So a while ago I was messing around in Showdown when someone was talking about setting up a small tournament for monotype and I became interested in the idea. My first team was a normal type team that mostly relied on the gimmick of Ditto. It didn't work so well, so I tried out another type, one that I felt didn't get a lot of love. Bugs! Glorious, disgusting bugs.
This is a monotype team; but I've actually found it works better in Standard play than it does Monotype :/
I started out with a simple team based on what I thought were admirable bugs. Yes; it's Spider-Man themed.
Originally my team consisted of:
Galvantula, Volcarona, Yanmega, Forrettress, Durant, and Parasect but after playing more and more I've made a couple changes to the lineup. The introduction of Genesect has been very kind to me!
My team currently consists of:
[size=+2]Peter Parker[/size]
Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Download
Modest nature
EVs:
4 HP
252 Special Attack
252 Speed
Moveset:
Thunderbolt
Flamethrower
Ice Beam
U-Turn
Genesect is the most recent addition to this team, taking the mantle of Spiderman from Galvantula. Galvantula had been my lead pokemon 90% of the time; but the release of Genesect has allowed me to use a pokemon with far better coverage as a lead. This set so far has also proven to do well as a late-game sweeper! Using 3 beams gives outstanding coverage, usually allowing him to wear down the opposing team a good amount before needing to switch out, or fainting. U-Turn lets him put a dent in pokemon that can soak up special attacks, such as Blissey, while letting me switch to a pokemon more capable to do the task.
[size=+2]Carnage[/size]
Volcarona @ Life Orb
Flame Body
Timid nature
EVs:
252 Special Attack
4 Special Defense
252 Speed
Moveset:
Fiery Dance
Bug Buzz
Quiver Dance
Hurricane
Carnage is terrifying to me. So to embody him I picked the bug-god of fire. One Quiver Dance and he's able to leave a nasty dent in his opponents, even in the rain! Most often I'll switch him in after a teammate has been KO'd by something he resists so I can set up, but having a little extra speed allows him to *normally* forego this if need be. Fiery Dance and Bug Buzz are rather standard STABs, and having a Life Orb lets him switch between the 2 if I run into something that resists or is immune to one. Hurricane is the strange part about this set, and is my slight counter to rain. Most often I've found it takes people by surprise, but it doesn't quite do enough damage to make a difference. In the rain though, it's often a more powerful option to Fiery Dance.
[size=+2]Norman Osbourne[/size]
Yanmega @ Life Orb
Speed Boost
Modest nature
EVs:
4 HP
252 Special Attack
252 Speed
Moveset:
Bug Buzz
Air Slash
Protect
Hidden Power: Ground
The Green Goblin... Speedy and messes up your day. Due to speed and Air Slash; Norman is fond of slowly taking out people who try to set up on him. However; like most of my team he's incredibly fragile. Any opponent who's faster and has a super effective move is probably going to OHKO him. Luckily, Norman does however have speed on his side. Air Slash is his main attacking move that can leave a sizable dent in opponents, while the flinch rate is enough to keep him in to hurt those who'll try to set up, such as Dragonite or Rotom. Bug Buzz hits a lot of things for neutral damage which is why it's here. Protect lets me gather up Speed Boosts, but unfortunately is pretty predictable and has a habit of letting the opponent set up instead. I had a lot of options for Hidden Power, and right now I'm still not certain what I picked was the best for this set. So far, though, Ground has been decently effective. It does let him take out a good number of fire pokemon, and the occasional steel type, but it comes at the cost of, of course, levitate and flying types being immune.
[size=+2]Harry Osbourne[/size]
Durant @ Choice Scarf
Hustle
Jolly nature
EVs:
4 HP
252 Attack
252 Speed
Moveset:
Faint Attack
Iron Head
Superpower
Stone Edge
The son of the Green Goblin; Harry is the riskiest member of my team. If he can hit the opponent, my day is made. If he misses, it hurts my team severely. Choice Scarf I know doesn't make the most amount of sense on Durant; but what I've found is that the extra speed can really come in handy especially when dealing with the likes of the fast, flying type pokemon such as Thundurus-T. His moveset really shows off the "High risk, high reward" idea. Stone Edge is the perfect example. Hustle boosts it to being very powerful, and is my best check to flying types, but it has a pitiful 64% accuracy. If it hits, I'm cheering! If it doesn't, I'm screwed. Iron Head gives him a plain, powerful STAB that can be a nuisance to Rock types, though I haven't run into many. Faint Attack and Superpower though are where he's been the unique member of my team. Faint Attack ignores Hustle's lower accuracy, and is a surprising check to a lot of Psychic and Ghosts types, especially with the 50% damage increase from Hustle. Superpower has been his wallbreaker, and can turn the tides on Magnezone.
[size=+2] Doctor Octopus[/size]
Forrettress @ Leftovers
Sturdy
Bold nature
EVs:
252 HP
176 Defence
78 Special Defence
Moveset:
Volt Switch
Spikes
Stealth Rock
Rapid Spin
Doc Ock has been the forgotten member of my team; and I can admit to poorly playing him. His original name was Failure, and I suppose I've let my hatred of this thing get the better of me. However; due to bugs being weak to Stealth Rock I really needed a spinner. The Doctor remedies this. If I manage to switch into something that can't really hurt him; I can even manage to set up some hazards of my own which can really help my team due to the slight lack of power they have. Volt Switch so far has only really helped me evade Wobbuffett, so I'm still rather uncertain about the moveset this strange bug has.
[size=+2] Mary Jane[/size]
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Moxie
Adamant nature
EVs:
4 HP
252 Attack
252 Speed
Moveset:
Megahorn
Close Combat
Pursuit
Earthquake
And now for the final member of my team, and the second most recent addition. I originally brought in MJ since I needed a counter to the likes of Heatran, and for the fact that Parasect was pretty useless outside of rain. Mary Jane is out to prove she isn't the damsel in distress most people think she is! With Moxie and the Choice Scarf she has made a really decent late game sweeper. As the boosts accumulate anything that doesn't directly wall her has had trouble standing up. Megahorn is her most powerful move, but doesn't see a lot of use due to my team having Bug type attacks pretty well covered. However the fact that it's physical has really made a difference in it's ability to break through Special Defense based psychics or dark types, such as Reuniclus. Close Combat is what has made me bring her onto this team. Sure, Harry has Superpower, but that really makes him more of a one trick pony since he almost always has to switch out afterwards. Close Combat is my direct check to Heatran and most Steel types since MJ has the speed to overcome many of them, including plenty of fire types. Unlike Harry she doesn't require me to be risky, and bank on whether or not the move will hit. Earthquake has been an awesome check to both fire and electric types, but getting locked in it can be devastating to me if my opponent still has flying types left, or levitating pokemon. I honestly haven't used Pursuit, so I'm not quite sure why I have it here.
So there's my team. The main reason I'm submitting this to the RMT is because I'm struggling more against monotypes, but I'm still looking to be viable in OU since this has become my main OU team right now. I know that three scarves is probably scary, but I have them there out of the fact that since I have a fire and rock weakness on most of my pokemon, I need to outspeed them before they take me out. So I'm wondering what I might be able to do to make this a little more viable against other monotype teams, or even some OU teams.
I'm pretty sure there are some obvious flaws in this... but I am only really a month and a half into the competitive battling scene so I'm hoping to get a bit of advice from the pros :D
This is a monotype team; but I've actually found it works better in Standard play than it does Monotype :/
I started out with a simple team based on what I thought were admirable bugs. Yes; it's Spider-Man themed.
Originally my team consisted of:
Galvantula, Volcarona, Yanmega, Forrettress, Durant, and Parasect but after playing more and more I've made a couple changes to the lineup. The introduction of Genesect has been very kind to me!
My team currently consists of:
Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Download
Modest nature
EVs:
4 HP
252 Special Attack
252 Speed
Moveset:
Thunderbolt
Flamethrower
Ice Beam
U-Turn
Genesect is the most recent addition to this team, taking the mantle of Spiderman from Galvantula. Galvantula had been my lead pokemon 90% of the time; but the release of Genesect has allowed me to use a pokemon with far better coverage as a lead. This set so far has also proven to do well as a late-game sweeper! Using 3 beams gives outstanding coverage, usually allowing him to wear down the opposing team a good amount before needing to switch out, or fainting. U-Turn lets him put a dent in pokemon that can soak up special attacks, such as Blissey, while letting me switch to a pokemon more capable to do the task.
Volcarona @ Life Orb
Flame Body
Timid nature
EVs:
252 Special Attack
4 Special Defense
252 Speed
Moveset:
Fiery Dance
Bug Buzz
Quiver Dance
Hurricane
Carnage is terrifying to me. So to embody him I picked the bug-god of fire. One Quiver Dance and he's able to leave a nasty dent in his opponents, even in the rain! Most often I'll switch him in after a teammate has been KO'd by something he resists so I can set up, but having a little extra speed allows him to *normally* forego this if need be. Fiery Dance and Bug Buzz are rather standard STABs, and having a Life Orb lets him switch between the 2 if I run into something that resists or is immune to one. Hurricane is the strange part about this set, and is my slight counter to rain. Most often I've found it takes people by surprise, but it doesn't quite do enough damage to make a difference. In the rain though, it's often a more powerful option to Fiery Dance.
Yanmega @ Life Orb
Speed Boost
Modest nature
EVs:
4 HP
252 Special Attack
252 Speed
Moveset:
Bug Buzz
Air Slash
Protect
Hidden Power: Ground
The Green Goblin... Speedy and messes up your day. Due to speed and Air Slash; Norman is fond of slowly taking out people who try to set up on him. However; like most of my team he's incredibly fragile. Any opponent who's faster and has a super effective move is probably going to OHKO him. Luckily, Norman does however have speed on his side. Air Slash is his main attacking move that can leave a sizable dent in opponents, while the flinch rate is enough to keep him in to hurt those who'll try to set up, such as Dragonite or Rotom. Bug Buzz hits a lot of things for neutral damage which is why it's here. Protect lets me gather up Speed Boosts, but unfortunately is pretty predictable and has a habit of letting the opponent set up instead. I had a lot of options for Hidden Power, and right now I'm still not certain what I picked was the best for this set. So far, though, Ground has been decently effective. It does let him take out a good number of fire pokemon, and the occasional steel type, but it comes at the cost of, of course, levitate and flying types being immune.
Durant @ Choice Scarf
Hustle
Jolly nature
EVs:
4 HP
252 Attack
252 Speed
Moveset:
Faint Attack
Iron Head
Superpower
Stone Edge
The son of the Green Goblin; Harry is the riskiest member of my team. If he can hit the opponent, my day is made. If he misses, it hurts my team severely. Choice Scarf I know doesn't make the most amount of sense on Durant; but what I've found is that the extra speed can really come in handy especially when dealing with the likes of the fast, flying type pokemon such as Thundurus-T. His moveset really shows off the "High risk, high reward" idea. Stone Edge is the perfect example. Hustle boosts it to being very powerful, and is my best check to flying types, but it has a pitiful 64% accuracy. If it hits, I'm cheering! If it doesn't, I'm screwed. Iron Head gives him a plain, powerful STAB that can be a nuisance to Rock types, though I haven't run into many. Faint Attack and Superpower though are where he's been the unique member of my team. Faint Attack ignores Hustle's lower accuracy, and is a surprising check to a lot of Psychic and Ghosts types, especially with the 50% damage increase from Hustle. Superpower has been his wallbreaker, and can turn the tides on Magnezone.
Forrettress @ Leftovers
Sturdy
Bold nature
EVs:
252 HP
176 Defence
78 Special Defence
Moveset:
Volt Switch
Spikes
Stealth Rock
Rapid Spin
Doc Ock has been the forgotten member of my team; and I can admit to poorly playing him. His original name was Failure, and I suppose I've let my hatred of this thing get the better of me. However; due to bugs being weak to Stealth Rock I really needed a spinner. The Doctor remedies this. If I manage to switch into something that can't really hurt him; I can even manage to set up some hazards of my own which can really help my team due to the slight lack of power they have. Volt Switch so far has only really helped me evade Wobbuffett, so I'm still rather uncertain about the moveset this strange bug has.
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Moxie
Adamant nature
EVs:
4 HP
252 Attack
252 Speed
Moveset:
Megahorn
Close Combat
Pursuit
Earthquake
And now for the final member of my team, and the second most recent addition. I originally brought in MJ since I needed a counter to the likes of Heatran, and for the fact that Parasect was pretty useless outside of rain. Mary Jane is out to prove she isn't the damsel in distress most people think she is! With Moxie and the Choice Scarf she has made a really decent late game sweeper. As the boosts accumulate anything that doesn't directly wall her has had trouble standing up. Megahorn is her most powerful move, but doesn't see a lot of use due to my team having Bug type attacks pretty well covered. However the fact that it's physical has really made a difference in it's ability to break through Special Defense based psychics or dark types, such as Reuniclus. Close Combat is what has made me bring her onto this team. Sure, Harry has Superpower, but that really makes him more of a one trick pony since he almost always has to switch out afterwards. Close Combat is my direct check to Heatran and most Steel types since MJ has the speed to overcome many of them, including plenty of fire types. Unlike Harry she doesn't require me to be risky, and bank on whether or not the move will hit. Earthquake has been an awesome check to both fire and electric types, but getting locked in it can be devastating to me if my opponent still has flying types left, or levitating pokemon. I honestly haven't used Pursuit, so I'm not quite sure why I have it here.
So there's my team. The main reason I'm submitting this to the RMT is because I'm struggling more against monotypes, but I'm still looking to be viable in OU since this has become my main OU team right now. I know that three scarves is probably scary, but I have them there out of the fact that since I have a fire and rock weakness on most of my pokemon, I need to outspeed them before they take me out. So I'm wondering what I might be able to do to make this a little more viable against other monotype teams, or even some OU teams.
I'm pretty sure there are some obvious flaws in this... but I am only really a month and a half into the competitive battling scene so I'm hoping to get a bit of advice from the pros :D
