SS OU Beginner to Competitive, Rate my Sandstorm Team

TheNinjaPhoenix

TheNinjaPhoenix

Hi all,

I'm slowly starting to play competitive and have been working on a Sand team as I've always wanted to try one. Let me know what I can do to improve it as I'd be keen to improve it.

I'm split between two potential Reuniclus Variants. Please note this isn't a team for a specific competitive format at this point but I could happily work it into one.

The Team:

Tyranitar
Excadrill
Reuniclus
Dragapult
Lucario
Corviknight


Tyranitar @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 208 HP / 252 Atk / 48 Spe
Brave Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Fire Blast

Tyranitar feels like an obvious choice. It sets up Sand, it is bulky, it gets the benefit of SpD boost from Sand, it can hit hard. I want to invest into its Attack so when it hits, it hits hard. I've opted to take a hit on Speed and pick Brave nature as not to negatively effect being able to use Fire Blast to cover off Ferrothorn. I'm thinking of investing some EVs into Speed to lessen the loss of Speed by picking Brave. Weakness Policy also felt like a good item to help make Tyranitar an even bigger threat all round as it should be surviving a hit or two with its bulk.

Excadrill @ Life Orb / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide / Swords Dance

Excadrill has always been a fun Sand abuser and I can't see any reason why this would change in SwSh. It also partners T-tar well as I can switch it in to cover off Fairy-types T-Tar can't deal with. I'm planning to fully invest into Attack and Speed, and it has great coverage. I'm split on whether a Life Orb for further damage would be a better choice than Heavy-Duty Boots, but the Boots allow it to not suffer from the hazards it will come in to Spin away. Rock Slide offers a nice strong attack with the small chance to flinch, but Swords Dance would allow Excadrill to sweep with ease.

Reuniclus @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP/ 180 SpA / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Recover
- Focus Blast

OR

Reuniclus @ Light Clay
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Psychic
- Recover

Reuniclus offers me a slot in my Sand team that firstly isn't bothered by weather, but also can threaten Pokémon like Toxapex that would otherwise cause me a great deal of issues with Toxic. Magic Guard negates these and allows me to give Reuniclus an item to support it.

Reuniclus will likely go one of two ways, hence the two above movesets. I can either spec it as a bulky Special Attacker that can self-heal while hitting hard, or I can spec it as an even bulkier Screens-user. As a Special Attacker, Reuniclus can hit hard and has Focus Blast as a strong coverage attack. With a Screen set, Light Clay means I can make the Screen set-up even better and afford Reuniclus the ability to hopefully fight back well while raising the team's bulk.

Dragapult @ Assault Vest
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- U-Turn
- Sucker Punch / Steel Wing

Dragapult is not so much a member of a Sand team as it is a strong offensive choice to back the team up. Dragapult is very fast and hits very hard. I've gone for a Physical set with Dragon Darts and the risky Phantom Force for STAB, U-Turn for helpful switches, then either Sucker Punch or Steel Wing for coverage. Assault Vest helps Dragapult's special bulk, allowing it to survive attacks that would otherwise faint it or leave it in a precarious situation.

Lucario @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Steel Beam / Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball / Dark Pulse
- Vacuum Wave

Lucario is a special set designed to maximise damage. Either Choice item helps; Specs for further impact, Scarf for better speed. Aura Sphere is the obvious STAB choice, Steel Beam or Flash Cannon the other. Steel Beam has an obvious drawback in recoil but is far more powerful. Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse offer coverage and Vacuum Wave offers a priority attack.

Corviknight @ Shed Shell / Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- U-Turn / Iron Defence
- Body Press
- Roost
- Defog

Corviknight is a bulky Defogger. Defog is the obvious move here and self-explanatory. Roost allows Corviknight to heal. It can hit hard through Body Press and Iron Defence would further boost that, although U-Turn allows a getaway in bad matchups. I think it is probably the team member I'm least sure of at this time, alongside Reuniclus.

All of the above is very much speculation and early development but I'm eager to build a fully-fledged team and at this time, most of the above Pokémon feel they fit their roles well within the team. I'm open to any advice, be it a move change or EV suggestions, or suggesting the removal or addition of new Pokémon.
 
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Welcome to Gen 8! Team building can be difficult in this gen, especially for a returning player who is new to the meta. That being said, I have quite a few changes that i believe will optimize it.

Since your running pretty much completely sand Hyper Offense (which is a certain playstyle if your're not familiar with the term) there are a couple of key changes you need to make to your team, starting with Tyranitar. Unfortantely, tyranitar is really honestly too slow to run a weakness policy, as its base 61 speed does not outspeed much in the tier. Most times you're hit with a super effective move, you're going to be to slow to capitalize from the stat boost weakness policy provides. I would really rather scrap running weakness policy all together, and instead run spdef tyranitar with stealth rocks.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers/Smooth Rock/Shed Shell
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 204 SpD
Brave Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Crunch
- Fire Blast/Earthquake

This set maximizes tyranitar's bulk while under sand also allowing it to not be too passive on offense. We run thunder wave to cripple formidable attackers who think they can come in free, such as dracovish and hawlucha. Fire blast is to nail ferrothorn on the switch, however if toxapex is giving you problems you can go with earthquake for super effective damage. The item of choice is ideally leftovers to improve longevity, however if you want to keep sand up as long as possible you can run Smooth Rock, or if trapper dugtrio is really an issue for your team you can run shed shell to escape. If you really must have weakness policy tyranitar, you need to run dragon dance to increase its speed, or else its just fodder for fast and powerful mons, like dracovish or conkeldurr.

Tyranitar @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Stone Edge

This is the set I would run if you opt to use weakness policy. Dragon Dance is mandatory, as it allows you to increase tyranitars ability to sweep. Jolly over adamant to maximize tyranitar's speed, as weakness policy already provides you with a major attack boost. Crunch and stone edge for stab, and finally fire punch to nail ferrothorn. You can also run earthquake for toxapex if you desire.

I dont have too many complaints on your excadrill set, although you should definitely not run heavy duty boots, as excadrill heavily resists rocks and does not take much damage from them, and is immune to toxic spikes. You may also want to think about running focus sash, as it can come in handy as a last ditch effort to sweep when you can take a hit and revenge kill.

Next thing I want to cover is your Reuniclus set. Reuniclus, while being a good mon under sand thanks to magic guard, is probably one of the least useful members of your team. The fact that there are so many dark types running around (i.e t-tar, bisharp, mandibuzz, grimmsnarl, hydreigon) and the prevalence of aegislash make reuniclus a pretty unreliable mon to say the least. I would replace it completely, as both sets you have are easily handled and taken advantage of to force switches or allow other mons to set up in your face.

With reuniclus off the team, a useful member you could replace it with is jellicent. You lack really any kind of dracovish check (or dracozolt for that matter) and with no dracovish check it literally clicks fisious rend and ohko's your entire team. Thanks to jellicent's ability in water absorb, you can switch in and get the heal from fisious rend, and force a swtich, allowing you to get momentum. The below set maximizes jellicent's bulk and is a great physdef wall.


Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strength Sap
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Energy Ball/Taunt

This set allows jellicent to cripple physical attackers with strength sap and will-o-wisp, and allow it to do massive damage on a statused mon with hex. The last moveslot is kind of unconventional, I like running energy ball because a lot of times seismitoad's will switch in toxic it, and you nail it on the switch with energy ball, otherwise you can run taunt to stop any mon from setting up, subbing up, or setting up hazards.

However, if you can't POSSIBLY go without using reuniclus, I would recommend running a stored power set, as it is insanely fun when it works, and if you can get up 2 or 3 stat boosts, its gg.

Reuniclus @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Acid Armor
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Stored Power

The only thing you have to worry about when using this set are dark types, and to a lesser extend steel types. Dark types completely wall this set, Reuniclus cant touch them since we're only running psychic move. You also have to be wary of aegislash, as it takes a stored power pretty easily and can do massive damage on you with shadow ball/shadow claw.

Next, your dragapult. No offense, but running assault vest is kind of a head scratcher to me. Dragapult doesn't really have the necessary bulk to run an assault vest set, and you're completely crippling its offensive viability by running it. Here are a few calcs to show you why its a bad idea.

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Dragapult: 258-306 (81.1 - 96.2%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Dragapult: 218-258 (68.5 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Dragapult: 276-326 (86.7 - 102.5%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252+ SpA Hatterene Dazzling Gleam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Dragapult: 254-300 (79.8 - 94.3%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

4 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Dragapult: 216-254 (67.9 - 79.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock


As you can see, running assault vest does not really help you survive much at all, as you have a very high chance of getting OHKO'd after rocks damage by most of these mons, and in most cases they take a hit and can still knock you out afterwards. Instead of running assault vest, I would run just your standard choice specs set, as it hit very hard and allows you to create momentum with U-turn.

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast/Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball

Next up we have lucario. I think its pretty cool that you are running lucario, a rather unrepresented mon in the tier. There's a reason he is however. Lucario has dropped in usage all the way since DPP to now, and its simply because he cant keep up in the new meta's. Thats not to say his a bad mon however, its just there are things that do his job better. I would suggest replacing him with Hydreiogon. Hydreigon is a big threat in the metagame thanks to gaining nasty plot, as it can come in on something, sub up, and nasty plot and attack for big damage. It also forms a pretty dynamic core with dragapult, being able to pivot in and out at will with a choice scarf set. I'd recommend either of the two sets below, its veer towards using choice scarf however as you outspeed a lot of threats in the tier, such as specs dragapult, scarf darmanitan, and scarf dracovish.

Hydreigon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 28 SpD / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon

-OR-

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Draco Meteor
- Flash Cannon/Fire Blast

The first set, we have a little bit of sp def investment to take two scalds from either seismitoad or toxapex, and we run flash cannon to deal with fairies. On the second set, you can run flash cannon for fairies, or fire blast to be able to hit ferrothorn.

Finally, lets address your corviknight set. I'm not sure if this was some kind typo, but is there any reason you're running shed shell? Corviknight isnt trapped by dugtrio due to his flying type, and shadow tag is banned in the tier, and magnet pull doesnt exist sooooo...kind of a pointless item. Go with leftovers.

I like corviknight on this team, however I think you're spread needs some tweaking. Running fully defensive is fine, but if you want to maximize bulk, i recommend the spread of 252hp/76def/180 spdef, as this spread allows you to take on a variety of different attackers in the tier, special and physical. With this spread, i would replace body press with brave bird, as you wont be able capitalize off of iron defense raising defense if you are running U-turn.

Anyway hopefully this helps, I'd like to stress that you can use whatever you'd like, and it's just important to have fun with the game.
 
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HyperFlux Hey, thank you so so much for all of the above advice! I massively appreciate it and I agree with a lot of what you've said now I can see the calculations.

I'll try out the Reuniclus set you've mentioned; I've seen it mentioned elsewhere too, so obviously bears reason to try it. I'll also try Jellicent for sure as I've never used one. I'm guessing it's a better choice over other defensive Pokémon like Corsola as Water Absorb allows it to switch in on common water threats?

I'm definitely wanting to keep Lucario in but again l will try out Hydreigon too and I guess I can mix it up. I like Hydreigon as a Pokémon and have used one before a couple of times; glad that it forms a good core with Dragapult too.

Talking of Dragapult, thank you for the Assault Vest calculations; I'll switch over into a Choice item. However, is there a reason to run it purely Special? I've seen Special Sets frequently but wanted to run a Physical set. If special is the optimal way to run it I can try it out but I really like hitting in with Dragon Darts and am liking Steel Wing coverage on Fairies.

I am not 100% sure as to Shed Shell on Corviknight, I guess it was me thinking of Arena Trap and overlooking the immunity it has to it - I agree that with U-Turn on it's set, Brave Bird is a better choice. I'll test that out too as I can see it working WAY better.

Again, massively appreciate all of the suggestions and will try them out :)
 
Yeah no worries! If you are intent on using lucario, I think you'd get the most out of him running either pure phys with swords dance, or pure special with nasty plot, as of the good things about lucario is his massive movepool, running choice would really prohibit his ability to be a wallbreaker.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Psychic

-OR-

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake

Both pretty standard sets, first one we have dual stab that isnt resisted by much, and psychic to destroy toxapex, who otherwise walls this set. This set is however walled by aegislash, so keep that in mind. In the next set, again we have dual stab, and earthquake, which has the added benefit of hurting both aegislash and toxapex, however watch out for corsola, as it its a hit and can then proceed to strength sap or will-o-wisp
 
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