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DB's Monotype Sandstorm Team - Pokemon (Showdown)

  • December 11, 2017

    Oh man, I'm back with another test team. I'm still running my Hail Team (which you can go check out) but I wanted to shake things up and go with the other weather condition I rarely use, Sandstorm. I've never run one Monotype because they tend to have Pokemon from the main three types that work really well (Steel, Ground and Rock) as well as me being a big fan of Sand Rush Stoutland. But this team is going to try and capture some elements that will allow it to function fairly well with just Rock types.

    Tyranitar

    Tyranitar is a totally random addition that feels out of place...Wait, not that's wrong. Tyranitar is our primary Sandstorm setter and physical destroyer of worlds. I've done something radically different to most other sets by skipping over Dragon Dance in favor of Rock Polish. The logic here is relatively simple, but the change is something I've rarely seen for some reason. Basically, Tyranitar rarely needs the extra attack to defeat it's enemeis, and will destroy just about anything it can hit. However, it does need the speed, and with the proper investment and a +2 Speed Boost...well there's very little that can out-speed him without their own boosts or Choice Scarfs. Add that to his impressive bulk (boosted by Sandstorm) and he really is a threat. I've also gone with Crunch/Stone Edge/Earthquake as my two base moves (any combination of the three) and Aerial Ace as an excellent coverage move against Grass Types. 

    Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
    Ability: Sand Stream
    EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
    Adamant Nature
    - Rock Polish
    - Aerial Ace
    - Crunch
    - Earthquake/Stone Edge

    Gigalith

    Gigalith is a really fun one, because he's so often run as a defensive Sand Stream setter, I don't think anyone is going to see the odd choice of running a Choice Band set. But the best part about it, is that Sand Force - Choice Band Gigalith is an overwhelmingly strong attacker that has a pretty decent range of moves to choose from and a devastating bulk to give it a bit of support. Generally speaking, he provides a quick addition to the strength of Tyranitar by skipping over any set-up (except having Sandstorm up) and is perfectly capable of dishing out damage without any boosts.

    Gigalith @ Choice Band
    Ability: Sand Force
    EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
    Adamant Nature
    - Stone Edge
    - Iron Head
    - Earthquake
    - Heavy Slam/Throat Chop/Superpower

    Lycanroc-Dusk

    Lycanroc-Dusk is currently the third member of my team but the one that's kind of already been filled by others, and might go. He does have access to Accelrock which works extremely well with Tough Claws, and has a surprisingly great movepool with attacks to counter all it's biggest threats. You do have to choose between countering Water and Grass-types with Thunder/Fire Fang but otherwise, the ability to use some pretty powerful moves at a boosted level is really good. I like to add in Bulk Up for a bit of support, but there are plenty of moves to fill that last slot,

    Lycanroc-Dusk @ Shell Bell
    Ability: Tough Claws
    EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
    Jolly Nature
    - Accelerock
    - Fire Fang
    - Zen Headbutt
    - Bulk Up

    Minior

    Minior is the first of our two main special sweepers, but is also a bit weird because I effectively run it as a split sweeper. You see, the combination of Shell Smash + White Herb + Acrobatics allows for Minior to get a huge boost, reduce any negative effects and then deliver an insanely powerful flying stab move, and usually it works rather well with a physical move pool. However, I've changed it up and decided to split it down the middle, with more of a focus on Special since Acrobatics is going to get a huge boost. Power Gem and Charge Beam (which I'm not decided on at all) are the special moves of choice, and really give this Pokemon a decent ability to sweep.

    Minior-Meteor @ White Herb
    Ability: Shields Down
    EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
    Mild Nature
    - Shell Smash
    - Acrobatics
    - Power Gem
    - Charge Beam

    Nihilego

    Nihilego is my second special sweeper, and it's a bit more simple in nature. No fancy tricks, just overwhelming power and great Special Bulk (with Sandstorm). Thunderbolt, Power Gem, Sludge Wave and Psyshock give it an incredibly wide range of attacking options and throw in the Choice Scarf and Beast Boost and it should be doing plenty of damage really quickly.

    Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
    Ability: Beast Boost
    EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
    Modest Nature
    IVs: 0 Atk
    - Sludge Wave
    - Power Gem
    - Psyshock
    - Thunderbolt

    Rampardos

    Rampardos is a beast...there's no way to say it otherwise, it's got an insane attack stat that I couldn't skip over. I've done something very basic here and I'm running it with Rockium-Z for either the Sandstorm Speed Boost or an insanely powerful Rock Type attack. Sheer Force increases his damage, but I'm still debating whether I replace him with a more defensive Pokemon (something this team lacks completely). I haven't had the chance to test him out quite yet so I'll make decisions after that.

    Rampardos @ Rockium Z
    Ability: Sheer Force
    EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
    Adamant Nature
    - Sandstorm
    - Earthquake
    - Rock Slide
    - Thunder Punch

    First Match - Poison Monotype: Manged to get a fairly easy win, primarily because of Tyranitar. Opponent had an Alolan Muk, Toxapex, Roserade, Salazzle, Nidoking and Beedrill. And man I kinda just wrecked all of them :D

  • December 12, 2017

    Second Match - Fire Monotype: Clear sweep with Nihilego. Managed to knock out every single Pokemon my opponent had (Mega Camerupt, Heatran, Infernape, Arcanine, Volcanion and Rotom-Heat). To be fair, I did lose Rampardos who set up Sandstorm and got off an Earthquake, but yeah I'll be ditching him because it just didn't work out too well. 

  • December 12, 2017

    I've thought about it for the last minute, and I have declared...that I have no idea who to put on my team. My first thought is Stakataka because he's boss, but I think I just want something a bit more reliable type-wise. That Rock/Steel typing really doesn't do it any favors and I already have 2 Pokemon with 4x weaknesses (to Fighting and Ground respectively). Regirock is an interesting possibility for a bit of a slower but super bulky Pokemon (Curse). Tyrantrum is a favorite of mine but then I've got 2 members weak to Fairy and only one decent counter.

    Right. Regirock is by far the best choice at the moment, so I'll run a very simple Curse Boosting, Drain Punch/Stone Edge/Ice Punch set that pretty much kicks ass. 

  • December 12, 2017

    Match Three - Steel Monotype

    This one did not go over quite as well as my other two. I played against a Steel Monotype Team and just couldn't afford to get Tyranitar set up enough to dish out damage. He did mange to get two KO's though, with Gigalith getting a third but Lycanroc, Minior, Nihilego and Regirock did next to nothing to the team. Ended up getting swept by a Mega-Scizor because I lacked a bit of Steel/Priority coverage. Might see about working on something with whichever terrain works against priority, would probably swap out Lycanroc for it. 

  • December 14, 2017

    I've decided to delete my Sandstorm Team. I just think that's it's a fundamentally flawed weather condition for Monotype. Because it works with more than just a single type (Steel, Ground and Rock) and the support for Monotype kind of just doesn't work. Steel and Ground types miss out on the Special Defense boost which Rock Types get, but they've only got one Sand Rush user is just a big flaw. Sure Lycanroc...whichever one, is a pretty solid attacker but honestly, when another form has Tough Claws and the other has No Guard, it's just not quite worth it.

    Compare that to some of the really, really, really, really great Ground/Steel Sand Rush users. I mean Sand Rush Sandslash and Excadrill both work incredibly well because of their mediocre speed stat. Sand Force is only covered by Gigalith and 'Probopass' if you...uhh, are running. No, I don't think that counts, we're skipping it because let's be honest, if you're running a heavy-attacking Probopass you're doing it wrong. It's got access to great support moves and it just doesn't benefit much from the attack boost. Compare that to a few Steel or Ground types with Sand Force.

    Mega-Garchomp is insane if you can pull off because it's got Special and Physical options.

    Alolan Dugtrio is excellent with Sand Force. Regular Dugtrio should run Arena Trap but it's fine too.

    Mega-Steelix is also really great in a Trick Room team as well.

    Excadrill...that is all.

    Basically, the Rock types don't get the abilities that are great. But the other two suffer incredibly from the fact that they don't get the boost that Rock Types get. Basically, if you combine the best of each type I think a Sandstorm Team would really work, but it just doesn't if you pick a single type. Oh and Steel lacks a reliable way to get off the Sandstorm by not having a Sand-Streamer. And, honestly, if Tyranitar had a better ability you'd never run SS Tyranitar because Hippowdon has better type coverage, better recovery and a better typing.