My Mediocre (and first) Sandstorm/Stall OU team

[mightychir]

Hey Smogon community! I'm still pretty new to both competitive battling and the Smogon forums so please bear with me.

When I thought of prob signing up for competitive battling on Shoddy, I wanted to make a team for each of the weather conditions (Hail, Sandstorm, Sunny Day and Rain Dance) and as of now I have done RD and Sandstorm but I think I would rather have my Sandstorm team get rated today. I have won many times with these team and I consider it quite good so if you see any flaws I would gladly listen to them :3

Team at a glance:

The team:

Lead:

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Levitate
252 Sp Atk/252 Speed/4 HP
Naive
-Taunt
-U turn
-Psychic
-Stealth Rock

Description:
The standard Azelf lead. 252 in Speed and 252 Sp Atk to make some damage once it is done either taunting or putting up SR. I taunt those leads who aren't as fast as me and forcing them to switch if done so. U turn is there to scout out something it can't beat once it taunts or sets up SR. Psychic is there for the STAB and Focus Sash if there for the obvious reason of it being frail. However, I'm debating whether or not to add explosion to make a dent to the opponents team once it's done. Any suggestions would be appreciated :D

The Sand God:

Sand God @ Babiri Berry
Sand Stream
252 Atk/252 Speed/4 HP
Jolly
-Fire Punch
-Dragon Dance
-Stone Edge
-Crunch

Description:
The main Sandstorm set up in all the metagame. Always wanted to use him since I never had to fully use him before. Good lord has this Sand God sweeped so many teams. I usually DD whenever I face a defensively oriented Poke like Forretress whom I can set up DD with ease (No Skarmory since I get whirlwinded or any other obvious Phazer like Swampert. Once I finish setting up DD I can sweep entire teams at times (sometime it requires 2 DDs tho). Jolly is there for the extra speed boost. Fire Punch for the extra coverage instead of EQ and SE and Crunch for STAB. Babiri berry is there just in case for pesky Adamant Technician CB BP Scizor (Am I overacting by using Babiri berry just for that?) However, I would take any suggestions to any other item for the Sand God to use.

The Fish Dog:

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Water Absorb
188 HP/ 252 Def/ 70 Sp Def
Bold
-Wish
-Toxic
-Surf
-Protect

Description:
My favorite Eeveelution and a very handy one indeed. My switch in for water based attacks. He helps cripple walls with toxic and also acts as a wish supporter for the team. EVs are spread out as so to make it a bit more of the mixed variation since Vaporeon already has good base Sp Def and with the Def boosting nature. Using Wish and Protect comes in handy for against Pokemon that have already been badly poisoned from an earlier Toxic. Surf is there for the obvious STAB just in case it need to attack.

The Sand Goddess:

Sand Goddess @ Leftovers
Sand Stream
252 HP/ 38 Atk/ 40 Def/ 180 Def
Impish
-Stockpile
-Earthquake
-Ice fang
-Slack Off

Description:
The Sand God's beloved wife <3. She also sends out the Sandstorm if the God's Sandstorm was removed or there hasn't been one yet. EVs are spread out to give out another mixed wall with a Def enhancing nature. Stockpile is a very underrated move. It boosts both Sp Def and Def by one stage at the same time helping Sand Goddess becoming a more potent wall along with a reliable recovery (Slack Off). Once 4 stockpiles have been set up, it is extremely hard to kill my Hippo. I have had countless people either complain or rage quit when they can't kill it. Ice fang is added in for extra coverage along with Earthquake.

The Spiker/Phazer:

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Keen Eye
252 HP/ 4 Def/ 252 Sp Def
Impish
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Whirlwind
-Spikes

Description:

I have always liked Skarmory's design but never used him before. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to use him. He can set up spikes and also whirlwind away potential threats that are either setting up or setting up and Baton Passing (Ninjask, Smeargle etc) Shed Shell so that Magenzone is rendered useless and then he is switched to Hippowdon whether I EQ for a usual OHKO or Stockpile once. Also for the taunters I use STAB Brave Bird to provide atleast some damage to scare them off. EVs are once again been used for a more mixed defensive stats since Skarmory already has insane Def and Impish it somewhat relieves the fact that all 252 are submitted to Sp Def.

Empoleon Bonaparte:

Bonaparte @ Life Orb
Torrent
58 HP/ 252 Sp Atk/ 200 Speed
Modest
-Agility
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Grass Knot

Description:
My special sweeper for the team. I prefer the Life Orb over SubPetaya set since I want to be able to wreck as much havoc once I use one Agility. I invested in HP EVs since I wanted him to at least take a hit to be able to set up. Also, Life Orb helps me get closer of unleashing Empoleons ability Torrent! Grass Knot for pesky Swampert who dares get in my way or opposing Tyranitar. Ice Beam for Salamence who is usually OHKO'd(excluding the bulky orientation).

Well thats for my team. Feel free to point out anything that might help my team get better and thanks for reading :D

 

[tab]

Welcome to Smogon. The big problem here is that you're unnecesarily using pokemon to do jobs that can just as easily be performed elsewhere. In particular, I'm referring to using a suicide lead Azelf to set up Stealth Rock on a stallish team with several other capable users, as well as a fairly redundant Tyranitar set, as you have sandstorm, and you have a main sweeper.

First of all, you'll need a spin blocker so that your entry hazards cant be easily removed. A Rotom-A with Rest/Sleep Talk/Will-o-Wisp/Thunderbolt would work perfectly here, and you can easily drop Azelf for it.

Now, you don't need both Hippowdon and Tyranitar - you only need one Sandstream pokemon, and you only need the one sweeper to clean up, the second ones place is better filled with something to help you stall. I'd suggest keeping Tyranitar out of the two, but using a Choice Scarf set with Crunch/Pursuit/Superpower/Stone Edge instead, which will give you an extremely handy revenge killer for the likes of Salamence, as well as a way of dealing with Starmie and Gengar, which can destroy you otherwise.
Next up, I think a Swampert would be preferable to Hippowdon here, as it would give you a way to force Salamence in particular out, as well as taking some of the burden of dealing with Fire types away from Vaporeon. Swampert may lack recovery of its own, but you should be ok. I'd use a standard MixPert from the analysis, which would give you the Stealth Rock user and lead you need to replace Azelf.

With that out of the way, the only other change I'd suggest is to go with an EV spread of 252 HP/216 SpD/40 Spe and a Careful nature on Skarmory. This will enable you to take dragon attacks in particular much more easily, as well as making it a lot easier to set Spikes up, while still alllowing Skarmory to take the physical hits it needs to. The Speed is there to let you outspeed most CB Tyranitar and other Skarmory to Roost and Spike/Whirlwind respectively.

You could also try Roar over Toxic on Vaporeon to help abuse hazards while having a similar effect, but either works.

Good luck!