SS UU Help with a UU Sand Team!

[Ouroboro]

Hi! I'm new to Smogon/Pokemon Showdown and I was wondering if the people here could help me out! I am building a UU Sand Team, and was looking for suggestions/help with building the team. This is my current team: UU Sand Team(Sorry, I didn't know how to do that thing where it shows the pokemon's avatars). My defensive core is Gastrodon and Skarmory, I have Gigalith for some utility, and everything else is part of my offensive core. During my testing on the ladder I found a couple things:

• • Gigalith is not only my sandstreamer and setter, they are also a pretty good tank, with the sp def. boost given to rock types in sand. It runs Stealth Rock to set up immediately, as well as Stone edge for some offense, protect to help stall out something almost dead by sand, and explosion for when it is in a bad spot. I kinda need to keep Gigalith, as it is the only viable sand streamer.
  • Excadrill is a great sweeper(obviously). I have sand force and a life orb on it so it can sweep, though I found that it isn't amazing at that, so I may be using it wrong. It does however still do great damage. It is a pillar of my team.
  • Skarmory is an amazing tank and is an amazing pivot. I use them a lot to switch in on moves that our normally super effective on other pokemon. Brave bird is also amazing on it, as whenever I switch it in people think I am gonna set up with it, so they use a stat raising move. Skarmory then takes them out.
  • Gastrodon is amazing at stalling, but it's not the best special tank in the world. It is super weak to grass type moves(which thankfully I can switch to Skarmory on), but it also isn't amazing at taking hits. I think with the sand storm boost, a rock type would serve as the sp def. tank a lot better.
  • Moltres covers a lot of weaknesses, but it has a lot of weakness of its own. It is also my main special attacker. It does great against threats to my team like grass types and conkeldurr, but with it's speed and sp. atk evs, it's not a great tank. I might be using it wrong, but I think it needs to be replaced.
  • Lycanroc Dusk is my speed control. It's super fast and can outspeed pretty much everything in this tier. It also has Accelerock, which let's it revenge kill lots of stuff. Yet, type wise, it covers a lot of the same bases as excadrill. It is also very frail. I think it needs to be replaced with another speed control/priority move user.
  • Finally, my team has a lot of problems with Rotom Wash, Slowking, Crawdaunt, and Milotic.

Again, I am new to this world and would love any advice/suggestions/new team builds that you all can provide!

 

[ShuckleDeath]

Hi, welcome to Smogon! I am locking your RMT for the time being as the forum rules require that you provide at least three lines of descriptions for each Pokemon to explain their roles. Please read the rules carefully and look at Team Showcase to see the detail we require. PM me with updated descriptions, and I will be happy to unlock this.

Tips to help get 3 lines of descriptions

Why did you choose this mon
What do the EV spreads do and why do you have it
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[ShuckleDeath]

unlocked

 

[StarFalcon555]

Hello Ouroboro, hope your day is going well! Sand really isn't the most viable thing in SS UU, but it does have some interesting applications and matchups. That being said, this team does need some work to make it a truly great sand team. Here are the changes I would make.

MAJOR CHANGES

->
Magneton @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Steel Beam

This seems like a weird change, but Magneton is genuinely good on sand teams in UU! You mentioned your team struggling a lot with bulky Waters, and Magneton shreds through these while also synergizing well with Sand thanks to its Steel typing. Magnet Pull helps it pull in and trap Skarmory and Celesteela, two mons that this team also struggles with. Steel Beam can be used as a last-resort nuke if Magneton is low on HP. This replaces Lycanroc-D since, as you said, it's very similar to Excadrill in its role.

->
Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 164 SpD / 96 Spe
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Roost

Mandibuzz works a lot better on Sand teams thanks to its Overcoat ability, which prevents it from taking damage from Sand. It does a lot of the same things as Moltres, but it provides much better defensive utility thanks to its typing, better bulk, and Knock Off. With Magneton on the team, Fire STAB isn't as necessary, and you don't need another special attacker.

->
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Flip Turn
- Earthquake
- Yawn
- Stealth Rock

Swampert is a much better Water/Ground than Gastrodon right now thanks to its access to Flip Turn and Yawn, allowing it to cripple offensive powerhouses before pivoting out to another team member. As a bonus, it also forms a pretty powerful pivoting core with Mandibuzz and Magneton. Swampert is also a much better hazard setter than Gigalith since, unlike Gigalith, it can beat Excadrill, which is the best hazard remover in the tier right now.

MINOR CHANGES


Gigalith @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock -> Earthquake
- Explosion
- Protect -> Toxic
- Stone Edge

Now that Swampert is on the squad, Gigalith no longer needs to run Stealth Rock, so I gave it Earthquake to take advantage of the powerful EdgeQuake combo. I also replaced Protect with Toxic for even more chip damage on opponents.


https://pokepast.es/23259101e1d312e5

Here's the final team and the new pokepaste! Hope you enjoy, and don't be afraid to DM me if you have any questions!