Introduction
Disclaimer: I'm italian and my english is not perfect, so there could be errors in the text even if I will check a hundred times. Please be gentle.
Hi guys, I wanted to present you my try to build an effective Sand team. The initial idea was to have as much Sand Force users as possible to max the damage potential, but during the teambuilding session i noticed that would leave so much opening for the enemy teams to destroy me and changed my mind, trying to build something more balanced. I've played a lot with it, but I see it's still lacking something that I can't identify (I'm not that much of an expert player), so I'm here for some suggestions.
Team Members
Happy (Hippowdon) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
Hippowdon is 90% of the time my lead, so I can setup sandstorm and stealth rock. I run him with toxic and slack off to eventually stall enemy walls, and earthquake just for something to do damage with in case of being taunted (the damage are pretty good for no investments in attack). He's my physical wall and I always try to keep him alive because he's much more consistent to setup sandstorm than Tyranitar. I chose to give him rocky helmet in place of leftovers to punish a little my opponent, and because the recovery with slack off it's pretty good anyway.Happy (Hippowdon) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
Mantis (Garchomp-Mega) (F) @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
So, if you can handle him well, he's capable of sweeping an entire team alone. Just be aware that in mega form he loses 22 speed, going down to 311 and leaving the possibility to someone he first outsped to be faster.
Fidget (Excadrill) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
Blobbs (Gastrodon-East) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave
Beep Boop (Magnezone) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Period (Tyranitar) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
Conclusion
I feel pretty good playing with the team, but like I said in the explanations I have a lot of doubts on some of the sets and I don't know if I must keep or switch some of the members (probably because my skills as a player are not that good and at high level). So I'm open to any suggestion for making my team better and maybe reaching a high level in the ladder before everything reset after the new generation comes out.
Team importable
Happy (Hippowdon) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
Mantis (Garchomp-Mega) (F) @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
Fidget (Excadrill) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
Blobbs (Gastrodon-East) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave
Beep Boop (Magnezone) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Period (Tyranitar) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Slack Off
Mantis (Garchomp-Mega) (F) @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
Fidget (Excadrill) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
Blobbs (Gastrodon-East) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave
Beep Boop (Magnezone) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Period (Tyranitar) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance