Hello Smogon! I've been a member for a good bit on this site, but just recently started actually battling. My favorite tier is definitely OU (just like almost everybody else lol) and I also like sand, so that's where this team came from.
Team Building Process
Like I said, I wanted to base this team around sand, and Tyranitar is strictly a beast compared to the hippo if you can overlook all of his weaknesses.
Since I wanted this team to be fairly balanced, I wanted to find good special and physical attackers. I chose these two because of their stellar offenses and immunity to sandstorm damage.
Going back to the balanced thing, I wanted to find a good special wall and a good defensive wall. Skarmory is the epitome of physical defense, and if played right, Gastrodon is a great special wall that is awesome against rain teams.
As you can probably see, this team was extremely lacking in speed. I chose scarfed Mamoswine to patch up this weakness.
I played with the team for awhile for a little bit of success, but improvements needed to be made. Lucario just wasn't cutting it with this team, so I replaced him with Chomp because he's just a beast. I was also having trouble with steel types, and Reuniclus wasn't doing well, so I replaced him with magnezone.
The "improved" team produced a lot more wins, but I could still see it hadn't reached its full potential. Magnezone couldn't take on faster Scizor, so I scarfed him beacause the thing would decimate my team. Mamoswine being choice locked into moves was a pain as well, so I decided Sandslash would be better for even more speed, not being locked into moves, and his ability to spin away hazards that were a problem for my team.
Like I said, I wanted to base this team around sand, and Tyranitar is strictly a beast compared to the hippo if you can overlook all of his weaknesses.
Since I wanted this team to be fairly balanced, I wanted to find good special and physical attackers. I chose these two because of their stellar offenses and immunity to sandstorm damage.
Going back to the balanced thing, I wanted to find a good special wall and a good defensive wall. Skarmory is the epitome of physical defense, and if played right, Gastrodon is a great special wall that is awesome against rain teams.
As you can probably see, this team was extremely lacking in speed. I chose scarfed Mamoswine to patch up this weakness.
I played with the team for awhile for a little bit of success, but improvements needed to be made. Lucario just wasn't cutting it with this team, so I replaced him with Chomp because he's just a beast. I was also having trouble with steel types, and Reuniclus wasn't doing well, so I replaced him with magnezone.
The "improved" team produced a lot more wins, but I could still see it hadn't reached its full potential. Magnezone couldn't take on faster Scizor, so I scarfed him beacause the thing would decimate my team. Mamoswine being choice locked into moves was a pain as well, so I decided Sandslash would be better for even more speed, not being locked into moves, and his ability to spin away hazards that were a problem for my team.
In Detail:
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature (+ SpD, - Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Thunder Wave
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature (+ SpD, - Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Thunder Wave
Tyranitar has been the cornerstone of this team ever since its inception, and for good reason. He has titanic special defense in the sand and I put a few extra EVs into defense to allow him to tank some of the plentiful physical hits across the metagame, specifically the omnipresent earthquake. Stealth rock is for hazard damage and I usually lead with it, but I may thunder wave the opponent if the situation calls for it. Fire Blast is for somewhat of a surprise factor on ferro and forre and scizor coming in, and pursuit is for those fleeing psychic and ghost foes.
Garchomp @ Leftovers
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+ Spe, - SpA)
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+ Spe, - SpA)
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
I am SO GLAD this guy came back down to OU. This set absolutely wreaks havoc if given the chance to set up, although admittedly it can be hard to sometimes. The leftovers are for recovery with substitute, and the EVs are fairly standard for just about any Chomp. I bring him in on something he can set up on and either SD or substitute, depending on what I see fit. Then I proceed to spam with outrage if Magnezone has taken out opposing steels or predict accordingly if he hasn't.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+ Spe, - Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Fire
- Flash Cannon
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+ Spe, - Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Fire
- Flash Cannon
An essential member of the team, Magnezone is vital to taking out the steel types that hinder Garchomp's sweeping prowess. He is also valuable against rain teams with fast threats like starmie and unscarfed keldeo. The EVs are once again standard on a Scarf Magnezone, and timid is for all the speed he can get. Volt Switch is the crux of this set, and is what I use 75% of the time. Thunderbolt is if I need more power and hidden power fire of course is to kill steel types, specifically ferrothorn, forretress, and scizor. Flash Cannon is really just a filler, I wish I knew something better that could go there.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature (+ Def, - SpA)
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature (+ Def, - SpA)
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
Skarmory hasn't changed one bit since I made this team. She is nearly impossible to take down from the physical side, which is great because it gives her multiple oppurtunities to spike the opponent. The EVs and impish nature give her maximum physical bulk and the speed EVs let her outpace other noninvested base 70s. Her only real job is to get the coveted three-layer spikes down, and check certain threats like Conkeldurr, who is a real problem for my team, and others like Breloom and Garchomp. Once she gets spikes down, I proceed to phaze the opponent with whirlwind until she is finally brought down, unless there is still someone she will need to check later.
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature: (+ SpD, - Atk)
- Toxic
- Recover
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature: (+ SpD, - Atk)
- Toxic
- Recover
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
Another original and unchanged member of the team, Gastrodon's main niche in the current metagame is to check rain teams. She does this extremely well with this team, handling plenty of threats like Starmie, SpecsToed, Torn-T to an extent, and even threats out of rain like the Lati twins. The EVs give her maximum special bulk, which is a lot of special bulk, and a little boost in special attack for when I predict correctly and get that storm drain boost. Toxic is to wear down enemies, while recover heals off tons of damage. Earth Power is a powerful stab with the special attack boost, and ice beam kills dragons. Gastrodon is certainly an important part of this team, but if someone needed to be replaced, she would be the first one to leave.
Sandslash @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+ Spe, - Atk)
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
Sandslash @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+ Spe, - Atk)
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
Sandslash is almost never seen in the current metagame, but he is invaluable to this team and could probably function well on just about any sand team. My previous teams were extremely vulnerable to hazards, and Sandslash took on the roll of spinner and ran away with it. When any opposing weather inducer is removed, and sand is permanent, this guy is hard to stop. Especially if he gets a Swords Dance. This EV spread gives him over 500 speed in the sand, and makes him an awesome revenge killer or deadly sweeper with the SD boost. And once again, I can't overstate how important Rapid Spin is. This guy really was the final piece to the team, I believe.
So that's it! This is my first RMT, and like I said I haven't been battling competitively very long, so please, suggestions are more than welcome!