[RATE MY TEAM] Sand with Mega-Salamence team

[Avolta]

So, hi everyone, first of all, I’m not a native English speaker so, if you found any mistake in any of my sentances don’t throw to my face “ooohhhh your English suck” just let me know that I give an error so I can improve my English (no I’m not using Google translate or something familiar )

Now the main topic, one day I was viewing videos on Youtube and saw one team that I appreciate, a Sand Variant Team with Mega-Mance. And I thought, this team might be fun to play with so I give it a try with a little touch of mine. And with that I re-created that team with smal changes. I use this team in VGC.

(So that you know, I have played Pokemon since Pokemon Yellow I have only being interested in Competitive Pokemon (VGC) since a year ago, more or less, and I’ve been more watching videos than playing xD )

I have played only 10 games with this team and my 7 wins and 3 defeats (one of them was by a disconnect and the other, agains a rain team, but because I failled a play (noob!!))

Salamance @ salamencite
Ability: Intimidade
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Return
Draco Meteor
Flamethrower
Protect

As the most of all Salamance, full EV in Attack and Speed and the rest in HP, so a fast and strong hitter Mega-Mance.
For the first move I had two options, Double-Edge and Return, and I choose Return because of the secundary ability of Double-Edge
Now I need a Dragon Attack, and that’s obvious Draco Meteor
The third was the hardest choise Hyper-Voice or Flamethrower, and has you will see in the rest of my team I dont have any fire move, so, Flamethrower I choose you. Finishing the moveset with protect.

Damage Calculation
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 252 HP / 124+ Def Mega Venusaur: 170-204 (90.9 - 109%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 258-306 (122.2 - 145%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0- SpA Mega Salamence Flamethrower vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Metagross: 68-80 (43.5 - 51.2%) -- 5.9% chance to 2HKO
0- SpA Mega Salamence Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Mawile: 76-90 (48.4 - 57.3%) -- 89.1% chance to 2HKO

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
Level 50
EVs 252 Atk, 4 Spd, 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Crunch
Rock Slide
Earthquake
Superpower

As the team that I saw a Scarfed Tyranitar capable of 0HKO other Tyranitar and 50% chance of 0HKO Terrakion with Superpower, Crunch for 2HKO  on Mega Metagross, Rock Slide (because yeah xD ) and Earthquake for some spread damage and to help agains Mega Mawile

Damage Calculation
252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Metagross: 102-120 (65.3 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Tyranitar Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 140-166 (77.3 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage
252 Atk Tyranitar Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 154-182 (92.2 - 108.9%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 300-356 (170.4 - 202.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 246-290 (182.2 - 214.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO


Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Rush
Level 50
EVs 252 Atk 4 Spd 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Iron Head
Rock Slide
Earthquake
Protect
With Iron Head I could deal with almost all fairy types Pokemon such as Sylveon, Gardevoir being a 2HKO on Clefable and Clefairy. Rock Slide to flying pokemond as Thundurus and Talonflame. Earthquake for Mawile and so.

Damage Calculation
252+ Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 120-144 (76.4 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 134-162 (66.3 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 218-258 (151.3 - 179.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

So at this point what I needed? Water pokemon would give me a lot of trouble such as pokemon that could use Speed Control so, I need a pokemon that could fight against water pokemon and Taunt, so I choose Thundurus

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Level 50
EVs 252 Spa, 4 Spd, 252 Spe
Modest Nature
Thunderbolt
Grass Knot
Thunder wave
Taunt

With Life Orb Thundurus OHKO Politoed and has a 25% chance to OHKO Milotic with Thunderbolt. Grass Knot because I couldn’t find a HP ICE one, so I pick Grass Knot to cover a bigger range of move types. Thunder Wave so that I could have Speed Control without using Sand Stream and Sand Rush, and Taunt to disrupt some pokemon.

Damage Calculation
252+ SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Politoed: 172-203 (103.6 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Milotic: 174-211 (86.1 - 104.4%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 190-224 (113.7 - 134.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO


Now my team has two pokemons that are weak to Rock and Ice, and two of the most common moves in VGC are Rock Slide and Icy Wind, so I thought with Wide Guard in Aegislash I could prevent those attacks and have another way to effective beat Cresselia

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Chance
Level 50
EVs 252 HP, 156 Spa , 100 Spd
Quiet Nature
Shadow Ball
Wide Guard
King Shield
Shadow Sneak

I wanted a slow Aegislash and that’s why I choose a Quiet nature one. I haven’t full invested in SPA because I was feelling that my team was pretty frail so I choose so Invest a little on SPD. Shadow Ball so almost 2HKO Cresselia, Wide Guard because of what I said before, King Shield was obvious and Shadow Sneak because of two things. First I can’t find that motherf*cking Mirage Island 8 (f*ck you b*tch) and the Second because I could surprise my opponents getting KO when they do not expect.

Damage Calculation
156+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 220 HP / 92+ SpD Cresselia: 108-128 (48.4 - 57.3%) -- 90.6% chance to 2HKO
156+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Politoed: 79-94 (47.5 - 56.6%) -- 15.6% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
156+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gardevoir: 122-146 (84.7 - 101.3%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

My last pokemon was Milotic I choose it because I saw a little of problems when agaisnt intimidade users and with Milotic I had a great way to, my self intimidate, my oponent to not bring the intimidade user to the battle

Milotic @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Competitive
Level 50
EVs 156 HP, 252 Def, 92 Spa, 4 Spd, 4 Spe
Modest Nature
Scald
Icy Wind
Ice Beam
Protect
Icy wind to do spread damage against Landorus and Thundurus combination, Ice Beam to all the dragons and flying types pokemon. Scald for some water damage and for the burns

Damage Calculation
92 SpA Milotic Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 180-216 (109 - 130.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
92 SpA Milotic Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Thundurus: 90-108 (58 - 69.6%) -- 73.4% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
92 SpA Milotic Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 164-196 (95.9 - 114.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Some feedback with the team
I really like playing with this team, although I think that I need to change something, but I don’t know what. Thundurus is not getting that much of use, and when I play with him he doesn’t do a thing, by the other hand, Aegislash is doing a lot, it is getting a lot of crucial KO with Shadow Sneak and, generaly, Shadow Ball does a ton of damage when used. Although I lost agaist a rain team I had my chance to win, only loosing by a silly mistake of mine, and in that game, Milotic even when faced against Ludicolo has done a lot, but, that I remenber, it was the only game that I used it, I’ve not playing against lot of Landorus and other intimidate users.
I’ve used Sand Combination in 90% of the games and it 2 round I’ve have beated half of my opponent team with them, but generally losing of the the pokemon, I’ve not using Tyranitar Superpower a lot, neither earthquake because I would be trap with a move that affect 3 of the other 5 pokemons of mine, Excadrill is being really great being not afraid to face other pokemons thanks to the focus sash, but I don’t know it I should pick Drill Run and not earthquake. Mega-Mance is Mega-Mance it alone can get KOs after KOs. So what I think i could change in this team: Change Thundurus with other Prankster pokemon (Whimsicott ??) Picking Recover over Protect in Milotic.

Let me know what you think of this team, and in what you would change to get in better. All the “non destructive” comments will be thanked.
Sorry for the big post,

Avolta

[Pokeventurer]

Hey! nice write up!
A few points i wanna consider here:

. Please add a bit of description to the EV spreads u choose (the 252/252/4 one's are understandable, however many won't recognize the specialized spreads) u can
freely edit the post anytime

. Salamence: u are running a strange EV investment, most mixed variants Opt to go for the naive nature, instead of jolly and like to run split offensive investments (even 252 atk/252 spe/4 sp.atk ones are good)

. Tyranitar: you are running earthquake on your tyranitar, however i have seen popular players run ice beams on the same variant as u run (EVs), it can be handy the salamences and the landorus' you expect to switch in into you or even the one's who try to cripple your leads (sand mode) whereas there isn't much room, when u already have a pokemon like excadrill to use EQ.

. Excadrill: a good call there, i do like that you run an adamant sashed variant to catch other's off-guard and still deal more damage

. Thundurus: you said that it doesn't get's used at all right? i would suggest rotom-w in this slot, it can effectively deal with the thundy+lando lead and cripple it, it can absorb any water type attacks against your rain duo. it is also immune to speed control of t-wave which can work greatly in favor of making defensive switch in's.

. Aegislash: you run a spread which conquers the point of surviving 252+ specs hydreigon's dark pulse right? i made a better spread that a user here suggested to me, this is the following:

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 12 Atk / 4 Def / 236 SpA / 20 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Ball

it does the same things, however get's some offensive potential, this spread is a sassy nature one to avoid attack drop, you can still keep your moveset, but try out the EV spread. also wanted to question the choice of lefties in absense of sub? is it supposed to be a mind-game tactic or just for recovery? if not that way, you can try out items like WP and LO on it.

. Milotic: it's fine to me, however the defensive EV's need an explanation. another thing is that most milotics like to use recover to get up that annoying serpent stance. if you wanna drop the lefties on aegi, try em on milo, it will kinda make it immune to sand chip damage.

. Team Weaknesses:
Well from as of it is right now your team looks weak to the following things:
. Amoongus (powder moves in general, try out safety goggles on aegislash or even milotic, to counter em with a surprise)
. Landorus (it is a big threat to the team, adding rotom-w will greatly help).
. Trick room destroys your team, running slower T-tar might help.

Hope these suggestions help you out!

[Avolta]

(Sep 8, 2015, 11:42 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: . Salamence: u are running a strange EV investment, most mixed variants Opt to go for the naive nature, instead of jolly and like to run split offensive investments (even 252 atk/252 spe/4 sp.atk ones are good)

Yeah, it was because at the beginnig I was using Dragon Claw and Fire Fang and Draco Meteor and Flamethrower were a last minute change

(Sep 8, 2015, 11:42 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: . Tyranitar: you are running earthquake on your tyranitar, however i have seen popular players run ice beams on the same variant as u run (EVs), it can be handy  the salamences and the landorus' you expect to switch in into you or even the one's who try to cripple your leads (sand mode) whereas there isn't much room, when u already have a pokemon like excadrill to use EQ.

Done

(Sep 8, 2015, 11:42 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: . Excadrill: a good call there, i do like that you run an adamant sashed variant to catch other's off-guard and still deal more damage

In general I like Sashed pokemon, people think, oh and OHKO pokemon and without notice it has turned to an 1 or 2 defeat pokemon from their side

(Sep 8, 2015, 11:42 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: . Thundurus: you said that it doesn't get's used at all right? i would suggest rotom-w in this slot, it can effectively deal with the thundy+lando lead and cripple it, it can absorb any water type attacks against your rain duo. it is also immune to speed control of t-wave which can work greatly in favor of making defensive switch in's.

Do you really think Rotom is a good choise? wouldn't I be to weak to Grass atacks?

(Sep 8, 2015, 11:42 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: . Aegislash: you run a spread which conquers the point of surviving 252+ specs hydreigon's dark pulse right? i made a better spread that a user here suggested to me, this is the following:

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy  
Ability: Stance Change  
Level: 50  
EVs: 236 HP / 12 Atk / 4 Def / 236 SpA / 20 SpD  
Sassy Nature  
- Wide Guard  
- King's Shield  
- Sacred Sword  
- Shadow Ball

it does the same things, however get's some offensive potential, this spread is a sassy nature one to avoid attack drop, you can still keep your moveset, but try out the EV spread. also wanted to question the choice of lefties in absense of sub? is it supposed to be a mind-game tactic or just for recovery? if not that way, you can try out items like WP and LO on it.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try it!!
It's funny, because I use Lefties for the two reasons that you gave xD I wanted some recovery and knowing that 80% or more of the Aegislash with Lefties have sub and not wide guard I could play with it

(Sep 8, 2015, 11:42 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: . Milotic: it's fine to me, however the defensive EV's need an explanation. another thing is that most milotics like to use recover to get up that annoying serpent stance. if you wanna drop the lefties on aegi, try em on milo, it will kinda make it immune to sand chip damage.

Like I said, I was also considering using recover instead of protect.

(Sep 8, 2015, 11:42 AM)Pokeventurer Wrote: . Team Weaknesses:
Well from as of it is right now your team looks weak to the following things:
. Amoongus (powder moves in general, try out safety goggles on aegislash or even milotic, to counter em with a surprise)
. Landorus (it is a big threat to the team, adding rotom-w will greatly help).
. Trick room destroys your team, running slower T-tar might help.

Hope these suggestions help you out!

In fact I havent got many issues with Amoonguss and Landorus and I think it's because of three things, Milotic, Thundurus and Mance.
Having both Milotic and Thundurus and Landorus user has to think really hard and 7 on 10 games Landorus will not apear.
Against Amoonguss I have Taunt in Thundurus and Flying fast attacks with Mance, and that one of the reasons that I wanted a Prankster user in Thundurus spot.

So, I have implemented almost all of your suggestions, Naive Mance, Recover Millotic, Ice Beam Tyranitar and that Aegislash of yours, and have played only 3 games getting 3 win
Like I said before, I don't want Rotom-w because of being to frail to Grass Move and I prefered an Prankster user in that spot, but we could discuss that if you want