Alright, so just to add on to the I don't even know how many Sandstorm teams have been posted in the last few weeks, here's mine I guess. This team has served me pretty well so far on my Test account, giving me about a 5:1 win/loss ratio I'd estimate. A lot of the times my losses are simply due to my own mental errors. Unlike my previous RMT's, I don't really feel like rambling on in my introduction, but here goes:
So basically with this team, I wanted to break off from my Heavy Offense style that I experimented with in my last team to good old Spike Stacking. I wanted to combine the damage accumulating Spikes, with steady Sandstorm and Stealth Rock; But I wanted to avoid straight stalling, so I put some heavy offensive power in there as well. I also wanted to keep weakness to entry hazards like Stealth Rock to a minimum. Without further rambling, here's my team building process:
So basically with this team, I wanted to break off from my Heavy Offense style that I experimented with in my last team to good old Spike Stacking. I wanted to combine the damage accumulating Spikes, with steady Sandstorm and Stealth Rock; But I wanted to avoid straight stalling, so I put some heavy offensive power in there as well. I also wanted to keep weakness to entry hazards like Stealth Rock to a minimum. Without further rambling, here's my team building process:
Again, this is a sandstorm team, so I wanted to start off with a Sand Streamer as a lead. I had Hippowdon and Tyranitar to choose from:
I'd used Hippowdon in the past as a lead with good success, due to it's bulk and acess to Slack Off. But this time around, I think that Tyranitar brings a bit more to the table with Taunt, and much higher special defense. Tyranitar is also a bit less predictable, so I could possibly bluff a CB at times.
Now that I have my lead chosen, I want to choose a pokemon to set up Spikes for me. There were a few OU plausible pokemon to set up spikes that came to mind:
Omastar sounded interesting, but that added far too many weaknesses to my team that I would have liked, so unfortunately he was out. Forretress was a good option, with high defense and acess to Toxic Spikes and Explosion as well. It's only weakness was fire, which was covered by Tyranitar, so one more point for Forry. Now Roserade, that would serve better as a lead, and wasn't immune to sandstorm. It does have Sleep Powder however. And finally, everyone's favorite and least favorite steel bird: Skarmory. Looking over its moveset, Skarmory seems to be neck and neck with Forretress, it's only upside being Roost and Whirlwind at this point. I tried Forretress for a little while, but it just.. kept dying prematurely, so I picked Skarmory to aid in PHazing.
Alright. I have a lead, a pokemon to set up Spikes, and a pokemon that can Psuedo-Haze. Now on to the next step: Finding a Spin blocker.
-H
Okay-- Spin Blockers. I definetly wanted a bulky ghost as my spin blocker, but was pretty torn between Rotom and Spiritomb. Dusknoir is... eh. He's pretty damned bulky, but everyone knows what Dusknoir does, and doesn't pull off ResTalk very effectively so far as I know, so I crossed him off the list. Spiritomb I had chosen for quite a few matches since it could take an SD Crunch (at the time I was running Life Orb Heatran; I'll get into that later), and had Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch; and Will o Wisp. It really wasn't that wise of a choice, so I switched back to Rotom and scarfed Heatran. (Again, I'll explain my reasoning later on) Rotom-H I chose eventually since it's very un-predictable and I can often bluff a Scarf set if the opponent has not seen it yet, and can then burn something on the switch.
So far, I have Tyranitar, Skarmory and Rotom. I've got my weaknesses covered for the most part. Now it's time to move on to some sweepers! Hooray! First off, I wanted to choose a scouting pokemon with U-turn that could deal some heavy damage, but something that was immune to Sandstorm. Obviously what came to mind... :
All of these pokemon have their own merits, so it was hard to choose just one. Scizor automatically was my main choice because of it's immense power with CB U-turn and Bullet Punch, as well as having a bit of bulk on it. Flygon here was sort of the underdog, but it has acess to STAB Earthquake and Outrage, a fantastic attacking combination. Jirachi on the other hand has that god forsaken Serene Grace ability-- a good asset despite it being annoying. In the end I chose Scizor, since scouting is what I wanted to accomplish, and its U-turn is by far the most powerful. Speed also isn't as much of a concern with priority in Bullet Punch/Quick Attack, and its bulk.
Anyway, now I have a bit of a fire weakness on my hands, even though I have Tyranitar who carries a lot of HP and Special Defense EV's as a lead. I also needed a good special sweeper, and something to counter Lucario and Infernape. The automatic first thing that came to mind here was Heatran:
I chose Heatran without really any other options considered basically... because it fit the bill to a T. ^^; It takes a +2 LO Extreme Speed with ease, outspeeds and proceeds to kill off Infernape without any trouble, and fills a much needed Fire immunity role. It also counters Scizor pretty well, and with HP Grass deals with Swampert: something this team would otherwise have trouble with.
After moulding the majority of my team and having my weaknesses covered, I'm basically free to choose a boosting sweeper to clean up. Things that came to mind were:
You may be thinking: Why the hell would you choose some of these guys? I mean Torterra? Aggron? My answer: I like them. That sounds pretty nubbish I know, but eh. I basically have a free slot to deal lots of damage, and all of the pokemon here can set up and do just that. Torterra isn't half bad with a Rock Polish up, and gets EQ, Stone Edge, and Wood Hammer; all pretty good moves, and late game would have great coverage. Empoleon takes a bit longer to set up, but I had never used the SubPetaya set before, and thought that it would be nice to give a try. Then there's Rhyperior, that giant scary Rhinocerous thing with absolutely monstrous attacking, and amazing Dual STAB coverage. Metagross I've used before with Agility and is amazing, dealing heavy damage and getting the occasional attack raise with Meteor Mash. Jirachi is another special sweeper that came to mind with Calm Mind and great overall bulk; not my first choice, but it's another option. And finally there's Aggron. He's been pretty underrated in the past, but now he's punishing all those nay-sayers with Head Smash! With a Life Orb and a Rock Polish under its belt, it can definetly wreak some havoc. But in the end, I chose Rhyperior due to it's ability Solid Rock, and more importantly it's great STABs: Stone Edge and Earthquake. And with base 140 Attack he won't be taking shit from nobody. Rhyperior also benefits from Sandstorm being of the Rock type.
As you can see, I have just about all my weaknesses covered, and the ones I don't are handled by other pokemon.
So finally, At A Glance~
Now on with the team in-depth.
I'd used Hippowdon in the past as a lead with good success, due to it's bulk and acess to Slack Off. But this time around, I think that Tyranitar brings a bit more to the table with Taunt, and much higher special defense. Tyranitar is also a bit less predictable, so I could possibly bluff a CB at times.
Now that I have my lead chosen, I want to choose a pokemon to set up Spikes for me. There were a few OU plausible pokemon to set up spikes that came to mind:
Omastar sounded interesting, but that added far too many weaknesses to my team that I would have liked, so unfortunately he was out. Forretress was a good option, with high defense and acess to Toxic Spikes and Explosion as well. It's only weakness was fire, which was covered by Tyranitar, so one more point for Forry. Now Roserade, that would serve better as a lead, and wasn't immune to sandstorm. It does have Sleep Powder however. And finally, everyone's favorite and least favorite steel bird: Skarmory. Looking over its moveset, Skarmory seems to be neck and neck with Forretress, it's only upside being Roost and Whirlwind at this point. I tried Forretress for a little while, but it just.. kept dying prematurely, so I picked Skarmory to aid in PHazing.
Alright. I have a lead, a pokemon to set up Spikes, and a pokemon that can Psuedo-Haze. Now on to the next step: Finding a Spin blocker.
Okay-- Spin Blockers. I definetly wanted a bulky ghost as my spin blocker, but was pretty torn between Rotom and Spiritomb. Dusknoir is... eh. He's pretty damned bulky, but everyone knows what Dusknoir does, and doesn't pull off ResTalk very effectively so far as I know, so I crossed him off the list. Spiritomb I had chosen for quite a few matches since it could take an SD Crunch (at the time I was running Life Orb Heatran; I'll get into that later), and had Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch; and Will o Wisp. It really wasn't that wise of a choice, so I switched back to Rotom and scarfed Heatran. (Again, I'll explain my reasoning later on) Rotom-H I chose eventually since it's very un-predictable and I can often bluff a Scarf set if the opponent has not seen it yet, and can then burn something on the switch.
So far, I have Tyranitar, Skarmory and Rotom. I've got my weaknesses covered for the most part. Now it's time to move on to some sweepers! Hooray! First off, I wanted to choose a scouting pokemon with U-turn that could deal some heavy damage, but something that was immune to Sandstorm. Obviously what came to mind... :
All of these pokemon have their own merits, so it was hard to choose just one. Scizor automatically was my main choice because of it's immense power with CB U-turn and Bullet Punch, as well as having a bit of bulk on it. Flygon here was sort of the underdog, but it has acess to STAB Earthquake and Outrage, a fantastic attacking combination. Jirachi on the other hand has that god forsaken Serene Grace ability-- a good asset despite it being annoying. In the end I chose Scizor, since scouting is what I wanted to accomplish, and its U-turn is by far the most powerful. Speed also isn't as much of a concern with priority in Bullet Punch/Quick Attack, and its bulk.
Anyway, now I have a bit of a fire weakness on my hands, even though I have Tyranitar who carries a lot of HP and Special Defense EV's as a lead. I also needed a good special sweeper, and something to counter Lucario and Infernape. The automatic first thing that came to mind here was Heatran:
I chose Heatran without really any other options considered basically... because it fit the bill to a T. ^^; It takes a +2 LO Extreme Speed with ease, outspeeds and proceeds to kill off Infernape without any trouble, and fills a much needed Fire immunity role. It also counters Scizor pretty well, and with HP Grass deals with Swampert: something this team would otherwise have trouble with.
After moulding the majority of my team and having my weaknesses covered, I'm basically free to choose a boosting sweeper to clean up. Things that came to mind were:
You may be thinking: Why the hell would you choose some of these guys? I mean Torterra? Aggron? My answer: I like them. That sounds pretty nubbish I know, but eh. I basically have a free slot to deal lots of damage, and all of the pokemon here can set up and do just that. Torterra isn't half bad with a Rock Polish up, and gets EQ, Stone Edge, and Wood Hammer; all pretty good moves, and late game would have great coverage. Empoleon takes a bit longer to set up, but I had never used the SubPetaya set before, and thought that it would be nice to give a try. Then there's Rhyperior, that giant scary Rhinocerous thing with absolutely monstrous attacking, and amazing Dual STAB coverage. Metagross I've used before with Agility and is amazing, dealing heavy damage and getting the occasional attack raise with Meteor Mash. Jirachi is another special sweeper that came to mind with Calm Mind and great overall bulk; not my first choice, but it's another option. And finally there's Aggron. He's been pretty underrated in the past, but now he's punishing all those nay-sayers with Head Smash! With a Life Orb and a Rock Polish under its belt, it can definetly wreak some havoc. But in the end, I chose Rhyperior due to it's ability Solid Rock, and more importantly it's great STABs: Stone Edge and Earthquake. And with base 140 Attack he won't be taking shit from nobody. Rhyperior also benefits from Sandstorm being of the Rock type.
As you can see, I have just about all my weaknesses covered, and the ones I don't are handled by other pokemon.
So finally, At A Glance~
Now on with the team in-depth.
Tyranitar@ Lum Berry [MEGAZORD]
Sand Stream
Careful
252 HP / 56 Defense / 200 Special Defense
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
Awesome... more Arkeis sprites. xD Anyway, this is where the team starts off, with a Tyranitar lead. I kinda "made" the set while building my team on paper first, but I'm sure somebody has done the same thing before.
What does it do? This T-tar lead is mainly here to set up Stealth Rock and start the Sandstorm. I carry Taunt to put slower leads like Hippowdon, Swampert, or Bronzong at a disadvantage by preventing their Stealth Rock. Crunch and Stone Edge are each T-tar's STAB moves and are just there to deal damage. Lum Berry is there to block status leads like Smeargle or Roserade, only then to Taunt them and prevent them from setting up on me.
Why These EV's? I'm going to be brutally honest here: These EV's serve no specific purpose that I can remember. All I know is, 200 SpD boosts Tyranitar's Special defense to a ridiculous level, and 56 defense is there... for reasons I don't fully understand. I'll openly accept any suggestions on EV's. The HP is there just to have maximum overral bulk I guess, and to aid in T-tar's special hit-taking.
Synergy: To deal with its counters, I switch to Skarmory or Heatran, and sometimes Rotom. Infernape leads I don't have much of an answer for though. I mainly try to play around them, and come in on a predicted Fire Blast or w/e with Heatran, and Earth Power for the kill.
Skarmory@ Shed Shell [Condor]
Keen Eye
Impish
252 HP / 200 Special Defense / 56 Defense
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
What Does It Do? In short, Skarmory is here to lay down my entry hazards and if nescessary come in later to counter things like Scizor and rack up some damage with Spikes. I often come in after I taunt a lead like Breloom, Bronzong, Hippowdon, Swampert, etc. I also come in on things that Tyranitar fears, like Metagross or Jirachi. It also forces pokemon like Gyarados out with Whirlwind-- if I haven't been taunted first that is. Shed Shell is here so I can switch out of Magnezone, and go into Rhyperior.
Why These EV's? Once again, I'm not sure what went through my head when I slapped these EV's on here. My guess is that since I already have a special wall in form of Tyranitar, I didn't feel the need to go max/max, and put some EV's in defense, since that is what I hope to accomplish with this wall: defense. It takes Bullet Punches and Iron Heads well enough though.
Synergy: Skarmory's weaknesses are covered rather well I think. Choiced Electric attacks go to Rhyperior, or in general Rotom. On fire type moves I switch to Heatran.
Rotom-H@ Leftovers [Half-Baked]
Levitate
Bold
252 HP / 120 Defense / 136 Special Defense
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunderbolt
What Does It Do? Rotom is here to perform a big job that is being a Spin Blocker. It's also my "Gyarados counter". It can take a +1 Waterfall pretty well, and then KO it with a T-bolt. It also performs as a Scizor counter, and can hurt Suicune. Another thing this does is bluff Choice Scarf and cause switches.
Why These EV's? Well, these are the standard EV's. They maximize overall bulk I suppose. The HP and Defense also allow me to take hits from Gyarados alright.
Synergy: Powerful dark type hits from Tyranitar are taken by Skarmory, if it doesn't Pursuit. I can also Will-O-Wisp it. Rotom can take a lot of hits with Rest and Sleep Talk, so I often don't switch unless I simply can't do anything and am set-up fodder.
Scizor@ Choice Band [The Barber]
Technician
Adamant
252 HP / 252 Attack / 4 Speed
- Bullet Punch
- Quick Attack
- U-turn
- Superpower
What Does It Do? Scizor is here as a priority user and a scout on my team. He provides me with an excellent revenge killer alongside Heatran, and causes switches, and U-turns. ...That's basically it. It's CB scizor, what more do I need to explain? He fucks shit up. I run Quick Attack on this to get Infernape after a CC defense drop, since Ape can hurt my team badly if I don't play around it.
Why These EV's? I'm not using more speed on this like the suggested set, or more speed than that because I want to be hit first by Superpower from other Scizors, so that mine will KO them after their defense drop. The rest is standard.
Synergy: Fire type attacks go to Heatran, powerful fighting moves I switch to Rotom or Skarmory even as a last resort.
Heatran@ Choice Scarf [Hot Pocket]
Flash Fire
Naive
4 Attack / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Explosion
What Does It Do? Well, Heatran is here to check Lucario and Infernape, and serve as a revenge killer along with Scizor. Heatran comes in on Fire attacks that threaten Scizor, and ghost or dark moves aimed at Rotom. He also takes Grass attacks potentially targeted towards Rhyperior. Hidden Power [Grass] is there to hit Swampert like a freight train, and Explosion is a last resort move I often find myself using against Suicune or even Gyarados at times.
Why These EV's? Again, these are standard EV's. I didn't pick them for a reason, they basically came with the set I'm running.
Synergy: Ground type attacks are re-directed to Skarmory or Rotom to evade them. Fighting-type attacks are also directed to Rotom, or Skarmory if Rotom is down, or vise versa.
Rhyperior@ Life Orb [Dildozer]
Solid Rock
Jolly
252 Attack / 252 Speed / 4 Special Defense
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Megahorn
- Rock Polish
What Does It Do? Plain and simple. Rhyperior is here to fuck more shit up. I know this doesn't accomplish anything, but I LOVE this thing. It's monstrously powerful with base 140 attack, and it has fantastic STAB moves in Stone Edge and Earthquake. Megahorn is there to hit Celebi and other Grass types like the less-seen Shaymin. Anyway, Rhyperior basically is a late-game sweeper that mid-late game after I know the opponent's pokemon can come in on a light hit or a non-effective attack and set up a Rock Polish taking a light hit, or on the switch. I have quite the dilemma here though: Life Orb or Leftovers? I've been using Life Orb and the power boost has been great, but Leftovers would definetly help me set up easier. Although, seeing as he is a late-game sweeper I'm keeping it Life Orb for now, unless somebody pipes up and suggests otherwise.
Why These EV's? Well, Jolly Max speed allows me to hit 392 speed after a rock polish, which outspeeds the like of Weavile (lolwut, when do you ever see that), Dugtrio, Alakazam, etc.
Synergy: To be completely honest, I hardly EVER switch with this thing. But when I do, Grass attacks to go Scizor, weak water attacks go to Skarmory or Rotom, etc. Ground attacks go to those two as well, and fighting attacks go to that combo again, Rotom and Skarmory. Ice is re-directed to Heatran.
Like every RMT I do, I must say this: thank you if you've read this far, and thank you again if you choose to rate my team and help me out. I really appreciate it.
