Kicking Up A Storm [5th Gen OU]

[Matt Tuck]

KICKING UP A STORM


- A BW2 SAND TEAM –

Welcome to my second ever RMT on the Smogon forums, “Kicking Up A Storm”. This team is special to me because it is the first team with Sand that's ever stuck to me. This is one of my finer teams and is based around 2 huge tailed beasts cleaning house which I will get into later. Now, without further ado, let's get on with the team.

Teambuilding Process:

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Let’s begin with the teams 'core'. Ever since Black Kyurem has been OU I wanted to build a team around him. After experimenting with a few sets I settled on a mixed attacker set with substitute which works really well this meta. Another set which I wanted to use was dual dance Lando-T which can’t be beat after +2,+2. Besides, Kyurem-B can take on Hidden Power Ice and Water Type moves that endanger Lando-T and Lando-T can switch into fighting type moves.

Looking at my team core it was apparent that the Lati twins would demolish it fairly easily. Specially Defensive Tyranitar, was the perfect counter to Latios. Tyranitar also carries rocks on my team, and acts as a counter to Starmie and Celebi as well. Sand support meant that any other weather reliant sweepers won’t be causing me issues.

Tentacruel was my next choice to go along with my current team to spin away hazards and deal with Terrakion which was a pretty big threat once Lando-T was out. Tentacruel acts as my physical wall and ensures that hazards stay off the field and spreads toxic wearing down the opponents to a point where my sweepers can come in and sweep.

Finally, I added my standard supports in the form of a dual scarf approach. Keldeo-R and Jirachi provide me with a more offensive approach upon entering a battle, with Jirachi scouting and Keldeo late sweeping.

The Team

*Changes are bolded*

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Trait: Teravolt | Nature: Hasty
EVs: 60 HP | 100 Atk | 108 SAtk | 240 Spd
Substitute | Earth Power | Fusion Bolt | Ice Beam

Kyurem-B is the main point for making this team. During my teambuilding sessions, I've tried different sets, starting with Special Kyurem-B. However, after using the special set, I noticed how his Special Attack, even when boosted with EV's, failed in comparison to his Attack. So I thought, Why not utilize this gift of such monstrous stats? With 100 EV's on Attack and with no boost with Nature, his Attack is still monstrous. After creating a 4-attack set, I realized how many people switch out whenever Black Kyurem enters the field and rely on faster threats on priority to deal with it. So I later added Substitute as a way to keep the momentum going. Overall, Kyurem-B is a Pokemon that should be used more in the metagame, but with Mach Punch Breloom and Bullet Punch Scizor, Kyurem-B can't rise up to its true potential unless behind a sub.

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Trait: Intimidate | Nature: Adamant
EVs: 76 HP | 252 Atk | 180 Spd
Rock Polish | Earthquake | Stone Edge | Swords Dance

This set is so far my favorite out of all that I've tried with offensive physical attackers. I saw this set on a RMT with Swords Dance + Rock Polish, and in my opinion, this set is overkill. Landorus' 427 Attack can OHKO most of his threats with a +2 Speed backup. I see Landorus-T transform into a kamikaze during battle, I run leftovers over life orb for some sort of recovery or he dies too early. I usually save this guy till the end if I know he can put in some serious work against the opposing matchup or I let him die early and put as many holes in the opposing team if team matchup isn’t in his favour. I chose Adamant over Naughty to keep him stronger against Special attacks; even for those who don't affect him as much and I don’t have to use HP Ice since Stone Edge at +2 pretty much cleans out anything that levitates anyways and Garchomp dies to a +2 quake.

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Trait: Sand Stream | Nature: Adamant
EVs: 120 HP | 252 Atk | 136 Spd
Ice Punch | Crunch | Pursuit | Superpower

Tyranitar is, and always has been, the king of weather. This set is perfect for my team to counter the Lati twins and bring a weather condition which is favourable to me. Crunch can always leave a mark to those weak to it, even if his Attack isn't boosted. Pursuit is there, and no explanation should be necessary. Now, Fire Blast. I use Fire Blast over Superpower or Stone Edge because I seriously cannot stand being walled by Skarmory and Forretress. The most important reason for running Fire Blast over anything else is to get rid of Scizor ASAP since after scizor is gone a lot of pressure is put off my team and my sweepers have an easier time putting in some work against the opponent. This set has been changed based on Remedy's suggestion which can be read below.

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Trait: Natural Cure | Nature: Timid
EVs: 248 HP | 44 Def | 216 Spd
Scald | Psyshock | Recover | Rapid Spin

Look at that monster. Rampaging around a city like it's nothing. Tentacruel is my second go-to guy for walling physical attackers. Keldeo is also walled by Tentacruel, which is usually a support in Rain teams. Toxic is there to tire down an enemy, even those with Natural Cure. Starmie and Celebi are going to switch sooner or later once they're being destroyed slowly by Toxic. Substitute can outrun a Spore from a Breloom, though it isn't much help against that specific Pokemon due to Bullet Seed.It can, however, leave me with 2 chances to burn him with Scald once I predict a Spore. Tentacruel is also used as bait for the most part, since I can lure a Latios in, or an Earthquake from a Pokemon. And with my current Pokemon on this team, Tentacruel is well protected against its threats. Tentacruel has been changed to Starmie based on Funkasaurus' suggestion which can be read below.

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Trait: Serene Grace | Nature: Calm
EVs: 248 HP | 224 SDef | 36 Spd
Body Slam | Iron Head | Wish | Stealth Rock

Jirachi acts as my scout and my offensive backup plan. When all else fails, Iron Head spam prevails. At least, it does most of the time. U-Turn not only allows me to switch into a counter without wasting a turn upon an opponent switch in, I can also find out the set of an opponent based on their action against Jirachi. Zen Headbutt helps with late game Keldeo and Terrakion whereas Ice Punch deals with Salamence and Garchomp. This set has changed based on Remedy's suggestion given below.

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Trait: Justified | Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP | 252 SAtk | 252 Spd
Surf | Hydro Pump | Secret Sword | Hidden Power [Ice]

I use the standard Keldeo Scarf set in almost all of my teams. The reason for that is because Rain or no Rain, Keldeo can manage to late sweep. Hydro Pump is usually my go-to move unless I know that I can’t afford to miss. Keldeo also acts as a bait for Celebi and, again, Latios/Latias. Usually, ifI predict correctly, I can trap the Pokemon into switching, only to end up using Pursuit with Tyranitar. Keldeo is also my counter to other Scarfers, because my other Pokemon are weak to late sweeping Scarfers as well.


Conclusion


And so concludes my RMT, and I seriously hope that I receive strong feedback. This team, if anything, is not flawless. But then again, that's the point of making RMTs in the first place so that you can improve and get better at teambuilding and all that good stuff.

Importable

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Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spd
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Tyranitar (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 120 HP / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Ice Punch
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 44 Def / 248 HP / 216 Spd
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 224 SDef / 36 Spd
Calm Nature
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Stealth Rock

Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 60 HP / 100 Atk / 108 SAtk / 240 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Substitute
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam

 

[Souf]

Hey there,

Nice team. It's quite solid built. Getting right into it, I recommend using a bulky Starmie over your Tentacruel. Tentacruel is really not a good Pokemon on sand teams. It doesn't have reliable recovery, so it faints rather easily. Its only use is against rain teams and your team isn't always going to face one. Starmie is more consistent against all types of a teams. With Recover, it stays around longer and with Psyshock, you get any easy way to get a lot of damage on Breloom. Like Tentacruel, Starmie is a nice counter to Keldeo, bar switching in on a Scarf Hidden Power, and pretty much all the things that Tentacruel can handle and it hits harder. The next change I have in mind is altering your Kyurem set a bit. If you use sub and you're not facing a Sun/Rain team, you're basically wasting a quarter of your health every time you use it when sand is up. With that said, I recommend using Roost > Earth Power, as you team can handle Heatran relatively well. With Roost, your Kyurem can last longer, obviously. That's basically it. Being able to last longer and not have your own weather be your downfall for a Substitute using Pokemon is a good thing. Anyways, great team and good luck.

Sets

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 36 SAtk / 224 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

Kyurem-B
Earth Power ---> Roost

 

[Reymedy]

Hi, I'm here as requested, seems to be an interesting team, using solid pokemons.
You got Sub Kyurem, a terrible thing to face for stall teams, and you got two really annoying scarfers for offensive teams. However, I think you could apply several changes that would improve the team.

First, the weaknesses :

- I can see Keldeo being an issue, Tentacruel is a shaky answer at best. It takes a tons from Rain HPumps, especially considering that you don't have Protect to get some free life from Rain Dish. On the top of that, we can't forget the possibility of a Sub/CM set that would litterally 6-0 you. You can only rely on JiraScarf to come and lock itself into Zen'Headbutt to crush the Sub, but you probably took some damage in the process, and it doesn't mean that Keldeo won't be sweeping you later on.

- Gyarados. The obnoxious Sub Bounce version, can set-up on many of your pokemons, and pull off an easy sweep from what I see. Not much needs to be said here, as it's one of the classic weakness that Balanced Sand teams usually share.

- Breloom. Burning him with Tentacruel isn't an answer at all. Getting in your Jirachi is a temporary answer since you'll be taking a ton if he decides to hit you on the switch.

- Mamoswine. Hell, he will punch big holes in your team as it stands. Earthquake got insane coverage and your only resistor will be.. well.. will be REALLY afraid of switching into the artic pig. Definitely a huge threat at the moment.

- Landorus RP. I guess you have to be ready for this guy. Or at least, have a last resort solution in case he manages to RP. Keldeo can't always survive an Earthpower after SR, so it's really a shaky answer.


Okay, time to fix this stuff, obviously I won't be fixing everything perfectly, and at no cost, but I believe that you made choices in your team building that made you weak to more stuff that you would have thought in the first place.

My changes :

- I don't like Tentacruel here, I don't like it at all. It does not synergize so well with the rest of your team in fact. So yes, you got a spinner, and I see why, but in my opinion, just having Kyurem does not worth the team's slot.
You could try Starmie, because it does fix almost all your weaknesses on paper, and you still spin. I'd go for 3 offensive slots and Rapid Spin.
However, I'll talk instead about another possibility, that I find REALLY interesting. Slowbro. He does fix everything better BUT Breloom since he's outsped. Out of that, his bulk is a BIG plus over Starmie and he's one of the most threatening defensive pokemon for offensive teams since you just can't switch on it. He can ThunderWave everybody in the threatlist I mentionned but Landorus and Mamoswine, who are killed by Scald. Breloom and Keldeo gets killed by Psychic. For Gyarados, he just can't set-up on Slowbro because Psychic breaks the Substitute and in return, Gyarados deals pityful damages. That, plus the fact that you can TWave him and ruin his sweep.
For the spread, I thought about 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD. This spread enables Slowbro to NEVER be 2HKO'd after SR by Keldeo Scarf under Rain. And, you won't get killed by Earthpower from Modest LO Landorus after SR. Here, you got your last resort solution. I'm not even talking about how Regenerator is useful and how Slowbro can be useful against Physical hitters who overload your frail Landorus-T.

- I'd change Tyranitar set to a CB one. But rather, to a Lum Berry one. This way, you can lure Breloom and kill him. I'll give the set, to me you don't need to have a SpD Ttar, you set just leave SO MANY free set-up possibilities that it's not even worthy to wall some random special sweepers anymore.

- I'd change Jirachi to a classic SpD version. The Wish support, and the SR will be provided by Jirachi now. It will soften the departure of your spinner, and help Kyurem-B.

- Finally, for Breloom, you should change Landorus-T's spread to a bulkier one. You got 252 in Atk and 88 in HP. I'd go for 200 in HP and 140 in Atk or something like that instead. You'll be pivoting a lot, so you better have some extra bulk.

With the Wish support, and the Slowbro back up, you win a lot defensively, while still being able to pressure the opponent better. You should really see a big difference after those changes.
Oh and, Latias can be a fine replacement of Tentacruel aswell, but I wanted to give Slowbro a try.


Sets :

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Slowbro @ Leftovers
Regenerator
248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Scald
- Psychic
- Slack Off

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
248 HP / 224 SpD / 40 Spe
Careful Nature
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Stealth Rock

Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
Sand Stream
120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch
- Superpower

Ice Punch works so well, you trap Lati@s, they try to set-up on you with Landorus, assuming you're locked and boom. For Breloom, you get Spored and kill him back. Helps to switch in on Jellicent and its obnoxious burningScalds.

The team is really cool by the way, classic in its pokemons, so it's up to you to twist them and surprise your opponent !
I help I helped, and good luck with your team !

TL;DR :

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Slowbro>Tentacruel
SpD Jirachi
Lum Berry Ttar
Bulkier Landorus-T

EDIT : Was doing my rate when there was none yet. Just in case.

 

[Joeyboy]

Great team man! I've actually recently built one very similar to it.

So the first big threat that jumps to mind is Gyarados. The Standard SubDD Gyarados can cause a lot of problems and has plenty of set up opportunities against your choiced Jirachi and Keldeo. Also Tentacruel is pretty much total set up fodder for Gyara, and once its set up its almost impossible for you to stop due to your two revengers not being very apt to stop it. You'd have to play super well using Lando-T's intimidates and Kyu-B's Fusion Bolt to win against even a mediocrely played Gyarados.

A pretty easy change I see to make it much easier to deal with is replacing Hidden Power Ice on Keldeo for Hidden Power Electric. While Hidden Power Ice is the standard on Keldeo you don't really need it as Jirachi already has Ice Punch and can revenge any Dragon-type Pokemon you could want. Keldeo makes a tremendous revenge killer for Gyarados as it resists the Water-type stab and if Gyarados uses Bounce you can switch out to avoid it.

Next I want to second Funk's suggestion of Starmie over Tentacruel. I'm not a huge fan of Tentacruel not in rain and Starmie brings a lot of the same qualities Tentacruel does that are useful to your team. Namely it deals particularly well against SubCM Keldeo who is another threat that your team could have a lot of problems with.

With the change to Starmie I recommend replacing Zen Headbutt on Jirachi for Trick. Zen Headbutt is really just there for Keldeo as Iron Head already revenges Terrakion just fine. Since Starmie gives you rock solid Keldeo check Zen Headbutt is needed even less. Trick is very useful in this metagame as it makes dealing with the, albeit rare, stall teams easier and can lock opponents into moves which your other 'mons can take advantage of.

Good Luck!

 

[Matt Tuck]

Thanks for the suggestions guys it really helped improve this team :)

The suggestions have undergone testing and the following changes have been made:

1) Change in Tyranitar's set suggested by Remedy
2) Change in Jirachi's set suggested by Remedy
3) Starmie>Tentacruel as suggested by Funkasaurus and Joeyboy

The Importable has been updated :)

Still Testing:

HP Electric>HP Ice on Keldeo as suggested by Joeyboy