[Gen V] rate my ground type team

[roosterman]

my ground type team for a mono tournament, my match will be tomorrow so i have some time to change a few things if necessary, and legal hacks are allowed so i can easily fix something if its a major issue. this is single elimination so its vital that everything is as close to perfect as possible.
all of the usual tiers apply such as sleep and evasion but the only ground types that are banned are groudon and arceus

claydol
ivs: 31/0/31/31/31/0
evs: 252 sp atk/ 200 sp def/56 def
item: focus sash
trick room
cosmic power
psychic
heal block

not my best work, it kept getting taken out by ice beam on random match ups so i gave it a focus sash so it could get trick room in and an attack before getting knocked out, still keeps getting haxed by bullet seed cinnico though, i won't have to worry as much in the mono tourney though.

steelix
ability: sturdy
ivs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
evs: 252 atk/252 def/4 sp def
item: red card
gyro ball
stealth rock
dragon tail
explosion

tied for most successful pokemon on the team, switches in after claydol and will usually set up stealth rock, the opponent attacks and red card takes effect, stealth rock takes some HP away, and steelix starts gyro balling, one hit KOing most pokemon i'v fought, dragon tail gets rid of the pokemon that resist steel and when i'm on the last turn of trick room and/or steelix is in the red, BOOM!


golurk
ability: iron fists
ivs: flawless
evs: 252 HP/252 atk/ 4 def
item: leftovers
drain punch
curse
protect
thunderpunch

the one that ties with steelix, golurk can come in really at anytime, depending on the situation, golurk will either use one of his punches which get 90 base power thanks to iron fists to one hit KO the pokemon, or, usually if its a wall, he'll curse it, use protect to gain some HP with leftovers, and then the opponent is down to 1/2 its HP and a single punch will most likely knock it out, also giving golurk some HP if he uses drain punch.

garchomp
ability: rough skin
ivs: flawless
evs: 252 atk/252 speed
item: rocky helmet
dragon claw
fire fang
shadow claw
earthquake

this was really just filler, and to take care of some of my teams weaknesses

landorus(Tform)
ivs: flawless
evs: 252 atk/ 252 speed
item: destiny knot for now
earthquake
brickbreak
swords dance
u turn

just your average sweeper, getting a swords dance in when its safe, and sweeping, plus brick break for those pesky screen people.


swampert
ability: torrent
ivs: flawless
evs: 252 atk/ 252 HP/ 4 def
item: chesto berry
ice punch
waterfall
yawn
rest

needed a water type, he'll usually use yawn first unless i'm sure i can 1 hit KO the opponent. rest will be used when his HP gets low.

[PlatinumDude]

Claydol is too bulky to use Focus Sash. I'd rather have Donphan as the Ground 'mon of choice:
-Earthquake
-Rapid Spin
-Stealth Rock/Head Smash/Stone Edge
-Ice Shard
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy

Explosion got nerfed in the generation shift, so it's not worth using. And since Donphan is already setting up Stealth Rock, if you opt for that, I think Gastrodon is a better fit to help against opposing Water Pokémon:
-Earthquake/Earth Power
-Scald/Ice Beam
-Toxic
-Recover
Nature: Sassy/Calm
EVs: 252 HP/84 Def/172 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain

or
-Surf
-Earth Power
-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power (Grass)/Recover
Nature: Modest
EVs: 124 HP/252 SAtk/132 SDef
Item: Choice Specs/Life Orb
Ability: Storm Drain

Dragon + Ground already have good coverage together, so there's absolutely no reason to use Shadow Claw on Garchomp:
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Aqua Tail/Fire Fang
-Dual Chop/Dragon Claw
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Choice Band/Choice Scarf

or
-Swords Dance
-Outrage/Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Fire Fang
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Yache Berry/Haban Berry/Lum Berry

or
-Substitute
-Swords Dance
-Outrage/Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Salac Berry

Ghost Curse is highly risky and given Golurk's bad Speed, it'll most likely get picked off before it can restore HP with Drain Punch. And the lack of STAB really hurts here, and your Golurk is currently walled by opposing Golurk (lol):
-Earthquake
-Shadow Punch
-Drain Punch
-Ice Punch
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 172 HP/252 Atk/84 Spe or 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist

or
-Substitute
-Focus Punch
-Earthquake
-Shadow Punch
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 200 HP/252 Atk/12 Def/44 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist

or
-Rock Polish
-Earthquake
-Shadow Punch
-Stone Edge/Ice Punch
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist

Landorus-T is better off as a defensive pivot or a revenge killer:
-Stealth Rock/Gravity
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-U-turn
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 200 HP/64 Atk/244 Def
Item: Leftovers

or
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-U-turn
-Superpower/Hidden Power (Ice)
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 32 HP/252 Atk/224 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf

or
-Gravity
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-U-turn/Hidden Power (Ice)
Nature: Jolly/Naive
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers

or
-Rock Polish
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Hidden Power (Ice)/Explosion
Nature: Naughty/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers

or
-Substitute
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Hidden Power (Ice)/Swords Dance
Nature: Naive/Adamant
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Expert Belt

I already suggested Gastrodon as a Water/Ground, so I'm afraid I'll have to replace Swampert as well. Outside of Garchomp, this team is lacking a bit in Speed here, so Dugtrio could quicken the pace a bit here:
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Reversal
-Stealth Rock/Memento/Sucker Punch
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap

[roosterman]

i think you're missing the point of claydol, it uses trick room first and then the slower pokemon (like steelix and golurk) can come out. it seems kinda pointless to have so many earthquakers on the team, so i was going to leave that to garchomp and landorus while the other ones will have some more useful moves for when they're at a type disadvantage since its guaranteed i'll have to fight one of my weaknesses eventually.

[PlatinumDude]

Originally Posted by roosterman

i think you're missing the point of claydol, it uses trick room first and then the slower pokemon (like steelix and golurk) can come out. it seems kinda pointless to have so many earthquakers on the team, so i was going to leave that to garchomp and landorus while the other ones will have some more useful moves for when they're at a type disadvantage since its guaranteed i'll have to fight one of my weaknesses eventually.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you here. True, but Claydol isn't meant to play as a suicide Trick Room setter; it's meant to play as a support 'mon with Stealth Rock + Rapid Spin; like I said before, Donphan does Stealth Rock + Rapid Spin better because it can actually hit back. Relying on one Pokémon for Trick Room isn't a good thing, especially when Claydol is basically the only non-Uber Ground Pokémon who gets it and Trick Room is a somewhat weak strategy unless the team is built around it. And relying on Cosmic Power to buff your defenses makes Claydol a critical hit magnet.

Each Ground Pokémon must, always, always, always carry Earthquake (or Earth Power, if it's somehow special-oriented) as a STAB move, as it's their absolute staple move (and it may be the most powerful move they have), as Ground has good coverage. While it's blocked by Flying and Levitate 'mons, that's what other coverage moves are for, such as Golurk's Ice Punch/Shadow Punch/Drain Punch, Garchomp's Outrage and Landorus-T's Stone Edge/U-turn.

As I said before, I added Gastrodon in the team because it turns Water moves into its own Special Attack boosts thanks to Storm Drain; this compensates for the extreme Water weakness you have.