Welcome smogoners to my 2nd (I think) RMT, bringing back a team that I experimented with in the past but have now tweaked to enormous success, revolving around imo the best weather con of all: sand. Let's jump right into the squad!
The core of this team is the classic Hippo + Sand Rush E-Drill and Mega Altaria. While an odd choice to begin with, Altaria actually is my primary win-con and with a bulky spread it covers the water, grass and fire weaknesses aimed at the other too, rendering mons like Keldeo, Serperior, T-flame/Heatran less useful, especially with the chance to use D-dance and storm to victory. I then looked at expanding my team: without fire, I was weak to steel, and Mega Char-Y could run rings around my team providing the sun is up; Scarf Megnezone becomes my steel killer/trapper, giving me a guaranteed kill against every steel mon (except Excadrill) and a fast electric pivot, allowing me to dent the likes of Char-Y, Keldeo, T-flame to name just a few. Next, Rotom-W was starting to become a problem, with no way of trapping it and being out of reach from my E-Drill's earthquake. Enter: Serperior, my second win-con and primary bulky water/ground counter, performing excellently at shutting down Rotom-W, who are commonly physically trained and therefore fall very quickly to leaf storm if they're dumb enough to switch in. Finally, despite having two HP Fire users, a fire type user gave me a handy way to deal with grass types and gave me another fire type resist and, in the case of Talonflame, a ground resist too. Lovely.
The Squad
(I don't blame you for not reading the Teambuilder section, so I'll explain it all again here. For those of you who read, well, tough I guess).
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
Let's kick off with the big guy: He's no slouch defensively, able to live through 3 Mega Gallade Close combats, while killing him through a combination of sand, poison and healing. In fact, that's basically how he deals with everyone, and racks up a surprising amount of kills. I went with Rock Slide over Earthquake because I have two EQ users already, and the function of bird killing with Rock Slide is too valuable to swap out Toxic for, so no room for EQ on this set. Honestly, toxic is an incredible form of status, especially bad poisoning, able to wear down threats that would normally sweep through me, aided by the fact of his defensive prowess and healing: I once killed a Swords Dance + rock Polish Lando-T with this method, surviving in the end. I think he rage-quitted after that. This guy's primary function obviously is to get the sand and rocks out, and I usually lead with him, but it's important to keep him alive too to get sand up as much as I possibly can.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
In the sand, this guy reaches 550 speed with a huge 405 adamant boosted attack stat: adamant because 550 speed is enough, isn't it? This guy decimates in the sand, and also boasts a massive resistance to stealth rocks, making his rapid spinning really not a chore at all, and he usually finds a chance to spin even if it's the last thing he does. Two standard stab moves in EQ and iron head, and with the huge speed boost I obtain in the sand I can kill every fairy in OU (except a boosted M-Altaria, but I'm an idiot then for letting it set up so easily), including Mega Diancie even if it uses protect. Honestly it's the perfect partner to a sand inducer and imo the reason sand teams work so well. However, it's such a common combo that my team is basically shouting it's intent on team preview; Nevertheless, in a 10 game spread, it went 8-2, and is currently sitting on the stat of 9-3, making this probably the best team I've created without massive tweaks of you, the community. I like the leftovers recovery, but honestly life orb turns those 2hkos into reliable kos, especially in the calcs below.
--->
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure ---> Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 96 SpD / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Return
- Earthquake/Refresh
As said earlier, Mega Altaria is not only my favourite win-con and important dragon, fighting and dark counter, it's also a great soak to water, fire and grass type attacks: very common attacking types and the go-to types when you realise you're attacking a sand team. Honestly, I ripped the spread straight off Smogon. 28 speed EVs to outrun M-Lopunny and M-Manectric at +2 and Azumarill base, and defences allow me to tank things like +1 M-Char X Flare Blitz and Choice Band Dragonite Earthquake, among other pretty big milestones. When I get the chance to set up, I can roost to refill my health, and return becomes a 102 base attack physical fairy move thanks to pixilate, making it the strongest physical fairy move in the game. I like earthquake, but to be honest at +2 return does the same damage as unboosted Earthquake, but for things like Heatran, at +2 EQ deals 159% whereas +2 Return deals 18%. The refresh is a nice idea, but I can't afford to get walled by things when I'm trying to sweep.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
Alright, this guy surprises me with his damage. His speed also, the fact you can get 360 speed out of a base 60 speed stat is pretty cool, and allows it to outspeed specs Keldeo and kill with Thunderbolt, outspeed Azumarill and 2hko. It's also a backup fairy counter, giving me 2hkos on things like M-Gardevoir, Clefable, Sylveon, Mega Diancie etc. It's real claim to fame on this team though is the crazy good ability in magnet pull, allowing me to lure in, or even outright switch in to steel types like Ferrothorn, Forretress, Scizor, Skarmory and mess them up with HP Fire, usually netting me a guaranteed kill and lessening the impact they have on my team. In a perfect world I then switch E-Drill in and spin the hazards those kinds of mons are likely to have placed. Full speed and damage EVs are essential for pulling off fast hit and runs. I can also use this to scout for enemy movesets, i.e. if an enemy Keldeo outspeed and sacred swords my Magnezone I know it's scarfed, and this information will help me in the battle.
Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Dragon Pulse
My Second win-con and one of my favourite mons this gen, this guy is just nuts. With the combination of raw damage from Leaf Storm and the actually rather fast speed stat (especially in OU) of 357, it's usually worth shooting out a LS even if they switch out to a "counter" - as long as that counter isn't a fire/bird, Heatran or Mega Venu, you're usually at a point where you're +2 for free and can outspeed the next choice. I've had games start and finish with one Serp sweep before. Not much to say about this guy except his main role is to patch the water weakness on the team and allow me to deal with bulky water/ground types, as he's very very strong when boosted. Also, I recently found out that sticky web raises it's speed by x1.5 when sent it, making it hit a speed stat of 536, which is just dumb when you factor in the free boosts. Went with leftovers > Life orb because it's frail enough and has enough damage as it is without the need for life orb.
Talonflame
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
Last but certainly not least, a switch up on the usual Talonflame sets of either all out damage or Sp. Def trained, the swords dance T-flame set allows me to set up on grass types and lets me go straight through fighting types, while giving me a final, shaky fire counter. The build only needs one attack, a flying type so I can take advantage of Gale Wings, making Magnezone and Serp more essential for their strong fire type attacks. It's also fun to fake this set, as normal counters of mons like Excadrill and Scizor can come in for free on this set but don't, making it eaisier for me to be honest, allowing me to fight easy fights. If I predict they know my set and try and send someone like that in, I can just burn them and usually just switch out; there's no point hitting with not very effective moves when I can just wreck them with other mons. Full HP and attack EVs for maximum bulk and the chance to set up, and ofc I don't need speed with a priority boosted Acrobatics.
Conclusion
So there's the team! As I said this team has gone 9-3 in testing, but it was a fresh account so it's sitting around 1210 ELO atm and I was basically just cleaning up scrubs, but I think it's an effective team nonetheless. Let me know your thoughts on the team, or just drop by to say 'Hey, Wing, nice team' and I'll be like'1v1 scrub get rekt' 'thanks for your kind words.'
Peace out!
The core of this team is the classic Hippo + Sand Rush E-Drill and Mega Altaria. While an odd choice to begin with, Altaria actually is my primary win-con and with a bulky spread it covers the water, grass and fire weaknesses aimed at the other too, rendering mons like Keldeo, Serperior, T-flame/Heatran less useful, especially with the chance to use D-dance and storm to victory. I then looked at expanding my team: without fire, I was weak to steel, and Mega Char-Y could run rings around my team providing the sun is up; Scarf Megnezone becomes my steel killer/trapper, giving me a guaranteed kill against every steel mon (except Excadrill) and a fast electric pivot, allowing me to dent the likes of Char-Y, Keldeo, T-flame to name just a few. Next, Rotom-W was starting to become a problem, with no way of trapping it and being out of reach from my E-Drill's earthquake. Enter: Serperior, my second win-con and primary bulky water/ground counter, performing excellently at shutting down Rotom-W, who are commonly physically trained and therefore fall very quickly to leaf storm if they're dumb enough to switch in. Finally, despite having two HP Fire users, a fire type user gave me a handy way to deal with grass types and gave me another fire type resist and, in the case of Talonflame, a ground resist too. Lovely.
The Squad
(I don't blame you for not reading the Teambuilder section, so I'll explain it all again here. For those of you who read, well, tough I guess).
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
Let's kick off with the big guy: He's no slouch defensively, able to live through 3 Mega Gallade Close combats, while killing him through a combination of sand, poison and healing. In fact, that's basically how he deals with everyone, and racks up a surprising amount of kills. I went with Rock Slide over Earthquake because I have two EQ users already, and the function of bird killing with Rock Slide is too valuable to swap out Toxic for, so no room for EQ on this set. Honestly, toxic is an incredible form of status, especially bad poisoning, able to wear down threats that would normally sweep through me, aided by the fact of his defensive prowess and healing: I once killed a Swords Dance + rock Polish Lando-T with this method, surviving in the end. I think he rage-quitted after that. This guy's primary function obviously is to get the sand and rocks out, and I usually lead with him, but it's important to keep him alive too to get sand up as much as I possibly can.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
In the sand, this guy reaches 550 speed with a huge 405 adamant boosted attack stat: adamant because 550 speed is enough, isn't it? This guy decimates in the sand, and also boasts a massive resistance to stealth rocks, making his rapid spinning really not a chore at all, and he usually finds a chance to spin even if it's the last thing he does. Two standard stab moves in EQ and iron head, and with the huge speed boost I obtain in the sand I can kill every fairy in OU (except a boosted M-Altaria, but I'm an idiot then for letting it set up so easily), including Mega Diancie even if it uses protect. Honestly it's the perfect partner to a sand inducer and imo the reason sand teams work so well. However, it's such a common combo that my team is basically shouting it's intent on team preview; Nevertheless, in a 10 game spread, it went 8-2, and is currently sitting on the stat of 9-3, making this probably the best team I've created without massive tweaks of you, the community. I like the leftovers recovery, but honestly life orb turns those 2hkos into reliable kos, especially in the calcs below.
252+ Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 223-264 (86.1 - 101.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Altaria: 270-320 (92.7 - 109.9%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 24 Def Mega Gardevoir: 408-480 (147.2 - 173.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 708-832 (183.8 - 216.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 338-402 (83.6 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Altaria: 270-320 (92.7 - 109.9%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 24 Def Mega Gardevoir: 408-480 (147.2 - 173.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 708-832 (183.8 - 216.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 338-402 (83.6 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure ---> Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 96 SpD / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Return
- Earthquake/Refresh
As said earlier, Mega Altaria is not only my favourite win-con and important dragon, fighting and dark counter, it's also a great soak to water, fire and grass type attacks: very common attacking types and the go-to types when you realise you're attacking a sand team. Honestly, I ripped the spread straight off Smogon. 28 speed EVs to outrun M-Lopunny and M-Manectric at +2 and Azumarill base, and defences allow me to tank things like +1 M-Char X Flare Blitz and Choice Band Dragonite Earthquake, among other pretty big milestones. When I get the chance to set up, I can roost to refill my health, and return becomes a 102 base attack physical fairy move thanks to pixilate, making it the strongest physical fairy move in the game. I like earthquake, but to be honest at +2 return does the same damage as unboosted Earthquake, but for things like Heatran, at +2 EQ deals 159% whereas +2 Return deals 18%. The refresh is a nice idea, but I can't afford to get walled by things when I'm trying to sweep.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
Alright, this guy surprises me with his damage. His speed also, the fact you can get 360 speed out of a base 60 speed stat is pretty cool, and allows it to outspeed specs Keldeo and kill with Thunderbolt, outspeed Azumarill and 2hko. It's also a backup fairy counter, giving me 2hkos on things like M-Gardevoir, Clefable, Sylveon, Mega Diancie etc. It's real claim to fame on this team though is the crazy good ability in magnet pull, allowing me to lure in, or even outright switch in to steel types like Ferrothorn, Forretress, Scizor, Skarmory and mess them up with HP Fire, usually netting me a guaranteed kill and lessening the impact they have on my team. In a perfect world I then switch E-Drill in and spin the hazards those kinds of mons are likely to have placed. Full speed and damage EVs are essential for pulling off fast hit and runs. I can also use this to scout for enemy movesets, i.e. if an enemy Keldeo outspeed and sacred swords my Magnezone I know it's scarfed, and this information will help me in the battle.
Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Dragon Pulse
My Second win-con and one of my favourite mons this gen, this guy is just nuts. With the combination of raw damage from Leaf Storm and the actually rather fast speed stat (especially in OU) of 357, it's usually worth shooting out a LS even if they switch out to a "counter" - as long as that counter isn't a fire/bird, Heatran or Mega Venu, you're usually at a point where you're +2 for free and can outspeed the next choice. I've had games start and finish with one Serp sweep before. Not much to say about this guy except his main role is to patch the water weakness on the team and allow me to deal with bulky water/ground types, as he's very very strong when boosted. Also, I recently found out that sticky web raises it's speed by x1.5 when sent it, making it hit a speed stat of 536, which is just dumb when you factor in the free boosts. Went with leftovers > Life orb because it's frail enough and has enough damage as it is without the need for life orb.
Talonflame
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
Last but certainly not least, a switch up on the usual Talonflame sets of either all out damage or Sp. Def trained, the swords dance T-flame set allows me to set up on grass types and lets me go straight through fighting types, while giving me a final, shaky fire counter. The build only needs one attack, a flying type so I can take advantage of Gale Wings, making Magnezone and Serp more essential for their strong fire type attacks. It's also fun to fake this set, as normal counters of mons like Excadrill and Scizor can come in for free on this set but don't, making it eaisier for me to be honest, allowing me to fight easy fights. If I predict they know my set and try and send someone like that in, I can just burn them and usually just switch out; there's no point hitting with not very effective moves when I can just wreck them with other mons. Full HP and attack EVs for maximum bulk and the chance to set up, and ofc I don't need speed with a priority boosted Acrobatics.
Conclusion
So there's the team! As I said this team has gone 9-3 in testing, but it was a fresh account so it's sitting around 1210 ELO atm and I was basically just cleaning up scrubs, but I think it's an effective team nonetheless. Let me know your thoughts on the team, or just drop by to say 'Hey, Wing, nice team' and I'll be like
Peace out!
