Darude

[Nettlekid]

...Because it's Sandstorm. Get it? Anyway, after a lot of mental protesting against myself about not wanting to give in and use all the strongest, most commonly used gamebreakers, I've decided that if I want to really stand a chance in a competitive setting I'm going to have to jump on the bandwagon. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So here's my new team, designed around Sandstorm. I'm pretty amateur at teambuilding, so I'd appreciate help in finding my many weaknesses and suggestions in patching them. You'll notice that a lot of the sets are taken straight from the Smogon pages, since I'm not very creative.

I still have a couple of limits for my team, though. I really want to be able to create my team in-game, so no legendaries and no Dream World abilities (except for Gliscor, Dragonmg]ite, Tangrowth, Slowbro, and Ninetales, which I managed to get). Besides that, I'm pretty open to suggestions.

Move 1: Toxic Spikes
Move 2: Megahorn
Move 3: Iron Defense
Move 4: Baton Pass
Item: Focus Sash
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe

This is the first set that I've really made all on my own, so I could use help with the EVs and things to maximize durability. The point of this is to be a lead, and set up the whole rest of my team. By this time I've decided that the way to win is with Sandstorm and Toxic damage, then cleaning up with Excadrill. With Toxic Spikes, Scolipede will set that up for the whole match and save time for others like Gliscor and Jellicent who would be Toxic-ing otherwise. This set also seeks to buff all my other Pokemon by Baton Passing a +2 Defense boost. Special defenders like Jellicent and Tyranitar will like a buff to their lower defense, and physical walls like Gliscor and Ferrothorn will become unbreakable with those attacks. Even Excadrill can use it as a safety to use Swords Dance without fear of instant KO. My plan is to use Iron Defense first, then if they won't 2HKO I'll Toxic Spikes at least once before Baton Passing, or I may Baton Pass immediately. If they will KO even with Iron Defense, I'll Toxic Spikes twice using Focus Sash for protection. Megahorn is there so it's not total Taunt-bait, and I think it wouldn't do enough damage even with Attack investment so I didn't bother there.

move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Pursuit
move 4: Superpower
item: Lum Berry
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD

Used to be my lead, but now it stays safe to start the weather and possibly get buffed with Iron Defense from Scolipede. Though I'll probably switch away after getting Stealth Rock up if I sense danger, to bring it back later to restart the weather and just fight hard generally. There's not much that has to be said for Tyranitar, everyone knows what it does. This one's mainly defensive, to act as a backup special wall to deal with things that either Jellicent can't deal with and do heavy damage with Superpower and Crunch's good coverage, and Pursuit picking off stronger but frail attackers who want to stay in the wings to deal with stronger targets like Ferrothorn or Gliscor.

move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: X-Scissor
item: Life Orb
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Again, this one requires little explanation. When you use a gamebreaking Sandstorm team, Excadrill is who you think of. Even if they stay in, Excadrill's high HP can take a lighter hit to Swords Dance, but thanks to Adamant and Life Orb it can deal heavy damage even before it Swords Dances. Then it just goes wild, decimating anything in its path. Adamant does the job since it outspeeds anything slower than Scarfed Dugtrio. This is usually brought out late-game, to destroy the scraps. I'm considering giving it Air Balloon, but most of the time I get too nervous about taking hits so I just fire away with a +0 Life Orb boosted attack instead. Also, Gliscor would rather come in and stall any Ground attacks.

Move 1: Spikes
Move 2: Power Whip
Move 3: Leech Seed
Move 4: Protect
Nature: Relaxed
Item: Rocky Helmet
EVs: 252 HP, 48 Def, 208 Sp.Def

It was a hard toss-up between Ferrothorn, Forretress and Skarmory to add to my team, and I could be convinced to switch this out for either of the other two. Ferrothorn is good because it's very bulky on either side of the defensive field, and from personal experience it's been able to set up Spikes excellently, in conjunction with Tyranitar's Stealth Rock. Protect is good for stalling Leech Seed and Sandstorm damage, and hopefully Burn damage too. Honestly, despite protests that Leftovers serves it better, I LOVE Rocky Helmet. I'm a big fan of switching around a lot, tanking hits and letting residual damage add up. This combo deals 25% damage to all contact attacks, many of which Ferrothorn resists or at least can handle with its high defense. It makes a huge difference. I may switch out Power Whip for another supporting move; although this makes me severe Taunt-bait, Ferrothorn doesn't hit hard and I'd rather let the rest of my team hit harder by doing something to cripple my opponent. I don't really know what though; Thunder Wave conflicts with Toxic from Gliscor and Scolipede (and I'd rather poison than paralyze anyway) but it doesn't have a lot of choices. I wish it could have both entry hazards along with Leech Seed, at least as a backup to Tyranitar.

Move 1: Scald
Move 2: Will-o-Wisp
Move 3: Recover
Move 4: Taunt
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe

The famous Ferrothorn/Jellicent defensive combo is tried and true. Because my Ferrothorn is specially buffed, Jellicent is EVed physically so they can both take decent damage from either side, while still making the best of their natural talents. Just about all my other Pokemon lure Fighting attacks, which Jellicent can switch in on and burn. Jellicent is also sure to bait Ghost and Dark attacks that many of my other Pokemon like Lucario, Excadrill, and Tyranitar will enjoy exploiting. Even though it's not immune to Sandstorm, Recover and Leftovers will keep it alive as long as it needs to, by exploiting switches it causes. It was taken out because it still couldn't take hits well enough, despite the investment. Perhaps I should re-EV it into a much more Specially Defensive version, since it doesn't do too well on either side right now. It was taken out for Gastrodon, but put back in after Gastrodon didn't cut it and I still needed a Ghost to take Fighting attacks.

Move 1: Toxic
Move 2: Earthquake
Move 3: Substitute
Move 4: Protect
item: Toxic Orb
ability: Poison Heal
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe

This is a Pokemon I've wanted to have on the team for a long time, but never thought I could due to being unable to access the Dream World. But I got lucky with a friend, and now the dream is a reality. Poison Heal Gliscor is just so amazing. It's able to take the strong physical Fighting attacks that pretty much no one else on my team can, and cripple any attacker (minus Conkeldurr) with Toxic. I can then stall for PP, scouting, Sandstorm and Toxic healing/damage with Protect, and once they're weakened enough Earthquake does high damage. Substitute and Protect works like Stallrein, with Poison Heal acting as the Leftovers/Ice Body combo. It can stall out crucial opponent PP, but combined with Toxic/Toxic Spikes and Sandstorm it can beat any non-Steel Pokemon (as even flying Rock/Ground could be hit with Toxic.) The 32 PP total means that at worst the 1/16-per-turn-Sandstorm will deal two full HP-bar's worth of damage, discounting Rock/Ground/Steels.

Former Members:

move 1: Shell Smash
move 2: Aqua Jet
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb
ability: Solid Rock
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Carracosta is the reason I'm not afraid of opposing Excadrill. With a powerful Aqua Jet, it's not much of a problem. It's also quite physically bulky, especially with Solid Rock, and the sandstorm boosts its Special Defense highly too. That's why I don't think I need White Herb after Shell Smash. Carracosta comes out well to revenge with Aqua Jet, set up after a KO, or in on the Fire attacks aimed at Ferrothorn. I removed it from the team because if it wasn't using Aqua Jet then it was still too slow even after Shell Smash, and too easily defeated due to its Rock typing even before lowering its defenses. It was taken out for Lucario.

move 1: Overheat
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Psychic
item: Choice Specs
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Modest
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe

Chandelure may be an odd choice here, and it may be better to switch it to something else. It's not immune to Sandstorm, and I have no spinner since it's the only one really bothered by lots of entry hazards. Chandelure can easily come in on the Fire and Fighting moves that target most of my entire team, and blast the offender away. There's not much that can survive a Chandelure blast factoring in all the entry hazards and Sandstorm they'll take as well, and if I'm lucky Chandelure can run away and come back in and do it again. It's good bait for Payback and Crunch that will do nearly nothing to Ferrothorn, but rack up Iron Barbs/Rugged Helmet damage. It was taken out due to poor synergy with the rest of my team, being hurt by Sandstorm, and being both too slow and too frail. It was taken out for Golurk.

move 1: Substitute
move 2: Focus Punch
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Shadow Punch
item: Leftovers
nature: Adamant
ability: Iron Fist
EV: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def

Golurk is the essential anti-Spinner, and defensive enough to take plenty of punishment from stray attacks switching in while strong enough to strike back. Substitute and Focus Punch are well known for their effective synergy, and Golurk's Substitutes are very sturdy. Especially in conjunction with its typing, offering immunity to Fighting moves that target a lot of my team, Golurk will be able to set up Substitutes while forcing opponents out, and then hammering whoever switches in to attack with an Iron Fist-boosted Focus Punch. Earthquake is powerful STAB for when I don't have a substitute (or when it would just work better) and Shadow Punch is there because it's also boosted by Iron Fist, gets STAB, and never misses. Factoring in STAB it becomes a 99 BP attack, which is not too shabby. It was taken out because it just didn't hit hard enough, and added more vulnerabilities than it took away. It was taken out for Jellicent.

move 1: Cosmic Power
move 2: Stored Power
move 3: Roost
move 4: Psycho Shift
item: Flame Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 200 Def/ 56 Spe

Sigilyph is disarming, but it's actually remarkably powerful. If the opponent doesn't expect it, or makes light of it and plans to set up on it, they find themselves fighting a losing battle. For one, this guy tries to make up the glaring Fighting weakness in my whole team so far, and Ground too. If my enemy is special, I Cosmic Power before Psycho Shifting the burn. If they're physical, I reverse that order. Once it gets plenty of Cosmic Powers under its belt, only an ill-timed critical hit if I haven't recently Roosted can take it out. Even Dark-types don't stop it from Stored Powering them, because the Burn and the Sandstorm will wear them down. It may find its way back onto the team, but it was taken away because it was too easily defeated by super-effective attacks. Also, since crits break through the defense boosts, it's only a short time before hax strikes. It was taken out for Gardevoir.

Move 1: Psychic
Move 2: Thunderbolt
Move 3: Focus Blast
Move 4: Destiny Bond
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

This was kind of a whim thing, since I only saw it very recently, but it actually looks quite promising. Against any Pokemon that exploits the weather, like a Swift Swimmer or Sand Rusher, Gardevoir Traces the ability and then outspeeds with Choice Scarf. Swift Swimmers are beaten by Thunderbolt, many Chlorophyllers who are part Poison take heavy damage from Psychic, and Excadrill is OHKOed by Focus Blast. Many other Pokemon like any Water Absorb/Storm Drain/Volt Absorb/Motor Drive/Flash Fire Pokemon aren't going to like this either. And in worst case scenario, against a rampant sweeper I can Destiny Bond to take them down. This was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, so give me your opinions. I took it out because it still didn't hit hard enough, and really could only take down one Pokemon at max. It was taken out for Reuniclus.

name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Leftovers
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

Since Fighting types were such a glaring weakness for this team, Reuniclus comes to mind as a perfect counter. Once fully set up, it becomes nearly unbeatable. It recovers its damage and can hit very hard, while finding plenty of chances to set up on counters to the rest of the team. It starts out being able to take on more physical attacks because of its EV spread, but Calm Mind then makes it better suited for special attackers. It was taken off the team for much the same reason as Sigilyph, that strong attacks on either defense before it set up could defeat it too easily, and a stray crit is devastating. I'm thinking about running a set I saw once running Acid Armor instead of Focus Blast, and then some attack like HP Dragon with few resistances, to bulk up Defense, Special Defense, and Special Attack, until there's nothing that can beat it. But crits will probably do it there too. It was taken out for Gliscor.

Move 1: Nasty Plot
Move 2: Aura Sphere
Move 3: Dark Pulse
Move 4: Vacuum Wave
Item: Air Balloon
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Sp.Atk, 252 Spd

Lucario is now my way to defeat opposing Excadrill, and if I can get the boost before it comes in, Terakion. Any strong Rock or Steel type, especially those more invested in Defense, are now checked by Lucario. Unfortunately the opposing Rock types will get the Sandstorm boost, but Nasty Plot will still leave me with an overall boosted attack. Air Balloon keeps it safe from Spikes, since it barely cares about Stealth Rock at all. Many members of my team also bait Ground attacks, which Lucario can switch in on. Inner Focus is used because I don't want to waste a turn flinching in the case of moves like Fake Out, and Vacuum Wave is fast enough so that I don't need the speed boost from Steadfast. I went with Dark Pulse for coverage, since if I'm faster, I'd prefer a second free hit as opposed to a stronger second hit if I survive the next attack, which is less likely. It was taken off for being too defensively weak and being too much like Excadrill in its execution. Both get in on something that either can't hurt it and/or that it can force out. They both set up to +2, and attempt a sweep. Thus, if there's a situation where I can either one, I'll be using Excadrill. Lucario was also just too slow and unsure. It was taken out for Dusclops.

Move 1: Earth Power
Move 2: Ice Beam
Move 3: Toxic
Move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD

Gastrodon is here to take Jellicent's place. It loses a Fighting immunity which Ferrothorn will miss (but Gliscor fills in for that pretty well) while focusing on Special bulk to counter Rain teams, take Water attacks that target key members of my team like Gliscor, and has the capacity to both tank hits and dish out damage. It is also immune to Sandstorm, meaning Leftovers helps it instead of just keeping it at neutral. Storm Drain will be more helpful than Water Absorb, because Jellicent always had either too high or too low HP to use it effectively. Here, Gastrodon can use Storm Drain whenever it can, and effectively too. Its only weakness is uncommon (except for such threats as Breloom or the rarer Energy Ball Galvantula) which are easily dealt with using team members like Gliscor or Excadrill. It was taken off because in this power-creep metagame it needs more valuable type resistances, instead of just bulk. It was replaced by Jellicent.

Move 1: Pain Split
Move 2: Toxic
Move 3: Night Shade
Move 4: Taunt
Nature: Calm
Item: Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD

So. A lot of teams like walls. Walls are good, walls are strong. To call something a wall means that it is strong, sturdy, and no matter how hard you hit it it will not crumble by conventional means. Dusclops IS that wall. I already have many defensive powers on my team, like Gliscor and Ferrothorn on the physical side and Tyranitar and Gastrodon on the special side, but Dusclops is the only one (apart from Ferrothorn to a degree) who can laugh at any attack from anywhere. With Eviolite it has much higher defenses than any member of my team on both sides. Remarkably, Sandstorm actually helps it by hurting it. The way it works with its massive defenses and poor HP is that each hit from either an opponent or Sandstorm deals a fairly low actual number of damage, regardless of what percent of Dusclops' HP it is. At a low number, Dusclops can do severe damage to an opponent with Pain Split and recover almost all its HP in the process if the target was at high-to-middling health, and every hit of Sandstorm adds to that. Taunt stops Pokemon who would set up like Ferrothorn or Haxorus. Toxic was chosen instead of Will-o-Wisp because this is a war of attrition, and Toxic wears away HP faster than Burn. It also has better accuracy. It was taken out because although practically nothing even 2HKOed it, it was only good for beating one Pokemon at most. They attack, Toxic. They attack, Pain Split. Now they're too weak to Pain Split again, they attack, I'm KOed, they might be KOed. No good. It was replaced with Magneton.

Move 1: Reflect
Move 2: Light Screen
Move 3: Thunderbolt
Move 4: Volt Switch
Item: Eviolite
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD

After Dusclops, I decided that although a wall with Eviolite-boosted defenses was excellent as a blocker, I needed something that could take more hits and boost the team's power as a whole. Looking around a little, Magnezone/Magneton was the answer to a lot of problems. For one, the ever-useful Steel-trapping stops Pokemon like Skarmory and Bronzong from walling Excadrill during its final cleanup, and Thunderbolt was picked over Thunder Wave for the offense despite lower Special Attack than Magnezone and no EVs. Dual Screens increase my staying power a huge deal, giving other walls like Gliscor, Ferrothorn and Jellicent double the bulk, while Volt Switch helps me jump away to a useful counter. I decided to go with Eviolite Magneton instead of Magnezone because of the increased bulk that I get from Eviolite, which Magneton can really take advantage of with its great typing. The little speed boost isn't frowned upon either. The loss of Light Clay hurts a little, but it's better catered toward Pokemon like Excadrill who like a little setup time don't need a full 8 turns of screen for protection. Because of the added Fighting, Ground and Fire weaknesses that Magneton attracts, Jellicent and Gliscor especially will appreciate the boosts the screens give when they switch in to keep Magneton safe. It was taken out for being too offensively weak, not managing to beat the Steels it trapped, and the Fighting/Ground weaknesses were too much for it. It was replaced by Scolipede.

 

[Shurtugal]

Your running an Excadrill on Adamant. What a laughing stock. Excadrill needs jolly

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Nature: Jolly
Effort Values: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 Hp

~ S-Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Rock Slide
~ X-Scissor

His speed at his maximum (31 IV/Jolly/EV) is 302. Which, doubled in the sandstorm is 604. Makes scarfers shit. Although you want the power boost, swords dance is more than enough to accomplish what he needs.


Ferrothorn-

Scratch off protect for power whip. This team is going to be dealing with many Rain Dance Teams, and If you want to keep protect, at least get rid of Gyro Ball for Power Whip. Also, give it the leftovers, the longer this thing survives the better chance you have of KO all your water threats (threats list in a minute).


Carracosta? He looks good. Be careful for its 30 base speed, without low base power aqua jet,his other attacks even on shell smash barley outspeed pokemon without speed investment.

Chandulure? Get him out. Either Golurk or Gliscor can do all those things. i will give you both sets.

Golurk @ Life Orb/Leftovers
Nature: Adament
Effort Values: 252 Atk/252 Hp/4 Spd

~ Sub
~ Focus Punch
~ Shadow Punch
~ Earthquake

or

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Nature: Impish
Effort Values: 252 Hp/172 Def/84 Spd

~ S-Dance
~ Taunt
~ Earthquake
~ Facade/Ice Fang
(Gliscor set idea came from a friend named Fried Rhys)

Threats:

Hide

Politoed
Ninetails
Abamasnow
Breloom
Blaziken
Lucario
Excadrill
Latios

Most of your team can work their way around these threats. These are the only ones that come to mind atm, hope this helps!

 

[New World Order]

Life Orb is the preferred item on Excadrill if using Adamant. It gives much higher chances of KOing the Gliscors and Bronzongs that love to switch in all day long.

Leftovers and Shed Shell would both be better choices on Ferrothorn, Aqua Jet is rarely ever used in OU, the most common priority move that targets Excadrill is Mach Punch which Ferrothorn does not enjoy taking either.

Rotom-W seems to be able to wreak havoc against your team, and Carracosta really isn't doing much. Even after a Shell Break, there is still a plethora of pokes that outspeed it, your team also has no answers to rain, since Ferrothorn does not pack Power Whip. I suggest replacing Carracosta with a pokemon of similar typing, but arguably the best check to rain in existence.
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Storm Drain
Calm
252 Hp / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
two of Earth Power/ Scald/ Ice Beam
Recover
Toxic

Terrakion is able to rip this team a new one after one rock polish. Slowbro, Gliscor, and Celebi are all fantastic checks to it.

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Regenerator
Bold
252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Scald
Ice Beam
Fire Blast
Slack Off

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal
Impish
252 Hp/ 176 Def/ 80 Spe
Swords Dance
Earthquake
Ice Fang
Taunt

Celebi @ Life Orb
Natural Cure
Modest
220 Hp / 252 SpA / 32 Spe
Nasty Plot
Giga Drain
Psychic
Recover

 

[Porii Sames]

Wait, what?

Don't use Air Balloon/Jolly or Life Orb/Adamant. It doesn't hit hard enough with the former and the latter is too Excadrill weak. If you already have an Exc counter, then Jolly/Life Orb is probably best.

 

[Lemonz]

I like the carracosta, but it would be preferable to run jolly on it so it can out run some base 100s. I also have this curse set that Ive been running on carracosta, and I think it would work here too. Here's my recommendation:

Carracosta
Adamant 252hp 252atk 4spd
Solid rock
-Curse
-EQ
-Stone Edge
-Aqua jet

Still, the set you got on it looks fine, minus jolly, so you could still just stick with the current set. White herb would be nice also; I know you think youre bulky enough, but Conk's mach punch wouldnt KO after stealth with that item.

 

[puking_rainbows]

Hello, Nettlekid.
You have a nice SSteam and, although you have your team members good patched you have to note some little flaws. For example, 4 of your team members are weak to fight, whereas 3 are weak to ground and water. This can be some major problem as fighting is a pretty common type nowadays. As someone pointed out before me, your team can be wrecked by Terrakion.

You would definately benefit from Slowbro. His bulk and typing make him good Terrakion counter. The only thing I see that doesn't really fin on your team is Chandelure, so you can add there someone to that can help you against Bulky waters, that would otherwise be a real pain to you.

 

[Chieliee]

Your running an Excadrill on Adamant. What a laughing stock. Excadrill needs jolly

lmao

 

[monty1104]

Just wanted to say I love the title. I always wanna go for a run when I hear that song!

Oh yeah, nice team too :)

 

[Nettlekid]

Hmmm...Well for one, since I want to be able to make this team in-game as well, I've kind of limited myself not to have either legendaries or Dream World abilities. I'm sorry, I know how frustrating that is, but I'd like to try to keep a little personal touch if I can. So that would be no Poison Heal Gliscor, which is a shame because that's a great Poke. Regenerator Slowbro too. Anyway~

In regards to Excadrill, I don't really see why it needs to be Jolly? When Jolly, it reaches a max speed of 604 in Sandstorm, while with Adamant it gets to 550. 604 means it can outrun Pokemon with 402 speed holding Choice Scarf, so that's everything Base 130 and down, anything slower than Electrode. 550 would outrun 366 with scarf, which is anything with base 116 or slower. Scarfed, remember. The only notable Pokemon I notice who could outrun me if scarfed and faster than base 116 is Dugtrio, which would be bad, granted, but that's about it. I've never seen Scarfed Jolteon or Crobat, have you? So I don't see why Jolly is so essential, except to tie with other Excadrill, which hopefully wouldn't be a problem thanks to Aqua Jet or perhaps if I make some adjustments, Mach Punch. But perhaps Life Orb would be the better item. The only thing I worry is that if it takes a hit while Swords Dancing, then Life Orb will kill it too fast.

The reason I have Rugged Helmet on Ferrothorn as opposed to Leftovers is that between it and Iron Barbs, that's how Ferrothorn does most of its damage to an opposing Pokemon. Because I'm mostly focused on setting up hazards or Leech Seed, I rarely attack. But if I can bring it in on a weak move, like say Conkeldurr's Payback, I can deal 25% damage and then switch out again to something that resists what's coming in, like into Chandelure/Golurk or Sigilyph. Although, I used that mainly before I had the residual Sandstorm, so that might more than make up for it. I guess I could give it Leftovers, but I'd still want to keep Protect to stall for Leech Seed, Leftovers, Sandstorm, and possibly Burn.

I'm hearing mixed feelings about Carracosta. I've seen how good and bulky Gastrodon can be, and I'm tempted by it, but then my Excadrill check is gone. Gastrodon also doesn't benefit from the Sandstorm like Carracosta does, although I know I'd be bringing it in when there is no Sandstorm anyway. But I do know how sturdy Gastrodon is. But if I do bring in Gastrodon, should I re-EV some other Pokemon like Ferrothorn to make them more physically defensive, since Gastrodon is a great special wall?

I like the idea of Golurk, actually. I could definitely see bringing him in instead of Chandelure. I'll do that. And then with Chandelure gone, my only special attackers are Tyranitar and Sigilyph, so perhaps I could put in Gastrodon in Carracosta's place. But I still don't know what to do against opposing Excadrill. Also, is Sigilyph and now Golurk enough of a Conkeldurr counter?

Also, as another thought, could Gardevoir have a place on this team? She could Dual Screen, Wish, or Healing Wish to restore an important member like Tyranitar or Excadrill back to full health. I've also heard of some Tracing Gardevoir to take advantage of weather teams, Tracing Swift Swim or Chlorophyll to outpace and beat opponents at their own game. Would that be worth it, or just stupid?

 

[AntiMetaGame]

Hello, interesting sand team here, very different from the norm. The 2 common Excadrill sets are Adamant/LO or Jolly Air Balloon. Your set is fine.

First off, you're pretty weak to the Jolly/Air Balloon drill and Double Dance Terrakion.
Jolly drill outspeeds everything and can sweep your team after setting up on ferro or -2 Chandelure.
All of Terrakion's sets are pretty threatening to your team. All he has to do is come in on ttar and either set up an SD or RP to sweep you. SD sets should OHKO your team and RP sets outspeed your drill. Sigilyph can take RP sets, but not SD ones. Also, CB Terrakion is a threat. Come in on ferro, ttar and CC away. Smart players may predict your Sigilyph and Stone Edge (killing Sigilyph) which then allows him a kill everything he switches in on you afterwards.

While you do have Carracosta to check both threats, I feel he isn't doing as much for your team as you'd like. Since you're like me-a gimmick guy who has sets that work- you can try a Nasty Plot Air Balloon Lucario since you don't like Gliscor or Slowbro. The set is:
Lucario @ Air Balloon
Timid
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nasty Plot
Inner Focus
Aura Sphere
Vaccum Wave
Shadow Ball / HP Ice / Dark Pulse
Simple set, come in on normally known threats that use EQ, and either blast them with an attack or Nasty Plot up. Common switch-in Gliscor will be 2HKOed by Shadow Ball or OHKOed by HP Ice which allows your drill to sweep. Priority Vaccum Wave checks drill and Terrakion/ As an added bonus, his fire weakness allows Chandelure to get more Flash Fire Boosts.

Cool team, good luck!

 

[Shurtugal]

If you replace caracosta, then do what we all been saying, get a jolly excadrill. Also, you might want to switch into Siglyph on an excadrill and psycho shift it. Burn will cripple it, making your excadrill the boss.

 

[Nettlekid]

..........I've gotta say, I really like the sound of that Lucario. That's one thing I don't have nearly enough of, strong Fighting attacks. And by enough, I mean any. So I'll replace Carracosta with Lucario, make my Excadrill Jolly with Life Orb, and replace Chandelure with Golurk. I'll edit my original post with these additions, and then they can be up for further critique. If I replace Carracosta with Lucario instead of Gastrodon, I'll still probably be vulnerable to Rain teams, so more discussion might be wanted on that front. And are you sure that if Sigilyph switches in on Excadrill while it Swords Dances, it will survive a Rock Slide in order to Psycho Shift?

Oh also, is Ferrothorn the best hazard user to have here? Either Skarmory or Forretress could fill in as well. I could see Skarmory drawing Electric attacks for Golurk, and phazing. Forretress has Rapid Spin and Volt Switch going for it too. But Ferrothorn's so bulky and has great resistances, including resisting Water and striking with Power Whip. So I don't know.

 

[Tyranical]

Hey,

You are somewhat weak to rain teams, Ferrothorn isn't even a great check since it has no reliable recovery and will eventually fall to the sheer power of rain teams. I second the suggestion of Gastrodon suggested earlier, it works wonders against them bar Toxicroak. I also think that it will help take water attacks in general. Golurk is a horrible anti spinner, Starmie is the most common one and can rip you to shreds and then spin away. You don't seem to even need an anti-spinner since Ferrothorn is hardly ever going to get 3 layers up. I think a Specially Defensive Heatran would work in Golurk's place since it checks sun teams which are problematic. You are very weak to opposing Excadrill, Bronzong is a very good check to it considering how rare X-scissor is and would work well over Sigilyph who seems to be a weak link. Furthermore I see a large weakness to Haxorus, who is pretty common now, a second reason to add Bronzong. Try these changes and you should be much better.

Good Luck!

 

[Nettlekid]

Like I said, I really don't want to have any legendaries on my team. I know it limits my options a little, but I'd like to have fun with this team as well as have it be successful. Part of the reason I want an anti-spinner is not actually so much for Rapid Spin, but just to have a Ghost type to sponge all the Fighting attacks aimed at my team. Heatran would add another Fighting weakness. Sigilyph really isn't as much of a weak link as you might think, since once it gets even two Cosmic Powers it's almost indestructible. With 6, which isn't hard to do, it's golden. The only thing I think I might switch out Sigilyph for, unless given REALLY good reason, is Reuniclus who boasts some similar strengths, and others too. Bronzong might be good, but I don't quite see why X-Scissor is uncommon. I plan to run X-Scissor, since Rapid Spin is more a waste of a moveslot on Excadrill in my opinion. As far as Haxorus goes, I can Psycho Shift a Burn on either the switch or the Dragon Dance (I predict a lot of people will want to set up something like Haxorus on Sigilyph) or let Ferrothorn take a resisted hit, do damage with Iron Barbs, and stall with Protect until it becomes confused and hurt by Sandstorm. Plus, honestly, I really don't like Bronzong. It looks so stupid. I want to like the Pokemon I have on my team.

I do think Gastrodon would be good, like you're saying, but who should I replace for it?

Also, after a little thought, I was wondering if Tyranitar is best for this team after all, or if it wouldn't be better served with Hippowdon? What do you think?

 

[Shurtugal]

..........I've gotta say, I really like the sound of that Lucario. That's one thing I don't have nearly enough of, strong Fighting attacks. And by enough, I mean any. So I'll replace Carracosta with Lucario, make my Excadrill Jolly with Life Orb, and replace Chandelure with Golurk. I'll edit my original post with these additions, and then they can be up for further critique. If I replace Carracosta with Lucario instead of Gastrodon, I'll still probably be vulnerable to Rain teams, so more discussion might be wanted on that front. And are you sure that if Sigilyph switches in on Excadrill while it Swords Dances, it will survive a Rock Slide in order to Psycho Shift?

Oh also, is Ferrothorn the best hazard user to have here? Either Skarmory or Forretress could fill in as well. I could see Skarmory drawing Electric attacks for Golurk, and phazing. Forretress has Rapid Spin and Volt Switch going for it too. But Ferrothorn's so bulky and has great resistances, including resisting Water and striking with Power Whip. So I don't know.

Any excadrill against another is gonna use earthquake, so siglyiph being part flying can take that, and hopefully, if the opponent doesn't know what your doing, psycho shift it

 

[Nettlekid]

Any excadrill against another is gonna use earthquake, so siglyiph being part flying can take that, and hopefully, if the opponent doesn't know what your doing, psycho shift it

But it would work like, Excadrill vs. Excadrill. I switch to Sigilyph, they Earthquake. They Rock Slide, I Psycho Shift, since they go first. I don't think I'll be surviving that Rock Slide, will I?

 

[Shurtugal]

Hmm, your right. your gonna need a different counter. Lucario on balloon does sound like a good idea. That will only force a switch though

 

[Delko]

Hi

Good team you got here but I would like to make some suggestions.

Rain teams are going to be a bit difficult for you to handle. Ferrothorn is your only Water resist and if you miss-predict (like switching him into a Choice Specs Politoed's Focus Blast) you get swept by the Water type moves. To help you with this I'm going to suggest Jellicent instead of Golurk. Jellicent has good synergy with Ferrothorn and since it has the Water Absorb ability it does pretty good against Rain teams. It can also screw stallish teams over with Will-o-wisp and Taunt. A moveset of Scald / Will-o-wisp / Recover / Taunt and an EV spread of 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe will be more then good enough. Jellicent is still a Ghost type, so you won't loose your anti-spinner. Jellicent will also help you with strong physical attackers like Excadrill and Terrakion being able to take any +2 hit from them and cripple them with a burn. This will come in handy when Sigilyph hasn't boosted it's defenses yet.

To help you with Stall even more I'm going to suggest Rapid Spin on Excadrill, preferably instead of Sword Dance. Spin Blocker are not going to switch into Excadrill any time soon so Excadrill is sure to get a Rapid Spin off. This will really help as it prolongs the survivability for your other pokemon. You can use it over X-scissor as well but keep in mind that Nasty Plot Celebi will become a threat if do this. To make up for the loss of power when you can use an Adamant nature instead. Life Orb is only useful on Excadrill if you use an Adamant nature and Frustration so you can 2HKO Gliscor. Since yours doesn't have Frustration the boosts from Life Orb isn't really needed, especially late game when all Excadrill needs to do is clean up. I suggest Air Balloon which allows Excadrill to switch into Ground type moves and prevents him from taking Spikes damage meaning he can switch-in more, and to have an additional check for opposing Excadrill. You can use Chople Berry, this will make sure Excadrill can take a Mach Punch or Vaccuum Wave from the likes of Conkeldurr, Infernape, Lucario etc.

With two Burn inflictors in Jellicent and Sigilyph you got most of the physical attackers covered. But you're gonna have a problem to take repeated hits from the likes of Choice Specs Latios. To fix this you can use Pursuit on Tyranitar. I would suggest using it instead of Fire Blast as that is the least useful move. Ferrothorn is set up bait for Sigilyph anyway and Scizor is covered with Jellicent. There are also way better options then Lum Berry. You can run Leftovers instead which adds to Tyranitar's longevity. If you find Trick Room Reuniclus to be a problem you can use Chople Berry as well although some smart switching can take care of that problem as well.

You're still quit weak to Thunderus, Tornadus and the common Jirachi + Gliscor + Rotom-W cores. To help you with this you can change your Lucario set a bit to a Sword Dance version. You will only loose the ability to revenge kill Excadrill but you'll gain the ability to kill all the aformentioned threats and more (like an extra insurance against Latios, Latias, etc). A moveset of Sword Dance / Close Combat / ExtremeSpeed / Ice Punch will suffice. Ice Punch is a great way to remove Gliscor as well, so Excadrill has an easier time sweeping late game. Max Attack and Speed are preferred and Life Orb as the suggested item.

Hope these suggestions helped and good luck with the team!

 

[xxmoosexx]

Delko is pretty spot on.

I'd go with the SD Luca variant as well. It can handle Gliscors fairly well.

Unlike Delko I think you need a solid answer to the Lati's. TTar isn't strong enough to KO them if they decide to stay in against your Pursuit and if you run Crunch they will just switch out. I hardly ever use Fire Blast on my TTar simply because it never KO'd the steel(nattorei). Maybe if it switched in but no one does that anymore. That TTar is going to get manhandled by the lati twins.
Excadrill can revenge if there is weather but...they can always switch out to Gliscor. I highly suggest you find a way to 100% knockout gliscor as he will be the stopper to your team.

Tangrowth is also a problem for you. You can laugh at it now but Ive seen many run Slowbro+Tangrowth for UBER regeneration and Tang is a good physical wall anyways.

 

[Nettlekid]

Ugh, I'm getting so confused. Someone suggests an addition, so I remove a Pokemon from the team and put that addition in, only to be told by the next person that it's no good and should either be heavily altered or scrapped altogether. All that discussion beforehand saying that Adamant Excadrill is a joke, only to be told now that Life Orb should only be used on Adamant Excadrill. Also I get confused when you say things like, run Rapid Spin on Excadrill because no spin-blockers will come in on it. But just before, you told me that Jellicent can switch in on any +2 attack from Excadrill and cripple with Will-o-Wisp. So...which is it?

Can we maybe just start the team over, from scratch? I'd like some clear-cut suggestions on exactly how I should make it. There's one thing that's really important that I should mention though, and that's that I'm really mainly looking to create this team for IRL battling with competitive peers. That's why I've been heavily insisting on not using Dream World abilities or Legendaries. I know that it's not quite what this RMY section is for, which is why I was hesitant to mention it earlier, but I think it's important for a better focus of conversation. When you are talking about Lati@s, Celebi, or Regenerator Tangrowth/Slowbro, those really aren't going to be issues when I'm battling IRL.

Also, considering that I've been trying to train these in my game, it's getting a bit tiring. Training up a Tyranitar, only to hear that now I should have used one different Egg Move, which means I need to retrain it all over. I know it's not what you all should be concerned with, but please keep that in mind for suggestions.

 

[Porii Sames]

Nettlekid, the whole Excadrill issue is for you to decide. Do YOU want Jolly or Adamant? Do YOU want Air Balloon or Life Orb? Up to you.

 

[Nettlekid]

That's true, but honestly I don't make the decisions so well on my own. I pick things that sound fairly useful, but end up being much weaker than I thought, or just failing to actually be effective. For a long time I was trying to make a team that had all the appropriate things, like something to counter the weather, hazards, a spinner, an anti-spinner, all those things, until I realized it never actually did much damage at all. That's part of the reason I switched over to the tried and true Sandstorm team.

What about Gardevoir as a weather counter? I saw a good set with a Choice Scarf, using Psychic, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, and Destiny Bond. With Trace and Choice Scarf it outspeeds all the weather threats including Excadrill, and with the right move can OHKO all but Ludicolo and Kingdra, which I can probably deal with. It ought to beat Terrakion too with Psychic, surviving Close Combat, unless maybe the Sandstorm boost makes Terrakion too strong. But if it SDs, I can outspeed and Destiny Bond, and if it RPs I can take the hit and Destiny Bond to be KOed on the next turn, and either way it's done for. Would that be a good addition? Or is that one of my bad ideas?

 

[dragonuser]

for the whole excadrill thing i recommend jolly air balloon but its up to you, also i would reccomend shadow ball over dark pulse for lucario because the sp def drop could be useful for your sweep

 

[Paradoxus]

Your running an Excadrill on Adamant. What a laughing stock. Excadrill needs jolly

I would rather KO more Pokemon than promote speed creeps. All the Choice Scarfed Pokemon that outspeed Adamant Excadrill in SS are above the 360 Speed tier with max Speed. Why would someone do that?

Stick with Adamant Life Orb, It is so much better, Ferrothorn and +2 Lucario check Excadrill perfectly fine. Jolly Air Balloon Excadrill is just plain silly.

Other than that, I suggest having a 252 HP/ 252 SDef spread on Sigilyph, with burn you don't need any defense investment.

Next up, I suggest running a choice Pokemon/ Magic Bounce Pokemon. Every Pokemon on your team loses a move from Taunt, so by using one of those you can get a free switch.

Lastly, I suggest using Leftovers on Ferrothorn instead of Rugged Helmet. Ferrothorn needs Leftovers in case of Hail.

 

[Porii Sames]

The only reason you'd ever run Jolly would be to outspeed other Excadrill.