A Reintroduction to BW Monotype
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Art by Albatross.
Overview
BW Monotype is the oldest Monotype generation currently played, and certainly the generation that has gone through the most play and development over the years. Generation 5 introduced a number of new mechanics to make a competitive Monotype format feasible. Perhaps the most notable is Team Preview, which allows you to immediately identify an opponent's type and evaluate your most important threats. You can also attribute the simple number of Pokémon available by Generation 5, allowing at least a feasible team to be made of every type. The tier remains relevant to this day and is a mainstay in top competitive Monotype tournaments like the MPL.
Top types
Psychic
Psychic is the best type in BW. Its power and versatility allow it to overcome every matchup, and it sees unprecedented amounts of success in tournaments, with a 71% win rate over 21 games in the most recent MPL, MPL VII. (For reference, the next most used types, Steel and Water, were used 12 times.) One of the main reasons for this is Latios, one of the biggest threats in the tier. While somewhat balanced by Tyranitar in BW OU, Latios does not have to worry about Tyranitar in BW Monotype because of the relative obscurity of Dark and especially Rock, making it much more effective. While some Latios run Choice Specs, most use Life Orb or Choice Scarf, with Life Orb making it a harder wallbreaker to play around and Choice Scarf allowing it to act as a revenge killer. Another staple of the type is Victini, which can somewhat handle the Steel-types that Latios struggles with, although it usually needs the support of Xatu to beat Steel effectively. Victini is also similarly hard to play around, as it can prey on types weak to V-create such as Ice and Bug while still posing a threat to the vast majority of the metagame. As mentioned before, Psychic teams have a lot of flexibility. These teams will run a Stealth Rock setter in Jirachi, Metagross, Bronzong, or the occasional Mew. Jirachi in particular is a reason why Psychic is so consistent, as its neutrality to Ghost and Dark coupled with its utility in Wish and U-turn helps patch up the type's common weaknesses. Typically, teams will also run a Water-type in Slowbro or Starmie to help deal with Fire- and Ground-types, such as opposing Victini and Excadrill. For the last two slots, Focus Sash Alakazam is a very common choice as a general safety net, along with other Pokémon like Reuniclus, Celebi, Xatu, Gallade, and Meloetta for various purposes.
The above summary begs the question: if Psychic is so strong, how can the metagame be balanced? While Psychic undeniably has ways to win every matchup, it is not without bad matchups. Other top types, namely Steel and Ground, can match up well against it. Additionally, Psychic being so ubiquitous means that well-built teams will not outright lose to Psychic, and will likely have sets designed to pressure the type, such as Scrafty and Choice Scarf Heracross on Fighting and Choice Specs Froslass on Ice. More niche types like Ghost, Fire, and Dark also see usage to get an edge against Psychic.
Replays
Fighting
Fighting has been a dominant force since the early days of BW, and while some metagame shifts, like the rise of Ground, have not been kind to it, it still holds a strong place in the tier. While having obvious advantages versus Steel and Ice, Fighting matches well against other top types because of its key offensive threats. The usual staples are Keldeo, Scrafty, and Cobalion. Keldeo is the primary special wallbreaker in an otherwise very physical type, and it is a strong win condition against Ground and Steel. Scrafty serves as an answer to Psychic-types and can pose a major threat against Psychic with a Bulk Up set. Cobalion is usually a Choice Scarf user with Volt Switch to gain momentum, or a lead Stealth Rock set with Taunt, although the latter job can also fall to Terrakion or Infernape. Other commonly seen Pokémon are Breloom and Toxicroak, which can help dismantle Water teams, and Choice Scarf Heracross, which serves as a secondary win condition against Psychic and a solid late-game cleaner.
Replays
Water
On paper, Water might seem to be the most broken type in BW Monotype. With how limited weather is compared to BW OU, Drizzle Politoed can keep rain up in almost every matchup, with the weather really only being contested against Ground and Ice. Because of this, Water can utilize the most powerful rain wallbreaker, Keldeo, with Tentacruel and Starmie serving as reliable spinners that are threats in their own right under rain. However, because Water is so strong, the metagame has adapted many ways to handle it; Thunder Latios and Thunder + Energy Ball Jirachi on Steel are two good examples of this. While Water struggles to handle these countermeasures, the type still benefits from its innate strengths and the relative obscurity of Electric and Grass. The type has moved away from Hydration Vaporeon as a staple (although it is still viable) and instead runs a typical structure of Politoed, Keldeo, Tentacruel, and Swampert alongside additional threats such as Gyarados, Empoleon, Starmie, and Jellicent. Some have even experimented with rainless Water, which can utilize another Pokémon such as Cloyster over Politoed.
Replays
Steel
As the best defensive type in the tier, and the one of the few that can consistently check Latios thanks to its Dragon and Psychic resistances, it is no surprise that Steel is one of the top types in the metagame with its infamous defensive core and powerful wallbreakers. This defensive core consists of Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, which together cover all of Steel's weaknesses comfortably and stack entry hazards. This core supports several key offensive Pokémon such as Jirachi, Excadrill, Magnezone, Cobalion, and Scizor. Jirachi is the most common, because of its Substitute + Calm Mind set being able to consistently threaten Water, which is otherwise one of Steel's worst matchups. Other partners, like Bronzong, Metagross, Empoleon, and even Bisharp, have been explored to varying degrees of success, but Steel's core defensive structure does not deviate much due to how incredibly consistent it is.
Replays
Ground
Ground is another threatening type in BW that utilizes its own weather and powerful wallbreakers. No Pokémon on Ground takes advantage of Hippowdon's sand the way that Tentacruel does on Water or Walrein does on Ice; sand is more utilized for forcing passive damage while also helping empower Sand Force Excadrill. Ground's defensive core consists of the aforementioned Hippowdon and Gastrodon, which is the standard source of Water immunity because it counters Keldeo. Garchomp and Excadrill are also extremely common, serving as secondary checks to Water- and Ice-types, respectively, while providing their own offensive prowess. Excadrill also gives the type a spinner. From there, two of Gliscor, Landorus-T, Nidoking, and Mamoswine typically round out the structure, although some of those can replace the Excadrill or Garchomp slot as well: it's mostly up to personal preference. Gliscor in particular can be a huge threat for most teams in conjunction with Toxic Spikes and sand. Ground teams must be wary of Grass-type coverage from the likes of Alakazam and Thundurus-T. Still, the type's great offensive and defensive options make it a top choice.
Replays
Other viable types
Ice
Ice has been a rising star in the BW metagame with its ability to overwhelm using hail. Once thought to be solely a Water and Dragon counter-team, Ice has worked its way up to consistency thanks to its combination of powerful wallbreakers and resilient defensive backbone. A notoriously poor defensive type having a defensive backbone may sound strange, but Ice Body Walrein ("Stallrein") under Abomasnow's hail is extremely difficult to break through alongside Froslass for checking Fighting-types and Cloyster for entry hazards and Rapid Spin. As for offensive threats, Ice teams utilize Choice Scarf Kyurem-B, whose extremely powerful Outrage makes it a fantastic late-game cleaner. Weavile and Froslass, although not seen together often, also run offensive sets. Froslass can run a lead set with Spikes as well. As for the last slot, Mamoswine is used to set up Stealth Rock to reinforce the offensive pressure exerted by Ice, typically as a suicide lead. While Ice has a very formulaic structure to address its numerous natural weaknesses, the type remains effective and can beat nearly every type in the metagame.
Replays
Bug
Bug had a meteoric rise to viability in BW Monotype as recently as 2020, where people began seriously experimenting with the type. Bug has a lot of upsides: a type advantage against Psychic, very potent offensive threats in Volcarona and Scizor, and a surprising amount of matchups it can win like Water and Ice through these various offensive threats. While the type is formulaic in the sense that it typically uses all of Volcarona, Scizor, Heracross, and Forretress, the last two slots really change the matchups Bug can beat. Galvantula and Parasect can be run for the Water matchup, although the latter is usually handled by Sludge Bomb Tentacruel. Yanmega and Accelgor are fast attackers that can help with the Psychic matchup, with Accelgor providing Spikes support. Speaking of the Psychic matchup, it's unfortunately not that great, with Latios and Victini facing little opposition. The type has tools to win other matchups like Steel, Ground, and Water, but these are inconsistent because of the type's poor defensive structure. Bug also has a brutal Stealth Rock weakness, with Forretress and the more niche Armaldo being fairly easy spinners to play around.
Replays
Dragon
Perhaps with the biggest fall from grace in the tier, Dragon is no longer a top 3 type as believed by many five years ago. Dragon is objectively the best offensive type, only being resisted by Steel. However, the type's utter lack of a defensive backbone and fairly exploitable weaknesses (it relies on Kyurem-B to check Ice-types) leave it far behind the current metagame. The type's strategy is to go all-out offensive and hope the opposing team crumbles to STAB Dragon-type moves, which is unreliable in a metagame where Steel-types are commonplace, and most modern team compositions can thwart this strategy well. While still viable (it's good against Water and Fighting at least), Dragon unfortunately finds itself as an inconsistent option in today's BW Monotype.
Replays
Flying
Flying has historically been a fantastic type in Monotype, so it's no surprise that it makes it way onto this list. However, it has a crippling Stealth Rock weakness in BW and can only combat it with Xatu, a Pokémon that struggles to keep the hazard off the field consistently. Flying has some great defensive options like Gliscor and Skarmory; however, more recent Flying teams utilize a more hyper offensive style with lead Skarmory and Archeops to get hazards up quickly and a series of setup sweepers including Dragonite, a staple of the type, partnered with options like Thundurus-T, Salamence, Gyarados, Landorus-T, Tornadus, and even Swords Dance Gliscor. While Flying does have strong tools, its exploitability and poor matchups against top types like Psychic and Steel make it a difficult type to build and play.
Replays
Ghost
Ghost struggles to win in the modern 2022 metagame. Its main upside is a somewhat positive matchup against Psychic, but Ghost is also a great type because of its ability to block Rapid Spin, making Froslass's Spikes and Golurk's Stealth Rock permanent. However, Ghost lacks its own entry hazard control and particularly struggles with Toxic Spikes because of its lack of a grounded Poison-type. Gengar and Mismagius are potent offensive threats in their own rights, with their coverage also threatening types like Water and Flying. However, Ghost has poor flexibility, with Gengar, Jellicent, Froslass, Mismagius, Sableye, and Golurk all feeling very necessary. Chandelure is the only Pokémon that is sometimes thrown into the mix, but it usually just isn't worthwhile. Furthermore, Ghost's weird mix of defensive Pokémon like Jellicent and Sableye with a hyper offensive lead like Froslass makes playing and building with the type awkward overall. Ghost also can't beat Psychic consistently due to Choice Specs Latios, Victini, and Jirachi being threats to the type. Because of these flaws, Ghost just barely makes its way into the top ten.
Replays
Conclusion
It would be impossible to cover all the intricacies of BW Monotype in one article. While no Monotype metagame is universally loved, BW Monotype stands as a shining metagame unlike any other, with many options available in teambuilding and few games decided solely by matchup. The tier's stability and room for growth make innovation likely, so don't be dismayed if your favorite type is not on the list. Poison, Dark, Electric, Fire, and Normal have all seen legitimate play and could be better types later on with more experimentation, and have viability in counterteaming at the very least. For now, though, this is a good start if you want to explore Monotype's most storied old generation. Check out this thread for sample teams and discussion about the tier, and this thread for recent discussion about potential tiering changes. If you're interested in seeing some more high-level replays for the tier, check out the MPL VII replay thread.
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