My Best Sand Team

TheSadDonkey

Although there are a lot of sand teams, I wanted to build one to see how far it got me. So far, it peaked at 1376 on the Smogon server on PO. It was by far my most successful sand team, but I still have quite a lot of problems with it.

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Tyranitar (M) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
This is my weather starter, necessary for any weather team. Since Celebi and the Latis are a big problem, I have crunch and pursuit on this set. It has Fire Blast for Ferro and Scizor on the switch and Superpower for Terrakion.

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Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Return
- Swords Dance
This is the staple of any sand team. This thing works wonders once Gliscor and Celebi are out of the way. It does massive amounts of damage with an unboosted Earthquake to anything that doesn't resist and has Return over X-Scissor since the Latis and Celebi can be handled by Tyranitar, while Rotom-W with 112 HP is 2HKOed after rocks.

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Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 240 SAtk / 156 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Although choice scarfed Rotom-W is really good, I prefer this variant for its massive power and the ability to switch moves freely. It can burn Ferrothorn, allowing Excadrill to use it as set-up fodder lategame. It also is a great counter to Poison Heal Gliscor, Bronzong and Skarmory, which tend to give problems to my Excadrill. It has problems with the Latis and Celebi, but Tyranitar remedies the problem with a Pursuit. I gave this thing several more speed EVs to beat some other Rotom and outspeed 36 Speed Jirachi.

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Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Ice Fang
- Taunt
Gliscor has been one of my favorites since Gen 4, since it just looks so awesome. It is used on almost all teams nowadays since it is one of the only true counters to Excadrill. A +2 Life Orb Return may 2HKO, but I usually switch to Gliscor on a Swords Dance from Excadrill. This is also my Toxicroak and SD Scizor check and Conkeldurr counter, as it can boost alongside them and take them out with an Earthquake. This is my only Excadrill check, as Ferrothorn is more of a last resort. Of course, this set has problems with the Latis, HP Ice Celebi, and Rotom W. Rotom is the one thing I don't have yet, but it can be checked pretty well by Latios. This is more of an early game sweeper than Excadrill.

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Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
Ferrothorn is another obligatory Pokemon on many Sand teams, as its ability to take water types in general is phenomenal. It can take most Rotom W, non Specs Politoed, and most importantly Gastrodon, and it is a great counter to rain as it Rotom and Politoed are pretty common on rain teams. It used to have Spikes, but Tyranitar was changed to Choice Band, so I needed something to set up rocks to stop Tornadus and Thundurus from crapping all over my team. It can generally check Specs Latios, as if it locks itself into HP Fire, it gets demolished by Pursuit. I decided to run Thunder Wave over Gyro Ball, since some common switch ins, like Tran and Toxicroak, wouldn't like the speed drop , and random parahax are always nice.

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Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock
Latios is one of the hardest hitting guys out there. With choice specs, its power is just crazy. Draco Meteor hits everything bar T-tar and specially defensive steel types. Surf and HP Fire can hurt the things that can come in on a Draco. Trick is mostly for Chansey and Blissey, and Ferrothorn or Bronzong in the rain. Scizor and Tyranitar are the biggest threats to this set, as they usually run pursuit just to take this thing out. Gliscor and Rotom can counter Scizor, while Gliscor and Excadrill can check Tyranitar with their super effective moves, provided Tyranitar doesn't run Ice beam and Excadrill can't switch in on any of Tyranitar's coverage moves.

There are several things that cause me trouble, and the first one is Baton Pass. If that doesn't get banned soon, I will be very pissed off. I would definitely run Taunt on Gliscor to stop setup, but then Espeon comes in and proceeds to set up and sweep since Pursuit doesn't affect Baton Pass. The other main problem is SD Acrobatics Gliscor. If it sets up a sub and an SD, which is quite likely due to Sand Veil, I will lose at least one Pokemon to an Acrobatics, which is usually Rotom since it's my switch into Gliscor.

BTW this is my first post so please tell me if I made some formatting mistakes or something like that :)
 
This is a pretty solid team you have here, although it still has quite a few threats you didn't mention. Trick room reunicles can absolutely destroy this team, you have an odd weakness to Gengar, Dragon Dance Scarfty will give you hell, and Lucario and Toxicroak played right will be a pain as well.

One possible solution to these problems would be to switch Tyranitar over to Chopple Berry, to deal with Reunicles, as currently choice band isn't doing much (and as a bonus your Gengar problem is gone). And for the rest of the threats you can use some sort of physical wall, Gyarados and Skarmory are idea candidates, probably over Rotom-W as what it does on your team, they do a bit better. Although using it over Gliscor might be an option, as long as you choose Skarmory because Gyarados can't deal with Excadrill. Both of them have these problems though, Gyarados is easily bogged down by stealth rocks + sandstorm, and you don't have rapid spin, and Skarmory still leaves you open to baton pass teams. Pick your poison.

Gyarados (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Waterfall
- Dragon Tail
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind
- Spikes
- Roost

Some other things to consider:
-If you choose to run Gyarados, its probably a better idea to run a balloon on Excadrill and rapid spin.
-You might want to consider running a choice item on Rotom, as it helps you shut down some more threats to this team.
GL
 
Hi, welcome to Smogon.

First of all. I had a huge laughing fit when I saw your team. Don't take it negatively, its a rock solid team. But its also "The Sand Team". Everyone on this forum always jokes about Tyranitar+Excadrill+Ferrothorn+Rotom-W+Gliscor+Latios being the most stereotypical team on the planet. I never though I'd actually ever see one for real. On an RMT among all things too.

Alright, now to pull myself together and give an actual rate. First of all, Tyranitar really doesn't need any speed at all. It seems that every pokemon in the game is EVd to outspeed Tyranitar. I suggest swapping the EV spread to 4 Hp/ 252 Atk/ 252 SpD. This gives Ttar maximum bulk for taking Latios' Draco Meteors/ Surfs Celebi's Giga Drains and stuff and removing them from the match.

Secondly, run Taunt over Protect on Gliscor. This allows Gliscor to break stall (sort of) and it kicks the crap out of Conkeldurr. The only reason to use Protect is to get some extra healing in. But smart Conkeldurr players are just going to Bulk Up whenever you Protect and give you a beat down with Payback. Taunt also allows Gliscor to beat Ferrothorn, Scizor, Skarmory and a plethora of other threats that could otherwise be problematic.

Finally, I suggest running Thunderbolt in place of Will-o-Wisp on Rotom-W to deal with Substitute DD Moxie Gyarados.
 
Hey there,

Calm Mind Virizion / Swords Dance Virizion will be some big troubles for your team to deal with. It can set up on Tyranitar or Rotom-W quite easily, and even if Latios takes Hidden Power Ice quite well, you won't be able to kill it. I'm not saying you can't defeat it, it's just that it will require quit a big team effort to KO it, which a lot of times can mean that it opens holes in your team, leaving it open for more threats to beat your whole team. Since you already have Latios which is an awesome check for Virizion, I suggest swapping Trick for Psyshock. Psyshock is quite an awesome move on Latios, even if it's typing is pretty bad, since it allows it to 2HKO Blissey and OHKO Virizion, altough you have to be very careful if your opponent has Tyranitar which is immune to it and can hit you with Pursuit.

Furthermore, Stall teams will wall your team quite often and finally end up killing it with Entry Hazards damage. I suggest you give your Excadrill Rapid Spin, since it allows you to remove Stall team's entry hazards, which are their main source to deal damage. Excadrill isn't getting spinblocked by anything popular in OU anytime soon, so it's really a good advantage. Removing Return for it seems like the best idea since you already have an excellent Rotom-W switch in with Ferrothorn, and removing Rock Slide means Gengar can spinblock you, and also means you will have troubles against Volcarona.

Good luck!
 
@ scarfwynaut Thanks! I really prefer Gliscor over Skarm since DD Scrafty can be revenge killed by Excadrill and change Tyranitar to a more defensive spread with the same moveset. Ill change Rotom to Scarf to revenge kill Landorus and other threats.
@ NewWorldOrder Yes i know this team is incredibly whorish and what anyone would expect from a sand team. I will change Ttar to 252Atk/252 Sp Def since it works better with my team. However, I have Ferrothorn for Gyara, so Ill keep Will-o-Wisp.
 
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