First Sand (Demoli's 1st RMT)

First of all, hi everybody, and welcome to my first RMT, or to my first post in a long while.

I've been playing Gen V since it's release on PO, and I've went through multiple stages of teambuilding. First, i tried to adapt my DP team to BW, failing miserably. Overcame by weather, i tried a SS team, and after much tinkering I think i've found my team, so I'm posting it here so i could get more info on how to improve it and make it more worthwile. I've caped at 165th in Smogon's server at 1285 rank points.

Anyways, going on with it.

Team Overview




In Depth



Eadgar (Hippowdon) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 188 HP / 160 Atk / 160 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Fang
- Slack Off

Hippowdon is my usual lead, he sets up rocks and sandstorm and can take hits quite well. Slack Off is recovery of course, EQ is for stab and Ice Fang is for those pesky dragons. I've tinkered with tyranitar for a while, but i ended choosing Hippo due to better defences and more durability.



Primadonna (Jirachi) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 200 HP / 56 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Trick
- Iron Head

Rachi is my backup lead. Trick cripples walls such as Blissey, Burungero and Skarmory who think they can come in scoff free. It also gives the middle finger to Evolution stone users. Thunder Wave is probably my team's biggest asset, lowering speeds dramaticly, essential for Latios or Landlos coming in later on and set up without much need for speed. Iron Head is here simply for lack of better support option. Wish grants my entire team some sort of recovery. Apart from these roles, Primadonna is also my team's special wall, in particular ice moves, my bane of existence.



Beyblade (Nattorei) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Def / 156 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Power Whip
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed

Quite honestly my biggest player, Nattorei is quite simply amazing. I use it more as a leech seed annoyer and paralisis spreader rather than Spiker. Fire types tend to switch in a lot, and thanks to that i prefer to Thunder wave more often than leech seed and spikes. Only after i feel relatively safe do I start stacking them needles. Power Whip is there to counter even more water types and to break some balloons.



Legretta (Doryuuzu) (F) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Throw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Frustration
- Swords Dance

I've tried to stay away from Dory, i really did. I've tried Garchomp, Heatran, Flygon, a toxic Spikes variation of Nidoking (which worked ok), hell even a Rhyperior was tested (with also surprising results). But in the end, i needed a rapid spinner and another Physical threat in my team. Dory was the obvious solution. Rapid Spin to send hazards away, since they hurt 4/6 pokes in my team. Swords Dance on the switch and wreck avoc from there. EQ is stab and Frustration is for neutral coverage. Now, i run a chople berry just in case a mach puncher appears, but since i haven't seen any recently, I've been thinking on running a different item, I'd like some feedback on this please.



John Cleese (Randorosu) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Since the beggining I've liked this guy, I used to run a Double Dance set with him, to great success, but i've found the scarf set more and more appealing overtime. EQ tears appart everything, U-Turn scouts and doesn't let Celebi loose. Stone Edge is for coverage and HP Ice is for Gliscor, who is increasingly popular. He is very frail however, so i need t rely on wish passing to keep him aline for extended periods.


MegaMan (Latios) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psycho Shock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Draco Meteor
- Surf

Specs Latios is just too strong. No wonder he's called the blue bomber! DM kills everything not named blissey, tyranitar and Steel types (and even then you need some bulky ones). I tend to be conservative with this guy when i see a Tyranitar on the oposing team, and if any other pursuiter is at bay i use HP fire to scout. Surf is there for some very restricted situations, like Heatran and other Steels. I used to run Tbolt instead, btu skarmory is becoming scarcer the day it seems. Psycho Shock is to beat Blissey/Chancey, even though the last one needs to be tricked out of it's Stone.


Battle Strategy


Really simple in fact. Check the oponent's team and decide optimal lead. Anything weak to ground or that Hippo can take and i lead with him, otherwise Rachi gets loose. On very rare ocasions, i lead with Latios to net a free kill (abcence of Steels/blissey) or with Landlos (scouting). From there on, i try to set up rocks and spread paralisis in the best way possible. After enough is spread, time to bring the big guns. Latios forces a lot of switches racking up entry damage. Landlos demolishes whatever comes in if predicted correctly, and works wonders as a cleaner. Dory clears the field and is a strong Set-upper and Rachi likes to flinch a lot. Nattorei also forces switches, and with some prediction i can score free Leech Seeds. Very rarely i tend to use Natto as a pseudo shield due to iron barbs, but it's really situational. (rxamples include Flinchachi).



Counters/Problematic pokes


Rankuruso

I. Hate. Ranku. He sets up very easily, and rarely can i beat him. That is, unless my rachi has it's scarf, cause if that's the case i end up going to town with hi, due to greedy players spamming calm minds. Still, it's quite a nuisance.


Doryuuzu

Again, this thing i very hard to take down. Life orbed variants can take down Landlos from full health and has a chance of OHKO'ing hippo at 2+. If hippo i down and/or Landlos is weak, i ca already say GG because i've already lost.


Bulky Waters

Bulky waters are a problem not only because of my team's typing, but because of one attack: Boiling Water. If they maneage to burn my Nattorei, I'm in deep trouble. Without proper LS healing and with Power Whip crippled, It's only a matter of time until go down. Still, Latios and Landlos can take some head on, so it's kind of 50/50 on this one.


Ice Beams/Random HP Fire/Ice

Ice bea ruins my team apart from Nattorei and Rachi (and dory, to an extent). I need to play carefully around these attacks, and random HP fires murder my nattorei, which i never like.


So, i guess this is it. Sorry if it's a bit short or lacking in content, it's my first time doing a RMT, so i appreaciate any healpfull criticism both on the ost as in the team. Thanks in advance.

Your team looks solid and it obviously works for you, but I have two little nitpicks.

You have no SR weak Pokemon, so I think that Rapid Spin on Dory is a waste and you would be better off with Rock Slide for coverage.

And your Jirachi set seems to be set up bait for any offensive team as it may lock itself into Wish or Thunder Wave, letting something like Dory set up. I think this spot would be better used on a Pokemon like Rotom-W:

Rotom-W @ Choice Specs/Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid/Modest
- Trick
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- HP Ice/Thunder Wave/Pain Split

More attacking moves than your Jirachi while still allowing you to Trick or Thunder Wave if needed. It gets rid of a fire weakness on your team and gives you a fire resistance. It also helps with those random HP ices/fires, and bulky waters.

You lose the resistances that steel type grants you as well as Wish support, making your team more offensive overall.

Awesome team though.

Threats

1. Swords Dance Doryuuzu
2. Calm Mind Birijion
3. Dragon Dance / Bulk Up Zuruzukin
4. Calm Mind Rankurusu
5. Opposing Stall teams

Cool team man, however it does suffer from some threats. Swords Dance Doryuuzu can set-up on Jirachi if it is locked into Thunder Wave / Iron Head and even if it has Tricked away its Choice Scarf, Randorosu's Earthquake (if Doryuuzu is carrying a Balloon) and Hippowdon as well if it is carrying a Balloon. After a Swords Dance, it will proceed to OHKO everything with prior damage between +2 Earthquake / Rock Slide / Return. Calm Mind Birijion can also cause some serious trouble, forcing out Hippowdon, Nattorei, Wish-locked Jirachi, Surf-locked Latias, and Randorosu, to get a crucial Calm Mind boost. Again, pretty much every member will be OHKOed by +1 Giga Drain / Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ice with a little prior damage. Dragon Dance and Bulk Up Zuruzukin can also be problematic. Both variants can set-up on Latios's Psycho Shock, Randorosu's Stone Edge, Jirachi locked into Wish (Bulk Up variants can also set-up on non-Scarf Jirachi, since it has Rest to get rid off paralysis) and force Nattorei out for a Dragon Dance or Bulk Up. If Jirachi has Tricked its scarf, DD variants will outspeed 5/6 of your team and dent it hard with +1 Hi Jump Kick / Ice Punch / Crunch and Bulk Up variants will set-up Bulk Ups and Rest off damage, as you try to break through their defenses, and then proceed to decimate the team with boosted Drain Punch / Payback. Opposing Stall teams with a core of Burungeru | Nattorei / Skarmory | Blissey will be tough to break through, since you lack a dedicated Stall breaker. Against all these threats, your best way is to Trick with Jirachi, and you can't rely solely on that (unreliable) method to handle these threats. You also have 3 Pokemon weak to Fire- type attacks and only one resist, meaning things like Blaziken and Heatran will tend to wore out your team before going down, since Latios won't be able to take their attacks forever, especially with no recovery.


Solutions:

• Solution A: Defensive Gliscor over Doryuuzu

I don't really see what Doryuuzu is helping you out with on the team, and in my opinion it is the weakest link on the team. Gliscor however brings a valuable check to Swords Dance Doryuuzu, taking little from Rock Slide, and destroying it with Earthquake (A combination of Facade and Earthquake if it's carrying a Balloon). Secondly, Gliscor helps you out against Bulk Up Zuruzukin, you shut it down with Taunt, acquire multiple Swords Dance boosts, and proceed to wreck havoc. Finally, Stall becomes much easier to deal with Gliscor, due to its fast Taunt, immunity to Spikes / Toxic Spikes, and a set-up move to rip apart Stall teams.

• Solution B: Choice Scarf Tyranitar over Hippowdon

Scarf Tyranitar is relatively uncommon in the current metagame, most of them being MixTars, so you have the element of surprise on your side. Outside of that, you gain a potent revenge killer and a check to Calm Mind Rankurusu, who's trapped and killed by Crunch / Pursuit, as well as Dragon Dance Zuruzukin, who is outsped even at +1 and destroyed by Superpower. In addition to this, it helps Gliscor in combatting Stall teams by taking down Latias and Burungeru, two common checks to Gliscor. Since you're going to replace Hippowdon with this bad boy, you might want to replace one of Nattorei's moves with Stealth Rock (preferably Spikes).

• Solution C: Calm Mind+Wish Jirachi over current set

Pretty much everything's covered, except for the Calm Mind Birijion weakness, which could be taken care of by simply using a CM+Wish set on Jirachi. To be honest, your current Jirachi set isn't so useful, in fact it actually hinders the team's performance due to giving set-up opportunities to many threats. Calm Mind Wish Jirachi will allow you to come out on top in CM wars most of the time, sweep unprepared teams, and support the team via Wish.

Additional Changes:
If you think having two Choice Scarfers on the same team is redundant, you could try out a Rock Polish or Swords Dance set on Randorosu. Rock Polish Randorosu is a great sweeper against Offensive teams due to its incredible Speed and impeccable coverage. On the other hand, Swords Dance Randorosu will help you get past defensive teams easily due to its sheer power. (IMO Rock Polish is better, since you have defensive teams covered pretty well already between Gliscor and Tyranitar).

Movesets:








So to summarize:

• Gliscor > Doryuuzu
• Scarf Tyranitar > Hippowdon
• CM Wish Jirachi > current Jirachi set
• (Optional) Change Randorosu's set to a Rock Polish / Swords Dance set

GL

Not a lot to suggest myself, but a more sp defensive Hippowdon is really beneficial, with Roar over Ice Fang. This way you have a way to phaze so many threats that could otherwise take your team apart with no effort, such as DDZukin. Seriously, only your Rando or Hippo can take it on, one of which is bound to have taken a lot of damage already, the other one doesn't even have Explosion. For this reason, ScarfTar isn't exactly the best suggestion ever, but I may be wrong, try it out. Another thing is to try Forretrss over Nattorei, as Latios already deals with your RD weakness, and Forretress can spin and dual spike. As such, you might want to play a spinblocker, like Guruggu, to help with this. And apart from the ScarfTar > Hippowdon set, I agree completely with LegendKiller's changes.

After some tinkering, and trying these suggestions I arrived at a few conclusions:

-Tyranitar really didn't work out for me, i tried playing him conservativly and straightforward, but somehow i never managed to get the hang of him. He is also quite less bulky on the physical side and weak to Equake, two thing i appreciated in Hippo. He alo can't stand up to Blaziken, while Hippo can. Plus Stealth Rocks

-Calm mind Jirachi was quite underwhelming, I used calm mind+wish+psychic+flash cannon/Doom desire and while it did ok, it did not do what i wanted most: Tank Special hits while surviving a few physical threats. However, after some more inspection, I ended up also noticing that it was indeed the weakiest link on my team against Hyper Offensive teams and agains sandstorm teams, specially due to the ground immunity to T-Wave. I really want to replace this team member

-Gliscor was great, I slightly modded the set Legend Killer provided to include knock off instead of SD, since i planned on using him more as an annoyer than properly offensive. I did not include him on my newer version of the team, which i'll post lower on.

-The Rotom-W suggested did ok too, with a few drawbacks: The lack of ghsot typing really hurt him in general as a poke, he can't spin block or block dory's returns now; he still is hampered by Sandstorm, and apart from tricking he can't do much. He did ok, but i'm still open for suggestions here. One big, and i mean HUGE advantage over Jirachi is that he can actually hit a ground type on the switch or even in a failed T-Wave since he's bulky enough to survive an Un-stabbed hit. He can't wish-pass though.

Now what i did to my team:

-Changed Hippo's Ev's to 252HP/160Def/96 Att, he now can tank hits a lot better and can survive a +2 EQ from a LO Dory and ice Fang+ EQ for the KO on a Baloon Dory. Not as great as Gliscor, but i need that sandstorm up and rocks on the field.

-Rachi is now impish with 252HP, 200 SpD and 56Spe, same moveset, suggestions are highly welcomed for a replacement for this Rachi, at the very least it should be able to either tank powerfull neutral SpA hits and resist a few physical hits OR pass healthy wishes.

-Legretta the Doryuzzu is now Penelope the Garchomp:


Penelope (Garchomp) (F) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Double Chop
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Facade


Double chop is the same as Dragon Claw, but it breaks subs, Outrage is Outrage, EQ for a realiable Stab and Facade so random Will-Whisps can't cripple him indefinatly. I found this to be a great, GREAT partner with the following change:


-New Landlos set:



John Cleese (Randorosu) (M) @ Wide Lens
Trait: Sand Power
EVs: 4 HP / 200 Atk / 52 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge


Those SpA EV's are to have a chance to KO, at full health (or after rocks) Gliscor. Works great as a cleaner after Penelope does her messy stuff. Wide Lens are for Stone Edge, should i use WL or try out Yache or Life Orb?




So, these are my current changes, are they big enough to warrant a new thread or can we discuss it here?


PS: All the team testing is done on PO's server.

Sorry for not mentioning the Jirachi set earlier in my rate, but if it's different to the one you tested, then here it is:

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 220 HP/ 36 SAtk / 252 Def
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Wish
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
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