(NU) Rushin' In Sand ( Peaked 5th in NU leaderboards)

Hey everyone I figured I would post this team up because NU just came out and ive already had a ton of requests from people for my team list. It has peaked at around 5th on the old and new NU leaderboards and carries about a 75 pct win rate. For those of you that know me I am DMV in showdown most frequently found in wifi, competitive tutoring, and never used room. I mainly play OU but i figured id try my hand at NU and this is what I came up with:


Strategy: The strategy of the team is pretty simple, set up sand and then use Stoutland and Sandslash to abuse the sand with sand rush. Stoutland, Sandslash and spiritomb form a deadly core that covers most of NU very nicely and provides me with a lot of options. The team features 1 set up sweeper, 2 normal sweepers one special and one physical, a defensive wall, a setter, and lastly my revenger. Anyways on to the team.


Hippopotas @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Earthquake
- Slack Off

My sand setter, the thing that makes this whole team work. That being said, outside of setting sand hes pretty underwhelming. EVs allow him to potentially take an extra defensive hit but most times he just sets sand and then is used as a sacrifice. Does decently enough against some set up leads though which is a small plus.


Sandslash @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aerial Ace
- Knock Off
- Earthquake

Part of the core and part of the reason of why this team is so powerful. Sandslash boasts a respectable 110 defense allowing it to take most physical hits and keep on going. Its main perk, however, is its massive 110 attack in conjunction with the ability sand rush. At +2 Sandslash boasts almost 600 attack and outspeeds pretty much anything short of base 100s carrying choice scarf. It also outspeeds vivillion at +1 but more on that later. Aerial Ace is a bit weird I know but it allows sandslash to threaten not only the things stone edge normally would but also ko Virizion which would otherwsie give my team problems. Knock off and Earthquake are self explanatory as they allow me to cripple things by knocking items off or using a powerful stab. Knock off also gives me very good neutral coverage to a lot of the NU metagame which is a huge bonus.

Lum berry was the hardest choice I had on sandslash. I tried out life orb and the extra damage while nice made me weaker to choice scarf virizion. It was because of this I tested out Lum berry and found it to be superior. Lum berry allows me to switch in on sleep powders from vivillion and friends and threaten to ko after SR. It also allows Sandslash to absorb burns that get targeted it at for a free SD or to avoid being crippled.

Ultimately Sandslash is part of the glue that makes this team so threatening. That combined with a lot of people who underestimate offensive slash or assume its a rapid spin support makes it often times run away with games by itself.


Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Play Rough

This thing is just ridiculous in sand thats the best word for it. Sand rush allows it to outspeed everything in the meta bar 108 base speed with sashes which is insane. More so than that STAB return OHKOs or 2hkos most of the metagame in NU even things like durant take 30 pct from Return. Games are often decided at the very start if the opponents team isnt carrying a rock, steel, or ghost type because of how hard this thing is to wall. Even things that logically would counter Stoutland (like sawk) get ohkoed after rocks by return.

The other moves I feel give it the best coverage it can have even though you will be returning 90 pct of the time anyways. Superpower gives it an option vs Regice and Regirock as well as the most other steel and rock types that would wall it. Crunch allows it to hit the many ghost types that will switch in on it anticipating the return as well as doing nice damage to most of the metagame now that steel no longer resists dark. The last slot was the hardest for me between Play rough and fire fang. Fire fang gave me a Durant counter as well as another way to hit steels hard but ultimately I decided on Play rough because Spiritomb is a common switch in to Stoutland and threatens with sucker punch. Honestly Ive used play rough probably twice ever so fire fang could work here as well.

Stoutland while not extremely bulky still has respectable bulk that allows it to take most hits if it fails to ko which is a nice added bonus. Overall Stoutland is probably the MVP of this team and decides most games for me because of its power and versatility.



Spiritomb @ Choice Band
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Shadow Sneak
- Pursuit
- Trick

Spiritomb, the last part of my defensive core, provides me with a much needed ghost counter for Stoutland. It also functions as a revenge killer and an anti choice abuser with its strong STAB priorities. It also covers weakness gaps for Stoutland and Poliwrath by being immune to both psychic and fighting. Infiltrator gives it a niche to be able to pass subs and screens people will often set up on me in order to stall out my sand.

The moves for the most are self explanatory, powerful STAB priorities that allow me to hit a wide range of things. Pursuit Allows me to trap support mons and hit them for good damage as well as trapping ghosts and the ever present sigilyph which my team loves to have gone. Trick with band is the move that im the most iffy about. It locks me into my moves but also allows me to hit things much harder than I normally would which catches people off guard. Trick also allows me to cripple most set up and support pokemon like lickylicky, Cosmic Power sigilyph, rain dance/screens uxie and many more. Its also useful to be able to trick AVs away from walls to allow sigilyph an easier time. It has won me more games than it has lost me so ultimately I think the decision of trick over other moves was a good one.

Albeit very solid this is the member I feel is my weakest link in my team and arose more out of a necessity to counter ghosts than being chosen on its own merits.



Poliwrath @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Circle Throw
- Scald

A really late add but a pokemon I could never live without now. I noticed my team had some issues with Durant if Stoutland got locked into Return it would get a free hone claws and give my team some problems. Poliwrath resists everything durant can throw at it and either phases it out or threatens to burn it. Circle Throw also makes poliwrath very hard counter as it forces a switch to things that would switch in on it while racking up both SR and sandstorm damage. In testing I also found that it is able to check most versions of Archeops which is a big plus to my team as well.

The EV spread and last two moves were ultimately decided because I felt like I had enough offensive pressure and needed more of a status absorber and a reliable phaser. My team doesnt like water and ice for the most part either so being immune to one and resisting the other one is a huge blessing to my team.

While Poliwrath might not do much damage it makes up for it by being an excellent support pokemon for my team. This by far is the biggest standout hidden gem I have seen in NU.



Sigilyph @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 220 Spd / 252 SAtk / 36 SDef
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Roost

The last member of my team but certainly not the least. His speed tier is very respectable for NU and allows it to outspeed a lot of the meta game and threaten them with its great coverage. It also has the bonus of having two viable sets which keeps opponents guessing as to which it is.

The three attack+ roost I feel is the best possible set for Sigilyph as it offers unmatched coverage and pressure. Heatwave allows me to take out steels that otherwise give my team a bad time. Psyshock over psychic allows me to hit spD walls like lickylicky a little harder as well as giving me other options to poison and fighting types in NU which are all too common. Energy ball was a new change over air slash. I noticed my team had a bit of an issue with Seimitoad which is everywhere in NU. Previously my only option was to stall it out with poliwrath but neither could outright stop the other so I knew I needed another option. Energy Ball allows me to one hit seimitoad and gives me decent coverage against things like Regirock. Normally Hippo is my lead but when I see Seimatoad this becomes my lead to put immediate pressure on the obvious Seimitoad leads.

Magic Guard is obvious but has the added benefit of ignoring hazards and passive sand damage which makes Sigilyph a good fit since I lack hazard removal. It also allows me to take burns and toxics after Sandslash loses his lum berry that would otherwise cripple my team. The EV spread is simply for the Sigilyph mirror matchup. The spD investment turns a 90pct chance to 2hko into a 30 pct chance to 2hko which gives me a slight advantage over fully invested speed Sigilyphs.




Weaknesses


The team, albeit strong, does have some weaknesses. The main one being hazards. With no spinner or defogger hazards can become a nightmare to my team. This is mitigated a little by Sigilyph and people assuming Sandslash is a spinner but the damage still adds up.

My team also has a bit of weakness in the form of priority. The team relies on being faster than the opponent via sand rush which priority cancels.

The biggest weakness ironically is the thing that makes it so good and that is sand. Even with smooth rock when my sand goes out I am a bit crippled. This is mitigated a little bit by the power it brings and hippos EV spread but often times I am working on a clock and have to be careful of when I sacrifice my hippo which isnt easy because it doesnt takes hits well. This often means giving up my SR in favor of keeping it for later in the game which isnt a fun trade off.

Threats
A (hard to deal with)
Scarf virizion: Outspeeds my whole team and threatens with its awesome coverage. My answer to it is either switch in once it locks itself or hope it comes in after sandslash gets +2 since Sanslash can take a leaf blade and live

Spiritomb: Threatens to cripple poliwrath with trick, KO sigilyph and priorty both stoutland and sandlash. Most of the time I have to sacrifice Hippo against this in order to bring in something else to take it.

Rain dance Ludicolo: Throws a huge wrench into my sand play and threatens my team with powerful ice, water, and grass attacks. Spiritomb is usually my answer to this by tricking on a band to it but its shaky at best.

Rain Dance Uxie: Similar to Ludicolo but without the power. This instead sets up screens and rain making it harder for my sweepers to do what they need to do. Spiritomb again is my answer but is too slow to stop screens from going up and cant ko it outright.

Fletchfiinder: All variants my team has issues walling, My answer to this is to get rocks up and then sacrifice or come in on the roost with stoutland as he can take a single hit from it and ko back.

B(hard to deal with but dont outright make me worry)
Liepard: Threatens my team with knock off, status, priority or hiding behind subs. Luckily its not very bulky so most things can handle it but still requires a bit of playing around it.

Scarf Sawk: My team doesnt like switching into a knock off at all and my best counter is ko is my sigilyph which is threatened by stone edge and can only come in on revenge.

Torkoal: Bulky enough to survive a lot of what my team throws at it while threatening burns. SR and careful switching is required to bring it into ohko range.

Klinklang: Shift gear is annoying and will often switch in on returns from Stoutland. Normally I need to predict the switch or sac something and come back in with stoutland to super power it.

Sigilyph w/o cosmic power and with dazzling gleam: Albeit rare this checks my best counter to it in Spiritomb. If sand is up Stoutland can take it otherwise it becomes a sigilpyh mirror which is why i EV the way i do.


C (low or non threats)
Durant: Shut down by Poliwrath taking next to no damage from it and threatening burn or phase.

Normal Virizion: Not fast enough to threaten Sandslah in sand and is kod by aerial ace.

Seismatoad: Was hard on my team but now with energy ball sigilyph I have no issues with it.

Banded Sawk: Stoutland and Sigilyph both outspeed and OHKO as does sandslash at +2.

Arceheops: Poliwrath can handle it barring acrobatics and brings it down into Defeatist range with scald.

Vivillion/friends: Sandslash outspeeds in sand and threatens with aerial ace. If they lead with it they either sleep hippo or get whirlwinded out on the quiver.

Shellsmashers: Similar to above except they either get whirlwinded out after the smash or they ko hippo and then get hreatend by sandslash or Stoutland.

Regi brothers: Both are threatened by poliwrath and cant ko or status it.

Typhlosion specs or scarf: While it hits very hard Stoutland is faster than both varients and one hits with Return. In the case of specs Sandslash also works as a counter.

Gourgeist: While annoying half my team can absorb the burn as well as threaten with powerful heatwaves or knock offs.


Conclusion


In conclusion I highly reccomend you try out sand as it is excellent in NU. Thanks to everyone for pushing me to do an RMT by showing interest in my team. Any suggestions or changes are very much welcome as im sure there are flaws here and there. Overall though I hope you like it RMT and feel free to use it if you want. Heres the import:

Import
Hippopotas @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Earthquake
- Slack Off

Sandslash @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aerial Ace
- Knock Off
- Earthquake

Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Play Rough

Spiritomb @ Choice Band
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Shadow Sneak
- Pursuit
- Trick

Poliwrath @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Circle Throw
- Scald

Sigilyph @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 220 Spd / 252 SAtk / 36 SDef
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Roost
 
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Definitely an interesting team, albeit quite weak to Ice and Grass, which is to be expected on a Sand Team. Flying spam quite easily blitzes you, and opposing weather sweepers such as RD Ludicolo or Seismitoad disrupt your team greatly as well, but are dealt with well enough by a well played Spiritomb or Poliwrath. Any variant of Virizion is also a major cockblock to the team, which can be problematic as a whole.

Interestingly, I do not feel Spiritomb is necessary. Instead I reccomend Tank Doublade not only completely blocks Virizion as well as other Flying spam, but acts as a great bulky pivot just like Siritomb. More importantly, it also tanks Ice and Grass hits like a complete beast, and acts like a great glue to the team, being played similarly to Spiritomb with greater bulk and a plethora of resistances.

Minor Changes:
Hippopotas: Eviolite > Smooth Rock. There isn't question about it, without Evio Hippo can barely tank any hits, and thus can only set up sand once or twice. It absolutely needs if it is to reliably support your team throughout the match.
Sandslash: Stone Edge > Aerial Ace, as you get far better coverage between Earthquake + Stone Edge.
Sigilyph: I reccomend running Calm Mind > Energy Ball only because it does not add specifically to your coverage, and when equipped with CM your team will have a simple and easy wincondition against stall.

Cool team!
________________

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Iron Head / Gyro Ball
- Sacred Sword / Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance / Toxic
 
Thanks for all your suggestions. Ive considered Doublade and will definately test it out because I have been eyeing it out. Hopefully losing Trick isnt too big of deal.

Aerial ace, however, I feel needs to stay because it provides me with a way to reliably take Sawk, Vleplume, and Viizion that otherwise gives me a lot of issues as Aerial Ace kos them.

Hippo eviolite is a decent idea ill put to the test my main concern is how often the extra 3 turns really helps me sweep people out as it gives me better staying power. The ability to take extra hits may be nice though we will see.

Energy Ball on sigilyph needs to stay though as Seimitoad is everywhere and outside of stalling it with poliwrath I dont have many options against it. Energy Ball gives me a OHKO on Seismitoad and that a pretty big deal for sand.

Lastly as I mentioned in mentioned in my threat list ludicolo does indeed give me troubles and is one of the main reasons im skeptical of losing trick on spiritomb. Flying spam is also an issue but NUs limited flying greatly helps this fact with careful switching.
 

scorpdestroyer

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Just gonna point out that Smooth Rock is infinitely superior to Eviolite because this is a sand team, and the extra turns is way worth it, and Hippo is shit either way.

You could try out BlackGlasses Spiritomb with Will-O-Wisp, given that it helps you deal with Virizion and other Fighting-types a lot more easily. Also, you get to play around opposing threats as Sucker Punch and Pursuit are terrible moves to be locked into :o

Just wondering, how do you deal with Web offense?
 
Ill give black glasses spiritomb a try will definately make me not be locked into bad things as much. Web offense is a pain no doubt about it but usuually I immediately switch into sandslash and set up the SD and then just truck through as much as I can while sand is up. Sigilyph provides a good back up as well.
 
Hi, nice team! I'd definetly recommend using Doublade over Spiritomb for a few reasons. One, it brings you multiple resists that you currently lack and need, including Flying, Grass and Ice. Second, Durant is easily one of the nastiest Pokemon in the tier, and if you have two Pokemon that can handily switch in you're golden. Poliwrath can take on Crunch variants, while Doublade easily handles Durant with Thunder Fang.

Doublade is also a full counter to Virizion, something that previously really gave your team trouble. If you use it you could try Rapid Spin over Aerial Ace on Sandslash, as it would fix your hazard problem and Aerial Ace is really only for Virizion, as Earthquake hits the Pokemon you use it for harder (150 vs 120 BP).

Doublade should run Adamant and a moveset of Iron Head, Shadow Claw and Shadow Sneak. Having a couple of Speed EVs to creep opposing Spiritomb may also help you in the long run.
 
I want to ask, what will your Spiritomb do with Cosmic Power/ Psycho Shift Sigilyph? If you trick your Band then it mean you get Flame Orb .
 
cosmicshift sux.

Tho you just brought up, one of the main reasons why flameshift is not 100% bad is bc it can burn tomb, then roost and switch. Oc he is going to sneak against it, but shiftsigi (the names ;.;) cant touch it as it only runs a psychic move, but it loses regardless, it isnt that good tho and should only be used if you need a fast burn spreader that can break stall and sweep late game or early game if it has good match-up, it really doesnt deserve the hate it gets imo, tho cm+roost is much better
 
Ive made the switch to doublade right now but to answer your question vs cosmic shift sigi. You just sneak it or pursuit trap it. Not to mention stoutland or slash has no issues taking it in sand at all.
 
Obviously with the recent ban of Doublade Ive made the switch back to Spiritomb. However with Durant no longer a threat Poliwrath can now be replaced with someone new. Ill look into a replacement and see what I can find.
 

Blast

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Hey so now that you bring this up again, I laddered with this team a bit and it's definitely really cool, so props to you :) though I do have some suggestions. First off, I think Qwilfish fits better on this team over Poliwrath for a couple reasons. The main one being it can set up Spikes, which is really invaluable for your team to have--the additional pressure against most defensive cores is greatly appreciated as a well-built wall core can be really obnoxious to face. Qwilfish also provides your team with a Fairy resist, which is also very useful to have, as right now defensive Fairies (in particular Granbull) look rather troublesome as well. The set I'd recommend is Spikes | Scald | Taunt | Pain Split with enough Speed to beat out Timid Omastar--I find Scald works best for this team due to its ability to threaten Rock-types like Archeops and burn stuff, and Taunt is primarily for shutting down Defoggers and preventing setup in general.

As for your hazard weakness there are a few ways you can go around this. The most obvious is to use Rapid Spin on Sandslash, as Aerial Ace is mostly useless at this point since Virizion is RU. Another option is to use offensive Xatu over Sigilyph, since it can deter hazards from being set up while fulfilling more or less the same role otherwise. The main advantage to this is it allows you to use another coverage move on Sandslash, such as Stone Edge or X-Scissor, which makes it much easier for it to sweep, though it does come at the cost of some of Sigi's reliability, as Xatu takes sand damage and is frailer in general. I'd recommend toying around with these changes and decide which one fits better, it's mainly up to you.

Lastly this is really minor but something you could try out that helps vs opposing weather just a bit is to use Sandstorm over Slack Off on Hippo. You can spam Sandstorm against opposing weather setters since your Sandstorm will go second, so they can't just set up for free against it. Slack Off is pretty useless anyway since I doubt you ever use it (I never did anyway) so it's probably a better filler move overall.

Qwilfish @ Black Sludge
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spd
Bold Nature
- Spikes
- Scald
- Taunt
- Pain Split

either Rapid Spin on Sandslash or offensive Xatu over Sigilyph, with the moves (Psychic / Psyshock) | Heat Wave | Grass Knot | Roost

Hippopotas: Sandstorm > Slack Off
 
The qwilfish suggestion is an excellent one and I will definitely test it out since Poliwrath isnt as useful now. And yea the hippo suggestion is also super solid since I think ive used slack off maybe twice in all my games. Ill test out the sandslash switch to rapid spin as well. Thanks for liking the team glad you had fn with it :]
 

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