Sparknotes!~A Gen5 OU Team! [Peaked at 1450]!

[Shouting]

S p a r k n o t e s!

Howdy! I just recently joined Smogon, and this is my first post and introduction to myself, and I hope to be a contributing member of the community in the future. I started battling on simulators in Gen4, mainly playing UU. (In my opinion, the best tier so far!) Now, I'm playing OU in Gen5 because the Gen5 UU is much, much different than Gen4's, so I decided not to play it for the time being. It was either RU, which was more comfortable to me, or OU, a step up in the tier system. For now, I play OU because RU doesn't have all that much activity, and in addition, I've never played LC before, but I hear it's fun. All of these tiers are for another day.


The team is named sparknotes because it's a catchy name, first of all, and I'm actually quite the book worm, so the title was quite fitting. Each team memeber has a corresponding quote that fits their role, and happens to be one from many of my favorite books. Kudos to those that can tell where they're from! The overall goal of the team is a Virizion sweep, with Stoutland eliminating faster threats like Latios, which Virizion can't handle very well, and a mixed salamnece softening up everything. It features some uncommon but still great pokemon in the OU metagame, and has one of the classic Fire-Water-Grass cores that were all the rage in Gen4 UU. It's a Sandstrom team, but it sn't your average weather abusing team at first glance. Under the PO and smogon account "Shout!" I've gotten to about a 1450 rating on PO, which is pretty good for not using the same old cookie cutter teams. Thanks for looking at the team and any help at all would be great!​

"I married him because I thought he was a gentleman...I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe."


Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 120 SDef / 88 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Night Shade
- Taunt
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
​

The Utility Counter / Stall Breaker of the team, It handles those nasty guys like Volcanora, whih I really, really, hate, and Scizor, which is pretty popular of course. I went with a more special defensive spread because I'm burning things anyway, and it helps me survive Thunderbolts from Starmie and volt-switches from Rotom-W. Night Shade is over Scald/ Shadow Ball for reliablitly and so that I can beat that previously mentioned Fire/Bug Moth, it also is more effective at breaking subs and is much more useful against calm minders like reuniclus. With this spread, I out run minimum speed Skarmory, and as bonus Politoed (Sweet!). I's really here to help against stall, it wears down blissey, and takes most special attacks fairly well.

He is my main weapon against Tentacruel and friends, as Tspikes really ruins this team because there is no spinner. Defensive politoed is mostly out-run and taunted, while toxicroak and ferrothorn is burned and taunted. Water Absorb is awesome, as I am immune to sclad burns (which are annoying), but with Cursed Body, I have more of a chance at beating CM reuniclus. All of the moves are rather standard, and I apperciate the ability to taunt and burn blissey, forcing it to switch and to take burn and stealth rock damage to eventually wear it down. Truly a good pokemon right here.

"Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours. That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday."

Virizion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Calm Mind
​

Quite an underrated threat, CM Virizion is incredibly classy. Oftentimes it can getinto the shadow of breloom and terrakion, but access to CM and great defensive typing allow it to set with ease. What's incredible about this set is that it takes on a bunch of commonly seen stall pokes like Jellicent, Skarmory, Gliscor, etc. making it quite anti-meta game. The 30% chance to miss on Focus Blast is a downer, but Physical versions are pretty much hard-countered by Skarmory and Gliscor. While Work Up versions are still man-handled by Skarmory. With this set, Scizor and Skarmory are both OHKO'd by Focus Blast after Stealth Rock and a calm mind. Giga Drain hits the every annoying Rotom-W and other waters while keeping my HP in act, while Hidden Power Ice is to dent Dragons and Flyers that may resist the combination.

My main concern are two things: Chansey/Blissey, (they take a lot from a boosted focus blast, but Toxic/Twave hurts) and faster scarfers. These are curcumvented by Stoutland, as he out runs virtually every popular scarfer in the tier and smacks them silly. Blissey too, is hurt by return. The two make a wonderful yet strange attacking duo that, in practice, is very viable.

“...and there was nothing to do except to wait and to hurt.”

Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
​

My Go-to poke for stealth rock, Heatran is fantastic in the amount of power it brings to the table. A handy immunity to Fire and a quad resistance to grass means it can take on Sun teams quite nicely. The air balloon means that I'm not trapped by Dugtrio so easily, and I can switch in on things like Gliscor, deal with most DD Dragons, and random Earthquakes. Fire Blast is for STAB, Earth Power gets other Heatran with the added bonus of hitting Tentacruel SE. HP Ice is mainly for dragons because I'm a little paranoid about them if you haven't noticed.

Except doing well against Sun and Hail, providing Steath Rock, and providing that F-W-G core, Heatran doesn't really stand out. It is either the most useful member of the team in taking on latios and dragons, or it just sits there an dies. If I'm against a rain team, and I really see no use to keep heatran, I use it to scout sets or use it as death fodder, as it's STAB is near useless in rain, unless it's against ferrothorn or something.

"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt."

Hippowdon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Roar
- Slack Off
​

This guy is here mainly for his great bulk, and was actually the first member of the team. I really Dislike Tyranitar and it's any weaknesses, so I opted for this guy right here. While my team does not look like your average Sandstorm team, I need Sandstorm to cancel out Rain and Sun (Gotta give Hail some love too!). I gave it just enough physical EVs to withstand a Close Combat from a +2 Lucario and but the rest into S.Def to make it very Anti-meta. What I love is that I didn't have to put Steath Rock on it, so I can use Roar and Ice Fang which is a dream come true in handling dragons and getting a good hit on Gliscor. It also supports Stoutland, who pretty much needs the extra speed to be effective against offensive teams.

I would really like more special defense, but Hippo is really the defensive backbone of the team, and physical threats are all too common today. Because of that, I can't switch that often into Politoed/Ninetails like a full careful version could. But, I can still deal with Infernape and the likes with this spread.

"There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County."


Stoutland (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Return
- Wild Charge
- Fire Fang
​

This dog s rearly seen in OU, and while it has trouble with some steels, he can really hit hard with a 102 Base Power STAB move. Backed up by Choice Band and Max attack, it OHKOs many things after Stealth Rock, including but not limited to Rotom-W, Landorus, offensive Politoed, Ninetails, Dragonite, and Salamence. Wild Charge is really here for Jellicent, which would prove to be a problem otherwise; it can slo deal some serious damage to Skarmory and Gyarados. Fire fang is my best shot at steels, and while it doesn't have much power, it can usually 2HKO most 4x weak steels, and put a dent in 2x weak ones. Pursuit is for catching feeling foes, especially Latios, from switching and coming back to ruin Virizion's sweep later, but is otherwise filler.

He is really the revenge killerand late game cleaner, along with Vrizion. With Fighting STAB, he can easily eliminate most steel types, allow Stoutland to get away with spamming return. Other wise, it is fantastic that it draws in politoed like none other. (seriously, the amount of politoed that switch into stoutland only to be OHKO'd is hilariously funny). It out speeds many scarfers in the tier, thinking that I am slower. I've been thinking Ice Fang somewhere, for gliscor, as he only takes about 40% min from return.

"Ah, there you are Pooter. Still alive I see."

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 84 Atk / 172 SAtk / 252 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Brick Break
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Roost
​

I really despise stall, (not the people that use it, but the over all play-style is very frustrating to deal with) so I added a mixed salamence after replacing many pokemon such as starmie and forretress. Mainly he has earned his place because he can 2HKO Blissey most of the time after Stealth Rock and standstorm, while taking usually counters like Skarmory, Forrestress, Tangrowth, and Slowbro out. These pokemon are all OHKO'd after stealth rock. Life Orb +Sandstorm + Stealth Rock is irritating, so I put roost here but I really never have the chance to use it, and it really isn't meant to last that long. In my eyes, he is the most replacable member of the team because it dies way too fast, but in this place I would surely need another weapon aganst stall or another powerful sweeper, that doesn't need that much support (Dragonite >_>) or without messing up team synergy (Gliscor, landorus)

If you want to test/steal the team, here is an export for you:

Hide

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 120 SDef / 88 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Night Shade
- Taunt
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp

Virizion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Calm Mind

Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock

Hippowdon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Roar
- Slack Off

Stoutland (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Return
- Wild Charge
- Fire Fang

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 84 Atk / 172 SAtk / 252 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Brick Break
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Roost

 

[Shouting]

Alright, this is finally done! I'll have a threat list done by tomorrow, but for right now, Hail + Toxic Spikes and just Toxic Spikes in general are a pain.

 

[nygerman]

i would say your greatest weakness is Rain.

Rain teams would destroy your team.

A specs Tornadus's hurricane should OHKO everything except Jellicent and Heatran

Jellicent is 2HKOed easily and Hurricane will do 42-50 to Heatran. With rocks, that should be a 2HKO. You also don't have anything priority. You probably got lucky that you never seen a Tornadus up to 1450. In other words, every time Tornadus comes in, one of you pokemon will DIE.

A common Choice band Dragonite should devastate much of your team. Again, Heatran is your only check. Again, I calculated the damages that it would do to jellicent and it's a guareenteed OKHO. Outrage will do 49-58 to your heatran and more than 50 to your hippowdon. In other words, everytime dragonite comes in, one of your pokemon will die.
Worse yet, your only check to Dragonite is Salamence and LO and weathering will destroy it in no time.

Banded Haxorus is just as bad.

Venesaur can OHKO your entire team except heatran after a single growth and if it has earthquake, your screwed.

Generally, your team lacks speed and priorioty to take surprise set up sweepers. I also recommend Landorus over Stoutland. Stoutland is just too weak of an attacker to do major damage. Many steels will come over to absorb your returns and once it's obvious that Stoutland is either orbed or banded, so it becomes setup fodder.

 

[-Tsunami-]

Hey there.

Entry hazards can cause this team major problems. Your walls will all get worn down easily, and Toxic Spikes will cripple 5/6ths of your team. To fix this problem, I suggest that you replace Salamence with a Starmie. Stall teams really aren't too much of a problem for your team thanks to Jellicent and your new-found Rapid Spin support, which will take care of all entry hazards. Starmie also provides your team with a solid revenge killer in case sand isn't up, and can weaken opposing special walls for Virizion, or vice versa. Starmie can beat every spin-blocker in OU, making it very effective.

Hide

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Speed
Timid nature
-Hydro Pump
-Rapid Spin
-Recover
-Thunderbolt

If you feel like stall still gives your team problems, you could always try Psyshock over Thunderbolt on Starmie, which lets it hit Blissey relatively hard; it won't be able to hit Jellicent as hard, but it can still do some damage.

Solid team. Hope I helped, and good luck!

 

[Legend Leader]

You're probably going to have problems with Hazards. You have two Pokemon that resist Rocks and one that is weak to it. In turn, you have four Pokemon that get nailed by Spikes and two that are immune. I can see you have a problem with DD Dragonite. Other variants are easily walled by one of your members (well, not easily...). Scenario: Dragonite comes in. You have no Rocks yet. Dragon Dance on your Stoutland. You switch into Virizion fearing the Outrage. Now he outspeeds you and can OHKO you with Outrage. You don't want that to happen. However, your team is such that no matter what you do, (as nygerman said), SOMETHING(s) is going to die when that Dragonite comes in. You'll need something strong and Icey to stop a Dragonite. Maybe Mamoswine?

 

[Aadvaki]

Starmie will destroy your entire team, especially with Life Orb. In this case, get the Starmie ShakeitUp recommended or a Scarfed revenge killer. I particularly like this guy:

Hide

Dugtrio (M) @Choice Scarf
Ability: Arena Trap
252 Atk/ 252 Spd/ 6 HP
Nature: Adamant

-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Sucker Punch
-Shadow Claw/Pursuit

Great revenge killer. I recommend him in place of Stoutland, who does the job a little more poorly. Your team can get raped by Alakazam or Starmie, and you can switch Dugtrio in to get the kill with Pursuit. Sucker Punch if you're feeling particularly lucky. Scarfed Dugtrio can outspeed just about everything in OU, except another Scarfed Dugtrio who can get you with Sucker Punch (beware) and Ninjask. Don't make the mistake of going for EQ if you suspect a Dragonite/Sala switch-in so they can get DD set up. Always go for the Pursuit, unless you're absolutely sure. Stoutland seems to only have fangs going for it, which is sad. I'd recommend that, if you keep Stout, that you replace Thunder Fang with Ice Fang. Gyarados is total bait for Jellicent, but because Gyara has the possible Taunt, I'd recommend going for Dugtrio because easy Stone Edge kill is easy.

 

[Shouting]

i would say your greatest weakness is Rain.

Rain teams would destroy your team.

A specs Tornadus's hurricane should OHKO everything except Jellicent and Heatran

Jellicent is 2HKOed easily and Hurricane will do 42-50 to Heatran. With rocks, that should be a 2HKO. You also don't have anything priority. You probably got lucky that you never seen a Tornadus up to 1450. In other words, every time Tornadus comes in, one of you pokemon will DIE.

A common Choice band Dragonite should devastate much of your team. Again, Heatran is your only check. Again, I calculated the damages that it would do to jellicent and it's a guareenteed OKHO. Outrage will do 49-58 to your heatran and more than 50 to your hippowdon. In other words, everytime dragonite comes in, one of your pokemon will die.
Worse yet, your only check to Dragonite is Salamence and LO and weathering will destroy it in no time.

Banded Haxorus is just as bad.

Venesaur can OHKO your entire team except heatran after a single growth and if it has earthquake, your screwed.

Generally, your team lacks speed and priorioty to take surprise set up sweepers. I also recommend Landorus over Stoutland. Stoutland is just too weak of an attacker to do major damage. Many steels will come over to absorb your returns and once it's obvious that Stoutland is either orbed or banded, so it becomes setup fodder.

Thank you for the feedback!

With rain I feel I am pretty safe because even without sandstorm up, as Jellicent and Virizion are thorns in the sides of many of the rain teams running around today, so I think I am pretty well covered for rain being that this is a sandstorm team.

While Hurricanes are a problem, it relies on rain, so taking it away will be greatly appreciated. It also can't really come in on most of the team members as it gets whacked by Hidden Power Ice, and it can get roared away and hit by ice fang if it comes in on hippo, and it's not switching in on a draco meteor anytime soon, so it can only really come in after a kill, in which I have already accomplished something. It is true that I haven't seen many Spec Hurricanes, I probably have only seen the acrobatic set once or twice. Most rain teams I faced were balanced or semi-stall.

Choice Band Dagonite never has it's multi scale due to sandstorm. 5/6 members can hit it SE, so it can't switch in, and it gets burned by Jellicent if it comes in on it. Extremespeed is silly, but that's really it.

I all honesty, I have never seen a Haxorus, much less a banded one. It's like dagonite with no priority so it shoudn't be as bad.

Venesaur, with sun up, KOs any rain and sandstorm team, so I just have to be sure I have sandstorm in play and keep Heatran alive, which isn't hard since Dugtrio doesn't really harm hippo and Ninetails is weak to earthquake and won't want to switch in, and play safe with heatran.

Ironically, I don't think Landorus would really do any better because it still can't switch into any of the dragons you mentioned, still is outsped by even a modest Venusaur in sun, and is weak to water, not really making it useful as it could be in rain.

Hey there.

Entry hazards can cause this team major problems. Your walls will all get worn down easily, and Toxic Spikes will cripple 56ths of your team. To fix this problem, I suggest that you replace Salamence with a Starmie. Stall teams really aren't too much of a problem for your team thanks to Jellicent and your new-found Rapid Spin support, which will take care of all entry hazards. Starmie also provides your team with a solid revenge killer in case sand isn't up, and can weaken opposing special walls for Virizion, or vice versa. Starmie can beat every spin-blocker in OU, making it very effective.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability Natural Cure
4 Def 252 SAtk 252 Speed
Timid nature
-Hydro Pump
-Rapid Spin
-Recover
-Thunderbolt

If you feel like stall still gives your team problems, you could always try Psyshock over Thunderbolt on Starmie, which lets it hit Blissey relatively hard; it won't be able to hit Jellicent as hard, but it can still do some damage.

Solid team. Hope I helped, and good luck!

Thank you for the feedback! I will go back to using starmie for now. My main problem with it that it was easily walled by the pink duo, and without recover it didn't last long. But I'll give it another go.

You're probably going to have problems with Hazards. You have two Pokemon that resist Rocks and one that is weak to it. In turn, you have four Pokemon that get nailed by Spikes and two that are immune. I can see you have a problem with DD Dragonite. Other variants are easily walled by one of your members (well, not easily...). Scenario: Dragonite comes in. You have no Rocks yet. Dragon Dance on your Stoutland. You switch into Virizion fearing the Outrage. Now he outspeeds you and can OHKO you with Outrage. You don't want that to happen. However, your team is such that no matter what you do, (as nygerman said), SOMETHING(s) is going to die when that Dragonite comes in. You'll need something strong and Icey to stop a Dragonite. Maybe Mamoswine?

Like I said, hazards are annoying, but the offensive pressure insures that no more than Stealth Rock is up because I have Jellicent's taunt outrunning common spikers like forretress, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn, so I can avoid spike layers from comming up most of the time.

I really don't understand that situation with Dragonite, as if it comes in on something, because it actually can't switch in safely on anything with out a burn or an ice attack. When I see dragonite (or anything Stealth Rock weak really) I set it up quickly as possible, withing the first few turns, while Jellicent blocks rapid spin. If by some chance they aren't there, Sandstorm will break the Mutiscale anyway, making it much easier to handle. I would not switch out Stoutland in front of Dragonite because +0 Outrage only has a small chance of OHKOing after stealth rock, while I outspeed after even 2 dances and almost always OHKO after stealth rock. I wouldn't switch Virizon, my main sweeper, into dragonite. Actually, the opposite happens, and I nail it with HP Ice. That's really how most dragonites are handled because they know almost everything has an ice move on the team and it has trouble coming in and doing anything with it's mutiscale being broken by sandstorm/stealth rock. In all honesty, I don't think I would have gotten to the rank that I am if I had that much trouble with the second most common pokemon. Mamoswine really won't help me because I already have the ice moves on the team and it cannot switch into Dragonite. Plus, it adds way too many weaknesses.

Starmie will destroy your entire team, especially with Life Orb. In this case, get the Starmie ShakeitUp recommended or a Scarfed revenge killer. I particularly like this guy:

Hide

Dugtrio (M) @Choice Scarf
Ability: Arena Trap
252 Atk/ 252 Spd/ 6 HP
Nature: Adamant

-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Sucker Punch
-Shadow Claw/Pursuit

Great revenge killer. I recommend him in place of Stoutland, who does the job a little more poorly. Your team can get raped by Alakazam or Starmie, and you can switch Dugtrio in to get the kill with Pursuit. Sucker Punch if you're feeling particularly lucky. Scarfed Dugtrio can outspeed just about everything in OU, except another Scarfed Dugtrio who can get you with Sucker Punch (beware) and Ninjask. Don't make the mistake of going for EQ if you suspect a Dragonite/Sala switch-in so they can get DD set up. Always go for the Pursuit, unless you're absolutely sure. Stoutland seems to only have fangs going for it, which is sad. I'd recommend that, if you keep Stout, that you replace Thunder Fang with Ice Fang. Gyarados is total bait for Jellicent, but because Gyara has the possible Taunt, I'd recommend going for Dugtrio because easy Stone Edge kill is easy.

Starmie doesn't even 2HKO Jellicent with life orb thunderbolt and it cannot stop a Virzion sweep as it always survives a life orb Ice beam and regains the health back with Giga Drain. It also cannot stop a sweep because after one calm mind it only 3HKOs.

Dugtrio will give me a second ground type, and while it is super fast, being locked into earthquake is not good. (Dugtrio is just asking for flying/levitating dragons to come in.) It does outspeed even Venesaur, which is cool, but I really doubt it can OHKO it. Pursuit is also redundant with arena trap and kind of a wasted move slot. Stoutland packs more power overall than dugtrio.

Thank you all for the suggestions and keep them coming!

 

[Legend Leader]

Starmie will destroy your entire team, especially with Life Orb. In this case, get the Starmie ShakeitUp recommended or a Scarfed revenge killer. I particularly like this guy:

Hide

Dugtrio (M) @Choice Scarf
Ability: Arena Trap
252 Atk/ 252 Spd/ 6 HP
Nature: Adamant

-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Sucker Punch
-Shadow Claw/Pursuit

Great revenge killer. I recommend him in place of Stoutland, who does the job a little more poorly. Your team can get raped by Alakazam or Starmie, and you can switch Dugtrio in to get the kill with Pursuit. Sucker Punch if you're feeling particularly lucky. Scarfed Dugtrio can outspeed just about everything in OU, except another Scarfed Dugtrio who can get you with Sucker Punch (beware) and Ninjask. Don't make the mistake of going for EQ if you suspect a Dragonite/Sala switch-in so they can get DD set up. Always go for the Pursuit, unless you're absolutely sure. Stoutland seems to only have fangs going for it, which is sad. I'd recommend that, if you keep Stout, that you replace Thunder Fang with Ice Fang. Gyarados is total bait for Jellicent, but because Gyara has the possible Taunt, I'd recommend going for Dugtrio because easy Stone Edge kill is easy.

Agreed. Starmie in the Rain has enough power to decimate this team. Dugtrio with a Scarf is meh. Focus Sash with Reversal, EQ, Sucker Punch, and Stone Edge is preferable. Sucker Punch will OHKO Starmie anyway.

 

[Legend Leader]

Thank you for the feedback!



Like I said, hazards are annoying, but the offensive pressure insures that no more than Stealth Rock is up because I have Jellicent's taunt outrunning common spikers like forretress, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn, so I can avoid spike layers from comming up most of the time.

I really don't understand that situation with Dragonite, as if it comes in on something, because it actually can't switch in safely on anything with out a burn or an ice attack. When I see dragonite (or anything Stealth Rock weak really) I set it up quickly as possible, withing the first few turns, while Jellicent blocks rapid spin. If by some chance they aren't there, Sandstorm will break the Mutiscale anyway, making it much easier to handle. I would not switch out Stoutland in front of Dragonite because +0 Outrage only has a small chance of OHKOing after stealth rock, while I outspeed after even 2 dances and almost always OHKO after stealth rock. I wouldn't switch Virizon, my main sweeper, into dragonite. Actually, the opposite happens, and I nail it with HP Ice. That's really how most dragonites are handled because they know almost everything has an ice move on the team and it has trouble coming in and doing anything with it's mutiscale being broken by sandstorm/stealth rock. In all honesty, I don't think I would have gotten to the rank that I am if I had that much trouble with the second most common pokemon. Mamoswine really won't help me because I already have the ice moves on the team and it cannot switch into Dragonite. Plus, it adds way too many weaknesses.

Thank you all for the suggestions and keep them coming!

What I am saying is, if I run some other kind of Weather, you're not going to have Sandstorm to break Multiscale for you. Dragonite is hard to OHKO with HP Ice anyway. Having a move be x4 Super Effective does not guarantee a OHKO as much as it does some pretty serious damage. Stoutland simply doesn't have the hitting power to take on something as bulky as a Dragonite. If you're locked into Fire Fang, you're going to HAVE to switch. Assuming ideal situations will occur is going to be the downfall of any good team.

 

[Annoyer]

Just a nitpick, run timid on heatran to outspeed adamant dragonite and to speed tie with other heatrans.

 

[BTzz]

Hi shouting, this is a pretty solid sand team! I really think Tyranitar would be the superior sand inducer for this team; Tyranitar can emilinate Ghost-types so Stoutland can recklessly fire off its STAB Return. Tyranitar frees up a slot on Heatran for Roar to stop CM Latias and Volcarona, while also giving you a reliable check to Latios, which you currently have trouble switching into as your Heatran is an offensive one without Leftovers (Virizion also appreciates the removal of Virizion). Speaking of Virizion, it could really use Leftovers. With sand and Life Orb, Virizion can get worn down pretty quickly, and Grass doesnt have the best coverage so you can't gurantee Giga Drain recovery. Leftovers is also helpful for switching into Rotom-W and Starmie in rain.

Without Hippowdon you lose a physical wall, so I would use a physically defensive spread on Jellicent. You say the EVs were mainly for Volcarona, but Stoutland, Heatran (and even Tyranitar to an extent) can check Volc. Your team is really weak to hazards in general; Tyranitar, Jellicent and Virizion absolutely despise Toxic Spikes while the rest of you team is vulnerable to Spikes and SR. I suggest using a Starmie over Salamence. Starmie is the tiers best spinner and it gives you some speed to stop threats such as Terrakion, Landorus, Dragonite and it also beats a lot of Stoutland's checks. You lose a stallbreaker in Salamence, but Jellicent and Virizion can handle stall just fine.

Tyranitar | Sand Stream | Leftovers
Sassy | 252 HP / 64 SpA / 192 SpD
Pursuit | Stealth Rock | Ice Beam | Flamethrower

Starmie | Natural Cure | Life Orb
Timid | 8 HP / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Hydro Pump | Thunderbolt | Rapid Spin Recover

Hope this helped and gl with the team!

 

[Honus]

Hey this is a nice team but I'm noticing a bit of a weakness to stuff like Work Up Virizion being problematic for this team. Virizion is able to set up on Jellicent if it carries a Lum Berry and outright sets up on/threatens your Hippowdon. Virizion is particularly threatening to this team because it's able to outspeed every Pokemon on the team, save Stoutland, although it's outsped if Sand isn't up. Virizion is also able to score an OHKO on every team member after Rocks at +1, save your own Virizion, although it takes heavy damage from +1 HP Ice. Giga Drain takes out Hippowdon and Jellicent, while Close Combat takes out Stoutland and Heatran while HP Ice allows Virizion to beat Salamence. I think you could potentially use a Stallbreak Mew over your Jellicent, as the two seem to share current roles; Stallbreak Mew, however, holds the benefit of decimating most stall teams and functioning as a counter to Virizion. The only drawback to using Stallbreak Mew over Jellicent, however, is that you lose insurance against Volcarona. I think you can patch up that fairly easily though, by giving Heatran Toxic in place of Stealth Rock and putting Stealth Rock on Hippowdon over Ice Fang or Roar. Toxic, along with an Air Balloon allows Heatran to function as a hard counter to Volcarona, even with any investment in Special Defense or HP and is also useful for nailing bulky waters that switch in on you. Given that you now have Stallbreak Mew as a means of beating Stall teams, I feel like you could replace your Salamence with a Rapid Spinner, as ShakeItUp suggested, as hazards can cause problems for this team. If the opposing team can lure in Hippowdon, then they usually are able to set some hazards, so offensive pressure won't always work as a means of hazard prevention. Starmie allows the team to have a revenge killer than works in all weather and also extra insurance against rain teams, as Starmie is able to outspeed and KO many of the Pokemon commonly seen on rain teams, such as Politoed, Tornadus and Tentacruel.

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Mew @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SDef / 176 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Psyshock
- Softboiled
- Taunt

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

Change Summary:

Heatran:
Stealth Rock->Toxic

Hippowdon:
Ice Fang or Roar->Stealth Rock