SS OU Sand, Poison and Other Hazards (OU Balanced Sand Team)

[Joe_Crow]

Intro

The first team I've decided to put together since Gen 4. Corviknight has captured my heart and I had to include it in a new team for Pokémon Shield. I'll be making the team on the cartridge game so I want to make sure it's perfect before I start breeding. Also, that means I want to avoid any legendaries or mythic Pokémon as getting the right nature and IVs would be a huge pain. I've given the team a good run on Showdown and it's done pretty well. I'm struggling to think of what changes I can make now the team is put together. I think there is some room for improvement though, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

At A Glance

The Strategy​

Tyranitar @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch

Tyranitar leads the pack by getting the sand machine whirring and setting up Stealth Rock. I've gone for Crunch and Stone Edge to take advantage of the Adamant nature and Attack investment for EVs. Fire Punch is included for type coverage and to keep Corviknight from Defogging the teams lovingly placed traps. I've gone for Fire Punch over Flamethrower or Fire Blast because of the Attack investment and the Fire Blast RNG makes me mad. Tyranitar's Dark typing works well with the two poison types on the team to sponge up any incoming Psychic attacks from Pokémon like Hatterne and Reuniclus. Shed Shell has been chosen over Leftovers to ensure an easy switch out if needed after Stealth Rock has been laid. Also, I've got Leftovers elsewhere on the team and they're few and far between in the cartridge games.

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin

In comes Excadrill to make use of the Sandstorm. Excadrill has two powerful STAB moves for dealing with Toxapex, Rotom-H and more. It can also switch in on any electric attacks aimed at Corviknight or Toxapex. I've included Rock Slide to increase type coverage against Flying types, especially with the absence of any electric types on the team. The last slot is a tricky one. Being able to spin away any pesky enemy hazards would be helpful, but if I'm running Life Orb, I want to capitalize on Excadrill's raw power. I have considered Swords Dance, but I didn't find it to work too well in testing.

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Bulk Up
- Roost
- Taunt

Corviknight is my boy. I love everything about this 'mon. I've gone for a Bulk Up build for this team. The bulkiness of this build and Roost, along with the potential for Wish support from Sylveon makes it easy for Corviknight to set up. This is especially the case if Excadrill has cleaned up Corviknight's main counters already. Due to potential from Wish support from Sylveon to keep Corviknight around, I've ditched Substitute in favor of Taunt. This can help with blocking opposing Corviknight from bulking up. With Corviknight's ground immunity, teammates who are threatened by Earthquakers like Gengar and Tyranitar appreciate the switch in. And finally, once it's powered up, Brave Bird can deal with a lot of common threats. I opted for this over Iron Head as Excadrill can deal with Fairies. Excadrill removing entry hazards pairs well with Corviknight's Pressure to help the opposition to quickly waste PP.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Haze
- Recover

Toxapex gets the poison flowing, and alongside any sand and Stealth Rock damage, enemies are weakened to be swept up by the Gengar and Excadrill. Toxapex works great with Corvinight to take on fire types like Cinderace and Rotom-H. Sylveon can benefit from Toxapex's typing too, to protect it from poison threats. The two of them with their healing capabilities can extend the game to increase poison and sand damage. Scald is included for damaging steel types and inflicting burn. I've included Haze to prevent the opposition from beefing up while Toxapex or Sylveon are busy healing. This is especially important as Corviknight isn't running defog, so not to remove my own team's Stealth Rock.

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Mystical Fire

I can't seem to build a team without an Eeveelution... it's a problem that I live with. Luckily, Sylveon seems to work well in the team with it's bulkiness. Sylveon can stall poisoned opponents and pass Wish healing around to those who need it. It can switch in on Dark type moves and retaliate with Hyper Voice. It's typing also makes it a good counter for Hydrygon and other dragons such as Dracovish. Mystical fire can be used to counter Aegislash and Corviknight in a pinch. Protect is useful for stalling while Toxic and Wish are doing their thing.

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Psychic

Gengar is my special sweeper and revenge killer. While not as commonly found on OU teams for this format, I find it's type coverage and speed super useful. It's typing allows it to switch in on Fighting moves for Tyranita and Excadrill, and switching in on poison for Sylveon. It can then quickly unleash one of it's widely covering attacks. Psychic may be an unorthodox choice, but the opponent rarely expects it and can be great for revenge killing or countering those Fighting and Poison threats. Choice Scarf works well with a full set of four attacks.

Also Considered​

Seismitoad - Immune to sand damage, poison setting alternative to Toxapex, works well with Corviknight and Sylveon, not weak to Ground like Toxapex to reduce the number of Ground weak teammates.
Hydreigon - Dragon powerhouse. Nasty Plot could work well with support from other teammates.
Cinderace - Court Change allows Excadrill to run another coverage move. More reliable counter for some of the threats that this team struggles with, e.g. Aegislash, Ferrothorn and Corviknight.
Clefable - Sylveon alternative. Less bulk.
Toxtricity - Useful typing but perhaps no space on the team.
Umbreon - Stalling goodness, alternative Toxic setting, general coolness

 

[Joe_Crow]

This might work better with Seismitoad rather than Toxapex actually...
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1069215322

 

[Jordy]

Hey man, for your first time building a team since DPP, this is a pretty solid team already. I've got a couple suggestions to make it even better.

Major Changes

Sylveon → Clefable

→

Unfortunately, Sylveon's niche is rather outdated at this point. It still has its uses, but I don't think it's the right fit for this kind of team. Clefable would be a much better option here because it gives you significantly more flexibility around Toxapex and Seismitoad, which your team can struggle to deal with consistently. It still retains the ability to check Pokemon like Dragapult and Hydreigon, so this definitely seems like the right move here. I'd also like to bring up Heal Bell, as it's a great option alongside Bulk Up Corviknight, which often risks getting burned by Toxapex in order to beat it. With the option of Heal Bell available, your Corviknight will be able to beat Toxapex pretty consistently and won't almost be useless by the end of it.

Gengar → Rotom-H

→

A major appeal of sand teams is the immediate Speed control that Excadrill provides, which entirely diminishes the need for a Choice Scarf user like Gengar here. Instead of Gengar, I'd like to suggest Rotom-H. Rotom-H is really useful here because it grants you an Ice-resistant Pokemon that isn't weak to Freeze-Dry, which should make Kyurem slightly easier to deal with. Your matchup against opposing Bulk Up Corviknight is also rather shaky, which Rotom-H can improve pretty handily. You're also quite weak to Bisharp, so having the option to use Rotom-H as an emergency check can prove to be useful.

Minor Changes

Considering that Excadrill's your main form of entry hazard removal, you really don't want to run Life Orb on it, as it'll be worn down very quickly. Instead of Life Orb, I'd suggest running Leftovers to improve its longevity instead. I'd also recommend Swords Dance over Rock Slide to improve Excadrill's cleaning capabilities.

Your team is currently missing a Knock Off user. I'd suggest running Knock Off on Toxapex because it makes making progress against opposing Toxapex and Kommo-o much easier, while also making it easier to handle some offensive Pokemon like Kyurem. If you'd like, you could also consider running Baneful Bunker instead of Toxic, which gives you a little easier time against Dracovish and also allows you to scout some Pokemon like Terrakion with more ease.

Final Comments

If you prefer to keep Rock Slide on Excadrill to hit Rotom-H, I'd like to suggest running Defog Corviknight and replacing Rapid Spin with Swords Dance instead. If you go through with that, you can afford to keep Life Orb. Defog Corviknight would also improve your Bisharp matchup a lot, so that's something worth keeping in mind. You could also consider running Seismitoad instead of Toxapex because of its ability to check Rotom-H and Dracovish much more comfortably than you can right now. It'd also compress Stealth Rock, allowing Tyranitar to run a different set like Choice Band, which'd give you better breaking prowess. The main issue there is with this change is that Calm Mind Clefable, specifically Flamethrower variants, can become much harder to handle. You could also run Gastrodon instead of Toxapex, which also handles Rotom-H and Dracovish much more comfortably, while having an easier time against Choice Specs Aegislash. It doesn't compress Stealth Rock and leaves you quite weak to Choice Band Aegislash, though.


Importable

 

[Joe_Crow]

Hey man, for your first time building a team since DPP, this is a pretty solid team already. I've got a couple suggestions to make it even better.

Major Changes

Sylveon → Clefable

→

Unfortunately, Sylveon's niche is rather outdated at this point. It still has its uses, but I don't think it's the right fit for this kind of team. Clefable would be a much better option here because it gives you significantly more flexibility around Toxapex and Seismitoad, which your team can struggle to deal with consistently. It still retains the ability to check Pokemon like Dragapult and Hydreigon, so this definitely seems like the right move here. I'd also like to bring up Heal Bell, as it's a great option alongside Bulk Up Corviknight, which often risks getting burned by Toxapex in order to beat it. With the option of Heal Bell available, your Corviknight will be able to beat Toxapex pretty consistently and won't almost be useless by the end of it.

Gengar → Rotom-H

→

A major appeal of sand teams is the immediate Speed control that Excadrill provides, which entirely diminishes the need for a Choice Scarf user like Gengar here. Instead of Gengar, I'd like to suggest Rotom-H. Rotom-H is really useful here because it grants you an Ice-resistant Pokemon that isn't weak to Freeze-Dry, which should make Kyurem slightly easier to deal with. Your matchup against opposing Bulk Up Corviknight is also rather shaky, which Rotom-H can improve pretty handily. You're also quite weak to Bisharp, so having the option to use Rotom-H as an emergency check can prove to be useful.

Minor Changes

Considering that Excadrill's your main form of entry hazard removal, you really don't want to run Life Orb on it, as it'll be worn down very quickly. Instead of Life Orb, I'd suggest running Leftovers to improve its longevity instead. I'd also recommend Swords Dance over Rock Slide to improve Excadrill's cleaning capabilities.

Your team is currently missing a Knock Off user. I'd suggest running Knock Off on Toxapex because it makes making progress against opposing Toxapex and Kommo-o much easier, while also making it easier to handle some offensive Pokemon like Kyurem. If you'd like, you could also consider running Baneful Bunker instead of Toxic, which gives you a little easier time against Dracovish and also allows you to scout some Pokemon like Terrakion with more ease.

Final Comments

If you prefer to keep Rock Slide on Excadrill to hit Rotom-H, I'd like to suggest running Defog Corviknight and replacing Rapid Spin with Swords Dance instead. If you go through with that, you can afford to keep Life Orb. Defog Corviknight would also improve your Bisharp matchup a lot, so that's something worth keeping in mind. You could also consider running Seismitoad instead of Toxapex because of its ability to check Rotom-H and Dracovish much more comfortably than you can right now. It'd also compress Stealth Rock, allowing Tyranitar to run a different set like Choice Band, which'd give you better breaking prowess. The main issue there is with this change is that Calm Mind Clefable, specifically Flamethrower variants, can become much harder to handle. You could also run Gastrodon instead of Toxapex, which also handles Rotom-H and Dracovish much more comfortably, while having an easier time against Choice Specs Aegislash. It doesn't compress Stealth Rock and leaves you quite weak to Choice Band Aegislash, though.


Importable

Thanks for this! Apologies for the late reply...

 

[M4RK5M4N]

Yeah, that's what I would say, you already have Excadrill which is +2 in Sand so that's your form of Speed Control. Scarf Gengar is just restricting you a lot and like Jordy said, it would be better to run Rotom-H with Levitate because of the Kyurem resist and Levitate in case Corvik is dead.