Aggressive Sandstorm with Surprise Lead

[chronofreak]

This sandstorm team is meant to do one thing: hit hard. Whereas other sandstorm teams may use the gradual damage from the weather to stall the enemy out, this team makes use of the sand to nullify focus sashes and incorporate the residual damage to make a clean sweep.

The team started out as an experiment. I wanted to see if I could create a competitive sandstorm team using only the three types immune to sand: Ground, Rock, and Steel. After some tweaking, I came to realize that the team was surprisingly good; on the Pokemon Online server, I've peaked at 1329 points, which is a feat since I consider myself an experienced amateur at best.

Now here I am, presenting my team to the community to ask for any advice on how to make it better. So, without further ado...

The Team:

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An In-Depth Look:
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Hippowdon (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- Ice Fang
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Hippowdon leads to set up the sandstorm. It seems like most Hippowdons throw out Stealth Rocks and then try to stall, so I decided to take an unconventional route with mine and made her a surprise physical attacker. The hippo's base 112 Attack isn't something to laugh at, and with maximum EV investment in Attack and a Choice Band to boot, this Pokemon can hit hard. 1HKOing a Taunting lead or an Espeon switching in is a great start to a battle.

STAB Earthquake and Stone Edge form the famous EdgeQuake combo while Superpower 1HKOs Tyranitar and provides some extra type coverage. Ice Fang lets Hippowdon take out flying leads as well as Pokemon like Gliscor and Landorus.

Archeops (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Defeatist
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
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This flying fossil is the fasted unboosted member of the team with a base Speed of 110. A STAB, Flight Gem-boosted Acrobatics coming off of a base 140 Attack stat can hit anything hard and is usually my move of choice to down bulky enemies or to just deliver a guaranteed fatal blow to a less-defensive Pokemon. STAB Stone Edge and Earthquake for coverage. Quick Attack comes in handy when I need to take out a faster or weakened opponent.

Golurk @ Focus Sash
Trait: No Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- DynamicPunch
- Rock Polish
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I feel that Golurk is often overlooked. It has three immunities, an impressive base Attack of 124, and is only one of three Pokemon that can have the ability No Guard. With that said, Golurk can be a great sweeper if used correctly.

To keep its Focus Sash intact, it's best to bring Golurk in when it's not going to suffer any damage. Once on the battlefield, Golurk can safely use Rock Polish to boost its Speed to 418, which is well out of reach of most unboosted Pokemon. The EdgeQuake combo is used once again for decent coverage, but the prized move is DynamicPunch. With the No Guard abilty, DynamicPunch always hits and thus always leaves the enemy confused. Additionally, Golurk's typing protects it from Mach Punch, ExtremeSpeed, and Quick Attack, which would otherwise ruin its sweep.

Genesect @ Expert Belt
Trait: Download
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- U-Turn
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
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Genesect has great versatility. Nice resistances, good defenses, great attacking stats, and a powerful ability allow it to handle many Pokemon with ease.

U-Turn lets Genesect take advantage of an Attack boost from Download and also helps it get out of sticky situations while dealing some damage. Flamethrower and Ice Beam have great coverage while Thunderbolt brings to the team a much needed weapon against Water-types. Since Genesect's moves grant him fantastic type coverage, an Expert Belt was a viable option.

Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Flame Charge
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This is my favorite Heatran set. Air Balloon temporarily removes Heatran's terrible Ground weakness while he uses Flame Charge to boost his Speed. After the boost, Heatran becomes a fearsome special sweeper. Fire Blast is the STAB move of choice due to it's decent accuracy and huge damage output. Earth Power offers coverage and also allows Heatran to combat other Heatran. Hidden Power [Ice] comes in handy when dealing with dragons and Pokemon with a 4x weakness to Ice, especially since Gliscor and Landorus can survive an unboosted Fire Blast.

Gastrodon (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SAtk / 16 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
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Gastrodon brings a much-needed resistance to Water moves to the team; in fact, with her ability Storm Drain, she actually benefits from absorbing Water moves. With Choice Specs and a boost from Storm Drain, Gastrodon turns into a slow-moving wrecking ball.

Surf is a powerful and reliable STAB move; with a Storm Drain boost in the rain, it destroys even resistant opponents. Earth Power and Ice Beam rounds out Gastrodon's attack coverage while Hidden Power [Grass] allows her to combat Water-types.

Team Synergy:
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Hippowdon
With 108/118/72 defense stats, Hippowdon can take physical hits easily. This allows her to switch in on hard-hitting physical attacks, especially those directed at frail Archeops.

Archeops
With nice Speed and a priority move in Quick Attack, Archeops is a great revenge killer. If a quick opponent is threatening my team, Archeops is my first pick to take the Pokemon out.

Golurk
With its Ghost typing, Golurk loves switching into moves like Fake Out, Mach Punch, ExtremeSpeed, and Hi Jump Kick. This simultaneously saves a teammate from an attack and gives Golurk the free switch in that it loves so much. Golurk makes a great teammate for Heatran, who tends to attract Fighting moves.

Genesect
Hippowdon, Archeops, Golurk, and Gastrodon fall easily to Ice- and Grass-type moves. With a 2x resistance to Ice and a 4x resistance to Grass, Genesect is a great at switching in and absorbing these attacks.

Heatran
Genesect is a magnet for Fire attacks. With a little prediction, Heatran can switch in at the right moment and absorb a Fire attack to give him a boost and start sweeping.

Gastrodon
With Hippowdon, Archeops, Golurk, and Heatran all weak to Water attacks, Gastrodon's Storm Drain ability is a godsend. Gastrodon can switch into any would-be fatal Water move and turn it into a weapon against the opponent.

Some Changes I'm Considering:

• I'm torn between Hidden Power [Ice] and Hidden Power [Grass] on Heatran. HP [Grass] helps Heatran combat Water-types, but I've found that it often isn't enough to kill a Water Pokemon outright. So, HP [Grass] or not, Heatran is still forced to switch out. Then again, if the Water Pokemon is already weakened, HP [Grass] could make all the difference.

• I've begun to wonder if Genesect would be better off with Energy Ball rather than Thunderbolt. It's a weaker attack but has the advantage of 1HKOing Quagsire and other Water/Grounds. Any thoughts?

• Many people have suggested adding Vaporeon to my team. I'm not really sure which Pokemon she would replace, however, and I don't know a good move set for Vaporeon out of the rain.

Major Threats:

• Breloom

Change History:

• Hippowdon
  • Crunch --> Ice Fang

• Genesect
  • X-Scissor --> U-Turn
  • Hidden Power [Ground] --> Thunderbolt

• Gastrodon
  • Hidden Power [Fire] --> Sludge Bomb --> Hidden Power [Grass]

Team Importable:

Hide

Hippowdon (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Ice Fang

Archeops (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Defeatist
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack

Golurk @ Focus Sash
Trait: No Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- DynamicPunch
- Rock Polish

Genesect @ Expert Belt
Trait: Download
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- U-turn
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Flame Charge

Gastrodon (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SAtk / 16 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]

 

[WiredSushi]

As you said, water is a major threat to your team. Scarfed rotom can outspeed most/all of your team, and then proceed to wreck it wiht surf. maybe throw a vaporeon in there to soak up the waer attacks, heal bell, and wish your team up to victory.

 

[Cheesy333]

have you tried scarf sect? i think it would be a great revenge killer for your team for ghost's such as gengar

Genesect @ choice scarf
252 spd, 252 spatk
naive
Flamethrower
Ice beam
u-turn
hidden power (ground)

 

[ShadowGuy]

Hello,
You do have quite a water weakness like most sandstorm teams and with Gastrodon the only thing that helps because of its ability, you probably should put thunderbolt on Genesect over Hidden Power Ground. Why not try Hidden Power Grass on your Heatran instead of Hidden Power Ice? You already have Gastrodon and Genesect with Ice Beam and Hidden Power Grass would also help Heatran when it has high speeds against water pokemon.

 

[SpectreXS]

As you said, water is a major threat to your team. Scarfed rotom can outspeed most/all of your team, and then proceed to wreck it wiht surf. maybe throw a vaporeon in there to soak up the waer attacks, heal bell, and wish your team up to victory.

Just my personal opinion, don't rely on gastrodon that much, because it takes x4 to grass moves, and if the opponent has a politoed specs with HP grass and predicts your switch, it would be a problem. I know that because I already took down a lot of gastrodon and swampert with this. Despite of that, I liked your team. Besides water-types it doesn't really have problem with the other ones. Just thinking, you can counter gyarados well in this team? (sorry I didn't reeeeally analyze that) Because if you can't, consider putting a vaporeon in your team, it can tank sometimes even the super effective moves.

 

[chronofreak]

I'm currently trying out Thunderbolt on Genesect, but after about twenty battles, I have yet to face any water types. Very strange.

Cheesy333, I'd like to avoid scarfing Genesect. I see many scarfed Genesect around and I will admit that it can be very useful, but, with its impressive type coverage and decent speed, I prefer having Genesect as a special sweeper.

ShadowGuy, I'll try Hidden Power [Grass] on Heatran for a time. Although it's going to be tough breaking away from the dragon-slaying Hidden Power [Ice], I do find that opponents switch water-types into Heatran more often than dragons.

SpectreXS, I haven't fought many Gyarados, but he can give me trouble if he gets the chance to setup. If I give Genesect Thunderbolt, however, I should be able to handle him better.

And what's all this talk about Vaporeon? Outside of rain, I haven't been terribly impressed by her. Which Pokemon on my team would Vaporeon replace and what would be a good build?

 

[chronofreak]

After trying out some changes, I've updated the team. Giving Genesect Thunderbolt has been very useful in countering Water-types, so I plan on keeping it. Also, after downing a few Gliscors and some other Flying-types with Hippowdon's Ice Fang, I've decided to keep that as well. These and other changes can be found in the new Change History section.