Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Thought Process and Initial Team
III. Movesets and Latest Changes
IV. Conclusion
I. Introduction
Hello everybody this is Traynor (In game Nacho) and I'm new too these forums and am honestly new to the whole competitive side for Pokemon. I've always followed the whole competitive scene but never got involved but that changes today. Always been a casual gamer and really never took the steps to make a serious team as I didn't play with others much but with Wifi now it has changed for me. This is my first competitive team after viewing the tiers on this site and watching videos of competitive battles. Please be gentle as this is my first serious team and am rather new to this as I do not know every check and counter. I welcome constructive criticism as long as it doesn't get ugly.
II. Thought Processes and Initial Team
III. Moveset and Latest Changes
Maualuga ( Hippopotas ) ( M )
Ability : Sand Stream
Item : Leftovers
EVs : 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Nature : Impish ( + Def , - SpA )
Move Set
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
Overview
My Sand generator, with his defensive bulk he can serve as a wall racking up residual damage with Roar or outright going on the offensive because of his respectable Attack stat. He is preferred over Tyranitar for me because of Slack Off, which keeps him around that much longer and can be extremely helpful in weather wars.
Green-Ellis ( Terrakion ) ( G )
Ability: Justified
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 AtK / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly ( + Spe , - SpA )
Move Set
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
Overview
My main sweeper, everyone knows what he can do and what he can't do. The problem is killing off the risks to his eventual sweep, which is what my team is based around. Killing off the bulkier sets the opposing team may have and once that happens its time to wreck house. Setting up Swords Dance and Rock Polish with Screens Up, Sandstorms special defense bonus, and already natural bulk is a trivial task once his counters are gone.
Leon Hall ( Starmie ) ( G )
Ability: Natural Cure
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid ( + Spe , - AtK )
Move Set
- Thunderbolt
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
Overview
Thanks to DestinyUnknown for giving me the idea to use Starmie, this thing saves me big time, Rapid Spin helps me against entry hazards while also having bulk and a chance to recover which is vital for my team. I originally had Espeon slated in here but it is rather difficult to get both screens up and keep him alive to pass Wish around, which seemed to be a problem for my team.
Red Rifle ( Infernape ) ( M )
Ability: Blaze
Item: Choice Scarf
EVs: 108 Atk / 148 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Hasty ( + Spe , - Def )
Move Set
- Close Combat
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- U-Turn
Overview
Infernape is one of the most important pokemon on my team, He does the heavy lifting wise as far as clearing threats to Terrakion's dominance such as Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Breloom. With the boosted speed he becomes a force with mixed attacking and can hit hard which is why he is included in this team.
J-Ship ( Roserade ) ( M )
Ability: Natural Cure
Item: Choice Specs
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid ( + Spe , - AtK )
Move Set
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Weather Ball
- Aromatherapy
Overview
Now you may be wondering, why the hell am I running Weather Ball on a Roserade? Well in the Sandstorm it turns into a Rock-type attack, effectively covering Roserade's weaknesses to Ice, Flying, and Fire and with its outstanding Special Attack will dent any pokemon hard. Including Aroma for the sole purprose of curing statuses brought on by stall teams, which can be a major issue for my type of team, the other moves are standard Roserade moves for major STAB damage.
AJ Green ( Scizor ) ( M )
Ability: Technician
Item: Choice Band
EVs: 248 Hp / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Nature: Adamant ( + Atk , - SpA )
Move Set
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-Turn
- Superpower
Overview
Magnezone was originally slotted in here but thanks too DestinyUnknown, Scizor helps out my team in so many more ways, Scizor definitely helps in taking care of Dragon Types that can run rampant in my team. The moveset is too abuse Scizor's priority Technician boosted moves to clean house.
IV. Conclusion
This is my best attempt at making a functional team, as I am just a beginner I don't have the experience to know what are the major pokemon that causes problems for this team. I had some really crazy ideas early on, such as putting in an Onix with Eviolite, and trying to incorportate a Sand Trick Room team. So far I enjoy making teams that don't follow conventional builds and just doing the unexpected. This I feel adds some fun and mystery to the game which I like to get involved. I understand this team doesn't follow my idea of uniqueness well but you have to start somewhere lol. The focus is mainly on eliminating threats to Terrakion and then just cleaning house with Double Boosted Moves and hopefully a turn or two of screen support. This is a trial team, as I will be play testing this team during the upcoming days but I'd love to have input on maybe what to focus on and what to switch. I appreciate all the help.
I. Introduction
II. Thought Process and Initial Team
III. Movesets and Latest Changes
IV. Conclusion
I. Introduction
Hello everybody this is Traynor (In game Nacho) and I'm new too these forums and am honestly new to the whole competitive side for Pokemon. I've always followed the whole competitive scene but never got involved but that changes today. Always been a casual gamer and really never took the steps to make a serious team as I didn't play with others much but with Wifi now it has changed for me. This is my first competitive team after viewing the tiers on this site and watching videos of competitive battles. Please be gentle as this is my first serious team and am rather new to this as I do not know every check and counter. I welcome constructive criticism as long as it doesn't get ugly.
II. Thought Processes and Initial Team
At first I didn't know what kind of playstyle suited me best, but after much deliberation I chose to make my first team a sandstorm team. I had a WIDE range of pokemon I could choose from but unfortunately there's only six spots available. I felt that I wanted to add my own unique spin to the team, adding pokemon less used or that I felt attached too that you do not normally see on a sandstorm team. Most of these did not make the final team though as much as I hated it. So this is the thoughts I had to build this team. First though we need the Sand Streamer which always starts off the team and my decision was...
I chose the less common Hippowdon purely because I felt I needed my weather inducer take as much punishment as possible to keep him around just in case I run into a different weathered team. Slack Off is a savior for him as he sticks around alot longer than Tyranitar which is always helpful. My next decision was to decide who was my "Sand" sweeper and it would be...
It was a tough decision but I finally decided on Terrakion. I think everyone here understands how dangerous he can be and I preferred his typing over Landorus in my team. After these two this is where my decision making for creativity really went off, this is all the pokemon I felt had a shot at making the cut...
This was where I wanted to show the most creativity while also keeping together a solid Sand team. Since most pokemon used during sandstorms are naturally bulky, I decided only a special wall would be needed and there is a very nice one in...
After this I decided to have counters to some of the more dangerous pokemon that would harm my Hippowdon and Terrakoin, which were bulky Water types, Cloyster, Breloom, Ferrothorn, and the ever common Scizor. Thats why my decision was very clear to me to pick...
A Extremely speedy Fire/Fighting type like Infernape works wonders against Scizor, Cloyster, Breeloom and Ferrothorn so its only natural for me to include this in my setup for pokemon. This leaves what could possibly be the biggest hassle of all and that is bulky Water type pokemon such as Jellicent, Tentacruel, Vaporeon, and Gastrodon. This is why I feel it was wise to include..
Roserade not only can deal with the peskier Water types that are out there, it also is a great support pokemon with Aromatherapy which can be a lifesaver especially for Hippopowdon.Roserade also has a sneaky surpise which will be explained later on. This leads to the final piece of the puzzle, trying to find a 6th pokemon to offer good type coverage while also keeping this team balanced. I see there is a glaring need for something that can resist Dragon-type attacks and im in need of a Steel-type so this decision is relatively easy...
I chose the less common Hippowdon purely because I felt I needed my weather inducer take as much punishment as possible to keep him around just in case I run into a different weathered team. Slack Off is a savior for him as he sticks around alot longer than Tyranitar which is always helpful. My next decision was to decide who was my "Sand" sweeper and it would be...
It was a tough decision but I finally decided on Terrakion. I think everyone here understands how dangerous he can be and I preferred his typing over Landorus in my team. After these two this is where my decision making for creativity really went off, this is all the pokemon I felt had a shot at making the cut...
This was where I wanted to show the most creativity while also keeping together a solid Sand team. Since most pokemon used during sandstorms are naturally bulky, I decided only a special wall would be needed and there is a very nice one in...
After this I decided to have counters to some of the more dangerous pokemon that would harm my Hippowdon and Terrakoin, which were bulky Water types, Cloyster, Breloom, Ferrothorn, and the ever common Scizor. Thats why my decision was very clear to me to pick...
A Extremely speedy Fire/Fighting type like Infernape works wonders against Scizor, Cloyster, Breeloom and Ferrothorn so its only natural for me to include this in my setup for pokemon. This leaves what could possibly be the biggest hassle of all and that is bulky Water type pokemon such as Jellicent, Tentacruel, Vaporeon, and Gastrodon. This is why I feel it was wise to include..
Roserade not only can deal with the peskier Water types that are out there, it also is a great support pokemon with Aromatherapy which can be a lifesaver especially for Hippopowdon.Roserade also has a sneaky surpise which will be explained later on. This leads to the final piece of the puzzle, trying to find a 6th pokemon to offer good type coverage while also keeping this team balanced. I see there is a glaring need for something that can resist Dragon-type attacks and im in need of a Steel-type so this decision is relatively easy...
III. Moveset and Latest Changes
Maualuga ( Hippopotas ) ( M )
Ability : Sand Stream
Item : Leftovers
EVs : 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Nature : Impish ( + Def , - SpA )
Move Set
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
Overview
My Sand generator, with his defensive bulk he can serve as a wall racking up residual damage with Roar or outright going on the offensive because of his respectable Attack stat. He is preferred over Tyranitar for me because of Slack Off, which keeps him around that much longer and can be extremely helpful in weather wars.
Green-Ellis ( Terrakion ) ( G )
Ability: Justified
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 AtK / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly ( + Spe , - SpA )
Move Set
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
Overview
My main sweeper, everyone knows what he can do and what he can't do. The problem is killing off the risks to his eventual sweep, which is what my team is based around. Killing off the bulkier sets the opposing team may have and once that happens its time to wreck house. Setting up Swords Dance and Rock Polish with Screens Up, Sandstorms special defense bonus, and already natural bulk is a trivial task once his counters are gone.
Leon Hall ( Starmie ) ( G )
Ability: Natural Cure
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid ( + Spe , - AtK )
Move Set
- Thunderbolt
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
Overview
Thanks to DestinyUnknown for giving me the idea to use Starmie, this thing saves me big time, Rapid Spin helps me against entry hazards while also having bulk and a chance to recover which is vital for my team. I originally had Espeon slated in here but it is rather difficult to get both screens up and keep him alive to pass Wish around, which seemed to be a problem for my team.
Red Rifle ( Infernape ) ( M )
Ability: Blaze
Item: Choice Scarf
EVs: 108 Atk / 148 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Hasty ( + Spe , - Def )
Move Set
- Close Combat
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- U-Turn
Overview
Infernape is one of the most important pokemon on my team, He does the heavy lifting wise as far as clearing threats to Terrakion's dominance such as Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Breloom. With the boosted speed he becomes a force with mixed attacking and can hit hard which is why he is included in this team.
J-Ship ( Roserade ) ( M )
Ability: Natural Cure
Item: Choice Specs
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid ( + Spe , - AtK )
Move Set
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Weather Ball
- Aromatherapy
Overview
Now you may be wondering, why the hell am I running Weather Ball on a Roserade? Well in the Sandstorm it turns into a Rock-type attack, effectively covering Roserade's weaknesses to Ice, Flying, and Fire and with its outstanding Special Attack will dent any pokemon hard. Including Aroma for the sole purprose of curing statuses brought on by stall teams, which can be a major issue for my type of team, the other moves are standard Roserade moves for major STAB damage.
AJ Green ( Scizor ) ( M )
Ability: Technician
Item: Choice Band
EVs: 248 Hp / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Nature: Adamant ( + Atk , - SpA )
Move Set
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-Turn
- Superpower
Overview
Magnezone was originally slotted in here but thanks too DestinyUnknown, Scizor helps out my team in so many more ways, Scizor definitely helps in taking care of Dragon Types that can run rampant in my team. The moveset is too abuse Scizor's priority Technician boosted moves to clean house.
IV. Conclusion
This is my best attempt at making a functional team, as I am just a beginner I don't have the experience to know what are the major pokemon that causes problems for this team. I had some really crazy ideas early on, such as putting in an Onix with Eviolite, and trying to incorportate a Sand Trick Room team. So far I enjoy making teams that don't follow conventional builds and just doing the unexpected. This I feel adds some fun and mystery to the game which I like to get involved. I understand this team doesn't follow my idea of uniqueness well but you have to start somewhere lol. The focus is mainly on eliminating threats to Terrakion and then just cleaning house with Double Boosted Moves and hopefully a turn or two of screen support. This is a trial team, as I will be play testing this team during the upcoming days but I'd love to have input on maybe what to focus on and what to switch. I appreciate all the help.
