Lord Emvee Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 (edited) . Forgotten Sands ------------------------------------------------------- Intro Hello Reborn Community, hope you haven't forgotten me! I have recently returned once again after taking a few months break from the server. I noticed how the ladder changed a bit (how my #1 account decayed a lot, and how my good friend Kamina had 3 accounts in the top 3 LOL). I felt it was time to get rank 1 once again with another amazing team of mine. I have decided to RMT it, so that I can share my success with the community. Instead of laddering on my old account (which would have been incredibly easy because it really only takes a few battles to get over my decay), I started fresh with a brand new team and a brand new account. After only a single day of laddering, I was very easily able to get #1, and reclaim my title as Reborn's #1. Like my previous RMTs, this one is another Semi Stall, however, this time I've chosen to build a team around Hippowdon and Gengar, a really interesting duo (HippoGar). And without further ado, I present to you all a very strong Reborn Sand team, which is really easy and fun to use. I literally won almost every single ladder match with this team (bar one match where some kid I don't even know crit me a bunch of times and made me lose over 20 pts). But anyways, onto the "Forgotten Sands". Proof of Success Team Preview Team Building Process Wanted to make a weather team, so needed a choice of weather. Hippowdon was my choice, as it gave me a Pokemon that could set rocks up, as well as a way to shuffle opposing teams. I didn't want the hazards that I set up to go away, so I needed an anti spinner. Gengar was my choice, since it does just that, and forms a cool combination with Hippowdon. I needed a way to get rid of hazards. I had a choice between a spinner or a magic bouncer. I went with the magic bouncing Xatu, because Magic Bounce works really well especially since there is no preview in reborn ladder matches. Whenever I make a Sand Semi Stall team, I always make sure to keep at least 2 Pokemon that can deal with Rain teams. I decided to go with Rotom-W as the first of such Pokemon, since it is really good against all sorts of Pokemon. I still needed another Pokemon to beat Rain teams, (since it's the biggest threat to Sand teams). I went with Ferrothorn, since it is the best answer to Swift Swimmers. Finally, I wanted a Sand sweeper, and what better Pokemon to play that role than the infamous Excadrill himself. Team In Depth Hippowdon @ Leftovers | Sand Stream Careful | 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD Stealth Rock | Slack Off | Whirlwind | Earthquake Specially Defensive Hippowdon is surprisingly bulky. It is able to live pretty much any un-boosted attack on full HP, bar strong Hydro Pumps. Stealth Rock is of course essential because every Semi Stall team needs it in order to do residual damage to your opponent's team per switch. Whirlwind helps me shuffle around the opponent's team in order to avoid getting swept, against Baton Pass teams, and to do more residual damage when all my hazards are set up. Whether or not you choose to lead with Hippowdon is entirely up to you. For me, I prefer leading with Rotom-W because I don't like to give away the fact that I am running a Sand team, and would rather wait to see what my opponent is using (and if they are running Rain, try and beat it before bringing out Hippowdon). If this is not something you're interested in, lead with Hippowdon, as it proves reliable right from turn 1. ------------------------------------------------------- Gengar @ Black Sludge | Levitate Timid | 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Substitute | Disable | Shadow Ball | Focus Blast Sub Disable Gengar is quite difficult to beat in this Meta-Game. I have found that opponents that are unprepared to face such a threat often get swept right after I set up a Substitute. Using Disable effectively is all about prediction. Knowing when to use Disable and when not to use it separates the inexperienced players from the experienced players. For example, you wouldn't risk using a Disable on an Expert Belt Thunderus-T because it has more than one move to hit you with. Once you get the hang of it though, it's quite simple to use. Gengar plays the role of my Specially Offensive attacker, as well as my anti-spinner. It is able to block opposing Pokemon from Rapid Spinning, though when you come across Starmie, don't risk switching Gengar head on into it because you could get KO'd. Ferrothorn would be a safer switch into Starmie, until you are able to get rid of it. Ultimately, Gengar works better if you play your cards right, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be amazed at its potency. ------------------------------------------------------- Xatu @ Rocky Helmet | Magic Bounce Bold | 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe Thunder Wave | Roost | Heat Wave | U-Turn Xatu helps me keep hazards off my side of the playing field with its ability Magic Bounce. Bouncing back Status and other non attacking moves is also really fun. I love its item Rocky Helmet because anything that touches it takes some extra damage, which is pretty useful. 56 Speed outruns Adamant Breloom. T-Wave helps me slow down opposing threats and U-Turn out after doing so (assuming it's not safe to stay in. Heat Wave is mainly for the Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress that you switch into. It's also good for Scizor, Breloom, and the occasional Genesect that dares to switch in on it. It is important that you keep the momentum going with U-Turn if you know (or suspect) your opponent has Tyranitar, because Pursuit means the end of Xatu, and you don't wanna lose Xatu early in the game. ------------------------------------------------------- Rotom-W @ Leftovers | Levitate Modest | 252 HP / 212 Def / 36 SpA / 8 Spe Volt Switch | Hydro Pump | Will-O-Wisp | Pain Split Though the moves look as standard as any Rotom-W set could get, it actually functions quite differently. Introducing Physically Defensive Rotom-W. It's defenses are solid enough that it can actually be considered a counter to Excadrill. It can take a Rock Slide at +2 easily and hit back hard with Hyrdo Pump. Genesect's U-Turn doesn't do much to it either (which is why it makes a great lead if you choose not to reveal Hippowdon early). Volt Switch creates good momentum paired with Xatu's U-Turn (creating the Volt Turn core for the team). Using it as a lead gives your opponent the false impression that you might be Scarfed, which is good if you want to play some early mind games with your opponent. Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split are of course self explanatory. Rotom-W is very important for this team, as it is the only safe Pokemon to switch into a Tornadus' Hurricane. If you have trouble outplaying it, feel free to give the 36 SpA to SDef (you tank hits better but you lose some KO's where you might need it. It also beats Mamoswine threats. Rotom-W helps against Rain Teams, which is very important because there are a lot of Swift Swim abusers on the ladder that you gotta watch out for. ------------------------------------------------------- Ferrothorn @ Shed Shell | Iron Barbs Sassy | 248 HP / 4 Atk / 88 Def / 168 SpD Spikes | Leech Seed | Thunder Wave | Power Whip Ferrothorn adds some extra hazards to the opponent's side, while also acting as a counter to opposing Rain teams. Having Stealth Rock and Spikes along with an anti-spinner for this team really demonstrates the destructiveness this team can reach in battle. Since I have chosen to run Shed Shell to avoid getting trapped by Chandelure and Magnezone, Leech Seed has been added as a move in order to get some extra HP Recovery. I had a tough time choosing whether I wanted to use Thunder Wave as its 3rd moveslot, or Protect. I found that most Pokemon that switch onto Ferrothorn are much less useful when they're paralyzed, so Thunder Wave was my final decision. Having both Xatu and Ferrothorn slow down opposing teams is really beneficial because then you won't have to worry about anything outrunning you at all. Make sure that when you're up against a Rain team, you play Ferrothorn in a very conservative manner (since it is the #1 counter to Swift Swimmers). ------------------------------------------------------- Excadrill @ Air Balloon | Sand Rush Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe Swords Dance | Earthquake | Rock Slide | X-Scissor Excadrill is notably the best late game Sand sweeper there is to date. Blazing speed and sky high attack can really save you the game when you most need it. Everything about this Excadrill is pretty standard except for X-Scissor, which not many people run as I have noticed. The reason I use it is because it hits certain things that could wall it pretty hard. These include (and are not limited to) Slowbro, Defensive Celebi, and Bronzong (for neutral damage). Offensive threats such as Serperior, Hydreigon, Lati@s, etc, also get hit the hardest by X-Scissor. It is essential that you save Excadrill for as late in the game as possible (or when you really need to get rid of a major threat to your team) Once you get rid of the stuff that counters Excadrill, it's safe to sweep. ------------------------------------------------------- Conclusion So once again, this concludes yet another RMT. As always, I hope you all enjoyed it, because I naturally took a lot of time to make this for you all. As a reminder, this team has currently achieved #1 on the Reborn ladder (and that too, it only took me a single day to get there starting from a new account), and I'm happy to be able to share it with everyone, in hopes that you too can make it up there. If anyone is interested to use this team, the importable is down below in the spoiler box. Using this team is quite easy. Lead with either Hippowdon or Rotom-W, get up as many hazards as you can, anti-spin as hard as you can with Gengar, play conservatively by making good predictions and switches, and drive your opponent into oblivion by end sweeping with Excadrill (or Gengar if they're stupid lol). All comments are welcome, and highly encouraged since I worked really hard on this. Thanks again for taking the time to visit my latest RMT! Importable Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sand Stream EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk) - Stealth Rock - Slack Off - Whirlwind - Earthquake Gengar (F) @ Black Sludge Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Substitute - Disable - Shadow Ball - Focus Blast Xatu (F) @ Rocky Helmet Trait: Magic Bounce EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spd Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) - Thunder Wave - Roost - Heat Wave - U-turn Rotom-W @ Leftovers Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 36 SAtk / 8 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Volt Switch - Hydro Pump - Will-O-Wisp - Pain Split Ferrothorn (F) @ Shed Shell Trait: Iron Barbs EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 88 Def / 168 SDef Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd) - Spikes - Leech Seed - Thunder Wave - Power Whip Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon Trait: Sand Rush EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Swords Dance - Earthquake - Rock Slide - X-Scissor Check out my previous RMTs located here: http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3793 http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3633 Edited September 7, 2013 by So Heroic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamina Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 I like this team a lot and it is very solid . I always thought that Gengar had a lot of potential but didnt ever think that the sub/disable would work in sand because every time you subbed it would be permanent hp lost but after seeing it in action i don't think it matters as much. Without team preview, Xatu is extremely dangerous and since it has thunder wave it will be harder for trap it using chand . I also like a lot how you have 2 pokemon with thunder wave to nullify every rain abuser there is and pokemon faster than gengar making rain teams much easier to defeat. Sp def hippo is also very intuitive because Pokemon like rp landorus/ agility thundorus which sand teams usually cant deal with can now easily be phased by hippo without taking more than 50% damage [plus gengar can easily deal with landorus]. All in all i really like this team and i cant find a single counter which isn't at lest checked by 2 pokemon in your team or taken care of with the necessary predictions. 10/10 and nice job on peak :] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominator Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 Congratz on #1 and Hippo is better than T-tar (js) Although youve been #1 already Im not suprised you got #1 u 2 gud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summer Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 Great team, though I realized Xatu is your only counter to hazards. You might want to consider Rapid Spin for Excadtoll, but most of your team isbln't affected much by SR anyways. 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Desire Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 i suggest you run shed shell on exca to avoid trappers out of sand. that is all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moony Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 Great team emvee. Gratz on #1! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Emvee Posted September 7, 2013 Author Share Posted September 7, 2013 Thanks for the rate everyone! @Lobos: Rotom-W is no problem Ferrothorn beats it. Also your calc is wrong for my Rotom-W. You put "232 HP / 0 Def" for my Rotom-W when it has 212 Def. I have no problem against Keldeo because Rotom-W has plenty of Defense to tank Secret Swords, even against a CM set. Excadrill and Gengar can also do some good damage to Keldeo as well. Sun teams are no trouble at all (nobody that even ladders on Reborn uses a sun team anyways except Dark Desire and I know his team already) Ninetales is obviously the underdog of the weather war, and it's harder to switch in Ninetales this kind of team. Gengar subs easy behind sun teams and hit the opposing Pokemon. Venusaur is no problem just keep up the momentum with Xatu's U-Turn and Rotom-W's Volt Switch everytime an opponent tries to get Venusaur in, in order to make sure the weather is always in your favor so you can outrun it. Rapid Spin is not needed on Excadrill, as the team isn't entirely hazard weak, and I have Xatu for that anyways. X-Scissor is needed otherwise Serperior becomes a massive threat. Thanks for the rate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.