Playing with Sand
Weather. It's such a dominant force in the OU metagame. You're going to run into it in some form, whether it be Rain, Sun, Sand, or even Hail. Often times, teams without weather struggle to succeed, which is shown by the fact that 71% of teams with a rating of 1337 or higher have a Pokemon with an instant weather ability on their team.
This is my shot at joining in on the weather bandwagon. I wanted to go with a sand team, as I felt it'd be easier to make a more balanced team out of it. Tyranitar is still the best non-Uber Pokemon with a permanent weather ability in my opinion, boasting massive Special bulk in a sandstorm, and having a STAB move that hits like a truck even with no investment. I've also found that it's easier to check other weathers due to not being forced out of using certain type attacks, like how rain teams can't reliably use Fire attacks and how Sun teams can't reliably use Water attacks.
So, let's play with some sand, shall we?
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Trait: Sand Stream
Weather. It's such a dominant force in the OU metagame. You're going to run into it in some form, whether it be Rain, Sun, Sand, or even Hail. Often times, teams without weather struggle to succeed, which is shown by the fact that 71% of teams with a rating of 1337 or higher have a Pokemon with an instant weather ability on their team.
This is my shot at joining in on the weather bandwagon. I wanted to go with a sand team, as I felt it'd be easier to make a more balanced team out of it. Tyranitar is still the best non-Uber Pokemon with a permanent weather ability in my opinion, boasting massive Special bulk in a sandstorm, and having a STAB move that hits like a truck even with no investment. I've also found that it's easier to check other weathers due to not being forced out of using certain type attacks, like how rain teams can't reliably use Fire attacks and how Sun teams can't reliably use Water attacks.
So, let's play with some sand, shall we?
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 SAtk / 192 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
You just can't do sand without Tyranitar. Tyranitar is truly an incredible utility Pokemon; Special wall? Check. Stealth Rocks? Check. Mixed attacker? Check.
Anyway, Tyranitar gives my team the one thing that helps it out in the first place: Sand! Also, specially defensive Tyranitar is truly a beast; from my experience, most non-STAB Focus Blasts fail to OHKO Tyranitar in a sandstorm. This allows me to easily come in and get up the sandstorm and set up Stealth Rocks as many times as I need to until their weather starter is dead. Crunch lets me hit like a truck against just about anything that doesn't resist it, and is the main draw to why I chose to run a sand team - Specially defensive Tyranitar just hits so much harder than defensive Politoed and pretty much any Ninetales, and has enough special bulk to even rival Blissey. Fire Blast allows me to do a huge chunk to Skarmory and Ice Beam helps out against Gliscor.
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- Ice Beam
You just can't do sand without Tyranitar. Tyranitar is truly an incredible utility Pokemon; Special wall? Check. Stealth Rocks? Check. Mixed attacker? Check.
Anyway, Tyranitar gives my team the one thing that helps it out in the first place: Sand! Also, specially defensive Tyranitar is truly a beast; from my experience, most non-STAB Focus Blasts fail to OHKO Tyranitar in a sandstorm. This allows me to easily come in and get up the sandstorm and set up Stealth Rocks as many times as I need to until their weather starter is dead. Crunch lets me hit like a truck against just about anything that doesn't resist it, and is the main draw to why I chose to run a sand team - Specially defensive Tyranitar just hits so much harder than defensive Politoed and pretty much any Ninetales, and has enough special bulk to even rival Blissey. Fire Blast allows me to do a huge chunk to Skarmory and Ice Beam helps out against Gliscor.
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Slack Off
Slowbro is the best physical wall I have ever used, even better than Skarmory simply due to walling more important stuff. Of biggest importance: Terrakion. I decided I needed to use one to effectively wall Terrakion, and I do not regret it. Regenerator lets me bring it in so many times, and recover if I need to.
Scald was a pretty obvious choice here, with its 30% chance to burn, which helps a lot if I get it on that Terrakion. Psychic was originally Ice Beam, but since I had most dragons pretty well covered already, I needed a move that would help out against Conkeldurr, who was giving me some problems. I need Flamethrower for coverage against Ferrothorn and Scizor, and Slack Off lets me recover some health after forcing something out.
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Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Spore
I was suggested to use a Breloom. Initially I was skeptical of Breloom, as all of my previous attempts to use it failed miserably. However, I tried out Bulk Up Breloom and it is truly incredible. I honestly didn't think this set would work, but it does. Having a Grass-type attacker helps out tremendously when it comes to beating rain. Most people expect the standard SubPuncher and think their Starmie can KO it with Ice Beam, but they just end up dying to a Seed Bomb. Most physical attackers can barely even touch Breloom after a Bulk Up and Breloom and Breloom kills Quagsire easily thanks to having a Grass-type attack.
Bulk Up lets Breloom boost its Attack and its Defense so it can take hits and deal some serious damage in return. Drain Punch is the primary STAB move of choice for more reliable recovery, Seed Bomb lets me hit bulky waters (esp. Quagsire) and Spore lets me put things like Skarmory to sleep so Breloom can actually set up.
@
- Slack Off
Slowbro is the best physical wall I have ever used, even better than Skarmory simply due to walling more important stuff. Of biggest importance: Terrakion. I decided I needed to use one to effectively wall Terrakion, and I do not regret it. Regenerator lets me bring it in so many times, and recover if I need to.
Scald was a pretty obvious choice here, with its 30% chance to burn, which helps a lot if I get it on that Terrakion. Psychic was originally Ice Beam, but since I had most dragons pretty well covered already, I needed a move that would help out against Conkeldurr, who was giving me some problems. I need Flamethrower for coverage against Ferrothorn and Scizor, and Slack Off lets me recover some health after forcing something out.
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Spore
I was suggested to use a Breloom. Initially I was skeptical of Breloom, as all of my previous attempts to use it failed miserably. However, I tried out Bulk Up Breloom and it is truly incredible. I honestly didn't think this set would work, but it does. Having a Grass-type attacker helps out tremendously when it comes to beating rain. Most people expect the standard SubPuncher and think their Starmie can KO it with Ice Beam, but they just end up dying to a Seed Bomb. Most physical attackers can barely even touch Breloom after a Bulk Up and Breloom and Breloom kills Quagsire easily thanks to having a Grass-type attack.
Bulk Up lets Breloom boost its Attack and its Defense so it can take hits and deal some serious damage in return. Drain Punch is the primary STAB move of choice for more reliable recovery, Seed Bomb lets me hit bulky waters (esp. Quagsire) and Spore lets me put things like Skarmory to sleep so Breloom can actually set up.
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Substitute
With Excadrill gone, Landorus is arguably the best sand sweeper in the metagame right now. With its Sand Force ability, it doesn't even need to use Swords Dance to hit hard thanks to having a ridiculously powerful Earthquake and Stone Edge.
Anyway, I chose Swords Dance Landorus due to it being a terrifying sweeper in general, as Swords Dance makes its already ridiculously powerful Earthquake even more powerful, and especially since a +2 Stone Edge in the sand OHKOs a full health Dragonite, and even OHKOs standard Breloom with a +2 Earthquake, despite Breloom resisting the attack and even outright resisting the EdgeQuake combo. Substitute is almost filler, but I chose it to help with luring and killing Mamoswine, and also blocking Breloom's Spore.
@
- Substitute
With Excadrill gone, Landorus is arguably the best sand sweeper in the metagame right now. With its Sand Force ability, it doesn't even need to use Swords Dance to hit hard thanks to having a ridiculously powerful Earthquake and Stone Edge.
Anyway, I chose Swords Dance Landorus due to it being a terrifying sweeper in general, as Swords Dance makes its already ridiculously powerful Earthquake even more powerful, and especially since a +2 Stone Edge in the sand OHKOs a full health Dragonite, and even OHKOs standard Breloom with a +2 Earthquake, despite Breloom resisting the attack and even outright resisting the EdgeQuake combo. Substitute is almost filler, but I chose it to help with luring and killing Mamoswine, and also blocking Breloom's Spore.
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Return
- Crunch
- Fire Fang
- Ice Fang
Now I was in dire need of a revenge killer. Simple solution: CB Stoutland! Sand Rush makes it really fast!
Initially, I was a bit skeptical about using Stoutland, but I've found after some testing that it's surprisingly good. It's bulky enough to live a +2 ExtremeSpeed from Lucario and kill it with Fire Fang.
Anyway, Return is the STAB move of choice here, due to having more consistent damage than Retaliate. Crunch allows Stoutland to more easily revenge kill Ghost- and Psychic-types. Fire Fang gives me an easier time killing off Lucario, and Ice Fang lets me kill dragons like Dragonite and Salamence.
@
Trait: Technician
- Fire Fang
- Ice Fang
Now I was in dire need of a revenge killer. Simple solution: CB Stoutland! Sand Rush makes it really fast!
Initially, I was a bit skeptical about using Stoutland, but I've found after some testing that it's surprisingly good. It's bulky enough to live a +2 ExtremeSpeed from Lucario and kill it with Fire Fang.
Anyway, Return is the STAB move of choice here, due to having more consistent damage than Retaliate. Crunch allows Stoutland to more easily revenge kill Ghost- and Psychic-types. Fire Fang gives me an easier time killing off Lucario, and Ice Fang lets me kill dragons like Dragonite and Salamence.
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Scizor was the member I was the most unsure about adding, since I already had Slowbro to wall Terrakion and I already had Stoutland as a Choice Bander. However, its main purpose is to Pursuit-trap Latios and Latias before Latios starts spamming Specs Draco Meteors and before Latias racks up too many Calm Minds. It also serves as a back-up check to Terrakion in case Slowbro goes down. It does get trapped by Magnezone and Heatran does quad-resist Bullet Punch, but that's what Superpower's for. I also found that I'd have quite a few issues against a +1 Outrage from Haxorus, so I use Scizor to take these hits and fire off Bullet Punches at Haxorus. To finish the set off, I have U-turn to scout switches and get into the appropriate counter.
Hope you enjoyed this team! Rate, hate, whatever floats your boat!
Importable:
(EDIT 12/20/11 4:45 PM) New peak:
Scizor was the member I was the most unsure about adding, since I already had Slowbro to wall Terrakion and I already had Stoutland as a Choice Bander. However, its main purpose is to Pursuit-trap Latios and Latias before Latios starts spamming Specs Draco Meteors and before Latias racks up too many Calm Minds. It also serves as a back-up check to Terrakion in case Slowbro goes down. It does get trapped by Magnezone and Heatran does quad-resist Bullet Punch, but that's what Superpower's for. I also found that I'd have quite a few issues against a +1 Outrage from Haxorus, so I use Scizor to take these hits and fire off Bullet Punches at Haxorus. To finish the set off, I have U-turn to scout switches and get into the appropriate counter.
Hope you enjoyed this team! Rate, hate, whatever floats your boat!
Importable:
Tyranitar (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 SAtk / 192 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Slowbro (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Slack Off
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Spore
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Substitute
Stoutland (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Return
- Crunch
- Fire Fang
- Ice Fang
Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 SAtk / 192 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Slowbro (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Slack Off
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Spore
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Substitute
Stoutland (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Return
- Crunch
- Fire Fang
- Ice Fang
Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
(EDIT 12/20/11 4:45 PM) New peak:
