SS OU Life Orb-Sand Force Gastrodon leaves OU in state of shock

[SilkScarfGroudon]

Hello there! I am SilkScarfGroudon, but you can call me Silk, and I am back with another team for you to rate and improve!
So let's jump right into it!

TEAM

EVs, IVs and Movesets

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Тачанка (Gastrodon-East) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Recover

Эх, тачанка-ростовчанка. Tачанка is the star of this team and a quite unexpected one really, since not many people think of Gastrodon as an offensive threat, but it can be quite oppressive if used right. Earth Power and Hydro Pump are mandatory stab moves, with Earth Power even receiving a boost from Sand Force if Sand is active, Ice Beam being important coverage to catch a Grass-Type on the switch and Recover being the last move, being used to recover from Life-Orb damage. This EV spread ensures a good bulk while having a good Special Attack.

Анархія-мама (Hippowdon) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind

Анархия-мама сынов своих любит (why are you looking funny at it? the song is catchy) and indeed she does love her sons, in fact, Анархія-мама makes the team function! This is a generic spread for phisically defensive Hippodown, 252 HP and 248 Def to get that bulk going and 8 Atk just because. Earthquake for that sweet sweet damage, Slack Off for annoying recovery, stealth rock because hazards and Whirlwind just to be even more annoying.

Чорна Aрмія (Aegislash) @ Choice Band
Ability: Stance Change
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Claw

Death, to all who stand in the way of Чорна Aрмія, for the Black Army has arrived, and just like the actual Black Army was during the Russian Civil War, Aegislash is brutal and efficient. This Aegislash has Iron Head and Shadow Claw for mandatory strong STAB, while Shadow Sneak is here because priority is always appreciated and Close Combat is an important move, since it hits a lot of stuff and hits hard. This EV spread allows Aegislash to maintain a good ammount of bulk while being oppressive with overwhelming offense, and the 8 speed are to get the jump on stuff like Clefable.

Белая Aрмия (Alakazam) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Nasty Plot

Белая Aрмия готовит престол Царю еще раз, the White Army has arrived to causa havok in the Area and prepare the throne for the Tsar. This Alakazam has Psychic as a mandatory stab move, Shadow Ball for coverage against ghosts and Focus Blast to keep Steel and Dark types away (if he doesn't miss of course), while Nasty Plot can serve to boost Белая Aрмия's SpA to an astonishing level. And as you can see, this is in fact, just the standart Alakazam, but it's still a threat none the less

Гражданская Война (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 124 Def / 128 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off
- Power Whip

Just like the civil war this team is inspired by, this Ferrothorn is annoying and it hurts. Spikes makes for annoying chip damage in conjuction with the more common Stealth Rocks from Анархія-мама, Leech Seed makes this pokemon even more annoying and hard to take down and it even supports the other team members, Knock Off is used to remove the itens from the opponent and hit the ocasional Ghost and Psychic hard, with Power Whip as a powerful stab. This EV spread is the one that I've been using for ages now. Giving Ferrothorn the maximum possible HP, 361 Def and 300 SpD, making it more resilient to some weaker Non-Stab special fire type moves and also makes it more resilient to Special Moves in general.

Красная Aрмия (Excadrill) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Красная Армия всех сильней! And in this case it indeed is! Excadrill, like always, is a monster in the battlefield, with rapid spin to get rid of hazards and becoming faster without the need for sandstorm, swords dance to make Excadrill's attack even higher, Earthquake is the generic damage move and also a powerful stab, and Iron Head s also a powerful stab to defeat the damn fairies such as Clefable.

And that's it, I hope you liked it, and yes, all these names were inspired by the Russian Civil War, and I am sorry if I misspelt something, mainly in the Russian and Ukrainian parts, since my knowlodge of both languages is still quite limited.​

 

[ShootingStarmie]

Hey there, I'm here to rate your team

So this looks like a sand balance team that's looking to break stuff with Life Orb Gastrodon. While I don't think this set is viable, I appreciate the effort behind trying to build around it, so I won't be changing Gastrodon. A few things stuck out to me at a glance, most notably your 3 Ground types leave you weak to Grass and Water-type attacks. Ferrothorn does resist these attacks in theory, but in practice strong wall breakers such as Rillaboom and Azumarill are going to cause you a lot of trouble. Crawdaunt can also threaten this team with its boosted Knock Off, while also being able to revenge kill Excadrill and Alakazam. 3 Steel-types is also going to leave you vulnerable to Fire-types like Rotom-H and Volcarona, so this also needs to be addressed.

I don't think Aegislash adds anything notable to your team, as you already have wallbreakers in the form of Gastrodon and Alakazam, so this role could be put to better use. I'm going to recommend you replace Aegislash with Togekiss. Togekiss offers a nice secondary Grass-type resist, and can comfortably switch into Rillaboom, while also threatening Volcarona and Crawdaunt with its Air Slash. I'd next recommend you change Hippowdon to a SpDef set. This will better allow you to check Volcarona and Rotom-H, and I think Toxic is better than Whirlwind for your team. Some other small changes I'd make is Life Orb > Focus Sash on Alakazam to help you check the previously mentioned powerful wallbreakers, and Swords Dance > Rock Slide on Excadrill, acting as a potential revenge killer for Volcarona in the sand.

I still think Azumarill and Crawdaunt are still going to be issues, but these changes should at least help somewhat, while also addressing other issues with the team. Hope this insight was useful, and any questions you have feel free to ask me

sets

Togekiss @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Heal Bell

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Toxic

 

[SilkScarfGroudon]

Hey there, I'm here to rate your team

So this looks like a sand balance team that's looking to break stuff with Life Orb Gastrodon. While I don't think this set is viable, I appreciate the effort behind trying to build around it, so I won't be changing Gastrodon. A few things stuck out to me at a glance, most notably your 3 Ground types leave you weak to Grass and Water-type attacks. Ferrothorn does resist these attacks in theory, but in practice strong wall breakers such as Rillaboom and Azumarill are going to cause you a lot of trouble. Crawdaunt can also threaten this team with its boosted Knock Off, while also being able to revenge kill Excadrill and Alakazam. 3 Steel-types is also going to leave you vulnerable to Fire-types like Rotom-H and Volcarona, so this also needs to be addressed.

I don't think Aegislash adds anything notable to your team, as you already have wallbreakers in the form of Gastrodon and Alakazam, so this role could be put to better use. I'm going to recommend you replace Aegislash with Togekiss. Togekiss offers a nice secondary Grass-type resist, and can comfortably switch into Rillaboom, while also threatening Volcarona and Crawdaunt with its Air Slash. I'd next recommend you change Hippowdon to a SpDef set. This will better allow you to check Volcarona and Rotom-H, and I think Toxic is better than Whirlwind for your team. Some other small changes I'd make is Life Orb > Focus Sash on Alakazam to help you check the previously mentioned powerful wallbreakers, and Swords Dance > Rock Slide on Excadrill, acting as a potential revenge killer for Volcarona in the sand.

I still think Azumarill and Crawdaunt are still going to be issues, but these changes should at least help somewhat, while also addressing other issues with the team. Hope this insight was useful, and any questions you have feel free to ask me

sets

Togekiss @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Heal Bell

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Toxic

HeY! Thanks for the adivice, I'll make the changes and see how it goes. The only change I'm just not so sure about is Togekiss, but I'll try it anyway. And once again, thanks for the adivice.