SANDardized Testing

APimpNamedSlickback

APimpNamedSlickback

Sand. I grew up in the sand. All you really see in the OU Meta these days are Rain, Sun, and Sandstorm teams. I have always hated playing against sandstorm teams because they would usually crush me. I decided to myself try my hand at building a sandstorm team. So I did some RND and heres what I cam up with. So without further ado, here's the team.​

At A Glance:
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252 HP, 176 SPAtk, 80 SPdef

Sandstream

Sassy (+Sdef,-Spe)

-Steal Rock
-Ice Beam
-Fire Blast
-Crunch

This guy is what starts the sandstorm.
He is the whole basis on which the team was built.
His main goals are to set up Sandstorm and Stealth Rocks which is possible 90% of the time.
Due to the Ev's he can take a U-Turn from CB Scizor and live to set up Rocks.
Also, if predicted correctly, you can Ice Beam a Dragonite and eliminate a threat, or do a massive amount of damage Scizor, Skarm, and Forretress with a powerful Fire Blast.
Usually the plan with this guy is to set up rocks, and pull him back just incase there are other weather inducers.
Honestly, IDK about the Chople berry, I just put it on TTar for the sake of weakening fighting type moves, but Im open to changing it for another held item.

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252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

Sand Force

Naughty (+Atk, -SPDef)

-Earthquake
-U-Turn
-Stone Edge
-Hidden Power (Ice)

Ah Landorus. The ultimate Sand abuser in the OU meta.
This guy is running a standard Choice Scarf set. His role on this team is to murder anything and everything pretty much. Earthquake + Sand Force + Stab + 100 BP = Destruction. Super Duper Sand Abuser. Stone Edge and HP Ice are from dragon killing and coverage, and U-Turn is to do damage and retreat for unsuitable matchups. I used to run the SubDance set, but I thought this to be more effective, what do you guys think?

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252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

Sand Veil

Adamant (+Atk,-SPAtk)

-Earthquake
-Substitute
-Swords Dance
-Acrobatics

Gliscor is the MVP of my team. Love this guy. He is an offensive Gliscor which a lot of people are not used to seeing. He always catches people by surprise with a Speed of 289 and an Attack stat of 317. This guy loves to set up on things like Forettress, Ferrothorn, Blissey, and other walls/hazard setters. Flight Gem + Swords Dance + Acrobatics will OHKO almost anything in the metagame that doesnt resist it or if the pokemon is buffed by stat boosting moves. To a +6 +6 Conkeldurr it still does about 66%, and thas with only one Swords Dance. Sand Veil is what really makes this guy annoying. Counters like Rotom, etc always expect to KO with Hydro Pump, but they miss, I get a free Sub,and Acrobatics usually does the job.

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252 SPAtk, 108 HP, 148 Spe

Levitate

Timid (+Spe,-Atk)

-Thunder Wave
-Thunderbolt
-Hydro Pump
-Pain Split

Whats a sand team with out Tommy? Nothin if ya ask me. This guy is my main team supporter and water resist. People usually try to kill ground types with rain team (who woulda thought?), so this guy is designed to kill water types, and hax almost anything else (cept ground types, which he kills with Hydro Pump). This guy switches into Scizor, or anything that tries to kill TTar with ground or fighting. He handles fighting pretty well, except if its like A CB Infernape or some Bs like that... Hydro Pump is for stab, TWave is for support to pokemon like Gliscor. TBolt is for other things... Pain Split is specifically for health monsters like Blissey, Chansey, etc. This guy is like the glue to my team. He holds it all together.

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252 SpDef, 252 Hp, 4 Def

Sturdy

Careful (+SpDef, -SPAtk)
-Spikes
-Toxic Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Volt Switch

Forry is team supporter number 2. He is the hazard/spin utility pokemon. Spikes and TSpikes are for damage and poison. Volt switch is for escaping the clutches of Magnezone/ton, and Rapid Spin is for getting rid of the hazards on my side. This is also another guy I switch into if stuff tries to kill my TTar. Yep. Thats pretty much it for Forry.

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252 HP, 200 Def, 56 Spe

Magic Guard

Bold (+Def, - Atk)

-Cosmic Power
-Roost
-Stored Power
-Psycho Shift

Who said Sigilyph was dead? This guy is a freakin boss! He is a suppoerter/attacker. He sets up on hazard setters and leads. This guy walls every phsyical attacker except those few pokemon who have guts. The burn from the Flame Orb cripples phsyical attackers, and allows him to set up using Cosmic Power, and Roost back to healthiness.With enough boosts, Stored power also becomes a major threat. Probably my 2nd favorite pokemon on this team.

Well there you have it guys. Thats my team. It peaked at about 1250 before declining due to my lack of battling skill. Looking forward for what you guys have to offer to this team, and thanks for taking the time to check it out. Please do include any sets/pokemon/items/etc that you think I should change. Also please tell me any major threats to this team if you have a chance. Thanks again,
APimpNamedSlickback (AKA PimptasticMyNyugga)​
 
Are you playing on the main PO server or the Smogon Server? Because if you are playing the main server, I suggest Excadrill:

Excadrill @ Air Balloon

Ability: Sand Rush
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Spe/252 Atk/4 HP
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide (WHY NO STONE EDGE GAMEFREAK???)
-X-Scissor
-Swords Dance
 
This is smogon so he wouldn't be using an excadrill... i suggest gyro ball over toxic spikes on forretress because i've found it more useful, and toxic spikes doesn't hit many of the top metagame threats.
 
Hello and nice team here. Your team has some type synergy problems. Half of your team is weak to Ice which is one of the most common attacking types in the OU metagame. I suggest chosing either between Landorus or Gliscor. Two pokemon with the same typing is not helping you out with synergy. Try out a Specially Defensive Heatran to help give some more synergy and also helps counter Volcarona who seems like quite the menace to your team.
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Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Toxic
- Roar/Taunt
With this moveset Heatran can spread burns or poison. No need for Stealth Rock since Tyranitar already has that covered. Protect to rack up burn/toxic damage or to scout a choiced pokemons move. Roar or Taunt is your personal preference. Taunt to make Heatran a Wall-Breaker. Roar helps rack up Stealth Rock damage and general phazing.
I would also suggest changing Sigilpyh to a Reuniclus. Reuniclus can not boost its defenses but overall is a better psychic as Sigilyph has trouble taking Volturns. CM Reuniclus should work well to be able to take hits and pull of a sweep.
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Reuniclus (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
The evs are to outspeed other Reuniclus and what not. Life Orb is to make sure you can 2hko other Reuniclus at +5 with Psyshock. The rest is very standard. These are some changes I would consider over your current Sigilyph.
Hope this rate helped.
 
Hey guys
Yeah Im playing on Smogon where Excadrill is banned.
Thanks for the Pokemon suggestions Charlie. Reuniclus and Heatran are good additions.
Heatran forms a great core with Forrettress. Ill try out Reuniclus.
Also thanks for the Gyro Ball idea, Sir.
Ill try it out and get back to you guys.
 
Eventually, people will realize how good Gyroball Forre is. Beating down them Terrakion's Dragon Dancing Dragonites and other mons'
 
Sir is correct with using Gyro Ball over T-spikes on Forretress. Your team doesnt do much stalling and getting that damage on a Terrakion is very useful as it is your main way of checking a Terrakion. Also it makes you less set up fodder for Dragonite/Salamence/Haxorus. Btw where are you using Heatran. over your Landorus or Gliscor.
 
Hi

Pretty decent team, although you seem to have a huge weakness to Water-type moves, this means you're especially gonna have a hard time combating Rain teams. Many Water-type sweepers are also gonna give you problems (Rotom-W etc). I think the easiest way to fix these problems is by running a Calm Mind / Dragon Pulse / Roost / Roar Latias over Sigilyph. Latias can take on a big portion of Rain teams all by itself and it also handles Rotom-W and the likes pretty decently. And in case Tyranitar should die (Dugtrio is getting more and more popular) Latias can also handles Sun teams when needed. Calm Mind lets you keep your boosting sweeper poke you lost with Sigilyph and Roar is a useful move that allows you to beat Baton Pass teams and to rack up residual damage from your laid down hazards. You can switch the moves around of course, Refresh or Substitute are fine options over Roar as well. As far as EV's go, the standard 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spe spread with a Timid nature will suffice, although again, you can adjust it to your liking. Leftovers is the preferred held item.

A somewhat unnecessary suggestion, but have your tried Volt Switch > Thunderbolt or Rotom-W, it's a very useful move that's slightly weak but gives you switch advantage. Plus, it works good in combination with Landorus' U-turn and it lets you abuse your hazards even more.

Albeit not much, I hope these suggestions helped and good luck with the team.
 
Hi, this team really seems to be going in the right direction, but I think that there are a few things that could be improved upon. On paper, it seems that Rotom-W is going to be your biggest problem. Nothing on your team enjoys the combination of volt switch and hydro pump, while WoW cripples a few members of this team as well. Gliscor helps this out a bit by luring in the standard defensive variant, but I think it is really going to be hard to play around it other than that. A more offensive version of Celebi is an excellent way to hard counter Rotom-W while being able to easily win against most other threats that are able to spam powerful water moves as well. If you just ran a set with nasty plot / giga drain / psychic / earth power, maximum special attack and speed, with a modest nature, then you would be able to win against threats such as Rotom-W easily while being able to lure in and ko Heatran. Although it is useful on this team, I think that Gliscor should be the team member to be replaced for Celebi. This way you can still maintain a decent fighting resist while allowing yourself to win against Rotom-W.

It seems that this team is focusing on gaining offense through the use of volt switch and u-turn. If you want to try and keep this theme up, I would definitely run volt switch on Rotom-W and shift it to a more defensive variant. Will-o-Wisp should also be used over thunder wave if you decide to keep Sigilyph as well. A spread of 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe and a bold nature guarantees that Scizor will never bother you, while you can easily keep your momentum up with volt switch. This team really does not benefit too much from toxic spikes. Offensive teams based around u-turn should really only be focused on getting up spikes. I'd like to see you run spikes / stealth rock / rapid spin / volt switch on Forretress as well as choice banded Tyranitar over your current version. Choice banded Tyranitar should really be running 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe so that you can outrun and ko Jellicent, preventing it from burning you. A set with stone edge / crunch / pursuit / superpower would also be the most optimal moveset. If you want to take my advice on Celebi, maybe try running u-turn on it somewhere. With four volt switch / u-turn 'mons and pursuit cb ttar, you will have a fierce offensive combination. gl.
 
Love the Boondocks.
Anyhoo, on to the team, it's quite good, however, I see you struggling a little against ''volturn'' team, aka rotom-w+scizor.
The first step I would like to suggest you is Max HP on Rotom.
That's because Rotom is your only water resistor, and well, you've got 3 guys weak to water type attack, so Rotom will have to sponge hits alot, especially against rain teams.
That however doesn't still save you against rain teams, as such, why don't you try Nasty Plot Celebi>Sigilyph?
Yeah, I know you like Sigi, one of the underdog of bw, but Celebi can help you by scaring of the majority of rain threats (watch out for tornadus, though, but you have tyranitar and rotom for him) and also scare scizor and rotom
Celebi:
Celebi @ Leftovers Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 216 HP / 252 SAtk / 40 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover
Otherwise, good team and good luck!
​
 
Hey man. I agree with the others that this is a decent team, but I think it could use a few fixes.

First, I feel that your Landorus needs a Naive nature to outspeed and revenge kill +1 base 100s. Without a reliable way to revenge those threats, Pokemons such as max speed QD Volcarona and DD Salamence could easily grab a boost against your Forretress and cause major problems for the rest of your team.

I also think you should use Nasty Plot Celebi in place of Sigilyph to check opposing Rotom-W and help combat VoltTurn teams. Here's the set for your reference:

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 216 HP / 252 SAtk / 40 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Nasty Plot

I'd like to point out that running Psychic > Recover on this Celebi gives you a way to deal with Conkeldurr without having to immediately rely on Gliscor.

Have fun.
 
Right right. Again, great ideas guys, Ill be sure to try out celebi.
Hehe yeah Gliscor kills almost everything if sets up right..
And where could I incorporate U Turn in useful Celebi set, because I wanna try out the offensive option With CB TTar and Scizor etc?
 
I love Forretress as much as you do (mostly 'cause Ferrothorn can't touch it one-on-one), but why Volt Switch? Forry won't be fast enough to get out of Magnezone's clutches, so its still pretty much a sitting duck. My SpD Forry (on my Sandstorm team coincidentally) has RS, Spikes, Payback, and Gyro Ball while holding a Shed Shell to guarantee a safe exit on the Mag switch-in. If you don't fear Mag, drop Volt Switch and Payback or Gyro Ball. Espeon and Gengar, or Terrakion, won't know what hit them respectively.
 
strengthofheart said:
I love Forretress as much as you do (mostly 'cause Ferrothorn can't touch it one-on-one), but why Volt Switch? Forry won't be fast enough to get out of Magnezone's clutches, so its still pretty much a sitting duck. My SpD Forry (on my Sandstorm team coincidentally) has RS, Spikes, Payback, and Gyro Ball while holding a Shed Shell to guarantee a safe exit on the Mag switch-in. If you don't fear Mag, drop Volt Switch and Payback or Gyro Ball. Espeon and Gengar, or Terrakion, won't know what hit them respectively.
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Volt Switch is useful for maintaining momentum. It's also an excellent move on Forre in general.

Slick, try HP Fire over Roar on Latias, assuming you're going to be running it over Sigilsomething. Since Latias generally lures out Scizor, HP Fire is a good way to take it out.
 
Yeah so here's what happened.
I switched to BulkyTom so I could still run burn hax, and I now run Latias over Sigilyph. This Latias also happens to be carrying HP-Fire (Thanks to Sir).
This team is really getting a lot better.
Now, I just have to become a much better battler lol.
 
Nice team, Slickback and lots of handful rates.

Even with the changes, your team is susceptible to being swept by Volcarona. Volcarona can easily switch in on Forretress or even Latias and start a sweep. You do not have a spinblocker / Ferrothorn to discourage Rapid Spinning off Stealth Rock, and Heatran can be easily dispatched by Dugtrio or +1 HP Ground from Volcarona. For this reason, your team would benefit from adding Scarf Terrakion over Rotom-W. For the most part, Rotom-W provided redundant coverage that Forretress, Latios, and Heatran provide together, so I feel it is worth the trade-off. Scarf Terrakion would serve as a great all-purpose revenge-killer that your team really lacks.

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf | Justified
Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Close Combat | Rock Slide | X-Scissor | Stone-Edge

Displace the 4 HP EVs into Defense on your Gliscor; your current spread prevents Gliscor from making 4 Substitutes.

Also go physically-defensive on Forretress. You have plenty of special defense provided by Heatran, Latias, and Tyranitar. Forretress will not be able to survive +2 Close Combat from Terrakion or +2 Sand Force Earthquake from Landorus without the defenses. 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def | Relaxed Nature | Spe IVs 0

If you want to try CBTar to form the formidable ghost-busting / rapid-spinning partnership with Forretress, I suggest putting Stealth Rock on Heatran rather than on Forretress, which Smith suggested, since Forretress has more utility with Gyro Ball imo.

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Adamant | 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spe
Crunch | Stone Edge | Pursuit | Superpower

It's EVed enough to outrun most Jellicent, but you can bump its Speed up to 191-193 to outrun specially-defensive Heatran before they can status CBTar.

Thanks for the RMT, Slickback; hope this helped.
 
Ok SO right now Im runn Landor, Latias, Gliscor, Forrettress, TTar, and Heatran.. idk why it doesnt seem to be working too well..
And thanks for the feedback Pocket

Edit: OH
Nevermind. I fiugred it out. Landorus and Gliscor is redundant
So I threw in Rotom W.
 
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