My first ever competitive team(Sand)

[Shroob]

I've known about competitive battling for a long time now, but I never really got into it because it was a lot of hard work... However, now that there's super training and friend safari Dittos everywhere, I feel much better about trying my hand at making a team. This is my first team, so obviously I'm going to have a lot of problems and would appreciate help, especially since this is the first time I've ever tried doing this.

Let me be the first to say this though. I have no access at all to any gens prior to 6, nor do I want to own any prior gens, so move tutor moves from prior gens are out of the question.


Well then, let's begin.


Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Sp.Def/252 HP/ 4 ATK
Sassy Nature
-Crunch
-Rock Slide
-Pursuit
-Ice Beam/Fire Blast

Tyranitar is one of, if not my favorite Pokemon. Completely remade. This set now focuses on being more or less a support-y feel by scaring magic bouncers with Pursuit and offering Sand for my team. Without Excadrill needing Sand 24/7 now, I feel a lot more free about what I can do with T-Tar and how I can play him. Assault Vest has allowed him to survive hits that made me do a double take and OHKO his attacker back, so in my opinion, it's amazing.


Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Def
Brave Nature
-Swords Dance
-King's Shield
-Shadow Sneak
-Sacred Sword

Replacing Excadrill is Aegislash. Although Aegislash gets a boost in sand, it doesn't really need it and is arguably, in my opinion, an amazing counter to Mega Gengar, Trevenant and other annoying Ghost and Psychic types running around. With Weakness Policy, his attack skyrockets without needing to set up, and then he sweeps. Other than that, this is the standard Aegislash set that everyone runs nowadays, so nothing new to see here.


Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Sp.Def/ 4 Sp.Atk
Calm Nature
-Thunderbolt/Discharge
-Hydro Pump
-Will-o-Wisp
-Volt Switch

I don't have access to Pain Split, simple as that, so this will have to make due. I like trying to fit Rotom into most teams I make since it feels like a lot of people don't have a good check for it. Thunderbolt and Discharge are interchangeable in my opinion. Thunderbolt adds more deeps, but Discharge has a nice 30% paralysis chance against something that can't be burned, so that's helpful. I really don't like Hydro Pump, but that's all he gets, which I'd much rather have Surf or Scald.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVS: 252 Def, 252 HP, 4 Sp.Def
Relaxed Nature
-Leech Seed
-Stealth Rocks
-Power Whip
-Gyro Ball

My set up. Originally I had Talonflame here, but with no way to clear entry hazards, I decided against it. Ferrothorn sets up rocks and then surprises any water or ground Pokemon with Power Whip, and maybe kills some tough rock or Fairy with Gyro Ball. Leech Seed combined with Leftovers allow it to remain an annoying tank and while not a heavy damage dealer, it will cause much grief if it's allowed to live past it coming into the field. Otherwise, once again, a fairly standard, albeit more offensive themed set.


Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Spd/ 252 Sp.Atk/ 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
-Ice Beam
-Hydro Pump/Surf/Scald
-Dark Pulse
-U-Turn

Greninja is my favorite Pokemon of 6th gen and I love Protean so much. While other starters fall into obscurity, Greninja joins the lucky ones as actually being good. With blindly fast speed and Protean making everything hit for STAB, Greninja can be a monster if left unchecked, even without boosting moves. Everything is STAB here technically, and U-Turn to make a quick getaway. I'd try Hidde Power Fire, but I'd rather not bother with trying to get IVs for the right Hidden Power AND for the stats I need.


Garchomp @Garchompnite
Ability: Rough Skin(Sand Force)
EVs: 252 Atk/ 252 Spd/ 4 HP
Jolly Nature
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Fire Fang
-Dragon Claw

The big hitter of my team. Garchomp is a beast and Mega-Garchomp, while slower than normal Garchomp, hits like a mofo. Garchomp was my favorite 4th Gen Pokemon and it saddened me when it was pushed to Uber, but now that it's OU now that Sand Veil is banned, I can finally use it again. While I'm not totally sold on using Garchompnite over say a Choice Band, I really feel like I need a Mega Pokemon or else my team will feel much weaker than it should be.



So.... I know it probably sucks, so can anyone give me pointers? Again, this is my first ever real team I've tried to make, so I want brutal honesty, as long as it's constructive criticism.

Thank you.

 

[Shroob]

To add, I'm about 1570~ on Showdown with this team. Not great, but not too bad either I guess.

 

[Halliday]

Seems pretty solid for a first team. One thing I could see being changed is your using excadrill as a spinner. It has redundant coverage with garchomp, and relies on sand too much to be that great of a sweeper. This is compounded by your team's reliance on spinning to keep talonflame healthy. You could also change garchomp out, but he is a lot less reliant on sand (making use of it, but not needing it to be used effectively, as your excadrill set does). The issue with exca being reliant on sand is, of course, the weather nerf. I would suggest running something like defog skarmory, as it still gives the benefit of a steel type, but manages to keep rocks off the field for you. Although, this does get rid of ttar's rocks, you could easily place them back up. You may also want to consider expert belt on tyranitar.

 

[newtonja]

Even though you have talon flame, your team is a bit on the weak side against fighting types so maybe something else besides excadrill, another thing, try keeping a normal garchomp and a mega tyranitar, that could be interesting, besides mega garchomp isn't that good so maybe experementing with mega tyranitar would be interesting

 

[Shroob]

Defog Skarmory is impossible for me to have, because I only have X. I don't necessarily care for Excadrill, but I don't really have any other options. Forretress is out, and like I said, it's impossible for me to get Defog Skar.

 

[Gliscor123]

You could try defog gliscor, which handles fighting types quite nicely. It also can take advantage of the sand, has defog, and has u-turn. I would use it over garchomp.

 

[Shroob]

You could try defog gliscor, which handles fighting types quite nicely. It also can take advantage of the sand, has defog, and has u-turn. I would use it over garchomp.

That's impossible without Bank, is it not? I don't own any other games than X.

 

[S0L1D G0LD]

That's impossible without Bank, is it not? I don't own any other games than X.

Plus it can't be used with poison heal, which is largely the reason to use gliscor as well.

I recommend switching Ttar to a bulky vest variant. Then you might be able to fit rocks on chomp or something.

 

[Shroob]

Plus it can't be used with poison heal, which is largely the reason to use gliscor as well.

I recommend switching Ttar to a bulky vest variant. Then you might be able to fit rocks on chomp or something.

I was actually considering dropping say, Chomp for something else and Greninja for Aegislash or something. This way, T-tar can be my team's Mega.

I find balancing the sand usage for both Chomp and Exca is just impossible. Likewise, while Aegislash does benefit from the sand, it doesn't rely on it. Between Chomp and Exca, I feel like Exca is just vastly more valuable since it can spin away hazards for Talonflame.

Edit:

I completely overhauled the team, removing Talonflame and Excadrill and adding Aegislash and Ferrothorn, and tweaking Tyranitar some.