Overview
So, I’d been meaning to make a new team for a while. I wanted to try out a weather team, and picked sandstorm. It felt like a good way to start.
First off, I knew I needed a sand streamer. I could either go offensive, with Tyranitar, or defensive, with Hippowdon.
1 Tyranitar, please.
The next Pokémon was quite a tough decision. I’d need a sweeper, and it was a tossup between Landorus and Excadrill. After, what, a moments indecision, I decided on Excadrill.
I had two weaknesses developing: Water and Fighting. Naturally, the obvious choice was a pokemon that resisted both. An old friend of mine sprung to mind in the form of Jellicent, and I imported his generic set with a few minor adjustments.
To build on my defensive core, the next Pokémon I added was good old Ferrothorn.
Resisting 15 of the 17 types just isn’t enough, IMHO. I needed another Pokémon in my core defense, and Gliscor was just the ’mon to do it.
EDITS: Slowbro has replaced Jellicent on the team, doing the job much better.
My team now had a nearly perfect balance. A mixed, physical and special defender; a mixed and physical attacker. However, I had a dangerous weakness to fighting and water type moves, both of which run around free and fast in the metagame. I also needed a special attacker.
Latios.
In depth
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Crunch
- Stealth Rock
This monstrosity, as I said before, had to be the core of my team. There’s no such thing as a sandstorm team without a sand streamer. This is a standard MixTTar set. Ice Beam can take out enemy Hippowdons and Dragonites that go for a DDance. Fire Blast fares well against skarmory. The EVs are more defensive than offensive, but the 180 in special attack means that Tyranitar hits like a truck.
Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
Excadrill is an absolute monster under sandstorm, and I’ve found him to actually be a reasonable lead. However, I only put him in head position when I can give a good guess whether or not the opponent’s lead can take him on. EVs, rather obviously, are invested in attack and speed for the best sweeping capabilities. Pseudo-Edge Quake for the coverage and X-Scissor to take out some unwitting psychic and dark types.
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
- Slack Off
Slowbro is my replacement for Jellicent (Thanks Faladran for the suggestion). This pokemon is an absolutely amazing tank. He can take a hit from a LOT of attacks and stall them out with slack off. The four EVs in speed are to prevent a speed tie with Reuniclus, a pokemon that otherwise rapes it's ass. Scald provides a nice opportunity for burns, which has won the game for me several times. Ice Beam takes out Dragonite, Garchomp and all those other dragons who were giving me trouble. Flamethrower is for unsuspecting grass types that think they can switch in and kill it.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
And this is part 2. This Pokémon is incredible. He’s EVd to have identical defensive stats. NOTHING can kill him in one hit, so far. Leech seed for recovery, stealth rock to put an end to an opponent’s frustrating switches. Gyro ball because he’s so slow and Power Whip for water types that like to drop in (SWAMPERT). Everything that this Pokémon is weak to, Jellicent resists or is hit neutral by and vice versa.
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 192 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Fling
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
-Acrobatics
Finally, part three of my defensive core. Gliscor, with his monstrous Physical defense stat, is a remarkable stall wall. As well as this, after even one swords dance, he can become a lethal sweeper; let alone THREE. With poison heal, Gliscor can stall a lot of sweepers into oblivion. After he’s been poisoned by the orb, he flings it and BAM, acrobatics’ power is doubled, giving him two fantastic STAB attacks.
Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover
This was the final addition to my team. I still suffered from a fighting and water weakness, and I needed a Pokémon that resisted both. The Lati twins were the first that sprang to mind. It was a tough decision, and one I am still deliberating, but in the end I went for Latios, as I needed a special sweeper. Draco meteor, surf and Hidden power Fire compliment each other well. Recover increases his survivability. He’s been on the brink of death, recovered twice and swept entire teams. Because he doesn’t resist sandstorm, I gave him expert belt instead of Life orb. Standard special sweeping set.
Team Synergy:
This team supports each other well in terms of strengths and weaknesses. My defensive core of SloScorThorn works quite well at the moment. Adjustments could be made, which I’ll mention below. Offensively, it also works quite well. I can’t help but wonder, however, if the team synergy is a little TOO good. Once even one of my defensive Pokémon is gone, my whole team tends to fall apart. Thankfully, now that Slowbro has been added, the team functions much better.
Team Weaknesses/Possible adjustments:
• Latios-Like I mentioned before, I’m still unsure which of the Eon twins is better. Latios works well with the team, but I’m perfectly aware that my win to loss ratio isn’t as good as it could be.
So, this is it. My OU Sandstorm team. It functions well, and when I can work past my utter noobness, I can utterly decimate opponents. Please feel free to leave behind harsh but constructive criticism.
So, I’d been meaning to make a new team for a while. I wanted to try out a weather team, and picked sandstorm. It felt like a good way to start.
First off, I knew I needed a sand streamer. I could either go offensive, with Tyranitar, or defensive, with Hippowdon.
1 Tyranitar, please.
The next Pokémon was quite a tough decision. I’d need a sweeper, and it was a tossup between Landorus and Excadrill. After, what, a moments indecision, I decided on Excadrill.
I had two weaknesses developing: Water and Fighting. Naturally, the obvious choice was a pokemon that resisted both. An old friend of mine sprung to mind in the form of Jellicent, and I imported his generic set with a few minor adjustments.
To build on my defensive core, the next Pokémon I added was good old Ferrothorn.
Resisting 15 of the 17 types just isn’t enough, IMHO. I needed another Pokémon in my core defense, and Gliscor was just the ’mon to do it.
EDITS: Slowbro has replaced Jellicent on the team, doing the job much better.
My team now had a nearly perfect balance. A mixed, physical and special defender; a mixed and physical attacker. However, I had a dangerous weakness to fighting and water type moves, both of which run around free and fast in the metagame. I also needed a special attacker.
Latios.
In depth
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Crunch
- Stealth Rock
This monstrosity, as I said before, had to be the core of my team. There’s no such thing as a sandstorm team without a sand streamer. This is a standard MixTTar set. Ice Beam can take out enemy Hippowdons and Dragonites that go for a DDance. Fire Blast fares well against skarmory. The EVs are more defensive than offensive, but the 180 in special attack means that Tyranitar hits like a truck.
Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
Excadrill is an absolute monster under sandstorm, and I’ve found him to actually be a reasonable lead. However, I only put him in head position when I can give a good guess whether or not the opponent’s lead can take him on. EVs, rather obviously, are invested in attack and speed for the best sweeping capabilities. Pseudo-Edge Quake for the coverage and X-Scissor to take out some unwitting psychic and dark types.
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
- Slack Off
Slowbro is my replacement for Jellicent (Thanks Faladran for the suggestion). This pokemon is an absolutely amazing tank. He can take a hit from a LOT of attacks and stall them out with slack off. The four EVs in speed are to prevent a speed tie with Reuniclus, a pokemon that otherwise rapes it's ass. Scald provides a nice opportunity for burns, which has won the game for me several times. Ice Beam takes out Dragonite, Garchomp and all those other dragons who were giving me trouble. Flamethrower is for unsuspecting grass types that think they can switch in and kill it.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
And this is part 2. This Pokémon is incredible. He’s EVd to have identical defensive stats. NOTHING can kill him in one hit, so far. Leech seed for recovery, stealth rock to put an end to an opponent’s frustrating switches. Gyro ball because he’s so slow and Power Whip for water types that like to drop in (SWAMPERT). Everything that this Pokémon is weak to, Jellicent resists or is hit neutral by and vice versa.
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 192 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Fling
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
-Acrobatics
Finally, part three of my defensive core. Gliscor, with his monstrous Physical defense stat, is a remarkable stall wall. As well as this, after even one swords dance, he can become a lethal sweeper; let alone THREE. With poison heal, Gliscor can stall a lot of sweepers into oblivion. After he’s been poisoned by the orb, he flings it and BAM, acrobatics’ power is doubled, giving him two fantastic STAB attacks.
Latios (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover
This was the final addition to my team. I still suffered from a fighting and water weakness, and I needed a Pokémon that resisted both. The Lati twins were the first that sprang to mind. It was a tough decision, and one I am still deliberating, but in the end I went for Latios, as I needed a special sweeper. Draco meteor, surf and Hidden power Fire compliment each other well. Recover increases his survivability. He’s been on the brink of death, recovered twice and swept entire teams. Because he doesn’t resist sandstorm, I gave him expert belt instead of Life orb. Standard special sweeping set.
Team Synergy:
This team supports each other well in terms of strengths and weaknesses. My defensive core of SloScorThorn works quite well at the moment. Adjustments could be made, which I’ll mention below. Offensively, it also works quite well. I can’t help but wonder, however, if the team synergy is a little TOO good. Once even one of my defensive Pokémon is gone, my whole team tends to fall apart. Thankfully, now that Slowbro has been added, the team functions much better.
Team Weaknesses/Possible adjustments:
• Latios-Like I mentioned before, I’m still unsure which of the Eon twins is better. Latios works well with the team, but I’m perfectly aware that my win to loss ratio isn’t as good as it could be.
So, this is it. My OU Sandstorm team. It functions well, and when I can work past my utter noobness, I can utterly decimate opponents. Please feel free to leave behind harsh but constructive criticism.
