Sand Stall

[ssneak]

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Greetings! Here again with another strong noobers team, that got me decent ladder spots on both PO and PS ladders. This team is pretty much just Sand stall, at its finest. Hippo provides a nice defensive wall alternative to Groudon plus reliable recovery, Amoonguss gives me an Xerneas check and at the same time a Kyogre check, Ho-oh provides another one incase Xern is carrying Psyshock (and forms a nice RegenCore with Amoonguss), Palkia gives me a back up Ogre check, Arceus-Rock is a great Ho-oh counter and Defog support, and lasty but not least is Mewtwo my EKiller check/counter. I'll go more in depth now

Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
The sand setter, the physical wall, the recovering phazer, Hippowdon fills many roles which makes it a much better Sand Streamer for this team than Tyranitar. This tank isn't even OHKO'd by a +6 ESpeed from Arceus. Max Defense stats give it defenses very similar to Groudon's, along with Slack Off which is a great recovery option, and Whirlwind which is better than Roar since the latter can be prevented by Soundproof. Even though Soundproof is never seen in Ubers (if it is it's from Abomasnow or Mr. Mime on BP teams) it has no downside to using it over Roar. Earthquake is strong STAB, dealing considerable damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Hippo is also my Zekrom check. It can switch into a Scarf Outrage and 2HKO back with EQ.

Amoonguss (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Bomb
- Clear Smog
- Foul Play / Hidden Power [Fire]
This is my main Xerneas check. Assualt Vest gives it a nice boost in Sp. Def, bringing it to a great 426. It does away with all sets that don't carry Psyshock or Substitute, and I've only run into one Psyshock set so I'm not too worried about them. Max Sp. Def stats can take Moonblasts from Xerneas with no problem, who can't even 3HKO this set at +2. This is also a great Kyogre check, with Amoonguss not being 2HKO'd by a Specs Ice Beam. Grass Knot deals major damage to Kyogre, Groudon, Arceus-Rock, almost the whole Grass-weak Ubers tier since they're all so heavy. Grass Knot has a 120 BP against the 3 listed above, always 2HKOing them. Clear Smog takes care of CM Arceus variants, and more importantly removes Xerneas's +2. Then I can take it out with Sludge Bomb with no worries. The last moveslot is kinda iffy, Foul Play prevents me from being a sitting duck against Mega Gengar while HP Fire hits Scizor (whose U-Turn does crazy damage to Amoonguss I shouldn't even stay in on it) and Ferrothorn.

Palkia @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Spacial Rend
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
This is my backup Kyogre check, Palkia. I decided not to run the bandwagon AV set because the Sand will slowly wear down Palkia, and Leftovers takes care of that. The EVs and moves are pretty basic, besides Thunder Wave. Another reason why I'm not using AV, Thunder Wave cripples switch-ins, namely Xerneas or Mewtwo-Y which are sort of threats for this team.

Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Roost
- Substitute
Back up check to Xerneas, Ho-oh is a great presence on Sand teams dealing heavy damage to Kyogre with Brave Bird and taking advantage of opposing sun teams. It also takes care of Ferrothorn which annoys this team a bit. The EVs in speed let me outpace semi-invested base 90's, and the rest in HP as this is my one of my MMY checks and it needs to be able to take Psystrikes.

Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Timid Nature
- Judgment
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
- Recover
This is my Ho-oh counter, as all teams need a check or at least a counter to it. Judgement deals heavy damage to all variants, usually resulting in a OHKO, if not always a 2HKO regardless of the set. The speed EVs let me outpace maxed base 90s, such as Band Ho-oh whose Earthquake can hurt me. Also sandstorm benefits Arceus-Rock with some extra Sp. Def, so I put the rest of the EVs in HP and Def so I can take Ho-oh's moves. The newly upgraded Defog pairs nicely with Ho-oh, keeping Rocks off the field.

Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite X
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Recover
Lastly is Mewtwo, my EKiller check. I'll explain how it works, Arceus uses SD, I switch-in Mewtwo, it uses ESpeed, survives, and OHKOs back with Low Kick. This is modeled after the famous Stalltwo but Low Kick over Psystrike or Light Screen. It hits things like Rockceus or Kyogre very hard. Taunt stops annoying walls like Chansey, and I can stall them out with Will-O-Wisp.

Thanks for reading this, give any advice that could help, heres an importable

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Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

Amoonguss (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Bomb
- Clear Smog
- Foul Play

Palkia @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Spacial Rend
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave

Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Roost
- Substitute

Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Timid Nature
- Judgment
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
- Recover

Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite X
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Recover

 

[GRB1]

Hey dude, interesting team. I'm no stall expert, but one thing I can see is that Geomancy Xerneas with Psyshock (46% of GeoXern's) eats your team at +2. Ho-oh cannot OHKO and is 2HKO'd by Psyshock. To remedy this, I suggest that you run either Roost, OR Substitute, but not both. Instead, run Whirlwind in place of one of the aforementioned moves.

It's not much, but I hope I helped. Good luck!

 

[Hack]

Kyogre not only pushes away your sand support but can deal significant damage to anything that switches in. The biggest problem is that without a way to scout Kyogre you won't know how to deal with it. Most Kyogre are Scarfed and thereby wreck 4/6 of your team and can spam Thunder on an obvious Palkia switch (this hurts but worse is the nasty par chance). On a Palkia switch into Scarfed Kyogre Thunder, usually Palkia will loose:

252 SpA Kyogre Thunder vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Palkia: 114-135 (35.4 - 41.9%) -- 85.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Kyogre Thunder vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Palkia: 114-135 (35.4 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

The rarer Specs Kyogre is worse and 2HKOs Palkia even with Water Spout after Rocks meaning that you have no reliable switch in if you have the wrong mon in against it (sorry but Amoonguss does get 2HKOed by Specs Ice Beam and even Water Spout after rocks. The point is you can beat Kyogre, but it places so much strain on this team and a single mis-predict can cause a frustrating loss. I think Assault Vest on Palkia will make it actually able to check Scarf and Specs Kyogre since Scarf Thunder moves to 4HKO and Specs Thunder moves to a 3HKO; both giving Palkia enough time to take down Kyogre with Thunder so long as it doesn't get paralyzed. Sure you loose T Wave but at least you can now beat Ferro with Flamethrower or Fire Blast.

He has ammoonguss and palkia. if you are looking at kyogre as some big threat to the team then you are looking in the wrong direction, sorry. hint: non av palkia is a perfectly adequate kyogre check in its own right.

 

[Haruno]

Don't see the point in putting 252 Evs in attack on Mmx, probably better off investing in bulk considering the set. You want rockceus to run either positive 96 speed or max. Running essentially no speed is a death wish.

Other than that, the team seems somewhat solid, mixkrom is a pain and yveltal wrecks abit unless you raise arceus' speed. Geoxern with psyshock will wreck if it comes in on rockceus.

 

[ssneak]

Don't see the point in putting 252 Evs in attack on Mmx, probably better off investing in bulk considering the set. You want rockceus to run either positive 96 speed or max. Running essentially no speed is a death wish.

Other than that, the team seems somewhat solid, mixkrom is a pain and yveltal wrecks abit unless you raise arceus' speed. Geoxern with psyshock will wreck if it comes in on rockceus.

Ye thats a mistake, it's supposed to be 252 HP e.e Low Kick OHKOs regardless. Also the Low speed is really only to outspeed Ho-oh, everything else has a check. Also yeah I think I'll make Arceus faster, I made it so bulky because Band EQ from Hooh does quite a lot, and I didn't want to die to it so quickly

 

[Disaster Area]

hey sneak only just noticed this, cool to see, nice team.

You could always try out Payback on amoonguss in the last slot, you secure your KO on gengar with that, whereas foul play doesn't. Whatever you use Ho-oh fucks you so foul play is kinda pointless, but ofc HP Fire is perfectly fine too.

 

[haxiom]

Hey ssneak,

Overall p cool team. As previously stated, Ygod and Krom will be annoying to fight, along with Psyshock Xern+SR who will 6-0 you. Also, a little weak to MGar b/c it removes things like MMX p easily.

Otherwise, maybe you could bump up Atk EVs on Hippowdon to KO Blaziken or something I guess. Also, try experimenting with RestTalk SDef Palkia, as it is really good on stall imo.

Good luck!