Sand Rush (A Sandstorm Team)

[Vatti]

Hey everyone, I know I already have a thread going, but i only use that team and this one, I figured I'd get this one rated too.

Tyranitar
Careful Leftovers Sand Stream
252 Hp/64 SpA/192 SpD
~Stealth Rock
~Crunch
~Fire Blast
~Ice Beam

My weather inducer. I use him as a lead and for Stealth rocks. Crunch for STAB and it kills Deoxys-D. Ice Beam and Fire Blast for general coverage.


Stoutland
Adamant Choice Band Sand Rush
4 Hp/252 Atk/252 Spe
~Return
~Ice Fang
~Crunch
~Superpower

The powerhouse of the team. This guy out in a sandstorm with choice and STAB Return is a wrecking ball. Superpower for steels that try to wall. Crunch for ghost types. Ice Fang for dragons and stuff like Gliscor.


Landorus
Timid Life Orb Sheer Force
4 Hp/252 Atk/252 Spe
~Rock Polish
~Focus Blast
~Earth Power
~Hidden Power (Ice)

Sweeper, Cleaner, etc. Just in here for some good nice power.


Alakazam
Timid Focus Sash Magic Guard
4 Hp/252 SpA/252 Spe
~Psyshock
~Focus Blast
~Hidden Power (Fire)
~Shadow Ball

My Revenge Killer, but often times i sweep 3-4 pokemon with him. standard set, shock for special walls that try to stop me over psychic plus OHKO terrakion. Focus blast for coverage. Shadow ball for ghosts and opposing psychic types. Hp for steels.


Ferrothorn
Impish Leftovers Iron Barbs
252 Hp/252 Def/4 SpD
~Leech Seed
~Power Whip
~Spikes
~Thunder Wave

Good physical wall. Thunder wave on the switches to cripple sweepers and the like. Leech seed anything that decides to stay in and power whip for water and ground types.


Heatran
Calm Leftovers Flash Fire
252 Hp/216 Def/40 Spe
~Magma Storm
~Earth Power
~Toxic
~Protect

Trapper Heatran. Magma Storm, Toxic if necessary and then just wait out til their precious pokemon is dead. Protect has saved me a lot in tight situations. Plus when both storms are up plus toxic its pretty nice to do all that damage with none done to me. i also love trapping opponents blissey and chansey. They dont expect it, and toxic protect with storms up theyre dead in no time.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who read this! This team is performing well giveing me about a 4/5 win ratio. It's very consistent from the testing ive done aswell. What do you all think?

[azeem40]

That's Landorus, not Tornadus.

[Vatti]

Ahh, thank you, small mistake. Anything else? Surely that isnt all you had to say was it?

[azeem40]

Protect > T-Wave, so it can stall and get more leftovers recovery.

[That Crazy Russian™]

Protect > T-Wave, so it can stall and get more leftovers recovery.

what? no. just stop. you obviously no nothing of our current metagame. generally, protect is a terrible move, as it just wastes a turn, allows the opponent a free switch, allows the opponent to set-up, etc. the last being the most dangerous, where with one boost, one of the 30-some pokes can get one boost and sweep a team. a key example is gyarados, who after one boost, sweeps entire teams. at least thunder wave is great support.

[azeem40]

what? no. just stop. you obviously no nothing of our current metagame. generally, protect is a terrible move, as it just wastes a turn, allows the opponent a free switch, allows the opponent to set-up, etc. the last being the most dangerous, where with one boost, one of the 30-some pokes can get one boost and sweep a team. a key example is gyarados, who after one boost, sweeps entire teams. at least thunder wave is great support.

I guess you haven't used Ferrothorn. Leftovers recovery can mean the difference in a battle. Before criticizing others, back yourself up.

[That Crazy Russian™]

I guess you haven't used Ferrothorn. Leftovers recovery can mean the difference in a battle. Before criticizing others, back yourself up.

you list one example of how it can be good, while i listed 3 examples of how it isnt good. yeah...i didnt back myself up....

protect is great in doubles, and also on stall teams. however, if you knew two shits about the metagame today, you would know that stall is pretty much dead in b/w2. stall sucks majorly. even semi-stall struggles. so many things counter it now, its not even f*cking funny.

you say how lefties recovery can mean the difference between a win or a loss. well, newsflash, that free switch you just gave the opponent, or the free rock polish/swords dance/etc, or even giving your prediction and play away can mean the difference as well. an extra 6% almost never matters, and will very rarely make the difference between a 2hko and a 3hko.

you tell me to back myself up, yet you are just digging yourself deeper into a hole filled with you babbling nonsense based on maybe 5 battles of playing comp. yeah, nice move there.

[azeem40]

you list one example of how it can be good, while i listed 3 examples of how it isnt good. yeah...i didnt back myself up....

protect is great in doubles, and also on stall teams. however, if you knew two shits about the metagame today, you would know that stall is pretty much dead in b/w2. stall sucks majorly. even semi-stall struggles. so many things counter it now, its not even f*cking funny.

you say how lefties recovery can mean the difference between a win or a loss. well, newsflash, that free switch you just gave the opponent, or the free rock polish/swords dance/etc, or even giving your prediction and play away can mean the difference as well. an extra 6% almost never matters, and will very rarely make the difference between a 2hko and a 3hko.

you tell me to back myself up, yet you are just digging yourself deeper into a hole filled with you babbling nonsense based on maybe 5 battles of playing comp. yeah, nice move there.

Also, a quote:
"Protect is an appealing alternative over either move, as it is useful not only for scouting, but for racking up Leech Seed and Leftovers recovery as well."

While you resort to pathetic insults, he is going to get actual advice, instead of Theory-mon crap from you.

[Vatti]

Alright, that will be done. Also, can Tyranitar be bulkier/last longer than Hippowdon with a certain set and EV's?

[Luciola]

I would agree T-Wave over Protect, but would disagree on the reasoning. Azeem is correct, the reasoning is purely theoretical and situational. Metagame shifts from region to region (geographical region not pokemon regions). Better is to say that T-Wave is good if you want support for your team and pick up an offensive momentum, and Protect for scouting and racking Seed and Lefties recovery. Saying Protect is a useless move vis-a-vis T-Wave is a great support is not absolute.

Leech Seed and Lefties recovery CAN mean a huge difference in battle.I'm not saying this as an absolute rule, but I'm saying that this is also situational. But in Ferrothorn's case with the listed moves above, it does. The moveset has Spikes in it, most advanced players would always encounter the option of making their pokes stay or switching out after a Leech Seed. If he decides to switch out for a different pokemon, then he can rack hazard damage unless it has levitate or a flying type. If he switches in with the latter, you can counter by switching ferrothorn out for another pokemon. The Leftover recovery can help in maintaining a defensive momentum for ferrothorn.

And please stop bashing people's opinions. It's not helping the thread maker in making his decisions. Give him options.

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Alright, that will be done. Also, can Tyranitar be bulkier/last longer than Hippowdon with a certain set and EV's?

Hippowdon is a better physical wall than Tyranitar, while Tyranitar is a better special wall. Type matching wise, Hippowdon is better because it has less weaknesses than tyranitar and has access to an instant recovery while tyranitar has access to residual recovery with leftovers. If you are considering Tyranitar, go max HP and SpD EVs with a Careful or Sassy nature. I said it since you said that you have Ferrothorn as a physical wall. You can counter his weakness by switching out. Also with tyranitar you could up your offensive while maintaining your defensive position with Stealth Rock + Dragon Tail = Racking Hazards Damage and Phazing.

With Heatran, you could also go Trapper set by switching Lava Plume with Magma Storm. It may sound gimmicky but it works. Toxic + Magma Storm.

[Ghosts of the Forums]

use ice fang over wild charge on stoutland. and crunch over pursuit. i've used him. i know what works.

[Vatti]

Alright, ice fang for wild charge i will do now. Crunch over pursuit im going to test a bit, ive gotten plenty of kills on pokemon tryin to get away for whatever reason.

[Ghosts of the Forums]

most people underestimate the damage he can do. thus they don't switch and get killed by return or (most people don't expect him to be able to learn it,) superpower.

[Vatti]

Alright guys chill lol i could feel the tension reading it . I tested with protect on Thorn and found it underwhelming. It helped 2-3 times but most of the time i found myself want paralysis. So, I'll be stickin with Thunder Wave

[Vatti]

I did testing with Tyranitar instead of Hippowdon and I'm liking it. Also, I tryed out the trapper Heatran set and I love it

[Ilan]

Protect in singles is useless and annoying. it always gives you out thatv you want to predict it is good against choice users but.. how the hell you know it is a choice user? what would be better on the switch of a fire type? protect or thunder wave?

You are new in competitive so don't argue with darklord he knows what he is talking about.
Why you use starmie? while your team is barely hazard weak? if you want a wall use gastordon with the current set starmie is useless not hitting hard enough or taking hits. slowbro is also an option if you fear terrakion. on the same mind of protect drop protect on heatran and put hidden power ice in general I would use a more offensive heatran on this team.

Tyranitars' set is also upside down I don't see why you use each move just use the standard emboar or a scarftar. use pursuit to beat lati@s and espeon.

[Vatti]

Protect in singles is useless and annoying. it always gives you out thatv you want to predict it is good against choice users but.. how the hell you know it is a choice user? what would be better on the switch of a fire type? protect or thunder wave?

You are new in competitive so don't argue with darklord he knows what he is talking about.
Why you use starmie? while your team is barely hazard weak? if you want a wall use gastordon with the current set starmie is useless not hitting hard enough or taking hits. slowbro is also an option if you fear terrakion. on the same mind of protect drop protect on heatran and put hidden power ice in general I would use a more offensive heatran on this team.

Tyranitars' set is also upside down I don't see why you use each move just use the standard emboar or a scarftar. use pursuit to beat lati@s and espeon.

I'm assuming your speaking to azeem in the first few sentences? And i explained why each move was there for Tar, what do you see wrong with it? And i updated the OP, i tried Slowbro, i lost about 5 in a row, then i tried several other pokes and lost some more, starmie wasnt that good but i went on a losing streak after dumpin him lol. I finally tried alakazam and loved it. I won 8 in a row before coming back to report results. hes perfect. usually when i bring him out he sweeps something terrible. Also, protect on heatran has won me a lot of tight situations. Using protect while toxic and magma storm and sandstorm are up and savin some damage to myself is just as useful as having an extra attack.

[Ilan]

I'm assuming your speaking to azeem in the first few sentences? And i explained why each move was there for Tar, what do you see wrong with it? And i updated the OP, i tried Slowbro, i lost about 5 in a row, then i tried several other pokes and lost some more, starmie wasnt that good but i went on a losing streak after dumpin him lol. I finally tried alakazam and loved it. I won 8 in a row before coming back to report results. hes perfect. usually when i bring him out he sweeps something terrible. Also, protect on heatran has won me a lot of tight situations. Using protect while toxic and magma storm and sandstorm are up and savin some damage to myself is just as useful as having an extra attack.

Yes I was talking to him in the first 3 sentences, protect on ferrothorn is really useless only for a little leftovers and leech seed I wouldn't use that on heatran well it seems useful use what fits you.
alakazam is a good choice actually he is a really good pokemon.

5 lose strike? then can you please note which threats did the most so we can give you better rates and maybe suggests improvements to remedy it?


also use rock polish on landorus it will give you a faster pokemon since you said without starmie you entered a losing streak I guess you need a faster pokemon. also U-trun is kinda weak there is no real point to put U-turn outside of choice sets.

Also for the next time please put longer description especially on sets that are not standard.

[Vatti]

Yes, I'll try harder in the future. As for the threats, just typical really powerful sweepers. Genesect, Rock polish or substitue terrakion. Landorus, etc. sub/spore breloom gave me trouble too. But, Alakazam conviently checks all of them. HP the genesect, psyshock terrakion and Breloom and he wont one shot landorus, but Stoutland handles him as long as he lives til Landorus comes out. Along with magic guard alakazam is really a perfect fit. I'm not having trouble with the team really anymore. That 8 win streak is now 15 . I don't seee the team gettin any better than it is, except for the tyranitar. What do you suggest i could do with him? I chose him over Hippowdon cuz as Luciola said, he is a better Special wall. I still wanna keep Stealth rock on him.

[Ilan]

Yes, I'll try harder in the future. As for the threats, just typical really powerful sweepers. Genesect, Rock polish or substitue terrakion. Landorus, etc. sub/spore breloom gave me trouble too. But, Alakazam conviently checks all of them. HP the genesect, psyshock terrakion and Breloom and he wont one shot landorus, but Stoutland handles him as long as he lives til Landorus comes out. Along with magic guard alakazam is really a perfect fit. I'm not having trouble with the team really anymore. That 8 win streak is now 15 . I don't seee the team gettin any better than it is, except for the tyranitar. What do you suggest i could do with him? I chose him over Hippowdon cuz as Luciola said, he is a better Special wall. I still wanna keep Stealth rock on him.

Tyranitar is kinda weird I never really used him.. but I know the mixed set is really annoying something like: crunch/SR/ice beam/Fire Blast

with those EVs: 252 HP, 64 sp.A rest on sp.defense
sassy nature (I took the set from smogon) they do calcs and all so they probably know the best I would use the chople berry it is really useful.