Toxicity - Dracozolt + Excadrill Sand (Team of the Week - NDOU)
(check out the Lunatic's Workshop once it opens - NDOU forums)
i. introduction
With this NatDex meta winding to a close, I thought I'd share one of my most successful teams of the DLC1 era. Built just 2 weeks ago for the Lunatic's Workshop, this team has won me quite a few games, and was featured in the last DLC1 TOTW by hidin. If you're a member of the National Dex community, you may know me as the guy who built Mega Ampharos stall and Choice Band Alomomola teams that somehow worked. This was another one of my crazy projects, though toned down a bit on the craziness scale.
ii. teambuilding process
I started off with the usual sand core of Hippowdon and Excadrill. However, I had already built pocket sand earlier in the generation, and this time I wanted the team to lean more into the sand portion. I also wanted to experiment with a more defensive sand setter than Mega Tyranitar, so I tried Hippowdon, and its staying power is actually pretty good, facilitating your breakers more than once or twice.
Enter Dracozolt. Bolt Beak gets boosted to ludicrous power when moving first, so Sand Rush Dracozolt in Sand outspeeds the unboosted metagame and obliterates offense with its strong Bolt Beaks. While Stall can somewhat withstand its assault thanks to Gliscor, it still struggles to cope with the team's offensive assault. Adding to its threat level is its natural synergy with Swords Dance Excadrill: Dracozolt breaks through the Flying-types that Exca can't hurt, such as the Steel birds or Moltres, while Excadrill switches in on Fairy-types and starts breaking teams down.
Next, Tornadus-Therian. NP Torn destroys bulkier cores thanks to NP + Flyinium Z threatening the Unawares, while providing a nice Ground immunity for the team. If needed, it can also remove hazards, while turning Gliscor (which Dracozolt struggles against) into a setup liability. The Ground immunity and Regenerator are also big things that made Torn-T fit into this slot, since both our breakers are weak to Ground. Finally, it also hits Grass-types for our main breakers.
Mega Scizor provides a late-game cleaner with early-game defensive utility. It can bait in things such as Heatran, U-turn out on them, and bring in Excadrill or Dracozolt. It's also a more reliable Fairy-type switch-in than Excadrill, being able to switch into things like Booster Energy Iron Valiant that you would otherwise have to sacrifice something to. Finally, Swords Dance + Technician- and STAB-boosted Bullet Punch can clean up weakened teams late-game.
Behold, the actual breaker of Ground-types. While Torn-T was a circumstantial breaker and immunity, Urshifu-R directly threatens Ground-types with a powerful Surging Strikes. U-turn gives the team even more momentum, while letting Dracozolt come in on the Water-types it threatens such as Toxapex and Alomomola. Close Combat hits like a truck on neutral targets, while Aqua Jet provides another form of priority to pick off things Scizor can't.
iii. the team in detail
SOFTWARE, V 7.0 (
) @ 
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
Conversion, software version 7.0
Looking at life through the eyes of a tire hub
Hippowdon is our dedicated sand setter. The key advantages this has over Mega Tyranitar are that it doesn't take up the Mega slot, has good defensive utility (not multiple weaknesses like Mega T-tar), and has reliable recovery to keep setting sand. Tera Steel is for a last-ditch stop against rampaging Fairy-types, while being a good defensive typing to become overall. Toxic allows you to put would-be checks to Excadrill, like Grass-types, on a timer. EQ is STAB, while Stealth Rock lets Hippowdon make some progress on the field. Finally, Slack Off lets Hippowdon get onto the field and set sand for many more times than Mega Tyranitar can dream of doing.
DISORDER, DISORDER (
) @ 
Ability: Sand Rush
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
You, what do you own, the world?
How do you own disorder, disorder?
Swords Dance Excadrill is our first wallbreaker. Indisciminately destroying stall and hyper-offense teams alike, Excadrill has good power even when unboosted and is an outright monster after a Swords Dance. Iron Head and Earthquake are self-explanatory STAB moves, while Rapid Spin allows you to potentially sweep with the speed boost while removing hazards to allow the rest of the team to pivot freely. Tera Ground turns your Richter scale 7 Earthquakes into scale 10 Earthquakes.
SACRED SILENCE (
) @ 
Ability: Sand Rush
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bolt Beak
- Outrage
- Iron Tail
- Dragon Claw
Now, somewhere between the sacred silence
Sacred silence and sleep
Behold, the main star of the team. Choice Band Dracozolt provides a major source of breaking power against slower teams, while decimating offensive teams in Sand. The only thing that can really stop Dracozolt are either exceptionally bulky Grass-types or Ground-types, which the rest of the team takes care of. The other moves are just filler, although Outrage hits the aforementioned Ground-types decently well.
TOXICITY (
) (M) @ 
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Defog
Eating seeds as a pastime activity
The toxicity of our city, of our city
Tornadus-T is a fearsome threat with Nasty Plot and Flyinium Z, blasting through Grass-types like Ferrothorn and Rillaboom that would otherwise take on Dracozolt. Its offensive prowess is well-documented: Nasty Plot boosts its Special Attack to astronomical levels, while Supersonic Skystrike is good enough to wipe even most resists off of this earth after a boost. Focus Blast hits Steel- and Rock-types trying to switch in. For the final moveslot, I decided on Defog over Taunt, as the number of switches that Torn-T forces gives it many opportunities to Defog if Excadrill can't get a Rapid Spin off. Defensively it's just as important, as an immunity to Ground and resistance to Grass help immensely.
FLASHLIGHT REVERIE (
) @ 
Ability: Technician --> Technician
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 128 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
More wood for their fires, loud neighbors
Flashlight reveries caught in the headlights of a truck
Mega Scizor is the only really defensive piece of this team, but it carries with it good offensive utility. SD + Bullet Punch let Mega Scizor clean up behind all of the wallbreakers, while letting it switch in on and threaten out Fairy-types. U-turn lets it bait in answers like Heatran and bring in a threat to the said answer. Roost allows Mega Scizor to stay alive after checking Fairy-types many times throughout a match.
MAN'S HEARTS (
) @
Ability: Unseen Fist
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Aqua Jet
When I became the sun, I shone life into the man's hearts
When I became the sun, I shone life into the man's hearts!
Choice Band Urshifu-R is another devastating wallbreaker that can remove Ground-types like Gliscor from the equation or force them to burn their tera, leaving them vulnerable to Dracovish. Surging Strikes and Close Combat smash neutral targets, while U-turn lets Urshifu-R get out of Grass-types that wall it. Finally, Aqua Jet allows Urshifu-R to pick off weakened threats along with Mega Scizor.
iv. shoutouts
The Garganacls + Oculars: Yo, thanks for letting me build for y'all - I know some of my teams haven't been the most viable (cough, Mega Ampharos stall, cough cough) but building for y'all was a blast.
All the lunatics who voted for Mega Ampharos stall and Bandmola: what is in your head?? anyways, thanks.
The Monotype community: I got into Smogon through Monotype, and the entire community is one of the best I know (even if I wake up to 400+ notifications and 7 pings from #tours-discussion).
v. replays
vs. MolaLuna Bulky Offense (piloted by a Dracozolt hater)
vs. Volcanion Offense
vs. about15guys's whatever this is
vs. Webs HO
vs. Venusaur Balance
vi. how to play the team
Keep in mind that this is an offense - don't play like a balance and expect to achieve much.
Feel free to let either Excadrill or Dracozolt faint for significant chip damage on the other's answers. Doing so allows the other to clean late-game.
Use your momentum-grabbing tools (U-turn on Mega Scizor and Urshifu-R) to bring your main threats into the game.
Know what to sacrifice and when. Often, games can be won by weakening Dracozolt's or Excadrill's answers and letting them sweep.
Terastallization is not crucial on this team. Use it to surprise opponents and remove or irreparably damage their counters to the wallbreaking core.
(check out the Lunatic's Workshop once it opens - NDOU forums)
i. introduction
With this NatDex meta winding to a close, I thought I'd share one of my most successful teams of the DLC1 era. Built just 2 weeks ago for the Lunatic's Workshop, this team has won me quite a few games, and was featured in the last DLC1 TOTW by hidin. If you're a member of the National Dex community, you may know me as the guy who built Mega Ampharos stall and Choice Band Alomomola teams that somehow worked. This was another one of my crazy projects, though toned down a bit on the craziness scale.
ii. teambuilding process
I started off with the usual sand core of Hippowdon and Excadrill. However, I had already built pocket sand earlier in the generation, and this time I wanted the team to lean more into the sand portion. I also wanted to experiment with a more defensive sand setter than Mega Tyranitar, so I tried Hippowdon, and its staying power is actually pretty good, facilitating your breakers more than once or twice.
Enter Dracozolt. Bolt Beak gets boosted to ludicrous power when moving first, so Sand Rush Dracozolt in Sand outspeeds the unboosted metagame and obliterates offense with its strong Bolt Beaks. While Stall can somewhat withstand its assault thanks to Gliscor, it still struggles to cope with the team's offensive assault. Adding to its threat level is its natural synergy with Swords Dance Excadrill: Dracozolt breaks through the Flying-types that Exca can't hurt, such as the Steel birds or Moltres, while Excadrill switches in on Fairy-types and starts breaking teams down.
Next, Tornadus-Therian. NP Torn destroys bulkier cores thanks to NP + Flyinium Z threatening the Unawares, while providing a nice Ground immunity for the team. If needed, it can also remove hazards, while turning Gliscor (which Dracozolt struggles against) into a setup liability. The Ground immunity and Regenerator are also big things that made Torn-T fit into this slot, since both our breakers are weak to Ground. Finally, it also hits Grass-types for our main breakers.
Mega Scizor provides a late-game cleaner with early-game defensive utility. It can bait in things such as Heatran, U-turn out on them, and bring in Excadrill or Dracozolt. It's also a more reliable Fairy-type switch-in than Excadrill, being able to switch into things like Booster Energy Iron Valiant that you would otherwise have to sacrifice something to. Finally, Swords Dance + Technician- and STAB-boosted Bullet Punch can clean up weakened teams late-game.
Behold, the actual breaker of Ground-types. While Torn-T was a circumstantial breaker and immunity, Urshifu-R directly threatens Ground-types with a powerful Surging Strikes. U-turn gives the team even more momentum, while letting Dracozolt come in on the Water-types it threatens such as Toxapex and Alomomola. Close Combat hits like a truck on neutral targets, while Aqua Jet provides another form of priority to pick off things Scizor can't.
iii. the team in detail
SOFTWARE, V 7.0 (
) @ Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
Conversion, software version 7.0
Looking at life through the eyes of a tire hub
Hippowdon is our dedicated sand setter. The key advantages this has over Mega Tyranitar are that it doesn't take up the Mega slot, has good defensive utility (not multiple weaknesses like Mega T-tar), and has reliable recovery to keep setting sand. Tera Steel is for a last-ditch stop against rampaging Fairy-types, while being a good defensive typing to become overall. Toxic allows you to put would-be checks to Excadrill, like Grass-types, on a timer. EQ is STAB, while Stealth Rock lets Hippowdon make some progress on the field. Finally, Slack Off lets Hippowdon get onto the field and set sand for many more times than Mega Tyranitar can dream of doing.
DISORDER, DISORDER (
) @ Ability: Sand Rush
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
You, what do you own, the world?
How do you own disorder, disorder?
Swords Dance Excadrill is our first wallbreaker. Indisciminately destroying stall and hyper-offense teams alike, Excadrill has good power even when unboosted and is an outright monster after a Swords Dance. Iron Head and Earthquake are self-explanatory STAB moves, while Rapid Spin allows you to potentially sweep with the speed boost while removing hazards to allow the rest of the team to pivot freely. Tera Ground turns your Richter scale 7 Earthquakes into scale 10 Earthquakes.
SACRED SILENCE (
) @ Ability: Sand Rush
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bolt Beak
- Outrage
- Iron Tail
- Dragon Claw
Now, somewhere between the sacred silence
Sacred silence and sleep
Behold, the main star of the team. Choice Band Dracozolt provides a major source of breaking power against slower teams, while decimating offensive teams in Sand. The only thing that can really stop Dracozolt are either exceptionally bulky Grass-types or Ground-types, which the rest of the team takes care of. The other moves are just filler, although Outrage hits the aforementioned Ground-types decently well.
TOXICITY (
) (M) @ Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Defog
Eating seeds as a pastime activity
The toxicity of our city, of our city
Tornadus-T is a fearsome threat with Nasty Plot and Flyinium Z, blasting through Grass-types like Ferrothorn and Rillaboom that would otherwise take on Dracozolt. Its offensive prowess is well-documented: Nasty Plot boosts its Special Attack to astronomical levels, while Supersonic Skystrike is good enough to wipe even most resists off of this earth after a boost. Focus Blast hits Steel- and Rock-types trying to switch in. For the final moveslot, I decided on Defog over Taunt, as the number of switches that Torn-T forces gives it many opportunities to Defog if Excadrill can't get a Rapid Spin off. Defensively it's just as important, as an immunity to Ground and resistance to Grass help immensely.
FLASHLIGHT REVERIE (
) @ Ability: Technician --> Technician
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 128 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
More wood for their fires, loud neighbors
Flashlight reveries caught in the headlights of a truck
Mega Scizor is the only really defensive piece of this team, but it carries with it good offensive utility. SD + Bullet Punch let Mega Scizor clean up behind all of the wallbreakers, while letting it switch in on and threaten out Fairy-types. U-turn lets it bait in answers like Heatran and bring in a threat to the said answer. Roost allows Mega Scizor to stay alive after checking Fairy-types many times throughout a match.
MAN'S HEARTS (
) @ Ability: Unseen Fist
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Aqua Jet
When I became the sun, I shone life into the man's hearts
When I became the sun, I shone life into the man's hearts!
Choice Band Urshifu-R is another devastating wallbreaker that can remove Ground-types like Gliscor from the equation or force them to burn their tera, leaving them vulnerable to Dracovish. Surging Strikes and Close Combat smash neutral targets, while U-turn lets Urshifu-R get out of Grass-types that wall it. Finally, Aqua Jet allows Urshifu-R to pick off weakened threats along with Mega Scizor.
iv. shoutouts
The Garganacls + Oculars: Yo, thanks for letting me build for y'all - I know some of my teams haven't been the most viable (cough, Mega Ampharos stall, cough cough) but building for y'all was a blast.
All the lunatics who voted for Mega Ampharos stall and Bandmola: what is in your head?? anyways, thanks.
The Monotype community: I got into Smogon through Monotype, and the entire community is one of the best I know (even if I wake up to 400+ notifications and 7 pings from #tours-discussion).
v. replays
vs. MolaLuna Bulky Offense (piloted by a Dracozolt hater)
vs. Volcanion Offense
vs. about15guys's whatever this is
vs. Webs HO
vs. Venusaur Balance
vi. how to play the team
Keep in mind that this is an offense - don't play like a balance and expect to achieve much.
Feel free to let either Excadrill or Dracozolt faint for significant chip damage on the other's answers. Doing so allows the other to clean late-game.
Use your momentum-grabbing tools (U-turn on Mega Scizor and Urshifu-R) to bring your main threats into the game.
Know what to sacrifice and when. Often, games can be won by weakening Dracozolt's or Excadrill's answers and letting them sweep.
Terastallization is not crucial on this team. Use it to surprise opponents and remove or irreparably damage their counters to the wallbreaking core.