[Insert witty team name for a UU Sand team here]

[Darktyphlosion]

Well, without further ado, here's the team:

This is for the former UU, now BL tier.

The Murray (Hippowdon) (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Body Slam
- Slack Off
- Roar

He's my stealth rock lead. His job is simple: set up the sand, get in some rocks, barring a taunt, and then get the hell out of there. He can recover with slack off, and phaze out pokemon with roar to prevent things like setting up. I put body slam on him rather than earthquake because I notice almost all of them have this, and it prompts the opponent to switch to a flying type. So rather than going for damage, I try to go for the paralysis abuse with him.

Thugnificent (Rhydon) (M) @ Eviolite

Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 64 HP / 136 Atk / 252 Def / 56 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

He's my physical tank. The evolite gives him massive defense, while the sand and the evolite help make his special defense pretty respectable. He can hit back with a wide range of attacks; he's pretty straightforward. He's also typing bait for other teammates like Gastrodon and Mandibuzz to come in safely on thanks to his typing leaving big weaknesses. I've yet to see someone who doesn't want to abuse that 4X water weakness.

Gangstalicious (Gastrodon-East) (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 152 HP / 104 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Ice Beam

He's the glue of my team. His storm drain ability protects the team from water attacks, while giving him a nice boost in the process. He can also double as a special wall, soaking up just about any attack that's not grass for the team. He can take fire, rock, electric, and water attacks just fine for the team, perfect for keeping Mandibuzz safe from harm


Excadrill 1.0 (Sandslash) (M) @ Life Orb

Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 120 Def / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Night Slash
- Rapid Spin/swords Dance
- Stone Edge

The main sweeper of the team. Sand rush doubles his speed to a wonderful 400, meaning he can sweep through pretty well. The extra EVS go into defense so he can be a bulky Sandslash. Earthquake gives STAB, stone edge gives type coverage, night slash allows it to deal with threats like Mismagius, and Rapid spin lets him do away with entry hazards.

Ebony Brown (Mandibuzz) (F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 160 HP / 96 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Roost
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Protect

The staller of the team. Taunt prevents setting up and status, roost restores health (and does away with a few weaknesses for a turn, barring a fighting attack) Protect lets the poison do even more damage, and her typing allows for electric bait for her ground type buddies to come in on.


Foxxy Love (Gardevoir)(F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Trace
EVs: 200 Sp Atk/ 252 SDef / 56 HP
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Wish
- Energy Ball
- Psyshock
- Magic Coat

While I know Xatu would probably be a better option due to his ability, I don't want to have too big an ice weakness for this team. Wish allows her to pass on HP to Rhydon mostly, due to his lack of recovery. It also allows her to heal herself over time due to the damage of the sand. Magic coat, from my tests, has been a thorn in people's sides, particularly with Donphan, that try to set up a stealth rock, not expecting it on Gardevoir. Then while they try to rapid spin it off, they get hit by the energy ball, and are forced to either switch, or get in an ice shard before going down. She can obviously have Psyshock there for STAB purposes, and energy ball is there for Type coverage for the team.

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Things I'd like to change:
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Lack of type diversity: I understand that, this being a sand team, I won't have a ton of different pokemon, so as to keep up with it, but I just didn't

Suicune counter: I used to have him on my old team, and he worked pretty nicely. It sucks now that I'm on the receiving end of him.

More Firepower: I originally had Rotom-H on this team where Gardevoir was, but soon changed it. He worked pretty well to deal with grass types, but I thought the wishing was more important overall. Rhydon has Fire punch, but he's not always able to take a hit, especially from a grass type.


If you have any suggestions, let me know, I'd be glad to have your input. I'm not new to competitive battling, so I'm well aware of what is the norm for battling. I like to change things up, make the teams more my own, and try to make the game a little more interesting and personal, but I don't want to sacrifice practicality in the process.

 

[Skytt]

Sand Rush Sandslash is currently unreleased (yes, even after Rugged Mountain was released last night...) and Gastrodon is OU.

Theres always Stoutland and Quagsire though.

 

[col49]

Alrighty, for starters I really cannot see Body Slam being more valuable than EQ here :/ A reliable stab for Hippo allows him to check threats much more easily, and the loss of that just doesn't seem worth it. Eviolite Rhydon is cool and all, but Rhyperior is just more reliable, the loss of item choice is much larger than you would assume. Also, if you want him to fulfill and defensive role, why just give him four attacks? If he's a lure like you say, then there's no need for it. So I would suggest playing around with CBperior, the sheer power he offers is incredible, and his bulk allows him to switch in fairly safely.

As mentioned before, Gastrodon is OU and SR Slash is unreleased, so there's that. However, as your team really needs a bulky Water, you might want to try playing around with Slowbro/Milotic. As for Sandslash, it needs on what you're looking for. If you want that blazing speed, try Stoutland, and if you want a spinner, try offensive Donphan.

Personally, I see know no value in Mandibuzz on this team, just because it's bulky and has reliable recovery doesn't mean you should use it. Moreover, he's basically complete set-up bait for any Steels/pokes with Taunt/Sub. All he's doing is adding another liability vs. Hail in exchange for a check to Alazakam. Specially Bulky Escavalier has much more value imo on this team, offering an Ice and Grass resist, impressive bulk, and continues to maintain a relatively high offensive presence. Moreover, he has access to Knock Off and Pursuit, both of which can be highly effective tools if used properly, not to mention stab Megahorn. I'd imagine it would look something like this:

Hide

Escavalier (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 224 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Megahorn
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Iron Head / Frustration

Sponges common special attacks like a b0$$, traps and threatens a handful of pokes, and does quite a decent job against Hail teams. Megahorn for stab, Pursuit for trapping frailer Ghosts/Alazakam, and Knock Off for just sheer obnoxious goodness.

Considering your current troubles v.Suicine, I would suggest playing around with SD Cacturne or Roserade, both of which can be quite dangerous to Suicine (Roserade less so if you allow him to set a CM or two, but it doesn't really come up as often).

Anywho, maybe I'm overthinking stuff here, but that's what I got :P Gl and cheers

 

[Darktyphlosion]

I'm sorry that I fortgot to mention this in the main post, but this team is for the Pokemon online servers, meaning that I can still use DW Sandslash, and since the tiers I'm using for them aren't completely the same as Smogon's, Gastrodon is also fair game.

-From my tests, almost every time I have hippowdon out, a levitating or flying type poke comes in to take the earthquake on immunity. The body slam abuse has worked pretty well with the paralysis. Mismagius is the only UU threat I can think of off the top of my head that can shrug off both.

-I do see your point about Mandibuzz, and I agree with you. It's saved me countless times, but from what you told me, Escavalier sounds like a much better option in the long run, so I'll try running him.