Please rate my OU sandstorm team, I'm new to competitive battling!

Hippowdon @ leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 Spe
Sand stream
Trait: Impish (+Def / -SAtk)
-Stealth rock
-Earthquake
-Slack off
-Ice fang

My lead and streamer, set's up stealth rock.

Swampert @ leftovers
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4HP
Torrent
Trait:Careful (+SDef / -SAtk)
-Curse
-Waterfall
-Avalanche
-Rest

Mixed wall with type coverage. He also has some sweeping capablities.

Skarmory @ shed shell -
EVs:252 Def / 252 HP / 4Spe
Keen eye
impish (+Def / -SAtk)
-Stealth rock
-Roost
-Air slash
-Roar

The Physical wall, not sure if I should keep stealth rock? I dropped brave bird because of the recoil.

Lucario @ Choice specs / life orb
EVs:252 SAtk / 252 Spe / 4HP
Steadfast
Modest (+SAtk / -Atk)
-Aura sphere
-Nasty Plot/shadow ball
-Dragon pulse
-Vaccum wave

Special sweeper, not sure if I should go choice band+shadow ball or Nasty Plot+Life orb?

Scizor @ choice band / life orb
EVs:252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4HP
Technician
Adamant (+Atk / -SAtk)
-U-turn
-Bullet punch
-Swords dance/x-scissor
-Pursuit

Again not sure choice band+X-scissor or life orb+swords dance

Heatran @ leftovers
Evs:252 Def / 252 Spe / 4hp
Flash fire
Bold(+Def / -Atk)
Substitute/toxic
will-o-wisp
Fireblast
Explosion

Heatran's purpose is to switch in on any fire type coming against scizor, status them or explode against tough walls. I'm thinking of replacing substitute with toxic, any ideas?

So there's my OU sandstorm team, as I say I'm new to this and this is the first team I've ever made for competitive battling. There are almost certainly a few flaws with EV spreads etc so please give me a rate, thanks!

Piratebee88

With Hippowdon's current EV spread, is there anything notable that it can outrun? If there's nothing notable, the EV spread should be 252 HP/244 Def/12 SDef.

Rest isn't as useful as it used to be on Swampert. Also, your team has a bit of a Fighting weakness, so Reuniclus or Alakazam can help instead:
Reuniclus:
-Calm Mind
-Psychic/Psyshock
-Focus Blast
-Recover
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard

or
-Trick Room
-Psychic/Psyshock
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 192 HP/64 Def/252 SAtk
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard

Alakazam:
-Substitute/Calm Mind
-Psychic/Psyshock
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard

Don't use Air Slash on Skarmory; it runs off of its weaker offensive stat. Drill Peck should be in there instead, since you're worried about Brave Bird's recoil. Roar is also blocked by Soundproof (due to it being a sound move), so Whirlwind is the better option. Sturdy should also be the ability to use since it ensures Skarmory will be on the field after taking a fatal hit (it can always be reactivated later with 2 uses of Roost). Also, since Hippowdon is using Stealth Rock, use Spikes instead.


115 Special Attack sometimes isn't enough for Lucario to sweep by itself, so it should be using Nasty Plot. Shadow Ball (or Dark Pulse) should go over Dragon Pulse for virtually perfect coverage. You can use Choice Specs if you want to hit right hard off the bat, if you want. In that case, the moves should be Aura Sphere/Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse/Hidden Power (Ice)/Vacuum Wave.

If Scizor is using Choice Band, its EVs should be focused on its bulk to help it survive as long as it can. In that case, the set should look like this:
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower/Brick Break
-Quick Attack/Pursuit
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spe
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Technician

If Scizor is using SD, use Bug Bite over X-Scissor, since it benefits from the Technician boost:
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Bug Bite
-Superpower/Brick Break
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers/Iron Plate
Ability: Technician

or
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Bug Bite/Superpower/Brick Break
-Roost
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/40 Atk/216 SDef
Item: Leftovers/Iron Plate
Ability: Technician

On Heatran, Explosion lost most of its charm in the generation shift to V; it doesn't halve Defense anymore before it hits. The fact that Heatran is using a -Attack nature doesn't help. If Heatran is to be defensive, it should be specially defensive because most of its resistances are Special:
-Lava Plume
-Stealth Rock/Roar
-Will-o-Wisp/Toxic
-Protect
Nature: Calm
EVs: 248 HP/252 SDef/8 Spe
Item: Leftovers

You also have a pretty bad weakness to bulky Waters, so other Pokemon to consider are Ferrothorn and Virizion; you can choose who you can replace for either one:

Ferrothorn:
-Spikes/Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
-Power Whip/Protect
-Gyro Ball/Thunder Wave/Protect
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/88 Def/168 SDef
Item: Leftovers

Virizion:
-Swords Dance
-Leaf Blade
-Close Combat
-Hidden Power (Ice)/Stone Edge
Nature: Hasty/Naive/Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers

or
-Calm Mind
-Focus Blast
-Giga Drain
-Hidden Power (Ice)
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Life Orb

or
-Work Up
-Close Combat
-Giga Drain
-Stone Edge/Hidden Power (Ice)
Nature: Hasty/Naive
EVs: 104 Atk/152 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Life Orb

or
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Taunt
-Giga Drain/Close Combat
Nature: Timid/Jolly
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Light Clay

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll probably replace swampert with virizion. I hadn't realised explosion no longer lowered defence so thanks for that. That will only leave me with the fighting weakness, I'll try and work out a way to get around that! Also will Drill peck not get around the fighting weakness?