RMT- Sand/phaze

[Night-san]

First fifth gen team. Have at me; adviceplz.

Fluffernut (Hippowdon) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Ice Fang
- Roar

Standard Hippowdon lead to pair with Excadrill (Dory), makes a good defensive phazer in the right situation too. I tend to pair it off with Skarmory when phazing is a good idea, switching in whichever has the better resists. I've replaced EQ with Ice Fang since it's necessary for countering Gliscor, which gives my team trouble otherwise. I have my STAB EQ on Excadrill.

Foreuse (Doryuuzu) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Throw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor

Fairly obvious here. Great physical sweeper, works well together with Hippowdon's Sand Stream. Replaced Rapid Spin with X-Scissor for more coverage, since RS wasn't seeing that much use in comparison.

Lollerskates (Latias) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Standard Calm Mind set; HP fire is to take care of opposing grass types, especially Ferrothorn. Great for switching in on Fire-types too. She's fitting into my team much better than Gyarados was, since Gyara got killed off very quickly.

NotSoFast (Skarmory) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind

Physical wall, phazer, and sets up Spikes. It and Ferrothorn tend to see equal use, despite the fact that they seem to fill the same role. Great for dealing with most fighting-types as well. Easy enough. Comes in great handy, obviously.

DoinYourMom (Roobushin) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback

Priority, good fighting STAB. He doesn't see a lot of action, though, and tends to be knocked out quickly, so he also may need to be replaced, seeing how he's done so far.

Pokki (Nattorei) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
- Protect

Absolutely adoring this guy's ability to wall. He's won many a match for me. Helps absorb other Ferrothorns' Leech Seeds, etc. as well. Again, he and Skarm both see a lot of use, despite seeming very similar.


Suggestions, comments, etc?

 

[Moozle]

I'd suggest running either Stone Edge or Ice Fang on Hippowdon. The only thing EQ really hits is Tyranitar, since a lot of things that are weak to EQ are going to have a balloon.

X-scissor seems like a better option for Dory so that you can hit Rank. Is rapid spin helping your team in a big way (besides Gyara)? I don't really see Dory as a good rapid spinner since he is best used as a late game sweeper. No point in getting rid of SR that late in the game if you ask me.

Curse might work better than Protect on Nattorei. Maybe.

Getting rid of Gyarados seems like a good idea. Something like Suicune or Latias would probably work better on your team. Latias helps get rid of your Rotom-W weakness and gives a nice way of dealing with fire type attacks.

 

[Night-san]

You're probably right- I have enough Steel-types and whatnot on my team that Toxic Spikes is never too much of a problem. Ranky has been giving my team a problem sometimes- I'll try replacing Rapid Spin.
Another attack move for Hippowdon would work nicely- which move should I replace, you think? Roar and Slack Off have both come in great handy before if I start shuffling for damage.

I don't think I'll go with Curse, though; Protect's been wayyyy to helpful for healing with Leech Seed and Leftovers.

Someone on Smogon suggested replacing Ferrothorn's Power Whip or Gyro Ball with Spikes, and replacing Skarm. I'm reluctant to do this, but I will if it seems necessary- thoughts?

Thanks for the suggestions, Moozle- I'll give 'em a whirl, since they mostly make good sense. <3

 

[Terywj [태리]]

Posting for edits and subscription.

 

[ss118]

If you are going to phaze a bunch of ****, make sure to spread threats across your walls so you cover as much as possible.

You want to put the opponent in the position of either losing a pokemon and staying in, or switching out and just getting something else Roared in.

I think to make this a true roar team you need to spread the risk properly. For example, a combination of Latias + Hippowdon is pretty scary because you can consistently threaten with both of them. What's even better is if you also throw in something like Skarmory to take Dark, Ghost, and Dragon attacks. Not directly a rate, but something to think about for a phazing team.

Also, Perish Song wouldn't hurt. =3

 

[Night-san]

If you are going to phaze a bunch of ****, make sure to spread threats across your walls so you cover as much as possible.

You want to put the opponent in the position of either losing a pokemon and staying in, or switching out and just getting something else Roared in.

I think to make this a true roar team you need to spread the risk properly. For example, a combination of Latias + Hippowdon is pretty scary because you can consistently threaten with both of them. What's even better is if you also throw in something like Skarmory to take Dark, Ghost, and Dragon attacks. Not directly a rate, but something to think about for a phazing team.

Also, Perish Song wouldn't hurt. =3

I already have Skarmory?

Anyways, phaze isn't the *main* point of this team- SS abuse is in there too. I've considered Perish Trapping, but I've ruled it out.

Thanks, though. <3

 

[Wave⁂]

I don't understand why your Latias doesn't have Recover. Nattorei is killed by +2 Dory's Earthquake and Roopushin's Drain Punch.

 

[Night-san]

Optimizing coverage. I need to edit to say so, but I've replaced my Lati's Surf with Thunder, and it's made a good Politoed counter if I can get a CM in, especially on their switch. I didn't Surf much anyways, and without it I have a lot of trouble with Politoed.
What do you think I should replace on Lati for Recover, though?
I need HP Fire and Thunder.
Dragon Pulse? No STAB option would kind've suck, but I don't use it too often anyways; it's usually Hippowdon that deals with Dragons...

Also, what do you suggest doing to remedy Dory, then? My line of action is to generally not let it set up. :I Phaze it if it's started or own its face before it gets the chance...

 

[Night-san]

Optimizing coverage. I need to edit to say so, but I've replaced my Lati's Surf with Thunder, and it's made a good Politoed counter if I can get a CM in, especially on their switch. I didn't Surf much anyways, and without it I have a lot of trouble with Politoed.
What do you think I should replace on Lati for Recover, though?
I need HP Fire and Thunder.
Dragon Pulse? No STAB option would kind've suck, but I don't use it too often anyways; it's usually Hippowdon that deals with Dragons...

Also, what do you suggest doing to remedy Dory, then? My line of action is to generally not let it set up. :I Phaze it if it's started or own its face before it gets the chance...

 

[Wave⁂]

What do you think I should replace on Lati for Recover, though?
I need HP Fire and Thunder.

No you don't. Calm Mind / Recover / Roar / Dragon Pulse is all you need.

Also, what do you suggest doing to remedy Dory, then? My line of action is to generally not let it set up. :I Phaze it if it's started or own its face before it gets the chance...

What do you mean by "remedy"?

 

[Night-san]

You seemed to think my team has a problem with Doryuzuu, so I was aking what you suggested I do.

And what do you suggest to combat Politoed, then? ._. Nattorei only works part of the time, as they're usually smart enough to switch to avoid Power Whip.
Perhaps I'm just playing them wrong, though. Actually, thinking about it... that's probably it. :/
I -do- want to keep HP Fire. Easy setup and KO on Nattorei is excellent. However, I'll try ditching Thunder for awhile in favor of Recover. :]

EDIT: ****, I'm sorry, I completely mosread your post. When you said Nattorei is killed by Doryuzuu, I thought you meant MY Nattorei, and I was trying to find what you were getting at.
Nevermind on what I said on remedying Dory, then, and sorry. D:
I didn't realize that Roob kills Natty with DP; I'll have to utilize that. I understand your post much better now, haha. I'll give that a shot on Recover and Roar on Lati. ^^

I'm such a ******* sometimes. I misinterpereted crucial points in like every post here. .__.

 

[Wave⁂]

Okay wait, I'm sorry, I thought you were running 252 HP / 252 Speed Latias. Yeah, that looks good for offensive Calm Mind. Surf vs. Thunderbolt is mostly a team-specific issue.

 

[Night-san]

Okay wait, I'm sorry, I thought you were running 252 HP / 252 Speed Latias. Yeah, that looks good for offensive Calm Mind. Surf vs. Thunderbolt is mostly a team-specific issue.

Oh, cool. I thought it seemed to work out well as-is...

Thunder or Thunderbolt, do you think? I picked Thunder because it'll do better against rain teams, what with the constant rain giving it surefire accuracy, but do you think I'd be better off with Tbolt?

 

[Wave⁂]

If it was a few weeks ago, I'd go with Thunder. But now that Swift Swim is banned, Rain is no longer a giant threat.

 

[Night-san]

I still see Politoed and rain teams a lot. Regardless, I'll keep it in the back of my head.