ORAS OU Sandy Dragons

[Lord Biscuits]

Hey guys, Biskit here with another team in the ou format. This team was built around mega-gyarados and sand so let's see how it goes.

TEAM OVERVIEW
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Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Earthquake​

Gyarados is designed to be the clean-up sweeper after wearing down the opponents team. The moveset is standard and intimidate allows it to set-up on some physical hitter like defensive lando-t and what-not. Crunch and waterfall are STAB and EQ is for rotom after mega evolving. Jolly nature is to outspeed mega manectric and mega lopunny after a DD.

​

GottaTramEmAll @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower ​

I chose Bandtar as my sand-setter. Bandtar makes a good wallbreaker and can catch people off gaurd in a meta where scarftar is so common. The advantage of BandTar is its ability to 2HKO clef and other bulky mons. 208 Spe is to outspeed uninvested rotom-w, with the remaining ev's dumped into HP to tank draco meteor.

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin ​

I really honestly believe that there's not all that much to say about this mon. Its the most standard sand rush drill. LO for maximum power because we don't care about balloons. Running Rapid Spin over SD to act as hstallazard removal, and bulky walls like landorus, skarmory, and garchomp get worn down anyways.

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 72 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast ​

​

At this point I was looking for a good stealth rock setter. Tankchomp provides a way of punishing voltTurn cores, and is one of the best stealth rockers in the meta. I chose to run a bulkier variant with enough speed to tie stallbreaker mew, defensive celebi, and defensive rachi. 72 SpD ev's allows me to tank manaphy's ice beam after rocks, with then the rest in HP and Def. Fire Blast is to pressure skarmory so it can't spike up for free.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish​

At this point kyurem-B was beating my entire team. In fact any boltBeamer was putting in work. I chose jirachi as an ice resist and as a way of forcing out kyurem-B. Iron Head and Heart Stamp are both STAB with 30% chance to flinch which is good for wearing down teams. U-turn is for gaining momentum on a predicted switch. Healing wish is for restoring usually eitehr tankchomp or gyarados but is a good way of restoring an otherwise dead mon.

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 172 HP / 84 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Knock Off​

Lastly I chose Turnadus to ease some of the pressure off of jirachi switching in on moves, and also handling the likes of starmie and venusaur. It can take hits from latios, gardevoir, manectric, and generally weaker special attacks. It also provides a secondary ground resist in case I have evolved gyarados already. The speed it provides is crucial otherwise the rest of my team needs boosts to be fast.



Threatlist:
Stall: Stall teams are hard to break and I have considered switch torn t or gyara to a stallbreaker set but idk.
Keldeo: Switch in is either torn or gyara. In general my switchins to scald are torn or gyara.

 

[Anime_Fan]

Hello,

I really like the team we've conjured up together.

Here are some following pointers worth thinking over:

1) Mega Diancie is a threat to your team. A threat you can only counter via cheap-ass Jirachi.
2) Opposing Excadrill [with Jolly Nature] will sweep through your team once Garchomp faints, and that's not too hard to accomplish.
3) Rain Teams are a problem especially Mega Swampert and Kingdra.
4) Trick Room teams also work wonders against your team
5) Bulky Pokemon [especially those with Scald] really annoys your team.
6) You have too many choiced-users and too little tank Pokemon. This means you'll have to switch out or risk allowing the opponent to set up. When you do switch, you'll most likely be relying on Tornadus (who is easy to KO with physical attacks and Stealth rocks).
7) Ice Punch Mega Lopunny. This bunny screws your entire team and Jirachi can't switch into a Hyper Jump Kick.
8) Ground type Pokemon. All of your Pokemon are vulnerable to ground type attacks and most ground type Pokemon carry something for Tornadus.

Note: When building teams in the future, I suggest using cores i.e. a group of Pokemon that work very well together. This saves you time when team building and is effective in battles.

Since you're using a sand team, I suggest making the following changes:

1)

[Core:

+

+

]

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt/Substitute / EarthQuake
- Crunch
- Waterfall

Substitute sacrifices a slight amount of Gyarados's HP and not only allows it to avoid status ailments and Leech Seed from Pokemon such as Mew, Mega Sableye, and Amoonguss but also makes it harder for foes to revenge kill it.


2)

[Core:

+

]

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance

Ditch Jirachi, it's cheap, Excadrill does a better Job as a late game sweeper. Period. Make your Excadrill Jolly natured. This makes it a great match up against Scarfed-users and other Sand Rush Excadrill. Jolly nature Excadrill is more common than you think. And assuming the foe's Excadrill KOs yours, it's Game Over for your entire team (especially if Garchomps HP is less than half).

3)

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Air Slash
- Super Power
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Sure it looks weird having Air Slash on Tornadus and not Hurricane, but remember Hurricane's accuracy is reduced when used in a sand storm (as if it weren't bad enough). Air Slash also comes with a nice flinch chance and hits everything Hurricane does. Superpower deals more damage to specially bulky Pokemon such as Heatran, Raikou, and Chansey; however, the Attack and Defense drops can be detrimental in many cases. Despite this, it's worth it as you will often be switching out anyway. Heatran and Amoonguss already have fire type coverage for the likes of Ferrothorn and Scizor.

4)

Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam

This Tyranitar makes Sand storms last for a very long time. Keep it alive [for Excadrill's sake] to secure victories. It's also a Stealth Rock setter and functions similarly to Garchomp. You need something for Lopunny though...

Since you're using a sand team, here are some suggestions:

[Core:

+

+

]

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Sand teams are incredibly weak to scald users [let alone rain teams]. Toxicroak is a great partner as it gains HP by switching into water type attacks. As you can imagine this will annoy water type Pokemon. It's also a safe bet against Azumarill and Keldeo. Both of which are major threats to sand teams. Comes with a great priority attack.

[Core:

+

+

]

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Earth Power/ Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Toxic

You needed something for Stall teams and this set for Heatran does the trick. I chose this set over the Solar Beam set because it's weak, incredibly situational and Taunt paired with Toxic is too helpful to pass up on. It's great for trapping and hurting Mew, Chansey etc (they'd want to switch into Magma Storm which traps them, no switching). Toxic and the passive damage done by Magma Storm will lower it's HP stats dramatically.

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Hidden Power Fire

Amoonguss is the only option I can think of to add to your team i.e. it stops Lopunny easily and it doesn't care about Ground type attacks. I personally recommend this Pokemon as it's a great tank that works well with Tyranitar. Oh and it comes with a means to deal with set up sweepers via Clear Smog.

Stoutland @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Wild Charge

Here's another great option for a Sand Team. Stoutland has great coverage moves, hits hard and benefits from Sand storms via a speed boost.

Hope this helps...

 

[dream light]

Yo Lord Biscuits, this team is interesting and I like the concept of EQ Mega Gyara plus sand. I do notice that the team is pretty well annoyed by Rotom-W given that it effectively walls 4/6 mons of your team and most good Rotom-W should be running at least 220 speed for Jolly BD Azu, which lets it outspeed your Tyranitar and Wisp it. You also struggle a bit w/ Mega Char Y given that your best check is essentially Garchomp, which is worn down very easily and can take the sand away from Excadrill w/ Drought. The team has similar problems with checking Mega Scizor, which can SD up on say Mega Gyarados or a Superpower-locked Tyranitar. Opposing Excadrill are also a bit threatening, given that Garchomp is 2HKO'd by LO Ada EQ. Also, like you mentioned Keldeo and stall are tough to beat. Let's get right into the rate.

I noticed that while your team handles Mega Gardevoir well when the sand is up, that's not always going to be possible without sacrificing Tyranitar for Sandstorm. Excadrill would appreciate having a Jolly nature to outspeed all Modest Mega Gardevoir, Modest Char-Y and Timid Garde prior to their mega evolutions, as well as dealing with fast Heatran outside of Sand. You can also consider using Air Balloon if you desire having another ground immunity to help with opposing Excadrill, but Jolly Exca is important for potential speed ties.

You mentioned earlier on that you intended for Tyranitar to help lure out Rotom-W and hit them w/ a powerful Banded Stone Edge or Crunch before they can Will-O-Wisp. I think this is a good goal and an excellent lure, but I'd recommend using a spread of 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Adamant so that Tyranitar reaches 221 speed. Standard Rotom-W now run 219 speed for Jolly BD Azumarill and some might creep that number, so if your goal is to significantly weaken Rotom-W it would help to be faster. I was also thinking that you should run Ice Punch to help Gyarados in the lategame by luring out TankChomp and Defensive Lando-T. Ice Punch would be a great help in whittling said grounds down for Excadrill, as well, although Fire Punch is a viable alternative to Ice Punch so you can lure Mega Scizor.

This is a fairly minor change, but running 84 SAtk EVs doesn't attain any notable KOs as far as I'm aware of. Using 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 Spe would make it slightly easier for Tornadus-T to come in on Keldeo and Latis if Tyranitar has been too weakened. You can also consider using Iron Tail if Mega Diancie is still overly much of a threat.

-> Volcanion. Jirachi is honestly an odd fit on this team given that you already have Excadrill as an offensive Steel, Tyranitar and Tornadus-T for Latios, and can use both Excadrill and Band Tyranitar to check CM Clefable. Given this, I would recommend replacing Jirachi w/ Expert Belt Volcanion. Volcanion w/ Steam Eruption, Fire Blast, Earth Power / HP Grass, and Superpower can effectively threaten the majority of stall builds. It also boasts Water Absorb to offer a Water immunity, which can help Tornadus-T check Keldeo, and can beat Char-Y 1v1 from above 65%. Volcanion is also effective at checking non-speedy Mega Scizor, which the team definitely appreciates.

-> Garchomp is crucial to the team for checking Bisharp and other physical attackers, but it can fall under sustained pressure and lose to lures like Ice Punch Lopunny which kind of just rolls through your team. Hippowdon offers similar physical coverage of threats, but also handles Electrics like Manectric much better and can check certain threats like EQ Charizard X much more reliably. With Toxic, it can also put a timer on semistall mons like Mega Latias and Mega Slowbro. It also provides Sand Stream, which can be used to provide extra Sand turns for Excadrill if Tyranitar has fallen or make it possible to pivot on Charizard-Y.

Best of luck broski n_n

importable

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Volcanion @ Expert Belt
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 132 Atk / 244 SpA / 132 Spe
Mild Nature
- Steam Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Earth Power