Sand Tempest
This is the first team I've posted to RMT, and I'm eager for constructive criticism. I highly doubt I've considered half the things I need to when it comes to counters, synergy, etc. That being said, I've put some amount of effort and my own limited knowledge into building this team without too many weaknesses, but like I said I know I've missed a lot.
*Changes have been made in BOLD*
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Nothing too new or exciting here; Tyranitar is necessary for SS and tearing a hole in the opponent. A Sassy nature coupled with the HP and SDef EVs means T-tar can almost always set up SR. Crunch hits ghosts, notably Froslass and Jellicent. Fire Blast deals with Ferrothorn quite nicely, as well as scizor, forretress, and skarmory. Ice Beam takes care of dragons and Gliscor, who would probably wall me otherwise.
>Fighting is obviously a weakness here, and I don't really have a great switch against it. For now I've been using Skarm or Landorus, with some degree of success. Water has also proven a major problem for this team; Ferrothorn may be switched in for something.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don Gastro (Gastrodon) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Scald / {HP [Grass]?}
- Toxic
- Recover
This team had a particular weakness to water attacks: No one to switch in on them and no real grass threat to attack back. Specifically, Rotom-W caused untold problems for the team. It usually carried Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, and HP [Fire]. Not only did this deal with every member of my team, it meant that Ferrothorn wouldn't help at all (who was another possible water counter). My answer to this was Gastrodon, who blocks water attacks completely with Storm Drain and catches some free Health with it. This is great for switching in on Hydro Pumps aimed at Heatran. Gastrodon then has Earth Power to deal with Rotom-W and another annoyance: Empoleon. If Excadrill and Landorus have gone down (though that doesn't happen too often) Empoleon can be a real pain. No SS damage and Hydro Pumps/Surfs get thrown all over the place. Gastrodon walks all over Empoleon (unless Emp carries Grass Knot, in which case I'm SOL for a real answer to it). Scald is there for STAB and a possible burn, but HP [Grass] could be used to deal with other water threats (I'm open for persuasion on this one). Toxic keeps the likes of Chansey and Blissey from stalling Gastro completely. Ironically, he should also avoid toxic at all costs, as it really puts a damper on the whole "living" thing that Gastrodon enjoys. Recover is used for longevity, and can also be used to scout a switch-in opponent's move(s).
^Grass = end for Gastrodon. Even Ferrothorn's Power Whip with no Atk EVs can OHKO Gastro. Heatran covers this issue well, but some opponents sneak up on Gastro with a HP [Grass]. Nickname is just a play on words.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Djinn Raml (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
A powerful sweeper if I've ever seen one, Landorus is intimidating after a single Rock Polish. His speed reaches 660, a number that makes even choiced sweepers cringe. Naive allows his speed to get up that high without sacrificing SAtk, which is needed on HP for dragons and Gliscor. Stone Force coupled with Life Orb makes it clear that Landorus means business, hitting exceptionally hard and OHKOing many threats after entry hazard damage. Stone Edge is for coverage and should put Gyarados in its place, and EQ is there to hit everything that HP doesn't.
>Weakness here is ice and water but its easy for Heatran and Gastro to switch into the hit, respectively. Also, Djinn Raml is Arabic, literally meaning Sand Genie (but no I'm not Arabic, Djinn's just a cool word :P).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Shadow Claw
The extremely hyped Sand Rush user Excadrill. This spot was originally reserved for Reuniclus, who was my fighting counter, but I found I was completely incompetent with him. So to counter a different kind of beast, entry hazards, Excadrill replaced him. His speed and high attack also means he can deter spin blockers and get the Rapid Spin in, but he has Shadow Claw to deal with any ghosts that may try to block him. Not only this, but Excadrill likes to create holes, like this: Earthquake/Rock Slide + Life Orb + 405 Atk = Holes - All over the opponent. Nature and EVs all go toward driving up his damage, and not much can stand before him after some entry damage.
>Well, not much can stand before him except bulky water types. (noticing a pattern?)
Avoiding hits in general would be nice, but EQ's the biggest issue. Air Balloon could remedy this and allow a free switch, (possibly good synergy with Heatran and Magnezone there) but I simply like the boost of Life Orb more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
- Roar
I had Skarm for physical threats, but no real answer to special attackers, so along came Heatran! Forgoing the possibility of the pure rage that is Modest, I went with Calm nature and bulky EVs. This allows him to survive many switch ins for Landorus and even Tyranitar. Lava Plume has a 30% chance to burn, dealing with the physical side of things quite nicely, and toxic is there to take care of Blissey/Chancey, who cannot use Toxic on Heatran. Protect gets in a turn of Leftovers as well as scout for ground type attacks, and roar serves to pseudo-haze those who set up.
>Heatran can't even try to take an EQ without air balloon, but once again I didn't choose to do that. I just don't see much point in air balloon switching into a ground attack unless they're choiced, which is a bit too situational for me to forgo Leftovers on a bulky/stall type of Heatran. Either way, EQs are no match for Landorus and Skarm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Pretty basic Skarmory build. Spikes is an obvious option, and Skarm can generally get out at least two layers in one go. Brave Bird is mostly to stop Skarm from being Taunt bait, and to deal with grass threats when they become a problem. Whirlwind stops others from setting up as well as racks up entry damage. Then of course Roost is there to keep him healthy.
>Physical attacks aren't much of an issue to Skarm and he is currently my fighting attack switch-in for Tyranitar. Any special attacks go towards Heatran. Protect is a possibility to scout for attacks and get an extra leftovers heal, but I'm not sure what I'd drop to get it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Importable:
This is the first team I've posted to RMT, and I'm eager for constructive criticism. I highly doubt I've considered half the things I need to when it comes to counters, synergy, etc. That being said, I've put some amount of effort and my own limited knowledge into building this team without too many weaknesses, but like I said I know I've missed a lot.
*Changes have been made in BOLD*
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Nothing too new or exciting here; Tyranitar is necessary for SS and tearing a hole in the opponent. A Sassy nature coupled with the HP and SDef EVs means T-tar can almost always set up SR. Crunch hits ghosts, notably Froslass and Jellicent. Fire Blast deals with Ferrothorn quite nicely, as well as scizor, forretress, and skarmory. Ice Beam takes care of dragons and Gliscor, who would probably wall me otherwise.
>Fighting is obviously a weakness here, and I don't really have a great switch against it. For now I've been using Skarm or Landorus, with some degree of success. Water has also proven a major problem for this team; Ferrothorn may be switched in for something.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Scald / {HP [Grass]?}
- Toxic
- Recover
This team had a particular weakness to water attacks: No one to switch in on them and no real grass threat to attack back. Specifically, Rotom-W caused untold problems for the team. It usually carried Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, and HP [Fire]. Not only did this deal with every member of my team, it meant that Ferrothorn wouldn't help at all (who was another possible water counter). My answer to this was Gastrodon, who blocks water attacks completely with Storm Drain and catches some free Health with it. This is great for switching in on Hydro Pumps aimed at Heatran. Gastrodon then has Earth Power to deal with Rotom-W and another annoyance: Empoleon. If Excadrill and Landorus have gone down (though that doesn't happen too often) Empoleon can be a real pain. No SS damage and Hydro Pumps/Surfs get thrown all over the place. Gastrodon walks all over Empoleon (unless Emp carries Grass Knot, in which case I'm SOL for a real answer to it). Scald is there for STAB and a possible burn, but HP [Grass] could be used to deal with other water threats (I'm open for persuasion on this one). Toxic keeps the likes of Chansey and Blissey from stalling Gastro completely. Ironically, he should also avoid toxic at all costs, as it really puts a damper on the whole "living" thing that Gastrodon enjoys. Recover is used for longevity, and can also be used to scout a switch-in opponent's move(s).
^Grass = end for Gastrodon. Even Ferrothorn's Power Whip with no Atk EVs can OHKO Gastro. Heatran covers this issue well, but some opponents sneak up on Gastro with a HP [Grass]. Nickname is just a play on words.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Djinn Raml (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
A powerful sweeper if I've ever seen one, Landorus is intimidating after a single Rock Polish. His speed reaches 660, a number that makes even choiced sweepers cringe. Naive allows his speed to get up that high without sacrificing SAtk, which is needed on HP for dragons and Gliscor. Stone Force coupled with Life Orb makes it clear that Landorus means business, hitting exceptionally hard and OHKOing many threats after entry hazard damage. Stone Edge is for coverage and should put Gyarados in its place, and EQ is there to hit everything that HP doesn't.
>Weakness here is ice and water but its easy for Heatran and Gastro to switch into the hit, respectively. Also, Djinn Raml is Arabic, literally meaning Sand Genie (but no I'm not Arabic, Djinn's just a cool word :P).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Shadow Claw
The extremely hyped Sand Rush user Excadrill. This spot was originally reserved for Reuniclus, who was my fighting counter, but I found I was completely incompetent with him. So to counter a different kind of beast, entry hazards, Excadrill replaced him. His speed and high attack also means he can deter spin blockers and get the Rapid Spin in, but he has Shadow Claw to deal with any ghosts that may try to block him. Not only this, but Excadrill likes to create holes, like this: Earthquake/Rock Slide + Life Orb + 405 Atk = Holes - All over the opponent. Nature and EVs all go toward driving up his damage, and not much can stand before him after some entry damage.
>Well, not much can stand before him except bulky water types. (noticing a pattern?)
Avoiding hits in general would be nice, but EQ's the biggest issue. Air Balloon could remedy this and allow a free switch, (possibly good synergy with Heatran and Magnezone there) but I simply like the boost of Life Orb more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
- Roar
I had Skarm for physical threats, but no real answer to special attackers, so along came Heatran! Forgoing the possibility of the pure rage that is Modest, I went with Calm nature and bulky EVs. This allows him to survive many switch ins for Landorus and even Tyranitar. Lava Plume has a 30% chance to burn, dealing with the physical side of things quite nicely, and toxic is there to take care of Blissey/Chancey, who cannot use Toxic on Heatran. Protect gets in a turn of Leftovers as well as scout for ground type attacks, and roar serves to pseudo-haze those who set up.
>Heatran can't even try to take an EQ without air balloon, but once again I didn't choose to do that. I just don't see much point in air balloon switching into a ground attack unless they're choiced, which is a bit too situational for me to forgo Leftovers on a bulky/stall type of Heatran. Either way, EQs are no match for Landorus and Skarm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Pretty basic Skarmory build. Spikes is an obvious option, and Skarm can generally get out at least two layers in one go. Brave Bird is mostly to stop Skarm from being Taunt bait, and to deal with grass threats when they become a problem. Whirlwind stops others from setting up as well as racks up entry damage. Then of course Roost is there to keep him healthy.
>Physical attacks aren't much of an issue to Skarm and he is currently my fighting attack switch-in for Tyranitar. Any special attacks go towards Heatran. Protect is a possibility to scout for attacks and get an extra leftovers heal, but I'm not sure what I'd drop to get it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Importable:
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Gastrodon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
Djinn Raml (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Shadow Claw
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
- Roar
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Gastrodon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
Djinn Raml (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Shadow Claw
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
- Roar
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
