We're All Caught in this Dreamy Sandstorm (Peaked 10th)

[Helias]

Why yes I suck at naming teams. How did you know?

=Overview=

Weather teams. You either love 'em, or you hate 'em. Sometimes both at once. Either way, you have to admit that weather is a dominating force in the OU metagame. You could argue that only teams utilizing weather could succeed in the tier. I disagree, but weather teams are the only ones I could successfully use. I decided to create a Sandstorm team, seeing as one of the most prominent abusers of sand, Excadrill, was available for use.


=Teambuilding Process=

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For my team, I had a choice between using either Tyranitar, Hippowdon, or Hippopotas as my weather starter. Hippopotas shouldn't be used outside of UU for obvious reasons, so that's a no. I don't particularly like Hippowdon, and I kinda wanted to try out the TyraniBoah set, so I chose Tyranitar.

Excadrill was an obvious choice. Not much needs to be said.

I needed a special attacker, so I chose Alakazam. It has incredible Special Attack and Speed, and Magic Guard helps to offset its not-bulk. It also serves as my revenge-killer.

I originally had Gliscor in this spot, but that proved ineffective after a few matches. I decided on Choice Band Mamoswine to help revenge-kill things after Alakazam bites the dust.

I don't know why I put Latios on my team. Maybe it was to break walls or something? I forget now.

Don't know why I used Landorus either. Doesn't matter though.

So, with my team completely built, I went off to test the team. Unsurprisingly, it sucked. The last three members of the team didn't do much of anything other than die. So, I did what any smart person would do: run off to IRC to get help from professionals.

Adding Scizor over Mamoswine was my own decision. Replacing Latios and Landorus with Keldeo and Thundurus was mostwanted's idea. And there's how I made this team.

Alright! On to the only part anyone cares about. (If names of items/Pokemon/moves are in red, they were changes suggested by people posting in this thread.)


=THE TEAM (:D)=

Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave

This is one of the three new additions to my team, and definitely one of the best. Thundurus' role on my team is quite simple: paralyze stuff, sweep if possible, then die. I always use it as a lead, as paralysis support helps my entire team. Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice form pseudo-BoltBeam coverage, while Nasty Plot boosts the damage of those moves greatly. Like I said before, paralysis support helps my entire team, so Thunder Wave was an obvious choice.
I really like this set I'm using right now, so I don't think I'll be changing it.

Keldeo @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ghost]

New addition #2. Keldeo's role in my team is to serve as my main special sweeper. Calm Mind is Keldeo's best boosting move one a purely special set, while Secret Sword and Hydro Pump are obligatory STAB moves. Hidden Power Ghost complements Keldeo's STAB moves well.
I'm don't think I'll be changing this one soon either. The only thing I'd consider changing would be the type of Hidden Power I use.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower
- U-turn

The final semi-recent addition to my team. Scizor isn't seen too much in DW, what with Genesect running around, but that doesn't mean that Scizor is bad. A Choice Band boosts Scizor's Attack to an amazing 591, allowing it to do incredible damage with its STAB moves, Bullet Punch and Bug Bite. Superpower is a great coverage move on something that'll only be staying in for a turn anyway, while U-turn finishes off weakened enemies while keeping momentum.
I'm not too sure about Scizor. I'm considering replacing it with Breloom right now.

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 172 Atk / 84 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Stone Edge

Tyranitar is the first sandstorm inducer that comes to mind. It has one purpose, and one purpose only: sandstorm. I really have no idea what to do with this one. It does almost nothing every battle, aside from setting up sand and dying to Breloom. I had a SubPunch set at first, but that didn't work at all. Now I'm just considering getting rid of it for Hippowdon.

Excadrill (F) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Aerial Ace

Ah, Excadrill. I love it so much. Around 80% of the time, Excadrill is the one that sweeps my opponent. Just about everything on here is standard. However, there are two rarely-seen oddities on this set: Chople Berry and Aerial Ace. Why those, you ask? Simple. Breloom loves ruining Excadrill's sweep, and with a Chople Berry, Excadrill can survive an incoming Mach Punch and OHKO back.
I'm probably not going to change Excadrill too much. I don't see the point in replacing my most valuable team member.

Alakazam (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Charge Beam
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Alakazam wasn't my first choice for a special attacker, but I'll be damned if it wasn't one of the best. Alakazam's main role on my team is to dent things with powerful attacks, and stop impending sweeps. Psyshock ruins special walls like Blissey, Focus Miss gets rid of things like Excadrill if it hits, and Hidden Power Ice cripples rampaging Dragon-types like Garchomp and Dragonite. Charge Beam was added to finish off weakened pokemon while gaining a boost to Special Attack.
Alakazam works well, but I'll be willing to replace it with a better special attacker. Preferably a fast one.

Team Weakness Chart

Finally found out how to get this :D

=Conculsion=

This team has done me well since its inception. I think it's pretty solid, although I suppose you'll be the judge of that. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll help improve this team!

One more thing. There are four things I will not add to my team, as they have not worked very well whenever I've tried them: Latios, Gliscor, Landorus, Mamoswine.

importable

Keldeo @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ghost]

Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 172 Atk / 84 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Stone Edge

Excadrill (F) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Aerial Ace

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower
- U-turn

Alakazam (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave

 

[ZoroDark]

I have run alakazam in DWOU as well and I think charge beam is better over calm mind. Its sad to consume your sash for a cm boost, charge beam gives you that boost as well. You can use it to kill pokes at low health.

 

[Helias]

Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll be putting Charge Beam over Calm Mind in a minute.

 

[Rakan]

Aerial Ace seems somewhat unnecessary as I'm fairly certain that a +2 Return OHKOes Breloom that don't have HP investment. I would also consider replacing Scizor with Breloom, as it gets a lot of common threats in DW such as Genesect and Excadrill much harder than Scizor does. A final suggestion; consider running Lum Berry over Leftovers on Tyranitar, as it'll allow it to keep on sweeping while taking a status move. Some people only use status to deal with boosters like DDTar, so running a Lum Berry can give them a nasty surprise.

 

[King of Blades]

Pretty cool team. Especially the Dragon Dance Tyranitar.

One thing I might change is Tyranitar's item. Like Omicron said, Lum berry is a good idea to protect you from status (such as jellicent's will-o-wisp). Also, a chople berry would be good as you will do better against bulky Pokemon with a fighting type coverage move.

I personally think chople is the better option, but lum is still a great idea.

 

[Kidogo]

I notice you don't have stealth rock on your team, which is almost always beneficial to have. I would suggest switching to a Ttar set with max HP and Atk with a moveset of stealth rock / pursuit / superpower / icebeam or fire blast. I have used this set and it has worked extremely well for me. Other than that, not much to comment on, great team. For an alakazam replacement, maybe go with deoxys? It gets fanastic coverage and can go mixed, while obviously being super fast. I'd suggest a set like:
Deoxys-s @ life orb
4 Atk 252 Spa 252 Spe rash/naive
Psycho boost
Superpower
Ice beam/thunderbolt
Hidden power [fire]/fire punch
In general, HP fire is better but requires lowering speed and SpA IVs. Naive outspeeds some things rash cannot like scarf genesect, but rash gives more power.
Alternatively, you could make deoxys your stealth rocker if you want to keep DDtar.

 

[King of Blades]

Kidigo is right, you have no hazards.

The best option would be the change tyranitar's set to an offensive/defensive stealth rock.
Your team is already chock full of set-up sweepers, so you don't really need another one. On top of that, it will greatly benefit those pokemon that are special sweepers because it does good damage when they switch and it breaks sturdy and focus sashes.

Also, props for using Zam, cause that thing is really underrated

A cool set I have used with alakazam.

Alakazam
252 speed, sp. att, 6 hp, focus sash, timid
-psyshock
-focus miss
-encore
-charge beam/calm mind

I use calm mind, as encore allows for easier boosts, but if you want to use charge beam, that's fine. Encore is so great on this set because alakazam doesn't take residual damage, so you can easily encore a toxic that you took on the switch, keep your sash intact, and they switch, giving you a free boost.

As for losing hidden power, change keldeo's to hidden power ice. That will help make up for the hidden power you'd lose from using this set, as well as being generally better than hidden power ghost. The only notable thing that hidden power ghost kills is jellicent.
Excadrill hits him hard if he is +2, tyranitar makes him hurt with crunch, and thundurus absolutely crushes him.

Overall, really good team. (I used a sandstorm team with alakazam for a while, too.)

 

[HolyAvatar]

I agree with the others, if Ttar isn't useful for you, at least give him stealth rock.

If your thundurus is only there for sweeping until he dies, why not get life orb instead of leftovers?

Globally, I like your team.

 

[Lavos]

Hmmmm...I'd say you have enough sweepers on this team, don't you think?

Change DD Ttar to a specially bulky variant with Pursuit. Nothing on your team can currently withstand a Specs Draco Meteor from Latios after hazards, bar Alakazam, who can then quickly be picked off by priority etc. That's a crippling weakness for teams such as these.

Specially Defensive Ttar

Straight from Smogon:

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Also, change that Scizor set to something else, preferably something along the lines of 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd. This will, again, minimize your trroubles with hard-hitting Dragons like Latios, etc.

overall a great team blah blah blah Dw is easy kthxbai

 

[EXIE]

Like everyone else said, a specially defensive mixtar would be better than what you have now. But if you don't want pursuit tar then you can at least put in on scizor for trapping chandelure locked into anything other than overheat/flamethrower, imo u-turn is sufficient for STAB.

For the record I think your Exca is brilliant - I've had my Exca sweep ground to a halt countless times by mach punch Breloom.