OU Sand

HiImGrey · Jul 31st, 2012, 4:09:41 PM

After playing UU for a long time (since gen IV), I decided to go back to OU since I do like playing with weather and to see as how it has changed completely since I have last played it. I started with a rain team, but I hated constantly playing against other rain teams. Then I tried a sun team but felt it was just too weak with Politoed and Tyranitar beating Ninetales. So I settled on using sand afterwards.

I first based it on the Amoonguss, Slowbro and Heatran core but didn't like that fact that both Amoonguss and Slowbro took Sandstorm and Spikes damage and thereby weakening it's defenses prowess by a lot. Then I experimented stuff such as Choice Scarf Landorus and Gliscor, but then finally settled with the team below.

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Aqua Tail

The necessary weather starter, but also a really heavy hitter. Choice Banded Tyranitar just does massive damage to anything, most importantly any opposing weather starters that dare to switch in. I have tried other versions of Tyranitars but they just didn't seem to put in as much work as this one. Crunch, Pursuit and Stone Edge are the obvious necessities. The last slot went to Aqua Tail to hit Ground types effectively, but I do miss running Earthquakes to handle steel types and I have almost never used Aqua Tail.

Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Substitute
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic

I wanted a Rapid Spinner, but have always hated Forretress because I didn't beat any Spin Blockers, notably Jellicent. Tentacruel, on the other hand, can beat any Jellicents that decide to come in to block. Toxic on the switch-in (or sub up first), and then keep using Substitute and Rapid Spin until it either switches-out or dies from Toxic. Furthermore, it absorbs Toxic Spikes just by switching in, which helps Tyranitar, Terrakion and Gastrodon a lot. Unfortunately Tentacruel cannot spin against a healthy Gengar, but it can still inflict quite a bit of damage to it and possibly a burn with Scald, and Gengar cannot repeatedly switching without being KO'd.

Tentacruel also serves as a counter to Rain (which is why I am using Rain Dish over Liquid Ooze, and Rain Dish also works well with Substitute) and can take Scizor's Bullet Punches.

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind

I had Gliscor in this slot before, but it seemed like everything (i.e. Landorus) carried ice attacks, and that made life difficult for Gliscor. Skarmory, on the other hand, is not afraid of those ice attacks. It does takes fighting attacks less well, but luckily, it's defensive bulk is good enough to still tank those rather well when at a decent amount of health. Skarmory's immunity to ground is quite crucial to this team, as Gastrodon's smaller physical bulk means even Earthquakes may KO it.

The set is pretty standard, with Brave Bird over Taunt to avoid being complete Taunt bait. I am running a full defensive Skarmory because the special defense is handled well by the rest of my team.

Gastrodon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Recover

Primarily here to act as a Rain counter that doesn't take Sandstorm damage. It has proved it's worth by taking the numerous Thunder and Water attacks that will otherwise destroy my team. Its really don't afraid of grass attacks but Skarmory and Heatran handles those quite well. The set is pretty standard so there's not much to say.

Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 228 SDef / 28 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
- Protect

Heatran is a common sight on sand teams and for good reason - no sandstorm damage and provides crucial resistances to sand teams while possessing good stats. I went with a specially defensive build because I really need Heatran to stay alive as long as possible because it's so crucial to this team to resist a bunch of attacks. Heatran also single-handedly makes life difficult for sun teams as well.

Protect is used because a bunch of things that switch in on Heatran are Choiced so Protects lets me know what they are locked into. Stealth Rock is an option, but I really like having the Protect, and Dragon Pulse is necessary to prevent stuff such as Kingdra from setting up on me.

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Zen Headbutt

Terrakion is a great revenger killer and a late game sweeper. Close Combat, Stone Edge and necessary STABs, while OHKOs X-Scissor hits Celebi. Zen Headbutt hits Fighting types super effectively. Nobody likes seeing a Terrakion on the other team for good reason - it just murders stuff. I had Scarf Landorus in this slot but found that Terrakion's STABs and coverage was more threatening.

THREATS

...

Sayonara · Jul 31st, 2012, 5:50:28 PM

Hey,

Nice team, HiImGrey. A first change I would recommend is Toxic over Earth Power on Heatran. Earth Power doesn't hit hard without any special attack investment, and Toxic is incredibly useful to deal with opponents like CM Latias, whom you would now be able to toxic stall. I'd also go with Roar over Dragon Pulse, in order to prevent opponents from setting up on Heatran, like Substitute Hydreigon. While you do lose the ability to hit Kingdra, you won't want to leave Heatran in against Kingdra anyways. Physical variants are easily countered by your Skarmory, while Gastrodon can tank a Draco Meteor, then use Recover to get its health back, in addition to being immune to Hydro Pump / Surf. Another change I would suggest is Earthquake over Earth Power on Gastrodon, and a Sassy Nature instead of a Calm Nature. These changes prevent Earthquake's power from being weakened, and Earthquake is useful because it is stronger than Earth Power and lets you get past Specially Defensive variants of Heatran. It also hits Tyranitar harder. I don't have anything else to add - cool team, and good luck! Hope I helped.

HiImGrey · Jul 31st, 2012, 6:27:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Expert Physics

Hey,

Nice team, HiImGrey. A first change I would recommend is Toxic over Earth Power on Heatran. Earth Power doesn't hit hard without any special attack investment, and Toxic is incredibly useful to deal with opponents like CM Latias, whom you would now be able to toxic stall. I'd also go with Roar over Dragon Pulse, in order to prevent opponents from setting up on Heatran, like Substitute Hydreigon. While you do lose the ability to hit Kingdra, you won't want to leave Heatran in against Kingdra anyways. Physical variants are easily countered by your Skarmory, while Gastrodon can tank a Draco Meteor, then use Recover to get its health back, in addition to being immune to Hydro Pump / Surf. Another change I would suggest is Earthquake over Earth Power on Gastrodon, and a Sassy Nature instead of a Calm Nature. These changes prevent Earthquake's power from being weakened, and Earthquake is useful because it is stronger than Earth Power and lets you get past Specially Defensive variants of Heatran. It also hits Tyranitar harder. I don't have anything else to add - cool team, and good luck! Hope I helped.

Hi, thanks for the tips. I will definitely try those changes. The Earthquake over Earth Power change is interesting, since Storm Drain would boost the damage on Earth Power but not Earthquake, but I guess Earth Power usually isn't doing much against something that would use a water attack.

shofly12 · Jul 31st, 2012, 6:56:37 PM

I would actually recommend keeping Earth Power due to Storm Drain and Gastrodon's higher base SpA as compared to his normal Atk. (92 vs 83). Also, In the case that Gastrodon gets burned, you're going to be glad he kept the Earth Power.

However, as Expert Physics pointed out, EQ does hit T-tar a lot harder, so if they're a concern, I guess you could keep EQ.

Another thing I woudl eb careful about is a ground weakness. 4/6 of your team members are hit for SE damage by ground type moves. With EQ being the most commonly distributed move in teh game, this probably isn't the best idea.

To remedy this, you could easily slap an Air Balloon on your Heatran, or replacing Tentacruel with Starmie. Starmie easily counters Gengar and Jellicent with type coverage, and can still counter rain teams by taking advantage of the boost to its hydro pump. You do lose a bit of bulk on the defensive side though.

Hope this helped!

White symphoni · Aug 1st, 2012, 2:02:26 PM

Hey there!

First of all,Where Is That Stealth Rock?Stealth rock is a very useful move and the best entry Hazard.Also,Bulky Tran's job is not attacking but supporting and walling.So I suggest u replace your current Heatran set with the one Expert Physics suggested except with Stealth Rock over Roar/Protect.

Next,there are some mistakes with your threatlist.Scarf Terra outspeeds Dnite after a DD which is good for u.But u say Skarmory walls Terrakion.Skarmory does not wall Terrakion,+2 Close Combat with LO OHKOs after sturdy is broken (hello Stealth Rock),CB Close Combet easily 2HKOs meaning u can wall only Scarf Varients.Mixed TTar with fire blast is common and can finish of skarm...Just pointing out.

Jimbon · Aug 1st, 2012, 2:07:51 PM

Hi there!

This is a neat team you have here, a solid defensive core with Rapid Spin and hazards support, which can easily wear opposing mons down into KO range for Tyranitar and Terrakion. One thing I have noticed is the weakness to Breloom, as it has no trouble putting things to sleep on your team, while being able to deal with the two biggest threats on your team with Mach Punch. Breloom also appears quite troublesome for your defensive core, as it outspeeds and uses it's dual STAB to dispose of Heatran and Gastrodon. Even Skarmory does not want to switch in fearing a possible Spore, and potentially being crippled for the rest of the match. To help with this problem, I would recommend that you try out a Specially Defensive Amoonguss over your current Gastrodon. Even when not invested in defense, Amoonguss still serves as a great answer to Breloom. Amoonguss resists both of Breloom's STAB options, while being able to provide you with helpful status, arguably more important than Gastrodon's status. You can also cripple things with Spore / Stun Spore, as well as being able to check Dragons and Keldeo more reliably, which are all big threats in the current metagame. Adding Amoonguss completes your teams FWG core, making up for the loss of Gastrodon. It's also good to mention that Amoonguss performs great against Rain teams, just like Gastrodon. The only real merit Gastrodon has over Amoonguss is reliable recovery, which shouldn't be too much trouble with Amoonguss's Regenerator, and Tentacruel's Rapid Spin support.

I have also noticed that you seem a little weak to some variants of Jirachi. Specially Defensive variants commonly used in Rain can spread paralysis around your team, crippling your sweepers Tyranitar and Terrakion. Even against Sub Calm Mind variants, your only answer is Gastrodon, who also seems to be your main answer against Rain. Having so much reliance on one Pokemon to deal with Rain can be annoying. To help with this, I recommend that you try out Earthquake > Zen Headbutt on Terrakion. While Zen Headbutt is nice for hitting opposing fighting types, Earthquake will help you a lot more against variants of Jirachi, stopping it spreading paralysis around your team. By dropping Zen Headbutt, the only thing you hit considerably harder is Toxicroak, who is easily dispatched of by Earthquake.

Cool team, hope I helped!

Amoonguss

Jul 31st, 2012, 4:09:41 PM	#1
HiImGrey Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 24	OU Sand After playing UU for a long time (since gen IV), I decided to go back to OU since I do like playing with weather and to see as how it has changed completely since I have last played it. I started with a rain team, but I hated constantly playing against other rain teams. Then I tried a sun team but felt it was just too weak with Politoed and Tyranitar beating Ninetales. So I settled on using sand afterwards. I first based it on the Amoonguss, Slowbro and Heatran core but didn't like that fact that both Amoonguss and Slowbro took Sandstorm and Spikes damage and thereby weakening it's defenses prowess by a lot. Then I experimented stuff such as Choice Scarf Landorus and Gliscor, but then finally settled with the team below. Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band Trait: Sand Stream EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Crunch - Stone Edge - Pursuit - Aqua Tail The necessary weather starter, but also a really heavy hitter. Choice Banded Tyranitar just does massive damage to anything, most importantly any opposing weather starters that dare to switch in. I have tried other versions of Tyranitars but they just didn't seem to put in as much work as this one. Crunch, Pursuit and Stone Edge are the obvious necessities. The last slot went to Aqua Tail to hit Ground types effectively, but I do miss running Earthquakes to handle steel types and I have almost never used Aqua Tail. Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge Trait: Rain Dish EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SDef Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) - Scald - Substitute - Rapid Spin - Toxic I wanted a Rapid Spinner, but have always hated Forretress because I didn't beat any Spin Blockers, notably Jellicent. Tentacruel, on the other hand, can beat any Jellicents that decide to come in to block. Toxic on the switch-in (or sub up first), and then keep using Substitute and Rapid Spin until it either switches-out or dies from Toxic. Furthermore, it absorbs Toxic Spikes just by switching in, which helps Tyranitar, Terrakion and Gastrodon a lot. Unfortunately Tentacruel cannot spin against a healthy Gengar, but it can still inflict quite a bit of damage to it and possibly a burn with Scald, and Gengar cannot repeatedly switching without being KO'd. Tentacruel also serves as a counter to Rain (which is why I am using Rain Dish over Liquid Ooze, and Rain Dish also works well with Substitute) and can take Scizor's Bullet Punches. Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk) - Brave Bird - Roost - Spikes - Whirlwind I had Gliscor in this slot before, but it seemed like everything (i.e. Landorus) carried ice attacks, and that made life difficult for Gliscor. Skarmory, on the other hand, is not afraid of those ice attacks. It does takes fighting attacks less well, but luckily, it's defensive bulk is good enough to still tank those rather well when at a decent amount of health. Skarmory's immunity to ground is quite crucial to this team, as Gastrodon's smaller physical bulk means even Earthquakes may KO it. The set is pretty standard, with Brave Bird over Taunt to avoid being complete Taunt bait. I am running a full defensive Skarmory because the special defense is handled well by the rest of my team. Gastrodon (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Storm Drain EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk) - Scald - Earth Power - Toxic - Recover Primarily here to act as a Rain counter that doesn't take Sandstorm damage. It has proved it's worth by taking the numerous Thunder and Water attacks that will otherwise destroy my team. Its really don't afraid of grass attacks but Skarmory and Heatran handles those quite well. The set is pretty standard so there's not much to say. Heatran (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Flash Fire EVs: 252 HP / 228 SDef / 28 Spd Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk) - Lava Plume - Earth Power - Dragon Pulse - Protect Heatran is a common sight on sand teams and for good reason - no sandstorm damage and provides crucial resistances to sand teams while possessing good stats. I went with a specially defensive build because I really need Heatran to stay alive as long as possible because it's so crucial to this team to resist a bunch of attacks. Heatran also single-handedly makes life difficult for sun teams as well. Protect is used because a bunch of things that switch in on Heatran are Choiced so Protects lets me know what they are locked into. Stealth Rock is an option, but I really like having the Protect, and Dragon Pulse is necessary to prevent stuff such as Kingdra from setting up on me. Terrakion @ Choice Scarf Trait: Justified EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Close Combat - Stone Edge - X-Scissor - Zen Headbutt Terrakion is a great revenger killer and a late game sweeper. Close Combat, Stone Edge and necessary STABs, while OHKOs X-Scissor hits Celebi. Zen Headbutt hits Fighting types super effectively. Nobody likes seeing a Terrakion on the other team for good reason - it just murders stuff. I had Scarf Landorus in this slot but found that Terrakion's STABs and coverage was more threatening. THREATS ... Scizor: Tentacruel and Skarmory can take its attacks quite well, and Heatran can come in if it lacks Superpower, and all of them while threaten it with burns or OHKOs. Dragonite: Sand will get rid of multiscale. Depending on the set, one of team members can wall it. I usually try to Toxic it to prevent set-ups. Terrakion can revenge if it didn't set up a Dragon Dance. Tyranitar: Terrakion and Skarmory says hi. Heatran: Gastrodon can come in on anything and force it out. Terrakion can revenge it. Rotom-W: Hopefully it does not carry Hidden Power Grass, in which case Gastrodon walls it. Tyranitar is a good switch-in the first time since they will usually not spam Hydro Pump with Gastrodon around, and if it doesn't use Hidden Power Grass when Tyranitar switches in means it usually does not have it. Terrakion: Skarmory walls it. Ferrothorn: Heatran Politoed: I try to get Spikes up early to weaken it every time it switches in. Gastrodon walls most version and poisons it with Toxic. The plan is just to damage it every time it comes in since they will likely switch it out a lot since I have Tyranitar. Gliscor: It does nothing to Skarmory except Taunt if it carries it while Skarmory can set up Spikes. But its quite difficult for me to kill it so perhaps I should add Hidden Power Ice to something. Jirachi: I really hate Jirachi and is one of the reasons I want to run Earthquake on Tyranitar. Heatran usually does pretty well against it though. Latios: Heatran can take a non-Surf hit, and Tyranitar can trap it. Starmie: Tyranitar can trap it. Skarmory: Heatran can force it out, but it will probably get comes Spikes up but Tentacruel can handle those. Landorus: Skarmory walls it. Salamence: It's difficult for this to switch on anything except Skarmory since it will be crippled by burns or receive massive damage from Stone Edge or Dragon Pulse. Skarmory can wall it though if it lacks Fire Blast. Tentacruel: My own Tentacruel can soak up Toxic Spikes. Tyranitar can deal massive damage with Crunch if it not get burned by Scald. Gastrodon can come in on a predicted Scald and deal some damage with Earth Power, but will likely get Toxic'd to due so. Forretress: Heatran, then Tentracruel to spin away hazards. Gengar: Haven't seen a lot but if it's Choice'd then Tyranitar can come in and Pursuit it. Terrakion can also revenge it. Celebi: Terrakion can revenge it. Tyranitar can trap it. Magnezone: Nothing really fears this guy except for Skarmory, so I will need to predict and Whirlwind or double switch to keep it safe. Another reason I want to run Earthquake on Tyranitar. Jellicent: Tentacruel Breloom: I hate Breloom. Gyarados: Skarmory can wall it, but very dangerous if it can set up a couple of boosts. Volcarona: Heatran Ninetales: I don't find sun teams much of a threat. Lucario: Skarmory Infernape: Infernape is quite dangerous so I have to slowly whittle him down with good switching, sandstorm and Spikes. Haxorus: Skarmory Hydreigon: Terrakion can revenge, and the appropriate member can wall it if it's choiced. Espeon: Tyranitar can Pursuit it to death. Terrakion also has X-Scissors as a back-up. Reuniclus: Tyranitar and Terrakion. Donphan: Gastrodon comes in for free and forces it out. Again, Tentracruel to spin away Stealth Rocks after, and my team is not particularly weak to Stealth Rock. Jolteon: Gastrodon can come in if it lacks Hidden Power Grass, handled very similarly to Rotom-W. Terrakion can also revenge. Blissey: I haven't seen this. Gastrodon: My own Gastrodon... usually end up trading Toxics. Skarmory can also set up Spikes but I hate getting burned by Scald. Tornadus: Terrakion can revenge if not Scarf'd. This is a big threat as confusion from Hurricane can mean Gastrodon still loses. Conkeldurr: Skarmory can 2HKO with Brave Bird, but still a very dangerous Pekemon as it can slaughter my team once Skarmory is dead. I might need to run Liquid Ooze over Rain Dish for him, but rain is more popular than Conkeldurr. Alakazam: Terrakion can revenge. Cloyster: Try to not let it set-up because it it does then my team is dead... Hopefully Sandstorm, Spikes and Protect will keep it's sweep short. Latias: Tyranitar Vaporeon: Sand ruins it and makes it susceptible to Toxic. Mamoswine: Skarmory Metagross: Just keep hitting it. Another reason to run Earthquake on Tyranitar. Venusaur: Sack something to Sleep Powder and then Heatran threatens it. Dugtrio: Anything can revenge it after it traps something. Toxicroak: Sand already weakens it. Skarmory takes care of it. Hippowdon: Gastrodon can handle it. I would need to PP stall it out of Slack Off it it somehow gets burned first though. Deoxys-D: Tyranitar, and Tentacruel spins stuff away. Virizion: Skarmory again Last edited by HiImGrey; Jul 31st, 2012 at 6:28:49 PM.

Jul 31st, 2012, 6:56:37 PM	#4
shofly12 Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 159	I would actually recommend keeping Earth Power due to Storm Drain and Gastrodon's higher base SpA as compared to his normal Atk. (92 vs 83). Also, In the case that Gastrodon gets burned, you're going to be glad he kept the Earth Power. However, as Expert Physics pointed out, EQ does hit T-tar a lot harder, so if they're a concern, I guess you could keep EQ. Another thing I woudl eb careful about is a ground weakness. 4/6 of your team members are hit for SE damage by ground type moves. With EQ being the most commonly distributed move in teh game, this probably isn't the best idea. To remedy this, you could easily slap an Air Balloon on your Heatran, or replacing Tentacruel with Starmie. Starmie easily counters Gengar and Jellicent with type coverage, and can still counter rain teams by taking advantage of the boost to its hydro pump. You do lose a bit of bulk on the defensive side though. Hope this helped! __________________ My BW OU Sun RMT: The Weather's Nice and Warm. Please give suggestions if you have the time! PM me for an OU rate!

Aug 1st, 2012, 2:02:26 PM	#5
White symphoni Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 338 Where the ocean bleeds into the sky	Hey there! First of all,Where Is That Stealth Rock?Stealth rock is a very useful move and the best entry Hazard.Also,Bulky Tran's job is not attacking but supporting and walling.So I suggest u replace your current Heatran set with the one Expert Physics suggested except with Stealth Rock over Roar/Protect. Next,there are some mistakes with your threatlist.Scarf Terra outspeeds Dnite after a DD which is good for u.But u say Skarmory walls Terrakion.Skarmory does not wall Terrakion,+2 Close Combat with LO OHKOs after sturdy is broken (hello Stealth Rock),CB Close Combet easily 2HKOs meaning u can wall only Scarf Varients.Mixed TTar with fire blast is common and can finish of skarm...Just pointing out. __________________

Aug 1st, 2012, 2:07:51 PM	#6
Jimbon already over Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 486	Hi there! This is a neat team you have here, a solid defensive core with Rapid Spin and hazards support, which can easily wear opposing mons down into KO range for Tyranitar and Terrakion. One thing I have noticed is the weakness to Breloom, as it has no trouble putting things to sleep on your team, while being able to deal with the two biggest threats on your team with Mach Punch. Breloom also appears quite troublesome for your defensive core, as it outspeeds and uses it's dual STAB to dispose of Heatran and Gastrodon. Even Skarmory does not want to switch in fearing a possible Spore, and potentially being crippled for the rest of the match. To help with this problem, I would recommend that you try out a Specially Defensive Amoonguss over your current Gastrodon. Even when not invested in defense, Amoonguss still serves as a great answer to Breloom. Amoonguss resists both of Breloom's STAB options, while being able to provide you with helpful status, arguably more important than Gastrodon's status. You can also cripple things with Spore / Stun Spore, as well as being able to check Dragons and Keldeo more reliably, which are all big threats in the current metagame. Adding Amoonguss completes your teams FWG core, making up for the loss of Gastrodon. It's also good to mention that Amoonguss performs great against Rain teams, just like Gastrodon. The only real merit Gastrodon has over Amoonguss is reliable recovery, which shouldn't be too much trouble with Amoonguss's Regenerator, and Tentacruel's Rapid Spin support. I have also noticed that you seem a little weak to some variants of Jirachi. Specially Defensive variants commonly used in Rain can spread paralysis around your team, crippling your sweepers Tyranitar and Terrakion. Even against Sub Calm Mind variants, your only answer is Gastrodon, who also seems to be your main answer against Rain. Having so much reliance on one Pokemon to deal with Rain can be annoying. To help with this, I recommend that you try out Earthquake > Zen Headbutt on Terrakion. While Zen Headbutt is nice for hitting opposing fighting types, Earthquake will help you a lot more against variants of Jirachi, stopping it spreading paralysis around your team. By dropping Zen Headbutt, the only thing you hit considerably harder is Toxicroak, who is easily dispatched of by Earthquake. Cool team, hope I helped! Amoonguss Amoonguss @ Leftovers Trait: Regenerator EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spe Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk) - Spore - Stun Spore / Clear Smog - Giga Drain - Hidden Power [Ice] __________________

Jul 31st, 2012, 5:50:28 PM	#2
Sayonara into the new world Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 720	Hey, Nice team, HiImGrey. A first change I would recommend is Toxic over Earth Power on Heatran. Earth Power doesn't hit hard without any special attack investment, and Toxic is incredibly useful to deal with opponents like CM Latias, whom you would now be able to toxic stall. I'd also go with Roar over Dragon Pulse, in order to prevent opponents from setting up on Heatran, like Substitute Hydreigon. While you do lose the ability to hit Kingdra, you won't want to leave Heatran in against Kingdra anyways. Physical variants are easily countered by your Skarmory, while Gastrodon can tank a Draco Meteor, then use Recover to get its health back, in addition to being immune to Hydro Pump / Surf. Another change I would suggest is Earthquake over Earth Power on Gastrodon, and a Sassy Nature instead of a Calm Nature. These changes prevent Earthquake's power from being weakened, and Earthquake is useful because it is stronger than Earth Power and lets you get past Specially Defensive variants of Heatran. It also hits Tyranitar harder. I don't have anything else to add - cool team, and good luck! Hope I helped.