ORAS OU GXE SCORE: 80%. A powerful sandstorm Team.

[Monkey D. Luffy117]

Music: https://goo.gl/B1ryjq

Dear Reader,

If you're reading this, then I'm most likely still stranded in the bitter sandstorms of the Sahara Deserts. In any case, I was able to bring along my laptop with me and I've been playing on Pokemon Showdown on my lonesome, inside my tent (don't even ask about the wifi). In any case, here's a brilliant sandstorm team I created a little while ago, and so far so good, I'm pleased to report that the team has been a raging success!

Here is a link to my GXE scores and my teams success in OU:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/users/killlakill117

First of all I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I've created a new account on showdown and I've been working my way from the bottom, all the way to the top but by limiting myself to using ONLY this team. Thanks to these Powerful and fearsome members of mine, I was able to increase my previously pitiful GXE score of 0%, all the way to literally 80.0%.

With this Sandstorm team of mine, I was able to take on a total of 30 OU matches, winning 26 of those, and losing on 4 in return. If that doesn't impress you, then I don't know what will.

How then, without any further ado, let's get started!

The Team at first glance

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Team Building process [feel free to skip]
Trial and error 1

This was the team I first started off with when creating my Sand storm team. However, my success with them was limited due to their crippling ground and fighting type weaknesses. As a matter of fact, the moment I lost Garchomp was the moment my matches were decided. With this team I would often find myself at the mercy of Mach Punch users e.g. Conkeldurr and Breloom. Heatran was our main method of offense for getting rid of Skarmory. Lucario was fragile but a powerful sweeper none the less. A choiced-Scared Terrikion was perfect luring and KO'ing Mega Lopunny. It also functioned as a brilliant revenge killer.
Trial and error 2

Believe it or not but this team was in fact a mild improvement! Thanks to the addition of Reuniclus and Donphan my team could better handle the bothersome fighting type Pokemon, at least to some degree. Why to some degree you ask? Because Conkeldurr still has access to Knock Off which does "wonders" on Reuniclus, especially if it is switching in expecting a Drain Punch. To make matters worse, Reuniclus is so slow that even Conkeldurr out paces it. How disappointing! Won't you agree? Breloom, on the other hand, still has access to the attack move, Bullet Seed. Donphan was added for it's ice type, priority move, Ice Shard. An option for breaking down Dragonite and hurting Breloom.
Trial and error 3

Next, I decided to switch the tables. Since my team was intended to be a sand storm team, I decided to lift the burden from the fighting-type-weak Tyranitar, and baton pass all the stress to the more study and reliable Hippowdon. This left me with two Sand-summoners, which Excadrill was more than happy with (as it would be seeing more play early game). At this point, Tyranitar became an offensive attacker via the Choice banded set. Although improved, my team found it difficult to stomach powerful, ground type attacks head on! I added Scizor for it's powerful priority attacks which my team was lacking.
Trial and error 4

As I continued playing, my skills in utilizing sandstorm-reliant Pokemon greatly improved. I left Garchomp in the team due to it's ability to KO the bothersome threat that is, Landorus-T. Of course this required some level of prediction. But I was lacking that at the time. So Garchomp was nominated as a Pokemon worth replacing. Having two sandstorm summoners seemed like a great idea on paper, but was impractical and left my team vulnerable to water hazards i.e. scald. And that, was were Rotom Wash came in; providing immunity to ground type attacks, stopping Starmie, and ending Keldeo. Rotom-W was ideal! Gliscor was the real, final staple to the team as it could take on fighting type attacks, toxic stall and was immune to ground type attacks!
Trial and error 5

At this point, the team seemed complete. So I decided to replace Garchomp in search for something else more viable. Why you ask? Because it's speed is piss-poor upon Mega Evolving!
And that Ladies and gentle men, was were Mega Metagross came in. Bringing both speed and power to the table, Mega Metagross easily rounded off my team and proved to be a force to reckoned with. The cherry on the biscuit, was that Metagross also came with the attack move, Bullet Punch (who'd have known?!).

Sandstorm Teammates

Desertar (Tyranitar) (M) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam

Tyranitar provides my team with the much needed sand and stealth rocks support. Tyranitar also successfully gets rid of Lati-twins via pursuit. And if played right, it would also forms a convenient way of finishing off Charizard Y by locking it into Solar Beam (Rotom Wash is the lure I use for this). Tyranitar pairs well with Excadrill by activating the ever so useful ability, Sand Rush. Ice Beam forms a surprise attack on Landorus and Garchomp (when switching in. It can also be used somewhat recklessly since both of these Pokemon prefer Stealth Rocking first rather than Earthquaking. A high risk, high reward kind of strategy! If I do say so myself. But it's not not advised thanks to Rotom-W and Gliscors presence).

Silverbolt (Magnezone) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt

This hunk of metal over here provides us with a surefire way of frying those bothersome steel types (and yes, we're looking at you Ferrothorn and Scizor, you too Skarmory, with youuur dumb looking beak, and shiny metal ass) Since this Magnezone is armed with Choice Specs, it's Flash Cannon attacks are devastating to most Ground types that try to switch in (expecting a measly electric type attack).

[It's 02:07 pm and I've stopped carrying for grammar mistakes at this point LOL ]

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 40 Def / 224 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Protect
- Earthquake

Ah! I forgot to nickname him, I shall call him, "Batman"! This little sucker here is a troll to most teams. And who says out dated knowledge is useless knowledge?! This set works like wonders, and thanks to it Gliscor easily tackles Rotom Wash via smacking it in the face with a wicked Toxic-Stall Attack! This set is simple. Toxic when you see an opening; substitute, protect, and repeat. And before you know it most assumed counters fall to their knees. It's also a great Hazard "Absorber". So no Spore from you, thank you very much Breloom! Since my team is incredibly vulnerable to ground type attacks, Gliscor provides additional method for evading the lethal ground type attacks. It's also a great wall for opposing Excadrill. Gliscor walls the Mold Breaker ones, while Rotom W walls the Sand Rush ones.

Drillbill (Excadrill) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Excadrill is our revenge kill and the pokemon that lands the finishing blow on most Teams. With a Gigantic attack stat, Adamant nature boost and access to life orb, why run Swords Dance?! I wanted it to instantly hit hard and fast. And the lack of carrying Swords Dance, provides us with a Rapid Spinner!

Platinum (Metagross) @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm
- Bullet Punch

Metagross is our wall breaker. With it's ability, Tough Claws he's capable of wearing down Defensive Pokemon, especially after an attack boost from its infamous Meteor Mash attack! Metagross also has the strange but useful added affect of luring Landorus into the field. Which of course would make perfect sense ...if it didn't have the ability, Clear Body before Mega Evolving! Hammer Arm is useful for the Air Balloon fiends i.e. Heatran and Excadrill. It also provides us with an alternative for Ferrothorn should Magnezone be knocked out. Bullet Punch is irreplaceable. I love my priority moves, and an instant way to KO Mega Diance is a godsend! Metagross also KO's Keldeo.

PressWash (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Rotom W is overused beyond belief, and for a good reason too i.e. it's just too useful to pass up on. It's levitate ability provides my teammates with a second escape route away from ground type attacks. It also walls Scald-helding Keldeo a major treat to my Team. Rotom Wash is also another option for safely disposing away Garchomp.

Final thoughts:
I believe that this is actually an great team, perhaps even worthy of of being displayed on a Team Showcase. It covers what it needs to cover and isn't weak to anything . Any objections?

This is the site I got the nicknames from:
http://pokemonname-rater.tumblr.com/

Here are some replies
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-313071017
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-313085500
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-313280431

 

[kingbaruk]

Sand teams are both hard to use and master. I remember me trying once and fail. I think this team is much better (sinc i tried sandslash in ou, cus sandslash is my favorite pokemon but it didn't work out). The first thing that bothered me was charizard y. you're trying to lock it into solarbeam, but you can only do so if tyrtar is still alive and your opponent doesn't predict the switch and predicting it is very easy, instead he goes for focus blast and bye tar... and probably the rest of your team when he switches back in for sun. My solution would be giving tyrtar scarf, but your team needed the sandstorm, so instead give magnezone the scarf after scarf its speed in max speed investment is 360 which is more than charizard a thunderbolt would probably kill it.

Next up is mega sableye. A hellgate opened in the dessert and this cranky demon appeared ready to wall your entire team with the combination max spdef willowisp+recover+calm mind. GG The only pokemon that could oppose it is our friend gliscor but... he doesn't have swords dance. That's why i would suggest running sdance gliscor or lum berry exca this would probably help you overcome it's bulk. and turn the demon back to the hell it came from

and the last thing what if your opponent uses gliscor too, your gliscor can't do anything about it (maybe he can't either kill your gliscor) but this gives rise to long boring battles, gliscor is faster then your tyrtar so it can substall to it's dead. Metagross with ice punch could give it a better check tx to it's toxic immunity and high physical defence. Giving metagross ice punch instead and tyrtar superpower against ferrothorn leads might work better.

 

[Monkey D. Luffy117]

Sand teams are both hard to use and master. I remember me trying once and fail. I think this team is much better (sinc i tried sandslash in ou, cus sandslash is my favorite pokemon but it didn't work out). The first thing that bothered me was charizard y. you're trying to lock it into solarbeam, but you can only do so if tyrtar is still alive and your opponent doesn't predict the switch and predicting it is very easy, instead he goes for focus blast and bye tar... and probably the rest of your team when he switches back in for sun. My solution would be giving tyrtar scarf, but your team needed the sandstorm, so instead give magnezone the scarf after scarf its speed in max speed investment is 360 which is more than charizard a thunderbolt would probably kill it.

Next up is mega sableye. A hellgate opened in the dessert and this cranky demon appeared ready to wall your entire team with the combination max spdef willowisp+recover+calm mind. GG The only pokemon that could oppose it is our friend gliscor but... he doesn't have swords dance. That's why i would suggest running sdance gliscor or lum berry exca this would probably help you overcome it's bulk. and turn the demon back to the hell it came from

and the last thing what if your opponent uses gliscor too, your gliscor can't do anything about it (maybe he can't either kill your gliscor) but this gives rise to long boring battles, gliscor is faster then your tyrtar so it can substall to it's dead. Metagross with ice punch could give it a better check tx to it's toxic immunity and high physical defence. Giving metagross ice punch instead and tyrtar superpower against ferrothorn leads might work better.

Thanks for the creative writing (LOL) it makes everything so much more interesting to read ^^

And those are some great suggestions, and you've made some really good points. I've fallen victim to a few Focus Blasts on Tyranitar, but accidents like that cannot be helped. LOL. And yes, I'll go with your suggestion of Scarfing Magnezone. I only gave it the choice specs to just to try something new, and to be a powerful Special attacker.

Oh! And as for Mega Sableye, Magnezone's Choice Specs Flash Cannon 2HKO's it lol, same with Hippowdon ^^

Here are the changes I'll make:
Choice Spec Magnezone > Choice Scarf Magnezone. Thanks for the suggestion.

Tyranitar can keep Ice Beam. Scizors Bullet Punch KO's it anyway lol. I can use Magnezone to KO ferrothorn and Scizor.

Toxic-Stall Gliscor has been too handy in the past for stalling dangerous Pokemon out e.g. Rotom W, Dragon Dance users etc.

Mega Metagross. I've had more uses for Hammer Arm than Ice Punch lol. The problem tends to be Landorus-T, but spamming Meteor Mash a 2-3 times is often enough to KO it. Often people switch in Lando before it mega evolves, only to realize that intimidate fails to activate, and they take Major damage, and then Bullet Punch finishes the job even if they're scarfed ^^ Metagrosses four move syndrome means we don't have enough room for Ice Punch. And besides I have Rotom and Gliscor for Landorus. The only real threat is Opposing Gliscors [like you've said], guess you never really can cover everything in Pokemon ^^

Thanks again man, I appreciate your help :D

 

[Monkey D. Luffy117]

Yo,

Right off the bat I can see this team stacks a lot of common weaknesses. Water being the main one. You have 3 Pokemon weak to Water, with 1 resist. Rotom-W isn't the most sturdy water resist as it is. Unable to really deal with the likes of Keldeo, Kingdra, Manaphy, or Starmie, amongst others. This team also completely lacks a stallbreaker, and I can foresee this team struggling against stall. I can also see this team struggling vs Offense. The only semblance of speed control comes with Excadrill. The rest of the team is not that fast, nor bulky, which can be an issue vs offense.

Firstly, swap Gliscor for Amoonguss. You don't need a 3rd Pokemon weak to water, and SubToxic Gliscor in general isn't very good. Amoonguss works fantastically on Sand teams because it brings a Water, Fighting, and Grass resist, which is great support for Tyranitar, and Excadrill. Amoonguss also doesn't get worn down as quickly by the sand damage, because it has access to Regenerator which replenishes its health upon switching out.

Next, this team needed an answer for Conkeldurr, Mega Sableye, Garchomp, Mega Heracross, and Kyurem-B. I could only think of one Pokemon who could handle them all. Clefable. Swap Magnezone for Clefable. Clefable brings a switchin to all those Pokemon, as well as a pretty cool form of support in Healing Wish. As this team seems a bit weak to Pokemon like Bisharp, and Scizor, Healing Wish Clefable can be used to heal Rotom, or Excadrill, or Metagross when they've been weakened, therefore bettering the matchup against those Pokemon. I thought it was a cool tech, and something worth trying.

Lastly, a few set changes. Change Tyranitar from Pursuit to Fire Blast, and from Rock Slide, to Stone Edge. Fire Blast helps to lure in Ferrothorn, and Scizor and pave the way for Excadrill, or Metagross, and Stone Edge's extra power is needed over Rock Slide to get enough damage vs Heatran, Bulk Up Talonflame etc. Next, give your Rotom 88 Speed EVs. This allows it to outspeed Crawdaunt, which is otherwise a big problem for your team.

tl;dr

>

>

Fire Blast + Stone Edge > Pursuit + Rock Slide on

More Speed investment on

Sets

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Clear Smog
- Spore

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind / Fire Blast
- Healing Wish
- Soft-Boiled

Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Thanks for the help man, I appreciate it :D

But Gliscor has a few niche that even Amoonguss can't hope to replace. But it's very tempting and worth looking into. I'll try it! ^^
As for Tyranitar, nope, I know my bad luck lol and Rock slide is far too reliable for me to replace it with the dreaded Stone Edge (lol).
PS: Why would I send out Tyranitar against Heatran? I've never been forced into such a decision : / Heatran often packs Flash cannon and even it's Lava Plume's chances of burning packs too much damage, so Stone edges extra power is kinda redundant lol (TwT)

Omg, dude you have a good point! I thought that adding the extra speed on Rotom was terrible idea since it needs all the bulk it can get to stop Mega Swampert. But Running your brilliant Amoonguss Suggestion means that we can stop Swampert (a major threat to my team). The extra speed on Rotom Wash sounds great for out speeding and burning certain things :D

Thank you!

PS: I test my teams on showdown, but play on the 3ds. So Clefable isn't an options since Softboiled is not allowed lol.

 

[MANNAT]

PS: I test my teams on showdown, but play on the 3ds. So Clefable isn't an options since Softboiled is not allowed lol.

Softboiled is allowed if you have magic guard imported from gen 3 since back then you can get it from move tutors. The method is this: In the 3rd gen, Clefable line's only ability was Cute Charm. However, as everyone knows, all Pokémon have 2 ability slots- so your friendly neighbourhood Azumarill can have Thick Fat or Huge Power. What some don't know is that all Pokémon have these two slots- even if they only have one ability. For Clefairy, it's ability is either Cute Charm 1 or Cute Charm 2- if your Clefairy has Cute Charm 2 and you transfer it to D/P after teaching Softboiled in Emerald/FR/LG, it will still have Cute Charm. But when you evolve it, the game normalizes the ability, and Cute Charm 2 becomes Magic Guard.

The problem is that unless you hack you have no way of knowing whether your Clefairy has Cute Charm 1 or Cute Charm 2 before wasting 16 Battle points/using up your only Softboiled tutor. You only find out upon evolving your Clefairy in D/P. Your perfectly IVed Clefairy could be completely worthless as it has Cute Charm.

 

[kingbaruk]

Softboiled is allowed if you have magic guard imported from gen 3 since back then you can get it from move tutors. The method is this: In the 3rd gen, Clefable line's only ability was Cute Charm. However, as everyone knows, all Pokémon have 2 ability slots- so your friendly neighbourhood Azumarill can have Thick Fat or Huge Power. What some don't know is that all Pokémon have these two slots- even if they only have one ability. For Clefairy, it's ability is either Cute Charm 1 or Cute Charm 2- if your Clefairy has Cute Charm 2 and you transfer it to D/P after teaching Softboiled in Emerald/FR/LG, it will still have Cute Charm. But when you evolve it, the game normalizes the ability, and Cute Charm 2 becomes Magic Guard.

The problem is that unless you hack you have no way of knowing whether your Clefairy has Cute Charm 1 or Cute Charm 2 before wasting 16 Battle points/using up your only Softboiled tutor. You only find out upon evolving your Clefairy in D/P. Your perfectly IVed Clefairy could be completely worthless as it has Cute Charm.

or you could just buy an ability capsule at the battle maison

 

[MANNAT]

or you could just buy an ability capsule at the battle maison

oh true lol

 

[Monkey D. Luffy117]

bump

 

[Foreverwisdom]

bump

 

[Sablenite]

bump

bump

You only get one bump, and use Elo as your peak system but anyhow, onto the rate

I find Magnazone redundant with 2 steel types already so I'd replace it with something able to help with your extreme water weakness and still be relatively offensive. However this makes Ferrothorn harder to deal with, but also stops ground types freeing up Tyranatar to run Fire Blast over Ice Beam. Lastly your unable to stop Mega Sableye teams, so I would try SD Gliscor

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power Ice


Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 8 Def / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off / Facade
- Swords Dance
- Roost

 

[KingSceptile]

Now what I noticed was that you mentioned that you have a crippling ground weakness for the first team you built. Well that remains consistent as a mold breaking Excadrill (like the one I run) eats this team. I like Choice Specs Magnezone due to the extra power and steel trapping capabilities. If I were to make any suggestions if possible is to find a pokemon without a ground type weakness, beats out scarf lando, and doesn't mind hydro pumps from Starmie. In that case, I would say skarmory with a rock setter set would do this team well.

 

[Celticpride]

Locking because OP is banned.