ORAS OU Mega Charizard X Sand team

DrNMK

Hi guys !
I am pretty new to competitive pokemon and i'd want to make a nice team to begin competitive on 3ds wifi .
After some searchs, I thought about this one (thanks to Smogon strategy pokedex and forums for EV spreads) :
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Roost
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz

The team is centered on Mega-Charizard X, able to decimate entire teams after some dragon dances, with powerful fire and dragon STABs, Roost for sustain.
Jolly Nature and speed EVs are there to outspeed jolly choice scarf threats (Landorus-T, Excadrill).
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Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

I chose then Excadrill for his ability to clear the stealth rocks with Rapid spin for Zard X. Besides, he hits really hard with the Life Orb, abd can outspeed many foes under sand, thanks to Sand Rush.
That's why we go then to a Sand setter.
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Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Superpower

Tyranitar is my preference (maybe i'm wrong) over Hippowdon, despite its many weaknesses.
He sets sand, got buffed by it and buff his teammate Excadrill by he same occasion.
I chose a choice scarf set to pursuit trap psychic-ghost types. With that set, he can attack fast (but doesn't outspeed everyone of course) and hard with nice Rock and Dark STABs .
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Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower

There again, a physical attacker. I took Azumarill for its awesome capacity (Huge power) coupled with a Choice Band. Its Fairy typing brings protection against Dragons and common Fighting type, and the ability to hit them hard.
Aqua Jet is for revenge kills.

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Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

Then comes Ferrothorn, the physical tank of the team. He puts the rocks in the game, can decently attack fairies with Gyro Ball and water-types with Power Whip.
Lot of sustain with Leftovers + Leech Seed.
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Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Finally, the Pivot of the team. An another thread reminds me that Tornadus-T is a good counter to some big threats of the team : Serperior and Fighting team in general. Hurricane is a powerful STAB, and Heat Wave is there for Skarmory, Metagross, Ferrothorn,...
U-turn is the key move and Assault Vest brings some special bulk (coupled with Regeneration).

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Importable :

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Roost
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Superpower

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

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I tried this team on Pokemon Showdown (which I discovered recently; very nice and fun tool), and this is not that bad for a start. I see a lot of potential and I guess it will be even better with more experience (anticipation, etc).

What do you think about this team? Can I begin to breed in game in order to make this team for wifi battles?
Do you think that the lack of Special attackers (besides Tornadus-T) is a big weakness ?
Do you have some tips to improve this team?

Thank you very much for your answers and advices.

PS: sorry for my English, which is not my native language
 
Last edited:
Hey dude, I liked your team's archetype of Charizard X + Sand, which uses Charizard X and Excadrill to weaken each other's mutual counters such as Landorus-T so that the other can sweep. However, I also noticed that your team has a lot of trouble against pertinent threats in the current metagame. In particular, Mega Lopunny, opposing Excadrill and Charizard X, Bisharp, and Rotom-W all pose huge problems for your team. Without a good physical sponge, there's nothing stopping Mega Lopunny from clicking High Jump Kick or Return and 2HKO'ing every member of the squad. Same goes for Excadrill: sure, you can revenge kill it with Azumarill, but you can't hard switch Azumarill into an Orb Earthquake, and if it runs SD, it'll easily break past Ferrothorn. Bisharp also has no dedicated answer, and Rotom-W can easily click Will-O-Wisp or Hydro with Rocks up and frustrate your team to no end. Heatran can also be quite annoying if it runs max speed, given that it walls about half the team, and Mega Medicham can be frustrating to handle if it's in on the wrong 'mon.

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645-therian.png
I recommend you replace Ferrothorn with Defensive Stealth Rock Landorus-T. You have redundant coverage for Latios and Diancie in Tyranitar, Tornadus-T, and Azumarill. Landorus-T provides a reliable sponge and pivot for non-Ice Punch Mega Lopunny, Charizard X, and Excadrill while setting Stealth Rock like Ferrothorn did for you earlier. Using 88 Spe EVs lets you hit 240 Speed, which lets you outspeed Adamant Bisharp by one point while tanking a Defiant +1 Knock Off from full. You can also use HP Ice as opposed to the standard Stone Edge to take out opposing Landorus-T for both Charizard and Excadrill, since you already have Tyranitar and Rock Slide Excadrill for Talonflame.

However, this change makes you even weaker against Rotom-W. To help counteract this, I'd recommend changing Charizard's spread to 104 HP / 220 Atk / 184 Spe Jolly, which still outspeeds Scarf Landorus-T at +1 and OHKOs Calm Clefable after a boost, but lets you set up much more easily against Rotom-W that try to wear you down with Hydro Pump.

At this point, I noticed that your team struggles a lot with max speed Heatran if you don't have Sand up for Excadrill to revenge kill it. A Jolly Nature would let you outspeed regardless of whether Sand is up or not, and has additional utility in outspeeding Adamant Medicham which can otherwise get a KO against your team.

Finally, in order to take on Latios and Keldeo better, I'd recommend using a spread of 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 Spe on Tornadus-T. The extra HP is crucial for taking Keldeo's hits better given that it's your team's primary Scald-resist and needs to be at high of HP as possible in order to perform its role effectively.

With these changes, you should be much more solid against the aforementioned threats, and be able to execute the team's goal of sweeping once Landorus-T is gone with either of Charizard or Excadrill much more effectively. Hidden Power Ice Landorus will easily open up the way for one to sweep, while the combination of Tornadus' Knock Off and bulkier Charizard X lets you handle Rotom-W effectively. I'd still watch out for Thunder Wave Rotom-W, but overall you should find your team is much more effective against pertinent metagame threats than it was before. You can also potentially use Latios > Tornadus-T and shift hazard removal to Latios for better coverage against Rotom-W, but Tornadus-T makes your Serperior matchup infinitely more playable.

Good luck!

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Superpower

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 104 HP / 220 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Roost
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 8 SpD / 88 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
 
Last edited:
First of all, I'm not fluent in English and I'm using alternative means of translation. Excuse me if I not wrote correctly any phrase or sentence.

Hello friend, I think the team is a little unbalanced, it has many physical attackers and special few. I would trade the Band Azumarill by a Specs Keldeo to balance the his team's attack.

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid nature
- Scald / Hidden Power Bug
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind

I hope I have helped you.
 
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