ORAS OU OU Semi-Sandstorm Team

[VernonN]

Hey! This is my first RMT, so my excuses if it's bad. I don't have very much to say, so I'll just get right to the point.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 68 SpA / 192 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

I chose to start off my team with a Tyranitar, as I wanted to somewhat make a team around sandstorm. I chose to put max HP, save 4 to have an odd amount of HP. The 68 SpA EV's are to OHKO Max HP/0 SpD Scizor and Gliscor after SR and to OHKO Scarf Lando-T on switch-in. I put the rest in SpD for tanking ability. I have Crunch for STAB and SR is pretty obvious.

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus is a great offensive Pokémon, either physical or special. I decided to go with this guy because he resisted Fighting and is immune to Ground, making it good in combination with Tyranitar. Earth Power is for STAB, his other moves pretty much just round out his coverage.

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]

As I needed something to resist Water and Ice, I chose to go with a Water type. Scarf Keldeo is quite good, as it's faster than Lando-T, one of the most common Scarfers. It has a pretty good movepool and can deal with a lot of Pokémon with its high SpA. I decided to go Modest over Timid to hit a little harder, since it doesn't need all the Speed it can get with the Scarf.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Gyro Ball

I realized my team was building up quite the weakness to Grass, so I went to a Pokémon that somehow almost always finds a way into my OU teams. It fit greatly, as he double-resists Grass and is physically defensive while I lacked a physical wall. T-Wave cripples fast sweepers that are not carrying Lum, Leech Seed can get off some nice chip-damage and heals him up too, Gyro Ball is there for STAB and to hit Fairies, which I was somewhat having trouble with,

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Roost

I kinda just threw Scizor onto this team without reason, I just thought it'd fit. I guess I wanted another Grass resist and another thing to deal with Fairies. This is just a semi-standard Roost/3 attacks Mega set. I was contemplating going with Bug Bite for a little extra power, but decided to go with U-Turn over it to gain some momentum.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin

Starmie, somehow, fits on nearly every team. I chose him as I needed something to get rid of hazards and I could use another resistance to Fire and Fighting. Hydro Pump for STAB and the BoltBeam combination give him pretty much flawless coverage, and Rapid spin is there for hazards, as I've mentioned.

Threat List

This team is quite weak to Fighting types. I have only 2 resistances, neither of which are very bulky Pokémon. Ferrothorn can usually take a Fighting-type hit, but Tyranitar usually can't, leading me to have trouble with things like Conkeldurr. Fairy types can also do a lot of work to my team once Ferrothorn and Scizor are gone, as my other 4 Pokémon are special attackers and can't hurt most Fairy types, as they usually have high SpD.

Conclusion

I feel like this team is quite solid and doesn't have many weaknesses, at least not a lot that can completely destroy it. I'd like so advice on the EV spreads, as I'm not very experienced them. However, any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Prince Oberyn]

Your team looks really good to me! I do have some things I'd like to comment on though.

HP Electric Keldeo is perfectly viable. It allows Keldeo to hit Azumaril...but other than that, there's not much else you can do with it (might be nice to hit Gyrados with but that's not overly popular, plus if it's Mega Gyara then Secret Sword might be better.) Icy Wind is always a thing; it can be really helpful. Even though Keldeo might not get a kill with Icy Wind, it can slow your opponent down to let your next Pokemon to get a kill. So if you find HP Electric isn't doing anything for you, then switch it out.

Your team does look really Clefable weak. Scizor's BP should be a 2HKO and the typical Clefable's Flamethrower should also be a 2HKO. But if your Scizor gets weakened too much...well...you might be in trouble. Just bear this in mind when you see a Clef in team preview: Scizor is precious.

Your team also looks a bit Talonflame weak. Yeah, Tyranitar can take a Brave Bird or Flareblitz, but it wont appreciate U-Turns and isn't physically bulky. A cunning opponent will weaken your Tyranitar so that their Talonflame can sweep, so again, bear that in mind! I think your team should do fine against both Clefable and Talonflame; it just comes down to playstyle.

As for your EV spreads, they look fine. I think that in some situations, it's ideal to run 252/252/4 (or 248 for odd HP numbers). But if you want the more efficient spreads, you need to take a closer look at the rest of the tier, and in particular, the Speed stat. You need to ask yourself, 'What Pokemon do I NEED to be able to outspeed?' For example, let's look at Starmie. Say you want your Starmie to be able to outspeed Timid Lati@s. Timid Latis hit 350 Speed, so you only need enough investment to just get one or two points above that, as anything else is overkill. For example, Timid with 216 Speed investment on Starmie gives you 352 Speed. Perfect! (I'm not sure how useful outspeeding Lati's will be for Starmie; maybe you could Ice Beam them or something. I think you should switch out, unless they're at -2 or something. But I'm just using this as an example.)

EDIT: I can give you a more useful example. I made a team with a defensive Celebi on it. But Celebi is Bisharp bait, as Bisharps will try and Pursuit trap you. So, I started running HP Fighting, and ran just enough Speed on Celebi to be able to outspeed Jolly Bisharp. With the rest of my EVs, I added it to bulk. You'd be surprised how many Bisharps I've managed to catch off guard with that!