TEAM DETAILS:
Celebi @
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 84 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- Stealth Rock
- Baton Pass
Celebi was not a Pokemon this team is based around and is only listed first because I primarily lead with it. Celebi is my hazard setter in order for Hippowdon to phaze and rack up hazard damage and/or to make it easier my team to score KOs. Defensively, Celebi covers many of the weakness of the majority of the Pokemon of my team (Charizard, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Excadrill). It also acts as a bulky pivot with Baton Pass, sometimes getting me safe switches into Pokemon that are faster than Celebi. Baton Pass also helps Celebi escape Pursuit so it can live to fight (or support?) another day. Giga Drain and Recover are more or less mandatory moves, both of which keep Celebi healthy in order to continuously switch into attacks. The EVs are standard for Support Celebi, and the 0 Atk IVs minimize Foul Play and Confusion damage.
Charizard (M) @
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
Mega Charizard Y is, of course, the wallbreaker of my team, KOing or severally damaging Pokemon that the rest of my team has trouble defeating. I typically use him early and mid game, and sometimes lead with him if I think my opponent will lead with a Pokemon that would give Charizard a favorable matchup. However, there are some threats that only Charizard alone can reliably take down, such as Mega Venusaur, Gliscor, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn; if any of those defensive threats are active on my opponent’s team, I typically have to play very carefully with Charizard and make sure they get knocked down before he does. The moves and EVs of this Charizard are standard, and the 0 Atk IVs minimize Foul Play and Confusion damage; the standard set is more or less the most beneficial to my team.
Clefable (F) @
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Aromatherapy
Defensively, whatever Celebi, Tyranitar, and Hippowdon cannot switch into, Clefable can, so it patches up (most of) whatever remaining defensive weaknesses the rest of my team has. I chose Unaware Clefable to deal with set-up sweepers the rest of my team typically has trouble with, and specifically the Calm Mind variant to give Clefable some offensive presence. Clefable has Aromatherapy, as Charizard, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, and Excadrill hate being statused (Charizard hates paralysis, Excadrill hates burn, and Tyranitar and Hippowdon both hate poison and burn). Clefable has Moonlight as her recovery move; unfortunately, Moonlight isn’t always effective due to my team inducing sand much of the time, but it is more reliable than casting Wish and waiting a whole turn for it to activate while the slow Clefable is vulnerable to being attacked. The EVs and Bold Nature maximize her physical bulk as Calm Mind should patch up her special defense.
Hippowdon (M) @
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Ice Fang
Hippowdon is the team’s physical wall and main sand inducer. Hippowdon can switch into any non-supereffective physical hit and either phaze out the physical attacker or fight back. Whirlwind, Earthquake, and Slack Off are obvious moves to include. Ice Fang might seem like a very gimmicky move to have, but it offers surprisingly good coverage against physical attackers such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, Dragonite, and sometimes other flying-type Pokemon that are also weak to ice. Gliscor can also be slammed really hard on the switch, giving Hippowdon an edge in a matchup that he would normally lose (Toxic stall really sucks). Smooth Rock might seem redundant when I also have Tyranitar, and also might be counterproductive with Charizard Y’s sun and Clefable’s Moonlight. However, I use it to guarantee that Excadrill has his double speed for as many turns as possible. This is especially useful in lategame scenarios, where I have lost most of my Pokemon, but Excadrill is now my win condition and is in position to sweep what’s left of my opponent’s weakened team; if sand runs out a few turns early, then I could be denied my last chance at victory.
Tyranitar (M) @
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
I understand that this is by far the most gimmicky set on this team and is probably unreliable in most cases. However, I have used this Tyranitar to successful results. Tyranitar is primarily my special wall and is also a Pursuit trapper. Tyranitar also serves as my team’s backup sand inducer should I lose Hippowdon prematurely. Assault Vest grants Tyranitar the special bulk to switch into any unboosted special attack that isn’t Secret Sword; even Focus Blasts typically need to 3HKO if Tyranitar is healthy. Tyranitar has an Adamant nature to give it a bit more power to beat the special attackers it switches into in one-on-one scenarios. Stone Edge and Crunch are the obvious required STAB moves, and Pursuit is, of course, used against Lati@s and any other Pokemon that tries to escape Tyranitar that I want to finish off on the spot. Earthquake is used for Heatran and Mega Diancie, both of which I often switch Tyranitar into, and the latter of which is 2HKOd and can only 3HKO healthy Tyranitar with unboosted Moonblasts. As I have mentioned before, I understand that this set of Tyranitar might not be the most effective to run in most cases, but what I really like about it is its surprise factor; many players underestimate Tyranitar’s special bulk and think they can beat it with any supereffective special attack, only for Tyranitar to take pitiful damage and hit back with something much harder.
Excadrill (M) @
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
With both Tyranitar and Hippowdon on my team, I obviously run Sand Rush Excadrill. He worked wonders for me in Dream World OU back in pre-B2/W2 gen V, and now that he’s legal in OU with this newest generation, I had to use him again. Excadrill helps spin away hazards early game, and most notably, helps me get rid of Stealth Rock so Charizard doesn’t get wrecked when he switches in to do what he does best. Once hazards are off my field and my opponent’s walls are down, I typically save Excadrill for the end to clean up what’s left of my opponent’s team. To sum it up, Charizard Y and Excadrill have really good offensive synergy. Excadrill has an Adamant Nature and holds a Life Orb in order to give him the extra power to guarantee some KOs, especially against bulkier Pokemon; I do not run a Jolly Nature, as Excadrill is fast enough in the sand, and I never like to gamble using my own Excadrill against another.
As I am not the most active person on the ladder, I know my team is far from perfect. Specifically, from my own experience, I have had trouble with Hoopa-U (no safe switch-in and can only be reliably defeated through revenge-KO and/or smart switching) and Mega Gyarados (when set up, sometimes requires a combination of Clefable and Excadrill to take down); as much as I would like to throw in immediate counters to these Pokemon, giving up multiple members of this team would open up more weaknesses. Therefore, I would like any feedback about what I can do to improve this team without making too many changes.
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