First Look!
Team Building:
Obviously, I needed to start with the only Poke that can create an infinite Sandstorm in UU.
Next, I needed some Sandstorm abusers. I went with the most obvious, Stoutland, and a personal favorite, Cacturne.
Next, I wanted someone who could setup hazards and be immune to Sandstorm: Nidoqueen.
I needed some sort of wall, and Rock-types are great in Sandstorm, so I chose Regirock.
Now I needed another defensive Pokemon that rounded out my weakness. Enter: the new king of "who cares about residual damage, anyway?"
Then, I decided to ditch the entry hazards and focus more on the offensive, so I swapped Nidoqueen for her brother, Nidoking.
At this point, I tried a lot of different walls in place of Regirock. I tried Empoleon, Quagsire, Gligar, Shuckle, and Cradily. No matter what, this spot always seems to pull the least amount of weight.
Eventually, I settled with Slowking, who patched up large Fighting and Ice-type weaknesses pretty well.
Then, I realized that the two Kings (lol) were holding me back. I got rid of a the first King (Nidoking) and installed an emperor (Empoleon). In place of Slowking I added Hitmontop for physical checking.
In Depth Look:
The Storm (Hippopotas) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def /4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn
- Protect
- Earthquake
Purpose: Kinda obviously, the purpose is to setup Sandstorm first. After that, I like to Yawn against Pokemon that I know will straight out attack first, followed by a Protect or Stealth Rock. For Donphan leads (and anyone else who will try to get hazards up first), I like to get my Rocks up and follow up with a lot of Yawns, forcing switches and Stealth Rock damage until someone tries to attack, making them fall asleep. After his lead shenanigans are completed, he becomes a physical wall.
EVs: Bulky set with max HP and max Def for physical hits. Boosted by Eviolite, Hippopotas is pretty hard to take down.
Moveset: This moveset is pretty standard as far as I know. Stealth Rock is Stealth Rock, Yawn is for status, Protect is for stalling and for making Yawn more effective, while Earthquake is for STAB damage.
Possible Changes: I could change something for Slack Off, or change Earthquake to Stone Edge for Flying and Ice-types for damage on the switch.
Scooby Doo (Stoutland) (M) @ Silk Scarf
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Return
- Crunch
- Fire Fang
- Retaliate
Purpose: Stoutland is the Sand Rusher of UU and a staple for any Sandstorm team. I use him here as an all-out attacker and an excellent revenge killer. Not much else to say, really. Stoutland lacks any sort of movepool but you can't really run a Sandstorm team without him, at least until Sandslash's Dream World ability (Sand Rush) is released.
EVs: EVs are standard. Max Atk and Spd for optimal killing ability.
Moveset: I really cannot decide on one moveset with Stoutland. It seems like I swap moves in and out every game (even though there's not much to choose from). Return is a good STAB move, Crunch is for those pesky Ghost-types, Fire Fang is for 4x weaknesses to Fire, and Retaliate is an amazing STAB revenge killer move.
Possible Changes: I ran the Choice Band on Stoutland for a while, but I like changing my moves up mid-battle. Also, people always expect the Band, so I can use the Silk Scarf to bluff the Band and catch a Ghost-type off-guard.
Fruit Ninja (Cacturne) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 28 Def / 28 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
Purpose: The purpose of Cacturne is to make people angry. And rage quit. Here's how it normally happens: I let them switch into their bulky water against my Hippopotas, who I use as fodder (or bait, depending on his health). After I predict the Water-type move coming in, I go into Cacturne. (Opponent switches out) Cacturne uses Substitute (Opponent's attack misses), Cacturne uses Swords Dance, (Cacturne's substitute faded), Cacturne uses Swords Dance, Cacturne uses Sucker Punch. Good game, ha. Oh, you want to Phaze? Seed Bomb!
EVs: Let's face it, Cacturne isn't going to out-speed much. He gets his speed from priority and prediction. Instead, I went with the more bulky route, which serves him pretty well since his defenses are not the best.
Moveset: The best possible moveset for Cacturne.
Possible Changes: I might go with BrightPowder to really piss people off. Changing the EVs around a little is also an option.
Caesar (Empoleon) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SAtk / 8 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Purpose: I decided to run Empoleon for two reasons: the first was his 4x resistance to the ever-present Ice-type attacks. The second was his coverage. I was lacking a Water-type move and Empoleon does those pretty well, especially with Choice Specs.
EVs: I gave Empoleon a lot of bulk because he can't out-speed much without Agility. The rest was dumped into SAtk.
Moveset: Surf is as Surf does. Strong STAB move serves it's purpose well. Ice Beam is for almost everything (except Empoleon of course, Grass Knot is for Gastrodon and Quagsire (pretty much), and Hidden Power [Fire] is for coverage.
Possible Changes: There are a lot of possible changes. I could change his set to the Agility set or to the SDef based set or just give him the heave-ho altogether.
Spin My Head (Hitmontop) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Foresight
Purpose: Rapid Spin support is always nice and Hitmontop does it pretty well. Apart from that, Hitmontop serves as a great check to both Mamoswine and Heracross, two very annoying physical beasts.
EVs: This is the standard support Hitmontop setup.
Moveset: Rapid Spin is for getting rid of hazards, Stone Edge is for attacking anything weak to it (for whatever reason), Close Combat is a good STAB move for some damage before I hightail it outta there. Foresight is so I can still Rapid Spin on Ghost-types that try to switch in.
Possible Changes: Well, I'm still undecided on whether or not I even want to keep Hitmontop, so there are a lot of possibilities. I could try an offensive set, but I wouldn't serve as that great of a check to Heracross and Mamoswine.
Pharaoh (Sigilyph) (M) @ Flame Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Psycho Shift
- Stored Power
- Cosmic Power
- Roost
Purpose: Defensive powerhouse and burning machine. Sigilyph is one of the most deadly Pokemon on a Sandstorm team given the right setup, and always annoying to the other team.
EVs: Bulky set to last a long time.
Moveset: Psycho Shift to hurt physical attackers and walls, Stored Power for use after a few Cosmic Powers, Cosmic Power to make sure damage is minimal, and Roost to stay healthy.
Possible Changes: As I've said before, he can be a complete special wall.
Substitutes:
Prickly Pear (Sandslash) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) / Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance/Hone Claws
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide/Stone Edge/Shadow Claw
- Rapid Spin/Brick Break/Substitute
Purpose: I really want them to release this guy's new Dream World ability, Sand Rush, which makes him very deadly in Sand. He can setup with Swords Dance or Hone Claws, and then go to town on people. He has a lot of attacking options, and the ability to Rapid Spin, but I don't know what set to run. This could make him like a very watered down Excadrill, only in UU. He has a much deeper movepool than Stoutland and seems like a more viable option, though I would still probably use them both on the same team.
EVs: Same as Stoutland, max Atk and Spd for the most death.
Moveset: Swords Dance and Hone Claws are for setting up, Earthquake is an obvious STAB move, Rock Slide and Stone Edge give great coverage. I could also use Shadow Claw/Brick Break for the Ghost/Fighting coverage. Rapid Spin is to get rid of entry hazards, while Substitute is for setting up behind.
Possible Changes: His moveset is pretty iffy. I probably won't even use him, but if you can help make him better that would be awesome just incase I do try him out.
And there you have it. That is my UU Sandstorm team. I really need some help with the fifth spot, but any help is much appreciated. Thanks for reading this far, and please comment as you probably know better than I do. Thanks!
Changes in BOLD
