Steel Storm v1.0

Gah777

Alright, everyone here is probably tired of reviewing Sandstorm teams or hates them with a passion, but whatever. I love Sandstorm and all the Pokemon that comes with it. Tyranitar has been a favorite of mine since the 2nd Gen, and Lucario is just cool. So here goes, my first Sandstorm team (and first competitive team in general):

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TYRANITAR@Chesto Berry; Sand Stream
Nature: Careful EVs: 252HP/32Atk/220SpD
-Stealth Rock
-Rest
-Crunch
-Stone Edge
Purpose: This is the guy that leads off, always getting at least a minimum of sandstorm set up. If he didn't get Stealth Rock up for whatever reason (threatening lead, etc.) he has enough bulk to come back later and set them up. The EVs are set up so that he'll be a special wall with enough bulk to come back later in the game should the weather need correcting while still letting him hit decently hard.

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LUCARIO@Life Orb; Steadfast
Nature: Adamant EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Crunch
-Extreme Speed
Purpose: The late game sweeper. Once major threats have either been weakened or eliminated this guy comes in and sets up. Fairly straight forward.

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SCIZOR@Life Orb; Technician
Nature: Adamant EVs: 176HP/100Atk/232SpD
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Roost
-Pursuit
Purpose: Trapper, scouter, damage racker. This guy helps Lucario out with his sweep, helping to whittle down the opponents team. Roost is there so this guy is useable later on and doesn't die from LO.

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SKARMORY@Leftovers; Keene Eye
Nature: Impish EVs: 252HP/252Def/4Spe
-Whirlwind
-Roost
-Toxic
-Spikes
Purpose: Here to set up spikes and phaze the opponents team, building up the residual damage to allow Lucario to sweep. Roost is there for healing and toxic for crippling.

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FORRETRESS@Leftovers; Sturdy
Nature: Relaxed EVs: 252HP/112Atk/144Def
-Explosion
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Gyro Ball
Purpose: Rapid spinner, spikes support, and physical wall. Explosion to take down weakened opponents or threats (as a last resort).

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FLYGON@Choice Scarf; Levetate
Nature: Adamant EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Stone Edge
-U-Turn
Purpose: Scout and revenge killer mostly. He hasn't been too successful and hasn't had much use.

Threats: Water, Fire, and ground attacks in general are a fairly big issue with this team. This team also has an incredibly rough time dealing with other steel types, especially Bronzong and Skarmory. Magnezone can also trap and kill over half the team.
 
Whatchu smoking? O_o


Lead, for a Sandstorm team should be:

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
252 HP/252 Sp.D/4 Def
-Stealth Rock
-Slack Off/Rest
-Roar
-Earthquake/Sleep Talk

This set almost always gets up SR, barring something like a Choice Specs Starmie with Hydro Pump, and with rest, will absorb status quite well. Roar allows you to scout out their entire team, untill you get killed by aforementioned Starmie, or you can opt for Slack Off and EQ, which will allow you to damage some Pokes. Roar is used, again, to get rid of pesky flying-typed.




Replace the Flygon with DDTar:

Tyranitar @ Leftovers/Life Orb
252 Spe/252 Atk/4 HP
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Crunch


Simply a great poke in general, sweeps a ton of stuff after only one or two Dragon Dances.
 
I suggest Payback on Forretress over Explosion. The reason being that Rapid Spin fails on ghosts, and if you know one is going to switch in, you can nail them pretty hard.

Skarmory is very physically bulky, but can it take special hits? Sometimes you'd be facing a mix sweeper, and you need bulk on both sides. How about the Specially Defensive set?

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Impish Nature
252 HP/4 Def/252 Sp. Def
-Your current moveset

With an Impish nature, Skarmory is well above enough to take physical hits, and therefore it can spend the EVs in special bulk instead. Skarmory can now function as a physical and special wall!

Your team is also very Fire weak. Though Flygon and Tyranitar resist it, the other 4 are weak to it. Choice Scarf Heatran can do a lot to this team. How about trying a bulky Water like Swampert? If bulk isn't your thing, you can even try offensive Suicune! It counters Fire attackers like Heatran well, and can set up Calm Minds!

Suicune @ Leftovers
Timid Nature
4 HP/252 Sp. Atk/252 Spe
-Calm Mind
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power Electric

This thing sweeps so often, even when I use it. Try it out! Come in on something it resists, set up a Calm Mind or two, and sweep!

Good luck!
 
A sandstorm does not have to feature exclusively pokemon who are resistant to sandstorm's residual damage. As you can see, this gives you a major weakness to pokemon like Infernape and Heatran, who are only really threatened by Flygon. As Asploder recommended, hippowdown is a much better lead to lay down sandstorm and is generally a staple on a SS team.

You probably want to include a water type pokemon, as ShinyAzelf recommended. Vaporeon and Suicune are great if you want to stay bulky, and Suicune (using ShinyAzelf's stat spread) and Starmie are good for some strong, fast sweepers.

Lastly, you have lot of pokemon to set up entry hazards but no one to spin block. A rotom appliance is a great choice as a spin blocker, Rotom-Wash can take care of pesky waters and fire pokemon (both who threaten your team now).
 
Heatran can sweep this team

Also, Tyranitar should be replaced with Hippo like a guy said before.

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
252 HP/252 Sp.D/4 Def
-Stealth Rock
-Slack Off/Rest
-Roar
-Earthquake/Sleep Talk
Click to expand...
I agree with replacing Ttar with Hippo but seriously, RestTalk on a Pokemon that already has instant recovery ? RestTalk is used for Pokemon who don't have a recovery move. The moveset should be SR, Earthquake, Slack Off, Roar / Ice Fang. So don't try to look cool with making a RestTalk Hippowdon, especially that it has SR and Roar only other than Rest and Sleep Talk.

Also, you have 2 Spikers, so change Spikes on Forretress for Payback or Toxic Spikes, Taunt can be used over Spikes if you want to keep Spikes on Forretress.

Anyway, to counter Heatran, you should use offensive Suicune [because Heatran WILL explode when you send out Suicune].over Skarmory, i do realize you want to phaze but it's not necessary for Lucario sweep, cause once it gets an SD it'll ExtremeSpeed any counters like Infernape and Flygon.

Suicune @ Leftovers
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- HP Electric
 
A couple of matters of concern, one of them is that your tyranitar is missing 4 EVs. The second one is that your team is very fire weak, besides flygon and tyranitar, the other four are fire weak. Furthermore, it would be good to put toxic spikes somewhere, as you are missing it, therefore, if you get toxic spikes in, you don't have to worry about toxicing every pokemon that comes in
 
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