TEAM PREVIEW:
While I was going through Showdown's team builder, trying to decide what kind of team to build, I saw excadrill sitting pretty, just waiting to be used. I haven't built a sand team since X/Y, so I decided to give it a try and see what I could accomplish. However I also knew that I wanted to use scolipede, so I tried to mix up the style a bit.
After a couple hours testing, this is what I came up with. Without further ado, let's dive right into the breakdown:
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
I chose Hippowdon over the more common tyranitar a) for its extra bulk, and b) for its access to recovery in the form of slack off. The moveset is fairly standard with rocks and slack off as well as EdgeQuake for coverage and to not get walled by flying types. The spdef ev's with a calm nature are to be able to switch in on LO lati's draco meteor without getting 2HKO'd (bar a crit or specs). 252 HP for max bulk, and the rest into defense to make it a good mixed wall.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
Don't think much needs to be said about this mon. Excadrill is a staple for sand offense and its moveset and ev's are standard. LO for the maximum power, however I might consider using air balloon.
Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
Mega Garchomp is surprisingly viable in this meta. It's added bulk makes up for its lack of speed compared to normal chomper. 252 spA allows it to 2HKO most lando-T's and Rotom-W's. The main role of this mon is to weaken defensive walls like hippo, skarm, lando-T, rotom, etc. for scolipede. Naughty nature allows garchomp to deal high amounts of damage using its EdgeQuake coverage, especially if sand is up.
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
Azumarill provides a good pivot for the lati twins with sitrus allowing it to take two psyshocks, and KO back with knock off or play rough. I chose knock off over waterfall or superpower as knock off will KO ferrothorn at +6 anyways. Belly drum gives it strong offensive pressure and makes it viable as a late game sweeper. The ev's are standard provided by showdown and aqua jet and play rough are musts.
Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Steel Wing
I chose banded talonflame because it's a good fast revenge killer. I run dual STAB with u-turn as a pivot and for scouting, and steel wing, mainly for diancie. However I may consider switching that for tailwind as it provides great synergy with mega garchomp. Adamant nature is for maximum damage potential, as Raikou is not really a threat to my team because hippo can safely switch in on a specs hp ice.
Scolipede @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Superpower
One of the main reasons I decided to make this team, it ends up putting in much more work than I originally thought it would. Speed Boost makes it a great clean-up sweeper provided that the opponent doesn't have a talonflame or mega pinsir. 252 with an adamant nature gives it max power, while still hitting 323 speed, and outspeed almost all scarfers at +1. Megahorn and poison jab are it's strongest STAB moves. Earthquake is great coverage, hitting heatran, zone, and much more. Superpower is for ferrothorn, and kyu-B. While scolipede does have trouble with bulky physical mons, the rest of the team generally does a good job at softening them up.
THREATLIST:
Talonflame - If hippo gets weakened, not much can really switch in on and offensive talonflame. Defensive talon can be annoying but is outspeed by garchomp and excadrill.
Mega-Pinsir - If pinsir is able to set up and SD, it can 6-0 after some damage on hippo. In general it puts a lot more pressure on me to keep driller and hippo healthy.
Import:
http://pastebin.com/SFbx605n
While I was going through Showdown's team builder, trying to decide what kind of team to build, I saw excadrill sitting pretty, just waiting to be used. I haven't built a sand team since X/Y, so I decided to give it a try and see what I could accomplish. However I also knew that I wanted to use scolipede, so I tried to mix up the style a bit.
After a couple hours testing, this is what I came up with. Without further ado, let's dive right into the breakdown:
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
I chose Hippowdon over the more common tyranitar a) for its extra bulk, and b) for its access to recovery in the form of slack off. The moveset is fairly standard with rocks and slack off as well as EdgeQuake for coverage and to not get walled by flying types. The spdef ev's with a calm nature are to be able to switch in on LO lati's draco meteor without getting 2HKO'd (bar a crit or specs). 252 HP for max bulk, and the rest into defense to make it a good mixed wall.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
Don't think much needs to be said about this mon. Excadrill is a staple for sand offense and its moveset and ev's are standard. LO for the maximum power, however I might consider using air balloon.
Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
Mega Garchomp is surprisingly viable in this meta. It's added bulk makes up for its lack of speed compared to normal chomper. 252 spA allows it to 2HKO most lando-T's and Rotom-W's. The main role of this mon is to weaken defensive walls like hippo, skarm, lando-T, rotom, etc. for scolipede. Naughty nature allows garchomp to deal high amounts of damage using its EdgeQuake coverage, especially if sand is up.
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
Azumarill provides a good pivot for the lati twins with sitrus allowing it to take two psyshocks, and KO back with knock off or play rough. I chose knock off over waterfall or superpower as knock off will KO ferrothorn at +6 anyways. Belly drum gives it strong offensive pressure and makes it viable as a late game sweeper. The ev's are standard provided by showdown and aqua jet and play rough are musts.
Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Steel Wing
I chose banded talonflame because it's a good fast revenge killer. I run dual STAB with u-turn as a pivot and for scouting, and steel wing, mainly for diancie. However I may consider switching that for tailwind as it provides great synergy with mega garchomp. Adamant nature is for maximum damage potential, as Raikou is not really a threat to my team because hippo can safely switch in on a specs hp ice.
Scolipede @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Superpower
One of the main reasons I decided to make this team, it ends up putting in much more work than I originally thought it would. Speed Boost makes it a great clean-up sweeper provided that the opponent doesn't have a talonflame or mega pinsir. 252 with an adamant nature gives it max power, while still hitting 323 speed, and outspeed almost all scarfers at +1. Megahorn and poison jab are it's strongest STAB moves. Earthquake is great coverage, hitting heatran, zone, and much more. Superpower is for ferrothorn, and kyu-B. While scolipede does have trouble with bulky physical mons, the rest of the team generally does a good job at softening them up.
THREATLIST:
Talonflame - If hippo gets weakened, not much can really switch in on and offensive talonflame. Defensive talon can be annoying but is outspeed by garchomp and excadrill.
Mega-Pinsir - If pinsir is able to set up and SD, it can 6-0 after some damage on hippo. In general it puts a lot more pressure on me to keep driller and hippo healthy.
Import:
http://pastebin.com/SFbx605n
