(This post has the old peak listed, new peak is in a post below)
After waiting an entire year for my favourite Pokemon Excadrill to return to gen 9, first thing I wanted to do after DLC2 dropped was build a sand team with my favourite duo in competitive Pokemon. So I'm glad to say I ended up reaching my highest rating yet with the team, and thus I'm sharing it here.
The team (Click):
Proof of Peak:
I actually ended up reaching #53 on ladder with like 1857 elo or something like that, but forgot to grab a screenshot F. So here's the actual screenshotted peak:
Team Description:
Tyranitar (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick
Kicking things off, the sand setter Tyranitar. The set here is the same as one I used in my previous RMT, which you can check out here but the idea is that with max speed and max attack Adamant, Tyranitar can outspeed even Jolly Kingambit, and other threats that run zero speed like some Great Tusk, Landorus-T, Gholdengo etc. and threaten them with its moveset. Low kick is key here to hit mainly Kingambit while also helping vs Ting Lu, Garganacl, Roaring Moon and sometimes Tera Normal Dragonite. Knock off and Stone Edge do big damage to neutral targets, in particular knocking off Great Tusk's leftovers being a huge help in chipping it down for Excadrill and Kingambit. The Assault Vest is here so that Tyranitar can actually take special hits well since it doesn't have any bulk investment. With it, it can serve as a check to just about any special threat in the tier including even Volcarona, and live a +3 surf from Manaphy. Tyranitar rarely uses Tera, but grass is nice to resist Ogerpon-Wellspring's STABs, and Earthquakes at the same time.
Excadrill (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
Excadrill under sand is incredibly threatening, especially to all the hyper offence teams running amuck in SV OU. Under sand Excadrill reaches a speed stat of 604, outspeeding +0 Dragapult, Zamazenta, Deoxys-Speed, +1 (or booster energy or scarf) Iron Valiant, Iron Boulder, Roaring Moon, Walking Wake, Jolly Gouging Fire, Enamorus, Meowscarada, +2 Great Tusk, Dragonite and more. Most of these Pokemon are greatly threatened by Excadrill's STABs, some requiring minimal chip and others being outright OHKO'd, especially with Tera Ground. This tera allows Excadrill to OHKO offensive threats like Greninja and Dragapult without any boosts if the situation requires. It also serves some defensive purposes like getting rid of the Fighting, Ground and Fire weaknesses to allow a KO or boost. Being 1 point faster than Great Tusk is nice as if Tusk is significantly chipped, Exca doesn't need sand to KO it. Double spin alongside our own Tusk is nice, as is the option to boost speed outside sand.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom getting Pain split back in this DLC is a huge buff for it, giving it semi-reliable recovery and the ability to potentially absorb a Knock off or Toxic (Not that you want that) from the likes of Gliscor, Weavile, Clodsire etc. It's particularly good on Rotom because it has a rather poor HP stat so it can heal more by pain splitting targets with huge HP stats, like Great Tusk, Clodsire, Ting Lu, Alomomola and more. The rest of the moves are self explanatory, standard options on Rotom. Thunder wave can be used over Wisp if desired, but the matchup into Ogerpon, Rillaboom and Zamazenta becomes more annoying then. Tera Ghost is chosen because this team struggles alot into strong fighting types, especially Zamazenta, so an out vs them is appreciated.
Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 16 SpD / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Bleakwind Storm
- Heat Wave
Assault Vest Tornadus Therian plays a massive role in holding this team together, able to pivot in and out of just about any special threat in the tier. The double spin core allows Tornadus to forgo Heavy Duty Boots so it can better take on threats like Darkrai, Serperior, Iron Valiant, Walking Wake, Hydrapple, Gholdengo, Dragapult, Greninja and other miscellaneous special threats. The speed lets it outspeed Roaring Moon and Cinderace and the tera type helps it take on Dragon type attacks from a surprise Band Dragapult. Tornadus is the premier pivot into grass and fighting type attacks which can pose a giant threat to the rest of the team. The synergy between AV Tornadus, Rotom Wash and Excadrill has been great since ORAS, and it holds up still.
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
The second half of the double spin core, the best Pokemon in the tier, Great Tusk. Having 2 rapid spinners greatly alleviates the pressure of removal from both, especially since both also 4x resist rocks. Tusk acts as tremendous role compression as spinner, rocker, general physical check all at once. Ice spinner is once again almost mandatory on Tusk unless you have numerous other ways to threaten Gliscor, which this team is a little lacking in. If Gliscor doesn't feel as threatening, Temper Flare can be chosen over this slot to completely nail down Balloon Gholdengo, Balloon Kingambit and Corviknight. The extra Attack EVs are to make sure Tusk gets an attack boost vs Sun matchups, as the extra speed is generally not as useful vs speedy threats in Sun like Wake, Gouging Fire, Venusaur and Moon, especially if speed boosting. The speed is nice, but the attack boost helps to immediately threaten Torkoal out as well as deal massive damage to everything on the opposing team, especially if they're not running speed booster. Still, going for speed boosting on this set is also a valid choice. The tera type is chosen to resist Ogerpon's STABs and to help vs Rain.
Kingambit (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Kowtow Cleave
- Iron Head
Despite all the new additions in the DLC, Kingambit is still broken, arguably the most broken Pokemon in the tier. Kingambit serves as a check to ghosts like Dragapult and Gholdengo and takes on grasses like Serperior and Rillaboom in a pinch. It even operates as an emergency check to Roaring Moon. It also provides priority support to the team. It works well with Tyranitar and Excadrill because they overwhelm its checks throughout a game allowing Kingambit to sweep later. Tera Dark boosts Dark type damage while still letting Kingambit live some hits it wouldn't otherwise, and max speed is to make sure it can perform better vs other Kingambit, especially Tera Fairy variants. Other tera types and EV spreads are definitely viable options here.
Threats:
Strong fighting types can be nightmare to play against, in particular substitute Zamazenta. The Rotom tera type was changed to Ghost specifically for this matchup, so this has to be played carefully.
(Rain)
Rain is a tough matchup even though the team has a Rotom wash, because of tera and new additions like Raging Bolt with weather ball and Archaludon. Tera dragon on Tusk is helpful for this, so it and Rotom's health should be preserved as much as possible.
The team doesn't have any outright checks to Ogerpon, however with Sand rush Excadrill, Tera grass Tyranitar, Tornadus, Tera Rotom wash, Tera Great Tusk and Kingambit, the team does have outs to overwhelm it. Caution should be taken such that Ogerpon doesn't get free setup.
And that's it! I plan to take this team to much higher heights so I'll give this a bump if I get a better peak, in the meantime I'd love to know your thoughts and feedback on this team. Thanks for reading!
The team (Click):
Proof of Peak:
I actually ended up reaching #53 on ladder with like 1857 elo or something like that, but forgot to grab a screenshot F. So here's the actual screenshotted peak:
Team Description:
Tyranitar (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick
Kicking things off, the sand setter Tyranitar. The set here is the same as one I used in my previous RMT, which you can check out here but the idea is that with max speed and max attack Adamant, Tyranitar can outspeed even Jolly Kingambit, and other threats that run zero speed like some Great Tusk, Landorus-T, Gholdengo etc. and threaten them with its moveset. Low kick is key here to hit mainly Kingambit while also helping vs Ting Lu, Garganacl, Roaring Moon and sometimes Tera Normal Dragonite. Knock off and Stone Edge do big damage to neutral targets, in particular knocking off Great Tusk's leftovers being a huge help in chipping it down for Excadrill and Kingambit. The Assault Vest is here so that Tyranitar can actually take special hits well since it doesn't have any bulk investment. With it, it can serve as a check to just about any special threat in the tier including even Volcarona, and live a +3 surf from Manaphy. Tyranitar rarely uses Tera, but grass is nice to resist Ogerpon-Wellspring's STABs, and Earthquakes at the same time.
Excadrill (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
Excadrill under sand is incredibly threatening, especially to all the hyper offence teams running amuck in SV OU. Under sand Excadrill reaches a speed stat of 604, outspeeding +0 Dragapult, Zamazenta, Deoxys-Speed, +1 (or booster energy or scarf) Iron Valiant, Iron Boulder, Roaring Moon, Walking Wake, Jolly Gouging Fire, Enamorus, Meowscarada, +2 Great Tusk, Dragonite and more. Most of these Pokemon are greatly threatened by Excadrill's STABs, some requiring minimal chip and others being outright OHKO'd, especially with Tera Ground. This tera allows Excadrill to OHKO offensive threats like Greninja and Dragapult without any boosts if the situation requires. It also serves some defensive purposes like getting rid of the Fighting, Ground and Fire weaknesses to allow a KO or boost. Being 1 point faster than Great Tusk is nice as if Tusk is significantly chipped, Exca doesn't need sand to KO it. Double spin alongside our own Tusk is nice, as is the option to boost speed outside sand.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom getting Pain split back in this DLC is a huge buff for it, giving it semi-reliable recovery and the ability to potentially absorb a Knock off or Toxic (Not that you want that) from the likes of Gliscor, Weavile, Clodsire etc. It's particularly good on Rotom because it has a rather poor HP stat so it can heal more by pain splitting targets with huge HP stats, like Great Tusk, Clodsire, Ting Lu, Alomomola and more. The rest of the moves are self explanatory, standard options on Rotom. Thunder wave can be used over Wisp if desired, but the matchup into Ogerpon, Rillaboom and Zamazenta becomes more annoying then. Tera Ghost is chosen because this team struggles alot into strong fighting types, especially Zamazenta, so an out vs them is appreciated.
Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 16 SpD / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Bleakwind Storm
- Heat Wave
Assault Vest Tornadus Therian plays a massive role in holding this team together, able to pivot in and out of just about any special threat in the tier. The double spin core allows Tornadus to forgo Heavy Duty Boots so it can better take on threats like Darkrai, Serperior, Iron Valiant, Walking Wake, Hydrapple, Gholdengo, Dragapult, Greninja and other miscellaneous special threats. The speed lets it outspeed Roaring Moon and Cinderace and the tera type helps it take on Dragon type attacks from a surprise Band Dragapult. Tornadus is the premier pivot into grass and fighting type attacks which can pose a giant threat to the rest of the team. The synergy between AV Tornadus, Rotom Wash and Excadrill has been great since ORAS, and it holds up still.
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
The second half of the double spin core, the best Pokemon in the tier, Great Tusk. Having 2 rapid spinners greatly alleviates the pressure of removal from both, especially since both also 4x resist rocks. Tusk acts as tremendous role compression as spinner, rocker, general physical check all at once. Ice spinner is once again almost mandatory on Tusk unless you have numerous other ways to threaten Gliscor, which this team is a little lacking in. If Gliscor doesn't feel as threatening, Temper Flare can be chosen over this slot to completely nail down Balloon Gholdengo, Balloon Kingambit and Corviknight. The extra Attack EVs are to make sure Tusk gets an attack boost vs Sun matchups, as the extra speed is generally not as useful vs speedy threats in Sun like Wake, Gouging Fire, Venusaur and Moon, especially if speed boosting. The speed is nice, but the attack boost helps to immediately threaten Torkoal out as well as deal massive damage to everything on the opposing team, especially if they're not running speed booster. Still, going for speed boosting on this set is also a valid choice. The tera type is chosen to resist Ogerpon's STABs and to help vs Rain.
Kingambit (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Kowtow Cleave
- Iron Head
Despite all the new additions in the DLC, Kingambit is still broken, arguably the most broken Pokemon in the tier. Kingambit serves as a check to ghosts like Dragapult and Gholdengo and takes on grasses like Serperior and Rillaboom in a pinch. It even operates as an emergency check to Roaring Moon. It also provides priority support to the team. It works well with Tyranitar and Excadrill because they overwhelm its checks throughout a game allowing Kingambit to sweep later. Tera Dark boosts Dark type damage while still letting Kingambit live some hits it wouldn't otherwise, and max speed is to make sure it can perform better vs other Kingambit, especially Tera Fairy variants. Other tera types and EV spreads are definitely viable options here.
Threats:
Strong fighting types can be nightmare to play against, in particular substitute Zamazenta. The Rotom tera type was changed to Ghost specifically for this matchup, so this has to be played carefully.
(Rain)Rain is a tough matchup even though the team has a Rotom wash, because of tera and new additions like Raging Bolt with weather ball and Archaludon. Tera dragon on Tusk is helpful for this, so it and Rotom's health should be preserved as much as possible.
The team doesn't have any outright checks to Ogerpon, however with Sand rush Excadrill, Tera grass Tyranitar, Tornadus, Tera Rotom wash, Tera Great Tusk and Kingambit, the team does have outs to overwhelm it. Caution should be taken such that Ogerpon doesn't get free setup.
And that's it! I plan to take this team to much higher heights so I'll give this a bump if I get a better peak, in the meantime I'd love to know your thoughts and feedback on this team. Thanks for reading!
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