Violent Sandstorm - A Sand Team RMT

THE TEAM​

The premier sandstorm setter. I use this thing over Hippowdown for one simple reason, power. Choice Banded Tyranitar is a really good Pokemon. Crunch is there for the likes of Jellicent, Slowbro, Celebi, and more defensive Pokemon that take super-effective damage from it, though I gotta be careful from their STAB moves. A Pokemon with a 134 Base attack + 120 STAB move in the name of Stone Edge is very useful, especially with a choice band. Though it usually misses, it still is a pretty good move, so I might not replace it. Pursuit is pretty nice because it traps either weakened Pokemon, or Pokemon that cause trouble to this team, such as Latios, Lati@s, Starmie, Gengar and the like. Superpower is for the Ferrothorns and Heatrans, though Ferrothorn usually lives with about 10% and can retaliate back with a STAB super-effective Power Whip, so I gotta be careful about that.

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My special sweeper and revenge killer. Keldeo has pretty decent offensive synergy with Tyranitar. Tyranitar getting rid of Celebi, Lati twins, and whatever Keldeo hates. Anyway, I use a Timid nature just to have a speed tie with JollyScarf Terrakion and Infernape. Hydro Pump is Keldeo's best move, hitting a lot of things for massive damage. So even if I lose the weather war to rain, my Keldeo is gonna do even more massive damage with its STAB move of choice. Secret Sword are for those things that Keldeo cannot muscle through, like Blissey and Chansey. HP [Ice] is for Dragons, Gliscor, Landorus, and Celebi. Surf is my more reliant STAB, because of its perfect accuracy. Though I think having HP [Ghost] is better because it hits Starmie for SE damage, but what do you guys think?

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Using an NU Pokemon in OU, are you nuts? Well possibly. But Amoonguss hasn't failed me yet. The EV spread may seem weird but 8 SpA Evs are so that I can break Ninjask's Substitute with Clear Smog and 4 Spe are just random speed creeps. I use Amoonguss just because I hate rain teams, and this seems to be a decent check to it. Spore is a deadly move, putting something to sleep may cause a game. Stun Spore are for those fast threats that the rest of my team can't outspeed, such as Gengar. Clear Smog is so that nothing can set-up on this guy, such as things that have Lum Berries ( I can't afford them to set-up for a free turn if I go for Spore or Stun Spore). Giga Drain is to gain recovery, and be annoying to Rain Teams generally.

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Terrakion is such a fearsome sweeper. If it gets a chance to set up a substitute, it kills something most of the time. If it sets up a swords dance, I really don't think any Pokemon except for defensive behemoths can live the hit. I have got Rock Gem on this guy cause it's usually useful in securing some OHKOs on some Pokemon like Landorus with Stone Edge. Close Combat is, of course, my other amazing STAB move. Rock/Fghting also has very good coverage, only resisted by Golurk iirc. But I don't really think Terrakion fits this team. Sure it's got great stats and great STAB moves, but it just adds a ground and water weakness to my team. I would really appreciate a Pokemon that can set-up and be as fearsome as Terrakion when it does, but if you guys think it fits well to this team, then I guess I have to keep it.

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In all honesty, I just slapped this guy on this team to see how it works out. I use this guy over Gliscor because of its ability, Intimidate. Intimidate helps me take outrages from all the dragons, giving them a drop in attack. After that, I usually go in to my Heatran who resists Outrage, and can set up afterwards. I remember seeing the EV spread somewhere on the forums, but I don't remember what exactly it stands for. This Landorus-T acts sort of like a bulky attacker. Stealth Rocks is a really good move which cripples threats such as Dragonite, Kyurem-B, and Volcarona as they switch in. I also have got the close unresisted EdgeQuake coverage, which helps me in a lot of situations like beating lead Terrakions and other physical attackers. U-turn is here just to have momentum and whatnot.

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Here comes my last member, Heatran. This Pokemon really comes in handy when it comes to beating Bulky Scizors how think they can outspeed, Ferrothorns, Skarmory, and a lot of Steel types. I have Flame Charge on this guy to boost my speed, though I usually only use that move as a last-resort option if I want to pull of a sweep. Fire Blast is for that STAB, helping me beat Jirachi, Magnezone, grass types, and also giving off massive damage when it is not resisted. Earth Power gives me coverage to beat opposing Fire types and Rock types as well. I honestly don't know whether to keep HP [Grass] on this Heatran or replace it with HP [Ice] for Gliscors and Dragons. I would really want to try HP [Ice] to pull of the strategy that I said earlier with Lando-T, but idk.

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Hello there, I got your VM.

I think this is a nice sand team, I like a lot the use of Flame Charge Heatran anyway I have some advice to give you so let's start with the rate!

First of all, your team has a big weakness to Sheer Force Landorus. It beats Heatran, Tyranitar, Terrakion, Landorus-T easily and you can only revenge-kill it with Keldeo. Therefore, I suggest you to use special defensive Celebi, replacing Amoonguss. It has a similiar typing, Natural Cure to avoid annoying status and it can tank easily Sheer Force Landorus' attacks. I will post its set below in this same rate. Then, Calm Mind Keldeo is quite problematic, he beats Heatran, Terrakion, Landorus, Tyranitar and he can beat your Amoonguss if he has Substitute. Therefore, I suggest you to move 24 EVs from SDef to SAtk. 28 EVs in SAtk allows to break Keldeo's Substitute also after two Calm Minds so now Keldeo isn't a problem for your team. Finally, I don't like at all Hidden Power Grass on Heatran because it doesn't hit very hard bulky water types anyway so I suggest you to change Hidden Power Grass into Hidden Power Ice on Heatran. It allows to hit Landorus and dragon types and that can be useful in many chances. I'd also use Air Ballon, replacing Leftovers, it isn't a very useful item for an offensive pokèmon like Flame Charge Heatran otherwise Air Ballon can be helpful to setup against some ground types like Landorus-T and to avoid ground attacks for 1 turn.

Hope I helped with this rate, good luck.

Celebi's set:

Hi. Got your request.

This team has no flaws on the outside but Substitute is a big problem. Many of these users wreck havoc your team so I will see later how to fix the problem. For now, I see Amoonguss is useless on such an offensive team like this, it also has crappy healing and with offense like this I recommend using its brother, SLowbro. Slowbro is an excellent change on this team due to the coverage it provides.


Slowbro | Leftovers
Regenerator
252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SDef
Bold Nature
Fire Blast | Scald | Protect | Toxic




Yea. This is a lazy rate. I will rate later if I have time.

Hello there,

Nice sand balance team. Since you said Starmie, Specs Toed and Tornadus-T are the biggest threats to the team, I'll work off those. First off, for the Starmie / Specs Toed weakness, I recommend using a Latias > Amoonguss. While Amoonguss has Regenerator, Latias has a more reliable recovery move in, well, Recover. In the defense department, Latias has base 90 and 130 defenses, while Amoonguss has base 70 and 80 respectively. Latias is also a good check to RP Landorus-I, which when set up can put in quite the dent to this team. As for the Tornadus-T weakness, I recommend a Jirachi > Heatran. Jirachi is a fantastic counter to Tornadus as it tanks all the moves it throws at it. As a plus, Jirachi's Body Slam can also provide support for your CB Tar, paralyzing things that would normally outspeed it. Also, Jirachi fares well against the Lati twins which, if Ttar can't stop them, can punch a dent into your team. Anyways, nice team and good luck.

Hey! I've seen you around PokeBattleCenter x3

I'd replace Amo with SDef Rotom-W, they perform nearly the same role only Wash counters more of those rain threats and it gets VSwitch momentum. Lando-T can take Fighting hits all day so I wouldn't worry too much, but Keldeo is quite a huge threat now. By replacing your Heatran with LO Latias I feel your team would be complete. Keldeo resists U-turn and BP so Scizor's aren't that threatening imo. Latias also helps with Sun alongside Band Tar trapping Ninetales so I wouldn't worry too much about those either ;]

Latias 100% counters rain Keldeo so you should be safe now with the addition of SDef Wash. I'll give you the sets below! GL!

~! Shurty



EDIT: I feel Salac Berry over Rock Gem would be better for this team with my changes ;]

Hey, I got your request ^^

Before I suggest you change anything else, I suggest you change your bulky Landorus spread. I'd give it a spread of 244 HP / 64 Atk / 200 Def Adamant- as the bulk difference is minimal, whilst giving you a lot more power.

With this change, the need for Amoonguss lowers, as many others have noticed also. You have a great fighting type counter in Landorus, and Amoonguss really drags your team's momentum down. I like Funkadaurus's idea of Latias over Amoonguss; it gives you a lot more power / speed and you don't lose the anility to counter fast Dragons or Breloom / Keldeo / Grass types. It has great synergy with the rest of your team too. If you want a more defensive way to improve your team, I think you could switch Keldeo with Specially Defensive Rotom-W.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Calm / 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Volt Switch / Hydro Pump / Thunder Wave / Pain Split

This is a more defensive take than offensive- and I think it's definitely something you should try out. Rotom does have good synergy with the rest of your team, to start off. it can work well with both Amoonguss and Landorus, walling Rain and Volt Switching to keep your defensive momentum. Its ability to counter most Rain teams effectively will definitely be of great help, especially when handling Starmie, Lati@s, or Tornadus. Volt Switch lets you pivot as well as hit bulky waters fairly hard, as even without little investment it's STAB and SE to Politoed. Hydro Pump is another move for attacking- and, when boosted by an opponent's Rain, can also dismantle teams quite easily. It also makes up for lost water type coverage that Keldeo had. Twave and Pain Split are your support moves. TWave cripplesphysical attackers such as Dragons and give you a much easier time beating them. It also cripples walls and threats you want defeated ASAP. Pain Split is for 'recovery'- it heals you up as well as damages high health opponents such as Blissey / Chansey- again, fulfilling one of Keldeo's roles somewhat (either way, you have Terrakion, and Lando's EQ does ~40% to blissey iirc) Rotom can also defeat Landorus-I one on one, as FB doesn't KO and HPump does.

Good luck!

EDIT:
With the change of Rotom, it might be nexessary to make Amoonguss Physically Defensive in order to counter Loom / Grass types a bit better. Of course, with Lando-T, it's probably not 100% nexessary but just in case I'll give you the spread:

Physically Defensive Amoonguss:
252 HP / 228 Def / 28 SpA Bold

Max HP and Def give you max bulk, while 28 SpA beats Keldeo-R

@A l e x a n d e r : Thank you for the rate, I was questioning why I had Lefties on Heatran anyway, so I defenitely am gonna check that Air Balloon out. Also checking Celebi. :]

@TheStriker I dunno, but I just don't wanna have two water types in my team, and it also adds to a Grass weakness, but thanks for the rate anyway :]

@Funkasaurus I actually remembered replacing Latias for Amoonguss a while back, guess I gotta put that back in, thanks for the rate :]

@Shurtugal I dont remember ever being in PokebattleCenter X3. But I defenitely agree on switching Amoonguss to Rotom-W because they both counter Rain teams well, and also can status an opponent. I'll also check Latias out, thanks for the rate :]

@Electrolyte Thanks for the rate :] I agree with the Lando-T set, and having Latias in the team. Though I think I would prefer changing my Amoonguss for that Rotom-W set you have. :]

@Organization Member XIV OK, I'll try to replace Rock Gem with Salac, thanks for the rate :]

Hey there, got your request.

Your team is pretty offensive for the most part and Amoongus kind of breaks that rhythm. You should really replace it for an offensive pokemon that has similar resists to it or can play a similar role in taking hits. Going with Funk's Latias set is not a bad idea as it gives your team an offensive answer to Keldeo and Landorus.

Additionally, I don't know what those EVs on Landorus-T accomplish, but going with just a simple spread of Adamant 252 hp/ 4 atk / 252 def gives you 19 more attack with 12 less defense points.

Lastly, you could try out a sunny day heatran set over your flame charge one. it gives you a better matchup against rain teams. It's not completely dead weight if you manage to get off a sunny day on a politoed or tentacruel. And you could potentially trap Politoed and opposing Tyranitar (if they come in) with Magma storm to win the weather war and help Latias live longer. it definitely plays differently than flame charge Heatran, but I feel it would be less of a liability in certain games.



Hope I helped and good luck!