This is my first RMT. I'm glad to be a part of the community! :D
Any help would be appreciated to fine tune this team :)
At a glance:
Now let's get detailed, shall we?
Hippowdon@Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Sand Stream
Role: Lead, Lategame Tank
~ Earthquake
~ Slack Off
~ Stealth Rock
~ Ice Fang
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
I absolutely love this thing! I like it so much that I think it fills this spot better than Tyranitar ever could! It starts out as my lead, setting up Stealth Rock, and is defensive and powerful enough for me to switch out and call on later if needed. What Hippowdon does for me is set up Sand Stream, meaning that the rest of my Pokemon (with the exception of Starmie) have a much easier time doing what they are supposed to do, unless of course another auto-weather inducer comes in.
In terms of choices in moves and items, Slack Off and Leftovers help to have Hippowdon survive longer, which is important considering the fact that Sandstorm is important for me. Ice Fang gives me coverage against Dragons and Flyings.
The main point of using Hippowdon is to set-up initially and switch out, then come back later in the game to tank and/or stall out the opponent.
Excadrill@Air Balloon
Nickname: GALACTUS
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Rush
Role: Physical DESTROYER
~ Swords Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Rock Slide
~ X-Scissor
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
LOL, loving that inside joke right there :P
As for this Pokémon? It's a mother flippin' beast! If I'm not mistaken, the 252 Speed EVs and Sand Rush ability are enough for Excadrill under Sandstorm to outspeed even Deoxys-S. And after a Swords Dance boost, Excadrill's attack will shoot past 700, making t truly a force to be reckoned with!
Rock Slide helps deal with Fire and Flying, the former of which could potentially prove a problem to Excadrill (particularly Drought Ninetales). X-Scissor gives my team coverage against Psychics, Darks, and Grass, all of which are things I have little coverage over, and the latter of which is actually something I could have a problem with. Earthquake and Swords Dance are standard.
The Air Balloon is helpful because it gets rid of one of Excadrill's major weaknesses, which is ironically Ground itself. Defense is a problem for Excadrill, so getting rid of a weakness is always a benefit.
I can't stress enough how much I love this beast; it's truly the BnB of this team.
Garchomp@Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sand Veil
Role: Physical Sweeper
~ Outrage
~ Earthquake
~ Dragon Claw
~ Aqua Tail
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
I absolutely love the fact that Garchomp is, once again, in OU. This means that my Sandstorm team has a highly effective Dragon-type.
As if being Ground-type means its unaffected by Sandstorm wasn't enough, Garchomp's Sand Veil actually means its harder to hit under Sandstorm. That's always good, because it means getting rid of this behemoth is now more of a challenge!
Garchomp's movepool is meant to deal with many possible situations. Aqua Tail is that Water-type move to surprise oncoming Ground/Rock/Fire types that might ATTEMPT to decimate my Garchomp. Earthquake is a STAB move, and although it's already been seen on two other Pokemon I use, a base 100 accuracy 100 move is never a bad choice (unless you go against Flying/Levitate).
And Outrage/Dragon Claw is that sort of "two moves have a similar niche" kind of thing. The only thing that will be resisting either of those two moves is a Steel-type, which something like Stoutland can deal with. I included both because they are both good in certain situations. Outrage is good for power, while Dragon Claw is good if I just need a one move finisher and don't want to get locked.
Scizor@Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician
Role: Scouter, Revenge Killer, Ghost Murderer
~ U-turn
~ Bullet Punch
~ Superpower
~ Pursuit
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Scizor has been on my team since all the way back in the days of Pokémon Crystal. Luckily, Generation V did nothing to hinder him, and he is still what I consider one of the most effective Pokemon on my team. Scizor has gotten me out of many sticky situations.
Bullet Punch is my main source of power. Technician, STAB, and Choice Band create a 135 Base Power priority move which has pretty good neutral coverage, and that is definitely nothing to sneeze at. It surprises me how many people switch into Scizor, expecting to finish it off, only to be destroyed by Bullet Punch.
Of course, if Bullet Punch doesn't cut it, I always have Superpower to fall back to if I need a fast KO. U-turn is a great STAB move to use in the case that I need Scizor to leave the battlefront quickly. And Pursuit is great for locking in the opponent's Pokemon (especially Ghost-types). They have the choice of fighting it out and praying that they knock out my Scizor, or switching out and letting me knock them out faster.
Originally I was using Bug Bite over U-Turn, which also takes advantage of Technician. But I reluctantly changed it to U-Turn to test Scizor as a scouter. I haven't had many problems thus far.
And then, of course, there is the added benefit of being Steel-type. This means that Scizor is not affected by Sandstorm, keeping with my theme.
Scizor is an incredible asset to my team, and I hope he stays that way for quite some time.
Stoutland@Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Rush
Role: Revenge Killer
~ Return
~ Crunch
~ Fire Fang
~ Retaliate/Ice Fang
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Stoutland was a shot in the dark for me on this team. But when I saw that Stoutland's other ability was Sand Rush, I got really excited and needed it on my team.
Now this oversized St. Bernard becomes an absolute MONSTER in a Sandstorm!
Since his move pool is rather shallow, I focused more on those moves that I lacked coverage for, namely Fire, Dark, and Normal.
Return and Retaliate are great STAB, and Retribution is a great Revenge Kill move, ESPECIALLY under Sandstorm, where Stoutland could potentially run faster than a lot of Pokemon. I was stuck between Ice Fang and Retaliate for a while because I was deciding on proper Ice coverage. Then I realized that Starmie could use Ice Beam instead, and Retaliate makes Stoutland function as a very effective revenge killer.
Fire Fang is the only Fire-type move on my team, so it adds extra coverage.
Crunch is powerful Dark coverage.
There is nothing very stellar about Stoutland's moves, but Sand Rush definitely makes it something very stellar, and it stands out above many other Sandstorm choices.
Starmie@Life Orb/Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
Role: Special Sweeper, Bulky Water, S*** Disturber
~ Surf/Hydro Pump
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
~ Psychic/Psyshock
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Originally, when I was constructing this team, I realized that I had a glaring weakness to three major things: Fighting, Water, and Fire. When I was thinking about suitable candidates, I dipped back into my reservoir of knowledge from my Platinum competitive battling days and realized that I should test out Starmie!
My old Starmie was a Spinner, but I noticed that Starmie has reasonable bulk, combined with its ability to eliminate two of my threats with STAB support, namely through Surf/Hydro Pump and Psychic/Psyshock for Fire and Fighting respectively. This, coupled with the fact that it could learn Thunderbolt and abuse its above average SpA stat allows it to eliminate the other threat to my team: Water.
This made my choice binding; I love Starmie as a Special Sweeper! BoltBeam gives me amazing neutral coverage as well and it's speed makes it on par with the rest of my team.
The added bulk of Starmie also makes it an effective "water wall" for my team, and can serve as a great late game sweeper with it's stellar type coverage and double STAB moves.
*pfew!* That was a lot of work!
Next steps: I have to remove Garchomp because it is now back to Ubers, so I need a replacement for him. Currently I'm stuck between using:
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
Heatran (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Dragon Pulse
Ferrothorn@Leftovers/Shed Shell
Ability: Steel Thorns
Nature: Sassy/Relaxed
~ Curse
~ Toxic/Leech Seed
~ Gyro Ball
~ Power Whip
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Def
Threat List:
Well, that's my team! Please rate and fix, and help me choose moves that have 2 choices if you please :)
Thank you! :D
Any help would be appreciated to fine tune this team :)
At a glance:
Now let's get detailed, shall we?
Hippowdon@Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Sand Stream
Role: Lead, Lategame Tank
~ Earthquake
~ Slack Off
~ Stealth Rock
~ Ice Fang
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
I absolutely love this thing! I like it so much that I think it fills this spot better than Tyranitar ever could! It starts out as my lead, setting up Stealth Rock, and is defensive and powerful enough for me to switch out and call on later if needed. What Hippowdon does for me is set up Sand Stream, meaning that the rest of my Pokemon (with the exception of Starmie) have a much easier time doing what they are supposed to do, unless of course another auto-weather inducer comes in.
In terms of choices in moves and items, Slack Off and Leftovers help to have Hippowdon survive longer, which is important considering the fact that Sandstorm is important for me. Ice Fang gives me coverage against Dragons and Flyings.
The main point of using Hippowdon is to set-up initially and switch out, then come back later in the game to tank and/or stall out the opponent.
Excadrill@Air Balloon
Nickname: GALACTUS
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Rush
Role: Physical DESTROYER
~ Swords Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Rock Slide
~ X-Scissor
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
LOL, loving that inside joke right there :P
As for this Pokémon? It's a mother flippin' beast! If I'm not mistaken, the 252 Speed EVs and Sand Rush ability are enough for Excadrill under Sandstorm to outspeed even Deoxys-S. And after a Swords Dance boost, Excadrill's attack will shoot past 700, making t truly a force to be reckoned with!
Rock Slide helps deal with Fire and Flying, the former of which could potentially prove a problem to Excadrill (particularly Drought Ninetales). X-Scissor gives my team coverage against Psychics, Darks, and Grass, all of which are things I have little coverage over, and the latter of which is actually something I could have a problem with. Earthquake and Swords Dance are standard.
The Air Balloon is helpful because it gets rid of one of Excadrill's major weaknesses, which is ironically Ground itself. Defense is a problem for Excadrill, so getting rid of a weakness is always a benefit.
I can't stress enough how much I love this beast; it's truly the BnB of this team.
Garchomp@Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sand Veil
Role: Physical Sweeper
~ Outrage
~ Earthquake
~ Dragon Claw
~ Aqua Tail
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
I absolutely love the fact that Garchomp is, once again, in OU. This means that my Sandstorm team has a highly effective Dragon-type.
As if being Ground-type means its unaffected by Sandstorm wasn't enough, Garchomp's Sand Veil actually means its harder to hit under Sandstorm. That's always good, because it means getting rid of this behemoth is now more of a challenge!
Garchomp's movepool is meant to deal with many possible situations. Aqua Tail is that Water-type move to surprise oncoming Ground/Rock/Fire types that might ATTEMPT to decimate my Garchomp. Earthquake is a STAB move, and although it's already been seen on two other Pokemon I use, a base 100 accuracy 100 move is never a bad choice (unless you go against Flying/Levitate).
And Outrage/Dragon Claw is that sort of "two moves have a similar niche" kind of thing. The only thing that will be resisting either of those two moves is a Steel-type, which something like Stoutland can deal with. I included both because they are both good in certain situations. Outrage is good for power, while Dragon Claw is good if I just need a one move finisher and don't want to get locked.
Scizor@Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician
Role: Scouter, Revenge Killer, Ghost Murderer
~ U-turn
~ Bullet Punch
~ Superpower
~ Pursuit
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Scizor has been on my team since all the way back in the days of Pokémon Crystal. Luckily, Generation V did nothing to hinder him, and he is still what I consider one of the most effective Pokemon on my team. Scizor has gotten me out of many sticky situations.
Bullet Punch is my main source of power. Technician, STAB, and Choice Band create a 135 Base Power priority move which has pretty good neutral coverage, and that is definitely nothing to sneeze at. It surprises me how many people switch into Scizor, expecting to finish it off, only to be destroyed by Bullet Punch.
Of course, if Bullet Punch doesn't cut it, I always have Superpower to fall back to if I need a fast KO. U-turn is a great STAB move to use in the case that I need Scizor to leave the battlefront quickly. And Pursuit is great for locking in the opponent's Pokemon (especially Ghost-types). They have the choice of fighting it out and praying that they knock out my Scizor, or switching out and letting me knock them out faster.
Originally I was using Bug Bite over U-Turn, which also takes advantage of Technician. But I reluctantly changed it to U-Turn to test Scizor as a scouter. I haven't had many problems thus far.
And then, of course, there is the added benefit of being Steel-type. This means that Scizor is not affected by Sandstorm, keeping with my theme.
Scizor is an incredible asset to my team, and I hope he stays that way for quite some time.
Stoutland@Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Rush
Role: Revenge Killer
~ Return
~ Crunch
~ Fire Fang
~ Retaliate/Ice Fang
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Stoutland was a shot in the dark for me on this team. But when I saw that Stoutland's other ability was Sand Rush, I got really excited and needed it on my team.
Now this oversized St. Bernard becomes an absolute MONSTER in a Sandstorm!
Since his move pool is rather shallow, I focused more on those moves that I lacked coverage for, namely Fire, Dark, and Normal.
Return and Retaliate are great STAB, and Retribution is a great Revenge Kill move, ESPECIALLY under Sandstorm, where Stoutland could potentially run faster than a lot of Pokemon. I was stuck between Ice Fang and Retaliate for a while because I was deciding on proper Ice coverage. Then I realized that Starmie could use Ice Beam instead, and Retaliate makes Stoutland function as a very effective revenge killer.
Fire Fang is the only Fire-type move on my team, so it adds extra coverage.
Crunch is powerful Dark coverage.
There is nothing very stellar about Stoutland's moves, but Sand Rush definitely makes it something very stellar, and it stands out above many other Sandstorm choices.
Starmie@Life Orb/Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
Role: Special Sweeper, Bulky Water, S*** Disturber
~ Surf/Hydro Pump
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
~ Psychic/Psyshock
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Originally, when I was constructing this team, I realized that I had a glaring weakness to three major things: Fighting, Water, and Fire. When I was thinking about suitable candidates, I dipped back into my reservoir of knowledge from my Platinum competitive battling days and realized that I should test out Starmie!
My old Starmie was a Spinner, but I noticed that Starmie has reasonable bulk, combined with its ability to eliminate two of my threats with STAB support, namely through Surf/Hydro Pump and Psychic/Psyshock for Fire and Fighting respectively. This, coupled with the fact that it could learn Thunderbolt and abuse its above average SpA stat allows it to eliminate the other threat to my team: Water.
This made my choice binding; I love Starmie as a Special Sweeper! BoltBeam gives me amazing neutral coverage as well and it's speed makes it on par with the rest of my team.
The added bulk of Starmie also makes it an effective "water wall" for my team, and can serve as a great late game sweeper with it's stellar type coverage and double STAB moves.
*pfew!* That was a lot of work!
Next steps: I have to remove Garchomp because it is now back to Ubers, so I need a replacement for him. Currently I'm stuck between using:
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
Heatran (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Dragon Pulse
Ferrothorn@Leftovers/Shed Shell
Ability: Steel Thorns
Nature: Sassy/Relaxed
~ Curse
~ Toxic/Leech Seed
~ Gyro Ball
~ Power Whip
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Def
Threat List:
Another weather inducing team could pose threats for me, if my Hippowdon has died already, because I have no other way of setting up and usually lose the battle if this happens.
And I need help covering Rotom-W, because he comes in and decimates my team virtually unscathed.
These seem to be the only real problems, but I can't seem to win with this set too much right now because of the abundance of Rotom-W and my inability to kill it. Any help is appreciated.
And I need help covering Rotom-W, because he comes in and decimates my team virtually unscathed.
These seem to be the only real problems, but I can't seem to win with this set too much right now because of the abundance of Rotom-W and my inability to kill it. Any help is appreciated.
Well, that's my team! Please rate and fix, and help me choose moves that have 2 choices if you please :)
Thank you! :D
