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

[wkxkevin]

Anyone know the best Iron Treads set to run on steel?

Iron Treads @ Choice Scarf/Assault Vest/Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Volt Switch/Heavy Slam

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

Why is Rock so terrible? Even matchups it should do well in, like Poison, Fire and Bug, I still find it gets smashed

 

[Pengairxan]

Why is Rock so terrible? Even matchups it should do well in, like Poison, Fire and Bug, I still find it gets smashed

If you want the easy answer, Rock is arguably the worst type in the format right now, pick something better.

But going more in depth it comes down to Rock having a ton of abusable weakness and no real solid answers into them. You've got no immunities to any of Rock's weaknesses (which isn't a death sentence, just look at all the Non Sableye dark teams now) but on a type with 5 weaknesses, 4 of which are to some of the best types in this current metagame doesn't do Rock anything good. And your neutralities don't really stick around with what they want to do, two of your fightings (Which are also your only two grasses and one is your only Ground) want to be doing far more important offensive things while your sole water/Steel neutrality wants to Shell smash and sweep.

And all the types that you mentioned that on paper you should do good into have a lot of common mons that turn the tables on rock that they have to cover other far more important weaknesses or to act their types frontal assault. Like Poison has Amooguss, Sneasler and Clodsire, Fire has Tauros-P, Volcanion and Scovillain, Bug has Scizor, Heracross and Slitherwing. That list also only coverages what gets a STAB against rock, others like MukA, Overqwil, Iron Moth, Arcanine-H, Volcarona, Frosmoth and Kleavor all have powerful coverage that they often run because they need it to break through other types/heal that also just happens to hit rock as well.

Oh and slight edit a bit later: Rock doesn't have a standout amazing mon on it, just a lot of good. There isn't something as amazing as Chien-pao/Baxcalibur or Maushold/Ursaluna which give Ice and normal that massive OOMPH they need to get out their wins.

 

[LezDooDis]

Hi,

What type is the best for new players to monotype?

I don’t actually play any competitive Pokémon and monotype is the only one that interests me and I was wondering where would be a good place to start.

 

[Neko]

Hi,

What type is the best for new players to monotype?

I don’t actually play any competitive Pokémon and monotype is the only one that interests me and I was wondering where would be a good place to start.

Water, Dark, Steel, Fairy, and Flying are all good types for laddering.

Rain Water lets you sit back and relax as you click, make the opponent explode, then double back to Toxapex/Gastrodon/Quaquaval in case the opponent seems to be threatening/un OHKO'able but will OHKO your swift Swimmer (Eg. Sucker punch Kingambit, Choice Scarf Meowscarada in case of Basculegion-F)

Balance water has access to one of the sturdiest cores in the meta rn, and teaches you how to play slowly, learning which mon checks what, and breaking holes/cleaning up the opposing team when time is right.

On the other hand, Dark is sort of the type you want to play when you wanna know how to setup a win offensively; Learning which mon thrives in what matchup and preserving and wallbreaking with them as much as possible makes Dark teams really fun to play. However, Dark is very much cteamed in the ladder (esp in early ladder where everyone is Bug) and has issues with entry hazard control, which is sort of well...a problem.

Steel is like balance water in a sense that it covers its weaknesses well due to having a pokemon immune to each of its weaknesses. However, its flawed in a sense of it having no true check to certain mons like Urshifu-R and Skeledirge. It has Corviknight and Gholdengo though, which are op guys.

Fairy is a little like Dark but trades the little defense Dark has (Sableye + TingLu ) for moar offense, some entry hazard control (magic bounce Hatterene) and dual screens. Its Hyperoffensive in a sense that almost everyone sets up and sweeps, so its good if you just wanna see damage go brr. However, Steel is pretty common rn, and Fairy has issues getting past certain pokemon, notably Corviknight.

Flying just has a variety of good mons, and immunity to spikes in an entry hazard metagame (everyone spams entry hazards, since removal is less than the actual setters). Its great anyway though, but has to pick matchups to win against, as threats like Greninja, Baxcalibur, Fluttermane, Chien Pao and Spectrier exists, and you cant cover all of them. Does well into ladder though...somehow.

I hope these help in making a decision on what to use. Sample teams will be updated soon, but you can check that and the bazaar if you need a team like right now

 

[LezDooDis]

Water, Dark, Steel, Fairy, and Flying are all good types for laddering.

Rain Water lets you sit back and relax as you click, make the opponent explode, then double back to Toxapex/Gastrodon/Quaquaval in case the opponent seems to be threatening/un OHKO'able but will OHKO your swift Swimmer (Eg. Sucker punch Kingambit, Choice Scarf Meowscarada in case of Basculegion-F)

Balance water has access to one of the sturdiest cores in the meta rn, and teaches you how to play slowly, learning which mon checks what, and breaking holes/cleaning up the opposing team when time is right.

On the other hand, Dark is sort of the type you want to play when you wanna know how to setup a win offensively; Learning which mon thrives in what matchup and preserving and wallbreaking with them as much as possible makes Dark teams really fun to play. However, Dark is very much cteamed in the ladder (esp in early ladder where everyone is Bug) and has issues with entry hazard control, which is sort of well...a problem.

Steel is like balance water in a sense that it covers its weaknesses well due to having a pokemon immune to each of its weaknesses. However, its flawed in a sense of it having no true check to certain mons like Urshifu-R and Skeledirge. It has Corviknight and Gholdengo though, which are op guys.

Fairy is a little like Dark but trades the little defense Dark has (Sableye + TingLu ) for moar offense, some entry hazard control (magic bounce Hatterene) and dual screens. Its Hyperoffensive in a sense that almost everyone sets up and sweeps, so its good if you just wanna see damage go brr. However, Steel is pretty common rn, and Fairy has issues getting past certain pokemon, notably Corviknight.

Flying just has a variety of good mons, and immunity to spikes in an entry hazard metagame (everyone spams entry hazards, since removal is less than the actual setters). Its great anyway though, but has to pick matchups to win against, as threats like Greninja, Baxcalibur, Fluttermane, Chien Pao and Spectrier exists, and you cant cover all of them. Does well into ladder though...somehow.

I hope these help in making a decision on what to use. Sample teams will be updated soon, but you can check that and the bazaar if you need a team like right now

Thanks for the response. I think Balance Water sounds the most interesting, I’ll give that a look. I hope to play Normal or Poison eventually because they’re my favourite types but I can’t imagine they’re easy to start with lol

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

Thanks for the response. I think Balance Water sounds the most interesting, I’ll give that a look. I hope to play Normal or Poison eventually because they’re my favourite types but I can’t imagine they’re easy to start with lol

Have to warn you now, Normal is not very good. It’s not horrendous, there are worse types (Rock comes to mind, see above) but there are a lot of Fighting types around and everything Normal does is done better by another type: water and steel do balance better, poison does stall better, fairy does offensive better.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t use Normal, just be prepared to have a rough time.

 

[Neko]

Thanks for the response. I think Balance Water sounds the most interesting, I’ll give that a look. I hope to play Normal or Poison eventually because they’re my favourite types but I can’t imagine they’re easy to start with lol

I had an oopsie btw

(esp in early ladder where everyone is Bug)

This doesnt hold in Gen 9 monotype (its common in SV NDM), but anyway ladder has lots of fighting and fairy so

Normal is sort of a stinky type rn, but has some hope in a sense that Ursaluna, Ditto, and Hisuian Zoroark are quite good. Shed Tail is fun too, esp with Ursaluna, but as the above poster said, Normal has it rough rn.

On the other hand, Poison is quite viable rn, check this post for more detail on Poison. Checking the recent noms / VR might be of help too.

 

[LezDooDis]

Thank you both for the responses!

 

[Pengairxan]

Thanks for the response. I think Balance Water sounds the most interesting, I’ll give that a look. I hope to play Normal or Poison eventually because they’re my favourite types but I can’t imagine they’re easy to start with lol

Poison is quite solid and is how I personally started myself with it being my gateway into this mess.
If you need a hand getting started for Poison and don't want to use a sample, you will always need a physically defensive Amoonguss to handle Ground and a specially bulky Dark to handle Psychic, afterwards have fun team building and going wild.

 

[LezDooDis]

Poison is quite solid and is how I personally started myself with it being my gateway into this mess.
If you need a hand getting started for Poison and don't want to use a sample, you will always need a physically defensive Amoonguss to handle Ground and a specially bulky Dark to handle Psychic, afterwards have fun team building and going wild.

Thanks! It’s good to hear positives about Poison especially with the new legendaries hopefully making them better

 

[eggboy612]

hey all, new to the format and been having a lot of fun with a rain-focused water team today, getting up to mid-1200s on the ladder.

I based my team partly off of this post in the sample team thread (thanks diegoblu) with a few modifications, but I'm running into a big issue: I have no answer to G-Moltres! At +2 it outspeeds both my revenge killers (Swift Swim Basculegion-F and Choice Scarf Walking Wake), and my only mon that survives long enough (Gastrodon) doesn't do enough damage, even with rocks up.

What tools does water have to counter it? I'm thinking wall it out with Toxapex, but I don't like running that mon so I'd rather avoid it. Thanks!!

Team

Samurott-Hisui @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Aqua Cutter
- Sacred Sword
- Taunt

Pelipper @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Hurricane
- Roost
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Walking Wake @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 8 HP / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Flamethrower
- Hydro Steam

Basculegion-F @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam

Gastrodon-East @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sticky Hold
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam

Quaquaval @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 60 Def / 4 SpD / 160 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Aqua Step
- Close Combat
- Roost

 

[Dead by Daylight]

hey all, new to the format and been having a lot of fun with a rain-focused water team today, getting up to mid-1200s on the ladder.

I based my team partly off of this post in the sample team thread (thanks diegoblu) with a few modifications, but I'm running into a big issue: I have no answer to G-Moltres! At +2 it outspeeds both my revenge killers (Swift Swim Basculegion-F and Choice Scarf Walking Wake), and my only mon that survives long enough (Gastrodon) doesn't do enough damage, even with rocks up.

What tools does water have to counter it? I'm thinking wall it out with Toxapex, but I don't like running that mon so I'd rather avoid it. Thanks!!

There's not much many types can do against Goltres, and Water is one of those types where if you let it set up, you kinda lose. Unfortunately, Toxapex is the only real answer that Water has, but without it you could run Ice Beam on Pelipper. The way to beat it is to see where exactly it gets the opportunity to set up, and try to nip it in the bud.

 

[eggboy612]

There's not much many types can do against Goltres, and Water is one of those types where if you let it set up, you kinda lose. Unfortunately, Toxapex is the only real answer that Water has, but without it you could run Ice Beam on Pelipper. The way to beat it is to see where exactly it gets the opportunity to set up, and try to nip it in the bud.

ugh, that's the answer I dreaded getting. I'll see what I can cook up with Pelipper then, thanks!

 

[Neko]

ugh, that's the answer I dreaded getting. I'll see what I can cook up with Pelipper then, thanks!

Since its rain, you can just also not make it setup at all, bringing it low enough with Basc (who is able to outspeed goltres pre Agility) so that Gastro/Pex can finish it off would be a better option. Greninja with Specs, Barraskewda with Band (outspeeds even at+2), or Hisui Samurott (tanks one at least, assuming not at +2) also puts a stop on it. Its worth noting that you're not meant to be tanking everything, no type does that tbh.

Agility + Nasty Plot needs 2 turns too, surely you can prevent it from setting up outright.

I hope this helps

 

[wkxkevin]

ugh, that's the answer I dreaded getting. I'll see what I can cook up with Pelipper then, thanks!

I know this answer requires that you run a very niche mon but there is one way to avoid. You can try barraskewda which outspeed goltres in rain even at +2 and with barraskewda running adamant nature. If you run choice band, you guarantee and OHKO with liquidation, however, you are going to a) run a suboptimal mon, b) need peli alive. Also I would strong suggest running jolly over adamant because outside ran, jolly allows you outspeed a few pokemon that adamant doesn't.

For example, you can outspeed base 120 to 135 speed +speed nature no choice scarf pokemon like:
Tornadus-T, Sneasler, Greninja, Meowscarada, cyclizar, flutter mane, and chien pao.

Those are all super important targets that don't always run choice scarf. In fact, most of them don't usually.

 

[Neko]

You can try barraskewda which outspeed goltres in

Barraskewda isnt niche. Its your other good swift swim option in case you dont want to use Basculegion (which is fair, since there's better spattackers in specs gren (and walking wake) and if you have poison/steel covered with Ursh-R.

Meow, Flutter Mane, Sneasler run Choice Scarf frequently. Greninja might run a choice scarf. The targets Jolly Barra has out of Adamant would be Spectrier, non Sucker Punch Chien Pao and Choice Specs Flutter Man. Also, Dark has no entry hazard removal, so setting rocks might give you a pretty good chance of killing the overcooked Moltres.

 

[eggboy612]

Barraskewda isnt niche. Its your other good swift swim option in case you dont want to use Basculegion (which is fair, since there's better spattackers in specs gren (and walking wake) and if you have poison/steel covered with Ursh-R.

Meow, Flutter Mane, Sneasler run Choice Scarf frequently. Greninja might run a choice scarf. The targets Jolly Barra has out of Adamant would be Spectrier, non Sucker Punch Chien Pao and Choice Specs Flutter Man. Also, Dark has no entry hazard removal, so setting rocks might give you a pretty good chance of killing the overcooked Moltres.

hmmmmm now that you mention it I do feel like my Basculegion and Wake fill similar roles, and Wake comes in handy more often. Barraskewda might be a good replacement to cover some weaknesses then! Although I'll need to come up with a good nickname first - much to consider.

 

[Tolanflame]

Barraskewda isnt niche. Its your other good swift swim option in case you dont want to use Basculegion (which is fair, since there's better spattackers in specs gren (and walking wake) and if you have poison/steel covered with Ursh-R.

Meow, Flutter Mane, Sneasler run Choice Scarf frequently. Greninja might run a choice scarf. The targets Jolly Barra has out of Adamant would be Spectrier, non Sucker Punch Chien Pao and Choice Specs Flutter Man. Also, Dark has no entry hazard removal, so setting rocks might give you a pretty good chance of killing the overcooked Moltres.

Why is flutter mane allowed in monotype?

 

[Gorechomp]

Why is flutter mane allowed in monotype?

Flutter Mane is pretty manageable all things considering. I'll do you one better tho, why is ChienPao/Spectrier/Zama allowed in Monotype?

 

[Pengairxan]

Why is flutter mane allowed in monotype?

Mainly because while Flutter Mane can be oppressive as all hell (especially prehome), post home and meta developments have made Flutter Mane less oppressive overall, making it still a problem that people wouldn't mind being looked at but compared to so many other threats from both posthome (Spectrier is the new main target for ghost) or threats that slipped by prehome (Chien-pao is still an actual fucking problem) it is far from the top of many people's shit lists.

If you need a rough idea of how much more managable flutter became posthome, Poison now does much better into the choice specs set due to how bulky AMuk is and against the Boots Calm mind/Wish/Shadowball/Moonblast set which is now a commonish thing, it is just walled out completely by Clodsire.

 

[Dead by Daylight]

Flutter Mane is pretty manageable all things considering. I'll do you one better tho, why is ChienPao/Spectrier/Zama allowed in Monotype?

Chien-Pao is quite an enigma, honestly - it's hella broken on paper, but in practice it just seems to get traded off due to its frailty. Spectrier is because it has no coverage besides a 50 BP move. Zamazenta is the most contentious in my opinion, but its power doesn't seem too good and its STAB type sucks.

 

[LezDooDis]

What types have a slower/bulkier play style? I’ve been playing Poison and Normal and I’ve really enjoyed those and I was wondering what other types do this well.

 

[Ultraman1]

What types have a slower/bulkier play style? I’ve been playing Poison and Normal and I’ve really enjoyed those and I was wondering what other types do this well.

Slow-paced Balance / Stall Water is a pretty good example

 

[LezDooDis]

Thanks for the reply. That was suggested when I asked for beginner friendly types too and it did sound the most interesting.