Resource Ask a Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer: Monotype Edition


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Frequently Asked Questions
What does [move / item / ability] do?

Check out the Smogon Strategy Dex [Gen 8 WIP] or Pokemon Showdown's Dex. They have lots of great information on competitive Pokemon battling!

What is banned from Monotype?
The Monotype banlist for Generation 9 will be on the Smogon Strategy Dex [WIP]! Please see the Monotype Scarlet and Violet Discussion thread while it is being set up.
 
hellooo, so tera types have to match the type chosen, yes? so why can this person tera into a grass type despite being in a fire type team? could it be a bug or am i missing something? thanks!
Screenshot_20221118_171750_Chrome.jpg


edit: seems that this can happen regularly. though grass teams don't have access to fire tera scovillain
Screenshot_20221118-174754.jpg

Screenshot_20221118-174911.jpg
 
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Neko

When you live for love, how precious life can be
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributor
hellooo, so tera types have to match the type chosen, yes? so why can this person tera into a grass type despite being in a fire type team? could it be a bug or am i missing something? thanks! View attachment 466676

edit: seems that this can happen regularly. though grass teams don't have access to fire tera scovillainView attachment 466677
View attachment 466679
There is currently a bug on how the mono rule on Terastalization is enforced. Currently, the first mon of the team is somehow allowed to not follow the same type clause. It'll be fixed soon (when they get to it)
 
What made Palossand and Spiritomb rise in viability? I know they're pretty solid defensive mons in general but what made them suddenly better in gen 9 when Palossand wasn't that good in gen 8? I haven't fought a single spiritomb in gen 8 either.
 

Neko

When you live for love, how precious life can be
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributor
What made Palossand and Spiritomb rise in viability? I know they're pretty solid defensive mons in general but what made them suddenly better in gen 9 when Palossand wasn't that good in gen 8? I haven't fought a single spiritomb in gen 8 either.
For Palosand, its because there's no Galarian Corsola, and no other mon on Ghost rn has that niche of being a decent-ish wall with Stealth Rocks and Recovery.

I'm not too sure about spiritomb, but Infiltrator in a screens meta, dark neutrality + Will-o-wisp, Pain Split, and Sucker Punch for ghosties seems like its something worth noting.
 
I have always enjoyed Monotype in the past, and I've been thinking about getting into SV monotype. What would be some good types for beginners to use?
 

Neko

When you live for love, how precious life can be
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributor
I have always enjoyed Monotype in the past, and I've been thinking about getting into SV monotype. What would be some good types for beginners to use?
Realistically, the types with the best matchup spread right now are Dark and Water. Dark thrives as a balanced type with defensive pivots in Sableye, Ting-lu and one of Kingambit or Skunktank. Its powerful because its supported by Meowscarada, who provides neat speed control, and Chien-Pao, Hydreigon, Greninja, and even Roaring Moon and Iron Jugulis (niche, but still not bad) which are all potent breakers. One of the downsides of Dark is that it lacks entry hazard control. On the other hand, Water can be run with rain or without it, both are supported by the stinky backbone of Toxapex, your choice of Ground/Water, and Quaquaval which lets you not get rawed by entry hazards. Greninja is another staple here, and if you're rain you'll finish the team with a Pelipper and Barra/Floatzel, while Dondozo and one choice of a breaker (eg. Rotom-W for Poison/Water, Gyara for Ground/Poison) or another bulky team mate works for rainless builds.

Aside from the top types, Ground, Fairy, Ghost, Poison, and Fighting are still viable, though I wont discuss their team structures unless you ask me.

Types like Flying, Fire, Bug, Dragon, and Psychic are niche, but still usable. They just lose to some of the top types.

Rock, Steel, and Ice are very matchup fishy, but beat one of the top types, and a handful of the types listed above.

If I didnt mention a type, it means I forgor or its bad. I hope this answers your question. :blobnom:
 
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Prikki

formerly AtomicFish
Where can I find the resources necessary to begin creating my own Monotype teams? Do they exist yet?
 

Neko

When you live for love, how precious life can be
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributor
Where can I find the resources necessary to begin creating my own Monotype teams? Do they exist yet?
this usually isnt a thing, but sometimes people make articles about intro to x type. There are some beginner's guides too, like this.
Examples:
Ice in SS Monotype
Dragon in USUM Monotype
Grass in ORAS (?) Monotype
for a complete list, check out here (filter monotype with #monotype)

Alternatively, you can edit a team based on the samples (which dont exist yet for SV mono) and checking out the Viability rankings and Speedtiers.
I hope this answers your question :blobnom:
 

Neko

When you live for love, how precious life can be
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributor
Would you say Greninja is better than Wake just because of Coverage?
The speed matters the most, alongside Greninja's ability to pivot. This makes gren a better specs user [and easier mon to fit in general] than Wakey too, since 377 means you outspeed Valiant, Cinderace, and base 110s like H.Zoroark. On the other hand, Wake can be a decent scarf user if you want, as with Spe Proto it wipes down Fire teams and still outpaces most scarfers like Treads, Flamigo, and Gallade. However, since Water teams usually can wall most threats, some teams forgo a Choice Scarf user, making Wake much easier to drop.
 
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Is getting into competitive Pokemon with Monotype a mistake? I'm not a big fan of Tera as a mechanic, so a format where it's banned seems very appealing, but I've literally never done any competitive battling before
 
Is getting into competitive Pokemon with Monotype a mistake? I'm not a big fan of Tera as a mechanic, so a format where it's banned seems very appealing, but I've literally never done any competitive battling before
Honestly it depends what your overall goal is with competitive Pokemon. If you only want to play on the Showdown ladder it should be fine, since as you say you don't like Tera, you could always just play old gens where they don't have it if you fancy a break from Monotype (though I'd advise against playing gen 7, Z moves made tera look tame). However, if you plan to go to live events such as VGC, I would not suggest starting with monotype, as in VGC it plays a huge roll.
 
However, if you plan to go to live events such as VGC, I would not suggest starting with monotype, as in VGC it plays a huge roll.
I like the idea of playing on cart, but yeah I would probably just play Showdown ladder. Thanks, I'll whip up a Steel team and get to it then!
 
Realistically, the types with the best matchup spread right now are Dark and Water. Dark thrives as a balanced type with defensive pivots in Sableye, Ting-lu and one of Kingambit or Skunktank. Its powerful because its supported by Meowscarada, who provides neat speed control, and Chien-Pao, Hydreigon, Greninja, and even Roaring Moon and Iron Jugulis (niche, but still not bad) which are all potent breakers. One of the downsides of Dark is that it lacks entry hazard control. On the other hand, Water can be run with rain or without it, both are supported by the stinky backbone of Toxapex, your choice of Ground/Water, and Quaquaval which lets you not get rawed by entry hazards. Greninja is another staple here, and if you're rain you'll finish the team with a Pelipper and Barra/Floatzel, while Dondozo and one choice of a breaker (eg. Rotom-W for Poison/Water, Gyara for Ground/Poison) or another bulky team mate works for rainless builds.

Aside from the top types, Ground, Fairy, Ghost, Poison, and Fighting are still viable, though I wont discuss their team structures unless you ask me.

Types like Flying, Fire, Bug, Dragon, and Psychic are niche, but still usable. They just lose to some of the top types.

Rock, Steel, and Ice are very matchup fishy, but beat one of the top types, and a handful of the types listed above.

If I didnt mention a type, it means I forgor or its bad. I hope this answers your question. :blobnom:
I use Sash+Reversal on my kingambit, gets people who use fighting moves every time
 
Why is quick claw banned?
Because uncompetitiveness can be as good of a reason to ban something as how broken/powerful something is
Mons like sd iron hands can be really scary with quick claw not because they're broken, but because quick claw is completely random. If you're fighting a good quick claw abuser, your fate is in the hands of a 20% chance every turn instead of your actual skill as a player. It's kinda like OHKO moves where they're not even that good, just way too luck based.
 
Because uncompetitiveness can be as good of a reason to ban something as how broken/powerful something is
Mons like sd iron hands can be really scary with quick claw not because they're broken, but because quick claw is completely random. If you're fighting a good quick claw abuser, your fate is in the hands of a 20% chance every turn instead of your actual skill as a player. It's kinda like OHKO moves where they're not even that good, just way too luck based.
Fair, figured I'd ask because quick draw exists and it'd be funny to run quick claw with it as well
 

Neko

When you live for love, how precious life can be
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributor
What’s the best set for Hisuian Goodra on Dragon?
no best set for now, but here are some options:
Goodra-Hisui @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Heavy Slam
Goodra-Hisui @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Chesto Berry
Ability: Shell Armor
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse / Acid Armor
- Rest
- Body Press
- Heavy Slam
84 Def Goodra-Hisui Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Chien-Pao: 304-360 (100.9 - 119.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Goodra-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 SpD OR go 176 Spe to Outspeed Azumarill
Sassy Nature
- Dragon Tail / Flamethrower / Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower / Earthquake
- Body Press / Earthquake (remove Def investment if dropping Press)
- Heavy Slam
I hope these help maybe? :blobnom:
 
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no best set for now, but here are some options:
Goodra-Hisui @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Heavy Slam
Goodra-Hisui @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Chesto Berry
Ability: Shell Armor
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse / Iron Defense
- Rest
- Body Press
- Heavy Slam
84 Def Goodra-Hisui Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Chien-Pao: 304-360 (100.9 - 119.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Goodra-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 SpD OR go 176 Spe to Outspeed Azumarill
Sassy Nature
- Thunderbolt / Flamethrower / Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower / Earthquake
- Body Press / Earthquake (remove Def investment if dropping Press)
- Heavy Slam
I hope these help maybe? :blobnom:
Thanks. Can’t decide so I’ll try them all!
 

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