweep at a moment's notice. Its Earthquake is really, really strong and it outruns Deo-S, so yeah. If you're using sand without Excadrill I'd probably wager that it's a shit team, since even the yet to be popularized sand stall (is that a thing?) would probably use this ANYWAY.

Moveset and EVs: maximum power, I could drop to 192 Speed for Scarf Terrakion, but it's not like the extra bulk really matter. Maybe I'll do it anyway since other Excadrill are handled by Skarmory. I use Rock Slide over Shadow Claw since Shadow Claw literally only hits Gira-O, whom I deem to be less troublesome than Shaymin-S, Ho-Oh, Sp.Def Skarmory, Rayquaza, etc.

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Skarmory does what it's meant to do. Toxic over Taunt because Ho-Oh switch ins, etc. All my defensive 'mons have Toxic, lol. I also have the best offensive Rapid Spin user in the game, so... Oh yeah and I need it to handle ExtremeKiller properly. Spikes are good, obviously.

EVs and moveset: I think this is meant to survive two + 2 LO Extremekiller Extremespeeds but IIRC I think that 2HKOes, it's some benchmark to do with Extremekiller, or maybe just a bonus defence point, who knows? Regardless, I almost always use this spread since the added physical defence is really nice. Although I was 2HKOed by a Specs Palkia's Spacial Rend, which sucked.

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I used to hate this thing, saying that it just sat there and did nothing, and was a complete liability against sun. Well, when used in rain those things apply, in sand, however, Gastrodon is much more useful. Its immunity to the passive damage of sandstorm, great special bulk, and access to reliable recovery means it can practically hard counter Kyogre (Specs Ice Beam does almost 40% though). Has great defensive synergy with Skarmory, immune to Electric and Water, resisting Fire, etc.

EVs and moveset: Earthquake over Earth Power for CM users (especially Substitute CM). Ice Beam smacks Rayquaza and Shaymin-S switch ins, Toxic is Toxic, Recover is Recover. Maximum Special bulk, no bullshit, you need it.

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I knew about this set before and never gave it much thought, then Theorymon mentioned it again recently and I thought I would try it out on this team. It's worked marvellously well, ExtremeSpeed 2HKOes opposing Excadrill, to give you an idea of its power. Trick helps me break Skarmory and Lugia, which would otherwise be somewhat troublesome to get past for this team. It also serves as a solid revenge killer and a lategame sweeper if you get resists and Ghosts out of the way.

EVs and moveset: 16 Speed for max neutral base 90s, rest in power and bulk. Trick + Swords Dance might look odd, but once you lose your Choice Band you're going to want to boost up. Earthquake over Shadow Claw because of its higher base power and I want to hit Ferrothorn harder. It's up to personal preference though.

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This team operates on creating a win condition for one of my three pseudo-sweepers / revenge killers, whilst using my three defensive Pokemon to sponge hits and lay down hazards. If things get out of hand I can usually save myself with either ExtremeSpeed, Scarf Mence, or Excadrill under sand. If you see a team that's weak to one of my three offensive Pokemon just go to town using the other two to break them down, then ending with a clean sweep. This team has what I've found to be the right blend of offence and defence for a sand team, and isn't overly reliant on weather to survive.

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I'm too lazy to write a detailed threat list but I'll go through some of the annoying and potentially annoying Pokemon.

Mewtwo: it will never sweep me outright thanks to Scarf Salamence, CB ExtremeSpeed, and Excadrill, but if it's played right it will probably take something out seeing as Excadrill can't OHKO it like it does to Darkrai unless I get Spikes AND Stealth Rock down.

Gliscor: always gay for sand teams, why I would maybe put Ice Beam over WoW on Arceus Rock. It can't really stand up to ExtremeKiller that well though, and +2 Rock Slide still does a hefty amount. It can't touch Skarmory, but if it has Taunt Skarmory is forced into struggle. It's just really annoying.

Rayquaza: the fearsome wallbreaker can come in on Hippowdon and Skarmory almost for free, only fearing Toxic. If it is a mixed set and I mispredict I'll probably lose something, it won't sweep me clean though.

Fighting Arceus: usually the bane of sand teams it is solidly handled by Gastrodon and Skarmory can whirlwind it in a pinch.

Terrakion: I only have to really worry about CB and Swords Dance, as Scarf doesn't do enough damage. CB 2HKOes Skarmory easily, and Hippowdon also dies if it has taken some residual. Safely revenge killed by Excadrill and Salamence though, if I let it get two boosts I'm pretty screwed though.

Darkrai: It's really irksome, but the standard fodder something to sleep depending on what is least useful, then take it out with Excadrill or Arceus.

Dialga: Gastrodon takes it only nicely, but a critical hit Draco Meteor always makes me cry a little. Specs also kills things, so I gotta watch out. It's not a big deal if I'm using Ho-Oh or Arceus Rock though.

Palkia: Same deal as Dialga pretty much. Specs worrisome, everything else manageable.

Reshiram: Same thing :)

Shaymin-S: Skarmory can sponge Seed Flares, and my three offensive Pokemon can all revenge kill it. I only mention this because more often than not it will kill something because it gets a crit or three flinches in a row, etc.

Garchomp: SubSD can really blow holes in my team if Skarmory is weakened or I miss. I mean I have Skarmory but this thing is still irritating.

most other things are pretty manageable.






Importable:


rate/hate/steal

you know the drill~

thanks to Fatecrashers for the banner

This team deserves a rate.

Threats:

Specs Dragons: STRONF. Gastrodon can't take strong Draco Meteors since 111 / 82 defenses isn't really good enough to tank strong hits, and Skarmory also takes a ton from Draco Meteor with its poor HP and SpD, and gets killed by pretty much all coverage moves (HPump from Palkia, Blue Flare from Reshiram, Thunder or Fire Blast from Dialga or Palkia).
Darkrai: this is annoying to every team without Heracross or Primeape so it's not really that weird if it gives you problems. However, you don't really have something that can take its hits either, since a lot of your team takes a huge hit and something like Sub / Dark Void / Dark Pulse / NP is a big problem for your team.
MixQuaza: troublesome as you said; Draco Meteor spamming is threatening similar to Specs Dragons, but Gastrodon can't take it on at -2 either because of Outrage and Skarmory falls to Fire Blast. Revenging it could work but you have to predict well and likely something is going down if you switch it in.

Those problems are hard to fix though without opening you to much else, as pretty much there's always a threat to your team in Ubers. Best thing I can think of using Jirachi somewhere on your team. Standard Wish Jirachi can take on Specs Dragons pretty nicely, as well as Darkrai. It also provides your team with Wish and paralysis support. However, Mixquaza still beats it if it Fire Blasts on the switchin, though if it Draco Meteors Jirachi has an easy time against it. I'm sure you know the set, but here it is just in case.
The problem is fitting it on your team. It could work over Jirachi but that leaves you open to several physical attackers such as EKiller Arceus (though Hippowdon isn't 2HKOed by +2 ExtremeSpeed so you can Toxic to beat it!). Losing Spikes also sucks.

In any case, good luck with this team, looks cool.

Hey poppy! Great team you've got here.

I'd definitely suggest the Arceus-Rock set you supplied instead of Arceus-Normal. While Trick is helpful and unique, Arceus-Rock greatly benefits your team by helping to check Ho-Oh and Rayquaza who can tear large holes in your team once they set up. Since +2 Rayquaza Extremespeed OHKOs Mence (I think it would KO without Life Orb if SR was up), and you can't OHKO with Arceus's Extremespeed (not to mention a lot of Rayquazas will switch out on Arceus) Rayquaza has the potential to sweep you if you don't get Rocks up or have Arceus.

Gliscor is also a very large threat. It can setup on almost all of your pokes, Taunt shutting down Skarmory and preventing Hippo from recovering. You could try to outstall it, but if there are any forms of hazards up you probably won't want to sacrifice Excadrill to spin. This being said, I'd recommend Ice Fang on Hippowdon instead of Toxic. This also eases your Rayquaza weakness. While this may make last poke Arceus a problem, you still have Gastrodon to Toxic it as it tries to setup, and Exca to tank an Extremespeed and deal a hefty amount. Sand would kill it off eventually (assuming no lefties/recover which are both rare). I know that you currently are carrying Toxic on Skarmory but talked about replacing it with Taunt to shut down Ferro, but remember that Ferro can still get spikes up on switches so it might be worth keeping Toxic, especially to hit those Draco/Spacial Rend spammers on switches.

On a side note, Arceus-Rock patches up your specs dragons weakness described by Tomahawk for the most part. As long as you predict well, specs dragons shouldn't give you much of a problem. Hydro Pump Palkia is the only threatening Specs Dragon to CM Arceus Rock.

I also don't really see the point of having Earthquake instead of Earth Power on Gastrodon, since CM Kyogre will just laugh at it and Tentacruel will take about the same from Earth Power after a storm drain boost. Earth Power also hits Dialga harder, which may be more important for your team since Tentacruel is easily dealt with and not a big threat at all.

This makes me wonder though, what exactly do you have to deal with bulky Scald/Roar or CM Surf Kyogre? It looks like since you don't have Roar on Hippowdon, you'd have to either movestall with Gastrodon or hope it doesn't get good sleep talk rolls and try to muscle through it with Excadrill + Salamence.

All in all, cool team man and nice to see some original sand in ubers!