Tyranitar and his Sandstorm Savages

[Evil Elf]

Hey, I've tried to refine my team as best I can through extensive testing with pokemon online, it seems rigid for a subway team both singles and doubles, I would just like people to give it a once over, leave their thoughts and tell me what they'd change or would recommend that I try. or if they have a similar team that they could link me to.

I'm aiming to make a sandstorm team that will hopefully make it in the subway battles and be passed down from white to the next series and be brought through the ages so to speak, becoming heirloom Pokemon

Changes are in bold (Ty Simipour). Reverting to an original moveset Ferrothorn with a Leftovers in place of Razor Claw (Ty Foxxyman1167).

Still happy to hear your thoughts, always happy to listen. >_> Had it beaten into me Tyranitar needs his current moveset but I refuse to be rid of Crunch he's nothing without it.

Tyranitar (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Def / 212 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

(the following pokemon will be in my singles team as to whoever I feel like using at the time)

Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor

Garchomp (F) @ BrightPowder
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang


So yeah, please tell me what you think, would love to hear what you have to say. I'm a Tyranitar lover so I will be keeping him, he is essentially the only reason for the team

 

[Tsumiki]

Not quite sure what you're trying to accomplish with that TTar set, try EQ/Rock Slide/Crunch/Aqua Tail.

Thunder on something with abysmal SpA like Ferrothorn is useless. Try Gyro Ball.

Garchomp is um, no. Dragon Claw/Earthquake/Rock Slide/Swords Dance is the way to go.

 

[foxyman1167]

Hey, I've tried to refine my team as best I can through extensive testing with pokemon online, it seems rigid for a subway team both singles and doubles, I would just like people to give it a once over, leave their thoughts and tell me what they'd change or would recommend that I try. or if they have a similar team that they could link me to.

I'm aiming to make a sandstorm team that will hopefully make it in the subway battles and be passed down from white to the next series and be brought through the ages so to speak, becoming heirloom Pokemon

The changed moves Ice Punch and Thunder are both my changes, they were changed as a part of the first post, if I should change back, say so.

Tyranitar (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch

I'm not one for Choice Sets in the Battle Subway, but it's your call. Conversely, you could drop Crunch for Dragon Dance, and change the item.

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Def / 212 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Leech Seed
- Curse
- Toxic/Spikes/Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball

Absolutely no, Ferrothorn should not be running Thunder, even in the rain. This set works wonders for me in the Battle Subway, but you have SR/Spikes already, so those could work instead.

(the following pokemon will be in my singles team as to whoever I feel like using at the time)

Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 74 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor

With this EV spread, Excadrill outruns everything in the sand, even opposing Excadrill, which according to Smogon Data, their max Speed in the Sand is 216. With a perfect IV of 31, and these EVs, Excadrill reaches 130 Speed, which doubles to 260 in the sand, outspeeding the fastest pokemon, ChoiceScarf Manectric at 258 Speed.

This spread assumes a maximum Speed IV, it will need to be increased the lower the IV is.

Garchomp (F) @ BrightPowder
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail/Fire Fang/Stone Edge

Swords Dance > Hone Claws. Always. Earthquake for STAB, Aqua Tail is good for bulky Ground types, or Fire Fang for floating Steels and Ice types. Stone Edge hits Ice types harder though, except for maybe Snover/Abomasnow, and Mamoswine.

So yeah, please tell me what you think, would love to hear what you have to say. I'm a Tyranitar lover so I will be keeping him, he is essentially the only reason for the team

Comments in bold.

 

[Evil Elf]

Not quite sure what you're trying to accomplish with that TTar set, try EQ/Rock Slide/Crunch/Aqua Tail.

Thunder on something with abysmal SpA like Ferrothorn is useless. Try Gyro Ball.

Garchomp is um, no. Dragon Claw/Earthquake/Rock Slide/Swords Dance is the way to go.

As far as garchomp I've been using 1-2 hone claws and he can pretty much 1 shot anything in sight. Hone claws also covers the lack of accuracy on moves, given the bright powder, sand veil and sandstorm combination garchomp doesn't seem to take so many hits.

As for thunder I agree, I originally set him up with Gyroball, Power Whip, spikes and Stealth Rock

I had Tyranitar setup to clear most threats to the group, he was pretty successful with ThunderPunch, figured that Ice Punch might be better and giving my Ferrothorn thunder to deal with water threats as Ice Punch deals with dragons, and flying types.

Again on Garchomp, he's basically got a move set to equal Tyranitar so they would scarcely be hitting different targets

 

[Evil Elf]

@ foxyman1167

As for Tyranitar, I don't mind the idea of stone edge, I've just found that whenever I use Stone edge I'm missing 3/4 of the time. Rock slide hits more often, but I'm not a big fan of chance moves unless I have a move/item to up my accuracy enough to a 95% atleast. Also, having Tyranitar with Superpower covers normal threats (Chansey and Blissey I'm looking at you) and allows extra coverage of more pokemon types. The only alternate item I would use would be Muscle Band/

As I said in my post to "FoldingScreen", I setup Ferrothorn once with Stealth Rock , Spikes, Power Whip and Gyro Ball. Also with a Sassy nature. The use of Leftovers is a good idea, I should try it out, I just use Razor Claw as a chance to crit more. Something that I liked on Pokemon Online was 1 shotting with a random Crit Gyro Ball. I can't have Leech Seed along with Spikes and Stealth Rock anyways so I figured I should take Power Whip, it hits a few things and people seem a tad surprised when I use it.

So basically with Excadrill you're saying I should up his damage a tad more?

Actually, having Earthquake on Garchomp would be a nice change, would open for a wider attack range. I'll look into Stone Edge and keep a hold of Hone Claws, 2 hone claws and I almost never miss. Through my testing it seems that 2 hone claws also makes Garchomp almost always 1 shot everything, the idea of swords dance meaning I have to use it once is great, but if I take 1 extra turn to ensure accuracy I'm hitting just as hard anyways. Again though, Swords Dance is an idea atleast, twice the damage of Hone Claws, just a bigger fan of accuracy.

 

[Simipour]

Hey, I've tried to refine my team as best I can through extensive testing with pokemon online, it seems rigid for a subway team both singles and doubles, I would just like people to give it a once over, leave their thoughts and tell me what they'd change or would recommend that I try. or if they have a similar team that they could link me to.

I'm aiming to make a sandstorm team that will hopefully make it in the subway battles and be passed down from white to the next series and be brought through the ages so to speak, becoming heirloom Pokemon

The changed moves Ice Punch and Thunder are both my changes, they were changed as a part of the first post, if I should change back, say so.

Tyranitar (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Ferrothorn (M) @ Razor Claw
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Def / 212 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Thunder (Was recently changed from Explosion)
- Power Whip

(the following pokemon will be in my singles team as to whoever I feel like using at the time)

Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Return(subway bronzongs can be hit with earthquake.)

Garchomp (F) @ BrightPowder
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage/Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang


So yeah, please tell me what you think, would love to hear what you have to say. I'm a Tyranitar lover so I will be keeping him, he is essentially the only reason for the team

Choice scarf does you no favours for Ttar. Throw up one DD and you have the choice scarf and band boosts. Tyranitars attacks are a little lackluster without an attack boost. Rock Slide > Stone edge, but crunch should be you're main neutral move.

Excadrill needs life orb. Against the AI, any move is equally as big a problem as earthquake. You really need to push for the OHKO's. Incidentally, Adamant nature Excadrill still outruns everything after the boost. Return is generally more useful as filler than X scissor in the subway, though its not the most important thing.

Hone Claws is not needed on Garchomp as you shouldn't be using low accuracy moves in the subway at all. (Even rock slide is pushing it, but ttar needs stab.) Iron Tail = trash. Outrage is fine, but Dragon Claw is also acceptable, in which case EQ will be your go to move.


Though ive pretty much just given you my exact subway team, so this is just my opinion on what works. Feel free to ignore it. (Except the part about Iron Tail, it really is trash)

 

[Evil Elf]

Thanks for explaining a few things properly, and I like to hear you're using a similar team, how well does your team do as far as winning streaks?

Choice scarf does you no favours for Ttar. Throw up one DD and you have the choice scarf and band boosts. Tyranitars attacks are a little lackluster without an attack boost. Rock Slide > Stone edge, but crunch should be you're main neutral move.

Excadrill needs life orb. Against the AI, any move is equally as big a problem as earthquake. You really need to push for the OHKO's. Incidentally, Adamant nature Excadrill still outruns everything after the boost. Return is generally more useful as filler than X scissor in the subway, though its not the most important thing.

Hone Claws is not needed on Garchomp as you shouldn't be using low accuracy moves in the subway at all. (Even rock slide is pushing it, but ttar needs stab.) Iron Tail = trash. Outrage is fine, but Dragon Claw is also acceptable, in which case EQ will be your go to move.


Though ive pretty much just given you my exact subway team, so this is just my opinion on what works. Feel free to ignore it. (Except the part about Iron Tail, it really is trash)

As for the Choice Scarf, I'd been using it to help outspeed things, just checking, but Focus Sash is regained after the battle is over right? I can see how it would be useful in Subway battles. Move set, I can see why it's more feasible now.

So if I was to use X-Scizzor it wouldn't be a huge problem, Return just being a better move slot filler? Also, Can E-Quake hit Bronzong or can't it? Just making sure.

Garchomp with Fire Fang I'm happy with, I like having a Fire move somewhere to help with various nuisances.

 

[Aura Sensei™]

Bronzong has Levitate,so no Earthquake won't hit it.

 

[Evil Elf]

Thought so, just making sure, which would make it more benefical to use X-Scizor, a bug move over a normal Return, beats psychic, dark, grass... Just plain useful

 

[foxyman1167]

So basically with Excadrill you're saying I should up his damage a tad more?

Well yeah, he'll be outspeeding everyone, but he isn't exactly bulky, it's nice to be sure he's gonna OHKO a lot of threats before they can attack.

 

[Dragontamer1011]

Is that a simulator you tested with? Unless its accurate to what will show up in the Subway then I doubt it means much honestly. If you tested online meaning on Wifi battles, thats probably worse, as facing humans means less then squat in the Subway. By the way, didn't feel it was necessary to rate as everyone above covered it

 

[Evil Elf]

Well yeah, he'll be outspeeding everyone, but he isn't exactly bulky, it's nice to be sure he's gonna OHKO a lot of threats before they can attack.

That's fair enough, I can see why it would be needed, if he can outspeed basically anything (In SS) then he won't need the speed increase

 

[Evil Elf]

Is that a simulator you tested with? Unless its accurate to what will show up in the Subway then I doubt it means much honestly. If you tested online meaning on Wifi battles, thats probably worse, as facing humans means less then squat in the Subway. By the way, didn't feel it was necessary to rate as everyone above covered it

Pretty much, it's a WiFi test, but I'm including weak/strong teams and skilled/stupidly easy players. I agree that it's basically squat, but fighting a pokemon is still fighting a pokemon, it may not be how a CPU player would play, given varying levels of difficulty, but I would expect easy fights and really challenging fights regardless.

Truthfully, I just want a Tyranitar team, successful or not. Also, that's why I wanted people who have been in the Subway to tell me their views. Personally, I've never competed in the Subway or a Battle stadium before, so for me, this is the best time to see what people say, if the majority say use a team like this or a certain move set, then that's what I'm looking to find.

Setting up a SS team to fight all weaknesses and cover ever base seems great, but how often is it really going to pay off? 1 in 5 or 1 in 6 battles I would guess, which is why I changed my team accordingly.

But I mean, if you agree with everyone above or some of the ideas, then I'm clearly headed in the right direction.

 

[Blue Harvest]

Run Jolly on Tyranitar. Adamant won't even outrun Infernape after a Dragon Dance but Jolly with outpace Starmie and everything slower, including Latios / Latias / Thundurus / Tornadeus / etc.

 

[Dragontamer1011]

Pretty much, it's a WiFi test, but I'm including weak/strong teams and skilled/stupidly easy players. I agree that it's basically squat, but fighting a pokemon is still fighting a pokemon, it may not be how a CPU player would play, given varying levels of difficulty, but I would expect easy fights and really challenging fights regardless.

Truthfully, I just want a Tyranitar team, successful or not. Also, that's why I wanted people who have been in the Subway to tell me their views. Personally, I've never competed in the Subway or a Battle stadium before, so for me, this is the best time to see what people say, if the majority say use a team like this or a certain move set, then that's what I'm looking to find.

Setting up a SS team to fight all weaknesses and cover ever base seems great, but how often is it really going to pay off? 1 in 5 or 1 in 6 battles I would guess, which is why I changed my team accordingly.

But I mean, if you agree with everyone above or some of the ideas, then I'm clearly headed in the right direction.

Tyranitar is actually my favorite pokemon, so I see what you mean there. I've wanted to create a good team for quite awhile, but I can just never find the right combination... I was considering merging my Trick Room and Sandstorm team ideas, but Tyranitar just feels so vulnerable with that x4 Fighting weakness.. Harvest is correct, speed is the way to go, Jolly is best.

 

[Vandslaux]

Don't use hazards ingame.

 

[Simipour]

Thanks for explaining a few things properly, and I like to hear you're using a similar team, how well does your team do as far as winning streaks?



As for the Choice Scarf, I'd been using it to help outspeed things, just checking, but Focus Sash is regained after the battle is over right? I can see how it would be useful in Subway battles. Move set, I can see why it's more feasible now.

So if I was to use X-Scizzor it wouldn't be a huge problem, Return just being a better move slot filler? Also, Can E-Quake hit Bronzong or can't it? Just making sure.

Garchomp with Fire Fang I'm happy with, I like having a Fire move somewhere to help with various nuisances.

Ttar with choice scarf hits like a weakling compared to Chomp/Exca with their stab EQ's. Focus sash (pretty much) ensures you get your DD in for the 2 boosts. I used CS TTar first, it didn't go to well. The team with DD Ttar I managed to get to 90+(in singles.). Sash is regained after the battle.

EQ usually hits bronzong, always in my personal experience. I'm not positive if any run levitate, but if so its less than half. Return is better for gliscor. Though neither will be used that much.

Yeah the fire move helps against Skarmory/Escavalier/Ferro/Scizor. Gives him perfect coverage. Also if you run dragon claw, at 130 power its your best move against regular grass types. Though the 95 acc is sketchy.

The 90+ streak was with a DD Ttar holding Lum Berry(And the rest of the team exactly as I suggested in bold, except for TTar being Jolly for reasons Blue Harvest pointed out and others). But that had me comprehensively beaten by a rain dance floatzel, so I swiched to focus sash on Ttar. Ive only played a little bit since then, as I lent my DS to my bro. I'm currently sitting on a 42 streak ready to be continued.