Tyranitar is my absolute favorite Pokemon and I want to fit him on as many teams as I can. After some trial and error, I shrugged and decided to put together a Sand team because it made the best possible use of him.
This is my first RMT, so if I'm doing anything wrong, feel free to inform me.
Smitty (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
Pretty standard set. Max speed to outspeed a lot of things and speed tie with opposing Heatran so I can get promptly OHKOed by the variants that run Earth Power. It was a tough call between this guy and Ferrothorn and a decision I'm still not too entirely sure on. The extra Water resist can help but having a not-SR-weak answer to Scizor, Serperior, Ferrothorn, and the like seems as if it'd have more use. On the flip side, Ferrothorn would be a good switch-in to most physical attackers, as Megacham and Lopunny cause my team a distressing amount of problems if not handled correctly.
Werben (Charizard-Mega-Y) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
I originally thought this would be a bit of an oddball pick for a Mega, but after doing some research, it seems pretty common to run Mzard Y in Sand. Either way, this guy functions as a convenient and effective answer to Rotom-W, which would otherwise be a giant nuisance to deal with, as well as Skarmory, which would otherwise only fall to a 3HKO from Latios' Ice Beam. It can also counter Serperior, surviving up to a +4 Dragon Pulse and OHKOing with Fire Blast, and it can switch into an unboosted Leaf Storm and survive the +2 Dragon Pulse assuming Stealth Rock isn't a factor.
Drought also helps mitigate the natural Water weakness this team has. The Stealth Rock weakness is really annoying but I run two hazard removers to make up for it. This guy has won me battles on his own when everything else failed, so giving him the proper support he needs to succeed became a priority.
Jaegar (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Ice Beam
Sometimes, in order to win, you just have to hit things really hard. That's what Latios does. Draco Meteor chunks everything that doesn't resist it, rendering him an incredibly potent offensive threat when one takes residual damage from Sandstorm into account.
Ice Beam is a bit of an oddball, but it hits certain things incredibly hard, preventing me from needing to switch out due to the -SpA from Draco Meteor. These certain things include Landorus, Garchomp, opposing Latios after Stealth Rock, Gliscor, and other various Dragons and Flying-types. It also inflicts respectable damage to Skarmory, Excadrill, and Mega Altaria. None of these are particularly huge threats to my team on their own, but Landorus, Chomp, and Gliscor render Heatran dead-weight if used as a lead, so I lead with this guy if they're on the opposing team. If I decide to go with Ferrothorn over Heatran, I'll probably go with HP Fire.
I picked this guy over Keldeo because Latios can actually switch in to Keldeo and OHKO it in response. Otherwise, Keldeo rams its way through my entire team with minimal effort, and the only way to deal with it is to sacrifice Tyranitar and hope my opponent doesn't switch out on Excadrill.
Squidward (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
Figuring out what set to run on this guy is hard. The defensive Stealth Rock set, while good, didn't really complement my team that well- I felt like I was just running him because he was a good Pokemon and not because he was actually contributing to my team in any way. So, instead, I opted to run the Double Dance set. A single boost can wreak havoc on the opposing team- +2 Earthquake OHKOs a lot of things and 2HKOs everything else. Stone Edge for coverage. A single Rock Polish outspeeds everything and can 2HKO most things that'd try to revenge kill it.
It's just, flat-out, a win condition. It can capitalize on the smallest mistake and punch holes in almost any team as a result.
Patrick (Excadrill) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
Does this really need introduction? This guy outspeeds almost everything notable except Jolly Sand Rush Excadrill, but my team has no particular weakness against that mon otherwise. Standard coverage does a lot of damage to everything, and Rapid Spin helps support Megazard Y. He hits hard, hits strong, and cleans up opposing teams like nothing else.
Man-Jensen (Tyranitar) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
My favorite Pokemon, and another one dedicated to hitting things really hard.
Tyranitar can't outspeed anything I'd need it to, so max HP is there to maximize bulk. He's pretty much the best possible switch-in to most special attacks, and is capable of surviving a Hydro Pump from Specs Keldeo about 70% of the time, and always survives the Hydro Pump from the Life Orb variant. Stone Edge can chunk even defensive Skarmory for about 50% of its health, and Crunch can lower its defense and beat it by virtue of attrition.
The Threats:
Rotom-W is the biggest headache for this team. The one Pokemon that can easily deal with it happens to be weak to both Water and Stealth Rock, so the only way of reliably dealing with it is to check it. Tyranitar can hit it pretty hard if it's not Burned, but otherwise, there's really nothing my team can do to overcome it. However, Latios can reasonably beat it, but Latios is also susceptible to residual damage from Life Orb and Burn. It's part of the reason I keep debating between Ferrothorn and Heatran. While a burned Ferrothorn can't easily deal with it, it can still survive anything Rotom throws at it and slowly whittle it down with Leech Seed and Power Whip.
Mega and normal Scizor is a massive headache. Bullet Punch still chunks Megazard for a good amount of damage and Superpower laughs at Heatran. Nothing else on my team can deal with it easily, especially defensive sets that can weather Banded Stone Edge somewhat well. If it doesn't run Superpower, Heatran can easily deal with it, though.
Keldeo is also another significant threat if Latios isn't around. Nothing in my team can outspeed or OHKO it outside of Excadrill in sand, but even then, it's a 2HKO and still gets OHKOed in return. In sunlight, assuming Stealth Rock isn't up, nothing Keldeo can do can OHKO Megazard, so it can function as a check too, and Solar Beam does acceptable damage to most switch-ins that don't resist it.
While I haven't experienced it firsthand yet, Scarf Volcanion seems like it'd be another huge headache. My team doesn't have any means of reliably countering it, suffering a 2HKO or OHKO from any of its moves, and risking a burn upon switch-in. While Tyranitar can survive anything Volcanion can throw at it, it can't OHKO with Stone Edge if it gets burned. Excadrill under sand deals with it pretty easily though.
There are probably a bunch of other threats that I haven't experienced yet, but these are the ones that stand out.
Conclusion
what do I even put here if anything
This is my first RMT, so if I'm doing anything wrong, feel free to inform me.
Smitty (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
Pretty standard set. Max speed to outspeed a lot of things and speed tie with opposing Heatran so I can get promptly OHKOed by the variants that run Earth Power. It was a tough call between this guy and Ferrothorn and a decision I'm still not too entirely sure on. The extra Water resist can help but having a not-SR-weak answer to Scizor, Serperior, Ferrothorn, and the like seems as if it'd have more use. On the flip side, Ferrothorn would be a good switch-in to most physical attackers, as Megacham and Lopunny cause my team a distressing amount of problems if not handled correctly.
Werben (Charizard-Mega-Y) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
I originally thought this would be a bit of an oddball pick for a Mega, but after doing some research, it seems pretty common to run Mzard Y in Sand. Either way, this guy functions as a convenient and effective answer to Rotom-W, which would otherwise be a giant nuisance to deal with, as well as Skarmory, which would otherwise only fall to a 3HKO from Latios' Ice Beam. It can also counter Serperior, surviving up to a +4 Dragon Pulse and OHKOing with Fire Blast, and it can switch into an unboosted Leaf Storm and survive the +2 Dragon Pulse assuming Stealth Rock isn't a factor.
Drought also helps mitigate the natural Water weakness this team has. The Stealth Rock weakness is really annoying but I run two hazard removers to make up for it. This guy has won me battles on his own when everything else failed, so giving him the proper support he needs to succeed became a priority.
Jaegar (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Ice Beam
Sometimes, in order to win, you just have to hit things really hard. That's what Latios does. Draco Meteor chunks everything that doesn't resist it, rendering him an incredibly potent offensive threat when one takes residual damage from Sandstorm into account.
Ice Beam is a bit of an oddball, but it hits certain things incredibly hard, preventing me from needing to switch out due to the -SpA from Draco Meteor. These certain things include Landorus, Garchomp, opposing Latios after Stealth Rock, Gliscor, and other various Dragons and Flying-types. It also inflicts respectable damage to Skarmory, Excadrill, and Mega Altaria. None of these are particularly huge threats to my team on their own, but Landorus, Chomp, and Gliscor render Heatran dead-weight if used as a lead, so I lead with this guy if they're on the opposing team. If I decide to go with Ferrothorn over Heatran, I'll probably go with HP Fire.
I picked this guy over Keldeo because Latios can actually switch in to Keldeo and OHKO it in response. Otherwise, Keldeo rams its way through my entire team with minimal effort, and the only way to deal with it is to sacrifice Tyranitar and hope my opponent doesn't switch out on Excadrill.
Squidward (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
Figuring out what set to run on this guy is hard. The defensive Stealth Rock set, while good, didn't really complement my team that well- I felt like I was just running him because he was a good Pokemon and not because he was actually contributing to my team in any way. So, instead, I opted to run the Double Dance set. A single boost can wreak havoc on the opposing team- +2 Earthquake OHKOs a lot of things and 2HKOs everything else. Stone Edge for coverage. A single Rock Polish outspeeds everything and can 2HKO most things that'd try to revenge kill it.
It's just, flat-out, a win condition. It can capitalize on the smallest mistake and punch holes in almost any team as a result.
Patrick (Excadrill) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
Does this really need introduction? This guy outspeeds almost everything notable except Jolly Sand Rush Excadrill, but my team has no particular weakness against that mon otherwise. Standard coverage does a lot of damage to everything, and Rapid Spin helps support Megazard Y. He hits hard, hits strong, and cleans up opposing teams like nothing else.
Man-Jensen (Tyranitar) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
My favorite Pokemon, and another one dedicated to hitting things really hard.
Tyranitar can't outspeed anything I'd need it to, so max HP is there to maximize bulk. He's pretty much the best possible switch-in to most special attacks, and is capable of surviving a Hydro Pump from Specs Keldeo about 70% of the time, and always survives the Hydro Pump from the Life Orb variant. Stone Edge can chunk even defensive Skarmory for about 50% of its health, and Crunch can lower its defense and beat it by virtue of attrition.
The Threats:
Rotom-W is the biggest headache for this team. The one Pokemon that can easily deal with it happens to be weak to both Water and Stealth Rock, so the only way of reliably dealing with it is to check it. Tyranitar can hit it pretty hard if it's not Burned, but otherwise, there's really nothing my team can do to overcome it. However, Latios can reasonably beat it, but Latios is also susceptible to residual damage from Life Orb and Burn. It's part of the reason I keep debating between Ferrothorn and Heatran. While a burned Ferrothorn can't easily deal with it, it can still survive anything Rotom throws at it and slowly whittle it down with Leech Seed and Power Whip.
Mega and normal Scizor is a massive headache. Bullet Punch still chunks Megazard for a good amount of damage and Superpower laughs at Heatran. Nothing else on my team can deal with it easily, especially defensive sets that can weather Banded Stone Edge somewhat well. If it doesn't run Superpower, Heatran can easily deal with it, though.
Keldeo is also another significant threat if Latios isn't around. Nothing in my team can outspeed or OHKO it outside of Excadrill in sand, but even then, it's a 2HKO and still gets OHKOed in return. In sunlight, assuming Stealth Rock isn't up, nothing Keldeo can do can OHKO Megazard, so it can function as a check too, and Solar Beam does acceptable damage to most switch-ins that don't resist it.
While I haven't experienced it firsthand yet, Scarf Volcanion seems like it'd be another huge headache. My team doesn't have any means of reliably countering it, suffering a 2HKO or OHKO from any of its moves, and risking a burn upon switch-in. While Tyranitar can survive anything Volcanion can throw at it, it can't OHKO with Stone Edge if it gets burned. Excadrill under sand deals with it pretty easily though.
There are probably a bunch of other threats that I haven't experienced yet, but these are the ones that stand out.
Conclusion
what do I even put here if anything
