My first sandstorm team

Hi everyone,
This is my first RMT and first sandstorm team. I believe it pretty much counters every thread to a sandstorm team. It is an item clause team: none of my pokémon have the same item. Tough this team might look like a 4th gen team, it isn't.




Hippowdon (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Fang
- Slack Off
My unusual Hippowdon lead, but I believe that is his strenght.
Earthquake is just a strong STAB move, Stone Edge is ofcourse to attack pokémon that are weak against rock.
Thunder Fang is to surprise water types on the switch,
and Slack Off heals Hippowdon when he took too much damages from attacks/life orb.


Metagross @ Normal Gem
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion
Revenge killer with explosion. Most people will be able to expect this pokémons moveset, but Metagross could still save the day.
Protect is to scout and let the opponent hurt from the sandstorm.
Meteor Mash is Metagross's strongest STAB move and Bullet Punch is his revenge killing move.
And people that won't expect it will be "blown away" by my Explosion.


Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Swords Dance
- Fire Fang
Gliscor is a good chance of sweeping and protects my team against threads.
Earthquake is his STAB move and Ice Fang and Fire Fang are type advantage moves.
They protect the rest of the team for threads and Fire Fang will surprise most of my opponents.
Sword Dance is ofcourse to sweep when I get the chance.


Cradily (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Toxic
- AncientPower
- Recover
- Energy Ball
My Special Defense wall. When the sandstorm is up it gets a sweet 50% SDef boost, bringing it up to 516.
Toxic is to tear down walls, Recover is to regenerate when it's needed
and AncientPower and Energy Ball are his STABs. I switch this pokémon out when I expect a water attack,
because those are useless against it thanks to it's Storm Drain ability.


Swampert (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Atk / 48 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Tail
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Superpower
Choice Band Swampert. Stealth Rock might appeal a bit misplaced, because I immediately have to switch out after using it.
Ice Punch is another type advantage move, and Aqua Tail protects Skarmory, Cradily and Metagross against Fire types.
Superpower is another move I put in to defeat whatever can't resist it.


Skarmory (M) @ Shed Shell
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
A very usual set. Doesn't mean it's not helpful. In this team, it doesn't have much to fear.
I can switch out to Swampert when I have trouble, unless he over-predicts.
For anyone who doesn't know this set: Spikes is great because pokémon get damage on the switch.
Whirlwinds protects my team against baton passers, helps me scout and let's the opponent recieve damage on the switch.
Roost is to heal and Brave Bird is his STAB move.
His Shed Shell(item) is to protect my Skarmory against Magnezones and such.
 
Life orb hippowden eh, well try ice fang instead of thunder fang as it provides much more coverage.
Im guessing thunder fangs for rain teams?
But i cant tell it would really help if you add descriptions, nice team btw
 

Asek

Banned deucer.
Hello nice team
This team has good all around synergy, but having said that Cradily is your only special attacking presence. Also Banded Swampert is largely outclassed by your other physical attackers, his only real usefullness his in his water typing. I get how your trying to have no pokemon that are hurt by your own weather so i suggest replacing Swampert with Trick Room Reuniclus
Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
Nature: Modest (+SpAtk -Atk)
EV's: 252HP/ 4 Def/ 252 SpAtk
-Trick Room
-Psyshock/ Psychic
-Focus Blast
-Shadow Ball/ Recover
This guy would add type and attacking diversity to your team. Since your team is relativley slow his trick room also helps certain members of the team do their jobs, most notably being Skarmory and Hippowdon. The Psyshock is preferred as it lets you run mixed while only running a special attacking set. However Psychic lets you hit pokemon slightly harder while hitting physically defensive walls harder. Focus Blast is unegotiable for coverage. Recover increases longevity but Shadow ball achieves perfect coverage.
A smaller change Protect> Hammer Arm/Earthquake on Metagross. You are otherwise walled by many poke's with that set including the ubiquitous steel types.
Hope I Helped
 
Hello nice team
This team has good all around synergy, but having said that Cradily is your only special attacking presence. Also Banded Swampert is largely outclassed by your other physical attackers, his only real usefullness his in his water typing. I get how your trying to have no pokemon that are hurt by your own weather so i suggest replacing Swampert with Trick Room Reuniclus
This guy would add type and attacking diversity to your team. Since your team is relativley slow his trick room also helps certain members of the team do their jobs, most notably being Skarmory and Hippowdon.
I think that indeed does work better on my team, I'll give it a shot on Pokémon Online. But it also means I'll replace Hippowdon's Thunder Fang with Ice Fang. I still have two Ice moves that way. Psyshock does seem a bit useless on a team full of physical attackers.

A smaller change Protect> Hammer Arm/Earthquake on Metagross. You are otherwise walled by many poke's with that set including the ubiquitous steel types.
Hope I Helped
And I already do have Protect on Metagross, so I don't get the problem here... Thanks for the help.
 
I wouldn't use choice band swampert with stealth rock. If you want him offensive here's a set that I've used.

swampert@life orb
torrent
252 HP 106 attack 148 defense
Earthquake
avalanche
waterfall
stealth rocks

this way you can set up rocks and not give away your item right away. You can even use mind games and make your opponent confident that you're choiced taking them by surprise later on.
 
Hello Sverre23,

Cool team. I just had a few notes. It would help if you posted what each member brings to the team, or how they work together as a whole (synergy). This will give you the best results.

I'm not sure what you're doing with Hippowdon, but it can be used better if it is either a tank or an attacker. Not both. Instead of having SR on a banded Pokemon (Swampert), you could have it on a better pokemon like Hippowdon, Cradily, or even Skarmory. You don't really need both of those moves, and having SR on the field as early as possible could be helpful to your team.

Metagross is by no means a revenge killer, unless you're using choice scarf. If that's what you're going for, I would advise using that.

If you have an unconventional EV spread, like what you have on Gliscor, you should explain why it's there. Also, Taunt or Protect would be a better choice over Fire Fang.

For the rest of the pokemon, I would advise looking at the sets listed here, and work from there.

In general, your team is set up with few attackers and many support pokemon lending itself to sand stall. You can read a little more about that here.
 
Lol sorry i meant replace protect with one of those 2 moves sorry
But I already have Swampert/Reuniclus with a fighting move and Gliscor and Hippowdon with Earthquake, and Gliscor has Fire Fang too. Do I really need another of those moves?

I wouldn't use choice band swampert with stealth rock. If you want him offensive here's a set that I've used.

swampert@life orb
torrent
252 HP 106 attack 148 defense
Earthquake
avalanche
waterfall
stealth rocks

this way you can set up rocks and not give away your item right away. You can even use mind games and make your opponent confident that you're choiced taking them by surprise later on.
Read the beginning of the topic: it is an item clause team, and Hippowdon already has a Life Orb. I think I'm going to get rid of it anyway, I really need another special attacker, and Reuniclus is a great solution.

Hello Sverre23,

Cool team. I just had a few notes. It would help if you posted what each member brings to the team, or how they work together as a whole (synergy). This will give you the best results.

I'm not sure what you're doing with Hippowdon, but it can be used better if it is either a tank or an attacker. Not both. Instead of having SR on a banded Pokemon (Swampert), you could replace Stone Edge or Thunder Fang, with it on Hippowdon. You don't really need both of those moves, and having SR on the field as early as possible could be helpful to your team.

Metagross is by no means a revenge killer, unless you're using choice scarf. If that's what you're going for, I would advise using that.

If you have an unconventional EV spread, like what you have on Gliscor, you should explain why it's there. Also, Taunt or Protect would be a better choice over Fire Fang.



For the rest of the pokemon, I would advise looking at the sets listed here, and work from there.
  • Didn't I already wrote about the synergy? Like I wrote about Skarmory: I can switch out to Swampert when I have trouble. (In the future it'll be a different Pokémon, since I'm replacing Swampert)
  • About Hippowdon, I think your right. Since I'll replace Swampert with a Trick room Reuniclus I think he'll do great offensive.
  • Stone Edge did help me out sometime. Maybe Ice Fang will help too, then my moveset will be Earthquake/Ice Fang/Slack Off/Stealth Rock.
  • Metagross has Bullet Punch: a great revenge killer move. Maybe a bit unclear of me, but it is a combination of Revenge Killer and Explosion.
  • I wanted to make Gliscor a bit more bulky. Fire Fang does a great job suprising my enemy's Scizor, Skarmory, Ferrothorn and other steel types, that's why I have it on my Gliscor.
  • I do look at Smogon a lot when I build my team.
Everyone thanks for your help.
 
Using Gliscor as a sweeper imo isn't the best way to go about things. His "type advantage moves" only carry a 65 base power, and he doesn't get stab on them either. I could see him as threatening... after 3 Sd's, but by then an appropriate counter would have been sent in. Get rid of TF on Hippowdon, as the only water types that would switch in to you (Jellicent... um, Politoad) won't be taking much damage from an non-stab 65 base power move anyway. I would put SR on it instead as it would be more beneficial to your team as a whole (and Hippowdon was built as a wall anyway so SR seems only natural) and then you could take off SR from your Swampert and give it an offensive move.
 
Fire Fang is a 5HKO against Skarmory which you want to "surprise". Taunt is much better of an alternative since Skarmory is usually a completely safe switch-in for Gliscor because it carries Roost, though with Taunt your force him to take Stealth Rock damage and switch out, taking damage again when he switches in so it definitely is the better option.

On to ThunderFang. It is a 65 Base Power move, considering you hit a water-type Pokémon on the switch-in its base power will go up to 130. Earthquake is a 100 Base Power move and gets STAB, so it'd be 150 Base Power. So you should definitely change it to either Stealth Rocks and free up a move slot on something else or go for Ice Fang since it gives you better coverage.
 
[*]Stone Edge did help me out sometime. Maybe Ice Fang will help too, then my moveset will be Earthquake/Ice Fang/Slack Off/Stealth Rock.
Yes, that seems much better.

[*]I wanted to make Gliscor a bit more bulky. Fire Fang does a great job suprising my enemy's Scizor, Skarmory, Ferrothorn and other steel types, that's why I have it on my Gliscor.
No one is going to keep Scizor in on Gliscor. Even if they do, Gliscor is faster and EQ wears it down while Scizor can't do much back. In addition, Fire fang is not going to do anything to Skarmory or Ferrothorn. Taunt or Protect would be a better option for these reasons.
 

BTzz

spams overhand rights
is a Contributor Alumnus
Hey, so your team is very weak to special attackers, specifically Heatran and Latios, which can 2HKO your whole team. Hippowdon's role as a physical wall is easily filled by Gliscor and Skarmory so I suggest using a Tyranitar over it. Tyranitar is a great special sponge, able to wall Heatran and Latios while also providing sand like Hippowdon. Tyranitar can fit Stealth Rock on its moveset so you should use Earthquake on Swampert for strong, reliable STAB. Sun will also give your team some problems since you have nothing to safely switch into to the Fire/Grass attacking combo of Chlorophyll sweepers.

With Tyranitar on the team, Metagross has little to no purpose on this team so I suggest replacing it with a Heatran. Heatran is an excellent stop to standard sun teams as it resists Fire/Grass and can decimate almost anything on a sun team with its Fire Blast. With Stealth Rock on Tyranitar you can use Flame Charge on Heatran so it can serve as a late-game sweeper. Heatran also helps with your major Volcarona weakness. Now for some minor changes, I suggest using Taunt on Gliscor over Fire Fang. Tyranitar and Heatran can take care of Skarmory, while Taunt allows Gliscor to set up easier and break stall. Lastly, since your team is so weak to Volt Turn, you could use HP Fire on Craydily over Ancient Power. HP Fire allows Craydily to 2HKO Scizor after Rotom-W volt switches.

Tyranitar l Sand Stream l Leftovers
Sassy l 252 HP / 64 SpA / 196 Spe
Stealth Rock l Pursuit l Fire Blast | Superpower

Heatran l Flash Fire l Air Balloon
Modest l 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Fire Blast | Earth Power | HP Ice | Flame Charge


Hope this helps!
 
Moveset changes done thanks to everyone's advice:
Swampert: Stealth Rock ---> Earthquake
Gliscor: Fire Fang ---> Taunt
Cradily: Ancientpower ---> Hidden Power Fire

Hey, so your team is very weak to special attackers, specifically Heatran and Latios, which can 2HKO your whole team. Hippowdon's role as a physical wall is easily filled by Gliscor and Skarmory so I suggest using a Tyranitar over it. Tyranitar is a great special sponge, able to wall Heatran and Latios while also providing sand like Hippowdon. Tyranitar can fit Stealth Rock on its moveset so you should use Earthquake on Swampert for strong, reliable STAB. Sun will also give your team some problems since you have nothing to safely switch into to the Fire/Grass attacking combo of Chlorophyll sweepers.

With Tyranitar on the team, Metagross has little to no purpose on this team so I suggest replacing it with a Heatran. Heatran is an excellent stop to standard sun teams as it resists Fire/Grass and can decimate almost anything on a sun team with its Fire Blast. With Stealth Rock on Tyranitar you can use Flame Charge on Heatran so it can serve as a late-game sweeper. Heatran also helps with your major Volcarona weakness.

Hope this helps!
Wow, thanks for so much notes. I tested out how well it worked and it did inprove my team. But Asek's idea of replacing Swampert with Reuniclus won't work if I use those Pokémon, if I make use of both of your idea's I only have one ground type(Gliscor) left, and I do need another STAB EQ user. Maybe I don't need Tyranitar on the team with Reuniclus, and can I just use Hippowdon, or else I have to replace another member...
Anyway, thanks for the help, I'll just have to puzzle some more with it and figure out what works best.
 
as previously stated, Heatran will help you greatly since you do have a pretty big NP Celebi weakness, being able to come in on just about everything and effectively set up and sweep against you.

also sort of a nitpick, but try running Avalanche over Ice Punch on swampert. It's already slow as it is, and Avalanche will give you a much higher basepower attack.
 
I'm going to agree w/ everyone saying to put Heatran on the team. Metagross is your only ice resist, and you use him for explosion it seems. So I'd recommend putting standard offensive Heatran on your team in place of Metagross. Same set as BTzz said, just use stealth rock over flame charge because you don't have it on Swampert anymore.
Hope this helped and GL!
 

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