Featured Ubers RMT

Team by Donkey, with commentary by Furai. Art by sirndpt.
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What's up smogon, Donkey here. Normally I post RMTs on the PO forums, but I'm posting this here to show off my team to a much more solid group of uber players. In the last RMT I posted on the PO forums, someone suggested that I replace Chansey with a Lanturn arguing that Lanturn WALLS specs ogre... which it doesn't.

Anyways, onto the team. This team is probably the best team I've built. It's currently sitting at rank one on PO and peaked around 1470 on smogon. My old team had lots of problems with taunt and a few offensive cores, but this one has very few weaknesses since it's a lot more balanced. Sand is incredibly anti-meta in ubers, and when used well it can be nearly impossible to beat. To use this team successfully, you have to focus on wearing down opposing weather starters, getting up hazards, and preserving Excadrill for a late game sweep. Groudon and Kyogre have a very hard time staying alive against this team.

At a Glance

In Depth

Tyranitar (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 184 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Stealth Rock
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit

Tyranitar is one of the best anti-leads in the current uber metagame. It guarantees you sand 100% of the time, and also acts as a check to some of the common non-weather leads. Lum Berry absorbs Dark Void and Spore, allowing Superpower to bring Darkrai and Smeargle down to their focus sashes, which are taken out by sand. Tyranitar single-handedly prevents losing a pokemon to sleep and shuts down smashpass. Stone Edge is mainly a filler move to hit things hard on switches and stop Ho-Oh/Rayquaza from setting up (although Arceus-Rock can switch in on both of these). However, Pursuit is the most important move on the set. Since Ferrothorn can't really take specs Water Spouts, my usual switch-in for Kyogre is Giratina. Eventually, my opponent catches on to this and locks themselves into Ice Beam. At this point, I'll go into Tyranitar, easily take the Ice Beam, and do about 45% with Pursuit as Kyogre is called back, quickly wearing it down. Pursuit is also nice to use on Palkia or Reshiram after they Draco Meteor and drop to -2. Stealth Rocks rack up switch-in damage and wear down the opponent's weather inducer.

Possible Changes: Roar or Dragon Tail could be used instead of Stone Edge. This would rack up more hazard damage, while still preventing Ho-Oh/Rayquaza from setting up. Roar is also guaranteed to stop smashpass. Ice Beam can also work to help deal with opposing Gliscors and still hit Rayquaza. Similarly, Fire Blast could be used to hit Ferrothorn/Forretress/Skarmory, but I prefer having an all physical Tyranitar to optimize my EVs.

Excadrill (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Atk / 192 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Shadow Claw
- Rapid Spin

Excadrill is a great cleaner and revenge killer. Any team, offensive or stall, needs a pokemon that can sweep late game. Excadrill fits this role perfectly with Sand Rush. However, weather inducers such as Groudon, Rayquaza and Kyogre are the biggest threats to Excadrill since they stop it's sweep. Defensive Ho-Oh can also be annoying since Shadow Claw doesn't hit it very hard. This shows how well Arceus-Rock and Giratina synergize with Exca. Rockceus can switch in on virtually any of Rayquaza or Ho-Oh's moves and OHKO back, while Giratina takes hits from Kyogre all day. Groudon is also worn down by Earthquake spam + hazards pretty quickly (especially if I can burn it). Shadow Claw is specifically for Giratina-O. Rock Slide doesn't do enough damage to break Gira-O, so I prefer using Shadow Claw to help me spin. This being so, Earthquake hits Giratina-A harder because of STAB. Skarmory does completely wall this set, but at the expense of Excadrill getting free rapid spins. Finally, it's EVd to outspeed Scarf Terrakion in sand while still maximizing its bulk. Excadrill not only can sweep, but provides great defensive support.

Possible Changes: Lum Berry breaks Giratina-A easily, but it means that leftover recovery is lost and Exca is worn down faster. Air Balloon works well too, since then Exca only takes resisted SR damage. I wouldn't recommend life orb, since it means you can't spam spins vs skarmory.

Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Judgment
- Perish Song
- Recover

Arceus-Rock has a very special role on this team. It's main purpose is to check Rayquaza and Ho-Oh, which can cause the rest of the team trouble. Rockceus outspeeds both and OHKOs with Judgment, and can take +1 Life Orb Earthquakes from Rayquaza. Ho-Oh can't do anything to it besides land a burn. It also walls Specs Reshiram in sand, and Will-O-Wisps Groudon (and other physical attackers) with the benefit that common sun abusers such as Reshiram or Ho-Oh can't switch in on the expected Will-O-Wisp as they would vs Giratina. Non-Timid SD Arceus is outsped and burned while Arceus takes +2 Extremespeeds with ease. Physical attackers such as Excadrill, Garchomp, or Terrakion are walled by Ferrothorn and Giratina. With Perish Song, Rockceus also phases and checks sub HC Zekrom, BU Dialga, CM Arceus forms (The forms that threaten it (Fight, Grass, Water, Steel) are walled by Giratina-A), and any last poke. In sand, Arceus also is able to stall out Mewtwo, Palkia, and Dialga. With Gliscor spreading toxic, Arceus's becomes very threatening. It's not an easy poke to take down.

Possible Changes: Calm Mind can be used instead of Perish Song. Arceus-Rock can then setup on Palkia and other special attackers, and sometimes pull off a sweep. Since Kyogre is commonly brought it to check it, if you predict right you can hit Kyogre on the switch.

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature (+SpD, -Spe)
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Protect
- Power Whip

Ferrothorn is a self-explanatory poke. With its evs maxed out in special defense, its a solid check to TG Manaphy, CM/Bulky Kyogre, and Scarf ogre. Protect helps scout scarfers, although Lustrous Palkia must be watched out for. It's water resistance and steel typing makes it a great option on sand, and synergizes well with Tyranitar and Arceus-Rock. If Arceus-Rock is low health, Ferrothorn also sponges physical attacks, particularly Zekrom. Leech Seed wears down pokes on switch-ins as well.

Possible Changes: Protect could be replaced with Thunder Wave or Toxic, but I find that Protect helps keep Ferro alive longer.

Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Taunt

Since this is a wifi team, I always lead with Gliscor vs Groudon. Taunt stops SR, Toxic cripples Groudon for the entire match and stalls offensive Groudon, and sub blocks dragon tail. Gliscor also beats Sub HC Zekrom, dealing over 50% with Earthquake and forcing Dragon Claws or Outrages. Gliscor is also great because it can switch in on Giratina-A, stall mons such as Chansey, Ferro, Forry, Skarm, etc, and setup a sub, Taunt, or Toxic/Earthquake on the switch. It helps put a lot of pressure on any offensive team with a few stall pokes. Toxic also cripples CM Arceus forms, which can be very important. Reaching 240 speed, it can Toxic Ho-Oh before it can sub, Earthquake Tentacruel, and Sub/Toxic stall any slower mon. Poison heal also means it can absorb Will-O-Wisps for the team, which is very important for Excadrill. Gliscor is the most fun poke to use on the team, and by far the MVP. Since it's set is unexpected, it can really do damage early on.

Possible Changes: You can run either a larger speed creep to outspeed other Gliscors, or a smaller speed creep to ensure that Ferrothorn Power Whips don't break subs. Protect is always nice to have on Gliscor, but there isn't really a moveslot available.

Giratina @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar

Special Defensive Giratina + Tyranitar is as close as you can get to a counter for Specs Kyogre without using Shedninja (lol) or Gastrodon. As I mentioned before, Giratina baits Ice Beam allowing TTar to Pursuit. Giratina is also a backup SD Arceus check. Without physical defense EVs, it can still tank one Shadow Claw and get a burn/remove lum berry. Gira also phases CM Arceus forms and Mewtwo; racking up hazard damage with Roar. Last but definitely not least, it spinblocks. Forretress can setup on it, but in that case I usually try to predict around it. Gliscor can taunt it and wear Forry down. Giratina is incredibly durable, and undoubtedly the best Kyogre check/Spin blocker in the game. Although this set is taunt weak, the rest of my team doesn't have that many problems with it.

Possible Changes: Dragon Tail instead of roar, but then sub Mewtwo, sub Ho-Oh, sub Exca, and sub Steelceus all become big problems. The lower pp means that Giratina has to use its moves more carefully as well.


Ubers is a tier with consistent war between rain and sun, but Donkey decided to go against the (sand) stream and use sand. With uncommon Pokemon such as Rock Arceus and Gliscor, Donkey has managed to get impressive peaks on both the PO and Smogon servers. With Ferrothorn's Spikes, Tyranitar's Sand Stream and Stealth Rock, a sturdy spinblocker, an offensive Rapid Spinner, and the annoying bat, the foe is put under tons of pressure. But let's stop here, and go more in-depth, shall we?

The Team

Tyranitar is an amazing anti-lead in the current metagame; besides setting up the sand that is integral to the team's success, it is able to tank hits from common leads, such as Dialga, thanks to its excellent special bulk, and Lum Berry allows it to beat even Smeargle leads. Gliscor could also take the lead spot in case Groudon is the opposing lead, since it can easily prevent the latter from laying Stealth Rock down with Taunt and activate Toxic Orb early, which can be very helpful later on.

Ferrothorn's long lifespan thanks to Protect + Leech Seed + Leftovers + immunity to sand damage and resistance to Water-moves makes it a very reliable check for non-Choice Specs Kyogre, which can mess things up for the team due to its heavy dependence on sand. The Spikes it provides also put tons of pressure on the opponent; in fact, Spikes-stacking is very threatening in Ubers because it's so difficult to spin the entry hazards away with bulky spinblockers such as Giratina in the tier, which Donkey utilizes to make sure Ferrothorn's job won't go to waste; Giratina also serves as an utility counter to threats such as Extreme Killer Arceus and Mewtwo, while it checks Kyogre.

Donkey uses two uncommon Pokemon to patch up a few weaknesses: Rock Arceus and Gliscor. Rock Arceus is the team's only guard from threats such as Rayquaza and Ho-Oh, which none of the other team members can defeat by themselves. Rock Arceus's synergy with Ferrothorn and Giratina also forms a remarkable defensive core that can take on the majority of threats in the metagame. Gliscor is undeniably the most annoying Pokemon in the tier. Personally, I just hate that damned thing. The ability to switch into a variety of Pokemon and moves, be it Choice-locked Thunders or Groudon and such, and proceed to SubStall them away with sandstorm damage and Toxic is brutal. Taunt also stops any attempt to lay down any entry hazards from Pokemon such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress, which can become troublesome.

And last but not least, we have Excadrill. Excadrill's role mid-game is to spin entry hazards away, whereas end-game it's meant to sweep the opponent with the support of Spikes, Stealth Rock, and additional sand damage. Together, Donkey's team puts a lot of pressure on the foe: be it entry hazards, Excadrill being a devastating sweeper, or just stalling with Gliscor, the opponent will definitely not have an easy time.


As solid as a team might be, each team will have its weaknesses, and this team is no exception. Calm Mind Ghost Arceus and Fighting Arceus can easily break through the team thanks to Recover, a high Speed stat, and their coverage. Faster Gliscor can also be troublesome, as they can Taunt Donkey's Gliscor, which is his only check, making it completely useless. SubPunch Palkia can also be very threatening, as it can block Ferrothorn's Leech Seed with Substitute and proceed to do tons of damage with Focus Punch. Palkia will 2HKO Giratina most of the time with Stealth Rock and sandstorm damage, whereas Gliscor's Toxic stall becomes useless because of Substitute. Substitute + Swords Dance Garchomp is also a threat, as Donkey needs to hit Will-O-Wisp with Rock Arceus—which is less accurate in sand due to Garchomp's Sand Veil ability—or have a Swords Dance under Excadrill's belt to take it down, as Garchomp can take an unboosted Earthquake.

If Ferrothorn has been severely weakened, strong rain sweepers such as Manaphy, Kingdra, and Ludicolo can easily break through the team with their strong STABs and coverage. Dragon Dance Life Orb Salamence can also tear this team apart after the team has taken residual damage, as Excadrill is the only one which can outspeed it in sand. Rock Arceus is easily OHKOed by a boosted Earthquake after Stealth Rock, Gliscor has 87.5% to be OHKOed by +1 Outrage after Stealth Rock, and Ferrothorn is smacked by Fire Blast. Once Cloyster has grabbed a Shell Smash boost, this team is pretty much hopeless, as everything is outsped and OHKOed after Stealth Rock, bar Excadrill, which risks losing the Speed tie.


Despite these weaknesses, Donkey's team, which won him rank one on the PO server and a place within the top five on the Smogon server, proved to us all that sandstorm in Ubers is just as effective as sun or rain. His team is probably one of the greatest sand teams the Ubers tier will ever see. If you wish to learn Ubers, give this team a try on the ladder; it will not let you down.

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