This is a sand team that I've been running to pretty good effect. Currently in the mid-high 1800s in OU (beta). While only half of the Pokemon in the team benefit from Sand Storm, none of them are damaged by it, giving me a free -Leftovers on all of my opponents, and shutting down most Focus Sash users.
The basic concept of the team (besides Sandstorm) is a balance of Physical and Special focused Mons. I have 2 Tanks, 2 Bulky and 2 Fast Sweepers; one of each is special, and one of each is physical.
Let's take you through the team:
----------Tanks--------------------Bulky------------------------Fast-------------
--Physical----Special---------Physical------Special-------Physical------Special-----
Hippowdon @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
My physically defensive lead, if I see my opponent is going to be leading with a physical attacking Mon. The moveset is pretty straight forward, Earthquake for most problems, Ice Fang for Gliscor/Dragons, and Whirlwind stop setups like Klefki, Scolipede, and to stop Kangaskhan from getting going. Slack Off is there because there are quite a lot of physical threats that Hippowdon can wall completely when he has reliable recovery, letting Sand Stream wear them down. The Weakness Policy goes well vs a few select threats, the biggest of which is Azumarill. Hippowdon can survive anything Azumarill can dish out, and then hit him back for ~80% with boosted EQ, letting Aegislash clean him up with Shadow Sneak.
Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
My specially defensive lead, if I'm expecting a special attacker lead. With Assault Vest, +50% SDef from Sandstorm, Tyranitar is a ridiculous special tank, handily surviving even a 4x weakness Focus Blast from Gengar or Alakazam. The ability to tank even 4x weakness attacks is nice because it means that he can swap in on literally any special attacker in the game. He does have pretty terrible physical bulk though, so you have to be careful, as some "mixed" sets can deal a lot of damage to him (like a Greninja using U-Turn).
Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
My bulky physical sweeper, with Sand Force activated in Mega Form, there's very few things that can take an Earthquake and survive. Garchomp is pretty slow, and his weaknesses are numerous, so he is often one of the last Pokemon that I use, having to wait to clear out every Ice and Dragon user on their team. His Dragon typing however brings a lot to the field, giving him neutral/resistance to a lot of typings that the rest of my team is weak against.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
My bulky special sweeper, I really love this guy. Most people don't expect this guy to be special, even though the set is becoming more popular every day. Most people still run Sacred Sword, but I find that Flash Cannon is a huge asset, because a lot of Rock/Ice types have really good physical bulk. Shadow Sneak is added at the end because even with 0 investment, it still does a ton of damage. Also, after you establish that you're a Special hitter, a lot of people believe that you won't have a priority move, leaving themselves open to getting cleaned up by Shadow Sneak.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
My fast physical sweeper, for cleaning up things that have bad physical bulk, he compliments Alkazam very well. There's not much to say here. He basically follows in one of my Sand Streamers, usually to revenge kill whatever killed them. He also pulls double duty as my Rapid Spinner when there's an entry hazard that I need to take care, and there's some sort of support out who can't 1HKO Excadrill.
Alakazam @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
My fast special sweeper, and my Scarf user. Alakazam is here to deal with a selection of threats that my team has issues with, and to make up for a large percentage of my team being physical hitters. Magic Guard protects him from Sand Storm, and lets him swap in on WoW and Toxic with no fear. Psyshock allows him to get passed a lot of special tanks that might otherwise wall him, notably Blissey and Goodra. Focus Blast and Shadow Ball are there for coverage, on Dark+Steel and Steel+Ghost types.
Weaknesses:
My team has a few problems, the biggest of which is Mamoswine. Mamoswine can 1HKO my entire team except for Hippowdon. The only way I can beat him is by sending out Hippowdon, getting him low with EQ, and then finishing him off with Excadrill.
The other smaller problem is Spore Smeargle, as I run no grass types. I've been considering switching out the Weakness Policy on Hippowdon for Goggles to counter that, but if I'm running Goggles, I might as run something that wouldn't usually fit into the team, because they'd be protected from Sandstorm as well. Generally I let Smeargle Spore one of my Sand Streamers, and then jump over to Excadrill to Rapid Spin away whatever entry hazards he's setting up.
The 3rd problem my team runs into are Bug/Steel and Steel/Grass types, most notably Scizor and Ferrothorn. They often get more turns than I would like of setup, and cause a lot of damage that could be avoided if I had a strong fire move on the team.
Garchomp is definately the weak link in the team right now, so his slot may go towards something that can deal with these specific threats (probably some kind of Fire-type wearing Goggles), or Mega-Lucario for Mamoswine.
The basic concept of the team (besides Sandstorm) is a balance of Physical and Special focused Mons. I have 2 Tanks, 2 Bulky and 2 Fast Sweepers; one of each is special, and one of each is physical.
Let's take you through the team:
----------Tanks--------------------Bulky------------------------Fast-------------
--Physical----Special---------Physical------Special-------Physical------Special-----
Hippowdon @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
My physically defensive lead, if I see my opponent is going to be leading with a physical attacking Mon. The moveset is pretty straight forward, Earthquake for most problems, Ice Fang for Gliscor/Dragons, and Whirlwind stop setups like Klefki, Scolipede, and to stop Kangaskhan from getting going. Slack Off is there because there are quite a lot of physical threats that Hippowdon can wall completely when he has reliable recovery, letting Sand Stream wear them down. The Weakness Policy goes well vs a few select threats, the biggest of which is Azumarill. Hippowdon can survive anything Azumarill can dish out, and then hit him back for ~80% with boosted EQ, letting Aegislash clean him up with Shadow Sneak.
Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
My specially defensive lead, if I'm expecting a special attacker lead. With Assault Vest, +50% SDef from Sandstorm, Tyranitar is a ridiculous special tank, handily surviving even a 4x weakness Focus Blast from Gengar or Alakazam. The ability to tank even 4x weakness attacks is nice because it means that he can swap in on literally any special attacker in the game. He does have pretty terrible physical bulk though, so you have to be careful, as some "mixed" sets can deal a lot of damage to him (like a Greninja using U-Turn).
Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
My bulky physical sweeper, with Sand Force activated in Mega Form, there's very few things that can take an Earthquake and survive. Garchomp is pretty slow, and his weaknesses are numerous, so he is often one of the last Pokemon that I use, having to wait to clear out every Ice and Dragon user on their team. His Dragon typing however brings a lot to the field, giving him neutral/resistance to a lot of typings that the rest of my team is weak against.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
My bulky special sweeper, I really love this guy. Most people don't expect this guy to be special, even though the set is becoming more popular every day. Most people still run Sacred Sword, but I find that Flash Cannon is a huge asset, because a lot of Rock/Ice types have really good physical bulk. Shadow Sneak is added at the end because even with 0 investment, it still does a ton of damage. Also, after you establish that you're a Special hitter, a lot of people believe that you won't have a priority move, leaving themselves open to getting cleaned up by Shadow Sneak.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
My fast physical sweeper, for cleaning up things that have bad physical bulk, he compliments Alkazam very well. There's not much to say here. He basically follows in one of my Sand Streamers, usually to revenge kill whatever killed them. He also pulls double duty as my Rapid Spinner when there's an entry hazard that I need to take care, and there's some sort of support out who can't 1HKO Excadrill.
Alakazam @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
My fast special sweeper, and my Scarf user. Alakazam is here to deal with a selection of threats that my team has issues with, and to make up for a large percentage of my team being physical hitters. Magic Guard protects him from Sand Storm, and lets him swap in on WoW and Toxic with no fear. Psyshock allows him to get passed a lot of special tanks that might otherwise wall him, notably Blissey and Goodra. Focus Blast and Shadow Ball are there for coverage, on Dark+Steel and Steel+Ghost types.
Weaknesses:
My team has a few problems, the biggest of which is Mamoswine. Mamoswine can 1HKO my entire team except for Hippowdon. The only way I can beat him is by sending out Hippowdon, getting him low with EQ, and then finishing him off with Excadrill.
The other smaller problem is Spore Smeargle, as I run no grass types. I've been considering switching out the Weakness Policy on Hippowdon for Goggles to counter that, but if I'm running Goggles, I might as run something that wouldn't usually fit into the team, because they'd be protected from Sandstorm as well. Generally I let Smeargle Spore one of my Sand Streamers, and then jump over to Excadrill to Rapid Spin away whatever entry hazards he's setting up.
The 3rd problem my team runs into are Bug/Steel and Steel/Grass types, most notably Scizor and Ferrothorn. They often get more turns than I would like of setup, and cause a lot of damage that could be avoided if I had a strong fire move on the team.
Garchomp is definately the weak link in the team right now, so his slot may go towards something that can deal with these specific threats (probably some kind of Fire-type wearing Goggles), or Mega-Lucario for Mamoswine.
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