Perserverance Through the Storm

[Nereus]

Now before looking over this team a quick description of the creation process for this team.

The Process
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When creating I decided to use my favorites so I decided to go with a sandstorm team playing on the fact that most of my favorites happened to be those who could receive benefits from sandstorm. With Dory sweeping through most pokes and Garchomp finishing of the rest and T-tar to set up the sand the team building began.

Now the new additions brought some much needed special attack to the forefront Genosect is absolutely insane the download boost allows it to be slightly mixed and Rankurusu is great in general sponging up hits targeting Dory and and T-tar.

After a bit of tweaking I decided I needed a bit of defense so I went with the premier wall in so far..with mixed results after a less than successful battle with certain pokes I went off trying anything to fill the last slot.

After a bit of searching I found Zapdos a great answer to both Roopushin and Techniloom who had been giving this team a lot a trouble beforehand. Zapdos with it's respectable bulk can come in on something like mach punch and proceed to attempt to cripple the poke. Now fun fact I went through 18 pokes to get to Zapdos.

The Actual Team
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Antaeus (Tyranitar) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Atk / 16 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail/Pursuit-Testing
The moves are Edgequake and foregoing the other STAB in exchange for Dragon Tail which is simply amazing due to the fact I can just Dragon Tail all setup sweepers and in turn annoy opponents it sets up rocks like most leads and if there other weather inducers I almost always set up my weather and about the EVs I added a little to defense due so it would have a little bit more survivability and surprisingly has paid off well.

Atrius (Rankurusu) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
A much needed special attacker with Life Orb boosted attacks off its fantastic special attack it dents anything short of a Burungeru/Chansey it also is one of my favorites to use against trick room teams since its horrible speed allows it to thrive in those situations.

Garshark (Garchomp) (M) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
Yachechomp has made a comeback Sand Veil rather than Rough Skin due to the extremely helpful Evasion boost. Garchomp is as great as he was last gen the EVs are obvious not much has changed it's Electric immunity though is a huge boon still this gen.

Agon (Doryuuzu) (M) @ Balloon
Trait: Sand Throw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
What sandstorm team would be complete without Dory? This mole tears right through teams since its speed in Sandstorm is unmatched except for a Choice Scarf 130+. Now I run Jolly rather than Adamant since it allows speed ties and I use X scissor rather than Brick Break to prevent Ditto from wreaking Havoc.

Optimus (Genosekuto) @ Life Orb
Trait: Download
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SAtk / 184 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
Genosect is quiet an interseting poke with quite balanced stats throughout and the most saddening Speed Stat ever. But the coverage this poke provides is invaluable serving as my best answer to things such as Garchomp and other dragons and most importantly Skarmory if Rankurusu is fainted.

Roast (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
The old Zapdos set that is oh so useful with great bulk that allows it to be a great assest to my team and with so many dragons running around HP Ice is more helpful than ever and Heat Wave means no Lightning Rod but that is no matter since Heat Wave allows me to get rid of many more threats and is overall much more useful than Lightning Rod especially since it can get rid of threats like Nattorei and annoy other pokes.

Actual Threats: There are only 5 true threats to this team the first being Blaziken the speedy chicken my only hope being Chomp. And the second being Roopushin who tears through the team only being stopped by Zap. The Third being Techniloom who like Roopushin can only be stopped by Zap OR Chomp if I come in on a Mach Punch. And the final threat is Mothra the Bug Fire if I don't get up rocks and it can get off 2 Butterfly Dances It sweeps my entire team. And the Final is Ditto but only if it comes in on my boosted chomp since nothing I have can stop it....

Almost Forgot Comment and Suggest any Fixes/Pokes to improve the team!.

 

[Plusle]

Hello! I had a long rate and my computer froze :(. Anyway run Pursuit over Dragon Tail on Tyranitar. Dragon Tail is useless in the lead position and Pursuit let's you trap and kill Ghosts.

On Rankurusu run Psycho Shock which allows you to beat Special Walls like Snorlax and Blissey.


Gl with your team.

 

[Nereus]

Actually Psychic is needed to deal with Roopushin and without it it just completely rips through the team and Special Walls don't especially like the rest of my team.....And for the Pursuit I'll try that since I've had a little trouble with Shandy trapping Genosect. And thanks for critique.

 

[Chou Toshio]

The garchomp / Dory / Tyranitar core is tantilizing and I've tried it myself with much less success. Fighting type pokemon are a big issue, and they are literally everywhere. Rankurusu and Zapdos as needed checks looks terrific. I'd actually like to run into this team on the ladder sometime.

 

[Nereus]

Thanks what I really need now is a replacement for genosect the fire vulnerability is really hurting the team with Scarf Shandy everywhere and Speed Boost Blaziken and I need something that can replace him while fufilling his role any ideas I've been thinking specs Latios but..I don't like being locked into moves...

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

What about LO Latios?

 

[tawp64]

In Rank's place, I'd suggest a LO Starmie, because your team is very weak to water, ice, and fighting.

 

[Nereus]

I might switch LO starmie for Genosect since I really need Rankurusu to absorb status excluding Sleep....and Latios ....interesting....

 

[Engineer Pikachu]

Burungeru might work well if you want something more defensive. If you want to stay offensive, then I'd agree with TC.

 

[TubaPride]

Change the nature on Genosekuto so U-Turn does that max amount of damage. And if you want to use Rankurusu against Trick Room change its speed IVs to 0.

 

[Nereus]

I'm trying out Life Orb Lati now and I adjusted the Evs for Rankrusu and I prefer to keep it Timid because I don't like crippling my defenses.
Edit: Tested and It seems Genosect fits best but I switched it to a shed shell so I don't get trapped by Shandy...and I didn't especially like the Life orb damage so that.