ORAS OU Sand Blaster

[ornjoos]

I thought I'd try to put together a good sandstorm team, but I need some pointers. I went in with the mindset of filling it with Pokemon that are either immune to or benefit from Sandstorm. Here's what I came up with.

Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance

I decided to build a basic offensive Excadrill, but put more IVs into speed combined with Sand Rush to make it a fast sweeper. I also gave it Rapid Spin to help clear out hazards, even though ground, rock and steel generally aren't harmed much by common hazards like Stealth Rock and Spikes, but hey, better safe than sorry. Probably gonna use him as a late game sweeper/hazard clearer.

Heatran @ Focus Sash
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Lava Plume
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Since grass and ice are both pretty big threats to a majority of my team, Heatran helps counteract them. I started off with a basic special sweeper set, gave it a Focus Sash to help protect it from OHKOs (I was originally thinking of giving it either an Assault Vest or an Air Balloon) and Hidden Power Ice to counteract any ground types that are normally devastating towards it.

Hippowdon @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock

You can't have a sand team without at least one Pokemon that has Sand Stream, and I have two. As you can see, I chose to give it a defensive hazard setting move set, but I'm thinking that Skarmory or Ferrothorn would probably be better for that, in which case I could probably give this a more offensive set-up.

Tyranitar-Mega @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge

Tyranitar is my mega and a second late game sweeper. I thought that since I'm putting together a Sandstorm team, having two Pokemon with Sand Stream would work in case one gets knocked out. Unlike Excadrill, Tyranitar has better defenses and speed boosts with Dragon Dance. Unfortunately there's not much to protect it from Fighting types (which is a big problem for my team altogether), but with Tyranitar specifically, I think it's just victim of Four Move Syndrome.

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 4 SpA / 248 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Defog
- Toxic

These last two are mainly for coverage. I chose Empoleon over Skarmory because my team was lacking in Special defense and I already have a hazard setter with Hippowdon. With STAB Scald and Toxic I can inflict statuses, with Defog I can clear hazards, and with Scald and Ice Beam, I can counter common threats like Grass and Fire.

Heliolisk @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Glare
- Hyper Voice
- Volt Switch


Of all the Pokemon on my team, this is probably the most replaceable, but I chose it because it's one of the few Pokemon with sand immunity that isn't a Rock, Ground or Steel type. I gave it Thunderbolt and Hyper Voice for STAB (and to break through Substitutes), Volt Switch to keep the momentum going, and Glare for paralyzing targets that would be immune to Thunder Wave.

Drawbacks:
Water and grass are obvious threats, but I've got good coverage thanks to Heatran, Empoleon and Heliolisk. My biggest concern, however, is Fighting types. With the exception of maybe Hippowdon, every single one of my Pokemon is vulnerable to Fighting types. I'm thinking of replacing one with something like Metagross or Gliscor, but I haven't decided which one. This is all just a first draft, but that's why I'm here. It's also pretty lacking in SpD, but when most of your team is either Rock, Ground or Steel, that kind of comes with the territory.

Alright ladies and gents, have at it.

 

[bludz]

Hi. Sand is quite a strong playstyle, however it tends to have a few large weaknesses. I like the direction of this team but I think it lacks proper threat control.

Main threats that I see: Breloom, Keldeo, Slowbro/Mega Slowbro, Kyurem-Black, Weavile, Manaphy. That's just naming a few but this team lacks a lot of counterplay to bulky water types like Suicune as well, since Heliolisk can't switch into Scald well.

Guess the first thing I'll say is that while Sand is a strong playstyle, not every Pokemon on the team needs to be oriented towards abusing it. In fact this tends to exacerbate weaknesses, so often you will need pokemon that support the rest of the team but do not benefit from Sand. Generally Sand teams use a setter (Hippo or Tyranitar) and an abuser - Excadrill. Double Sand setters is usually not recommended and rarely needed.

Next thing I would point out is that Heliolisk is a very poor pokemon in the OU tier. It has some interesting weather based abilities and a decent movepool, but it's bulk, speed and special attack are all lackluster compared to other Electric types in the tier like Raikou and Thundurus.

Anyway this is a very long preface to the rate but I have one last thing to say before I suggest actual changes. I am going to suggest a lot of changes - I just think there's a lot to be improved. I don't want to offend you but this is just what I think is best.

Ok for starters I think you are handcuffing yourself by using Heliolisk and 2 Sand setters. My first suggestion is to swap Heliolisk for Rotom-Wash. This alleviates pressure on Hippowdon to check flying types, lets you keep a pivot and a check to water types while giving you a resist and a better answer to Swords Dance Landorus-therian.

Next I would change out Tyranitar for Mega Latias. This gives you a strong check to the aforementioned fighting types, particularly Keldeo. I think a Calm Mind set with Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Roost makes sense here to act as a bulky win condition with good neutral coverage.

Now I think it's also redundant to have 2 hazard removers in Excadrill and Empoleon, and the team still needs a more reliable answer to stuff like Mega Gardevoir and Mega Alakazam. So I would swap Empoleon for Ferrothorn with a Chople Berry to tank Focus Blasts from these mons and the like. This also gives you a Spike setter which allows you to wear down the opposing team better, and its also an alright check to Kyurem-Black.

I think Heatran is a pretty good fit for this team because of how well it counters grass types and pressures opposing steel types. However I think this set is sub optimal and on this team you would probably prefer a Stallbreaker variant with Taunt and Magma Storm to trap opposing walls. Power Herb + Solar Beam can lure things like Rotom and Slowbro for Excadrill, but Toxic is also solid. Another option here is Talonflame which counters many of the same grass types but also gives you a form of priority with Brave Bird allowing you to better check fast threats. I leave this up to you as both look fine on paper but only in testing can you know what's best.

Last suggestion is to run a mixed spread on Hippowdon to take on Electric types better. 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD Impish Nature still checks a ton of physical threats but can take 2 Life Orb HP Ices from Thundurus.

sets

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Latias @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Thunderbolt

Ferrothorn @ Chople Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave / Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

Heatran @ Leftovers / Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Toxic / Solar Beam

OR

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Reminder to use 0 Atk IVs on all special attackers to reduce Foul Play and confusion damage.

I know I basically gutted your team but I hope that you found this helpful in some way.