SM OU Revamped Sand!

[Meliodafu7]

Revamped Sand!

Hey dudes, Meliodafu7 here with a RMT after ages of no play, but still following the meta changes, especially after the Zygarde departure. Sand has been always my favorite playstyle, and I've already post a team a year ago, and now, with some meta-trends, Sand Rush Excadrill seems to be pretty strong, so I decided to build this team to celebrate my comeback to the game after an involuntary hiatus because of the university. Hope you enjoy the read, and of course, I'm open to any changes you may propose to this team. Thank you and Cheers!

TEAMBUILDING​

Teambuilding

Started this team with the Sand duo. Stealth Rock M-Tyranitar is the choice over CB Tyranitar or Hippowdon, as the extra bulk and utility of checking Heatran, M-Latis and setting rocks against stall is a huge boon. Excadrill is the sand abuser with Steelium Z to blast through common checks like Tangrowth and Landorus-T.

After the Sand duo, the team is weak as hell to Ash-Greninja, M-Charizard Y, Keldeo and Hawlucha. To fix this, Toxapex is the next member. It checks a myriad of threats and enjoys M-Tyranitar checking M-Latis, as well as Excadrill checking Tapu Koko.

The other offensive check Excadrill has is M-Alakazam tracing Sand Rush, so I decided to add Celesteela. It provides the team with a valuable Ground-immunity, a solid counter of Tapu Lele and M-Alakazam, and a good Kartana check. After Zygarde's ban, CelePex is a strong defensive core with great sinergy, and it supports really well the rest of the team.

The team feels slow, so I wanted to use Scarf Lele, since I have Toxapex for Volcarona. It may seem an odd pick, but I feel that It can support Excadrill really well, and also take advantage of Excadrill putting tons of pressure to most Steel-types. Lele can revenge kill Ash-Greninja and M-Alakazam, and cripple Celesteela with Nature's Madness, and also, Psychic Terrain protects Excadrill from priority, especially Water Shuriken, so it can sweep late game safe.

The last member is Thundurus-T, and here I have a lot of doubts. Thundurus-T is added to put pressure against Celesteela and bulky Water-type like Rotom-W. With HP Flying, it can lure Grass-types that checks Excadrill such as Tangrowth, so I won't have to use Z-Move on it. It enjoys M-Tyranitar Pursuit trapping M-Latis, and can check +0 Kartana in a pinch. Also, it helps against stall lacking Quagsire. A decent mon, but, I feel it is the most replaceable.

TEAM BREAKDOWN

Tyranitar-Mega (M) @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch​

Classic Stealth Rock set with enough speed to outspeed max speed Adamant M-Mawile. Pursuit to trap and chip away some choice locked mons such as Tapu Lele locked on Psychic and pre Ash Greninja locked on Spikes or Dark Pulse, it can also weaken Heatran and trap M-Latis. Stone Edge to pressure checks to Excadrill like Zapdos and Celesteela since I'm running Rapid Spin instead of Rock Slide, and Fire Punch to hit M-Mawile, M-Scizor and Ferrothorn. M-Tyranitar is key for Excadrill success and it is really good at what I want it to do.

Excadrill (M) @ Steelium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin​

The sand abuser and main sweeper. Excadrill in sand with Steelium Z is a menace to a lot of teams which relies on Landorus-T or Tangrowth to check it. Swords Dance allows it break through its checks with a boosted Corkscrew Crash. Iron Head allows it hit Tapu Bulu, Tangrowth, Landorus-T and Levitate mons like M-Latis and Hydreigon after Z-Move is used. Earthquake to hit Magearna, Heatran and Tapu Koko and is a powerful move to spam after Ground-resists are gone. Rapid Spin is for utility to clear away hazards, but I'm not sure because it chips away Excadrill's health against Spikes stack teams, and put it in range of priority like M-Mawile's Sucker Punch. EV spread is standar, and allows it outspeed a lot of things in sand, even Choice Scarf Greninja, and outside sand, outspeed Heatran, Adamant Landorus-T, and speed neutral-nature Kyurem-B.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Haze
- Toxic​

Toxapex is the first defensive Pokémon of the team, and is a key one as it checks massive threats to the team like Ash-Greninja, M-Charizard Y, Keldeo lacking Taunt and Volcarona. The set is pretty standar, outside maybe Toxic, which is used to cripple things like Zapdos and M-Latis on the switch. I'm not sure if it would be useful, but after testing, I'm thinking use Baneful Bunker to cripple U-Turn mons like Landorus-T, Scarf Greninja and Tornadus-T, cripple M-Medicham in a 1v1 situation and get another round of Black Sludge Recovery.

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Def / 232 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Protect
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Leech Seed​

Celesteela is the other defensive Pokémon of the team and it complements really well with Toxapex. Celesteela gives to the team a reliable Steel-type and it has a few roles in this team such as dealing with M-Alakazam and Tapu Lele, and be the Ground-immunity of the team, which allows it to counter most Landorus-T sets as well as Garchomp and Mamoswine. The set is standar, and the EV spread is to survive a High Jump Kick from Jolly M-Medicham from full health. All we know what Celesteela does, and it is really useful for the team.

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nature's Madness
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]​

Tapu Lele is the designated scarfer of the team, as the squad is really slow, and I can use it because of Toxapex dealing with Buginium Z Volcarona, and M-Tyranitar dealing with Psychium Z variant. Set is really classic, and is oriented to revenge kill, especially Ash-Greninja and M-Alakazam; and, if Excadrill can't, it can clean lategame spamming Psychic after Steel-type goes down. The only tech here is Nature's Madness, and it allows Lele cripple AV Magearna, Heatran and Celesteela eating half of its health. This is really important, as Celesteela goes down to a +2 Corkscrew Crash from Excadrill after a Nature's Madness and a round of Stealth Rock damage, which isn't hard to achieve. Finally, summoning Psychic Terrain is good to protect Excadrill from priority, especially Water Shuriken, which is great.

Thundurus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Focus Blast​

Thundurus-T is meant to be a wallbreaker, and take out roadblocks for Excadrill sweep, but I'm hesitating a lot about its usefulness after some games. Anyways, Nasty Plot allows it to break a lot of mons with LO boosted attacks. Thunderbolt knocks out Celesteela, Slowbro and Zapdos, HP Flying lures in Tangrowth, Tapu Bulu and M-Venusaur and takes them out after rocks. Finally, Focus Blast is to pressure Ferrothorn, and gives the team a way to pressure stall taking a big chunk of Chansey's health, but, it doesn't prevent Chansey to firing off a Toxic on Thundurus-T. I think here could be a focus of improvement.

Threats

Rain is a pain to deal with, since I don't have a strong Grass-type to counter M-Swampert. Toxapex can deal with special rain sweepers like Ash-Greninja and Kingdra, but this mon just runs through this team under rain.

STALL This team lacks of a good stallbreaker. M-Tyranitar can put work on it, but modern stall packs one or two Pressure users, and its Stone Edge's PP will be wasted. Thundurus-T can help, but is unable to break Chansey without being Toxiced, so isn't a clear answer, and if they pack Quagsire, I'm done.

This combo melts this team, especially if Kartana is scarf. Magnezone traps Celesteela, then, Kartana spams Leaf Blade and takes down all my team. I have no counterplay to this, and I have to play extremely careful with Celesteela.

Importable

Tyranitar-Mega (M) @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch

Excadrill (M) @ Steelium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Haze
- Toxic

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Def / 232 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Protect
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Leech Seed

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nature's Madness
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Thundurus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Focus Blast

FINAL THOUGHTS​

Well, I'm happy to play this game again, as I really like it. About the team, I'm dumb and didn't save any replay to show you how the team works, i'll try to get a few of them in this weekend, but I hope I explained clearly how the team is built and the role of the members. Feel free to change whatever you want, as I really want to make a strong sand team, regardless the direction or style it may take. Thanks you so much for reading, and have a nice start of this year!! Cheers!

 

[Diophantine]

Hey there Meliodafu7, this is shaping up to be a good team. There are some things I would change to help you against your threats.
First of all, I would change your Tapu Lele set. This gives you a better matchups against stall and allows you to hit Ferrothorn hard in the rain. I'm happy to forgo HP Fire since you have Celesteela for Kartana/Scizor.
The next change that I would make is removing Thundurus for Choice Scarf Tapu Koko. This Koko allows you to revenge kill Mega Swampert in rain with Grass Knot while still being able to offensively check things like Landorus, Mega Medicham and co.
I also decided to change the Toxapex set to a mixed defence set which would allow you to handle Mega Lopunny better.

Sets:

Hide

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Def / 168 SpD / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze


Tapu Lele @ Mind Plate
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Dazzling Gleam

I hope you like the changes that I have proposed. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Meliodafu7]

Hey there Meliodafu7, this is shaping up to be a good team. There are some things I would change to help you against your threats.
First of all, I would change your Tapu Lele set. This gives you a better matchups against stall and allows you to hit Ferrothorn hard in the rain. I'm happy to forgo HP Fire since you have Celesteela for Kartana/Scizor.
The next change that I would make is removing Thundurus for Choice Scarf Tapu Koko. This Koko allows you to revenge kill Mega Swampert in rain with Grass Knot while still being able to offensively check things like Landorus, Mega Medicham and co.
I also decided to change the Toxapex set to a mixed defence set which would allow you to handle Mega Lopunny better.

Sets:

Hide

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Def / 168 SpD / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze


Tapu Lele @ Mind Plate
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Dazzling Gleam

I hope you like the changes that I have proposed. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you for your input! And yeah, I like changes, especially the change of Lele's set, I didnt thinked about it, and it is great 2HKO Chansey after rocks with Mind Plate Psyshock!
Also, I like so much the Koko set, it gives some momentum to the team, a thing it lacked and is really helpful for Tyranitar to set up rocks.
Thanks you! Ill come back un the weekend tí share some replays of the team after changes!

Edit: there are a benchmark to run speed on Toxapex?

 

[Diophantine]

Thank you for your input! And yeah, I like changes, especially the change of Lele's set, I didnt thinked about it, and it is great 2HKO Chansey after rocks with Mind Plate Psyshock!
Also, I like so much the Koko set, it gives some momentum to the team, a thing it lacked and is really helpful for Tyranitar to set up rocks.
Thanks you! Ill come back un the weekend tí share some replays of the team after changes!

Edit: there are a benchmark to run speed on Toxapex?

It's for speed creeping things like Reuniclus and things of that speed tier if you think it's necessary but you can just dump it into either defence if you would like to give you better damage rolls against whatever.

 

[Meliodafu7]

Another input? :D

 

[innisfree]

Personally I think Pex as your only water resist on a sand team isn't enough. I think a good option could be Serperior>Thundurus since it still fulfills the role of a fast special attacker that resists ground while taking some of the pressure of of Pex to take water attacks. Serp also gives you another option for hazard removal in case you want to focus on sweeping with Drill and not spinning. Overall, I really like your team

 

[Meliodafu7]

Personally I think Pex as your only water resist on a sand team isn't enough. I think a good option could be Serperior>Thundurus since it still fulfills the role of a fast special attacker that resists ground while taking some of the pressure of of Pex to take water attacks. Serp also gives you another option for hazard removal in case you want to focus on sweeping with Drill and not spinning. Overall, I really like your team

Hey buddy, thank you for your input!
While I think you're right, the only Water-type who gives me headaches is M-Swampert in rain, and then, as Diophantine suggested, I'm using Scarf Tapu Koko with Grass Knot to revenge kill it in rain, then, Pex walls Ash-Ninja and Kingdra, and Celesteela can stall out rain turns with Protect and reset sand with M-Tyranitar and weaken Pelipper
However, I would try Serperior using Glare to help with Speed control :)
Thank you dude for your rate, cheers