Desert Mirage..Featuring Sandslash

Heeeey c: Welcome to my RMT Please enjoy
But before you do click this its some pokemon music to go with the theme C:
Heres a more deserty music... Its not pokemon theme can you guess? LOL click c;

Here is a quick overview of the team, Desert Mirage
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"You're going down or both of us are going down!"
-Finn



Hello Fellow Smogonite c: This team here is amazing but not without flaws o: I play on the PS server if you wanted to know. If you look at my team above you can see it's a pretty standard team until you see Sandslash! Yup Sandslash a very forgettable Pokemon being outclassed by the likes of claydol in the lower tier. It seems like has nothing going for it until the dream world gave it an amazing abillity of sand rush! You're probably like "LOL SANDSLASH SUCKS" and sometimes it does but thats why i have 5 other guys to support it!

GOAL OF TEAM:
The goal of this team is NOT TO HAVE A SANDSLASH SWEEP(it can happen but my opponent needs to be a derp 0.0) but sandslash supporting the team with its rapid spinning. Actually Volcarona has won me more matches than any of my other Pokemon and the only reason Volcorano has done that is because of a playing field void of entry hazards courtesy by sandslash. My team if you think about it centers around volc and it does. Volcorona now can work in a sandteam because of a new move it got in BW2, roost. Before it had to rely being on a sun team or weatherless to use Morning sun but now with roost Volc can take hits and setup and then sweep c:. Also Mamoswine is there cuz YOLO. loljk. Mamoswine is a really amazing poke and should be use more. He helps Volcarona sweep by killing volc's counters such as HEATTTRAAAN, salamence, and dragonites and of course getting to pick off the new therian formes. And if my opponents team is really weak to mamo he can just outright sweep them. Rotom-W is also good too! He provides momentum with his scarf volt switches and can cripple wall pokemon. I needed a grass type to complete my fwg core but I wanted one that could take care of Techniloom *shivers* and thats when celebi came to be. It is really good! I'll explain in detail later. And last but not least the glue of the team spuhdef T-Tar! Obviously you cant have sand rush working without sandsstream and thats why he's here! Not to mention being a solid check to Tornadus-T which otherwise would destroy my team! So lets get started with this rmt shall we? c:


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SubPunch (Tyranitar) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Imagine yourself walking in the desert. You're all out of water and you've been walking for days! You see a figure in the distance. Could it be an oasis?! You rush to the tall palm tree looking figure. As you get closer you see that its no palm tree. It's a towering Tyranitar and its locked on to you.
***Welcome to the beast of what is known as Tyranitar. This is the standard special defensive set. It's pretty good at what it does. Trapping psychic types, setting up stealth rock and most importantly summoning the sandstorm. If you also havent noticed i'm not running crunch but instead stone edge. I find crunch to be redundant with pursuit and stone edge can be used as a last ditch effort against flying types. *cough tornadus cough*Also t-tar is my only entry hazard setter. It sets up stealth rocks to help me maim other volcs and TORNADUS :C. Pursuit for trapping and super power for heatrans and stuffs c:. Also one thing to note is that I dont usually lead with Tyranitar as my team isnt heavily depended on it. You're probably like YOU HAVE SANDSLASH WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT? Well.. The main reason i have a ttar is to counter act other weather such as the prominent rain, sun, and hail o.o.


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Sonic o: (Sandslash) @ Earth Plate
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge

After you barely escaped the grip of the vicious tyranitar you decide to rest on the sand. Lying down you feel vibrations on the sand you look up and see a dust cloud the size of 3 SUVS heading your way! This time you decide not to be curious and just start running! You look back and see you have at least a 2 mile headstart. As you run with confidence you get engulfed in the cloud. Then you see the horde of Sandslash about to strike.
***Ohmaigulay its the star of this RMT! Sandslash! A usually forgotten pokemon but with sand rush this hedgehog reaches 502 speed! Fast enough to outspeed most of non-scarfed OU! This hog also has a great 110 defense stat! Letting it live random close combats and outrage! And a very decent 100 base attack and made even higher with swords dance. Lets look at the set. Earthquake is stab and you need it for damage..o.o Swords dance is fabulous it lets you set up on things such as Tyranitar, Some jirachis, and Foretresses and other random weak hitting pokes. Stone edge for coverage. And last but not least rapid spin. Rapid spin is needed to give volc a safe switch in and start sweeping and also to get rid of (Toxic) Spikes that my team is vulnerable to. You also may ask yourself "LOLNOOBEARTHPLATE" lol indeed but earth plate is great letting sandslash live longer than if it was holding a life orb. You can try life orb and see how it goes but its earth plate for me. Standard ev spread to get most of attack and speed. Also if you still havent realize Slash isnt going to be sweeping any teams with edgequake coverage but he will be supporting it a lot with spin. (btw sandslash is pretty much a dumbed down excadrill D:)


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Awwww:D (Mamoswine) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Substitute

You drag yourself to a cave after the ravenous attacks of the sandslash. Its night time and its surprisingly cold in the desert and especially in the cave you just entered. You see white eyes in the dark. "Oh faq not again" You say as you sprint out the cave only being pumelled by a herd of mamoswines.
***Mamoswine...Mamoswine...Mamoswine... This thing is AMAZING especially in a metagame filled with dragons, flying types (TORNADUS), and slow steel types. I had to run mamoswine to check the therian formes but it did much more than that! It made me laugh at dragons trying to set up on me as i could just ice shard them to death! Oh you're trying to switch into your steel type to resist ice shard? LOL say hai to earthquake!
I made this set myself lets go in depth. 252 attack and adamant for as much power without a boosting item. 76 hp for increased longevity and most importantly 180 speed to outpace 16ev tentacruel and therefore uninvested base 100s. Icicle crash is there for things mamo cant kill with weak ice shards such as amoongus. Ice shard is ice shard. You know..Kills dragons and stuff...o.o Earthquake is great too! It helps me get rid of heatran who otherwise would wall my volcarona. And the most surprising move substitute. They'll have to switch out or face being wrecked by one of mamo's stabs thats when you substitute up and destroy their check with your stabs. Mamoswine has troubles too :/ It gets walled by rotom-w D: and i wouldnt call skarm a counter once skarm gets paralyzed you can paraflinch with icicle crash :D


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Tippi (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

You limp your way to a grassy rock. You have survived an onslaught of beatings and need some sleep. A sound of bells awaken you. A celebi was using its magic to heal your injuries! The comforting presence of celebi lulls you back to sleep. Now you awaken to a different land. A land within the sand.
***This set is from the site! Its pretty good at what it does! It compliments Volcarona by killing its counters. Celebi really is good. Defensively it only takes about 45% from Stone edge coming out of non band terrakion and get this. It doesnt die from an x-scissor from non-banded terra. DAT BULK. c: Lets get in depth in the moves. Recover is good! Helps celebi not die (obviously..). Thunder wave is great! It helps me cripple things like latios and dragonites on the switch thinking they can wall me. Giga drain is good for stab and extra health! And HP fire is meh. o.o yea thats right its not amazing like the other moves ;D It only does about 75% to band scizor and about 50% to ferrothorn. Thats probably the biggest downside to celebi. Its damage output. On a more positive note Celebi is a counter to breloom (yolo, it is)


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SorryD; (Volcarona) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 Spd
Bold Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Roost
- Bug Buzz

You're in an amazing structure. Ancient Heiroglyphs everywhere drawn on the wall. You try to get out of the structure but you just can't find the exit. You realize you're trapped in a maze. Hours of wandering down the halls you find yourself in a room with a volcarona. You knowing the danger of volcarona try to sneak out of the room but it is futile. The volcarona awakens much like you did and fires off an ear screeching bug buzz. You fall down and accept your fate.
***Gamefreak y u make volcarona D: Its ugly, overpowered, and ugly. Really it is ugly but it is super strong. This ugly bug thing has won me too many games to count! Before BW2 Volcarona were mostly only used on sun teams and weatherless because its only source of recovery morning sun only worked in those conditions but now Volcarona has gained roost! This is what this team is centered around a Volc sweep. Lets get more in depth. The EVs are also standard fare but boy oh boy they work! The extra defensive bulk lets volc take numerous physical hits and turns deadly Pokemon such as scizor into set up bait. I can usually set up 1-2 Quiver dances when i face scizors allowing me to sweep the opponent. The biggest let down of volcarona is probably its moves. It gets absolutely walled by heatran, salamence, and dragonite (note how mamoswine gets rid of them) but Volc usually comes in around mid game when those threats are gone. Also another down side of using Volc is STEAAALLTTTHHH ROCCCKSS. But thas why Sandslash is here. But wait theres more! Like I've said numerous times how volcarona has won me several games, its because she can set up on stallbreakers like the very common jirachi, sableye, and some mews (tnx @ Magma c:). So before you dismiss this volcarona try it because its greeeat. c:


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IwillGetyouWet(; (Rotom-Wash) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Ice]

You open your eyes and you see the rampage of the fire bug has ended. You quickly dig yourself out of the sand maze. You see a city and rejoice for you know you are saved. Once you reach the city you see its been abondoned and has been conquered by the desert. You enter a house with a dim light hoping for people but to your dismay it was only the washing machine. You close your eyes hoping it was all a dream but your rest was disrupted by the Washing machine possesed by Rotom! Its striking you with thunderbolts and you get shocked! You think to yourself "I survived a 2 ton dinosaur, huge mammoths, and a rampaging bug but i'm dying to a washing machine". You close your eyes for the final time thinking of how pathetic you are.
***lol im bad at stories :c Anyways here's Rotom-Wash Form in its scarfed variety. This is the thing I usually lead with. Rotom Brings my team a water resist (along with celebi) that my team crucially needs. It also brings speed and a ground resist! This thing is pretty standard but lets go in depth. Hydro pump for a good stab water attack! It demolishes anything that doesnt resist! Volt Switch for scouting and helps me get my volc in safely easier. Trick to ruin walls that think they can counter me. And hp ice. HP ice is probably the most useless move on Rotom. Any suggestions would help.


Threats:
Rain Teams- Well... Celebi and Rotom are here to sponge water attacks as my team is pretty much water weak D: Its always a hard time but when sand is going on.. Its hard to stop sandslash :D
Sun Teams- Not that hard because of Volcarona abusing sun :D
Sand Teams- Depends on the team
General Stall- Volcarona says hai c:
Tornadus-T- oh gosh...T-tar says hi and kills with stone edge... this thing mostly gives me trouble... o.o

Well thats my team, Desert mirage I hope you liked it! Please give me suggestions on how to make it better!


Last Look:
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Exportable c:
SubPunch (Tyranitar) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Knuckles o: (Sandslash) @ Earth Plate
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge

Awwww:D (Mamoswine) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Substitute

Tippi (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

SorryD; (Volcarona) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 Spd
Bold Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Roost
- Bug Buzz

IwillGetyouWet(; (Rotom-Wash) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Ice]


Some battle videos using this team :D only one for now going to add more tomorrow
mamoswine sweep (http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-ou3934 )
Desert Mirage with Amoongus Instead of Celebi...Spore helping out
 
Solid team however one of the biggest is Choice Scarf Terrakion. Although he doesn´t hit as hard as a Choice Band would do, Sandslash gets outsped by Terrakion and he will be 2HKO´d by Close Combat. Celebi must be careful as otherwise switching into X-Scissor means sudden death for your team as you got nothing else that can scare away Scarf Terrakion. To add, opposing Mamoswine could be really troublesome for you as Icicle Crash demolishes Celebi, Superpower OHKOs Rotom-W with a Life Orb and Sandslash isn´t powerful enough to take him down in one hit, while Ice Shard easily 2HKOs. I would like to ask if you have issues with Gengar, as under a Substitute or equipped with a Life Orb, Gengar can defeat Tyranitar and from there, you got nothing to take Shadow Balls.

My suggestion would be to replace Mamoswine for a Choice Band Scizor. Overall he still gives your team offensive presence but with the difference of being able to use now Volt-Turn to pressure the oponent and facilitate your Volcarona sweep. I don´t really think you lose much because Rotom-W can still revenge kill Dragonite, Sandslash can do it as well, Celebi has the bulk to take Thundurus-T´s attacks, and Tyranitar + Rotom-W is good enough to stop Tornadus-T. Choice Band Scizor still allows you to check most Dragon-types as none of then likes taking his powerful and threatening Bullet Punch.

You can use Quick Attack over Pursuit to revenge kill Thundurus-T, Starmie, opposing Volcarona and Gyarados if you see them troublesome. Hope this rate helps and below is the link for the set: Choice Band Scizor
 
This may seem like quit the bold rate, But at my first glance to the team I notice that you may be a little weak to celebi and balloon heatran. Celebi being able to tank hits from sandslash and mamo and ko in return, and heatran being able to wall sandslash mamoswine and volce for a bit. After some thought i've thought you may want to replace Volcarona with a Mix Nape set as mix nape still allows you to brake threw stall, helps against celetran and isn't 50% weak to stealth rocks

Infernape @ Life orb Naive nature
252 attack, 4 sp attack, 252 speed
~over heat
~Close Combat
~U-turn
~Stone Edge/mach punch
 
Thanks motogua for the rate!
And im on my phone so please bare with me.
Scarf terakion really hasnt been a problem. I usually bring out slash to scout the move its going to make then go to a poke that resists it and set up.
Also gengar not a big problem woth priority on mamo and slash outspeeding him not to mention rotom-w
Ill try scizor though! It seems like a good idea :)

@shucklle
Tnx for the rate c:
Heatran isnt a problem at all. They usually switch in to cele then i can break their breloom *BALLOON NOT BREELOOM STUPID PHONE* on the switch in. Also celebi cant really touch my volc..
And volcarona is really the star on my team. And the sr switch ins dont bother me because i usually spin them away with slash.
Ill try it but can you giv me a set? Tnx c:
 
I've noticed that you're weak to other Volcarona. Sandslash is literally your only way of beating it, but if you have no way of getting Sand up you're fucked. For example, against a Sun team, if T-tar is down and Sun is up, Volcarona can just waltz in, set up a Quiver Dance and that's GG no RE. Really, the solution to this is incredibly simple: Choice Scarf Terrakion over Mamoswine. Scarf Terrakion is the bane of Volcarona, outspeeding and OHKOing. Not to mention, most common Sun Pokemon except Forretress and Donphan can't even switch in on it. Plus, the Special Defense boost from Sandstorm is always useful.

Even then, there's the problem with other Scarf Terrakion. Sandslash can avoid the OHKO and OHKO back with Earthquake, but nothing else on your team is doing well against it. Scizor over Volcarona is a good idea here to deal with that. I just don't see Volcarona doing much, and it just compounds the Water weakness you already have. It makes you slightly weaker to Breloom, but really, as long as you have Celebi, you should be fine against Breloom. Also, it's worth noting that Sandslash can survive a Technician Mach Punch, so Breloom's not revenge killing it. I would just use a Swords Dance Scizor, as you probably don't want to be using too many users of Choice items.

Now that you don't need to have Rapid Spin just to support Volcarona, you're free to drop Rapid Spin for X-Scissor on Sandslash. I did mention the fact that Techniloom cannot OHKO Sandslash without boosts, right? X-Scissor allows you to capitalize on that fact, and X-Scissor is preferred over Return because it also handles Celebi, who would otherwise be trouble for Sandslash. Also, go ahead and change its item to Life Orb, as it needs all the power it can get on ALL of its moves, and also because Earth Plate is stupid.

Celebi is the best Breloom counter in existence. So, why are you not using Psychic? I'd just pop Psychic in over Thunder Wave; it grants you an OHKO on Breloom and you don't really need paralysis support, as you have three ways to revenge kill (assuming you do use Terrakion, which you should)

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Sets:

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide / Earthquake

Scizor @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Atk / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Bug Bite

The Scizor set here is just a slightly modified version of the Offensive SD Scizor. Lowering it to 36 Speed EVs means it will always be slower than Skarmory, so Skarmory cannot Roost off Superpower.
 
Hell of a team Magik. I'm a big fan of balanced teams built around a Bulky Volcarona and your team does not disappoint. Maybe you should mention somewhere in the OP how well Volcarona supports balanced teams by countering numerous stall breakers (Mew, Sableye, Lucario, Breloom, Toxicroak, Jirachi, Scizor, etc,) so other raters wont be so quick to replace it.

I agree with everything Motagua mentioned in his rate. The Choice Band Scizor w/ Quick Attack > Mamoswine switch keeps a lot of the team's offensive synergy intact while patching up a few weaknesses to Gengar and Haxorus.

The only thing I have to add is trying out Amoonguss > Celebi. Amoonguss still maintains Celebi's resistance to Water and Fighting attacks and its ability to spread status; however, the Mushroom Pokemon has one huge bonus over Celebi: Poison typing to absorb Toxic Spikes (which is crucial for the success of Tyranitar, Sandslash, and Volcarona.) Here's a link to the set: Double Status Amoonguss.

Also, since you're using Sandslash as more of a early/mid-game supporter and late-game sweeper, why don't you give Leftovers > Earthplate a try.
 
@LucaroarkZ
Thanks for the rate c:!
And its very rare for t-tar to die against a sun team without leaving stealth rocks on the field. The choice scarf terra seems like a good idea but I dont like how its easily predictable. I'll test it out though and give it a try!
Also i'd rather keep volcarona as it is a really good pokemon and can bring me back from a losing position to a winning one. I did replace mamo with scizor though.

@Magma
Thanks for the rate!
It means a lot :D
I added something in the OP im goin to add more on volc as i test more things.
I do have a question is CB scizor good? I mean i feel like im giving away a turn of free set up when i use bp and they go to a resist..
Oh and I'll try out amoongus seems good :D

oh i do have a question..
Which scizor is better for my team to use? The standard cb one or the life orb one LucaroarkZ suggested?
Im going to try the new suggestions wish me luck :)
Thanks everyone for the feedback keep it coming :)
 
What Scizor is better to use depends on whether or not you decide to use Scarf Terrakion. If you don't, it's probably best to use CB Scizor (with Quick Attack). However, if you do use Scarf Terrakion, you'll have too many Choice users, so a Swords Dance Scizor would be the better choice.

Also if you're afraid of the opponent switching to a Bullet Punch resist against CB Scizor, just go for U-turn. There's a good chance their Bullet Punch resist is weak to Sandslash's Earthquake, or if it's Rotom-W, you can U-turn out to Celebi.
 
When you play with Scizor, you are usually U-turning out and since you got Rotom-W, you start to create a Volt-Turn chain that gives your team momentum when used correctly. In my opinion, you should use a Choice Band because of the overall inmediate power it offers. Also if someone sets up when you lock yourself with Bullet Punch, I wouldn´t worry a lot about it. Lucario´s +2 Extremespeed cant OHKO Sandslash, Gyarados is handled by Rotom-W & Celebi, and Heatran is demolished by half of your team. I am just saying that you have nothing to worry about in being locked in a move, your team is correctly balance and it can handle these threats mostly.

As an extra, I would like to suggest Shed Shell on Tyranitar mostly because since this team is dependant on Sand, if Dugtrio catches Tyranitar, the oponent will win the weather war.
 
@Motogua and lucaroarkz and magma
Ive been using scizor over mamoswine and amoongus over celebi extensively throughout the day. (im on my phone so i might have some mistakes o.o)
It really hasnt been working out for scizor on the modt part.
The volt-turn core is great and all but most people already know how to deal with it.
They lay down hazards and im forced to spin with slash. As good as it is the pressure it has to spin the hazards away is really huge. He realy cant take repeated hits without any source of recovery :/ (i use lefties o: now). I feel like mamo is much better for this team than scizor because it has better coverage and destroys volcs counters which scizor couldnt do. Idk is it just me? Probably just me that cant use scizor right D:
On ammoongus its pretty good! Fills the same role celebi had and gives volc some timeto set up will be testing it more soon.
And again thanks for the rates c: sorry if i sound a bit mean i dont mean to D:
Sorry..
 
Hey Magik.

Truthfully we are all just theorymoning. At the end of the day, this is your team, and if you feel like Mamoswine does of better job of supporting the team than Scizor, then by all means, use Mamoswine.

My only advice when using Scizor is: be sure to spam U-Turns until your forced to use Bullet Punch (like against a +1atk +1spd Dragonite or a +2Atk Terrakion.)

I'm glad Amoonguss has been working for you. :)
 
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