RMT VGC18 Sand Team

joffreyspikes

joffreyspikes

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Excadrill @ Groundium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance

Gigalith @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 88 Atk / 92 Def / 100 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Heavy Slam
- Wide Guard
- Protect

Tapu Lele @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Protect

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Brick Break

Xurkitree @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Hidden Power Ice
- Thunderbolt
- Protect

Volcarona @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 132 SpA / 124 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Heat Wave
- Quiver Dance
- Protect

This team uses a core of Excadrill (being a great physical sweeper whilst having a bucket full of resistances and 2 immunities) and Gigalith to activate Excadrill’s Sand Rush Ability which turns into a KO machine. Weaknesses of the team are somewhat combatted by Gigalith’s excellent defenses and Weakness Policy but just in case Ground and Fighting types are too much of a big deal in a particular matchup (Landorus-T is everywhere so this is likely) we have Mega Salamence and Volcarona. Salamence is great because it is one of the most well known sweepers in the game and Aerilate Double-Edge is quite the threat in any format. Volcarona is a more specialised attacker. It does not need full SpA EVs because we will hopefully get at least one SpD drop from Bug Buzz per game and Quiver Dance raises it and a whole bunch of stats. It provides good coverage from Heat Wave and is quite difficult to KO with SpD boosts. The last two Pokémon on the team are Tapu Lele with Aguav Berry and Xurkitree with Psychic Seed. Xurkitree is a bit of a glass cannon so Psychic Terrain blocking priority moves is great for it. I also tried to give Xurkitree a little more resistance to Earth Power by giving it Psychic Seed.

That wraps up the team. It is pretty solid for me and has been doing well on Showdown including beating Naganadel + CHALK which is projected to be very popular in VGC18. Let me know what you think!
 
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Tis unfortunate that Tyranitar isn't legal, as that would be more awesome than using Gigalith :p
How high up have you made it with this team? I love weather, so I am interested in hearing about your exploits ^w^
 
Vracken said:
Tis unfortunate that Tyranitar isn't legal, as that would be more awesome than using Gigalith :p
How high up have you made it with this team? I love weather, so I am interested in hearing about your exploits ^w^
Click to expand...
Tyranitar is legal but i personally prefer Gigalith because it is better defensively. Thanks for the feedback, will soon check rankings! Also, Gigalith gets access to Wide Guard whereas T-Tar doesn’t.
 
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Yup, was thinking about last season it not being allowed, and in my tiredness was silly :p
Fair enough, though Tyranitar is almost as tanky in Defense, but is tankier in bother special defense and Hp compared to Gigalith. The main difference is 4x weak to fighting, and bug/fairy weakness, in exchange for Psychic Immunity and Ghost/Dark resists.
 
I don't think a Fighting weakness is a huge disadvantage now that we have Tapus scaring most of them off, although Fighting-type coverage from things like Lele might be a problem. That said, Wide Guard access is boss.

Personally, my biggest fear is a partial CHALK reprisal, since Cress, Heatran, Lando-T and (nerfed) Mega-K will be coming back, with only Amoonguss absent, and in particular, Lando-T now has access to Supersonic Skystrike to blow through things like Buzzwole and Bulu. Mega-K might get sidelined due to her nerfs, but the other three are worth having a game plan for in my opinion. Might be worth having HP Ice on that Xurk (I got an extra HP Ice Timid Xurk if you want it).
 
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