Sandstorm Volt Turn Offense [OU]

[Rockstar99]

This is a team that I have used to great success over the past 2 weeks, following the new popular strategy of Volt-Turn along with Sand Storm and 2 destructive set up sweepers in Latios and Lucario.The basic core of the team is based on using Volt Switch and U-Turn to dent holes in the opponent's team while Lucario and Latios can finish things off, the sand support helps me fight against Stall teams and it does not do much harm for my own team because Rotom W, Landorus, Scizor, Lucario and Tyranitar all resist the negative effect of the Sandstorm.This team has done well on both the PO Ladder, peaking 1334 and on the Smogon Ladder managing to reached 1300, I could have probably gone higher too but stopped testing or changed servers once I hit 1300.123fakestreet helped tweak this team a bit to make it more effective so credit to him aswell.Overall this has been my most successful OU Team.

Tyranitar (F) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 SAtk / 192 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Tyranitar fills in many valuable roles on the team, including weather summoner, Stealth Rock support, mixed attacker, and special wall.Crunch is a deadly STAB move that hits hard on anything that doe snot resist it due to STAB and Tyranitar's attacks is pretty high without any investment in it.Fire Blast is used for steel types such as Ferrothorn and Skarmory that try to set up on Tyranitar.Ice Beam lets me hit threats like Gliscor on the switch and also deal with dragons.The item of choice here is Chople Berry as it lets me withstand a Focus Blast from Virizion or Reuniclus or occasionally a Terrakion's Close Combat.

Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Double Hit

Scizor is a fantastic Volt-Turner due to his great move set and his high Attack stat, the moves are all pretty standard.Bullet Punch is a great STAB + Priority attack boosted by Technician picks off alot of Pokemon such as Terrakion, Tyranitar and Gengar.U-Turn is the crux of the set as Scizor forces many switche sit can scout and dent holes in the opponent's team.Superpower is used on the set Superpower does huge damage to Scizor's main counters, OHKOing Heatran, Magnezone, and Ferrothorn expecting a Bullet Punch.Double Hit is a move you may question but it helps me take on Pokemon that rely on Substitute, it has been great for me and Pursuit is really a bad move to be locked into in my opinion.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SAtk / 144 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split

The second of th Volt Turn core in my team, Rotom's resistances to Water, Fire, Ice, Flying, Steel and immunity to Ground allow it to switch into a bunch of different attacks being thrown around. Volt Switch is an excellent move to preserve momentum and is probably Rotom's most used move early on in the game to scout and damage the team.Hydro Pump is a very Powerful STAB attack which OHKO's many different threats.Will O Wisp helps me to cripple Physical sweepers and along with Sand can destroy Stall teams.Pain Split is a very good recovery move taking a chunk of the other Pokemon's HP inorder to increase Rotom-W's survival in battle.

Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Another Pokemon with U-Turn to complete the Volt Turn core of the team and boy does this guy tear things apart in the sandstorm, U Turn is the staple move used early on in order to scout the team.Earthquake and Stone Edge hit very hard under the sand combined with Landorus's ability Sand Force which increases their power even more.The final move of the set was confusing to decide on but I went for Hidden Power Ice inorder to hit some Pokemon like Gliscor for super effective damage although most of the team it is not required to the raw power and coverage the other moves offer.Skarmory walls this set but I have other Pokemon to deal with it.Choice Scarf helps outspeed majority of the metagame.

Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Hi Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Crunch

Ah, what an underrated set this Lucario is, can Rip through unprepared teams after a boost once counters are gone.Seeing the amount of switches this guy forces it's not very hard to set up one Agility with him, and many times expecting a Swords Dance/Nasty Plot the opponent switches into a wrong counter letting me get a surprise KO.Moves are simple, Agility to set up, Hi Jump Kick is a strong STAB, Crunch gives good coverage with Hi Jump Kick and Ice Punch is for those pesky gliscors that try to wall this Lucario set aswell as taking the piss on Landorus and other Dragons.It rips past almost all Stall Teams if used at the right moment.

Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock

Very basic set but has been very effective for me usually getting rid of 1-3 Pokemon per game, Expert Belt helps me bluff a choice item usually getting me an extra turn to set up.Dragon Pulse is very powerful after 1 or 2 boosts denting everything even steel types, Surf lets me 2HKO Scizor and Tyranitar on the switch allowing me to survive, and with all the Volt Switching and U-Turning before I send out Latios many times 1 hit is all that it needs to run through Scizor and Tyranitar who are major threats to him.Psyschock is used so that it can perform a clean sweep not being walled by Blisser or Chansey.

​

 

[BTzz]

Solid team, there's not much to change, but I am seeing a Volcarona weakness. Once Volcarona gets a Quiver Dance on Choice locked Scizor, it out speeds the whole team and your only chance is hitting it with a Landorus Stone Edge. Not only can you gurantee Landorus will be around, but you can't gurantee you're hitting Stone Edge ao I think it could use a little help. Tyranitar actually suvives a +1 Bug Buzz so you can use it to stop Volcarona. Sadly, Crunch doesn't OHKO so I'm going to recommend Rock Slide over Ice Beam. Tyranitar doesn't really need Ice Beam on this team with HP Ice Landorus, Ice Punch Lucario and the one of best Gliscor checks, Rotom-W. Rock Slide OHKOs Volcarona and you keep coverage vs Choice locked Dragonite. If you don't like Pursuit on Scizor, then Quick Attack is the best option in my opinion. Most Substitute users fear setting up a Sub in Scizor's face due to the threat of Bullet Punch anyways apart from Gyarados who you can't even OHKO. Gyarados also outspeed Scizor so it'll tale a lot of damage trying to take Gyarados out with Double Hit (you have Rotom-W for that). Quick Attack is very useful for revege killing Pokemon that resist Bullet Punch such as Volcarona, Starmie, Rotom-W and Jolteon. You'll want a Jolly nature on Landorus to out speed Choice Scarf Salamence which is gaining popularity. Finally, I've done calcs on this before and I can say that Close Combat is the better option than High Jump Kick and Lucario. You just don't get any notable KOs with HKK and your just putting your Lucario at risk.

Edit: woops meant Naive for Landorus, not Jolly

 

[Rockstar99]

I'm testing Quick Attack on Scizor and Rock Slide on TTAR.
Let you know how it goes.
Thanks for the rate

 

[-Tsunami-]

Hey there.

First off, definitely run a Naive nature on Landorus. This is crucial for allowing it to outspeed threats such as Choice Scarf Salamence and Timid +1 Volcarona.

Now, Volt-Turn teams can do some damage to you as well. This stems from the problem that your Latios has no reliable recovery move, and Scizor can easily knock it out in one shot since Latios can only 2HKO. An easy way to fix this is to run Hidden Power Fire over Psyshock and Recover over Calm Mind. This will make Latios survive for much longer in the game, and also lets it demolish Scizor. The loss of Calm Mind and Psyshock isn't too big of a deal since Latios will usually just be revenge killed or outsped when you set up a CM anyway; Blissey isn't that big of a threat to your team regardless.

Finally, change your Tyranitar's spread to 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef and run Rock Slide over Ice Beam. Rock Slide and this spread is crucial for demolishing Volcarona, who can otherwise be a major pain for your team. Rock Slide hits most of the things that Ice Beam does anyway.

Solid team. Hope I helped, and good luck!

 

[Rockstar99]

Thanks for the rate.

I have been testing this Latios Set

Life Orb
4 hp
252 SAtk
252 SPe
Draco Meteor
HP Fire
Surf
Psyshock

and it's been doing very well, if i come across any problem I will try the set you suggested.

I'll give that Tyranitar a try.

Thank YOu.

 

[XcRunner]

Very solid team.
I agree w/ rock slide > ice beam on t-tar, and other than that the only thing I would recommend would be to run a bulkier Rotom-W. I know the set you use is the typical set, but I've found a more defensive one to provide the backbone necessary to take some hits and then (volt) turn the momentum back into your favor. The changes would be switching to a Bold nature and having the ev's be 252 hp/168 def/88 spe.
Good luck with your team!

 

[Rockstar99]

Thanks for the rate.
I am worried about losing some power on my Rotom with that set which spoils the team's offensive pressure and at the moment the current Rotom has been doing well.I am testing Rock Slide on TTAR atm.
Thanks

 

[Rockstar99]

daily bump

 

[destinyunknown]

Most of the stuff I was going to suggest has been already mentioned, oh well. Anyways, mi suggest is using Swords Dance Lucario on the place of your current one. Your team has a lot of problems to break through physical walls atm, and that would lure and kill common landorus checks suchs as Skarmory. I would also suggest using Draco Plate on Latios since Expert Belt is a bit useless considering you are not hitting many things super effectively.

 

[jc104]

OK you asked me to rate this, so here I go. First of all I would like to apologise for my being extremely rusty. On the face of it, this team looks very solid, but it has a few questionable sets on it.

I'm going to echo everyone else and say you want Naive on Landorus. At the moment I can see Volcarona being a big problem, but this might be somewhat alleviated by running QA on Scizor, and listening to my following suggestion, in which case you would want Naughty. No point weakening HP Ice.

I'd suggest you use a Swords Dance Lucario. The main reason for this is that SD Lucario has the best sweeping potential and the best priority move, ExtremeSpeed. There are so many threats in BW that you can't hope to counter them all, and loading your team with priority is an excellent way to deal with them.

Also, that Latios you posted later on looks good, but I'd use Recover over Psyshock. It's not going to get you past stuff like Chansey anyway. Recover is important in this case because Latios is your best Rotom-W switch in, and so may be very quickly worn down.

Otherwise, looks really solid. Good luck.

 

[Rockstar99]

Thanks those suggestions are great.
Going to test them all on the ladder later.

 

[Taylor]

I came up with Yache Landorus at the time, but my team, except I ran Terrakion over Latios, is very similar. Does that Tyranitar have any chance actually surviving a Terrakion Close Combat? Remember most members of an opponent's team should be able to hit Tyranitar for super effective damage already.

I've never been a fan of Chople Berry because the specially defensive TTar spreads can be designed to withstand Gengar's Life Orb Focus Blast; anything physical from the Fighting-types should be trucking right through Chople Berry regardless. I'd honestly just settle for Leftovers and run a touch of Speed (from Atk/SDef) so most Choice Band Scizor don't U-turn away from Fire Blast.

Hi Jump Kick may seem impressive but factoring how well Swords Dance Lucario with Close Combat is, and how powerful its Extremespeed and Bullet Punch hits specific targets after factoring in Stealth Rock damage, most other Luke sets are inferior to say the very least. I'd say as of now, keep the Agility set until you can't handle those HJK misses every now and then.

Double Hit Scizor reminds me of Double Kick Terrakion. Seems like a cool secondary option.

Anyway, I like the team.

 

[Rockstar99]

Yeah Chople Berry has not been working very well for me so I'll change that to leftovers.

I am probably going to revert to a SD Luke with Air balloon and Close Combat.

Thanks for the rate.

 

[Jaibow]

The most OU of OU meet up in one team. I like it. Most of the things I want to say have been suggested, but it doesn't seem you have much of a definite way to kill other weather inducers, mainly ones named "Politoed", other than Volt Switch. Maybe an electric move on Latios?

 

[Tomahawk]

Hey, so this team has problems with Volcarona. Tyranitar with Rock Slide is kind of a meh counter, as Life Orb Volcarona still does 69% - 82% after a Quiver Dance, and it's quite easy to get Tyranitar to that health with Stealth Rock, Spikes, or some residual damage from Flamethrower from Ninetales or something similar. Also, if you do take that Bug Buzz and take down Volcarona, Tyranitar is very crippled, and it's likely that it can't switch in again due to Stealth Rock, meaning you lost the weather war versus sun, which is the last thing you want. If it comes in, it can also just Bug Buzz and 2HKO the Tyranitar switchin unboosted (with Life Orb, that is). Landorus can revenge kill, but that's not exactly reliable. (Use Naive, btw! The Speed is important)
Swords Dance Lucario also gives this team trouble, setting up on Tyranitar, Scizor locked in Pursuit, or Landorus locked in anything but Earthquake. After a Swords Dance, it beats your team easily, as Latios and Landorus are KOed by a +2 ExtremeSpeed, and the rest of your team falls to a Close Combat and can't outspeed. Relying on a speed tie with your own Lucario isn't exactly reliable.

What I recommend is using a Terrakion > Lucario. It's just as great of a sweeper, being able to boost its stats with Rock Polish / Swords Dance, but Terrakion also has STAB on Stone Edge, having near-perfect coverage with just its STAB attacks. This gives Terrakion perfect coverage with just its STAB moves, so it can use both Rock Polish and Swords Dance. Then, based on the opponent's team you should decided which one of them to use. If it's a defensive team, Swords Dance, and if it's offensive, Rock Polish.
Terrakion also takes on the aforementioned threats quite nicely. Volcarona's STAB moves are both resisted, and Terrakion doesn't mind taking them, especially when factoring in the sandstorm Special Defense boost. If Volcarona doesn't have a Quiver Dance up yet, Terrakion outspeeds and OHKOes Volcarona. Even if Volcarona does have Quiver Danced, Terrakion can still take that attack and KO. Lucario is also outsped by Terrakion, and thanks to Terrakon's resistance to ExtremeSpeed can easily KO Lucario with Close Combat. The set is:

Hide

Terrakion @ Life Orb | Justified
Jolly | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Rock Polish / Close Combat / Stone Edge / Swords Dance

Good luck!

 

[Motagua]

Hey there! I guess most people already made excellent changes for your team so I am just going to back them up.

1) Run a Naive nature on Landorus. Moxie Salamence became very popular over the past months and Landorus will also be able to outspeed +1 Volcarona who is a very potential threat to this team.
2) Use Quick Attack on Scizor instead of Double Hit. In my opinion, Double Hit is not precisely the best option to replace Pursuit. Quick Attack has the better advantage of getting powered-up by Technician and it allows Scizor to revenge kill pokemons that resist Bullet Punch like Starmie, Volcarona, Gyarados, Rotom-W and others.
3) I back up Tomahawk9´s suggestion of using Double Dance Terrakion over Lucario. Terrakion is a better user of a fast clean strategy than Lucario mainly because of his, almost perfect, double STAB combination. Also, Terrakion can use Swords Dance against slower and defensive teams making him an excellent stall-breaker too.
4) If Tyranitar is trapped by Dugtrio, Chlorophyll users like Venusaur will easily tear your team apart. Venusaur will OHKO Latios very easily with a +2 Sludge Bomb. Specs Politoed is also a problem because he can 2HKO Latios & Rotom-W with a Hydro Pump and OHKO the rest of your team. You might want to try a Tank Life Orb Latias over Latios mainly because she has better bulk allowing her to take almost anything that Venusaur and Politoed tries, while being able to hit hard and Recover any damage dealt. Draco Meteor will still OHKO/2HKO anything unresisted, Surf will 2HKO Scizor after SR and offensive Tyranitar and for the cherry in the cake, Psyshock is for Chansey & Blissey thinking they can wall Latias. Give her a try, I used her on my SS and I´m not dissapointed for what she has done.

Life Orb Tank Latias

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 152 HP / 176 SAtk / 180 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Recover
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor

Hope my rate helps you out :).