Liberation Transmission - Fiction.     
IntroductionHello again. I'm here to post one of the more successful OU teams I have built lately. It's a sand balance team based around the infamous dog (Stoutland) and was built for the 9th instalment of the Official Smogon Tournament. While it didn't win in the tournament when it was most necessary (I was unfortunate but w/e), it went 2-1 in it, which is ok I guess considering I didn't get to use it long, it got me suspect reqs for the Keldeo and Tornadus-T test, and most recently, won Secret Santa 7 in the hands of Lavos Spawn. Sometimes I use Choice Scarf Tyranitar and Volt Switch Zapdos, but this is the build I like the most. So without any further ado, here's the team. The Team
Tyranitar @ Choice Band First off, my sand summoner of choice: Tyranitar. Tyranitar provides the valuable sand dog needs to excel. I chose Tyranitar over Hippowdon because Tyranitar checks Psychic-types such as Latias, Latios and Reuniclus, all of which could give me trouble with the right set. I opted for a Choice Band set to punch holes into opposing teams, paving the way for dog. I don't think the moveset really needs much of an explanation really. Stone Edge and Crunch are my main STAB moves, doing to a lot of damage to anything unresisted. Superpower scores super-effective hits on Ferrothorn and Heatran, and gets neutral hits on Breloom and Keldeo. Pursuit catches Ghost-type Pokémon on the switch, allowing me to use Return more freely with dog. The EV spread is fairly straightforward, but I run 100 Speed EVs (recently changed from 96) to outrun 24 Speed Skarmory.
Starmie @ Leftovers Starmie assumes the role of the spinner of the team. With its typing, I have a solid Water resist, which is vital to stopping Keldeo. Scald is useful to spread burns around, Psyshock disposes of Toxicroak, Tentacruel, Gengar and Breloom. It also lets me bypass any Calm Mind boosts Keldeo might get under its belt. Recover increases Starmie's longevity which is very helpful in checking Keldeo and Terrakion. Finally, Rapid Spin rids me of any hazards on my side of the field, which helps Stoutland and Tyranitar wreak havoc for longer. In addition, Rapid Spin gets rid of Stealth Rock for Zapdos, giving it an easier time to checking Tornadus(-T), Sheer Force Landorus-I and Venusaur. Max HP on Starmie is obvious. 216 Speed with a Timid nature outspeeds Gengar; I didn't want to outspeed Tornadus-I because I didn't feel it necessary at the time with Tornadus-T in the tier. The rest is dumped into Defense for a little bit more bulk on the physical side.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers Ferrothorn serves several purposes for this team. First, it provides a much wanted Dragon resist for the team by virtue of its Steel-typing. Secondly, its auspicious typing gives me a solid Water resist, helping me combat Rain, especially Politoed, Gyarados and Starmie, and making my life easier against Rotom-W. Ferrothorn also wears down opposing teams with Spikes and Leech Seed, giving dog an easier time. Thunder Wave slows down threats so Tyranitar can do its job of breaking down the other team better. Ferrothorn synergises well with Starmie: they resist each other's weaknesses except for Bug, Ferrothorn lays hazards and Starmie keeps them off. The EV spread is standard fare. I chose a Sassy nature to take the Special Water-type attacks better.
Landorus-T @ Leftovers Next up: Landorus-T. I picked Landorus-T to be my Stealth Rocker, and first Terrakion check, which it does well thanks to its typing, bulk and Intimidate, forcing many switches. Landorus-T also gives me a bit of offensive presence outside of Tyranitar and Stoutland. With no investment, Landorus-T still boasts 327 Attack, which is more than enough. Earthquake is a solid STAB, Stone Edge gives me EdgeQuake coverage, and is useful for hitting Flying-type Pokémon. Finally, U-Turn gives me momentum and can punish Pokémon that switch into hazards, essentially making them switch straight back out the next turn. I kept the 200 HP EVs from the set on-site, but I run 96 Speed to outspeed 20 Speed Tentacruel. The rest is then dumped into Defense which, in conjunction with an Impish nature and Intimidate, gives it a lot of bulk on the physical side.
Zapdos @ Leftovers bird. I picked Zapdos because at the time I built the team, Tornadus-T was still roaming around, so I wanted a solid answer to it. Turns out it does OK against other stuff like Scizor, Landorus-I (provided I don't bring it in on SR + HP Ice) and Venusaur. Thunderbolt, Hidden Power [Ice] and Roost were pretty much given, but I chose Heat Wave over Toxic, Roar or even Substitute for Ferrothorn, who would otherwise be problematic. Also, actually doing damage to Venusaur is nice since Hidden Power doesn't do a whole lot. 248 HP EVs let Zapdos switch into Stealth Rock four times. 36 Speed outspeeds Jolly Tyranitar (useful I know), and the Special Defense investment lets Zapdos do its job of checking the threats its meant to check.
Stoutland @ Choice Band dog. The one this team was built for. With the sand, dog becomes a very potent revenge killer, reaching nearly 520 Speed, and a nice 492 Attack stat, letting me check several threats such as Salamence and Volcarona. Unlike xtrashine, I run Return for a full-powered STAB, which I can normally spam freely with the help of Tyranitar taking care of Ghosts. For this reason, I use Crunch over Pursuit. Crunch does good damage to Ghost- and Psychic- types and OHKOs a Gengar that decides to stay in. Superpower takes care of Steel-types and Terrakion, and Wild Charge hits Skarmory and Gyarados. The EV spread is standard and maximise dog's offensive capabilities, no comments needed here really. ImportableConclusionThere you have it, that's the team. I don't really have much to say for the conclusion, so I'll give shoutouts to my fellow #beastaroonis, and especially Lavos who won Secret Santa with this, and to the Circus Maximus Tigers who wreck. Honorable mention goes to harsha who is a dick and deletes my posts. ): Thanks for reading, and don't hesitate to rate/hate/steal/luvdisc, I can also give a team building process later if people want. |