The Sands of Time
A VGC 2012 RMT
A VGC 2012 RMT
Introduction
What's up Smogon! MikeDecIsHere bringing you a very successful VGC team that I've been using for quite some time now. It's gotten me a lot of success in the past, doing fairly well in the VGC 2012 tournament (after I lost to Hawkstar because of Sand Veil hax, feel better that he won the damn thing though) and did fairly well in the recent APEX tournament where I placed in third (losing to Sapphire Birch in the losers finals). Anyway, with almost all of the VGC tournaments that I would be interested in out of the way, I am retiring the team, since odds are I am done with VGCs until maybe the next official tournament is held. Hopefully you guys enjoy this RMT, and perhaps consider some of the tricks that I used on this team in your next VGC team!
I don't remember exactly how the team building went, so we're just going to skip that and move right into the team.
In Depth Look at the Team
Fluffy (Tyranitar) (M) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Atk / 148 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Protect - allows me to scout my opponents moves and see what their strategy is. This also allows me to prevent damage done from my own attacks like Earthquake or Lava Plume
- Rock Slide- STAB option that hits Zapdos and other flyers for super effective damage. A must have move on any VGC team imo
- Crunch- A second STAB option that lets me hit Reuniclus and Latios hard, since they can be relatively annoying if I don't have Excadrill in my line up.
- Counter- the only wierd move on this set, but I swear to god it is one of the best moves on Tyranitar ever (fuck Low Kick). Almost nothing can one shot Tyranitar in one hit (minus like Flame Orb Conkeldurr or Terrakion, even with Chople they still OHKO). Counter completely decimates ANY physical attacker that tries to take out Tyranitar, and I guarantee I've almost had one kill per game because of Counter. Works great to take out Pokemon like Garchomp who don't see it coming and get completely dominated by it.
There's very little reason behind my choice here. Tyranitar is almost a necessity for any VGC and team (though I've seen the rare Hippowdon every now and then). Tyranitar is definitely one of the staples of this team, as most of the Pokemon require Sand in order to even function. Counter T-tar has been one of my favorite Pokemon to use in VGCs, and is definitely a highly underrated Pokemon.
Iconig (Gliscor) (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Substitute- Allows me to abuse Sand Veil hax and dodges Leech Seed, since Ferrothorn is an annoying fucker. Substitute is rare on VGC Pokemon, but it's definitely helped me out more often than not (probably because it is so rare)
- Earthquake- STAB option, need I say more? Earthquake is a cool move in VGCs if used with the right team support, since it sucks when your own guys get nailed by it.
- Acrobatics- Acrobatics is definitely an awesome move, as it allows Gliscor to one shot Scizor (iirc), which can get annoying if I lose Heatran. It also gives me an attack for other fighters like Conkeldurr, since 4/6 (woah, that's a lot) of my guys are weak to Fighting attacks. Luckily, I get most of the Fighting mons with Chople Counter, but every now and then Gliscor is a necessity.
- Protect- Scouting Scouting Scouting. Protect is one of the most important moves in VGC, since it has the chance to leave on of your opponents Pokemon wide open to be defeated.
I chose Gliscor because I desperately needed a Fighting resist on the team. I chose the defensive variant since I wanted some easier time with powerful physical attackers. and I've always been underwhelmed with the standard Max HP Max Attack version. I might move the 80 EVs in Spe over to Atk, but I definitely enjoy having the defensive variant around.
HeaTranny (Heatran) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume- my only Fire Attack on the team, mainly to roast Abomasnow and Ferrothorn. The Burn chance is definitely always something nice to have though, since Burn + Sandstorm widdles down the opponents very quickly. Sucks when I end up burning my own guys though.
- Protect- In case my Air Balloon pops, it allows me to fire off Earthquakes on the opposing team still. Also scouts, yadiyadiya
- Earth Power- Hits opposing Heatran and other Fire Pokemon that I need Heatran for. Also a second option for attacking in case I don't want to use Lava Plume
- Taunt- Prevents annoying opposing mons from setting up shit I don't like (Trick Room and Spore are a few examples). I rarely use it, but it's definitely nice to have every now and then. Might replace it with HP Ice or something if I ever decide to use this team again
I need a reliable counter to Hail and Ferro, and Heatran seemed like the best Pokemon for that job. It's also cool to have against the rare Sun Teams that show up every now and then. Max SpD allows me to take Blizzards for days. Also cool counter for Pokemon like Cress which can be annoying as hell (though I have a lot of hard checks for it as is).
Eternal (Garchomp) (M) @ BrightPowder
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Protect- Scouts for Scarf Chomp and protects me from things like Draco Meteor from Latios, which allows me to let my other Pokemon beat it or cripple it before it can hurt me
- Earthquake- Strong STAB option, hits things like a truck, basically the general deal
- Dragon Claw- I had Outrage here initially, but man being locked into that shit sucks so much. Dragon Claw really is weaker, but it gets the job done. I do miss the extra power every now and then though.
- Rock Slide- Zapdos and Gyara. Mainly the only reasons I use this move. Other than those things I just spam my STAB moves.
Garchomp is a boss, Sand Veil is gay, and Brightpowder makes it even more of a bitch. It works less irl than it does on PO (because hax calc is broken), but man this thing causes so many people to rage. Amazing with Para support from Ferro, which is the main reason why I don't use Scarf Chomp (which sucks btw)
Hentai (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Leech Seed- Man, even I'll admit that this move is retarded. I've literally Leech Seeded some of my opponents to death since Ferrothorn sometimes just won't ever die. Makes Ferrothorn one annoying fucker for real.
- Protect- Gives me Leftovers + Leech Seed recovery. Also allows me to fire off Lava Plumes with Heatran without having to worry about completely butt-fucking my Ferro.
- Thunder Wave- This move has saved my ass so many times it's uneblievable. Great to completely cripple fast Pokemon like Latios and Tornadus, who can be a real pain in the ass if I don't have Sand up for Excadrill to outspeed. Also fucks Drizzle + Swift Swim teams up the ass, which is always wonderful in case Ferro dies.
- Power Whip- STAB option which destroys Water Pokemon (since Ferrothorn is my main Drizzle counter). Also useless to use Gyro Ball + Thunder Wave. I also find Gyro Ball pretty shitty in VGCs since the gap between speeds isn't as great as in OU, which lessens the power of Gyro Ball.
I desperately needed a Drizzle check, as those teams can really harm my guys since I have no water resist outside of Ferrothorn. Thunder Wave is also an amazing support move, and has allowed me to win some games that I didn't think I could without it. Also, Leech Seed + Protect means that Ferro almost never fucking dies, which makes it one of the most annoying VGC Pokemon to face ever.
BrokenMole (Excadrill) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rock Slide- Type Coverage. Hits Zapdos and Gyarados. I think by now you guys get the jist of why I use Rock Slide on three of my guys.
- Earthquake- Fucking awesome STAB move. Earthquake coming from Excadrill hits almost everything hard except if it's defensive or immune. Makes Excadrill an offensive monster.
- Protect- Let's me fire off Lava Plumes and Earthquakes from my guys for free. Also allows me to scout for priority from certain Pokemon like Hitmontop and Conkeldurr (although, they always do since that's the main reason to use those Pokemon in the first place)
- X-Scissor- Cresselia and the Lati twins are annoying Pokemon. X-Scissor gives me a way to handle them. The former can't do jack to Excadrill while the ladder is demolished by it.
Hands down the best Sand abuser in VGC. Even though Sand Veil is an annoying bitch, nothing is more important than beating speed tiers. I run Adamant max Speed mainly because I want to outspeed or at least speed tie other Excadrill (no one runs Jolly in VGC, so I never have to worry about that). I'm debating on Shuca Berry in order to guarantee a way to beat other Excadrill, but the extra Power from Life Orb is pretty important.
Conclusion
This team has definitely been one of my more successful teams that I've created. Of course, no team is perfect, as there are some combinations that fuck the lead combinations that I pick. It almost always depends on if I predict my opponent's leads, otherwise I end up in a shit ton of trouble. If anyone has any questions on the team, feel free to post, and I'l; try to explain how I play it to the best of my ability. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this little thing, and maybe it encouraged a few of you to give VGC a go.
For any team raters out there, this team has only one huge weakness that I've dealt with, and that's Rain Dance Tornadus. I've added Thunder Wave to help me handle this thing, but it really fucks me up sometimes, especially if I don't see it coming.
Importable
PHP:
Fluffy (Tyranitar) (M) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Atk / 148 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Counter
BrokenMole (Excadrill) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Protect
- X-Scissor
Hentai (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
HeaTranny (Heatran) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Earth Power
- Taunt
Eternal (Garchomp) (M) @ BrightPowder
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
Iconig (Gliscor) (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Acrobatics
- Protect
