Introduction:
Hello all, Hack He Must here with my first RMT. With a little help from fellow users Anikrahman1995 and Imma Fly, this RMT will showcase a stall-based sandstorm team which is probably the best team I have ever built. Also, my two friends will have their say in this test as well, by helping out with the individual analysis of some team members, as well as the threatlist.
Ladder accomplishments aren’t exactly what I like to call the best way to display a team’s strength. Nevertheless, this team has served me well and got me to the #1 spot on the Uber ladder at Pokemon Showdown!
Sand is very viable in the Uber metagame. This team features Hippowdon, and tries to use its good qualities to make the best out of a Pokémon that might seem out of place in the tier. I present to you: Elements of the Desert!
Team Building:
Hello all, Hack He Must here with my first RMT. With a little help from fellow users Anikrahman1995 and Imma Fly, this RMT will showcase a stall-based sandstorm team which is probably the best team I have ever built. Also, my two friends will have their say in this test as well, by helping out with the individual analysis of some team members, as well as the threatlist.
Ladder accomplishments aren’t exactly what I like to call the best way to display a team’s strength. Nevertheless, this team has served me well and got me to the #1 spot on the Uber ladder at Pokemon Showdown!
Sand is very viable in the Uber metagame. This team features Hippowdon, and tries to use its good qualities to make the best out of a Pokémon that might seem out of place in the tier. I present to you: Elements of the Desert!
Team Building:
Sand was on the menu (my brain) so I of course picked Tyranitar as anyone else would do when considering sand in the Uber metagame.
Assembling together a very standard core, Tyranitar + Specially defensive Giratina + Ferrothorn. Spike stacking with residual damage, yes it is stall.
Now I had what I needed to counter Kyogre, so I decided on getting something for Arceus Extremekiller as well. Rock Arceus with Will-o-wisp seemed good. It also helped against Rayquaza and Ho-Oh.
Excadrill used for sweeping and spinning. I really felt that this team began to look very much like Donkey's from BW.
Last member was Ho-Oh. Ho-Oh is my favorite Uber Pokémon and found its place on this team as well.
Usually I just throw together a bunch of stuff first, and after some play testing I realised I had nothing to safely switch into Groudon. This was really bad, because my team relies on winning weather wars. Therfore, Hippowdon was chosen to summon sand. It beats support Groudon one on one thanks to slack off as well.
This is where I used my team a lot before making more changes to its members. I qualified for the voting in the Uber clause testing (evasion) with ease and it felt like a good team overall. There were two problems, however. I had no ice resist. Newer players might not know how crucial that is to a stall-based team. Having something to take on a choiced Kyurem-White is mandatory, and Arceus rock was weather too weather dependent. Also, choice-less Palkia rolled over this team completely. During these realizations I met Anikrahman1995 and Imma Fly.
While making minor changes on the other members we had a go at solving the Palkia problem. Latios was chosen instead of Ho-Oh sadly. It threatened Palkia greatly, while also using Hidden Power Fire to smite spikers such as Forretress. Grass knot helped in beating Kyogre quickly.
It didn’t really work out, though. We started looking at other pokes to replace. Arceus-Rock was chosen. We brought Ho-Oh back for Latios and looked at what Arceus formes could help against Palkia while keeping the ice resistance as well. The uncommon Arceus-Water won a spot on the team. Besides the mentioned qualities, it is also a surprising threat and a special sweeper many players overlook. And also, as Anikrahman pointed out, it combines with Ho-Oh and Ferrothorn to form the incredibly cool Fire-Water-Grass core (seriously, have anyone ever seen one of those in Ubers?).
Team at a glance:
Ladder Peak:
Note: 64-6 win-loss record ^_^. This is far more important than the ladder peak itself as it shows that we hardly ever lost.
In detail:
Powdon (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
As I wanted to use a sand team, I needed a pokemon with the ability Sand Stream. Hippowdon was the sand inducer of choice after I realised that Tyranitar was not a good switch-in to Groudon - a big problem indeed. Unlike Tyranitar, Hippowdon actually has the ability to outlast Groudon thanks to the wonderful move Slack Off. Using Hippowdon means that the team gives up the ability to Pursuit-trap Choice Scarf/Specs Kyogre locked into Thunder or Ice beam, but the team has enough checks for Kyogre anyway. Hippowdon is a nice answer to Zekrom, especially Substitute + Hone Claws variants because of Whirlwind. Furthermore, it fills three very important roles on my team, other than bringing sand, of course, that are crucial for the team’s strategy itself:
1) It sets up stealth rock. Residual damage is essential to this team; this allows Excadrill to break down Arceus Ghost if a spin is needed.
+2 252+ Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Ghost: 315-372 (70.94 - 83.78%) -- 56.25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Spikes. As you can see, this is a guaranteed KO after Sandstorm damage.
2) It is able phaze out any greedy Extremekiller Arceus that wants to set up too early for its own good.
3) It phazes out tank Ho-Oh behind a sub. This is very important because it allows me to be more aggressive when setting up spikes with Ferrothorn - a big part of my game plan.
The EV spread is standard. Hippowdon is a good physical wall due to its high physical defense and access to recovery in Slack Off. Slack off provides longevity against Groudon and Kyogre in weather wars as well as being a great healing move in general. Stealth Rock is self-explanatory and Earthquake is the obligatory stab, while Whirlwind prevents stuff from setting up on the Hippo.
Sk8rboy (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
The second member that came to my mind when using sand was him. Excadrill is my spinner and late-game cleaner who outspeeds almost everything under sand. Often it doesn't even have to boost its attack with Swords Dance because Sand + Spikes + Stealth Rock will weaken the opposing team a lot.
Regarding spinning, it is a common saying that it is nigh impossible to spin in the Uber tier because of the prevalence of the three spinblockers Giratina, Giratina-O and Arceus-Ghost. Excadrill can get past all but impish Giratina because of the residual damage from Sandstorm, Spikes and Stealth Rock. It manages to spin more often than one might think. This makes Excadrill the best spinner in Ubers to date.
Max attack and speed provide optimum sweeping potential. Despite Smash-Pass being rare, 252 speed EVs makes Excadrill out speed +2 Smeargle in sand - an insurance against it is always nice to have. Iron Head is chosen to hit Gliscor hard. Gliscor is a big threat to sand teams in general and that's why balloon is the preferred item on Excadrill. With smart switching, it can also use the balloon against Groudon and other Excadrill. For example, Excadrill can 2HKO Fire Punch-less support Groudon with a boosted Earthquake, while it fails to hit back with its STAB Earthquake. Swords Dance, used to boost attack, enables it to sweep or bust through a spinblocker. Rapid Spin can be used to remove hazards; do not blindly do this if they still have spinblockers or Groudon alive.
C4 Durian (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SDef / 8 Spd
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Ferrothorn is the Grass-type of our Fire-Water-Grass core. Its array of resistances allow it to switch into attacks such as, but not limited to, Grass Knot, Draco Meteor, Outrage and, more importantly, non-Choice Specs Water Spout from Kyogre. With that auspicious Grass/Steel typing, it is no wonder why Ferrothorn is an A-tier Pokémon. If the opponent's team is weak to hazards and has no spinner, we take every oppurtunity to send it out and set up some spikes. Spikes + Leech Seed + Sandtorm + Stealth Rock will quickly wear down the opposing team. This way, most Pokémon will lose about 43% of their health from just switching into Leech Seed. The synergy it has with the rest of the team is remarkable; Ho-Oh, Arceus-Water and Giratina resist Fire-type attacks while Ho-Oh and Giratina(again) are resistant or immune to fighting type attacks. When using Ferrothorn, make sure to keep track of its health. Do not blindly Leech Seed. Use Spikes if you are a relatively high health (70%).
The move set is standard:
Leech Seed: Recovery and residual damage on opponents. With Pokémon like Giratina, Arceus and Ho-Oh switcing in on it, you can expect it to regain plenty of health quickly.
Spikes: Wears down grounded Pokémon in conjuction with the passive damage from sandstorm and phazing. It is also a very important tool for winning the weather war. Groudon is walled by Hippowdon while Kyogre is walled by Ferrothorn.
Thunder Wave: We used to have Protect in this slot previously. Thunder Wave cripples many Pokémon that switch into Ferrothorn. These Pokémon include: Blaziken, Rayquaza, Palkia, Ho-Oh, Mewtwo, Support Arceus and almost anything that is not a Ground-type.
Power Whip: This is the STAB move needed to hurt Kyogre or Groudon switching in. It is moderately powerful even though Ferrothorn's attack stat is un-invested. Gyro Ball was neglected because we did not like the idea of having a Ferrothorn that could not hurt Kyogre significantly.
Protect: There is a reason why we chose not to use protect. I will just quote something that was said in the Smog: "Protect is a good move if used sparingly, but sometimes, you really have to ask yourself: is it really worth that moveslot? This is especially true when some Pokémon have heavy "four moveslot syndrome" already. Ferrothorn is probably one of the biggest examples of this. Yes, Protect is probably the best move on most Ferrothorn sets as it gives it an extra turn of Leech Seed recovery. However, is it really worth using over something like Thunder Wave, a second STAB attack (like Power Whip for Gyarados), or that extra entry hazard? Each move that you place Protect over may be an extra moveslot wasted on another Pokémon, or an advantage lost to your team. Obviously, if your team can accommodate it, that's fine, but if your team is running low on move slots, maybe it's a good idea to drop Protect for the other move."
The EV spread maximizes its ability to take special attacks. The 252 HP is for maximum leftovers recovery. 8 speed EVs is used to speed creep other Ferrothorn while simultaneously allowing it to out speed max speed base 90s after Thunder Wave.
Giratina-Awesome (Giratina) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 244 SDef / 248 HP / 16 Spd
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
– Dragon Tail
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
The Altered (Awesome) form of the Renegade Pokémon takes its place as the 4th member of the team. Given Giratina’s stellar base 150/120/120 Defenses along with is fantastic Ghost-Dragon typing, it is little wonder why it should be chosen as one of the team’s special walls. With Giratina’s Ghost-Dragon typing added to the team, it helps add on to the team’s resistance to Ogre’s Water Spouts, as well as being a spinblocker and a perfect target practice for a Hi-Jump Kick.
As such, Giratina serves as a great ogre check, switching in on even Specs water-spouts that fail to 2HKO it even in the rain. Why is this important you ask? This is so as in the whole team, only Giratina has the ability to prevent the team’s demise from a rampaging Specs Kyogre, with all other members being 2HKOed by a Specs Water Spout (Yes, even Ferrothorn). Even in the rain a Modest Specs Ogre fails to finish Giratina off in 2 hits with its monstrous water spout. This enables it to in turn phaze ogre out with a dragon tail and have it gradually weakened to death though a vicious cycle of switching in on stealth rocks, Brave Birds from Ho-Oh, and other attacks.
Furthermore, another reason why Giratina was chosen was due to its great defensive synergy with the team. With the team consisting of Pseudo-Walls in the form of Ho-Oh and WaterCeus, and a tank in Ferrothorn, Giratina is able to resist attacks that its teammates cannot take (Eg. A Thunder fired for Arceus-Water/Ho-oh, Surf on Ho-oh/Fire Blast on Ferrothorn and even Grass Knot at Arceus-Water). In turn, attacks that Giratina may be weak to, such as Dragon and Ice type moves, are resisted by its allies such as Ferrothorn and Arceus-Water. In addition, any strong physical type moves that may affect Giratina such as Shadow Claw are sponged by Hippowdon. See why I said the defensive synergy is great?
EV Explanation:
248 HP and 244 Special Defense EVs are allocated to Giratina to ensure that it becomes specially tanky. The 16 Speed Evs serve as a speed creep against other fellow Giratina in the race for phaze and to outspeed fellow base 90s. Careful nature so that Dragon Tail’s power, however weak it may be, is not gimped.
MoveSet Explanation:
Will-O-Wisp: Even though Hippodown serves as a physical wall and an Ekiller Check in the process, it never hurts to cripple them with a little burn.
Dragon Tail: To serve as a phasing move… and to inflict some damage as an added benefit. The reason why Roar is not chosen is in order to prevent Giratina from being completely shut down by Taunt. Besides, Ho-Oh has whirlwind precisely to phaze other pokes that hide behind Subs.
Rest: No arguments. It is compulsory for all Giratina-A to have Rest.
Sleep Talk: Gives you a chance to Phaze / Burn while asleep, serving as one of the reasons why Giratina is such an irritating Pokémon.
Item: Leftovers, obviously.
ThanksGiving (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 84 SDef / 16 Spd / 156 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Alright, as Thanksgiving approaches, here comes the turkey (Ho-oh)…Hey wait, Ho-Oh in a SAND team? This isn’t right! Yup, that’s the first thing that all pops up in our minds. It’s probably a mistake - no it isn’t a mistake! Ho-Oh wasn’t selected simply as a Thanksgiving turkey to be carved out and served to the opponent on a platter of rocks, or whatever the platter is made of. Let’s examine Ho-Oh’s unique role in detail.
First off, let’s have a look at Ho-Oh’s gargantuan Special Defense. It is blessed with a giant base 154 Special Defense that’s unmatched by all in the Uber tier except its good friend Lugia. Combine that with its decent 106 base HP, it becomes a monstrous tank that takes Special Attacks like a boss. With 252HP and 84 Special Defense EVs, it can even absorb a Choice Specs Kyurem-White’s Draco Meteor if the need arises and survive; assuming Stealth Rocks are off your side of the field. Furthermore, if Kyurem-White decides to use Ice Beam, which may 2HKO Ho-Oh and Ferrothorn, Arceus-Water is always there to take one for the team.
What? There are rocks on our side of the field? Ho-Oh is still useful nonetheless. It helps to sponge the attacks of CM Ghostceus, which does pose a certain degree of threat to the team given its combination of Judgment + Focus Blast / Flamethrower. For instance:
4 SpA Spooky Plate Arceus-Ghost Judgment (Ghost) vs. 252 HP / 84 SpD Ho-Oh: 99-117 (23.79 - 28.12%) -- 22.66% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
*Needless to say Flamethrower (in neutral weather) and Focus Blast won’t do anything to Ho-Oh, dealing 7.45% and 9.37% MAX damage to Ho-oh respectively.
That’s not all there is to Ho-Oh. Its main roles involve attracting Kyogres to switch in into its Brave Bird and to incinerate opposing Ferrothorn into cinders. Despite it having a lower Attack EV distribution than a standard Ho-Oh and holding leftovers, it still packs a punch to Ogres. Scarf & Specs Kyogres are 2HKOed, while even the physically bulky Ogre falls to 3 of these Brave Turkey assaults. Naturally, once Ogre is in the field, Ho-Oh will be able to retreat safely and have its flank covered by its allies Ferrothorn and Giratina - no worries?
EV Explanation:
252 HP and 84 Special Defense are used to tank strong special attacks.
16 Speed for a minor Speed Creep, hope it works?
Needless to say, the rest of the EVs (156) go to attack to give its attacks some power.
Move set Explanation:
Brave Bird – Standard Move, nothing much to say
Sacred Fire – Standard Move, has a great 50% burn chance. Sweet.
Roost – To heal and prevent thunder from working (in the off-chance the opponent uses thunder suddenly).
Whirlwind - Why this over Substitute you ask? Well, since we are fighting in a sandstorm, the passive recovery from leftovers is used to negate the sand’s effects. Therefore, any life lost from Substitute is not recovered and this isn’t good. Substitute to gain protection against Kyogre you might say? Well, what we do is simply predict the Ogre / Palkia switch in and perform a hit-and-run Brave Bird, and regenerator negates the recoil for us.
Note: In the context of this team, Leftovers is absolutely essential. No buts! Ho-Oh needs to keep its life high to fulfill its role as a tank, and Life Orb is only going to harm us overall when Ho-Oh loses its life at an alarming rate.
Splashy (Arceus-Water) @ Splash Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SDef / 176 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Recover
- Ice Beam/Refresh
- Calm Mind
Arceus-Water was the last member to be chosen. If I were to describe it, I would say that it is the last puzzle piece. Arceus-Water provides two things that the rest of the team lacked: 1) Ice-resist, 2) Special sweeper. It, through near-impeccable synergy with Ho-Oh and ferrothorn, creates a Fire-Water-Grass core. The only type that is not resisted among the three is flying which our, Sand-setter, Hippowdon tanks nicely. Against opposing stall, it can act as our win condition if we choose to run Refresh. It is our third Water-resist used to balance out the Water-type weakness on the three remaining Pokémon. The weather war vs. sun is much easier to win if Arceus-Water hurts Groudon as switches in.
Arceus-Water baits thunder from Kyogre, thereby, providing the perfect oppurtunity for Ferrothorn to come in and set up some spikes. Opposing Ferrothorns that switch in will promptly be sent packing by Ho-Oh. Arceus-Water can switch into moves such as Kyurem-W's Ice Beam which Ho-Oh and Ferrothorn have trouble taking. It is our initial switch-in to Reshiram - the fiery dragon who often (read: rarely) tries to surprise Ho-Oh with Stone Edge. Calm Mind wars are a walk in the park if Ho-Oh has burned the opposing Calm Minder previously.
Why did we not pick Calm Mind Latias? Well, it is Genesect bait. Kyogre + Genesect could trouble Latias greatly. There is also that Physical bulk and a resistance, instead of a weakness, to Ice-type attacks. It can also act as a Ho-Oh check provided that sandstorm is up. It also has the ability to check Sword Dance Rayquaza; Latias falls to +2 ExtremeSpeed.
The moves chosen are more or less obvious:
Judgment is STAB - OHKOs Ho-Oh.
Ice Beam to OHKO Rayquaza (thereby mitigating our Rayquaza weakness). OHKOing Gliscor is a bonus.
Calm Mind to boost against special attackers - Kyurem-W, Reshiram and Choice-locked Dragons.
Recover is necessary to regain health when needed.
The Speed EVs were given to out speed Latias and Latios because we felt that max speed was largely unnecessary. The leftover EVs are poured into Special Defense to allow easier setup. The Calm Mind set was chosen to let it sweep late game should the opportunity present itself while simultaneously acting as a Pseudo-Special Wall.
Conclusion:
Sand stall is a perfectly viable strategy in Ubers - get down hazards, switch smart and punish the opponent’s hazard setters. Innovative members on sand teams provide perfect synergy between its members. Arceus-Water needs more love. This team needs time to get acquainted with, so don’t give up early if you want to try it.
Credits:
Hack He must for making the team and getting the ladder peak with a high win-loss record.
To Anikrahman1995; he is one of the best Ubers players out there. Very influential to me (might even make me consider making some Deoxys-Speed HO teams someday). His big contribution to this text itself is invaluable. Sets written - Ferrothorn and Arceus-Water. The formatting has also been done by him as well as two very bright suggestions to the team: Arceus-Water and Thunder Wave on Ferrothorn
To Imma Fly; he is a great friend and battler alike. He is new to the Uber scene, but ready to rock nonetheless. I am very thankful for his contribution in play testing and writing. Sets written - Ho-Oh and Giratina.
To Kebabe, my friend in real life: Thanks for some great battles with this team.
To PS! User, Zolar, another real life friend, who helped in play testing too!
PS. Leave a luvdisc if you like or steal this :)
Importable:
Powdon (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
ThanksGiving (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Atk / 84 SDef / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Roost
- Whirlwind
c4 durian (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SDef / 8 Spd
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Splashy (Arceus-Water) @ Splash Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SDef / 176 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
Giratina-Awesome (Giratina) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 244 HP / 248 SDef / 16 Spd
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Dragon Tail
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Sk8rboy (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
ThanksGiving (Ho-Oh) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Atk / 84 SDef / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Roost
- Whirlwind
c4 durian (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SDef / 8 Spd
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Splashy (Arceus-Water) @ Splash Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SDef / 176 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
Giratina-Awesome (Giratina) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 244 HP / 248 SDef / 16 Spd
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Dragon Tail
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Sk8rboy (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head