Gen 3 Storm RMT

[Serial [Old]]

Following shrapn3l's suggestion I scraped the majority of the original team and began anew with three pokes: Tyrannitar, Skarmory and Claydol.

TyraniBoah (Tyranitar) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SAtk / 68 Spd
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Crunch
- Thunderbolt
Switched Dragon Dancing Tyranitar for his mixed attacking set, TyranniBoah (Can someone explain the "Boah"?). Boah will bring the storm, and eviscerate enemy skarmory and other stallers. SubPunching eases prediction and is sure to dent somethong not a dedicated wall or a ghost.

Standard (Skarmory) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 184 Def / 12 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Drill Peck
- Spikes
- Rest
- Roar
Standard Skarmory, she spikes, sponges hits and phazes. She may also take a nap to heal any status or if she's experienced to much abuse.

Utility (Claydol) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SAtk
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Rest
Floating above entry hazards and removing them so my team may enter safely is Claydol. Ice Beam and Earthquake to counter common Dragon Dancers Tyranitar and Salamence. Skarmory and Claydol together form a cohesive physical defence, and just like Skarmory it can rest when the going gets tough.

The physical wall had been set, but I need a poke who could function as my special wall. It had been recommended that I make my team more physically threatening so I had been considering Snorlax. However, if both my physical walls are resting or if half my team has status it could mean a game over. Blissey immediately came to mind as it is able to cure my team and wall special attackers all day.

Standard (Blissey) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Def / 52 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Aromatherapy
- Softboiled
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
Standard Blissey. Kicks Skarmory and Claydol out of bed, sops up status and can survive in a sandstorm thanks to reliable recovery. Seismic Toss over Ice Beam for reliable damge and being able to move the special attack EVs to make it a greater special wall. T is for Toxic, so someone should have it.

With a solid defensive core, and a mighty mixed attacker it was time I brought in some pokes who could cause some damage. The pokes I chose, Gengar and Aerodactyl, function as my Special and Physical Sweepers respectively. They also both happen to be quite fast and can function as my leads if I feel that starting the storm to early may ruin my fun (also, Gengar hates the storm).

SpAttacker (Gengar) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 172 HP / 148 SAtk / 188 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Fire Punch
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Gengar, he spinblocks and flies above entry hazards to kick the enemy straight in the kidneys. Well actually he just hits pokes super effectively off of his awesome base special attack stat. Fire Punch over Ice Beam because Gengar can come in on Forretress and knock him into the next world. Giga Drain obviously for swampert. Protect is to scout and to stall for Sandstorm and Toxic damage.

Aerodactyl (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Rock Slide
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
Choice Band Aerodactyl, either leads and dents the enemy heavily before I continue on my rampage or after the enermy has sustained enough damage I begin my sweep (More likely). Hidden Power Ghost for enemy psychics and ghosts.

 

[shrapn3l]

New to competitive battling, wanting to try out a TSS Team.

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Dragon Dance
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Grass]

honestly for true tss teams swampert is rarely difficult to bring down. i am not going to recommend you change hp grass at this point since the focus of your team is probably going to change quite a bit as you get acquainted with the metagame, but keep an open mind about double-edge, hp bug, ice beam, and taunt.

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 186 Def / 12 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Drill Peck
- Spikes
- Rest
- Roar

standard.

Magneton @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SAtk / 184 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Metal Sound
- Toxic

the most threatening magneton set one could muster up i suppose. sub is pretty useful on magneton for easing prediction and/or racking up additional toxic damage. since magneton is frail but has massive special attack, using substitute with it against a pokemon you know is going to switch out allows it to take hits from its counters that would do lots of damage to it, and in return it can toxic or metal sound or smack them with thunderbolt at the cost of only 25% of its health instead (~12% after two turns of leftovers recovery), making its frailty and its lack of speed less of a factor. i'd consider it over metal sound or toxic.

Ludicolo (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 36 SAtk / 220 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Surf
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
- Toxic

Ludicolo doesn't do too well without synthesis, but unfortunately synthesis is kinda screwed over by sandstream. With Celebi everywhere this thing is probably going to get worn down too quickly for it to be worth a slot on a TSS team.

Dusclops (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 58 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

I've always found that Dusclops really needs rest, and either sleep talk or a teammate with heal bell/aromatherapy to function in sand. With just pain split the lack of leftovers recovery is a bit cumbersome. Dusclops is also incredibly vulnerable to status afflictions this way, which coupled with sandstream will wear it down in a hurry.

Claydol @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 114 Def / 144 SAtk
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Rest

Claydol is probably the best spinner in this metagame but with magneton already on your team it's a bit redundant.

Honestly the problem with this team is that most of your pokemon are not really threatening. Most of them function well in sandstorm (with the exception of Ludicolo, and with its current moveset, Dusclops), but they do not function particularly well with each other. All of them are incredibly specialized in their roles, and all of them except Tyranitar are almost fully defensive in nature. Ludicolo gets walled rather easily and does not function too well in sandstream, and Magneton is a huge threat to Skarmory but due to its frailty and lack of speed and offensive coverage, it isn't a threat to much else. It would be beneficial to use Magneton with more physical attackers and sweepers that can take advantage of the fact that Skarmory is out of the way. You really do not need to use Magneton and Claydol on the same team either, and it is even inadvisable, as both are incredibly limited offensively and Magneton is a almost a nonfactor defensively. Dusclops' only real function is taking hits and blocking rapid spin, and it never really actually ends up being a threat to much of anything except maybe Gengar or Starmie. Skarmory is the best physical wall in the game and is an excellent spiker and phazer, but Drill Peck doesn't provide much coverage. Now, it is perfectly possible to run a full stall team that focuses on defense to win, but this team also doesn't have very much defensive cohesion. Tyranitar, Skarmory and Claydol make a solid core for a team, and you may even want to keep Dusclops, but I would get rid of Ludicolo and Magneton for Pokemon that are more threatening offensively and/or less specialized as counters to enemy pokemon (Ludicolo kind of only counters milotic, swampert, and other water types, Magneton only really counters Skarmory and Forretress, whereas pokemon like Swampert and Zapdos counter many common threats).

 

[Serial [Old]]

Team Edited.

Just realized that 4/6 pokes are immune to spikes, so should I swap Claydol for something else?

 

[Umby]

Claydol's your most solid option vs both DDTar and DDMence right now, so at best you could swap it out for Swampert to keep that hole defended. Having Claydol to spin keeps Tyranitar healthy once it switches in, though, so swapping it out isn't a necessity.