ORAS OU Sand Stream Team with Dazzling Gleam

[Dark T]

Team at a Glance:

How it Works:

Tyranitar (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Ability Sand Stream allows it to produce sand to both support the team and to do risidual damage to the opponent's Pokemon. Assault Vest and Sand gives Tyranitar 100% boost in Special Defense, this boosts its already high bulk. EV spread and Nature is to allow it to be as strong and as Bulky as possible. Crunch and Stone Edge act as its primary STAB attacks. Earthquake takes care of enemy Heatran and other Rock and Steel types that don't mind the Sand. Pursuit is a great move for Latias and Latios, Tyranitar can trap them then OHKO them. This allows Hippowdon to set up rocks again if need be.

Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
Life Orb and an Adamant Nature make Excadrill hit incredibly hard. Combined with Sand Rush and my choosen EV spread it makes a very fast and powerful sweeper. Its Steel typing prevents the opponent from using Thunder Wave on it and stopping its sweep. Rapid Spin is to get rid of any entry hazards that may be present while preserving the Stealth Rock that Hippowdon layed. Earthquake and Iron Head are two very powerful and reliable stabs. They do good damage to Fairy, Fire, Rock, Steel, and Ice types. Rockslide is for flying types like Gyarados. Both Rockslide and Iron Head have a chance of flinching the opponent which can further damage and frustrate the enemy.

Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
Clefable doesn't mind the sand and can support it's team by beating enemy Dark, Fighting, and Ice type Pokemon. In fact thanks to its ability it does not mind residual damage at all. It can absorb status conditions like Will-O-Wisp that were meant for Excadrill and Metagross. A Bold nature and the EV spread allows it to be as physically bulky as possible. Calm Mind boosts is special bulk and attack and can turn Clefable into a sweeper. Softboiled and leftovers are to keep it as healthy as possible while it sets up and sweeps. Moonblast and Flamethrower provides good coverage. Flamethrower allows it to beat the steel type Pokemon that give it trouble. Moonblast beats the Fighting type pokemon that would threaten the Steel and Rock types on my team.

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Hone Claws
- Zen Headbutt
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
The Mega Pokemon of the team. Clear Body before Mega Evolution allows Metagross to come in on Sticky Web or Intimidate and not have the negative effect. Adamant Nature allows it to hit as strongly as possible. Tough Claws acts like a recoiless Life Orb boost. The EV spread gives it some bulk to allow it to set up with Hone Claws. Hone Claws gives it some more power and patches up the accuracy of Zen Headbutt and Meteor Mash. Both of these moves are its primary STAB moves and take advantage of Tough Claws. Zen Headbutt has a chance to flinch and Meteor Mash has a chance for an attack boost. The final move Bullet Punch is to give Metagross the priority needed to revenge kill.

Alakazam (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Alakazam has a great speed tier making it able to revenge kill Pokemon. Its great ability allows it to fully utalize the Focus Sash and almost guarantees it two attacks. Magic Gaurd prevents Alakazam from taking any residual damage from Burns so it can absorb them for the team's sweepers and it doesn't mind the sand. I chose Psyshock over Psychic as the STAB for the ability to hit specially defensive Pokemon. Shadow Ball hits Ghost and other Psychic types like Gengar and Latios. Dazzling Gleam over Focus Blast because Focus Blast almost always misses for me. Hidden Power Ice in the last slot because of how hard it hits Dragonite, Mega-Skeptile, Landorus, and especially Garchomp, who won't mind the sand.

Hippowdon (M) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
Last but not least Hippowdon, combined with Tyranitar it has two times the Sand power. The item of choice is Smooth Rock to maximize the sand's lasting Power. The EV spread is on the physical bulky side. Partly because his sand setting partner Tyranitar is more specially bulky. Stealth Rock is a great move and is a most for any team. Rapid Spin is used on my team over Defog to make sure Stealth Rock stays up on the opponent's side of the feild. Tyranitar can pursuit trap common defoggers like Latios and Latias. Whirlwind is to stop Pokemon from setting up on Hippowdon, it also can work well when paired with the residual Stealth Rock damage. Slack Off is to keep Hippowdon healthy for as a long as possible, which allows it to bring in Sand and Stealth Rock again if need be. The final move is Earthquake. It is a strong STAB move and prevents Hippowdon from being completely shut down by Taunt.

Replays:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-200632560 - Good use of HP Ice on Alakazam and Pursuit trapping Tyranitar
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-200646806 - Excadrill using the sand to its advantage and Hippowdon using Whirlwind and Rocks to bring Pokemon within OHKO range.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-200669592 - The importance of Bullet Punch for priority and Hone Claws for accuracy on Mega-Metagross.

Suggestions/ Responses:
- Replacing Tyranitar with Thundurus [ Terry24 ]
- Replacing Alakazam's Dazzling Gleam with Energy Ball [ Terry24 ]
- Team is weak to Breloom and Landorus [ Terry24 ]
Changes:

Thanks in advance.

 

[Terry24]

Hello Nice team u have here. Im a huge fan of sand offense playstyle myself. First, I dont think that u need both sands because it seems kinda redundant sand excadrill doesnt need that much support. I would personally replace assault vest tyranitar with special attacker thundurus because you team seems to be walled by bulky pokemon such as suicune, Rotom-W, Skarmory and Alomoma. This is just coming from my experiences but your sand team like most is weak to sash breloom because it usually forces your sand team to either make a pokemon sleep/death fodder in order to deal with it if the team isnt prepared for it. Another threat too your team is scarf Lando_t because it has the ability to gain momentum against all ur team with U-Turn and intimidate also it counters Metagross-Mega. I just thought Ill share my insights on what your team is weak to if u didnt know. Also I would prefer Energy Ball>Dazzling gleam because your already got hp Ice on Alakazam andtheir really not much u want to dazzling gleam over Hp Ice. If you were worried about pokes like Mega sableye when adding alakazam to your team you already have a great counter for mega Sableye which is Clefable. I hope my thoughts will help. Have an nice day

 

[Terry24]

Srry forgot to mention Energy Ball is to make sure you can kill pokes like Swampert, Gastrodon and Especially quagsire so you wont get walled by it because of unaware.

 

[Dark T]

Hello Nice team u have here. Im a huge fan of sand offense playstyle myself.

Hey Terry24, thanks for the response.

First, I dont think that u need both sands because it seems kinda redundant sand excadrill doesnt need that much support. I would personally replace assault vest tyranitar with special attacker thundurus because you team seems to be walled by bulky pokemon such as suicune, Rotom-W, Skarmory and Alomoma. This is just coming from my experiences but your sand team like most is weak to sash breloom because it usually forces your sand team to either make a pokemon sleep/death fodder in order to deal with it if the team isnt prepared for it. Another threat too your team is scarf Lando_t because it has the ability to gain momentum against all ur team with U-Turn and intimidate also it counters Metagross-Mega. I just thought Ill share my insights on what your team is weak to if u didnt know.

I used Tyranitar mostly for its ability to Pursuit trap Latias and Latios. They can be a pain Defogging away my Stealth Rock. It's also my favourite Pokemon. lol Would Mandibuzz be a good counter for Breloom? It is immune to Spore and can hit it back with Brave Bird. It is also immune to Sand damage.

Also I would prefer Energy Ball>Dazzling gleam because your already got hp Ice on Alakazam andtheir really not much u want to dazzling gleam over Hp Ice. If you were worried about pokes like Mega sableye when adding alakazam to your team you already have a great counter for mega Sableye which is Clefable. I hope my thoughts will help. Have an nice day

Srry forgot to mention Energy Ball is to make sure you can kill pokes like Swampert, Gastrodon and Especially quagsire so you wont get walled by it because of unaware.

What would you think of getting rid of Shadow Ball instead of Dazzling Gleam?

Thanks again for responding.

 

[Terry24]

Well Mandibuzz is a decent check to breloom since it does around 40% at max to mandibuzz so u can recover over it with roost. Well TBH since you alreasy have psyshock and hp ice the choice between dazzling gleam and shadow ball is upto to u since they have similiar offense coverage. Also from my experience its better to bait out breloom with ur sand starter then bring out something that deals with it like Mandibuzz this instant because the weather breaks its sash and your immune to spore. then after the sash is broken its very easy to kill.