A sandbox team for funs

[Exc4libur]

Pretty much a sandbox team. Be Critical, thanks! (btw had some help from CakesofSpan) So I can't take all the credit for this team. Thanks!

Landorus@Yache Berry
Timid
Trait:Sand Force
252SpAtk/252Spd
-HP Ice
-Substitute
-Earth Power
-Protect

There to do damage. Hurts stuffs with the Sand Force boost. Max Speed. Max Sp Atk. HP Ice, to deal With Grass(Whimsicott)/Dragons(Garchomp/Salamence/Dragonite)/ and other Ground Types. The max speed, is basically to outrun other Landorus and get a possible KO with HP Ice. Special Offensive Landorus works well because I felt the team would be to physically orientated. I wouldn't want to be completely Crippled by Will-o-wisp. Landorus Chosen basically due to it's ability and special atk.

Excadrill@life orb
Trait: Sand Rush
Jolly
252Atk/252Spd
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-X-scissor
-Protect

Sweeper of the team. Speed is awesome in the sand, so why not use it to try and sweep? Protect is there so I can use Equake from a Partner without repercussions. It has pretty good Coverage, I had a bit of a Dilemma choosing Between X-Scissor and Shadow Claw. X-Scissor won, because I found more use for it, over Shadow Claw.

Tyranitar@Iron Ball
Trait: Sand Stream
252Hp/216Atk/40SpD
Brave
0 IV's in Speed
-Fling
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Payback

a possible response to Trick Room teams. Fling hits something pretty hard. Could also be a possible counter to other weather starters, that would try to switch in after it. Being as slow as possible, meaning I get my sand up. When combined with the Light Screen of Rotom-W(see below) it can take those Water type hits that would otherwise Ruing the sand abusers of this team. So I freely switch him in to Special Atks. I found this is an awesome set. It gets KO and hurts things hard that switch in. It's overall good. The Extra SP.D Ev's help tank a little more.

Latios@White Herb
Trait: Levitate
252Spd/252SpAtk
Modest
-Draco Meteor
-Psychic
-Tailwind
-Thunder

Some tailwind support for extra speed (not including TTar) Draco Meteor for a strong STAB. White Herb for removing the -2 in case it's my last poke, and possible secure another KO with Draco Meteor, and not needing to switch early in the game. Thunder, Use against Opposing Water Types. 30% Paralysis and 100% accuracy in Rain, yay~ Psychic for a secondary STAB when I'm not using Draco Meteor. This set has worked well on the Latios, but I haven't made up my mind on Protect yet. Yeah, it helps stall things like Trick Room, but I feel the Tailwind can help more in the Long run. Usually if I see a Trick Room team, I won't Use Latios, just depends on what I see on the Team Preview.

Cresselia@Sitrus Berry
Trait:Levitate
Modest
252HP/84Def/108SpAtk/64SpDef
-Ice Beam
-Thunder Wave
-Psychic
-Helping Hand

Thunder Wave to slow things down, and possible stop it from doing anything. Psychic for STAB. Ice Beam, for Garchomp, and Dragons. Helping Hand for a Power boost to my other pokes. Cress has been great, taking hits, and slowing down the opposition. Not sure what else to say about it. Also Works well against TR teams, as it's not that fast. Usually Lead with Tyranitar, up there if I see a Trick Room Coming.

Rotom-Wash@Leftovers
252HP/84Def/88Spatk/84Spdef
Trait: Levitate
Careful
-Light Screen
-Hydro Pump
-Thunder bolt
-Protect

basically another Rain Counter. Hydro Pump for a boosted STAB in Rain. Thunderbolt to hit Water types. Protect, well, it's protect. Light Screen to Boost the Sp.Def of my Team. It's also been good for staying out there, and like I found was a common issue to the Previous Team before this one, it helped alleviate my TR weakness, while also having the capabilities to Take on Rain Teams. Useful to the max so far. Light Screen has worked amazing with the Special Def boost Ttar gets in the sand. Latios, and Landorus also appreciate the Sp.D Boost. Being Weak to Ice and Abomasnow usually having Perfect acc, Blizzards, if I lose the sand.

 

[pokemaster649]

I think you need to add more descriptions to it. Pictures would be appreciated as well. I think Latios is better off with protect (or sub) than thunder. And timid would be a better option than modest because you need to go with the speed tie against other latios. I think chestorest would be better (in my opinion) on cress. I personally think sash would be better than iron ball on ttar. Replace fling with protect. I think a physical landorus would be a much better option (if the set works, keep it).

 

[Exc4libur]

Pokemaster, by more descriptions, what do you mean, exactly? Sorry, I'm pretty new to the RMT thing.

 

[pokemaster649]

You know, the descriptions on the bottom on each pokemon. By when I mean put more descriptions, I mean expand them.

 

[Exc4libur]

I added some more, from what I've seen the team do in actual Battle, Couldn't think of anything else to add.

EDIT: Excadrill is the only one, I don't have much complaints about, so I don't have much to say about him. The rest I've, Expanded upon as best I could.

 

[pokemaster649]

Ok good, now look at my first post and see some of my suggestions.

 

[voodoo pimp]

You've got a really bad weakness to Abomasnow - it takes away your sand, beats 2/3 of your team one on one, and only two of your Pokémon can really hurt it. Since you will probably also struggle against Scizor, a strong Fire-type might be a good addition to your team.

I'd go with Adamant on Excadrill, you still outspeed everything and without SD the extra power matters more.

As pokemaster649 said, Fling is a bad idea - you've waste it if the opponent Protects against it, it's weaker than a Dark Gem Payback, and it forces you to give up both Protect and a better item, which among other things means you pretty much auto-lose to anything with a Fighting attack.

I don't like White Herb on Latios - it's often wasted before you can do anything with Intimidate everywhere, there's a lot of stuff you fail to OHKO without a Life Orb or Dragon Gem boost, and Latios is frail enough and has enough weaknesses that he will often go down before the second attack anyway. Also, Timid>Modest so you don't get outsped by everything if you can't get Tailwind up safely.

If you want to use offensive Cresselia, you might want to consider Musharna instead. Also, I don't see how exactly it counters Trick Room.

Finally, Careful is a bad nature on Rotom, I'm assuming that was a typo?

 

[Exc4libur]

You've got a really bad weakness to Abomasnow - it takes away your sand, beats 2/3 of your team one on one, and only two of your Pokémon can really hurt it. Since you will probably also struggle against Scizor, a strong Fire-type might be a good addition to your team.

I'd go with Adamant on Excadrill, you still outspeed everything and without SD the extra power matters more.

As pokemaster649 said, Fling is a bad idea - you've waste it if the opponent Protects against it, it's weaker than a Dark Gem Payback, and it forces you to give up both Protect and a better item, which among other things means you pretty much auto-lose to anything with a Fighting attack.

I don't like White Herb on Latios - it's often wasted before you can do anything with Intimidate everywhere, there's a lot of stuff you fail to OHKO without a Life Orb or Dragon Gem boost, and Latios is frail enough and has enough weaknesses that he will often go down before the second attack anyway. Also, Timid>Modest so you don't get outsped by everything if you can't get Tailwind up safely.

If you want to use offensive Cresselia, you might want to consider Musharna instead. Also, I don't see how exactly it counters Trick Room.

Finally, Careful is a bad nature on Rotom, I'm assuming that was a typo?

Careful was definitely a mistake. I wanted a Calm for the SpD boost.
Well, I removed Tailwind for HP fire on Latios. There is no Priority Bug Type attack that Scizor can use, so I can do some decent damage there.

as for abomasnow, Timid Latios with HP Fire could score a KO on Abomasnow, if it doesn't have Occa Berry. I gotta think of something for the Occa berry situation.

 

[voodoo pimp]

I don't like HP Fire personally, it makes you lose speed ties and doesn't KO anything without a 4x weakness. Also, Scarf Abomasnow is pretty common and Latios won't do you any good there.

If you want to keep most of your team Earthquake immune, then Moltres might be an interesting option since you don't have much trouble with Rock attacks otherwise.

 

[Exc4libur]

Moltres is an Interesting Option.
yeah I was concerned about the Speed Drop with HP fire, and Moltres.. Moltres, What kind of set would you recommend using?

Perhaps hmm A timid/Modest
Flamethrower,Roost, Sub, Air Slash(?)
With an EV investment of 216HP/164SpA(on Timid) or 128 Sp.Atk(for Modest)/128Spd(For Timid) or 164Spd(for Modest)?
haven't worked much with Moltres. Gonna have to look into it.

 

[voodoo pimp]

Eh, it's not fast enough for Sub and that double weakness means you really want Protect. Heat Wave>Flamethrower because it's doubles, and HP Grass for coverage would also be nice.

Not sure what those EVs accomplish, I'm more of a fan of simple spreads personally.

 

[Exc4libur]

Simplicity Is good. I really like the Moltres Idea. I'm definitely giving it a try.

EDIT: The EV spread was mostly because of the Sub. And adding either speed or Special Offensive depending on the Nature.

 

[Ignitrua]

I've seen Scarf Moltres be put to good use, so you may want to try that. I can see rain teams being a potential problem if you replace Latios for Moltres though - the fact that Ludicolo is on pretty much every rain team doesn't help Rotom, and Cress takes a lot of damage from rain-boosted Hydro Pumps. It also opens your weakness to Garchomp, who simply loves sandstorm, and can take on a good number of your guys. So I'd keep Latios (as it can actually easily take a Timid Aboma's Blizzard) and possibly have Chandelure somwhere, possibly in the place of Landorus given its ability to check Metagross.

That's all I have, good luck!

 

[Ravix]

Zapdos seems like a pretty obvious choice here, as it pretty much outclasses Moltres in just about every way. (Spare fire STAB)

Zapdos @ Sitrus Berry
252 Hp/ 252 SAtk/ 4 def
Trait: Pressue
Modest (+Satk, -Atk)
-Thunderbolt
-Heat wave
-Tailwind/HP Ice
-Detect

I've run a choice specs Tyranitar before and saw some decent use (It's not very expected). This would allow you to return Landorus back to its better Physically oriented attacks. Another Choice for Landorus could be Air Balloon Terakion which has really good synergy with Sandstorm and Excadrill.

 

[Ignitrua]

Actually, special Landorus is great in that it OHKOs Metagross in Sandstorm, which is great for a sand team. Zapdos doesn't outclass Moltres in every way - true it does have tricks like Electric STAB, but sometimes Fire STAB can be a bit better. Also, Zapdos is weak to Blizzard.

 

[Ravix]

As much as I would like for Moltres to be worth a slot, it just isn't.

There are better pokemon for fire stab if that's what you're looking for. Moltres would only compound his problems with water types while Zapdos checks them while heat wave checks Scizor and Metagross effectively. HP Ice could be used if you still feel weak, but I think tailwind works out a lot better. (Could also try HP flying)

I was actually going to suggest changing landorus to Scizor, you could really utilize the priority and the power that bug bite can offer. My favorite variant is swords dance @ bug gem scizor, running just enough spd ev's to outspeed metagross. SD + bug bite kills meta and Cress as well as ohkoing cress with prior damage. The lati twins are checked as well as Aboma and Ludicolo. It's weak only to fire, which you shouldn't have any problems getting rid of.

 

[Ignitrua]

If you were actually listening to the previous discussion, we're just getting his Abomasnow weakness sorted out, more particularly Scarf Aboma. Moltres was a more unorthodox option for taking it down.

 

[Ravix]

I was reading it, if that's what you meant.

I was suggesting two changes that work together to take care of the few problems that he has as well as give him more coverage. Moltres is exactly that, unorthodox. I'm not saying that it is a bad mon, I'm just saying that it is outclassed.

That is something you just cannot argue with, wasting one slot on your team to take care of Aboma is pointless. Even Scizor is a superior replacement to Moltres.

If you REALLY want to dig into it, scizor takes care of every single one of Zapdos' counters. Couple that with Zapdos' superior typing and stats, I'm pretty sure it's obvious as to why Zapdos is the most used Pokemon in VGC.

While you seem to like sorting things out one at a time, I like to suggest changes that contribute to more than just one match up and set you up for a more consistent win rate.

**I also noticed a few comments on your Tyranitar set and agree that it's pretty lackluster.

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Fire Punch
- Low Kick

This is ZachDro's set and it counters quite the list of pokemon, including things like Latios/Aboma/Chandelure/Fire type/Ice type/Flying type/Psychic type etc...

 

[Ignitrua]

Okay, I hate to admit it, but you're probably right there. But I won't agree with replacing Landorus, it's a great counter to Metagross.
As for the ScarfTar set, it won't beat Sash Aboma, with Grass Knot being an OHKO under anything other than Sandstorm. Just sayin'.

 

[Ravix]

Scizor and Zapdos can both kill Metagross in their own respective ways. Scizor requiring a Swords dance + Bug bite for ohko and Zapdos ensuring it's defeat with heat wave/Thunderbolt.

Scizor also takes care of the Abomasnow weakness as well as just about any other Ice Type. Grass Knot is not the prevalent move on Aboma right now anyway, Giga drain is. It would be smarter for him to conserve his T-tar until mid game, utilizing Zapdos/Scizor when facing a weather team. This T-tar set is far more useful than the one he currently has listed anyway, he should be working with others mons to counter T-tar's weakness instead of trying to face it head on. Fighting, water, and steel give T-tar the most trouble. All of which can be handled by a Zapdos running HP Flying.

If you really want to keep Landorus, the best I could suggest would be replacing Cresselia for Scizor. But you still lack any way of dealing with trick room (That's including Cresselia) What you could incorporate alternatively is a trick room Cresselia utilizing a pseudo trick room team of your own. Rhyperior can handle a lot of the threats to Zapdos/Landorus etc..

STAB rock slide, Megahorn, Earthquake, protect. Plus he gets a special defense boost from sand.

 

[Ignitrua]

Fair enough. The thing with Trick Room is that it's fairly easy to play around it though, or simply keeping Iron Ball TTar is a reasonable way of beating it.

 

[Ravix]

Iron ball T-tar doesn't do anything versus trick room, he's ko'd by nearly all of their sweepers. I would personally not even use T-tar versus trick room. The Cress could definitely use an adjustment to running trick room though, just so that it could reverse their Trick room. Or rather, running amoongus instead of cresselia would be a pretty good TR counter.

It just depends on the way he wants to go with his build and what he's most comfortable with playing.