Sand Offense - the way of the Ninja

[vyomov]

This is my sand Offense team for the new meta:

Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Atk
Sassy Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast

Gen 6 brought lots of nice things, one of them being the Assault Vest. Ttar becomes a monster in sand with the Assault Vest, shrugging off SE hits as if they were nothing. As such, Ttar is generally the special wall for my team, capable of taking most hits and attacking back(the nerfs to the Steel-type helped). Fire Blast helps get past those steel types(such as Ferrothorn), while the rest is standard.

Blaziken @ Blazikenite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- Stone Edge

Meet Mega Blaziken, one of the most TERRIFYING sweepers in the current meta. With Speed Boost, Blaziken outspeeds the entire meta after 2-3 boosts and with the coverage given can easily 6-0 teams. Running Blazikenite allows me to run an Adamant Nature, allowing it to hit hard right from the start. Stone Edge helps get rid of Talonflame(while it switches in).

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn

Greninja is an interesting mon with the ability Protean, essentially giving it STAB on any attack it uses, thus making it very dangerous. The coverage here hits most mons hard, while U-Turn gives it a quick escape route from it's counters. This has great synergy with Blaziken, which is why it's been chosen.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Mild Nature
- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield
- Flash Cannon
- Sacred Sword
This Aegislash is a mixed attacking set, allowing it to lure in physical walls(seeing as most Aegislash sets run Shadow Sneak) and slaughter them with Shadow Ball while also retaining the great coverage. Shadow Ball actually hits harder than Shadow Claw, making it a good reason to run this set.

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake

Garchomp returns in this gen, ready to sweep once more! The idea of this set(same as Gen V) is to set-up and sweep, an easy task considering Garchomp's amazing speed tier. No Outrage means LO is necessary to net those kills(Outrage makes it set-up for Fairies), while Earthquake and Fire Fang is standard coverage.

Skarmory @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Spd / 252 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt

The ultimate HO lead(not that annoying Klefki), Skarmory returns to ravage Gen 6 with it's amazing Custap set. With Blaziken becoming a common lead, this helps get rid of most annoying pokemon to the team, sets up SR and at least 2 layers of spikes and can self-spinblock, allowing it to function amazingly.

Also just note that this team is actually made for the current OU meta(and not for Pokebank OU, although the team should work there just fine as well)

Thanks for reading! Any comments?

 

[Shurtugal]

Hey there!

So it seems you have tried to re-create HO in Gen 6, and it seems, for the most part, you did a decent job.

However, there are a few things I have issues with.

The first is Custap Skarmory. Deo-N is allowed in Pokebank OU, and quite frankly, it does Skarmory's job a hell of a lot better. MegaGar looks like such a huge threat, seeing as how Aegislash cannot remove it from the game and Blaziken is wary of spamming HJK and it can outrun Greninja, and it has the ability to DB Tyranitar as well which is quite scary frankly if your opponent has a Talonflame.

Then there are your sets in general that I have to question of use.

Anyway, let's get to the rate:

1.) I like the idea behind Stone Edge Blaziken; I really do, but it's no use since Talonflame can RK it anyway. Brave Bird seems kind of pathetic, why not just run Swords Dance over BB? It makes sweeping much more easier. Next, I don't think Blaziken needs to MegaEvolve to do any form of sweeping, so I'd go ahead an add Coba Berry, which halves the damage of Acrobatics / Brave Bird from Talonflame, which means you'll live +0 with about 30% remaining (can't calc so I don't know if it's only with Jolly or what since I've done it before with my BPing one with varying degrees of success).

That is, however, if you intend to keep the Talonflame lure. Personally, I don't think it's worth it, so you should just scrap Stone Edge for Protect[/b] itself, and then replace the item of choice to either Passho Berry (for Azumaril), Life Orb (for overall power), or Air Balloon for more set up opportunities.

2.) Tyranitar is the next thing I'm looking at: it's not that great at HO. I've used it before on HO, and yes it does a great job walling Talonflame and MegaGar but it really is not worth it on HO since it slows down momentum way too much. You'd be better off running Dragon Dance over Pursuit (Pursuit is quite useless) and Earthquake over Fire Blast. MegaTTar can set up on Blaziken's counter in Talonflame as well as Dragonite, etc. Tyranitar also outruns Gengar at +1 when MegaEvolved and it can OHKO Lando-T with +1 Stone Edge as well.

3.) Here are some of the minor issues I have left: Deo-N over Skarmory, seriously. Faster taunt, faster hazards, stronger STAB to work with in Psycho Boost, more unpredictable, etc. You can virtually run any set you want, from Modest Psycho Boost to Adamant with Superpower and ESPeed, etc.

I must say I'm not sure LO Garchomp or Specially-Oriented Aegislash is worth it at all. However, I can see Aegi doing some surprise factor work, but you need to replace the item of choice to Weakness Policy, which allows you to hit things with a bigger bang (like, iirc, you live EQ from Lando-T and Jolly Excadril so the power oomph allows you to beat them). Garchomp is kind of mediocre in this Metagame. Perhaps you can run a Choice Scarf on it? Personally, I've tried Scarf Chomp and Scarf Exca with Mold Breaker is better in every way that matters. I'd play around with some Pokemon, but keep in mind that even with my changes that you can't switch into an EQ unless you run Air Balloon Blaziken, so I'd consider investing in something to counter Landorus-T or Diggersby like perhaps Def Rotom-W.

Good Luck