SM OU Sandyzard

I'm new to gen 7, and made some modifications to my Gen 6 team. I'd appreciate thoughts on how to better adapt it to the new meta:

Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 240 HP / 88 SpD / 180 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Night Slash

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Roost

Tyranitar is my default lead to set up sand, rocks, and to destroy Landorus-T leads. EVs and nature let it outspeed Landorus-T, and I've so far managed to surprise people with the Ice Beam. Fire Blast is my answer to Ferrothorn and Scizor.

Excadrill hits hard and fast, and Rapid Spin is necessary for Charizard to get in. I'm thinking about dropping Rock Slide for Swords Dance for sweeping potential, but I'm worried about dealing with Mega Charizard-Y.

Kartana is a revenge killer and provides type coverage against fairies and water types.

Sylveon provides specially defensive bulk and special attacking strength. Given the downgrade to UU, is there a clearly superior alternative to fill that role on the team? I like the fairy typing to tank dragons trying to hit Charizard X, and surprise HP Ground deals with Heatran and Magnezone.

Rotom-Wash is good for taking hits and setting someone else up to hit back. EVs are again to outspeed Landorus-T and to give it physical bulk since Tyranitar and Sylveon have special bulk.

Mega Charizard X cleans up once Stealth Rocks and major defensive threats are gone.
 
I haven't rated a team before, but ive been playing a lot of gen 7 recently so i hope i can help.

First off, you are right, there is a much bette replacement for Sylveon in AV Magearna, its great typing gets rid of both fairy weaknesses, become immune to poison and neutral to steal, it adds another volt switch to your team to give you other opportunities to bring in your sweepers.

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Fleur Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

This does does add a fire weakness and a ground weakness to your team, the fire isn't a big deal, but you don't have many ground switch ins on this team, rotom-w being your only switch to a lando-t at this point, your t-tar lead only outspeeds defensive variants of lando, getting OHKOed by all other sets. Flyium-z swords dance is pretty common right now, and as soon as it sets up you would have to sack several mons to kill it, it ohkos everything on your team after rotom has any chip damage, scarfed lando-t sweeps your team after rotom dies, the only 2 pokemon you could even hit it with are, kartana and excadrill if sand is up, it outspeeds and ohkos everything else, and even with max rolls on their best move, you only do 97% if they each get a hit in. thats why i suggest adding this next mon over T-Tar.

Hippowdon @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Toxic/Whilrwind
- Stealth Rock

I kept smooth rock on there for you but i would suggest leftovers, since it is a much bulkier pokemon than Tyranitar, it can continually come in to keep refreshing the sand for you, so the extended limit isn't necessary. This pokemon walls most sets of Lando-T. Scarfed lando does 30% with eq allowing you to stall it out with slack off and even more easily with leftovers, toxic is your only way of actually damaging flying or levitate mons, but whirlwind lets you force them out, between these 2 mons you are much better protected against lando-t

Hope i helped!
 
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Hi man.
You got a nice team there, but I still think you could make some changes in order to be more competitive in the (ultra)sun and (ultra)moon meta.

First off, I suggest you remove rapid spin and put swords dance on excadrill so it becomes a setup sweeper. A z-move (steel) is also a good idea in my opinion to make more damage and to avoid losing life from life orb.

Secondly, I don't think kartana is that relevant on your team, because it gets walled by some same mons than excadrill, like skarmory or celesteela. That's why you probably should put AV tangrowth instead. This thing can patch your ground weaknesses, by especially walling zygarde that rotom-w doesn't appreciate. It also gives you an other water resistance that your team definitely needs, so you can more easily check ash-greninja among others. Finally it's a good pivot and can help your whole team using knock off.

The next change I suggest you is replacing sylveon to specs tapu lele, because that thing hits awfully hard under psychic terrain. More than keeping a fairy type in your team, lele's psychic terrain stops ash-gren from using water shuriken, which could help you excadrill sweep.

Furthermore, your team still needs hazard control. Well rotom-w can now learn defog in ultra sun/moon.

Finally, I don't think dragon dance is that good on charizard-x, as it is still easily revenge killable after a dd. Neither adamant nature is good in my opinion.

Here is the team after the changes:
Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 240 HP / 88 SpD / 180 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Excadrill @ Steelium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Roost

Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

I'm sorry for the few mistakes I might have done and I hope that these suggestions will help you keeping forward in the 7th gen's strategy.
 

Indigo Plateau

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UU Leader
Hey Pureblood Sith Warden! Sand teams were my personal favorite back in Gen 6, and sadly you don't see them as much anymore due to the increase in defensive pokemon that trouble it, like Celesteela. I still think they have some underlying potential, however, so I'll do my best to bring out the potential in yours!

Overview



Like I stated above, sand has taken a huge hit in the likes of offensive/defensive mons that have arisen to counter the playstyle. Offensively, you have to worry about mons like Ash-Greninja, Kartana, Zygarde, and offensive Lando-T, as they all have the capability to beat the main sand core of TTar + Excadrill without any prior damage. Defensively, you have to try and find a way to break past mons like Celesteela, Lando-T, Mega Scizor, and Tangrowth, who all have a way to tank hits and annoy your primary sand core as well. The fixes to the team will look to improve the matchup against pokemon that trouble sand while overall providing the most consistent team possible in the current metagame.

Threats


Celesteela is generally a nuisance to sand teams due to its great defensive typing. It can take on your whole team bar Rotom-W and Zard-X, who don't appreciate Leech Seed + Protect as they get worn down too easily. Celesteela can really put a dent in your plans to abuse TTar + Excadrill, since it easily walls both of them. It also walls Kartana and Sylveon with ease since they're both scarfed. Your only ways of breaking it are with Rotom-W and Zard-X, both of which can easily be worn down through Leech Seed + Protect.


Much like Celesteela, Heatran finds it easy to wall the vast majority of your team besides Excadrill. Kartana and Sylveon can only hit it with Sacred Sword and HP Ground respectively if you predict correctly, and your Zard-X doesn't have EQ so it won't appreciate an Earth Power coming its way. Magma Storm wears down your entire team easily, with the best resists in TTar and Rotom-W being prone to a possible Toxic.


Although not as popular as it once was, Zygarde has been getting slightly better due to the influx of Tyranitar and Heatran. Against your team, a banded Zygarde effortlessly fires off Thousand Arrows and gets a kill every time because your ground immunity is Rotom-W. You have to make sure you play aggressively around it with Sylveon / Zard-X in order to not give it an opportunity to come in for free.


Mega Venusaur walls TTar, Sylveon, Kartana, and Rotom-W and proceeds to either get off a Leech Seed or threaten your team with its dual stab + potential HP Fire, of which only Zard-X resists. Sand cuts down on its recovery, but TTar still takes a solid amount from Giga Drain and you want to keep it as healthy as possible to support your Excadrill.


Mega Lopunny's perfect neutral coverage and access to Fake Out greatly annoy your team. Its fighting STAB are already hitting half of your team super effectively, and you don't have anything in the other half to stomach a Return. Sylveon and Rotom-W both get worn down easily in battle, and with Stealth Rock up, every single member is getting 2HKOd. Mega Lopunny has also seen more usage due to recent metagame trends, so it's definitely a threat you have to take into account.


Ash-Greninja enjoys firing off strong Hydro Pumps at your sand core, and its combination of Water/Dark STAB attacks means that nothing is coming in safely. Sylveon lacks recovery and is easy to wear down, and a choice locked Kartana is good at revenge killing but also very easy to take advantage of. Since Rotom-W is PhysDef, it won't enjoy taking even a resisted Hydro Pump.


Although Tapu Lele might not be hard to revenge kill given your dual steel + Zard-X, it gets to fire off a strong Moonblast (or Psychic if TTar goes down) every time it's brought in against TTar, Rotom-W, or Sylveon. Pair it with Mega Alakazam, and you now have something that is capable of outspeeding your entire team if it were to trace Excadrill's Sand Rush. Sand Rush + Psychic Terrain mean that Zam is capable of OHKOing practically every member with some prior damage.

Suggestions

Sylveon is outclassed in the current OU meta, and you're better off using just about any other Fairy type. Kartana shouldn't be running an Adamant nature with Scarf, as you lose out on the good Speed stat it holds for a Scarfer. DD Zard-X is outclassed by 3 atks + Roost because it gets worn down too easily, which you can't afford. Sand is harder to build around in SM, but I'll try my best to make it work. Keeping all of these things plus the previously mentioned threats in mind, let's get to the suggestions:

>

First and foremost, Clefable is a superior option in OU if going for a pure Fairy type. Opting for Clefable here cures several weaknesses present in your team:
1) It gives you an alternate Rock setter, allowing you to change TTar's set to a different one.
2) It gives you a reliable switch-in to Zygarde, which freely fires of Thousand Arrows against your entire team.
3) It is a better check against Mega Lopunny, which cannot 2HKO outside of using PuP.
4) Clefable has reliable recovery, allowing it to stay healthy throughout the match if need be.

I would recommend the set below for the following reasons:

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast


Giving it Stealth Rock allows you to change TTar's set (more on this later). Fire Blast lets you wear down the likes of Ferrothorn/Scizor/Celesteela who usually try to take advantage of Clefable; this also makes Excadrill's job of sweeping easier in the long run.

>

This is a change that I was unsure of on paper, but when I tested the team out, it helped. Ferrothorn gives you a switch-in to Psychic spam and Ash-Greninja and serves as a good blanket check to a lot of the meta in general. The problem that I was having with Kartana on the team is that Excadrill + Kartana both struggle to break nuisances to sand, such as Celesteela and Scizor. I also couldn't find a safe way of bringing Kartana in against something due to the makeup of the team, and a lot of times I usually found myself revenge killing faster threats with Excadrill anyways. Another thing that bothered me is that Ash-Greninja just pressured the team way too much for my liking, as with a bit of chip damage it's able to beat TTar + Drill + Kart solely with Water Shuriken (and that's if it isn't in against the other half of your team, which it outspeeds). This doesn't really solve the Celesteela and Heatran issue, however, so that's where the next suggestion comes in.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Knock Off


>

This might seem like a crazy change at first, but it's something that has surprisingly worked for me. Charizard-X was good at applying pressure against the opposing team, but I didn't like the triple ground weakness it gave to the team. While I was looking for something else that could still pressure Celesteela + Heatran + Zygarde, I came up with the following heat set:

Latios @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psychic / Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake
- Roost


Looks like trash, but Mega Latios was one of the most effective lures that I've used and it worked for the team. Celesteela and Heatran both get nailed by Thunderbolt and Earthquake respectively, thinking that they can switch-in safely. These moves also hit a variety of different targets: Toxapex, Mantine, Tyranitar, Magearna, Greninja, and so on. The first move can be switched, but I found Psychic to be the better option just because it was more useful at breaking down Mega Venusaur balances, since Psychic does a hefty amount to it (and Toxapex). You lose out on Draco's power for things like Zygarde and Lando-T, but it's not like either of these want to naturally switch-in to Latios anyways, and Psychic 2HKOs them. Something else that I found useful was its 110 base speed compared to Zard-X's 100; this helps you outspeed more threats like Kartana, Blacephalon, and base 100's.

>

Although you lose out on the extra turns of Sandstorm that Smooth Rock provides, I believe Choice Band Tyranitar is a better fit for your team. The primary reason is because it's able to hit defensive Pokemon much harder than a support variant, giving Excadrill a chance to break through Celesteela, Scizor, and Venusaur. Moreover, Smooth Rock Tyranitar is not as good this gen because the difference in 3 turns of sand usually won't make a difference in Excadrill's chances of sweeping - it's whether or not its checks are worn down.

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake


>

With no Z move on your team, I'd opt to make Excadrill SD + Steelium Z to have a better chance of cleaning late game. Rapid Spin is generally inferior on Excadrill this gen unless you desperately need hazard control since it's very easy to abuse it while it spins. SD Steelium allows it to break past would-be checks, as at +2, Excadrill is doing a ridiculous amount of damage against everything - for example, it does over half to Celesteela with Corkscrew Crash and OHKOs defensive Mega Venusaur from full. Life Orb provides more consistent damage overall and if you don't like Steelium, you can always just go with SD + LO (I haven't tried that set, however).

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance



Final Team




*Note:* I made Ferrothorn the standard set with Spikes and I removed Rapid Spin on Excadrill. The times that I tested the team out, I really suffered from losing momentum and wasting Excadrill to spin hazards off my side of the field. I usually found that the team worked best when I hazard stacked (even if my opponent did as well) and then weakened everything down to a point where Excadrill could clean, but if you feel that hazards are too much of an issue, you can always implement the change below:

Optional:
Defog > Pain Split
In practice, I wanted the team to be able to pull off as many clean-ups with TTar + Excadrill as possible. I found that removing my own hazards when I gave Defog to Rotom-W was counter-intuitive, as it allowed my opponent to be at more health. I wanted to still list this as an option just in case you're struggling with opposing hazard-stacking builds, although I surprisingly haven't ran into them as much as before; not sure if this is still a case of "new Defog users" syndrome or just coincidence.

Conclusion

The end goal of my rate was to try and make your Sand core as effective as possible. Although some changes might seem questionable at first and the team might take a bit of getting used to (at least it did for me), l was happy with the end results. The new team is not without flaws, however; Blacephalon has been almost everywhere on the ladder, and unless you catch it on a double, you'll probably have to lose a mon or outpredict it before trapping it with Tyranitar. Ash-Greninja is still a threat, especially with Spikes, since your primary way and basically only way of checking it is with Ferrothorn, so make sure you keep it healthy. Volcarona seems scary at first, but it isn't impossible to play around since you know they'll almost always try and come in on Ferrothorn/Clefable. If it scares you too much, you can run Thunder Wave or Encore, but I've found it to be manageable if I played aggressively. Don't let Clefable get weakened if your opponent has a Zygarde, because it can still fire off Thousand Arrows or possibly setup if you predict incorrectly. Lastly, the stall matchup is almost impossible to win outside of your CB TTar, but I only [luckily] ran into it once.

In between Thanksgiving break, testing out the team, and exams, this rate took me about almost two weeks to write and complete, so I hope I was able to help you out. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about changes, the overall structure of the team, etc. Test the team out and get a good feel for it, even if the first few games don't go your way. Good luck! :toast:
 
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