Well I'm not sure this is the right place to discuss this because it's not about stats.....maybe someone can move this conversation to the megathread if they care enough.
Well I've been running 18 defense with an extra point in HP and it just isn't working at taking on drilburr. :L
Honestly, I don't know how you're managing that .....
If it really isn't working, use Murkrow or something else immune to Ground and not weak to Ghost or Bug. Then absolutely zero Drilburs can sweep you regardless of damage rolls.
spuds4ever said:
Drilburr, while it is easy to take on once you get something in safely, the problem is just that, getting it in safely without drilburr boosting up/outright killing you. A +2 EQ coming off 19 attack which can't be revenge-killed by any scarfer bar snover will demolish pretty much everything on an offensive team and a hell of a lot on a stall team too if you run magnemite. Even just switching in on a non-boosted LO attack is tough.
If you let a powerful and frail pokemon set up then it's not going to sweep you because it's broken, it's going to sweep you because you got outplayed. Also it's very easy to revenge kill,
especially without Substitute. You just use one of the many viable priority users. You think too one-dimensional and that does not fly in LC the way it does in OU / UU / etc. and nor should it.
spuds4ever said:
To me, it feels like sand has too many pros. You *ahem* are forced to take one of the best physical walls in the tier while being able to have anti-leftovers against the opposition and an absurdly good revenge-killer which has no fool-proof counter (even more so if you are running the common magnemite with them) that can also sweep (and now, you can effectively type-stack and run two) and having access to the best special sponge bar none in the tier too.
Anti-leftovers? Are you kidding? I was tempted to stop reading there.
Well, it seems you're changing your argument as I push your main one out of the way. You went from just Drilbur to "all of SS".
It seems the core you have a problem with is: Hippopotas / Lileep / Drilbur (/Sandshrew).
Use Ice Beam? Use a Grass-type? Or, use Eviolite Mienfoo, the most common Pokemon in the metagame? Use Sub NP Misdreavus, you can't really lose to Lileep. Use Murkrow, especially prankster feather dance etc, but you can also just us LO and OHKO them all minus Hippopotas who can't switch in. I mean there are so many
single Pokemon that viable counters to this group of 4 Pokemon which is 2/3rds of its entire team. I mean, Snover.....well yea use Snover if you really want.
I won't lie, that is still a good core despite it's obvious weaknesses, but I think it's kind of ridiculous to call something broken that is so easily countered.
spuds4ever said:
When you look back at it, there's really no competitive reason not to be using sand in LC and it makes the tier very tedious I feel. Sure, you are forced to take one or two more ice, water, and grass weaknesses, but there's virturally only one dangerous user of grass and ice STAB attacks, snover, and with chinchou, croagunk, and especially lileep being excellent/common (or both) choices, water is non-issue.
Well sand is an excellent ladder tool for that reason. The same reason in higher tiers there are other formulaic teams that let you easymode ladder. However, when it comes to actually playing against a good battler you're often better off using something that isn't so easy to counter team. Not that sand doesn't have ways of its own beating its counters, but you're not going to have an easy time without outplaying your opponent. I can tell you first hand.
So yea, competitively you
don't want to use a team that's easy to counter team unless you're laddering where most people won't be able to just know your team and counter it until you're somewhat successful already. You can only get so far just using sand.