Sand Stream: Companionship of weirdOs

[Rusp]

Introduction

Hi, this is my first RMT and also thread on smogon. I started to play competitively two years ago in fourth generation. What I can tell is that I'm starting to get into the battling mechanics and maybe being a little good at it ; don't care about the ladder at all, I quit a lot because sometimes I get tired of all the waiting and the well-thinking behind every single battle and I cannot focus properly. I want to apologize for any likely grammar mistakes, since English is not my first language, like many others here in Smogon. I thank you all the users that will answer me, since it means so much to me having a honest, weighted opinion from more expert battlers. Have fun, drive safe.

P.S. I'm a fan of the constructive criticism, so please do not tear down all the work I've done, cause it is pointless to me ;)

Team​

Mussolini (Tyranitar) (M) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 SpA / 192 SpD
Sassy Nature (+SpD, -Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit over Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Roar

He is the superstar of my team, I kinda love him ; he summons storm that neautralizes leftovers and sashes. It is more an anti-weather for me actually, but it has good qualities, like high special defence and a perfect sintony with virizion and jellicent :) . Roar may sound pretty odd since Ice Beam gives him better coverage, but other pokèmon of my team have ice type moves. Also roar allows him to break stat-ups and with a good predict it gives me more control on the field. I personally consider him as a different "Heatran", for the similarity of their sets and evs.

Patrizia (Gliscor) (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Taunt over Protect ( I thought this through, it is the only thing it keeps me from being eaten alive by Gyarados :()
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang

Meet Patrizia, the sexiest Gliscor alive :) . This girl can take lots of physical attacks, and has a huuuuge recovery power considering her ability, which makes her a status absorber as well. And be careful, cause if she starts to dance, she may become a dangerous threat for your team, fatal sometimes.

Serafino (Virizion) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Focus Blast
- Giga Drain
- HP Ice

Okay, besides the fact that this thing is the coolest pokèmon I've ever seen in my entire life, I have to be honest ; I totally underrated it. I thought he had a bad typing, small movepool and no further application in OU since Breloom, with the same typing of him, was way better to me. And boy, I was so wrong; Serafino in fact is a great add on my team, pretty much the most important ingredient. Able to sponge everybody's weakness in my team, it also has amazing coverage and a quite good endurance, since having leftovers + giga drain is a good thing to keep it alive. He is like a better Celebi and a fast Reuniclus ; I'm in love <3

Mrs. Fedrigoni (Jellicent) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def/ 44 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Scald
- Taunt over Ice Beam (still not convinced but I'm open to anything ;))

Mrs. Fedrigoni represents the perfect match for Mussolini because of her typing. Ice Beam over taunt for the coverage issue; although taunt may seem the most viable choice, it is a bit pointless to me used by slow pokèmon like jellicent. It has its utility against other jellicents or huge bulky pokèmon like reuniclus; maybe i'm just talking crap, I dont know, I just don't like it xD

IronPeck (Skarmory) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def/ 24 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
- Spikes

New member, quick summary of its qualities; best nickname for a pokèmon ever (:D), great typing and the possibility to set up entry hazards. Also, as suggested, it gives me protection from dragon and , unlike Tornadus, he doesn't suffer the stealth rock weakness. Didn't think of it before, I'm definitely going to test it.

Eukaryote (Reuniclus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Def / 252 Hp/ 4 SpD
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psyshock over Psychic (can't argue with that, i just wanted to make it more anti-Conkeldurr, but no need of it)
- Focus Blast

And he is the surprise, the guy you didn't expect; apart the fact that he suits the sand storm, i love it. This is the best 5th gen pokèmon to me; he is sooooo bulky and few calm minds can make you win the game. Magic Guard is the best ability of all times; he is a versatile, powerful and highly-competitive pokèmon. And he is perfect in my team since his weaknesses are covered by Virizion, Tyranitar and Jellicent. I won battles just with him sometimes :P

Former-members

Aladdin (Tornadus) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Substitute
- Acrobatics
- Brick Break

Tornadus is the 5th gen genius i like the least ; the mono Flying type didnt make me want to use it, but it started like an anti-Virizion coalitation. The green chevalier kicked my ass so hard i wanted to have someone who could completely wall him so that it wouldn't have happened again. But then I started to see his great qualities like great stats, a free substitute and the possibility to literaly "bulk him up" so that I could "sweep", but also take advantadge of a possible free switch properly. My lack of fire moves made me vulnerable to all OU grass Pokèmon and Aladdin was the best and most sensible choice in response of it.

P.S. He entered as a Ferrothorn's replacement, which was kinda useless.

Okay here it is. I believe this one is a sort of sand team; it started for fun, but then i got good results and i wanted to give it some corrections to make it as competitive as possible. The four stat-uppers may sound not a great choice, but they give me huge boost at the beginning and great assistance in late-game. Thank you all, see ya ;)​

 

[yee]

Hi there Rusp, great job with your first RMT!

After looking over the team for a while, I found the biggest problems with the team to be Mamoswine and DD Scrafty, Mamoswine can OHKO your whole team besides Jellicent and Reuniclus so if it gets in, you will have to sac something to kill it. DD Scrafty can get a DD on Tyranitar and OHKO your entire team with boosted attacks. Tornadus is out of place IMO, it lets Skarmory come in for free and set up Spikes which are annoying for half of your team, particulary against Voltturn because you need Virizion to take on Rotom-W and Spikes will wear it down quickly. You also lack a Dragon resist- Tyranitar is as useful as a steel for special dragons but Outrages really do a number on your team. To fix this and advance your team's strategy, I recommend running Skarmory over Tornadus. It fixes all of those problems, ensures you don't need a Choice Scarf user by giving your team enough overall bulk to hold off all the major threats, and provides you Spikes for Jellicent to block, really helping your team because Virizion forces a lot of switch outs against normal teams, making it easier to wear down Scizor and Jirachi and therefore making it easier for Reuniclus to sweep later. Run the basic Spikes / Roost / Whirlwind / Brave Bird set and an EV spread of 252 hp / 56 def / 200 spD impish, this is a good balance for your team because it takes a +1 Focus Blast from Leftovers Virizion, let's it set up more spikes on bulky waters and takes Outrages / Brave Birds just fine, which typing-wise is all it needs to do for the team. You can experiment with other spreads if you find you need more bulk on either side.

As for small changes to the team, I would run Pursuit on Tyranitar, Crunch on bulkytar really doesn't hit anything hard except frail Psychics like Latios which your team would love to see gone. On Gliscor Taunt is a better fit over Protect IMO because it stops bulkier walls from just setting up hazards on it which is nice because you lack a spinner. Definitely run Taunt over Ice Beam on Jellicent- it's a staple for a reason and a much more useful move. It again prevents slower walls from setting up hazards on it and recovering, it's particularly useful for Ferrothorn so it can't stack spikes on you. Lastly, run Psyshock over Psychic on Reuniclus, this makes it one of the best all-around Virizion counters in the game and lets it beat other Calm Minders like Latias and other Reuniclus one on one. You can run some speed EVs to creep other Reuniclus if you'd like be sure you can outrun and kill them first once you have enough boosts.

Good job and good luck!

 

[Rusp]

Thanks for the answer :) You have given me such pretty good advices; first of all I cannot tell if Mamoswine can be a real threat to me cause I haven't met one yet with this team; i believe Virizion can take pretty good care of it if it is not scarfed, which can be dangerous yeah. The DD Scrafty is one of the reasons in fact why i decided to run tyranitar with Roar and Chople Berry; it doesn't entirely cover it but it can sure help me out deal with it.

I'll give a try to the changes u've suggested and I'm totally positive and acceptive with Tornadus's replacement; skarmory has a way better typing, it is even stupid of mine that I didn't think of it in the first place. Gotta run it with a physical defence set, since pretty much my whole team but Gliscor is a special attack's sponge. Gotta keep this thread updated for any possible changes. Again thank you so much, hope you have a nice day ;)

 

[Honus]

Hey Rusp, nice team!

As it stands, I can see Gengar proving to be a nuisance to this team. Gengar can easily get behind a sub on something like Gliscor before proceeding to damage the rest of your team with either Shadow Ball [beats Reuniclus, Jellicent and Gliscor] or Focus Blast, which is capable of hurting Skarmory and Tyranitar [if Gengar is behind a Sub, then Chople is rendered null and void provided Focus Blast hits both times]. Virizion stands a chance, as it avoids a 2HKO for the most part but can't switch in, since Gengar outspeeds it, so if you try to Calm Mind, you'll be at around 8% and your efforts will be in vain. I could also see Trick Room Reuniclus causing you some problems, even with your Chople and Special Defense EVs on Gliscor, Psychic can take Gliscor down if it's already been damaged and since your Tyranitar has Pursuit, it won't be OHKOing Reuniclus. You can probably stall out Reuniclus 's Trick Room and hopefully Taunt it with Gliscor or just hit it hard, but it will definitely end up doing heavy damage to your team between its excellent Psychic/Focus Blast/Shadow Ball coverage. Luckily, I think you can cover both of these threats by replacing Jellicent with a Specially Defensive Gastrodon. You do lose your Spinblock, but you have a much better answer to those two threats, as well as a backup check to many other special attackers, as Gastrodon and Tyranitar work great together and wall many special attackers as a tandem. Plus, you aren't defenseless against stall, as Reuniclus will still win you the game if you can play strategically enough to remove its designated counter.

Gastrodon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Toxic / Ice Beam

Finally, I suggest taking 4 HP EVs away from Reuniclus, as well as the 4 SpD EVs, since you're running Psyshock now. I always like running 8 Speed EVs when using Psyshock on Calm Mind Reuniclus because it will almost always guarentee a win against other Calm Mind Reuniclus, provided they don't try and speed creep also. It's a small change, but can definitely prove helpful in certain situations.

Change Summary:

Reuniclus:

4 HP and 4 SpD EVs->Speed

 

[Rusp]

Hi karpman :) The gengar issue is serious and I'm starting to realize it by battling. I wont make gastrodon official member of the team but I want to try it first to see his positive qualities and how it responds to the whole team's structure, since jellicent had a great sinergy with Tyranitar.

Btw i wanted to share a thought i had in my mind; what if I run tyranitar with a mono attack set; stealth rock - pursuit - roar- Twave. I have noticed that fire blast is really not that useful but against ferrothorn maybe that i still do not consider the most serious issue having reuniclus virizion and others. Without any special attacks i'm going to run it with this evs spread : 252 Hp / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Let me know what you think of it please :)

 

[Honus]

Hi karpman :) The gengar issue is serious and I'm starting to realize it by battling. I wont make gastrodon official member of the team but I want to try it first to see his positive qualities and how it responds to the whole team's structure, since jellicent had a great sinergy with Tyranitar.

Btw i wanted to share a thought i had in my mind; what if I run tyranitar with a mono attack set; stealth rock - pursuit - roar- Twave. I have noticed that fire blast is really not that useful but against ferrothorn maybe that i still do not consider the most serious issue having reuniclus virizion and others. Without any special attacks i'm going to run it with this evs spread : 252 Hp / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Let me know what you think of it please :)

That could work, as you definitely seem to have Reuniclus and Scizor handled. More Special Defense could really prove helpful on Tyranitar. You could also run Crunch over Thunder Wave, since it can 2HKO Trick Room Reuniclus and hits harder in general.