Other Is a cute Hippo ◕‿‿◕ (XY PU Sand Semi-Stall)

[Ares]

Team Preview

Introduction
Hey y'all, this is my first time doing an RMT, hopefully I did everything correctly and the team is enjoyable. I'm not to great at intros so I'll keep it short, pretty much got a Sand Semi-Stall team here that has done well on the PU ladder and against other high level players and in tournaments in the PU room and I thought it would be a great team to start off with for my first RMT, so lets get into it.

Teambuilding Process​

Team Building Process

So I started off with the obvious two Pokemon when making a sand team, Stoutland and Hippopotas. Baby hippo is there to set up the sand, while Stoutland is there to punch holes in teams. More recently I have been experimenting with sand in NU and PU and have grown to love this core.

Next I decided to add on Toxic Spikes as Sand combined with Toxic Spikes racks up damage very fast. It was originally suggested to me by Soulgazer and went on a more of an offensive team in NU. Looking at Pokemon that get Toxic Spikes in PU the list is pretty small: Ariados, Beedrill, Garbodor, and Roselia all get Toxic Spikes and possibly a few NFEs. Out of those two I looked at Roselia and Garbodor first as the other two didnt really provide me with what I wanted. Both Roselia and Garbodor got regular Spikes along with the toxic ones, and added layers can rack up more damage. Looking at Roselia the one thing that stood out to me was that Synthesis only regains 25% in sand which was a pretty big con. Garbodor on the other hand has a couple of nice perks going for it, Rocky Helmet and Aftermath, those two things were enough to secure a spot on the team over Roselia.

Next on the list was Serperior, I already had one wincon in Stoutland and I needed another. Serperior synergizes well with Garbodor providing a nice Ground resist and a way to prevent hazards with Taunt. Serperior has impressed me with the support it provides with Taunt even as a sweeper, and late game after a couple of Calm Mind boosts it can sweep.

Next I had to decide between playing Stall and going offensive, I ended up deciding on Stall and I needed a good core. I decided on using Avalugg and Togetic, as Avalugg has really impressed me being able to take multiple hits and to wall significant portions of the tier along with providing Rapid Spin support. I then chose Togetic as it synergized nicely with Avalugg providing a nice Fighting-type resistance.

Looking at the overview above you were probably like Togetic isnt on the team, well at first it was, but after play testing I found that I had some weaknesses to stuff like Garbodor getting worn down quickly and needing wish support and Togetic not being able to provide enough offensive presence. I then chose Lickilicky as it can provide Wish Support and can also phase opposing Pokemon out with Dragon Tail and can break Substitutes with either Body Slam or Knock Off.

Team In-Depth
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Hippopotas @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
Hippo is on this team for a couple of reasons, the main and most obvious reason is the auto sand support it provides. I gave it the item Smooth Rock to further increase sand turns, I have seen Eviolite work but I'm not a huge fan. It is also on the team to provide Stealth Rock support which is always handy to have on a team. Earthquake is if it needs to attack for w/e reason, while Slack Off is to recover off entry hazard damage on the switch so that baby hippo can stay at a reasonable health. Hippo wants to stay around for most of the game and should only really be sacked late game when you know Stoutland can clean up. Whirlwind is also put on the set as a way to phase out any Pokemon that you know will try and set up. It can also be used on a predicted switch to rack up entry hazard damage and to throw a wrench in the opponents switching plan.

Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
Stoutland has really grown on me recently, it hits really hard and with sand up it gets really great speed. I decided to go with Choice Band on this team over Life Orb as Life Orb is more designed for offensive Sand teams and Choice Band is good for revenge killing providing no recoil damage and give a slightly more powerful boost. The coverage is fairly standard, the main move to be spammed is Return as if its unresisted just destroys opposing Pokemon. Crunch is to hit Ghost-types on the predicted switch, Superpower is to hit the minimal amount of Steel-types in the tier, and Wild Charge is used to hit Pelipper, although Pelipper can not switch directly into Stoutland for fear of being 2HKOd. Retaliate can be used over Wild Charge as a way to get a super powerful attack in, although this isnt ideal because you dont really want to be sacking anything and Stoutland can either OHKO or 2HKO most of the meta with hazard support.

Garbodor @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
Garbodor is an underrated spike stacker atm, it gets access to both sets of Spikes. Toxic Spikes is the main reason why Garbodor is on this team though, it should try and get up a layer as soon as possible and needs to be kept healthy if the opposing team has a way to get rid of them. Whether thats through Defog, Rapid Spin, or absorbing them with another Poison-type. Spikes are for increased damage on switch in but arent as necessary as Tspikes, its cool if you get Spikes up doesnt matter if you dont. Drain Punch and Gunk Shot give decent coverage in the meta with Drain Punch being a way to regain back minimal amounts of health. I went Defensive over Specially Defensive as a better way to check Fighting-types and to provide a decent pivot for Lickilicky.

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 124 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Rock]
Serperior is a fantastic poke in the meta, it gets great utility in Taunt and can run a variety of sets. I chose the standard Calm Mind set, except instead of going max speed, I threw a little bit in bulk to allow Serp to take more hits. Taunt can prevent hazards from getting up early game and helps to stop any set up sweepers, such as Musharna. Hidden Power Rock is for Scyther switch ins, unfortunately Serperior does not get the best coverage and so you have to choose what you want to hit with your hidden power. Giga Drain is the primary thing for Serperior to use as the bulk lets it take most hits and get in Overgrow range to power up hits.

Avalugg @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 148 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Avalanche
- Recover
Avalugg has gotten a bad rap all the way down the tier list but it finally found its place in PU. I originally used it on a Mono-Ice team I made and did a mixed spread that allowed it to take some special hits while still being able to take multiple physical hits. It can take multiple physical hits, provides Rapid Spin support, and has Recovery, whats not to like lol? Avalanche is a good way to get damage on opposing Pokemon, has STAB and powers up if hit. In the 4th slot I decided to run Toxic as I was having trouble with some teams getting up Toxic Spikes and I needed a way to wear down switchins to Avalugg (like opposing Avaluggs lol). Roar and Mirror Coat can be used over Toxic, but I already have 2 phasers and Mirror Coat is a bit gimmicky.

Lickilicky @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Dragon Tail
- Knock Off
Lickilicky is the last Pokemon to find a way onto my team, I have used it extensively in XY NU and the role it provided their was exactly the role I was searching for on this team. It can stall most teams to oblivion by itself and prevents things from setting up on it with Dragon Tail. I needed Wish Support to allow Garbodor to stay around for most of the match so it can setup Toxic Spikes multiple times if need be, it also provides support to other teammates with Wish. The set i normally use, uses Body Slam over Knock Off, but I was recommended Knock Off so I decided to try it out. Heal Bell can be used over Dragon Tail but it leaves licki open to opposing Pokemon setting up on it.



Threat List:

-Poison-types: they don't directly threaten any particular member on the team except for Serperior, they do however absorb Toxic Spikes, which without them up can be a serious issue for this team. It takes longer to wear threats down and can make revenge killing with Stoutland much harder.

-Avalugg: Avalugg is a problem for this team as it can spin away all entry hazards and is hard to wear down once its in. The good news is that Stoutland can 2HKO Avalugg if Sand, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock are up.

-Poliwrath: Poliwrath can give this team a bit of trouble as I took off Roar on Avalugg in favor of Toxic. It can be checked with Serperior, Sand, Toxic Spikes, and smart playing.

-Throh: Throh can give this team trouble similar to how Poliwrath can, variants with Rest Talk especially. It can be checked with a combination of Entry Hazards, Sand, Toxic Spikes, and smart playing.

Shout Outs

Soulgazer thx for the help he gave in both the idea of tspike sand and for giving me some advice on my first RMT
iTeddeh for giving me the idea to do my first RMT, better hop on the train lol
scorpdestroyer cool dude, plays PU
Brawlfest some scrub who does RMTs
Deej Dy a pretty chill dude
the tribalt thanks for helping with part of the build and for the testing ^.^
Hollywood - giving PU a ladder, a room, and a chance to shine
TRC some OU random does PU 2
The Leprechaun good guy, fun PU battler
galbia thx for the PU sample teams
Robert Alfons increase your post count imo
Shout out to the NU and PU communities in general, and the RU auth on Showdown.
Also, first time doing shoutouts so i probs forgot someone...sorry lol

Importable

Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Wild Charge

Hippopotas @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off

Garbodor @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot

Avalugg @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 148 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Avalanche
- Recover

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 124 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Rock]

Lickilicky @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Dragon Tail
- Knock Off

 

[Brawlfest]

some scrub
some scrub
some scrub
some scrub
some scrub
some scrub

Cool team though babe. Idk the PU metagame, although it does seem you become rather reliant on Garbodor to pressure fighting types, so stuff like Poliwrath could be kinda annoying.;

You could potentially play around with Musharna > Serperior as a CM user, but idk if you want to lose your only water resist :/

 

[Ares]

some scrub
some scrub
some scrub
some scrub
some scrub
some scrub

Cool team though babe. Idk the PU metagame, although it does seem you become rather reliant on Garbodor to pressure fighting types, so stuff like Poliwrath could be kinda annoying.;

That's the thing though, there really aren't to many fighting types in PU atm the main two that come to mind are Throh and Poliwrath and while Poliwrath can be a threat to the team I really haven't had to much trouble with it as I have a couple of checks between Serperior, Avalugg (to take any hits), and Garbodor. Sand and Toxic Spikes wear it down quickly and the main thing I could see giving me trouble is rest talk Poliwrath, but I have yet to run into it.

Also any suggestions on how to better write up or present future RMTs is appreciated as this is my first one ^.^

 

[Dillon~]

Great team, but I would recommend maybe running Heal Bell, on licky. Also running a type on fang (ice fire etc) on stoutland, mainly for coverage. :) Ice maybe because of ground types, setting up the sand on the other team.

 

[ryan]

It's really hard to suggest many changes without heavily altering this team because every member of it has such a unique and important role. The best I can offer is to try out Eviolite Frillish over Lickilicky. Frillish would offer you a hard counter to every Poliwrath set, a secondary Water and Fighting resist, a good response to Avalugg, and a spinblocker, all of which are things your team would really appreciate. I know the Wish support from Lickilicky is really nice, but the only things on your team that don't have reliable recovery are Stoutland, which doesn't need it, and Garbodor. It might not be ideal, but it does patch up your main weaknesses pretty handily.

Thanks for the shoutout, and good luck with the team.

@ Eviolite | Water Absorb
248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe | Bold
Scald / Recover / Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Ball or Night Shade

 

[Ares]

Great team, but I would recommend maybe running Heal Bell, on licky. Also running a type on fang (ice fire etc) on stoutland, mainly for coverage. :) Ice maybe because of ground types, setting up the sand on the other team.

Heal Bell is a personal preference and like I said I generally find Dragon Tail to be much better. Stoutland doesn't need anymore coverage than the ones listed above, usually Return will outdamage any SE fangs, thanks for the comment though.

It's really hard to suggest many changes without heavily altering this team because every member of it has such a unique and important role. The best I can offer is to try out Eviolite Frillish over Lickilicky. Frillish would offer you a hard counter to every Poliwrath set, a secondary Water and Fighting resist, a good response to Avalugg, and a spinblocker, all of which are things your team would really appreciate. I know the Wish support from Lickilicky is really nice, but the only things on your team that don't have reliable recovery are Stoutland, which doesn't need it, and Garbodor. It might not be ideal, but it does patch up your main weaknesses pretty handily.

Thanks for the shoutout, and good luck with the team.

@ Eviolite | Water Absorb
248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe | Bold
Scald / Recover / Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Ball or Night Shade

Do you think Frillish can run a Specially Defensive set? Cause you replaced my special wall, I assume so (can't check the base stats on my phone), Ill try that out and see how it works out. The only issue I can see is having to play more carefully with Garbodor against teams who have Defog or a Poison-type. Thanks for the suggestion and ill get back to you on how it fares :)

 

[ryan]

Probably, yeah. You can toy with the spread as needed.

 

[BadPandaPancham]

I have tested this team and it is very fun, but big problems come about when you run into Poliwrath or Throh. There are not very many (viable) fighting types in PU, but Throh and Poliwrath are by no means rare. I am going to continue to test this team and switch out team members and see what works/what doesn't, as the two tournament matches I lost were first to a Poliwrath (Lickitung got frozen on the 2nd turn so SubBulkUp Poli came in and it was gg) and the second was a very long and close game that went down to the wire. I almost had it, but Throh ended up coming through (looking at you LightningLuxray :]). One thing about this team is that it's hard to replace a member of the team because they have all have a purpose on the team, so it's sort of like playing Jenga when it's your turn and the tower is leaning like a rainbow. Anyways, (this hasn't been tested yet) I could see this Pokemon being a good edition to the team (on paper, at least), is Mantine over Avalugg. Yes, it's not as defensively bulky, but it can burn. I know it also Defogs away your own hazards which Garbodor can usually only do once. However, it gives you a semi-answer to Throh and Poliwrath without messing up with the team too terribly. I will test it and say more probably later today in an edit tag.

But for real, 8/10 team. Really fun, I made a Hippo+Stoutland team way earlier, but I made my team purely with test sets/Pokemon so it didn't work out (Scarf Barbaracle did though :])

 

[Ares]

I have tested this team and it is very fun, but big problems come about when you run into Poliwrath or Throh. There are not very many (viable) fighting types in PU, but Throh and Poliwrath are by no means rare. I am going to continue to test this team and switch out team members and see what works/what doesn't, as the two tournament matches I lost were first to a Poliwrath (Lickitung got frozen on the 2nd turn so SubBulkUp Poli came in and it was gg) and the second was a very long and close game that went down to the wire. I almost had it, but Throh ended up coming through (looking at you LightningLuxray :]). One thing about this team is that it's hard to replace a member of the team because they have all have a purpose on the team, so it's sort of like playing Jenga when it's your turn and the tower is leaning like a rainbow. Anyways, (this hasn't been tested yet) I could see this Pokemon being a good edition to the team (on paper, at least), is Mantine over Avalugg. Yes, it's not as defensively bulky, but it can burn. I know it also Defogs away your own hazards which Garbodor can usually only do once. However, it gives you a semi-answer to Throh and Poliwrath without messing up with the team too terribly. I will test it and say more probably later today in an edit tag.

But for real, 8/10 team. Really fun, I made a Hippo+Stoutland team way earlier, but I made my team purely with test sets/Pokemon so it didn't work out (Scarf Barbaracle did though :])

Yeah Throh requires you to play especially well and get up toxic spikes as soon as possible, I was there for the match against LightningLuxray and you got screwed over by a min damage roll on Vullaby not to mention he had two defoggers lol which ment you couldn't get up hazards which would of allowed you to 2HKO Throh among other things. Him having two defoggers ment it was much harder to pressure it and get hazards up. As for switching out Avalugg for Mantine I'm kind of iffy on that as it defeats the purpose of having hazards up.

Thanks for testing my team out :) I would recommend getting up hazards as fast as possible against teams with Throh and Poliwrath as it will be easier to pressure them.

Edit: Gonna add Throh to the threat list