First, a link to the Sand Bluff RMT :
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sand-bluff-mode.3664621/
My Perspective on the Meta and Team Building
I’ve heard several opinions on how stale the meta in Gen 8 has been. As someone who hadn’t been playing competitively for years (or even playing Pokemon period, really,) I was able to come into Gen 8 with a fresh perspective; in many ways, I’m sure this has shielded me from some of the negatives leveled against the current meta.
Nonetheless, it’s easy to see why Dynamax is a bit loathed: it causes a lot more 50/50’s, skyrockets versatility of already strong Pokemon and leads to snowballs that were not possible before. How many times have things gone from doing great to “well, I guess I’ll just lose now” for your matches? Or how many times have you been completely wrong about an opposing team build at team select? It’s almost like all the good strategies in the game got consolidated into only 10-15 top Pokemon. Given this centralization, it’s easy to see why “goodstuffs” is not just popular but safe. You can’t afford many--if any--weak link “niches” when most if not all of the opposing Pokemon can threaten to snowball you at a moment’s notice. So what’s my response?
(Small disclaimer: I haven’t been around competitive BSS very long so my team-building approach outlined below may not be much new. As such, you may want to look at this as less of a hot take and more as one player learning to wrap their head around the game.)
My approach usually doesn’t focus on “What’s the strongest thing I can do?” but instead on “What is the strongest thing and how do I beat it?” At one point I would’ve called it “anti-meta,” but I’m not sure that’s totally accurate. I am not against using a “meta” threat if it fits the role I’m looking for. My team-building is perhaps only “anti-meta” in the sense that my decision-making often prioritizes (sneaky) counterplay over blunt optimization.
I really like to focus on the psychological aspects of competition. Let me give some side-conversation context: I’ve invested a fair amount of time in 2D fighters like Smash Bros. What keeps me coming back to these games--which in the past was often as a hopeless romantic who really wasn’t that good at them--is the sheer joy I get out of “mindgames.” Those moments where I get inside someone’s head and play them like a fiddle straight into a Jigglypuff Rest haymaker is what gets me going. The “galaxy brain plays” are what compel me to keep going and to keep getting better.
And so if I may be a bit bold, where many see unbridled chaos in the BSS, I see fertile opportunity. Right now there is no shortage of mind screwing going on, a lot of which could arguably be said isn’t even intentional. Is that Mimikyu a Swords Dance, Trick Room or Kee Berry build? Is that a boosting Snorlax or a Yawn Snorlax? I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been frustrated by left-field shenanigans, but after taking a step back the path forward seems to be getting clearer for me. Is there a way to generate consistency amid all the insanity?
The Sand Bluff Model
So on to my actual team retrospective.
The main core of Sand Bluff is Tyranitar + Excadrill + Rotom-Fan, and I’m happy to say I’ve had a lot of success with it despite it being a fairly linear strategy on the surface. I will admit that near the end of this last season I took a rather sharp dive in the ranks, but this was a combination of bad play and technical difficulties with our internet. I ended up taking a small hiatus and playing the end of the season more so to restabilize myself and continue gathering data for the next round.
As I pointed out in the team-building process, Excadrill and Rotom-Fan are really what this team is built around. Excadrill is one of your “goodstuffs” picks with a Rotom-Fan in the back to “plug holes.” I’m going to re-emphasize the two major benefits of this pairing:
- Rotom-Fan is not just a niche check to enable Excadrill; it’s a wincon that straight-up takes over the match. One prepares their team expecting Excadrill to do the heavy lifting and for Rotom-Fan to do support (which is still doable if I so choose,) but reality ends up being reversed.
- Rotom-Fan hard counters the most common sets for Excadrill’s counters. Corviknight, defensive Ferrothorn and Toxapex have very little in the way of good answers even if they were to call the switch. Compare these matchups with, say, Togekiss vs. Ferrothorn: Togekiss absolutely has to be mindful of switching into Gyro Ball, let alone trying to do something like Nasty Plot setup. This ease of switching provides what is often missing from BSS: consistency. More on that later.
The amount of disrespect I’ve seen players give Rotom-Fan is ridiculous. I’ve seen opposing comps with 2 or even all 3 pokemon weak to Rotom-Fan. Rotom-Fan still doesn’t seem to be getting much usage and attention even now, so we will see how long I can continue to pull the bait-and-switch off. All that being said, Rotom-Fan still isn’t the most self-sufficient fighter in the meta, so how do I attempt to guarantee value?
To see how I move towards this, we need to wrap up the original threesome. Tyranitar got added and I had a Sand Rush duo. What I essentially created was a snowball effect across three Pokemon. Tyranitar’s Sand Stream sets up Excadrill, and Excadrill’s lure of defensive walls sets up Rotom-Fan. Furthermore, we’re still doing a lot “goodstuffs” here. Tyranitar is a cripple lead set up specifically to buffer against many of the main pair’s weaknesses; Sand Rush Excadrill is an imposing sweeper who generally needs a dedicated answer to stop; Rotom-Fan is the farthest from true “goodstuffs” but can still play the part especially when Excadrill lays the trap.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to note is how the reception loop goes from being swiss-army knife (Tyranitar) to being rather niche (Rotom-Fan.) This is actually where the psychological aspect of the team really starts to come into play. Instead of trying to do everything, the core tries to funnel the opponent into that Rotom-Fan checkmate. In essence, I try to create and manufacture consistency by getting the opponent to abide by my playbook. There is more risk involved (which I talk about below,) but if the pressure forces the opponent’s hand the payoff can have fantastic results.
Drawbacks
Of course, this model isn’t without flaws.
First off, this cycle is very dependent on the opponent actually doing what I want. We’ve already highlighted why that’s a problem in this generation, so it basically comes down to which of us is better at playing the brain games. If the opponent brings a surprise Excadrill counter that Rotom-Fan isn’t prepared for or otherwise calls my “bluff,” the whole loop can break down.
Second off, blatantly telegraphing one of my wincons (Sand Rush) is just flat out risky. Weather control is easier than ever in the era of Dynamax, so tipping my hand at team preview gives my opponent plenty of opportunity to prepare.
Both issues mean that, as with most builds, the team preview game is something that begs to be mastered. It also helps that, irregardless of the image, having a power duo in Tyranitar + Excadrill can still pull plenty of weight even under mediocre circumstances. I don’t attempt to deny that resiliency is still something that any team needs, so foregoing raw power and proven strategies on a team just for the sake of “being different” is just not that smart. There has to be a reason to use something like Rotom-Fan.
Conclusion and Looking Ahead
I don’t think I’m quite done with this team. With one more ranked season before the DLC mons drop (assuming they aren’t legal when released mid-season,) I want to put a little more work into this team. All three of the other pokes on my team--Haxorus, Dragapult and Ferrothorn--are fair game to get axed and replaced. There are a couple of things I could toy with.
First, my model has a generalized reception loop:
1st - Lead / Bouncer : Specializes in versatility and handling uncertainty. Surprise trades key threats or cripples them for the next mon to deal with.
2nd - Enforcer : The “primary” wincon who benefits most from the lead’s setup. Generally more specialized than the lead, but the lead’s setup generally puts it in position to cause serious damage; the opponent either loses at this point or brings out their counter.
3rd - Wild Card : The surprise wincon. This pokemon may or may not be as self-sufficient as the Enforcer, though “flying under the radar” is a desirable characteristic. Specifically capitalizes on Enforcer counters, often swinging momentum in ways it normally couldn’t.
It’s possible that I could find secondary picks for some of these roles: for instance, a screen setter for WP Excadrill or even Rotom-Fan in the lead spot. There are also other “loops” I could experiment with outside of this as well. One thing I did with the old team a lot was Sand Rush + Ferrothorn: I could lead Tyranitar, but switch to Ferrothorn if I didn’t like how things were going and try to reset Sand Rush. I actually have a new defensive mon I’m getting ready to experiment with as an answer to G-Max Lapras, but I’ll hold my cards on that for now.
All in all, I’ve enjoyed the ride so far, and hopefully the DLC will keep the enjoyment going. As usual, feedback on my team or on my team building approach is welcome. Thank you for reading!
