RU Sand Team

[LBN]

Ok so i have been dabbling into the RU tier lately and have seen some new stuff (i usually play OU) so alot of this is new to me, so i decided to try and get my team checked by Senpai Chakra, i think my team does have some improvement to obtain and a few issues so i'll leave this up to you guys~

Hippopotas (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide

Ok first of all, whats a sand team without a sand setter? this is my rocker of choice, being my fletchinder switch-in and(252+ Atk Fletchinder Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippopotas: 114-135 (33.5 - 39.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO) and also being my phsyical wall its my switch-in to braviary, fletchinder, flygon, and sawk.

Sandslash @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

This is my main sweeper on the team, having the speed to outspeed everything besides priority, having EQ to chunk so much with stab life orb EQ, Absol,Ambipom,Magneton,Drapion,Diance, etc. Poison jab is for picking off Virizion and bulky fairyies like aromatisse and granbull/Togetic. Knock off is mainly for Hoopa,Siglyph and Uxie who think they're cheeky.And Swords dance to be The Excadrill in Everyone.


Sigilyph @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Energy Ball
- Air Slash
- Psyshock
- Heat Wave

Ok so i needed a check for Grass types and water types like Seismitoad and Tangrowth, so i decided, on Sigilyph. At first it was a CM set, and i had Natural gift Grass Sandslash, but it wasnt legal so i cropped that idea. So i had to have Energy ball here, with all the water types everywhere. I thought i should have some sp def bulk on here so the AV is my first choice. Air slash is strictly for Virizion, and scrafty. Psyshock is mandatory in my opinion on offensive Sigilyph, hitting mons like Venusaur, and other poion types like Golbat. Lastly Heat wave is ONLY of Magneton, being a huge threat with Mega Steelix gone.

Clawitzer @ Choice Specs
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Water Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse

Yes, Clawitzer is on this team. Personally i love clawitzer, even if it is so "different". This is the "Come in and fuck up stall" pokemon on this team, having water pulse for STAB, ice beam for grass types who think they have a chance of switching in on this monster. Aura sphere is for Things like Mega Glalie, Registeel and Scrafty. And Dark Pulse is my "filler" move here, killing things like hoopa, and Sigilyph.
PS: Invested to outspeed non invested Rotom-Mow.


Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Roost

Ok so at first i had Dugtrio here, for a trapper, then i think to myself "Where the hell is my hazard control" so Flygon is mandatory here. This is the defensive flygon, able to wall stuff like Duggy, Typhlosion and Drapion with ease. Defog is for the people who bring Garbodor and think they're cool, U-turn is here to get the hell out and has no reason not to be on this set. Earthquake is here because i cant stand 3 "status" moves and u-turn, so earthquake is 1 thing to take drapion and diance out of the picture. Finally what's a wall without roost?


Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Crunch
- Iron Head / Play Rough / Fire Fang
- Superpower

Lastly here i needed another thing to abuse sand, so Stoutland was the last option remaining, (im not using drilbur) So here is the average CB stoutland, having frustration here for the random ditto u might see (yes ive seen it) #LOWLADDER. Crunch is here for purpose of hitting Cofagrigus and Psychic types like slowking for big damage. Iron head is here for fairies ONLY like Diancie and aromatisse. Play rough is an option for fighting types like hitmontop and Gurdurr who live FRustration. Fire Fang is for Grass types like tangrowth, and Venusaur. Lastly Superpower is here for Stuff like Registeel, Magneton, and rock types like Rhyperior.

Team Paste:


Hippopotas (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide

Sandslash @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

Sigilyph @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Energy Ball
- Air Slash
- Psyshock
- Heat Wave

Clawitzer @ Choice Specs
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Water Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse

Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Roost

Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Crunch
- Play Rough
- Superpower



I'm up for all criticism and will take into consideration every suggestion you guys make~

 

[Chakra]

hi, unique team and welcome to RU. Usually, sand doesn't really get that much usage in RU due to the lack of setters and powerful Pokemon that utiliize sand rush or another ability that sand supports. I don't really recommend using Sand, and it is mostly seen as a gimmick in the current metagame. Nevertheless, sand can possibly work in the tier if you have good support in terms of the other Pokemon on your team. Therefore, I have a few suggestions that can improve your team.
Major threat's at first glance:

Pokemon Changes

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Stoutland often can be seen as a Pokemon that may be beneficial to Sand teams due to it's ability and attack stats. However, having this Pokemon can drain your momentum due to having to lock yourself into an attack and not beneficial coverage, as locking yourself into non STAB superpower for hitting rock types like Rhyperior is not very sufficient. Also your team lacks a sufficient Fletchinder check and +2 is very threatening for your build. In this case I recommend Diancie over Stoutland. Diancie gives you a fletchinder check and a dark resist on your team which is heavily needed. I recommend an offensive set, particularly trick room which will also aid the next Pokemon change I suggest. (Escavalier) Trick Room Diancie helps your team with threats like Mega Glalie, Virizion and decently puts pressure on your opponent's team. Moonblast and Diamond storm are the two generic Diancie STABs along with earth power to hit rock and steel types for supereffective damage.

>

Clawitzer is also a Pokemon that does not really benefit the team as it has a poor speed tier that makes it lose to most grass types like Virizion and Venusaur anyway. A recommendation I would suggest is running Escavalier over Clawitzer. This may sound weird at first due to their roles being extremely different but an Assault Vest Escavalier set gives your team a Mega Glalie, Venusaur, and Meloetta check, all of which are deeply needed. This also allows a more effective way to combat grass types. I recommend a set of Megahorn / Pursuit / Knock Off / Iron Head. This also works in accordance with Offensive Trick Room Diancie. Escavalier is also beneficial due ot being able to act as pursuit trapper towards threatening Pokemon like Sigilyph and Hoopa.

SET / EV / MOVE changes

Hippopotas running Rock Slide is not very effective due to it's lacklustre attack and neutrality to flying, not allowing it to act as an effective Fletchinder check. Instead I would recommend Toxic over Rock Slide. This allows you to cripple bulky water types or grass types that may switch in and take advantage of Hippopotas such as Tangrowth, Alomomola, Slowking, etc.

On Sandslash, I would recommend running Jolly over Adamant as the speed tier with Sand Rush is still very crucial due to it's lack lustre original speed. This is important in outspeeding threats like Scarf Drapion, Scarf Delphox, Scarf Flygon. Scarf Delphox being the main Pokemon you want to outspeed as it can easily threaten your Sandslash with Fire Blast, due to Sandslash's poor Special Defense.

Assault vest Sigilyph is really not effective as Sigilyph loves to abuse it's ability in Magic Guard. Using a Flame Orb set with Air Slash/Roost/Calm Mind/Psycho Shift along with 252 HP/252 Speed/4 Spa. Can deeply benefit your team. This set allows you to check most water types due to the maximized HP and the passive nature of the water types in RU. This will act as the fighting check in your team and allow you to pass burns to physical attacks through Calm Mind, this also acts a decent Virizion check as long as the health is kept as full. Sigilyph also needs to be able to roost off damage, because of the necessity of it as a check to many Pokemon. Calm mind allows it to serve as a wincon for future purposes.

On Flygon, I recommend a set change to Draco Meteor/Earth Power/Roost/Defog with 252 Spa and 252 Speed and a timid nature. The stuff you listed you need defensive flygon for are checked by Diancie, and Dugtrio is normally checked by offensive Flygon. Flygon almost always needs to run maximum speed in the current meta, especially in this team in order to not lose momentum. Special Flygon threatens a lot of the threats to this team and assists in getting rid of Physical walls to assist in Sand Rush Sandslash in sweeping.

team with changes

Hippopotas @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
- Earthquake

Sandslash @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Poison Jab

Sigilyph @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Psycho Shift

Escavalier @ Assault Vest
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 72 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Diancie @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power

Flygon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Earth Power
- Roost
- Defog

Overall, I hope I helped. And again, Sand isn't really considered that viable in the current RU metagame, and you should explore more types of team builds like Bulky Offensive, Balance and Semi-stall.

 

[LBN]

Thanks for the imput, this is actually my first teambuilder on RU, so i tried weather as i first try, ill try different kinds of builds, and thanks again