The Sand Balance

[Thunder Crown]

THE 'SAND' BALANCE

Ooh, this sounds interesting doesn't it? As the name suggests this is a balanced sand team for ou. You may wonder, "omg sand teams are stupid use weatherless team or rain dumbo" but this team is not what you think it is. It doesn't necessarily WANT sand on the field: it just utilizes it as a counter against weather teams. So my title is a little misleading, it should be a weatherless team but enough yakking! Time to get on with the team.


Celebi
cutie (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 248 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave

Ah, Celebi. Everybody's favorite (and most dreaded) pixie returns, this time as the star of the team. Celebi is crucial to this teams success because it is one of the two status absorbers in this team, along with Starmie, and is an effective special wall. It is a scout with its high 241 speed along with Baton Pass and is a status spreader in Thunder Wave. If you thought that was it, you are mistaken! Celebi's decent 236 special attack allows to use Giga Drain to take out Pokemon weak to grass. That being said, it is easy to see why it is used in this team. The EV spreads may look fancy, but 20 Spd allow Celebi to outspeed Adamant Breloom, which is a huge pain in the butt for my team. 240 HP for being able to switch in into Stealth Rock 9 times, and the rest is put in Special Defense.


Heatran
Miami (Heatran) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse

You know when I said that Celebi was the MVP of this team? Well, I lied. Every single Pokemon on this team has an extremely important role, and Heatran is no exception. It is my most reliable Fire type move switch-in, is a moderately bulky tank, and is the fastest Pokemon on the team. Yes, you heard that right. There is only ONE way Heatran could be the fastest Pokemon on this team, and that is Choice Scarf. Scarftran is an amazing surprise lead, with the powerful Overheat denting most offensive Pokemon hard. 56 HP for Stealth Rock switching (9 times) and 200 Speed EVs to outspeed Timid Jolteon. Heatran has great synergy with Celebi, as together they resist every single move type in the game except Rock. The rest of the moves are for coverage.

Scizor
Mantis (Scizor) (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-turn
- Superpower

Choice Band Scizor. The undisputed (well maybe Politoed could have a say) king of OU, Scizor was added to this team because before my team lacked a huge amount of offensive pressure. Choice Band Scizor is a scout, a tank, and an effective revenge killer thanks to Bullet Punch. Technician make Bullet Punch super dangerous, combined with Scizor's sky-high 594 attack stat and STAB means things will be taking a hefty amount of damage. Scizor's numerous resists, perhaps most importantly Dragon and Grass, allow Scizor to be a check to most Dragon-typed Pokemon and to Venusaur lacking Earthquake or Hidden Power Fire. The EVs are pretty basic: 248 for 9 Stealth Rock switch-ins, max Attack, 4 Speed to outspeed other Scizor, and the 4 remaining EVs in Special Defense.

Hippowdon
FatHippy (Hippowdon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 244 Def / 12 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind

The lesser brother of the two sand starters, Hippowdon joins the team as one of the few truly effective physical walls in the game. With investment in HP and Defense, Hippowdon can take even a Kyurem-B's Outrage and retaliate with Slack Off, effectively stalling it out. Speaking of Slack Off, Slack Off is a clone of the move Recover, which allows a Pokemon to regain their lost health by 50%. Now, with Hippowdon that "50%" is the amount of damage Hippowdon takes in 7 turns. Hippowdon trolls physical attackers, with none-super effective attacks brushed aside and setting up Stealth Rock in their face. Hippowdon isn't setup bait either, with Whirlwind being used instead of Roar for phazing and through the rare Soundproof Mr. Mime. Earthquake is for Hippowdon to make use of that 261 Attack stat, and not to be crippled by Taunt. The EVs are so simple I don't think I have to explain them, but I will anyways. 248 HP for 17 Stealth Rock switch-ins, and 12 Special Defense to survive Choice Scarf Physical Landorus's Hidden Power Ice and the rest in Defense and Attack.

Rotom-Wash
washer (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 24 SAtk / 232 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Rotom-W is used for 1. checking Politoed 2. Scouting 3. A tank 4. I don't want to list things, so on to the real analysis. Politoed is the summoner of rain, and rain is probably the most influential force in the game right now. The reason why I don't like rain in OU is that Politoed would be NU if it didn't have Drizzle, which means if you take away Politoed's rain it is useless. Hippowdon does that well, but it can't switch in on Politoed for fear of Hydro Pump, Scald, or Toxic. So we need another way to deal with Politoed, and Rotom is perfect resisting all of Specstoed's attacks bar Hidden Power Grass, which doesn't do much anyways. Supportoad is taken out by Rotom's Volt Switch, along with Celebi's U-turn (or Giga Drain), or Scizor's U-turn. Note how all the moves I listed are part of VoltSwitch? Thats another great thing about this team, it even has an offensive core. So Rotom-W checks Politoed, what else? I probably don't have to inform you about the uses of Rotom-W, but I will just in case. As previously stated, Rotom's Volt Switch keeps momentum along with Rotom's Base speed of 87. The EV spreads are for a bulky Rotom-W that can tank hits easily.

Starmie
shiningrust (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Recover/Psyshock
- Ice Beam/Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Surf

Starmie is the coverage master of the team. Although this set is offensive, I decide to use Leftovers for Sand resistance. Starmie is great because it spins and has a ton of coverage, including BoltBeam, allowing it to be great offensive pressure. Looking at Starmie's stats, one thing people immediately notice is the 115 Speed Base stat. This means that Starmie is a great revenge killer, and combined with coverage and a great 299 Special Attack stat, Starmie is to be feared as a revenge killer.

Threatlist:
Breloom:

This thing wrecks my team after it Spores or gets a boost, because it simply has too good coverage. Celebi is my only shot against Breloom, but only if it doesn't have Stone Edge.

Venusaur:

Doesn't seem like a threat, which it isn't unless it gets a boost. If it gets a boost, it will kill at least one of my Pokemon because Venusaur's second coverage move could be a Fire, Ice, or Ground type move which will most likely take down somebody before I know what it is. I was able to Thunder Wave a Venusaur, which pretty much deals with it but that was because the other player was careless.

I don't really pay attention to what makes me lose, so my list is a bit short.

Conclusion
This team is still in the editing process, and that is why I need the help of all of the PokeBeach's RMT Forum contributors help to decide how to make this team better. If you want to playtest, the importable version is coming up later in this post. So, now you are finished, let the rating begin.

=== [ou] The Sand Team ===

FatHippy (Hippowdon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 244 Def / 12 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind

cutie (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 248 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Recover
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave

Mantis (Scizor) (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-turn
- Superpower

Miami (Heatran) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse


shiningrust (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Recover
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Surf

washer (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 24 SAtk / 232 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

 

[iSharingan]

A very nice team (and looks like one of my early teams) but I notice a gaping weakness to keldeo (since celebi is the only hard counter you have and it's easily taken out by well built Volt-Turn teams), something nearly all of my teams have as well. Fortunately, not everyone is a "pro" at using keldeo and it's sets are fairly predictable. I personally don't like keldeo in OU despite using it successfully on several teams since so few mons hard counter it, despite most being moderately high in usage rankings (the thing I hate is that at least one HAS to be on a team to make the team 'reliable' since this severely limits what you can do with the rest of the team). Other than that, Hippowdon isn't your only option for countering weather teams. I usually run a Air Balloon, Sunny Day Heatran set (listed below), but it could work just as well on your team with Sandstorm over Sunny Day. The set allows Heatan better respond to switches, still hit hard, completely wall (and effectively counter) Venusaur, counter most other Heatran, and still be able to switch in on key dragon moves without needing to correctly predict the switch as desperately afterward (most often in the case of Draco Meteor).

Spoiler: Heatran set

Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day Sandstorm
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]

This also frees up Hippowdon's spot on the team for another phazer/wall as well as allowing Sandstorm to be activated again should the foe try to switch a weather summoner back in. Since your team doesn't particularly want sand up, this set also allows the weather to fade, preventing residual damage to your other mons. Lastly you don't have to focus on having a slow weather summoner now, preventing you from having to worry about the weather war as much. Politoed would be the only summoner of concern for Heatran (aside from, the rare Sub-Punch Ttar), but you can outspeed it using Sandstorm to remove the rain boost to Scald (thus surviving the hit a decent amount of HP remaining). Starmie here does help alleviate Poli's pressure (and might be useful with a trick/rapidspin/specs set since it cripples Politoed and most walls as well as acting as an effective revenge killer). The above Tran set could also be modified to a specially defensive set substituting Lava Plume for Fire Blast to spread burn and compensate for lost attack power, all the while more effectively thwarting politoed as it prevents a 2HKO after rain is removed.

Unfortunately I can't help much more than this since most of my teams fall victim to similar threats to those that maim this team (and I'm at a loss for patching these defensive holes).

 

[Thunder Crown]

You are genius, my friend. I haven't even realized Heatran's potential on this team as the weather summoner. I am VERY excited right now, for I could make an amazing team for once. I originally ran Latias against Keldeo, but looks like this works just as fine. Oh, and my Celebi can check Keldeo, it isn't much of a big deal cuz of Rotom-W and Celebi together. Oh, on a completely unrelated topic, nice Emerl! (or E-121 Phi, although it is probably the latter).

EDIT: I just realized this, but Heatran isn't the only sandstorm user. I would keep my Scarftran, but I'm trying to find another decently good sandstorm setter.

 

[One Approved]

Wow. Very solid sand team you have here.

I personally think your team is actually pretty well prepared for Keldeo, since you have Celebi, Rotom-W, and Starmie all being able to switch in and threaten super-effective attacks. Something you might want to consider though is running a Nasty Plot Baton Pass Celebi set. Baton Pass makes it much easier to get Celebi in and out of play unharmed, especially with Pursuit Tyranitar and Scizor lurking everywhere. I would also consider either switching Heatran to an Air Balloon Hidden Power Ice set, or switching Whirlwind on Hippowdon to Ice Fang, to help against Dragon-type attackers. Right now, Scizor is the only pokemon that can switch in and actually threaten them, and it will even be limited as so many Dragon-types run either Fire Blast, Fire Punch, or Hidden Power Fire. Hippowdon can switch into the Physical ones, but it can't really do much back since Dragonite, Salamence, and both Latias and Latios are immune to Earthquake. (Not to mention the fact that they all sometimes run either Draco Meteor or Surf.) If you run Ice Fang, you'll be able to actually threaten Dragonite and Salamence, while also being able to catch Latias and Latios offguard, as they sometimes try to switch in.

 

[iSharingan]

I personally think your team is actually pretty well prepared for Keldeo, since you have Celebi, Rotom-W, and Starmie

Fair enough. I must have just failed to predict correctly with those last two in the past or simply ran too frail/slow of sets. Of cource, it could simply boil down to my battle style as to why Keldeo plagues me (I still can't seem to use it effectively without rain support, much less figure out the best way to stop one with my teams).

 

[One Approved]

^Probably. Dragons always plague me, even if I run like 12 hard counters x_x

Also I should mention that you might elect to run either Psyshock or Recover on Starmie to help the Keldeo matchup. Psyshock will cleanly OHKO it, while Recover will give you greater longevity, especially when switching directly into potentially Rain-boosted Hydro Pumps. Psyshock can be particularily effective if you opt to use Nasty Plot Baton Pass celebi, as you won't need Thunderbolt to cover other bulky waters like Jellicent anymore.

EDIT: Psyshock will also cleanly OHKO both Breloom and Venusaur, while Ice Beam will miss out if they are high on health, especially since you use Leftovers and not Life Orb. Now you definitely shouldn't be switching Starmie into either of these two as a counter, but you can definitely send it in to revenge kill them. Bulky Up Breloom might survive a psyshock, but I don't think people really use that set anymore.

 

[PG24]

I wouldn't exactly recommend Nasty Plot Baton Pass Celebi like Teapot did since you don't have a go-to sweeper to abuse the opportunity, but I definitely recommend to use Baton Pass Celebi. The team isn't incredibly weak to the Tyranitar / Keldeo / Landorus combo, however problems due start to grow when Celebi is removed from the equation with Choice Band Tyranitar.

 

[Thunder Crown]

I was actually thinking of running no Rapid Spin and Recover instead on Starmie. And thank you for all the support! I really like Scarftran, so maybe I could add HP Ice instead of Grass? And I've been considering Baton Pass over U-Turn ever since the T-tar killed me from Pursuit. I would like to keep my Defensive Celebi, but instead with Baton Pass and no U-Turn. And about using Sandstorm as a move, I just realized it isn't viable sorry iSharingan.
So my new Starmie set is:
shiningrust (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Recover
- Ice Beam/Psyshock (still debating)
- Thunderbolt
- Surf

And Heatran now has HP Ice.

 

[iSharingan]

And I've been considering Baton Pass over U-Turn ever since the T-tar killed me from Pursuit. I would like to keep my Defensive Celebi, but instead with Baton Pass and no U-Turn.

U-turn and Baton pass have the same priority, and thus neither would occur before the other for the same pokemon. If you keep U-turn, you can deal damage as you switch, while baton pass would simply switch you at the same time U-turn would have, without the parting attack. Since you're not running a boosting set on Celebi, it's pointless to replace U-turn with Baton Pass.

 

[One Approved]

And I've been considering Baton Pass over U-Turn ever since the T-tar killed me from Pursuit. I would like to keep my Defensive Celebi, but instead with Baton Pass and no U-Turn.

U-turn and Baton pass have the same priority, and thus neither would occur before the other for the same pokemon. If you keep U-turn, you can deal damage as you switch, while baton pass would simply switch you at the same time U-turn would have, without the parting attack. Since you're not running a boosting set on Celebi, it's pointless to replace U-turn with Baton Pass.

If you use Baton Pass, then you will evade Pursuit. U-turn however means you will probably be swiftly KO'd.

 

[iSharingan]

U-turn and Baton pass have the same priority, and thus neither would occur before the other for the same pokemon. If you keep U-turn, you can deal damage as you switch, while baton pass would simply switch you at the same time U-turn would have, without the parting attack. Since you're not running a boosting set on Celebi, it's pointless to replace U-turn with Baton Pass.

If you use Baton Pass, then you will evade Pursuit. U-turn however means you will probably be swiftly KO'd.

alright, I missed the mechanic where Pursuit will always hit before a pokemon using u-turn/volt-switch, even if the switching mon is faster. I never really encountered the situation where I anyone tried to u-turn or volt switch away from pursuit, so I defaulted into thinking those other moves also bypassed the switching cue to trigger a Pursuit boost similar to how Baton Pass does.

I do know (from looking it up just now) that if the Pursuit user outspeeds you when you use U-turn, Volt-Switch, or baton pass, Pursuit will deal regular (base 40) damage as if you weren't trying to switch at all (restated: the move gets neither a priority boost nor doubled power against a slower pokemon trying to use a move, treating the scenario as if you had tried to use a 'normal' move with no priority or switching effect). If this is the case, then U-turn would be preferable since could still do damage if you survive the unboosted Pursuit hit (I know this isn't something you should count on occurring at any time).

 

[Thunder Crown]

If you use Baton Pass, then you will evade Pursuit. U-turn however means you will probably be swiftly KO'd.

alright, I missed the mechanic where Pursuit will always hit before a pokemon using u-turn/volt-switch, even if the switching mon is faster. I never really encountered the situation where I anyone tried to u-turn or volt switch away from pursuit, so I defaulted into thinking those other moves also bypassed the switching cue to trigger a Pursuit boost similar to how Baton Pass does.

I do know (from looking it up just now) that if the Pursuit user outspeeds you when you use U-turn, Volt-Switch, or baton pass, Pursuit will deal regular (base 40) damage as if you weren't trying to switch at all (restated: the move gets neither a priority boost nor doubled power against a slower pokemon trying to use a move, treating the scenario as if you had tried to use a 'normal' move with no priority or switching effect). If this is the case, then U-turn would be preferable since could still do damage if you survive the unboosted Pursuit hit (I know this isn't something you should count on occurring at any time).

The only problem is, Celebi is faster and therefore killed. I've actually been thinking of keeping U-Turn because it is super effective against Psychic types. Thoughts? (Although the damage makes like no difference at all against others ) Maybe Baton Pass Giga Drain Thunder Wave and Nasty Plot?
EDIT: Played a few games, and did a little testing. Apparantly Scarftran + Nasty Plot Celebi is really screwing up teams.
EDIT 2:, oh and forgot that blissey is an annoying threat, but not one that destroys my team