SM OU Sand Balance?

Hello to whoever is reading this, It is me again, and I am back with another RMT, this time it is a Sand Balance team which I have had decent success with, managed to peak somewhere in Mid 1600s with this so I ain't gonna talk anymore, here's the team.

I cba writing one of those huge detailed explanations so I'm just gonna dumb it down a little.

Team Building Process:

Wanted sand team. Put ttar and drill
:tyranitar: :excadrill:

Need a water resist. Put Fini
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :tapu fini:

Need a physical wall which can deal with water and grass types. Put the spiky bird idiot.
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :tapu fini: :zapdos:

Special sweeper was wanted. Put serp.
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :tapu fini: :zapdos: :serperior:

Finally, I wanted a strong physical breaker that doesn't rely on the sand and doesn't get ohkod by everything. Put MegaCham
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :tapu fini: :zapdos: :serperior: :medicham-mega:

And there you have it, there's the team. Now for the actual analysis of each pokemon. Here we go...


1572910481797.png

John O' Than (Tyranitar) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Pursuit

Right yeah first up is Tyranitar obviously, he is usually my lead and because this is a sand team, he is of course the sand setter. I wanted to use the AV set because it allows tyranitar to eat up special attacks like a mad man, getting a boost from the sand as well. I've even managed to successfully bluff Band with this. +Spe Mega Diancie's Moonblast is a guaranteed 3hko against it from full, and ttar can strike back with a definite OHKO with EQ. Offensive Mag's Fleur Cannon (being used consecutively) and Flash Cannon have A chance to 3hko. Absolute Unit. He can even be a decent check to the widely feared Zam, as Focus Miss 2hkos it, and sometimes they won't want to stay in and depend on FB hitting again, so they swap, but Ttar is having none of that, and smacks him with an OHKO from Boosted Pursuit. Crunch is for general stab and the lucky defence drop, EQ is for Coverage, Fire Punch is to hit other steels such as Ferro and Mega Scizor, and Pursuit is to catch peoples switches and get that big double base power damage on them.


1572961194374.png

Sirene (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 12 SpA / 40 SpD / 192 Spe
Calm Nature
- Defog
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast

Now we have Tapu Fini. I chose Tapu Fini as an Ash Gren check, which it has successfully fulfilled, however I need to play it carefully in order to keep it alive throughout the game due to its lack of recovery. Tapu Fini is also my means of hazard removal, which is important on pretty much any team. It is also another mon that can take special attacks, as I have made it to do just that. For the EV's I'm just using the standard smogon spread, as its nice and spread out and fits its role just fine. Defog is for hazard removal as I have just said, Taunt and Nature's Madness is to help against stall, as I can disable their status moves and then get bigger damage with Nature's Madness. Moonblast is just a regular STAB attack, which can hit hard sometimes thanks to the misty terrain boost. The terrain can also help the rest of my team, stopping other mons from spreading status to my valuable mons.

1572962642038.png

Lemonk72 (Serperior) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare
- Leech Seed

Serperior. The MVP of the team. Everyone knows how sly this thing can be, and it sure does live up to that. Serperior is my teams special sweeper, and it definitely does its job well. The EV's are what you would expect, max speed and max special attack, making him a fast and hard hitting one. Leaf Storm is serperiors main STAB and is the reason who he is so strong. After a couple of these, it just snowballs its way to victory, unless something bad switches in. Hidden Power Fire is of course to hit things that Leaf Storm can't for better damage, and helps to get rid of steels which can be pests to the others such as Steela, Kart, and Mag. Glare and Leech seed go well since they can annoy the opposition quite nicely, slowing them down, making them unable to attack in some cases, and losing health while I recover some. I originally had the old SubSeed set on it, but I found myself relying on Paralysis too often, and I would end up wasting HP with my Substitutes.

1572993143723.png

Excredrill (Excadrill) (M) @ Steelium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Next up, Man Of The Hour, It's Excadrill. It wouldn't be a sand team without this guy. Excadrill goes hand-in-hand with Tyranitar in any sand team, these two are the dynamic duo. Max speed with jolly so that I can outspeed everything except Lucha, and speed tie with opposing excadrills. The rest of the EV's are pretty obvious. SD is my setup move to boost Excadrill's sweeping potential. Iron Head and EQ are Excadrill's STAB attacks, which can hit hard after a SD. My last move was originally SR, but I decided to change this as I rarely had an opportunity to set them up, and I always got hard walled by stuff like Washtom, Skarmory, and Celesteela, So i went with rock slide to fair a little better against them. Excadrill is also the teams Z-Move user. The problem with him however is that he is difficult to swap in apart from an electric attack, due his defences being surprisingly frail for a steel type.

1572993786643.png

Tsuchiya (Medicham-Mega) (F) @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch

On to Mega Medicham. MegaCham is a phenomenal pokemon to use, as it brings incredible sweeping ability and is an excellent physical wallbreaker. MegaCham is an important member of the team, as it can punch holes in the tough dickheads that ttar and excadrill struggle to dent. Ev's are self explanatory, Fake out is for Priority, High Jump Kick and Zen Headbutt are Mega Medichams STAB attacks, and Ice Punch is to bum stuff like Lando, Chomp, and Gliscor, which can otherwise be a pain. MegaCham is also my main answer to Pex, as the abundance of him is causing people to make their pokemon able to deal with him specifically, and you can't blame them. I'm running Jolly instead of Adamant to get extra speed to speed tie with zapdos, charizard, and outspeed gliscor , excadrill, and non scarf Lando.

1572994763664.png

Prickhead (Zapdos) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- Volt Switch

Finally, we have the Prickhead himself, Zapdos. Zapdos is my Physical wall, dedicated Kartana check, and able to come in on other physical nuisances such as Chomp and MLop. Max defence lets him take their hits and then roost off the damage, as well as spreading that Paralysis to annoy the opposing team with Static, and Discharge. Heat wave is for steel types such as Mag and Kart after I get Paralysis on them. Roost as I have said is for healing, and Volt switch is for momentum, allowing me to pivot out into another member of the team. Overall, Zapdos is a pretty valuable member of the team, as he and Fini can wall Lucha which is quite threatening to the rest of my team, and then kill it with a Discharge, while dishing out extra damage from the Helmet to attackers who are still alive. However, it is important to play carefully with roost, as I've had to play many mind games with it with stuff like Lando and Chomp, some I have lost, and some I have won, but preserving this bird is important, as he soaks up attacks and then can pivot out into Excadrill and his mates to finish the game.


Weaknesses (which ive seen)
:Alakazam-Mega: :Tapu lele: I don't have much to deal with these, my best bet is tyranitar but he still gets done by a focus blast. excadrill can come in, but It's still a difficult matchup.

:kommo-o: This guy has given me a fair bit of trouble, specifically the z-move variant, and I hate it

And that's it, I hope you enjoyed this team! I am open to (almost) any advice, that's why we post this stuff on here, and I'll see you all again in about a month or something with another one of these probably, maybe not, never, I dont know. God I'm gonna miss Gen 7. Also, today is Bonfire Night, so happy bonfire night! Cheers to stopping a guy from blowing up a building. Thank you for reading!


1572995609638.png
 
The most obvious problem is your lack of answers to opposing sand.
Opposing Excadrill tear through your team, especially Z-move variants, you have to roll the dice on this one, you'll have to win the speed tie with your own Excadrill. You also struggle with Sash variants, though those are mostly suicide leads.
This also struggles with HO screens Kokolucha carrying Stone Edge since your counter seems to be Zap.
Maybe Clef over Zap?
Then you'd lose harder to Exca though, cuz then you lose a ground immunity
What I'm mainly thinking is MLop over MMedi, it survives EQ from Exca and most lucha don;t carry stone edge anyways (for some reason)
Mlop gets one shot by Corkscrew Crash, but it has Fake Out to stall out one turn of sand, and hopefully outspeed it the next turn.
 
The most obvious problem is your lack of answers to opposing sand.
Opposing Excadrill tear through your team, especially Z-move variants, you have to roll the dice on this one, you'll have to win the speed tie with your own Excadrill. You also struggle with Sash variants, though those are mostly suicide leads.
This also struggles with HO screens Kokolucha carrying Stone Edge since your counter seems to be Zap.
Maybe Clef over Zap?
Then you'd lose harder to Exca though, cuz then you lose a ground immunity
What I'm mainly thinking is MLop over MMedi, it survives EQ from Exca and most lucha don;t carry stone edge anyways (for some reason)
Mlop gets one shot by Corkscrew Crash, but it has Fake Out to stall out one turn of sand, and hopefully outspeed it the next turn.
Thanks for the advice about the opposing sand, that does seem to be quite a problem, although quite a rare one as you don't see much sand in OU these days.
About your comment on swapping Megacham for MLop, Megacham has FakeOut as well, can outspeed excadrill after using it (if the sand disappears) and can also survive an EQ from the opposing excadrill after 2 rocks, so I'm not really sure what your point is.
 
Hello to whoever is reading this, It is me again, and I am back with another RMT, this time it is a Sand Balance team which I have had decent success with, managed to peak somewhere in Mid 1600s with this so I ain't gonna talk anymore, here's the team.

I cba writing one of those huge detailed explanations so I'm just gonna dumb it down a little.

Team Building Process:

Wanted sand team. Put ttar and drill
:tyranitar: :excadrill:

Need a water resist. Put Fini
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :tapu fini:

Need a physical wall which can deal with water and grass types. Put the spiky bird idiot.
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :tapu fini: :zapdos:

Special sweeper was wanted. Put serp.
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :tapu fini: :zapdos: :serperior:

Finally, I wanted a strong physical breaker that doesn't rely on the sand and doesn't get ohkod by everything. Put MegaCham
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :tapu fini: :zapdos: :serperior: :medicham-mega:

And there you have it, there's the team. Now for the actual analysis of each pokemon. Here we go...


View attachment 204069
John O' Than (Tyranitar) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Pursuit

Right yeah first up is Tyranitar obviously, he is usually my lead and because this is a sand team, he is of course the sand setter. I wanted to use the AV set because it allows tyranitar to eat up special attacks like a mad man, getting a boost from the sand as well. I've even managed to successfully bluff Band with this. +Spe Mega Diancie's Moonblast is a guaranteed 3hko against it from full, and ttar can strike back with a definite OHKO with EQ. Offensive Mag's Fleur Cannon (being used consecutively) and Flash Cannon have A chance to 3hko. Absolute Unit. He can even be a decent check to the widely feared Zam, as Focus Miss 2hkos it, and sometimes they won't want to stay in and depend on FB hitting again, so they swap, but Ttar is having none of that, and smacks him with an OHKO from Boosted Pursuit. Crunch is for general stab and the lucky defence drop, EQ is for Coverage, Fire Punch is to hit other steels such as Ferro and Mega Scizor, and Pursuit is to catch peoples switches and get that big double base power damage on them.


View attachment 204167
Sirene (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 12 SpA / 40 SpD / 192 Spe
Calm Nature
- Defog
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast

Now we have Tapu Fini. I chose Tapu Fini as an Ash Gren check, which it has successfully fulfilled, however I need to play it carefully in order to keep it alive throughout the game due to its lack of recovery. Tapu Fini is also my means of hazard removal, which is important on pretty much any team. It is also another mon that can take special attacks, as I have made it to do just that. For the EV's I'm just using the standard smogon spread, as its nice and spread out and fits its role just fine. Defog is for hazard removal as I have just said, Taunt and Nature's Madness is to help against stall, as I can disable their status moves and then get bigger damage with Nature's Madness. Moonblast is just a regular STAB attack, which can hit hard sometimes thanks to the misty terrain boost. The terrain can also help the rest of my team, stopping other mons from spreading status to my valuable mons.

View attachment 204168
Lemonk72 (Serperior) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare
- Leech Seed

Serperior. The MVP of the team. Everyone knows how sly this thing can be, and it sure does live up to that. Serperior is my teams special sweeper, and it definitely does its job well. The EV's are what you would expect, max speed and max special attack, making him a fast and hard hitting one. Leaf Storm is serperiors main STAB and is the reason who he is so strong. After a couple of these, it just snowballs its way to victory, unless something bad switches in. Hidden Power Fire is of course to hit things that Leaf Storm can't for better damage, and helps to get rid of steels which can be pests to the others such as Steela, Kart, and Mag. Glare and Leech seed go well since they can annoy the opposition quite nicely, slowing them down, making them unable to attack in some cases, and losing health while I recover some. I originally had the old SubSeed set on it, but I found myself relying on Paralysis too often, and I would end up wasting HP with my Substitutes.

View attachment 204275
Excredrill (Excadrill) (M) @ Steelium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Next up, Man Of The Hour, It's Excadrill. It wouldn't be a sand team without this guy. Excadrill goes hand-in-hand with Tyranitar in any sand team, these two are the dynamic duo. Max speed with jolly so that I can outspeed everything except Lucha, and speed tie with opposing excadrills. The rest of the EV's are pretty obvious. SD is my setup move to boost Excadrill's sweeping potential. Iron Head and EQ are Excadrill's STAB attacks, which can hit hard after a SD. My last move was originally SR, but I decided to change this as I rarely had an opportunity to set them up, and I always got hard walled by stuff like Washtom, Skarmory, and Celesteela, So i went with rock slide to fair a little better against them. Excadrill is also the teams Z-Move user. The problem with him however is that he is difficult to swap in apart from an electric attack, due his defences being surprisingly frail for a steel type.

View attachment 204302
Tsuchiya (Medicham-Mega) (F) @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch

On to Mega Medicham. MegaCham is a phenomenal pokemon to use, as it brings incredible sweeping ability and is an excellent physical wallbreaker. MegaCham is an important member of the team, as it can punch holes in the tough dickheads that ttar and excadrill struggle to dent. Ev's are self explanatory, Fake out is for Priority, High Jump Kick and Zen Headbutt are Mega Medichams STAB attacks, and Ice Punch is to bum stuff like Lando, Chomp, and Gliscor, which can otherwise be a pain. MegaCham is also my main answer to Pex, as the abundance of him is causing people to make their pokemon able to deal with him specifically, and you can't blame them. I'm running Jolly instead of Adamant to get extra speed to speed tie with zapdos, charizard, and outspeed gliscor , excadrill, and non scarf Lando.

View attachment 204304
Prickhead (Zapdos) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- Volt Switch

Finally, we have the Prickhead himself, Zapdos. Zapdos is my Physical wall, dedicated Kartana check, and able to come in on other physical nuisances such as Chomp and MLop. Max defence lets him take their hits and then roost off the damage, as well as spreading that Paralysis to annoy the opposing team with Static, and Discharge. Heat wave is for steel types such as Mag and Kart after I get Paralysis on them. Roost as I have said is for healing, and Volt switch is for momentum, allowing me to pivot out into another member of the team. Overall, Zapdos is a pretty valuable member of the team, as he and Fini can wall Lucha which is quite threatening to the rest of my team, and then kill it with a Discharge, while dishing out extra damage from the Helmet to attackers who are still alive. However, it is important to play carefully with roost, as I've had to play many mind games with it with stuff like Lando and Chomp, some I have lost, and some I have won, but preserving this bird is important, as he soaks up attacks and then can pivot out into Excadrill and his mates to finish the game.


Weaknesses (which ive seen)
:Alakazam-Mega: :Tapu lele: I don't have much to deal with these, my best bet is tyranitar but he still gets done by a focus blast. excadrill can come in, but It's still a difficult matchup.

:kommo-o: This guy has given me a fair bit of trouble, specifically the z-move variant, and I hate it

And that's it, I hope you enjoyed this team! I am open to (almost) any advice, that's why we post this stuff on here, and I'll see you all again in about a month or something with another one of these probably, maybe not, never, I dont know. God I'm gonna miss Gen 7. Also, today is Bonfire Night, so happy bonfire night! Cheers to stopping a guy from blowing up a building. Thank you for reading!


Cool sand team you made dude! And congrats on reaching 1600+ with it. I guess you posted the team here for improvement so I will try to improve it :) I ain't the best team builder but I will do my best. Here we go-

:tyranitar::assault vest:-->:smooth rock: The first thing to do is to make the sand last longer for drill to sweep. Assault vest was fine but as you stated that your team is a bit weak to psychic and fairy types, and AV t-tar doesn't really check alakazam, tapu lele and ash gren so making it the rock setter and giving it a smooth rock was kinda better imo. Here is the set-
Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Ice Beam
Yeah, ice beam feels odd but it lures and dent lando and intimidate being gone is nice for drill. The EV spread is to tank an earthquake from lando and either kill the offensive lando with ice beam or heavily damage defensive one.

:tapu fini:-->:tapu koko: Removing fini was really bad for the defensive backbone of the team but with koko, the team gets speed control since the only fast mon is drill in sand which might not always be available besides I made another defensive core. Koko also is great to pressure water types and gives the other team member free switches via volt switch. Here's the set for it too-
Tapu Koko @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog
- Volt Switch
Shuca berry is used to lure and kill ground types that might try to block volt switch.

:Medicham mega:-->:charizard-mega-y: As I already stated back in a previous RMT that Zard Y has an amazing synergy with both t tar and drill, so I gotta use this mon as the mega mon. Besides zard is also a wallbreaker which helps drill with the sweep so replacing medicham was adjustable. Zard nukes zapdos, skarmory, celesteela, tangrowth, rotom wash ( with solar beam ) all in one slot to help drill since all these mons checks drill. The set for it too-
Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost

:Zapdos:-->:tornadus-therian: Yeah, torn isn't bulky as zapdos and it ain't has static but still, its better suited in this team. Torn checks kart and forms a nice VoltTurn core with koko. Hurricane in sun sucks but its manageable. Here's the set as well-
Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- U-turn
You stated that fini provides a (kind of) check to stall and removing it will make the team weak to it so here is the stallbreaker set. Taunt+ Knock off destroys stall and regenerator is hella cool ability for it, giving it 33% of its health back upon switching out which is very useful against stall.

:serperior:-->:ferrothorn: The team had zard as a special attacker, and was weak to psychic and fairy types so I added this mon. Ferrothorn lays spikes, checks greninja, and zam/lele. Its also a part of the defensive core with tornadus. Set for it is here-
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed

Well, some people don't like dual weather so I made a solo sand team too. Here is it-
:tyranitar mega: This mon is the mega in this team. Works nicely with drill and provides rocks and weakens bulky mons for drill to sweep. Overall, good mon for sand than hippo.

:excadrill: The sand sweeper. Nothing else to say about this mon as sand without drill is VGC ultra series without primal groudon.

:serperior: The special attacker of the team and (kind of) water resist. Great mon with drill as it lures heatran for drill and kills bulky water types. Used the leftovers set because the team had drill besides serp is pretty fast mon.

:tornadus-therian: I stated in the above team about this mon. Though this is carrying defog as team lacks it. Knock off and taunt, use anyone you want.

:Victini: Sand team really needs a fire type wallbreaker, so banded victini was the mon of choice. It forms a U-turn core with torn and gives a better stall matchup. Bolt strike was also a great move to take out water types.

:celesteela: There is a saying, 'there is nothing more annoying than a healthy celesteela', and its hella true. This is used as an ash gren, tapu lele, alakazam etc. check and an overall special wall for the team and a part of defensive core.

This is a single weather sand team, hope you like my changes. Keep in mind that dual weather is way better than single as we all know that rain is everywhere and completely outclasses sand, so yeah, enjoy and sorry for anything wrong I said or made. Enjoy :)
Here are both teams-
:tyranitar::excadrill::tapu koko::charizard mega y::tornadus therian::ferrothorn:
:tyranitar mega::excadrill::serperior::tornadus therian::victini::celesteela:
 
Cool sand team you made dude! And congrats on reaching 1600+ with it. I guess you posted the team here for improvement so I will try to improve it :) I ain't the best team builder but I will do my best. Here we go-

:tyranitar::assault vest:-->:smooth rock: The first thing to do is to make the sand last longer for drill to sweep. Assault vest was fine but as you stated that your team is a bit weak to psychic and fairy types, and AV t-tar doesn't really check alakazam, tapu lele and ash gren so making it the rock setter and giving it a smooth rock was kinda better imo. Here is the set-
Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Ice Beam
Yeah, ice beam feels odd but it lures and dent lando and intimidate being gone is nice for drill. The EV spread is to tank an earthquake from lando and either kill the offensive lando with ice beam or heavily damage defensive one.

:tapu fini:-->:tapu koko: Removing fini was really bad for the defensive backbone of the team but with koko, the team gets speed control since the only fast mon is drill in sand which might not always be available besides I made another defensive core. Koko also is great to pressure water types and gives the other team member free switches via volt switch. Here's the set for it too-
Tapu Koko @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog
- Volt Switch
Shuca berry is used to lure and kill ground types that might try to block volt switch.

:Medicham mega:-->:charizard-mega-y: As I already stated back in a previous RMT that Zard Y has an amazing synergy with both t tar and drill, so I gotta use this mon as the mega mon. Besides zard is also a wallbreaker which helps drill with the sweep so replacing medicham was adjustable. Zard nukes zapdos, skarmory, celesteela, tangrowth, rotom wash ( with solar beam ) all in one slot to help drill since all these mons checks drill. The set for it too-
Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost

:Zapdos:-->:tornadus-therian: Yeah, torn isn't bulky as zapdos and it ain't has static but still, its better suited in this team. Torn checks kart and forms a nice VoltTurn core with koko. Hurricane in sun sucks but its manageable. Here's the set as well-
Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- U-turn
You stated that fini provides a (kind of) check to stall and removing it will make the team weak to it so here is the stallbreaker set. Taunt+ Knock off destroys stall and regenerator is hella cool ability for it, giving it 33% of its health back upon switching out which is very useful against stall.

:serperior:-->:ferrothorn: The team had zard as a special attacker, and was weak to psychic and fairy types so I added this mon. Ferrothorn lays spikes, checks greninja, and zam/lele. Its also a part of the defensive core with tornadus. Set for it is here-
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed

Well, some people don't like dual weather so I made a solo sand team too. Here is it-
:tyranitar mega: This mon is the mega in this team. Works nicely with drill and provides rocks and weakens bulky mons for drill to sweep. Overall, good mon for sand than hippo.

:excadrill: The sand sweeper. Nothing else to say about this mon as sand without drill is VGC ultra series without primal groudon.

:serperior: The special attacker of the team and (kind of) water resist. Great mon with drill as it lures heatran for drill and kills bulky water types. Used the leftovers set because the team had drill besides serp is pretty fast mon.

:tornadus-therian: I stated in the above team about this mon. Though this is carrying defog as team lacks it. Knock off and taunt, use anyone you want.

:Victini: Sand team really needs a fire type wallbreaker, so banded victini was the mon of choice. It forms a U-turn core with torn and gives a better stall matchup. Bolt strike was also a great move to take out water types.

:celesteela: There is a saying, 'there is nothing more annoying than a healthy celesteela', and its hella true. This is used as an ash gren, tapu lele, alakazam etc. check and an overall special wall for the team and a part of defensive core.

This is a single weather sand team, hope you like my changes. Keep in mind that dual weather is way better than single as we all know that rain is everywhere and completely outclasses sand, so yeah, enjoy and sorry for anything wrong I said or made. Enjoy :)
Here are both teams-
:tyranitar::excadrill::tapu koko::charizard mega y::tornadus therian::ferrothorn:
:tyranitar mega::excadrill::serperior::tornadus therian::victini::celesteela:
Your team essentially gets dismantled by HO screens kokolucha
;-;
 
Thanks for the advice about the opposing sand, that does seem to be quite a problem, although quite a rare one as you don't see much sand in OU these days.
About your comment on swapping Megacham for MLop, Megacham has FakeOut as well, can outspeed excadrill after using it (if the sand disappears) and can also survive an EQ from the opposing excadrill after 2 rocks, so I'm not really sure what your point is.
mmedi usually forsakes fake out for other moves like bullet punch tpunch and ice punch
And mlop helps with gren(particularly ash)
 
Your team essentially gets dismantled by HO screens kokolucha
;-;
Not both team dude. I have a koko in the first team which is sufficient for +2 lucha if kept healthy and I have a celesteela in second team, which not being a check by any means, still helps vs lucha since it has protect which starts mind games with opponent. And lucha can setup on nobody (maybe ferrothorn?) in both teams. As for hyper offence, those team shatters easily if played correctly. :)
Cool avatar though....Its new?
 
Not both team dude. I have a koko in the first team which is sufficient for +2 lucha if kept healthy and I have a celesteela in second team, which not being a check by any means, still helps vs lucha since it has protect which starts mind games with opponent. And lucha can setup on nobody (maybe ferrothorn?) in both teams. As for hyper offence, those team shatters easily if played correctly. :)
Cool avatar though....Its new?
What's ironic is that koko is super frail and it prob won't survive long into the match
 
What's ironic is that koko is super frail and it prob won't survive long into the match
Dude, I can't believe that you are saying this but lemme tell you that a good player will save his koko till the end if he sees a lucha in team preview besides koko can run roost to keep himself healthy and drill can run rapid spin instead.
 
Dude, I can't believe that you are saying this but lemme tell you that a good player will save his koko till the end if he sees a lucha in team preview besides koko can run roost to keep himself healthy and drill can run rapid spin instead.
Your koko is very prone to chip, without reliable recovery and switching in and out all the time, and being frail
;-;
Your koko doesn't have roost either ;-;
 
Your koko is very prone to chip, without reliable recovery and switching in and out all the time, and being frail
;-;
Your koko doesn't have roost either ;-;
Its either my fault that my English sucks or its you who ain't reading everything properly. I said use koko only if lucha hits the field or you ain't carrying roost. And yeah, koko survives a +2 hit (not poison jab) after rocks from lucha. If you have problem a with lucha, then use roost on koko instead of defog and use rapid spin on drill to remove hazards.
 
Its either my fault that my English sucks or its you who ain't reading everything properly. I said use koko only if lucha hits the field or you ain't carrying roost. And yeah, koko survives a +2 hit (not poison jab) after rocks from lucha. If you have problem a with lucha, then use roost on koko instead of defog and use rapid spin on drill to remove hazards.
Your koko is very prone to chip, without reliable recovery and switching in and out all the time, and being frail
;-;
Your koko doesn't have roost either ;-;
can you both stop the arguing?
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-1006375368
eventually found a battle against it
 
Thanks for the reply and using my team, and sorry for arguing.... Tho who is this JustMonik4 ? Can you tell me what is your elo in the ou ladder please?
Eventually, I clicked on your profile picture........ Where are you from again?
I will answer your questions.
It seems you didn't notice from my screenshot of my proof of peak, but JustMonik4 is me. Truth be told, I didn't actually manage to find a HO team with screens lucha on the ladder, even after trying for a while, so I messaged similartojohn, who is one of my mates, explained the situation, and he went and got a HO Screens Lucha team and we played a few games. As you can see, Tbolt almost kills even with screens up, and koko can live +2 of any of luchas attacks even after rocks, except for stone edge (and of course poison jab), but you rarely see that run, and it has like a 25% chance, so dont be too worried. I left some calcs below to prove it.
Right now on the OU ladder I am at 1567. I have been working on a new team which I plan to show here within the next week, so look forward to that if you want.
And if you really want to know, I'm from the UK.

252 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 96 HP / 36 SpD Hawlucha in Electric Terrain through Light Screen: 246-289 (76.6 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 248+ Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Koko: 210-247 (74.7 - 87.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 248+ Atk Hawlucha Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Koko: 215-254 (76.5 - 90.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
 
I will answer your questions.
It seems you didn't notice from my screenshot of my proof of peak, but JustMonik4 is me. Truth be told, I didn't actually manage to find a HO team with screens lucha on the ladder, even after trying for a while, so I messaged similartojohn, who is one of my mates, explained the situation, and he went and got a HO Screens Lucha team and we played a few games. As you can see, Tbolt almost kills even with screens up, and koko can live +2 of any of luchas attacks even after rocks, except for stone edge (and of course poison jab), but you rarely see that run, and it has like a 25% chance, so dont be too worried. I left some calcs below to prove it.
Right now on the OU ladder I am at 1567. I have been working on a new team which I plan to show here within the next week, so look forward to that if you want.
And if you really want to know, I'm from the UK.

252 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 96 HP / 36 SpD Hawlucha in Electric Terrain through Light Screen: 246-289 (76.6 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 248+ Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Koko: 210-247 (74.7 - 87.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 248+ Atk Hawlucha Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Koko: 215-254 (76.5 - 90.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Thank you very much for answering all of my questions :) I would love to see your next team. Hopefully, one day, I too, will make a good RMT.
 
Thank you very much for answering all of my questions :) I would love to see your next team. Hopefully, one day, I too, will make a good RMT.
You're welcome, and I would say you already have, I've seen posts including this one where you've been able to substitute mons and sets quite well, I have good knowledge of sets and a few other things but I'm terrible at subbing mons out to suit matchups. I think you've shown your skill to do that.
 

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