Red Raven
I COULD BE BANNED!
This sand team is a near replica of my Mega Tyranitar team from gen seven. Surprisingly, it is the most consistent team that I have ever made for gen eight. So, let's get to it
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 72 Def / 76 SpA / 112 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Rock Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
Since this is a sand team, we obviously need a sand setter. I chose Tyranitar over Hippowdon because it is probably among the only three pokemon who can directly counter Spectrier, the other two being Blissey and scarf Hydreigon. It also serves as the stealth rock setter of the team. Rock blast is the only physical stab and it is meant to hopefully break substitutes. Dark pulse is the main stab chosen specifically for Spectrier while ice beam is to nail Garchomp and Landorus thinking they can set up their own stealth rocks. I chose a quiet nature because I wanted it to be able to actually deal damage. I'm not sure what I wanted to accomplish with the ev spread though as I just wanted it bulky to last throughout the game and win the weather war if I run into opposing weather
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
What is a sand team without Excadrill? The main offensive powerhouse of every sand team. Against slower pokemon, it won't even need sand set up as it can just brute force its way through them with swords danced attacks. Rock slide is to get rid of flying types that like switching in to dodge earthquakes while the other moves shouldn't need that much explanation. Life orb is the chosen item to maximize its attacking power along with adamant nature. Speaking of nature, I went with adamant as I don't really see a need to use jolly. The choice scarfers that are faster than Excadrill even under sand are I believe only Spectrier, Pheromosa and Tapu Koko. The first two are handled by the rest of the team while Tapu Koko is just food for Excadrill
Moltres @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Scorching Sands
If I had to choose what my favorite part of this generation is, it is without a doubt birds. There are about five birds in ou for you to choose from and I find it incredibly entertaining that a single item made them that much easier to use. As for why I chose the orange bird, it's because of Ferrothorn. My team gets hard walled by Ferrothorn and I wanted to punish that spiky metal thing. This thing isn't switching in to Ferrothorn unless I already killed the opponent's stealth rocker, in which case by all means, knock my boots off. I don't care. The second reason I chose Moltres is because Zapdos' paralysis isn't exactly that needed as outspeeding Excadrill is not one of the easiest thing in the world. I'm not that good at making ev spreads as I'm not that hardcore of a pokemon player so I just chose a random physically bulky ev spread and dumped the rest to special defense. Bold is the nature to increase its defensive capabilities. Roost is for longevity with flamethrower to deal some damage and scorching sands is for Heatran. It also serves as the team's defogger
Buzzwall @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Toxic
- Ice Punch
- Drain Punch
Yes, I intentionally misspelled the name because it's a wall after all. Dark Urshifu is one of the most oppressive pokemon in the game, along with Spectrier and not having an answer to it means it's gonna blow a hole on your team. If you're a prediction god, then you can probably see it coming and switch in Moltres and fish for burns but since I'm not a prediction god, I just went the safe route and used this one. It also has the benefit of walling and killing Garchomp before it gets out of control, which isn't uncommon due to how spammable scale shot is. Roost is for the longevity to actually wall stuff with toxic to punish bulky waters. Ice punch is for Garchomp and Landorus while drain punch is for Melmetal, another pokemon this thing walls. Along with Moltres, I wanted this to be as physically bulky as possible because I want it to actually wall stuff. There's probably some better ev spread but this is the one that works for me
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 76 Def / 184 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Stun Spore
Notice anything with the team? It hates water and fairies, or just me hating fairies. Regardless, my team still doesn't have a reliable special wall so I just went with good old Amoonguss. I chose it over Ferrothorn because I don't want it to be too vulnerable to fighting types as that would only pressure Moltres and Buzzwole unnecessarily. Amoonguss is also a threat in of itself as it can effectively remove a pokemon via sleep and when adding in stun spore, who knows when I'm gonna put something to sleep. Giga drain is to get rid of the common Swamperts in the game and sludge bomb is for the fairies. I gave it some defense evs so that it doesn't instantly die to the many earthquakes of the tier while dumping the rest into hp and special defense
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
For the last slot, I wanted an offensive pokemon that doesn't rely on sand. There were many in ou but I didn't think they would be a good fit. So I said 'what the hell' and went with one of my favorites from gen seven, Tapu Lele, since it was in my Mega Ttar team anyway. It serves as the team's main revenge killer and against players that like to lead off with u turn spamming Pheromosa, well here's a surprise for you. I went with double psy because I don't wanna get walled by a fat blob. If a dark type is still alive, most of the time, it's gonna wanna come in on Lele, so spam moonblast. Thunderbolt is just a filler move used specifically for Pelipper so I can win the weather war early on. I haven't encountered that many Pelippers as I usually encounter just opposing sand teams, which is quite awkward if I must say. It also serves as a check to Urshifu because it's not gonna want to eat a moonblast
As I mentioned, this team is the most consistent one I've ever built from scratch, even more so than my main team, which is a scale shot Garchomp one. I'm currently sitting on the mid 1400s with every now and then me deranking down to 1200 before climbing back up. The only problem I've encounter with the team thus far is that Magearna that has weakness policy and spams shift gear and stored power. Other than that, the only other problem would be me playing like a complete dumbass so I can't blame that on the team. Any advice would be appreciated
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 72 Def / 76 SpA / 112 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Rock Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
Since this is a sand team, we obviously need a sand setter. I chose Tyranitar over Hippowdon because it is probably among the only three pokemon who can directly counter Spectrier, the other two being Blissey and scarf Hydreigon. It also serves as the stealth rock setter of the team. Rock blast is the only physical stab and it is meant to hopefully break substitutes. Dark pulse is the main stab chosen specifically for Spectrier while ice beam is to nail Garchomp and Landorus thinking they can set up their own stealth rocks. I chose a quiet nature because I wanted it to be able to actually deal damage. I'm not sure what I wanted to accomplish with the ev spread though as I just wanted it bulky to last throughout the game and win the weather war if I run into opposing weather
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
What is a sand team without Excadrill? The main offensive powerhouse of every sand team. Against slower pokemon, it won't even need sand set up as it can just brute force its way through them with swords danced attacks. Rock slide is to get rid of flying types that like switching in to dodge earthquakes while the other moves shouldn't need that much explanation. Life orb is the chosen item to maximize its attacking power along with adamant nature. Speaking of nature, I went with adamant as I don't really see a need to use jolly. The choice scarfers that are faster than Excadrill even under sand are I believe only Spectrier, Pheromosa and Tapu Koko. The first two are handled by the rest of the team while Tapu Koko is just food for Excadrill
Moltres @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Scorching Sands
If I had to choose what my favorite part of this generation is, it is without a doubt birds. There are about five birds in ou for you to choose from and I find it incredibly entertaining that a single item made them that much easier to use. As for why I chose the orange bird, it's because of Ferrothorn. My team gets hard walled by Ferrothorn and I wanted to punish that spiky metal thing. This thing isn't switching in to Ferrothorn unless I already killed the opponent's stealth rocker, in which case by all means, knock my boots off. I don't care. The second reason I chose Moltres is because Zapdos' paralysis isn't exactly that needed as outspeeding Excadrill is not one of the easiest thing in the world. I'm not that good at making ev spreads as I'm not that hardcore of a pokemon player so I just chose a random physically bulky ev spread and dumped the rest to special defense. Bold is the nature to increase its defensive capabilities. Roost is for longevity with flamethrower to deal some damage and scorching sands is for Heatran. It also serves as the team's defogger
Buzzwall @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Toxic
- Ice Punch
- Drain Punch
Yes, I intentionally misspelled the name because it's a wall after all. Dark Urshifu is one of the most oppressive pokemon in the game, along with Spectrier and not having an answer to it means it's gonna blow a hole on your team. If you're a prediction god, then you can probably see it coming and switch in Moltres and fish for burns but since I'm not a prediction god, I just went the safe route and used this one. It also has the benefit of walling and killing Garchomp before it gets out of control, which isn't uncommon due to how spammable scale shot is. Roost is for the longevity to actually wall stuff with toxic to punish bulky waters. Ice punch is for Garchomp and Landorus while drain punch is for Melmetal, another pokemon this thing walls. Along with Moltres, I wanted this to be as physically bulky as possible because I want it to actually wall stuff. There's probably some better ev spread but this is the one that works for me
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 76 Def / 184 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Stun Spore
Notice anything with the team? It hates water and fairies, or just me hating fairies. Regardless, my team still doesn't have a reliable special wall so I just went with good old Amoonguss. I chose it over Ferrothorn because I don't want it to be too vulnerable to fighting types as that would only pressure Moltres and Buzzwole unnecessarily. Amoonguss is also a threat in of itself as it can effectively remove a pokemon via sleep and when adding in stun spore, who knows when I'm gonna put something to sleep. Giga drain is to get rid of the common Swamperts in the game and sludge bomb is for the fairies. I gave it some defense evs so that it doesn't instantly die to the many earthquakes of the tier while dumping the rest into hp and special defense
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
For the last slot, I wanted an offensive pokemon that doesn't rely on sand. There were many in ou but I didn't think they would be a good fit. So I said 'what the hell' and went with one of my favorites from gen seven, Tapu Lele, since it was in my Mega Ttar team anyway. It serves as the team's main revenge killer and against players that like to lead off with u turn spamming Pheromosa, well here's a surprise for you. I went with double psy because I don't wanna get walled by a fat blob. If a dark type is still alive, most of the time, it's gonna wanna come in on Lele, so spam moonblast. Thunderbolt is just a filler move used specifically for Pelipper so I can win the weather war early on. I haven't encountered that many Pelippers as I usually encounter just opposing sand teams, which is quite awkward if I must say. It also serves as a check to Urshifu because it's not gonna want to eat a moonblast
As I mentioned, this team is the most consistent one I've ever built from scratch, even more so than my main team, which is a scale shot Garchomp one. I'm currently sitting on the mid 1400s with every now and then me deranking down to 1200 before climbing back up. The only problem I've encounter with the team thus far is that Magearna that has weakness policy and spams shift gear and stored power. Other than that, the only other problem would be me playing like a complete dumbass so I can't blame that on the team. Any advice would be appreciated
