Sandstorm Team

S

Slowbro

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I used to have a 4 gen team that I never tried out and never posted on anything, so I figured it was time for a new team for 5 gen. I looked around for pokemon high stats, and I noticed a lot of them were rock, steel, and ground. The perfect types for a sandstorm. So, I got my Hipowdon and sort of based the rest of the team around that. So here it is:

Team Sahara (sandstorm based team)

Physical wall/setup
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Hipowdon @leftovers
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SAtk)
EV’s: 252 HP/ 4 Atk/ 252 Def
Ability: sandstream
Moves:
-Stealth rock
-Roar
-Earthquake
-Slack off
Strategy: I start off with Hipowdon, because sandstream will start the “infinite sandstorm," and I can set up easily with it's stealth rock moveset and large bulk. I can start out with stealth rock to set up the entry hazard. What's even better about Hipowdon is that it has high defence and roar, so I can force the opponent to switch out many times because of Hipowdon's walling capablities, causing them damage from stealth rock. Earthquake provides nice STAB coverage, and slack off is a solid healing move to make Hipowdon last longer as a physical wall.

Annoyer/physical wall
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Gliscor @leftovers
Ability: sand veil
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SAtk)
EV’s: 252 HP/ 4 Atk/ 252 Def
Moves:
-toxic
-Taunt
-Roost
-Ice fang
Strategy: Although Gliscor may be very similar to Hipowdon; Gliscor is the main annoyer of my team, while Hippowdon sets up the sandstorm and entry hazards. Poison heal, toxic orb, and fling migt be more popular, but I prefer to use sand veil because Gliscor can't have roost and poison heal, and roost is btter IMO. I used to have earthquake with Gliscor, but I realized I have enough stab earthquakes, and bulky dragons and other gliscors kill me. So, what could solve that? Ice fang! Taunt is to stop the opponent from setting up. Earthquake is a solid move with STAB coverage, and roost is another solid healing move. Ice moves kill Gliscor, but if they have an ice pokemon, I can always switch into Magnezone and kill them.

Physical Sweeper
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Excadrill @life orb
Ability: sand rush
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, - SAtk)
EV’s: 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Hp
Moves:
-Swords dance
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-X-scissor
Strategy: Excadrill is my sweeper. Sand rush boosts a mediocre 275 speed into a terrifying 550! 405 attack is enough to 2HKO, if not OHKO a lot of things. If possible, I can swords dance to skyrocket Excadrill’s already frightening attack. Earthquake gets nice STAB coverage, as well as taking care fire types. X-scissor is a solid physical move, and it could take care of special walling psychics. Rock Slide is mostly there for a fourth move, but it can take out Charizard or other flying or fire pokemon easily.

Special Sweeper
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Magnezone @air balloon
Ability: Magnet pull
Nature: Modest (+SAtk, -Atk)
EV’s: 252 SAtk, 252 Spd, 4 Hp
Moves:
-thunder wave
-thunderbolt
-flash cannon
-hidden power(fire/fighting/ice)
Strategy: Magnezone is my main(coughcoughonly) special attacker. Air balloon allows me to ditch magnet rise for thunder wave (or another move). Thunderbolt and flash cannon=STAB. Hidden power ice will take care of ground types, while hidden power fire or fighting combined with magnet pull will destroy steel types, notably Skarmory. I can't decide which hidden power to go with, but part of the reason that I have three options is because I'm lazy. :p

Special Wall
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Tentacruel @black sludge
Nature: Calm (+SDef, -Atk)
EV’s: 252 Hp/ 120 Def/ 136 SDef
Ability: Liquid ooze
Moves:
-Toxic Spikes
-Rapid Spin
-Surf
-Sludge Bomb
Strategy: Tentacruel is my special/mixed wall, as well a nice turn away from the usual rock/steel/ground. Toxic spikes is another nice little entry hazard while rapid spin rids the floor of any opposing spikes. Surf get STAB bonus, as well as taking care of any rocks, grounds, or fires that come my way. Sludge bomb is mostly there as another STAB bonus, but it can take out grass types pretty handily. Although most entry hazards wont cripple my team, it is a nice comfort knowing I can always rapid spin them.

Backup Sandstreamer/Support
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Tyranitar @leftovers
Ability: Sandstream
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, - SAtk)
EV’s: 252 Atk/ 252 Spd/ 4 Hp
Moves:
-Earthquake
-Roar
-Crunch
-Dragon dance
Strategy: There's not much to say in the case of Tyranitar. It is basically a backup sandstreamer in case Hipowdon is KO’d and a different weather is put in its place. Dragon Dance can provide the possibility of sweeping; while I can dragon tail anything I think can kill me and it can cause a nice chunk of damage. Earthquake and Crunch provide good STAB, as well as super effective against a good range of types. Roar comes with a little bonus: it will damage opposing pokemon on the switch in because of stealth rock and/or toxic spikes. Some people use dragon tail, but roar has better coverage, so I use that.


All in All, my team has some flaws, but it seems pretty solid to me. I haven't started breeding the pokemon yet, mostly because I will make changes to the team. Please comment with constructive criticism! Also, I got the animated sprites from http://arkeis.com/animatedsprites.html
 
I will approve this if you add some more description to your Pokemon. You really didn't give much. I will give you a couple days to do so.
 
Steadfast said:
I will approve this if you add some more description to your Pokemon. You really didn't give much. I will give you a couple days to do so.
Click to expand...

By this, do you mean more description to each pokemon as an individual, or a description of how my whole team works?
 
First off, on Gliscor, give it a Toxic Orb with the ability Poison Heal. Then, get rid of Toxic and put Fling. Much more effective than Sandveil, IMO.
 
More of a description to each Pokemon. It's not that descriptive. If you have any more questions then PM me.
 
I would give tyranitar dragon tail over roar, as the former can damage foes in addition to forced switching.
 
I think Jolly Nature would be preffered over Adamant nature on Excadrill for toher Excadrills as well as common speed ties.
 
Freak :P said:
I think Jolly Nature would be preffered over Adamant nature on Excadrill for toher Excadrills as well as common speed ties.
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Hmmm. 369 attack is normally not amazing, but with sd, I think I could make it work.
Also, thanks for all your advice everyone! All advice is appreciated!
EDIT: Kind of bump, but I changed gliscor around a little. Also, should I replace gliscor and tentacruel with ferrothorn and cradily? Thanksagain for your help!
 
What exactly is the strategy of this team? You run a SWords Dance pokemon like Excadrill, yet defensive set-up/phaze pokemon like Tyranitar and Tentacruel. It seems like you're contradicting yourself. I have a few suggestions:

If you want to run an offensive team:
Change the moveset on Gliscor to:
Gliscor@ Toxic Orb
Impish
252 HP/252 Def/4 Speed
~Swords Dance
~Earthquake
~Ice Fang/Taunt
~Protect/Taunt

Taunt lets you stall out stuff like Ferrothorn with not a lot of damaging moves. Protect is for an extra turn of recovery, Swords Dance is another attempt to sweep (in case excadrill dies), and Earthquake is for STAB. Ice Fang hits Garchomp, Dragonite, and Salamence hard. Depends on what you want to do.

Magnezone is rather pointless, In my opinion. The main point of Magnezone is to come in on Steel Types like Forretress, or Ferrothorn, and Hidden Power Fire them so your sweeper can plow through your oponent's team.
...This is rather pointless when Gliscor and Excadrill can run through Forry and Ferrothorn on their own. I can't say exactly what to substitute it for, because there aren't a ton of special pokemon that benefit from sand, but Jirachi might do a better job.

Tentecruel should be switched out to Ferrothorn, IMO. A moveset of something like:
Ferrothorn @Leftovers
Relaxed Nature
252 HP/48 Def/208 SpDef
~Power Whip
~Spikes
~Leech Seed/Gyro Ball
~Protect/Thunder Wave

The ferrothorn set depends on whether you run offensive or defensive teams. If you run Defensively, use Leech Seed and Protect. If you run Offensively, use Thunder Wave. (Leech Seed or Gyro Ball is up to you.) Either Way, Ferro has a great set of resistances, and a nice ability to help stack damage with the sandstorm.

Roar and Dragon Dance on TTar is contradictory. Use Stone Edge due to the massive damage output, as well as the type coverage it provides. use this instead of Roar.

If you run a defensive team, use a gliscor set of:
Gliscor@Toxic Orb
Impish Nature
Poison Heal ability
252 HP/252 Def/4 Spe
~Earthquake
~Taunt
~Ice Fang
~Protect

this gliscor will let you scout pokemon's movesets, and it provides good type coverage. Poison heal is just awesome, gliscor basically never dies.

If you use a defensive team, I would replace tyranitar alltogether. Cradily is an interesting Sandstorm sweeper, as the Sandstorm boosts its Special Defense, and it has access to Curse. And Cradily's ability, Suction Cups means your opponent can't Roar/Whirlwind it out. I don't have an EV Spread offhand, but a moveset of:
Cradily@Chesto Berry
~Curse
~Seed Bomb
~Rock Slide
~Rest

or Cradily@Leftovers
~Curse
~Rock Slide
~Rest
~Sleep Talk

could work really well on a sand team.
 
Some of that I agree with, but the main thing I completely diagree with is Magnezone. He's my only special attacker, so what happens if I run into a physical wall? Also, I've found water types wall my team extremely well. Magnezone takes care of them. I've also tried out Magnezone on PO and he works very well. So, for the time being, Magnezone stays. About my strategy, I run a balanced team, with focus on offence and defence. I've tested the defensive Gliscor and it works extremely well. I also like Tentacruel because he provides water coverage. But, all in all that was excellent advice and I appreciate it! Thanks!:D
EDIT: just noticed cradily can learn recover. Wouldn't that work a little better than rest?
 
I was not aware that Cradily could learn recover.

Curse/Recover/Seed Bomb/Rock Slide might be a viable set then.

As for magnezone, I mentioned Jirachi as a replacement special attacker. Calm Mind will boost its stats, and it's all around base 100, so it's extremely bulky. It has good coverage in Psychic, Thunderbolt, and Hidden Power, as well as the ability to pass off Wish.

Otherwise, a defensive variant of Celebi might work too. It has Leaf Storm and Grass Knot to hit water pokemon hard, and it has access to Recover.

Decision's up to you. Just throwing a few options out there. :)
 
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