I've been trying my hand at a sandstorm team recently. Accumulative damage in the form of Toxic, Sandstorm, Stealth Rock and other entry hazards interest me, but pure stall isn't my play style.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Nature: Impish
~ Earthquake
~ Slack Off
~ Stealth Rock
~ Roar
Usually a great option for a stall team lead, Hippowdon summons a sandstorm for the rest of the battle. Earthquake provides a reliable STAB. Stealth Rock ensures additional damage to the opponent each switch, and Hippowdon shouldn't have trouble getting it set up with its great defenses.
Paired with Slack Off, Roar can cause some havoc later in the game. Roar also prevents stuff like Ninjask from setting up, even though Ninjask won't enjoy the damage from Stealth Rock nor the sandstorm. Being the only Pokemon capable of summoning a sandstorm on this team, Hippowdon needs to stick around.
Forretress @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def
Nature: Relaxed
~ Spikes
~ Gyro Ball
~ Rapid Spin
~ Light Screen
This set's primary job is to set up a couple layers of Spikes while luring in Magnezone for Porygon2. With Magnezone out of the way, Forretress has a much easier time setting up support in the form of Light Screen.
Flygon @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~ Earthquake
~ Outrage
~ U-turn
~ Fire Punch
Standard Choice set. Flygon usually leads with U-turn in order to scout threats like Gyarados and Salamence. If either shows its face, U-turn will bring in...
Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpA
Nature: Bold
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
~ Hidden Power Ground
~ Recover
This set allows Porygon2 to counter myriad physically offensive threats, most notable of which are Gyarados, Salamence, Heatran and Magnezone. With Recover, it is bulky enough to come in a few times. Good thing, because this is the team's only semblance of a special attacker.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 160 Def / 76 SpD / 32 Spe
Nature: Impish
~ Wish
~ U-turn
~ Toxic
~ Protect
Not the most standard set for Jirachi, but a pretty effective stall/support hybrid. If Forretress hasn't lured in Magnezone (or Heatran) for Porygon2, Jirachi should be able to.
This set serves a few integral purposes. It gives the other bulky Pokemon on this team even more stalling power (most have some type of a reliable healing move) in the form of Wish. Using Protect, Jirachi can scout moves, heal itself with Wish, and further stall its opponents out with Toxic.
The rest of the team doesn't have a dedicated status-inducing move, so one of the goals of this set is to use Jirachi's bulkiness in tandem with Wish and Protect in order to spread toxic poison among several opponents.
Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Nature: Careful
~ Spite
~ Pursuit
~ Pain Split
~ Shadow Ball
Basically, the Spin Blocker. It is designed to be especially annoying with its use of Spite. There was originally a Tyranitar of the special attack variety (i.e. TyraniBoah) here, but the team seems to lack a vital Spin Blocker otherwise. It isn't afraid of Pursuit, so that nets it a lot of points in my book.
Spiritomb is a great staller, and it is sure to waste opponents' turns with Spite and Pressure working together, possibly causing additional switches. Spiritomb threatens Psychic-types with Pursuit, and it has a decent STAB attack in Shadow Ball.
Pain Split provides it with a pseudo-healing move in order to keep it in play as long as possible. Will-O-Wisp is common among Spiritomb, but it would potentially conflict with Jirachi's Toxic.
What this team clearly lacks is sweeping power, and it has been an annoyance against SkarmBliss. Flygon is pretty much the only good bet against the combo aside from stalling, at least from what I've experienced.
I've been considering a type of mixed attacker like Metagross @ Expert Belt, Meteor Mash/Earthquake/HP Fire/Grass Knot in order to give me some more options against SkarmBliss and the like, but I'm not sure where I could fit it in. Thanks.
At a glance:
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Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Nature: Impish
~ Earthquake
~ Slack Off
~ Stealth Rock
~ Roar
Usually a great option for a stall team lead, Hippowdon summons a sandstorm for the rest of the battle. Earthquake provides a reliable STAB. Stealth Rock ensures additional damage to the opponent each switch, and Hippowdon shouldn't have trouble getting it set up with its great defenses.
Paired with Slack Off, Roar can cause some havoc later in the game. Roar also prevents stuff like Ninjask from setting up, even though Ninjask won't enjoy the damage from Stealth Rock nor the sandstorm. Being the only Pokemon capable of summoning a sandstorm on this team, Hippowdon needs to stick around.
Forretress @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def
Nature: Relaxed
~ Spikes
~ Gyro Ball
~ Rapid Spin
~ Light Screen
This set's primary job is to set up a couple layers of Spikes while luring in Magnezone for Porygon2. With Magnezone out of the way, Forretress has a much easier time setting up support in the form of Light Screen.
Flygon @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~ Earthquake
~ Outrage
~ U-turn
~ Fire Punch
Standard Choice set. Flygon usually leads with U-turn in order to scout threats like Gyarados and Salamence. If either shows its face, U-turn will bring in...
Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpA
Nature: Bold
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
~ Hidden Power Ground
~ Recover
This set allows Porygon2 to counter myriad physically offensive threats, most notable of which are Gyarados, Salamence, Heatran and Magnezone. With Recover, it is bulky enough to come in a few times. Good thing, because this is the team's only semblance of a special attacker.
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 160 Def / 76 SpD / 32 Spe
Nature: Impish
~ Wish
~ U-turn
~ Toxic
~ Protect
Not the most standard set for Jirachi, but a pretty effective stall/support hybrid. If Forretress hasn't lured in Magnezone (or Heatran) for Porygon2, Jirachi should be able to.
This set serves a few integral purposes. It gives the other bulky Pokemon on this team even more stalling power (most have some type of a reliable healing move) in the form of Wish. Using Protect, Jirachi can scout moves, heal itself with Wish, and further stall its opponents out with Toxic.
The rest of the team doesn't have a dedicated status-inducing move, so one of the goals of this set is to use Jirachi's bulkiness in tandem with Wish and Protect in order to spread toxic poison among several opponents.
Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Nature: Careful
~ Spite
~ Pursuit
~ Pain Split
~ Shadow Ball
Basically, the Spin Blocker. It is designed to be especially annoying with its use of Spite. There was originally a Tyranitar of the special attack variety (i.e. TyraniBoah) here, but the team seems to lack a vital Spin Blocker otherwise. It isn't afraid of Pursuit, so that nets it a lot of points in my book.
Spiritomb is a great staller, and it is sure to waste opponents' turns with Spite and Pressure working together, possibly causing additional switches. Spiritomb threatens Psychic-types with Pursuit, and it has a decent STAB attack in Shadow Ball.
Pain Split provides it with a pseudo-healing move in order to keep it in play as long as possible. Will-O-Wisp is common among Spiritomb, but it would potentially conflict with Jirachi's Toxic.
What this team clearly lacks is sweeping power, and it has been an annoyance against SkarmBliss. Flygon is pretty much the only good bet against the combo aside from stalling, at least from what I've experienced.
I've been considering a type of mixed attacker like Metagross @ Expert Belt, Meteor Mash/Earthquake/HP Fire/Grass Knot in order to give me some more options against SkarmBliss and the like, but I'm not sure where I could fit it in. Thanks.
