The Versatile Sand Team!

[The Knights of Wario Land]

Ok, I've assembled myself a Wi-fi Triple Battle Sandstorm team (that also works well in Singles and Doubles, but excels at Triples), and I think I need it to be rated by professionals:

Choice Scarf Sand Set-up

Tyranitar @Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Attk, 252 Def., 4 Speed
Moves: Dragon Claw, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Crunch

Tyranitar sets up the Sand instantly, and is almost always the lead. His Choice Scarf lets him easily outspeed most of his usual counters, bar Mienshao, and acts as a good scout.

Physical Sweeper

Durant @Focus Sash
Nature: Naive
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Attk, 4 Def, 252 Speed
Move: Hone Claws, X-Scissor, Rock Slide, Iron Head

Durant goes right in-center, able to hit anything with her Rock Slide. Her STAB Iron Head can easily OHKO a Terrakion, and the same goes with X-Scissor on Alakazam and other strong Psychics.

Can't Touch this Sand Veil Sweeper

Gliscor @Yache Berry
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Attk, 128 Def, 128 Speed
Moves: Swords Dance, U-Turn, Ice Fang, Earthquake

Gliscor can come into three roles: if she's given a free turn he can easily set up a Swords Dance hassle-free, take an easy switch with her fast U-Turn, or go and hit common Sand treats Gliscor, Excadrill, and Landorus with ease.

Mixed Wall/Special Attacker

Heatran @Shuca Berry
Nature: Modest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 128 Def, 252 Sp. Attk, 128 Sp. Def
Moves: Protect, Stealth Rock, Fire Blast, Earth Power

Heatran acts as both Durant's protector and a wall towards the Ferrothorns and Forretresses out there. Depending on the situation, he can come as a secondary lead to set up Rocks, or come in later to tank hits.

The Special Attacking Powerhouse

Reuniclus @Life Orb
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Attk, 4 Sp.Def
Moves: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Trick Room

With his ability, Reuniclus will not be affected by the Sandstorm, and acts as a good protection or Revenge-killer against Conkeldurr, Mienshao, or other strong Fighters who will give Tyranitar problems.

Mixed Bag Support

Scrafty @Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 Attk, 252 Def., 4 Sp. Def
Moves: Fake-Out, Bulk Up, Crunch, Drain Punch

Scrafty's Lefties neglegate Sandstorm damage, and he acts as another good leader or supported with Fake-Out to allow the other Pokes to sweep without worrying about being knocked out by the opposing threat in that once turn. Plus, he also cancels out other Tyranitar users with his highly-powerful Drain Punch.

--
This team I have been using has been pretty victorious in Wi-fi battles, and is a good check and counter to most Sun teams. But I'm still debating on whether Scrafty should keep that place: I have a very-bulky Spiritomb and Carracosta who also are vying for that last spot. If you have any suggestions for move swaps/who should really be on the 6th slot of my party, it would be very appreciated.

 

[Synthesis]

Rotom-W, Suicune and Jellicent wreck havoc here. As do Rain teams in general.

 

[g3rgni]

Hey there, Super Dragoon. It looks like you have a few decent ideas, but your team as a whole could use some improvement. Here are my suggested changes:

- Pursuit > Dragon Claw on Tyranitar
- Specially Defensive Scizor > Durant
- Standard Offensive SD Gliscor > Custom Gliscor
- Standard Air Ballon Heatran > Custom Heatran
- 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SpA EV spread for Reuniclus
- Standard Bulk Up Conkeldurr > Bulk Up Scrafty

I suggested replacing Durant and Scrafty with Scizor and Conkeldurr, respectively, to give your team a more efficient way to deal with major OU threats. Specially Defensive Scizor handles Reuniclus, some variants of Latios and Latias, and CM Virizion. Bulk Up Conkeldurr checks Excadrill and Terrakion.

Here are some of the sets I mentioned for your reference:

Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 216 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite

Gliscor (M) @ Flight Gem
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Substitute

Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock

Conkeldurr (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback

Good luck.

 

[SharKing]

If you insist on running Durant, however (base 109 Speed and Hustle + Hone Claws is something over Scizor), try Stone Edge over Rock Slide. It hits just fine after Hone Claws, and it hits so much harder.

 

[The Knights of Wario Land]

@Heathcliff Huxable- Thank you for those awesome suggestions, the Scizor and Conkeldurr sets are particularly looking attactive. I've been trying to use Durant mostly to try and give it a light in the spotlight and to use a sweeper besides Scizor for once. That Conkeldurr set also looks prime for me, but as I've seen, a Flame Orb set works better than a Leftovers set for Guts, but in my condition, I want to keep it away from Sandstorm, so Lefties actually sound good. Again, thank you.

@SkarKing The reason why I'm using Durant is stated above, and I switch between Rock Slide and Stone Edge when going from Singles to Doubles, because Rock Slide has amazing advantages in Doubles and Triples.

 

[g3rgni]

Keep in mind that my suggestions were almost exclusively based on the singles metagame. If you're playing doubles or triples, I imagine that you'll need to change a few things to make your team as effective as possible.

 

[League]

Rotom-W, Suicune and Jellicent wreck havoc here. As do Rain teams in general.

Shortly but (somewhat) sweetly said.

I think that Breloom is a great pokemon for Sand/Hail/Rain teams with its Poison Heal, and it's ultimately a less defensive Scrafty (it's status immune much as can be said of Scrafty--it does have better [actual] health recovery in Sandstorm though). It's ultimately a schmecent Water counter. It also has Mach Punch (like Conkeldurr) and Swords Dance. (Spore is an obvious move, and Seed Bomb can be the counter-Water attack.)

I'll get into critiquing your pokemon in a bit.

 

[The Knights of Wario Land]

I think that Breloom is a great pokemon for Sand/Hail/Rain teams with its Poison Heal, and it's ultimately a less defensive Scrafty (it's status immune much as can be said of Scrafty--it does have better [actual] health recovery in Sandstorm though). It's ultimately a schmecent Water counter. It also has Mach Punch (like Conkeldurr) and Swords Dance. (Spore is an obvious move, and Seed Bomb can be the counter-Water attack.)

I'll get into critiquing your pokemon in a bit.

Actually, that sound pretty ingenious. I now have a good way to counter Water-types, plus a priority move user and an instant-sleeper. Sounds awesome to me, I think I'm gonna search for a Shroomish tonight and start breeding for a perfect-natured one. What would be a good nature for Breloom?

 

[g3rgni]

Actually, that sound pretty ingenious. I now have a good way to counter Water-types, plus a priority move user and an instant-sleeper. Sounds awesome to me, I think I'm gonna search for a Shroomish tonight and start breeding for a perfect-natured one. What would be a good nature for Breloom?

A Jolly nature is probably best for Breloom in the current metagame.

 

[williamscaleb91]

Adamant or Jolly, comes down to preference.

 

[Vraell]

I do find myself leaning toward Excadrill for the excellent Speed and Attack during sandstorm and reasonable coverage. It's probably banned from competition (last I heard), but all's fair in Random Wifi. Gotta watch that priority fighting weakness (I'm looking at you Lucario and Conkeldurr).

For your last spot, I would give Lucario a try. I'm not sure about a specific moveset, but Dragon Pulse and Vacuum Wave should both prove useful for a Special Lucario.

 

[Rabidtangerine]

Ice Fang is kind of icky, I think you should go with gem & Acrobatics.
Scrafty wouldn't do too well in Sandstorm. If you want a dark type for sandstorm go with Mandibuzz or maybe Cacturne P), since your team is so weak to water. An offensive Ferrothorn could do pretty well actually, since most of your team is sporting Rock Slide and EQ, and you have Trick Room on your gummy bear. But overall, fighting types can really wreck your team, so get Acrobatics, and switch Scrafty for a more sandstorm friendly mon. I agree that Breloom could work well too.