Rate my VGC 2021 Sand Team

Question

Gyarados @ Choice Band
Ability: Moxie
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Power Whip
- Stone Edge
- Bounce

The first Pokemon of the team is Gyarados. Gyarados is important to the team for a few reasons. Its main purpose is to deal damage and stack up Moxie boosts. Gyarados makes for a good Dynamax Pokemon due to the ability to gain a speed boost for it and its allies and it also has the capability to one-shot certain unsuspecting Pokemon such as Rotom-Wash and Barraskewda with Power Whip. Another reason I have Gyarados on this team is to be used as an anti-Dracovish lead along with Rotom since Dracovish can destroy my team if left unchecked. Finally, if I lead with Gyarados and it's an unfavorable position to be in, in certain situations I'm able to bait out an electric type attack and get a free switch into Excadrill (I'll link the replay below). One strategy I like using with this Pokemon is trying to get an early kill, get the moxie boost, then Dynamax to effectively get rid of the Choice Band lock, but still have the boost.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Low Kick
- Ice Punch

My Tyranitar set is pretty straight-forward. The main purpose it has on this team is for setting up sand, but it's also super useful due to the high damage output coupled with the large amount of coverage it provides. Finally, having the Choice Scarf is super good for Tyranitar because now it can usually hit first with a double targeting Rock Slide, which is good for the STAB damage and the flinch chance it provides.

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 180 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Horsepower
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Another pretty straight-forward set on this team is my Excadrill. I use it for strictly offense and it works perfectly. This is the Pokemon on my team that I Dynamax the most due to the absurd damage output and speed it has. I mostly use Excadrill as a lead with Tyranitar and in doubt, they can both usually go first and spam Rock Slide for flinches.
Another pretty straight-forward set on this team is my Excadrill. I use it for strictly offense and it works perfectly. This is the Pokemon on my team that I Dynamax the most due to the absurd damage output and speed it has. I mostly use Excadrill as a lead with Tyranitar and in doubt, they can both usually go first and spam Rock Slide for flinches.

Corviknight @ Occa Berry
Ability: Mirror Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 132 SpD / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Iron Head
- Tailwind
- Roost

Corviknight is the third and final Pokemon that has lasted from the original team all the way until now. This is because of the sheer amount of utility it provides for the team, mostly Tailwind. The reason I chose Corviknight over Whimsicott was for two reasons: Mirror Armor and damage output. Mirror Armor is such a good ability because of how easily it can cripple any Pokemon who dares to attempt to Intimidate my team (my usual lead in these situations is Corviknight and Chandelure). Corviknight used to get one-shotted by Arcanine (if it wasn't Intimidate) and other prominent fire type Pokemon, so I gave Corviknight an Occa Berry and that solved the fire problem. Corviknight is also super good because of its naturally high bulk. Finally, even though it has a "meh" attack stat, it can still dish out a respectable amount of damage.

Rotom-Mow @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Helping Hand

While being the least used Pokemon on this team, Rotom is still super important to this team. One reason is that it's really good against rain teams because of its typing, but it's also important for my anti-Dracovish lead because of Will-O-Wisp (and again, its typing is really good against it too). Even if there isn't a Dracovish to shut down though, Will-O-Wisp is still a really good move to have and provides enough utility on its own to justify Rotom's spot on this team. Also, while I don't use it often, Dynamax Rotom is actually super strong. Having a 140 base power STAB grass move and a 130 base power STAB electric move without any downsides is nothing to laugh at. Its special attack may not be the highest, but it's still capable of easily taking out common Pokemon such as Gastrodon and Rotom-Wash in one hit and being able to do a massive amount of damage to Dracovish (enough to take it out in one turn if you double target it). Also if anyone is wondering about the random 4 special attack EVs, it's because it's not a guaranteed one-hit K.O. on a max HP Rotom-Wash without it. Note: just to make sure everything is clear, the damage feats that I just mentioned (besides Gastrodon and Dracovish) are referring to Dynamaxed Rotom-Mow. Lastly, Helping Hand is a nice option for the utility / surprise factor (and if Dynamaxed, you still get Max Guard).

Chandelure @ Charcoal
Ability: Infiltrator
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Protect

Last, but certainly not least is Chandelure. As I mentioned before in my team evolution section, I believe Chadelure is a super underrated Pokemon for multiple reasons. On this team, Chandelure has a similar job to Excadrill, which is just simply doing damage. It has a super well-rounded moveset, including a STAB + Charcoal boosted double targeting Heat Wave, STAB Shadow Ball for Dragapult (can live an attack when Dynamaxed to kill after with Shadow Ball, or under Tailwind, it outspeeds Dragapult and can take it out in one hit), and Energy Ball for Gastrodon. This is the other Pokemon that I Dynamax a lot on this team besides Excadrill.

Any suggestions for new team members, moves, or anyhing else it is all welcome.

Comments

Replays:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2020-1030596162 - Perfectly played game
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2020-1031660564 - Stalling out an entire Trick Room
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2020-1031668465 - Another very well played game (super proud of Turn 7)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2020-1031739502 - Chandelure clutches up
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2020-1030322680 - Not the best replay, but it shows how I beat Lucario / Whimsicott (low ladder game since I don’t have many other good replays of me shutting down this combo, but it gets the point across)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2020-1033484740 - Outplaying a Trick Room team
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2020-1033499872 - I feel super dirty about winning after getting 2 important flinches
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2020-1036025752 - Easy come back​

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This team (and the replays) seem to be made for VGC 2020 from last year, not for the current format of {VGC 2021 Series 8} or even the upcoming one of {VGC 2021 Series 9}. Additionally, VGC 2020 is currently unplayable on Showdown. Are you asking how to adapt this team for current formats?

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Yes I am. I want to use this team in the upcoming formats as I tried using it now and while it does stand up to some of the old legendaries, it gets wrecked by most of them and it gets wrecked by trick room.

Answer 1

Okay. I'm going to suggest things to make this team work in series 9, as series 8 ends tomorrow night.

Some things about the current meta:
- Regieleki is everywhere and will ruin Gyarados, not to mention other threats like thundurus and zapdos, so I'd recommend removing it entirely.
- Urshifu bodies this entire team, so a way to handle it would be nice.
- Without a good way to boost attack (e.g. swords dance or weakness policy), your sand core will struggle to do damage against the popular grimmsnarl screens teams or intimidate cycling.
- Corvinkight is not a good pick because its a) type redundancy on your team, b) outclassed as a tailwind setter and c) generally worse than celesteela.
- Sun is probably the most popular archetype in series 9, and your team kind of hard loses into venukoal.

The first thing I'd like to suggest is that you tweak the sand core's moveset a little bit. As I mentioned, swords dance is really nice on excadrill because you can put a lot more pressure on your opponent very quickly. I'd give it a focus sash to hold over the life orb since you'll already be doing enough damage and sash will help you get boosts up safely. Also, earthquake is good because of the many flying/levitate mons you already have. For tyranitar, I'd really recommend weakness policy. It has so many weaknesses to activate it with (including excadrill's own earthquake), is bulky enough to live a few hits, and doesn't outspeed as many things with scarf anymore as there are really fast things like cinderace, regieleki, and spectrier in the format. Also, superpower is better than low kick since it works on dynamax, and you can run protect over ice punch as you won't be choice locked.

Next, I'm going to suggest thundurus. Thundurus helps with your intimidate problem, KOs Urshifu, and gives you another ground immune mon to spam EQ with. It's just a solid mon overall.

Now you need something that can deal with sun. Since gastrodon and dragapult aren't very popular at all anymore, and you have thundurus for most water types, I'm going to suggest merging your Chandelure and Rotom-C into Rotom-Heat. Rotom-Heat resists most of the attacks VenuKoal dishes out, and with safety goggles, doesn't have to worry about sleep powder. It's also another good setup mon that can help you break through bulkier teams or sweep with late game.

With these 4 mons, the big problems that still remain are Trick Room and the fact that it can be hard to setup well without redirection. Amoonguss is a great choice here, as its low speed helps it spore things in TR and it can redirect attacks from your Excadrill or Rotom so that they can get a swords dance or nasty plot up safely. I like a little bit of speed on my shroom when you have a fast max airstream mon, because with speed boosts amoonguss can then just spore everything.

For the last slot, you're looking for a pokemon that doesn't need to dynamax, as you have enough max mons, and that is ideally a water type, as it would complete your fire-water-grass core. Tapu Fini is the standard pick here: it can protect your pokemon from burns (as they're mostly physical attackers), setup next to Amoonguss as well, and doesn't need to max. Additionally, it helps a little more with Urshifu. If you like to play a little more off-meta, Dracovish might work, either with sand rush or just with strong jaw next to thundurus to get speedy.

https://pokepast.es/c5c275f56fbc0f0f
^This is what I've tested on ladder and it works pretty well. The spreads are up to you but I've used these:
- Excadrill: just your spread
- Tyranitar: Nico Davide Cognetta's WP Ttar set from a previous format
- Thundurus: Optimal HP for life orb recoil, and extra points in defenses
- Rotom: Sp. Attack Bump, extra points in defenses
- Tapu Fini: Outspeeds base 100s at +1, extra points in defenses
- Amoonguss: Sp. Defense bump, some speed, extra points in Sp. Attack + Defense

I hope this helps! Good luck with series 9!

Comments

Spore + fini doesnt work consitently :P
Also im assuming you meant rotom mow instead of rotom cut lol

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Thank you, this has been a big help. I just have a few questions, what is the generall playstyle of this team and what do you usually lead? Thanks again!

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My bad, Rotom-C

Any decent player should be able to maneuver the team well enough that misty terrain is not an issue, especially since you're usually either leading Amoonguss or not bringing it at all.  Either way, both Tapu Fini and Amoonguss have so many other values that it's worth having that small inconvenience.

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https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series9-1331119519 Here's a basic example of why WP Ttar is so good and what the team can do.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series9-1331122531 Here's an example of Thundurus/Excadrill lead and also how to play against Regigigigias- you'll have to call protects turns 1 and 2.