Double Sand Recon!!

[Nagato070509]

Hi I am very familiar with the 5th gen metagame. And one thing that seems to be a huge factor is weather. And as the saying goes if you cant beat them join them. And thats exactly what I did, I made a sandstorm team because it is the most accessible one. The reason why I choose sand was mostly because it is a major weather out of the three in the main metagame. And it is the only one that constantly damages the opponent and gives my team a great boost.

I wanted to start with the pokemon that would bring my weather to the field. So my first thought was Hippowdon.

With the next one I just wanted to be a prick. After all of the work of killing my Hippowdon then have their weather up. Only to have it stopped once again by the one the only Tyranitar. I asked someone about this and they said I was crazy for putting two leads on one team. But Tyranitar is far from a lead.

So I realized that I have a major weakness to water types especially Politoed. So when the time comes for a showdown between Hippowdon and Politoed, I needed a reliable switch in. I wanted something that could resist the predicted water move and also force a switch or even kill the Politoed. So I chose Rotom-W.

I needed an all around dragon resist and also one that can survive in the sand. Empoleon came to mind being part steel and and water. It helped out with a dragon and water resist at the same time, also helping set up Stealth Rock if Hippowdon was taunted or it just never had the chance to.

Next I noticed that any fighting type would rip a hole into my team. And what better to take a fighting type attack and dish out a powerful move right back then Reuniclus.

In every sandstorm team there is the late sweeper that can pack a punch. Excadrill.

Hippowdon@ Leftovers
252Hp/252 Def/6 SpDef
Trait: Sand Stream
Nature:Impish
~Earthquake~
~Stealth Rock~
~Slack Off~
~Ice Fang~
The bringer of sand and the defensive wall of my team. He takes physical hits all day everyday. He lives Choice Banded Close Combat from Inferape so nicely having it at a 3-4 hit KO. He basically takes Physical hits and hits them with an EQ while sand is wearing them down. This is a pretty standard set to run on Hippowdon but with the team "synergy" Hippowdon usually lives for quite some time.Pretty straightforward moveset. The EVs maximize Hippo's defensive capabilities and enable it to take on the various physical to its fullest ability.

Tyranitar@ Leftovers
Evs: 252Hp/64SpA/192SpDef
Trait: Sand Stream
Nature: Sassy
~Fire Blast~
~Ice Beam~
~Superpower~
~Crunch~
The spread given to OHKO Gliscor with Ice Beam and be generally bulkier to sponge special attacks in conjunction with the Sandstorm boost. Crunch is the most reliable STAB move available for this set, and does incredible damage to Ghost- and Psychic-types. Fire Blast combines with Crunch nicely, hitting common Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Forretress who would otherwise love to set up.

Rotom-W@Leftovers
Evs: 112Hp/252SpA/144Spd
Trait: Levitate
Nature:Modest
~Hydro Pump~
~Thunderbolt~
~Hidden Power Fire~
~Pain Split~
I absolutely love this pokemon on this team. He rips apart many teams that aren't prepared for it. Many expect for Rotom-W to carry Hidden Power Ice. So they feel safe sending in Scizor and Ferrothorn, but when I show them that I carry Fire instead of Ice. Hidden Power Fire OHKOs Scizor and 2 HKO Ferrothorn. Rotom-W is my main switch in to Politoed leads, he takes the Surf/Scald nicely then threatens with a Thunderbolt. It can OHKO Choiced' Politoeds' 41.02% of the time. And it is a two HKO on specially defensive variants.

Empoleon@Leftovers
Evs: 252Hp/252SpDef/6Def
Nature: Calm
~Stealth Rock~
~Ice Beam~
~Scald~
~Grass Knot~
The EV spread allows Empoleon to take special attacks extremely well, including Latios' infamous Draco Meteor. A Modest Choice Specs Latios' Draco Meteor will only take away around 39.5% to 46.8% of Empoleon's health. He also helps out by setting up stealth rock if it isnt up already. When I first used this set I ran Roar over Grass Knot. And Vaporeon walled me so hard, along with Politoed. But even with Grass Knot it is hard to break through these walls.

Reuniclus@Life Orb
Evs: 192Hp/252SpA/64Def
Nature:Modest
Trait: Magic Guard
~Trick Room~
~Shadow Ball~
~ Psychic ~
~Focus Blast~
Reuniclus's low Speed and excellent Special Attack make it a natural candidate for a Trick Room sweeper. Magic Guard further adds to Reuniclus's potent sweeping capabilities, as it is not affected by residual damage, including Life Orb recoil, sandstorm, and entry hazards. He his the absolute main attraction for this team. He destroys many teams that aren't prepared, and it great bulk allows him to come in on the predict fighting moves to the many pokes i have that are weak to it. many fighting types retreat allowing me to set up a free trick room. He easily survives a Choice Banded Close Combat from an Adamant Inferape.

Excadrill@Life Orb
Evs: 6Hp/252Atk/252Spd
Nature:Adamant
Trait:Sand Rush
~Swords Dance~
~Earthquake~
~Rock Slide~
~X-Scissor~
Oh Excadrill some of us love you some of us hate you. Excadrill is a great multifunction pokemon. First it is a revenge killer in the sand and second it is a great sweeper in the sand. Really this is one of those pokes that everyone knows so not much to say.​

 

[Soulfly]

Team looks solid , good job :)

I like the idea of 2x sandstorm starters and you seem to use them in your defensive core too . I advise getting pursuit over crunch on tyranitar as most pokemons you switch in will try to get out of there (latios/latias/anything psychic...)
Also i would get roar on the hippowdon. You dont have any phazers yet , nor have you got a taunter , so people can fairly easy set up. Defenatly the hippodon isnt scary for most of the pokemon around , so if he can roar this would help the team.

I also suggest changing the empoleon for a specially defensive jirachi (if you have acces to it) . Altho this would make you loose your grass attack aswell as one of your ice attacks. But for taking draco meteors jirachi is suited alot better.
Empoleon in my opinion just lacks the stats to be good in a defensive way.
As moves for the jirachi you could do : Wish , Ice punch , Body Slam/Twave , Iron Head
This is a paraflinch set but with still wish support for the team or for yourself (no protect to receive wish , as you can just try to iron head (60% chance to flinch))

As for loosing the grass attack : Reuniclus can learn energyball/grass knot instead of shadowball.

 

[-Tsunami-]

Hey there.

First off, running 2 sandstorm pokemon is usually a waste of a slow that could be spent on another pokemon. I recommend running a Gliscor over Hippowdon due to it's ability to better stop offensive threats such as Excadrill.

Swords Dance Gliscor

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Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Speed
Trait: Poison Heal
Nature:Impish
~Ice Fang~
~Swords Dance~
~Earthquake~
~Taunt~

SD Gliscor can be a fearsome late game sweeper, and can be very annoying to stall teams. Taunt is chosen over Protect to better compromise your lack of a Rapid Spinner.

Volcarona is a devastating problem to your team; after 2 Quiver Dances, offensive versions can outrun Excadrill; if you overpredict and lose Excadrill to a Fiery Dance, it's over. Seeing as you also need Stealth Rock since Hippowdon is gone, change Tyranitar to a Specially Defensive variant. The new EV Spread is 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef with a Careful nature. The new moveset is Rock Slide / Crunch / Pursuit / Stealth Rock.

Replace Thunderbolt on Rotom-W with Volt Switch. The drop in power is easily made up for by the switch advantage that yo u gain when using the move; Volt Switch usually has enough power to finish off what it needs to regardless.

Since Tyranitar can take care of pokemon like Latios, Empoleon isn't really needed. Seeing as Rotom-W is a major threat to your team, replace Empoleon with a Celebi.

Nasty Plot Celebi

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Celebi @ Leftovers
Evs: 220 HP / 252 SAtk / 36 Sped
Nature:Modest
Trait: Natural Cure
~Recover~
~Hidden Power Fire~
~Giga Drain~
~Nasty Plot~

Nasty Plot Celebi is a great counter to rain teams, and can not only beat Rotom-W, but it can be a fearsome late-game sweeper as well. Giga Drain + HidenPower Fire provides excellent coverage; pokemon like Heatran that wall this set can be taken care of by your other pokemon.

Finally, replace X-Scissor on Excadrill with Return. With Adamant and Life Orb, pokemon like Latios will be destroyed by a +2 Return; standard Gliscor is 2HKO'd by +2 Return as well.

Overall, nice team. Hope I helped, and good luck!

 

[Boondocker]

Skarm+Gastrodon > Empoleon+Hippo

Why? because spikes are good, as are reliable counters to landorous, exadrill, rotom-w, and more. Empoleon just adds an unnessary fighting weakness to your team, and hippo is just not great anymore.

 

[Howard]

Since the 2 people who posted before me made major points, I'm going to nit pick a little. Running Psyshock over Psychic on your Reuniclus will make it that much more prepared to deal with a Pokemon like Blissey, who would otherwise Thunder Wave you and proceed to S-Toss you to oblivion, especially since your Reuni has absolutely no form of Recovery whatsoever. If you're going to be a glass cannon, might as well get the important ones out of the way. GLB.

 

[ParaChomp]

Following what people are saying, go with Skarmory over Hippowdon and use Stealth Rock on Tyranitar. Having Hippowdon and Tyranitar on the same team isn't a bad thing but you have to make the 2 incredibly diverse.

I find Jirachi and a ghost type could have a lot of potential on your team. I like Rotom-W on your team but I would consider giving it Trick and a Choice Scarf.