So I worked with what I knew and voila! My new team team is ready. Let me now show you the process of how I got to the final team.
So far, my sandstorm team was looking pretty good. Now I was missing two things: a sandstorm setter and a sandstorm sweeper. Two obvious pokemon to choose for those roles were the dynamic duo, Tyranitar and Excadrill. I also lacked a Mega so I just put a Tyranitarite on Tyranitar to increase its stats and do its job better. Although their roles are simple, the strategy has turned out to be quite effective.
I decided to get the rest of the spots be taken by 2 special attackers since I only had one of them. A major weakness in my team was water. To fix this, I added storm drain Gastrodon and it has worked pretty well. Another weakness was in my physical sweepers Tyranitar and Excadrill. This weakness was fighting. For that reason, I added life orb Gengar to the team. Gengar can switch in on mach punches/focus blasts aimed at Tyranitar and Excadrill and proceed to sleep the enemy. The lack of a sleep clause surprised me greatly so that is why I run hypnosis (ever seen 2 pokemon sleeping at the same time on the foe's team?). Gengar also gives me another immunity to ground which is good.
After testing this team, it did pretty good. However, my physical sweepers were constantly getting burned/paralyzed by some certain pokemon (GO TO HELL SABLEYE AND KLEFKI). Someone also advised me to get rid of Galvantula as my team doesn't really require sticky web support. I then went looking for another pokemon that could act as a cleric and a support. The pokemon I found was Chansey. Chansey is amazing at its job because it is so bulky. It can aid my teammates in the form of heal bell and thunder wave as well as finish off weakened opponents with Seismic Toss.
Landorus-Therian@Leftovers
252 Health, 252 Defense, 4 Attack
Bold
Intimidate
Knock Off
Stealth Rock
U-Turn
Toxic
My first lead and the hazard setter, it's Landorus Therian! I chose Landorus over other hazard setters because of its great typing, being immune to two types, and having great bulk along with intimidate. The lack of defog and rapid spin in Doubles benefits my team since Charizard Y, Talonflame, and Volcarona will only be able to switch in once (the first one being the most troublesome to my team do to drought). Knock off is a nice move to have to get rid of the foe's item, especially leftovers and assault vests that are commonly found on tanks and walls. U-Turn allows me to switch into Tyranitar to set up sandstorm while keeping momentum. Toxic is there to wreck pesky stallers such as Sableye.
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Muddy Water
- Recover
- Infestation
Ever since Galvantula was off the team, I have been using Gastrodon as my second lead. Gastrodon's role is pretty straight forward: infest the opposing team and damage them slowly while using muddy water and earth power. I might also just use muddy water to get the foe's accuracy down and then switch into Excadrill/Tyranitar as Landorus u-turns to Tyranitar/Excadrill. Gastrodon's ability, storm drain, is simply amazing. Storm Drain provides my team excellent coverage as well as protecting Landorus, Tyranitar, and Excadrill while gaining a special attack boost. When you think you finally finished the sea slug, I can just use recover to regain health.
Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
Mega Tyranitar is an awesome set up sweeper. With great defenses and an outstanding attack stat, it can punch holes in the opposing team once it gets one dragon dance up. Tyranitar also has sand stream which is my only way of getting sand up. Mega evolving is pretty useful essentially when opposing Mega Charizard Y (scenario looks like this: Tyranitar sets up sand and Charizard is opposing. Charizard mega evolves and sun is set up. Tyranitar mega evolves and sand is back up). In case you are wondering, fire blast is there to defeat defensive steel type walls and tanks such as Skarmory and Scizor.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
Excadrill is my sandstorm sweeper. With sand rush, Excadrill's speed is doubled and with life orb and sword dance can hit like a truck. Excadrill also has good synergy with the other members on the team. It is also immune to poison and electric which is a bit useful. Rock Slide from Excadrill can help me try to flinch the opponent and can work well with Tyranitar's rock slide.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Heal Bell
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave
- Seismic Toss
DOES THIS LOOK LIKE THE FACE OF MERCY?! Chansey is here to aid my team in many ways. First of all, prankster users such as Sableye have been a bit troublesome to my physical sweepers by burning/paralyzing them. My response to the was Chansey. Heal bell is a useful move that will heal my team from any status. Another way Chansey supports my team is thunder wave. When sandstorm dies down, Chansey can still slow the foes down with thunder wave and allow Excadrill to sweep more easily. Chansey can also finish off weakened foe with Seismic toss. The reason I chose Chansey over Blissey is because with eviolite Chansey is much bulkier than her older sister.
Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hypnosis
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
Gengar might seem like an odd choice for a sandstorm team, but when I explain its role it should be clear.The best use of Gengar is hypnosis. With Gengar's high speed stat, it can easily sleep one of the foe's pokemon, giving me a huge advantage. Due to the no sleep clause, I am free to sleep all the pokemon I want. Another reason I chose Gengar was due to his typing. My team has 3 members weak to fighting type attacks, so Gengar's immunity to it comes in handy. Gengar also acts as a clean up sweeper.
Well that is my team. Opinions and suggestions would be appreciated.
Squidward
