You guessed it... (Sand Team)

Welp, second RMT here. This one is a team I only recently came up with, and it's done me... pretty well for a team that was thrown together on a whim. It's even got a little surprise factor with one of my Pokemon. Although it's done me fairly well, it needs a lot of revision. So, let's take a look at the team.


OVERVIEW

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Godzilla (Tyranitar) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Def / 164 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake

If you couldn't guess Tyranitar, go clean the crud out of your brain. I chose Tyranitar over Hippowdon because, while Tyranitar has that annoying 4x weakness to Fighting, it's stronger, and I like the design better, not to mention Tyranitar gets a 1.5x Sp. Defense boost due to its storm, while Hippowdon doesn't. Therefore, giant rock dinosaur over some sand hippo any day. So, Stealth Rocks for the entry hazard, Stone Edge and Crunch are powerful STAB moves, and Earthquake is raw power. There is really no strategy for it. Just hit whatever you can until you die. EV spread is just to make it last longer, hardly works though. I'll gladly take any better suggestions.


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Mitosis (Reuniclus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SAtk / 172 SDef
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Reuniclus is definitely one of those Pokemon that I thought I would never use, and then it just grew on me. This. Thing. Sweeps. Like. Nothing. Else. Magic Guard beautifully lets me play in the Sand Storm, while boosting my attacks with Life Orb for no recoil. Trick Room is to take that 58 Speed stat and switch it with my opponent. Evil. Psychic is a powerful STAB, Focus Blast hits Dark-types and things that resist Psychic when it actually hits, and Shadow Ball is a menace to fellow Reuniclus. This one I don't have a problem with. If you have a better EV spread, I'm all ears, but I don't think this guy is a problem.


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Yanshu (Excadrill) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide

Excadrill is crazy fun to use. He's generally my late-game sweeper. Swords Dance is to bring high Attack even higher. Sometimes, I even get +6 and go mad. That is, if the opponent is too stupid to try to take it out before I do get +6. Earthquake, duh. X-Scissor hits Grass-, Psychic-, Dark-, anything that can be annoying to Excadrill. Rock Slide is to take out Flying-types that have access to Fighting-type moves (Staraptor, Braviary, etc.) and it does more damage than X-Scissor to pop other Excadrill's Air Balloons.


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Slugodon (Gastrodon-East) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 172 HP / 84 Def / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Ice Beam

Gastrodon... I was just looking for a Pokemon to put on. To be honest, I was listening to Smogcast, and I heard someone mention Gastrodon, and then I clicked. Sand Force probably would've been better than Storm Drain since most people are smarter than trying to pull that off. I tried to give it some bulk, but it's not that wonderful. Surf is STAB, Earth Power is STAB, Ice Beam is coverage and destroys Garchomp. Recover is just because it has access to it. Feel free to suggest entire new Pokemon in place of Gastrodon, I really don't think its a good addition to the team.


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Lenin (Stoutland) (M) @ Muscle Band
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 84 HP / 172 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Retaliate
- Crunch
- Aerial Ace
- Fire Fang

Stoutland. You don't know how much I've grown to love this thing. Most people overlook since it evolves from the first damn thing you catch in the game. However, combined with Sand Rush, it makes for a kick-ass revenge killer. STAB Retaliate speaks for itself. Opponent died last turn? Doesn't resist Normal? You know what to do. Crunch hits Ghost-type that try to stop Retaliate. Aerial Ace is simply a coverage move, although not a great one, and Fire Fang is for hitting Steel-types that resist everything else it has. It's been great too. You don't know how many times I've crippled physical Jirachi with a burn and/or stopped it with a flinch while dishing out super-effective damage. Same goes for Skarmory, although usually it takes forever to kill and just Roosts whenever I get close to killing it anyways. Oh, and did I mention it outspeeds Garchomp due to Sand Rush? Alternate movesets are welcome, but Retaliate stays.


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Gliscor (M) @ Power Herb
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Sky Attack
- Ice Fang

I'll just say it flat out. This Gliscor sucks. It's just... It isn't as great as what it could be. Sky Attack is cool because it's physical and gets STAB, and Power Herb lets it attack without charging, but only once. Earthquake is the obvious choice for STAB, and Ice Fang hits Garchomp and other Gliscor. Like I said, it sucks. Alternate movesets, EV spreads, items, ANYTHING.


PREVIOUS CHOICES

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Landorus was used in place of Gliscor. I thought it would be better. I was wrong though. He was generally slow and wasn't that big of a threat, even with Sand Force.

IMPORTABLE
Godzilla (Tyranitar) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Def / 164 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake

Mitosis (Reuniclus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SAtk / 172 SDef
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Yanshu (Excadrill) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide

Slugodon (Gastrodon-East) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 172 HP / 84 Def / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Ice Beam

Lenin (Stoutland) (M) @ Muscle Band
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 84 HP / 172 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Retaliate
- Crunch
- Aerial Ace
- Fire Fang

Gliscor (M) @ Power Herb
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Sky Attack
- Ice Fang​
 
Hmm...the standard Gliscor is the Poison Heal one. I guess if you wanted something offensive you should switch Gliscor with Garchomp. I don't really see the point of using Sky Attack when you can really only use it once, and you're wasting an Item slot in order to use it. I've never seen an offensive Gastrodon either. I don't really know much about Gastrodon but I think Quagsire is a better wall and there are a lot of better Sp.attackers out there than can replace it. For Tyranitar, you could try a mix T-Tar or just sp.attacker one. It gives good coverage and always catches me offguard.
 
An offensive Tyraniboah like

Substitute
Crunch
Fire Blast
Focus Punch

works incredibly well. It was like the shining set of my Sandstorm team. Special attacking with Dark Pulse, Flamethrower/Fire Blast, and Ice Beam could also work well.
 
idkpokemon: I figured it'd be the standard one. I just thought to try something new rather than the traditional AcroFling. I wanted Ice Fang for other Gliscor since they're pretty popular. Except right now, I feel stupid for NOT trying on a Garchomp. Gastrodon I though could be an attacker that just lasts for a while and hit pretty hard. I'll try Quagsire, see what sets Smogon has. Mixed Tyranitar would probably be best.

Lugia Dragonite Guy: Thanks, I'll try it out. Except I don't like the SubPunch combo since it's pretty easy to break a Tyranitar's substitute since it has a lot of weaknesses. I'll try those other attacking moves.
 
This team is pretty good.

For Tyranitar, I would definitly run a mixed set, because you are going to get walled by Ferrothorn. I would recommend that you drop Earthquake, which doesn't even get Stab and switch it to either Ice Beam if you have trouble dealing with Gliscor and Garchomp or Flamethrower if you want to deal with Ferrothorn.

I would recommend not running Trick Room on your Reuniclus for two reasons: 1. You are reducing your survivability or your ability to sweep without Recover or Calm Mind and 2. Your team is in general pretty fast, which defeats the purpose of trick room. I would recommend changing it to Recover to improve the survivaly rate. I would also change the EV's to 192 HP/64 Def/ 252 SAtk.

Excadrill is fine, although I would run a Jolly nature over Adamant to make sure I could outspeed as much as possible, but that is something that varies by person. Other than that it is fine.

In place of Gastrodon, I would recommend using an Unaware Quagsire, because you don't have something to deal with stat uppers and it provides the same thing. I would recommend this set.
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability- Unaware
Nature- Calm
EV's- 252 HP, 4 Def, 252 SDef
1. Recover
2. Stockpile
3. Scald
4. Ice Beam
This thing is a beast. Recover for staying power. Stockpile for the boost in both defenses, and the last two are for the coverage you need, although most people will run Earthquake over Ice Beam.

Stoutland is a fine revenge killer, but I would change a few things. Firstly, I would recommend running Wild Bolt over Aerial Ace, it provides more power and coverage. Secondly, I would the change the Item from Muscle Band to Choice Band, which gives you extra power and lets you be assured to take out most things you need. I would also recommend running a Jolly nature here to outspeed. Finally, I would just run 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd to maximize the atk instead of trying to add to bulk.

For Gliscor, this is the point were you need to decide, do you want an attacker or another defensive pokemon. If you want an attacker try the Swords Dance Garchomp
Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability- Sand Veil
Nature- Adamant
EV's- 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd
1. Substitute
2. Swords Dance
3. Earthquake
4. Outrage
This is a great attacking set for Garchomp. Substitute for the ability to set up as many Swords Dances as possible. Swords Dance for the attack doubling. Earthquake and Outrage are there for coverage, because very little resists both (Skarmory and the Bug/Steels are the only ones I can think of) and both hit hard as heck. If you want to use Gliscor or you want some more defensive set, use Gliscor with this set.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability- Poison Heal
Nature- Impish
EV;s- 252 HP, 178 Def, 78 Spd
1. Protect
2. Taunt
3. Ice Fang
4. Earthquake
This is the standard Gliscor set. Protect for recovery from poison heal, Taunt to prevent the opponent from setting up, Ice Fang for coverage and Earthquake for STAB.

Good Luck.
 
I've never used Stoutland, so you may want to disregard this, but I suggest switching Aeriel Ace for Ice Fang. Aeriel Ace most likely won't be murdering any fighting types Unstabbed, and Ice Fang will still hit grass types for around the same damage. Ice Fang will help you take care of opposing dragon types and Gliscor pretty well. Also may I suggest switching muscle band for Life Orb? If you don't like the residual damage from Life Orb you could always go with Expert Belt too, I just find the 10% from Muscle Band to be a bit inferior.

Hope this helped, love the team ^.^
 
JirachiNaught: Wow, thanks a bunch, these sets look promising. I can't wait to try them.

TwistedSpaceman: If Wild Charge doesn't work out, I'll try using Ice Fang instead. Thanks.
 
Alright, tried out Quagsire, and I'm afraid to say that I don't like it. Is there any other Pokemon that's good on the sand? Doesn't really have to be a wall.
 
I'd replace Aerial Ace on Stoutland for Return, as this is a reliable STAB move that's generally stronger than a SE Aerial Ace (I think). Yes, Stoutland is great.
 
I think Return should go over Retaliate, but if you want to keep it, fine with me.
Ice Fang takes care of Grass types like Fire Fang, but gets other stuff as well, so it'd make a good replacement.
 
For Tyranitar, if you don't want to go mixed, put Superpower over EQ. Balloon Terrakion and Excadrill get OHKOed by it (the former only after the Def drop from Close Combat), and leaves you with something to hit Ferrothorn. Good to see someone else using Focus Sash Tyranitar.

Stoutland could put anything to better use than Muscle Band. Someone suggested Expert Belt, but that does nothing for Retaliate. I recommend a Choice Band for power, as Retaliate becomes Draco Meteor-like, and it would also boost its average Attack stat. If not that then a Life Orb would be second best. The EV spread bugs me as well. What do those HP EVs do besides sap your Attack? If there's a specific reason, then please tell me.

Gliscor's SD set is redundant with Excadrill, being slower and weaker. Try a physically defensive AcroFling set over it with Poison Heal. This will resolve problems you may have with opposing Excadrill.

Looks good besides, and good luck with your team!
 
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