Introduction
Been a while since I made a RMT, here goes nothing.
I love weather offense. I wanna hit hard and fast, and I like to invest in a central supportive theme to accommodate that. Weather offense does that. Rain is in a brilliant position right now, you have Mega Swampert and Kingdra and to a lesser extent Qwilfish as highly dedicated abusers, you have all them users of water-type attacks or Thunder or Hurricane, no wonder people happily smack a Damp Rock on Pelipper to get this onslaught going as long as possible.
Hail and Sun sadly have no such things to work with in OU right now.
But then there is Sand. Sand Rush Excadrill sees plenty of use alongside Tyranitar, but nobody's investing a Smooth Rock anymore to support a lone Excadrill. For the sort of dedicated weather offense I am looking for, I'd want a second hard abuser at least. Luckily, way down in the OU viability rankings, I can find myself just that.
Mega Garchomp.
I wanna add, I loosely use this framework when making offensive teams, https://www.smogon.com/smog/issue28/teambuilding , works for me, basically a dedicated lead, a pivot, a revenge killer, a sweeper, and then 2 generally offensive Pokemon to break through stuff.
Teambuilding Process
Here it is, even with 1 of them being less viable than a bloody Qwilfish, these are THE 2 dedicated Sand abusers of the OU viability rankings. One becomes fast and can clean up teams, the other can punch holes with a boosted Earthquake and Stone Edge. Excadrill's choice between Rapid Spin and Stone Edge will come once I see if I fit a hazard remover elsewhere on the team.
I needed someone to get the Sandstorm going. Both Tyranitar and Hippowdon seemed absolutely fine, went with the rare support (and Smooth Rock) Tyranitar here for more offensive pressure. Really, defensive synergy isn't gonna be great whichever I picked.
Battle Bond Greninja beats Pokemon Excadrill and Mega Garchomp fail to beat, simple as that. Physically defense Pokemon in general, bulky Ground-types, things like that. What I like here is that between Water Shuriken and Sand Rush, I lessen my need for a Choice Scarf.
Honestly at this point I was struggling. Defensive synergy wasn't looking great, I threw in Thundurus-I to patch up weaknesses against Fighting, Ground and Grass, as well as to pressure Rain, the 1 weather that will most commonly oppose mine. Gave a Nasty Plot set to act as my main fast setup sweeper, which then made me decide to use Excadrill as a hazard remover.
Between a dedicated lead, breakers, a sweeper and revenge killer, the one thing I badly want on my offensive teams is a pivot. Annoyingly, by now I had gotten myself too many type weaknesses to really all patch up with 1 Pokemon, but Victini came close, and with Choice Band and U-turn, it can pivot alright. With some very annoying weaknesses in Ground and Water, I decided to playtest the above team.
The weakness against Water proved to be fatal a bit too often. In a desperate attempt at some defensive safety I threw in a Toxapex for a bit to do some hazard stacking alongside my attacking. It really was way too passive for how I wanted to play...
Toxapex was way too passive, Thundurus couldn't reliably sweep either, I took a few steps back and removed both AND changed my weather setter. Greninja was delivering and threatening the Pokemon I needed it to threaten, that's the good news. Yes Hippowdon is more passive than Tyranitar, but the good news is that for a support Pokemon, unlike Toxapex, it provides the exact right support for my team.
Tornadus-T gives the same resistances Thundurus-I gave, while making a better pivot than Victini was, with added Defog! This made me give Swords Dance to Excadrill, to let the mole be the setup sweeper Thundurus failed to be, with both more impressive speed and offense.
Remember my team was so weak to Water? Boom. Volcanion was the glue I needed. With the roles I wanted to fill filled (lead and SR-setter Hippowdon, breaker Mega-Garchomp, pivot and hazard remover Tornadus, sweeper Excadrill, revenge killer Ash-Greninja and Excadrill), Volcanion made a lovely extra breaker that could take Water, Ice and Fairy attacks. Bless him.
The Team
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Ability- Sand Stream
EVs- 252 HP | 112 Def | 144 SpD
Nature- Impish
Stealth Rock | Earthquake | Slack Off | Whirlwind
The sand setter! Certainly also the Pokemon that brings the least offensively, even though an STAB Earthquake from 112 Attack is nothing to laugh at either. Good defenses plus defensive typing plus Slack Off means this thing can come in again and again to set Sandstorm, and reuse Stealth Rock if needed. Whirlwind is a nice little thing to stop setup sweepers that happens to have lovely synergy with Greninja's Spikes. Smooth Rock is the one thing that sets this apart from your standard Hippowdon. I wanna play Sandstorm offense and I wanna go all out, and those extra turns in which both Mega Garchomp and Excadrill can be the most threatening 'mons in the world are just great.
Consideration: Stone Edge over Whirlwind. Whirlwind saved me, often, but putting Stone Edge there would help Hippowdon as an offensive force, suddenly threatening much more Pokemon directly.
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Ability- Rough Skin
EVs- 4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spe
Nature- Jolly
Earthquake | Dragon Claw | Stone Edge | Swords Dance
1 Of 2 true Sandstorm abusers in the OU viability rankings, it had to go on this team. It hits hard and breaks walls, especially under Sand. The nice thing about having a non Mega forme that is deemed better than the Mega, is that I can always just decide to not go Mega, either when I need the Speed or when I need the Rough Skin to kill something, both have happened. When I want to break through stuff though, this thing goes Mega and delivers. Earthquake and Dragon Claw for the obligatory STAB moves, Stone Edge over Fire Fang for the Sand Force boost, as this team can get Sandstorm up consistently for 'chomp. Swords Dance because his good resistances, defenses, and 8 turns of Sandstorm together give enough time to set up.
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Ability- Water Absorb
EVs- 4 Def | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
IVs- 0 Atk
Nature- Timid
Substitute | Steam Eruption | Flamethrower | Earth Power
The glue. I swear this is a Pokemon I underestimated. It's slow, can't really setup, but it has the resistances I need, can put up a Substitute against many Pokemon and can then put a dent into just about anything. Having something you can switch into a Water attack for free is just awesome for this team, specifically, this thing can switch into Pelipper, put up a Substitute almost for free, and then put a huge dent into Pelipper with its Rain boosted Steam Eruption, resisted or not, or put an even bigger dent in the Mega Swampert that comes in. Flamethrower is the obligatory second STAB, Earth Power is to beat Toxapex 1 on 1. Having Leftovers is nice on any Substitute attacker, but becomes even more urgent in a Sandstorm.
Consideration: Hidden Power Electric over Earth Power, just to deal with Rain even quicker.
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Ability- Regenerator
EVs- 252 SpA | 4 SpD | 252 Spe
Nature- Timid
Hurricane | Knock Off | U-turn | Defog
Adds much needed resistances, just like Volcanion. Also punishes Rain teams, just like Volcanion, by smacking 100% accurate Hurricane in their face. Being able to punish Rain is bloody nice when you are Sandstorm. U-turn because all my offensive teams need a pivot, Knock Off for the great utility, and Flyinium Z to every so often just kill something without having to rely on poor accuracy. Now Defog is where this brother really shines, just because it gave me a reason to put Swords Dance on Excadrill, and with a Stealth Rock setter with such survivability, I can't say I mind removing my own rocks that much when needed.
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Ability- Sand Rush
EVs- 252 Atk | 4 Def | 252 Spe
Nature- Jolly
Earthquake | Iron Head | Rock Slide | Swords Dance
MVP, basically. I said I used Mega Garchomp on my team because he was 1 of 2 Sand abusers, well, this is the other one. Sand Rush gives the Speed to sweep teams, Swords Dance gives the Attack to sweep teams. This is exactly why I am happy I could get away with ditching Rapid Spin. Nothing resists the combination of Excadrill's STAB when paired with Rock Slide, and logical answers like Landorus-T and Skarmory aren't that keen on a boosted attack either, especially how after a SD Exca is still at +1 after Intimidate.
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Ability- Battle Bond
EVs- 4 Def | 252 SpA | 252 Spe
Nature- Timid
Hydro Pump | Dark Pulse | Water Shuriken | Spikes
Really, basically attacks things my Excadrill and Mega Garchomp don't wanna attack. Bulky Ground types, Mega Slowbro, physically defensive Pokemon in general, you name it. Spikes has good synergy with Hippowdon's Whirlwind. Water Shuriken gives this team one of the best priority users in the metagame in a pinch, although with its Speed it doesn't even need priority to revenge kill most of the time. Hydro Pump and Dark Pulse again for your standard STAB combo.
Consideration: U-turn over Spikes, for the sake of momentum, would be nicer if I'd also decide to drop Whirlwind on Hippowdon.
Conclusion
I like this team. I love that I got myself a decent defensive synergy which was a massive struggle starting out with Excadrill and Mega Garchomp. Me being me, I love picking something from the lowest tier of the viability rankings and utilize it, in this case even sacrificing a Mega spot for it.
There are things I am less happy with. Opposing Greninja and Mega Charizard-Y. For Greninja I have no real switch-ins, often switching in Volcanion to get outpredicted and struck by a Dark Pulse. Mega Charizard-Y of course messes with my Weather plans and even weakens my 2 Water attackers AND reduces the accuracy of my Hurricane. Mew bothers me greatly with its good bulk and the option of either burning my most important attackers or stopping my priority attacks with Genesis Supernova. Mega Alakazam copying Sand Rush is an absolute disaster. Rotom-W is awful to switch into too and burns me all the time.
Threats:
Feel free to spot more threats, I can easily overlook one or two.
Lastly I wanna lay down what elements I am really REALLY not gonna change. I wanna keep Mega Garchomp and Excadrill, suggest other movesets or items or EV-spreads if you want, but they will remain. Equally, I am really fond of my Smooth Rock. Do swap Hippowdon for Tyranitar or Gigalith if you wish to, but I do want those 8 turns of Sand :P.
Hippowdon @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
Tornadus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
Tornadus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
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