Hey guys.
So I downloaded PO (SO GOOD) and decided it was time for me to learn about the new generation. Because I was new and unfamiliar with everything that's changed, I decided to do what everybody else is doing. Make a sand team
I have no shame.
So, yeah, take a look, suggest any changes (I won't change anything unless you give me a reason to though).
B.C.'s First Gen 5 team
Team building
Obviously I needed to set up sandstorm. Tyranitar was an option, but I really like Don's bulk for this job.
Forretress. I chose this guy for a couple reasons. First, I personally think that Nattorei is just a phase everybody's going through. This guy's just better, IMO. Sandstorm resist is great. Good setup options, and he can spin as well. I've always wanted to use him, but I never did for some reason.
This guy is a legend. If he had a better moveset, he could function as a revenge killer. As it is, here he is as a boosting sweeper. For those of you that don't know, this guy's ability doubles his speed in a sandstorm. It already has something like a base 80-88 speed, so that's pretty damn sweet. The only gen 5 'mon in here so far.
I love Gyarados. I had one in my old gen 4 team, but I dropped it for the special might of Starmie. Anyway, I figured that, with a more stall-oriented strategy, I could try one of these guys again.
Who else but Blissey? Chansey might be an option due to the Evolution Stone, but I like Blissey more. Every team needs a special wall, and I think Blissey is unsurpassed, except possible by the aforementioned Chansey. We'll see how that plays out.
If I'm 100% honest, I chose this guy because I forgot that he lost his ghost typing in the generation transfer and I wanted a spinblocker. I quickly fell in love with this guy and his dual STAB of Tbolt and Overheat.
Holy overhaul Batman! So, some stuff wasn't working out. Basically there are replacements for about half my team. This is a definite improvement.
A Closer Look
Ralph (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Impish Nature (+Def, -Sp.A)
Sand Stream
252 HP, 152 Def, 104 Sp.D
~Stealth Rock
~Earthquake
~Slack Off
~Roar
My long suffering lead. Sets off Sandstorm (Side note: He's also a lot slower than the most common weather leads [Ninetales and Politoad] so I get sand up when they meet), sets up Stealth Rock, then can choose between healing with Slack Off, Phazing with Roar (All the time against Skarmory leads that don't carry Taunt), or nailing the opponent with STAB EQ. Provides a large amount of physical bulk for the team, so kind of important that he survives at the start of the battle, So he's prone to switching either before or directly after setting up SR. Ralph is his name because I couldn't think of anything else for him and I was wearing a Ralph Wiggum T-shirt at the time.
Balls (Nattorei) @ Leftovers
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
Iron Barbs
252 Sp.D, 156 HP, 96 Atk, 4 Def
~Leech Seed
~Spikes
~Power Whip
~Thunder Wave
So I think I was wrong about Forretress vs. this thing. This is really good aside from the fact that he doesn't get Toxic Spikes, which I why I have Thunder Wave instead, to spread around the status. Three layers of Spikes and SR is beautiful to play with against a hail team. Power Whip is for Powerful STAB. I was cluthing at straws for his EVs, any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Spiky (Doryuuzu) @ Balloon
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp.A)
Sand Throw
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Def
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide
~Swords Dance
~X-Scissor
Good God I love this guy. Basically, he's a less flexible, faster T-tar that gets SD. The only thing I have noticed about swapping Life Orb for Balloon is that he doesn't get unboosted OHKOs on Starmie anymore. Aww well. After one SD, he can sweep an entire team in a breeze. Unfortunately, he doesn't get Stone Edge, so Rock Slide pairs with Earthquake in this set for amazing coverage. X-Scissor is a good surprise for bulky Psychic and Grass types that try to set up on him (Cressilia and Celebi, for example). Swords Dance speaks for itself, in all honesty. This really is an amazing Pokemon. Spiky is his name mainly because I can't spell Doryuuzu without looking it up.
Firestarter (Salmence) @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp.A)
Intimidate
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
~Earthquake
~Stone Edge
~Dragon Dance
~Outrage
A fitting replacement for Gyarados. Similar in many respects, but this is much more powerful, and hella fun to use. Similar setup to Gyarados: DD up and attempt a sweep. I think it's moves hit everything for at least neutral, and everything has at least 100 base power. Leftovers over Life Orb to negate the sandstorm damage.
Blissey (Chansey) @ Evolution Stone
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
Natural Cure
252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Sp.D
~Toxic
~Wish
~Protect
~Seismic Toss
I like this. There's not an awful lot to say about this though, It's a Blissey with a haircut and no Leftovers.
Jelly Bean (Rankurusu) @ Leftovers
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
Magic Guard
252 Def, 252 Sp.D, 4 HP
~Acid Armor
~Calm Mind
~Psychic
~Recover
Oh Hell yes. Letting this thing set up is an enormous mistake. +4 in Def and Sp.D is enough to make a seasoned player ragequit. Instant recovery is a miracle too. I love my Jelly Bean Panda. Macig Guard helps him recover with his Leftovers. Inb4 Smogon calls this guy broken.
Conclusion
That's the team folks. They do okay, I'm not the sort of person who demands perfection, I'm still in this mainly because I find it fun, and this team is fun to use. So, any suggestions or tips would be appreciated, just remember to give a reason before you ask me to change something. I hope you found this readable. Thanks for reading this, and have a nice day.
Side note - I'd just like to say that I hate Xatu with all my heart.
So I downloaded PO (SO GOOD) and decided it was time for me to learn about the new generation. Because I was new and unfamiliar with everything that's changed, I decided to do what everybody else is doing. Make a sand team
I have no shame.
So, yeah, take a look, suggest any changes (I won't change anything unless you give me a reason to though).
B.C.'s First Gen 5 team
Team building
Obviously I needed to set up sandstorm. Tyranitar was an option, but I really like Don's bulk for this job.
Forretress. I chose this guy for a couple reasons. First, I personally think that Nattorei is just a phase everybody's going through. This guy's just better, IMO. Sandstorm resist is great. Good setup options, and he can spin as well. I've always wanted to use him, but I never did for some reason.
This guy is a legend. If he had a better moveset, he could function as a revenge killer. As it is, here he is as a boosting sweeper. For those of you that don't know, this guy's ability doubles his speed in a sandstorm. It already has something like a base 80-88 speed, so that's pretty damn sweet. The only gen 5 'mon in here so far.
I love Gyarados. I had one in my old gen 4 team, but I dropped it for the special might of Starmie. Anyway, I figured that, with a more stall-oriented strategy, I could try one of these guys again.
Who else but Blissey? Chansey might be an option due to the Evolution Stone, but I like Blissey more. Every team needs a special wall, and I think Blissey is unsurpassed, except possible by the aforementioned Chansey. We'll see how that plays out.
If I'm 100% honest, I chose this guy because I forgot that he lost his ghost typing in the generation transfer and I wanted a spinblocker. I quickly fell in love with this guy and his dual STAB of Tbolt and Overheat.
Holy overhaul Batman! So, some stuff wasn't working out. Basically there are replacements for about half my team. This is a definite improvement.
A Closer Look
Ralph (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Impish Nature (+Def, -Sp.A)
Sand Stream
252 HP, 152 Def, 104 Sp.D
~Stealth Rock
~Earthquake
~Slack Off
~Roar
My long suffering lead. Sets off Sandstorm (Side note: He's also a lot slower than the most common weather leads [Ninetales and Politoad] so I get sand up when they meet), sets up Stealth Rock, then can choose between healing with Slack Off, Phazing with Roar (All the time against Skarmory leads that don't carry Taunt), or nailing the opponent with STAB EQ. Provides a large amount of physical bulk for the team, so kind of important that he survives at the start of the battle, So he's prone to switching either before or directly after setting up SR. Ralph is his name because I couldn't think of anything else for him and I was wearing a Ralph Wiggum T-shirt at the time.
Balls (Nattorei) @ Leftovers
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
Iron Barbs
252 Sp.D, 156 HP, 96 Atk, 4 Def
~Leech Seed
~Spikes
~Power Whip
~Thunder Wave
So I think I was wrong about Forretress vs. this thing. This is really good aside from the fact that he doesn't get Toxic Spikes, which I why I have Thunder Wave instead, to spread around the status. Three layers of Spikes and SR is beautiful to play with against a hail team. Power Whip is for Powerful STAB. I was cluthing at straws for his EVs, any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Spiky (Doryuuzu) @ Balloon
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp.A)
Sand Throw
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Def
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide
~Swords Dance
~X-Scissor
Good God I love this guy. Basically, he's a less flexible, faster T-tar that gets SD. The only thing I have noticed about swapping Life Orb for Balloon is that he doesn't get unboosted OHKOs on Starmie anymore. Aww well. After one SD, he can sweep an entire team in a breeze. Unfortunately, he doesn't get Stone Edge, so Rock Slide pairs with Earthquake in this set for amazing coverage. X-Scissor is a good surprise for bulky Psychic and Grass types that try to set up on him (Cressilia and Celebi, for example). Swords Dance speaks for itself, in all honesty. This really is an amazing Pokemon. Spiky is his name mainly because I can't spell Doryuuzu without looking it up.
Firestarter (Salmence) @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp.A)
Intimidate
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
~Earthquake
~Stone Edge
~Dragon Dance
~Outrage
A fitting replacement for Gyarados. Similar in many respects, but this is much more powerful, and hella fun to use. Similar setup to Gyarados: DD up and attempt a sweep. I think it's moves hit everything for at least neutral, and everything has at least 100 base power. Leftovers over Life Orb to negate the sandstorm damage.
Blissey (Chansey) @ Evolution Stone
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
Natural Cure
252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Sp.D
~Toxic
~Wish
~Protect
~Seismic Toss
I like this. There's not an awful lot to say about this though, It's a Blissey with a haircut and no Leftovers.
Jelly Bean (Rankurusu) @ Leftovers
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
Magic Guard
252 Def, 252 Sp.D, 4 HP
~Acid Armor
~Calm Mind
~Psychic
~Recover
Oh Hell yes. Letting this thing set up is an enormous mistake. +4 in Def and Sp.D is enough to make a seasoned player ragequit. Instant recovery is a miracle too. I love my Jelly Bean Panda. Macig Guard helps him recover with his Leftovers. Inb4 Smogon calls this guy broken.
Conclusion
That's the team folks. They do okay, I'm not the sort of person who demands perfection, I'm still in this mainly because I find it fun, and this team is fun to use. So, any suggestions or tips would be appreciated, just remember to give a reason before you ask me to change something. I hope you found this readable. Thanks for reading this, and have a nice day.
Side note - I'd just like to say that I hate Xatu with all my heart.
