You find yourself stuck in a sandy vortex, with a mole?
Hello there fellow smogonites! This is my 3rd RMT to date and probably not alot of you know me. I've been quite a long time lurker around smogon since late in the 4th generation back when Latias was banned from OU. I've given this thread a major overhall since before, to make it alot more "fun" to read. This is my 2nd version of my sandstorm team, the first being quite the failure having no check/ counter to Excadrill and as you know every 2-4 matches I was swept by Excadrill. Since then I wanted to lift my game and create a successful sand team. My goal was to achieve top 100 in the 5th generation OU on the smogon server, which infact I smashed and peaked around 30ish but I sunk down due to some bad play against opposing Volcarona.
My idea for this team was to build a sandstorm team consisting checks to major threats of todays metagame and be able to provide a Excadrill sweep. I managed to do this after 1 week of testing and adjustments to the first team. I'm going to show a brief overview rather then a team building process as I think they don't really tell much about a team, I will just say how my team has changed since I first made it.
My first prototype team consisted of | Tyranitar | Excadrill | Latias | Gastrodon | Gliscor | Jirachi |. It was nice but I found it was very stall orintated and with only 1 ice resist, Jirachi was put under the pump often and ended up being the 1st or 2nd to die just because it was my only ice resist. I thought I needed a bit of a offensive touch + an ice resist. I went through a list of possible pokemon that can fit the bill then BAM! I saw Rotom-W and I instantly knew that would be the perfect replacement for Gastrodon. I started with a defensive set, then I picked a specs set, then a scarf set and then back to specs. It also could counter rain which was one of sands worst nightmares because no-body likes turning into brown sludge. So the final product was..
MUST READ: I'm going to expand the descriptions of my pokemon when I get time. It's nearly the end of the school term so homework is stacking up.
Changes will be UNDERLINED.
My team through the microscope!
Tyranitar @ Choice scarf (F)
Trait: Sand stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly (+Spe, -SAtk)
-Stone edge
-Crunch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
Ah Tyranitar, you like the king chess piece because without you this team would just crumble and lose. He starts up sandstorm which is needed for Excadrill to sweep effectively. Winning a weather war is crucial and when in a weather war the idea is to keep your weather starter in tip top conditions which Jirachi does an amazing job at. Anyway this is choice scarf Tyranitar who can revenge a variety of threats like Gengar, Thundurus, Tornadus and believe it or not +1 DD Scrafty. He also provides surprise kills to various weather starters like Abomasnow and Ninetales. It's this reason why I believe that Tyranitar is the better sandstorm starter then Hippowdon.
So the moveset is quite simple. Stone edge is Tyranitars strongest attack with a nice 150 BP after stab. Crunch is a more reliable alternative that can provide a safe kill without the risk of missing. Pursuit traps the Lati twins, Gengar, Starmie and a few other pursuitable (Is that a word?) pokemon. Lastly superpower allows me to revenge dark types like Scrafty, Sazandora, scarfed Magnezone and other Tyranitar. It also deals some good damage to ferrothorn who is pretty good at putting this teams momentum to a halt. The EV spread provides maximum power and is able to kill opposing base 115+ pokemon.
I'm not really considering any changes other then perhaps change it to a specially defensive set so I can actually have a surefire way on killing Volcarona although after it sets up stealth rocks it generally becomes dead weight for my team which is one of the main reasons why Tyranitar is scarfed in the first place. The specially defensive set would also provide a fire attack which is something my team lacks and it would make it so much easier to kill Ferrothorn who as mentioned before puts a halt to my teams momentum, thunder waving Latias' attempt on HP fire and gyro ball really hurts Tyranitar.
Excadrill @ Life orb (F)
Trait: Sand rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Adamant (+Atk, - SAtk)
-Sword dance
-Earthquake
-Rock slide
-X-scissor
Excadrill is the teams primary sweeper, just being so brutal to unprepared teams. Once the oppenents check has been wasted (Gliscor, Conkeldurr etc.) I will unleash the mole and it will bring havoc to the field with those base 150 with STAB earthquakes. Not to mention with life orb, adamant and under a sword dance anything that isn't immune is going to take a s**tload of damage. He deserved a spot in my team just because it's IMO the best sand sweeper in the game and that's why his deserved a spot in the team and the title not to mention. He is also my check to various +1 threats just because he has insane speed in the sand. Main threats are most dragon dancers (looking a gyarados and dragonite) and Volcarona (Yet again -.-).
His moveset is yet again quite simple and effective. Sword dance is just derp derp. Earthquake is Excadrills strongest attack with a blistering 150 BP with STAB. Rock slide is for those flying chipmunks that think the can beat Excadrill. X-scissor is mainly for slowbro but it's also for levitaters which are most commonly psychic types like the Lati twins, Pixie trio and if I'm under enough sword dances, dare I say it Bronzong. Spread of 252 / 252 is just because I want maximum power and maximum speed, because Excadrill isn't going to be tanking hits like a boss. I wouldn't run adamant nature if it weren't for my Gliscor because if I didn't have Gliscor it would be like my first sandstorm team all over again. Besides I see no point on running jolly other then to outspeed opposing Excadrill which Gliscor can beat.
Am I thinking of any changes? As a matter of fact yes! I'm tossing up between the last moveslot between x-scissor and frustration. They both have their pros and cons but you face Gliscor and go "Darn should of had frustration". Then you fight Bronzong and Slowbro and go "S**T, why did I use frustration.." It's really 2 sided but I've kept it to x-scissor just because Rotom-W handles gliscor like a boss. TO THE NEXT POKEMON!
Gliscor @ Toxic orb (F)
Trait: Poison heal
EVs: 244 HP / 184 Def / 80 Spe
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
-U-turn
-Earthquake
-Ice fang
-Protect
Gliscor is who I turn to take some physical attacks that nothing on my team wants to take. He earnt his spot for providing checks to pokemon who can rip this team like cloth such as Rock polish Terrakion, Sword dance Excadrill, Bulk up Conkeldurr. I'm glad Gliscor rose in usage in generation 5, he has been one of my favourite pokemon since the release of D/P. Ok lets not get off topic and get to why your reading this. So Gliscor got a new tool to use this generation, Poison heal. It just makes him such a better pokemon in general and thats part of the reason why he is on my team. He also is my go to man for status effects due to his toxic orb. That means breloom and SOME sun sweepers can't touch my buff zubat.
So the moveset might not be your average Gliscor. I wasn't happy with the sword dance varient, it just lacked power and speed to be a sweeper and every ice beam he had to switch out which is just g*y. I looked at alternatives and saw a u-turn set which synergizes perfectly with Rotom-W putting consistant pressure on the opponent with u-turn and volt switch. U-turn also racks up some damage that is always welcomed. Earthquake is Gliscors strongest move on my set coming of a respectable 226 attack. Ice fang helps against Landorus and Gliscor who are common switch ins to me. Protect helps with scouting to see who I should switch into and it can set up sweeps for Excadrill and Latias. It also allows me to recover with poison heal to survive some stuff like rivalry outrage coming off Haxorus. The EV spread is your average spread. 244 HP EVs is the magic poison heal number, providing 1+ health everyturn for the cost of 2 HP. 80 speed EVs is speed creaping on other Gliscors to get u-turns and ice fangs done faster and which is why I can win against opposing gliscors. The rest is chucked into defence to give Gliscor some extra bulk that to take physical hits even better.
Am I considering changes? Yup! I'm thinking of a different set on Gliscor again, I'm just never satisfied with the options there are. There are so many different things that would work like facade and taunt but I would really like some advice. Not sure what is the best for general play. Overall Gliscor is pretty good the way she is but I would like a tad of advice on the best set I should use for the team.
Latias @ Leftovers (F)
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Calm mind
-Dragon pulse
-Hidden power (Fire)
-Roost
Latias is my 2nd and last sweeper who is very good late game and cleans up the leftovers of a team. Roost is for people who think you can earthquake latias after I roost which is always funny. Nothing too special about it other then roost and hidden power fire to deal with ferrothorn and scizor who are such pest. Thinking of placing roar or substitute on it.
Rotom-W @ Choice specs (N)
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Volt switch
-Hydro pump
-Hidden power (Grass)
-Trick
Rotom-W is my cannon of them team just for throwing out hits that pokemon wont want to take apart from blissey. Hidden power grass is for gastrodon and quagsire who can both wall me. I can just hit them with hidden power grass and that would be the last of them. Volt switch with gliscor as said before is a great duo with u-turn. Considering swapping his role with tyranitar so rotom becomes choice scarf and tyranitar becomes choice band to deal with volcarona better.
Jirachi @ Leftovers (N)
Trait: Serene grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful nature (+ SDef, -SAtk)
-Iron head
-Body slam
-Wish
-Stealth rock
Jirachi is the teams special wall taking unwanted ice beams and also provides stealth rocks. It provides wish support for my team which helps gliscor and rotom who will be switching into hazards often. You cant really go wrong with a specially defensive jirachi with a very annoying flinchhax combo which will get people to rip their hairs out of their skull. Pretty standard and I'm not really considering any changes for jirachi.
Time to wrap up this team!
This is my team and my biggest problem at this stage is Volcarona. Sure Excadrill will have to switch into it when it sets up on Gliscor or something and thats very risky. If it does decide to quiver dance I'm in luck cause I can rock slide it to death but if it fiery dances get ready for a 6-0. Whenever I see these in the team preview I try to keep Excadrill as untouched as possible because if it does die I can say bye bye win streak and hello lose streak. Defensive ones can be killed by Tyranitar as he can take a +1 non life orb bug buzz and kill with stone edge. Although life orb 252 speed Volcarona are by far the biggest threat I've noticed. Best thing I can do is make sure I have stealth rocks up. The worst battle my team has ever faced was Ninetales + Dugtrio + Volcarona. I'm basically a sitting duck waiting to die. I've considered putting in scarf Landorus just for the sake of checking Volcarona. Although it would bring a nasty ice weakness again and ultimatly I think I would be better off with the team as it is now. So that was my team rate, hate or steal.
