[Rank 1] Get Smack'd (Balanced Sand Team Feat. Sub Smack Landorus)

[Lord Emvee]

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Get Smack'd

Intro

Hello Reborn community! I felt that this would be a good time to re-introduce myself to you all. My name is Heroic, and I love competitive battling. I have been a member here for about a year and a half, and after about an entire year of inactivity, I have finally made my return. I know many of you don't really know me, but I was gifted with the chance to get to know some of you from the server during my time back. I used to be rank #1 on the Reborn ladder back about a year ago, and my intentions of coming back were to do it once again, as well as to get to know you all a lot better. I have recently reclaimed my title as rank #1 on the server with 1520 points (and still continuously rising), and I would like to share my success with all of you by showing you guys the team that I used to get to #1. This is my first RMT here so I hope you guys like it. The star of this team is Smack Down Landorus, which has saved me so many countless times (hence the title, "Get Smack'd"). Anyways, without further ado, let's begin with the team.

Proof of Success

Team Preview

Team Building Process

To start off my team, I needed a Pokemon that could set up hazards relatively quickly. Deoxys-S was the best option, since it has blazing fast speed and access to both Stealth Rocks and Spikes.

Since Deo-S is a suicide lead, I needed a Pokemon to ensure that opponents can't Rapid Spin hazards away. Therefore I chose Jellicent as my anti-spinner, since its ghost type trait blocks Rapid Spin

Now was the time to choose whether I wanted weather for the team or not. Due to many weather threats, I decided I did need it, and therefore I chose Tyranitar. It also is my phazer, since it has access to Roar.

I decided I needed a star for the team, therefore I chose Landorus. It works well in sand because of Sand Force, and has a great move-pool. It is a very interesting set, because of it's move Smack Down.

I noticed that Rain Teams can be very devastating to what I have so far, therefore I felt I needed another Pokemon to take water hits. I chose Amoongus, because it can absorb Toxic Spikes while being able to Regenerate HP per switch.

I needed a late game sweeper for the team, so what better Pokemon than the infamous Excadrill, which has an EXTREMELY fast speed in the Sand and a high attack, and can sweep entire unprepared teams if it has to.

Team In Depth

Deoxys-S @ Focus Sash | Pressure

Naive | 160 Atk / 108 SpA / 240 Spe

Stealth Rock | Spikes | Fire Punch | Ice Beam

Deoxys-S is an amazing Pokemon and is my lead. It has the ability to set up many layers of hazards in a short amount of time. With Deoxys-S, it is good if you get up as many hazards as you can, and pressure your opponent a lot into switching, because they will keep taking damage every time they switch. I have assigned the Attack EV's in such a way that Fire Punch will OHKO most standard Genesect leads without any Defensive EV's. It is also good against Forretress , Scizor, and Ferrothorns. Ice Beam has enough EV's to OHKO standard Gliscor, Landorus, Landorus-T, and Garchomp (without Yache Berry). Deoxys-S is able to live any hit with Focus Sash, so long as it is at full HP. It is very fast so if you're somehow able to keep him alive during the match, you can use him to revenge kill Dragons that try and set up on you. Overall, he is one of my favorite leads of all time.

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Tyranitar @ Shed Shell | Sand Stream

Sassy | 248 HP / 4 Atk / 36 SpA / 220 SpD

Pursuit | Fire Blast | Ice Beam | Roar

My big boy Tyranitar gets the sand up and going. He has Shed Shell so that weather wars between opposing teams can't be won by trapping him with Dugtrio, or Specs HP Fighting Shadow Tag Chandelure, or anything like that. Pursuit allows me to trap unsuspecting Pokemon, like Celebi, Latios, Latias, and Chandelure locked on to "not very effective" moves. Fire Blast is for Pokemon like Scizor, Skarmory, and other Steel Types. It OHKO's all the Pokemon that have x4 weakness to Fire. Ice Beam, similarly to Deo-S is to catch Pokemon like Landorus, Gliscor, and other Dragon types off guard, either as they try and set up, or as they switch in. Finally, Roar stops Pokemon from setting up on me, and is very creative since Roar isn't really seen too often on Tyranitar! It helps me to shuffle up an opponent's team as well, and damaging them from all those hazards set up by Deo-S.

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Landorus @ Leftovers | Sand Force

Naive | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Substitute | Smack Down | Earthquake | Hidden Power [ice]

Landorus is a great physical attacker, and is also the star of this team. Substitute allows me to avoid any status moves, and also is good for scouting an opponents move or switch. Smack Down is really where the party gets started. It gets that additional power from Sand Force, and literally knocks the opponent's Pokemon to the ground. This means that Pokemon that are of the flying type, or have the ability Levitate are now made vulnerable to my Earthquake which is also boosted by Sand Force. Skarmory is KO'd after Smack Down. So is Rotom-W, and Bronzong. Most Pokemon that were once able to counter Landorus, can do it no longer. Hidden Power Ice is for stuff like the annoying Gliscor, which is really one of the only things that can wall Landorus to an extent.

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Jellicent @ Leftovers | Water Absorb

Bold | 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 Spe

Taunt | Will-O-Wisp | Surf | Recover

Jellicent is great because it helps me to take heavy powered water hits. Taunt helps me prevent Pokemon from using non-offensive moves. For example, it can stop Chansey from setting up Wish or healing itself with Softboiled. It also helps to prevent slow Pokemon from dealing Hazards. Will-O-Wisp helps me burn physical attackers and shut them down for the entirety of the game. 52 Speed EV's allow me to outspeed 8 Speed EV Scizors, which are seen mainly on Choice Band Scizor sets, and SD Scizors. Surf is my main STAB move, chosen over Scald for more base power and because I already have Will-O-Wisp to do the burning. Recover helps Jellicent to stay alive longer. Jellicent also helps counter really difficult-to-counter stuff like Speed Boost Blaziken.

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Amoonguss @ Shed Shell | Regenerator

Calm | 244 HP / 136 Def / 128 SpD

Spore | Giga Drain | Clear Smog | Hidden Power [Fire]

Amoonguss is great at taking hits, whether it be physical or special moves, and is your Toxic Spikes absorber. Spore allows me to put an opponents Pokemon to Sleep, which can be very useful in certain situations. Giga Drain is main STAB move which is great against water types and rain teams. Clear Smog is yet another STAB move, but it allows me to stop Pokemon from setting up (so long as they don't carry Substitute). Hidden Power Fire is for other Grass/Steel types that are in like Ferrothorn and Forretress. It also helps take Genesect and Scizor that switch in by surprise. Regenerator allows me to switch out and heal HP while doing so. The main threat to Amoonguss is Shadow Tag Chandelure, however, due to recent changes, Shed Shell has been given to Amoonguss to avoid this problem.

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Excadrill @ Air Balloon | Sand Rush

Jolly | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Swords Dance | Earthquake | Rock Slide | X-Scissor

What better way to end the team than with one of the best sand team late game sweepers, Excadrill. Excadrill gets 604 speed from Sand Rush, being able to outrun even some Pokemon that have +3 speed. Sword Dance gives you that amazing doubled attack, and you can then proceed to sweeping teams with Earthquake, Rock Slide, and X-Scissor. Air Balloon keeps you immune to ground type moves while it's still in tact. EV spread is standard. This Pokemon is great if you wanna revenge kill Volcarona, Gyarados, Salamence, etc you name it. After Sword Dance however, this thing is very tough to kill.

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Conclusion

So that concludes the RMT. I hope you all enjoyed it, because I took a lot of time to make this for you all. Again, this team peaked #1 on the Reborn ladder, and I'm happy to be able to share it with everyone, in hopes you too can make it up there. If anyone is interested to use this team, the importable is down below in the spoiler box. To use this team, I would suggest you set up as many hazards as you can with Deoxys-S, go to all measure to prevent them from Rapid Spinning, and keep pressuring them by making good predictions and switches, so that when your opponent's team is weak enough you can sweep with Landorus or Excadrill. Shout out to google for providing me with these awesome images. All comments are welcome, and encouraged since I worked really hard on this. Thanks for taking the time to visit this RMT!

Importable

Deoxys-S @ Focus Sash

Trait: Pressure

EVs: 160 Atk / 108 SAtk / 240 Spd

Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)

- Stealth Rock

- Spikes

- Ice Beam

- Fire Punch

Tyranitar (M) @ Shed Shell

Trait: Sand Stream

EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 36 SAtk / 220 SDef

Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)

- Pursuit

- Fire Blast

- Ice Beam

- Roar

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Water Absorb

EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 Spd

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Taunt

- Will-O-Wisp

- Surf

- Recover

Amoonguss (M) @ Black Sludge

Trait: Regenerator

EVs: 244 HP / 136 Def / 128 SDef

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Spore

- Giga Drain

- Clear Smog

- Hidden Power [Fire]

Landorus (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Sand Force

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Substitute

- Smack Down

- Earthquake

- Hidden Power [ice]

Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon

Trait: Sand Rush

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Swords Dance

- Earthquake

- Rock Slide

- X-Scissor

Edited May 29, 2013 by So Heroic

[Kamina]

Nice job on your accomplishments!

just a few minor fixes which i think should benefit your team.

First would be to shed shelling your amunguess since chands (with predictions) are able to trap can kill it.

And maybe Super power on Deo-s instead of spikes since i would not really expect it to live that long to be able to get all the layers of spikes and superpower could finish off apposing t tars which could do harm to your jellicant and/or be sleep fodder for Amunguess. But thats just me cuz my deo-s leads almost always die in 1-3 turns.

For exadrill i recommend rapid spin over x scizor since x scizor will only be helping you against grass pokemon for stab eq does the same damage as a super effective x scizor and grass pokemon are almost non existent with the possibility of chands. Maybe iron head or frustration over rockslide for a stronger and more accurate alternative.

Otherwise not bad and congrats on your feat.

[The Fush]

Just a quick note to Kamina, I'm pretty sure that Fire Punch is there specifically because of the OU threat posed by it opposed to the likes of Tyranitar; does it just as well anyway, being a suicide lead. Though superpower wouldn't be bad either, because Genesect could actually switch into Tyranitar with U-Turn and then screw over Deoxys-S with sand stream, to which a good prediction could lead to a dead enemy Tyranitar. I'd also agree to shed shelling Amoonguss; it's much better for acting against Chandelure that way.

Aside from that, this seems like an incredibly well built team. I'm not that professional of a rater myself, but you seem to have noted down many things that threatened your team and built your team up to size to generally resist them all well.

Just watch out for other Excadrills in OU, because they threaten the majority of your team aswell; Jellicent is vital for taking enemy Excadrills down. This is because most of your team is outspeeded by it, and your Excadrill can only speed tie it. If Jellicent doesn't Will-O-Wisp or Taunt to stop Swords Dances, you could be in trouble.

Also, just a note, we have Clear Skies Tiers in Reborn now, so if you wanna try battling without any weather to worry about, that's your place.

[Lord Emvee]

@Kamina: Thanks for the rate! Shed Shell on Amoonguss is not a bad idea. I did like the Black Sludge healing after sand damage though, and the fact that users that Trick Amoongus will get the Black Sludge and take both that damage and sand damage. But I will still give Shed Shell a try! Superpower isn't really necessary because my Deoxys-S lead isn't aimed at taking down opposing Tyranitar (since that is mainly what Superpower is for on Deo-S leads), since this is a sand team. Instead, I try and beat the common leads that actually threaten my team, like Genesect for example, and dragon leads. Both Stealth Rocks and Spikes are essential to have, especially since I don't have another user to set up spikes. X-Scissor on Excadrill is essential to this team in order to beat un-choiced Contrary Serperior, as they will most likely have access to Leaf Storm and HP Fire, which is deadly to the team. Rock Slide is also essential because it is my check to an already stat boosted Volcarona. Thanks very much for the rate Kamina!

@SOTD: Hmm yeah I think I might make the switch to Shed Shell. I will do some testing on this. Usually against opposing Excadrills, if they do not carry an Air Balloon, they pretty much die to my Excadrill, which I save for late-game. If for some reason they do carry Air Balloon, you must pop that balloon, so that this teams Excadrill can beat it easy. Also I think my Landorus is able to live +2 Rock Slide at near full HP. Thanks very much for the rate, and I'll be sure to check out clear skies!

[Shanco]

Yo

- Regarding Tyranitar: just me, but this set is really odd. Pursuit being your strongest STAB is kind of risky, isn't it? Also Flamethrower would probably be better in this case, because you don't want Tyranitar to be a sitting duck in case it misses, and Flamethrower still owns Ferrothorn and that gang, which I assume is the reason Tyranitar knows it.

- regarding Landorus: Smack Down + Earthquake. Instant respect.

I'm sure there's more I can say on this, but I can't think of it

[Blast]

So, Hi

-Mixed T-Tar isn't my idea of embracing his potential, so maybe try this?

Tyranitar (M) @ Shed Shell

Trait: Sand Stream

EVs: 56 Atk / 56 Def / 144 SDef / 252 Spd

Hardy Nature

- Hone Claws

- Pursuit

- Stone Edge

- ThunderPunch

-Maybe Garchomp > Excadrll, Might stay in longer from the opponents moves missing, with the same SD set-up

Great team and congrats on #1

[Lord Emvee]

@Ryan: Even though Pursuit is it's only STAB move, it works a lot better than moves like Crunch or Payback. Most of the Pokemon that I switch Tyranitar into don't usually stay in. This is where Pursuit is most useful, because it inflicts great damage on those Pokemon that switch out. Fire Blast has an 85% Accuracy, which is 5% more than Hydro Pump which is run on most offensive water types. The accuracy isn't really that bad at all; if you miss its your own unluckiness. But the power is essential to OHKO many top tier threats, like for example Lucario that switches in on Tyranitar predicting a Crunch, and so on. Thanks for the rate bro!

@Blast: It's not really about embracing Tyranitar's potential, as much as it is about being able to beat many common threats in the game. The current moveset I have does just that, by acting as a Special Wall while eliminating many commonly seen Pokemon with Pursuit / Fire Blast / Ice Beam. I would never really recommend any kind of set-up Tyranitar to anyone, because those can easily be killed with priority moves as well as faster Pokemon, so you won't really be able to effectively sweep. Also Excadrill is extremely essential, for reasons I have stated in previous posts. Thanks for the rate buddy!

Edited March 2, 2013 by So Heroic

[slant]

Sup Heroic,

A few comments about your team:

-I would go with a different set for Deoxys-S. The one I usually use is 252hp/252def/4spd, stealth rock/spikes/taunt/magic coat @rocky helmet/focus sash. You lose the ability to get a surprise kill on Genesect and some dragons, but you get the chance to put up more hazards which will make your excadrill sweep much easier.

-Like Kam said, shed shell would be more beneficial with Chandelure running around everywhere.

-Rapid spin would also be nice on Excadrill, otherwise against a stall team you might end up taking huge damage from spikes + stealth rock. A jolly air balloon swords dance/earthquake/rock slide/rapid spin set would work. Another option (my favorite) is adamant life orb earthquake/frustration/rapid spin/rock slide.

Overall these are just nitpicks. Congrats on #1!

[Dark Desire]

Hay Emvee, gratz on #1 (:

Seems like a very solid team, can't really point out any weaknesses and Kam pretty much stated on what i would give feedback on but with the Deo-S, maybe try HP Fire over Fire Punch? Most Genesects go with Naive so they don't die from a Fight Gem Mach Punch from Breloom after Rocks, so i'd be more efficient just to give all those Att Evs on Deo to Spatt which will help Ice beam do more damage. But that's all i can think of atm but so yeah. (:

[Epic C]

Hey hey. nice team you got there bro.

[Threatkion.]

Looks good! There's nothing I can really say which hasn't already been said, which is good. But yeah, not much is wrong with it so good job and congratumalations n stuff.

[Lord Emvee]

@Slant: I prefer offensive Deoxys-S, simply because it works a lot better. Defensive sets are better off being used on Deoxys-D. The point of my Deoxys-S is to get up as many hazards as it can before it ends up dying. I have Fire Punch and Ice Beam to beat anything that I can take down relatively quickly. I also prefer taking Genesect by surprise as it U-Turns, so I doubt I would change the set lol. Shed Shell switch has already been made! Hazards aren't as much of a problem as getting walled by Bronzong, and taken down by Pokemon like Serperior, and bulky Psychics. X-Scissor really helps me get out of those tough situations. Thanks for the rate!

@DD: Thank you! (: I like running mixed moves because personal preference (also Fire Punch sometimes hits certain things a lot harder than HP Fire). I've already given it enough EV's in attack to OHKO Naive Genesect, and its special attack is already good enough to OHKO Gliscor, Landorus/-T, etc. Thanks for the rate!

@Epic C: Thanks bro!

@Threatkion (aka Rach): Thanks for the rate better get your ladder rank up (;

[Skwayz]

yo sir,

That sure is a pretty nice team !

I'll only put some nitpicks here. I'd definitly stay with that Deo-s, as it's doing the job done, and can grab some surprise kill, which is always nice.

I'm personally not an Ammonguss fan. Maybe I just don't like his head, or stuff like that. When it comes to a water resist for sand teams, i almost always use Celebi.

Why Celebi ? Simply because he's simply a fantastic wall. He's basically doing the same job as Ammonguss, except that he is just doesn't random burn'd by some scals or stuff. With a u-turn/G-drain/recover/filler moveset, he's definitely fantastic. (i'm a fan of t-wave personally, but psychic is nice too if you want a way to kill loom or stuff.)

The EV are up to you; if you want him to take on some Bseed or stuff like that, put some defense. His main purpose is to take some water moves so Sdef is the best imo.

Sure he doesn't spore, but eh, personal preference here. Just throwin that here as an option.

I think you realised that you are a little Gengar or zam weak. Probably more gengar though. A sub/pain split variant with Sball + fblast is really a pain to deal with. The only thing you could really do here is shadow claw>X-scissor on excadrill. You basically don't OHKO celebi, but you still hit it for large dammage, and all those lati's stuff are hitted for the same ammount of dammage. That way, you just don't fear the rock slide miss on a gengar, as if he just Fblast your exca, well, you're done.

gratz for the ranking

soz for poor English

Ps: I didn't knew you were Emvee

[Conor]

Hey Heroic. I just wanted to say a couple things about your Amoonguss set. I think it might be beneficial to take out hp fire. with no spattk ev's its a 3 HKO on ferro and scizor. I would just suggest replacing it with stun spore so you can spread status more than just spore. also you could paralyze exacdrill since its a grass move unlike thunder wave. it helps a lot with my current Amoonguss set.

[Lord Emvee]

@Skywayz: Thanks for the rate buddy! Celebi's cool. I like Amoongus because it helps against T-Spikes, and the team has no place for a spinner (I don't wanna make Exca one either). Gengar isn't too big of a problem. It's pretty easy to play around. Shadow Claw on Exca sounds interesting I can always try that. Thanks again! :]

@Conor: Pretty good suggestion! I used to use double spore amoongus' a long time ago maybe it might work well for this team. Thanks for the rate!