Doin' Dem Drill Dashes
A double-sand team feat. Excadrill
Hello everyone!
This is MrEon and I'm here to present you my first RMT in a very long time. The two reasons for that are - a) I've been busy with other stuff, b) I don't come up with such good teams very often so this one deserved a thread. Now, without further delays, lets get started.
I chose Excadrill as a 'mon to start with. It was pretty random, or maybe not. As a matter of fact, trying out Sand Rush (Excadrill) and Sand Veil (Garchomp) was the reason I started playing Ubers. noob memories...
Next, I wanted Excadrill's best friend - sandstorm. Ttar was my first choice (I've always liked him over Hippo) but I also knew that Ttar does get his ass kicked by both the Uber weather starters. It was time to get insurance against those two AHoles also known as Groudon and Kyogre
For a Kyogre counter, Latias was the obvious choice. When thinking about a Groudon counter, something interesting came to my mind - Ttar's own rival Hippo. Since most Groudon are defensive, they can't really touch Hippo, while having him also gives me extra insurance for keeping the sandstorm going.
Frankly speaking, I didn't know where to go from here. I wanted a semi-stall team, which aims to wear out the opponent's team and sweep with Exacdrill late game, so on that front, the team was looking decent. I might want to add Spikes support, and I also needed a Steel type by now for obvious reasons, so I gave the call to Skarmory.
By now, I was really out of ideas, and just wanted to somehow test the team so far. But of course, there's nothing more stupid than a team of 5 'mons. So after a lot of thinking, I decided to settle for arguably the most versatile 'mon in the tier - Ghost Arceus.
Tyranitar @Choice Band
Adamant
252 HP/64 Atk/192 SpD
Sand Stream
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Low Kick
Before anything else, I'd like to tell you all I was incredibly confused as to whether i should use specially defensive or CB Ttar. I've used CB to a lot of success in OU, so currently I'm running this variant. It has just enough bulk for my needs, while hitting hard, but if a defensive set will do better for my team, do tell me.
Hippowdon @Leftovers
Impish
252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Sand Stream
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
Now, my Groudon counter. Most of those big red dinosaurs fail to get past this Hippo, given its incredible longevity thanks to Slack Off. SR 'coz Ttar is CB, EQ is the main attack and Whirlwind is also a good utility move. Nothing much to say except this thing laughs at most Groudon.
Latias @ Soul Dew
Calm
252 HP/120 SpD/136 Spe
Levitate
- Dragon Pulse
- Roost
- Light Screen
- Roar
Pretty much the same as above except for Kyogre. Actually though, Latias checks a lot of things for my team - including Mewtwo, CM Arceus which dont have a SE move against her, and is even a (somewhat shaky, but last resort) check to Darkrai. The moveset too is similar to Hippo's except for Light Screen, which is basically extra protection against the various powerful special attackers running around in the tier.
Skarmory @Leftovers
Impish
252 HP/252 SpD/4 Def
Sturdy
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
Again, nothing special - straight out of the analysis. Skarm does function as a good mixed wall (maybe a bit lacking on the special side, but still). The moves also let it accomplish its goal very well, though the only one I doubt is Brave Bird. Will Toxic or Taunt or something be better?
Arceus Ghost @ Spooky plate
Timid
252 HP/80 SpD/176 Spe
Multitype
- Judgement
- Recover
- Will-o-Wisp
- Roar
Yet another standard set, because I wasn't really thinking about it by the time I added Arceus to my team. While this set has no moves to hit Normal types, the only common one is Extreme Killer Arceus. Since I have two 'mons that counter it (both with recovery), I don't really care about giving it a free turn. Actually, I do have WoW. On that note, I'd say I used 3 support moves to maximize its utility, and it does the job pretty well.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Adamant
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
Sand Rush
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
The star of the show. This thing is so powerful, half the time it doesn't even need SD to sweep (if everything on the opponents team is under 50%, which isn't uncommon thanks to sandstorm, hazards and near-constant phazing). So, I used moves to maximize its coverage - EQ demolishes almost everything that isn't very bulky, Iron Head for Giratina-O and Grass Arceus, and Rock Slide for Ho-Oh and Lugia. Apart from this being an all-out offensive set, the other reason I don't use Rapid Spin is that I usually bring out Excadrill late game, so I doubt if Rapid Spin will be any useful.
So that was my newest and one of the most successful teams in the tier. I'm pretty sure there are some flaws in the team, I look forward to you guys' suggestions.
~MrEon
