Sand-alamence

[jg1198]

Im so witty. sand-alamence. ohoho. By the way, Im 10000308 on PO. Welcome to my RMT, and thanks for being here. I finally joined up with the weather run metagame after trying to run a non-weather team, which really just kept me hovering around 1050 points. But anyways, down to business.

TEAM BUILDING PROCESS:

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I knew I wanted a weather team, the only question was, which kind? Hail was never considered. I don't know how great hail is, but i don't see it often, and i figured there was a reason for it, and it doesn't really interest me. I already have an ok rain team, but i don't really like using it. that left sun and sand. I like tyranitar. A lot. Been one of my favorite mons since GS. decision made. sand it will be.

I wanted to make a somewhat defensive team rather than all out offense plus 1 steel for walling like I usually made, because that strategy doesn't work all that well. I already knew from using the aforementioned rain team that sand teams were easy to tear apart after i got rid of tyranitar, which wasn't hard with focus blast politoed. so to prevent every rain team from beating me down, I added Ferrothorn, widely regarded as one of, if not the best rain counter.

Still focusing on defense, I thought of who could make a nice compliment to Ferro. Blissey? No, switching ferro away from CC's just to let blissey die? what about reuniclus? Maybe, but I wasn't 100% sure. I had heard and faced the dreaded ferro-jelli defensive core, so I compared jelli and that gummi bear thing. I soon realized that not only does jelli pair up well with ferro, but also with T-tar, and I decided to trade in a more offensive T-tar for a mixed specially defensive T-Tar, making an amazing 3 pokemon defensive core.

Now I wanted a more offensively oriented tank that would work well in sandstorm. Now who's rock, ground, or steel, and is an offensive tank? swampert came to mind, but with jelli already? that's quite a sun weakness brewing there. He also had no priority moves and was very slow. obvious choice, scizor, because while it still yielded a sun weakness, hopefully i could at least force a switch into a bullet punch 2HKO.

Alright. So far so good. However, I was feeling a little disappointed that T-Tar was the only one who took advantage of the Sp Def boost, and I wanted at least 1 or 2 completely dedicated sweepers, so I add Terrakion after hearing plenty of good reviews.

Alright. One to go. Noticed how much i need someone that isn't ground rock or steel, because my weaknesses are adding up a bit. I need levitate user or a flier just to switch into EQ's. Haxorus is too fragile, especially with sand. On nothing more than a hunch, I pick Salamence, and boy did he perform. Usually the 6th pick is just some sort of quirky glue thrown on the end that doesn't perform all that well due to lack of synergy with the team. Salamence did have some synergy, mostly just taking and giving EQ's, but that's sort of a big deal. Even though he seemed somewhat out of place, he was quite the team player at the same time.

So much for terrakion. even with sand boost he's still thin as tissue paper, and I hate stone edge's accuracy. Make this thread, but after no suggestions for 2 days, I try to brain storm on my own, and 6th pick syndrome strikes this time with conkeldurr, who was fun, but didn't work well at all in sand, and managed to pull off one sweep in my time using him, but other than that, was really just a waste of a slot, no disrespect to Conks, he was real cool, but just didn't work very well with the team. After a while, I got tired of him, and
GodotFr suggested Latios, so I gave it a try.

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
- Crunch(stone edge?)
Tyranitar is amazing. He sets up weather. He sets up Rocks. He kills dragons that try to switch in. He kills steels and grass types that try to switch in on him, he kills ghosts (why the hell do people try to bring ghosts in to deal with tyranitar anyways?) crunch even 2HKO's ninetales and politoed, which is great. however, I feel stone edge would aid tyranitar in taking out ninetales after luring it in by changing the weather, and it may be beneficial due to my team's sun weakness, however, this would be almost a niche attack then, because crunch works fantastically in my 3 part defensive core.
No changes so far.

Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf (recover?)
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
At GodotFR's recommendation, I tried Latios over Terrakion/Conks and I like it so far. He has some of the same problems as Salamence did, and makes up for in coverage what he lacks in sustainability and raw power. He threatens a lot of mons, and forces a lot of switches (which actually made me consider a CM set) The reason I won't forego psyshock for recover is that I love the element of surprise. I surprise Skarm/Ferro/Forretress with fire blasts on T-Tar and Salamence, and now I surprise Blissey with psyshock, which I love doing. However I wouldn't mind giving up surf for recover, but that does hamper my ability to stop others from abusing my sandstorm.
-Changes: Previously Terrakion, then Conkeldurr, Now Latios, no changes to Latios so far.

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Protect
- Power Whip
If I can get rid of fire types, and taunters, Ferrothorn can never die. Ever. Don't even try. Just give up. Would I consider Forretress? maybe. but I don't know. Now it can even break subs.
-Changes: Power Whip taken over Toxic.

Salamence (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt (Brick Break?)
Salamence is down from Ubers, and you better believe I'll take advantage of it. After a glorious run of life orb DD, I decided he was too frail in sand and with Life orb, and looked for a fix. GodotFr was once again a lot of help, and suggest scarf MoxieMence, which has even more sheer power at the cost of adaptability, and I love it. also, I think Zen Headbutt covers my weaknesses better, like Conks, Brellom, and to a lesser extent Mienshao, so I picked it over BB, but I would still consider going back of I could find a good enough reason.
-Changes: previously life orb DDmence, but switched to this due to set-up time and life orb recoil.

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Will o Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt
Jellicent is pretty much the perfect combo with Ferro and Tyranitar, catching fighting moves heading towards tyranitar, and fire moves heading toward ferro. he also does status. and stuff. A good enough taunter, and my new found Will O Wisp is amazing.
-Changes: Toxic removed for Will O Wisp.

Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Roost
- Swords Dance
As GodotFr explained, This set has improved synergy with Jelli, taking advantage of burns to set up, and then commencing a roost aided sweep. Wow, I owe GodotFr one. One what? you know, just "one".

Threats: CB Dragonite, Infernape, Conkeldurr, Brelloom, any fight type that can get around Jelli. Gliscor is kind of a pain. Grass types kind of, especially bulky ones like celebi. fire hits scizor and and ferrothorn dead, which sucks, but i don't know what for and if I would give them up. Sun teams are tough until I get rid of ninetales, but I can usually pressure a sun team into sending him out there someway. It's really uncommon, but a random zapdos who had both heat wave and HP Fight gave me huge problems once, but Salamence took care of it. Also, if any part of my defensive core dies, due to an unexpected 4X effective attack on T-Tar and Ferro, or just my own stupid overconfidence in their walling ability, I sort of have to hope I've already taken out the mons they're responsible for checking, or just try to overpower teams with my dragons and scizor.

So, in conclusion: Any more improvements? Possibly anyone who fits in better than Latios? I wouldn't mind a better way to kill opposing sandstorm teams and sun teams. I'm quite happy with the feedback so far, thanks.
Any suggestions are welcome and I'm not completely opposed to anything, so throw any kind of suggestion at me. Thanks for rating.:cloud:

 

[jg1198]

shit gyarados stops me cold if I can't rely on ferrothorn due to magnet pullers or other stuff.Actually, I need help with bulky waters in general. more weaknesses, salamence really can't deal with life orb on top of sandstorm, so i need help with a new set, once again, I'm thinking moxie will help this, granting 1 DD and 1 kill. also thinking about making jellicent more physically defensive. any feedback helps.

 

[Dietcoke101]

Although E-vire isn't all that common I'd watch out for him. He can cross chop Terrakion and TTar he can flamethrower Ferrothorn and Scizor and can Thunder punch Jellicent and Salamance. Also be weary of all the guys with the punches.

 

[jg1198]

I've taken out a couple of Electivires without much trouble, but you're right, a punch dragonite or jirachi could fuck up my day. thanks.

 

[GodotFr]

Hey !

Wow, that's a difficult team to rate for me, because all those pokes are good =/ But I'll do my best =D

First, some small changes :

_ I find Toxik useless on your Ferrothorn, simply because you have two others moves that you can do on a switch (Spikes + Leech Seed). If you put Power Whip over Toxik, you will have at least one super effective move against water types.

_ Keeping Taunt on your Jellycent is a good deal against Ferrothorn and Forretress. I think you should keep it and have Will-o-Wisp as the only status move. Why Will-o-Wisp ? Because I have an idea, be patient =)

After that, some bigger changes :

_ As you said, Sand + Life Orb will bring your Mence to hell. I add Stealth Rock weakness to that, and Mence will be dead really soon. I guess you built your team around him, so instead of removing Salamence, why not testing a Scarf MoxiMence over your own Salamence ? At least there is no more Life Orb recoil, you'll have a boosted speed, your attack will raise as you defeat an ennemy and because you'll not have DD, you can have Outrage.

_ After that, I recommend to change your CB Scizor to a Bulky SD Scizor. Mence being locked on one move every time he comes, having a SD Scizor is good if you see an opportunity to set up. That's the reason why I put Will-O-Wisp on your Jellicent : to make easier the setting up of Scizor. That burn + Spikes from Ferrothorn will help your +2 Bullet Punch killing everything. If there is some problems, BURN & ROOST & TROLL.

_ Since Mence is now scarfed, you don't need a second scarfed pokemon. By seeing your team, I can see a fighting weakeness and no good special attackers. Moreover, you'll have nightmares against Venusaur in the Sun. What I think is good is to put Latios over Terrakion. Resisting fighting, resisting all Venusaur's moves except Sludge Bomb, Latios can also beat Gliscor for your two physical badass and even Skarmory, depending on your moveset.

Ok, sorry for being a bit late, but I hope that I've helped you ! Have fun ;)

 

[jg1198]

I've been having trouble with sub-users and ferrothorn, since he can do absolutely nothing to them, so I'll definitely try that out, but I'm a little worried about having no toxic user. I've been experimenting with lum berry and leftovers on a moxie salamence and still having DD, But I like your idea with changing my scarf user all together. The lack of a truly dedicated special attacker has been hurting me a little bit, and although i do have jelli, salamence, and tyranitar packing special or mixed sets, I feel that scarf will reduce salemence's effectiveness at this role slightly, so I'll try a Latios over terrakion since I've been looking for a replacement for him anyways. Not so sure about bulky SD scizor, but I'll give it a shot since I'll have to be testing for a little while anyways, with all these changes already. Thanks a lot for the rate, that was some great input.

 

[GodotFr]

Tell me the results of your tests ;)

 

[cosmicfinch]

Dragon Dance mence can do some serious damage, but the set up time blows. If something switches into him they aren't intimidated. I think Moxie as a sweeper is way better on this particular poke. Life Orb also really hurts his chances at sweeping that and sand damage rack up fast I doubt he survives one Bullet Punch after all the other things. Rocks, Sand Storm, Life Orb recoil.
I run this set, and my team is up to 1300 now with this guy being my primary slayer.
Salamence (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brick Break
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

Breloom really hurts this team if he gets a sub up. He can take out all of your pokes under the right conditions. Most fighting types kill you once Jelli is down.
I think you could use a magic guard reuniclus, sand doesn't hurt him, fighting doesn't dent him either, he can switch on any fighting poke lacking payback and set up and sweep. I'd say drop terrakion for him. Scizor is a physical sweeper, mence is as well, you really don't need 3. Physical walls like Skarmory pretty much own you. I think a reliable way of dealing with steel would really help your cause here.
Magnezone is the obvious. One not so obvious would be Dugtrio with a band to trap opposing weather mons and kill them. Sucker Punch after some other damage should end poli that way as well and Ninetales. I imagine this team loathes weather wars.

 

[jg1198]

salamence, jelli, and now latios actually enjoy when the weather changes, so it's not that fragile to weather, the only steels that really screw me up are scizor if i can't get jelli to burn him, and magnezone, other than that, tyranitar and salamence lure in steels and fire blast them to death. steel/rock and steel/grounds are also hurt a lot by salamence's EQ, and jellicent. As for magic guard reuniclus, he could replace latios really well, but then that makes steels more of a problem again without latios's HP fire and surf, but still, latios suffers the same problems as salamence, so maybe I'll give it a shot. I'll update it and add a team building process ASAP to make it less confusing.
==Fixed it==