Hiya! I really like this Dual Sand team a lot because it gives me a lot of flexibility in how it goes about certain matches but it hasn't been working out too well so I wanted to see if I can tweek it in any way possible, feedback is much appreciated
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 168 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
TTar: Obligatory Sand Team TTar, Crunch and Pursuit are obvious, Fire Blast is because I don't have too many ways of dealing with Ferro and Skarm can sometimes be annoying. EQ is mean to get Heatran and hit a little harder on most Steel types that are annoying otherwise to the team at large such as Jirachi. I want Ice Beam on the set but other then handling Lando I don't think it's totally worth it, but I might test it out and see what I get out of it later.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
Hippowdon: This is where things start to get interesting. Hippowdown and TTar form a really nice core that's hard to break not baring strong water attacks while providing flexibility in ways to get up sand. I've generally been getting Hippowdown to reset the whether more but the main issue I'm having is the coverage. Without Ice Fang I have no real solid ways to check Lando outside of Rotom which isn't ideal and kind of have to slowly chip it down, conversly Ice Fang hasn't been working on much of anything at all and the Intimidate and lack of added bulk makes doing even that much to Lando hard to begin with. Whirlwind has been able to deny Pokemon like DDance Nite and QD Volca, which is nice but still makes me feel like I'm losing something. I've thought about getting rid of EQ but that creates even more problems and exasperbates my Steel type problem even more. As it stands I feel it's hard to change these two without chanigng the team altogether but I think I need to find a better way to utilize them Pokemon.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 20 Def / 240 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 17 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom: Rain check, generally annoying Pokemon, softens up the rest of the others nice, using Turn helps me control the battle better, generally feels like it improves the consistency overall. That said with Celebi I'm honestly not sure how much I need Rotom but either way it's been very useful. I could tweek the EVs on it for a little better performance but I still think it could be changed. My team's special attacking ability is also pretty low so I wanted that as well.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Protect
- Rapid Spin
Excadrill: Hippowdon needs Spin Support, and the obvious response is Drill. I opt for Sand Force since Sand is almost always up on my team and I need a way to crush Jellicent, because while my team does that well enough Exca baits it in hard and destroys it. Protect is there for longevities sake and Iron Head is to try to make predictions on things that aren't Immune to Quake. Honestly I feel as if Exca with Hippowdon is mandatory since otherwise spinning is difficult and Hippowdon can easily get worn down with Spikes,Evs are so Exca hits as hard as it can.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- U-turn
- Recover
Celebi: Pretty much my only answer to Keldeo and other water types that would otherwise destroy this team inside out. Leaf Storm was needed for Offense and Recover is needed to offset sand chip, otherwise Celebi would get completely worn down by everything else. Hidden Power Fire is my way of dealing with annoying Steel Types like Ferro and Scizor that threaten the rest of my team pretty well and U-Turn is there to keep momentum. If I were to replace anything on this set it would probably be U-Turn, but the momentum it gives is valuable, however with the lack of a setup mon I feel as if it's not being used to it's full potential.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Scizor: By the end I felt like my team lacked offense so I thought Scizor would be a nice fit for it. I'm also particularly paranoid about Zam and thought Scizor would be a near perfect solution. It's primary function is revenge-killing anything that's getting chipped by the rest of the fat Pokemon on my team. Superpower is meant to destroy Ferro, U-Turn is to keep up the pace of the match and get a good switch in off, not necessarily to do damage though it's nice at doing that too. Pursuit is kinda just there to deter Psychics like Zam and Reuniclus away. Ultimately if there is one Pokemon I would scrap from the team it's this guy.
This first clear weakness of the team is the lack of an Ice Type move, however the only options available for this team is Ice Beam TTar, Ice Fang Hippo or HP Ice Rotom, none of which are appealing. The other issue is how passive it can feel without spikes, but I feel as if investing in another spiker feels risky as I don't feel as if there is a Pokemon who would spike reliably with this team without letting other Pokemon come in and set up on it, though if I had to choose one it would probably be Skarm. Ultimately I feel as if Ttar, Hippow, Exca and Celebi feel perfect on the team but Rotom brings a lot of help against steel types like Scizor that would otherwise destroy my team and I feel it lack pressure without Scizor. My team also feels lacking on the special side.
It's hard for me to describe this team mainly because I've never done a RMT before but honestly I feel as if the core is solid it just needs some fine tuning and my balance between offense and defense isn't strong enough between all of the Pokemon.
All help is greatly appreciated.
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 168 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
TTar: Obligatory Sand Team TTar, Crunch and Pursuit are obvious, Fire Blast is because I don't have too many ways of dealing with Ferro and Skarm can sometimes be annoying. EQ is mean to get Heatran and hit a little harder on most Steel types that are annoying otherwise to the team at large such as Jirachi. I want Ice Beam on the set but other then handling Lando I don't think it's totally worth it, but I might test it out and see what I get out of it later.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
Hippowdon: This is where things start to get interesting. Hippowdown and TTar form a really nice core that's hard to break not baring strong water attacks while providing flexibility in ways to get up sand. I've generally been getting Hippowdown to reset the whether more but the main issue I'm having is the coverage. Without Ice Fang I have no real solid ways to check Lando outside of Rotom which isn't ideal and kind of have to slowly chip it down, conversly Ice Fang hasn't been working on much of anything at all and the Intimidate and lack of added bulk makes doing even that much to Lando hard to begin with. Whirlwind has been able to deny Pokemon like DDance Nite and QD Volca, which is nice but still makes me feel like I'm losing something. I've thought about getting rid of EQ but that creates even more problems and exasperbates my Steel type problem even more. As it stands I feel it's hard to change these two without chanigng the team altogether but I think I need to find a better way to utilize them Pokemon.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 20 Def / 240 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 17 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom: Rain check, generally annoying Pokemon, softens up the rest of the others nice, using Turn helps me control the battle better, generally feels like it improves the consistency overall. That said with Celebi I'm honestly not sure how much I need Rotom but either way it's been very useful. I could tweek the EVs on it for a little better performance but I still think it could be changed. My team's special attacking ability is also pretty low so I wanted that as well.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Protect
- Rapid Spin
Excadrill: Hippowdon needs Spin Support, and the obvious response is Drill. I opt for Sand Force since Sand is almost always up on my team and I need a way to crush Jellicent, because while my team does that well enough Exca baits it in hard and destroys it. Protect is there for longevities sake and Iron Head is to try to make predictions on things that aren't Immune to Quake. Honestly I feel as if Exca with Hippowdon is mandatory since otherwise spinning is difficult and Hippowdon can easily get worn down with Spikes,Evs are so Exca hits as hard as it can.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- U-turn
- Recover
Celebi: Pretty much my only answer to Keldeo and other water types that would otherwise destroy this team inside out. Leaf Storm was needed for Offense and Recover is needed to offset sand chip, otherwise Celebi would get completely worn down by everything else. Hidden Power Fire is my way of dealing with annoying Steel Types like Ferro and Scizor that threaten the rest of my team pretty well and U-Turn is there to keep momentum. If I were to replace anything on this set it would probably be U-Turn, but the momentum it gives is valuable, however with the lack of a setup mon I feel as if it's not being used to it's full potential.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Scizor: By the end I felt like my team lacked offense so I thought Scizor would be a nice fit for it. I'm also particularly paranoid about Zam and thought Scizor would be a near perfect solution. It's primary function is revenge-killing anything that's getting chipped by the rest of the fat Pokemon on my team. Superpower is meant to destroy Ferro, U-Turn is to keep up the pace of the match and get a good switch in off, not necessarily to do damage though it's nice at doing that too. Pursuit is kinda just there to deter Psychics like Zam and Reuniclus away. Ultimately if there is one Pokemon I would scrap from the team it's this guy.
This first clear weakness of the team is the lack of an Ice Type move, however the only options available for this team is Ice Beam TTar, Ice Fang Hippo or HP Ice Rotom, none of which are appealing. The other issue is how passive it can feel without spikes, but I feel as if investing in another spiker feels risky as I don't feel as if there is a Pokemon who would spike reliably with this team without letting other Pokemon come in and set up on it, though if I had to choose one it would probably be Skarm. Ultimately I feel as if Ttar, Hippow, Exca and Celebi feel perfect on the team but Rotom brings a lot of help against steel types like Scizor that would otherwise destroy my team and I feel it lack pressure without Scizor. My team also feels lacking on the special side.
It's hard for me to describe this team mainly because I've never done a RMT before but honestly I feel as if the core is solid it just needs some fine tuning and my balance between offense and defense isn't strong enough between all of the Pokemon.
All help is greatly appreciated.