RMT: Heavy Storm (Sands/Gravity OU)

[Prof. Almeida]

Hy, guys, this is the first time I'm posting a team to be rated, so I hope I do everything ok.

I've been using it with a fair amount of success in Pokémon Online (I have to play there, because showdown is really android unfriendly, sorry), but I'm feeling it's still not jelling perfectly. I know people generally think Gravity is a gimmick, but I really think it can work, if put in good hands. So, I'm trying to be a good hand for these pokemon. Here it goes.

EDIT: Ok, after following the tips and doing some testing, I've changed it a little (in Bold):

@ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def - SpA)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind

It keeps being a sandstorm setter, but much bulkier than Ttar, and also helps me with my frailty towards Fight-types. W-wind to make a better use of SR e E-quake to do a huge amount of damage, helped by gravity

@ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA 252 HP 6 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe -Atk)
- Gravity
- Blizzard
- Thunder
- Recover

He's the first Gravity setter of the team. After it's on, I can either switch into something that will hit strong or I can spam a stronger version of BoltBeam. Recover is there to make it last longer and be able to re-set Gravity after it's off. 252 SpA for maximum damage with BoltBeam, and 252 HP for Maximum hanging time.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Def
Bold Nature (+Def -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Recover
- Taunt
- Ice Beam

Vaporeon + Dusclops in one. Walls water pokémon and also check spinners. I put Ice Beam instead of WoW because I was having some problems in late game after the graviters were gone, mainly with Dragons and Gliscor.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP 252 SpD 4 Def - 0 Spe IV
Sassy Nature (+SpD -Spe)
- Toxic Spikes
- Gravity
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball

Classic hazards setter + spinner, with Gyro Ball + Sassy + 0 IV on Speed to guarantee maximum possible damage with Gyro Ball. Changed Spikes with Gravity since I don't have Dusclops anymore and SR is really much more useful than Spikes

@ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk 252 Def 4 HP
Adamant Nature (+Atk -SpA)
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Super Power

My first option was to use Landorus here, but, as I previously said, I use Pokémon Online, and it's banned from wifi OU tier, so I chose Mamoswine. I deviated from the general "252 Spe" because I was having some problems with Conkeldur. With 252 Def, it can survive one Drain Punch while 2HKOing it with E-quake. Icicle Crash becomes even better now, because with Gravity on, it always hits.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SDef / 248 HP / 8 Def
Calm Nature (+SpD -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Roar
- Will-O-Wisp

It's pretty standard as a special defensive mon. WoW to creep fighters and Roar to make things more interesting with SR on.

Well, I hope that, for a first RMT post, it's not as bad as I thought it would become. And I've been out of competitive battling for a long time, so I just want to have some fun before I'm able to buy my 3/2DS to play Y.

Thanks for your attention.

 

[Typhlito]

Its definatly a unique team. However, 4 of your pokes are weak to fighting types and vaporeon doent have the defensive stats needed to tank multiple hits from fighting types and dusclops doesnt have a reliable enough form of recovery since the burn damage means you recover less with pain split. I never tried gravity myself but I think it also makes the opponents moves more accurate as well (?) while negating leviate/flying. So draco spams can do big damage if ice shard doent ohko it. So I think you should try lando-T since it also has gravity and can weaken fighting types with intimidate and its good typing for going against fighting types lacking ice punch. Even though it doesnt have recovery either, it still helps cover fighting a bit better. Hope that helps!

 

[Typhlito]

Oh another thing you can try that prob might do well is trying defensive hippodown over ttar. It can tank most fighting types all day and recover with slack off. Also, stealth rocks tend to be better than spikes so I think you should switch it around on fortress.

 

[Prof. Almeida]

Now it's updated. T-tar out, Hippo in; Vaporeon and Dusclops out, Jellicent in; Heatran in. It's starting to get better in battles.

 

[Iura]

If you ever miss Landorus there is Landorus-T (noticed other guy mentioned it too)
Also, um... Feeling not jelling lol. Ugh toxic spikes over SR and Spikes on Forretress?

 

[ApplepieFTW]

The thing with Mamoswine is that Conkeldurr gets Mach Punch... Change it to this set:

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Spear/Icicle Crash
- Superpower

Forretress would greatly benefit from having Volt Switch over Gyro Ball because it gurantees a free set into one of your offensive mons. That beeing said, I think your team is a bit too stally to really benefit form gravity, so maybe change Jellicent to scarf Keldeo/Latios.

-ApplepieFTW

 

[THChikorita]

Thunder and Blizzard are at 50% accuracy in sand, (I think it's both.) Aside from that nitpick, I like the originality.

 

[Electrolyte]

Thunder and Blizzard are at 50% accuracy in sand, (I think it's both.) Aside from that nitpick, I like the originality.

Actually, Thunder and Blizzard are only at 50% accuracy in Sun. They remain at 70% in Sand.

Regarding your team;

I'm kind of getting the feeling that you're not taking advantage of Gravity at the fullest. Gravity is typically used for teams that are heavily centered around grounded techniques such as Ground-type offense or hazards OR to allow the reliable usage of powerful yet less accurate moves such as Blizzard or Thunder. I can tell that you're trying to use Gravity to increase the accuracy of moves as by the moveset of Porygon2; however, being that 1. your team is mainly defensive and 2. Porygon2 is in no way a reliable abuser of those moves, making your team slightly lopsided as you're focusing on something that you're not really taking advantage of. You also have some Ground-type offense and some reliance on hazards, but neither are prominent enough in your team's buildup to really be feasible as a way to actually reliably defeat your opponents. Teams that focus a lot of effort on sustaining a field effect need to make sure that they take full advantage of said effect enough that it gives them a leg up against their opponent- lest their efforts be wasted. To help your team accomplish your task, here are some things I think you should fix.

First off, let me explain my logic. As I already pointed out, your team is slightly defensively oriented, with a Ground-type bulky attacker in Mamoswine. I really suggest that you focus on that defensive setup and enhance it along with your Gravity strategy for maximum efficiency. Although using less accurate moves in Gravity is a great way to take advantage of it, that is a relatively risky strategy and also forces you to redesign your whole team as it is more of an offensive strategy that requires a lot more offensive power than your team has right now. The same thing goes for Ground-type offense- although Mamoswine is a potent sweeper, it really doesn't fit in with your team as it adds weaknesses to a team that depends on overall solidity and it does not cover any threats your team already suffers from; eg anti-stall Pokemon. (I will cover what to do with Mamoswine later.) For now, I think your team should focus on the remaining Gravity-reliant strategy that already exists within your Pokemon- hazards. Being that your team is already defensive and already has hazards, it's a great way to improve your team without needed to change the underlying structure of your Pokemon.

So- first things first, I'll touch upon your Porygon2 set.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trace, Calm
252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SpD
Thunderbolt / Ice Beam / Recover / Gravity

Porygon2 is not a very reliable attacker, so changing it into a more defensive Pokemon will help it help your team more than it already is. It can stay a Gravity setter, as its bulk and longevity will allow it to switch in many times and set up. To help it even more in this regard, it needs Recover, which will keep it healthy not only to set up once more but also so it can last longer and tank more hits. A spread of 252 Hp / 32 Def / 224 SpD gives it a lot of special bulk so it can handle prominent special attackers that Heatran can't beat (rain sweepers, Landorus, etc) Thunderbolt / Ice Beam becomes its new attacks, covering a wide variety of opponents and hitting them for reliable damage.


Next up is Forretress. I'm not going to post the whole set as only a few things need to be changed with it. Being that your team is going to be focusing on hazards if you follow my suggestions, your team is going to need a reliable hazard setter- which is fine, since you've already got one. However, its spread and choice of hazard needs to be tweaked a bit. Spikes is a much better option for hazards over Toxic Spikes, as it provides consistent damage against all foes and racks up damage quickly if you play correctly. 3 layers of Spikes + SR from Hippo will deal 37% damage to all opponents by just forcing switches, giving you a huge advantage, especially since your Gravity field effect makes the hazards harm all opponents, levitating or not. The hazards, along with the Sand, will quickly wear your opponent down as your walls block them and prevent them from doing any substantial damage to you. I also think Forretress needs a more physically defensive spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD Relaxed with 0 Spe IVs, which maxes out its physical defense and minimizes its Speed for the most powerful Gyro Ball possible. Your team needs a great deal more physical bulk than it already has, and with Porygon2 helping tank special attacks, Forretress can feel free to wall physical attackers.


The next major change I'm going to suggest is for you to swap Mamoswine with Choice Band Scizor.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Technician, Adamant
248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
U-Turn / Bullet Punch / Pursuit / Superpower

It might not make sense that I'm suggesting an offensive Pokemon when I just explained how I wanted your team to play defensively- but trust me, there is a method to my madness. Stall is great and all, but it does have a few major weaknesses that your team absolutely needs an answer to- mainly, Reuniclus and Xatu/Espeon. The three are the bane of stall / hazard teams, because they reflect status and/or are immune to indirect damage. Reuniclus is especially threatening as you can't rely on prediction to take it down- it shrugs off everything your team has with Recover and can CM sweep you to death. The Magic Bouncers will also be annoying as they will hinder your ability to set up hazards quickly and wear down your opponent. Fortunately, there is one simple yet necessary answer to this problem that doesn't throw your team overboard- and that is CB Scizor. Its Choice Banded U-Turn shreds a massive amount of HP away from Reuniclus and Xatu and OHKOs Espeon, completely removing them as threats. U-Turn is also great for the team as it keeps your opponents on their toes and switching, forcing them to take more damage from hazards that you set up. It also has Pursuit, which lets you trap and reliably remove those threats to clear the stage for hazards. Pursuit also removes Ghost-types that prevent Forretress from spinning away hazards. All of this comes with the fact that it does indeed add bulk to your team because of its defenses and typing and also doesn't forsake the power and priority that Mamoswine had. Bullet Punch still has priority and a LOT of power, letting you pick off weakened foes or even clean up late game. Superpower smacks Steel-types hard, giving you an edge against opposing stall teams. Scizor will be a manificent asset to the team.


Finally, one last nitpick. Jellicent's moveset is kind of funky, so I'll help you patch it up a bit. Hydro Pump is unnecessary extra power that doesn't really achieve all that much for Jellicent. Ice Beam is another problematic move; it doesn't really hit anything your team needs help handling. Instead, I suggest you use Scald and Toxic instead of HPump / Ice Beam. Scald is still reliable STAB that may not be as powerful but definitely will harm your opponents more with its crippling Burn effect, halving their attack and making the job of your defensive walls much easier whilst also steadily adding damage to your opponent's Pokemon. Toxic is also another necessary move for Jellicent as it gives you a leg up against opposing stall teams. It sets a damaging timer on your opponent and also helps promote switches, inflicting more damage to your opponent's pokemon through hazards. Jellicent really doesn't need power or coverage; it needs support moves so it can add to the stall / indirect damage aimed at your opponent.

Something you might want to do also is change Heatran's Wil-o-Wisp to Earth Power. Although slightly weak without investment, it is a great way to nab Tentacruel, who might be a massive problem to your team as it is a spinner that can defeat Jellicent and can cripple your team with Scald burns. Between Lava Plume's and Scald's 30% burn chance, you probably won't miss the opportunity to burn your opponents.


Cool team! These are a lot of changes, but I'm confident they'll help. Good luck!

EDIT:
forgot tl;dr ;_;
Porygon2 --> bulky set
Mamoswine --> CB Scizor
Forretress --> Phys Def spread + Spikes
Jelli --> Scald + Toxic
Heatran --> Earth Power

 

[Prof. Almeida]

With 248 SpD, will porygon 2 be able to survive Garchomp's outrage?

And thanks for the tips. I'll try them out and see how I feel the team.

 

[Electrolyte]

Use Hippo / Forretress to counter Garchomp. Hippo walls Garchomp easily and can EQ it while Forretress can Gyro Ball Garchomps that lack Fire-type coverage.

 

[THChikorita]

Use Hippo / Forretress to counter Garchomp. Hippo walls Garchomp easily and can EQ it while Forretress can Gyro Ball Garchomps that lack Fire-type coverage.

Though most, if not all Garchomps run fire blast/fang.

 

[Prof. Almeida]

I'm testing the changes out. I'm feeling the team more balanced, but I still must get more experience with it,since I'm not completely comfortable with it yet. But I really found out I surprise people with it.

About Garchomp, all but one of them had some kind of fire-type move so once hippo is down, I'm having a hard time with it.