Balanced Sandstorm Team [OU Wi-Fi]

[hobo bob]

So after forming my first hail stall team I found that I really loved weather teams that utilized stall tactics but my hail team just wasn't really doing it for me so I decided to come up with a new team that could address the main threats of OU. The main problem with my old hail team was that it wasn't offensive enough and just couldn't handle the powerful threats of all-time favorites such as Heatran, Scizor, and Salamence. After cruising around the forums and looking at some good teams I finally decided on a solid team.

At a glance:

Now to start off with the lead

Jirachi (choice scarf)
Jolly
80 HP 252 attack 176 speed

Iron Head
Trick
Stealth Rock
Wish

Jirachi is basically my anti-lead. He counters most leads using Iron Head which causes flinching 60% of the time due to serene grace (yes I know it's hax). With choice scarf he is faster then most suicide leads like Aerodactyle and Azelf and both get 2HKO'ed by it. In the best case scenario I KO one of thier pokes, my opponent doesn't get to lay down their rocks, and I get to lay down my own. If I see a slower lead such as Bronzong I use trick to give them my scarf, which severly cripples them and allows me to set up rocks. Wish is for later in the game so I can heal anyone on the team who needs it and is great for my MixMence who takes alot of residual damage. Once their lead is out of the way or pissed of with a scarf I switch to my tyranitar.

Tyranitar (leftovers)
Jolly
6 HP 252 attack 252 speed

Dragon Dance
Crunch
Stone Edge
Roar

I can't have a sandstrom team without this guy! Usually the sight of tyranitar will send my opponent fleeing which allows me a free dragon dance. With a base 134 attack and powerful STAB moves Ttar can really damage my opponent. Many people also forget that rock types gain a 50% SpA resist inside sandstorm which allows him to stay alive longer (unless he gets STAB Hydro Pumped) . Usually I try to keep him alive to sweep later in the game but I also can use him in the begining of the match to suprise my opponent. Crunch and Stone Edge are obvious choices but Roar is to get out Scarmory or anything that thinks they can setup on Ttar. If my opponent sends out a powerful sweeper I send out the appropriate counter.

Forretress (leftovers)
Relaxed
252 HP 112 attack 144 def
Toxic Spikes
Spikes
Rapid Spin
Explosion (?)

This is my Physical wall that takes hits that Jirachi or Ttar might not like. With an amazing 140 defense and only one weakness this guy is amazing. I can find plenty of times to send my wall in to soak up hard hits while setting up more entry hazards. In case my opponent can set up Stealth Rocks I can always use Rapid Spin which gives me the upper hand. I am a bit confused on what I should use for my last slot. I laugh my ass off when my opponent sends in their best threat only for my Forretress to explode in thier face but I feel like I could have a better move. Gyro Ball is nice but it doesn't seem to do too much damage and Rest seems like an OK option but I don't want to sacrifice another move for sleeptalk (I don't want to give up rapid spin but I might be willing to give up spikes). Any suggestions on how to improve this wall would be great.

Porygon2 (leftovers)
Bold
252 HP 216 def 40 SpA

Thunderbolt
Ice Beam
Recover
Thunder Wave

This is my counter to the Top 4 OU threats which are Salamence, Heatran, Scizor, and Gyarados. The reason I included P2 on my team was because in nearly every battle I saw at least of one of the above pokes, and they wrecked havoc on my team. Thankfully P2 is an effective counter to all four threats.

As quoted from the Smogon StrategyDex
"Using its near exclusive ability, Trace, Porygon2 copies Intimidate and cuts Gyarados' and Salamence's Attack on the switch in, allowing it to easily take the beatings. Discharge does a minimum of 75% to Gyarados, OHKOing after Stealth Rock, and Thunderbolt does a minimum of 90%, OHKOing if it launches an attack, thanks to the Life Orb recoil. Porygon2 is also the game's best Dragon Dance Salamence counter, being able to survive a +1 Life Orb Outrage, after it Traces Intimidate, and OHKO back with Ice Beam."

"Porygon2's usefulness doesn't stop there. It can switch into Heatran, Vaporeon, and Jolteon, with impunity, thanks to Trace. It is immune to Fire when it switches into Heatran and forces it out, threatening paralysis. As long as Heatran isn't holding Choice Specs Porygon2 can easily take an Earth Power and recover off the damage. Jolteon and Vaporeon's STAB attacks heal Porygon2, allowing him to wall them to no end unless they are carrying Toxic"

All I did was changed discharge to TBolt to ensure max damage. I left Thunder Wave because most of the overused sweepers are immune to toxic spikes (Salamence and Gyarados are flying types, Heatran and Scizor are immune to poison). Recover is a great move for regaining HP and the classic Bolt/Beam combo has great coverage.

Of course with all these arena traps out I needed a Rapid Spin blocker so I decided to use...

Spiritomb (leftovers)
Bold
252 HP 252 def 4 SpA

Dark Pulse
Calm Mind
Rest
Sleep Talk

My Status absorber and Rapid Spin counter. Tomb's lack of weaknesses makes up for his crummy HP and RestTalk keeps him alive for a long time. The whole point of this setup is to force out Spinners such as Staryu by stalling them out, and with toxic spikes out my Tomb' usually wins. Calm mind is to build up resistence while making my only STAB attack more powerful. Any suggestions on how to improve him would be nice.

Once my opponent has been weakened with Stalling/ Ttar I bring out my best sweeper to win the game...

Salamence AKA MixMence AKA The King Dick (life orb)
Mild
84 Attack 216 SpA 208 speed
Draco Meteor
Earthquake
Fire Blast
Outrage (Roost?)

My favorite mixed sweeper who is capable of breaking down nearly any wall. Fire Blast is for Skarmory and any other Steel types who resist my main STAB attacks. As quoted from the Smogon StrategyDex

"The EVs are specifically designed to combat a few of Salamence's most common switch-ins. The given EVs allow Salamence to KO 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Cresselia on average with Stealth Rock damage by a combination of Draco Meteor on the switch-in and then two repeated Outrages. The Attack EVs also guarantee that Outrage 2HKOes the most defensive of Bold Blissey with Stealth Rock. 208 Speed EVs assure that Salamence outruns all Gyarados prior to a Dragon Dance. Mild is chosen over Rash so that Cresselia's or Blissey's weaker Ice Beams do not KO."

After taking Stealth Rock/ Sandstorm/ Spikes/ Toxic Spikes damage as well as assualts from the rest of my team, my Salamence should go unchalenged. Earthquake will kill Heatran while Fire Blast is great for any Scizors that may have survived my P2. Even if they are scarfed I should be able to go first due to paralysis. Once all steel types are out of the way I am free to go on a rampage like a crazy hobo (and hopefully win).

I'll probably write more later because right now I'm kinda tired (hence any errors) . Thank you for all of your help, any rates would be greatly appreciated!

 

[hobo bob]

Reserved for any future edits

 

[Dormin]

Hmmm I was looking over the team and I think there are few changes you can make to do this team a lot of favors.

First off, this team treads the line between stall and offensive in a very ineffective way. On one hand you have Forretress and Spiritomb attempting stall, and then the rest of the team leans toward offense. I think this team would do much better by going bulky offense.

That being said, I really don't like Sandstorm for this team. Nothing really takes advantage of it, and overall it seems to be hindering more than helping. I would put a CBScizor over your Tyranitar, both to weaken threats for the rest of the team more efficiently as well as adding some much needed priority. I would use the standard CBScizor but replace Pursuit with Quick Attack. Your team really can't afford to lose momentum, and Quick Attack takes care of Infernape very well.

As for Forretress, I think a Gliscor will work well over it. It still covers a lot of threats well, and it can free up your Jirachi by taking Stealth Rock. I recommend this....

Gliscor@Leftovers
Sand Veil
Impish
EVs: 252 HP, 40 Def, 216 Spe
-Earthquake
-Roost
-Stealth Rock
-U-turn/Aerial Ace

The EVs allow you to hit 280 Speed, which outspeeds the common Adamant Lucario. U-turn is going to help scout and net you some nice switch in opportunities.

Since we're leaning more toward offense I think a more offensive ghost is in order. Something that will really give your opponent some headaches is a SubPunch Gengar...

Gengar@Expert Belt
Levitate
Hasty
EVs: 100 Atk, 156 SpA, 252 Spe
-Substitute
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Punch
-Hidden Power Fire

This Gengar will allow further scouting of your opponents team via substitute, and the Ghost+Fighting combo offers unparalleled coverage. The HP Fire give you a way to take out pesky Scizors, and the loss of one speed point isn't too much of a loss considering the fact that this team has no problem with Latias due to Scizor+Jirachi. This also gives you a potent weapon against stall.

With Gengar doing a number on SkarmBliss and stall, andTyranitar replaced by Scizor, I think Salamence can be replaced by a new late-game sweeper which has great synergy with the rest of the team: Kingdra. Kingdra's ability to set-up on most to all bulky waters and its 4x resist to fire gives a great combo with Scizor. I recommend the standard Dragon Dance set with Substitute to block status and explosions, but Hydro Pump is also a good option for stall.

Finally, with Jirachi no longer needed to bear rocks, I think it can start off the battle more offensively.

Jirachi@Choice Scarf
Serene Grace
Jolly
EVs: 76 HP, 252 Atk, 180 Spe
-Iron Head
-Fire Punch
-Zen Headbutt
-U-turn

Thunderpunch really isn't necessary with Porygon2 around to take Gyarados all day, and Zen Headbutt gives you a way to potentially take down starter Infernapes.

While these changes are a drastic makeover of the team, the roles of each are still there, and I think you will find yourself winning a lot more. Good luck!

 

[hobo bob]

Ok thanks for the advice I was looking to find balance between stall and offense but I think your bulky offense seems to make more sense. I'll update the team later when I have a chance. Any other advice would be appreciated, and thanks again dormin.

Edit: I was looking over your post and I have two questions. First off if Scizor needs a priority move why not give it bullet punch? My other question is why should Gliscor have Sand Veil when I could run Hyper Cutter to prevent attack loss?

 

[Dormin]

Oh, I meant to keep both Bullet punch and Quick attack on Scizor, with Superpower and U-turn as the other two moves because I don't think pursuit is worth the loss of momentum. As for Gliscor, Hyper Cutter can work to, I guess I just thought Sand Veil when I was trying to work with Ttar. Good call =D

 

[george182]

wish and choice scarf on jirachi, well jirachi won't be healing herself and gives the oponent a free set up move / switch in.

Body slam is a great alterntive common counters to jirachi will not like being paralised, mainly choice scarf heatran expecting an iron head. U-trun is also a good option to scout the oponents the switch in and works with jirachi's great speed to break an oponents sash and switch to a counter, body slam also works with trick, so you can use paraflich if you loose your scarf.

A sub punching tyranitar can fill the role that gengar would of, with dark pulse, focus punch and flamethrower, as tyranitar sends people fleeing, it's easy to get a sub up and take out the incoming counter/wall.

Porygon 2 is good, vaporoen would also fill that role well, without the fighting weakness, and a useful fire resist, but whatever floats your boat.

Forretress, I disagree with duel spikes, forretress will neaver get 5 free turns in a battle and with no recovery, be real, they are not both needed, pick one and have gyro ball for sweeper, or earthquake for more consistant power, or stelth rock a quick entry hazard that is very effective or sleep talk, and rest over explosion.

spiritomb is ok, dusknoir would be beter and can also run an effective sub punching set, with pain split and substitute working well together.

porygon 2, well jirachi will always get up rocks, foretress could back that up, so discharge could be beter and has a 30% chance to paralise, which can be very useful for hitting switch ins and then t-wave can back it up if you don't get lucky. But thunderbolt is fine for power, though I'm not sure what you need the power for, so discharge's paralysis is better me thinks.

finally salamance is fine, you have a rapid spinner so there is no problem with this set at all.

good team, nitpicks really and my preferences over yours. Porygon2 vs vaporeon, I use vaporeon on my sandstorm cus of wish, but porygon 2 looks pretty good.