SM OU SM Team (Sand)

[Eidolon Stratagem]

So, I can admit that I am a total beginner when it comes to competitive battling. I have had my fair share of battles, however, and i found a team that i have had some decent success with. It turned out to be some kind of bizarre sand team, that ended up working for some reason or another. I was hoping to get some feedback on how i could improve my team to make it much more competitively viable. Thanks ahead of time for looking at my team! ^u^

Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Polish
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

So, my first member of my team is this different take on Mega-Steelix. One thing i noticed is that it had the abillity "Sand Force" once it mega evolved, and i wanted to play around with it. I ended up making this sand sweeper set because of it. Rock Polish is the key to this. The EVs are made to maximize speed and attack, but even with max speed, it wasn't going to outspeed anything. However, Rock Polish doubles Steelix's poor speed, and allows it to reach a speed stat of 348 after one use, enough to outspeed any pokemon with less than 110 base speed, even if it is maxed out. "Sand Force" applies a damage boost to steel, ground, and rock moves in a sandstorm, so Steelix carries Heavy Slam, Earthquake, and Rock Slide respectivly to use its abillity to its fullest potential.

Hippowdon @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 176 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind

My sand setter of choice, Hippowdon is a tank set that is commonly used to my knowledge. Stealth Rock is very nice to have on any team, so using it was obvious. Earthquake is Hippodon's way of not being taunt fodder, but it does hit for a decent chunk of damage. Slack Off heals the pokemon for half of its health, which is very useful due to it running Smooth Rock over Leftovers. Whirlwind acts as a way to stop set up and to cause the foe to take Sandstorm and Stealth Rock damage.

Minior @ White Herb
Ability: Shields Down
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake

Minior is a Shell Smash user, that acts as a second win condition. Acrobatics and Rock Slide are Minior's STAB moves, and carries Earthquake for coverage. White Herb is used to not only remove the negatives of Shell Smash, but also power up Acrobatics as well.

Magearna @ Life Orb
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Heart Swap
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch

Magearna is a powerful special attacker. Heart Swap and Fleur Cannon are used together to fire off massive damage, and five the foe the negative effects. Heart Swap can aslo pick up useful boosts as well. Flash Cannon is the secondary moveof choice, and Volt Swich allows Magearna to act as a slow pivot.

Azumarill @ Normalium Z
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

Azumarill is yet another win condition that uses the power of Z-Belly Drum. With this, Azumarill can take a hit, and still get off a Belly Drum. Azumarill also uses Aqua Jet, which becomes very strong after the Belly Drum, and makes up for its slow speed. Play Rough is a secondary STAB, and Knock Off is used for coverage, and removes items, a useful option for supporting allies.

Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Perish Song
- Foul Play

Finally, Eviolite Murkrow is used as a disruptive supporter. When used with Prankster, Thunder Wave becomes very hard to avoid due to the increased priority. Roost is used to keep Murkrow alive for as long as possable, because even with Eviolite, Murkrow is a little frail. Perish Song forces switches, and can be used to help allies set up, and stop enemies from setting up. This can also be used as a powerful way to predict and punish the switch that the foe makes. Finally, Foul Play is used as a suprise attack, and hits very hard, due to Foul Play using the attack stat of the foe, not its own.



Well, there you have it! I know that it is probably bad, but i found it to be suprisingly effective. However, it is here for one reason: feedback! I would love any feedback someone might have, so please post some suggestions! Thanks for reading! ^u^

 

[Gross Sweep]

hey Eidolon Stratagem really cool team! Sand is a really cool strategy that has fallen off a bit in usage this gen, so it's really nice to see you using it. While I do like the team there are a few topics I'd like to discuss. Those topics being: match up vs stall, breaking bulky waters, and maybe using some mons who are a bit more viable in the OU metagame.

Before I get much further I'd like to discuss the goal of this team. I see this team revolving around pressure caused by constant set up from Minior, Azumarill, and M-Steelix. Hippowdon then sets up Stealth Rocks, Sand, and also eats up hits for the team. Magearna applies pressure, and provides the team with momentum in the form of a slow Volt Switch. Finally Murkrow is a jack of all trades annoying your opponent. My rate will try to keep this goal as strongly intact as possible, but I would like to address using mons who are a bit more viable, better checking threats common vs sand, and improving the flow of the team.

>

The first change I had in mind was Excadrill>M-Steelix. This change came down to speed, since even with a Rock Polish up M-Steelix only hits 348 speed making it easily revenged by mons like Greninja and Scarfed Keldeo who are out speed by Excadrill disallowing the easy revenge. Excadrill also doesn't have to set up a Rock Polish wasting a turn of sand. The move set I'm suggesting is Earthquake / Rock Slide / Iron Head / Rapid Spin with the EV spread: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def Jolly nature and the item Life Orb. Earthquake and Iron head are great dual stab that allow Excadrill to hit a lot of things hard. Rock Slide then helps vs threats like Volcarona, Charizard, Tornadus-T who Excadrill can out speed in the sand. Rapid Spin gives the team removal which helps versus Sticky Webs, and aids a later addition we'll talk about in a bit. Overall I feel this change helps with the "more viable" aspect as Excadrill is just a better abuser - plus it frees up your mega slot which will help later on.

>

I realize Murkrow is a very cool Pokemon, but it's sadly just not a viable mon in the OU metagame. I'm suggesting Tangrowth>Murkrow, because Tangrowth helps check Pokemon like Keldeo, defensive Landorus-T, Zygarde, and to some extent Ash Greninja who were looking troublesome for your team, as they usually do vs sand. The move set I'm suggesting is Giga Drain / Knock Off / HP Ice / Earthquake with the EV spread: 248 Hp / 8 Def / 252 SpDef Sassy nature with the item Assault Vest. Giga drain helps check annoying water types, and provides Tangrowth with some additional recovery. HP Ice helps check mons like Zygarde and Landorus-T who can be annoying for sand teams. Knock Off is more utility to get rid of your opponents items, which is especially good vs mons like Chansey, and it also punishes the occasional Latios who may try to switch in. Earthquake is there to lure fires like Heatran that can annoy Tangrowth. Looking back at the initial topics I wanted to discuss I feel this change helps with taking on bulky waters, beating other common threats to sand (bulky grounds), and improves the flow by removing Murkrow who didn't do much with a bulky pivot that causes a lot of switches - luring in fires that are weak to your sand.

>

I feel like the change of M-Charizard Y>Minior will be very helpful since it applies pressure to Grass types that Minior can't touch like Ferrothorn, and helps vs stall with its immediate power. The move set I'm suggesting is Fire Blast / Solar Beam / Roost / HP Ice with the EV spread: 252 Spa / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe Timid nature and the item is obviously a mega stone. Fire Blast is Great stab that hits a lot of things extremely hard (not many switch ins for Fire Blast from Charizard-Y). Solar Beam is there for coverage, and it hits bulky waters that are an issue for sand. HP Ice was chosen since it catches mons like Zygarde and Garchomp who try to switch in, so they can KO the next turn. Roost was the final pick as it allows Charizard-Y to heal up if it gets chipped. Charizard-Y also benefits from the newly acquired Excadrill who can spin away hazards (told you it would help a later addition). Also I can assure you that while Zard-Y does set sun its wall breaking potential outweighs the fact it could possibly remove your sand. Overall I feel Charizard-Y helps check big threats to sand, and improves your match up vs stall - which makes it a great addition to the team.

Hippowdon sets sand for the team which makes it a valuable member, but I would like to discuss your EV spread and item choice. I feel the EV spread: 252 Hp / 240 Def / 16 SpDef Impish nature and the item Leftovers would be a better option than your current spread/item selection. Leftovers provide Hippowdon with residual recovery every turn which helps out a lot in the long run, more so than the 3 additional turns of sand. The EV spread I'm suggesting allows Hippowdon to reliably check Tapu Koko living 2 HP Ices after Stealth Rocks with the rest of the EV's poured into Def to better check M-Metagross. It's a small change, but I feel it will better allow Hippowdon to function vs current threats in the tier.

Magearna is another solid pick for your team, but I feel running Assault Vest>Life Orb with the EV spread: 248 Hp / 252 Spa / 8 SpDef would improve its ability to help the team. Assault Vest allows Magearna to better check threats like Tapu Lele and Greninja. I feel the team is already establishing a dominant offensive presence, so changing Magearna into a true bulky pivot will help increase flow since it can switch in and pivot out on more occasions. Also since you are running Assault Vest you can't use Heart Swap anymore, so I would go with Aura Sphere>Heart Swap as it lets you better check mons like Ferrothorn and Magnezone that try to trap you.

That was the last of my changes, I'm adding an importable so you can try out the changes:

Importable

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 / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch

Azumarill @ Normalium Z
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Anyway that's all I have on the team. I hope my suggestions help, and get the team firing on all cylinders. My main goal was keeping your goal of playing offensively aiming to sweep with sand intact while improving your match up vs common threats to the teams play style, which I believe was accomplished. If you have anymore questions or concerns on the team feel free to let me know. Have a good day, and happy battling!