Gen 8 wow it's a sand team

[igiveuponaname]

Honestly I wanted to make another RMT for BDSP OU but I figured nobody would pay attention to it so here's this instead.

A team I made during OUFL. Looked at the scout one week, thought ''yea sand looks good here'', and bam out comes this. Comfy team I like to load in individuals when I don't feel like tryharding on prep (which is almost all the time tbh).


Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Ice Punch

Part 1 of the Reliable Sand Core™. Sets sand for the rest of the team, mainly Excadrill, and provides defensive utility by soft checking Ghosts, Fires, etc, etc. Went with the Choice Band set since I like the power it provided against defensive cores and also I think the defensive set sucks. You could probably play around with the coverage options but I like Superpower for Ferrothorn, and other Steels ig, and Ice Punch for sniping Ground-types on the switch. Does the most damage vs Hippowdon in the 1v1 if you're feeling that way. It's a Tyranitar on a sand team there isn't much to actually say about this thing.


Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin

Part 2 of the Reliable Sand Core™. Outspeeds damn near everything while sand is active making it a useful tool for revenge killing or sweeping/cleaning up late game. I know the recommended spread is Jolly to outspeed Dragapult/Zeraora after a Rapid Spin boost but tbh fuck that if Excadrill isn't in sand it's not something I would ever consider tossing into those anyways, so I went with Adamant instead to hit some better damage rolls. Provides hazard removal support but I'm not a fan of it to be honest, mostly keep it on Excadrill so I don't have to run it elsewhere. Have considered Soft Sand and Air Balloon as other potential items, extra damage on EQ or a temporary Ground immunity are nice, but I've stuck with Leftovers for now. Really man it's an Excadrill on a sand team there isn't too much interesting to say.


Slowbro @ Eject Button
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Slack Off
- Teleport

FuturePort Slowbro. Provides some useful defensive utility as well as breaking and pivoting support for the rest of the team to capitalize on. I chose Eject Button as the item since I liked how it let Slowbro pivot into threats early in the game that the team would otherwise have difficulty safely switching into like Volcanion or Tapu Lele. Being able to wrest momentum back against U-turns and Volt Switches is also a nice application. I've seen some Slowbro sets that forego Slack Off but I can't say I like that idea especially on a team like this where hazards (mainly Spikes) can stay up easily if the opponent tries a bit, and relying solely on Regenerator as recovery feels extremely greedy for what is supposed to be one of the bigger parts of your defensive backbone.


Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed

Needed to compress a lot of defensive utility and actual utility moves so I tossed on Ferrothorn. It's the team's hazard setter, Knock Off user, a good contact punisher, and it stops stuff like Weavile, Tapu Lele, Dragapult Draco Meteor, and CM Tapu Fini from just bowling over the team. Honestly I can't think of much else to say, you could probably run Leftovers as its item if you prefer longevity over extra contact chip damage, but I prefer Rocky Helmet. This sentence is here to push this part to 3 whole lines.


Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Broken ass bird. At least when it decides to land Hurricanes. Zapdos provides the team with a ton of offensive pressure on a defensively useful mon as well as pivoting support with a strong STAB Volt Switch. Your best check to Grass types like Rillaboom, Kartana, and Ferrothorn, so try and keep it healthy. Though you'll probably end up eating a Knock Off no matter what. With Slowbro and Dragapult on the team I felt like outspeeding Urshifu wasn't a concern so I went with a Modest nature instead, with enough speed investment to outspeed max speed unboosted Jolly Dragonite and the extra EVs going into HP for a bit of bulk.


Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Flamethrower

I wanted something with immediate speed since the team was otherwise dependent on Excadrill being in sand in order to revenge kill fast threats. Dragapult offered that speed control I was looking for alongside respectable power that can help overwhelm teams alongside Tyranitar. The defensive profile is also nice as it lets it pivot into Water, Fire, Fighting, and many more moves in a pinch and often threaten out the users of these moves. Even more pivoting support is also nice to bring in offensive threats like Tyranitar and Zapdos. The team already has enough power I feel so I went Timid to make the most of Dragapult's insane speed stat, and being able to revenge Tapu Koko and not risk speed ties against Weavile and Modest Dragapult is appreciated as it takes some pressure off the rest of the team in handling them.

Threats:
: Spdef Chomp is whatever but SD is a massive threat especially with Fire Fang for Ferrothorn. Best plan aside from ''don't let it set up for free'' is to either fish for Scald burn with Slowbro, outspeed and revenge kill with Dragapult assuming it hasn't gotten a Scale Shot boost yet, or revenge with Excadrill under Sand assuming it does have a Scale Shot boost. Soft Sand EQ OHKO's after a defense drop which is a good argument to put it on Drill.

: Offensive Bug Buzz low-key 6-0s after a boost so just try and play to not let that happen. Another good argument for Soft Sand on Excadrill.

: Outspeeds and clicks Volt Switch against everything not named Dragapult. Try and knock it early on so it gets affected by rocks.

/: Fuck Knock Off.

Importable: https://pokepast.es/cb4576bce283b226

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-810945?p2 Debut game
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-2288268303-5byccy7gtzpwnw1mx9a6nawwvvixdhvpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-2296296006-t13ljurfauhl3aeqwj01yjbdfp20w9apw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-2321989102-broe3j7gjiopg11w0w1ia4owhxluhdspw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-2343571663-6g5je7bnoltxigawel6fnmgshsksurvpw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-2350855766-cm0phpv52th1mvigdjkc7vv01i38dampw

Probably some more I'm forgetting/didn't save but whatever.

 

[Xuwu]

Nice team, I will try it later. By the way, may I ask
1. why you choose Power Whip on ferro, for fini?
2. Do you think Ty should carry Heavy Slam?
3. I think there are hardly any max speed unboosted Jolly Dragonite. Do you think it's necessary to make some adjustments to Zapdos's EVs?
Thank you very much.

 

[igiveuponaname]

Nice team, I will try it later. By the way, may I ask
1. why you choose Power Whip on ferro, for fini?
2. Do you think Ty should carry Heavy Slam?
3. I think there are hardly any max speed unboosted Jolly Dragonite. Do you think it's necessary to make some adjustments to Zapdos's EVs?
Thank you very much.

1. I chose Power Whip for bulky Ground types like Gastrodon and Hippowdon who can otherwise be difficult for Zapdos/Dragapult to deal with. You don't have to solely rely on Power Whip for them but I like having the option to threaten them in 1v1s. It also helps against Waters like Rotom-W and Fini (you wall it anyways but extra damage is nice).

2. If you think it should feel free to run it, the coverage slots can be adjusted very easily I find. Personally speaking though I don't feel like it has to run it since the team can pressure Clef enough between Future Sight sequencing, Zapdos Hurricane, Excadrill, and generally beating it down with Stone Edge/Shadow Ball.

3. I just chose a speed benchmark and went from there. If you would like to adjust it to make it faster or slower feel free to do so, whatever works best for you.