Hey guys. For those of you that dont get the title, the team is called out with the old, in with the new because Excadrill just got banned to ubers, which was basically a staple on many SandStorm teams. My team includes a pokemon that was basically overshadowed by Excadrill and Terrakion, but has found a very nice niche in my sandstorm team with the unique move SmackDown. He is a sub + 3 Attacks landorus, which is very effective at taking out a lot of pokemon that are commonly found on teams, such as Rotom-Wash and Skarmory. Smack Down basically allows Landorus to hit these pokemon with Ground type moves after this, so Earthquake will be hitting them a lot more. Without further ado, here is my team!
Changes will be made in Red FYI.
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 SpD
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- Roar
Latias is my replacement for Jellicent, since it can still take water type attacks very nicely, and helps take some of my teams threats, such as Rotom-Wash, and Virizion to name a few. It also Lures in Rotom-W for Landorus to come in on a predicted Volt Switch/Electric attack, and get a free sub up/Smack Down. Latias' set is the basic Calm Mind set, which is very viable due to her access to Roar, as well as recover, which allows her to beat other Calm Minders. She also has amazing bulk, so she doesnt have to worry about taking many hits from the threats mentioned previously. Dragon Pulse is obviously my main attacking move, and easily sweeps teams after a few calm minds have been set up.
Changes will be made in Red FYI.
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 SpD
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
At first, i decided that i wanted a sandstorm team that involved a choice band Tyranitar, which in my opinion, is the best way to get your weather up if you have a sandstorm team, mainly because they are screwed when you switch in and they cant switch out because of a STAB Banded Pursuit, which usually OHKOs most variants of Politoed and Ninetales. I ended up putting in Choice Scarf Tyranitar, but decided that it was lacking the power i needed to win against the abundance of rain teams and sun teams coming up due to Excadrill's ban. Choice Band tyranitar is basically a tank powered up to the max, being able to take hits from Ninetales, politoed, and the Lati's, while being able to Pursuit them on switches, which greatly helps my team's potential when you eliminate pokemon/Win the weather war. Pursuit and Crunch are my main moves, depending on what im predicting. Stone Edge and Superpower are basically just there as fillers.
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- Roar
Latias is my replacement for Jellicent, since it can still take water type attacks very nicely, and helps take some of my teams threats, such as Rotom-Wash, and Virizion to name a few. It also Lures in Rotom-W for Landorus to come in on a predicted Volt Switch/Electric attack, and get a free sub up/Smack Down. Latias' set is the basic Calm Mind set, which is very viable due to her access to Roar, as well as recover, which allows her to beat other Calm Minders. She also has amazing bulk, so she doesnt have to worry about taking many hits from the threats mentioned previously. Dragon Pulse is obviously my main attacking move, and easily sweeps teams after a few calm minds have been set up.
Landorus (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Smack Down
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Smack Down
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Ice]
This was the Landorus set that i was talking about. It is very underrated, and not many people know or have seen it yet. Most of the Landorus counters or checks were Skarmory, and Rotom-Wash, which resisted Landorus' stab move, and could take a U-Turn pretty well also, while being able to phaze or status. This set takes advantage of switch-ins, being able to Smack Down on a predicted switch, and than proceed to Earthquake. Substitute is when i predict a switch that is not out to Skarmory, since i don't want to get phazed out by whirlwind. Hidden Power Ice is mainly there for gliscor, and dragons that take x4 effective from it. As you can see, this set is very good, should, and will see more usage in the next upcoming months due to Excadrill's absense.
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Skarmory is here to set up spikes, and to phaze to damage pokes low enough to where they die, or Tyranitar/Landorus can come in for a late-game sweep and finish them off. There is really not much i can say about this skarmory, since the EVs are pretty standard, as well as the moveset. Spikes is for hazards, which when coupled with Whirlwind really hurt the opponent, dealing 25% damage on every switch with max layers up. BraveBird is so that i can deal damage when i need to, and Roost is there for recovery, so that i can continue to phaze and spike when i need to.
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Grass]
This is your standard Specially Defensive Heatran set, but with Hidden Power Grass, mainly because of the abundance of Gastrodon lately, which is a decent threat for this team. This set is very good as it can take many special hits with a massive 348 SDef stat, as well as provide Burns, phazing, and stealth rock for my team. This pokemon is Skarmory's counterpart, being able to phaze many of the special threats that Skarmory wouldn't be able to phaze with Roar. The only downside to Heatran is that he has no reliable recovery, only leftovers.
Reuniclus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 160 HP / 96 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SpA, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 160 HP / 96 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SpA, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
My last pokemon is Reuniclus, and is my main fighting counter. Since my team is mainly slow, i decided to run a trickroom set in case i died in the middle of trickroom. I decided to give him Life Orb so that i can hit threats harder. The other moves, nature, and EV spread are all pretty standard. My main attacking move is psychic, while Focus Blast and Shadow Ball are for whatever Psychic doesn't hit for super effective damage when needed. Reuniclus is also a great late game pokemon because it doesnt get affected by sandstorm, stealth rocks, spikes, or status' thanks to Magic Guard. As a result, Reuniclus is very good, and definately deserves a spot on my team!