Darkerones
SlowpokeHunter
Since the early days of BW,abilities that boost speed under weather generally make for powerful and even broken sweepers, influencing the ban of Excadrill and Drizzle+Swift Swim.
This pretty much just leaves Venusaur as the only viable Pokemon in OU that gets a speed boost in weather.
Or is there another such sweeper lurking somewhere?...
The answer is yes!
No its not Stoutland. He's a shy little porcupine named Sandslash,and he's got a few attributes that Stoutland would kill for.
Sandslash gets Swords Dance to boost his okay base 100 Attack to amazing levels,and he gets a good typing providing great STAB Earthquake and few weaknesses that are easily covered by teammates. Plus,Sandslash doesnt have to wait until late game to get in on the action,as he can Rapid Spin early game to aid his team. The team is designed to help Sandslash sweep.
Obviously Sandslash needs Sand Stream to work effectively and to avoid being redundant Tyranitar was the obvious choice here over Hippowdon. Tyranitar can set Stealth Rocks to aid Sandslash's sweep and can also take special hits that Sandslash would never dream of taking.
To take down fast scarfers and common Pokemon that wreck havoc on all sorts of teams and keep the upper hand in the rain,Scarf Latios seemed like a good choice to handle Keldeo,Terrakion,Tornadus-T,Salamence and other fast threats as well as wear down bulky threats for Sandslash to finish off.
Since Sandslash will need Life Orb to do significant damage without a boost,Wish Support was an absolute must,and I chose Jirachi for the task in order to handle the Therians,Reuniclus,the Latis,and other threats on the special side as well as spread paralysis.
Gengar seemed really appealing to wreck havoc on hyper offense teams and to keep rocks on the field,Gengar also added to my defense against the common Fighting and Ground attacks.
Since the team lacked automatic firepower,Banded Terrakion acted as a rather fast battering ram to further clear the way of very durable threats such as Ferrothorn for Sandslash.
I started playing with the team and noticed that Mamoswine could really do some work on this team as nothing could switch in,Landorus was also giving me a hard time as I realized pretty much nothing could take a physical attack,so I replaced Terrakion with Bulk up Conkeldurr in order to have priority on the team and be able to beat Mamo and take a physical hit. Plus,Conkeldurr has awesome synergy with the team. I also changed Jirachi's set to a more physically defensive EV spread.
After further developements,it became apparent that I needed a bulky water on the team and Gengar really wasn't pulling his weight,so I replaced him with Jellicent to further check opposing weather and have an effective burner on the team.
Latios was replaced by Latias in order to have more bulk against revenge-killing targets and Healing Wish.
This pretty much just leaves Venusaur as the only viable Pokemon in OU that gets a speed boost in weather.
Or is there another such sweeper lurking somewhere?...
The answer is yes!
No its not Stoutland. He's a shy little porcupine named Sandslash,and he's got a few attributes that Stoutland would kill for.
Sandslash gets Swords Dance to boost his okay base 100 Attack to amazing levels,and he gets a good typing providing great STAB Earthquake and few weaknesses that are easily covered by teammates. Plus,Sandslash doesnt have to wait until late game to get in on the action,as he can Rapid Spin early game to aid his team. The team is designed to help Sandslash sweep.
Obviously Sandslash needs Sand Stream to work effectively and to avoid being redundant Tyranitar was the obvious choice here over Hippowdon. Tyranitar can set Stealth Rocks to aid Sandslash's sweep and can also take special hits that Sandslash would never dream of taking.
To take down fast scarfers and common Pokemon that wreck havoc on all sorts of teams and keep the upper hand in the rain,Scarf Latios seemed like a good choice to handle Keldeo,Terrakion,Tornadus-T,Salamence and other fast threats as well as wear down bulky threats for Sandslash to finish off.
Since Sandslash will need Life Orb to do significant damage without a boost,Wish Support was an absolute must,and I chose Jirachi for the task in order to handle the Therians,Reuniclus,the Latis,and other threats on the special side as well as spread paralysis.
Gengar seemed really appealing to wreck havoc on hyper offense teams and to keep rocks on the field,Gengar also added to my defense against the common Fighting and Ground attacks.
Since the team lacked automatic firepower,Banded Terrakion acted as a rather fast battering ram to further clear the way of very durable threats such as Ferrothorn for Sandslash.
I started playing with the team and noticed that Mamoswine could really do some work on this team as nothing could switch in,Landorus was also giving me a hard time as I realized pretty much nothing could take a physical attack,so I replaced Terrakion with Bulk up Conkeldurr in order to have priority on the team and be able to beat Mamo and take a physical hit. Plus,Conkeldurr has awesome synergy with the team. I also changed Jirachi's set to a more physically defensive EV spread.
After further developements,it became apparent that I needed a bulky water on the team and Gengar really wasn't pulling his weight,so I replaced him with Jellicent to further check opposing weather and have an effective burner on the team.
Latios was replaced by Latias in order to have more bulk against revenge-killing targets and Healing Wish.
CLOSER LOOK:
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
Tyranitar is usually my lead to set up sandstorm if I dont see a serious threat to him in Team Preview. Pretty much all Tyranitar needs to do is set up Stealth Rock and if it lives fire off some powerful attacks.
Crunch is the STAB of choice to wreck Deo-D and Starmie as well just a safe attack when you dont know whats switching in.
Pursuit traps the Lati twins as well as Gengar,both pretty big threats to the team. Jellicent wont know what hit it either.
Stone Edge is real nice for taking down Ninetales and Volcarona,and is another good STAB (hits D-nite and Tornadus hard). Stone Edge is also my best option against Heatran (thank Arceus he doesnt get reliable recovery options). My EVs and nature allow me to take a variety of special hits from dangerous special attackers in the meta that can threaten Conkeldurr and Sandslash. Sassy nature allows me to be slower than -Spd Politoed so my weather goes up instead of my opponent's.
Sandslash (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- X-scissor
- Swords Dance
Sonic the Hedgehog? Please. Sandslash's speed gets jacked up to 502 after Sand Rush,couple that with 598 attack after a SD and STAB Earthquake,and he'll make even the great Excadrill proud. Sandslash is the main sweeper on this team once the weather war has been won and all checks and counters have been eliminated. Stone Edge completes the EdgeQuake combo and provides solid coverage over things like Tornadus-T and Gengar. X-scissor is a safe coverage move in order to more reliably hit Hydreigon,the Latis and Celebi. Rapid Spin simply wasnt used very much and I'm not very hazard weak anyway. The EVs and Nature maximize Sandslash's offensive potential,hitting hard with STAB Earthquake even without a boost. Sandslash isnt uncapable of taking a hit with that nice 110 Defense and Ground typing,but unfortunatley,Life Orb migitates much of Sandslash's defensive ability.
Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Spd / 216 Def
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Scald
-Toxic
-Recover
-Ice Beam
Jellicent is my main check to rain teams,stopping the likes of Specs Politoed and Keldeo cold while burning physical threats such as Scizor and Terrakion. The EVs are defensive that way I can take more from popular physical threats such as Garchomp and retaliate with Ice Beam. The Speed EVs outpace min Speed Scizor and speed creeps other Jellicent. Scald is the main STAB move for a nifty burn chance and SE coverage on the likes of Volcarona and Heatran. Toxic is the preferred status in order to cripple other bulky waters such as Rotom-w that trouble this team and wall Jellicent. Recover provides reliable recovery which is quite needed. Ice Beam hits Dragon types and Grass types hard and gives Jellicent good general coverage. Just like Gengar,Jellicent switches into Fighting moves with no problem and spinblocks to aid the rest of the team (especially Sandslash).
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 232 HP / 8 SDef / 156 Atk / 112 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Wish
- Fire Punch/U-Turn
Jirachi is the defensive pivot of the team and is also my main switch in to Tornadus and Dragon types. Jirachi also provides much needed Wish support for Sandslash especially. The EVs and Nature seem very strange at first glance,but I'll explain. The Speed investment outruns neutral base 95s. The Attack investment is enough to 3HKO max Def Forretress@Lefties after Rocks with Fire Punch. The rest is thrown into bulk. Body Slam spreads paralysis among fast and dangerous sweepers such as Alakazam and allows Jirachi to paralyze Ground types such as Gliscor and Landorus. Iron Head is Jirachi's STAB of choice and provides an excellent flinch rate thanks to Serene Grace and can make Jirachi a real pain to deal with. Fire Punch roasts Steel types that wall the set while U-turn keeps up momentum and works really nicely with Wish. Right now I'm running Fire Punch The general strategy early game would be to switch in on something that cant do much against it like Choice locked Scizor,paralyze the switch in and ram it with Iron Head or U-turn out(using Wish when necessary).
Conkeldurr (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
Instead of using Scizor or Breloom like everyone else for their source of priority,this here Conkeldurr is my ****. Conkeldurr doesnt have any unnecessary weaknesses thanks to a safe pure Fighting typing,and is also much more resiliant than other fighting types thanks to Drain Punch and beefy defenses. Bulk Up boosts Attack and Defense,so it doesnt hurt to invest in SDef a little just to make Conkeldurr that much more durable. Mach Punch is the main STAB here,providing useful priority with a great typing,helping to take down frail threats on offensive teams. Drain Punch is the go-to move for slow bulky threats such as Bronzong and also has more power when you need it against Pokemon such as Politoed,its also a great source of healing. Ice Punch rounds off the set to check Landorus and Gliscor as well as have an easy time against Dragon types such as Salamence.
Conkeldurr has good synergy with the team due to the ability to scare Ferrothorn and keep Tyranitar away from Gengar and Latias.
As tempting as it is to run Iron fist,Guts gives it much more useful utility as a status absorber for the team,seriously,you want a burn or paralysis on this monster. A statused Conkeldurr also cant be Spored by Breloom and thus will have a good chance at beating it.
Latias (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Healing Wish
Scarfed Latias is the last member of my team but certainly not the least,as it plays an important role in eliminating the Musketeer Pokemon and revenge killing Dragons that managed to boost. Latias is probably one of the least expected Pokemon to be carrying a Choice Scarf,adding an interesting surprise factor to this set (at the cost of some power).
Psyshock is chosen over Psychic specifically for Calm Mind variants of Keldeo and the fact that Terrakion gets a SDef boost from my own sandstorm,its also a reliable STAB in general and can nail +1 Volcarona as well.
Draco Meteor annihilates pretty much anything that doesnt resist it and destroys any Dragon type that dared to set up on me. Surf is the final attack move for use against Steels such as Heatran and to abuse the opponent's rain,its also pretty nice for Tyranitar(it probably has Pursuit anyway so might as well hit it).
Healing Wish is really nifty move that effectively brings a crippled Pokemon back into play.
Please do leave a rate!
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