ORAS OU - Somewhat Sand Team

[gimmepie]

Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 224 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Payback
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Reasoning: T-Tar serves as a useful opening pokemon since it has pretty decent bulk, whip up sandstorm to deal with those pesky scarfers, has SR access and the ability to hit a fair few pokemon quite hard.

The logic behind SR is obvious enough. With 0 investment in speed Payback hits harder then Crunch and even with speed investment T-Tar would likely be attacking second anyway. Stone edge is a powerful STAB and EQ is for coverage.

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Reasoning: This pokemon is so underrated it isn't funny. Not only is it just plain hard to kill but it counters/checks some flat out annoying pokemon in the OU tier such as Metagross, Diancie and Lando.

With 0 investment in speed, Gyro ball hits fairies and rock-types hard and does a decent amount of damage to several neutral pokemon as well. Earthquake is great for dealing with Metagross, Excadrill and any fire-types foolish enough to switch in. Stealth Rock is there to discourage frequent switching and is a back-up plan should T-Tar faint.

For the ability I use Levitate since it allows a free switch in to opposing ground-types whilst Heatproof only provides a resistance to fire attacks. Heavy Metal is useless.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Leech Seed
- Earth Power

Reasoning: Bulky Celebi, I honestly don't have much experience with Celebi but after having team after team struggle to adequately counter Keldeo enough was enough. Celebi is always a good way to deal with annoyances like leech seed and Slowbro.

Giga Drain hits fairly hard when combined with 252 Sp. Atk EVs and provides recovery. Psychic is a just great STAB. Leech Seed encourages potentially threatening pokemon to switch out and can provide recovery for pokemon like Heatran or Bronzong that can tank a lot but have no reliable recovery. Earth Power hits fire-type switch-ins and provides coverage.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Ancient Power
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt

Reasoning: Honestly, I needed something for Talonflame and I couldn't fit Slowbro in since I already have two psychic pokemon on this team and don't need a crippling weakness to Bug of all things. Heatran is also a good counter for those pesky fire and steel types and makes people regret using Celebi, Serperior or Ferrothorn.

Lava Plume is an accurate and fairly powerful Stab move with a good chance of burning my opponent. Ancient Power is to hit Talonflame or other opposing fire-types super-effectively whilst also potentially raising stats. Will-O-Wisp is great for crippling bulky foes and Taunt

Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Protect
- Ice Beam

Reasoning: Sharpedo is a great late game cleaner and rips through a lot of teams. With already high speed, after protect + speedboost there's very little that can outspeed it and with its new mega-evolution it murders a lot of pokemon.

Waterfall and Crunch are great STAB choices with Waterfall also carrying a possible flinch which proves very useful at times. Both easily hit weak pokemon and more often than not KO neutral or even occasionally resistant pokemon. Mega-Charizard-Y, Heatran, Rotom-H etc. fear Waterfall. Lati@s, Celebi, Jirachi, Metagross, Gengar, Alakazam all fear Crunch. Ice Beam OHKOs Lando and catches other intimidate pokemon by surprise also.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off

Reasoning: This is basically a staple pokemon. It can take a hit from a lot of threats, is a free switch-in on EQ and outspends a lot of pokemon.

Earthquake is a great STAB and hits a lot of pokemon very hard. U-Turn hits Slowbro and Starmie and allows Lando to avoid dangerous pokemon. Stone Edge is for flying types that avoid EQ and Knock Off is for being Knock Off.

Here's a video that sort of shows how some of the team should work: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pokecommunity-ou-181689


Problems: I got absolutely wrecked by a mega-gallade and I still feel that a lot of hyper-offensive strategies are going to be really problematic. Not to mention that once one pokemon goes down the synergy of the team seems to completely fall apart.

Considering: Changing to a different Celebi set. Adding in Excadrill over Lando.

*Note: I don't mind this not being primarily a sand team, so if T-Tar needs to go I'm happy to switch it out.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Tyranitar is still faster than some Pokemon in OU, with (Mega) Slowbro being an example. Payback is weak against them and it no longer doubles in power against a switch-in:

32+ Atk Tyranitar Payback (50 BP) vs. 252 HP / 80+ Def Mega Slowbro: 84-98 (21.3 - 24.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after sandstorm damage

32+ Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 80+ Def Mega Slowbro: 132-156 (33.5 - 39.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage

32+ Atk Tyranitar Payback (50 BP) vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 108-128 (27.4 - 32.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery

32+ Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 170-204 (43.1 - 51.7%) -- 7.4% chance to 2HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery

Crunch is still the consistent Dark STAB to turn to, while Pursuit has excellent utility in catching fleeing targets. Here's a better take on support Tyranitar, which gives it more physical bulk to handle Talonflame:
-Stealth Rock
-Stone Edge
-Crunch/Ice Beam/Fire Blast
-Pursuit
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 248 HP/80 Def/180 SDef
Item: Leftovers/Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream

While Celebi does have recovery in both Giga Drain and Leech Seed, they may not be enough. Recover is something bulky Celebi must use, as there are times when Celebi can't afford to use the former two moves:
-Giga Drain
-Recover
-Baton Pass/Thunder Wave
-Stealth Rock/Healing Wish/Perish Song
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP/156 Def/84 SDef/16 Spe
Item: Leftovers

While Mega Sharpedo is a good late-game cleaner in its own right, I don't think this is the team to do it. It adds on an unwanted Fighting weakness that this team already struggles with. Mega Gallade hits Bronzong and Celebi hard with Knock Off and easily disposes of Heatran, Tyranitar, and Sharpedo with Close Combat. Better Mega Pokemon to turn to are Mega Altaria (for the Gallade that lack Ice Punch) and Mega Sableye, as they have a crucial Fighting resistance/immunity:

Altaria:
-Dragon Dance
-Return
-Earthquake
-Roost/Fire Blast
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Altarianite

or
-Return/Hyper Voice
-Earthquake/Flamethrower
-Heal Bell
-Roost
Nature: Impish/Bold/Relaxed
EVs: 248 HP/104 Def/156 SDef
Item: Altarianite

or
-Dragon Dance
-Return
-Earthquake/Heal Bell/Substitute
-Roost
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/136 Def/96 SDef/28 Spe
Item: Altarianite

or
-Hyper Voice
-Fire Blast
-Earthquake/Heal Bell
-Roost
Nature: Modest
EVs: 248 HP/168 SAtk/92 Spe
Item: Altarianite

Sableye:
-Calm Mind
-Dark Pulse/Shadow Ball
-Will-o-Wisp
-Recover
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Item: Sablenite
Ability: Prankster

Either of the above Megas are good late-game.

As weird as this sounds, Stone Edge is an option over Ancient Power on Heatran, as it hits Talonflame harder, despite running off of its lower Attack:

0- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 316-372 (88 - 103.6%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

252+ SpA Heatran Ancient Power vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Talonflame: 264-312 (73.5 - 86.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Heatran also uses 68 Speed EVs to outspeed 0 Speed Suicune.

 

[Nah]

I kinda don't think that you need to run Stealth Rock on both Tyranitar and Bronzong. As important as the move is, I don't think that I've never seen a team have 2 'mons that run SR. Dropping it on one of them then frees up a moveslot for something else that might be of use.

 

[KorpiklaaniVodka]

Also use Ice Fang > Ice Beam on your Sharpedo. It takes advantage of Strong Jaw and Mega Sharpedo's higher attack.

 

[gimmepie]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll be looking into them soon!

 

[Dark Azelf]

Why dont you just swords dance pass with celebi to mega sharpedo? ;0 Also use Ice Fang > beam.

Slap a CB on tar imo.

Air Balloon is the single biggest waste of an item in pokemon history. Since your team struggles with stall, id try Taunt/Toxic/Magma Storm/filler the last slot would be Earth Power, or Protect or Wisp most likely. Give it leftovers and some hp and sp.def evs too imo. Also you arent Talon weak with Tar and Lando on the team so no need for garbage like ancient power lol.

Just be careful stuff like SD Knock Off EQ Gliscor who can 6-0 you if Sharpedo is weakened so id look into a check for it. Probably over Zong who is the most replaceable member imo.