SS OU The Purging Sands II: Legacy

[Red Raven]

After Satan's personal horse got banned, I've been playing this game for like two or three hours a day because not having to worry about that damned thing is such a relief. I've been using a post horse ban sand team because sand is just a consistent play style. King Tyranitar was the horse era sand setter and that means that for the most part, sand teams are safe against Spectrier while at the same time, almost instantly revealing if the Spectrier was scarfed or not thanks to the chip from the sand. King Tyranitar is predicted to fall off in usage and I agree with that because really, being complete bait for that absolute bullshit of a pokemon known as Magearna is probably the worst thing in the game. Makes me wonder why Spectrier was banned before it but whatever

Since there is no more horse to worry about, King Tyranitar can finally rest after carrying Excadrill for three and a half generations straight. I've been using this team since Spectrier was banned and it performs consistently but there are some things that I feel are wrong with the team. I couldn't exactly pinpoint on whether its something about the team or just me getting incredibly impatient after an hour of playing. So, here's the team that carries on King Tyranitar's legacy

Sand Stream
248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
- Toxic
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock​

The one to carry on the King's legacy, Hippowdon. As said earlier, Tyranitar is complete Magearna bait, which is probably the worst trait a pokemon can have atm. Hippowdon here serves to set up sand. With reliable recovery, it can carry smooth rock to further extend the sand's duration. As it doesn't have a switch move, the extra sand turns is always welcome as there is always a risk to hard switching. Max hp and def is to ensure that one of sand's biggest headaches, scale shot Garchomp, doesn't get too far out of hand. Toxic is an important move because it messes up Slowbro, which is like everyone's go to check for physical ground types, other than Landorus Therian I guess. Whirlwind to remove any boosting attempts and stealth rock is well, stealth rock

Pressure
248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
​

Corviknight is my bird of choice and serves as my knock off sponge. Pressure is the ability I chose so that defog having less pp than hazards wouldn't be too much of a problem. I went with a minus speed nature to ensure that it is as slow as possible for a safe u turn. The ev spread is kinda odd I guess but I went with special defense to better handle Tapu Lele and that irritating Volcarona. This bird can actually survive a Volcarona fire move and can one shot it with brave bird. That is the goal on why I chose this ev spread and Hippowdon is already a massive physical wall as is and even without investment, it still gives Rillaboom a lot of grief

Regenerator
248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Haze
- Scald
- Recover
- Baneful Bunker​

Good old Toxapex. With the horrible type synergy between Excadrill and Hippowdon, a water resist is a must for sand teams. I went with Toxapex because it also somewhat annoys the ever irritating gorilla by using bunker on the grassy glide. Speaking of, I went with baneful helmet set to also irritate Cinderace as if it carries sucker punch, that would be bad for Excadrill. Even if that thing has zen headbutt, it's gonna get poisoned. A specially defensive spread was chosen so it can also somewhat deal with Magearna with the bunker allowing it to scout for potential tricks while scald is the most nightmarish move to switch into. Galarian Slowking was originally in this team slot but the water resist is just too crucial to pass up

Libero
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Pyro Ball
- Sucker Punch
- High Jump Kick
​

If there is anything that a sand team must have, aside from Excadrill, it is a fire type, or anything with a strong fire type move. The reason I think this is because Ferrothorn is incredibly irritating to sand teams as its spikes actually gives Excadrill trouble while Corviknight can tickle it with brave bird until it dies. As such, a pokemon that annoys the living hell out of those two is a big boon to sand teams. Since it threatens a lot of pokemon out, it can safely use u turn and bring in Excadrill safely. Pyro ball is there because why else would one use this thing with hjk serving as a backup Ferrothorn murdering move if I run into a rain team. There is really no need to run any other move for the last slot as fairies are Excadrill food so I just went with insurance with sucker punch

Levitate
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Psyshock
- Mystical Fire
- Draco Meteor
​

This next pokemon is the back up Ferrothorn killer, the Slowbro nuke and secondary fighting and water resist. As Toxapex already covers those two types, I wanted a backup one that can actually pose a threat. It's also a great Garchomp check which is something you can never be too safe against. Latios also serves as a great trick absorber as it just becomes awkward if two pokemon trade specs. Psyshock was chosen over psychic because being walled by a blob is stupid and mystical fire is to kill Ferrothorn. If killing Ferrothorn isn't an option because of rain, then tricking it will be good enough

Sand Rush
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance​

Finally, the big gun himself, and probably the reason why I love sand teams so much. I'm not gonna explain much about this as it's freaking rush drill, it never changed since it was released. What I will explain instead is the item and rock slide. First, I went with rock slide over rapid spin as losing to a bird that isn't Corviknight or Skarmory as a sand team is stupid. Now, I went with adamant and life orb because I absolutely HATE Slowbro. That thing irritates me to no end and it makes me hate regenerator being added into the game. With just one swords dance, this Excadrill earthquake does 82% minimum damage to Slowbro, meaning that after stealth rock, that dull faced creature is almost instantly going to die


This team has been a consistent one for me and is probably my favorite team atm. However, for some reason, I feel like the sand team I used with Tyranitar was more consistent that this one but like I said, being complete Magearna bait is the worst thing atm. This team also reliably shits on the cancerous dual screens Magearna team as I can simply swords dance as they setup screens and effectively nullifying its effect. This is also another reason why I love sand teams as Regieleki's explosion doesn't bother Excadrill while Tapu Koko cannot stop swords dance under sand's effect. So, any advice is welcome

 

[musiquepkmn]

This looks like a really solid team posted by a really solid team rater. However, there are a couple things:

• Consider running 32 Defense EVs on Corviknight. Alongside 248 hp, this allows you to always live a +2 Life Orb Superpower from Rillaboom, and in general improves your calcs against Kartana and the grounds.
• This is more of a suggestion, but maybe you could run High Horsepower over Earthquake. Rillaboom is pretty common, and it's kinda lame when you can't sweep just because the opponent has a 5% health Rillaboom. High Horsepower would slightly decrease your damage output against everything else as well as miss, so you may not like it, but it's probably worth trying out.
• This team has a bit of trouble against Heatran, since Magma Storm 2HKOs Hippowdon. Your only real switch-in is Latios, but that is easily worn down by Magma Storm and sand and it can't really do anything back. You may want to consider running this Latios set, or something similar:
• Latios @ Life Orb
  Hasty Nature
  Ability: Levitate
  EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
  - Draco Meteor
  - Psyshock/Psychic
  - Roost
  - Aura Sphere
• Roost gives you nice longevity in the face of Heatran, and Aura sphere lets you pressure it while still being able to pressure Ferrothorn. Sadly, it does let up on Magearna a little bit, but Specially Defensive Toxapex + Hippowdon is usually enough to handle it. Without Choice Specs you lose out on the 2HKO on Blissey with Psyshock, but this usually isn't a problem since Blissey users don't like to heal. LO Earthquake also allows you to 2HKO Slowking-Galar, which is nice if you choose to go for it
• If you don't want to run the above Latios set because of the LO chip and loss of Mystical Fire, you could run Aura Sphere over Trick instead. The bottom line is that you don't want your primary Heatran switch-in to be walled by it.

 

[vNatFly]

Am I missing something or is Dragapult a monster of threat to your team..? Also, if Zeraora is running Grass Knot, it kind f's your team over...

 

[musiquepkmn]

Am I missing something or is Dragapult a monster of threat to your team..? Also, if Zeraora is running Grass Knot, it kind f's your team over...

Spdef Pex can sponge most Dragapult hits quite nicely, and bunker+helmet can punish u-turn spam.
some pult calcs:

252 SpA Dragapult Hex (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 100-118 (32.8 - 38.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 150-177 (49.3 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Hex (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 150-177 (49.3 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage

Specs Hex can be troublesome if Pex is burnt, but it can still take the hit and regen out to a non-statused spdef corv. Hopefully by the time the opponent has statused Pex and Corv and is ready to bring Specs Hex pult out you have already broken multiple major holes in their team with Latios, Cinderace, or Excadrill.

Zeraora is kinda rare, and expecially Knot Zera is super rare, as most Zera run Fists - CC - Knock - Volt and maybe a toxic somewhere in there.

 

[vNatFly]

Spdef Pex can sponge most Dragapult hits quite nicely, and bunker+helmet can punish u-turn spam.
some pult calcs:

252 SpA Dragapult Hex (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 100-118 (32.8 - 38.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 150-177 (49.3 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Hex (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 150-177 (49.3 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage

Specs Hex can be troublesome if Pex is burnt, but it can still take the hit and regen out to a non-statused spdef corv. Hopefully by the time the opponent has statused Pex and Corv and is ready to bring Specs Hex pult out you have already broken multiple major holes in their team with Latios, Cinderace, or Excadrill.

Zeraora is kinda rare, and expecially Knot Zera is super rare, as most Zera run Fists - CC - Knock - Volt and maybe a toxic somewhere in there.

Alright, cool. Bit strange because I see quite a lot of teams with Zeraora. Most teams have that weakness aswell, and he does have Hippowdown which can take a hit and can 0hko back.

 

[glava222]

seems overall solid, I do have a couple of questions tho:

1. there doesnt seem to be a knock off anywhere on the team, and currently knock just seems like a borderline mandatory thing to have as it's a great way to force certain progress against teams, especially combined with sand, as removing boots and lefties can really make the sand damage stack up. This might also be why you are feeling the reduced consistency. I would consider swapping out haze on pex for knock off. The reasoning is: I personally think pex is an aggresively mediocre hazer, as it can't come in on a lot of setup sweepers and haze. Chomp will tear you apart with EQ, it really doesnt like taking boosted leaf blades and grassy glides(it will drop to a boosted one into an unboosted one after hazing, or just drop outright if leaf blade crits), SD lando also hits way too hard with EQ to haze, CM clefable likes to run thunder(bolt), dd dragonite tends to run EQ as well and it's about as dangerous as rilla and kartana, lucha apparently runs taunt relatively often,hydreigon OHKOes it with multiple moves after SR and NP... the only things it can really cover well are magearna(not running random electric coverage) and volcarona(without psychic). and you already got whirlwind toxic hippo for setup magearna and volcarona not running giga drain(which I don't think many of them do, as the most popular set seems to be some variant of bulky QD, at least more of them certainly run psychic than giga drain). haze and bunker both also are luxury moves for pex, and you probably shouldn't be running both on the same set, since it can result in a set that has very little to do in a lot of situations (against any specs user for example)

wait,I just realised that pex is not defensive but spdef, so any physical attacker I mentioned above can probably just break straight through after setting up(and before getting hazed), and boosted into regular thunder from clefable will KO, same for hydreigon. this also makes it much harder to stop reuniclus, as it likes psyshock; haze spdef pex honestly just doesn't really seem that good at actually hazing

2. how come pure offensive exca is being used instead of zolt? Zolt does seem to be better at the role of pure breaker on sand teams, while exca is better at compressing some breaking power with rapid spin utility. a bit of a problem is both that exca kinda needs to setup and then smash a lot of things, while zolt can just get straight to the smashing. Also metal birds just frustrate excadrill to no end, and they are getting more and more common. you might be able to set up on some variants of corviknight, but it carrying body press is not out of the question and at that point you are in a bit of trouble. bulk up sets can also waste sand turns for your exca very well, as it takes only about half from a +2 rock slide. meanwhile skarm just sits on you. defensive lando can also take a boosted hit and OHKO in return. those birds cannot get anywhere near zolt, and zolt almost seems to require a tailor made solution to handle it when it gets in. it still gets survived and OHKOed by lando, but it can at least drop a fat draco on it and then switch out, while exca does diddly without setup. and all of these mons seem to be getting increased usage. if you are worried about bro, zolt murders it even better than drill. the only issue here might be that there is overlap between zolt and latios, but honestly zolt just seems to compress their roles very well, leaving you some space open for another mon.

3. cinderace + sand stream seems to be a bit of negative synergy, as you don't really want to chip your own cinderace with sand, as its thing is kinda being a hard to chip pivot. This is made even harder to avoid since you have smooth rock, which means sand is even harder to avoid. cinderace is also deceptively hard to actually get in vs a ferro, if you are not using your corvi to pivot into it, as knock makes your chipping difficulties unbearable

4. hippo not having any attacks can make it a bit passive, this is a smaller nitpick as it can still do a lot of work, but it might hurt occasionaly

I don't mean to suggest you change all of this as the team seems solid anyways, this was more like a list of concerns looking into the team

 

[Red Raven]

musiquepkmn I actually switch in Cinderace into Heatran. I mean, no Heatrans in their right minds is ever gonna use earth power before magma storm, meaning that it won't bother Cinderace that much, not to mention that magma storm can only be used eight times with horrible accuracy. Altho I could possibly put earthquake on HIppo over one of its moves but that already has issues on its own. Heatran does run away from Cinderace but since I'm running an adamant life orb Excadrill, I only really need the enemy to be slightly chipped before letting Excadrill go gaga over them. I barely even click swords dance on it as that set hits incredibly hard and two shots nearly any switch in

Yeah you're probably right. Latios is actually the most irritating one on the team. Being so prediction reliant is a shame as my prediction starts to go off after I play for quite sometime. I'll probably change it to that roost life orb three attacks with mystical fire to aura sphere since I really only need Ferrothorn to be put in range of unboosted Excadrill earthquake. Even without specs, it is still a great trick absorber since it can actually utilize the choice item

vNatFly Zeraora is extremely rare and baneful bunker still ruins it. Dragapult also cannot touch special Toxapex. It shrugs off draco meteors, status hex and threatens to annoy the u turn with poison as musique said

glava222 I wasn't exactly able to fit knock off to be honest. Against the swords dancers, it's actually handled quite nicely by Hippowdon and Corviknight. Knock off over haze? I guess I'll try that since Excadrill already somewhat handles Magearna reliably. Not just handle, but straight up eats it, as long as it doesn't have aura sphere at least

Because losing to any bird that isn't Corviknight or Skarmory as a sand team is stupid. I agree but to be honest, whenever I have both Excadrill and Dracozolt on my sand team, it becomes less consistent in its results. I'm not exactly sure why but probably I'm not that used to Dracozolt. Latios also reliably kills Landorus therian as that thing's frailty really begins to show when hitting its special side

I honestly don't really care about the sand chip on Cinderace. Whenever I play this team, I barely click rocks as is. I would rather poison my target as stealth rock isn't as reliable thanks to every rock weak mon having boots. Cinderace's one job is basically just to get rid of Ferrothorn and Corviknight while being somewhat of an insurance against Barraskewda and a Garchomp that already got a couple scale shots up. Most Ferrothorn I encounter these days usually spam their hazards because of Corviknight being the obvious switch in so it has always been easy for me to bring it in after it has used knock off on the bird. It also somewhat annoys the living crap out of the metal birds so it can somewhat do Dracozolt's job, at least part of it

Well, to be fair, Hippowdon is just a giant fat wall so why not make it one? Jokes aside, it already has moveslot issues as is. Being setup bait is no fun and its job is basically to just setup the sand and poison random stuff, mainly Slowbro as I hate that thing. Even against the things that Hippowdon usually threatens, I get it out as I don't wanna put it in unnecessary risk and unboosted stab earthquakes isn't exactly killing anything not named Heatran so that's already another reason why I didn't put it in

 

[glava222]

If you feel more comfortable with using exca that is good and I won't tell you to change it, my thinking wasn't so much that zolt is better in general than exca, it's just that it has a much easier time breaking enemy teams than this set of exca; since while you are right that you shouldn't be losing to non metal birbs, the metal birbs are becoming more and more common. zolt also does most of the things this exca set does, that being killing birbs dead (even the metal ones), killing bro, dropping draco on offensive chomp which is an OHKO. But it also can do a number on ferro with fire coverage, and again, kill metal birbs with ease.
I'm just trying to say that zolt seems to do the job of this specific exca set better than it, and that since exca doesn't carry utility moves and still can't break some very common defensive mons, it requires a lot of team support that more regular exca semiutility sets (and zolt) don't need in fire types and an additional defogger (even if you did intend on using exca and corvi together its still sacrificing corvi's move slot and making it unable to run for example the bulk up set)
for the ending I'll just leave a SPL game that shows how terrifying zolt can be where it knocks out 5 opposing teammembers, including bro,metal birb#2, blissey and a zera(so a varied suite of walls and a fast threat)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-540672

also a small note and I don't know if this is relevant, but LO latios can't OHKO ferro with mystical fire while specs can

 

[Red Raven]

If you feel more comfortable with using exca that is good and I won't tell you to change it, my thinking wasn't so much that zolt is better in general than exca, it's just that it has a much easier time breaking enemy teams than this set of exca; since while you are right that you shouldn't be losing to non metal birbs, the metal birbs are becoming more and more common. zolt also does most of the things this exca set does, that being killing birbs dead (even the metal ones), killing bro, dropping draco on offensive chomp which is an OHKO. But it also can do a number on ferro with fire coverage, and again, kill metal birbs with ease.
I'm just trying to say that zolt seems to do the job of this specific exca set better than it, and that since exca doesn't carry utility moves and still can't break some very common defensive mons, it requires a lot of team support that more regular exca semiutility sets (and zolt) don't need in fire types and an additional defogger (even if you did intend on using exca and corvi together its still sacrificing corvi's move slot and making it unable to run for example the bulk up set)
for the ending I'll just leave a SPL game that shows how terrifying zolt can be where it knocks out 5 opposing teammembers, including bro,metal birb#2, blissey and a zera(so a varied suite of walls and a fast threat)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-540672

also a small note and I don't know if this is relevant, but LO latios can't OHKO ferro with mystical fire while specs can

Oh believe me I know how terrifying Dracozolt is. I even used a mix Dracozolt set that somebody came up with but I can't exactly remember. It's basically a sand rush Nidoking but it did have a lot of flaws like stacking ground weakness with Tyranitar and Excadrill. Although, I guess I could try to replace Latios instead as the sand really bothers it quite a bit

To be honest, I don't really know how to use any non defog set on Corviknight. I've always preferred things to be simple and it being just a metal birb is simple enough for me. Birb is birb and birbs needs to do birb stuff

 

[glava222]

I think everything you said is valid, and sorry if I came on a bit strong. things we say here can never trump your personal experience since we see and play the game differently. have a good one :D

 

[Red Raven]

I think everything you said is valid, and sorry if I came on a bit strong. things we say here can never trump your personal experience since we see and play the game differently. have a good one :D

It's alright and you did have some pretty good points. I'm actually gonna try rapid spin on Excadrill since I replaced Latios with Dracozolt. It's not really in my comfort zone but I guess it's worth a shot. It's probably me just being lazy on remembering what moves I gave my own mons lol

 

[glava222]

oh sry the set you are talking about is probably ocelzolt, a great set made by Liquidocelot and detailed here
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/checkmate-an-ou-sand-team-peaked-28-at-1989.3673016/

there is another set that has been cropping up with fire spin pictured in the game I sent you, which is better at taking out certain walls like ferro,glowking and pex with a 100% certainty

 

[Red Raven]

oh sry the set you are talking about is probably ocelzolt, a great set made by Liquidocelot and detailed here
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/checkmate-an-ou-sand-team-peaked-28-at-1989.3673016/

there is another set that has been cropping up with fire spin pictured in the game I sent you, which is better at taking out certain walls like ferro,glowking and pex with a 100% certainty

Yeah I watched the replay just now. That might prove to be more useful for me. I'll have to give this a try

 

[Liquidocelot]

oh sry the set you are talking about is probably ocelzolt, a great set made by Liquidocelot and detailed here
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/checkmate-an-ou-sand-team-peaked-28-at-1989.3673016/

there is another set that has been cropping up with fire spin pictured in the game I sent you, which is better at taking out certain walls like ferro,glowking and pex with a 100% certainty

Fuck yeah! The Ocelzolt set lives on!

 

[Red Raven]

Just wanted to give an update on the team. I made an alternate version of this one with a couple different pokemon. This is still the main team I use with me alternating between Latios and Ocelzolt, depending on what I feel like using but this second version is a lot more fun to use

Here is the paste to the second team and it is fun like hell. Dragon dance life orb Tyranitar just straight up kills all the roadblocks to an Excadrill rampage

I only have one replay since I first tried that team because I didn't know how to save replays until just a few minutes ago but that has been on like, a five battle win streak

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1280294977-kjipp579ewqd0e7z5vd0z4u31ju2g0kpw

The second team still needs some work, especially Tapu Koko so I guess someone could help me with that

 

[vNatFly]

Just wanted to give an update on the team. I made an alternate version of this one with a couple different pokemon. This is still the main team I use with me alternating between Latios and Ocelzolt, depending on what I feel like using but this second version is a lot more fun to use

Here is the paste to the second team and it is fun like hell. Dragon dance life orb Tyranitar just straight up kills all the roadblocks to an Excadrill rampage

I only have one replay since I first tried that team because I didn't know how to save replays until just a few minutes ago but that has been on like, a five battle win streak

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1280294977-kjipp579ewqd0e7z5vd0z4u31ju2g0kpw

The second team still needs some work, especially Tapu Koko so I guess someone could help me with that

Remember, 0 Spe IVs on that Slowbro. I really don't see a flaw on your team. Correct me if I am wrong, DD Garchomp can sweep if you don't lead Tapu Koko against it. Assuming Garchomp sets up. I think a 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD Corviknight counters Garchomp. But then Tapu Lele will be a struggle. In my opinion, you should keep the Corviknight as is because I am pretty sure Slowbro can tank ATLEAST two hits from chomp and slow pivot in to Tapu Koko. I guess you kind of have to play around the two, or if you have something for DD Garchomp that I didn't catch, let me know.

 

[glava222]

the koko set seems like it's stuck somewhere between being a utility pivot and an offensive threat, while not really being good at either, as it still doesn't really hit hard enough to get past some threats(it can't 100% OHKO offensive chomp with gleam for crying out loud), and pivoting too often will force it to roost because of hazards and LO and sand, which is kinda bad for a mon that wants to be in and out. You should probably focus on one role or the other, by either giving it HDB or specs. A fun tech for the specs set is grass knot, as it allows you to get past opposing hippo with a small amount of chip which would otherwise wall all your offensive threats.

3 life orbs and 0 boots is also a lot of chip you are forcing yourself through, and in the game you posted, ttar was able to muscle past a pretty damn bulky team without LO(granted,there was a bit of crit luck involved), maybe consider boots or lefties there?

 

[vNatFly]

Also, could you explain to me why you are running Trick + Specs on that Latios? I've seen this many, many times on Specs users but never understood why they would want to trade their Choice Specs. Sorry if this is off topic, but could someone explain?

 

[Red Raven]

vNatFly Garchomp doesn't get dragon dance. I only wish it did as scale shot is inconsistent as hell but it's better than nothing. Also, scale shot reduces defense meaning that Garchomp is suddenly in Excadrill threshold if it does go for a scale shot. If it gets two then it does become a problem but at that point, Corviknight would have killed Garchomp by then. Usually when I see an opposing Garchomp I just play aggressively or try to get two dds on Tyranitar

glava222 yeah Koko is the real problem on that team. I only added it on because I need some terrain control because of how annoying Rillaboom is. Tapu Lele would probably be better but the stacking weaknesses is concerning me so I just slapped on the next available terrain controller. It usually serves no other purpose than getting rid of grassy terrain so the gorilla doesn't have free priority

Well, stone edge does have a high crit rate, or so it claims anyway. That Tyranitar set actually becomes a massive surprise after a single boost since it is meant to pave the way for Excadrill to go crazy and on that replay it did get two dds and lost the orb. Lefties is probably a good choice but I feel like boots is not since I'm only gonna switch that in once or twice to start smashing stuff. Tyranitar actually needs three dds to be an effective sweeper but who in their right mind would let a Tyranitar get more than two dds

vNatFly Blissey my friend. Being walled by Blissey is stupid so tricking it makes it next to worthless for the rest of the battle. Also, being tricked a choice item ruins nearly all other pokemon as suddenly they can't switch moves. That alone is reason enough to trick your specs even if you got the wrong target

 

[vNatFly]

vNatFly Garchomp doesn't get dragon dance. I only wish it did as scale shot is inconsistent as hell but it's better than nothing. Also, scale shot reduces defense meaning that Garchomp is suddenly in Excadrill threshold if it does go for a scale shot. If it gets two then it does become a problem but at that point, Corviknight would have killed Garchomp by then. Usually when I see an opposing Garchomp I just play aggressively or try to get two dds on Tyranitar

glava222 yeah Koko is the real problem on that team. I only added it on because I need some terrain control because of how annoying Rillaboom is. Tapu Lele would probably be better but the stacking weaknesses is concerning me so I just slapped on the next available terrain controller. It usually serves no other purpose than getting rid of grassy terrain so the gorilla doesn't have free priority

Well, stone edge does have a high crit rate, or so it claims anyway. That Tyranitar set actually becomes a massive surprise after a single boost since it is meant to pave the way for Excadrill to go crazy and on that replay it did get two dds and lost the orb. Lefties is probably a good choice but I feel like boots is not since I'm only gonna switch that in once or twice to start smashing stuff. Tyranitar actually needs three dds to be an effective sweeper but who in their right mind would let a Tyranitar get more than two dds

vNatFly Blissey my friend. Being walled by Blissey is stupid so tricking it makes it next to worthless for the rest of the battle. Also, being tricked a choice item ruins nearly all other pokemon as suddenly they can't switch moves. That alone is reason enough to trick your specs even if you got the wrong target

Ahhhh, I feel so sped... I meant Swords Dance... my bad. :( terribly sorry..

 

[vNatFly]

Blissey my friend. Being walled by Blissey is stupid so tricking it makes it next to worthless for the rest of the battle. Also, being tricked a choice item ruins nearly all other pokemon as suddenly they can't switch moves

Ohhhhh, so Blissey/Chansey doesn't go crazy. That makes sense... is running Trick required on a Specs Set?

 

[Red Raven]

Ohhhhh, so Blissey/Chansey doesn't go crazy. That makes sense... is running Trick required on a Specs Set?

Nope but it's a nice tool to have especially now that trick can't be blocked

 

[glava222]

tapu koko idea is solid, but it really does show that it was just slapped in without thinking what it's supposed to do beyond electric terrain. Koko can absolutely work here, but you do need to opt for one of the two directions I put forth, because this one is too unfocused, and ends up doing nothing well, while the other two can do something well, even if they have weaknesses.
Another option you might want to try if you literally only care about stopping terrain and setting up your other breakers for succes might be screens. I haven't really seen screens sand teams, but it might enable ttar and drill, dunno. This is a bit more on the niche side tho

 

[Red Raven]

tapu koko idea is solid, but it really does show that it was just slapped in without thinking what it's supposed to do beyond electric terrain. Koko can absolutely work here, but you do need to opt for one of the two directions I put forth, because this one is too unfocused, and ends up doing nothing well, while the other two can do something well, even if they have weaknesses.
Another option you might want to try if you literally only care about stopping terrain and setting up your other breakers for succes might be screens. I haven't really seen screens sand teams, but it might enable ttar and drill, dunno. This is a bit more on the niche side tho

Well, killing metal birbs still count but yeah that's mostly true. I literally just went 'I need terrain control. Lele is not an option due to Slowbro so imma just go Koko then'. That Koko set was actually very helpful to me back in gen seven but terrain now only boosts by a third of the type's power. I guess you're right specs is probably the better option but I still feel like that team slot needs a lot of improvement since it was literally just added for terrain control

 

[glava222]

if you are really not comfortable with koko, remember that defog removes terrains, and corvi both has a good MU against rilla and has u-turn to grab tempo, so maybe you can swap koko for something that you feel that corvi will be your terrain remover. this is still a bit slower than using another terrain setter, but the problem is rilla kinda just beats fini, lele is a coin toss, you are using koko already, and bulu doesn't work for obvious reasons. So unless you use some weird tech like steel roller, this might be your best option