This Sandstorm Team could use some help (OU)

[Ericcc]

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*SANDSTORM TEAM*
---SEMI BULKY/SEMI OFFENSIVE---
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QUICK GLANCE;

(?)
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Intro

Hey smogon :D So I've been excelling quite progressively in the current metagame since I've been here. I have been through quite a number of teams, and never even thought about having a Sandstorm team. I always thought they were too "Stally" and the game would just be really boring. But my perspective on that really changed when I started to play around here and there with this team. My success rate has gone through the roof(if I may say so myself:D) and I have rarely gone down without a really tought fight. Now, all teams have their flaws and kinks, and this one is defenitely no exception. I sometimes find myself at a losing end of 0-3/0-4/0-5 even! And that problem comes around when my pokes just can't handle all the attacks being thrown at them, or theres no secure "Backup plan". I need some suggestions here people. I need some help.

Also, please keep in mind that these pokes are all legitimately bred. As such, suggesting different egg moves,natures,hidden powers etc. isn't helping me since I wouldn't be able to do any of them. So please, keep suggestions reasonable for a regular In-Game player to be able to do.
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Onto the team.









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Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ablity:Sand Stream
Impish 252 DEF//252 HP//6SPDEF
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EARTHQUAKE
ROAR
STEALTH ROCK
STONE EDGE(ugh I failed here forgetting Slack Off was an egg move >< )
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A very reliable lead IMO. Its ability to take physical hits is phenomenal. And in my experience, it has never been OHKO'd by any physical hit. I suppose Stone Edge isn't a complete waste, nearly KO'ing opposing Aero leads. Mostly always gets rocks up, and if I do expect a Taunt, I'll switch to the appropriate counter. Sand stream is really the icing on the cake for this guy, as it allows me to break opposing Ape's sashes, and EQ for the KO; as the Ape has mearly set up rocks, which puts me at a comfortable 6-5 start. This horribly fails to opposing Pert leads though. (i'll mention later in the threat list). Overall, this is an amazing lead. It can take a beating, phaze opponents, and also can pack quite a punch if needed. Obviously here to start up Sandstorm so this guy is here to stay.




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Gliscor @ Leftovers
Ablity:Sand Veil
Jolly 252 HP//216 SPE//40 DEF
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EARTHQUAKE
TAUNT
ROOST
U-TURN
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Let me just start off by saying that this thing is ***AMAZING***. No questions asked. Honestly, it has never let me down. I dont see why this set is used more often than it currently is. I was trying to stay away from being purely defensive, so I started to experiment and immediately fell in love with this set. It stops walls dead in their tracks; Bliss,Cress,Skarm,Celebi etc. Also can stop Set-Uppers like Gyara, or Mence. Taunt on the DD to stop them from gaining the upper hand, and then switch to something appropriate. Gliscor is an amazing Poke, being able to annoy so many things. And getting the occasional miss thanks to Sandveil isn't so bad either ;)






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Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability:Torrent
Calm 252 SPDEF//252 HP//6 DEF

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SURF
GRASS KNOT
TOXIC
PROTECT
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Where has this thing been in all my months of competitive play?? I've never seen a specially defensive Empoleon. I decided to try it out, experiment a few things, and make up an entirely new set. Its honestly better than any I've played before. Takes hits like a BEAST. Sporting 11 resistances(?) and 1 immunity, this thing is the back-bone of my team and has amazing synergy with all of my Pokes. Toxi-Stalling is what this does best. Not fearing T-bolts from Latias(doing 30-40% on average) it can set up Toxic, and then protect for Leftovers recovery, and let the opposing Poke take damage from poison and sandstorm. Really quite amazing. Good counter to Heatran as well only taking about 70-80% on average from it's Earth Power, and OHKO'ing back with STAB Surf. My main counter also to Swampert(this needs fixing), Suicune(if it doesn't have rest...which many do have) and other walls such as Cresselia, or other random Pokes that are just too hard to wither down with straightforward attacks. The moveset works amazingly for me, but the only real bummer I have is that its my only main counter to Swampert.(Doing a maximum of around 85% with Grass Knot, while Pert can do a maximum of 90% with it's STAB EQ). So if any one could help me out on this little dilemma it would be great.









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Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ablity:Intimidate
Rash 252 SPATT//184 SPE//70 ATT

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DRACO METEOR
OUTRAGE
EARTHQUAKE
FIRE BLAST
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OK, So standard Scarf-Mence would be purely physical, but I had a problem with that d; Seeing as how Outrage would keep me locked in the battle without the possibility of switching out was a real bummer, so I looked to a special set and this works great. I think this is actually the "Mix-Mence" set, minus Roost. Well, either way it works amazingly as a hard hitter. Its main objective is to get in there, get some swift KO's and get out. If it lasts long enough between entry hazard damage and sandstorm damage, I can attempt a sweep late game against weakened pokes using Outrage. This gets rid of a lot of the things that stop my team from succeeding, namely fast sweeper-oriented pokes like Ape, opposing Mence, Gyara, Magnezone, Heatran, Non-Scarf Latias, Specs-Jolt(who can sweep my whole team quite easily), etc. The glue of my team, who without, would have no secure way of dealing any damage. Mence is here to stay.






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Scizor @ Life Orb
Ablity:Technician
Adamant 252 ATT//224 SPE//32 HP

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SWORDS DANCE
BULLET PUNCH
X-SCISSOR
BRICK BREAK
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Well look who it is. LAWL. We all know him. We all love/hate him. It's the most used Pokemon in the current OU Metame, SCIZOR. He has this status for a heck of a good reason. In my opinion, CB Scizor is over-rated. I attempt a more early/late game sweeping approach at it, by using SD Scizor. This OHKO's Pert(with at least 20% prior damage). That in itself is pretty much why I decided to use it. Also OHKO'ing Vaporeon, who isn't that much of a threat to my team, but it's a nice touch. I use Brick Break over Superpower because 1. I hate the stat drop when I'm attempting a sweep 2. To stop screens from getting set up. Really not that much to say here...224 Speed EV's to outrun TTar. An essential part of my team.







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Infernape @ Life Orb
Ablity:Blaze
Jolly 252 ATT//252 SPE// 6 HP

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SWORDS DANCE
FLARE BLITZ
CLOSE COMBAT
STONE EDGE
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I'm at a loss here guys. This last team slot is extremely filler. Physical ape is REALLY good, just not on this team. Please any suggestions for replacements would be EXTREMELY appreciated. I have been thinking and thinking of what to use instead of him, and I have come to some conclusions, but I want the opinion of other people before I start making any changes.



ok, well thats the team
really unique movesets :D
time for a
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Threat List;
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Swampert. My god this guy can rip through my team like a hot knife through butter-and its not even supposed to sweep!! Ugh, it sucks that my only real counter is Empoleon, who can't even OHKO with x4 weak Grass Knot >< . I need a surefire counter to this thing.

Although a minor threat, it has to be handled with care if Empoleon is out of the match, as it can easily sweep my team with those strong Draco Meteors.

Again, a minor threat, but its such a pain to attempt to take down.

(ehhe only gif i could find) Ok, to say this is a "Threat" to my team leaves me speechless. OHKO's every single member of my team, except Empoleon, who can stall it out, maybe. I REALLY need a way to effectively counter this beast.

The best wall in the game IMO. Toxi-stalling doesnt work, due to rest. Grass knot does pitiful damage once it has a few CM's under it's belt. The only chance I have at killing this is if it comes in on Gliscor, thinking I'll switch, only to have me Taunt the CM , then switch to Empoleon and start firing Toxic/Grass Knot. Other than that , I got nothin -.-

Jirachi. Ugh. Getting a Trick on one of my walls is the worst thing that could possibly happen :'( Leaves me pretty much useless, to be honest. Getting rid of Ape(if i do), could probably have this guy annoying me even more that it currently is.

Ugh. IMO the most broken pokemon in history of Pokemon. A 100% Acc sleep move, incredible recovery with Toxic Orb, and Substitute all make this guy a real pain for me to come across. If Gliscor is out, I dont know what I'd do, as even Mence who resists Focus Punch easily takes around 50% damage to it.


Thats all for my mediocre threat list :)











*Ok Well thats it for this RMT. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it
**and whatever eheheh. Kindof took a long time to make it. d; Restating
***some key points here, The main point of this team is to slowly cripple
****away my opponent, and if something comes in that I'm afraid
*****of, I have a safe switch in. EX. Infernape coming in on Empoleon
******threatening to KO , I switch to Mence. I think this team has
*******perfect synergy with each other. But yet, it HAS let me down
********more than once. So this is where I leave it up to you
*********Smogon-ers to give me some good advice on any changes
**********I should make, I honestly do take all rates seriously and I
***********do think them through. Ok so thats all. heres my team one
************more time;

Ok, so with that, I will let you guys RATE AWAY!

 

[TheNewOne]

Hey I was looking around for ideas for MY ss team and saw this didn't have any comments. A whole lot of time must have gone into this so even though I'm kind of under experienced, I'll see if I can help =)
If you're not sure about your last slot you could throw in a Wish support Vaporeon, which helps with your whole 'stall them out and slowly cripple' attack plan. something like this would work well

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Bold
188 HP / 252 Def / 68 Spe
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Toxic

Toxic will help cripple them when combined with ss and renders walls a much less pain in the ass, wishing obviously being there to support your own wall (hippowdon) or just anyone who needs it.

Alternatively it seems like a Heatran would be the solution to alot of your problems on the threat list

Something like this would be work

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Naive
252 SpAttk/ 252 Spd/ 4 HP
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
- HP Grass

I personally run this set and it's AWESOME =P I go Flamethrower over FB because of the accuracy but thats just a personal preferance. Dragon Pulse takes care of Latias, HP Grass takes care of Swampert whoa has a 4x weakness and Flamethrower/FB and Earth Power hit everything on that threat list for super effective except for Starmie who is neutral.
ALternatively you could run Choice Specs on him but I prefer being able to outspeed and then hit hard, it's saved my ass countless times.

Anyways again, sorry I'm a little under experienced but I hope this helps somewhat =)

 

[ungulateman]

While I don't have much to say, Bug Bite is better than X-Scissor on Scizor, because of Technician. It isn't giving you any crucial KOs, but it does give you a bit more damage.

ungulateman

 

[cyberzero]

Your Salamence isn't very efficient; losing 25% to Stealth Rock and another 6% to Sand all the time is VERY costly and you don't really have much reason to use Scarf, as Infernape is fast and Scizor has Bullet Punch. In the event that you are trying to catch up to a lategame DD'er or something with Agility, you will probably already be too low in HP to do your job, and probably not hit hard enough either. I would recommend that you change your Salamence to standard LO MixMence immediately because it is not only more reliable, it can OHKO most Swampert with Draco Meteor.

As for Empoleon, I understand that you like the defensive set, but if you aren't going with the SubPetaya set, there are Pokemon that can take that role much better. Vaporeon, Latias, Suicune, basically any good bulky Pokemon can do that better than Empoleon. I'm sorry, but even with the Sand resist, Emp should really go. A ScarfLatias in particular could really help your team out, taking the place of ScarfMence.

Slack Off over Stone Edge on Hippowdon, and Gliscor seems fine.

The Scizor you are using is nice, but X-Scissor is unecessary. If you must keep a STAB Bug move for whatever reason, Bug Bite is the way to go. I'd recommend keeping Brick Break or replacing it with Superpower, as well as replacing X-Scissor with Roost. This will allow Scizor to squeeze in more Swords Dances in order to sweep better.

To be honest, your Infernape seems the most out of place. I would recommend a ScarfTar, ScarfRotom-A or LOStarmie in that place, as they are nice, fast and powerful. Your team is already full of things that are bothered by Blissey once Infernape is gone, so Starmie might be too much, but it helps deal with Suicune and Breloom, as well as Jirachi. Tyranitar is a beast, no matter what set you choose. It seems that since you have no defined core or sweeper that your team is based around, a CurseTar would be interesting in that spot.

Sorry for suggesting so many changes, and I know it takes away from the full potential of Sandstorm, but I feel that they would be best for this team overall.

 

[Toxic Torture]

Just a suggestion, but why not try a T-tar in place of Infernape? It likes Sandstorm and is a major threat. I don't really have time to really look through the team and figure out which set would work well atm, sorry.

 

[george182]

scarf flygon over mence, imune to sandstorm and resisist rock, while be an effective cb t-tar counter.

Lucario over infernape, no water weakness, has a more powerful priority move, more attack resists sanstorm and flare blitz cuts ur hp so low in the sand withlife orb and doesn't gain any more ko's than fire punch(after an SD).

 

[Vapor Trails]

I'm at a loss here guys. This last team slot is extremely filler. Physical ape is REALLY good, just not on this team. Please any suggestions for replacements would be EXTREMELY appreciated. I have been thinking and thinking of what to use instead of him, and I have come to some conclusions, but I want the opinion of other people before I start making any changes.

I suggest a MixApe set over the current one.
You said so yourself that this spot was mainly a filler, so I don't see any harm in changing it.
Here is the set I use:
Infernape @ Life Orb
Blaze/Naive
EV's: 64 Atk / 252 SpA / 192 Speed
~Flamethrower
~Grass Knot
~Close Combat
~HP Ice
This set helps counter Swampert a bit more, sothat if Empoleon dies Swampert doesn't sweep your entire team.
I give it a 5/10.

Comments inside the quoting.