THEM SANDS-{._.} (peak #2 on the ladder 2690+)

[sugarhigh]

THEM SANDS {._.}​

Hi I'm really bored and I feel like posting this team I used for mindless laddering lol. Basically the premise of the team is to keep momentum up until you have the ability to reliably sweep with either of three pokes, mega-scizor, keldeo, or excadrill. *Warning* really standard volt-turn sand incoming :X Oh yeah i got to #2 so there's that i guess...

Rank:

Without Further ado the team:

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- U-turn

Okay the first pokemon of this team and the first win condition. What's not there to love about the "fakezor" set, it provides momentum and a win condition. For mega-scizor this set even works a lot better. With its better bulk compared to normal scizor it can now reliably roost a lot more and stay as an offensive presence in the game for a lot longer. Furthermore by first u-turning many players assume it won't have swords dance and lets them feel "safe" to bring in pokes that normally wouldn't handle sd scizor which gives this Pokemon many opportunities and once it's at +6 there's no way you're stopping this beast :]. However be careful of aegislash as it can set up quite efficiently on this scizor. Oh yah scizor eats fairy's for breakfast and is a very reliable counter to azumarill and other fairies.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 56 SAtk / 220 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp

Without a doubt rotom-w is the perfect complement to any type of scizor. Not only do they hit on both sides of the defenses together they also provide momentum to the team as a whole. Furthermore it helps burn pokes that would give my team trouble as a whole such as aegislash. Moreover I went with the bulky attacker spread as I felt the power it gave to the team was much more appreciated then the physical or specially defensive spreads offered. As more damage to the opponent = more times to give pressure and/or to end up sweeping with one of my three powerhouses. Overall Rotom-w helps check many pokemon that would otherwise give my team some trouble and an all around team player :].

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Heatran is here to complement rotom-w defensively with it's type and to prevent a few of my pokes to be completely neutered by fire pokemon. Furthermore Genesect is back in ou so I made sure i prepared for it in the first check to it being heatran and then checked by either rotom-w or keldeo. I went with offensive heatran as this team is basically to overwhelm teams offensively through momentum and it also allows me to set up rocks without fearing being set up fodder to other pokes. Furthermore heatran allows me to check scizor effectively and the new mega heracross as you will find out this team is very weak to fighting. However with the hidden power nerf this gen, I don't feel that hidden power ice is the correct last moveslot for but it has provided quite nice in forcing out lando-t if they have yet to break the balloon. Furthermore heatran also lets me counter excadrill if it has its balloon, effectively and overall scizor, rotom-w, and heatran give the team a nice defensive synergy. Oh yeah, heatran completely walls fairy's and allows heatran to get up hazards and heatran relatively walls talonflame and is a nice check to aegislash.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

First of all don't laugh at eq over super power, eq is here to basically hit aegislash now as crunch and pursuit do jack due to king's shield. Furthermore tyranitar does not lose anything but a move that is 20 base power then superpower but is able to hit all pokes that would be hit by superpower and aegislash. Furthermore I use choice scarf t-tar to be able to hit pokes relatively fast other than phuckin greninja, alakazam, etc -.-. However my team is overall decently slow so I like scarf on t-tar as it prevents it from being a dead weight and able to get easy kills on lati@s. However with scarf it won't stay in the game as long leading to weather complications as weather is not perm this gen. Overall t-tar give some nice offensive pressure with the scarf and gives me the sand to make excadrill a powerhouse.

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin

But it's back :]. Though excadrill isn't nearly as good without permanent weather, it actually still benefits well. Sandstorm doesn't really lose a lot out of not having perm weather but sun and rain lose a lot more and therefore not used nearly as much compared to sandstorm this gen. This gives excadrill many times to set up and to potentially sweep. Excadrill is another check to aegislash if it isnt too boosted by swords dance. Furthermore T-tar and excadrill are my only to checks to mega lucario and t-tar cannot even ohko mega lucario if it is 100% without defense drops from lucario, and excadrill can only check it in sandstorm, but that being said it is very useful in checking many pokes like that with the sand and can efficiently pick up sd's this way or to spin hazards. Aegislash does not like staying in on excadrill as it can ohko it no matter what and gives excadrill free rapid spins. Iron head also eats fairies for breakfast. Therefore excadrill given the team has no answers to it can run through teams like butter and is a reliable pokemon to check a majority of the metagame with its brute strength and speed in sandstorm. Rotom-w and heatran get rid of a majority of pokes who try to wall heatran and gives excadrill free opportunities to sweep.

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]

My final poke, my wall breaker and one of my win conditions. Keldeo provides quite a lot for this team as it is able to ohko many pokemon that dare try to switch into it. Is also gains a lot of synergy with scizor and t-tar as those three together get rid of many pokemon that would normally give them trouble. Furthermore keldeo lets me reliably beat rotom-w as with specs it gives me the fire power to destroy that annoyance. First of all currently rotom-w is one the few counters people have to counter keldeo in this new gen. That is why it is easy to predict it and secret sword and do large amounts of damage to rotom. Furthermore keldeo is also able to ohko genesect switch ins on it with hydro pump. Furthermore if teams don't have pokemon to reliably switch on keldeo teams will fall apart very easily. Specs give keldeo the firepower it needs to shutdown teams this gen and still shows it can be viable threat as the meta makes its shift to the new gen.

The team as a whole:

Overall the team is semi-decent. It can reliably win a majority of the time. It is able to reliably build up momentum and pressure on the opponent with constant volt-turning however it still has a few weaknesses. The main weakness to the team is fighting types as they can easily rip the team to shreds as there is no resist or immunity on this team and three weaknesses. Mega lucario in particular is very hard to deal with, with excadrill and t-tar being the only two to counter it and both being weak to fighting as well :X. However most fighting types are able to be countered through scizor, heatran, and rotom-w. The team's second weakness is dugtrio as it is able to trap three of my pokes and ohko them and therefore reliably eliminate my weather early on sometimes which gives the team some problems. Overall the team is very balanced and is able to work efficiently together. Also screw all other mega pokes, megazor best mega :].

Replays: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/pokebankoubeta-58524735 vs mah bro pdc :>

http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/pokebankoubeta-58763081​

Importable:

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- U-turn

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 56 SAtk / 220 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]


Make your own nicknames me to lazy -3-.

 

[MCBarrett]

Hey Sugarhigh, pretty solid team, classic VoltTurn action you got going on there. I just have a couple of quick suggestions to help your team out a bit though.

First of all, I would run a bit more bulk on Rotom-W. I havent really felt the need to run very much speed on it this gen. I think using enough to outpace 8 speed Lando-T would be fine and then max out hp and put the leftovers in defense. If you really don't feel the need for the bulk though you can put it in special attack as well, you just don't really need all of that speed.

For Heatran I would agree HP Ice might not be the best option for the last slot. I'd use Toxic to hit incoming Rotom-W and to put bulkier mons on a timer for the rest of the match.

Finally I would use Azumarill over Keldeo in the last spot. Like you said you are insanely weak to Mega Lucario and Azumarill acts as a decent check to it. And it gives you another option to Revenge KO a weakened Mega Luc as well, since you have nothing to outspeed it if sand isn't up (Ttar takes a solid chunk from unboosted Bullet Punch and +2 OHKO's). Lastly it's generally a much better wallbreaker than Keldeo this gen thanks to its superior Water/Fairy STAB coverage.

Anyways solid team, let me know if my suggestions helped and congrats on the peak!

 

[PDC]

Alright but seriously, i'll give this team a rate.

My first suggestion is a change in the Rotom-W spread. Rotom-W is cool and all, but for now a Physically Defensive spread is much better. Not only will that increase your ways of beating Talonflame, Genesect, Landorus, and a bunch of other random stuff. Changing the spread to one of 248 HP / 124 Def / 100 SAtk / 36 Spe | Bold in order to balance out special attacking power, a bit of speed, and some great physical bulk. Specifically you'll be able to beat pretty much every Excadrill / Talonflame out there, although if you really want to be safe then you can switch to an alternative to full Max / Max.

You're also insanely weak to any Terrakion / Lucario you encounter, as it can just get in for free once and proceed to take out at least one Pokemon. There are a couple things you can do, but some of the best choices would be either trying out Physically Defensive Hippowdon over TTar to help combat these guys, and it also gives you a second way to beat Heracross.

Good luck!

 

[Tesung]

This is a really good team, and I'm not going to be a complete fucking asshole like last time. Sand rush excadrill is really good still. However, I would recommend making rotom w physically defensive, as I haven't had trouble with its lack of power, and it checks things like Talonflame, non mold breaker excadrill, etc so much harder. However, you deal with those decently well as is, so it's your choice really. However, the one thing that sticks out to me is that you just lose to any blaziken, like automatically besideds praying for hi jump miss, so, I would use either an azumarill as said above or (my favorite set this gen) a cb Talonflame. Ok it sounds horrible, but it fits with the whole volt turn thing, revenges like all the big threats (non espeed genesect, blaziken, every mega not named ttar). It also helps set up a scizor sweep by hitting physical walls really hard. Fr example, skarmorys almost never switch out, because they whirlwind on the predicted sd. Hope I helped!

 

[sugarhigh]

MCBarrett PDC Tesung
Okaaaay since all you guys gave the nearly the same rates might as well tell you what I'm gonna do :D. I'm going to first change rotom to physically defensive with the evs suggested by PDC. I'll also test out azumarill over keldeo. I just felt like using keldeo as it provides a wall breaker on the special side but i'll see how azumarill works especially cuz it gets a fighting resist :D. Thank you MCBarrett for recommending that poke. Finally i'll go test out hippowdon and I'm probably gonna try out both physical and specially defensive variants of the hippo cuz gotta cover all viable pokes :>. I'll go edit out the rotom evs on the rmt later cuz im lazy but THANK YOU FOR ALL THE RATES :>. Also cb Talonflame seems interesting ill go try that out also.

 

[bbg]

EDIT: I started writing this before I saw what the OP just posted. Sorry.

Okaaaay since all you guys gave the nearly the same rates might as well tell you what I'm gonna do :D. I'm going to first change rotom to physically defensive with the evs suggested by PDC. I'll also test out azumarill over keldeo. I just felt like using keldeo as it provides a wall breaker on the special side but i'll see how azumarill works especially cuz it gets a fighting resist :D. Thank you MCBarrett for recommending that poke. Finally i'll go test out hippowdon and I'm probably gonna try out both physical and specially defensive variants of the hippo cuz gotta cover all viable pokes :>. I'll go edit out the rotom evs on the rmt later cuz im lazy but THANK YOU FOR ALL THE RATES :>. Also cb Talonflame seems interesting ill go try that out also.

This team looks pretty solid. Well built.

Scizor-

M-Scizor obviously can't use Choice Band, and while I understand that your plan is to not mega-evolve until after a few U-turns, the only other thing on your team that can digivolve is Tyranitar. And when your Tyranitar outspeeds the opponent's Starmie, they'll know.

This may look like an invalid argument, but really who the hell uses MegaTar when they could be using MegaZor? I don't think it's as effective a lure as you said.
Also, what does it lure in, exactly? Things that think they aren't weak to Pursuit, Brick Break, Bullet Punch, and U-turn, but really only have to be able to take one U-turn and resist Bullet Punch?

No smart Rock-type will ever come in on Scizor. The only Fairy to be worried about is Azumarill as it can 2HKO with Waterfall,

252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def (custom): 178-211 (51.74 - 61.33%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

and take 4 Bullet Punches.

252+ Atk Technician (custom) Bullet Punch vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 72-85 (18.27 - 21.57%) -- possible 5HKO

And 2 U-turns, especially since you're gonna have to switch.

252+ Atk (custom) U-turn vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 169-199 (42.89 - 50.5%) -- 1.95% chance to 2HKO

On the other hand, Azumarill isn't seeing much usage, even as the most-used fairy-type in OU.

Obviously not going to run calcs for Skarmory, Scizor is totally walled by it but it's hard countered by Heatran and Rotom, and Keldeo checks it.

In conclusion, U-turn >>> Bug Bite. Mega Scizor is not an effective lure, and it misses the extra power. Also, it sucks when you could 2HKO a Gastrodon or something but instead have to U-turn out.

Alternatively, you could even switch to the standard Choice Band set and not use a Mega at all.

Still, the set isn't bad, it just needs to watch out for a few things- I'll make a threat list at the end of this rate. Your team actually seems hard-pressed to counter Azumarill, especially if the opponent also packs Rotom-W, Alakazam, or Breloom.

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
Adamant Nature
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
-Roost
-Swords Dance
-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch

Rotom-

Seems to be wanting Pain Split >>> Hidden Power Ice/Thunderbolt. Pain Split's use is pretty limited, and you lack powerful Ice moves on your team, but really the better option to fill it with is Thunderbolt. This allows you to better deal with Bulky Water-types as they are a huge threat to your team. Relying on Volt Switch and Keldeo's HP Electric to dispatch a Vaporeon isn't going to do you much good.

Even thought it's "standard," I've always thought Pain Split doesn't work too well with Will-o-Wisp and I've always used HP Ice on my non-choice sets.

Also, the EV spread is, once again, pretty standard. I'd encourage you to invest more in Special Attack and less in Speed, and put the rest into Special Defense. The meta is really gearing itself towards more bulky offense, and Rotom-W is a tank that can shine with the right investment.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Modest Nature
232 HP / 136 SAtk / 48 SDef / 92 Spe (Or something similar)
-Will-O-Wisp
-Hydro Pump
-Volt Switch
-Thunderbolt / HP Ice

Heatran-

Looks pretty standard. I don't like the look of HP Ice, no dragon in his right mind will stay in on Air Balloon Heatran. I'm not sure what you'd switch it with, because in your situation, HP Grass seems unstable. I suppose that as insurance, you should keep HP Ice as a decent coverage move that can OHKO any Dragonite (after SR)/Salamence/Garchomp that is dumb enough to stay in.

Even though you're using the set from BW2 OU, I might like to see the spread changed to 172 HP / 252 SAtk / 88 SDef Modest. Heatran likes to be able to switch in more easily, and this allows him to take a lot of hits. At base 77 speed, he's still outspeeding 0 Spe Scizor. The spread given turns him into a fearsome special tank.

Once again, Heatran is countered by Azumarill. It's also completely walled by Specially Defensive Goodra, and even the Choice Specs set can take HP Ice for days.

252+ SpA Heatran Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD (custom): 118-140 (30.72 - 36.45%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
Modest Nature
172 HP / 252 SAtk / 88 SDef
-Stealth Rock
-Earth Power
-Fire Blast
-HP Ice / HP Grass?

Tyranitar-

ScarfTar is a strange fit for your team, giving you three fighting weaknesses, three ground weaknesses, and three water weaknesses while having no fighting resists and one ground immunity with no resists. Water is less of a problem with Rotom, especially if you switch to more of a defensive spread with it like I've suggested. I'd recommend switching to Scarf Gengar as a more effective revenge killer. It has better defensive synergy with its three immunities, and while it can't check Aegislash, Other members of your team like Rotom and Excadrill can.

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Sludge Bomb
-Dazzling Gleam / Thunderbolt

Perfect coverage, good STABs, kills fairies. The thing to watch out for is obviously priority, as there isn't going to be much that outruns Gengar with a scarf on. The last moveslot is up to you- Dazzling Gleam threatens Dragons and can kill Dark-types who are neutral to Focus Blast or at low health, as well as hitting Fighting-types super-effectively. Thunderbolt can be used to 2HKO lots of bulky waters and revenge kill Gyarados at +1 or even +2.

Excadrill-

The set is entirely standard except for Iron Head, and honestly, Rock Slide is just better. Your team doesn't have a huge problem with fairies, and Earthquake (especially if you use Gengar and switch to Mold Breaker) + Rock Slide has near perfect coverage. Excadrill is the best Rapid Spinner in OU, and it fits pretty well on your team, so I don't have much else to say.

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
Adamant Nature
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Rapid Spin

Keldeo-

I honestly don't think Keldeo is the right Pokemon here. If you're looking for a better special attacker that does the same thing, use Alakazam. But my suggestion would be to switch to something physically-based. Gyarados keeps your Water typing and Gliscor has good defensive synergy with Heatran. You could fight fire with fire and use Azumarill, or you could maybe even try a bulky Conkeldurr set. Garchomp seems like a bit of a strange option, but it's certainly worth a try. Or maybe not- Excadrill has nearly the same coverage.

And, if you want, you can just stick with Keldeo. In that case, HP Electric is pretty much only for Gyarados due to the nerf. I'd recommend switching to HP Ghost / HP Grass for better coverage against the ever-present Jellicent and Lati@s (although Icy Wind is probably better for Lati). I know this "makes the playstyle entirely different," but Choice Specs >>> Life Orb. Keldeo likes to be able to switch moves. I've used both sets, and the Life Orb one has always been infinitely more successful, although it may just be better suited to me.

Gyarados/Gliscor/Azumarill/Conkeldurr/Garchomp @ Item

Keldeo @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Timid Nature
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Secret Sword
-Hydro Pump
-Icy Wind
-HP Ghost / HP Grass / HP Electric

Thanks for reading the rate! Overall, this is a very solid team. As I said, it has trouble with certain water-types, like Azumarill, Gastrodon, and Vaporeon. Congratulations on the peak and good luck!

 

[MagikaripIsOP]

Change mega scizor to
Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower

 

[Tesung]

^ don't do that.

 

[Josh Morales]

So, I tried this team and lost a lot. Probably 80% of the time. I don't really understand how this team works. Please explain.

 

[MagikaripIsOP]

Ok how about switching mega scizor with the new best bug/steel u-turner: scarf genesect

 

[UltiMario]

Only thing I could even think of recommending is Magma Storm > Fire Blast on Tran, the power difference is now pretty large between the two moves, and being able to partially trap with Tran has actually be incredibly useful to me when I've been using offensive Tran, it gives free switches with guarantee of no double switch, and does a ton of damage while it's at it. Ofc it comes with the accuracy drawback so it's a decision, but I don't think anything else not already mentioned needs any sort of looking at.

 

[masterful]

Messed around with this team for a bit, got to about 1900 with a pretty high winrate, but I feel like a lot of that was just my opponents not understanding how to prioritize what they needed to keep alive. I found that I had no real answer for a Rotom-W, in particular. All I could do was burn it with my own Rotom-W and spam Hydro Pump, as Volt Switch only does about 30% and there are really no safe switchins to it. This was using Azu over Keldeo, and Hippo over Ttar, but it's not like either of those can really switch into Rotom-W. In general, I found special attackers really tough to switch into. Am I missing some integral part of how the team is played, or does this team have a problem with strong special attackers? I feel like adding a Celebi in somewhere could really help with Rotom-W and other special attackers in general, but I can't think of what I'd replace for that.

To clarify, cause I kinda rambled, how do you deal with Rotom-W?

 

[razoredgeyy]

Getting back into competitive play here and I am unsure about my Scizor set and I put 252 into HP, 40 into Atk, and the rest in Sp. Def. I wanted to make him more of a bulky Sword Dancer. How does maxing attack work for you? I do like your team's concept.