RMT: OU Sandstorm Team; Complete w/ SubSeed Cacturne!

[Wailpedo]

Yep, the title doesn't lie. 'Just a basic sandstorm team that I came up with. Comments and recommendations are appreciated. =)


The Team:

And, of course, the team in depth:

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Metagross @ Lum Berry
Nickname: XXX
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk)
Ability: Clear Body
EV's: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 12 Def / 8 Spd

-Stealth Rock
-Meteor Mash
-Bullet Punch
-Explosion

Your standard Metagross lead. I decided on him over Tyranitar because my opponent might get the idea it's a Sandstorm Team and save the Pokemon who do well against them until later. This guarantees Stealth Rock against any lead barring Heatran and Infernape, and Taunt users like Aerodactyl and Azelf will usually be beaten down by Bullet Punch. The Lum Berry allows Metagross to knock out Sleep leads with a combination of MM and then BP, while Meteor Mash itself is a strong attack that basically forces the opponent to have something resistant to avoid taking major damage. Explosion is to take out anything that MM can't, and if it doesn't kill it sure will take a big chunk out of the opponent.

EV's here are to always survive a CB Adamant Dugtrio Earthquake, albeit those really aren't that common in my opinion.

March battle statistics:
| Dugtrio | Item | Choice Band | 42.9 |
| Dugtrio | Nature | Adamant | 37.3 |

Eh.....forget that last comment.

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Cacturne @ Leftovers
Nickname: Cactuar
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk)
Ability: Sand Veil
EV's: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd

-Substitute
-Leech Seed
-Focus Punch
-Sucker Punch

Cacturne is probably the one Pokemon who abuses the HELL out of a Substitute, as all of his moves are easier to use with one up. Although he's not the easiest to use in OU (prediction is key of course), he can still scare a handful of pokemon; mainly Ghosts and Psychics that wet themselves at the thought of his Sucker Punch. When you have that kind of move off of STAB and 361 Attack, I wouldn't be laughing either.

Sand Veil of course lets him Subseed without having to worry about Sandstorm damage, and being part Grass-type gives him nice resistances to Ground, Water, and Electric. I'll mainly try to get Cacturne in on something that'll attempt to flee, in order to set up my Substitute. If that's accomplished, I then choose my next move depending on what my opponent sends out. Infernape, Lucario, Heatran, and Scizor who come in to resist both of my STAB will be met with a swift Focus Punch. It OHKO's all Lucario and Heatran (the latter w/ Stealth Rock), does a minimum of 75% to Infernape, and a minimum of 58% to Scizor (take in mind those all were 4 HP/ 0 Def variants). When you add in Stealth Rock and possible Sandstorm damage, those pokemon will not last long even after 1 Focus Punch. Sucker Punch teams up well with Substitute to encourage Pokemon to attack, and as mentioned already it does very good damage. Leech Seed can be used on walls like Bronzong (who is basically set-up bait for Cacturne) to get back health from creating Subs. It also causes switches, racking up even more Stealth Rock damage.

The EV's give Cacturne enough speed to beat 0 Speed Tyranitar, and I added 4 extra to beat the Pokemon who ALSO try to beat the aforementioned. Max Attack for power and the rest goes into his decent HP.

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Empoleon @ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Nickname: Emperor
Nature: Modest (+Sp.Atk, -Atk)
Ability: Torrent
EV's: 24 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 232 Spd

-Agility
-Surf / Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Grass Knot / HP Electric

Again March battle statistics:
| Empoleon | Item | Petaya Berry | 53.2 |
| Empoleon | Move | Substitute | 52.4 |

^ With roughly half of all Empoleon using the popular Sub-Petaya combination, this set aims to be more offensive-based; using Agility right off the bat and starting to slam into stuff. Surf is the main move for the penguin, coming off 353 Sp. Atk w/ STAB and Life Orb. Ice Beam hits the Dragons and Grass types, and Grass Knot takes down the bulky Waters. With the help of Stealth Rock and Sandstorm (like Cacturne), Empoleon's gonna be dealing a lot of damage.

An option I was considering was to replace Grass Knot for Hidden Power Electric, in order to take down Gyarados and Vaporeon easier (the latter being 2HKO'd w/ Stealth Rock as opposed to Grass Knot's 3HKO). This however begs the question of what else it could be used for though....Tentacruel, yes, but that's pretty much it. Vaporeon can't do anything back to Empoleon anyway outside of its own Hidden Power Electric (which does 35.24% - 41.27% to this Empoleon w/out any Sp. Atk EV's). Honestly, I doubt I'll use Hidden Power, but it's still a possible option. Hydro Pump could also be used over Surf, but I really despise missing, as it usually seals my team's fate.

The EV's in speed allow Empoleon to outrun Modest Porygon-Z, Jolly Medicham, and Timid Heatran assuming each are holding a Choice Scarf.

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Lati@s @ Light Clay
Nickname: Soulmate
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Sp.Atk)
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 HP / 252 Spd / 4 Def

-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Wish
-Dragon Pulse

Yes, Dual Screen Lati@s. With access to Wish, unlike other Dual Screeners, Lati@s pairs up perfectly resistance-wise with Tyranitar and Empoleon (excluding the Bug weakness shared by the former). This allows her to give them both Screen and Wish support easier, letting them attempt at a sweep more often. The screens even help out Cacturne's low defenses, letting him set up easier or get an extra hit in. Dragon Pulse is the necessary STAB to attack when possible, and coming off a Base 110 Sp. Attack she'll be able to pick off weakened Pokemon.

Other than that, there's not much else to say. The EV's let it set up the Screens quickly and the HP is used to take hits.

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Tyranitar @ Babiri Berry / Leftovers
Nickname: Godzilla
Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -Atk)
Ability: Sand Stream
EV's: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

-Dragon Dance
-Crunch
-Stone Edge
-Fire Punch / Aqua Tail

Of course you can't have a Sandstorm Team without this guy (or Hippowdon). This is your basic DD Tyranitar, utilizing both deadly STAB moves to rip apart stuff. I used Jolly over Adamant because having the ability to outrun Raikou and Starmie after a DD is too good to pass up.

In the last slot, I could choose between Fire Punch or Aqua Tail, with the picked move allowing me to choose my item. Fire Punch / Babiri Berry work alongside each other to make short work of Scizor, while Aqua Tail and Leftovers allow me to hurt Bulky Grounds and to give Tyranitar a bit of healing. I think the benefits of Fire Punch outweigh Aqua Tail, but letting Tyranitar hit other Tyranitar as well as Pokemon like Rhyperior and Hippowdon is very beneficial.

One thing I was thinking of was changing his moveset to be a Choice Scarfer in order to revenge kill quite a few sweepers. It also solves my problem of not having a mixed attacker.

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Zapdos @ Leftovers
Nickname: Shocker
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
Ability: Pressure
EV's: 248 HP / 224 Def / 36 Spd

-Thunderbolt / Discharge
-Heat Wave
-Hidden Power Grass
-Roost

This is the guy that saves my ass from all kinds of threats, such as Metagross, Lucario, Swampert, and Gyarados. All of his attacks cover the aforementioned, and Roost is there to recover health during the Sandstorm as well as other damage. Zapdos acts as my Fighting and Ground resistor, and Bug too to eliminate Scizor.

...like Lati@s, I dunno what else to say about Zapdos. It's elementary, my dear Watson. lol...'Wat'son...yeah bad pun.

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Here's the Weakness / Resistance Chart for the team:

And the Average Base Stats, which I did out of boredom:

HP: 84
Atk: 107 (106.67^)
Def: 94 (93.83^)
Sp.Atk: 109 (108.5^)
Sp.Def: 95 (95.167v)
Spd: 76


Pros:
-4 members are immune to the Sandstorm; the other two have recovery.
-The team resists every type at least once.
-As far as I can see, I can do damage to pretty much anything in the metagame.


Cons:
-Half of the team is weak to Ice, Fighting, Ground, and Bug, all relatively common types (Bug really isn't but with all the Scizor around it sure seems like it)
-Lack of a mixed attacker.
-Excluding speed-raising moves and / or items, the team is fairly slow.
-Oddly enough I see a weakness to....Rock Polish Rhyperior. Machamp could also mess my team up.


As you can see here....the cons outweigh the pros....which is why I posted this in the first place. With a bit of advice and help this team should be able to do fairly well in today's metagame. So...? Start leaving comments!

(Understand that I really like Cacturne and he's the only thing that prevents this team from being completely OU, so if you can base your opinions around not removing him, I'd really appreciate it.)

 

[Revolution.Z]

Good sandstorm team. The only thing you really utilise the sandstorm is for your cacturne. You will wanna consider other pokemon such as Shuckle, Regirock and Gliscor Abusing the 1.5x Sp. Def raise in sandstorm and of course sand veil respectively. T-Tar with incredible amounts of weaknesses is probably your Achilles heel. The Tyrani-Boah is one of the more promising sets (one I personally use) which can counter many common threats. Look at smogon's T-Tar page for some advice

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/tyranitar

Cacturne: Why not brightpowder to spam even more evasion? overall alright moveset but utterly useless as a sweeper without SD.

Once again utilise the effects of sandstorm better especially using bulk to take out teams with the sandstorm damage. Shuckle/Regi should really be considered to abuse the 1.5x sp def as stated before strongly recommended.

Dunno if you can consider this even to be a Sandstorm team but never the less I can see your motives.

SF(Strategy Focus)

 

[Wailpedo]

Good sandstorm team. The only thing you really utilise the sandstorm is for your cacturne. You will wanna consider other pokemon such as Shuckle, Regirock and Gliscor Abusing the 1.5x Sp. Def raise in sandstorm and of course sand veil respectively. T-Tar with incredible amounts of weaknesses is probably your Achilles heel. The Tyrani-Boah is one of the more promising sets (one I personally use) which can counter many common threats. Look at smogon's T-Tar page for some advice

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/tyranitar

Yeah, I hate the fact that Tyranitar is so awesome yet he has this ridiculously long list of common weaknesses. I did check out Tyraniboah and I might consider it.

Cacturne: Why not brightpowder to spam even more evasion? overall alright moveset but utterly useless as a sweeper without SD.

Is the Brightpowder Clause still active with Chomp in Ubers now? If it isn't, I'll gladly turn Cacturne into an Evasion SD'er. I attempted the Subseed solely because Cacturne has other evil devices to use behind his Sub than just Leech Seed.

Once again utilise the effects of sandstorm better especially using bulk to take out teams with the sandstorm damage. Shuckle/Regi should really be considered to abuse the 1.5x sp def as stated before strongly recommended.

Regirock plays, in my opinion, like Tyranitar and Metagross combined under Sandstorm. He uses the Sp. Def boost to Curse up (in this case) more, attack as much as he can, and then Explode. I might consider him.

Shuckle I'm really not fond of because Steels are the bain of his existence and the meta seems revolved around them at the moment.

Dunno if you can consider this even to be a Sandstorm team but never the less I can see your motives.

SF(Strategy Focus)

Thanks for your advice, SF. I'll look into your suggestions. :)

Any other comments?

 

[Stallion]

Not a bad team we have there. It's gonna have a hell of a time with stall though unfortunately, seeing as you have 3 pokemon that can hurt a Blissey, with one blowing up, the other needing a Sub and the third hating status. This is compounded by your hate of switching into status at all, so I was thinking maybe a Rest/Sleep Talk Machamp in the place the frail Cacturne.

Now the second issue I have is dual screens on Latias. Yeah, they can be really effective when used right. But what on your team aside from Tyranitar actually takes advantage of these? Empoleon doesn't really cause it gets the fuck walled out of it by Blissey too easily, with a simple Thunder Wave shutting him down. I say if you want to keep dual screens on Latias, you replace Empoleon with something that loves screen support. Tyranitar can take out annoying Scizor's and stuff and can weaken physical walls into sweeping range for something who usually can't beat bulky grounds. Something like a Swords Dance Infernape actually works really well as a lategame sweeper in your team.

Anyway you got most threats covered at first glance, but I'll re-evaluate this at a later date, as I have exams starting in half an hour. Hope my rate helped :).

 

[Wailpedo]

Not a bad team we have there. It's gonna have a hell of a time with stall though unfortunately, seeing as you have 3 pokemon that can hurt a Blissey, with one blowing up, the other needing a Sub and the third hating status. This is compounded by your hate of switching into status at all, so I was thinking maybe a Rest/Sleep Talk Machamp in the place the frail Cacturne.

If I swap out the Subseed Set for the SD sweeper Cacturne, then stall will be easier to take down. +2 Seed Bomb from this thing will OHKO Hippowdon and Suicune in one shot, and I can EV it to even outrun the latter.

I really don't want to replace Cacturne though as he's one of my favorite pokemon and I wanted to have a team that he could benefit greatly from.

Now the second issue I have is dual screens on Latias. Yeah, they can be really effective when used right. But what on your team aside from Tyranitar actually takes advantage of these? Empoleon doesn't really cause it gets the fuck walled out of it by Blissey too easily, with a simple Thunder Wave shutting him down. I say if you want to keep dual screens on Latias, you replace Empoleon with something that loves screen support. Tyranitar can take out annoying Scizor's and stuff and can weaken physical walls into sweeping range for something who usually can't beat bulky grounds. Something like a Swords Dance Infernape actually works really well as a lategame sweeper in your team.

The main reason I had Latias on this team was because it resisted nearly every attack Sandstorm teams have trouble with (Grass, Water, Fighting, Ground). Since Empoleon and Tyranitar were sweepers, I thought Dual Screen would work, but yeah I see your point with Blissey...god I hate that blob -_-.

Maybe I could turn Latias into a CM user, and turn Empoleon into a supporter; they still resist every one of each other's weaknesses.

Anyway you got most threats covered at first glance, but I'll re-evaluate this at a later date, as I have exams starting in half an hour. Hope my rate helped :).

Thanks, I'll put your thoughts in mind as well.